First Flimsy Finish of the Year

I finally finished to flimsy stage the Disappearing Nine Patch blocks that I showed you at the end of my last post.  They have been lurking in the quilt studio for years.  Yay!  So nice to have a finish.

44 inches square

At the end of my last post, I showed you these blocks in their unfinished state.  While I was trying to decide what to do with them, I got a quilt back from my quilter Shari.  When I trimmed off all the leftover backing edges in preparation for putting on that quilt's binding, I realized that the bits I cut off the back would be the right amount and color to be the sashing for these D9P blocks!  I love when that happy serendipity happens!

After I finished that top, I had some blocks left over.  The Thinking Cap went back on!  I realized that I still had enough blocks left to do another quilt if I played it right.

40 inches square

And here's what I came up with.  I tried quite a few fabrics trying to find the right fabric to work well with the blocks, and I'm really happy with this warm and cozy-looking plaid.  So now this one can go in the "finished flimsy" stack as well.  Of the two tops, I think this one is my favorite.  But then, I am partial to plaid.  *grin*

I'm so glad that I finally used up those Disappearing Nine Patch blocks after all these years, and I'm glad that I managed to make a couple of decent charity quilts with them as well!  These will both be lap quilts for some seniors in a local assisted living facility.   

I really enjoyed using my new design wall.  It's still set up in the living room, at the moment,  but not for long.  My moving the quilt studio into the living room didn't seem to be too popular with the rest of the family, so I will be moving back to the usual location now.  Although I did get more "help" than I usually do, Shade wasn't too happy that he couldn't be right next to me while I was sewing, which is his usual spot in the quilt studio.  And I got tired of having to go up or down the stairs, looking for the tool that wasn't with me when I needed it.  *heavy sigh*  The trick will be to get the studio cleaned up enough to actually get the design wall into there.  But having the design wall in the living room has gotten me to get more sewing done, knowing that I had a limited time in that location.  I wanted to finish what I was working on before trying to move the design wall, which actually worked out pretty well in the Motivation Department.  hee hee!  

I've been sewing even more projects, but I'll save the rest to show you later.  

Have a creative week!

Scrappy Sunday

This post was supposed to be Scrappy Saturday, but I forgot yesterday!  Better late than never, right?

I've decided I want to try the Rainbow Scrap Challenge that SoScrappy is hosting.  I don't know how long I can manage to actually do this, but I figured it's time to start doing something with all the scraps that are accumulating around here!  Even if I'm not 100% successful with playing along, I hope to at least be able to make a dent in the scrap pile.

This month's color is blue, and boy,do I have a LOT of blue scraps!  I tried to narrow down my choices of what exactly I want to do with scraps this year.  So far, my list is about 5 quilts long!  So I started with 2 different blocks.

Here are my first 2 Tic Tac Toe blocks.  These were a Block Lotto block back in January 2010 (see the directions here), and I really liked the quilts that the winners made with these blocks.  So, time to do some for me.  I'm trying to use tone-on-tone fabrics.  The one on the right that looks black is actually a blue and black marble.  I'm not sure this block is going to work for this quilt, but it was my first attempt.  I like the block on the left better.  But, I'm trying to turn off the critic in my head and just sew.

I'm also trying some "made fabric" a la Bumble Beans.  I have no idea what I will use these for, but they at least use up some of the smallest scraps.  They are great "therapy" sewing too.

You can see what others are doing for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge by clicking here.

I've decided that this year is the year to start putting together some of the projects I have started that are this close to being a quilt top.  You know, the blocks are all done and are waiting for me to do something with them.  I'm tired of having all these almost-done projects nagging me.  They get pretty insistent sometimes.

Santa (my DH The Potter) gave me a free-standing design wall for Christmas and I love it!  We put it up in the mostly-unused living room, and I had to christen it right away by putting some blocks on it, of course.  *grin*

These are some 16 Patch blocks that I started way back here in 2011.  Wow, didn't realize it had been that long!  I've made some here and there along the way.  I'm trying to use only the bright plaids, but some read a little darker.  I think that will be OK.  I have 34 blocks in this photo.  I've made another 3 since the photo was taken.  Now I have just 11 more to make and then I can start finalizing a layout.  I have all the plaids cut - I just need to cut some more black fabric.  

These were the result of a demonstration that I did at our quilt show in 2011.  I use a method that is sooo easy and fun to make these blocks.  I'm thinking of doing a tutorial for this method.  Any one interested?  I've never seen this method anywhere else on line, so I thought you might like to know it too!

After getting those blocks sorted out, I decided to pull out a project that I haven't touched in years.  The blocks are ready to put together.

first half of the blocks

I made these Disappearing Nine Patch blocks from some random charm squares that I had hanging around for years.  Well, when I put these on the design wall, they just screamed "Yuck!" at me.  Dull, boring and UGLY.  Oh my.  What to do?  So, I put on my thinking cap and came up with this:

second half of the blocks

Better, definitely better.  Now to find something for the sashing.  I was planning on this being a charity quilt.  But it's too big to have them all together, and a little small to make two lap quilts.  

all the blocks

So, I haven't decided yet just what I'm doing.  First I'm sewing all the block quarters together, and then I'll see what size it is, play some more and see what I can come up with.  I'll keep you posted.

I Spy...

with my little eye...

a finished quilt!

I've shown this quilt here before.  I made this for my youngest granddaughter, who's 7, and it's a surprise.  Big sister got her quilt many years ago, so I'm running a little behind.  Hehe.  

I'm so glad to finally get this done. I started this 2 years ago as a challenge quilt for my guild.  Well, that didn't happen, needless to say, but now it's done.  Whew!  I'm not the fastest quilter out there, but I get it done eventually.  When I started this, GD's room was purple.  Now it's green - so I included the green inner border.  

OK, blogger has added my pictures in a crazy order, so I'm just going to "go with the flow" today.

Here's a detail shot showing some of the I Spy fabrics I used, and also showing the quilting that Shari, my LAer did.

She also quilted in Lorelei's name.  (I still need to dot the i)  I didn't know she was going to do this and it was fun to discover.  I'm going to let Lorelei find it on her own too.  ;)

I used the Disappearing 9-Patch pattern for this one.  I knew that the fabrics would get turned every which way, so I deliberately had them going every which way from the beginning.  That way there's no "up" to the quilt and it works from every angle.

Here's the border quilting and you can also see the binding I did.  I put it on the back and then turned it to the front and stitched it down with one of the fancy stitches on my machine.  Fast and pretty easy!  Perfect for a kid's quilt.

We had the driest August on record this year - no measurable rain for over a month.  Pretty unusual for the Northwest.   It's turned cooler in the last day or two and it finally rained last night! Yay!  My poor yard really is showing the stress of not enough water.  Some of the plants are already turning colors which makes it look like autumn is coming early this year.  It was so cozy to lay in bed last night and fall asleep to the sound of the rain falling.

Wishing you a creative week!

What Passes for Normal

That's what we're back to around here now that most of the excitement has died down.  So, I managed to get some progress on the I Spy Disappearing Nine-Patch done!  That's good, as I need to have it done in 2 weeks.

Here it is at flimsy stage.  I ran into a little roadblock trying to decide what to do in the corners.  I tried a couple of things, like a free-pieced star that took me an hour!  That was too much!  So, I thought "simple is best" and just did 4-patches with more I Spy blocks.  Now, it's time to come up with something for the back.  I have a couple of ideas, so that's a good start.

I've been working on the crumb quilt and am ready to add the final borders.  Sorry, no photos yet.  Next time!

Here's the next project on my design wall.  It's "Spring" and the pattern is from Country Threads.  I'm embarrassed to tell you how many years this one has been lurking in the UFO pile.  

Here is where the hold-up was.  This wagon block really had me stumped.  I couldn't figure out how to do those wheels.  Just could not wrap my brain around it. All the applique on this quilt is done with fusible and then buttonhole stitched by hand.  Those spokes are so small!  I finally ended up doing the wheel in two parts - first the spokes and then the outer round part, and stitched it on the machine.  It took me 10 years to come up with that.  Doh!  Do you ever get that kind of brain fart?  Drives me crazy when something hangs me up like that.

Next up for this is piecing - my comfort zone!  All the applique is done. Whew!  Hopefully the rest won't take me that long!

Remember the Plum tree that I showed in the last post?  It had uprooted and fallen into the pond from the ice.  Well, we had a landscaper come in and he thought it could be saved.  So, now it's re-planted and staked to hold it.  Our fingers are crossed that this will "take".

There was a broken branch too.  This is the recommended fix.  DH wrapped it with clear duct tape, just like you would do for grafting a branch.  More fingers crossed!

I'm off to find a quilt back!  Happy quilting!

Getting There

Thank you to everyone for the well-wishes!  I'm making a good recovery.  No more sling, as of Wednesday.  I can shower and dress by myself again, which is so nice, although I still have to adapt for the left arm as I have some trouble getting it up very high or putting it behind my back.  I'm back to most of my usual activities, which is good and bad.  I had to actually cook the other night, and wash dishes too.  I really didn't miss that!  *grin*  And Monday I "get" to start doing Physical Therapy.  But, on the plus side, I finally got some sewing done!

I started with a few string blocks, while I had the sling on.  Now I have graduated to more precise sewing.  When I did my clean-up of the quilt studio, I finally found the I Spy blocks for DGD's quilt.  Yay!  So, I got those up on the design wall the other day, and now they're all sewn together.

This pattern is actually a Disappearing Nine Patch.  All the I Spy blocks are going every which way.  I think one could go insane trying to figure out how to keep all the images right-side up when you're doing this pattern, so I just didn't even try.  Besides, I think this makes it more interesting.  There's no right or wrong side up to it, so when you're using the quilt, it all works.  That's my theory anyway.

Now I'm auditioning something for the outer border.  I think I've decided on a solid green fabric, which is not what's in the photo.  It was tough.  I auditioned at least 10 or 15 fabrics.  I hadn't planned on an inner border, but it seemed to be needed.  The center is so busy it needs a "stop" before the purple border.

The other project I'm beginning is a "Pet Robin", which my guild is doing for our Block of the Month this year.  This idea is from Nancy Chong.  It's where you do the concept of a Round Robin, but you do your own quilt, not passing it around from person to person.  We each wrote a suggestion for the next step,  put them all in a bag and drew one out.  Our first step will be to add applique.  Each month we'll do the same thing for the next step.  I haven't even got a first block done yet.  I had a hard time deciding whether or not to do this.  Now I'm still trying to decide what to do!  I think I'll be different, and make mine wonky.  It sounds like more fun to me.  And it probably won't be very big.  I may start with a block that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 to 10 inches.

Well, off to do more!  Happy quilting!

A Blast From the Past

23 inches square

Here's an oldie from 1989.   I was looking for something in the linen closet the other day, and ran into this.  I'd forgotten I even had it!  I made this for my Mom, and it was made for a specific spot in her apartment, as I remember.  When Mom passed away 9 years ago, I got this back.  I stuck it in the linen closet and forgot about it.  I think the pattern is Old Maid's Puzzle and it was 4 blocks, but I made the 4 patches that come together in the center into one large patch. When I look at this, I think of "Miami Vice" and remember all the soccer games where I sat and did the hand quilting.  I'm not terrible impressed with it now - I think the contrast is too low.  But it's nice and summery and I'm enjoying it hanging in the hallway.

Here's a better shot of the hand quilting.  I used a peach thread, which barely shows.

I'm making Very Slow Progress on the Disappearing 9-Patch/I Spy quilt.  One more session of trimming the rest of the blocks and I'll be ready to get them up on the design wall.  Then the fun begins! 

I thought this carousel horse from the local county fair was pretty cool!  It's a Sea Horse!  I love that metallic turquiose and the fin-thing on the back of the saddle.

I hope y'all are having a great summer!

M.I.A.

Yes, I've been Missing In Action this month.  I've had such a busy month! 

My quilt studio looks like a disaster happened in there.  There's stacks of fabrics everywhere, and there's stacks of plastic bins (with more fabric in them) stacked in the way too.  My design wall fell down.  I had a piece of flannel pinned to the wall over the closet and when I was looking for a book, I pulled the pins out.  Rats.  The problem was that, when I moved in 4 years ago, I just unpacked the books and shoved them on the shelves in the closet with no organization.  I was going to get back to it one of these days and never did.  So I took the opportunity and organized my large quilt book collection. Much better!  Now the design wall is hanging from a curtain rod and can be pulled back out of the way to get into the closet.  However, I just need to find a stronger curtain rod, because this one is cheap and is bowing badly. 

But in spite of the fact that I've accomplished very little this month, I do have a few finishes and other things to show you.

Back in September, I started playing around with a Halloween version of the Scrappy Trip pattern by Quiltville.  I cut my strips at 3 inches, instead of 2.5 inches, just to show off the fabrics better and have the quilt go faster.  So these blocks will finish at 15 inches. 

I was making myself a kit of something to sew for after I have surgery on my former broken arm, but that surgery hasn't happened yet.  I wanted needed something to sew one day, and finally hauled this out.  So far I have 5 blocks made (I did one after I took this picture).  It's taken me 3 weeks to get this far, as I've had so little time in the quilt studio.  I have to make 20 blocks total, so I don't know if it will be done for this year!

I finished my applique from the class with Gwen.  But then I wondered: does this need some leaves on it?  What do you think?

I finished my wool basket project.  Now I just need to decide what I'm going to do with it.  Initially I was going to frame it, but I can't find a needlework frame of the right size.  So, the way I see it, I have 2 options.  1. wrap it around a stretched canvas and staple

OR

2. make this the center of a wallhanging.

I can't decide what I want to do right now, so this will be percolating for a bit.

I finished the June Block Lotto blocks and posted them just barely in time!  Wow, the whole month has just flown by.  I'm not quite sure where it went.  But I almost missed this!  I'm hoping to do better for July.  I love the way these blocks turned out.  I love the colors, and the block is easy, fun and has some interesting possiblities for setting. 

Here are some of the potholders that I've made for my guild's quilt show this fall.  The red one in the back is my first attempt at chenille.  I think it came out pretty good.  The black and white was a practice Disappearing 4-Patch and the cow fabric is on the back of those.  And then 2 selvage potholders, with some selvages that my friend K in Calif sent me.  I think they're so cute! 

I have 2 more potholder in process, and will probably be making some more too.  The ladies in the guild had never heard of using selvages before, and I think they thought I was a little nuts.  Now they're giving me selvages!  Yay!

Last September, I started this Disappearing 9-Patch I Spy project.  It was supposed to be for a guild challenge, but I didn't get it finished in time.  Now, I've finally got all my 9-patch blocks for my GD's quilt made and sliced up.  They're ready to be trimmed to the same size and put up on the newly-functional design wall.

I'm still stalling on my guild's "Element of Nature" challenge and it's due mid-July.  I know I'm not the only one that hasn't started yet.  But I mostly know what I'm doing and am all ready to start.  I just need a few days with no other commitments.  I've had jury duty this week, so that has pretty much kept me either busy or too distracted to do anything.  I'm hopeful for next week!

This is a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly that DH found in the front yard on the rhododenron.  At least I think that's what it is, based on what I saw on Google images.  If you know better, please let me know.  Isn't it beautiful? 

Lack of Focus

No, not the picture.  My brain!

I love these fall colors!  I think it's a wonder that they are all on one bush.

Here is where I found them - in my Japanese Maple in the front yard.  Of course, the sun went away right before I got out there, so it doesn't glow as much as in the sunshine, but still, I think it's beautiful.  This bush just up and changed overnight about 2 days ago.  Amazing.

I've actually managed to get myself into the quilt studio the last few days.  I don't have any particular project that I'm focused on.  Mainly I'm just putzing with a lot of different ones.  These are my house exchange blocks that my friends in California are doing, and were nice enough to include me in the exchange.  This is about 2/3 of what I need - we're supposed to make 12 blocks, enough to make a table runner.  But it seems I always have to do something different, so I'm making 16 blocks to make a wallhanging. 

Here are the other 8 blocks, all ready for me to do the stitching on them.  We don't have to have these done until January, but I'm hoping to have them done before Thanksgiving, if not sooner.  *fingers crossed*

Yesterday when I was trying to get some fabrics cut, Shade was "helping" by dancing right in the middle of it all.  So, rather than cut something that shouldn't be cut, whether fabric or feline, I decided I'd better sit down and do some stitching.  Shade likes to lay on the desk next to me when I'm sewing on the machine.  So, when I sat down, he calmed down.  Not having anything in particular to do, I decided to pull out the crumbs and work on some of that.  I always leave some blocks started, so that there's a starting point when I want to sit and stitch for a few minutes.  It eliminates the "brain strain" that could happen if I have to think about it too much!  *grin*  I got a few more blocks finished.  So, I decided to see how many blocks I had.  I had 57!  The ones that I finished brought it to 60.  They're all trimmed to 6 inches and will finish to 5 1/2 inches.  So, I started playing on the design wall.

I had been thinking of adding sashing, but decided that was more work than I wanted to do for a charity quilt.  Then I thought of putting them on point.  I think I like this.  I can't seem to be able to make up my mind about which fabric to use for the alternate squares, so I think I'll just use plain white.  A nice clean look.  So, now I'm back to cutting more fabric!  But this one should be done quickly.

Guess what?  I still have 40 crumb blocks left!  Quilt seeds!  To be played with and decided on another day.  I need to sort my bin of crumb fabrics too.  I've got too many itsy-bitsy pieces in there, and not enough of the larger pieces.

Last Friday I went to a Quilts of Valor sew-in.  I got one quilt trimmed and ready for binding, but forgot my walking foot. so then I got a kit and started piecing.  This will become a Disappearing 9-Patch.  I've got all the strips sewn and now need to cut for the next step. 

And lastly, I've spent two evenings picking out fabrics for pillowcases for Christmas presents for the family.  I see more fabric cutting in my future!  I hope Shade will cooperate!

September Already?!

Hey!  What happened to August??  Where'd it go?  I was just getting used to summer, and now it's leaving!  I want more August, please.

Seriously, August seems to have just evaporated!  I guess it was a busy month.  Pottery camp went very well, and both boys seemed to have had a good time.  Lots of pottery was made, lots of fish were caught (and released), and plenty of canoe time was had.  No one got homesick and no one got hurt so I'd call that pretty successful.  The only glitch was the last few days of Boy #2, when we had some major septic issues.  But he was a trooper and never complained.  At least I didn't hear him complaining over my complaining.  We finally got things all sorted out and squared away, after 3 days and many $$$.  Did you ever notice that plumbers are hard to find over the weekend?  And how come the septic only has issues on the weekend?  Sure made me miss city sewer systems!  Oh well, I guess it's the price we pay to enjoy the country life.

After that, the rest of the month is kind of a blur.  I really don't remember anything much.  I was having some allergy issues, and just trying to get caught up after pottery camp and the septic issues (lots of laundry).  And, to add insult, yesterday, Aug 31st, our high temperature was 58* F and it rained all day.  A little foretaste of what's to come.  I swear, some of the trees are starting to turn, the flowers are all on their last legs, and it's starting to feel a little "autumn-y".  I'm not ready!

Not a lot of sewing has been occuring here, what with all the other stuff going on.  Plus, I was kind of "sewn out" after the two challenge quilts.  And, I've been working on some secret projects, so I can't show you much of what has been happening in the studio.  So, the last two days, my brain has seemed to kick in (finally) and I had some ideas.  So, I made up some sample blocks to test my ideas.

Here is my first block for an I Spy quilt for my DGD #2.  I'm way over-due on making her one of these.  Big Sister got hers when she was two, and DGD #2 is 5 now and starting kindergarten.  So, I finally got started on it.  It's a Disappearing 9-Patch, and this is the configuration I'm thinking of using.  The white fabric and the purple dots fabric will be consistent throughout the quilt - the purple matches her bedroom.  I've now cut way more I Spy blocks than I need for the quilt, so I'll have to thin the herd a bit as I sew.  I learned on my first I Spy quilt to not have all the squares going in the same direction (Thanks, Katie!).  It makes the quilt more interesting, and easier to put together, which is the big factor for me.  Especially with this block!

I'm going to be participating in a block exchange with my friends from California, including Purple Pam and Roberta.  We'll be using brights.  Here's just a sample of what I've picked out.  Think they're bright enough??  This one is gonna be fun!  (And why won't this picture go in the center like the other ones??)

And lastly, this increasingly fall-like weather is making me think of Halloween.  I love Halloween, and seeing a pile of cute Halloween fabrics over at Tonya's blog got my brain engaged.  I love Bonnie's free patterns at Quiltville and Scrappy Trips is one of my favorites.  I've made two of them already.  So, I got to thinking. what if I used 3 inch cut strips instead of 2 1/2 inch?  That would make a bigger block, which would make it even faster to make a quilt.  And it would show off some of the bigger Halloween prints better too.  So, I had to test it out. 

Yep, it works!  Of course, my brain wasn't totally with me on the first block.  I cut everything at 3 1/2 inches instead of 3 inches.  Rats! --- Do over!  The 2nd time was much better.  I used up some really crummy fabrics to test, so no biggie that it didn't work the first time.  This makes a 15 inch finished block, so I only need 20 blocks instead of 35 or so.  This would also work for the Scrappy Bargello, which is calling to me lately.  Who knows. . . I might get so excited that I'll cut for both quilts!  That would make a pretty good dent in my Halloween fabrics.

So, I guess I'm getting excited about sewing again.  Now I just need to get in the studio and start cutting and sewing.  Let the fabric fly!

D9P Stage 2 in Progress

I have all my 9-Patches sewn now, and I got some of them cut up into quarters last night. I had to lay them out on the floor this morning! I think I'm liking this better now. Of course, the sunshine today helped! Now I can't wait to get the rest of the blocks cut.