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? 

Baby Quilts & an Eagle

I have been working on more Doodle Bugs, planning on a wallhanging this time. So far, all I've done is fuse and cut. No actual sewing occuring yet. I am ready for the final fuse, but nothing worthy of photos so far. I hope to have them ready to sew together in the next few days.


In the meantime, I thought I would share two of the quilts that I've made for my granddaughters.


This first quilt was made for my eldest GD, for when she was moved from the crib to a Big Girl Bed, due to arrival of GD#2. It's an Eye Spy quilt made from the patterns in the Picture Play book by Ami Simms. This was tons of fun to do! I've probably got enough pieces of fabric collected for another 10 quilts! All my friends gave me pieces of fabric and I used Berta's hand-dyed fabrics for the alternate squares. My wise friend K--- told me to mix up the pictures and have them going every which way. That was excellent advice because, in the process of sewing this together, I did manage to get things all jumbled up. But, because the images were already going in all directions, it didn't matter! She was so brilliant! Or maybe she just knows me. Hmmmm. And I highly recommend Ami's book if you want to make an Eye Spy quilt. Her patterns are great, and EASY. And the book comes with great templates for picking out and cutting your image.


I think, one of these days, I'm going to make a Quilter's Eye Spy quilt. I think it'll be fun to make and to use. Cuz you know it would be mine!





This second quilt was for GD#2 when she was born. I found this cute farm animal fabric, which also has the sounds the animals make (ie. "cluck, cluck, cluckkity cluck; moo, moo" etc.) Who doesn't teach their baby to make animal noises? We always did, so I thought this was great. And I loved all the bright colors. So, farm animals = barn, therefore Hole In The Barn Door blocks. I used all the colors in the quilt. It was really quite bold! Turns out, so is GD#2!



Today, while I was (yet again) at the grocery store, DH called me to tell me we had an eagle out in the back! The eagle dove at the pond trying to get one of the ducks on the pond, but missed. So then it went after the blue heron! Fortunately, DH got some photos. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell much from them. So I will just post the one that's the clearest. This is the eagle and the heron flying. DH thought it was a golden eagle, and he thinks the heron got away from it. Time will tell on that one. I think we only have one heron here at the pond. As you can tell, it was kind of a stormy day, but we did have some "sun breaks", which were nice. Yesterday we got above 60 degrees! Today, maybe 45 degrees. Spring is trying, but not quite yet.