Did you miss me?

Long time, no see!  I can't believe it's been 5 weeks since I posted last.  I've missed blogging, but I have been keeping up with everyone's blogs. 

I've been struggling with some health issues the last few months.  I'll skip the gory details.  So, I haven't been up to blogging, and hardly any sewing has occured, which meant there was nothing to blog about either.  I hope I'm on the mend now, and hopefully can post a little more regularly.  *fingers crossed*

This placemat was a birthday gift I made for my friend K in California.  She sent me all these 30's repro selvages, so I thought she might like them back.  *wink*  I had fun making this one.

The back.

And a stretchy bead bracelet that I made for her. She loves lime green and purple, can you tell?

I showed you this charity quilt in-process a while ago.  (These were Block Lotto blocks back in January of this year.)  The top's all done now and passed on to someone else in the guild to do the quilting.  I thought this came out pretty cute, and I hope some child enjoys it.

I've been making slow progress on my Halloween blocks.  I'm not pushing on this . . . just doing one here and there.  No deadline on this one.  Somehow, I keep finding/buying more Halloween fabric that HAS to be in here!  Do you do that too?  You know, keep shopping for fabric for a specific quilt even though you have more than enough fabric for it? 

I thought I would show you some of the flowers around my yard. 

I've been busy with being on the Quilt Show Committee.  The show is in two weeks, so we're coming down to the wire now.  My quilts are all done, except for sewing on some labels.  That's a relief.  That should leave me enough time to do the committee work, hopefully.

My quilt studio is a total disaster.  I can't seem to get in there to sew, but I've done really well at making a mess in there.  I was ready to put the D9P/I Spy blocks that I'm making for my DGD up on the design wall, but now I can't find them!  So, I really have to get in there and get things picked up and put away.  Ugh.

I'll have pictures of one of the finished Sneak Peeks from last post next time I'm here.  It's all done, I just haven't done photos yet.

Have a great week!

Sneak Peeks!

I have gotten 2 more quilts back from Shari the Quilter.  Dunkel couldn't wait and had to test one out right away.  He looks pretty comfy, doesn't he?

Sneak Peek #1

This one has been waiting for the quilting for quite a while.  I'm glad it's finally done.

I'm getting the binding ready to go right now.

Sneak Peek #2

Still debating binding options for this one.

I'm anxious to get these two done!

Thing 1

"String Thing 1" is back from Shari the Quilter, bound and Finished!  Well, almost.  I still have to add a label.

I took it outdoors for the photo shoot, as we had some sunshine. 

Here's a shot of the border where you can see the fun quilting that Shari did.

The back.

This one is called Thing 1, as it is the first one finished from The Great Spring String Fling of 2009.  (Try saying that one 3 times fast!)  You can read all about this one here.  I have more string quilts in progress that you can see here and here.  

Some detail shots.

I'm very happy with this quilt.  It's really a memory quilt, as I have old and new scraps from other quilts that I've made, including some charity quilts, pillowcases I made for my kids, grandkids and friends, strings from my friends (especially the ones at the retreat), and other fun things.   They all bring back good memories!

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!

Challenging. . .

I got my challenge quilt "done" in time.  It's not completely done, as I have some more stones to sew on.  But I don't seem to be real motivated to do that, so I figured I should just show it anyway.  The binding is on and so is the label, so I think that's pretty good!

"Stones Rock!"
20 inches by 28.5 inches

I just ran out of time to get all the stones on . . . probably because I stalled so long on this one.  I went to the bead store and bought real stones - they're just polished and drilled so they were easy to attach.  Interestingly, all the stones ended up being some form of jasper.  They just really appealed to me.  Oh, I forgot to take any detail shots of the cool stones.  Ooops.

 

This shot is for Kate of Katekwiltz blog, who asked me how I handled the ruffled edges of the rock wall section.  My friend V., who helped me A LOT with this the last day, suggested that I do a basting stitch and then gather that section before sewing the border to it.  It worked pretty well.  There's still puffiness there, but no tucks.  I won't be quilting in that area, and I think it looks OK.  I would have liked the border to go right up to the "rocks" but it didn't work out that way.

I'm not 100% happy with this quilt, but I met the deadline and the requirements, so I can live with it.  It really was a challenge this year.  I think maybe I need to take a year off of doing the guild challenge, and just work on my own stuff for awhile.  Some days that's all the challenge I can handle!

Here are my Block Lotto blocks for July.  It was a fun block to do, and very easy.  If you're interested in the pattern, just go visit the Block Lotto link in my sidebar.  I'd love to win this month!

Here are some other Block Lotto blocks from a previous month (don't remember which one right now).  I thought these were fun and easy, so I used these for a demonstration I did at the local county fair.  This only needs some more white fabric between the rows and a simple border (black & white?) and it is ready to pass on to someone for quilting.  It was fun doing the demo at the fair - seems like lots of people want to come see the quilts, and almost everyone has some quilting "family" story they want to share.  That was lots of fun!

Building A Wall

We're finally getting some nice weather, and some flowers are starting to bloom.  This is the first white foxglove that I've had here; mostly they're purple.  We have an abundance of foxgloves this year - they're everywhere in the yard.  I love them, and I love that they just happen - I don't have to do a thing!  Yes, I'm a lazy gardener nowadays.

I'm finally getting started on my challenge quilt.  I've been thinking about it (and stalling) for quite a while now.  The challenge this year is to do 'an element of nature', using textures and fibers, etc.  There are no requirements for size or color for this challenge, which is challenging in itself.  I've had 3 different ideas and couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do.  My initial thought was Trees or Leaves, but I though maybe too many people were going to do that. I also thought of Grass, but I've waited too long to do that one - no time for all the embroidery that I planned on doing.  So, I've finally decided on Rocks.

First off, I printed some photos of rocks on fabric.  I had some great rock photos from our trips to Nevada and the ocean, both of which are great places to find rocks.  Then I made a trip to the bead store to buy some polished and drilled rocks.  I'm not sure where I'm going with all of this yet.

  

When I visited a new local quilt store I saw this Texture Magic and had an idea that this could work too.  I had to play with it first.  I used some ugly scraps that I found.  You quilt through your fabrics and the Texture Magic.  Then you steam it with the iron and it shrinks up 30%.  It reminds me of Shrinky Dinks!

Then, using my photo of a rock wall, I started building a fabric rock wall.  I was surprised to see how many fabrics I had that would work for this, and my friend M~ let me use some of her Stonehedge fabrics.  My technique: I just looked at one of the rocks in the wall, and tried to copy it by cutting with my scissors.  I had a hard time getting them to be rock-y enough, but not too round or square.  I used a charcoal fabric for the background.  Black seemed to be too stark.

More rocks!

Then I decided that putting batting between the background fabric and the Texture Magic would be better.  It would fill the "rocks" nicely.  Then I stitched around all the rocks.  I did one continuous line of stitching.  It was a giant puzzle.  I had to do quite of bit of backtracking to make it continuous.  It took me two sessions of stitching to finish this!  But, finally it was done.  Time for the next step!

Making the magic happen.  In other words, steaming the fabric with the iron. 

Here it is - all crinkled/poofed up nicely.  I think it looks pretty much like a rock wall, all things considered.

Now for the rest of the quilt.  That will be the real challenge, because I only have a vague idea of what I want to do.  And the project is due Friday at noon.  You know what I'll be doing this week!  *grin*



Purple foxglove



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? 

Gettin' Wooly Around Here

Here's my first blooming Rhododendron of the season.  We've had the coldest spring on record, and things are slow to get going.  Except, of course, for the pollen, which is about to kill me.  It's pouring tonight, and still cold enough to need a sweatshirt, with the heat running.  June???  Hard to tell!  But by Saturday, we're actually supposed to be in the mid-70s for the 1st time!!  Maybe DH can get his poor tomato plant in the ground soon, instead of on top of the china cabinet!  (otherwise the cat will chew it.  Dumb cat.)  And I really don't mean to complain.  At least we're not having floods, tornados, snow or any number of ugly weather events that other places are experiencing.  Not to mention way-too-hot temps!  Guess I'd better not complain, huh?  Sorry 'bout that, chief. 

Here's where the Wooly comes in. . . .

My sister sent me this table mat - just because!  I love it!  It's perfect for the table where we eat all the time.

Look at all the fun she had!

Now I just have to keep the cats off of it.  Apparently, her cat Zoe was on it and it smells like her, which the boys find very interesting.  Lots of sniffing going on, and some sitting/laying on.  So far it's only on the coffee table.  Maybe when the good smell wears off, I can actually put it on the table.  *grin*

Here is some wool applique I've been working on.  I've really been searching for the pattern,  because I'm ready for the next step.  I just could not find it!  After searching through everything twice, I finally found it "hiding" on the cutting table.  Egads, I hate when I do that.  But now I can get this done!  The pattern is from the book "Farmhouse Quilts: Baskets & Patches" by Liberty Homestead. 

My friend K~ did the embroidery for me in exchange for some pottery.  I used some hand-dyed wool (grape!) I bought in January, and the base fabric is a light blue linen that I was originally going to make into a top.  I'd rather do quilting with it!  It's really nice to work on. . . I love the way it feels.  I can't decide if I'm going to frame this or make it into a little wallhanging.  The pattern is for a pillow, but I don't want to make it a pillow.  And it's not very big, so a pillow that small will get lost at my house.  Soon it will be . . . something!

Here is the state of my applique from my class with Gwen Marston.  I decided to go with fusible (Misty Fuse), and I'm doing a running stitch around the appliques.  Very folk art-y and fun.  I don't do much hand work, and haven't done it for quite awhile.  So, this is something different, and I'm enjoying it.

Now I'm trying to decide which stitch to use on the outside edges of the flowers.  Can you see the stitches?  I'm tired of the blanket stitch, and think I'll go with more of the running stitch.  But I think I'll increase the number of threads I'm using so the stitches will show up better.  This is getting closer to done, and I'm starting to consider border options.  I haven't quite decided what size I'm going for here.  So, I'll be thinking of all the options for my projects while I finish up all this stitching.

And really, all of this handwork is "busy" work while I avoid working on my challenge quilt.  Ahem. . . .cough, cough.  Just a little stalling, eh??