I've moved!

Please visit me at my new blog - a quiltmaker's journal

No pictures

I'd be happiIly sharing pictures of some more work I've done recenty, excpet that my camera has gone missing -  I always have the cord attached to it, the one that connects it to the computer, and that makes it easier for me to find.  Yesterday I found the cord, where the camera usually sits, but no camera!  My family members swear innocence.  My dogs, I'm not so sure.  Me, well, yep it could have been me.  But I can't understand why part of it would be left behind - a game of Clue with my camera.

More Applique and Stash Scavenging

Let me see if I can re-trace the steps some of my fabric bundles have travelled in the past few weeks. I often put my fabric into sets - if its obvious they go together to make something - those sets then get shuffled about and experimented with.

Some thimbleberries fat quarters came into the studio, for some certain reason - can't remember what now!  They were tried out for a Lori Smith applique, a sixteen-baskets applique, and finally the magic vine applique...maybe some piecing projects in between.  Finally they happily landed on the Pushin Up Spring design.

For the Magic Vine, the thimbleberries set was replaced by some assorted fabrics - I had posted a picture of these a few days ago.  Tried out those fabrics, but blah - didn't like the white background, couldn't find a cream or any other colour background in my stash.

Then I spied my pile of batiks and hand dyes - not a huge pile - but enough certainly to do something with.  Out went the assorted fabrics, in went the batiks, on black.  Well, this was okay - but I felt that the simplicity of the magic vine designs, needed some kind of busy print or something.  And niggling in the back of my mind was a very nice assortment of white on black, that would go nicely with those hand dyes and blacks....

next thing you know, I've got out my Bountiful Baskets pattern from the Rabbit Factory - and voila!

And, digging through my baggies of fabric set scraps, I found enough of mostly a line called  Summer's Baskets of Flowers to make the Magic Vine.

So, some successfull stash scavenging, lots of handwork to look forward to, no buying new fabric - yet - and one fabric set left over!  Pretty good work for a week when I've been recovering from a nasty throat infection and cold.

Pushin' up Spring

It's October - already! - and I'm working on an applique mystery quilt called Pushin' Up Spring.  This should bring bright thoughts throughout the winter.  This free applique quilt is designed by Connie Sue at Apple Blossom Quilts.  Sign up for the newsletter - quick! - and on the 15 th of each month, she'll send out a new installment.  I'm looking forward to seeing her other signs of Spring.  This is a large block with very easy applique - great especially for beginners.

Magic Vine

For a long time, I considered making a version of the Magic Vine quilt. I waffled between the blocks offered, free, from Gayle at Sentimental Stitches; and the book of patterns by Eleanor Burns. Finally I purchased the book, and I'm glad I did. She has re-printed all the original newspaper articles that were used to make this quilt, which makes greaet reading; the book also offers great ideas for embellishing with hand embroidery, machine stitches, crystals, and ribbon. There are many quilt layouts in various colour schemes to give lots of ideas on how to make your own Magic Vine.

Here are three blocks I've made - I did them as needleturn, with starch turned edge on the leaf that sticks out of the top, mean to be sewn down as the blocks are joined as vine - quick and easy to sew, and the embellishing is a little bit extra to think about.

I think this looks pretty good - almost a keeper! But, I'm not sure those really are the colours I want to use; and I've now decided to set each block on point instead of in a vine, in a strippy setting. I'm going to shrink them to 6" from 7" and do a 25 block layout, so I should end up with a nice size wall hanging. Well, that's the plan for now.

I went digging through my stash yesterday, and found this odd piece of focus fabric, and then dug up a whole new selection of colours that could make a bright spring version of magic vine -

I think I'll try a few blocks with these colours, and see how it looks.

Note to self - add more busy and/or large print focus fabrics to my stash! It really is a pretty easy way to pick colours, an idea that I rarely make use of.

What's your end of day or morning clutter?

In response to my friend Peggi's great question - what's on you're cutting table? (her blog is at http://pwl-cyberhome.blogspot.com/ - I've slightly revised it to show what is also surrounding my cutting table! I won't show the ironing board, or my sewing table (that would be just too much information :) - but here's what my cutting table and work area looked like this morning -



Here, I have a new "fit to frame" applique pattern by Lori smith. This one has a little dog under a tree, a great cute chicken, and few other motifs that just made me *have * to get it. The fabric baggie is a possibility for this little project. Also, is one of the new spools of thread that I just received from Tristan B.C. They sell a terrific selection of European cotton threads, including Aurifil. And, the kitchen scissors somehow got on to my cutting table.

Hmmm....here I have some green fabrics that are now leaves on a vine, for Garden at Dusk, my version of Cindy Lammon's quilt in her book Gathered from the Garden. The cover of the new Lori Smith pattern is tossed on top of that book. The plastic storage box is for my sewing feet - that bo does not belong there.... Then, because I have age-onset a.d.d., I had to pull out a file of patterns pulled from Australian Patchwork & Quilting, looking for something that had just jumped into my head for yet another idea on a blue and white quilt.

Cottage Crossing Quilted

Here's a little corner of finished quilt - I'm not up to getting a whole picture - I’m quite happy with how this quilt turned out – and I didn’t un-stitch too much, either! There are free motion curves in each courner of the geese crossing block, and free motion vines/leaves in the houses. Just straight stitching on the sashing, and on the borders. Now here is the problem - for the first time *ever* my lovely quilt has ripply edges, and the solid blue looks almost like its been feather quilted, but it hasn't - its gone all ripply. It hasn't yet been washed, so hopefully it will sort itself out; and, this is a gift for my sister, and I sure don't like something weird like this happening to a gift quilt - and why this one?! I can't think of one thing I did any differently than anyother of my quilts.

Here's a pic of the whole quilt top, before it was quilted -


I have actually got some other projects started that are actual keepers! I'm going to try to get back to posting every day or two, as I almost always have something, or some idea, to share.

So much indecision

This “hobby” of quilting just seems to feed my habit of not being able to make a decision.

In real life, if you make decision, and act upon it, its done. Rarely do you get to go back.

But in my quilting studio, boy do I go back! and forward! and left and right!

I have spent the last several days – as I often do – just shuffling patterns and fabric.

I made one block from the gypsy rose fabric and nutmeg flannel, for the Plain and Simple quilt.

This looked good, and you’d think I’d leave it alone. But….I’ve been thinking about the new applique pattern called Southern Gentleman that Sindy at FatCat Patterns has offered – pulling out some yardage for the Plain and Simple quilt, as well as some pieces that were meant for finishing some orphan blocks – and doesn’t that look pretty?

And what if I added some navy?

And now that looks so nice, maybe I need to find a different pattern – do I really want that combination to be used on Southern Gentleman? What else is lurking around the corner to tempt me?

Here are a few applique blocks I fiddled with this week – then I gave up on the idea of vegetables as really, what would I do with a fruit and veg themed quilt? Although it would be fun to do….

And, sometime this past week I decided I *really* did not like where I was going with some blocks I made for Eleanor Burns’ Egg Money quilts sampler – thirties on red. I’m not even showing a picture :) So I’ve decided to re-do these in a them I’ve wanted for a long time – solids on black. Some of the blocks are prepped and ready to sew.

Can I also admit that I’ve given up already on Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler in blue and white? It just wasn’t looking like a project I could stick with – only 8 blocks in so that’s a good time to stop before I get much further. So what else can I make with blue and white? And I ordered a dozen red and cream fat quarters that I fell in love with – something else to puzzle over.

Finally – and this is a good thing – I finished the top from Jane Patek’s girl gang quilt. Isn’t it wonderful? *this* will be Fraser and Kaitlyn’s wedding quilt….yes, I did order and have a pile of fabric for a more modern quilt that I was going to make them….but this top just calls to me as their wedding gift quilt.

Some sewing done this past week….

I did three blocks towards the Secret Garden quilt by Cindy Lammon, with hand applique leaves on the honeybee block.

 

I kept up with Pearl P. Pereira’s mystery block of the month – and here’s my version of the quilt to date.

 

I decided that the some of those large flower prints from the Portugal line were just too much for me – so I cut up the fabrics I did like to start a Sunshine and Shadow quilt, pattern from the book Radiant Sunshine and Shadow by Helen Frost.

I caught up on the bunnyhill tisket a tasket blocks – redwork version.   I was going to change the stars to maple leaves on the July block, but then thought that leaves will likely show up on a fall design.  So I added a moon, because I thought of the nighttime summer sky (maybe while camping...).  But my moon looks like its backwards.  I kept the sheep because he's cute.  I completely changed August - cupcakes don't mean much to me, and I thought of what August might mean when I was flipping through books for design ideas when I found a doodle by Betty Alderman - just the idea of August when you have the chance to have to daydream on a hot muggy day.

And…I did get a quilt sandwiched, although it nearly did me in, but its ready to go when I am.

 

 

 

I

Design and Planning frenzy

Over the past couple of weeks, since my last posting of August 2, I've been in a frenzy - or daze - or an obsession - about planning some new quilts. I've finished up the tops that I really wanted to get done...the leaf border on one of them will have to wait. I really needed to find some new fabric combinations, some new block designs, something interesting to keep me motivated. I haven't done much sewing at all during these two weeks, just a lot of book and magazine browsing, EQ designing, web shop browsing, and of course going through my stash over and over and over.

So these will be my latest works in progress, I think -

Sleep Tight in Poseyville, by Beth Ferrier, using fabrics from Moda Portugal line. The green leaves in each corner of the blocks are appliqued. I've got one block sewn, and is it ever a departure from my usual colours - pale yellow, white, and pink.


Secret Garden, by Cindy Lammon, using Moda Glace. I think I'll be making changes to some of the blocks - switching one for another. I've never made a primarily red and blue quilt - and these colours are softer than the usual repros I commonly use.



And, Plain and Simple bed quilt from Kim Diehl, using Gypsy Rose charm squares and a "nutmeg" coloured flannel - its about time I had a flannel bed quilt for winter!


During all this dreaming and planning, I was hoping to come up with a couple of miniatures and or wall hangings. I have lots of scraps, put into zip loc baggies so they're kind of coordinate. Somehow I ended up with all large quilts...but I do hope to soon make a small one to freshen things up for late summer/fall. Oh, and of course get to some quilting of the tops I do have ready to go.

Scrap Quilt Surprise!

I’ve finished sewing together the top for Pick & Choose – it looks much different than the original, because of the sashing substitution.

But before the big picture - imagine my surprise when pressing the top, to discover…

Who *is* that man in my quilt?!!

He must have just jumped in at the last minute ‘cause its amazing his whole self is in that triangle!

Oops!

Yesterday I decided I would finish the centre of Pick and Choose.  Not too much to do – just finish putting together the four patches into blocks, then piece the sashing strips.

I got the blocks put together, counted them, and came up with 18, instead of 20.  Okay….there are two more somewhere that I had made up some time ago just to see how the block would look.  Now, where the heck did I put them?

The sashing strips are made up of umpteen 1 1/2” by 6” strips, pieced to form long strips that come to about 75”.   Two of these strips are sewn together lengthwise to end up with a 2” finished size sashing.   I sewed up 9 or 10 of these, then proceeded to cut up enough of these long strips to 12 1/2” to make the short sashing strips.  I grabbed my 12” ruler – cut, cut, cut – 24 pieces – sat down to sew them to my block – ack!  They’re short, or my block is too big!  Or….I just made the stupidest mistake ever, because 12” is not  12 1/2”!!!!!  Oh my – these pieces are not exactly replaceable scraps. 

By now I’m tired, and fed up, and mad as all get out.  I grab a basket of cut up neutrals that were meant for another background –  they were cut up to a size that might work, and they were neutrals – and started to sew those into the proper lengths.  By the time I realized that what I really had to do was make all the sashings neutral – that I couldn’t get away with short neutrals and long strips of scrappy – I had to put it down for the day.

But first – I had to find those darn two missing blocks.  Which were no where.  For a few moments, I seriously considered making the quilt with 3 x 4 block setting, instead of 4 x 5; but forced myself to find enough leftover pieces to make 2 more blocks.  I did have to stop for the day though, while my sewing room looked like something had exploded.

This morning I got right back to it, before I forgot what it was I planned to do; and before I chickened out.  I did get the new sashings sewn, the new blocks sewn, the centre of the top sewn.  Now just the final pieced border remains. 

More applique play

I made yet another partial applique block yesterday – this time a design from one of Kim Diehl’s book.  I’ve now decided that I definitely need to treat myself to some new fabric :)

I’m bored with my stash; unhappy with how the fabrics I want to use are looking in the projects I thought they’d be good for.  Time for some new stuff – some style familiar, not so different that I won’t be happy working with it – but different enough that I get a little lift.

I’m also looking for a “just right” pattern – not really flowers, vines, wreaths, samplers – I’m looking for some pattern that has a repetition of a single block.  Something I can slowly work away at, just to keep up my needleturn skills.

I keep thinking of the Applique Sampler I did from the Piece O Cake ladies – that quilt was all done in FigTree quilts moda fabric.  I love the look, but never went back to it.  Kind of got stuck in a rut of civil war repros, and tiny prints and tone on tones.  Tried some brights, but they weren’t my style.

So I’ll do some shopping, I’ve got yet another pattern in mind, Twining Blooms & Baskets by Elly Sienkiewicz and hopefully have some positive results soon!

Fiddling with applique

I spent the weekend playing with the idea of another applique project.  While I already have handwork on the go (redwork, wool applique, even hexagons), and I have a few machine applique projects happening, I very much miss needleturn applique. 

I keep thinking I’ll approach an applique pattern via needleturn, then reality sinks in and I’ll end up using a machine applique method. I am very slow at needleturn applique, what with periodic hand shakes, stiffness and cramping.  I also have this annoying self talk going on – you *can* make a needleturn masterpiece!; no, what’s the point?  I want my quilts to be used and loved and I already have made two pretty darn good needleturn wallhangings! 

I would just like a project that I can pick up and put down without any timetable in my head – whenever I get the itch to needleturn!

Here are my experiments from this weekend – all were easy to sew, all are okay fabrics, but none gave me the *eureka!* moment – because of the fabric, the pattern, or both.

The first three are from a basket pattern in Kay MacKenzie’s Baskets to Applique; the last one is a basket pattern from Piece O Cake, the flower arrangment is from Bountiful Baskets by The Rabbit Factory.

 

 

I’ll keep searching and playing with fabric and EQ – experimenting with applique is my biggest challenge, and although I have taken the easy road with a few block of the month appliques quilts, I am learning a lot from them regarding colour placement, background fabric choices, and design.  This will I’m sure help me to eventually make up my own version of a great needleturn quilt.

Hmmm…an ugly quilt in the making?

I’m making up a quilt from a pattern called “Pick and Choose” by Carrie Nelson (Miss Rosie Quilt Co.) published in American Patchwork & Quilting June 2009.

All I can say is thank goodness I precut *everything* for this quilt – or else I might just have given it up somewhere along the line.

There is a lot of sewing in these blocks. Each block is made of four units, each unit is made up of two four-patches and two hsts, – I’ve sewn all the units, and made about 9 of the 20 blocks (the pattern calls for a 5 x 5 setting, I’m making 4 x 5). Oops – I can see a placement mistake in one of the blocks :) Then there is a pieced sashing, and a pieced border. The fabrics are almost all 1800s repros and a variety of printed neutrals. Right now I think it looks a bit like the dog’s breakfast, but amazing things have been known to happen when quilt blocks turn into a quilt – so I’m hoping!

The wonderful “old” Singer sewing machines

Here’s a picture of a wonderful Singer sewing machine that I’ve brought out for use for a while…

I have a second hand Designer I that I bought for its embroidery ability, but now mostly use only for piecing and machine applique.  I enjoy using this machine because of all its bells and whistles which enable me to sew with less physical effort – auto presser foot lift; needle up down; even auto thread cutter – all this means that my hands stay on my fabric, and my foot stays on the pedal.

Today my D1 ended up with a broken bobbin winder – first it went clunk clunk when it started winding; after pushing it back into the non-winding postion, and then again into the winding postion, the bobbin winder post and something else went clunk down into the depths of the machine.  So it has to go the sewing machine doctor.

I do have a second machine – a wonderful Viking Sapphire that I bought almost two years ago – I use this for garment sewing; home dec; and most important, quilting!  I like to be able to set up my quilting, then walk away, and still do some piecing without having to disturb the quilting set up.

So my husband took a Singer 411G out of the cupboard for me.  We cleaned it up and oiled it.  Gee, I’ve forgotten just how much I love these older mechanical machines (they aren’t really old, because its younger than me! lol).  The clear view to the needle, the great straight stitch, the humm of the motor.  And, its just so much more interesting to look at than the current styles of plastic sewing machines.

The little metal gadget to the right of the needle in this picture is a seam guide – place it so the short edge is up against your fabric, the required distance from the needle – tighten with the screw and voila! a pefect seam allowance.

  The 411 is very similar to the Singer 401, except made in Germany instead of the States and if you have the right accessories, it can also do a chain stitch – handy for basting and decorative sewing.  The 401 was the first Singer machine made specifically for home use that did more than just a straight stitch.  As quilters, we’re all familiar with the Featherweight; the last straight stitch machines produced were a 201 and a 301, both full size.  There is a model called a 316 and its cousin, 319, that do zig zag and other fancy stitches, but this was made with more “industrial” type use in mind, and required special needles.

Prairie Vine

When I saw this quilt in Quilt Sampler, Fall 2007, magazine, I just fell in love with it. The pattern stuck in the back of my mind for some time, and when I made an order for some of the Hearth & Home fabric line from Connecting Threads, I realized that even though I had ordered the fabric for some other quilt (since forgotten), this fabric was actually perfect for the Praire Vine pattern.

It was meant to be a straight setting of double x blocks, seperated by sashing, with the vine border. When I finished the blocks, I still had lots of fabric left over, and got to playing on EQ, of course. I fiddled with the double x block, simplified it, and set them as an alternate blocks, in a diagonal set.

There will be a lot of leaves to applique! I’ve set aside the blocks for now; I have to order the border fabric; and I already have lots of handwork. I’m not sure how I’ll be doing the leaves – so many choices for applique!

Centre of the Storm, and getting back on track

I haven’t been posting a note for while as I’ve been, well, unable to write or focus much, as even now I’ve re-written this opening sentence about five times!

My family has been going through some rocky times, each person with their concerns and problems, all affecting me as wife and mother – how can i support them? - how can I fix it?!! (i know, can’t be done) – am I listening well enough? – am I letting them know I’m there to help, without crowding?what can I do other than worry?

My quilting is usually where I dump all this self-talk, and focus on creating, while my brain subconsciously works though the problems. The past few weeks though, this has been difficult, and all I’ve got is several projects, started or finished, that just don’t seem to make me happy. I sure hope I can get out of this slump soon – I do believe that if I’m happy, then those around me might catch it!

I’ve been working away at some piecing and finishing, thinking that eventually there’ll be “click” of aaahhh. this is good :)

This morning I was looking for a picture of a finished quilt, somewhere on my computer. I know its here, because I’ve used it on a blog post. But i cannot find the actual picture, and I’d like to print it out to doodle on for quilting ideas. I also can’t remember under what EQ file name its saved under, and I have too many EQ quilts to count. This made me realize that things have gotten way out of hand – I’ve been in too much of a fog of disorganziation and . So because this blog is meant to share a quilting journal - I better get back to it before I get to lost.

Here’s a finished top, that I completed a few of weeks ago. Its Lori Smith’s pattern, 30’s sampler. I’m not very happy with how the arrangement of colours turned out – the quilt just looks crowded, with no one place to look at.

This is a good example of why I do some quilts as a block of the month. I rely heavily on EQ for my quilt planning, and with a sampler quilt such as this it really can’t be done. I don’t have a full size design board, and if I did, I’m sure I would have arranged the blocks differently, or chosen colours differently.

I finished up the sampler because I got an itch to start the sampler blocks in the new book Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler. I made myself finish this one, which was hard as I knew it was going in a direction I didn’t much like. The new sampler, which I’m simply calling Elm Creek, will be all blues on an ivory background. Much easier for me to work on, knowing at the end it pretty much has to look right with a one colour scheme.

Now, i should go and do some clean up on the blog lists on the sidebar, and remember to use tags and such so I can better organize my posts!

Baskets of Wishes

Here it is!  Finally done and ready to be delivered to my Mom as her birthday gift.  Based on a pattern called Noel Sampler, Fons & Porter magazine,  Aug-Dec 2005,

New pieced projects….and one quilt top quilted

I thought that I was very slowly working working away at quilting my Mom’s quilt, and I discovered that you really can get a lot done, just 15 or 30 minutes at a time.  On Sunday, the quilting was done, the binding is on now, and I’ve got two weeks – lots of time – to hand sew the back of the binding.

While I was taking my time quilting, the still cool weather got me going on a few new pieced quilt tops.  As my list shows, I do like a lot of variety to choose from :) 

First there is a scrappy quilt from civil war repro fqs and bits and pieces, called Pick and  Choose, from American Patchwork & Quilting.  Here are four sections that will form a block.  There are hundreds (well, maybe not hundreds) of hsts and strips to sew before I can sort them out to put together the blocks.

I got a Dresden Plate finally started, using “twice the charm” strips from Thimbleberries Three’s Company, brights.  No picture here, because I haven’t yet picked out what I”ll be using the for the centre circles.

There is a quilt on the cover of Quilt Sampler from Fall/Winter 2007 that I so liked and have thought about ever since.  Connecting  Threads’ new line, Hearth & Home, was to me just perfect for this pattern  - here’s one block done.  I don’t know why the centre square looks crooked…

Then these baskets-in-waiting.  Six pieced, one filled.  Waiting for there bounty….pattern called Bountiful Baskets by Lydia Quigley at the The Rabbit Factory.  The fruit are fused and machine stitched, but I’m not sure yet if that is the final choice in the applique method.

And, I finally got a drawer stocked with a great selection of solids and black yardage – waiting for that perfect patttern so i can finally make a quilt with solids that I’ve been wanting to try for so long.

One more pattern that I have on my mind is Stardust Serenade from the Rabbit Factory – I’m having trouble deciding on its colours but I’m in no hurry – I’m sure they’ll jump out at me one day.