It's Been a Good Weekend

Not a lot of stitching going on here. Boatloads of family in town for the holiday so busy, busy days. We had a lovely Thanksgiving--so very thankful for the good times.

Muddy Creek progress

Yesterday my sisters, mom and I did the whole Black Friday thing and I got about half my Christmas shopping done. Every year I tell myself how insane it is, but then I see how much I can save and out I go again. This year we were very unhappy with how many sales had been pushed up into Thanksgiving day so other than a fast(ish) trip to our closest Walmart, we skipped the other early sales and took our chances on Friday. Good decision as the lines weren't nearly as crazy as usual. First time I'd been to the Hobby Lobby in our area, but there was no time to thoroughly check out the fabric/sewing section. My first impression was that it's very similar to a Joannes in the types of fabric available? Mostly I was looking for Perle Cotton thread and was very disappointed to see that they only carried neutrals and a red--just like every other store. Guess I'm going to have to find a place online that sells the colored Perle Cotton.  Any ideas?

A Little Hand Work

My youngest daughter and I just got back from Seattle last night. She was one of the lucky students chosen by WIBC to be in one of the honor bands. Such a crazy, intense weekend! Kids are just so amazing with all their talent and drive. {Just two weekends ago my other daughter was in the state cross country meet in Yakima.}

3 rows of bow-ties sewn

Honestly, we can barely keep up with them. Thankfully, there was a bit of notice, so I had my bag of hand work all prepped and ready to go. The rehearsals were all closed doors to visitors which helped me to get a bit sewn here and there. It doesn't look like much, but I now have three complete rows of bow-ties sewn! I really can't believe how easy they are to sew together, but wowsers am I glad I don't have to sew all my quilts this way!

the view out our hotel window

I don't know how we managed, but we ended up with a penthouse suite room on the 13th floor. Yep, lucky us! Except I'm afraid of heights and our hotel had glass elevators on the outside wall of the buildings. lol My daughter loved it though and the view was simply amazing when we weren't fogged in. I just tried to stay waaay back from the window to avoid feeling dizzy and concentrated on practicing stitching that flat knot for all my work on the bow-ties.

Lovely to be home again even if now I'm facing stacks of dirty laundry. Washer repairman will be here tomorrow and then hopefully I can make it through the holiday without having to go to the laundromat fourteen more times. Baking for the Thanksgiving holiday starts tomorrow too! I wonder if the smell of pumpkin pie cooking will slow down the repairman or speed him up?

Geese Tracks and an Improv. Moment

I had some ideas for this geese tracks quilts that just seemed to have floated out the window. Apparently this quilt has a plan of its own! So far I've come up with what's pictured below, but I know it's far from being finished.

Geese Tracks progress--
What I'm looking at now

Probably a good thing when a quilt gets bossy as I don't know what I'm doing half the time anyway. I took my blocks and laid them out on the floor the other day (my best thinking spot at times) and then started playing with fabrics. I spied that lacy looking black/white fabric and immediately started thinking 'what if' and 'oh yeah, what about sashing?' If you're like me, you totally understand the lure of sashing. It somehow has the ability to add an instant antique/vintage quality that I love.

On my design, um... floor

Only a fat quarter of the lacy looking fabric to work with, so that was a bit limiting. Still, I forged ahead like it would all work out regardless. This improv. thing can get pretty intense and maybe even a little addictive--I do so love to play. And how is it that I didn't even know I was doing improv. on this particular quilt? This time for sure I simply got caught up in the idea of doing and just went with the momentum. {Gulp. There will be probably be a day I wish I could hit the rewind on that.}

Okay, moving on. I love the idea of a primitive looking flower in shadowy colors, and betwen that and my stack of gray and black fabrics, it ended up being a design element. I couldn't find the right color gray in my stash for the middle of the flower, so I flipped a fabric over and used the back side. Since I didn't want the stems of the flower to be too perfect looking, I just cut a free shape out with scissors and then used that for my base pattern. I wish my final stems could have been choppier looking, but I really don't want raw edges in this quilt.

Up on the design wall playing with the applique

That free shape--ughh. I figured out quickly that it's not nearly as much fun to stitch the stems when they're rough cut and you actually have to turn the seams back on both sides. Oh well. I weathered through and now I have something that is really starting to intrigue me. Don't you just love when that happens? And you might or might not have noticed, but my sashing doesn't quite meet properly there on the top left corner and I've pondered that a bit. Does it look too sloppy? My theory is (for now anyway), that imperfections will add to the overall whimsical theme I hope to continue to develop. Hmmm...

Linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching. Very fitting post about slowing down and enjoying the moments in your day. lol

More on the St. Paul Blocks

Progress is being made on the St. Paul blocks! I decided to give chain piecing a go with these blocks as that always works up very quickly, piecing them in the diagonal segments first. I will fuss with the set-in seams at the end. ha ha That's me, saving the best for last.

St. Paul block progress

It took some time, but really, this part is going together very well. I always have to wonder about my color scheme while I'm in the (sewing) moment, but really, how could I not love my antique looking cream/black print? And oldish looking blues with orange, old golds and cheddar? Yum. A quilt with these colors has been on my list for years and years.

More piecing progress!

It's funny how you don't even know something exists and then once you realize, you see it everywhere. I was browsing through Quilter Blogs.com the other day and stumbled on this post. She calls this block the 'Lady of the Lake' block and references another old name it's known by as 'Galahad's Shield'. Like I said in a previous post, I found my pattern in an old quilt book, but you can also find it online at Quilters Cache. They suggest paper piecing it over there which of course I always avoid like the plague.*wink

The old ironing board cover

On a completely different note, I finally decided enough was enough. Time to do something about my nasty ironing board cover which seemed to be getting worse every second of the day. In my defense, I've been looking for a plain old muslin ironing board cover for months. And no, I didn't want to spend my precious quilting time sewing one. Do I seem that ambitious? lol

The new improved ironing board cover

Nor did I want a flashy ironing board cover either! Plain Jane suits me just fine when it comes to things like this. So very convenient to find this one at Crate & Barrel with free shipping. Not muslin, but still kinda vintage looking in it's own way. Now why didn't I think to look on the Net in the first place is what I want to know?

Prep, Prep, Prep

So much prep just to get started sometimes! I have been wanting to make another subdued looking applique centerpiece and the fabric I got from Ellen was the perfect spark to get going.

Muddy Creek prep

I love the purpley browns especially--so very wonderful to me. I drew up a basic plan to figure out how many leaves I need etc. and then cut rotary cut rectangles. I cut the leaves out (freehand) from those rectangles, skipping the tracing step completely! Love that, but now I need to go back and trim up my leaves because some of them aren't the exact shape I want--working on auto-pilot will do that to you!

Cutting the leaves

I still can't believe I cut the linen out of the backs of my Happy Flowers. Talk about working on auto-pilot. It took me a little while to get all the fray check on the edges of the linen, but I do think it's going to work out better in the long run. As you can see, I also zigzagged the edges of the block, so it's official now. I don't like the extra steps, the extra thinking things through, being careful etc. Mixing linen and quilting is not my thing, no matter how pretty and supple this fabric feels to me!

Adding fray check to the linen

I've also started cutting out Dresden wedges for my Flying Geese and Flowers quilt. The Dresden block is so timeless, it almost seems crazy to use it in this particular quilt! Oh well, I'm hoping to make them out of this stack of scrappy pinks and that way they will look kinda fun and give the quilt a little extra 'pop' of color too. My red, white and blue quilt has definitely morphed into something a little different!

Cutting out my Dresden wedges

I do love making things as scrappy as possible, adding in the maximum amount of different fabrics I think a quilt will allow. It really gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to dig to the bottom of my totes, find fabric that has never played well, and then give it a good place in one of my quilts. Scrappy quilting just seems to lend itself well to disguising older, less exciting fabrics if you're willing to make the effort. And I am, because it's just that charming mix of old and new that I love the most about quilts!

I Thought I Knew How it Was Going to Look

Lots going on this weekend. We finally had the birthday party for my youngest--13 yrs. old! Now we have 4 teenagers all at the same time. Crazy stuff. I did get my geese tracks blocks sewn together and thrown up on the wall. Hm... Not sure about this yet. I really did think I knew what I was doing when I planned out my colors!

Geese Tracks on the wall

There is going to be black in the rest of the quilt so I thought a little would be good, but now I'm thinking it's a bit stark. All the backgrounds are a very light gray which comes off as white in these pictures.

6-1/2" Geese Tracks blocks

Definitely going to have to consider this one a bit more before I take off on the rest of my quilt idea. Oh well, it's not like I don't have anything else to work on.*wink

Hand Quilting Is So Much More Than the Time Involved

Hand quilting on the Gold and Red Quarter Triangle quilt is moving along very well now. I finished up the centerpiece and moved on to the surrounding blocks quick as a wink.

Gold and Red Qtr. Triangles in the hoop

(Still laughing...!) It always feels so exciting to move on from the center and initially there's this boost of pure energy (at least there is for me). 'Hey, I am making real progress here!'. But then, as I stitch and stitch away at my quilt, it sinks in that the rest of the quilt is actually the major work of the quilt. Oh yeah, how could I possibly forget that little piece of information?

A very simply quilted centerpiece

So funny because it happens to me every single time! I really make an effort to think of my hand quilting as quality time, something to relax into and just enjoy for the pure pleasure of stitching. The rhythmic sound and feel of the needle sliding in and out of the fabric, the contemplative state I reach so very quickly no matter the frustrations of everyday life, the lovely drape of the quilt across my lap, the visual feast of soaking up the various fabrics and fabric combinations, even the slow forward moving progress--it's something I want to look forward to for years to come without any negative influence to hinder my gratification.

Love looking at the stitching on a pieced back

That's why I try not to count the hours involved in a finish or make pressure with a deadline. But... every now and then I just can't help myself. Do you realize that if I keep on stitching at the current rate I've been stitching, I have approximately 33 frames left to quilt on just this quilt alone? 

It takes me about 1 1/2 hours to stitch a full frame (with the pattern I'm currently stitching) give or take how many interruptions I get from my loving family wanting help with homework or a fresh bowl of popcorn etc. That means I have about 50 hrs. worth of stitching left to do--not even close to being finished up girl! Yep. It can be very deflating when you look at it that way.

But who really cares? That's not the point. It really can't be if we want to quilt by hand. The reality is, we're going to have to ignore that part of the equation if we ever expect to enjoy slow quilting. So we'll make a few less quilts than someone else. Big deal. It's the process that matters. The finished product. And honestly, it's really about what quilting means in the big picture--just slowing down in order to enjoy (and savor) the ride. Quilting is sooo made up of many, many small moments. And too, isn't it a wonderful thing to be a part of many, many generations worth of hand craftsmanship?

Partial St. Paul Blocks and Sheer Madness

I picked up a oldish quilting book at a second hand store earlier in the summer. A block called 'St. Paul' almost jumped off the page at me while I was flipping through and that's all it takes for me to buy a cheap quilting book. Seriously, it had a really interesting antique-ish look to it that I looove, but looking closer at the details was all it took to kill my enthusiasm. Set-in seams? Not for this girl...

Partial St. Paul blocks ready to start sewing...

Then Ellen over at Little Jewel Quilts starting posting about her Winding Ways blocks which have a similar look to the St. Paul blocks. That made me go back and take another long look. Hmmm... Maybe? Just a few?  I considered a stack of fabric that I have been having difficulty finding a pattern for. I waffled about and then finally I made a test block because obviously I was taken over by alien life forces that day.

The first two test blocks

The St. Paul block actually has more piecing on each side of the block which sets it on-point--not what I wanted for this quilt. So.. after more consideration,  I graphed it out and made a much larger block just using the portion of the block that I liked. Well..., then it lost it's antique-ish look, the main draw for me. Once again, everything went on hold and I worked on other stuff. Besides, I do know my limitations and set-in seams are for the more experienced sewist. Even I know that.

Back to the original size and now sewn up in
my chosen colors....

Until one day I guess I forgot about my limitations. Because I just jumped in and started tracing the templates onto fabric and cutting like a mad-woman. I think my hand still hurts from wielding the scissors so much. It's beyond me how I ended up in this predicament. Who is this woman and what happened to her in the past several years? lol  You'll notice my first (blue & orange) blocks turned out okay. Not terrific because the seams are too smooshed together in the center. The second block is a bit better but then I have a wrinkly look towards the outside of the block. There is definitely room for improvement. Hello? We're talking about me and set-in seams, which I always avoid like the plague. Obviously....

Giving a Quilt Away

I think it's healthy to give some of our quilts away. There are years that I give less away than others 'cuz basically I'm a selfish person and want to keep them all to myself! Some quilts start out being made specifically for a certain person and other quilts kind of evolve into being someone else's quilt whether I intend for that to happen or not.*wink

My fall throw--
Bloom Where You Are Planted

This quilt quickly became someone else's quilt. The more I worked on it, the more I realized that it needed to go live somewhere else and nothing else would do for it. I think for me, it's like spreading a little love and appreciation around with those that I care about so usually I can come to terms with a quilt that's determined to ditch me. It's a balance though. I rarely give away a quilt that has seen hundreds of hours of detailed work. Once, years ago, I saw a quilt I had gifted laying on the floor for the dogs bedding. A favored dog for sure, but still, what a lesson. Once a quilt has been gifted, It's. Not. Ours. Anymore.

Perle Cotton around the applique

So that's why I tend to machine quilt the ones I give away--a few less hours involved in the making. I'm trying to get better at that and I've definitely discovered the joys of avoiding crossing over previously stitched areas. Umm... yeah, it's seems to help me eliminate the unsightly puckered look! lol

It finished up approx. 50" x 65"

I had a goal in mind to finish this quilt by Thanksgiving and then, well.., things changed. I decided to put a rush on things. Which turned out to be a good decision. I made it, I gave it and I cried. Quilts and friendships are a complicated thing, aren't they....

A Little Progress and a Couple New Starts

Still working on the pickle dish/wedding ring arcs here and there. I try to remember and change out my needle after I'm done because the paper dulls it so quickly. (I do re-use the needle for the paper piecing though in case you were wondering.)

More yummy arcs

I seem to be in the mood for starting projects so I decided to just roll with it. I'm back to playing with my very light gray fabrics again. We'll see if I can make anything interesting from this fabric!

Geese tracks pieces

I cut out some smaller geese track blocks thinking they will make a good centerpiece for an applique quilt I am trying to get figured out. Only for about six months now! Occasionally I am a class A ditherer. Before I ever cut into fabric for a new project I will have fabric in and out of stacks and numerous papers scribbled over with plain old gibberish. You just don't see that because it's all behind the scenes.*wink

Some treasured fabrics

What helped me jump into the geese tracks/applique project was when I remembered the small bag of my grandmas fabric that I have stashed away for 'special' projects. Adding the green and red fabric into the mix finally made everything 'click' for me and I felt that prickling sensation of pure delight in my fabric combinations! I think it really helped sharpen the blend of fabric I was already auditioning and of course--grandmas fabrics? Always very sentimental and special anyway.

Rolling Stone block progress

Then because cutting out fabric is so much fun--NOT! I decided to quit agonizing over how to do the rolling stone blocks for my Scrap Basket and just do it. The background color was giving me fits and I. Could. Not. Decide. Until I did, at about 12:30 one night (very early morning) just before I fell asleep. lol Like I said, I'm just gonna roll with it....

Perfect Colors For the Season

It always feels so good to work with fall colors during the season. It just feels right. You know how some people have oodles of black shirts, pants, skirts and sweaters? Well, I am the girl that wears brown instead. Oh yeah, bring on the brown! And the greens, red and orange...

Fall Throw

My Fall Throw quilt top is together now. It's one of those projects that I know I could do better with, but well..., it's a throw. It's a thinking-of-you gift. Does it really have to stop people in their tracks so they wonder who the brilliant quilter is that put it together?*wink (Still laughing at that one.) But still, I'm not 100% happy with it because I did settle on some of the fabrics and I know that even if no-one else never would. The color might be a tish strong on the border and the outside corner half square triangles are a bit off too. It's definitely not perfect! Seriously though, I'm calling it good. Mostly because I have other projects that are pulling on me a lot harder than this one ever will and basically, I am happy with it. Okay, nice to have that all squared away with my conscious.

Little Tumblers

This little tumbler quilt was sandwiched, pinned, and machine quilted in slightly less than two hours. I know. AMAZing. Still wondering why I don't do that more often. I'm loving how it looks on my very ratty end table in my living room. Been married for 22 years and wow, has that end table seen every single year. Maybe some day I'll get ambitious and pitch it out into the yard? lol Looks like my mini quilt will help me avoid that decision for at least another year though....

The Forever Project is Moving Into the Next Phase

This will have to be a quick post 'cuz it's Sunday and there's a lot going on around here. I thought I had finished sewing all my bow-tie blocks together and then....

hand pieced bow-ties

well... I obviously don't know how to count. Five blocks short, can you believe that? (The short row is cut off in the picture.) I went ahead and laid them out on the floor to see what they looked like all together. Hmm... That was an experience. It literally took me two hours to make something look good decent. Sometimes I wonder if I even know what I'm doing? The last 5 blocks will have to wait for when I get closer to the last row because I just want to move on. For now, I'm going to be learning how to piece these things together into proper looking rows. Wish me luck! Once again, it's time to link up to Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday!

Happy Flowers and Other Fun Stuff

Still working on my happy flowers. I have the applique done on the blocks now and then I decided to sew a double zigzag around the blocks. It really needed it. That linen--it's definitely going to want to fray on me! I made the mistake of cutting out from behind the applique, which was fine for the cotton. Not so much for the linen though. I think I'd better fray check all those edges just to be sure before I continue on with the quilt.

Happy Flowers

After I put these blocks up on the wall and stared at them for a day or two, I made an executive decision to make five more blocks. Having too many square quilts just gets frustrating to me and it feels good to mix it up occasionally! So far I'm really enjoying these blocks, especially while I'm working on them. (Maybe I'll just keep on making them forever or until I run out of fabric? lol) It's only when I put them on the wall and view them in different light that I start to wonder.  Hmm... You know, these colors could be just a wee bit tough to work with...

My oldest daughter--can't believe she's a senior.....

I wanted to throw in a quick picture of my daughter. She got the first session of her senior pictures done and as she was headed out the door, she turned around and grabbed one of my quilts for a prop--her idea! Guaranteed to make her momma love her pics, no matter what.*wink

Lovely, lovely  fabric!

And then, yesterday this little stack of loveliness came in the mail! Ellen from Little Jewel Quilts sent it to me after I didn't win her giveaway awhile back! hehe Thank you Ellen! She wrote in her note that she hoped these fabrics were something I could use. Oh boy, can I ever! My brain is already spinning with ideas. Gotta love the kindness and generosity of the quilting community!