Catching Up

Somehow I've managed to drag it out to a solid two weeks between posts again. My dryer broke down, my good Bernina has been having problems and oh yeah, we left town to attend a very good friends funeral. Ughh. That pretty much knocked the wind out of me as she was very close to my age. Such a good person. We were friends for years starting with the fact that I happened to share the same name with her mom. Then our husbands were wild and crazy friends and somehow that brought about an introduction. We got married the same year, had kids in the same timeframe, etc. etc. So many shared life experiences. Sometimes the world is just not fair.

4-Block Tulip Medallion quilt is a true blue finish!

In the realm of quilting, which I know you're really all here for, things have been plodding along in fits and starts. Finally got the 4-Block Tulip Medallion all sorted out and finished up. Yes, the flowers in the baskets are much more 'Carolina Lily' than tulips, but the outside flowers are more tulips than lily.

Loving the plaid basket

I can't find the exact starting date to this quilt, but it was probably in the year 2019. {The top was finished up last year}. The fabrics were stacked up and waiting for love for at least two-three years before that, so yeah, it's an old project. Goes with that old fashioned vibe, right? Totally don't regret putting in the time though. I am in love with the end result. So sweet looking.

Lots of older fabrics used up in this quilt!

I could always tell that there was just too much goodness in that mix of fabrics to give it up completely--as I randomly do sometimes. It's not uncommon for there to be 10 or more stacks of fabric marinating all at once in the quilt room {sometimes 15!} and how can I possibly get the point of using every single one of them? After a long period of time with zero action taken, then I often find myself questioning the potential for ending up with something amazing. This time my reluctance to give up was a good thing.

Still happy with the graphic-look border addition

I've been especially slow this year in brand new quilt starts so I know it's probably time to throw a couple of those percolating stacks right back into the stash. Must make time to dig through them all and start second guessing how good some of those ideas are. I'm just not sure if it's the fabric stacks or the endless amounts of distractions slowing me down recently. Will look through the stacks soon and see which ones still have sufficient zing in them to continue taking up prime real-estate in the quilt room. And in my brain? No sense pondering for ideas if the fabrics aren't doing it for me anymore.

Tulips are never a bad idea

This quilt looked so good hanging out in the quilt room that I almost didn't get the binding on it right away. Such a cheerful view when I first walked in. Too bad it's not smaller or I'd definitely be putting it on the wall! I wondered about putting the year '2021' on the quilt top when finishing up last year, but I'm not unhappy with it at all. Just gives it a nice little folky touch.

Sometimes I just wanna take a nap in my quilting room

We had also had made plans to fly out to Oklahoma to visit our daughter before everything got sidetracked. Totally a bummer that isn't working out for right now. I was well on my way to getting the applique prepped on the #AHIQColor Palette challenge though, thinking it might be a good visiting project. Oh well. I probably wouldn't have gotten much done anyway, other than in the airports!

Doesn't look like much, but it's a start!

These blocks are quite large and so I kept raiding the newspaper basket for templates. At some point my husband noticed and offered up a roll of protective sheeting he occasionally uses in his construction business. Umm, really? This could be a mistake when he can't find the roll where it belongs in the garage! It's a super nice product though and worked really well for my purposes. Who knew?

These flowers will NOT be brown

One of the highlights of the past two weeks was this package that arrived in the mail one day. Terry from California sent me oodles of perle cotton #8 and #12 for use in my quilting. Some partially used and lots of them brand new. Apparently she has moved on to using another thread and offered these up if I was interested. Uh huh. VERY interested! I'm telling you, it was like Christmas, I was feeling so enthused. Just couldn't quit smiling that day! Thank you Terry, you are the best!!

Quilters are so generous!

A while back one of my nieces posted a pic on Instagram of her new decor in the hallway of their new-to-them little house. I'd always sort of worried that this quilt might be a bit 'too yellow' for gifting, but this just made my heart sigh with pleasure. Now I want a sunny quilt hanging in my hallway too!

This is one of the reasons why I gift quilts to 
the right people. She did not do this for me!

There's currently two quilts with the binding machine stitched down and ready for the hand stitching effort. One of them will be gifted fairly quickly after finishing up, but there's no rush at the moment. I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of doing another set of quilt meetings at our church, starting in January 2023. It feels like a ton of extra work, but I always come back to the camaraderie involved. That part is fairly irresistible. I'll probably try to find out what the level of interest is before I wade in too far.

Getting closer and closer to the finish line!

My daughter almost talked me into making a spur of the moment baby quilt in the last couple weeks and thankfully I resisted. After working on the beginnings of the #AHIQColorPalette quilt and dreaming up all the applique motifs, it dawned on me that this is what I need most right now. Something new and challenging, open-ended and bright with possibilities. Nothing made to order or any pressure to please. Crossing my fingers for enough time to get something interesting going!

Quilty Folk Hand Quilting With Perle Cotton Basics--Part #3 An Enthusiast's Guide to Choosing Thread Color

Hand quilting beginners often ask about appropriate thread colors for their projects. How do you know which colors to use or not to use? As always, I defer to the default of doing whatever looks best to YOU. Because that's really the very best barometer for ending up with a finish that you'll love and appreciate. It doesn't matter what I think if you don't end up liking the results! For the purposes of this series though, I will try to explain the 'Quilty Folk' look.

I gain much inspiration by way of viewing antique quilts, but to my surprise, quickly found that hand quilting with only traditional cream thread, became quite boring in terms of 'doing'. My philosophy in choosing thread color is quite simple. I want it to bring joy. It shouldn't overshadow the quilt in any way, but simply provide just another bit of soft, sweet interest. Hand quilting with perle cotton thread can be very addictive if you love chunky thread stitching. Why not make it even better by taking advantage of all the beautiful colors of thread available?

Auditioning thread colors for the Improv. Strips Quilt #1

If I'm going to put in the time and effort of hand quilting, then I unquestionably intend for the stitches to show up. Right? Not compete with the quilt design in any way, but accent and complement. First, I like to to start with the obvious-- thread colors that match the various colors in the quilt. Sometimes it helps to audition them by laying a long thread across a specific area where it will potentially end up. 

Sometimes you won't use all of the colors you've initially chosen. I tend to use between 4-6 thread colors {maybe 8 or more if it's complex} in every quilt. In the quilt above, I never could find a good spot for two of the threads, no matter how pretty they seemed to look in theory. And that's okay. If the quilt doesn't want them, then I definitely won't want to force anything.

Possible thread colors for the 4-Block Tulip Medallion

When I choose a specific thread color for a certain area in a quilt, then you can be sure that I'll use it consistently throughout the whole quilt. If the red thread is meant to outline the triangles in the basket elements of the quilt, then it's going to have to work for every one of those triangles. Rarely do I make individual {custom} choices as to thread, for similar spots. It's just too confusing when it comes to doing the actual stitching. Plus, I love the continuity of the same thread colors popping throughout the quilt. It's a less chaotic look overall and so much more soothing to the eye when it doesn't have to jump around trying to figure out what is going on here or there. If my triangles range from very light to very dark fabrics, then I might, possibly? use two shades of the same color of thread, but only if a single best color remains super elusive. Usually there is something that will end up being a good compromise!

The best way to know if a color of thread is right for the quilt is to just get started stitching. It's pretty obvious within that 17" x 17" frame whether or not a thread color is looking 'flat' or if it is subtlety improving the look of the entire quilt. You just know. And yes, it's annoying to spend an evening basically auditioning thread in your hoop over and over for an hour or so. After it's all figured out though, the rest of the stitching should be a breeze! If a thread is not being good humored about being included in your precious quilt, now is the time to rip it out and try a new color! If it kind of shines and makes you feel happy, then leave it--you've found the perfect spot for that specific thread. 

An interesting thing about thread is how it reflects back depending on where it's placed on the quilt. Some threads will look wonderful in one area of a quilt and fairly bland in another spot. Try a darker, lighter or brighter shade in the other spot. You'll also find that the lightest colors in every color thread almost always look 'white-ish' after being stitched, but much, much softer. Same principle with the darkest colors of thread in each colorway. They will look 'black-ish' yet not nearly as stark. This is a very nuanced step to take, but so much fun when it works out well! Anything that causes even a subtle 'jarring' in my quilts is a big 'no thank you'! In most cases, you can easily find the extreme {as to making the perfect accent stitch} without ever resorting to true white or solid black and it doesn't take any extra time either.

Red perle cotton

Here's a little bit about every color that might possibly be used as thread color in my quilts. I've listed many of the favorites below for those specifically interested in those details.

A lot of quilts welcome a pop of red colored thread. The rosy red ones are absolutely delectable! And don't even get me started on the variegated red Valdani threads....

• DMC #321--classic red 
• Valdani #534--variegated tomato red and med. brown
• DMC #309 and/or All brands--any shade of cherry red 
• All brands--any shade of coral red
• Valdani #775--dark rose or turkey red
• Valdani #O523--variegated dark cherry red

Pink perle cotton

Oh pink threads, you have won my heart. I want ALL the shades. If you have applique flowers in quilts, you'll probably love seeing a bit of pink thread here and there!

• Finca--any shade of salmon pink. They call them mauve, geranium and cyclamen
• All brands--any shade of bubblegum pink, from lightest to darkest
• DMC #754--shell pink
• Valdani #M14 or Perle Iris brand {no number}--variegated hot pink to lighter pink 
• Valdani #JP5--variegated light rose

Green perle cotton

Mostly I just want a rich pop of color to accent appliqued leaves etc. Don't even worry about matching, just buy the bold green shades that catch your eye! I do get in trouble buying the lighter sour green shades. They are so intriguing, but in the end, I generally prefer using a tan or cream variegated color instead.

• All brands--any med. shade of lime green
• All brands--any shade of grass green
• All brands--med. to dark shades of emerald green
• All brands--any shade of teal green, from lightest to darkest
• Valdani #JP12--variegated light sea green 
• Valdani #548--variegated dark moss green

Brown, gold, orange and mustard perle cotton

I simply can't keep enough mustard or dark brown thread on hand. Probably just need to start buying in bulk! The darker mustard shade gets used up especially fast. I don't use a lot of medium brown thread unless it is rust or bronze colored or mixed with the darkest of browns. Not a lot of orange, but if it's necessary, I much prefer more mellow shades.

• Finca #8072--Dark topaz which is a strong, darker mustard color
• All brands--any shade of mustard
• All brands--any of the darkest shades of brown
• Valdani #P11--variegated brown to black
• Valdani #P12--variegated med brown to dark brown
• Sue Spargo Eleganz #EZ08--deep purple brown
• Valdani #67--light rusty orange
• Finca #1485--cantaloupe
• Valdani #JP7--light orange to gold

Purple perle cotton

I use a lots and lots of violet. So much prettier than true purple! The lightest and darkest colors get used up really fast.

• Valdani #P8--variegated violet rose
• Valdani #P10--antique violet
• Valdani #PT13--dark violet with hints of blue {my absolute fave, swoon!}
• All brands--any shades of lavender
• Valdani #M2--variegated rose to dark violet
• All brands--any shade of violet

Black and gray perle cotton

Just plan on keeping some black thread on hand. It's hard to buy the black and brown shades when you love color as much as I do, but there's some beautiful perle cotton in every color! I much, much prefer the softer blacks than the stark black threads that are so much easier to find.

• Valdani #H211--variegated blue black
• Valdani #O511--dark charcoal
• Valdani #O548--variegated black to khaki
• Valdani #O501--variegated black to dark brown
• All brands--any shade of gray from lightest to darkest
• Valdani #O538--variegated gray to cream

Blue perle cotton

I don't even know how people quilt without blue thread, especially turquoise. The color I probably use the least is royal blue. All the lighter variegated blues are just a fun pick when white or cream refuses to act happy in a quilt. 

• All brands--any shade of turquoise. I use every single shade over and over again.
• All brands--lightest of blues
• DMC #823--classic dark navy
• Valdani #O515--deep blue
• All brands--any shade of navy
• All brands--any shade of Caribbean blue

Light neutral perle cotton

I didn't realize how decimated my stock of cream, light tan and soft gold threads was! The last couple years I've been plowing through the thread and rarely buying new. Though I use colored thread every chance I get, invariably there's a spot in many quilts where a light neutral is the only thing that looks right. I admit to completely crushing on the variegated threads and tend to ignore the solid cream and tan threads.

• Any brand--soft white
• Valdani #P4--aged white
• Valdani #11--soft gold
• Valdani #JP4--variegated ivory, lightest tan and light gray
• Valdani #M14--variegated soft white to light cream
• Valdani #514--variegated cream to soft gold
• Valdani #O576--variegated gold, yellow, tan

Thread color should be a delicious little addition to the quilt, an extra detail that helps to bring the quilt up to the next level. That being said, if you run out of a certain color of thread, go ahead and substitute the next closest thing you have available. Only the pickiest of observers will ever even notice the difference!

When in doubt, use mustard. Not working? How about a  a dark brown color of thread, a soft white, or perhaps a cream to gold variegated thread? These specific shades tend to transcend the complexity of any quilt and give it a soft, ageless quality. If nothing seems to be working, try colors that aren't even in the quilt. Yes, really. Once in awhile, the answer is the absolute unexpected.

You'll notice that I include a lot of variegated threads in the lists of favorite colors. Don't be scared of them! They work really hard in areas of echo quilting and allover stitching. Sometimes you just want certain areas to not 'pop' quite as much as other areas, but they still need something that won't be completely lost to the eye. Variegated threads can also give the stitching a wonderful sense of surprise as they constantly change in color, intensifying and/or fading away. 

While I adore the Kantha style of stitching, for the most part I want the stitching to be an added layer. I'd rather people see the quilt first, then zero in on little details that make up the whole. Using Perle Cotton #8 or #12 thread is a absolutely a great way to quickly intensify the texture in a quilt. Using good, strong and/or soft colored threads in all the appropriate places, makes that texture extra sweet. It adds charms and helps level up the cozy factor. As you gain experience in hand quilting with perle cotton, it will be easier and easier to recognize the specific colors and shades of thread that make you happy. 

Part #4, 'Quilting Design and The Cozy Look' will hopefully be ready in a couple days and then we can get back to regular posting!

August Update

Decisions, decisions. It was either take the time to go quilt or take the time to actually write a post. Today I decided the post had to come first. 

Seedpod Flower quilt top is done!

What can I say about this quilt top? You already know that the flower itself was kind of an impulse, use-up-the-abandoned-bits sort of start. 

The full view

You also know that the inspiration pic was one that I fell head over heels in love with a very long time ago. Or did you? Regardless, I'm pretty impressed to actually see this interpretation finally come to reality. I do so adore a scrappy, utilitarian sort of look!

Scrappy goodness

I suppose this quilt would have looked fine without the Seedpod Flower center. Maybe. At this point I can't even imagine the quilt without it though. Once I wrapped my mind around how it all needed to fit together, then the top went together relatively easily. The anxiety and avoidance up to that point was stupid. Why do I always tend to overthink?

Trying to UP the 'busyness' factor with the prints this time!

All the economy blocks are the same size which means the horizontal rows are the exact same width. That was an important detail moving forward. The random placement thus relies strictly upon the differences in the various lengths of the connecting rectangles. 

A new color palette for me, but somehow it seems to work!

While they are not nearly as tall as the ones used in the inspiration picture, these started out from the scraps leftover from cutting the economy blocks. That was a good place to start. Hard to throw away the very narrow ones!  And so... determining approx. vertical measurements for the connecting rectangles became unexpectedly very simple. After all, I really didn't want the differences to be super extreme. A couple inches at most and there I was. Easy peasy.

Looking across...

Crazy how the bright, sparky applique addition to the inside border brightens everything up. I do wish the very slight, lighter blue outline above the curves still showed, but it ended up being turned under for seam allowance. This was just another one of those impulse rabbit trails that turned out to be a wonderful idea in the end. Sometimes it's nearly impossible to keep myself from traveling down the path of 'I wonder if x, y, or z would make things look better....'. 

Sometimes it works to the good and other times I find out that it's clearly wasted time. Never really know till you try though! I love how the yellow in the applique surround is more citrus than the rest of the yellow golds in the quilt. Yet it works as a very definitive framing for the Seedpod Flower, which of course, is the star of the entire quilt. Why not emphasize that even more!

This quilt top has a very distinctive mood, one that I can't quite put a proper label to. Is it retro? Vintage? Does it just convey fond memories of my grandmothers house dresses or perhaps it was the aprons she wore? Whatever it is, the mood as a whole, brings a smile to my face every time. 

Working on Spring Flowers

Another project that I've been spending time on in Spring Flowers. After seeing how washed out the flowers looked, I decided they needed a little bit of pzazz added in somewhere. After debating several different ideas {most of them ridiculously complex}, I ended up going with a very simple rail fence sort of block as the alternate. Lots of turquoise used to wake things up, but I also made sure to add insome clashy blue. For value and interest of course. There's just something about doing the unpredictable that always strongly appeals to me when it comes to quilting! The long narrow strips of the cream background fabric were added in after I realized that the flowers now needed some breathing room. So glad I had enough of that particular fabric because everything else just looked sloppy.

Auditioning border ideas

The brown and light cream striped fabric was something that I locked onto early on in auditioning border ideas. There's just something about a good striped border that speaks to me. Lots of ideas in play until abruptly I was completely done with dithering. The pink/rose fabrics were totally scrapped and simplicity became the name of the game. While I kept the strong chrome yellow, narrow, inner border {the blendy mustard gold fabric that seemed obvious was boring}, everything else got stripped down to basics. Will see how this border turns out in the end, but the thrill was just gone. Oh, and all the other orphan bits were dumped back into the totes too. So done with this particular project.Time to move on when it's not fun anymore!

Peachy Cameo in the hoop

The hand quilting is moving quite slowly on Peachy Cameo, but there's nothing very complex about what I'm doing. Sensing a theme here? One last hoop on the blue circle areas and then I'll be working on the two outside borders. I think they both will fit into one hoop {as far as width} so that's good. We're entering the long, long home stretch!

A closer look

As you can see, I often take the clamp off of one side when hand quilting. In this case, two of the blue 'circles' are right where the clamp would be, making it impossible to quilt in that area if it were to be attached. Honestly, I don't know if this is laziness or efficiency, but with this sort of quilting, having one clamp off is rarely a problem. The funny thing is, after all these years of working with only Perle Cotton thread and a long needle, my stitches are getting smaller. Still not super close together, but it's not exactly big stitching any longer. Oh well. Love the look regardless. All that instant texture is very addicting!

Will try to catch up with my emails and reading and/or commenting on other blogs in the next couple days. Have seen several posts in the Bloglover app that feel important to comment on, but the time simply hasn't been there. With time being diminished for quilting around here, often times there's really only one choice!

Be Still My Heart, I Have a New Lap Quilt

Another finish today! Apparently I'm in the mode. This little quilt somehow snuck it's way into the lineup and just demanded to be. I've long been a fan of Victoria Gertenbach's thread work, but knew I didn't have her artistic flare {go back further on her blog to see even more beautifully done hand work}. So then, when I saw Svetlana's simple, yet lovely quilt, it somehow became 'the quilt'.

Be Still, my new lap quilt

You know about these. The quilts that somehow light a fire of determination where you really didn't know there was enough intensity to even light a match in the first place? Yep. Off I went on my quest to find the perfect pepper cotton fabric. I love how supple the fabric is and how it shines in proper lighting. Also, I was already imagining a cheater way of making the quilt. How about a subtle print that would preclude me from having to mark for stitching lines? If this quilt was going to bully it's way into the lineup, then it certainly didn't need to monopolize all my precious quilting time for the next forever.*wink

Such lovely texture

With pepper cotton fabric apparently on its way out, Just found out it's still available online! I was very limited in color selection, but found myself delighted with the soft seafoam green I found. The backing fabric was a much tougher selection as I didn't want anything to detract from the simplicity of the entire [wholecloth} quilt look. I finally settled on a charcoal fabric with lines of indiscriminate black text. I actually love that the words are indecipherable.

Love, love, love looking at this quilt

Not having to mark my fabric made the hand quilting go very quickly. I ended up using nine different balls of #8 and #12 Perle Cotton thread, some variegated and others plain. The biggest struggle with the entire quilt was the fact that I was having to worry about the consistency of how the stitching was showing up on the backside of the quilt {the green side}, which in fact would eventually become the front side of the quilt. At least in my eyes!

Ooh, how annoying to realize that my normal pattern of stitching is more of a longish stitch {or two or three} and then a very small, little nod to the idea of a stitch. I think it's the long needle I use for the thicker Perle Cotton that makes my rocking motion a lot random that way. More taking out of stitching than I'd like to admit too, but it didn't really interfere with my excitement at seeing this quilt take shape. {And really, lets stop pretending that my stitching will ever be anything close to flawless or that I'd even want it that way if I could somehow convince my fingers to cooperate....}

A closer look at the print fabric backing

I also took extra time trying to find the 'perfect' binding fabric for this quilt. I knew I didn't want a red or other bright colored fabric, but did spend lots of time in my cream and then eventually, the yellow/gold fabric tote playing with possibilities. After a mostly disappointing search in most all of my fabric totes, I finally decided to look in the purple/lavender tote. Imagine my surprise when the fabric that jumped out at me was a brownish purple plaid? It had all the elements I was looking for, including a bit of lightness to subtly break up the long line of color on the outside of the quilt.

Indeed, I almost went for a cream binding initially, but just couldn't make myself be convinced the quilt looked the better for it! This mellow, toned down plaid somehow brings the entire quilt together in a way that I love and adore. It makes it unmistakably my quilt, which is quite a feat in such a simple, basic quilt! I mean seriously, how many components are there to quibble over? I remain amazed at how much every single quilt has to teach if we try to pay proper attention to what's it's trying to tell us.

Working on border blocks for two different quilts

My family pretty much thinks I went a little bonkers. 'Mom, it's so plain?' And it didn't help that I kept calling it my 'boring' quilt while chuckling like well, I actually was having real mental slippage. I'm sure at least a few of you understand how much fun I was having...

Saturday was more normal in terms of attitude towards my quilting--I had the gift of a very long day of piecing work, of which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was marvelous to play with the fabric and all the lovely colors, just chain stitching away and not having to think anything through. These will end up being the borders on two similar but different projects. I don't know why I'm working in pairs these days, but whatever works, right?

December Quilty 365 Linkup

For all the Quilty 365 people, I just want to hang my head and say 'nothing to see here' this month! The only thing accomplished with these blocks during the month of November was a sort-of, possibly, maybe-it-might-be-definite layout plan. Which is slightly better than nothing, but still. I am a bit embarrassed by the extreme lack of progress here.

Stacks of circles for Quilty 365

I planned the time carefully when there would be nobody home but me. That's important around here with a massive living room takeover! Had all the blocks laid out in the living room floor--some half hiding under the couch and on the other side of the quilt, overlapping the next block over so as to remember there was actually an outside row. Things get complicated when there are oodles of blocks and plenty of seam allowance to deal with!

Then, wouldn't you know it, my husband came home early. {Hey Sweetie, could you just sit in a kitchen chair until I finish up?} Next comes my youngest son, desperately needing to get upstairs to his basketball practice clothing. {Okay. If you take your shoes off maybe you could carefully walk across my lovely fabric blocks? Yeah, about those sweaty socks... Wince, wince, wince} And then finally, my youngest daughter comes home from work thinking it's her right and privilege to access her bedroom door too. Hmmm... I give up!

And so I'm at a stalemate with my hastily made-up-into-rows circle blocks. I can: Be brave and sew the rows together as is, trusting that my natural instincts caught all the weird issues that sometimes come up with scrappy fabric pairings.  Or, I can be cautious {nitpicky} and take the time to once again, lay all the blocks out for another audition. I'm leaning hard toward a real life scenario and letting the blocks fall where they may.

In the meantime, I am stitching away my concerns into an impulsively made up project that consists of nothing but two pieces of fabric, some batting and lots of thread.

Lots of Perle Cotton in this Peppered Cotton backing

I believe some people call it a whole cloth quilt, but for me, it's become a hilarious, eye opening look at what the stitching looks like on the back side of my quilts. Not wanting to waste time marking the quilt, I chose a basic gridded fabric to guide my stitching lines. Oh yeah. Did not think this one through at all! Good thing it's a small lap size intended to be used at church. Hard to be judgmental there.*wink

Trying to be consistent with my stitches on the
back side of the quilt this time....

But enough of that. Are you still circling with me? It seems there is a loyal few left so please give us something to look at. Some are moving ahead to the next step already! Love the finished ones I've been seeing. So incredible to see them come to life as a full fledged quilt! If you're still working on the blocks, please feel free to link a thumbnail picture to a current post on your blog detailing:

• What particular day you happen to be at now {such as 'day 350'}
• A picture of all your November circles whether they are stitched to the background fabric or not
• A link back to this post
• Any thoughts or introspection you might want to add about this particular project

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Hand Quilting on the Pickle Dish

This is a quilt I've had in the hoop probably since the end of July? The goal was to have it finished by the end of September, but alas, there have been way too many interruptions. And distractions. Plus too much time spent reading the latest election coverage really gets in the way of my evening quilting time.

Loving the stitching...

I've closely mirrored the stitching on this quilt to what LeeAnn did with her 'Eyelashes' quilt. The minute I saw her finished quilt, I said to myself, 'Gotta bookmark that quilt because the stitching is perfection!'. Thanks LeeAnn for the great inspiration! So many times we need a nudge in the right direction to solidify what we really want for our own quilts. You know it when you see it!

My little bit of applique that just HAD to be included

I'd only been stitching on this quilt for a short while when I realized that something kept nagging at me. It didn't feel finished. Not 100% complete yet. So I considered. And thought. Wondered to myself. Really? It needs applique? You must be kidding me.

But yeah, I finally relented and experimented with a few things until coming up with a simple silhouette in the bottom, far left corner. It looks vaguely like a weather-vane to me, but whatever. I LOVE it and that's all that matters.

You might think the quilt is too busy for that little bit of applique, but it makes me smile. And you should have seen me grousing as I pulled all the sandwiching pins out {in that particular corner}. Then, I had to fiddle around with the weight of the entire quilt, all while trying to applique that little dab of fabric. Yep. That's how I roll.*sigh  Knowing if I allowed myself to say, 'Nope! It's too late for that!', I'd bitterly regret it for like, forever. Plus the quilt would haunt me and cry and whine every time I used it in the future. And I'd know in my heart--it could have been better....

Working on the border

I do think there needs to be a little more stitching in the side borders of the quilt. Just too much area left 'undone'. So I'll be adding in one more orange peel in the middle of each diamond shape, which should hold the borders just fine. Yeah, I know it looks close to a finish, but there's still lots left to do as always. These borders generally take more time than we ever expect!

A March Finish!

First of all, the Scrap Quilt Secrets Giveaway is still open for comments! I have made an executive decision however, that I will not be responding to each comment individually as there are so, so many of them. Wowsers! Lots of great discussion as to what a scrap quilt is though! Very fun to read.

Flowers and Flying Geese

I finally finished up my Flowers and Flying Geese quilt, binding and all. I got that funky little crease in the middle from folding it up too quickly after it had been lying on the floor to finish drying. Just didn't seem like the best quilt to tell my kids, 'Hey! go ahead and walk across the quilt if you need to get across the room.' You know, like I do with some of my other quilts. When they are barefoot. And not carrying around iced tea, red Kool-aid, chocolate and/or a heaping plate of leftovers. There are limits. Not that my kids drink red Kool-Aid, but they could be. You just never know about these things.

It's {mostly} done!

I'm loving the stitching texture on this quilt, but am quite unhappy with the puffiness in the corners {due to uneven quilting, I'm sure}. I'm dragging my feet and whining about it in my head, but in actuality you and I both know they will have to be quilted a bit more in order for that puffiness to go away.*sigh  When a quilt is supposed to be done, it's supposed to be done.  But this quilt has been a journey right from the beginning, with me doing the creative thing using up leftover flying geese units and just basically having an applique play day. This quilt makes me want a larger design wall because all the initial work was done on the wall. What I could do with a larger design wall!!

A closer view of the stitching

So NOT complaining about that. Not in a real way. I feel blessed to have the space I have! And yes, three years later I get to see this hanging on my railing. Ta da! My quilting style is slowly solidifying and becoming a real thing. Who'd have ever thunk it? But I digress. What a pleasure to see a quilt top transformed with a little bit of diligent hand quilting! I never tire of that particular phase of quilting. And not to harp on an old, tired subject, but you have to know that this Perle Cotton type of quilting has completely changed my life.*wink  Because it's just plain fun!

And draped over the railing.
Don't you just love my bargain basement backing?

 I should probably mention that there are some mixed feelings about this quilt rattling around in my brain. It's such a 'me' quilt and yet, so, so white, pretty and kinda, maybe, too sweet. I'm leaning heavily toward gifting this quilt, but since I don't have anyone specific in mind yet, I'm just going to enjoy seeing it draped across a chair in my bedroom for now. Between my husbands family and mine, there are more relatives than I could ever hope to give a quilt to, so...., my thinking is, the right person will pop into my head eventually. I'm not even worried about it. I'll be thinking nice thoughts and wouldn't it be nice to give a quilt to this wonderful family person and wallah! What a wonderful  feeling to know there's going to be a quilt ready and waiting for once.....

**And something completely off the subject. Yesterday was Easter. Which happens to be our last name. Do you know how many times I've heard 'Happy Easter, Mrs. Easter' during this time of year? And 'All your dresses are Easter dresses' etc. People do love a good punny pun. And I've always known that my husband loves the Easter holiday, wants the big ham dinner, special family time etc. and gets kind of annoyed when things don't work out like he prefers. Well, this weekend made me finally realize that my kids also feel proprietary about the holiday--just like their dad. I'm raising a whole new generation of this Easter madness! Only, being teenagers, they think in terms of Easter candy and chocolate Easter bunnies. The special Easter traditions are definitely not a thing of the past. No! They just want more say of a say in all the goodies. I married into the name and so am left feeling somewhat bemused by their delight and possessiveness with everybody's holiday. Guess I'm partly to blame for always trying to make it a very fun, lighthearted holiday. Who wouldn't want to hold on to that?

Slow Stitching on Flowers and Flying Geese

Just a quick post 'cuz the guys are busy with Superbowl stuff. I've been stitching on Flowers and Flying Geese here and there. It's always a bit of a tentative start for me, especially with an applique quilt like this.

Flowers and Flying Geese

How much is enough? Would an all over stitch work better? Always wondering if the stitching is good for the quilt. Or the quilt is good for these stitches....Those of you who hand quilt probably know what I'm talking about.

Making a good start

Then there's that wonderful rhythm and flow that slowly develops. Everything in the hoop sort of takes care of itself and all you have to supply is the hand/eye coordination.*wink

Slowly working through the center of the quilt

Once in awhile I realize the thread is starting to run very low, so I have to panic and find a good on-line source. My home grown sources don't like to sell my favorite threads! So this time I ordered from Bunny Hill Designs. I was looking to match one particular brand, color, and number of thread. Good things have been said about this company and it was time to check them out. Imagine my dismay when the order arrived missing three little balls of my very precious Valdani thread. I immediately left a phone message and a follow up email. Trying not to sound hysterical and/or accusatory is difficult when it comes to things you're passionate about.

More Valdani from Bunny Hill Designs

The owner, Anne Sutton, emailed me back within several hours {after business hours in fact} and told me the rest of my order would be mailed out the very next day. When my missing thread arrived in a timely fashion, there were also two gratis balls of perle cotton. Yay! I'd say that's excellent customer service. No having to argue about what I actually received, no justifications for what might have happened, just a quick make-it-right package. Ahh... Now I can relax. And stitch the rest of this quilt without running out of any more thread.....

Linking up to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching just because I can.