What to do with drunken owls...

 

Wll, I thought I had finished my owl wall hanging, but not so. When I cut it down and stood back to admire my handiwork, I found that the owls had been drinking behind my back. That's the only explanation I can think of for why every one of the owls AND the tree were leaning. Surely I didn't sew them on that way...?



 

 

 

So. What to do with a bunch of drunken owls? Disguise them, of course! I have officially named/renamed this quilt "Blowing in the Wind."

 

 I have begun incorporting blowing leaves and flower petals all over the quilt.

I will probably detach more petals and add a few more blowing petals and leaves, but I don't want to overburden the quilt. I want the owls to be the feature. Mom and I have decided that an all-over windy quilting theme with swirls of "wind" around the leaves would help as well. We'll see. I have until the beginning of March to decide if this quilt is good enough to enter into the quilt show in April.

Wish me windy luck!

Debbi

My final owl is finished!

You may remember yesterday's finished owl (below). I spent most of yesterday finishing the eyes and the beak and beginning the last owl.

 

By mid morning, I had this much finished on my final owl. I must admit that the legs were supposed to be super skinny, but there was no way I felt up to attempting something that challenging. All of my quilting friends told me that they wouldn't try it either. They suggested either machine appliqueing it or simply embroidering it. Neither appealed to me, so I just gave her chunky legs! She looks like me!

By the early evening, I had her completely finished (below). I just noticed in these photos that the lines in her wings are going different directions! He left wing has feathers going down, but her left wing is all ruffled... Hmmmm... Maybe she got caught in that strong wind storm we had last night... Whatever, I'm not changing it now!

I still need to applique a small broken branch beside my falling owl, but then I'll be completely finished with the applique. I have three owl eyes that are supposed to have eyelashes, so I have some embroidery ahead of me. I probably won't even start that process until after Christmas since I have to find my long lost embroidery thread. Now where did I last see that thread container?

On a final note tonight, I have been staying very silent about the heartbreaking event in Newtown, CT, last Friday. But I have cried every day when I've watched the news and seen the photos of the lost children and teachers who are being buried each day. As teachers ourselves, my husband and I share the shock and confusion of school teachers everywhere who ask themselves "What if..." What would I do? How would I feel? We don't have children of our own, and neither of us teaches small children; my husband teaches high schoolers, and I teach adults. But we don't feel protective and responsible for our students. My heart grieves for those beautiful little girls and boys and for the women who died trying to save them. I won't mention them again, but I feel better for having written something anyway.

Tomorrow we will finish our Christmas shopping, and I'll finish the wrapping. I got almost everything that I had already bought wrapped today.

Until later,
Debbi

Healthy me and healthy computer!

After three months, I can finally breathe, think, and move freely again. Hurray! Just in time for the holidays. Who could ask for better timing? And now that school is out and I have a working computer again, I can resume posting. Hello again!

As you know, while I was ill, I focused my limited attention on lots of Christmas quilts. I'll show you pictures of two of those today. I am still working on the borders for one of them. Since I'm finally feeling better, I decided to concentrate on finishing the last two owls on my owl wallhanging so that I can enter it in the quilt show in April. I'm only one-half of an owl and some embroidery away from having the top finished. Another hurray!

On to the photos now.

Here are the borders of the second Christmas quilt. As you can see, I used the same three border design on each of the quilts. I wanted a continuous theme tying them all together.

Unlike the first Christmas quilt, I abandoned the alternating 36-patch and 12" block design. I kept the 12" blocks and sashed them with the 2" blocks. This allowed me to feature 20 blocks of different Christmas prints I had. I blush to admit that I hit the Hancock's 50% off Christmas prints sale and now have dozens more prints. I'll be making Christmas quilts for months to come!

The same quilt with a view of the corner borders.

This is definitely the busiest looking of the four quilts that I've made so far. But everyone who knows me says that it most matches my personal style. I guess I must be loud and colorful!

I dont' have pictures yet of the third quilt I made, but I'll get some for the next posting.

In the meantime, here is are some in-progress photos of the fourth quilt. I returned to the 36-patch and 12" block design again, but this time I decided against a random, scrappy look and went for a pattern. I had these blocks laid out while I decided on layout. I didn't have enough snowman fabric to alternate blocks, so I decided on a repeat pattern instead.

I laid out about half of the quilt so that I could sew it together the next evening after school.

 

When I returned home the next evening, This is what I found. At least my kitties left some of the pieces in tact.

Here were the rest of the blocks. It's a good thing I love my kitties too much to get upset with them over their creative spurts. Again, later I'll show you photos of the finished quilt. This is the one that is awaiting the last two borders. Hopefully, after Christmas...

In the meantime, I've returned to work on my owl quilt. As you can see, I needed to finish the owl on the lower right-hand branch.

Here he is all finished! My last owl is actually supposed to be standing on top of this owl's head. I have its feet, body, and wings sewn on. I'm working on its head today. I hope to have it all sewn down by tonight. I'll still need to embroider some eyes on a couple of owls and add a broken branch beside my falling owl, then I'll be all finished.

 

Thanks to Sager Creek Quilt Shop in Siloam Springs, our Stashbusters meeting last Thursday went very well indeed. We had our annual Christmas cookie exchange. As you can see, we had a great turnout with many delicious cookies to share. Thank you Cliff and Pam Goggins for hosting our meetings at the shop! 

And my usual gratuitous kitty photo. Sinbad has rediscovered winter bliss in front of the space heater in my sewing room. I only leave the space heater on when I'm at home. I don't take chances with fire hazards. It's enough for Sinnie. He will reluctantly share his warm blanket with one or more of his sisters, but I usually find him basking alone. Happy kitty!

I'll post more photos of the other two quilts after I get some packages wrapped. And hopefully, some photos of a completed owl quilt top!

Until then, enjoy the holiday season.

Debbi

Happy Thanksgiving! On to Christmast!

I missed posting on Thanksgiving Day. I hope all of you were too busy enjoying family time to have time to look at blogs anyway. I certainly was. And no, I did not try to get in on the special holiday sales. I'll wait until the prices are higher but the crowds are thinner. : ) I'm not fond of getting trampled!

I have been busy, though! I've been Christmas quilting almost every day. I'm still working (slowly, it's true) on binding my first Christmas quilt. Yesterday I finished my second Christmas quilt top and today I'm one sleeping Sinbad away from finishing the third Christmas top. I lack only the last border, but Sinnie has my sewing chair, and of course, I never interrupt a kitty when he/she's sleeping. ; )

In the meantime, here are some photos of my progress in the last couple of weeks. Below is my latest owl. Again with the light eyes, I know. I only have two more owls to go - now if I'll just sit down and get them done! I guess I just don't want to actually be finished with this project. It has been such fun!

Below is the border fabric I chose for my second Christmas quilt. Isn't it nice and rich looking? I love large, bold patterns.

Just like my first Christmas quilt, I included a small strip of the chosen border, then insert a smaller strip of a contrasting color and finish with my wider outer border. I think it's a fun look.

This quilt was supposed to be a lap quilt. I think I missed. : / This is the quilt laid out on a full-sized bed. It hangs off the edges. I think I overshot my mark. *Wry smile*  Again, I used 12" finished blocks, but this time I used my 2" finished blocks as sashing. Each large block is a different Christmas fabric. Can you tell I love Christmas fabrics?

Yep, a trifle larger for a lap quilt!

Below, the other side, including my How the Grinch Stole Christmas fabric. In the photo above, you will see my Land of Unwanted Toys fabric. Those were two of my favorite children's Christmas shows when I was a child. Oh, who am I kidding? They're still my favorites! Along with It's a Wonderful Life. Ah, Jimmy Stewart. *Sigh.*

Now that I'm in the mood for cinema, I think I'm going to go watch a movie with my husband. I doubt that it will include Jimmy Stewart (I suppose that would be too much to hope for), but it should be good. I rented an award winning foreign film. It's recorded in German with English subtitles. That should drive my husband crazy!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving leftovers! I'll post again when Sinbad stirs, and I can get some more done on my latest Christmas quilt top!

Until then,
Debbi

Back to sewing...

Aren't antibiotics wonderful? My husband and I are both finally feeling semi-well again. That means that I can get back to some serious sewing!

Mom quilted my Old-fashioned Christmas quilt for me last week, and I got the binding sewn on this weekend. Now I just need to to hand-sew it down. I took pictures of the process and would like, later this week, to post it as a tutorial. I know that most of you already know how to bind a quilt, but I also know that some of you are newer at quilting and might like to see a method that may be different from yours. If you're already familiar with my method, I'll be writing other posts later. I don't have time to post the tutorial today, but I hope to tomorrow!

Anyway, since my cats took over my sewing room again while I was working on my bindings this weekend, I took the opportunity to work a little on my owl wallhanging again.

I had reached this point on my little girl owl before I got sick.

I was able to finish off her eyes and beak last night. Okay, so her beak looks a little like she flew into a window and bent it, but oh well. The eyes may be a little light again, but I'm not changing them this time! She'll just have to have light blue eyes. : )

I picked out some fabrics last night for my next owl. I have two left to applique on. Hopefully, I'll have some more progress to report tomorrow. Until then, happy sewing, and I'll work on that tutorial tomorrow (cross my fingers that I'll have time!).

Deb

When will I learn? Sigh...

Last Thursday, my wonderful Busy Bees friends helped me chose the right colors for this next owl. I love the belly swirls! The pink base went down well. I was pleased with it. The belly also went on beautifully.

The eyes went on wonderfully. Again, I was pleased. Until... I got my little owl completely finished and realized that, once again, I had forgotten its beak! No problem. One beak to add.

Shoot. This beak was supposed to have gone on before the blue part of the eyes. I keep forgetting to check my piece numbers and sew them on IN ORDER!

The blue, the green inner eye (not shown), and the pupil (also not shown) were now all in the way. I had to remove the right eye entirely (I got the beak on slightly crookedly and had to make adjustments). Now I have the blue part resewn, and tonight I have to resew the lovely green. When I'm done, - again - I'll take a photo of the finished owl. It's really cute.

Next comes a rather complicated owl, and I'm still picking out colors. It may be a while before you see any progress on it.

In the meantime, I also spent quite a lot of time this weekend sewing on my Day and Night quilt. I have 24 blocks sewn together. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to shoot for the entire 42 (6 x 7) or stop at 30 (5 x 6). It depends on how well my green fabric holds out. I'm already trying to come up with original ideas for the borders. Let's see, what do I want...?

For my kitty loving friends, Sinbad is now on an allergy testing diet. This means that he has to eat synthetic food for at least two months and see if he stops scratching and overgrooming. Fortunately, he LOVES the duck and green pea fake dry food. He has needed some persuading over the venison and green pea canned food, though. He finally ate a good portion of it this morning.

The other cats are still on their regular food (except for the yummy canned food - if Sinnie can't have any, neither can they . He would know!). I feed Sinnie in the sunroom and close the door until the others have finished their food and I can let him out without fear of his stealing their food. It's actually working remarkably well so far. I have my fingers crossed that he'll start showing some improvement soon. I'll take belly shots if he ever grows some hair back!

Until then,
Debbi

Binding finished!

I would love to announce a complete finish on a large quilt, but I still have the label to do. Darn. Last night I got the binding finished on my blue and cream quilt.  I'll try to get the label finished tonight.Then I'll be done! : )  I'll take a final photo of it this week and post it. I really like the finished (oh, all right, almost finished) quilt.

In the meantime, I did very little sewing on my owl quilt last night. My latest little owl now has feet.

Later tonight or tomorrow my little owl should gain some lovely, large, lavender eye patches. I hope. Or else a lot of my students will get their papers graded. One of the two will happen anyway. (I hope it's the sewing!)

Until later,
Debbi

More owl progress...

Hoppy Monday, everyone!

As you can see, we received some much needed rain over the weekend. I found this happy hoppy toad in a storage container my husband had put outside. What a nice froggy smile this little fellow has as he enjoys the rain! : )

Now, on to owl progress... As you may remember, this was the stopping point the last time I worked on my owl wallhanging. I was not happy with the eyes on my colorful owl. I thought they would tone down his colors, but instead they almost washed him out. And I could barely see his beak! Not to worry - Sis to the rescue! My sister told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to strip off his face and start again. Done!

First, to the face stripping. If you don't find this picture disturbing, you must be a Picasso fan! It makes me shudder! Poor owl!

Once I got the inner eyes removed, I chose a bright blue for contrast against the lime green markings. I liked this much better. My circles weren't TOO wobbly. My work is still very inconsistent. Practice, practice, practice.

Definitely looking brighter!

Next, for the inner layer of his eyes. I'm not sure this was the best choice, but here it is. It's still on the bright side and carried through some of the orange in his "plumage," but it's a trifle wilder in pattern than I should have used. Oh well.

And I love his beak! Isn't this brown beak so much more visible than the orange one was? This is a far more interesting face. I think Colorful Owl is pleased.

Next door is my toned down owl. I got his face finished and added his wings. I love how these colors work together.

Add a face, and wah lah! One cute little calm looking owl. I really like the white portion of his eyes. Maybe I should have tried that on Colorful Owl... Oh well, too late now. I'm definitely not tearing him out again! Unfortunately, you can see that I did a much better job of keeping the green part of his eyes round on the left side than on the right. I might try to redo that one. Or maybe not.

Here are our two buddies completed. I do like their beaks. Now on to the little owl on the left. I feel some green coming on. Unfortunately, when I view the entire wall hanging, my owls all seem to be tipping in toward the tree trunk. Either they're drunk or I am. ; )  Maybe it won't look so pronounced when I get some owls on the other side of the quilt. So far, I have only worked on the left side of the tree.

 Okay, so I couldn't resist adding two more African Violets to my collection. The first photo actually washed out the colors of the flowers. They are really much deeper and richer in color than in the photo. Maybe I can get a better picture another time.



More hoppy grins as you leave to do your own quilting...

And remember to take it easy and enjoy the day.

 Until later,

Debbi

Some work done on next owl.

I've started - slowly - on my next owl.  I'm starting to have a little bit of trouble with my elbow when I sew, so I think I'm going to have to slow down my appliqueing for a while. I'm hoping to get this done in time to enter it into the Q.U.I.L.T. guild's quilt show next spring. I have eight more owls to go, including the one below that I have just started.

You can see the this little guy's plumage is going to be much quieter than his neighbor's I want them to look as different as possible. But now that I'm looking at Mr. Colorful in this photo, I'm wondering if I've made his eyes too calm and light colored. I was trying to calm him down a little, but I may have gone overboard! He's looking a little stoned. Oh dear! I guess I'll wait until I have both of his neighbors in and then see how he looks before I decide if I'm going to do any tearing out and replacing.

I haven't chosen the fabrics/colors yet for the owl on Mr. Colorful's left. I'll work on that when I get home today.

I also want to work some more on my Day and Night quilt this weekend. I have two blocks made from the class the other day. Now I'm excited to make more. If you didn't see my block earlier this week, here is a picture of it. I can't wait to get more of them sewn so that I can see how they'll look together!

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, we had a great speaker last night at our Q.U.I.L.T. guild meeting -- Jenifer Dick, who is a modern quilter. We are an almost universally traditional group of quilters, so we rarely see modern quilts in the style she uses. It was quite refreshing to see something here that I usually only get to see on some of your blogs. : )

Well, I'm off to finish my first full week back at work with students.

Until later,

Debbi