Purple Diamond Quilt

A few years ago (nope, sorry, but that's as close as I can remember time-wise), Mom and I participated in a square exchange with the Eureka Quilt Guild at their retreat. The color for that year's exchange was purple. I got received about 100 or more 7" squares of mixed purples. Yeah!

 

Well, I used many of them with a white confetti background to start this Stashbuster's pattern. It's been on my To-Do list ever since. I wanted to use each fabric only once, but I think I'm going to have to use Mom's stack as well in order to get this quilt large enough. That means either waiting more years to get an adequate number of 7" purple scraps or go ahead and use repeats. Yep, repeats it will be. I want this finished. It's official - I'm raiding Mom's stash. :) 

 

I sewed together the blocks I already had made and added a couple more. The top is currently lap sized. I will need to double the size and add borders before it's finished. I going to like the pattern when it's all finished. I'm hoping that this will be one of Get 'r' Done projects for 2014. Wish me luck.

Deb

Happy New Year! Okay, so I'm a little late. : / In that case, I guess I'll have to wait another year to say Merry Christmas, huh? I think I also missed Trick or Treat? Okay, so I've been gone for a while - again. But I have a really good reason - quilting!

That's right. After three months of not being able to quilt after my foot surgery, I am now back in my sewing seat. In fact, I haven't been able to tear myself out of it! And I have gotten quite a bit done. Let me show you a little.

First of all, in December I got another of my Christmas quilts completely finished. Remember this one from the end of 2012? Since no one else in my family likes this one, I get to keep it. Yeah! It's actually my favorite of the Christmas quilts. I do love busy!

I also finished two baby quilts.

This one went to my wonderful nephew and his equally wonderful wife in New York. Their baby is due any day now. Actually, she was due on the fourth, but I don't want to put any pressure on the little momma. : )

The top picture is the front and the next is the back. The front has butterflies and the back has Tinkerbell. Since I had to mail the quilt in a hurry, I didn't get any close ups.

 

This second quilt is one I started several years ago, but I finally finished it! Dragonflies this time. Now I just need another niece to get pregnant, only this time with a boy. What's with all the baby girls in this family?

That brought me to a total of eight finishes on my To Do List for 2013. That's the good news. The bad news is that that is only one-third of my list done. And I've added more UFOs. Oops.

Speaking of UFOs, here is one for my 2014 list. It's only a UFO because I didn't get it bound last month. You might remember this quilt from Sager Creek's Stashbuster's meeting this summer. It's called Flying Birds, and I love the pattern. Here is the sample that Cliff made to show us.



I really tried to make one like this. I started looking for colors like the ones above. Nice, earthy colors. Nothing bright. Nothing weird. Then I found the fabric. Do you ever have a fabric just call your name? Loudly? Just begging you to use it? Oh. You don't. Well, in that case, neither did I. (Just kidding - I really did!)

 Here it is. Isn't it just fabulous? Yes, I know. Not exactly what I was supposed to be looking for. But when a fabric starts talking to me, I'm not brave enough to ignore it. ; )



I chose all of my colors with care - and yes, everything came out of my stash. No cheating and buying new fabric for this one!

The problem came when I tried to put it together. It insisted to sewing itself together in a completely different way than the pattern dictated.



Here are two very dear friends of mine at Stashbusters trying to figure out how this is the same pattern. It really is the same block. Can you see it? This quilt makes me smile. : )

Mom did a fantastic job quilting this for me, but it's currently languishing in my to-bind stack. I hope to get to it next week. I'll get pictures of the quilting when I get it finished. I asked her to quilt it in a happy, sunny way, and boy did she deliver! It has flowers and dragonflies all over it. Hurray!

I really need that warm, summer look right now with all of this snow. I was supposed to be back at school on Monday of this week, but so far I have only worked once - yesterday - and even then we were sent home at noon. I really need to go in tomorrow to prepare for the students, who start on Monday. Tomorrow is supposed to be okay weather wise. Not for my husband, though. His school is more rural and is out again tomorrow. He will be working make-up days far into the summer this year. Sigh.

So, what am I working on now? I have pictures! But it's bedtime already. You'll just have to wait. : ) Good night, and don't let the weather get you down. Smile, and keep on sewing!

Deb

New Block of the Month project

As if I don't have enough projects to finish, I have started a new one. Of course. Thirty-some odd projects are just not enough to keep me busy. ; )

 

 

In June I signed up for a Block of the Month at Sager Creek. Then I decided to have foot surgery. Great timing. : /

 

I've been picking up my packet every month, and now I'm finally able to start on it. A mere five months late. Oh well. Better late than never, right?

 

 

 
Here are my first few half-square triangles. Now before you get too excited about how quickly I was able to crank out these little beauties, please be aware that all is not always as it seems. The units on the right in the photo above are the HSTs. The pile of material on the left is the waste. OMG! What a pile of waste! I HATE wasting fabric. So why am I using this method? No choice.

 

The photo above shows the HSTs in progress. Have you ever seen this type of material? The fabric came printed in strips! I cut apart the strips in two-color pieces (as modeled by Tessie in the upper photo). I then use my ruler to measure out 2 1/2" squares with one side of light fabric and one side of colored fabric (bottom photo, after I retrieved my fabric from its furry protector). Fast, definitely; wasteful, even more definitely! No sewing though. I love the quick outcome, but feel incredibly guilty. Is his method cheating? Really? You think so too, do you? Oh well, just don't tell anyone else how it's done, and maybe no one will notice the lack of a center seam, okay?

The pattern is "Provence and Beyond" by Bloom Creek, and I love the finished pattern. Won't it be gorgeous? I just didn't realize how it's made when I signed up.

 Here is another picture of the pattern with less glare on the glossy page.

Below are photos of the finished blocks. I made six of them for the first month's assignment. The whole project is made up of only six monthly installments. And yes, I did catch the error in the top block, thank you for noticing. One of my green "leaves" is turned the wrong direction. Already corrected, thank goodness. Otherwise I would be quite distressed at noticing just now. So why am I showing you the photo with the error rather than one with the corrected version? Just trying to stay humble (hanging head).

This next photo is actually the same block pattern but with a different, lighter color green for the leaves. Why do the blocks have two different colors for the green leaves only? Beats me, but that's what the pattern says to do *shrugging in bewilderment*.

 Here's a photo of the July block. As you can see, this one has a LOT of applique. I have chosen my preferred method of needle turn rather than machine applique. I am actually almost finished with this block, but I haven't taken any photos yet. Maybe tonight.

 

As you can see, this block will be the center of the quilt. The pieces are large and easy to applique, so it's actually turning out fairly well so far. I should be on to the third month's package sometime this weekend if all goes well. And if I stay at home. Which is questionable since my husband loves to go out to eat on the weekends.

 

I've also been trying to measure the backing for my Day and Night quilt, but my helpers keep making things very difficult for me. Good thing I love them enough to find something else to do while they examined my workmanship, huh. Please don't be too critical, girls; I have a fragile ego. : )

 

They're not looking too impressed, are they? Tough audience.  : )

Deb

Up, up, and away!

Yes! I am up!

Okay, so I'm really sorta wobbling more than flying, but at least I no longer remain hunched over my crutches 24/7. As of my doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon, I am now allowed to put some weight on my left foot. The surgery incision is finally healing well, and I'm racing toward that complete recovery line!!! Okay, okay, I'm hobbling excitedly and holding onto walls, desks, people, anything that I can grab, on the way to that complete recovery line. But I'm moving.

What does that mean quilt-wise? Well, that I can begin quilting again, of course! For the last seven weeks, I have been unable to do anything except hand work. Speaking of which, what's happening with this little hand work gem?

  

 

 

Well, let's just say that it and I have come to a temporary (ha!) parting of the ways. So what happened, when everything seemed to be going so well? I had the first block about three-fourths finished when I happened to notice a bit of a problem. I have done more tearing out and re-sewing of this block than I have of any other project. Unfortunately, there is more on the way if I want to salvage it. May I please draw your attention to the above picture. Most specifically, the top teardrop structure and the mostly completed matching structure on the left. If you will look closely at the dark blue teardrops and their positioning, you will notice that on the top design, the blue extends from the sides of the orange petals, just below the green leaves. In the design on the left, however (and yes, it is complete now), the dark blue extends from midway down the orange petals. I have everything off kilter. There will be a lot more ripping out on this block if I decide to pursue it. It may become a permanent UFO.  : (

 

Speaking of UFOs, I am very excited at the prospect of getting back to finishing some of my half-baked quilts again. My poor sewing machine would be feeling quite abandoned if Mom hadn't kept it company while she stayed with me after my surgery. Well, just watch me hug the wall and wobble now! Sewing machine, here I come!

 

Deb

Progress on the Bright Applique quilt!

 

Finally, I have some progress to report on my Bright Applique quilt. You might recall that I have the ambition plan to make this beautiful quilt pattern using needle turn applique.

 

 

I thought that I would be able to make tremendous progress on this quilt while recuperating from surgery. Unfortunately, I did not take my kitties into account when I made this grand plan. My kittens, especially Sinbad, have other ideas about my having a stationary lap for a change.

 

 

My baby girl kitties don't mind my sewing over their heads. Sinbad, though, isn't quite as generous about sharing my attention. (I'm really not as fat as I look in this photo - I'm slumped in my chair in order to make Sinbad more comfortable. Aren't I just the cat's meow? hee, hee) I have found, however, that if I wait until Sinnie's soundly asleep, I can often sneak in some overhead hand work without waking him. Shhh... It's best to let sleeping cats lie.

 

So, on to my progress...



 

All right, all right! so there are a few little kitty hairs on my block. Quite frankly, there is so much kitty hair quilted into this project already, that I'm relieved that this photo only shows a few scattered hairs. As you can also see, my piece placement leaves a bit to be desired. My previous experience with needle turn applique included a placement guide. This pattern doesn't have one. I'm having to eyeball the placement. Oh well, I figure if I ever actually get this quilt finished, who's going to notice some slightly wonky piece placement? Hopefully, people will just see how hard I tried, not how badly I missed. : )

This photo shows the segments that I currently have completed. I'm not being at all picky about where the ends of the "teardrop" elements end up. As you can see, the ends of the orange elements on the left don't line up exactly. But since the ends are all covered by the larger orange "petals" and the red center oval, the pointy bits really don't matter. Thank goodness! This way I don't even have to worry about how pointy (or not!) the points actually are. I can cheat and leave them sloppy with the assurance that they won't actually be seen. I'm sure this pattern would be much easier to complete if I was willing to machine applique it. But what would be the fun in that?

Once I get the fourth section sewn on, I will start with the hearts in the corners. Goodness, these blocks have so many elements that I fear this really will take me forever to complete. It's a good thing I intend to live forever then, right?

I'll post again when I have more progress to show. I've gone five weeks so far without touching a sewing machine. Aaauuuggghhhhh...!

Roses and kitties!



 

See what my wonderful husband bought for me yesterday? Just because. He knows that being on crutches has been difficult, so he decided to cheer me up with roses and lemon tarts. Yum! 

 

The kitties are doing their part as well. I spent some time sitting out in the sun room over the weekend, and all four kittens decided to join me. Here's Callie peeking from her new hiding place.

And here's Sinbad, waiting for his chance to attack! "Let's see those whiskers again, Callie," he's thinking.

One of the maintenance workers at the school donated a water cooler box to the cause this spring, and the cats LOVE it! It's completely open at one end and has a hole in the other end. They spend all of their time lazing around on this box if they're not in my lap.
 

And speaking of being in my lap. All of the cats hate the cast and won't come near me when I'm in the bedroom. But if I sit down somewhere, my lap is fair game. Especially for Sinbad. I think he's feeling a little neglected.

Here he is all cuddled up in my lap. And see that sweetly curled paw?

Here's what that paw actually looked like (see below). There were claws there as a gentle warning to not wake him up. I let him sleep for about two hours before too many of my own parts went numb and I had to stand up.

 

 

The only sewing I've done since the surgery on Aug. 1 was to bind the Christmas quilt in the picture below. Can's see the quilt? Well, that's why it took me over a week to get it done. I guess all of the kitties have been missing me. Maxie and Tessie hopped up on my lap every time I worked on this binding. I love my kitties!



I know, not much quilting to show lately. Hopefully, that will change in another two weeks if I can get rid of the crutches then. Fingers crossed!

Debbi

A couple of finishes

I'm still down quite a bit after my foot surgery, but I get my stitches out this afternoon. Yeah!

I'm still on crutches for another three weeks and in the boot for another two months. My heel is raised right now, but I expect to have the wedge gradually reduced until my foot is flat again in the next couple of weeks. Soon, I should be able to get back to machine sewing. Yippee!


In the meantime, I finally finished binding another of my Christmas quilts. I'll have to take a photo of this with its new white binding. It turned out nicely. I still need to make and attach a label before I can call it finished. Maybe this weekend... At least it's done in time for Christmas this year. Only two more of the Christmas quilts to finish up. : )

 

 

And before my surgery I finished my Stashbusters quilt (photo below). My lovely neighbors took such fabulous care of my kitties, dogs, and chickens that I gave this quilt to them in thanks. I did not get a finished photo of it to show the beautiful black binding or the lovely quilting that Mom did on it, but I was in a hurry to get it to its new family. It was well received, so I hope it will be well loved and well used. 

Classes began again for me this morning, so I have to get back to work. Have a great day everyone!

Debbi