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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Need Help on Fabric LIne

I spent a couple of hours this evening on The Fat Quarter Shop website. Why? I'm not planning to buy any fabric until I know what I want to use it for and only after I finish my current projects. Well . . .

It was all because I saw this fabric


on "All About my Kaleidoscope Quilt Shop" blog.

This pillow is what got my search started. I just love it. Even though I have nothing like this in my house. I know I could use other fabrics and probably will -- but I sure do like this pillow as is.  I'm thinking it would look great on my little bench in the foyer.


So my question is . . . .

Do any of you know what fabric line this is?

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

No Sun and a Nine Patch

Do you ever have those days when you just don't feel like doing anything? It has been cold and dreary for too many days in a row. I sure do need to see the sun again and feel the warmth.

This is the progress on the nine patch quilt I'm making for a wedding present.


This is not the whole quilt. Only what showed in the photo when I took it. I have half of the blocks sewn together but just don't feel like working on it tonight. It is not going to be just a plain 9 patch. I have other things in mind for it.

So I am watching TV and doing some hand quilting. Surely I will get finished hand quilting sometime before next winter. I guess that's what happens when you make a huge quilt and hand quilt it. It is either quilt on it constantly and not work on anything else . . . or hand quilt when I want and work on other projects at the same time. Oh, the life of a quilter.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Design Wall Monday

I was doing well at working on WIP's and have started quilting "Tree Time".

Then I checked my calendar and realized that a cousin is getting married at the end of April--not June like I thought. So, I put everything on hold and started a quilt to give to the happy couple. I am making an easy 9 patch on point.

I checked their registry and, based on the colors of what was on the list, decided to make the quilt red, black, beige, and white. I was able to get almost all of the 9 patch blocks made and the white alternating blocks cut out.


I really like these colors. Do you ever get over wanting to keep every quilt you make because you really like the color combinations?

Be sure to head over to Judy's for Design Wall Monday. It's always fun to see what other quilters are up to.

Friday, March 25, 2011

"Tree Time" is now a flimsy!!!!!!!!

My goal for yesterday was to get the "Tree Time" blocks sewn together into rows and get all 7 borders attached also. But, it didn't happen. I ran out of juice at 9:30 last night.

It took me several hours to get all of the borders cut out. Judy L. says she often makes her borders first then does the inside of the quilt  So I was going to try this method. I thought, "Oh, it will be so nice to get the inside blocks sewn together and already have the borders stitched and ready to sew on."

Doesn't that sound great!

But somehow I got so confused I said,  "forget it" and just sewed the blocks together and then sewed the borders on . . . border by border. I think it was the fact that one of the borders had a corner square insert.

So this morning I got up and had my coffee while watching the news. I have to know what is going on in the world. lol  Then I headed straight to the sewing room to finish adding the last 4 borders. I really thought this would only take a couple of hours. NO!!!!!

I sewed for a few hours and then went outside to plant some annuals. I came back in and made myself sit down and finish the borders. All was well until I went to pin baste it this evening.

My pieced border is wonky. Yep, it shows in the picture. 


I took it to the ironing board to try CJ's method of steaming the fabric to see if it will shrink. It actually worked on the couple I tried it on. So tomorrow morning I'm going to steam, steam, steam and hope the white fabric shrinks enough so I can "quilt it all out".

Do you ever find that your favorite quilts are the most difficult. I remember a certain part of a block on the "Orange Crush" quilt giving me problems. I thought I would never get finish those half four patch units in step 2. When it was all over, it was worth the effort. The "Orange Crush" is still one of my favorite quilts.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Moving Right Along on "Tree TIme"

Well, I got around to completing 50% of my goals yesterday. I didn't get the patio cleaned or my sewing room picked up up so I'll just try to get to them today. I did get the kitchen cleaned and the Irish Chain blocks cut out.

Not only did I get them cut out, but I also got them all pieced.


So today, I am going to finish embellishing the blocks and get them arranged. Hopefully I will be able to get them all laid out and sewn together also.

This quilt is going to be larger than I thought. Molly made the "tree time" blocks 9 1/2 inches. I cut mine 11 inches instead. So when I designed the quilt in EQ6, I used 9 inch blocks. I didn't leave enough space around the edges of my applique to cut them down to 9 1/2 so I changed the blocks in EQ to 11. Glad I checked before I cut out my Irish Chain blocks.


I had planned to use the quilt as a wall hanging. As you can see, there are 7 borders also. But, I really like the borders so I guess I'll just make it that big and use it on one of my beds.

Wednesday already! Spring break is flying by. The local Walmart still doesn't have any new annuals and I am fighting driving 40 miles to a nursery. But I do want to get the beds finished this week.

The windows are open. I can hear the birds singing. I love this time of year. It's a beautiful day.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Still Undecided

Thank you all for the suggestions for the Double Wedding Ring Border.


There is something about what I have cut out so far that just isn't sitting right with me. I do believe that the bright green is off. My first step is going to be to replace those with a more muted tone and then step back and look again. Then I think I'll cut out the more muted shades in the batiks and see if that will help.

I don't think I want to use the floral fabrics that are in the double wedding rings because I don't think they will look good as leaves and flowers.

I realized that the photo I used showed the green, brown shades of fabric. The other half of the ring is more pink/red tones.  I think these batiks blend better with this part of the rings.


I like the yellow green leaves and the red shaded roses. I wonder if mixing in some roses that have a brown undertone, such as a yellow brown or an orange brown, would help.
I wasn't wanting to purchase any fabric but I may have to take an extra block with me to a quilt shop and see if I can match a little better. After all the hard work, I want it to work just right.

I didn't do any sewing yesterday but my house is looking pretty good. I did re-arrange a little in the sewing room. Now I need to spend some time straightening and getting rid of the junk that I have piled here and there. Maybe after this week, it will transform into a studio.  (I told myself I couldn't call it a studio until it was cleaned, arranged, and uncluttered. I'm not quite there yet.)

Plans for the day
      Finish cleaning the kitchen
      Pick up some more in the sewing room
      Clean patio
      Cut out chain blocks for "Tree Time"

I'm taking a break from the Double Wedding Ring quilt. Larry is working again tomorrow so maybe that will be a goo time to visit the local quilt shop. Local--over 45 minutes away. Too funny, huh!

I also need to pick up a new heater for the hot tub. Maybe it will be in and I can make a round trip. If I go to the quilt shop, I'll only be 20 or so minutes away from the pool and spa place where I'll pick us the heater.

Let's see -- hot tub heater, dryer heating element, new seal for the washing machine. Well, that's three. I hope Murphy goes away now. lol

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting?

Monday, March 21, 2011

Opinions Needed for Applique

I had plans to use batiks for the applique on the Double Wedding Ring Quilt. I have a few pieces laid out and need your opinions.




So what do you think. Will there be too much contrast with the batiks? Should I use the fabrics that I used in the rest of the quilt for the applique? (All of the fabric in the quilt are florals.)

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Applique Design

I'm not sure how most people go about designing or drawing out their applique designs. But I thought I would share my thought process.

First, I sat up my design table with all of the supplies I would need. It was such a nice morning, I decided to work outside.


I put my favorite tunes on, pulled up Janet's quilt for the pattern and got to work.


This is the rose pattern. You can't tell but will be able to, hopefully, when I use different prints for each petal.


I call these the rosettes.


The rose buds and leaves.


This is the corner area of the design. I cut out a lot of pieces and laid them out. Then I traced around them.


After I made this corner I traced it on to the other end of the border.


Then I designed the center in the same way. I laid out many, many pieces and then traced around them when I had them where I wanted them.

Believe it or not, this took me most of the day.

Oh, I was only able to stay outdoors this morning for about an hour before the wind came up. So I moved back into the house. I went back outside around 3 for a break. I took some popcorn and my computer so I could read blogs while I snacked. The wind was blowing so hard by then that it blew the popcorn out of my bowl. Too funny, huh. Now at 7 p.m., the trees are moving a little but that is all.

I'm using batiks for the applique fabric so I decided I probably should wash the fabric first. I didn't have a color catcher so I put a piece of white fabric in with it to see if the colors would bleed. They did not. So that is good. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm going to take it one day at a time.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

A Busy Saturday

It's early Sunday morning and I am lazing around the house. I went to Mass last night, so I don't have to get out of the house if I don't want to. Well, other than to read, talk a walk, etc.

Yesterday was a busy day. I picked up the house a little bit--not nearly enough though. lol.  I am so sure it will be waiting today and tomorrow and the next day.

Then I worked in the flower beds. The year before last, we pulled out all of the bushes in this bed and planted new ones. They are just starting to take root. I hope the small ones take off this year and really grow and bloom. Just adding new mulch made all the difference.


The small bed in front was tilled and planted last year.  There is very little dirt and a lot of gravel in this bed. (There used to be a gravel drive way.) If nothing grows in it this summer, I will take out some of the dirt in it and add some good dirt to it next year.

The only thing planted in this bed was some daffodil bulbs. So I went to Wal-mart to get some annuals to add some color. Guess what?  They only had purple petunias (in the 6-pack) and then some yellow ones that were over $3 a piece. So I got the purple ones and planted them. I hope to add some other colors this week (if they get them in) and mulch this bed also. I can't wait to see the difference it makes to our driveway.


There is a small area in front of another bed that has just been dirt for the 6 years we have lived here. We made a small garden there to house my hen and chicks. lol.  This, too, looks much better.


But . . .  Craig parks by it and one of the chicks was laying on its side this morning. So I wonder if he  tripped when he got out of his car last night. Sorry Craig. You're gonna have to get used to those landscape timbers being there.

Larry was able to get part of the hillside burned off. We don't plant anything there and it is too rocky to mow. So Larry uses the weed eater some, and every year or so, we burn it off so it isn't so bushy.


Plans today are to draw out the applique flowers for the borders of the Double Wedding Ring Quilt. I have asked Janet at Quiltsalott if I could use her design and she graciously allowed me to do so. I'm sure mine won't be exactly like hers because, like her, I am free handing it. But I sure want to give her credit for the idea and design.

Oh, I did get the Double Wedding Ring Top all pieced yesterday, too.


I think I have decided to spend at least one day this week working on the "Tree Time" Quilt. I have a feeling this week of Spring Break will fly by.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Friday Night Sew In Update

These were my goals for the week that I posted about on Wednesday.

       Wednesday -- finish center pieces
       Thursday --- get half of the quilt blocks sewn together
       Friday -- get the rest of the quilt blocks sewn together
       Saturday -- measure & cut borders needed and start drawing out applique design

It looks like I am a day late as I just finished the Double Wedding Ring Quilt top this evening. I sewed from about 5 p.m. yesterday until after 10 p.m. Then this evening I sat down around 7:30 and finished it at 10:30.


I can't get a full picture of it because it is on my design wall and my sewing cabinet is too close.


So my plans for tomorrow are to clean a little, cut the borders, and design the applique that will go on the borders.  Enough to keep me busy for the day.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Opps! Friday Night Sew-In

I almost forgot--Friday Night Sew-In is tonight.

Plans are to get the Double Wedding Ring blocks sew together tonight.


I'll update on my progress tomorrow. Yippee Spring Break begins at 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Goals for the Week!

I'm working diligently each evening on the double wedding ring quilt. I now have the center background piece in over half of the blocks.

My goals for the week:
       Wednesday -- finish center pieces
       Thursday --- get half of the quilt blocks sewn together
       Friday -- get the rest of the quilt blocks sewn together
       Saturday -- measure & cut borders needed and start drawing out applique design

Now that I have written it down, maybe I'll be more apt to reach these goals.

I have been watching "Grey's Anatomy" on Netflix as I piece and hand quilt for the last several weeks. I have now caught up on all of the episodes.  So I need something new to occupy my time. (I know I should just turn off the TV, turn on the music, and go with it.) For some reason during the summer I listen to music a lot and during the winter TV. Why? I don't have any ideas.

I'm thinking of catching up on "Bones". Is this a good series? I see there are about 6 seasons of "Monk" That would keep me busy awhile.  There are also 6 season of "Lost". "Law and Order" has 10 or 12 seasons. Do you have any suggestions?

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Am I weird or what?/Design Wall Monday


On my design wall this morning is my double wedding ring quilt. It is actually a little bit bigger now. I only have 15 more melons to do and  I will begin adding the center pieces. That will be the most difficult part. I have only completed one so far and it took awhile. I figure that about the time I get the last one completed, I'll have it down pat. 

As I browse new blogs, I keep coming across projects that interest me. One new project I am contemplating is "My Tweets", an applique project found on the One Piece At A Time blog. Isn't it just too cute?  I have always enjoyed having umpteen things going at once and I have always liked to try new or different looks.

I'm thinking that the My Tweets quilt will be a great spring/summer throw or wall hanging. (I actually have the perfect wall for it.)

Now, here's my thinking. When I see hand applique on projects, I think it looks formal. When I see machine applique, I thing casual. In machine applique, when I see satin stitching, I think formal. When I see the blanket stitch, I think casual.

This is one pattern that I think would look better hand appliqued. But, I know if I started it that way, I would probably never finish it.

Have you ever thought about applique in this way? Am I weird or what?

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Not sure what happened this morning but after I sewed 2 or 3 of the melons for the Double Wedding Ring, I figured it out. So I got a lot accomplished today. In fact, I only need 14 more melons to have enough for the entire quilt.


The inside is only completed on one block and that I know that is the more difficult part. I hope I'll be able to get at least a couple of them completed tomorrow.

We have spring break the week after next. It would be great if I would have all of the blocks finished and sewed together by then so I can work on drawing out the applique flowers for the borders.

We tried to plant a small garden last year, but didn't have very much luck. I think we started too late. So this year, we got an early start. I planted some lettuce plants 2 weeks ago and they were looking so good. Then Larry looked at them a couple of days ago and said something was eating on them. So he fixed the electric fence up to keep out the groundhog. When I looked at the plants on Friday evening, they were picked to the ground. We decided it had to be birds. Sure enough Larry saw a crow after them today.

I planned to pull them up today and plant some more but Walmart was out and the other place that has plants in town was closed today. So hopefully, I'll find some plants in a few days and can start again.

So how was your day?

Happy snipping stitching and quilting.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Oh Me, Oh My, What Have I Gotten Myself Into . . .

I sat down this evening and it took me over 2 hours to piece four quarter rings for the Double Wedding Ring Quilt.


And that was just putting the center melon and 2 end triangles together. The rest were already pieced.

I'm not used to be such a slow poke. If any of you that have made double wedding ring quilts before have any suggestions to help this go more quickly, please tell me.

I did get some fabric for the pieced blocks for my "Tree Time" quilt. It is pretty close to what I envisioned. I was going to add a picture but I took it with artificial lighting and the colors are not right. So I'll see if I can remember to take one during natural day light tomorrow.

My plans were to work on the DWR all day tomorrow but, I definitely know that I cannot possibly sit and work on it all day. A few hours at a time is my max.  So, I'm just going to take the "I'll work on what I feel like working on approach" in between DWR blocks.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

DeJa Vu

Well here I am tonight. . .


I spent many a night quilting in front of the fireplace during the cold, cold months of January and February.

It has been a cold, wet day and for some reason I got chilled on the way home. When I walked in the door, the first thing I said to Larry was, "Is there warmth anywhere?" I was really surprised when he said, "I have you a fire going." YES!!!!  And supper was also ready. What could be better?

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Design Wall Monday

Design Wall--Take your pick.








So many projects--so little time. And . . . so many more projects running through my mind.

Head on over to Judy L's to see what our quilty friends are working on.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Weather Change

Many times in the spring and fall when the weather goes from nice and warm to cold again, my allergies/sinuses seem to go wild. This year seems to be worse. The trees are budding out and the temps today are 20 to 30 degrees lower than the past few days. The temps Sunday night are supposed to dip down into the 20's.

I've been pretty lazy today. But I hand quilted for about 4 hours this afternoon. The quilt is so huge, it is very slow go. I had to move it on the frame today so I took it all of the way off and put it on my bed. I have a king sized bed and it hung over on each side quite a bit. I should have taken a picture but didn't think about it.

I did feel better after supper and was able to sew all of the blocks together for the "Snowflakes are Falling" quilt.



Let's see. I have 2 tops waiting to be quilted and 4 more started.  And I don't know how many more ideas floating around in my head. Oh, the life of a quilter.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Walking & Quilting?????

I got my two miles walking in right after school this afternoon.  This is the 6th day in a row to walk. It is funny how some days I ache and some days I feel like I haven't walked at all. Today I ache. Instead of walking around the track at the local park (which is all flat land), I have been walking around our local hospital. It is on a slope plus there are curbs to step on and off of. I think that is why I get sore.

I spent an hour or so this evening sashing the "Snowflakes are Falling" quilt while watching NCIS.


Looks like a mess, doesn't it. lol

Then I went back to hand quilting while watching old episodes of Grey's Anatomy.

Walking and Quilting. What a life! The only thing better would be if it were summer. But Spring Break is coming up in a few weeks.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

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