background

Saturday, December 31, 2011

I learn from every quilt . . .

I make. 

Well, part 7 of Ocra Bay was posted this morning. So, I made forced myself to sit down this afternoon and finish those red string blocks. I was also able to sew a few of the red string triangles to the wing triangle units and, oh my, I quickly realized the mistake I had made.


Now, I am a spray starch fanatic. I love the fresh, crisp look I get when I starch. So what is the problem? I have found that starching works well on many blocks, but not so well on those with tiny pieces. I found that I had distorted the blocks as I starched and ironed. Or maybe the problem was that I was ironing and not pressing.

Anyway, I am not totally pleased with how the first 10 or so units turned out, but they will work. I remember I had the same problem with a similar unit in the Orange Crush quilt. I thought they were distorted and looked awful, but that quilt turned out fabulous.  And this one will to.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Meet Renda

Renda is Kelsey's roommate. She is in the same nursing class as Kelsey, so they are able to ride to class and study together.  It is really important to have a study pal in nursing--so that works out great.


Renda asked Kelsey if I would make her a quilt if she purchased the fabric. I told Kelsey I probably had fabric I could use. Then I remembered the On Eagle's Wings quilt that I had started.

The story . . .


This quilt started out as a wedding present for a cousin. Then I wasn't sure if the bride and groom would appreciate the time and love that goes into it--so I decided not to give it away.  About that time I looked over some of Kelsey's high school stuff and came across the ad I placed in her yearbook. The ad had the song lyrics from "On Eagles Wings" to remind her who to rely on.


I decided to add the song lyrics to the quilt.  Then I let it lay around for awhile trying to decide what borders I wanted to add.

Enter Renda and her request for a quilt. When I asked what kind of quilt she wanted--Kelsey said she loved penguins. So my first response was to look for a penguin pattern. Then I decided that may be too seasonal. And I realized that the verse on this quilt would be a perfect reminder for Renda, just like Kelsey. So what to do . . .



Why, add penguins of course. lol  I think I added 8 different penguin scenes.

So last night she finally received her quilt. I think she loved it.






Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A Couple of Relaxing Days

I stayed up Monday night until I completed step 6 of Ocra Bay. I tried playing around with the parts so far and have no idea of how it will be put together.

On Tuesday, I was able to catch up on the Fat Quarter Star Quilt Along.  I am participating in. Remember, that is the one where I pull fabrics out of the bag and use what I grabbed. The first one I did had me a little worried.


I love the green fabric. Not so fond of the flowered. But, that is what I pulled out. Here is how the block turned out.


Not bad. For the next block, I pulled out these fabrics.


This block was not one of my favorite to make. But I love the way it turned out. I think I would need to make several to get the hang of the block.


I thought I was only two blocks behind. Not sure what I was thinking. I kept seeing a block on the hosting blog that I didn't have. That was because I had missed one.


This one was a cathedral window block. It had me stumped for a little bit, but I finally figured it out. I think using this block and the one above in a quilt would make a gorgeous quilt.

I have two quilt requests that I do not have fabric for. So I need to order on-line or drive to the nearest quilt shop (about 45 minutes away). I guess I'll first check to see if they are open today since it is holiday time and then if they are text Larry and see what his plans are. He will be getting off of a 48 hour shift at 8 am so he may be sleeping all day. 

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Design Wall Monday

Well, it's the last Design Wall Monday for 2011. As I write this, I wonder how many of them I participated in. Usually I write my post on Sunday evening and then add the links and post it early on Monday morning before going off to work.

Well, the Fat Quarter BOM of the month is still on the actual design wall. But I am working on the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt.  I actually have two piles for the pieces. This shows the step I am currently working on.


This is the pile of parts waiting to be placed somewhere. If you are making the Ocra Bay Quilt, you will notice my red triangle string parts are missing. I am having trouble making myself finish those. But that will be first on the list when I finish these Ohio Stars. 


I am also linking up to Bonnie's Mystery Monday Link Up.

Today, I am shopping with Craig and maybe Kelsey. Becca has to work at 12:30 and very politely gave me a look that said, "NO" when I asked if she wanted to get up early and shop with us. lol

When I return home today, I have to make a label for the Eagles Wing Quilt.  I'm writing this down as a note to myself to get that completed today.

Happy snipping, stitiching, and quilting.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas


Blessings to you and your loved ones. 

I hope you are able to spend this 

wonderful time of the year with 

friends and family.

Merry Christmas!

It's really frustrating . . .

to have health problems that have the doctors baffled. But I still do.

I went in Thursday for an EGD (esophagus and stomach scope). My ENT thought that maybe I had something called EE (Eosinophilic esophagitis). But everything looked good--so I guess we are back to square one.

I guess I should just be thankful that I really am healthy and the breathing problems are bothersome but not life threatening that we know of. It was a day wasted except that I got a lot of needed rest. But then I laid awake most of the night because I slept most of the day. lol

On the home front . . .

I finished the Eagle's Wing Quilt just in time for Christmas. I kept the quilting very, very simple and I like it. I wanted the fabric and embroidery to be the focus. Pictures will follow later.

I am now 3 blocks behind on the Fat Quarter Block of the Month Project. But I'm not worried about it. I can easily get caught up next week.


I have steps 1, 2, and 3 completed on the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt. I only have 60 of 126 of the red string blocks for step 4.  This step is very slow going for me. I really enjoyed step 2 making the 3.5 inch string blocks. But I am tired of making these red ones. I think it is because they are larger and it takes more time.

So I have also started on step 5 and will go back and forth between steps 4 and 5 until I am finished. In the meantime, she has released step 6. I have seen a couple of sites where people are laying out blocks trying to guess what it will look like. I really like some of them, although, I doubt if they were even close.

Family . . .

Craig and Becca arrived last night and will stay through Christmas. Yippee. Kelsey works until 9:30 pm on tonight (Christmas Eve). Boo!!! She won't get home until after 10:30 and I am sure she will be tired. Larry also works today. But we will all be together Christmas Day morning. It is a tradition to start out the day with breakfast. This year we will do a brunch since Larry won't be home until 9 am. Then we will open gifts and Craig and Becca will be on their way to Becca's grandma's home for the day. 

Today . . .

I have a little bit of cooking to do. We will head to my in-laws around 2 and then off to my Mom & Dad's for the rest of the day.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

Friday, December 23, 2011

2012 FMQ Challenge

Kelsey text me and told me my blog was lonely. I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted. Then when I looked, I had 2 posts waiting to be sent. This was one of them. They other I decided to delete.

Even though I signed up for Sew Cal Gal's Christmas Quilt Show, I just noticed her 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge.


   

I started not to sign up. Why? Because I don't have the time and I don't want to make the commitment.  But then I remembered my frustrations when I was quilting the "Tree Time" quilt and the joy when I was quilting the "Double Wedding Ring" quilt and decided I was tired of the frustration and wanted to have that joy with each quilt I free motion quilt. 

I also realize that if I ever want to quilt feathers so that they look good, I need tips and a lot of practice. Those feathers are really frustrating to me. lol

So I am going to take the challenge even though I'm not sure what all it entails. If I enjoy it, I'll keep it up. If it frustrates me beyond doubt, I'll give it up. As I looked at the list of guest experts, I only knew a few of the names. It is good to know there are other domestic machine quilters out there. So I am looking forward to getting to know them.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails