Good News/Bad News

It's been a busy time, and I've only a few minutes for an update, so here goes........

Good News:  The borders are on and this quilt's off to be quilted. 

Bad News: The two quilts (Bordered Diamonds and French General) are back and now need binding!

And add them to the the other one waiting, and it means a month of sewing on bindings ahead!

Bindings = ICK ICK ICK

  

Good News:  The hexies are sewn together. 

Bad News: I am super sick of pink, and there's still a BIG stack of leftover hexies still to use.

I've put the spare hexies and the top away for a "rest" period before any sewing more pink. I'm still trying to decide about the border treatment, and that will take time--maybe years.
 

Good News:  Found these cute little bins at Hobby Lobby.  They aren't durable (made of paper), but at only $1.99 each, they've been a good aid in keeping the cutting table organized.  I use them to coral and sort the scraps.  And when they aren't in use, they stack nicely.     

Bad News: They are full of more pink scraps to use up!

BIG, BIG GOOD NEWS: I've had the same sewing machine for FORTY years. When it started having problems, a very nice friend loaned me her older (1130) Bernina, which was a definite help (thanks Patty!) But now I have a new one of these (woohoo!) and a new cabinet will come tomorrow! The spot is all vacuumed and ready!

 

Bad News:  I am such a slow learner--it's a big jump to computerized from my old Viking.  I am more than a little bit intimidated.  Even worse, I have been too busy with family stuff to be able to spend much time getting acquainted--maybe tomorrow........

If you don't see many posts from me for awhile, please ask someone to check to see if I've accidentally sewn myself into something and am stuck under the presser foot. 

Happy Stitching!

I Blame My Chair

It's not my fault that I started another quilt.  Really.  It just happened.  I was being good, working on the backing for my French General UFO, and began straightening up the sewing room.  (no good deed goes unpunished)

When I put the Kaffe fabrics away in their bin drawer, the drawer was very tight--I really had to jamb them in.  Later when flipping through an older issue of Quilt Sampler (Spring/Summer 2011), I happened on this photo:

The quilt in this photo is made with Kaffe fabrics. Making this quilt would make more room in my Kaffe bin, wouldn't it?

 It was meant to be.  I immediately started cutting squares and arranging the squares on the design board.  (Right over the French General hexagons.)

There were a few technical difficulties (not having enough of a couple of the fabrics, and having to track down more and work a little creative cutting magic).  Don't look too closely below, or you might see where I had to "create" one more piece of the red.  (that blue arrow points to the extra seam) 

 

I am down to only scraps of a couple of these fabrics now. (And yet that Kaffe bin is still too tightly stuffed.  Weird.)  The top is together--it went really quickly.  I just need to do the borders--and you know how I hate to do borders. 

  

 

Sunday, I started clearing my cutting area to have room to cut the borders, and sitting on my cutting board was this lonely pile of fabrics, just waiting for me to finish.  They looked so Valentine's-ish.  I've been collecting fabrics in red/pink/black for awhile, and had promised them I would do something with them this Valentine's Day.  (The group really came together when I found some by Robin Zingone named Stockholm in lipstick. They just sing red and pink.)

 

 

Sigh.  You know what happened.  Pretty soon the fabrics were being cut into hexagons.  And now, the design wall looks like this.

 

 

I blame it on my chair.  Pink chairs are a dangerous influence! (It was a bargain from Staples last September--and though I know it won't hold up to hard use, I couldn't resist!)

 

 

And I will cut the borders today--I will. I will. I will!  Right after I clear a spot on the cutting table--again!

 

Happy stitching!

Building "Block" Fun

When you realize your sewing room is jam packed with close to a million unfinished projects, you catch the flu, feel thoroughly depressed, and have lost your quilting mojo, what do you do?

 

You start something new, of course!  Something low stress and colorful and just for fun! 

romanianquiltstudio.com

  In January, I decided as a personal pick-me-up I'd make a “quick” little project, and sew a baby quilt for a neighbor's first grandbaby.  

 

I had previously purchased the pattern, Building Fun, from Geta who blogs at Geta's Quilt Studio.  Bright and cheerful, it was the perfect project!   (I borrowed this photo from Pinterest--my pattern copy is a bit mutilated)

 
The instructions were clear, the blocks went together easily, and it was fun picking the fabrics for each block.  I decided to use only fabric from stash, and finally used a few pieces by Keiko Goko that I have been hoarding.  I chose black/white polka dots for the border, but I think it would have been fun to use a bit smaller polka dot for the backgrounds (didn't think of that until it was done).

 

 

The pattern calls for machine appliqué of the circles/centers, but I didn’t want to worry about colors showing through the white, so I sewed them using reverse appliqué, which worked really well.   I’d definitely recommend the pattern. (and I'm not connected in any way)

 

Even though the pattern went together well, the backing proved to be a challenge for my stash.  The top was too large for one width of the fabric to cover it.  Every piece of baby suitable fabric that I had was either too small, the wrong colors, or directional so it couldn’t be turned sideways.  Very irritating!  If I’d been thinking, I would have bought some Minkie and been done. 

But instead, since I had leftover strips from the blocks and leftover triangles from piecing the buildings, I decided I would piece of few of the fabrics together for a back.  Simple, right?  Ummm, NO.

The back was going fine until I measured and cut everything the wrong length--way, WAY short.  I had been going to run the piecing up and down, but that wasn't going to work with the short pieces.  So a new design and more piecing was necessary.  And more unpicking. 

 

I didn’t think to take photos during the process, but it’s a good thing you couldn’t hear what I said when I realized that I had cut everything too short.  Here’s what I finally ended up with:

 

 

The little bear fabric in the center is about 20+ years old, so it's nice to finally use some of it.  I like the way it eventually turned out, but when I look at it, it says “girl” to me--just too much pink.  And, the neighbor’s baby is going to be a boy.   After I thought about it awhile, I decided that my neighbor's grandbaby is going to absolutely love to read—books make good baby gifts, right? 

 

And feeling guilty for starting something new, (and on a roll piecing backs), I pulled out one of my many UFO tops (French General Reine des Abeilles), and started piecing a back for it with a few of the leftover hexagons.  (I needed something to join the two widths of fabric for the back.) 

 

 

(And here's where I have to admit that while these hexagons were up on the design wall, I started ANOTHER quilt right over them.  More on this one in the next post!)

I did manage to finally finish the French General hexagon back last night, and it's all bundled up with the quilt, ready to go to the quilter.  (And, yes, I forgot to photograph it, so you'll just have to wait for the big finish--which could be awhile, but at least progress has been made!)

And last post, I showed photos of the great snow we got two weeks ago, when our world looked like this:

 

Now this is all that is left of the snowman family.

 

 

So if you're on the east coast of the USA, don't despair--a bit warmer weather is heading your way!
 
Happy Stitching!

Bordered Diamonds--Again

So what have I been doing these past three months?  Starting new projects, of course.

Back in October/November, I pulled out some leftover diamonds from the first Bordered Diamond quilt I made (see here), and decided to put together another one as a gift for Christmas (crazy, I know).  I had a bunch of leftover diamonds.  I always cut way too many.  A girl needs options--and I'm a lazy cutter, so a strip is easier than just one fussy cut.

Last time, I followed the Kaffe instructions, sewing the narrow strips onto the diamonds in a clockwise order, but this time I did it differently--sewing two opposite sides on, then trimming and sewing the next two sides on.  The diamonds went together much faster on the assembly since trimming was done half as often.  They didn't look all that different. 

Clockwise                        Opposite Sides

But, when I went to sew them together, I discovered that the new method of construction meant I had twice as many seams to match up when the blocks were sewn together--hopefully you can see the seams.

Clockwise

Opposite Sides

So, having done it both ways, I'd recommend the clockwise way (unless you are a more accurate sewer than I am). :)  And yes, I still have diamonds left!  And even more partial diamonds from the edges of both quilts too.  And some unsewn diamonds.  And a bunch of strips.  But I don't plan to make another one of these--maybe something with triangles instead.

Here are the borders that I decided to use.  The outer border is the same one that I used on the other Bordered Diamond quilt....it just seems to pull the colors together the best of all the fabrics I tried.  I didn't have enough of the inner border to use again (which I am trying out in the photo below), so I switched to the violet in this photo which goes nicely with the backing--it's ok, though not my favorite. 




For the back, I'm using the blue fabric with roses, which is a Phillip Jacobs print, called Lilac Rose, but I think it is out of print.  I've had it for several years--bought on a closeout sale for a ridiculously low price, and it feels good to finally use it! 






The top is finished, the backing pieced (with roses matched!), and it's ready to go to the quilter on Monday! Hooray!   Just a bit late for Christmas--but at least closer to done!

And, last but not least, last Tuesday we had a strangely peaceful snow storm, which managed to carefully stack inches of snow on narrow objects, turning the ordinary into beautiful.

 

My lovely daughter who had come home for a short visit, joined her furry sister to make a set of snow people parents just for us!   (Miss you sweetie!)

 

Happy Stitching!

A Review of 2012

When I went to write a post summarizing 2012, I looked at what I had completed  during the year, and got depressed.  I'm sure that's why I haven't posted for almost three months!   (I also got the flu, and my dog was sick for a week, and my daughter was home for a short visit, but mostly I was just depressed.)   

To fix the depression, ;) I started a couple of new projects (next post), and now I feel much better.   And since I’m feeling a bit better, and in order to hold myself accountable (and help me remember what I need to work on), here’s my 2012 update. 

(Warning:  This post is mostly for me and boring, so feel free to stop reading here!)

 

During 2012, I started NINE new projects:   

 1.  Just Takes Two – finished roughly half the blocks.

 2.  Sparkle Punch Quiltalong – sent to be quilted*

 3.  Building Houses from Scraps – decided I’m not going to finish these—will save for some project to use them in

4.  Puzzled Quilt – pieced top completed*

5.  Granny Squares Quilt – partially assembled, but progress has stopped*

6.  Raining Cats and Dogs – 6 blocks begun and in various stages of completion

7.  Pillow Shams for Alex – COMPLETED!  This is the only project I managed to complete in 2012.

8.  Bordered Diamonds #2 – began making diamonds in November to make a second quilt*

9.  Mid 19th Century Star Quilt – began making the blocks, but stopped to “collect” more turquoise fabrics

 

 I also have 12 projects still unfinished from 2010 and 2011:

1.  Courthouse Steps - blocks made
2.  Maple Leaf Rag - pieces cut--barely started
3.  Capriccio Too - barely started, just some leftover scraps used
4.  Single Girl - strips cut, colors picked out, but forgot and used the background fabric in Sparkle Punch quilt (above) –whoops!
5.  Strippling Vine - top completed, backing purchased, needs quilting*
6.  Portraits in My Garden - completed top, needs quilting
7.  French General Reine des Abeilles - completed top, needs quilting*

8.  Flower Garden – Completed 6 more flower blocks, now 15/24 done—0/4 borders done
9.  King George III – Completed 1 block, now 3/13 blocks completed, 1 cut out 
10.  Coming Up Roses - squares cut out and piecing started
11.  Hugs and Kisses - have begun sewing blocks together*
12.  Roseville Album (2010) – nothing complete, but have been working on two of the panels. 10/13 blocks, 1/4 panels, 0/4 borders done

 

Absolutely NO progress was made on numbers 1-8. A smidgeon of progress was made on numbers 9-12.  So to sum up, in ALL of  2012, I finished two pillow shams for my daughter--lucky her!  That’s IT! 

So, I’ve decided 2013 will have to be a "Year of Finishing".  It’s going to be boring, but it has to be done.  LITERALLY DONE.  My goal is to send one quilt to the quilter each month or two, and try to finish up a few of these tops (marked by *) or to at least get them quilted. 

So far in 2013, I've had one quilt quilted--no binding yet (of course). The quilting does look great though:


Front of Sparkle Punch

Back of Sparkle Punch

And we won’t talk about the projects that are older than 2010—Out of sight, out of mind…..and definitely not on the to do list this year!

More Homebuilding........

Although construction slowed near the end of October, it picked back up in early November, and now several new homes are partially done:

 

These two houses above are still missing their dogs/cats, but I plan to figure out their fabrics at the end when I have a better idea of what all the blocks look like.  And they (and the one below) are missing embroidery details, but I think I'll do all the embroidery at the same time.  Anyway, these are what I've been working on.

 

 

Also managed to finish one Flower Garden block:

 

 

AND, I was lucky enough to win some pretty fat quarters from Valori Wells' new Wrenly Christmas line!  Pretty exciting!  Just love the surprise of a package in the mail!

Now I just have to decide how I want to use them.........  Thanks again Valori!!!

 

It's snowing outside my window at the moment.  Hope you're all staying warm!

Happy Stitching!

Housing Starts Up in October!

Last spring I began work as contractor for a large housing development called Raining Cats and Dogs by Bunny Hill Designs.   The first house went up really quickly (except for the embroidery) and I thought the neighborhood would be ready to move into by summer.  But, building slowed and soon halted (maybe it was due to the economic environment and difficulty with loans, although I doubt it--after all, I was building primarily from stash.)

This fall, new funding (or fabric) sparked renewed interest in the Bunny Hill development, and construction started again.
 

This house is mostly finished, except for the door, windows. and flowers at the bottom. And, of course, it hasn't yet been sold--when it is, there will be a dog with umbrella on the right.

Other houses aren't as far along in construction--paint colors are still being chosen.

Of course, any good contractor surveys the competition. My beautiful daughter and I tried to check out the Pittock Mansion in Portland but we got there at closing time. (Don't you think it looks a lot like my housing development?) ;)

We had a wonderful time together (too short though)  And the pillow shams were delivered!

Then I was off to visit with my mom and dad, and was able to complete one more house.  Though most of the houses remain unsold, you can see a kitty has claimed this one, and is anxious to move in. (I'm not sure how happy she'll be when she discovers there is going to be a dog under that umbrella!)

Several other houses are under construction (I try to applique at night), but these had to come off the design wall for another project, so construction of new houses has slowed significantly.  I suspect it will pick up again in November--at least I hope the current project is done then!  (more on that another time)

Happy Stitching!

WIP Wednesday--Just Takes Two

A few more Just Takes Two blocks.......but many, many more to go before I'm caught up. 

Maybe my goal should just be to keep up with the new ones! 

Just Takes Two...

Two hours, two days...maybe two weeks or two months--hopefully not two years :)

Lately I've been working away trying to catch up on Just Takes Two.  I thought I'd done pretty well keeping up with the first group, so I was surprised that even after sewing for several days, I still have roughly 20 more blocks to go.  I guess since I used more than two fabrics for my Just Takes Two, it's only fair that it seems to be taking two=too long.

I had planned to use only my plaid scraps, but often the size just doesn't work. And yes, cutting different fabrics, and hauling them out and putting them away after cutting for one block is more time consuming and makes a lovely mess, which I had to clean it up last night--to find one of our phones.  So these will be the only new Just Takes Two blocks for awhile.

I figure if I work on the rest of them as they come out, plus add 3 more each time, I may be able to catch up.  I decided not to begin stitching the sections together since mine are so varied, that I'm afraid it would end up all unbalanced in color.  So they'll remain as blocks until most (or all) are made.  Also debating just how badly I want to hand applique the remaining blocks--I'm thinking machine applique may be the way to go.  (I'm sure this indecisiveness is what's holding me back on those 20 undone blocks, don't you think?)

In other news, I was lucky enough to win something in a giveaway that I didn't know I'd entered!  Doubly exciting!  I won a Spirit of the Bear Snap Sack kit, with yummy batik fabrics in gorgeous colors from Kelly who blogs at I Have a Notion.  Kelly also sells lots of quilting goodies at IHAN, so it's a good place to check out if you are needing something.  (I was going to steal a photo of my winning kit from Kelly's blog, but since it's protected, and I'm really too lazy to ask or to find my camera, you'll just have to wait until I stitch it up to see it!)

Now I'm off to figure out what to work on in my relatively clean sewing room.  Only one more missing phone to find--surely that is lost in the garage--thank goodness for old fashioned corded phones that can't wander off!  Happy Stitching!

I'm Sorry Amy! ;)

What kind of fabric shopper are you?  Do you buy a little here or there--just things you like? Or do you shop for specific projects, buying only fabric that you have a plan for?   Do you buy practical fabrics that you can always use?  Or splashy inspiring ones?  Only your favorite colors?  A variety for stash building?  A fat quarter here or there?  Only a particular designer's line?

When you love a line, do you buy the full group of fat quarters like these?

Bella

Chicopee

     

 





Or do you buy fabric because it just makes you happy, is just the color you need, or is just plain cute (like these little pigs)?  Or do you buy for no reason at all?  Or maybe all of the above!

Nursery Versery

I usually buy fabrics for projects I'm working on when I need more of a certain color or style that I didn't have in my stash. New fabrics spice up the old and make me see them differently too.  And some things just don't substitute for others.

Riley Blake Chevrons

And, if while shopping I see something I especially like or that is different from what I have in my stash (like these popular chevrons), I may buy it without a purpose, because you never know when you might just need a chevron, a robot or a witch! It just depends on mood and budget.  

Of course if I've been to the dentist or doctor or done anything yucky that I can reward myself for doing, then I get at least a fat quarter of my choice!    But, one thing I really haven't done much of is to buy precut bundles.  They are certainly tempting--just too hard for me to justify, given my stash. I've rarely bought more than two or three pieces of any line, and only a couple bundles of fabric my whole life (and that's quite a long time!)

Last fall when Amy Butler's Lark line came out with all the hoopla, everyone online seemed to be buying it and talking about how pretty it was.  So I caved to all the peer pressure and decided to see what I'd been missing, and when there was a good sale, I ordered a selection of Lark--and more fabric than I have ever purchased of any single line at one time.  Very daring!!--I blame it on the bright harvest moon, a sleepless night, and a sale combined with late night online shopping. :)  

On the exciting big day when Lark finally arrived, though, I hated it.  Ok, that sounds too mean, but I didn't like it.  At all.  I use and buy all kinds of fabrics, but Lark was disappointing to me.   Apologies to Amy Butler, but I just didn't like it, and I didn't see what everyone else saw in it. 

I thought this yellow/grey one (Souvenir in Lemon) was fairly disgusting, and was certain I would never be able to use it with anything other than its fellow Larkians. 


And I didn't like these black ones because they weren't really black and they weren't grey and my eyes just kept telling me that they looked faded. (River Shine and Ivy Bloom in Cinder)



 There were some pieces I liked, and some were ok, but some I just couldn't see me using--ever. Definitely not a good use of my money, and rather depressing to boot. So I thoroughly reprimanded myself for buying something unseen and online, promised myself to only shop in person, and quickly packed Lark up and put it away where it wouldn't make me feel so bad, and then forgot about it.

Then this summer a funny thing happened.  As I was digging to find fabrics to use for the Capriccio pillow shams, a piece of ordinary solid tuquoise fabric just happened to fall against the stack of Lark while I was moving things around.  The turquoise didn't really even match, but it was close enough.

Suddenly I heard music, the light changed and the room became magical.  Lark was beautiful.  Lark had possibilites!  That turquoise changed everything.   I fell in love with Lark.   LOVE.  Well ok, maybe not love--this is fabric after all--but I loved all the Lark possibilities.

I pulled fabrics from my stash and played for hours with different fabric combinations.  (My husband thought I was crazy, as I sat on the floor playing until well after midnight.)  They all looked so marvelous together.  The question became not if I would use it, but what would I make!   I immediately began searching my mind and books for an idea that would be grand enough for my Lark.

I'm not sure what the problem was last fall.  Perhaps the fabric (or I) had to age a bit.   Maybe I'm not keeping up with new things as well as I thought I was.  Maybe I just need to give some of the new fabric that strikes me as odd and unworkable more of a chance.  I still am not wild about the green/yellow Souvenir in Mineral piece. But the black ones mentioned above will be great as "neutrals" and the Lemon Souvenir somehow ties it all together.  I'm definitely looking forward to playing more with Lark--I've even purchased a bit more of some pieces--a girl's gotta be sure to have enough! ;)

I'm sorry I doubted you Amy! I humbly apologize. Lark is lovely!  Hope I can do it justice!

Happy Stitching!