Thursday, January 30, 2014

I'm Glad I Waited

Later is better than never.
Right?
Having something take place even though 
a lot of time has passed
is better than never having it happen at all.

Recently I reacquainted
 myself with  a lovely pile of fabrics
that were put
together
15+ years  ago.

And, the fact, 
that I actually still wanted to use
those fabric in a project
can only be described as
astounding,
amazing,
astonishing,

and
it's about time!!! 

As you can see it's a line from
Sandy Gervais from 
about 15 years ago.
I fell in love with the soft pastel colors
and whimsical flower prints.
I had originally chosen a pattern
and prewashed the fabrics,
but it never went further than that.
Why?
 I don't exactly know.

But sometimes
it's a good thing.
Because I have found that I think is
the perfect project for this
huge stack of fabric.

This year on the Quilt Show
with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims,
Janet Stone has designed a 
delightful quilt
 A - Z with Ewe and Me!

After completing the January
set of directions,
I definitely know
it was the right choice.
The fused alphabet letters
are all different styles and
are embellished with a 
the double button hole stitch.
I decided to use a Metler 
#30 embroidery weight thread
to add some texture to the letter shapes.

And to use a few different colors
 to add some variety and 
to pull all the pastels together.

Granted this BOM will take
a year to piece, but at this point
what's another 12 months!

Until Next Time-

Monday, January 27, 2014

A Clear Day

 It was a beautiful day
in Colorado yesterday.
Clear blue skies with
a magnificent view of Long's Peak.

There was even a clear view
in my
sewing room.


Because I don't have a design wall
but only a design floor,
 
 sometimes there are obstacles
 No, problem.
It's just  learning 
to be flexible.

 Until Next Time-

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Hello, Queen Victoria

 For a long time
I've had several of 
Quiltmania's books vying 
for my attention.

Life is always pulling at us one way
or the other.
Like all of us, I
have lots of obligations, commitments and
unfinished projects that 
require and tug for my attention.

But for just a moment
I needed to take a quilt making vacation
and enjoy the freedom of 
exploring something new.

I love Di Ford's book
Primarily Quilts... 19th Century Inspirations.
She used the book
Quilts and Quiltmakers,
Covering Connecticut
 as inspiration to create

 Queen Victoria's Crown
 Di Ford

Queen Victoria's Crown
Henrietta Smith Glover
1840-1865

Now it's my turn to interpret
this great design.
The funny thing is that I actually
had the stripe fabric Di used
in the block only in a lighter version.
It's a Marsha McCloskey Staples 
by Clothworks.
 I had bought a lot of it for 
some reason and now was the time to use it.

And look, I had to actually use scissors 
to cut it accurately
 because there was no wiggle room
between the rows.

With a marked template,
 
 I was able to cut each rectangle piece
with the fabric design always in the same position.
The process was slow, but 
that was the only way to get the affect I wanted.

Slow is not a bad word.
It can be a style, a mood,
a way of enjoying what you're doing,
taking time to explore different and new possibilities.
We tend to think of the word slow only in
negative terms.

I had been gifted with a nice packet of
red and green reproduction fabrics
and wanted to use those as the jumping off point
for this scrappy quilt.

I cut the pieces and
sewed a gazzilion
half square triangles.

I did all 25 blocks at the same time because
I was still using the Angler
on my machine.
  It seemed the most efficient method,

I did sew one test block.

 I like where this is heading.

 Until Next Time-

Monday, January 20, 2014

Watching a Tree Grow

 When I was a kid
I wanted to grow up to be
a cartoonist for the Walt Disney Company.
I loved to draw
and drawing figures that would
be animated seemed like great work.

I'd try and draw flip books.

Now you can do it on the computer
 using stop motion.

So here is my latest applique
not done with fancy computer work
just a lot of needle turn.

Scroll down quickly and 
see how my tree grows.







How's that for fast work!
Not really!
Until Next Time-

Thursday, January 16, 2014

I'm Ready Now

 With a new grand baby on his
way in just a couple of weeks,
reality had set in.

I needed to get a new quilt made
for this newest member of the family.

Just like it takes a baby 9 months 
to get ready,
I found a group of fabrics
that had been curing for 7 years.

When I worked at the quilt shop,
I remember someone sharing this pattern
that was from a McCalls magazine.
At the time it was current,
Now it's 7 years old from February, 2007.

I had the big alphabet fabric,
 the little alphabet background fabric
which were from Lake House fabrics and
a great stripe.

All I needed to do was
 dig out of the stash 
a few bright fabrics in primary colors.

Construction was easy.
I used The Angler on my machine
to save time from drawing diagonal sewing
lines on the squares.

The pieces were pressed and folded back.

I cut only one layer of fabric, leaving the 
base fabric for stability and for more accurate piecing
if the folded over piece didn't match up exactly.
Which can happen, trust me.

The fabrics were perfect,
 Bright and cheerful.

After adding the stripe,
and wide border, and then machine quilting it
 it was time to add the prairie points which will be
fun flaps for the baby to play with
or chew on.

I machine quilted it pretty much in the ditch
and a 1/4" around the letters

and some straight line stitching in the border.

All done
in plenty of time.
4 weeks until the due date.

Until Next Time-

Monday, January 13, 2014

It's Somebody's Birthday

 On your 10th birthday
Running Man  and Elizabeth, 1991

And now,
23 years later,

Today I am remembering how small you were
 and rejoicing in all that you have grown to be

Happy Birthday!


Until Next Time-

Sunday, January 12, 2014

There's a Plethora of Ideas

I haven't been to a buffet restaurant in years.
My dad especially loved to go.
He'd say, "There's just so many choices."

He loved the idea of being able to fill his plate
with all kinds of food, with the amounts he wanted,
and finishing it off with one of his favorite desserts
chocolate pudding.

That's how I've looked at this week.
There's been so many wonderful quilting ideas
tempting me from so many wonderful sources.

Knowing my time,
energy,
and resources,
I've started to narrow down what I'd like to
work on this year.

One pattern that has captured my interest is 

the Noah and Matilda 1851 Album Quilt
being offer by Dawn

What's not to love about a red and green appliqued sampler.
Matilda did not worry about
the quilt police pointing out the fact
that all 4 corners of the borders are definitely "unique".
She's my kind of quilter!

Dawn is drafting the  42 eight inch blocks and
having them available on her webpage
at the beginning of each month.
There is a small charge for the patterns
but well worth it.

I've been working on getting started and 
starting on my first 4 blocks.

 I subdivided the background fabric.
I had a nice piece of French General Oyster
that will work perfectly.

Made some freezer paper templates
 and began marking and cutting pieces.

I think I'm going to stick with the same
red fabric throughout,
but mix up the greens, chrome yellow, pinks
and 
decided to add some indigo blue,
 just to see what happens.

 The blocks are not big, so
I used my light table
  to help with the placement of the pieces
along with Roxanne's Basting glue to keep 
those stems from moving.

Here's what I've come up with so far...
 Rose of Sharon

Buds and Leaves

 Double Petaled Flower
( simplified this one)

Patterned Vase of Flowers
either this
or this
with some added chrome yellow.

Check out Dawn's blog if you are interested in
joining in the fun of recreating
a beautiful antique quilt.

Of course,
it's just one of a plethora
of new ideas 
I have for the new year.
And remember,
there's always the opportunity 
to have chocolate pudding for dessert.


Until Next Time-