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-

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-

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-

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-

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-

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-

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

at Collector With A Needle.

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-