Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Stars In Time Warp

Remember when I said I wasn't
on the slow boat to China anymore.

Well, this week,
I finally jumped off that boat
and jumped on the band wagon instead.
 

I started sewing 
Quilt Along.

I know many of you are already
participating in this once a week lesson  
on historical fabrics.

 The 6" sawtooth block
 
 is easy to piece.
I just started sewing the blocks last week.
My plan is to do 2 blocks each week.
All along, though, I've been
 pulling the perfect fabrics to
represent the particular color or style or
 certain time period that
Barbara writes about.
 

We just finished week 18,
but here is week 17
with conversation prints.
These prints are always fun.

I decided to make all of my
blocks with different light shirting prints.
 I know that might seem a bit controlled and boring,
but that's just me.

Week 15 was all about
woven plaids, one of my favorites.
I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use
for one of the blocks.

When my daughter, Kate, was in 8th grade
one of her classes was called "Inquiry".
Each student was to study a topic of interest
and complete a project.
Her topic was historical costuming, women's clothing 
of the 1860's.

Her project was to sew a dress
based on the period.
With the help of a couple mentors
and her mom

 she completed her project.
Would you guess that Kate is
 a Museum Collections Manager?
 ***
 Hopefully,
 I'll be keeping up 
with Barbara's Time Warp Stars.
I'm learning so much.
It's a wonderful series.

Until Next Time-

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

I'm Not on the Slow Boat Anymore

 I think sometimes I must 
be on the slow boat to China.
It seems that I'm always
a step behind
 what everyone else has discovered and already made.

Recently, Sue, over at Cozy Little Quilts,
was sewing the cutest fabric baskets.
I know, I've seen these before, but either I didn't
have the time or the inkling to make one.

Well, that changed last week.
I had both the time and I had the inkling.



 Here is the link to the FREE pattern : 

If you haven't checked it out.
You'd better.

 Because you're going to want to make a 
pile of these.

They're easy,
fun and 
a great stashbuster.

Each one uses about 1/2 yd of fabric.
  2 Fat Quarters would work perfectly, especially if
 the handles are made from a third fabric.

The pattern is called the "1 Hour Basket".
The first one actually took me a bit longer, but
once I got going, they were pretty fast.

Instead of using a fusible fleece,
I was introduced to a new product,
as least to me, again that slow boat thing,

I can see by checking online that
it's been around for a while.
Toot, Toot, I'm still on the boat!

It's a sew-in, foam like product that
eliminates the "basket droop".
It's light weight,
soft,
 and  easy to sew.
I did use my walking foot and that 
accommodated the slight added thickness.
Using this sew-in interfacing, eliminated
any wrinkles that I've been known to 
create with a fusible product.

Gosh, I'm glad my boat
finally made it shore.
These baskets
are just to cute to miss.

 Until Next Time-

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Contrasts

Happy and sad
Light and dark
Salty and sweet

Life is full of contrasts.
Maybe it's what adds to the beauty and
interest in our lives.

Quilting offers so many contrasts
in styles and techniques.

Maybe that's what adds to our continued interest
in making quilts.
Maybe that's why I work
on multiple projects at a time,
the need for contrast.


There's a time for simple and fast.
There's a  time for slow and intricate.

I recently found myself wanting to sew something fast and easy.
There's nothing much simpler than starting with a panel,
and a border fabric.


It was a kit purchased
from Fat Quarter Shop online.
How simple is that.
I knew it would be perfect as
a cot quilt for one of my grandsons.

All the fabric arrived in the mail,
and I was off and sewing,
 
 speeding down the track.


Okay, it did have a mitered border,
 but even this needed a tiny challenge along the way.

Machine quilting was a must,
a little bit here and

a little bit more over there.
Ready, Set, Go, All Done.


In contrast to one of my other
projects, Montmellick
designed by Di Ford.

This was a quilt that required lots of English paper pieces,
and lots of appliqueing.
I recently did some machine quilting to
hold the layers together,
but now I'm filling in and highlighting
areas with hand quilting.

This is a quilt that has been intricate
and challenging.

 The quilt will still take many more hours
to complete.


Because quilting is full of contrasts,
we embrace each project.
A single quilt can
brings us highs and lows,
a connection to the past,
 and as well, as a connection to the present.
It can create challenging creative moments or
help us find the soothing rhythms
of stitching with needle and thread.
I love it all.

Until Next Time-

Saturday, May 2, 2015

My Travelin' Shoes

 Running Man and I have
been off discovering new and fun places.
Neither of us had been here before.

See if you can figure it out.

Dogwood 

Boots

Lots of Boots.
Some even came home with us.

Food

Lots of delicious food.

 Plantations
 

 And Civil War Battles
 


 President's Homes


  guitars

and Elvis

 Music
 

 Lots of Music

It's a certain sound
 and once you hear it 
you know where it comes from.

Maybe you'd prefer to see
who's sound we did hear.
Figure out where we went?
I'm sure you did.


 What a wonderful place to explore.

Until Next Time-