Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Sunshine Makes You Happy

I feel lucky to live in
a place that has on average
300 sunny days a year.

John Denver said it beautifully
in his lyrics 
"Sunshine on my Shoulders 
Makes Me Happy".

I thought of that song 
while I worked on my August mini.


"Sunshine Makes Me Happy"
34" X 34"

I found all of the hst's hiding out
in a zip lock baggie and rescued 
them from an unused fate.


I think I had made extras
when I was working on something else.
No sense saving them any longer.

Yellow is one of those colors
that doesn't seem to get used very often.


I tried lots of different fabrics for 
the border, but this older yellow
print was the perfect choice.

I machine quilted it with
# 2110 Aurifil thread, a soft pale yellow.


A simple design in the alternating 
plain blocks.


A gentle wavy curve in the borders
was all that was needed.

When I was deciding about the 
binding every color seemed so dark. 
 Not like the sunshine on my shoulders. 


The best choice:
just a tiny flange of the blue
I had used in the narrow border
and then the same yellow as the border.

It even made me smile
when I was sewing the binding.


Every once in a while 
the tiny design in the blue flange
would be perfectly centered.

Sometimes when you're
outside you suddenly realize
how happy the sunshine has made you feel.

The only other thing that could make
you feel happier
would be wearing yellow shoes!


Until Next Time-
Kyle

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Pink and Blue

Pink and Blue,

Boy and Girl, 

I put together two quilts

That I want to show you.

****
I guess this my funny way of showing
you what I finally finished last week.
But there's a story that
goes along with these two quilts.

It begins with these
cute vintage animal designs.

I'm guessing
that they are a 1940's to
early 1950's pattern.

The designs were ironed onto
both pink and blue fabrics.


They were embroidered with
2 strands of pink or blue floss.

On the blue animals
most of the embroidery was done with a
very tiny couching stitch,


while the pink animals
were done with very
small running stitches.


Instead of hand appliqueing the
pieces down, the edges were turned
and then machine stitched.


So, who made these blocks and then
appliqued them onto two large pieces of
toweling material?


No one knows.

But it was someone who wanted to make
something special for a boy or girl,
someone with some needlework skills,
but someone who never finished her ideas.

The next part of the story is that
a friend of mine, Liz Marweg rescued
these panels a few years ago on one of
her many jaunts for junk trips.

Then a few months ago she
passed these sweet pieces on to me.
One day I got brave and
started to cut.


Keeping it simple, I divided
the blocks into two quilts,
one with blue sashing and
one with pink, but
both with pink and blue animals.


The only border fabric I could find in my stash
that even began to go with these quilts
was an old Susan Branch teapot fabric.
It pays to have a stash.

Also I just discovered that Susan Branch
has many sweet designs on Spoonflower.

Then to add a bit more texture I added blue ric rac and
a pink ric rac to the edges before attaching the bindings.



I love how these two quilts finished
with simple machine quilting outlining the animals,
some quilting in the ditch,
and straight lines in the borders.

The animals are the stars.


A Boy's Quilt
28" x 39"



A Girl's Quilt
28" x 39"

It was the combination of 3 people's
love of quilt making that eventually
got these quilts finished.


Until Next Time-
Kyle

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Is Your Quilting Like Visiting a Salad Bar?

The other day I was 
in Whole Foods Market.
I walked past their salad bar
which always looks incredible.


A salad bar gives you the options of
creating your salad your way, adding just
the right ingredients in the amounts you want.

My week of stitching has been like making choices at a salad bar.
I have lots of projects all
neatly set aside. Ready for sampling.

Should I do more machine quilting?


I've been working on two different quilts.

Maybe I'll do a little on both.
Yum.

Another choice might be to
stitch the binding on this.


Have I made you lick your lips and
wonder what this is?

Look what came in the mail this week.


All these crisp and delicious
rainbow zippers from
Need Zippers?
This is a great link.

Why all these zips?

More bags ready to be made.

Does it look like I'm ready to make
some muffins to go with my salad?


Nope.
Just a convenient way to
store a gazillion little applique pieces.

Maybe my stitching salad
needs more pieces prepped 
for this project.


3 mouthwatering blocks done and 
4 flavorful piles
ready for stamping.

Then again,
is it time to try a new ingredient on my salad ?

Hmmm.  
This appetizing
bag has been tucked away for a while.
Maybe just a nibble.

Hope you have some
inviting ingredients 
for your stitching salad this week.
Gotta love a good salad bar.
Until Next Time-
Kyle