Process

Above are 3 1/2” strips of batiks that I have cut for a new quilt project.

And this is what I am doing with them. On the right you can see the colored strips sewn to a 1” strip of black. Lying on the machine bed, in the middle, is the same but pressed and on the left are the segments, cut apart. I have sewn about 100 of the 700 needed and then I get to sew another black strip to the other side.

And I am trying to teach myself to do leaders/enders using the 30s fabric squares. I seem to find that I have sewn many pieces before I remember I was going to do a leader first. But by the time I get all of these done I should have learned this lesson for good.

This is my “Rose Among the Thorns” picture. Those thorns are really long, strong, and sharp. But my bushes are full of flowers and many more buds. Spring and rain means March in Alabama.

Design Wall Repeat

My design wall has not changed since last Wednesday.  These are the 16 patch squares I am making out of 30’s scraps.  I have also sewn about 15 2” double strips to make more and have cut them into 2” sets but that’s as far as I have gotten.

 

And this is as far as I have gotten on Block 3a for Heart’s Desire.  I have all the pieces ready to fuse but then I will have to do it over again three times.  This is a very complex, for me, applique piece.

The reason I haven’t gotten any more done is that my Railz and Edgrider  wheels (Urban Elementz) for the HQ came on Friday: I almost kissed the Fed Ex man.  So on Saturday DH and I put the wheels on the machine and the track on the frame.   

Here is the machine with it’s new wheels.  And you can see the track under the carriage.

And here is the wheel behind the stitch regulator.  The funny thing is that the stitch regulator is now working better than ever.

So, of course, I had to quickly load (Red Snappers) the comfort quilt I had been saving and try it out.  I was amazed at what an improvement I had in control.

 

I used a panto and it was ever so easy to stay on the lines, much more than before. 

And the quilt is quilted.  I still need to make a binding but that will wait until the weekend.

Between the Red Snappers and the Railz/Edgeriders, I was a happy quilter Sunday.

Be sure to check out Judy’s blog for more inspirations.

 

A Little Play Time

So, what is this? Well, this is my iPhone with it’s new camera lens. What? you say. It comes with a cover that goes on the phone and then the lens screws onto the cover. And it even comes with it’s own tripod. Cool, huh?

And does it really work?, you ask. Look and see…..

Here is DH taken with the normal setting on the phone.

And here he is using the telescopic lens. Pretty neat, huh?

I love techie toys!!

I did some “sewing” before beginning my two WW days. Here is my Heart’s Desire Block 3a with most of the parts ready to be fused on. I still have some tweaking to do but when this one is done all the fabrics for 4 blocks will be chosen.

And I even spent some time putting together some of the 16 patch blocks. I think this is going to make a great comfort quilt, hopefully someday soon.

I don’t have anything on the HQ as I am waiting for my new Raliz to come in. They have been on backorder for over a month but I have been assured that they should be coming my way soon. I sure hope so as my “to be quilted” pile is growing.

3/25 Edit: The Raliz arrived today. DH and I spent part of the afternoon installing the new Edgerider wheels and getting the tracks together. Tomorrow I will get the frame back together and see how it all works. Yea!!!

Tomorrow morning I will be doing WW paperwork and then I hope to spend most of the next 4 days in the studio (along with laundry, yard work, and other necessary things).

Design Deck

Since this is the only thing on the Design wall, looking very lonely, I decided to photograph it outside.  This is the latest block for the LCQAL from Moose on the Porch.  I really like this block and may have to make a quilt using it.

However, this is what I worked on Sunday.  I am still trying to get all that 30s fabric used up so I sewed 2” strips together to begin making 16 patches for a comfort quilt. 

 

So I laid them out on the cutting mat and cut them in 2” segments.

And now they are piled up waiting for me to come back to the studio and sew them together.

 

 

One other thing I did was to start drawing the applique shapes for Esther’s BOM onto the fusible.  I think I have everything drawn for one Block #3 but I will have to do it again, twice so I have to figure out enough fabric for all three.

 

 

I did take a little break to read some of this new novel.  I have read everyone of her books so I feel I know this family well, both current and historical.

 

Friday DH and I were in Pensacola.  Our routine there is that I drop him at Barnes & Nobel and I head to the local fabric store.  I have a new project in mind and went to get fabric that I couldn’t find in my stash.  Here it almost looks like a Halloween quilt but, no, it isn’t.  More to come later.

And while I was in town I visited Martelli’s home store.  I have driven by there several times but had never stopped.  And I was not familiar with their products.  But as you can see from this picture, I am going to become familiar.  They were really very nice, took a lot of time showing me many of their products and invited me to come back Tuesday for their “National Quilting Day” celebration.  Can’t go but enjoyed my visit.

After all my spending, DH and I drove to Daphne, AL where we spent the night so we could be close by  Fairhope, AL and be early for their annual Arts Festival.  We usually drive down from home (140 miles) getting there around noon when it is hot and filled with LOTS of people.  This time it was still cool and not crowded.  And once again it was wonderful.  I love seeing other people’s creativity and all the diversity of mediums.  Later this week I will share a couple of the things we bought but mostly we just looked.

Now, if you made it down this far, be sure to go over to Judy’s blog to see what other quilters have on their design walls.

Projects, Projects

Here is my current problem project, block #3 from Esther Aliu’s BOM, Heart’s Desire. Here you see me taping the 5, yes I said 5, pages together to make that one block. Then I get to applique it….3 times. She expects me to make three Block 3’s. Oh, my. And then I get to make Block 2 (only 1) but that will be for another day, week, month.

What I did get done yesterday was my March Journal Quilt. It depicts our anniversary trip to visit Harry Potter, St. Patrick’s Day and DH’s 70th birthday which comes next week. It really seems like this has been a busy month and it is just half over.

I don’t know if I shared but last month I won a prize from 3 Creative Studios for my January Journal Quilt. Here you see the beautiful hand dyed fat quarters that Vickie sent. Aren’t they beautiful. I don’t have a plan for them yet but hope they will want to be a part of a future journal quilt. Oh, and it was a random drawing, not a judged event.

Here is my Eleanor Burns Egg Money quilt top all finished.

I am showing two of the four corners that I couldn’t make match up. See how far apart the stems are. But I think the “fix” I did looks pretty good and am happy with the result.

No sewing/quilting today or tomorrow, all WW both days. But with all the driving I do on those days, I get to do a lot of planning for both the next project and how to complete the ones I am already working on.

Design Wall Monday

And I have something on my wall.

I am trying to decide how I want to set my Snowbound blocks from 2010.  And I am seeking your input.  Here they are with the snowball blocks I am using.  But this is not the way I originally planned.

Here is my original plan using sashing and cornerstones (EQ7).  My problem is that I really like what I am seeing on the DW and, of course, it would be a lot easier to put together.  What do you think?

Also on the DW, way up in the right hand corner, is the beginning of my March Journal Quilt.  I started it late last week but got sidetracked by the UFO that had been “yelling” at me to liberate it from the box it had been sitting in for at least the last 6 months (see it here). 

You see I got all the borders appliqued and the stems didn’t meet like I thought I had planned.  But this weekend I figured out how to finish them to my satisfaction.  However I must say it is not easy to applique flowers when they are now on a queen sized quilt top.  And here we are with the applique borders completed. 

Next came the piano key borders.  Actually, I have them done and they now are on the top, also.  I even staystitched the outside edge so nothing will come apart while I am waiting to be able to quilt it.  I spent most of Sunday putting the backing together.  This quilt is made with 30s repro fabrics, not my favorite.  So I used all of the larger pieces that were left over so it will be a scrappy backing but will be the same fabrics that I used on the front.

But I don’t want anyone to think that I haven’t been enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having.  I have been spending part of every day outside, reading.  What a pleasure that is.  And yesterday I found this: 

This is my first rosebud of the Spring.  Isn’t she beautiful?

Now, hop on over to Judy’s blog to check out all the quilting inspiration there.

Finally, Some Sewing

It seems that anniversary celebrations and recovery from same caused me to do very little in the studio all last week.  But Sunday I made up for all that and this is what is on my Design Wall.

First I completed Blocks 3 & 4 of the LQS BOM: Underground Railroad.  I love the Wagon Wheel block and may consider doing several of these as a whole quilt.

Next was Block 3 of the current Bunny Hill Designs BOM called Henrietta Whiskers.  This is also a great illustration of what happens when you don’t turn the pattern over for fusible applique.  But it is my quilt so it is OK.

And last but not least is Block 3 from Molly’s Place Boots BOM.  It is always fun to go through all the saved scraps to see what will go together for a project and it is rarely what I might have planned.

As of right now I am caught up with all my BOMs and can begin to work on some other projects.

But, before I do that I am starting with a new Weight Watchers group today (this makes 3).  My manager emailed me that there was a group of teachers that wanted to start a WW at work meeting “right away” and so off I go.  At first all I could think of that this takes another day away from the studio but with a little organization, I’m sure I will be able to make it work.

The End

The last part of Universal we visited was SeussVille.  This was where I saw the most quilting inspiration and it was through the colors.  I can’t be as “wonkey” as he was.

 

And the most striking part was the Merry-Go-Round.  Of course that animals are directly out of the Dr. Seuss books

 

and the colors were brilliant. 

I was really taken with this ride, not to go on but to watch.  I’m sure some parents wondered if I wasn’t a stalker as I was taking pictures of the animals and their children just happened to get in the picture, too.

And then it was time to leave the park and get ready to go home.

We had such a wonderful time, some rides, good food, great family visit, and the love of our children than made it possible.  We came home very happy people.

Next week, back to real life and quilting.

Harry Potter at Universal

Probably the most impressive part of Universal’s Islands of Adventure is the Hogwarts Structure in the Harry Potter park.

It sits on a cliff but opens up to the road that leads to Diagon Alley.  The ride is held inside Hogwarts.

This griffin meets you as you enter the building.  Because it is so very dim inside, it wasn’t possible to get very many pictures.

 

Here is the sorting hat, encouraging us through the school.

We were unable to take any pictures during the ride.  We felt like we were soring on a broom, following Harry through the castle, being chased by a dragon, spiders, death eaters, etc.  But in the end we were congratulated by the HP cast for getting through the ride and invited back to Hogwarts, anytime.  I’m ready!

More Universal Pictures

Shortly after we got to Universal we found ourselves watching a river raft ride. DH really wanted to go and after some begging my sister agreed to go with him. My BIL and I decided we would watch from a bridge. This picture is of the rapids that came down to the bridge.

It seemed like we waited forever but finally “here they came.” Watch for the lady in the hat and the bald man, they belong to me.

They came rocking and rolling and were already yelling. It just looked like fun to me so I couldn’t see why they would be yelling. Of course, they were laughing, too.

At this point some of the people seem to see something. I wonder what it could be?

Oh, my, there is a water fall. What’s going to happen?

As my BIL said, “shower anyone?” Our two got soaked. And, I’m afraid, we thought it was really funny. And you’d think they would have been happy that we were there to take pictures of their wonderful time at Universal.

After the above ride, we couldn’t talk them into going on this one. I wonder why?

Tomorrow I will share pictures from Hogwarts and the Dr. Seuss village. What imagination some people have.