Design Wall: April 30, 2012

 

OK, this is probably my most boring design wall ever.  However, this quilt center is sewn together and now I just have to decide what to do with it.  I have thought of doing a convergence kind of design with it or just add a couple of borders to it.  It is destined to be a charity quilt but I want it to be something fun for a boy.  Oh, and to the left you can see the backsides of several fire appliques for “the dragon”. 

I did finish my color challenge mini quilt.  I blogged about it here.  I am really pleased with myself because I have been able to keep up with these challenges and have used only stash fabrics.  This one is now on my bedside table where it is getting a lot of use.

Because I have been mostly bedridden with a cold since Friday, that is all that has been accomplished.  I was planning on getting the backing for the dragon this weekend but I didn’t make it to a quilt shop, or anywhere else, so it will have to wait until later this week.  I have always planned on him having a black background but am having some thoughts about dark blue.  I want to get that fabric and get him pinned on so I can see him in all his “glory”.  Then, while I applique him I will be thinking about a border: this is a quilt you know.

Enter The Dragon

As of this morning, the dragon is done.  All the parts are sewn together and he was allowed to come down from the wall and venture out into the real world.  Now, of course, we have to find a home (background fabric) for him which means a trip to the lqs.  Oh, my!

I have to say I have enjoyed all the really positive comments about my dragon.  He has come a long way from the dresden plate quilt he was originally going to be.  So often we hear that the quilt tells us what it want’s to be but this time it is more than true.

This is the other thing I worked on before taking my new cold to bed.  This is my response to Vicki and Judy’s Color Challenge.  I think this is a mug rug on steroids: grew a little more than I planned.  The strips are from a bargello that never got made and the idea came from somewhere on a blog but for the life of me I can’t remember where.  If someone knows, please tell me so I can give credit.

Anyway, this one is pieced, appliqued and I put some decorative stitches on the flowers.  Right now it is on my DSM and about half way quilted.  I plan to bind it with some leftover binding that will match the stems and then I will have kept up with the challenge. 

Now I am going to roll over and let my sick body rest.  I accidently volunteered to stand in for another WW leader tomorrow and do her meeting.  The interesting part is that it is 110 miles from here and at 5pm.  I really need to get better and “get my voice back.”  Yes, I have also lost my voice, or almost.  I really don’t feel too bad, just tired and a sore throat, but I would like to feel rested, no hurting, and have a voice by tomorrow morning.  Wish me luck.

Design Wall vs. Life

With the little time I had in the studio I found myself “needing” to work on the sleeping dragon.  I think he had been calling to me because I had ignored him for such a long time.  And he was telling me that I couldn’t use the DW until I get him put together and basted/pinned on the background fabric.  In this picture I have sewn several 2 piece sections together.

 Prior to that I turned the raw edges of the inner pieces and sewed them with mono-poly.  It isn’t an excellent job but I think when this fellow is completed, no one is going to be checking too closely. 

Anyway, when I went to put the tail together I found that I had moved the blades I was going to use and all my planning was gone.  So I shuffled and shuffled the blades until I found what I wanted and made what I think looks like a really good tail.

And then I moved on to what has been the hardest (so far) for me, the head.  I cut the eye and nostril from fused fabric and then fused other fabric to begin the flames.  Nothing has been permanently fused down yet as I haven’t finished figuring it out.  One of the things putting this together did for me was to decide the eye was not prominent enough.

I decided to add some black behind the red eye and that seemed to make it stand out more.  The flames are not arranged enough, just stuck up there so I could see if they could be seen. 

I did complete all 12 of the embroidered centers for some swap blocks which I hope to work on this week.  I have another set to start but that will have to wait until next month.

Without a picture I can say that I also started working on my Color Palette Challenge.  I was called away in the middle of a step and never got back to the studio, life, you know.

 

Monday I was doing housework all day (perish the thought) and Tuesday I was gone all day doing my WW part-time job.   DD and I had made arrangements for lunch on Wednesday but then she called and suggested we drive to another town for lunch and a little shopping which took up the whole day.  Above you see the fruits of my day in the studio and Friday I had a little time there prior to being called away by DH for lunch and puttering around town.  Saturday morning was WW again and then in the afternoon we drove to another nearby town looking for a bird toy (one of our birds loves to tear her toys apart).  While there we looked into a new printer but didn’t buy it.  Sunday we were on the road again, eating at the Mellow Mushroom and then getting said printer.  Sometime today I hope to be able to print from my iPad and iPhone as well as print from anywhere using my iPhone.  We’ll see how good I am at getting this device to work: things get harder and harder to figure out, you know. 

So while I am working on this, why not go on over to Judy’s to see all the beautiful things others are working on?

 

What have I been doing?

First I will show what is on my design ironing board.  In the center are 4 little paper pieced trees.  I actually have made 8 now with only 2 more to go.  They have been practice pieces and I have really enjoyed making.  On the outsides there are two of the 7 machine embroidered blocks.  Really these are the centers of 12 I will be making for a block swap.  I have to get these done because I also signed up for a second set with a different center.

Also I just completed my first potholder. 

This is a block design called Spring Fling from Carol Doak.  It is another paper pieced project but I thought it would brighten my kitchen.  And it was good to get me back in the studio and sitting at my sewing machine.

But the real thing I have been doing is completely rearranging my bedroom prior to getting my new Tempur-Pedic mattress.  See how flat my bed is now.  WONDERFUL!!

Prior to the mattress coming I painted this chiffarobe.  It has been residing in my closet for the last 6 years but I decided I would use it more if it was out in the open.

It took 6 spray cans to get it all covered.  I really love white wicker but it is not easy to get into all those little tight places.

But I got it done and here it is, set up, doing double duty.  It is sitting at the end of the bed and holds the TV so that I can watch in bed or swivel it around to where I have a really cool chair and ottoman.

 

 

 

 

 And here it is with a quilt hanging from it.  I do plan to make a couple of small quilts to hang over the back but for right now this one is heralding spring.

As soon as we got everything set up and a brand new sheet set on the brand new mattress, those of us who were at home decided that it was time to break in the new bed with a nap.  Very comfy.

And as you can see, I am not the only one who finds this new bed comfy.

With most of the furniture moving completed I am planning on more studio time.  Of course more Spring Cleaning needs to be done in other rooms of the house (including the studio) but they won’t be as much fun without something like a new bed as part of the cleaning package.

I am linking this to Judy’s Design Wall, Bonnie’s “What’s on Your Bed”, and Carol’s “Spring Fling” flicker group.