Progress On All Fronts

How’s this for a bright quilt?  I figure that any little kid would love a bright, colorful quilt like this.  And guess what!  That border fabric is some I “found” in my cleaning.  It has all the same colors as the sashing fabric but MUCH BRIGHTER. 
As for the cleaning, I found that I get distracted pretty easily.  I worked all day Wednesday and got the the cutting table completely cleaned off and everything on it either put in it’s place or thrown away.  The before and after can be seen here.
Thursday I found that I just had to get a new cutting mat so I was out of town all day.
Friday and Saturday I again was in the studio, cleaning. 


This is the top of the cedar chest that sits next to my chair where I do most of my hand work and also take breaks.  It was piled high with magazines, fabric, fabric scraps, and a bunch of other “junk.”  Now it has places for the handwork as well as open spaces for my coffee cup. 




And would you believe there is a couch under there?  Just before I took this picture there wasn’t even that seat showing but DH came in to visit and cleared it for himself. 




Now it is empty with a spot for magazines and even a quilt. 









One of the things I realized was that I felt the need to play with my fabrics.

So I pulled all my batiks from the very messy shelf and refolded it.  Look how easy it is to do when the cutting table is clean.









Look at these very neat piles of folded beauty.






And here they are again in their new home. 

My batiks are now living right next to my sewing machines where I can see them while I sew even when I am not sewing batiks.




But I did do some sewing this week.  I finally got the binding on Henrietta and





And it is finally on the wall.  Funny thing, DH hasn’t even noticed that it is on the wall.  But I know it and love seeing it up there.








Other projects I worked on were:

I drew and prepped the applique fusible for the Fish BOM.  Later this week I will choose the fabric. 









And I am getting ready to correct an embroidery mistake.  This is the back of a denim jacket where the tiger did not sew out correctly.  It was a difficult design that messed up dramatically.




This  is the practice sew out.  I am going to applique it onto the jacket back.






The cleaning is going to continue.  I seem to actually be doing this on an every other day basis so at that rate will have about 1 1/2 weeks to go.   Hopefully after that I will keep up with it…….LOL.

Linking up with Patchwork Times and What a Hoot.

Scraps and Quilting

Moving right along.  Every time I got tired of quilting on Henrietta I would work on these blocks.  Now they are done and I have begun adding the sashing. 
















And, Henrietta is quilted  (earlier individual blocks can be seen here).







When I had all that empty space it was really hard to not quilt feathers.  Funny thing is that once I learned how to quilt them I want to put them on everything. 

I did little freemotion shingles on the roof and curtains on the windows. 



















And this is the last block.  I put a vine of leaves, lots of different leaves, to go with the acorn. 
Today I hope to get the binding on so it can get hung before the end of the month.




Lots of people have been making lists of UFOs, WIPs, etc., but I don’t because I hate to feel pushed by my project friends.  However, what has happened is that they, along with scraps, have taken over my studio and there is no space to work anymore. 

So…..on May 1st I am taking a week long break from sewing/quilting and I am going to devote my time to cleaning. 

Part of my plan is to relocate all non-quilting fabrics to free-up space for quilting stash.  If I get a lot done, I think I will put in some time sorting my scraps. 

I will be linking up with Patchwork Times so everyone can see all the wonderful work quilters around the world are working on.

Have a great week,  Gari

Henrietta

This has been the week of Henrietta.

I started the quilting with this block.  And this is my attempt at McTavishing.  I am going to have to watch the DVD again.  However, I think it kind of looks like the wind is blowing.








Here we have the Acorn Lane stipple and a small piece of the border quilting.










This block just had loops along with the outlining of the appliques.














The third block got wavy lines, up and down on top and side to side on the bottom. 










The square in a square blocks have continuous curves and a flower in the center.

















On this block I did wavy lines again but this time they followed the jumping squirrels.











For the basket block I used echo quilting. 











The last block I’ve gotten done got a basket weave quilting pattern.  I did mark a grid but the markings were all gone by the time I got to the end.

I have three more blocks to quilt but need to spend some time coming up with three different fillers for them.






 I am using batting scraps for this quilt.  It has taken 4 strips, plus a couple of small pieces to patch the holes.  I find it very interesting that in the areas that are quilted I cannot see or feel where the pieces overlap.







Even though this is not part of Henrietta I did want to show my finished batik scrap placemats.  They are so pretty that yesterday, when we were having sloppy joes, I turned them over just incase we “slopped” on them. 


Well, that’s about all that’s going on around here.  I have a couple of other projects to work on so probably will not get back to Henrietta until the weekend.

Have a great rest of the week.  Gari

On and Off the Wall

On the Design Wall was Henrietta Whiskers, a Bunny Hill BOM.  The center was completed over a year ago and then put on my “completed” rack.  Every time I saw it I thought it was ready for quilting so on Saturday I took it off to measure so I could prepare the backing.  Was I ever surprised to find that it only had two borders sewn on.  So up on the design wall it went.  And, then I said “what was I thinking?”  I love orange but it just didn’t look good with this top.  So off they came and I started thinking up a new plan.




I found these two fabrics to join with the orange.  The plan: small darker border, orange border and then the wood like border.













However after putting the first little (1”) border on I decided the quilt was finished.  It is the perfect size for a wall hanging and I have the perfect wall for it.














I already had the backing fabric so before I could overthink it, off to the frame it all went.  I didn’t start the quilting but will this week.















I did spend some time at the sewing machine and got all the applique sewn down on the Owl wall hanging.  It will probably be the next thing on the frame.










I found some time to enjoy my  quilter’s hammock.













And even time for Abby who, every morning, pokes her head out of a quilt to ask if it is time to get up.





Hope everyone has a great week.  Gari

Linking with Patchwork Times.

Checking In

After finishing my 24 swap blocks on Monday it seemed as though I was never going to be able to be  back in the studio.  However, this afternoon I got to begin a new project, one that I have been looking forward to for a couple of months.  This is my first Funky Chicken block from Fat Cat Patterns.  I have been saving the patterns and even made this one before (see earlier post) as a birthday pillow for my mother.  I do fusible applique and have the pattern pieces drawn for two more chickens which I hope to be able to work on in the next week.  This one is only pressed but I really like the look, very different from the first one I also liked.




This somewhat fuzzy picture is of the background fabric I chose.  First, there is no green in the real fabric.  Secondly, I picked it because the “leaves” kind of looked like chicken tracks.  I think the fun of doing this BOM will be that the blocks make me smile all the while I am working on them. 




The other thing I worked on today was Henrietta Whiskers.  I got the center all sewed together and was just about to add the borders when I realized that it might be getting too big for the place I want to hang it.  So off to measure the space and the center and sure enough, I needed to make a change.  The original plan was seen here.  It is just the same as the original pattern.  I have decided to replace the original partial border, top and bottom, with smaller versions of the original outer border and will do a single binding using the original stop border.  It will then just barely fit in the space but will be the perfect Fall wall hanging for our dining room.

I started one other project but did not take any pictures, yet.  I bought a panto-cam and it came last week.  I opened the package, took out the instructions, read them and then decided I was too tired to deal with it.  Today I reread the instructions (no pictures) and took all the parts out and laid them on the quilt frame.  I then decided that I needed to see the video again to see where all those parts went and how they were to be put on the machine.  I may have to watch that video several more times before I get mine up and running but when it is done I will/should be able to view my pantograph from the front of the machine as well as see how the bobbin is doing as well.  Cool, huh?

 

Design Wall Monday and More

My Design Wall contains Henrietta  Whiskers.  All of the blocks are done and the borders are cut.  Here some of them are on the wall so I could see how they played with the blocks.  Now, nothing is sewn together.  My plan is to sew the cream and small brown borders together first so I can do the applique that is supposed to be on them.  I must say that I usually do not follow the designer’s plans for their blocks but in this case I am going to try to come as close as I can.





I do have one finish, this visor.  This is my Color Challenge piece.  And the visor came from a tutorial offered by Vicki.  It is a wide-brimmed visor and is pretty easy to make.  I plan do to a couple more (I do drive a convertible, you know) but will probably make a smaller brim for car use.







You may notice that my fabric has all of the bright colors and to get the purple in, I used purple thread for the quilting on the brim.










On Sunday I started cutting my “ugly” fabrics.  I cut strips that should fit the paper piecing pattern I created last week.  I still need to cross cut these strips but I feel I am on my way.









And, while I was doing all that cutting, I started on my first Christmas project.  Don’t hate me!  I just got what I think is a great idea, found what I needed so there was no reason not to get started.  And, of course, I am more than a little proud of myself. 









I have set up some temporary seating on the deck but now I am on the lookout for a set of rockers.










But while I look I found some hanging basket flowers for the roof.












I have always wanted hanging flowers and was really excited to find these that offer color in our gray and green world.    I plan for more plants, maybe after I find the rockers.  Can you tell I am still excited about our covered deck?

Singing in the Rain

So, I came out of the house and was on my way to the studio when this happened.












Look at that rain!  It has been pretty dry here and the rain has been spotty and short lived.  DH said it was like sitting under a waterfall.











So we took full advantage of being able to sit outside, on our deck, under our new roof, in the rain.  Can you see where the wet and dry is?  One of our puppies didn’t notice the difference until she wandered out into the rain.  She jumped, startled, and hurried back into the dry, shaking all that wet stuff off as she went.  So fun was had by all.









Then, when the rain stopped it was off to the studio to get some sewing in.  The first thing I did was complete the applique on the last Henrietta Whiskers block.  I am not embroidering the eyes on any of the blocks as I plan to use crystals but they will not be put on until after the quilt is quilted.  I really like a little sparkle on wall quilts and this one will be hanging in the dining room come Fall.







And here is my Carol Doak Mystery Block for July, all sewn and pressed.  And, since she is traveling, she has already given us the August block.  However, I am putting it a little further down the “to do” list in the hope I can get some other things done.








The last thing I worked on today is the beginning of my Color Challenge for July.  This is a very different project for me but so far I am really excited about it.  I won’t share what it will be until I get a little further along but it is not a quilt but will be quilted.  How’s that for an enigma? 

Now that I think of it, this has been a really great day.  I got everything done in the house I planned to do, I had a really nice call from my mother, lunch out with DH, fun in the rain under the roof, and progress in the studio.  Very nice.