Design Wall Monday

Looky, looky, I actually have something on the design wall besides the Owl blocks (which are just to the right of this charity quilt top.  I am calling it Nothing is all Black and White.  The colored bits are batiks cut at random sizes






















I have the binding sewn, just need to press it.

















However that is going to have to wait as the frame has this baby quilt on it.  I am using Minkie, again, as the backing but this time I did not put batting between the top and the backing.  I am having some tension problems, I think because there is no batting to stabilize it, so it is taking a little longer than I planned.


















This is how I  am quilting the plain blocks and then there are swirls in the owl blocks.















Another thing that has slowed down my quilting progress is that I think I have developed a pinched nerve that is negatively affecting my right arm.  I am pretty much all right when I am sitting but when I stand up I am experiencing pain and tingling like my arm is going to sleep.  And half of my thumb is asleep all the time.  So I am mostly knitting with just a little sewing until I see the Dr. on the 20th and start figuring out what is wrong and what can be done about it.  Meanwhile I have been learning how to live with ice bags which seems to help, until I stand up. 

I will, as always, be linking up with Patchwork Times.  Have a great week.  Gari

Owl Blocks Progress

Progress: one sixth of my owl quilt is sewn together.  I want the blocks to not all look alike so I am trying to sash some, not sash some and vary the sashing some. 

















I worked on this block today but is not complete: I still need to applique down the branches at the corners.



























I am beginning to see this beautiful quilt come together and it really gets me excited. 













Well, I’m excited until I look up on the wall and see how much there is left to do.  I will probably get the two little ones on the top right done this week.  Then I will sew those three together and the whole top will be done.  Check back next week and see how I do. 



















Now I am taking the opportunity to share some creativity of my sisters.  She has been painting: benches, cabinets, and clothes pins.  And she gifted me with these 4.  They are painted green and then she decoupaged scrapbook paper on the front of them.  Aren’t they pretty?  My plan for them is to use them to hold notes on my ongoing projects.  I just need to figure out how and where I want them to hang.
















It was nice to see one of my receiving blankets being used.  I’m sure the he is really enjoying it and has already told his parents how much he loves it. 




























And because of the new arrival, our cover/header girl has gotten a “big girl” bed.  Of course I am happy to see that she, too, will be sleeping under a quilt made by ME.  I do love to see my work being loved and used.







Well, that’s all from here.  Hope everyone has a great week.  I will, as usual, be linking to Patchwork Times.  GARI

Design Wall, Plans, and Progress

Would you believe that I have two quilts on the design wall today.  When I got the D9P on the wall I saw that it was going to be a lot bigger than I wanted.  So I didn’t cut up the last 6 9 patches and am planning on sashing them as a separate quilt.  The smaller one is going to get a 5” border, the larger one will have a 3” border so they will be about the same size.  This week I will begin sewing the blocks together and cut the sashing and border fabric.  I must be humming right along.


And it hasn’t been easy.  On Friday DH and I went to the movies and saw Maleficent.  I am not an Angelina Jolie fan but I really liked her in this movie.  Anyway, we were away all day so no sewing or knitting happened.  Then on Saturday I woke up almost unable to step on my left leg, my hip really.  This had happened a few months ago and then got better but I didn’t like it any more this time than last.   Today it has been some better and I am able to get around with the use of a “cane,” something I fashioned to use as a cane.  I am trying to not overdo.




So one of my sitting down projects has been this sweater.  However I am almost done with it.  I have started the bind off and am about 3/4 done.  I guess it is about time to start reading the pattern for the next sweater.  I didn’t do it this time because there were things I didn’t understand.  I hope I will do better this time.



















One of my other “sitting” tasks was to figure out what owls I haven’t made.  There is only one more coming but I seem to have 4 missing.  It was kind of neat when I figured out how to check off the pictures in a PDF.  Anyway, while I am sewing blocks together I am going to try to concentrate on these owls and see if I can get them all completed.











If I am up and moving tomorrow I will be doing laundry and dishes but believe me I’ll also be working on my projects.  Hope you will, too.     Gari

Linking with Patchwork Times.

Knitting, Quilting, and Stuff

This sweater is really coming along.  I have not been spending as much time knitting as I had been so the progress has slowed, a bit.













However, I am very close to where the pattern suggests to stop the body and begin the band.  However, I really like my sweaters to be a little longer, and I am adjusting for shrinkage after washing (it cotton you know) so I plan to go to 14” and then around 3” of garter stitching for the band.



















I did do some pattern window shopping and have decided that my next project is going to be fingerless gloves.  My studio doesn’t have central heat or air and in the winter it takes some time to warm up.  I think that having most of my hands covered might make it easier to get in there and get busy even while the heaters are getting it warm.  Anyway, just for variety, I may start the gloves later this month.




Meanwhile I went fabric shopping.  I mentioned in my last post that our family has two babies on the way but since then a third one has been announced.  The babies are due in August, November, and December.  So, I am in baby quilt planning mode.  I really want do to pieced quilts so am open to any pattern suggestions.


















I only know the sex of the August baby so am buying neutrals.  I love the bottom fabric, it may show up on more than one quilt.

























  I also bought flannels.  I watched a video tutorial from the Missouri Quilt Company on a self binding receiving blanket and thought, if it wasn’t too difficult, I might make a couple of them.





















Here is the first one, completed.  Isn’t it beautiful?  I will probably be running back to the fabric store to get more of these two because I love them so much.  Anyway, this is not hard to do except that I washed my flannel and then it was not quite 40”.  For the next one I will wait to wash it until after the blanket is completed.  Or, I will just reduce the size by 1”.  Who knows?












And my puppy picture for today.  As I was getting dressed this morning, and obviously prior to making my bed, I looked over to see his.  Abby is giving Sherlock his morning bath.  And, unlike many young boys, he is just lying there, taking it.  This really does make for one very happy family.








Other knitting ideas can be seen at the link up at Patchwork Times.  Have a great rest of the the week. 
Gari

Design Wall 1/3/11

With the holidays over, I finally was able to get back into the studio. And there was my flannel log cabin, still in pieces. So the first thing I did was to get the center blocks sewn. But then I became faced with a delima. I really would like to have a small enclosing border around the blocks before I put the outer border on (see the border fabric on the chair). But what to use. If I had a solid, or solid like, orange, brown, or black fabric I would use that: but I don't. So I am stumped and stopped, briefly.

So I moved into the quilting room. I have had this quilt top, a baby quilt for a child due this month, for quilt a while. But this past weekend it got on the frame and quilted, too.

The quilting pattern is a new one from Urban Elementz, can't remember the name, but I love it.

It has hearts in it but when I was quilting it I saw "baby butts." So I smiled throughout the quilting process and now am ready to get on to the binding. Of course that means another decision. I actually have enough of all three fabrics to make binding but which one should I choose? Anyone want to vote?


edit: Wednesday I will be posting about the giveaway gifts I have received as well as a couple of Christmas gifts given and received. Be sure to drop by then.

Hurray for the 4th of July

If you are only looking for Design Wall Monday, skip to the end. Otherwise here is my story:

21 years ago I moved to FL where I started working on our retirement home. Within a week I decided that the two trees in our backyard were perfect for a hammock. For 17 years I spent lots of time outside, resting and reading on that hammock. Then 4 years ago we retired and decided that there were too many hurricanes in FL so we stayed in AL. Well, last week I suddenly realized that I missed my hammock (didn’t bring it because it really looked terrible after 17 years out in the weather). So Thursday, off we went hammock hunting and found a great one. Back home, while DH made dinner, I put the stand and hammock together and

then I decided to try it out.

Now I already knew it would stretch and would need to be readjusted several times but this was more than I expected. And I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t even stop DH when he ran for the camera. Saturday I sat, redid the chains, sat, redid the chains, and sat and redid the chains until I finally got it up and ready to go.

Then I spent a couple of hours enjoying the fruits of my labor.

This is what I love to walk out to. Isn’t it beautiful?

Now, on the quilting front, I won a giveaway Sandra Henderson and my winnings came this week.

The author is Cherri House and the quilts are all very geometric and made with solids. My first impression was that her quilts are very different from what I do but as I continued to check the book out I realized that this just might be my next challenge. Thanks again Sandra.

Yes, this is the finished baby quilt top. And I even have the backing done. I have two other tops that need backs and quilting and I really want to get them done first so for the next day or so, all my sewing will be making backs, bindings, and sizing batting. I have got to get quilts on the frame or I am going to be one of those people who has stacks of tops and no quilts.

But before that I think I will go outside, lie down on my hammock, and read a while.

It's Monday again

It's design wall Monday and there is something new on my design wall. Here we have nine D4Ps with sashing. The blocks are 10" finished and the sashing will be 1 1/2". With a 6" border, that would make this quilt 48" square. That's big enough for a baby quilt, isn't it? I could make a couple more blocks and set it 3 x 4 but this is looking good to me, I think.

I really like the fabric. I collect owls and that is why I bought the owl print but the other is so very different. And besides, I'm not much into "cutsy wootsy" stuff.

But what I am into is this............

My Going Dotty flimsy/top is done.

I was so excited when I finished stay stitching around the outside that I had to run outside to get some pictures. Of course the sun immediately went behind some clouds. I think it was because he was embarassed to be seen beside something as bright as this.

I had decided to stop at 90 x 90 rather than the 90 x 108 I had planned because I only have a queen sized bed and I figured that would fit. However, I had to come in and throw it on the bed, just to be sure. I have enough fabric to make another row but as you can see it will not be necessary.

I don't have any backing fabric that has jumped out and volunteered for this quilt so I may just have to do some "shopping" to find just the right thing. How awful.

Be sure to visit Judy's blog to see what other quilters are up to.

Change of Focus

Two solid weeks of polka dots and I needed a
change of pace. So, of course, I started on something new, a baby quilt. I saw a tutorial last week on how to do a disappearing 4 patch and really wanted to try it so here is what I worked on today. Isn't that cleaver? So far I have only made 9 blocks and am trying to decide if, when I have made some more, I will sash them (I have some yellow fabric) or just sew them together.










I guess we will just see later on.


Edit: you can find the tutorial at Sally's blog. Sorry I didn't have that info when I wrote this post. :-(

Design Wall Monday

So this is what is on my design wall today. Yesterday I found that I had not made enough sashing strips: I guess I just can’t count high enough. So I made two more and cut the outer borders and corner stones. So now we know what this quilt is going to look like.

Yesterday I also got the backing for the Purple Rail Comfort quilt made so I hope to get it on the frame and quilted this week.

And two nature shots. I found this vine in our woods. The vine twines itself around the trees, probably killing the tree, but at this time of the year the blooms are beautiful. Interestingly, there is no scent in this flower.

With all the beauty that is beginning to show up around here, it is getting very hard to stay in and sew/quilt, but I am trying to balance my time wisely. Yea, Spring!!

One last thing: this is my baby quilt and my finish for March. It took me until last week to find the right fabric for the binding. I used a light green with even lighter green polka dots.

Been a little Quiltin' goin' on

I got this quilt quilted but haven’t bound it yet. I just can’t decide what fabric to use for the binding. I’m not in a hurry since I know of no babies in the near future but I really like to see my quilts getting done.

Front

Back

And, I finally have started putting the Eleanor BOM blocks together (I really need to come up with a better name for this quilt).

I have sewn the vertical rows and now need to sew them together. I cut the blue center border but haven’t done any sewing on them. And I included one of the appliqué borders: it really looks naked with just the narrow stem on it. Then outside that will come the piano key border. Wow, that is sure a lot of work, isn’t it?

We were having warmer weather but today it was cook, windy and some rain. Good sewing weather but not much good for anything else.

Just Under the Finish Line

Yesterday I felt like a marathon runner who is really slow but finally makes it to the finish line. I have been doing OPAM since it started 14 months ago and yesterday morning decided that for the first time I wasn’t going to have anything finished for February. Then in the afternoon I remembered that I had a 2 yd piece of faux fur that I wanted to make a throw out of. I also remembered that last Tuesday I bought some black minki-like fabric for the back. Well, I got them both out, trimmed them to the same size and sewed them together and, viola, a beautiful throw that I will be using in the studio and at least one February finish. I felt so much better.

I know this picture looks a lot like the one from Wednesday but there is difference, I have sewn together some of the drunkard’s path blocks. I am concentrating on sewing the circles first so I can take everything down and use the wall for other projects. I have cut the base fabric for the appliqué border but that is as far as I have gotten. Next I will need to look for appropriate flower and leaf appliqué templates and I need to find just the right green for the stem. So this week I plan to cut the strata for the piano key border and figure out what fabric to use for the inner border. Then this will be an “ongoing” project to work on while I start new quilts.

Oh, and I did have one partial finish. I finished the quilting on my baby quilt. But I couldn’t get it done for Feb. since I hadn’t even thought about what I was going to use for binding. Usually I have that all ready when I put a quilt on the frame but not this time. So I am starting a UFO pile for quilts that need binding. Lets hope that pile only has one UFO at any one time.

My SIL and BIL stayed a couple of extra days due to the snow they would have had to travel through to get back to NH. One of the inducements I used to help them make the decision was to sign Cera and me up for a lamp work glass beading class. We went Saturday and for three hours played with fire and molten glass. We had a great time, even when I burned my fingers trying to pick up a piece of still very hot glass. Cera was already scheduled to take a bead making class later this month so this just gave her a jump start. I don’t know if I will do any more but I really love playing with hot glass. I didn’t get any pictures because both hands were busy. I am supposed to pick up the beads sometime this week (too hot to take home Sat) so I will take pictures then. Believe me, I quilt better than I bead….so far.