Blank Wall

There is nothing on my design wall.  I decided to take the owl blocks down as I seem to be stalled in the sashing and sewing sections together.  I really wanted to get that quilt done in time for our guild quilt show in November but then I realized that I was putting too much pressure on myself and making it no fun at all.  So I have put it away and will not bring it back out until after the first of the year.

This weekend I used my GO to cut strips and squares: this was done as a break from knitting (kind of a reverse from my usual time management).  My current plan is to start sewing these together, two by two, sometime this week.  No, I don’t have a plan, yet, but eventually I will have.  Meanwhile I will be sewing and probably cutting more strips and squares.




I have some strips ready to cut more but I really like to have the die full so that I am cutting fabric and not the mat.









And it seems that I have a “commission” quilt coming.  It is for DH.  He came to me today and said that he is culling his extensive t-shirt collection and wants me to begin putting together.  Several years ago I suggested a t-shirt quilt and told him to cut each shirt he wanted in the quilt up the back and then I would cut the part I wanted to use.  What did he do?  He cut each little logo out.  So this time I told him to cut “nothing”, just bring me the t-shirts as he comes across them.


In addition to cutting, sewing, and knitting, I am going to try to empty some studio furniture, that is going to a pet adoption yard sale, and then move some other furniture around.  I have been planning this for a few months but with the yard sale coming in October I need to get these things moved out onto the deck and ready to go.  The bad thing about this plan is that everything in the studio is going to be in more of a mess than it usually is.  The good thing is that I will able to build a large fabric storage wall.  Oh, won’t that be nice?


And now it is time to check out, at Patchwork Times, what lots of other people are up to, creatively.  I do hope that everyone has a great week.  Gari

Progress Happens

Once again my design wall only features my owls.  I now have the top of the quilt ready to put together.  I am not doing to do it until the rest of the blocks are ready but I am feeling like I am making progress.





Enough so that I decided it was time to start another quilt.  This will be my take on the jelly roll race.  The strips are black and white and are separated by various batik pieces.











I got the very very long first seem done on Saturday but that’s as far as I got as we spent Sunday on the road.
This is probably going to be a charity quilt.  I don’t know how big it will be because the roll was hand made and I believe it had more than the usual number of strips.  Anyway, I should have this top sewn together this week and then it will be ready for quilting. 

That means that I also need to get quilting on the baby quilt that is currently waiting: the backing is already on the frame.  It begins to sound like I have a lot to do, doesn’t it?













Today DH and I did a walk through an antique mall we like.  While there I saw this bench.  I immediately wished I had had it when my 45 year old daughter was a teen.  And then she could have used it when her daughter was a teen.  And now it could be passed down because said granddaughter is having a daughter later this year …….. we wish her luck. 





I will be linking with Patchwork Times and What a Hoot.  And now I better get busy with all those projects I have lined up.  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

Branches and other Projects

After completing several projects with deadlines I was ready to begin working on my owl quilt which is still on the design wall.  One problem came up: I couldn’t find my tree fabric.  I remembered folding it up and putting it away but I couldn’t remember where that away was.  It only took me two days of looking before I found it staring at me, right on the shelf across from my studio knitting chair.  So I now can present my incomplete sashing strips for the second block.

 

Here you can get kind of an idea how this block will look.  I don’t want the sashings to all look alike so this set is using single branches.
Tomorrow I am going shopping with my daughter so these strips will not get sewn until Tuesday.  I am planning on working one block a day but we will see how that goes. 



















The reason I can’t count on getting one block a day done is that I tend to get sidetracked.  Case in point, this fleece throw I threw together yesterday. 


















It is two pieces of fleece and looks great as a recliner cover in our living room.  I just needed something more to identify my little corner of DH’s B Western Cowboy museum room.  And, already the puppies have claimed it as their sleeping place.










I did complete this quilt and it has already been gifted.




















I love the binding, I think it really pulls the quilt together. 






















And I made two more receiving blankets.  I was really on a roll, wasn’t I?     





















So I guess that’s about all from here.  I will be linking up with Patchwork Times and What a Hoot so drop by and check out the creativity.    Gari

Back Home & Slow Starting

I am back home from visiting my mother and celebrating her birthday. I was there for 3 days and the first 2 were spent just sitting around and talking.  It was very relaxing and fun.  But by the third day we were both ready to get out and have someone else fix the food.  We shopped and ate before returning home to sit and talk some more.  All in all I drove 982 miles and was ready to get back home to hubby, puppies, cats and birds all of whom seemed happy to have me back.

While I was on the road I took inventory of what I thought I needed to get done and when.  So the first thing I did when I finally got into the studio (lots of naps going on here) was to load this quilt.  I still need to wind some bobbins and hope to get that and the first stitches started on Monday.





















I even started stitching the branches on the owl block.  I didn’t realize how difficult it was going to be to see which branch needed stitching.  I still have 2 corners to go and I did pull out the next block to see what I needed to make it’s frame but I haven’t started working on it yet.







Instead I cleared the cutting table and put pieces of flannel on there to decide what I will be making with them.

I also have been spending time with my knitting.  I have been working my way down the yoke of this sweater.  It is hard to see the the color, brown with orange highlights, but I love it.  I am not hurrying to get this one done anytime soon, I am just enjoying  the process.










I also have been knitting on my new socks, which you can see here, and it is fun to be back knitting them.  I plan to be looking for some really bright yarn for the next pair: I wear Birks and Crocs so in the winter socks are a must and what's better than sock I knit myself?



My plans for this week are to get the above projects moving along and then to work on a plan for the projects that have deadlines (more than I care to have).  Remember I have 3 family babies on the way, a quilt show to get ready for, and, of course, there is Christmas.  I need to get organized RIGHT NOW!!

Have a great week and be sure to drop by Patchwork times to check out the creativity of others.  Gari

Ready, Set, Go

I am almost packed for my weeks visit with my mother.  We will be celebrating her 92nd birthday as well as doing some shopping and visiting.  She recently moved into a new house so I am excited to be seeing it and, if necessary, helping to unpack some of the boxes.








I also have packed three knitting projects: green socks (just started on the foot), brown sweater (working on the yoke), and dishcolths (bought new yarn).  I probably won’t get a lot done  but if we have some just sitting time I can keep my hands busy.









I also have completed the laundry, did the dishes, watered all the plants so that pretty much all DH has to do while I am gone is care for himself and the puppies, cats, and birds.  And this is why you see him resting

while I was getting it all together.  



And speaking of being busy, I started working on my replacement for the HSTs some of the owls were surrounded by in the designer’s layout.  First I cut strips of my tree fabric.  The strips are longer than the background fabric: you will see why soon.










I then backed the end sections of the top and bottom strips with fusible and cut out the dark parts, not an easy job, by the way.
















When I was done this was the frame I came up with.  I am so excited at how this came out.  As you can see there are only 6 owls that will need frames so with one down we are on our way, again.
















Because I have another quilt to put on the frame I decided to finish this little baby quilt.  It is not a very large quilt, based on how much fabric I had, so I decided to leave the tumblers uncut. 











Of course that meant that I had to bind all those angles.  I guess I really like a challenge cuz it was one.  And I used leftover 30s binding (I keep using that fabric but I can’t use it up  )













I even got the label on it.  This quilt is going to a student of my husband’s so I didn’t put my name on it, just the date.  The baby isn’t due until October so this one will have to wait a while to be loved.













On a completely unrelated note, here is Stubby, sleeping in his 4th floor loft. She can be found in any one of these shelves which keeps her up and away from the dogs when they are out on the deck.







So I will be up early tomorrow to pile everything in the car and hit the road.  It is about a 9 hour drive, longer if I stop at a quilt shop or antique mall, so I need to get an early start. 




Have a great week and be sure to check in at Patchwork Times.     Gari

Needles, etc.

Well, this mess doesn’t look like much, does it?  This is try 1, of 3 tries, at beginning a new pair of toe-up socks using a beginning method new to me.  Have you heard of Very Pink Knits?  Staci is a knitting teacher who writes patterns and shares techniques through YouTube videos.  Anyway, I tried remembering the video directions and had problems.  So then I tried just doing my own cast-on, which worked but I felt that I had failed my “test” so I pulled it out again, watched the video again and then got started over.  I know have the toes almost done but it is time to watch the third video about how to finish up the short rowing on the toe. Then I will have the easy time doing the foot.









And here is the new yard I got for my next sweater.  I am going to repeat the last sweater, this time with a yarn that matches the pattern.  I know that it will be easy and just the right thing to work on while Mother and I are visiting later this month.











I did get an owl completed except for her eyes.  I can’t seem to find the fabric I’ve used for the pupils so for the time being I am pretending that she just had her eyes dilated. 


















I did buy a little more fabric this week: flannel for receiving blankets.  This pair I just love so I bought enough for at least 2 blankets.














I didn’t get as much done this week as I had hoped but I have started feeling better.  Today I tottered around without the cane (it felt a little lonesome all alone in the corner).  But I was glad to have it close at hand because a couple of times I thought I was going to need it.  My daughter, the nurse, said she thought it may be bursitis although I thought that only happened in the shoulder.

We have no plans for this weekend so I am hoping that I will have a lot of sewing/knitting time.  And it would be all right, to to have a little antiquing time, not that we need more stuff. 

Have a great weekend and see you again on Monday.

Gari

I am sharing this link at Patchwork Times.

Off The Wall

 

My Design Wall entry this week is this completed quilt top currently laid out on the HQ frame.  I am really pleased with all the color on this one and I am especially excited with the border fabric.
















It took me a couple of days before I could cut into it.  It is directional so I couldn’t use it in the blocks but I think it is perfect for the borders.





























I thought it was funny that I had to decide a top and bottom for this quilt (not necessary on a D9P) because I had to decide how to handle the top and bottom borders.   Each of the borders has the owls going in the same direction.


Now it is time to quilt but I think I will be buying new backing fabric for this: I am thinking light blue Minkie.  I already have the binding fabric so sometime this week I will make the binding just so I will be ready with the backing fabric is found.





I spent some time today collecting brown fabrics.  I think there are a few more hiding around here but I need all I can find so I can pick the fabrics for my last 4 applique owls.  I also need to work on how I am going to frame the ones that originally were to be surrounded by HSTs.  I have a couple of ideas but will need to see if I have the fabric to carry them out.

























And lastly I want to introduce you to my new best friend.  DH bought her for me and she has been so good to me, helping me to get around more easily.


I am doing much better but really need the cane.  It is funny that sometimes when I am working in the studio I forget that it is hard for me to put my weight on one leg and then have to hobble around to find where I left the cane.




I have my trip to visit my mother planned for two weeks from now so I am really hoping that I continue to improve.  Mother and I like to go out to eat, shop, and go out to eat and I would hate to hold her back. 














My plan for this week is to set up the owls, start a new pair of socks, and cut fabric for two more baby quilts.  I also need to begin designing labels for these quilts.  I am still reading sweater patterns but hope to have something started before I leave for Mother’s.

As usual I will be liking up with Patchwork Times’ Design Wall post.  Now, have a Great Week.   Gari