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

Design Wall Monday

Here is what is on my Design Wall this morning.  I started making these scrap blocks several months ago and then they got put aside for more organized projects.  But right now I am between projects so out they came.  I hope to have another comfort quilt ready to quilt by sometime next week.  The blocks still need to be squared: some even need an additional strip or two.  But I think they are going to make a fun little quilt.











I put this on the frame last week and there it sat until yesterday.  I had a terrible time coming up with a quilting plan.













I played with my plexiglass and finally came up with a plan so the quilting started yesterday afternoon.













Even though this is a small quilt, it really took me a long time to get started on this.














I am liking what I am doing in the borders and the large triangles.  We’ll see how I do when it comes time to stitch on the star.












We have been overrun by wild cats.  We started out with a couple and even got two, who chose to be sociable, spade.  However the others shy away from us but not each other.  Right now we have four dark gray cats and a light gray older kitten.  AND this past week we saw two small gray kittens come out from under the house.  It is time for them to go.  We have tried to think of how to get them together and off to the shelter and just this past weekend an idea came.  This is a birdcage we haven’t been using.  I have put it on the deck and we will be feeding the cats in there for a few days.  Also I will be sitting on the deck while they eat so they get used to me being around. 





Two of the cats went in to eat but the rest refused.  Here is one who is hiding behind the Norfolk Pine, peeking out at me to see what I am doing.  I don’t think he trusts me. 








Anyway, for a first day I think we made good progress.  I don’t want to harm these cats, I just want them to live somewhere else.













One thing that is living here and making me very happy is my Christmas Cactus.  We now have 5 blooms coming.  Two are very big, one is ready to begin growing and two are just starting.  They weren’t open for Easter but I am just so excited to see real blooms.


I spent a lot of the weekend repotting plants and attempting to resuscitate some of the plants we had wintering in the house.  I think all but one will live (looking a little rough) so we will have hanging baskets and a few deck plants.  I do not have a green thumb but I do like the look of healthy plants decorating my house and deck.


I will be linking up with Patchwork Times where creativity lives on Mondays.

And away we go with 2012

One last shot of the table runners I made for Christmas 2011.  I made 6, 5 for gifts and this one that is currently on our dining room table.  It will packed up today, along with all the other Christmas decorations to make a triumphant return next year.

So, my plan for last week was to spend most of my time doing a cleaning and reorganizing of the studio.  If I tell you that not a lot got done would you be surprised?  Of course not!

 

I did do some, however, and now the machine I do most of my embroidery on has been uncovered.  It sits on a very long table, where I used to do my DSM quilting with my first HQ frame setup, so it is very easy to pile things on. 

 

So I found several started projects while cleaning this table.  Here, at the other end, is one.  This is a string project that I was using as a leader/ender.  I have five completed 8 1/2” blocks and 10 in-process blocks, seen here.  I love how these blocks look so I will be continuing with this project until I find a completed quilt.

 

 

But I also couldn’t help myself and started something new.  The printout in the picture is for the color challenge being hosted by Judy and Vickie.  I have decided to participate and am combining it with an uncompleted journal quilt challenge hosted by Vickie last year.  Also in the picture are the fabrics I pulled from my stash: I think they match the challenge colors really well.

 

My original plan was to just pull the fabrics but once they were on my “design ironing board” I couldn’t help but play.  This is what I finally had to leave in order to get dinner made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the final Christmas fun, DH and I watched old family videos.  DH has been rescuing old VHS tapes and putting them on DVD.  The oldest is one that was originally 8mm movies of family Christmas’ from 1963 – 1969.  This picture is the “recording studio” he has set up in our living room.  He assures me it will find a new home prior to his return to work in mid-January.

 

Here are about a third of the tapes that we have not yet converted to DVD but with that wonderful setup, seen above, it should take no time at all.  Of course, once he has finished with the videos, he is planning on putting slides of the plays he has produced over his 47 years of teaching.  That will take some time, I am sure.

 

Now, next week I hope to have ongoing progress on the above and at least 1-2 more.  However, I may be taking on another Weight Watcher meeting so my time is being stolen, again.  See ya,

Mid-Week

It has been a while since I had time to post on a Wednesday. But with the finish of Christmas gifts there has been a turnaround in the studio.

The first thing I worked on was scrappy blocks for the Scrappy Quilt Along at Pleasant Home.

She is going to give several different ideas for using strips and strings to move those leftovers along to become quilts, bags, etc. I have made straight string blocks (right now a UFO) but this is the first time I have sewed strings in more of a log cabin format. Here I used primarily 1.5” strips that came out of this bin.

Please note that there seems to be enough strips left to completely fill the bin again. I think I will do several more before I put the bin back in place. I see a fun comfort quilt coming here.

Yesterday I was outside getting finish pictures of my Christmas gifts before packing them away. I was helped by Ms. Murphy, our adopted cat.

She has now had her first vet visit and shots and is scheduled for her “operation.” She better stick around now.

And when we take the dogs out, there she is, running along right with us. We never leave the property so she stays pretty safe.

And she and Abby love to explore our woods, where Ms. Murphy also frequently has lunch (uck).

This morning I skipped quilting for machine embroidery.

I found these earrings at Walmart and spent a couple of days looking through my embroidery designs for an appropriate design to go with them. I will be wearing these tomorrow at my WW meetings and then again to an employee meeting on Saturday and a Halloween party later that evening. I call this my “subtle” Halloween outfit.