Two Finishes

OK, since this was a rather slow weekend I made an effort to finish two projects that were almost done.

A cute (in my opinion) top for my grson A. I thought I had made him two baby quilts before he moved to Texas but my DD informed me that nope only one. I love the Fat Quarter sets sold by Fabric Boutique and good thing it is in Calif. cause I would be so tempted to buy them all the time. Their patterns are perfect for the sets as you only needed to add some border fabrics and everything else can be made from the 8 coordinating fq's from the set.

This is a real TA-DA! for me. I am in love with the color combo and the Inklingo method of making my first Feathered Star. I have a second set of pieces cut and ready to piece for the future 4 block wall hanging. I am very happy to use this wonderful method to piece either by hand or machine.

Design Wall Friday 2-25

So this is what is on the design wall today. I have been working on it for the past couple of days. I bought the fabric in Houston in the fall and have had this little quilt in mind since then.
The Fat Quarter pack came from Pin Cushion Boutique...one of their Sweet Treats. I asked if they had any monkey fabric sets and she brought this one out for me...It's the Boys Will Be Boys line from Freespirit. I have one more border to add and then it will be ready for quilting. I think I will try it myself GASP! LOL
You can see the old Harry Potter blocks and Victoria's Friendship quilt on the left. No new blocks for those yet.

Is It Ever Gonna Be Spring?

Not much I can say except...told Mr Creative I want to move somewhere where it doesn't snow and he said, Well I guess we will have to move somewhere in the Caribbean! LOL

The First Star...Almost

My current take along project is this Feathered Star and it has slowly but surely been progressing along. I am finally in the stage of adding the final outside pieces and I am so excited to see it come together. I love the cheddar and red colors but not gonna use that red for the next stars.
As I explained to my neighbor yesterday as to why I am making it all by hand..." I have plenty of projects in the works where I sit at a machine and sew but this one is for me to work on when I am on the go. Yesterday I worked on it at Carl's Jr (fast food place) while grandson I played with kids in the play area. I could keep an eye on him while I stitched and got a good bit done.
I will see how much longer it will take but it's OK, I am in no hurry on this one.

Design Wall Friday 2-18

Hard to believe it is Friday again and time to show what's up in quilting.
This week brings block #6 for the Harry Potter Project of Doom quilt. The top photo shows all 6 blocks together. They are looking pretty fine I would say.

Below is block 6 close up. We had two books and a flask of a potion to make. Pulled out some interesting fabrics this time I think LOL
Can you tell what potion I put in my little flask? If you are a Harry Potter fan I am sure you can guess. The designer of the quilt made one with Lace Wing Flys in it but no fly fabric in my stash so I picked something different . Not so sure I like the pink I used in the middle book. Somehow the print doesn't "fit" the book fabric. I may just remake that book in the future if it bothers me.

This is the first of my goal baby quilts for charity. If you remember my Underground Railroad quilt that isn't at all a civil war theme...this is part of the leftovers. I plan to use this sort of stuff to make 6 total quilt tops that I plan on donating by the end of the year. I found this pattern in the book Weekend Scrap Quilts by House of White Birches. I changed it quite a bit. I used the cute forest friends fabric instead of an applique block and left off the Wandering Stars in the borders plus I made it smaller by making less blocks.
I am pleased with it and know that some little baby will snuggle up in it one day.

A Bit of This and That

My friend PN showed off her completed Underground Railroad top this past Tues. I loved several of her blocks and the machine embroidered square with the story of those blocks. It is a fun story but pretty much proven to not be a true account of escaping slaves. We enjoyed doing the quilt as a BOM for my local night meetings bee.

I had to share this piece of fabric. It looks like a shaft of sunlight on the fabric but it is actually the effect of sun damage. It was hanging with several other pieces but this was the only one that showed any damage. It is interesting to see how antique quilts might have changed colors over years of light exposure from what happened to this modern fabric.

OK, I am ashamed to show off this mess but....
Mr Creative got me a Cricut Gypsy for Valentine's Day and I struggled all Sat to get it ready to use. Thank goodness for some friendly online help at the Cricut message board and youngest DS big A who were able to get it registered and then updated and linked to my cartridges. As they updating and linking took a while I decided to use the time to sort out various piles of scrap paper, accents, kits, and pictures. Yikes! so much stuff and I still have things I have never even used yet. Sorry you have to see the kitty box too...Muffy won't share boxes with the other two kitties so hers is in this room where she spends much of her days.
It is much cleaner now! piles sorted and things put away but I am not known for my neatness in general! LOL

Lastly and update on the tomatoes in the Aero garden. They are getting bigger and it won't be long until we will have to move the light up one "click" to accomodate their growth!

From the Design Wall 2-11

A few things are on the design wall right now.
Top
is the Harry Potter Project of Doom blocks with this weeks addition on the right. Four books on the shelf.
Bottom left
is my feathered star in progress. This is a hand pieced project that I have used Inklingo to prepare. I have one problem that has come about from my choice of fabrics. The cheddar (gold) was printed with darker gold lines and except for an ocassional spot where it printed a bit too light, has been great. The problem fabric is the red. I ordered it online with the hopes that the print would be light enough that when I printed the dark lines they would show up just fine. Well...I am sure if my eyes weren't so bad and a bit younger I would be OK but it has been much more difficult than it needed to be. I can only work in daylight with GOOD light from the windows plus I have to add a pair of readers on top of my regular trifocal glasses.I have pretty much decided that I won't be makeing the other 3 stars for my planned wall hanging from that red. I have to decide if I want to make 4 more from an alternative red I have on hand or see if I can find a third red and start over. Yeah,
anyone have a suggestion?
Bottom right
You see the second block from Victoria's Friendship Quilt by Lori Smith and the first applique block along with last month's star. I am loving the fabrics and colors I chose and even though I made cutting and assembly changes from Lori's pattern am happy with them so far.
I also finished the second hush, hush project with a label but it will wait a bit to be revealed!

There's A Storm Coming

I have been plotting and planning to make a Storm at Sea quilt for a few years. I love the movement when you combine the different parts of the block and I knew what it should look like. I almost chose to make it with the cheddar and red combo that has been dancing around my head for years but no, that wasn't the way I wanted it to look. I finally decided I wanted to use hand dyes or fabrics that look hand dyed in blues and greens. I have been shopping around for months for just the right fabrics and had found several good candidates but somehow never bought them.

Well as you see I finally found just the right fabrics to make my quilt. They come from a seller on Ebay that has a very nice selection of hand dyes and best of all the prices are less expensive that many I have come close to buying before. One of the things that really got me to buy was that the shipping is very very reasonable. That is what has been stopping me when I found something I liked online, the shipping just added too much to the cost per yard for me. She also was willing to cut 1/2 yards and not make me buy a full yard and then put together a special deal just for me so that I could get the colors I wanted. I am so happy with them and find that they are much like the ones I have dyed myself but the colors are richer.

Here is my Inklingo Cheat sheet that allowed me to figure the amount of fabric I needed plus how many of each piece I need to prepare for printing my precise Inklingo lines. I will probably hand piece this one but I don't have to if I decide to machine piece it
Sigh, another project for the future but I just had to share! LOL

Be My Valentine Surprize

Here is my special Valentine Grson A holding the Mystery project from last month. I love these little quilts from Kim Schaefer Calendar Quilts. Pulled it all from my stash so none of the new trendy fabrics but I think it turned out dang cute!
It's almost as cute as my little Grson who claimed it for his own. LOL

Design Wall Friday (uhhh Saturday) Update

Yesterday was not exactly the best day for our family. Mr Creative is still very sick on top of his broken ankle poor guy. He is very tired of it all right now. Then oldest son D went to the yesterday evening and has a bad case of strep. I took grsons I and N out for dinner and that took up a bit of the evening and by the time midnight rolled around I hadn't gotten anything ready for the blog.
However! Last night I stayed up really late and volia 3 blocks completed for the Harry Potter Quilt of Doom mystery block of the week.
So cool so far and I peek at the weekly block so that I can get some help choosing fabrics. As you can see so far it looks like a row of books with a couple of things like a crystal ball and a bottle of mystery potion! LOL So fun pulling out some of my crazy or wilder fabrics and making book covers out of them Nice thing is that the blocks finish at 10 inches so there isn't much tiny pieces so far although the next block (which I might get to today) does have a lot of small parts.
If you are a Harry fan and a quiltmaker join in with the group and you too can have a special quilt. Best of all they are free blocks!
You can also see a little peek and the next "mystery" project recently completed and my Mexican Fiesta quilt top.
(I finished the 4th block last night and added it to the post)

Snow Crab

I get the feeling there are many of you who can relate but this is for my sister Beachgirl Miss PittyPat!

Tomato Plants

I told Mr Creative that once Christmas was over we needed to get our Aero Gardens back to growing some plants. We decided to do tomatos this time. I have friends that have had success with the tomato plants so cross your fingers that ours do as well.
I need to get some lettuce and herbs for the second garden asap so they can get growing as well.

FROM THE Design Wall Jan 28

A couple of projects from the quilt room today

Another hush hush project in progress. The one I was working on last week is done but I can't share yet but soon I promise. This one was fun to do and can't wait to share the whole thing

This is a sample of the Pattern I am teaching called Mexican Stars by Annette Omelas of Southwind Designs. It uses her technique of folding triangles to create a curved look from straight sewing. It's not a new technique but the pattern is all her own design. I picked it up at the Houston show last fall and and when I shared it at the board meeting we chose it as a workshop. Of course since I had suggested it I had to teach it! LOL That means I needed to create a sample. I used Fossil Fern prints for everything but the background which is my favorite background fabric Floral Fusions. I wish I had bolts and bolts of this stuff as I could use it for almost every quilt in my mind! LOL The print that is in the "sashing" was the inspiration a lovely crazy colored Fossil fern my Mom bought for me. It's not my usual style but it reminds me of a Fiesta and that is it's name for now! The color is not quite as bright and clear in the photo but enjoy!

A Change of Plans

Sooooo...
Mr Creative wanted to see some petroglyphs at sunset as we arrived in St George last Wednesday. I was ready to head to the condo but told him to go ahead but I was waiting for him in the vehicle.
Yeah, that wasn't such a good idea.
The good part is that he got to see the petroglyphs at sunset but....

Anyway they have some nice police officers and some great EMT type guys too in St George. The hospital is very nice and new!
the Nurses and physicians assistants are good too!

The bad part is that he now has a broken ankle and lower leg. He missed his conference and has surgery scheduled for tomorrow. It's not fun but we are glad we have such a great system to get him taken care of. I will report on the results soon.

To Wash or Not to Wash

The debate for quiltmakers goes on and on. Should I wash my fabrics before I make the quilt top or not. Everyone has their own reasons for which ever side they are on but for myself, I have gone back and forth and am now back once again! LOL

When I first began making pieced quilts back in 1989 I was told you really need to wash that fabric so that there would be no accidental bleeding of dyes onto my quilt when it was washed later. Also there is the shrinkage issue...will the fabrics shrink differently or not at all? So, I washed.
Then after a few years I found that many a great quiltmaker DIDN'T wash the fabric...after all the fabric is so nice when it comes off the bolt and now-a-days the bleeding issue is very rare and according to Harriet Hargraves, a known expert on fabric, it's not the bleeding that is the issue it's if the other fabrics in the quilt will retain the excess dye or not. So, I stopped washing the fabrics and enjoyed the brand new feeling and look of the fabrics. Sigh...

Well, my Inklingo group has been having a discussion on why it is good to wash that fabric right when you purchase it. Some of the factors have to do with the old shrinkage issue. Also once the fabric is washed any stretching out of shape that comes from the printing and rolling onto the big rolls at the factories will relax to normal. And last of all if you use Inklingo you need to wash before printing the fabric. So...I am back to washing again. I have a ton of fabrics on my shelves that has to go through my washer not to mention the fat quarters in boxes. So far I have done the neutral backgrounds, greens and most of the blues and have started on the blacks. I haven't had too much trouble with the fabrics raveling out too badly (crossing my fingers) and I am using the hand wash setting on my washing machine to keep it from getting too ravelly. My biggest problem is that even with cotton fabrics I am still getting some static as a part of living in a "high desert" environment.
It has been suggested that I don't worry about ironing the fabric until I am ready to use it which if fine with me! LOL

A Little Hint

Since Mr Creative and I will be out of town for the next 3 days I won't be able to do a design wall posting on Friday so I thought I would share a little hint of a project that is in the works right now. Can't show too much but I am working on a project that I can't wait to have it done.
I will try and post while I am gone but no guarantees LOL

Design Wall Jan 14

It's time to report on my quilting progress this week.
I taught 2 different classes with my local quilt group this week. One was from Gai Perry's Color From the Heart book which we are using for a color study guide this year. It's a great book as it doesn't use the technical jargon of artist color theory but she teaches you to work with your favorite colors. I did an overview of the Introduction section and then lesson one on Spontaneity. It was a great exercise and the ladies in my group seemed to enjoy learning a bit about their own fabrics and color preferences.
Second class I taught was how to do an Attic Windows setting for our Crumb quilt as invented by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville. We are only a few blocks short of having enough to do a nice double sized quilt and hopefully the next time we are working on this we will be doing the setting and getting it ready for borders.
Now, in my own quilt room I am continuing work on my Civil War Love Letter. I have now completed the 14 groups of 4 blocks with 1 inch sashing. I needed to square up the battle panels so that I can work them into the corners of the quilt. Of course if you have worked with panels you know that they aren't printed straight nor are they the same size. Sigh.... So they measure between 20 1/8"X16 7/8 and 20 1/8x 17. So the panels will have to be sashed up to fit. I guess It will be trial and error until I get it right. LOL

From the Design Wall

Like most people I am trying to set goals once more for 2011. I haven't updated my sidebar but I plan to do it by Sunday of this week.
One thing I would like to do is a post each week from either my quilt room or scrapbook room of what I have accomplished.
This week it is from my quilt room.

A group of friends and I have chosen a wonderful new project to do together. It is from Designer Lori Smith and as you see it is a lovely friendship quilt. HERE is link to the pattern and her WEBSITE. She makes wonderful vintage looking quilts and I have several patterns and a book that is in my dream pile and hope to be made one day.
I started out the 2 year journey by showing how to make the Diamond Star which measures 12" finished. Lots of little itty bitty triangles so I took the opportunity to use foundation papers to make them. The larger hst are an unusual size so they didn't quite translate perfectly but it still made the piecing much easier.
here is my block and as you see I am using a different color palette. It is mostly from Judie Rothermell's Cocheco line of last year. Love it! I will have to add some other CW like fabrics to round out what I need but I am excited to see it develop.

The other report is of those Civil War Love Letter book blocks that I finished up last summer. I have begun the task of putting them together in groups of 4 so that I can start the top. I am going to "wing" it as far as putting the top together. I know what I want, to use some of my panel prints, so it will be a matter of figuring out how to fit it all in as I go. I need to figure out how many groups of 4 to make and then how to fit the special blocks into the scheme...the ones with Lincoln's face or a flag in the middle. I am excited and have plans to have it finished for the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War but not the beginning as it is April 12 with the Battle of FT Sumter in SC. Hey I can dream!