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Nothing exciting to report on the WIP front, but here's a WIP recap just to do a wrap-up for the week (and a to-do list for the upcoming weekend):
I also have some new postcards to show....
I can't believe I got all of these done tonight but I am so glad to have this off my list! I will be hosting a 4 month Postcard Swap at Quilting Adventures starting Friday, February 2. I decided to send the participants a card prior to the class. These will show some of the materials and techniques that can be used and I will use these cards as the basis for the discussion in the first meeting. As I said in a previous post, I decided on a monogram theme and I got the idea from a card that Suzanne sent me. The funny thing about this is that of the participants in the class, there are only 2 initials – C and D! Here are some of the cards.
Not much sewing this weekend but it was a wonderful weekend! My nephew (the one getting the music quilt) came to visit. He is going to study music in college so has to audition at each school. One is here in town so he came to stay with us for a day. He came in Friday in time to meet up with his Grandmother (my Mom) and Great Aunt for lunch and then I took Friday afternoon off to take him shopping. Have you ever had trouble getting a teenager to spend money? Me either, until Friday. It went something like this:
Me: Since you are here I want to spoil you so we are going to go spend some of my money. What do you need?
Him: Nothing
Me: OK, then, what do you want?
Him: Nothing
Me: let me explain the rules of this game again.....we are going shopping you better pick some stores to shop in!
We finally got him a couple of bags of clothes - he only buys on sale - and I think he was happy. I even had to convince him that he could buy more than one pair of jeans! We should bottle him and send him to Aunts and Grandmothers everywhere! He has just grown up to be the nicest young man and we thoroughly enjoyed his company. I really want him to go to school here but I know it's not his first choice. The whole visit just warmed my heart and you have never heard a teenager say "thank you" so many times! No, I am not on drugs,it really happened! LOL
By the time we returned from the school yesterday I was exhausted! I didn't get back to sewing until this morning. I decided to work on Anne's Snails Trail that has been on the longarm frame for over 2 weeks. I am doing "very casual" feathers in the swirls of each trail. The light trails will have the same feather design in all of them and I am using a light thread. The dark trails have different feathers in each trail and I am using a darker thread. I am still horrible at feathers but they are getting better. You can see the progress in this shot of the border. I decided that the border needed to be really funky with every kind of feather I could think of. I should have this done by the upcoming weekend.
First I have to finish some postcards for my fabric postcard club meeting this coming Friday.
I received this lovely card from Lynne Thursday. It's from the Stitcher's Guild Winter exchange. Thanks Lynne, your painting is beautiful!
Meanwhile, I did get the Blue and White Snails Trail quilt top done. Now I need to get back focused on the longarm. I two quilts that have to be done before I can quilt my snails trail.
I almost decided to skip the WIP post because I feel like my projects are bit out of control! But I decided that taking a few minutes to write about it might help me regroup. These are all of the project "open" now. Clockwise from upper left is:
Now what will I go work on??
First, thanks for all of the nice posts about my blue and white snails trail blocks! I'm really taken with this block and may make a few more before I move on!
Yesterday was one of the good mail days! I received these two cute PCs from the Stitcher's Guild Winter themed postcard exchange. The flamingo is from Pammi in Florida and the blue pine is from Rita. Thanks ladies!
I also received the latest issue of Quilting Art magazine. This has to be my favorite magazine of all that I received - and I get a bunch of them! I feel like I read through most of my magazines in an hour or so - QA takes days to absorb. The quality of this magazine is just so beyond all of the others that I receive. It reminds me if Threads in the days when Threads covered all different kinds of needle arts - sewing, quilting, knitting, weaving, etc. I still miss the "old" Threads.
I got a little obsessed with these blocks this weekend! Mostly, I was still suffering through a sinus infection and didn't feel I had the stamina to quilt on the longarm. So I just put more of the blue and white blocks together just to work on something. Next thing I knew the blocks were done! I have them on the design wall now and want to look at them a few days to see if I like the arrangement. I still think I will leave this quilt without borders and maybe make it as a community service quilt. It's quite "happy" I think. Here's the current arrangement. I'm already thinking that I should switch blocks 2 and 4 on the 4th row. 
These are a lot of fun to sew together. Starching the fabric really helps control the bias edges. I have ordered a dew more fabrics for the music quilt but there's no rush, graduation isn't until June!
I've gotten Anne's Snails Trail (or Monkey Wrench) quilt loaded on the frame and started quilting. She saw it Sunday evening and gave me the go-ahead with my quilting plan. Meanwhile, I have been trying to decide what I wanted to do with the music fabrics for my nephew's graduation quilt. I toyed with several complex designs but then reminded myself that this quilt would be in a dorm room! The Snail's Trail block has lots of movement so I thought it might work well with the music fabrics. The next step was to decide on the block size. Most of the fabrics are fat quarters so I wanted to optimize the fat quarter and make the biggest block possible. I used some blue and white fabrics to test my drafting and piecing and here's what I came up with.
Here's how I cut them. The pink "x" show the parts of the FQ that are waste. Not too bad I think.
After I cut them I stacked the pieces for the 4 blocks.
It took two tries to get the cutting sizes correct so here are 8 blocks of the blue and white. I'm so happy with them that I will complete 12 more blocks to complete a quilt of these blocks. I probably will not even do a border on it and it will be a perfect size for a sofa or lap quilt. Might be a good community service quilt!
Then I got out the music fabrics and here are 4 blocks with the proposed border. My nephew is coming to visit this weekend so he will get the final say. I like it a lot and hope he does too! He plays the trombone and since there aren't trombone fabrics I will probably quilt it with a trombone panto that I found. I think it might look good in a metallic thread.
And here's the handsome young man performing a solo at a recent concert! He's coming to town this weekend for one of his college auditions. I would so love it if he came to school here but I think this will be his 3rd choice.
Sharon (Sharon Sews), tagged me for this item moving through the blogs. I had not intended to expand my blog to discuss personal things but I've enjoyed getting to know each of you, so I'll play along. Here are the rules:
My five things:
So, I'm tagging: Suzanne , Liz , Nellie , Sarah and Sue . But, ladies, if this isn't your "thing", you have my blessing to ignore it! LOL
Once again it's Wednesday and I don't have a lot to offer! My West Coast sewing buddy, Denise, has been here. We also work together so she is in town for meetings. We've had a great time during our non-work hours. Meanwhile DH has not been feeling well and today we know that he is about to have the joy of passing a kidney stone so I'm trying to nurse him. Working on any of my bigger projects is out of question so I've gone back to my Mini Log Cabin Blocks. I love having this project that I can work on in 10 minute intervals. In the past week I finished 10 more blocks. The current count is:
140 done of 252 dark/light blocks, 20 done of 72 all dark blocks and 10 done of 28
all light. I'm 48% done!
See the box of block trimmings behind the blocks? Why do I save stuff like this? I'm determined to do something with them - just waiting for inspiration. I just can't seem to throw away anything that comes out of my sewing room. I think I need to get myself over that!
It was great to come home today to this surprise in my mailbox. It's from Kathy in our Stitcher's Guild/Artisan Square winter theme swap. The message reads "Let it Snow" - if only we could get some snow here in Virginia!
you buy more stuff for projects! My West Coast sewing buddy is here for the week. Yesterday I took her to two of my favorite local quilt shops. Need I say more.....
No specific projects in mind - just more fabric candy. We fell in love with the cute egg print. I suppose it's a good thing that I sew scrap quilts so usually only buy fat quarters!
I did get to start quilting Anne's snails trail quilt and she got to see it last night. She's happy with what I am doing so I'll get back on it tomorrow evening while my visiting friend is out to dinner with other co-workers.
It's good to have visitors occasionally - it makes me clean up my piles of projects and put things back into some semblance of order!
There’s been no sewing since Tuesday – and technically, that was only cutting. So I guess that means no “real” sewing since the weekend. I’m having withdrawal! Tomorrow I will start sewing my Indygo Junction jacket and get Anne’s quilt started before my friend arrives tomorrow evening. We’ll spend the rest of the week (while not at work) catching up, talking about sewing and gossiping! I’m so excited that she’s coming to visit and can’t wait to take her around to the great fabric shops that we have here in Richmond, VA.
Last night was the second meeting of the Richmond Longarm Society. It’s a new groups formed by two professional longarm quilters in the area but the membership is open to anyone with a machine quilting frame: short, mid and longarm and hobbyists and professionals alike. We’re still getting our legs as a group but it’s nice to have some friends nearby.
Both of these groups are enhanced by having Yahoo! Discussion
groups. It’s a nice way to keep in touch
between meetings. I have recently
realized that the internet is one of my best creative and sewing tools. I think I spend an average of 2 hours a day
reading/researching/purchasing or otherwise supporting my hobbies. Just having this blog has helped me focus
more on my projects. Reading everyone
else’s blogs is like having really good guild show-and-tell every day! You can’t beat that for inspiration! One recent find is Joggles and all of the cool fiber classes hosted there. I’ll be taking Intro to Silk Fusion with Sue Bleiweiss in February. It’s also through your blogs that I found Deborah Boschert and her Small Art Quilts:Designing a Series
book. It arrived last night and I’ll
start reading it today.
I also received the 3 additional magazine racks from eBay
yesterday and will put them up in Willie’s (APQS Millennium) room (the basement) tonight so that
I can organize my machine quilting books.
So although no needle has been put to thread, I have, as I do every day, been THINKING about sewing a lot.
I don't have much to show for my efforts but I have a couple of project underway...but nothing that could be considered "art"! These are "projects".
I got Anne's Quilt loaded on Willie and will start quilting it tonight of Friday. She had picked a very cool large floral backing fabric. Since I am doing a quilting design to accent the swirl of the monkey wrench pattern, I thought that the quilting would look horrible on the back. After some arm-twisting, I convinced her to pick a different back. I got the backing seamed and loaded last night.
While we were at Quilting Adventures Moday, I delivered Phoebe's Indygo Junction jacket and she liked it - it looks great on her too! I hope to get lots of folks signed up for the jacket class in May. I have cut out my version of the jacket and an in the process of selecting buttons and perusing Lois Ericson's book for some cool closure treatments.
I don't know of this book is still in print, but if you ever see a copy, get it! It's an excellent resource for great closures and terrific uses of buttons and other materials.
My third active project is my nephew's graduation quilt. I'm still sketching out ideas and don't have a good one yet. I'm get to see him in a couple of weeks as he is coming to Richmond for one of his college auditions. I'm very happy for him that he is pursuing his avocation as his vocation. Maybe he can give me some ideas for how he would like his quilt to look.
I will not have a great deal of sewing time for the next week or so. One of my close friends (and coworker from our LA office) will be here Saturday - Friday for some meetings. I met her when the company bought her company and I worked on the transition. Found out she was a quilter and that was that! I'm sure we will be talking more than sewing this week so my posting will be a little sparse but I'll be having lots of fun! If I get my jacket made and Anne's quilt quilted in the next 2 weeks, I'll be happy with that.
I also hope having a visitor to distract me will keep my off eBay! Suzanne posted about buttons and that got me thinking about buttons again. That's a very bad thing! I have so many buttons it's not even funny. But I see all those lonely button tins on eBay that need good homes and I just want to adopt all of them! I've been watching eBay a lot in the last few days - fortunately the prices have risen significantly since my last button buying spree. So far I have passed on the lots that are interesting to me. I made myself go through my button cabinet this morning just to remind myself how many buttons I already have!
I suppose it's not an official QOV as it is going to a specific soldier and outside of the QOV program, but this quilt is done and is from the Quilt Studio - 40 Quilts Service Project . It's going to a very deserving soldier identified by Fran, another Quilt Studio member. It's labeled and going in the mail tomorrow.
The pattern is an original pattern I designed for "gift" quilts. My Mom pieced it and I quilted it with a test pantograph - Rainbow Flight - by Miki Miller . I really liked the effect and will use it again.
Closeup of the quilting texture:
I just love this pattern - it goes together so quickly! Quilting Adventures wanted 2 samples and this is the second one in a size medium - the fabrics were chosen especially for the owner's daughter, Phoebe. Phoebe is one of my favorite people. For someone under 20, she really has her act together and she is incredible gifted with creative talent.
Here are the two sides:
And here's the button treatment for the dot side.
The button is backed by a yarn flower. Can you believe that I had this yarn in my stash for about 3 years? Inventory is such a good thing! I made the flower on my gift bow maker (which I never use to make gift bows!) The ends of the flower bow are tied off with big frosted flower shaped beads. I'm really please with the results. I'll do my version next and deliver this one to Phoebe Monday. I hope she will like it!
I'm not getting quites as much accomplished today as I wanted - I'm having chronic "personal heating" issues! But I did get these cool new magazine racks hung in my sewing room. Since I totally gutted and remodeled my sewing room a few years ago, I have been really good about keeping it organized. I needed a better way (and place) to store all the magazines I subscribe to. I found these on eBay for less than $15 each. I hung them behind the door and they fit perfectly. It's a nice use of that void space. The were really easy to hang and are sturdy metal. I'm so happy with them that I ordered 3 for Willie's (the Millennium) room in the basement. If you like them, the seller has lots and here's a link one of the listings.
I also got these things in the mail that I ordered from Sew Thankful . The are a nice web resource. I've always received excellent service from them and they have great sales and promotions. I've been wanting to try these inks so I was glad to see that Tracy started carrying them.
Why do I keep posting photos of my purchases? I hope that making myself take the time to post the photos that it might help me rein in my spending. it's not a financial issue, I just think that sometimes I buy things for projects when I could more creatively use something that I already have. I'm not really sure that my plan is working but I will keep at it!
Today I hope to get the snails trail quilt loaded and to get Phoebe's Indygo Junction jacket made. The binding on the QOV quilt is DONE! I'm just awaiting a bit of information to get the label printed and sewn on. I'm excited to send that quilt off next week. I'll post photos of the completed quilt before it ships out.
I'm just over half done with the binding hand sewing. To keep myself motivated, I started planning my next quilting project. This is a quilt that my friend, Anne, made for herself. Most of the fabrics are fabrics that she dyed. I've been searching Longarmchat and Webshots for ideas. It should go on the frame this weekend. I "test" my quilting patterns by printing the quilt - or just a few blocks in grayscale. I put the photo in page protector pockets and draw on the plastic. This one shouldn't take as many practice sheets as Flora's quilt did! It also will not take as long to quilt - no SID by Anne's order. Anne is a much easier "customer"!!
It's been a busy holiday weekend but very productive. Out local quilt guild chapter volunteers at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA on the 5th Saturday of the month (when there is a 5th Saturday). I try to volunteer twice a year so that I will make the effort to see the exhibits. The museum has really grown and matured over the years and is always worth the trip. This Saturday was my day so one of my guild buddies and I trekked across the mountain for our morning shift. The current exhibit is work by Julia Pfaff , a well-known Richmond quilt artist. Her work is wonderful!
After the museum we headed south to Dayton, VA and a great quilt shop, Patchwork Plus. There I picked up the fabrics on the right in this photo.
I already had the fat quarters on the left. They are for a graduation quilt for my nephew. I thought he would want a T-shirt quilt and the FQs would be plenty to put with the T-shirts. Instead he wants a quilt that is totally music themed. So I picked up the others Saturday. The fabric on the bottom will be the backing. I started planning the layout in EQ6 Saturday night but it still needs lots of work. Here's one project to add to the "to do" list!
Yesterday and today I decided to clean out some of my sewing detritus. I save my quilting bits to make dog beds for a local rescue organization. So I turned this:
Into this:
Eight completed beds. Here's how I make them. if you have a better idea please post it!
I can usually get my hands on free decorator fabrics so I have a reasonable stash for the covers. I cut the bed cover however I can best utilize the piece of fabric. Usually that's about 30 - 36" by the full width of the fabric. I fold the fabric right sides together and stitch around 2 sides (leaving one whole side open). Turn the cover right sides out and sew 3 or 4 channels perpendicular to the open end. I cut up the filling into bits. I use cut off batting from quilt edges, polar fleece and even old pillows for stuffing. I mix it all together in one big mess. I fill the channels about 6 - 8" with the stuffing and then sew across the width of the dog bed to close the stuffed cells. I continue doing this until I fill the last channel. Once the last channel is filled, I turn under the edges, pin and topstitch to close the bed.
I also use practice quilt sandwiches fro the longarm to make beds. I fold the practice quilt in half, stew the two layers together line a pillow, leaving an opening. Then turn the "pillow" so that the sam is enclosed and topstitch the opening closed. I do stitched a few lines vertically and horizontally through all layers to hold the bed together. The folks at BARK are happy to have them (they don't complain about the sloppy sewing or ugly thread!) and I'm happy that my trash gets one more use before going to the landfil.
Of course, all that work deserves a reward! Today I delivered the Indygo Junction jacket to Quilting Adventures and to do some shopping in the newly expanded shop. Check out their site to see the great new space! It was their grand re-opening and they had lots going on, including fantastic door prizes! They gave me two more fabrics for the jacket in another size (the bright blue prints) and I bought two fabrics for my own version (the black/gold/plum fabrics). Add 2 more new projects to my list!
And,for me, I was very good with my non-necessary purchases - I bought the blue toile fat quarters at Quilting Adventures and the red and yellow gradients at Patchwork Plus but the FQs on the right were my great door prize! At least I have everything washed and put away.
My friend Kim came over for dinner (DH makes a great Pheasant Pot Pie) and brought me her brother's queen size quilt to quilt (one more project for the list). We picked the thread and decided that since the top is busy, I will quilt it with a panto.
Whew! Glad I'm going back to work tomorrow!
But my first sewing project this week will be to work on the binding of this quilt because it has a designated QOV home! I am so honored that Fran wants this quilt for Crystal and I want to get it off to her as soon as possible! I must also make a very special label.
