Change of direction

  
I have completed the applique stage for my 12 blocks, now as I prepare the blocks for the next step, I make the decision whether there needs to be any embellishment.  This block required a couple revisions.  My husband did not like that the bird was swooping down... he said it just didn't look right.  It had to be turned around to be swooping up out of the garden.  Once I made the change he was happy.









Next change was to fix how the center blended in too much with the flower.  I did a chain stitch around the edge, and added some pollen (beads) to the middle.

Overall I think the block looks much better now.












I got busy this afternoon prepping blocks for "quilt-as-you-go".  I had 7 more that needed to be basted before Monday and ready to go with us when we head to Colorado.  Gotta keep my hands busy on the road. I'm really liking this "quilt as you go" thing.  I'm able to be productive while sitting in the living room.  I put my Willcox & Gibbs to work.  This is my treadle machine that is very old and mostly just sitting for looks in my living room.  My husband suggested I use its loop/chain stitch to make my basting easy to remove.  Of course the loop/chain stitch is the only thing it does, but it does it very nicely.  I now have my hand work ready to go on Monday.

It has been a month since my last post.... where does the time go???  I have quilted a few quilts on the longarm, but my focus has been more on my hand applique project.  I have finished all 12 blocks for my Country Cousins quilt and made the decision to hand quilt these blocks using the "Quilt as you go" method.  Of course I still plan on using hand applique in the borders, but I will continue on to that part of the project once I have all the blocks hand quilted.  I took a picture of the layout I plan to use, but it was with my phone, so I do not have one to post here at this time.

I went to a quilt retreat in North Carolina in early May.  I got to spend almost a whole week with my sister.  We had a great time, it was a beautiful, well equipped quilt house and the weather was perfect.  My friend MaryEllen flew with me, so there were two of us from Texas in the Great Smoky Mountains.  Maggie Valley is pretty nice and the ride we took into Gatlinburg gave us some really awesome views.  MaryEllen and I would like to make the trip to North Carolina again, back to some really great quilt shops and the great house, but next time we are taking a car.  Airlines create too many limitations on what we can take, and how much we can bring back.

I had the ladies here at my house for our Thursday quilting group.  The lady who typically has it at her house was not available, so I am the alternative when we can't have it at her house.  Everyone usually brings their own lunch, but I made a yummy key lime pie to have with coffee. It is super simple... and not officially a "key" lime pie, but it works for me.

(Key) Lime pie
1 can reduced fat sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup lime juice  -  about 4 limes should be enough
1 T lime zest              for the juice and the zest
1 graham cracker crust
Preheat oven to 350.  Whip the milk and eggs until smooth.  Add the juice and zest.  Pour into crust.  Bake for 15 minutes.
You can also do this with lemons instead of limes.

Garden block done

Today was another busy day.  We typically go into San Antonio on Fridays.  We had to drop the new car off for a minor adjustment.  When we got there, they gave us a loaner car to go do something so we wouldn't be sitting there waiting. We went several places just to kill some time.  I need to find a new hat to go with the new car... did I mention that the new car is a Corvette... Ron's Dream Car.  Still have not found the right hat, but we did stop in several stores, including Bass Pro Shop. 

When we finally got home I was able to get the words stitched onto the last block I completed yesterday.  This block turned out really nice.  I have no intention of hand quilting this, so I didn't feel any need to hand embroider the words... besides my machine does a great job at embroidery and it sits idle way too much since we no longer have the embroidery business.

Forging ahead with Country Cousins

I have been working diligently on my hand applique project.  It was just a little over a month ago that I started my first block, and I just finished block number 8 last evening.  This has been a real learning project. I have dabbled in hand applique over the years, but never focused on finishing a whole quilt.  I have four more blocks to go before I start the applique border, so I still have a long way to go. 

All the blocks have been fun, but the fountain was definitely a challenge.  It looked pretty nice when I had the main elements done, but I did not know how much that bottom "shelf" piece would add to the finish of this block.  This is a block that I would not force on any of the ladies from my quilt groups that are looking to me for guidance.  I would help them through it if they chose to do it, but it does have a higher level of difficulty than any of the other blocks I have done in this group of Country Cousins blocks. 

This block has real thin handles on the urns and points on the reverse applique on the base for starters.  Lots of pointy small leaves, and many little circles.  I actually used a technique that I kind of made up on my own when doing the circles.  I first found a button the size of the finished cherry and another button for the bubbles.  I then cut my circles like 3/16" wider than the button all around. (Wider seam allowance causes too much bulk in the center). I used a yo-yo technique but fine tuned it a bit.  The running stitch I made all around the circumference of the circle was very close to the edge.  Not so close that it would fray the edge, but close.  I left tails of about 2" on the thread - no need to knot the ends.  I placed the button in the center on the wrong side of the fabric and pulled both tails at the same time. When I had it pulled up pretty taut, I tied the ends - twice to secure the knot.  (The threads can be clipped now, or when you are ready to stitch the circles down).  I now pushed the fabric opening to one side of the button and maneuvered the button out of the opening.  I straightened the opening back to the center and with my fingers pinched and smudged the pointy areas smooth.  When you are sewing these circles down you can use the needle to fix any stubborn points.

I have been really busy, but I guess that really isn't anything new.  I sometimes don't get to posting or reading messages on my computer much when I get real focused on my quilting. 

Start of a new quilt

I am two blocks into my new quilt.  This one is taking me into an area that needs alot of work on my part.  I have hand appliqued a few items here and there, but have never felt very confident at it.  So far I have been having lots of fun with this one, and I have inspired several ladies to get their hand applique skills out of moth balls and start stitching.

These blocks are from a book by Susan McKelvey and it is call Baltimore's Country Cousins.  An online group that I am a member has a forum for this project.  The kickoff for the first block was a week ago, and I already have two blocks done.  I have to admit, I was halfway done with my first block before the bell rang.  I was practicing and started with the first block, which was not the first block for the group.  I did not want to start more than one block at a time, so I did finish my first block before I picked up the first block for the group.

The Four Feeding Birds was the first block in the book, which was the first block for me.  I started to get a little frustrated with the center because of the inward points, but a friend suggested that on that type of piece I could stitch a dryer sheet on the back and clip and turn, then hand applique it down.  This worked so nicely... I could be coerced into doing the whole quilt this way.  Only the center of this block has that "cheater backing" on it.  You can feel it has more stability when you touch it, but it looks pretty much the same as the rest to just look at it.

Crossed Hearts was the first one for the group.  I modified mine a little, and I think it gives it a little more character than the simple one in the book.  The author of the book suggested that some additional hearts be added.

I will be giving guidance to a few ladies from two quilt groups I belong to, and already I have learned some new techniques, and we haven't really started yet.  Next week I will be driving the bus to a quilt shop in Kerrville with lots of these ladies.  I will help them find the tools and fabric they will need for this big adventure we will begin in earnest once we are all properly outfitted.  They are all quilters, but for many, hand applique has not been something they have done recently.  I'm trying to get a few blocks ahead so I will have more gotchas to share with them when they start.  Today I got copies made of the enlarged patterns.  Most have bought the book, but the patterns in the book will only make 12" blocks if not enlarged.  12" blocks would mean the detail is that much more intricate.  We need to try to make this one doable so we don't have too many dropping out because they can't get it looking good.

Windy March is half gone

It sure has been windy lately, but then I guess it is not uncommon to have windy days in March.  Spring is really here... I have blue bonnets in my back yard.  They started popping up about 10 days ago.  I'm thinking it's early, but I'm still pretty new in these parts... so what do I know.  I haven't taken any pictures of the blue bonnets yet because I'm expecting them to grow bigger and there was a whole lot more of them last year.  They are very dependent on the weather.  It is very dry and has been for quite some time, so I don't think that is good for the spring wild flowers. This year I guess I won't be finding any photos to compare with last year's blue bonnets.
I have been very busy, but that is not uncommon lately.  I have been trying to get some projects done, so that requires work time not time on the computer.

I had a request for feathers on a quilt for a friend.  Not just feathers, but kind of swirled in opposite directions.  I'm getting better at feathers, but I still have a long way to go to be good at it.  I completed this quilt and she was very happy.









I finished another project that is actually in a totally different category.  The quilt was an antique quilt that had been pieced and quilted by hand and was in pretty poor shape.  I had the task of repairing the quilt.  It seems the lady's Dad was the one who did most of the work on the quilt... but he was given the original quilt to finish and after putting the pieces together, he put a backing on the quilt and hand quilted it.  She wants to be able to have the quilt out to show others in her father's memory, but it was falling apart.  I do not typically repair old quilts, but I agreed to give it a shot.  I used a soft fusible backing to stabilize some of the worst areas and it helped to be able to keep some of the original fabric that had really deteriorated.  Overall the quilt repair turned out pretty nice.

On the home front I got my new cupboards put in my laundry room/entry way.  I have had open shelves in there for a while, and I have been wanting cupboards.  When we decide to do something... we can get it done.  We bought unfinished cabinets yesterday.  One is a tall one and the other is counter height with a formica top.  Well today is Wednesday and they are installed, stained and already filled up.  I'm a happy camper.  The wooden shelf unit that we took out of the entryway has found a new home in our bedroom.  Another task I got done on Monday was repotting some of my house plants.  That isn't such a big thing, but I haven't done it for about 5 years.  My plants are very happy.

Back to one more quilt.  In January when we went to visit our son and his wife, I showed my DIL how to make a really cool block that is made from 5 pieces of a layer cake.  It has three seams and ends up a 20" block.  You can have a good size quilt real quick.  She has a hectic schedule so I told her I would take it home and finish the quilt for her.  I found some really great fabric for the borders in my stash.  I got another chance to practice my feathers.

I have lots of quilts waiting to be quilted, but I also have lots of other projects waiting, so it may be a while before I get back here again.  I just got several friends interested in doing a hand applique quilt.  Not one quilt, but each will make their own.  I will have to be their mentor on this one I think... after all I did talk them into giving it a try.  I have no one to blame but myself.

One step away from new quilt on bed

 

I have worked on this Farmers' Wife Sampler quilt for a very long time.  I started it back in July and finished the number of blocks I needed for the layout I chose by the end of December.  The first two months of this year have been very busy, so getting the blocks put together with the other elements that compose the top has been a challenge.  I think I finished the flying geese units in one week's time though... that's what happens when you get close to the end of a project.   The flying geese units were paper pieced, as were all the blocks.  The flying geese units consisted of 6 geese and each unit was 9" long.  I don't know how I did it, but I did not have to adjust the size of any of the geese to get the borders to turn out right.  It required 40 units for the border.  I would shudder to think how long it would take to complete 240 flying geese by any other method.

Today I was able to display my finished quilt on a new pulley system we set up between the garage and the house which enables me to hang a whole quilt and be able to back up enough to get the complete picture.  Of course the wind was blowing today, and the sun was causing a shadow of the garage roof line, but I like how the pictures turned out.  There is a metal pole that is attached to the pulley ropes on both sides and I made a sleeve that I can slide onto the pole and pin the quilt to the sleeve and pull it up into position.  Of course this quilt is quite large compared to the size of most of the quilts I will be taking pictures of, but it did require some thought on how to get it hung to show the whole quilt.  This quilt has the ropes pulled up to their limit, and I doubt I will need to hang a larger quilt... at least not any time soon.

This is a close up of one border edge.  I know I have posted other pictures, but I did not have the last outside strip to finish off the flying geese border.  My original plan did not include flying geese, but after auditioning a short strip next to the finished center, I knew that I had found the right border for this quilt.  In case it is not clear, the sky part of the flying geese is the same fabric as I used for the setting triangles.  The fabric for the sashing strips and the red framing borders on the blocks both have a gold thread weaving through the design.  This definitely takes it out of the 1920 time frame that the FWS book was designed around... but that's OK, I love the way all the fabric choices work together.

It has been a long project.  I did not work on it continuously, but I tried to get two or three blocks done each time I sat down to work on it.  The actual Famers' Wife Sampler blocks only number 63 in this quilt.  In the layouts in the book, most use all 111 blocks.  I like how the blocks stand out more as individuals with setting triangles between instead of another block.  It has a different effect, and may not qualify as an official Farmers' Wife Sampler because I did not include all 111 blocks, and I chose a totally different layout.

My next challenge is to get this quilt on the frame and decide how I will quilt it.