Filling My Cup

I am doing a between-quilt/at-a-stopping-point sewing room straightening up.  It is not a knock-down cleanup...it's just a put-things-where-they

a) belong

b) are out of the way

c) are out of sight

d) are someplace where I can deal with them later

cleanup.

It also helps if I rearrange things so I can rearrange the dust bunnies.

I was looking for an excuse to rest when I ran across these:

I have Vol 1-4 and #6.  This is all I have collected thus far and they are more than enough to keep me busy by themselves....

Of course, I have yet to sew one of the patterns.

They are too much fun to look at.

So I am having my Sit Down Have a Cup of Coffee/Tea/Whatever, Relax and Fill My Cup of Creativity time so I can then go about creating at the level of, or slightly higher than, my abilities...

I looked at Vol 1 & Vol 6 (2001 and 2006 publishing dates).

Thought you might like to browse along...

 I love curved patterns, but have yet had the courage to attempt them..Both these are beautiful and are just a sample of what I saw..

Vol 1 (2001)

Vol 6 (2006)

And then there are the  Log Cabin variety.

One would really have to be ambitious to make this...It's another of my "One of These Days"....

I love how this design on a quilt.......

...can create a lovely table runner also.....

Finally, I found this block in the yellow block book above.  I love it and am sure that some of you out there are familiar with the design...

But I also like the name they gave it....



Top is Done

I have called this top various names during its' construction.......Churn Block, B/B, and Maverick to be precise...

Churn Block because, of course it has Churn blocks in it....

B/B denotes the brown and blue coloring that I used....

and Maverick because that was the original name in McCall's Quick Quilt magazine (Sept, 2009 issue). This is because of the Maverick blocks,,,churn blocks turned the other way.  The original pattern called for a lap quilt (smart idea!), but since DH wanted it king size,,,,it is king size.

I am through with the top and now will go buy batting and backing for it.. I haven't really measured the actual top, but EQ6 says it should be around 110" x 98". 

And I am going to be brave and try to HQ this.......believe me, it will be as simple a HQing as I can make it....I am repeating myself, but as some of you know, this is the one that DH wanted me to finish by the end of June (birthday gift)... I informed him it would take a little longer....

Just pin basting will take a few days.....

Wish me and my back well.....

Quilting Side Effects

Earlier this month I traveled to Another City (By the Water) and visited my sister and brother for a short 3 days. 

I very seldom buy clothes, a mall shopping trip was soon arranged. To make a long story shorter, let's just say my DSIL & DS teamed up and threw clothes at me in the changing room...I didn't know what hit me, but it was so much fun!  I didn't even want to know how much it was and my sister hid the amount while I electronically signed and guarded the receipt until I arrived home after the trip and e-mailed her permission to tell me (I had to check my credit card amount)...Fun! Fun! Fun!

So, what does this have to do with with Quilting????  In the past I have been very conservative in my color choices regarding clothes.  That all changed on this trip.  I started looking at them like I would while making a quilt or other colorful item.

I didn't realize how much my color sense has changed since I started quilting...

Look at these items I made earlier in my quilting life.....

Now look at this.....

and the previous post....

as a matter of fact..you can see a progression of sorts on my slide show at the top side of my blog...the picture above of the cross stitched ham radio quilt was my first one, the others follow it kinda sorta in a chronological order....

I really have gotten better at deciding what goes with what and whether it would look good.  Now I am starting to broaden that idea in clothes.  Wonder what else is in my future????

Hummm........more bills???

Oh.....and what did I buy, you say?  Here is a picture of some I did choose myself, before the avalanche of clothes started. (and all in a size smaller than before!)

Finished H2H Quilt!

I have finished my promised H2H quilt....and it's not even the last minute!  What has come over me?....

The middle section is made up of scraps from the previous quilt, which some of you might recognize...I put them all on point and added a little black speckled fabric and some pink/green/black that I happened to have in my ever-growing stash...

Love these colors...maybe that's why I finished so quickly...Seems I can go so much faster on quilts that I like than some others...But I have yet to make something that I really didn't like, even though at first there were some doubts...definitely not about this one tho'..

I'll be sending this to Emily in Utah soon and will be joining Sarah's Whoop Circle this next Friday....

And-a-One-And-a-Two- And-a-Whoop! Whoop!

I came back from traveling last Monday, which means I was zonked out on Tuesday and had a lot of catching up to do....

I am glad to say that I still got something done!  I cut and put together both borders of my B/B quilt.  The striped one is the inner border and the rectangular scrappy pieces will be the outer border.

I also machine quilted the H2H quilt (with help from a walking foot), as well as chose and started on the binding of said quilt. The binding is the same fabric I will be using as a backing of the placemats I have planned....later....

Stop by Sarah's blog and see who else deserves a Whoop! Whoop! for their work.....

Side Roads and Detours Can Still Lead Back to the Main Highway

My main goal is still my B/B quilt, no matter what I am working on.....

I have spent a few minutes this morning glancing over my 5" charm blocks which I will use in my self-taught mitering lesson. I will be taking them along to my quilty group on Monday...something simple to carry and good practice time in case I need help.

 I may convert them to simple small table mats.  My BIL & SIL own a small winery and they can always use something to go under the wine glasses or on the table. 

I have 42 of them (2 each) so I could do halvies and make a small quilt also.. as it stands, I probably will only do 5-10 of them to start anyway...this IS a practice lesson after all.   Future Christmas gifts...???....

I am still machine quilting the H2H project and am getting ready to cut/sew together the inner border of my B/B quilt today.  Then, after Monday I will bring on the big guns and try mitering both borders on it. 

Oh, on second thought, we will be heading to visit the winery, er, relatives,  on Mon/Tues...Will have to take along something easier to work with....

But my goal is to have the top done on the B/B quilt by the end of the month....

Cart before the Horse Who is still in the Stable....

Here is a picture of the outer border of my B/B (Maverick) quilt...it is  4x8" rectangles waiting to be sewn onto the first border.  Only I don't have the first border cut and pieced together yet....in addition, I have to practice making mitered corners. 

 I plan to miter a border, or maybe 2, around pieces of a charm pack that I can use later in another quilt.

I am beginning to think that I will not have this B/B quilt done by the end of June......(handquilting).....

but I will have learned a lot....

H2H Checking in - slightly out of breath but still going

Just arrived home and saw the check-in request as of 2 days ago for H2H here.

I am just getting started with the quilting phase, thank goodness for the walking foot.  I am a newbe at this and can guarantee that it will stay together...hopefully look decent, as well... I am going slow and, as one of my readers suggested on another post, am checking the back very often....

Now to get back to it.......

Winner - Minigiveaway #26

I'm back.....just a few hours ago...  Thank all of you who viewed and/or commented on the nonquilty item. 

And the winner is.....Snoodles!  I'll be sending her an e-mail and the package and hope that she will enjoy receiving it as much as I enjoy sending. 

Watch for next month's giveaway..can't wait to decide what it will be....

Mini-Giveaway #26 - Nice NonQuilty Item

Let's get the show on the road...Thanks for looking, BTW....

This is a large piece of  canvas-like material...possibly even canvas. 

I did not measure the exact size, but it consists of over 3 and possibly even 4 yards of 48-52" fabric(fabric is folded in picture). Plenty to work with on a decent size project.  It is slightly stiff, but I made some cafe` curtains with it and it handled easily.

No, the picture is not blurry, that is the pattern...

I will announce the winner, of course....However, at this time (I am scheduling this post several days early) it may or may not be at the usual time (10:00am CST) on April 17th...Due to personal reasons, I may be gone for a few days this next week and will be out of touch. Not sure which days that will be. 

 Please do comment as usual and I will announce the winner as soon as I get back.  I didn't want to forego this opportunity for you.

Lessons and Learning and Doing.....

Hello, again.

It's been awhile..

Why haven't you written?

Let's keep in touch.....

6 days to a week has been a long time....

Life sometimes does that to you...Groceries have to be bought, and cooked (sometimes)....taxes have to be done (Yea~Done!)...Lessons learned, more on that later....

I have done this, however....

Pinned and ready to quilt....

I usually hand quilt my quilts mainly because I still have to get up the gumption to try the machine kind.  But I am ready to try this one, using my walking foot.  It will go a lot faster, even if I do set the machine at the lowest speed setting to do it.  Hopefully there will not be any ripping out in the future. (ongoing Lesson....)

As far as my B/B quilt? (or MAVERICK, as the magazine called it, will look up which magazine and let you know in a future post)..I am working on the borders as well.  Both of them have to be pieced, one because I just want to (directional fabric), and the other is made up of  B/B pieces in the quilt. 

Also, it was suggested that I miter the corners...which I have never done. So I have been scouring the quilting community for tutorials and have come up with a couple of good possibilities..(Lesson #2)

I plan to practice on a couple of charm blocks I have in mind...using them as centers for the mitered borders and later using the blocks in either a quilt, or a series of mug rugs, or some such as that.....

See you soon....

Quilt Top Finished

I put my thinking cap on, sat down at my school desk, and learned geometry.  Please note the last 3 letters in that word.....try.

With directions to follow, it wasn't hard and I finished a quilt top.  Check out Sarah's blog for the Whoop-Whoops......

Ya'll might recognize the fabric in the blocks...they are some that were left over from another quilt I finished a short time ago.  I liked the colors so well that I made some 4 patches in hopes I could use them to their advantage.

This is one of the few times I have tried on-point.   And I found out that 4 patches, because of their simplicity, have a different look than perhaps another more complicated block.  But these will do...

Now to find a backing and completely finish the job. 

A Lot of Gonna Do... Still.Waiting for Already Did......

My eyes are not bigger than my stomach...it's only that I have a Quest for Learning (Right?!).

I was at the LQS showing the owner the inner border fabric I wanted and she said, "Are you planning to miter the corners?" 

I hadn't even thought of mitering, and if I did, I tried to ignore it as I have been since I started quilting.....and with this striped fabric, I don't know....but it is time.  So before I start cutting, I am going to do a little practice....Like Learning How!!...

This next Monday, I will be taking the B/B fabric and cutting 4X8 rectangles to use on the outer border, laid end to end.  Maybe I'll miter those also...Nothing like pressure to urge one onward.....

Now for my H2H project.....Another learning curve.  Or relearning refreshed......

I am using triangles to fill in the spaces for my final go-around.  I have done this  before, but only on a Mystery Quilt.  At the time I wasn't sure what I was doing because I didn't have all the steps at once.  I am practicing with another fabric before I cut into the one I want so I can be sure, or relatively sure, of what I am doing. 

Doesn't the folded fabric cling well to my wall?  It is heavier than the layout and I was lucky it didn't fall while I was focusing the camera...

I really am not trying to prolong the results of these two projects....they seem to have a life of their own and are telling me how things are...It's like I don't have any say so with the results.  Eventually I will be able to be back in control.

Back the the school house for lessons....see you later.....

P.S.  Did I tell you that my B/B is larger than king size.  Yep, later I'll get to use the bonding tape to make the batting larger...Another first....

Poor Thing...Thought it was Forgotten......

I have been so busy for awhile, what with finishing the middle of my brown/blue quilt, taxes, and visits to the LQS, that this H2H project hasn't been touched for almost 1 1/2 weeks...And I put it on my wall to help me remember it!

On March 26 at the quilt group, I sewed the little orphan blocks together and cut the other blocks.  {Yes, I need one more block at the bottom}

Anyway,  I put it on my wall as soon as I got the other blocks off (brown/blue) and there it hung.  Actually, I am really surprised...nothing has floated down to the floor. It stayed where it should.

I decided tonight that I need some variety before I get back to the B/B, so I am going to try and finish this top tomorrow.  I still have one more series of blocks to cut but hopefully I can get it to where it doesn't look so anemic...

It's almost 9:00 pm my time and I want to get started on it NOW.....so see you in a bit....

Quilting is Exercise for Everyone; Also My Timeline Dilemma

This last weekend I finished all my blocks for my king size top.  My wall was too small  for all the blocks so I transferred them to the den floor. I scooted furniture aside to make room for the pieces and played with them for awhile. I let them lay there overnight until I got my quilty eyes satisfied. 

My back does not blend very well with working on floors, so I conned convinced my DH to help.  I used a new tip (for me) for marking the block places ....blue painters tape with row & place # written on it.  DH not only put them on the blocks for me (notice...socks, no shoes), he also helped me pin together and pick up the blocks so I could start sewing them together. 

He was a big help.....I did do some bending and stretching also, but not as much.

I wanted this middle portion of the quilt to be done this weekend, because hopefully this next week I can go back to my LQS and get the rest of the fabric I need to add two borders and perhaps binding.   Let's see:

 Mon LQS is closed,

Tue. the new freezer is expected;

Wed. is my midday exercise;

that leaves only Thursday to head into Big Town and that is the day before...

 Good Friday.

 I'm seeing a big delay coming up... I may have to wait until after Easter to accomplish this as we are expecting company. 

  Figured it out.....I'll head into Big Town on Wed....either before or after my exercise, which is mid-day....and it's on the way. 

Oh,  I finished putting the blocks together this weekend...only have the borders to work up, after my trip to my LQS......