Design Wall Monday April 30, 2012

I have fallen behind on doing the NYB's. Life here has been too complex lately to continue the complex into my sewing. So I started a quilt that is on my Want-to-do list, Avignon Picnic, found in the Moda "Bake Shop". I wanted some easy, not have to think too hard, sewing to do, that would work up fast. This certainly fit that description. I used my jelly roll of "Flora" fabrics. It is working up into a very pretty, spring feeling quilt, to contrast with the very grey day outside today. All of the individual blocks are done, and the rest of them are paired up, and ready to be sewn together. It won't be happening today, though, since I have to work this afternoon at 3, which is only an hour and a half from now. Which makes this a very short post. I'm linking up To Judy's Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

Stash Report Week 18

Considering I thought I hadn't done much sewing this past week, my numbers say otherwise. I did start on a quilt on my Want-to-do list called Avignon Picnic using a jelly roll of Flora by Moda that I purchased specifically for this quilt. I liked the strong contrast between the 4 colours which is necessary for this particular pattern. Between the yardage in the jelly roll, and then the white strips to go with them, the numbers added up. And then I did the backing for the Rose Log Cabin, and started quilting on it. Unfortunately, I ran out of bobbin thread, so I'm rather stuck until the thread shipment comes in. Which is where playing with Avignon Picnic came in. It was a fun and easy project to work on, a nice change from New york Beauties, and complex sampler blocks, although I will get back to those.

Used this week:                        10.8 yards
Used this year:                           46 yards
Purchased this week:                   0 yards
Purchased this year:                   99.25 yards
Balance:                                     53.25 more yards in than out.

I'm linking up to Judy's Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.

Sneak Peak

 Well. I really can't say that I've gotten a lot accomplished this week. Not in terms of something I can see, or put my hands on, at least. I did get My Rose Log Cabin quilt loaded and started. I have 2 rows of it done, with 10 more to go. I'm doing a petal shape in the rose section and a leaf shape in the dark green. I'm doing continuous curves in the flying geese, and a fern type leaf background fill in the light green and beige areas. I'm happy with the way it is looking, but it is taking forever, mostly since I haven't had large chunks of time to work on it.
My husband and I have been spending a lot of time talking and planning lately. He has lost a lot of his hearing due to Meniere's disease, which has impacted his ability to work. He is a nurse, and being able to hear the patients is rather important. So, he'll either be going on a disability pension,

or he'll be retiring. Either option involves a large decrease in our income. And of course, it is no where near as simple as that, when dealing with hospital corporations and their "protocols" they have to follow in cases like this.
We've made a few decisions. We are going to be purchasing a new freezer to replace the one that died shortly after Becca's wedding. We'll put in a small vegetable garden this spring, and then attempt to go out to the farms in our area and freeze fruits and vegetables in season. There are a lot of organic farms very close to us that sell both vegetables and beef, pork and chicken.
Yesterday, after going out to see about ordering a new front door, we went to pick up a few groceries. I must confess right here that I haven't been out to do a major grocery shop in quite a while. Scott does the majority of our grocery shopping.  (He takes such good care of me) I was absolutely knocked over by some of the prices, especially for the ground beef. They wanted $7.99 for a one poundish package of lean ground beef. I remembered reading not that long ago  Judy Laquidara's post about her meat grinder. I pulled it up, re-read it, talked to Scott about it, and the possible cost savings in the long term. On top of that, there have been e-coli scares about ground beef here lately, and our wonderful government is talking about cutting costs by reducing the numbers of meat inspectors out there. So, we've ordered one. The other thing that blew me away was the cost of a loaf of bread, over 3 dollars for a good one. So the bread machine has been put back to use. And then, as if that isn't enough, I've been seeing posts lately for making our own laundry detergent. There is a good one about it here. So, after the last of our current bottle is done, we'll be doing that as well. In the past, I've been the one to do the vegetable prep and freezing, the bread making and the vegetable gardening. But Scott will now take it on, once I show him how, since he will be home, and I'll still be working. All this has taken up TONS of time, just with the research and the talking about it. But I'm hoping we're over the hump, and on the road to putting into practice some of what we've been talking about. The first step is done, the freezer is ordered, and will be picked up May 5th. If the meat grinder is here by then, we plan on going out to our local Costco and picking up a couple of their large beef cuts and making some ground beef. And I'm going to order some chickens from a local organic producer to put in the freezer, as well. I'll put up the occasional post about how it is all going. Somewhere in all this there has to be time to quilt. (sigh)

Stash Report, Week 17, 2012

There was a fair amount of sewing accomplished this past week, with a finish of the Dresden Plate quilt, and 2 more New York Beauties done. There will be 2 more done with this month's colours, and then the palette for May will be posted. I wonder what it will be, and how it will play with the others?
I had planned on getting Evelyn's 3 quilts done this weekend, but my plans were interrupted by a phone call from work yesterday at 3 pm, saying that there was a goof up with staffing, which seems to be happening a lot lately, and the RN they thought was coming in, wasn't coming in because she is on vacation, but that fact wasn't entered into the computer system. So, they asked if I could come in, and I went. My husband is off on disability at the moment, and his payments from them haven't started yet, so the extra cash from that shift will come in handy.

Fabric in this week:                           0 yards
Fabric out this week:                       1.9 yards
Fabric in this year:                          99.25 yards
Fabric out this year:                       35.2 yards
Balance:                                        65.05 more yards in than out.

I am hoping to get my April UFO onto the machine by Tuesday, so next weeks numbers will go up. And I've been seeing lately where some people are making pillow cases to match their quilts. I like that idea, and might give it a go. And now, I'm going to link up to Judy's Stash Report, and grab a cup of coffee, and see how others are doing with their stash numbers.

Scrappy Dresden Plates is a Flimsy

 It is done, at least to flimsy stage, and can now go to the top of Mount-to-be-quilted. This quilt was started as part of the quilt along hosted by Bunny Hill Designs, however I deviated quite a bit from their instructions, since I wanted a bigger quilt, and didn't want the coloured sashing, or the scalloped border. I wanted to keep the center of the quilt light and airy, with just a little bit of colour in the cornerstones to give it a bit of interest, and someplace for the eye to rest in all that white. I found the border fabric in my stash, that had the same light and airy feel to it. I didn't realize until after I had it on that the flowers in the border mimic the shapes of the Dresden Plates, since the flowers in the borders are daisies. I don't know if it is visible in the pictures. It is really windy out today, so it was rather hard to get the pictures.

The final size of this turned out to 80 by 97 inches. I'm linking up to Amandajean's Finish it Up Friday post at her blog Crazy Mom Quilts. And after I finish with this, I have 3 quilts to do for Evelyn, which I am hoping to get done over the weekend, and then it will be my turn for a quilt, and then Christine's turn. So, I guess I'd best get off the computer, and get at it.

Gail's Liberated Baskets

Gail picked up her quilt a week or so ago, but I wait for her do do a reveal of her quilt on her blog before I do it here. She posted about it a couple of days ago on her blog The cosy Quilter, which is actually a great name to capture one of the main attributes of quilts. Anyway, her quilt was a small wall hanging called "Fresh"
It's a pattern from Gwen Marsten's book Liberated Quiltmaking 2. Gail actually had the opportunity to go on a retreat and meet Gwen, and she took this quilt along with her to the retreat. So I actually had the opportunity to work on a quilt that Gwen collaborated on. Very cool. I love the backing on this quilt, all the fruits and vegetables, and happy bright colours. I think this is one of the best things about doing quilting for others - the opportunity to work on such a great variety of styles of piecing and fabrics.

Design Wall Monday April 16, 2012

I have a couple of things going on right now. OK, I'll admit it, more then a couple. but only a couple of things on my design wall. First off, the last 2 weeks worth of New York Beauties, using the April Colour Challenge Palette. Actually, I think the top left block is from last month. I think it's kinda cool how well the March and April palettes work together. I should have 4 more blocks done in April's colours by the end of the month.

The other thing up there is the Scrappy Dresden Plates. I have one last row to sew on, and then the last outer sashing strip, and the body of this quilt will be done. This is a really poor picture of it. I tried adjusting this photo to get the colours right, but it didn't quite work. They are a lot prettier than this. After the last row is sewn on, there will be some sort of a border, still to be decided, and it will count as done. This started off as a quilt along from Bunny Hill Designs, but I've deviated from their instructions. Theirs is quite a bit smaller, and is finished with a scalloped border, which I'm not doing. I wanted to keep the sashing white, with only the corner stones as a bit of contrast. This way I can do lots of fun filler quilting around the plates, without having to do a separate sashing quilting design.
I'm thinking of doing something similar to what I did here in the Sweet Treats quilt, and have the feathers roll up to and around the dresden plates, and then curl around the corner stones. I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times. There are lots of fun quilts and eye candy to look at there.

Stash Report week 16, 2012

I had more deliveries come this week. I love getting deliveries of fabric in the mail. It is so much fun to open the package and see what's inside. Almost like getting presents, except I've gotten to pick them out. Maybe that's why I keep pushing those checkout buttons. I looked at my fabric purchased numbers and thought that I was way over what I had bought by this time last year, but it turns out that I'm only over last year's count at this time by 4 yards. I've done a lot more customer quilting this past week, so not a whole lot of sewing. Just my 2 NYB's for this week, and I've started putting my Dresden Plates together, but most of that fabric was counted when it was cut, since that's how I keep track.

Used this week:                           .5 yards
Used this year:                           33.3 yards
Purchased this week:                 10 yards
Purchased this year:                   99.25 yards
Balance:                                    65.95 more yards in than out

I'm hoping to get the Dresden Plates all put together, and some borders added, so the borders will add up to a bit more. And My UFO challenge for this month is to quilt my Rose Log Cabin, so that backing will add up. I'm actually hoping to get to that either this week, or next. When I do Customer quilts, I also make up order forms for my own, so that they get put in the line up, as well. So, I have 3 quilts to do for Evelyn, and then it's my turn. Since I have to work this afternoon, I'm going to go get some lunch, and then have some play time before I go in. 

I have had 3 quilts go home to their owners in the past 2 days. Christine picked up her tumbler quilt.

Christine did up such a warm and comfy tumbler quilt, all in fall themed colours and fabrics, and backed with flannel. Perfect for snuggling under on a cool wet spring evening. I quilted it with a pantograph called Leaf Pile by Donna Reinarts.

Charlene picked up her, as she calls it "Almost a Charm" quilt. She says it isn't quite a charm quilt, because there might be a couple of repeats of fabrics in it. I couldn't find them. I love the way she made the stars out of the same colour families. They sparkle. I did an overall rectangular spiral on it.

And Gail picked up her Liberated Baskets quilt. I'll post a picture of it as soon as she has it up on her own blog, and then I'll link back to it, as well. Can you tell I've been busy this past week? I'll be working the next 4 evenings at the hospital, so there might be some sewing going on, but no more customer stuff until next week on Wednesday, when I'm off again.

Lady of the Lake

I received my fabrics from the Fat Quarter Shop in the mail today.  WOOHOO!!! And that meant, of course, that I had to immediately drop what I was doing, and come play some more in EQ7. I decided that I like the piano keys, but I also liked the large triangles. So i wondered what would happen if I combined the 2. And this is the result. I really, really like it. So I think this will be the one I will go with. Anyone want to play along with me? If even one person says yes, I'll post the cutting instructions from a fat quarter that will enable this quilt to be made from 14 fat quarters, with just a couple of the large triangles left to have to make.

New project Planning

I know, I know, the last thing I need is another new project. But, I ordered some fabric a couple of weeks ago, with just this project in mind. I've always loved the Lady of the Lake block with its very graphic light and dark sides. So I spent some time tonight, a lot of time tonight, downloading the fabric images from Moda Fabrics, where they have a section on their website to download their fabrics. This one  is Collection for a Cause Friendship by Howard Marcus. After playing in EQ7 for a while, I have a couple of possibilities.

 

I figured out the cutting, too, from  fat quarters, which is what I have coming, and I can get the makings for the light sides and the darks sides for 3 blocks from each fat quarter. This will leave a 6 inch finished triangle left over, as well as quite a few 2 1/2 inch strips for more triangles for a triangle border as in the one on the right, or for a piano key border, as the one on the left. It might be interesting to combine the left over 6 inch triangles in a border somehow, as well

The one above here on the right is a bit too much, and rather over powers the rest of the quilt, but I like the one on the left. The look of the actual large triangles would be a lot more varied, of course since the larger triangles would be out of a bunch of different fabrics. But this rather gives a good idea of what it would look like. I love playing with the Electric Quilt software. It's like making a quilt, without making a quilt. And being able to download the fabrics is a great way to get a general idea, at least, of the way the final project will look.

"In the Village" customer quilt.

A couple of weeks ago I received a call from a lady named Carol, wondering if I could quilt up a project of hers. I was so excited, since she is a new to me customer, so of course I said yes. Then she added the time line. She needed it before the Easter weekend. No problem, all of my customers have wanted rush jobs before, and none of them seem to have a problem with others doing the same thing. SO she brought it over, and I have to say the it is the most unique quilt I have ever done.  It was intended as a wedding gift for a friend of hers that loves the show from the 1960's called "The Prisoner". Carol blogged about it here, showing the finished quilt, and in the previous posts about the show and the symbolism and graphics taken from the show. I do remember the series from the 60's, although I don't remember ever watching it. What stands out most in my mind, was the large ball that would be bouncing down a hill, or something, during the beginning credits. The quilting motif is a representation of that bouncing ball. It also picks up the dots in the white fabric, and the swirls in the black fabrics. Apparently in the show, there is a giant chess board, so she showed that chess board in the black and white fabrics. Also in the show, are large umbrellas, which Carol represented in the large floral circles on the quilt.
I used the large daisy like flower in the floral fabric as the jumping point for the motif in the umbrellas. And then in the very center of the quilt is this antique bike which was simply stitched around to highlight it. This was a fun, and definitely challenging quilt to do, not because any of the quilting was difficult, but because it needed to highlight and accent the story being told in the quilt. Thanks, Carol, for trusting me with your quilt.

Design Wall Monday April 9, 2012

 I have a few things that I've been working on up on the wall today. First off are the New York Beauties from last week, using the colours for the April Colour Challenge Palette. There is a new block posted today, and I hope to get a couple of them done this week.

 Then there are the Dresden Plates that I've been working on for the last couple of months. I'm doing 20 of the, and all but 2 of them are stitched down to their backgrounds. Originally, I was going to use invisible thread to sew them down, But then I started thinking about how a lot of vintage Dresdens were stitched down using a blanket stitch in a contrasting colour, often black.

I have a wall full of very pretty variegated threads that I use for quilting, so I thought "what would it look like if I used the fancy threads to stitch them down?" Answer, quite lovely. I hope to get the last 2 of these stitched to their backgrounds this week, and maybe even get a start on putting it together.

 And last, their is my Aunt Lucy's Medallion quilt, designed by Lori Smith. I'm using the collection of fabrics from Moda called Wildflower Serenade in this one, plus a few extras from my stash. I'm ready to start the next set of sampler blocks to go into the next border. According to the pattern, this finishes at 55 inches square. I generally Like my quilts bigger than this, so I might be adding something to it, although I'm not sure just what, at this point. It would make a good wall hanging, at the size the pattern gives, but I don't have any walls that size to put it on. I'll have to let this one simmer.

I'm linking up to Judy Laquidara's Design Wall Monday. Lots and lots of fun stuff to see over there.

Stash report Week 15, 2012

First off, far more important than any fabric report, happy Easter. Jesus is risen from the dead. He lives forever at the right hand of God the Father. He has risen, He has conquered death. I found a video on youtube of a song by Jeremy Riddle that says it so much better than I ever could.

We had our Easter dinner yesterday with Matt and Becca, and had a lovely visit with them. They are visiting with some of Matt's family today, so Scott and I will spend today quietly, and, of course, I hope to get some fun time spent playing with fabric. I had a package from the Fat Quarter Shop arrive last week, with a part of what I ordered a couple of weeks ago. There were a couple of layer cakes with some fun kid fabrics in it. There is one called 10 little things and another called Peak Hour. I have one project all planned out in EQ7 already planned out, using the 10 little things fabric, but it's on the other computer, so I can't show it right now. I did get a fair amount of fabric usage this past week. I cut out all the background squares for my Dresden Plates, and have over half of them stitched down. That added up to a good amount.

Used this week:                                                     5.5 yards
Used this year:                                                   32.8 yards
Purchased this week:                                             4.75 yards
Purchased this year:                                         89.25 yards
Balance:                                                       56.4 more yards purchased than used.

There is still a fat quarter collection called Friendship Collections for a Cause out in the postal system somewhere waiting to be delivered, as well, that will probably arrive sometime this coming week. I have always wanted to a Lady of the Lake quilt, and I think that's what this coming fabric might become.
I'm linking this post up to Judy Laquidara's Stash Report, where the are a bunch of others keeping track of their fabric comings and goings.

Good Friday

Today is the day when we consider the sacrifice that Christ made for us. Today is the day we remember that he was nailed to the cross, for no fault or sin of His own, for He was perfect and sinless. Today is the day we remember that He willingly died the death of pain and humiliation so that He could bear our sins and be punished for our sins, and therefore made the way clear for us to be forgiven. The Judge of the world punished His own Son in our place, so that we might go free. This boggles my mind. Jesus willingly bore the separation from God, so that He could take upon His back, our sins that separate us from our God.
"But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed."
Isaiah 53:5
The only response to this can be a heartfelt, thank you, Lord God of heaven and earth. May You live in our hearts, and mould us into the people You would have us be. May we be a living witness to those who need to know Your love and mercy and grace. 

March colour challenge results

I've been combining 2 projects into one. I'm doing the New York Beauty sew along, in the colours of the colour challenges. I didn't start the NYB until March, so I only have that month's colours in there, so far. This particular sew along continues into May, but I just might keep my own going longer than that, using more variations of NYB blocks from EQ7 and also from an add on to EQ that I have by Karen Stone. I am hoping to average 2 of these blocks per week, which will give me enough by the end of the year for a good sized bed quilt. I love the colours for April's palette, and the story behind it, which you can read here, is quite funny. And best yet, they are commonalities with March's palette, so everything in the NYB will work. As soon as I saw this month's colours,  I went upstairs and pawed through my batiks and fat quarters, and I think I have the beginnings, at least, of the fabrics necessary for April. So, now I can finish off the last of the NYB squares for last week, and I have a fresh start for tomorrow, when the new one comes out.

Stash report Week 14, 2012

There has been a whole lot of quilting on the long arm happening this past week, and not very much sewing. My used numbers don't seem to be going up very fast. By this time last year, I had used over 50 yards. However my purchased numbers keep going up. I received a lovely packet of batiks in the mail this week to do a wall hanging designed by Cynthia England for this Waterfall Pattern. It doesn't say on the package just how much yardage is in it, and I haven't opened it yet, to measure it. The fabrics in the package are all in order according to a colour chart in the pattern, and I don't want to get the fabrics out of order, so I'm not counting it as in yet. I also, in a moment of weakness last weekend, ordered some more fabric from the fat quarter shop, but it hasn't arrived yet, so I don't have to count it. But I really do have to do something about getting some more sewing time in, both for the sake of these numbers, and my sanity. Anyway, here's the numbers, for the past 2 weeks, since I didn't do a report last week:

Fabric used past 2 weeks:                   .9 yards
Fabric used this year:                       27.3 yards
Purchased past 2 weeks:                   0 yards
Purchased this year:                       84.5 yards
Balance:                                           57.2 more yards in than out.

I'm linking up to Judy's stash report at Patchwork Times