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