Nothing to show

Ok - I'll be honest - I've got absolutely nothing for you today...

• I'm still working on the same quilt.
• I haven't worked on my gardens in a while - I am 99% sure the peppers are ripe but what about the tomaters? Do the flowers need watering?
• I've got my menu planned for what I'll be cooking at the fair (18th Century, open hearth style cooking). It will be easier to show pictures after the fact than to explain it now.

And that's it. Nothing else. Nada. Sorry.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I thought you might like to meet the crew!

Biggie size the pictures to see the quilting (yeh, that's what we're looking at with half-nekked men) but keep in mind I'm still working on them and need to add red, gray and black quilting...

Tom

David

Pete

Randy and Spot

Yup, I've officially lost it! LOL!

In a bind

I'm afraid it's terribly difficult to get an interesting picture of me binding the same quilt you've seen me working on for how many days now...I hope photos of my set up and helper will suffice :)

Yeh, it's a pretty dark picture but it's really hard to get a good shot when my bright Ott light is doing it's best to highlight only the area I'm working on. I was watching "A River Runs Through It" on the laptop while binding...

How do you bind?
I know of some righties, like myself, who bind left to right while I prefer right to left. I also am essentially doing an applique stitch, not whipstitching. My thread travels underneath the quilt backing, usually about 1 or 1.5 lengths of the machine stich I used to sew the binding to the front. My needle then catches a couple threads of the binding fold. This is completely backwards of how I was originally taught to bind. You can see in the photos I use those hair clips. I prefer to only use 2 at a time, about a 1/2" apart, that are leap frogged along as I work. The yellow "truck" pin, shown below, is placed where I started binding so that it doesn't catch and tear.

After a hard morning of supervising my stitching and periodically blocking my view of the movie, it was time for a stretch and to see if anything interesting was happing all the way down at floor level.

Again, too bad the corner is washed out from the Ott light but I do adore this photo.

Design Wall Monday - 8/8/11

Today's post will be brief as I need to spend my lunch hour working on binding.

I have completed quilting the arrowhead blocks and machine sewn on the binding. As of this morning I have half the binding hand sewn. I still need to quilt the firemen in the center but my goal this weekend was to make it "portable" since I can do binding during lunches and before meetings the next 2 nights. I worked on it for several hours yesterday at an outdoor event called "The Pioneer Picnic" - it was quite warm to have a huge quilt in my lap but the music was great. I am not really enjoying stitching the black binding as I knew I wouldn't, but it looks great with the inner black border.

I neglected to take a picture of the quilt opened up this morning so you'll need to accept this picture of the Quality Control Officer, Pepper, checking it out. And yes, he also sat one end WHILE I was binding the other :)

Quilting continues

I've managed to get quite a bit of quilting done in the past 2 days thanks to a couple late nights and plenty of time after an early rescue call this morning. I think it's coming along nicely but flipping the quilt back and forth to stitch the straight yet diagonal lines is getting old. Thankfully I have the 2 drawers to provide extra work space and the surface is smooth and slippery. There is only one deterrant but you will need to wait until tomorrow to see her that...

I think this is nice shot of how the quilting looks at each intersection

Can you pick out how the quilt is "puddled" around my work area - to the right and left as well as in front of me (the fuzzy part)? It's important to have a puddle so that there is somewhere for the fabric to easily move to while you manuever the quilt. If it's all laying flat on the table there is too much resistance and it takes more effort on your part to keep the quilt moving smoothly, especially important if you are free motion quilting.

This was actually what I saw as I was getting up to go get ready for work this morning - I had flipped the quilt up so I could close the drawers and get out of my chair. I like how it shows the RWB backing but it also shows the intersecting rows of quilting.

Quilting has begun

I'm afraid you guys are going to be seeing a lot of this in the next few days...

I am doing the straight line stitching right now which, in itself, is quite easy. The hard part is maneuvering the heavy quilt back and forth as I zigzag around the quilt top tracing the seams. At least I was smart enough to start quilting so that there is no more than 2 or 3 rows of blocks under the machine arm at any given time. The drawer and slide out tray are open to distribute the quilt top.

I also discovered that my Halo (rubber coated, heavy iron ring) was quite useful for straight stitching along with my walking foot. I generally only use the Halo for free motion quilting but it's helping me hold my work area flat while I puddle the extra around it allowing it all to move along much easier. I highly recommend the Halo for lots of reasons!

Design Wall Monday - 8/1/11

I had a busy but productive weekend and it's about time because the fair is 11 days away!

We are decorating the front room of the historical building in a Civil War theme this year. There were at least 2 ladies groups that made supplies for the soldiers - socks, quilts, bandages, etc. I am trying to get as many of my CW blocks sashed so that we can use that as part of the display. If I get that missing middle block done, I can finish these 3 rows - they are just missing 1 block on the right of each row and no one will know unless you are 1 of my 8 followers or 18 google readers :) You might also notice I have 2 more Floribunda/Jacob's ladder blocks done as I am using them as leader/enders.

I also pieced the back for my fireman quilt and mostly have the whole thing spray basted. The back is 3 rows of red, white and blue. Now I can start on the quilting which won't be too hard. I'll use RWB thread to stitch 1/4 inch from all the diagonal seams in the arrowhead blocks and then outline all the men with free motion quilting in brown. I will probably leave that 1" black border plain after a simple black SITD around both sides.  Wish me luck!

Design Wall Monday - 7/18/11

Did you think I dropped out of DWM?  Nah, just holidays and a sick day keeping me away from the computer.

The fireman quilt is getting a little large and heavy for my actual design wall and I didn't feel like crawling on the floor this weekend so I commandeered the dining room table to finish the arrowhead blocks. The picture shows what I woke up to this morning! Did I brush against the blocks/table in the dark after the late night rescue call or did some naughty pussy cat decide to rearrange? We will never know...but I DO have my suspicions...

The table isn't quite big enough to lay out all the blocks but since I am repeating red/blue/neutrals for this last section I really need to make sure they aren't next to each other as well as value-balanced.

Does everyone know how to make these arrowhead blocks? The directions were in a magazine some months ago but I can do a tutorial if anyone is interested. It's pretty easy in my estimation - as in it packs a big punch for the amount of work involved.

This Friday's road trip plans got cancelled but that does give me another full day to sew which is a really good thing - only 25 more days until the Wyoming County Fair that I am trying to finish this for. I had planned on looking for backing material on my road trip but now it looks like I'll be looking locally. It's a little dissappointing because I was headed to a (cheap) Mennonite store but things will work out...Wish me luck and happy sewing!

Groovin' again!

Yihah! I think I'm back in the groove again... It was a busy, long weekend but I still got a lot done on a bunch of smaller projects. What I was really happy to get moving on again was my fireman quilt since I decided it will be my large entry at the Wyoming County Fair in August. It's been quite a while since I worked on this quilt and I have some new readers so let me recap...

I purchased a yard of half-dressed (or half-nekked!) fireman fabric at a quilt show last fall and decided I would surround it with arrowhead blocks in red, white cream and blue to coordinate with the firemen. I then decided the 4 corner blocks should be in yellow since my department (Castile Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department) has yellow trucks and bunker gear. Did you know yellow trucks are more visible than red trucks? I swear - they've done studies on it...

I had the top and bottom sections sewn onto the panel and had layed out a side section when I realized there was absolutley no contrast and the half-nekked men faded into the arrowhead blocks. I frogged out all my seams and then cut some 1.5" black strips to surround the firemen with. I then set everything aside until I could "find time" to trim the center so it would all still fit right. Oh please...I was just worried I would cut too much off and then it wouldn't fit at all. I'm proud to say that I trimmed it just fine and now have the top, bottom and one side section sewn back on. I have to make a few more arrowhead blocks but hope to have the top completed before the weekend is over.

Hmm...wonder what she spied out the front window instead of posing.
Anyway...I think the black sets it off nicely

I have a RWB stripe to make the binding but I still have to locate something for the back. I don't think I want to cobble anything from my stash since it's for the fair so I'll have to hit some sales. I also better get another can of spray baste...

Almost Wordless Wednesday - 6/29/11

Two of Castile Fire Department's FINEST!
Uhhhhh...need I say anything more?

(Maybe this should be on the label for my fireman quilt...)

Design Wall Monday - 2/7/11

Midge had the right idea this weekend - I sew wanted to be in that quilt with her!

I worked on these Blendable Curve blocks. They are relatively easy, even with the curves, but it just got tedious. I should have made more yesterday but I just couldn't make myself. Instead, I puttered around doing a little of this or that. I pressed, I trimmed, I made 170 more half square tri's for the Roll Roll Cotton Boll quilt, I trimmed the black border I need for the fireman quilt and of course two rescue calls and a bowling party for Tyler's Birthday. OMG, how did he get to be S.I.X.?

Here's a sneak peak at my UFO for the month...will post more on Thursday.

Doesn't that look like a Glamour Shots pose?

Design Wall Monday - 12/27/10

So, it's the last 2010 DWM and I don't have any real progress to report.

Based on my own observation last week, that John confirmed, I am changing the firemen a little. The fireman fabric now blends in so well with the RWB blocks that it fades into the background. I am in the process of frogging off the top and bottom block sections so I can add a narrow black border. Hopefully it will be worth it.

The 8 foot table (left over from a Christmas party) that I had been using as a design wall for the firemen quilt has now been repurposed as tax central. As Town Clerk I also collect the Town & County taxes, starting in January. I spend the week between Christmas and New Year's pulling escrows, sealing and adding postage to those 7 boxes of bills covering half the table. The other half is pressies I haven't put away yet - the blocks are still on the table tho! It's not a hard job to do escrows but it does take time. As a bonus, I usually get through at least one audiobook while I do this. I tried watching movies but I spend more time watching than working.

Design Wall Monday - 12/20/10

As I often do, I over-estimated what I would be able to accomplish on Friday but I had fun sewing and cooking and that was all that mattered.

I was delayed an hour while I waited for the migraine meds to kick in but the cinnamon rolls gave me a nice energy boost. I worked all day on the fireman quilt and actually did accomplish “enough for who it’s for” as my brother would say. This picture was taken yesterday but I almost finished that side section this morning. On Friday I finished the top and bottom sections (15 blocks each). That leaves me with the other side (20 blocks) where some are cut out already but not many and I’ll have to reuse some of the colors because I am NOT buying more fabric for this project. It's bigger than I had originally imagined but I want it big enough to cuddle with on the bed or couch.

The 4 outside corners will be yellow blocks (the picture shows where I was debating outside corners or corners of fireman fabric). I wanted a RWB quilt to match the fireman fabric but here in Castile we have yellow trucks which are more visible. I am thinking of embroidering something on the yellow blocks about our fire department.

Dinner was squash risotto with red wine & cheese sausage and a yummy salad and that pretty much put an end to the sewing since I watched some old Bonanza episodes on DVD while I ate and never got back off the couch.

I did think about the UFO’s I want to finish in 2011 but it never progressed past the thinking stage.

The highlight of the day was the Christmas Caroler’s that came to the front door. They sang two songs and we had a little chat about the quilt I was wrapped in until they sent me back into the warm house. It was such a nice gesture but I was frustrated I couldn’t find the camera.

Saturday was spent with Mom at my SIL’s making candy. We only made 3 kinds of truffles, 2 kinds of nut brittle, 3 kinds of fudge, caramels, a couple other things that I can’t remember. The boys helped a little here and there as mixers and taste testers. And in this example, the boys were of all ages  :)

Yesterday the girls that plan our summer chalk fest got together to make osage orange center pieces. Kim also posed for this graceful shot and didn’t believe that I would actually post it!

Retreat!

Tomorrow I am taking a UIOLI Personal Day so I have decided to treat it as my very own in-house retreat. I will spend the day in my fav PJ’s, will not lift a finger to do any housework and sew all.day.looooong. For lack of anything else to photograph, here is my honey do list…

Priority #1 for the day is to turn these FQs into more fireman blocks. When these are done I am pretty sure I will have enough to lay out the quilt and get the top together. It should be 52 blocks if I did the math correctly.

There are a few xmas gifts to finish up and a class sample to finish as well.

Pick my 12 UFO's for Judy's 2011 challenge. Will try to post pictures of my choices next week.

I really ought to work on my Turning 4-T quilt blocks. I started project this back in November 2009 and here it is with only 31 days left to finish it before the big day. Here at CasaGrande we don’t have EQ7 but I am up to PQ2 (Paper quilt 2.0) while I work out the design. I am leaning towards 10 green blocks where the 4 T’s would then total 40 and the remaining small (or very large, as above) blocks would be neutral on neutral. Still working that part out tho. I have 2 more green blocks to make if I decide to stick with this design.

And if all that gets done … which I doubt it will ... I need to work on my RollRollCottonBoll blocks. I still need to do parts III and IV and I'm sure part V will be posted tomorrow.

I'll post a report of what gets accomplished next week.
I'll also try to post the solution to last week's wazzit.

Design Wall Monday - 12/13/2010

I'm afraid I again have no quilty pictures. I did work on more fireman blocks Saturday and almost have twice as many completed. Friday when I was out Christmas Shopping I also stopped at another quilt store in the city that I don't get to very often for more RWB fabric. I hope to work on them this week and get more posted.

I have not worked a stitch on Bonnie's mystery quilt since I completed Step II. I may not be able to get to it until after Xmas or the New Year. I'm not sure at this point but I do need to finish Xmas presents and since I am Town tax collector, it's about time to start working on that...

Yesterday Mom came over for our third annual Cookie Day. We each make a double batch of cookies and then split them. I also make some other kinds since I give them as gifts. Mom's side of the family is working on a family cookbook and Mom is submitting Candy Lassies, a molasses cookie with crushed candy canes and candy cane glaze/frosting. Here's a close up of the yummieness...

This is most of what we made without some of the frosted sugar cookies. We split the candy lassies and sugar cookies. I also made ginger krinkles, chai tea cookies, chocolate gingerbread and coconut washboards. I hope to make a couple more new recipes for myself but we will see if "we" have time. Won't be making the chocoGingerbread from this recipe again tho.

Design Wall Monday - 11/29/10

Between the 3 turkey dinners I enjoyed, I spent parts of the long weekend working on my firemen blocks.

They are soooooo easy, brainless and addictive.

I am questioning that light blue in the upper right even tho it does match the blues in the fireman fabric. I only have enough red and blue cut out for what I think will be half the quilt. I could totally remove the light blue or add in more light blues.

What do y'all think?

Design Wall Monday - 11/8/2010

Woohoo! School tax collection is pretty much over – just piddly little changes and boxing everything up when we are sure it’s done. This means that I can get back to sewing more and posting more!

The best news is that we now have a truly LQS - The Quilter's Daughter - it’s just a couple miles from my office and while that can be trouble, it also means that I can teach quilting classes to offset most of my purchases!! They are working on their website but I will post it as soon as it’s online.

My first class will be in a couple weeks on making the windmill table runners that I am addicted to. In January I’ll be making a table topper. Did you notice the same trend I did??!! Someone called me the tablerunner queen and it seems to continue...

I started by making these 4 blue and purple blocks from a pattern in the latest Quiltmaker magazine just to see how easy the pattern was. They are sewwww easy and just 2 FQs! Claudia saw them and wanted me to teach a class so I’ll be adding a flange with the dark purple pictured and a scalloped border of the dark blue. It will finish around 25” square. To make sure that we could complete all or most of the topper in a 3 hour class, I have started a second one and I’m timing myself. The colors seem to have more contrast at home so I hope that contrast eventually transfers to the final product, if not in the pictures.

Then, at a recent quilt show I found this fireman fabric. Really, who could resist and I only bought a yard. I’m making these red white and blue blocks and will somehow fashion those blocks around the fireman. I had originally thought of putting them on the back but that’s no fun. And no, I’m not cutting them up – they will serve as a “panel.” This baby is for my bed  ;)