Design Wall Monday - 1/17/2011

Bronchitis knocks the wind out of you…really, it feels like you can’t breath and the hacking to get the crap out of your lungs is no fun either so once I got home Friday night and got into my comfy pjs – that’s how I stayed until dinner time on Sunday. I can’t remember the last 2-full-day-weekend that I just did what I want when I wanted: sewing and reading and sleeping in and staying up late. Be sure to check out my other post today to see why I really wanted to do “nothing” all weekend!

Friday night I hit the LQS after work and came home to dinner and time in front of the boob tube. Saturday morning the sewing marathon began. I won’t show pictures of everything so I have some fodder to talk about later this week but this is what I accomplished over the weekend:

1. Remember the pink alert? I finished 6 little treat bags for my tea party that got postponed until next weekend.

2. The center of my t-shirt quilt (UFO #6) is finished but I didn’t have enough border fabric so I’ll have to go back to the LQS. Will post more on Thursday…

3. Remember DWM last week with the experimental windmill runner? I finished the top but I think it leans towards failure. I just don’t care for it although I am sure someone else will. It was a good study to see how a row of all of the same fabric charms works - maybe that is the problem: one row might have worked but not the black and cream rows. It will be a good sample for class but I won’t do another with rows. I like 2 fabrics, but not rows. I am not sure if I will bind it in the brown or the cream color...leaning towards the cream to pull it in more (it does match the wheat fabric).

4. I finished the last 2 green and cream Turning 4-T blocks. This was supposed to be for my b-day so I’ll work on it some more tonight. I am designing this quilt myself and it’s turning into a design as you go kinda thing so I have to decide how I want to proceed. I’ve only changed it 3 or 4 times so far.

5. I also worked on 2 sections of my Roll Roll Cotton Boll blocks…will post more another day….

Design Wall Monday - 1/10/11

This morning, while eating my Special K, I had thought of a snappy line to post today along with a bunch of pictures from this weekend. It's now 4:42pm, I'm just getting time to post and I have no idea what it was so I guess I'll just go with...

When I taught my windmill class, a student brought charm size squares of all the same fabric instead of a pack of charm squares. I got her to purchase several coordinating fabrics but it lead to a discussion on a 2 color windmill runner. I purchased the wheat and green fabrics right then and there but thought it was too short. As an experiment I just got the black and cream fabrics to see what they will look like - will they come thru as a stripe or a blur? I have to add the outer brown border and then I can begin subcutting into the windmills.

It's late and I still have lotsa work left to do before I can go home and sew...cya tomorrow.

Design Wall Monday - 1/2/1011

Welcome to 2011!!

There are a few older projects on my design wall this week. They are soooo last year (sorry but I couldn't resist). I finally finished the binding on this windmill runner. It was a Christmas gift for mom so it's about time. It just needs a good wash to get to the crinkly stage and then she can use it on her new dining room table. Like my freehand fans? They are catholic fans - we don't do baptist in our house ;^)

This little table topper is for a class I am teaching at my LQS. I bit the bullet and actually stitched feathers in the borders. I learned from Patsy's DVD series but this is the first time I have actually quilted them. I was very impressed with myself, especially since the border was so narrow and confining. Can't wait to let loose on a larger quilt with the feathers.

This is the other topper I made to time how long it would take for the class. If you remember from previous posts, the middle was very "smooshy" color-wise but I think the red flange and the blue border does actually bring the green fabric out. I need to quilt this and then I can use the new curved corner template my friend Liana sent me for Christmas. I can see it needs a good ironing before I quilt it...it's been folded for too long.

Finally, I did pull out the UFO I will be working on this month. Judy drew #6 and that is my t-shirt quilt. From a brief glance it doesn't look like it will take much to get the top together. I hope that really holds true. I am thinking that I will try to post weekly updates on Thursdays...

Oh BTW - our 5 minutes is up. Yesterday was 25 degrees and snowing and OHHHHH did it feel bitter after 2 days in the low 50s. This morning was 18 and I was outside in my pjs to start the car and get these photos. Not so bitter today.

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  ;)

Again?!

Yup - another windmill table runner.

These things are addictive because it's so easy to slap together a charm pack with a 3" border and then use the spiffy template to cut apart the units and sew them back together. I cut and apart and resewed this one the last 2 mornings before work.

For this holiday charm pack, I pieced all the darks into the center with a light border. I already have the lights pieced with a dark border - just need to cut them apart and sew back together. Golly, that does need a better name.

What I can't decide (and yeh I have 3 or 4 tops done and another in the works) is how to quilt them and I am open to suggestions. This one screams spirals thanks to the ornament design in the border. I've thought of straight lines for the others but the seams don't really line up for something like that.

Quilting again

Yes, I am sucked into making windmill tablerunners - they are so easy with that little template. I have one of the striped fabrics for binding and one of the darker orange slice fabrics for the back - this baby is for MY dining room table!
I have a holiday charmpack I need to work up next...

This morning I was up bright and early and, having finished the windmill top last night, wanted to finally get some quilting in. I picked the easiest looking piece and spraybasted (with 505) the 3 layers together and got to quilting. My fuzzy little quality control officer also showed up for work...it's been a long time since he sat with me so I enjoyed his company as much, if not more, than getting back into quilting.

Design Wall Monday - 5/17/10

Looking for something mindless to work on yesterday while I moped around the house...I decided to finish this little windmill table runner that I had started in order to play with my new Little Twister template (of course I can't find the website at this moment but it was $8.95 with free shipping).

I had the 40 charm squares already sewn together and only needed to add the brown border. Once that was done, you place the lines of the template on the seam intersections as above and slightly twist each cut piece to form the first row. I wasn't sewing at any great pace but the top is done and I think I have the back/binding picked out. Mom thinks it needs another border but she also thinks it would look nice in her redecorated kitchen!