Hot dang ..... Becky over at Patchwork Posse asked me if she could feature my blog on her Trunk Show Tuesday section of her blog ..... and by gosh, by golly, I was tickled pink that she asked me! :o)
So go here and see moi and read about my blog and some of my quilts.
Also, if you want to see past featured blogs, go here and you will be able to click onto different photos and have fun reading and discovering interesting blogs.
Thank you, Becky, you made my day! :o)
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Was stumped?
Lately, my UFO's are being worked on this summer and this one had me stumped for quite some time and has been up on my design since last year. This project was started Nov.15,2010 and it went together quite quickly until the centre of the petal blocks. I just couldn't decide what to do.
I like the idea of the white centers .... except some of those centers had been cut away. So, something else had to be done with them.
Some jumbo rick rack was purchased and a test circle was made up. It is not bad, but this idea just wasn't giving me the thumbs up.
Maybe it needed another smaller circle in the centre. OK, this is not bad.
Definitely not a plain yellow centre.
Now, we're talking .... a simple white circle with a nice bright contrasting smaller circle. Yep, this is it.
Now, I can concentrate on bringing this UFO to a top stage .... and that is such a good thing! :o)
Have a great day!
I like the idea of the white centers .... except some of those centers had been cut away. So, something else had to be done with them.
Some jumbo rick rack was purchased and a test circle was made up. It is not bad, but this idea just wasn't giving me the thumbs up.
Maybe it needed another smaller circle in the centre. OK, this is not bad.
Definitely not a plain yellow centre.
Now, we're talking .... a simple white circle with a nice bright contrasting smaller circle. Yep, this is it.
Now, I can concentrate on bringing this UFO to a top stage .... and that is such a good thing! :o)
Have a great day!Thursday, July 21, 2011
Sew quick ...
Five different fabrics (9 WOF cuts each) and these strips went from this ...
.... to this ever so quickly!
The borders are on and this top is ready for some quilting! :o
How hot is it here? Well, tonight after listening to Miss Ashes for half an hour wailing and moaning to go outside .... we put her outside and was going to walk around the back yard with her. She stood at the back door and wanted back inside immediately to the a/c cooled home. That is how hot it is in Toronto today.
.... to this ever so quickly!
The borders are on and this top is ready for some quilting! :o
How hot is it here? Well, tonight after listening to Miss Ashes for half an hour wailing and moaning to go outside .... we put her outside and was going to walk around the back yard with her. She stood at the back door and wanted back inside immediately to the a/c cooled home. That is how hot it is in Toronto today.Have a great day!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Hand quilting .... tips
Every now and then, questions come to me about my hand quiltng. So, to help explain some of my methods, here are a few photos of my pumpkin quilt that is currently being worked on.
When I'm quilting around an item (my pumpkin and leaf), always work in a clock-wise manner. This way the pumpkin and leaf get puffed up and they look like they have been stuffed (but they are not).
Once the outside of the pumpkin has been hand quilted, then move onto the right hand side of the pumpkin and start hand quilting (see black arrows) beside the embroidered lines going from the top to bottom. Start at the far right and move towards the centre. My quilting will be on the right side of the embroidery lines. Then, quilt the next two embroidered lines (see green arrows) with the quilting being on the left side of the embroidered lines.
Follow the same procedure for the leaf (blue arrows).
This photo shows my quilting beside the embroidered lines. Can you see how the centre portion is nice and puffy? Remember, clock-wise will make my pumpkin and leaf puffy.
For the grid work, there is also a pattern for quilting those also (see black arrows). My quilts gets marked up using Crayola Washable markers (the fine tip markers). If you want to read more about these markers and how to work with them, just go here and scroll through the posts.
All of my pumpkins, leaves and grid lines will be done in this manner. This way, there is nothing that gets distorted and looks odd after all the hand quilting has been done.
When I'm quilting around an item (my pumpkin and leaf), always work in a clock-wise manner. This way the pumpkin and leaf get puffed up and they look like they have been stuffed (but they are not).
Once the outside of the pumpkin has been hand quilted, then move onto the right hand side of the pumpkin and start hand quilting (see black arrows) beside the embroidered lines going from the top to bottom. Start at the far right and move towards the centre. My quilting will be on the right side of the embroidery lines. Then, quilt the next two embroidered lines (see green arrows) with the quilting being on the left side of the embroidered lines.
Follow the same procedure for the leaf (blue arrows).
This photo shows my quilting beside the embroidered lines. Can you see how the centre portion is nice and puffy? Remember, clock-wise will make my pumpkin and leaf puffy.
For the grid work, there is also a pattern for quilting those also (see black arrows). My quilts gets marked up using Crayola Washable markers (the fine tip markers). If you want to read more about these markers and how to work with them, just go here and scroll through the posts. 
All of my pumpkins, leaves and grid lines will be done in this manner. This way, there is nothing that gets distorted and looks odd after all the hand quilting has been done.Hopefully, this post will help clear up some of your questions.
Have a great day!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Cool pumpkins
There was a nice cool breeze blowing in through the windows and patio door today and I took advantage of it and did some hand quilting on my pumpkin quilt . Only 3 more pumpkins to finish and then the borders.
A while ago, someone asked how I come up with quilting ideas. In this case, my thoughts were of a farmer's field and rows of planted pumpkin seeds. For the borders, I haven't made any decision yet on what will go there. Once a decision is made, the borders will get marked up and then I will be good to go and finish up this hanging for the fall.
A couple of weeks ago, some fabric and buttons were purchased to make a fall jacket. Ashes found the buttons and was having such fun playing with them. If any of the buttons go missing, guess who was responsible?
Have a great day!
A while ago, someone asked how I come up with quilting ideas. In this case, my thoughts were of a farmer's field and rows of planted pumpkin seeds. For the borders, I haven't made any decision yet on what will go there. Once a decision is made, the borders will get marked up and then I will be good to go and finish up this hanging for the fall.
A couple of weeks ago, some fabric and buttons were purchased to make a fall jacket. Ashes found the buttons and was having such fun playing with them. If any of the buttons go missing, guess who was responsible?
Have a great day!Monday, July 11, 2011
What's new?
Since I've been away for a week and a half, not too much has been happening in my studio. So, here are a few photos of some of my summer quilts and tops that are hanging up in my home. In the photo below, my basket top and hexagon top (on the quilt ladder) are still waiting in the wings to be hand quilted. Instead of having them sit in my battered old trunk, they are on display to act as a motivation ..... someday! :o)
My red and white top is still a top and it got hung up for our July 1 holiday. Time to take it down and finish marking it up for machine quilting. As much as I would love to hand quilt this one too, reality has to be faced and a decision to machine quilt this one has been made. Considering how long it takes me to hand quilt, I just can't do all of them by hand.
While I was away, some hand work got done. My hexagon star top has been all assembled and is now just waiting for borders and a decision for applique. This was a huge accomplishment and I am absolutely thrilled with it.
Before I left, a new tote bag got started and it will get finished before my next trip this summer. The summer months don't see me at home much as I travel to visit with family and spend time at our family cottage.
Now that hot days are finally here, I will be spending more time at my sewing machine in our cool basement. So, perhaps next week you will see a bit more of my School House project.
My red and white top is still a top and it got hung up for our July 1 holiday. Time to take it down and finish marking it up for machine quilting. As much as I would love to hand quilt this one too, reality has to be faced and a decision to machine quilt this one has been made. Considering how long it takes me to hand quilt, I just can't do all of them by hand.
While I was away, some hand work got done. My hexagon star top has been all assembled and is now just waiting for borders and a decision for applique. This was a huge accomplishment and I am absolutely thrilled with it.
Before I left, a new tote bag got started and it will get finished before my next trip this summer. The summer months don't see me at home much as I travel to visit with family and spend time at our family cottage.
Now that hot days are finally here, I will be spending more time at my sewing machine in our cool basement. So, perhaps next week you will see a bit more of my School House project.Have a great day!
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