Virtual Retreat

Please see the bottom of my post for an update on the completion of this top!

Did you know that Chookyblue is having a worldwide quilt retreat at her chook shed in Australia?  Everyone has been invited .... but those too far away to attend can do so by internet.  The date:  May 31/June 1.

You can go to this post to see who else is sewing along (go to the comment section and everyone who left a comment are joining in).  Over the course of one weekend, it will be amazing to see and read what quilters around the world are working on.  I look forward to doing just that when a break is needed.

Here in Canada, I am way behind the others in Australia as there is quite the time difference.  While I am gearing up for sew .... sew .... sewing .... they are winding down or in bed sound asleep.

Regardless, the time has come to start the retreat and my first goal is to put borders onto this top:

On this same post, an update will be made once the borders are on.

Updated:  9:56 p.m. May 31, 2014

Well, what a day ..... my borders are on!  This top would have been completed sooner, except for an excursion to see our grand niece at gymnastics this morning; a visit to a gardening nursery to check out some perennials to replace those that were lost this past winter; our routine after-supper walk with Miss Ashes around our home and up our back hill; and a walk at the waterfront in our city.

There was a bit of unsewing in the striped border, but once that was corrected, it was smooth sailing.

This photo shows only half of the top.  I will need to arrange a proper photo of the whole top so that you can get the complete look.  Please don't think me being conceited, but this top looks amazing!

This concludes my retreat and now it is time to go visit all the other quilters that left a comment on Chookyblue's post and check out what they did today.


Have a great day!

Being Silly

You know, fresh air and nice warm spring temperatures can do silly things to a person's mind, making them do silly things.  Bear with me and read on ....

For my hexagon quilt, it has been bugging me on what title to put on the label (I do like to give my quilts proper names).  Foremost in my mind, it was Hollyhocks in a Castle Garden (see post here about it).  Then, once it was hung up on the wall in our dining room, my DH took one look at it and said: "it looks like a field of flowers".  Darn.  Now what title to name that quilt?

Lately, Miss Ashes and I have been taking nightly strolls around the property and while she has been eating grass, I've been looking at my neighbour's garden.  Those neighbours have been there for nearly 40 years and they work at keeping their garden in good order.

The first photo below shows the start of some of their spring flowers (their garden is fuller looking   and on the other side of the little fence that shows in the bottom left side of the photo).  Our garden is different and we are in the process of changing the beds, but being the newbies on the block (only our second year here), our spring flowers are looking a tad sparse. 

So, while Miss Ashes is eating her grass, I'm looking at both beds and thinking about my hexagon quilt and how it would look wonderful in the bit of green.  Remember, DH said my quilt looked like a field of flowers.

Well, being of silly mind, I did just that. 

Are you laughing yet?

 

Silly?  Yes, but not crazy enough to leave it there!  :o)


It didn't bother me to put my quilt on the grass since it was being washed again anyway.

This is where I'm embarrassed.  Remember me boasting about Crayola Washable Markers and how all the markings come out.  Well, much to my surprise, there were eight hexies that the markers did not come out on the first washing.  Only on this fabric.  I don't know why?  All my fabrics are pre-washed as soon as they come into the house.  So, I will dab on some Dawn detergent and rub gently and then put the quilt through a wash cycle and check to see if the markings come out.

They came out!  Yay!  See, I told you they come out!  Maybe just not always on the first wash.  :o)

Ah, life is grand as peace and harmony has descended on our home once again.

Oh, the label and what title?

Have a great day!

If you are not reading this post on www.appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com or http://www.quilterblogs.com/, it is pirated content!  No other websites are authorized to use my work.   Please click the above links to go to my real sites and please help spread the word about this scrapper site’s unethical use of other people’s work. We quilters are just fed up with this abuse!

Hexagon quilting

To those of you wondering how my Hollyhocks in a Castle Garden was quilted, I decided to show some close-ups shots of my hand quilting on the hexagons.

 The center of each flower has stitching right around the hexagon as shown below:

For my quilting thread, below is what I use along with Betweens #8 quilting needles.  I switched to this thread many quilts ago, simply because I got tired of hearing threads snapping in my quilts whenever I made the bed.  This thread is strong and no thread snapping has occurred since switching to this brand of thread.  Since the thread is thicker, the needle head has to be bigger and Betweens #8 works.  Also, my hand quilting shows up better because of the thicker thread.

Sometimes, I'm able to rock my needle when hand quilting and sometimes only one stitch at a time gets made.  My fingers are not as flexible as they once were and my stitches per inch varies depending on batting that is used.  As long as my stitches look uniform, I'm happy.  Hand quilting is to be relaxing and enjoyable and I have made it so for me.

Have a great day!

If you are not reading this post on www.appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com or http://www.quilterblogs.com/, it is pirated content!  No other websites are authorized to use my work.   Please click the above links to go to my real sites and please help spread the word about this scrapper site’s unethical use of other people’s work. We quilters are just fed up with this abuse!

Coring and Blogger's Quilt Festival, Spring 2014

Now that my hexagon quilt is done, my fingers were itching to get at another hand quilting project and since the weather is still cool, I should just get something else accomplished before our summer heat arrives.

Enter my apple core wall hanging.

For marking my lines, I use Crayola Washable Markers (the fine ones).  Just be sure to test those markers first on your fabrics before using.  All my fabrics have been washed, so I know these lines will wash out.

Then, before I knew it, all the hand quilting was done.  Now, onto the binding, hanging sleeve and label.

Tick, tick, tick ... all those last three things to do got done and my little wall hanging is finished.

For those of you concerned about me using the Crayola Washable Markers .... well look below.  All the markings washed out.

 A few close-up shots of my hand quilting:

This little wall hanging is my entry into Amy's Creative Side Blogger's Quilt Festival, Spring 2014 and it will be seen under the Hand Quilting category.

There are many categories and voting for your favorites takes place May 24-29.  So go, take your time and enjoy all the eye candy.

Have a great day!

If you are not reading this post on www.appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com or http://www.quilterblogs.com/, it is pirated content!  No other websites are authorized to use my work.   Please click the above links to go to my real sites and please help spread the word about this scrapper site’s unethical use of other people’s work.   We quilters are just fed up with this abuse!

Hexagon quilt is done!

Hollyhocks in a castle Garden.

That is name of my quilt.  On a trip to Great Britain in 2001, a visit to Powis Castle in Wales had me wondering around the castle gardens and I was literally stopped in my tracks when I saw a row of hollyhocks in full bloom.  That was the inspiration for this quilt.

A lot of work went into the making of this quilt.  It was started Dec. 20, 2008.  First, all the hexagons were hand basted and then hand pieced together.  It seemed to take forever to finish the top but it did get finished on July 9, 2009 and then it sat on a shelf for a very long time.   

By July 2012, my quilt was half way done with the hand quilting.  That quilt was taken out and put away so many times.  It came out again in the spring of 2013 and then the summer heat had it back on the shelf again. I won't even mention the numbers of times this quilt has been blogged about ..... almost done .... getting there .... the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger .... etc., etc. etc.  Finally, it came back out again in the fall of 2013 and I stuck to the hand quilting until it was done. 

Finished size:  93-1/2” x 95-1/4” (top size:  97-1/2” x 99”)

It is currently hanging in our dining room for all to see and enjoy!

My DH thinks this quilt looks like a field of flowers.  Hummmm .... that would have been a good title for this quilt.

I don't know about you, but I'm having a great day!

If you are not reading this post on www.appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com or http://www.quilterblogs.com/, it is pirated content!  No other websites are authorized to use my work.   Please click the above links to go to my real sites and please help spread the word about this scrapper site’s unethical use of other people’s work. 

We quilters are just fed up with this abuse!