Boring storage - Not!

LOL .... this is not boring by far!  This is my latest storage cabinet.  It is second hand but I just love it to bits.  Solid wood.  It has dings and scrapes, but it has a story to tell which makes it even more interesting.

It currently holds 11 quilts and another could be squeezed in there.

I've been admiring these cabinets on Pinterest for quite some time and even pinned a few to remind me to acquire one.

So, am I a happy camper or not!  You should see me doing the happy dance!  No, better not!  LOL

Have a great day!

Kentucky Stars

It has been a while since I last worked on this project.  The hand quilting was 3/4 done.  So, a few weeks ago out it came and I've been busy working on it since.  Before I knew it the quilt was done!

Then a bout of stomach flu got in the way and so it sat for five days.  Once I recovered from that, the binding was done a little bit at a time.

When I got tired and needed to stop and rest (recovery takes longer at my age), the hanging got hung up on my design wall so that I could sit back and admire it.

Binding ..... DONE!

Here is my hanging washed and pinned onto my styrofoam design wall for drying and blocking

 Here it is all finished and being admired on the wall above where I sit in our living room.

Oh, happy, happy, happy!

This only took 11 months to complete.

Size:  30" x 35"

There is both hand quilting and machine quilting in this hanging.

Pattern for centre came from Electric Quilt Company on one of their separate programs called Classic Applique Folk Art and it is originally known as Kentucky Flowerpot.  I changed out the flowers and inserted my favourite stars instead.  That is why it is called Kentucky Stars.  The border blocks came from another project that I had worked on and ended up not using in that project.  A perfect home was found for them instead.  

So, that is another bin that can be recycled for another project because this hanging is DONE.

If you want to read more about the progress of this project, just click onto the label Kentucky Stars at the end of this post and scroll down and enjoy reading.

Have a great day!

42 Days

That is how long it took me to finish my Antique Sampler (by Sue Daley) top.  Holey Moly ..... was I obsessed with this pattern!  I just couldn't stop working on it.  Don't I look pleased or what!

So, to help others wanting to make this pattern, but are shying away from it because it looks hard, well here are a few tips to guide you along.

Where to start?  First, pick your background fabrics.  Most of these fabrics are F/Q's with the exception of the large blocks which I bought extra fabric for.  I chose whatever fabrics looked good together.  There are Civil War fabrics in with Asian and more modern fabrics.  A lot looked like tone on tone from afar.

How to place them?  That is a good question.  Following the pattern, my background fabrics were placed according to the blocks in the pattern.

Starting with the heart blocks (on the four corners of the pattern), one fabric was selected for the four heart corners.  Because each small motif is repeated 4 times in the pattern, I started cutting four identical fabrics for each icon.  This is when I thought that 16 fabrics was limiting, so only 4 fabrics were cut (4 x 4 = 16).  Where you see the stars represent the 16 cuts and their placement.  This is where I decided that the remaining small blocks were to be cut 2 per fabric.  Confusing?  Yes, but it works.

Now for the placement of those cut fabrics, I simply followed the pattern.  The coloured lines show how they are placed.  There is a reason for this that I will explain later.

As each motif was cut out and basted, they got pinned to the square (again following the pattern placement).  By putting the white square on top of the background fabrics, this helped me to keep track of those squares and also to help choose colours.

 Day after day, week after week, my blocks were coming together.

 Stepping back, my layout can be adjusted.  But what to adjust?

Can you see the lines?  The motifs with the blue line can be adjusted because they have the same background fabric.  Just the motif gets moved.  The same with the yellow line.  Or, I can move all 4 motifs around to wherever they fit in better with the surrounding colours.   The background fabrics stay, but the motifs move.  Simple.   Once I was happy with the overall look, then the motifs were sewn permanently to the cream circle.

Here is my top with one border done.

There were a few changes made (not many).  The birds were done facing each other.  The centre large block was changed.  The vase was kept, but the flowers match the other flowers in the big blocks.

 The basket motif was enlarged 130%.

 The leaf in the border corners were substituted with circles.

In the large blocks, the leaf placement was adjusted.  See the arrow?  Now look at the other leaves and their placement.  Right beside them is the pattern placement that were drawn onto the cream fabric (using my light box) which I felt looked odd.  So, simply move the leaves around to the same placement as the one with the arrow beside it.

So, after all this, are you more confused or afraid to try the pattern?  Don't be.  Find friends to do the pattern along with you or do as Sue Daley says (don't fuss too much) and just try it.

Often times, I tend to get too technical and matchy matchy, and probably a tad OCD (ok maybe a lot OCD) but it works for me.  Oh well, that is life and I'm happy with my way and the results show for themselves.

Have a great day!

Applique Obsessed

Oh my, I have been so obsessed with my Antique Sampler (by Sue Daley).  I couldn't leave it alone.  Day after day, night after night, I worked on those blocks.  They really were that much fun to do!

The centre (not the borders) is completed and all sewn together.

The tabs in this border are pinned and waiting to be appliqued onto the border fabric. 

Two changes to the pattern were made.  The centre large block.  The flower in the pattern didn't appeal to me as it didn't fit with the other large block flowers.  So, it got changed.  Also, leaves in the corner border blocks were changed to circles.  Other than that, this pattern is perfect.

Love, love this pattern!

This top will definitely be hand quilted and I've already got ideas on what to start with.

Those borders will get tackled and then this top will be completed.  Then it will be time to move onto another project.

Have a great day!