I know, I know – last time I said I was going to blog more often. Ha! Then I vanished for ages – again. However, here I am again and hopefully will get back into a blogging routine. Remember this … Continue reading
This was one of the projects I unearthed during the relocation of my sewing area. The block was made with the Inklingo 3″ clamshells and clamshell sashing collections. A second block was done, but it has no sashing. A third … Continue reading
I know, I know – I said I’d try to blog more often. Well, at least this time it hasn’t been over three months since I last blogged. In fact, it’s just under two months, so maybe I”m getting a … Continue reading
Ages and ages ago, I printed a number of half clamshells on various fabrics. Last night I put together three blocks. They finish at 3″. I think I’ll make two more and then set them together into a 9-patch block and turn that into a doll’s quilt with a pieced border. They are amazingly quick to stitch and go together perfectly.
They only take a second to press.
Yesterday was a big day in the Q.O. household. After debating it on and off for about a year the decision was made. We now do not own a car but instead have joined AutoShare. For downtown residents like us it makes a ton of sense. Parking charges downtown are insanely expensive. With the AutoShare car, we park it back in its designated spot when we’re done and don’t have the monthly parking fees. No more insurance costs. They even pay for the gas!
Yes, it will mean that we’ll have to plan ahead a bit when we’ve got errands to run for which we need a car rather than just going downstairs and jumping in the car whenever we want but, when we looked at the amount we used the car, it made sense to make the move, particularly given that our car was old and probably getting to the stage of starting to need more and more repairs.
Baxter doesn’t care, of course, so long as one of the errands for which we will use the AutoShare car is to get his favourite food. Mr. Q.O. dubbed this photo “Pasha Puss”. I call it his “peel me a grape” look. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you just see the tip of his tongue sticking out.
The Cranes Circling Flowers at Dusk, aka rainbow flower, is something I can’t resist stitching! So much so that, when I couldn’t sleep because of a migraine, I was fussy cutting six more flowers and cranes from another fabric at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday. I have everything cut and printed now for the rest of this piece and hope to have the main piecing finished by mid-week. When it’s finished, we’re going to have to find a way to photograph it. The light at this time of year makes for not great photographs. I can’t wait until spring comes and the roof garden reopens!
When I pulled out the storage container with the Oriental prints and batiks to choose the fabrics in this, I also hauled out the container with striped and directional fabrics. I have a feeling fussy cutting some stripes for this block will be the next thing I play with, although I’m also very tempted to do something with shabby chic fabrics.
I don’t have much to show for the January clamshell report. While I’ve made lots of the black and white arcs for the Pickled Ladies, I only put together two of the pickled clamshells. To see the list of and links to participants in the Clamshell Club, go to Cybele’s Patch.
On the weekend, I got a lot of the cream hexagons for the POTC blocks stitched. At this point, I only need to stitch together the ones needed for two more blocks and that part will be done. So I feel like progress is being made. We were taking trying to take a picture of a finished POTC block when Smudge decided he needed to help. You can just see a bit of the block that he’s lying on.
Lester was having a snooze.
The months are flying by — I cannot believe it’s already time for another Clamshell Club report! The Pickled Ladies had a few new additions in December, but nowhere near as many as I had hoped. The count is now up to 56 Pickled Ladies made. I’m going to keep going until I hit around 110 and then lay them out and decide how much, if at all, bigger I want to make it. It’s hard to think of not making them as they are so much fun! I’m clearly out of design floor room to lay these out now, so next month will probably only show the new additions. Once the numbers are up to 110, I will then start working on fussy cutting and printing the setting pieces made up of vertical half and horizontal half clamshells.
To see what other members of the Clamshell Club have reported for this month, go to Cybele’s Patch blog post here. I’m looking forward to seeing what the others have done.
It’s hard to believe that this is my last post for 2010. The year seems to have flown by. Thank you to all who have shared my quilting obsession this year and I hope to share more with you in 2011. I wish you all a safe and healthy and Happy New Year.
Lester is going to ring out the old year in typical laid-back Lester fashion; having a snooze.
While Smudge is going to treat us to one more of his classic almost headless cat poses for 2010.
Time for another Clamshell Club report. The months seem to be flying past!! This month I made some progress on two clamshell projects — Clam Balloons and the Pickled Ladies.
In October I was actually able to tear myself away from the Pickled Ladies and add another clamshell diamond block, so now there are three. Two of the three are quite similar in that there’s a lot of the same fabrics in them, but once there are more blocks done and they are separated from one another I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. Mr. Q.O. says they remind him of hot air balloons which led me to a name for the quilt, Clam Balloons.
I have been so focussed on stitching the Pickled Ladies that I forgot just how much fun it is to put the clamshell diamonds together, and how quick. Two evenings of stitching and the diamond was done. Getting enough of the clamshell diamonds done to be able to sort out placement is a goal I have now for the end of the year. Then I can start adding the black sashing where necessary as well as the setting pieces and hopefully have this done rather quickly. The Clam Balloons won’t be a large bed quilt, but rather a good-sized lap quilt. I think it will be a great one to have in the winter as all those lovely bright colours that will make me think of summer.
There are now 43 Pickled Ladies, with another 35 or 40 waiting to be stitched. Some exotic Asian florals have been added to the mix. There are lots of little pieces waiting for me to stitch to make the arcs, and I plan to work on those this evening. This will be a long-term project as I’m pretty sure that I will keep going on this until it’s a bed-sized quilt.
One thing I really do need to do is sit down and figure out how many I’ll need for a bed-sized quilt and make some window templates for the setting pieces that I’ll use to square it off. Having the window templates will mean that I can print and cut those setting pieces as I’m printing and cutting the clamshells. And I know myself — if I leave that all to the end, I’ll keep putting it off and putting it off but if I have all the pieces ready to stitch, then the quilt top will get finished as soon as there are enough of the Pickled Ladies. I have a feeling I have less than a quarter of the blocks I’ll need for the quilt, so I’d best get back to work on them!
The cats have had a very relaxing weekend. Smudge:
Lester:
Over the past month I have been working on these 6″ pickled clamshell blocks almost exclusively. So far, there are 25 of them done. I first saw the block on Barbara Brackman’s blog back in June and fell in love with it. When the Inklingo collections for the clamshell pickles came out, I got an idea almost immediately about the florals for the clamshells and black and white for the arcs surrounding each. I’m calling this the Pickled Ladies quilt as I have visions of some very elegant, almost Audrey Hepburn-like, ladies in an upscale Art Deco bar. Once I got the idea, I immediately started going through my stash for florals that I could fussy cut/print for the clamshells. With the aid of a window template, which was easy to prepare by just printing one shape on a piece of paper that was 5.25″ x 6.5″, I was able to quickly cut my fabrics and print the clamshell templates on the back of each.
Stitching the blocks is much simpler than they may appear. Putting each arc together is just lots of quick continuous stitching. Adding an arc to each clamshell is a very quick stitch. Stitching the pickled ladies together hasn’t begun yet as this will be at least a lap-sized quilt, if not larger, and I know I’ll want to play with the placement of them once the piecing is finished.
With the 11″ clamshell pickle collection, I have started this sunshiny quilt but I’m using an alternate setting and various colours for the end pieces of the arcs so that a little star-type shape appears at the intersection. While I haven’t added to this in a week or so, it won’t take long to get this to a good size for a lap quilt. Maybe in October I can tear myself away from the Pickled Ladies to add a few more blocks to this so there’s some progress.
That said, I have lots of clamshells printed and ready to stitch more Pickled Ladies.
As well as the pieces needed for a number of the arcs.
To see more clamshell quilts, go to Cybele’s Patch here and you’ll see the list of those participants in the clamshell club who have posted their progress this month.
Wednesday evening we were cooking some chicken for dinner. Almost the entire time it was cooking, Smudge was sitting in the kitchen staring at the oven and meowing. He seemed a bit impatient to get the bit of chicken we always give them when we cook it.
Lester was somewhat more restrained and just sat on the back of the pink loveseat staring into the kitchen.
The pickled clams of one sort or another have clearly taken over! Thanks to Inklingo, these blocks are very simple to stitch — but without it, I can’t imagine tackling them. Another four of the pickled star clams were added this week, creating a new blue star at the intersection. It’s difficult to get a good shot without a design wall as it is growing rather quickly. I’m thinking it’s not going to take long to make this lap quilt as this one is being made with the 11″ clamshells.
A close-up of the little star shows that it too has a very gentle curve along one edge of each piece.
The back.
All the Pickled Ladies done so far. There are another 15 or so fussy cut/printed clamshells waiting for their arcs. On the weekend, I’m going to go through more of the shabby chic fabrics looking for others that will work for the fussy cutting/printing.
Thursday was a rainy, dark, dismal day and the kitties were snoozing. However, earlier in the week we took a series of photos of each of them on the windowsill. Lester was looking out the window.
While Smudge was posing and showing off his magnificent tail.
This was one of the other ideas that I couldn’t resist with the Pickled Clamshell collections. At each intersection of 4 pickled clamshells a little sparkly star will appear. For this one, I’m using the 11″ size and plan on making it 66″ x 66″. I’m using four colours for the little stars — lime green, a darker green, blue and purple. There are starfish so I figure these are star clams, even if they are pickled! If you click on the photo to enlarge it, the star shows up a bit better.
Because I’m using four different colours for the little stars, sorting out which colour to use for each end piece in the arcs was my first step. With each of the Clamshell Pickle collections there are layout pages which are invaluable when planning a quilt like this. I worked out my colour placement over the weekend, and started stitching. As I complete each pickled clam, I check it off on the layout page and can tell at a glance what pieces to use at the ends of the next arc. The back:
Wednesday was a rather unsettled day — cool with sunshine in the morning which was quickly replaced by clouds and windy conditions in the afternoon. We have tickets for the Jays game tonight and, as I don’t think it will be very warm at all, I’ll be grateful the roof is closed!
Wednesday was a find a cozy spot and snooze day for the kitties. Lester in one cat bed.
And Smudge in another with a toy or two close by.
Quilt Obsession 