Category Archives: hand piecing

Pickled Star Clams

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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.

Pickled Ladies Quilt, Block 2

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These blocks are addictive.   I think I may end up changing out 2 of the black and white triangles in this one as, while there is a touch of black in the two, there’s not quite enough contrast to their neighbouring white triangles.  I’ll leave that decision for a bit as it may just work with the whole pickled ladies story.

The back:

The Pickled Ladies story is based on an image I have in my mind of  a very elegantly dressed Audrey Hepburn-like lady with an absolutely smashing hat sitting in an art deco bar.  It goes on from there and will probably involve Daphne, the martini-drinking duck previously seen here, before it’s over.

Tuesday was a gorgeous day with lots of brilliant sunshine and warmth.   I know our days of summer are quickly drawing to a close but am resisting the idea of switching out summer clothing for fall as long as I possibly can.  Denial seems to be my middle name when it comes to the colder weather.

On Monday, we finally saw a squirrel out on the roof garden for the first time this summer.  Since then, Lester has been spending time on the windowsill keeping an eye out for the squirrel.

Smudge in one of the almost headless cat shots.  Notice he has toys strewn all about within paw’s reach for when he wakes up.

Pickled Ladies Quilt, Block 1

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The new clamshell pickle collections have me completely enthralled.  I immediately had at least three different ideas, one of which will involve  my favourite shabby chic fabrics and some Oriental prints.  I’m calling it Pickled Ladies as there’s a story that goes along with it which I will eventually write and share.  The first of the Pickled Ladies is shown above.

The back:

I’m fussy cutting/printing the clamshells.  It’s quite quick to do as I printed out one clamshell on a piece of paper cut down to the right size for printing just one shape, Mr. Q.O. cut out the interior of it and I have a window template which makes it very simple to figure out how to cut the fabrics and have a flower or other item as the centre of the clamshell.

The baby quilt top is finished, pressing is partially done and I’m still hunting for the flannel backing for it.  As soon as it’s quilted, which I expect will only take a weekend or two, we’ll get good pictures of it.

Labour Day weekend was chilly.  In fact, so chilly that on Monday we turned the heat on for a bit.  It’s too bad that it was chilly, windy and rainy as so many people head to cottage country for that one last summer long weekend.  Of course, today it’s supposed to be quite warm and humid again — typical of the weather here, as I can’t remember a year when, on the first day of school, we weren’t all roasting by the time school was over.

Smudge was curled up on the pink chair.

Lester was also on the pink chair … at the same time.

Planning a New Quilt

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Of course, I can’t resist the idea of some shabby chic and some fussy printing/cutting with the pickled clams.  An idea is slowly forming and will definitely include some black and/or deep grey.

Another 4 or 5 hours of piecing and the baby quilt will be done.  With any luck, I’ll have it finished by the time Thursday evening is over, will be able to do the final pressing on Friday and then hopefully get it basted over the long weekend.  I’ve got the quilting for it planned and hope to finish the quilting and have it bound before month end.

I’m going to take a brief blog break and have an extra-long weekend and will be back on Tuesday.  I hope everyone has a great weekend .

Lester in his normal spot on the window.

And Smudge relaxing on the couch.

August Clamshell Club Report

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I didn’t get a lot done to show for the August Clamshell Club report but early in the month, I did add sashing to the first of the clamshell diamond blocks I’ve made. Although I’ve now printed enough sashing for a number of blocks I won’t know until I get them all done where they will be situated, so will delay adding sashing to the other blocks until I’ve figured out the placement.

August was pretty well taken up working on a baby quilt, so not a lot of attention got paid to my clamshell projects.  However, when the new Inklingo clamshell pickle collections came out on the weekend, I couldn’t resist and have, so far, made one of each of the three sizes — 6″, 9″ and 11″ ones.  The design possibilities with this variation of a clamshell are seemingly endless.  I have a design in mind that will use all the sizes.  This photo shows the 3 sizes on top of one another.

The next photo shows them laid out separately and gives, I think, a good idea of the difference in sizes.  They all seem huge in comparison to the size of the ones I’m using in the first picture.

As the baby quilt which has taken so much of my attention will be done within a couple of days, I expect to have a fair bit of progress to show in September’s Clamshell Club post.  Now I can’t wait to check out the progress of other Clamshell Club participants.

The weather for us is wonderful for this late in the summer — lovely and hot and humid.  I don’t think it will last too long, so am enjoying it as long as it lasts.

Lester was enjoying it too.

While Smudge was more interested in sitting in the desk chair.

Clamshell on a Pickle Dish

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Back in June on Barbara Brackman’s blog post here, I saw pictures of clamshells done with a triangle arc and fell in love with them.  On Sunday, three new Inklingo collections were released with the shapes for 6″, 9″ and 11″ clamshells on a pickle dish, including all the edge pieces so that one can have a straight edge.  Of course, I couldn’t resist.  And I even made the largest, which is completely unusual for me.  The yardstick shows centimetre measurements rather than inches, but it seems huge — at its widest, it’s 11″.  I have a design idea in mind that will use all 3 sizes in one quilt.  The bonus to the large size is that I can have a quilt done in next to no time.  The design possibilities with these shapes seem endless.  It took hardly any time at all to put the arc of triangles together as it’s all continuous stitching.  Then adding the arc to the clamshell was easy as could be.

The back:

The baby quilt is still at the almost finished stage.  There aren’t that many pieces left to join to finish the top, so hopefully I’ll get it finished by Wednesday.  I just couldn’t resist the pickled clams and, as the baby isn’t due until February, my self-imposed deadline of August 31 can be extended.

We’re going into a few days of high heat and humidity with humidex values in the 40C range through to Wednesday.  The longer it stays lovely and hot the better.

Lester was getting in some windowsill time over the weekend.

And Smudge was posing for the camera.

Another One-Flower Wednesday

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The missing container of hexagons was finally found.   The photo only shows about half the hexagons that are actually contained in there, all .50″ hexagons.  So after what seems like weeks, I was able to make one little flower to add to my garden for One Flower Wednesday.

The back:

This time I tried a different stitching sequence than my normal and found that it’s much faster.  Linda Franz posted this video on stitching hexagons on her blog last week and after watching it, I figured I’d try that stitching sequence.  It definitely makes a difference.

The pieced blocks for the baby quilt are finished.  As soon as I finish some work today, I’m going to lay them all out with the sashing elements and get started putting the top together.  It’s pretty clear now I won’t finish it by the end of August, but I’m still going to try for by the middle of September.

Was something going on with Blogger blogs on Tuesday?  I was able to leave comments on a few blogs early in the day but then had difficulties later in the day leaving comments.

The following two photos are of Queen’s Park — a park near our provincial legislature which is also called Queen’s Park.  It’s a beautiful park with lots and lots of lovely trees and just a short walk from here.

A view north towards Queen’s Park, the legislature building, from University Avenue:

Another view, as one goes further north on University Avenue:

I noticed that some of the leaves on the trees on the roof garden are turning yellow and falling already.  It’s still quite warm, but the light is definitely changing.

Smudge is getting into cooler weather mode, I think, wanting lots of lap time.

A rather soft focus shot of Lester:

Baby Quilt Block 1

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So far 20 of the 49 of these blocks I need for the baby quilt are done.  All the pieces for these blocks are cut out and the others printed, so now it’s solely a matter of stitching them.

Monday was a monster migraine day.  I basically got nothing done and didn’t even look at EQ.  I did start to leaf through the manual but quickly put it down.  I am determined to learn it, although I have a feeling it may be the weekend before I look at it again.  This week is going to be a bit busier than I had anticipated and I know that when I do sit down to start learning the program, I want to be able to dedicate blocks of time to it rather than a hit-and-miss half hour here or there.

Smudge was curled up most of Monday.

As was Lester, but we had this photo from the weekend of him in his usual spot on the windowsill.

Summer Picnic Dish

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A bit more has been done on the Summer Picnic Dish.  While I’m working on the baby quilt, I’m going to try to set aside a few evenings per week when I work on some of my other projects.  The Summer Picnic Dish is one of those projects.  How large I’ll make this is still up in the air.  I think it will be a good-sized lap quilt.

While out on the roof garden taking the above picture, we got some of the various flowers.  The hosta are now all blooming.

We noticed a bee fly into one of the hosta flowers and got this close-up.  I think if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you’ll see the bee.

I love the splash of red on this flower.

Once again, they forecast the possibility of thunderstorms on Thursday and once again there wasn’t even a drop of rain.  It was breezy but quite sunny and there were only a few clouds to be seen.

Smudge curled up for a while Thursday afternoon to catch up on some sleep.

Lester was on duty on the windowsill.

Harpsichord Blocks

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The Harpsichord Quilt blocks have been neglected for months, it seems.  They were last seen here.  The story behind why I’m calling this the Harpsichord Quilt can be seen here.  Tuesday night I decided to remedy that neglect by making two of them, one with partial sashing and one without.  The backs:

I was going to make a flower or two for One Flower Wednesday, but in my organizing I have managed to put the box containing all the hexagons I have cut out and ready to stitch in a very safe spot.  So safe, in fact, that I can’t find it.  I’m sure it will eventually turn up.

While we were at the birthday celebration for my aunt on Sunday, Mr. Q.O. got this shot of the view from the dining room.

It was very hot and humid here on Tuesday but we spent an hour or two out on the roof garden where it was wonderful.  It’s always somewhat cooler and there was a wonderful breeze.  While out there, I got all the planning for the baby quilt done.  A little stash shopping is the next step.

Tuesday afternoon, Smudge was quite content to curl up on the sofa.

While Lester was curled up on the floor.