Half Clamshells

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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.

Three Little Stars

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I couldn’t resist making three little stars with some of the pieces I have left over from the Scrappy Star. I’m not sure what these will end up in or how many more I’ll make, but there’s something about putting together the little 4.5″ LeMoyne Stars that I can’t resist. Maybe I’ll just keep making them until I have enough for a small doll’s quilt or perhaps this is the beginning of yet another large quilt.

I love how perfectly they press. For these little blocks with so many different fabrics, I use either a mustard gold thread or a slate grey one. Somehow both those thread colours work perfectly with all the various fabrics.

Mr. Q.O. captioned this shot of Baxter “Waddaya mean, no cheeseburger?” I think he wants the cheeseburger, not Baxter!

Hand Quilting Tools

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Ferris Wheel is still in the process of being hand quilted. I have actually taken out some of the hand quilting because what I thought I’d like I definitely don’t like. So I’m redoing a couple of blocks. Now that I’ve got a plan for the quilting, it will go much faster … I hope. Not only have I taken out the machine piecing I originally started with, I’ve also taken out some of the hand quilting.

My favourite tools for hand quilting include these 4 thimbles and the YLI thread. For the most part, I use either the cone Thimblelady thimble or the original silver one. The little black leather thimble I wear on my finger beneath the quilt. It saves wear and tear on the finger underneath, but is thin enough that I still feel the needle as it comes through. The spoon thimble is my favourite when I quilt without a hoop, which I sometimes do, particularly when I’m at the edge of a quilt. YLI hand quilting thread is my absolute favourite and the one to which I always turn.

This is my favourite hoop, although it’s a bit large and sometimes too heavy for me.

On nights when the round wooden hoop seems too heavy, and there are many of those, out comes this Q-snap rectangular hoop. The difference in weight is really noticeable. How lucky are we that we have so many tools that we can find and use the appropriate one, depending on the application and how we feel?

Then there is this, my wonderful floor frame which I’m not quite as comfortable using for hand quilting but what a bonus it is for basting! I can put the quilt sandwich in it and baste that way. No more crawling on the floor to pin or breaking my back leaning over a table to baste.

I taught myself how to hand quilt mostly from books. These are two of my favourites. I picked up a lot of hints from the Jinny Beyer book Quiltmaking by Hand, some from That Perfect Stitch but I think the most important lesson I learned was from watching the Thimblelady’s DVD on hand quilting. I’ve developed my own method which is a combination of all of the above.

There’s one thing that I find makes a big difference for me and that’s using my index finger, rather than the middle finger, to rock the needle. I’ve often wondered if anyone else finds that it’s easier to quilt using their index finger. I find my hand doesn’t fatigue anywhere near as much.

What about you? How did you learn to hand quilt? What are your favourite tools and methods?

A Baxter close-up. He was reclining near a quilt book.

Sunflower Centres

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The last two centres for the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower blocks are done. Now it’s a matter of finishing the Feathered Star blocks themselves, adding them to those already done and starting on the borders.

I’m grading the seams as I go and have learned it’s a lot easier to grade the centre sunflower before it’s in the centre of a 20″ block. I wait until after pressing before grading the seams. Then it’s a quick press again and they’re done.

It snowed a fair bit last night but today it’s supposed to be quite mild again, so I suppose it will all be melted by noon. Last night was the first time this winter I would have possibly gone looking for boots had I been going out.

Baxter in what seems to be a chair meant for kitties. The cat I had as a little girl loved this chair, and so has every cat I’ve had since then. It seems to be just the right shape for them. It’s actually a very comfortable chair in which to sit but, as it’s usually occupied by a cat, we don’t seem to get the chance!

Rose Dream Pinwheels

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On the weekend, I started a new quilt with the Fresh Squeezed fabrics. I was holding on to them, waiting for just the right idea and when the new Inklingo Rose Dream collections were introduced I knew immediately what I was going to do. This set of four blocks finishes at 9″ as I used the 4.5″ collection. There are also 6″ and 9″ collections of this design.

While I want to make a classic Rose Dream quilt using two fabrics, this fun idea seemed like a perfect fit. Instead of using the square at two corners of the block, I decided to use HSTs. When the blocks are joined, the pinwheels appear. That inspired the name for this quilt – Rose Dream Pinwheels. Rose Dream is also known as Lover’s Knot, True Lover’s Knot and Endless Chain. The setting possibilities with this block are endless!

The next question for me will be what colour to make the classic two-colour quilt. I may have to really fight with myself not to make it pink and white. Maybe a yellow and white? Or perhaps green and white? Whatever I decide, I will likely make it with the 9″ collection. So far a blue and white quilt is made, a pink and cream top is done and waiting to be quilted and a red and white top is in the process of being made. A pretty red and white Endless Chain top can be seen here, on Tim Latimer’s blog.

The block was quick to press.

Baxter’s silver markings are showing more and more each day. It’s going to be fun to see how marked the silver is in another couple of years when he’s fully grown.

Storm at Sea and a Quilt

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After yesterday’s post, I got out my stitching book. Then out came some of the extra pieces for a Storm at Sea block and I began arranging them to see if I liked the look of them all mixed up. I think doing the remaining blocks like this is going to give a lot of motion to the quilt. The ones that are 2-fabric blocks will remain as the centre or perhaps the outer edges of the quilt. That’s still to be decided.

Having a stitching book like this is fabulous. I can lay out my block and then just close the book and, as I used batting for the pages of the book, the pieces will remain there until I open the book up again and begin to stitch. I took two appliqué blocks that I wasn’t going to use in a quilt, layered them with batting and backing, quilted it in a 1″ cross-hatch and then bound it. Then I added pages made from batting.

This bow-tie quilt hasn’t been seen for ages. It’s a queen-sized quilt made up of 3″ blocks. I had started to quilt it quite a while ago but ended up putting it away once I realized there was a problem with the basting and that I was going to have to take both my quilting and the basting out, press it as pleats had been basted in and then start over. It has been on my mind the last little while and I finally dragged it out yesterday. While I’m not planning to work on it this weekend, it will be done over the next couple of weeks.

I mixed up everything in this quilt – batiks, checks, plaids, ’30s fabrics, florals, you name it. The only constant was the muslin. Looking back, I can’t believe I traced all those pieces from templates.

When we have cereal in the morning, Baxter loves to have a bit of the milk. He’s not shy about asking for his share, either. If we’re not quick enough, a paw is quite likely to reach up and try to snag our spoons just to remind us that he’s waiting.

Stormy Seas Block 18

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Another Stormy Seas block did get done last night. This one makes me think of big frothy waves. When I started working with the extra pieces, I said I’d get at least two blocks of the Stormy Seas top done this week so I’m at least halfway there. I had forgotten just how much fun these blocks are to put together.

That one will join these 17 blocks as last seen on my makeshift design wall. I’m starting to have some different ideas about setting these blocks and may stop making blocks that use only 2 fabrics after the next two are completed and instead start using 3 or 4 batiks in each block. Once I have 20 of them done, I’ll make that decision.

Yesterday was yet another incredibly mild day for January. No matter what winter may throw at us now, it can’t possibly last long.

While Baxter doesn’t seem to mind having his photo taken, he doesn’t pose. Mr. Q.O. grabs a shot quickly, what he calls “shots from the hip”.

A Trio of Spring Winding Ways Blocks

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After seeing the circle almost appearing with six blocks done, I was determined to put together three more in order to see the full effect. These three were added to the group.

Then I laid them out together. I’m thrilled with how this is going to look. It will be fun arranging the blocks once they’re all done and watching the circles appear.

Tuesday was yet another gray and rainy day, but another mild one. We just saw our long-range forecast and it looks like it’s staying mild for the next couple of weeks.

Last night when I was stitching, I left my small scissors on the end table for a minute. The protective cover was on them. I turned around and Baxter had them, by the handles, in his mouth and was about to make off with them. As soon as he saw me looking at him, he dropped them. I wonder where he would have hidden them – probably with Mr. Q.O.’s pens.

Later he was reclining on the loveseat with his paws crossed. Mr. Q.O. grabbed the camera and we were lucky to get this shot as he moved seconds later. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one “The Lounge Lizard.”

Winding my Way to Spring

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Making these little 4.5 blocks is absolutely irresistible. So another two were added to the group. I love how quickly they go together and I definitely get my curved piecing fix stitching them.

I laid out the six that were done and can already tell that I’m going to love this quilt when it’s done. But it may be quite some time before I reach that point.

There are three quilt tops very near to completion. And two patterns that I’m in the midst of writing. And Ferris Wheel, which I’m slowly working on hand quilting. My goal is to have Ferris Wheel finished before the end of February. The binding fabric is ready, the label is made. So all that’s left is for me to get that hand quilting finished!

We had an unbelievably mild day on Monday, although it rained and rained. I half expected to see a robin on the roof garden this morning as January has been so mild that I’m almost convinced we’ll see spring start in February.

Baxter has decided that his kitty bed is a nice spot to curl up for an afternoon snooze or keep his eye on the toy basket. For some reason, he loves little paper cups and will roll them around on the floor for hours.

A New Start

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When I printed all the shapes for the Storm at Sea blocks, I purposely printed many extra shapes. They’ve sat for ages while I thought about what I wanted to do with them. For starters, I’m going to make a few of these stars. They finish at 6.75″. Then I’ll start working with the extra diamond shapes. There’s a quilt design slowly taking shape in my mind for these extra blocks.

I love working with batiks. They press so beautifully. I’m grading the seams as I go so that I won’t be faced with having to do it all at the end.

When I said I printed a lot of extra shapes, I wasn’t kidding. This box is absolutely full of the various extra shapes.

This is the box that contains all the pieces for the Storm at Sea blocks along with the threads that match the various batiks. The Storm at Sea blocks have been neglected for too long. I plan on making at least one or two of them this week.

Baxter loves playing with his feather toy. On the weekend, he gave it the seemingly obligatory dunk in his water bowl. He does that with his favourite toys. I started to laugh when I found it in his water bowl, as he was lying beside the bowl just happily watching it float. Thankfully it dried quickly.