Tag Archives: Crafts

Fan Blocks and Here’s Hugo

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Years ago I had cut 3 x 5 inch rectangles of all sorts of Asian prints.  Looking at them now I have no idea what I had in mind when I cut them and, up until a few days ago, really didn’t know quite what to do with them.  Over the past few days an idea kept coming to mind and I finally gave in Tuesday  night.  The rectangles were large enough to get 3 Dresden Plate blades printed on each.  Once that was done, it was no contest — I had to make a couple of test blocks.

I used one of the many blades in the Inklingo Dresden Plate Fancy Pieced collection, the same collection I used to make the Ferris Wheel top.  The blocks went together in next to no time, pressed like a dream and were fun to make.  They finish at 4.5″.  I have no idea how many of these I’ll make but I do know that it will be at least enough for a large wall hanging.

I might change out the quarter circle as I’m thinking that it may need to be a darker fabric, perhaps a black, rather than the brown I’ve used.  I’ll decide that today when I can see the blocks in natural light.

The back of a block:

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We’ve known for a while that Hugo was on his way here.  Tuesday afternoon Harry, our house hippo, was looking out the window wondering, “Where, oh where is Hugo? Will he ever get here?”

And finally, after a long trek from Florida and crossing the border, Hugo arrived late Tuesday afternoon. Harry was thrilled to see another hippo!

We have some fun plans for Hugo’s stay with us and are hoping the rain will stop so that he can have an adventure out on the roof garden.

Hugo was last at Life at LeeHaven, where he was seen in the scrap bin and wearing a fabric hat and had fun.  You can read more about Hugo at House of Cats as well.

Smudge was very, very interested in Hugo.  We were trying hard not to laugh out loud at him sniffing and sniffing Hugo.  Then they settled and Smudge looked like he was ready to have a nap with our little visitor.

A Red and White Beginning

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The beginning, that is, of the largest of the red and white quilts I’m planning.  At least, so far it’s the largest of the ones I’m planning.  I couldn’t resist adding a sunflower to a feathered star and have the entire quilt planned out, including sashing and borders.  Curved piecing and continuous piecing — what more could I want?  It’s completely hand pieced and took about 3 evenings of stitching, on and off, while working on a few other things as well.

It presses like a dream and lays flat as can be.

Would I have attempted this block without Inklingo?  Not a chance!  With Inklingo, it’s not daunting at all as perfect stitching lines and matching points make a block like this easily achievable.

This quilt is demanding to be made quickly, I think, so there may be a lot of red and white seen on my blog over the next few weeks.  I can’t wait to get the blocks done so I can start with the pieced sashing and border.

I had a migraine on Tuesday that pretty much kept me off the computer as I was finding it difficult to focus on anything.  Hopefully I’ll get caught up on comments and replies to comments over the next couple of days.  I’m working as a registrar today and tomorrow so my computer time will be limited.

It was a grey overcast day on Tuesday.  Smudge found a cozy spot to have a cat nap.

Quilt Labels

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Labels for quilts are something I look forward to making.  When I began quilting, labels seemed like something I could skip and needn’t worry about.  It didn’t take long though, before I started seeing how much fun it could be to plan a label that reflected, in some small way, the pattern on the front of the quilt.

The picture above is an exception.  It really didn’t reflect the front of the quilt but it was a label I made for a group quilt, which can be seen here.  There were a lot of names that had to be written on that label, so I took what was a placemat size and that was the label.

This one was done for the king-size shabby chic quilt I made using elongated hexagons and regular hexagons.  While the hexagons on the front of the quilt were all 1″, I had to use a 2″ hexagon to give me enough room to write the pertinent information and then I surrounded it with elongated hexagons in one of the fabrics that was used in the quilt.

A hexagon Christmas tree wall hanging was given to a friend which had an embroidered Christmas tree on some muslin to make the label.

This label was made for one of my favourite quilts, Chintz Circles, which was given to my aunt in August.  The fabrics and shapes used to make the label were reflective of the design of the quilt and gave me just enough room on which to write the details.

Cameron’s Windmills, which was a baby quilt I made earlier this year, was another for which I used a 2″ hexagon as the basis for my label.  The hexagon was surrounded by other half hexagons, which was the shape used to make the tessellating windmills.

As soon as Ferris Wheel is quilted and bound, I will be writing out the details on this label and attaching it to the back.  While stitching the blocks together, I was thinking about a label for the quilt and wishing I could make one more block.  The answer was obvious — make another centre and use the cream blades as the space on which to write the details.

I’ve been thinking about quilt labels a lot lately as I’ve been looking at all the pictures of the gorgeous red and white quilts that are being displayed in New York and wondering just what the labels on some of them might be.  While I absolutely love seeing the pictures of the quilts, I do wish that sometimes show organizers would take the time to photograph and display some of the quilt labels.

Do you make labels for your quilts?  Do you look at it as a chore or do you enjoy it?  If you think of it as a chore, try looking at the blocks you’ve used for the quilt and see if you can isolate one that would give you enough space to write the details you wish to include and make that one extra block.  Set it aside and then, when your quilt is done, your label is there and ready.

Basket Blocks

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While I had the design wall up, I decided to put the 4 basket blocks up.  I now have a plan for the centre block, which won’t be another basket, and the borders for this.  I think I have just enough of the floral print to make it work .  I’m going to spend some time this weekend working out exactly how much I need for the borders and the centre block and then take it from there.

The lesson I learned from this was that when I fall in love with a fabric like this one I really do need to buy somewhat more than I think I’ll need, particularly as I had no firm plan in mind when I bought this but rather a vague idea.

It snowed.  A lot.  All day Wednesday.  So much for me thinking spring was getting closer.  It seems like a very heavy snow as the tree branches and shrubs out on the roof garden seem to be groaning under the weight of it.   Some of the bears decided it was time to get their winter clothes back on.  When the picture was taken, there were fairly large snowflakes flying by the window.

I’m not sure if Lester is winking in this shot or just not quite awake.

Smudge was relaxing.

Label for Ferris Wheel Quilt

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I decided to piece the label for Ferris Wheel on Monday.  When I started quilting, making labels for my quilts never struck me as a design element.  Now?  Now I try to make a label that has something to do with the design of the quilt.  For Ferris Wheel I decided to do the centre of a block.  The cream blades of the plate will be the perfect spot on which to write the pertinent information.

Upon finishing the piecing of a quilt like Ferris Wheel I almost always wish I could make one more block, so making a label like this seems like a great solution — I get to make one more block or partial block and the label is ready to be written on and then appliqued on to the back as soon as the quilting is done.

Lester had a snooze on the windowsill on Monday.  He had some entertainment out on the roof garden as there were some grackles and sparrows on the lawn.

Smudge was sound asleep.  Oh, to be able to relax as thoroughly as a cat!

Ferris Wheel Quilt

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Thanks to Elly, I have a name for the Farmer’s Delight quilt. Ferris Wheel seems to me to be the perfect name for this quilt. It makes me think of summer and movement and that’s definitely what a ferris wheel means to me.  It reminds me of when the Canadian National Exhibition is open in August and all the rides on the midway, not that I go anywhere near them. The ferris wheel is probably as adventurous as I would ever get when it comes to rides.

It was amazingly quick work to put the blocks together into rows and then stitch the rows together. I started stitching them together on Friday evening and finished Saturday evening. All by hand.  Although I had thought I’d join them by machine, I think it probably didn’t take me much longer to stitch by hand than it would have by machine.

I thought I had the perfect fabric for the backing, but it’s just a bit too short.  All that’s left now is to do the final pressing, get the backing prepared, baste and start quilting it.  I have the quilting planned and think it will go fairly quickly.

Over the weekend, I decided to give my blog a facelift.  It’s a bit of a work in progress, but then I suppose a blog always is a work in progress.  For now, I’ve started listing favourite quilt blogs on a separate page rather than in the sidebar.

This is possibly one of the most quirky pictures we have of Lester.  I don’t know if it was the angle at which it was taken on Sunday or what, but there’s something about this one that I love.  He looks like a much smaller cat than he is.

Smudge had just been sticking his head in the water bowl, which is how he seems to prefer to drink, and Mr. Q.O. got this shot.  If you click on it to see the large picture, you can tell the fur on one side of his face is still wet.

Farmer’s Delight … Again

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Along with finishing the quilting of the baby quilt, I started piecing another Farmer’s Delight block on Thursday.  The photo above was taken back in April, and there are a couple more blocks that have been done since but this is another of the UFOs that has made its way up the list.  It will only take 3 or 4 more blocks to finish it.

Tonight I’ll add the binding to the baby quilt and make the label.  Pictures of the finished baby quilt and the newest Farmer’s Delight block will be taken for Monday’s post.

A surprise package arrived from a non-blogging friend that included the book EQ6 Simplified.  I was thrilled and can tell already, from just looking through it, that it’s going to make a huge difference.  I’ve already picked up a couple of things.

We were absolutely delighted when Smudge decided he wanted his yogourt treat again.  He hasn’t evidenced any interest in it for what seems like forever, so watching him go for the yogourt Thursday night made us both feel fabulous!  He has been eating a bit more each day on his own, and we’re still struggling to find a food that he likes and that is good for both him and Lester.

Lester seemingly will eat almost every  food we offer.  There have been a few he’s not liked, but he’s nowhere near as finicky as Smudge.

A Barely Begun Unfinished Object

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I’ve been going through partially complete projects and trying to decide what I want to do with them. This?  This was started around three years ago.  Obviously I didn’t get too far with it.  I printed many, many 2.25″ equilateral triangles for this project and had started putting together one row when it got put away. To be honest, I didn’t even remember I had it until I opened a drawer and saw the bag full of the triangles.

This is one of the projects for which I used the sewing machine to stitch the triangles together into pairs.  I only printed the templates on the cream neutral fabric and then stitched along the stitching lines before cutting the triangles apart into pairs.  It certainly made that part quick.  Then I decided I wanted to hand piece the pairs into rows, it seems, so a little hybrid piecing.  I think I know why this got put away.  The colours are totally outside my normal comfort zone.  How much more of this I will put together is anyone’s guess as, at this point, I’m not enthused about it although Mr. Q.O. definitely likes the colours.  This may be one of those projects on which I will work for an evening or so every few weeks and slowly put together a lap quilt for Mr. Q.O.  But for now, it’s being put away again until I get a few other projects finished.

Smudge was very alert Tuesday night.  He is eating more on his own each day and we think he has put on a bit more weight.  I talked to our vet on Tuesday and for now we’re watching to see if there’s any return of the jaundice and continuing with the syringe feeding.  I’m a little concerned about the amount of tuna in the cat foods that he is eating in light of the recent warnings by Health Canada about the levels of mercury in tuna.  I asked our vet about it and he said that, while he hasn’t read any studies about the effects of the mercury in tuna in cat foods, it may be an issue if that’s the only type of food Smudge will eat.  So we’ll slowly start trying some foods with no tuna and see what happens.

I often wonder why cats are so likely to love cat food with seafood of some sort or another in it, as that is not their ancestral diet.  Smudge is so finicky about food but always seems to love anything with tuna.  Lester?  Lester likes every kind of cat food.  Here he was having a snooze after dinner.

Progress on Baby Quilt

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It’s growing but not quite as quickly as I was thinking it would.  I’m still hoping to have the piecing finished by the time the weekend is over and, with any luck, have it ready to quilt by mid-week next week.  I got distracted from stitching as we were watching the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland last night. Normally, I watch/listen and stitch with no problems but that was so well done that there was much less stitching done than normal.

Smudge did eat a bit on his own on Wednesday, but not enough.  So the syringe feeding continues.  We are more and more convinced he has decided he likes being fed and have jokingly renamed him Pasha Puss. He doesn’t mind the syringe feeding at all, puts up no fuss about it and basically just lies or sits there while he’s being fed.  Next we think he’ll be expecting us to peel him grapes!  I’m not altogether sure what this look is saying other than perhaps, “I’m very comfortable here, so please bring my food in liquid form and feed me!”

Lester is quite interested in the syringe feeding and usually is right there supervising.

Five Pickled Ladies

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These are probably the last of the Pickled Ladies I’ll get done this year, as I’m trying to limit myself to working only on the baby quilt until it’s done.  But I couldn’t resist making a few more of these blocks.  I have another 15 or so of the arcs ready to stitch to clamshells as soon as the baby quilt is finished.

The baby quilt is growing rapidly.  I didn’t quite meet my goal of finishing the piecing on Tuesday as I spent some time starting to sort out the pieces I’ll use for the edges.

The vet called us on Tuesday and is pleased with Smudge’s progress, as are we. We’re to try not syringe feeding him in the morning today and see if he eats enough on his own.  Once he’s eating enough on his own, our big hurdle is going to be getting him back on better food than the Kitty McDonald’s. We’re convinced he’s decided that syringe feeding is quite all right and would probably be content were we to continue doing that indefinitely.  Here he is resting after one of his feedings.

Lester was curled up in a kitty bed.