Tag Archives: Crafts

Baby Quilt, Take 2

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I had already made a quilt for my cousin’s new addition to the family due in February, but realized it’s really too large for a newborn and is more of a lap quilt size.  I was playing with some ideas for another baby quilt, when I remembered this was partially done.  So on Boxing Day I got this out of the UFO pile and started adding to it.  It’s quick to stitch, so I’m hoping to have the top finished by the end of the week other than the final setting pieces around the edges. I have lots of diamonds and triangles of the right size already printed on ’30s prints, so will be able to use them for the edge pieces.

I’m very grateful I had started this and had put everything for it away together.  It was nice to be able to just pull out the box and have everything in one spot.  Within minutes of pulling the box out, I was stitching.  As much as I enjoyed making the blocks, I think because I didn’t have a recipient for it in mind it lost some of its appeal.  Now that I have a goal in mind, I’m excited about stitching it again.

Smudge continues to improve.  He’s starting to treat us to some of his crazy poses, like this one.

Lester is being a bit more dignified.

Feathered Star

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The block was finished Tuesday evening and I’m thrilled with it.  Now to decide if I try to rush and make it into a table topper for this year or make this the first of 9 blocks and a start on a Christmas quilt for us.  I’m leaning towards taking my time, making the remaining blocks and having a Christmas quilt.

Heirloom cotton thread is one of my favourites for hand piecing.  When putting the arcs together for the Pickled Ladies, I use black thread.  The black heirloom thread seems to break much more easily than any other colour, which leads me to wonder if the black dye somehow weakens the thread.  Have you ever run into a particular thread colour that tends to break more easily than others?

I’ve done no baking yet for Christmas.  Usually I make butter tarts and a lot of different cookies as they’re great gifts to give to neighbours and friends.  I don’t think anything will get made this year but the butter tarts.  They’re fast and easy and everyone loves them so a few dozen of those will be made over the next day or two.

We got an early Christmas present on Tuesday when we took Smudge to the vet.  The jaundice is barely evident now and he has put on more weight.  He’s now up to 16.8 pounds, so only a few more to go until he’s back at his normal weight.  They gave him another antibiotic shot and he’s still on the syringe feeding, but he’s definitely on the mend.  He was relaxing Tuesday night.

Lester was napping.

Feathered Star for Christmas

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This is what I worked on over the weekend.  For me it’s an enormous block as it will finish at 20″.  Feathered Star is a pattern I’ve been fascinated by and, over the years, I’ve thought about making one but the idea of the acrylic or mylar templates, specialty rulers, tracing and on and on made it less appealing.

On Friday night, three Inklingo collections for a 15″, 20″ and 30″ Feathered Star were released along with an absolutely fantastic Design Book.  Because the centres of these feathered stars are 4.5″, 6″ and 9″ respectively, one could use any number of blocks in the centre rather than the octagon.  Saturday morning, I had this stack of shapes printed and cut out, ready to make my first block.

The instructions in the Design Book are for both hand and machine piecing.  I read through the machine piecing section and felt like I could make one of these by machine.  That said, all the continuous stitching that putting the feathers together offers was irresistible to me and hand piecing was my choice.  Putting the HSTs together by machine would be so easy the Inklingo way; just stitch on the line and cut.  No paper to remove, no bias to handle.   The Design Book is free to download for a limited time.  If you’ve ever thought about making a Feathered Star, this is definitely a book you want to add to your library.

This could be the beginning of a Christmas quilt for next year or perhaps I’ll finish off this one block, add a border, quilt it and use it as a table topper this Christmas.  That may be a bit too optimistic to think I’ll finish it by Saturday, but I’m tempted to try.   I’m amazed at just how quickly it goes together.  It won’t take long now to finish the star and then add the setting squares and triangles.

Smudge is on a tablet that helps the liver.  He has a habit of spitting the pill out when I turn my back.  Saturday morning, he did that very thing and I didn’t notice it until we took this picture.  If you look closely, you can see the little pink pill on the towel.  He seems to be doing better.  Tomorrow we take him in for another antibiotic shot and his weigh-in and colour check.

Lester has been enjoying the variety of foods that have been showing up as we try to get Smudge to eat more on his own.

Pickled Ladies Again

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While I have been working on the pink and cream quilt and playing with the irresistible Storm at Sea blocks, I’ve not been ignoring the Pickled Ladies.  Four more ladies were completed Thursday night and I have a stack of pieces cut and waiting to be stitched for another 15 or 20 of the pieced arcs.

Making the Storm at Sea blocks has taught me something — that I have absolutely no self-control when it comes to stitching those blocks!  Once I had printed the shapes on the third fabric, I just had to make some of the blocks with that fabric.  So now I’m thinking that printing the shapes on the next fabric is something that I will only do when I’ve finished off the pink and cream top and at least another 8 or 10 of the Pickled Ladies.  Otherwise, I just know that I’ll want to drop everything and make a few blocks with that fourth fabric.

At the same time, I’m trying not to start another Winding Ways quilt.  I’ve wanted to make another since I made this wallhanging back in February and have ideas on my “want to make” list.  But lately, Wanda at Exuberant Color has been showing the Winding Ways quilts she has been making and it’s very, very hard to resist!

Lester was lounging on the loveseat Thursday night.

While Smudge was snoozing on the couch.

Stormy Seas

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Block 4 is done.  I couldn’t resist.  My goal right now is just to get all the shapes printed on the 11 fabrics I’ve chosen but, as I had printed out the shapes on the third fabric, I just had to make one block.  If I keep doing this as I start printing the other fabrics, it’s going to take days to get al the shapes printed.  I love the movement in these blocks and am flirting with the idea of making 3 or 4 Pickled Ladies and then doing one Stormy Seas block.

I’m so close to having the setting blocks and the elements for the pieced border of the big pink star quilt, also known as the pink and cream quilt, done that I really want to try to stay focused, which is why I think I shall not print any more of the Storm at Sea pieces until that is complete.  If I stay focused, which is questionable — okay, doubtful — no, impossible, I may very well have everything done to put the top together before the end of the month.

Smudge was caught in one of his almost headless cat poses on the weekend.

I couldn’t resist this shot of Lester, even though it’s a tad blurry.  It’s blurry because we caught him just as he was about to clean his paw.

Fabric Challenge

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These hand-dyed fabrics have been in my stash for ages.  I cut each one of them in half, gave half to a friend, kept half for myself and we’re both going to work on a quilt using just them and perhaps one other fabric as a neutral.  I’ve wanted to make something special with these for ages and am hoping that having this challenge will be just the thing I need to come up with the right design to showcase them.  The hard part of this for me will be that it has to be a machine-pieced design.  The fabrics are gorgeous but they’re very tightly woven, even more so than a batik, so I know that hand piecing would be too much for my hands.  I’ve been pouring over some of the encyclopedia of blocks books and think this may be what finally gets me to absolutely force myself through EQ and play with some design ideas that way.

Do you ever feel like you should limit how many blogs you visit because of the sheer overload of inspiration?  On Thursday, I saw a quilt at Nonnies Cedar Chest that really intrigues me.  I can see it done in pinks and greens and creams or with a beautiful Christmas red and green.  I love the ribbon effect Charlsey got with her design.  I think it’s a very good thing I have no Christmas fabric as I have a feeling I’d be itching to start this one.  But it may be hard to resist doing it in some lovely soft pinks and greens.

We had another amazingly mild day on Thursday with the promise of at least a couple more days like that to come.  The longer we can put off the bitter cold and true winter weather, the better.

The cats are showing how well they can curl up into kitty circles.  Lester in a kitty bed:

And Smudge on the couch:

And Then There Were Three

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Blocks stitched and shapes printed for three projects on Wednesday, that is.  Project one, the big pink and cream stars.  One more finished so there are now three completed.  Tuesday night I started thinking about different settings for the big pink stars and have decided on one that will include 6 of the large stars and some other elements.  Three more big stars to go and then the setting and it will be done.

The pieces printed and cut out for the remaining three big pink and cream stars.

Project two, two of the Pickled Ladies done.

Lots of clamshells printed and cut out for project two.

Lots of the shapes needed for the arcs also printed and ready to cut.

Project three, the Harpsichord Quilt.  One new block pieced and pressed.  Smudge was determined to be part of this photo — you can see his shadow.

Lots and lots of black and gold octagons and the little coloured squares printed for project three.

While my printer wasn’t going quite as quickly as in the video I showed yesterday, it was humming along for about half an hour last night.  I like working on projects in groups of three.  Getting the freezer paper sorted out made it all so easy.  In next to no time I had the fabric pressed to freezer paper and printed for all three of  this Wednesday’s projects.  Perhaps if I keep doing this for the next couple of weeks I can have all the pieces printed and ready to stitch for another 3 or 6 projects.  What other ones?  The Summer Picnic Dish, also known as pickle dish.  The Rouenneries Drunkard’s Path — I have another 3 sets of charms to print for that one.  The Storm at Sea is definitely on the list for next week.

For the most part, the cats had no interest in what was going on.  Lester had a nap.

Smudge was looking a bit bored, I think.

Bloggers’ Quilt Festival, Fall 2010

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Amy's Creative Side - Blogger's Quilt Festival

Once again, Amy is hosting the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival.  If you click on the button above, you’ll find thumbnail photos from the participants and, if it’s anything like the spring festival, you’re in for a real treat with lots and lots of lovely quilts to see and stories about their making to read.  All this in the comfort of your own home!

I debated showcasing Chintz Circles again so soon, but couldn’t resist it as my entry in the Quilt Festival.  When the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection was released, I had played with the various designs and had a lot of fun doing so.  One of my favourite variations was the Alabama Beauty block and, while I had only made one block of it, it stayed in my mind.  Eventually, the lure of that block, particularly with my aunt’s 90th birthday coming up, and making an Alabama Beauty quilt with shabby chic fabrics was irresistible.

My aunt’s favourite colours are pinks and greens and I remember the chintz that was in her home when I was growing up so, as soon as I started making the quilt, I realized Chintz Circles was the perfect name for it.

Karen Dianne was making Alabama Beauty blocks at the same time and had shown some of hers on a design wall.  As soon as I saw that secondary circular pattern emerge, I knew exactly how I wanted to make my aunt’s quilt and I was off to the races.  By mid-April I had hand pieced 6 blocks and saw the first two circles appear.

Choosing the fabrics for each row became more complex as I had to be absolutely perfect with the placement of the fabrics that would emerge as circles.  I developed a routine for doing that as I finished a row and would sort the fabrics for each block into separate envelopes.  During the piecing, I was often thinking about the rousing games of double solitaire I used to play with my aunt at the cottage during the evenings.  We would be laughing so loudly that my mother, who was invariably trying to listen to a baseball game on the radio, would leave and  go listen to the baseball game out on the porch.  I learned then that long nails, while looking good, were also a great deterrent to an opponent in double solitaire as I developed strategies to avoid getting stabbed by my aunt’s perfectly manicured nails as we competed to be the first to put a card up.

By April 21st, a total of 16 blocks had been pieced together and joined and 9 complete circles had appeared.

As the quilt top grew, it took longer to add more rows and see more circles appear but by May 18, there were 25 blocks joined and 16 circles had made their appearance.

I was then in the home stretch and on June 21 a total of 42 blocks were joined, 30 circles had appeared and the hand piecing of the quilt top was complete.

The backing fabric was found, the quilt was basted and the machine quilting began. On July 20, the quilting was finished, the binding tacked down and this photo was taken very shortly after the last stitch was taken to attach the label.

August 1 was my aunt’s 90th birthday.  That morning I had washed and dried the quilt and it had that wonderful crinkly look that quilts get after being washed and dried.  Then came the best part — when she opened the gift and saw her quilt.  She still has those beautifully manicured nails I so remember from our double solitaire games!

Everything about making Chintz Circles was an absolute joy.  Choosing the fabrics, making the blocks and joining them together, quilting it, even working the thread ends in was fun as I often found myself reflecting on some of the marvelous memories I have of the time I have spent with my aunt over the years.   I still find that I quietly laugh to myself when I remember those double solitaire games and the fun we had.

There is no doubt I would have not made this quilt were it not for Linda Franz‘ brilliant invention of Inklingo. Having perfect shapes with stitching lines and matching points turned what may look like a difficult block to piece into something that was an absolute joy to stitch and blocks that went together perfectly every time.

Fabric Play

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Usually when I print shapes for what will be a scrappy quilt, I print lots more than I need.  These are left over from when I was making my Patchwork of the Crosses blocks.  When I was making those blocks, I wanted to have lots of choices and the ability to change out colours when I was putting a block together. Then, when I had finished making the blocks, I had all these left-over pieces.  While some may think it’s wasteful, for me it’s like having a box full of ideas waiting to be discovered.  Over the past few days I’ve been playing with a design idea and last night I progressed from a rough sketch on paper to playing with the fabric shapes.  Once again, a digital camera is a great asset — I used it to take photos of the various layouts I’m playing with for future reference.

Tuesday was windy and rainy as a huge low pressure system came through.  I had a migraine from very early Tuesday morning but was still able to spend some time with fabric.  The tree in front of our living room window has now pretty well lost all its leaves thanks to the wind.

The vet called Tuesday and said he’ll call again on Saturday to see if Lester has had any symptoms reappear, in which case he’ll have another course of antibiotics.  So far, he seems like he’s over it but we’ll be watching him carefully over the next few days.  He was resting Tuesday evening.

Smudge was watching as I was laying out fabric pieces, although you can’t really tell that from this picture.  I kept waiting for him to decide to “help”, but he was interested in only watching this time.  I’m not altogether sure what the look on his face is saying — whether he was approving, bored or giving me one of those impossible to fathom kitty looks.

New Pressing Board

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Friday night, we went to the Creativ Festival and I was thrilled.  I managed to get exactly what I was looking for — a new Quilter’s Cut ‘n Press.  My old one had finally got to the point of no return and it was time.  I use the Cut ‘n Press constantly as it’s the perfect size for pressing a block or two or pressing fabric to freezer paper and doesn’t necessitate dragging out the ironing board and then putting it away.

I also stocked up on the heirloom cotton thread I love to use for hand piecing and found 2 more florals for the Pickled Ladies as well as a pink FQ that just had to come home with me because it was — well, pink!  I don’t think I could ever have too much pink.

There was a white on white fabric that also came home with me but didn’t get photographed, as it’s rather hard to show the design in a white on white.  It’s one I’ve used before that has a lovely soft feel to it and is not hard to needle.  All in all, I’m thrilled with what I found at the show although I wouldn’t have minded a few more florals.  There were lots of quilting booths with lots of fabrics and bundles but they seemed, for the most part, to be more of the earth tones and the like with very few florals to be seen.  I wonder if that’s a product of the time of year and if at the spring show there will be more light-coloured and floral fabrics.

Lester continues to do well.  Today is his last day on the antibiotics so I guess the next few days will tell the tale as to whether the infection is gone.

Smudge has been busy chasing leaves as they go by the window.