Tag Archives: hand piecing

Flowers for the Garden

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The pretty little box was loaded with all that’s necessary to make some flowers for the garden and three flowers were made on Wednesday.

This will be a small quilt — perhaps a little doll’s or teddy bear’s quilt.   I think there will be about 10 flowers, or perhaps even less, in total for this one.  These are 1″ hexagons and they seem enormous in comparison to the .50″ ones I was working with last week.

The backs:

To see flowers made by other hexagon gardeners on One Flower Wednesday, go to Karen’s blog and on her sidebar you will see the names of the gardeners with links to their blogs.

I’ve been looking through the Japanese hexagon book again and, among other quilts that catch my eye, this one really interests me because of the quilting design used in the flowers.  It’s very pretty and very effective.  I think if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you’ll be able to see it.

One of the trees on the roof garden, and I have no idea what type of tree it is, has these little pink buds on it.  I don’t remember ever noticing it flowering before so have no idea what these will turn into.

Lester once again showing why we think of him as the house lion.

While Smudge was having an after-dinner nap.

Five Little Klosjes

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… were made last week.  So now there are 87.  Who knows how many more I’ll make.  All I know is that Sunday I grabbed a few more charms to print with the squares and half hexagons to make more.  I think I’ve got about another 35 or 40 of them prepped, ready to stitch now.

Charm packs seem to hold an endless fascination for me.  Perhaps it’s having a bit of every fabric in a line that I can mix and match with other fabrics.  I do tend to totally mix them up and am doing that with the klosjes.  There’s no rhyme or reason to my fabric choices for these.

We had a pretty quiet weekend.  I woke up Saturday feeling almost like I had a flu, but I think it’s just allergies.  The headache is horrible.  It just will not go away.  While it was a quiet weekend, I had lots of time to think through a few projects in my ideas book.

It was sunny but a bit chilly on the weekend.  The cats were cozy.  Lester in a kitty bed.

And Smudge on the couch.

More Alabama Beauty Blocks

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These two blocks were completed and a third one half-finished on Thursday night, so I think there’s a good chance I’ll get the next row added to the first quadrant before the weekend is out.

They need to be pressed before being stitched into the row and added to the previous rows.  As I keep working on this, I’m finding that these blocks are almost putting themselves together.

They say we may have a thunderstorm today — that will be our first of the season.  The gardeners were busy as could be Thursday adding soil to the flowerbeds again and the window washers are getting ever closer to our windows.

This has been a busy week and I’m really looking forward to the weekend.  There are so many blogs posts to catch up on and comments to which I need reply so that’s definitely on the agenda for this weekend.  And my idea book is overflowing at the moment which probably means that I’ll be printing fabric this weekend for a variety of projects.

I love it when Lester rests his head on his paw.

Smudge on the couch.

Piecing an Alabama Beauty Block

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Thursday night I printed some more shapes for the nameless quilt.  I refuse to call it “The Thing” any longer.  It needs a name!  I got the fabrics picked out for the next set of 3 blocks and this block stitched.  I’m finding it easier and easier to plan these blocks.  I lay out the pieces for each block, make sure that the pieces that create the circles are in the right spot and then it’s really a quick block to stitch.

This is the back:

And this is a close-up of the centre of the back.  I had promised someone (sorry, I forget who!) that I’d show a close-up of how I press this block, so here it is:

The batiks I had ordered from Sew Sisters last weekend arrived.  I think a piece of one, if not two, of these is going to be used in the Alabama Beauty quilt.  These were definitely my lucky fabrics!  Tomorrow we’re off to Sew Sisters to pick up the frame.  I can’t wait!

Along with the batiks was this cute FQ of Easter fabric.  Wouldn’t this make a great back for a little doll’s quilt?

Thursday was another rainy, grey day.  Lester spent some time on the windowsill, but there wasn’t much for him to see.

Smudge, on the other hand, decided it was a good day to curl up with a teddy bear.

I Got Framed!!

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See this picture?  This wonderful quilt frame?  It’s a fabulous solid oak quilt frame that does away with the necessity of basting, folds up easily for storage and is a great asset for any hand quilter!

On Easter weekend, my favourite quilt shop, Sew Sisters, had a contest.  Every purchaser of fabric got an entry.  Sew Sisters had a very similar contest last year at Easter.  That was the first time I saw one of these frames and I’ve been wanting one ever since as basting is a nightmare and holding a hoop is completely beyond my hands’ capabilities.  When Judy announced the contest on the Sew Sisters blog last week, I knew I had to buy something and get an entry in the contest.  A few half metres of red batiks were purchased and a lot of finger crossing began.

I don’t usually have good luck in contests like this but this time —  I won!  When I got the e-mail from Judy Tuesday afternoon, I was thrilled — once I got over the surprise I had actually won it, that is.  I think the cats jumped at the noise I made when I read that e-mail!!  There are 3 big quilts waiting for quilting, a number of smaller ones and now — well, now I can’t wait!  I’ve done so little hand quilting in the past couple of years that the first thing I’m going to do is make up a sandwich of muslin and batting and get back into the rhythm of hand quilting before I start on any of the quilts.

The frame is made by Heartland Quiltworks, a Canadian company.  We’re picking it up from the shop on the weekend.  I can’t wait to get it home and try out quilting with a frame.  I have visions of the cats curled up under the frame and probably being little mischief makers trying to catch  the needle and thread.

There’s a table runner pattern I’m working on that will feature, among other things, this star.  I made it with the 6″ Storm at Sea collection.  The background fabric I used is one that I’ve had for ages and absolutely love working with.  It’s almost of the same thread count as a good batik but needles so easily.  I’ve been looking for the right pattern in which to use it for years.

The back:

It was a rainy, drizzly, somewhat cooler day on Tuesday and the cats didn’t spend any time on the windowsill.  Smudge did spend a lot of time in my desk chair, though.  It seems to be one of his favourite spots.  I’m not too sure what that look is all about — perhaps a bit of a Morris look.

Lester also has a funny look on his face.  He was actually awake but closed his eyes as he really dislikes the flash of the camera.

Alabama Beauty – Second Circle

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It seems that getting that first group of blocks done so that the first circle appeared was the hardest part of making this quilt.  Now it’s almost putting itself together.  There’s a little planning to make sure each block is going to have the right fabrics on the outer edges to match up with their adjoining blocks, but once that’s done they’re amazingly fast to put together.   As I’m pressing as I go, the top truly will be done when I finish the last block.  I’m already wondering about how to quilt it.  It’s a done deal now — this is going to be king-size quilt.

Monday evening I picked out some more shabby chic prints to add to the mix, cut them to the size needed to print my templates and now I’ve got enough prepped to keep going for a few weeks.  While I was prepping them, I was thinking about favourite types of fabrics.  I always seem to fall back to shabby chic for large scrappy quilts.  Do you have a favourite type of fabric that you always seem to go back to?

Monday was another absolutely gorgeous day.  Warm as an early summer day, clear blue skies, an absolutely marvelous treat for early April.  There are more and more green shoots showing up in the roof garden flowerbeds and the vines on the trellis are starting to show green leaves as well.

Both cats spent time on the windowsill Monday.   We have finches flitting about in the trees which I think they’re finding as fascinating as I am.   In the evening, Smudge relaxed.

Lester was back in his favourite spot in the pink chair.

Storm at Sea Block 1

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… is finished.  Finished size is 6.75″.  The back:

What I learned stitching this block?  That I really do need to get my machine piecing skills up to doing blocks like this.  Much as I love hand piecing, and it is my preferred way of stitching, this block would be super fast by machine and, with the stitching lines to guide me, I may actually be able to do it.  Maybe.  I think on the weekend I may print the shapes for one block on some other fabrics and see how I do on the machine.  Perhaps I’ll do it as a hybrid block — machine piece all the units and then put the rows and blocks together by hand.  Or perhaps, knowing me, I’ll break out in a cold sweat as soon as I sit down at the machine.

No gardeners on the roof garden on Tuesday.  And no activity for Lester to watch, so he decided to relax on the couch with a teddy bear for company.

Smudge posing, as usual, for the camera.

Stormy Sea

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Doesn’t this look like a churned-up, stormy sea? I am so impressed with how easy it is to put this block together.  I wish I’d had the time to finish it last night, but there’s only one long seam left to do and then I’ll press it.  Even though the bottom piece has yet to be added, the effect is already visible.  I can’t wait to stitch that last seam tonight and then press it.

We had a real surprise on Monday — the gardeners were out on the roof garden preparing the flowerbeds.  They have never worked on the roof garden this early in the year.  Makes me wonder if they have some long-range forecast from Environment Canada that says the threat of frost is gone.  The rule of thumb here is not to plant before May 24 and I cannot remember them ever working out on the roof garden much before then and definitely never this early.  I don’t know, but imagine we’ve broken all sorts of records this month.  I’m not complaining, as I love the warmer weather but I do wonder if we’re in for a really hot humid summer — oh, how I hope so!

Lester, of course, was sitting on the windowsill watching rather intently.

Mr. Q.O. brought home a new brush for the kitties on Monday.  Smudge was purring so loudly while he was being brushed that I could hear him on the other side of the room.  Afterwards, he was looking up at Mr. Q.O. as though he was made out of catnip or something!

A Little Shabby Chic Curved Piecing

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These are some of the fabrics I picked out for shabby chic Alabama Beauty blocks.  There are other fabrics I’ll add to the mix as I do more blocks, but these are a starting point.

Once the fabrics were selected, it took me only minutes to cut my fabric, press it to the freezer paper and print the templates on the backs of my fabrics.  Then I was off to the races.  While we watched Angels & Demons last night, I stitched this block.

The back, which didn’t press as well as I would have liked.  I’m on the hunt for distilled water to use in the iron as we have extremely hard water and I’ve been told that using half distilled/half tap water will help lengthen the life of my iron.  As soon as I find the distilled water, this is going to be pressed again.

All that rain on Tuesday made a difference.  I looked out Wednesday morning and noticed, for the first time, some green shoots coming up in the flower beds on the roof garden.  Unfortunately, they’re saying we’ll have a wind chill of -11 on Friday, which I don’t think will do those little plants much good, but then it looks like it’s going to warm up and stay warm.  I hope they open the roof garden soon.  It can be absolutely wonderful out there on a sunny day in a sheltered spot.

The cats have been busy the last couple of days.  Almost every toy is now out of the basket.  Last night Lester was very busy with either the catnip pillow, which he licks and licks, or the practice golf ball.  Here is he relaxing after all that.

And Smudge doing his lounge act.

Saturday Klosjes Again

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This was not a really productive week as far as making these little blocks went.  There are so many other things I had on the go that my little blocks were neglected.  Perhaps I shall make a few more tonight.  Who knows? I’ve lost count of how many I have done now.  If I do manage tonight to finish all those that I have ready, I may do a trial layout of them and see whether there’s enough for a doll’s quilt and then start with different fabrics on a new set of Klosjes.

We are cat sitting Winnie again, although only overnight tonight and into tomorrow afternoon.  She had some chicken tonight and, while she wasn’t quite as loud in her appreciation as she was here, she still made me smile.  I couldn’t resist posting this little video again.

We woke up this morning to very chilly weather.  There were even snowflakes floating past.  The first day of spring and snowflakes after a full week or more of glorious mild weather?  Not fair!!  But this won’t last.  By Monday we will be inching our way back up to the wonderful mild spring temperatures.  I guess this was winter’s last gasp, such as it was.

This picture of Lester is definitely a new favourite.

And this one of Smudge taken tonight.  He really does know how to relax and stay warm.