Tag Archives: Inklingo

A Little Shabby Chic Curved Piecing

Posted on by

13

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.

Curved Piecing

Posted on by

7

One of my favourite things is to play with blocks that have curved piecing.  There’s something I find immensely satisfying about stitching a perfectly curved seam.   I made these six blocks back when the Orange Peel Inklingo collection came out and design ideas have been floating through my mind.  The six blocks in the picture above are going to be made into a Christmas table topper, I think.  I may add 3 more blocks just to make it a bit larger.

Last night I laid out the six blocks just for fun.  The idea I have will incorporate, in one instance, just the Alabama Beauty blocks (the top left in the photo), while another idea will use four of the different blocks.  Now it’s a matter of deciding what fabrics I want to use for this.  Perhaps hand dyed fabrics with some batiks or some soft shabby chic fabrics.   I think this is my favourite part — playing with design ideas and choosing the fabrics.   I know what I want to make and it’s really a matter now of whether I want it to be soft and flowing or dramatic and intense.  Perhaps both.  Who knows?  In the meantime, I get to play.

I proofread transcripts for court reporters.  This has now happened to me twice and it cracks me up.  I am so used to typing the word Inklingo and thinking about Inklingo that when a witness or lawyer says inkling in a transcript, it looks completely wrong to me and I instinctively want to change it to Inklingo!  I catch myself wanting to change what the typist has typed but it makes me laugh thinking about what a lawyer would say upon coming across the word “Inklingo” in a transcript.

I got started on the Anthony Trollope novels last night and, while I initially found the writing a bit stiff, can already see that I’m going to enjoy them.  Thanks to Betty who yesterday left a comment about another author, Angela Thirkell, who carried on the characters in the Barsetshire series into the WWII era.  I know I’ll probably devour those books as well. I love the idea of a great long series of books following a families through generations.

Lester, alert last night after another day of watching out the window — at rain and more rain.

And Smudge sound asleep.

A Pastel POTC Block

Posted on by

8

There are still four purple squares to be added in the corners but, as that will take only minutes, this block is basically finished.  I love the colours in this one.  They remind me of pretty pastel dresses at Easter.

The back:

These books have been languishing on the bookshelves for ages.  I remember starting the first book in Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire novels ages ago and quite liking it but, for some reason, I put it down and didn’t go back to it.  Truth be told, I probably got distracted by a mystery.  This time I intend to read my way through both the Barsetshire and Palliser series.  I love having a stack of unread books like this.  This stack is the Barsetshire series.  The Palliser series is another 6 books.  These should keep me busy for a couple of months.  Next up after Trollope?  Maybe Dickens.  I have read some of his books, but not all and would really like to make my way through those as well.

The weather is improving every day and I think by mid-week we’ll see temperatures back near 50, if not a bit better.  Lester spent a fair amount of time on the windowsill on Monday.  At one point I was watching him and saw a bird fly by with wings that seemed to be tipped with quite a vibrant blue.  I didn’t see the bird again Monday but will be watching to see if we have some blue jays out on the roof garden.  Still haven’t seen a robin, although I have heard one.

A new favourite shot of Lester:

And Smudge working on his lounging:

More Spool Blocks

Posted on by

9

The final 11 spool blocks from this group of fabrics are done.  I couldn’t resist finishing them off.  I have 81 little blocks so am debating whether to take these and turn them into a doll’s quilt with a 9 x 9 setting or if I want to keep adding.  I’ll think on it for a bit this week and make a decision before next Saturday.

Here they all are.  I’m amazed at how quick it was to put these together.

I found another great use for a digital camera today.  I wanted to check the value of some fabrics I had pulled for a project (yes, another project is in progress) so took a picture, which we turned into a black and white picture on the computer and I immediately could see the values.  Digital cameras have so many uses for a quilter!  Use it to check value, to photograph a layout if you don’t have a design wall and need to be able to refer back and I’ve found it to be a great way to see if fabrics really do work together — particularly when working with fabrics in the winter when the light is not the greatest.  We have a lamp with a daylight bulb in it that I use all the time but sometimes I see something on the computer screen that isn’t as immediately obvious when looking directly at the fabrics.  I suppose there are fewer visual distractions when looking at a picture on the computer screen.

Of course taking pictures of fabric or blocks or layouts means we have to take a few of the boys.  Lester was stretched out:

While Smudge was, as usual, lounging on the couch.

Saturday Klosjes Again

Posted on by

7

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.

A Framed Spring POTC Block

Posted on by

14

I know I said I was going to keep joining the cream hexagons but I couldn’t resist and just had to add the cream hexagons and purple squares to this block.  Our weather feels so much like spring and a pink and green block says spring to me so I went with it.   For some reason the darker pink hexagons aren’t showing as their true colour in this photo.  It’s not quite as red as it appears.

The back of the block.  When I was joining the cream hexagons to the block, I used two colours of thread — green and a deep pink.

This photo is definitely a contender in the “where is his head” category.  When we saw Lester lying like this, we practically fell over each other to get the camera.

Smudge in a photo that is a bit soft focus, but I love the expression on his face.

Saturday Klosjes … on Sunday

Posted on by

7

These are the spool blocks I stitched on Saturday.  I’m coming to the end of the stack of pieces that I had printed and cut out for these little  blocks. One more week of stitching and they will be all finished.  Then I’ll decide how many more I want to add.

To that end, I pulled out a bunch of charms that will, for the most part, go with the fabrics I’ve already used.  Now it’s just a matter of ironing them on to freezer paper and then sending them through the printer to print the half long 90-degree hexagon and the 1″ squares.  I’ll have to print some more of the half hexagons on muslin as well.

It was a very rainy, windy day here Saturday.  Today is supposed to be more of the same.  I’m planning on spending most of the day playing with fabric and an idea that seems to be working its way to the top of my ideas list.

Lester is much more restrained about drinking water than Smudge but he gets water on his chin too — as this shot shows.

Smudge knows what to do on a rainy, windy day — curl up and look as gorgeous as possible so as to get as much attention as possible.

Farmer’s Delight Beginning

Posted on by

10

Now that the Olympics are over and I’ve put the spools aside until Saturday, I’m back to working on the Farmer’s Delight blocks.  This is the beginning of the next block. I have the outer strip of triangles to put together then I’ll stitch the two triangle strips together before joining them to the centre.  While the block looks quite complex it is, thanks to Inklingo, amazingly quick and easy to put together.  All the triangles in this block have a curve of some sort on one edge.  When I’m putting the triangle strips together, it’s just lots and lots of lovely continuous stitching.  This shot shows the back of the first triangle strip.

Has anyone else been running into problems leaving comments on blogs?  I’m finding it impossible to leave comments on 5 or 6 of my favourite Blogger/Blogspot blogs.  It started out with just one last week and now has grown to 5 or 6.  I’ve tried using different browsers on both the Mac and the PC, but no success.  The one thing I’ve noticed is that when I click on a couple of them, a small window pops up asking whether it’s okay to allow the Lucinda font.

Lester was very busy Tuesday watching a grackle pecking away at the lawn on the roof garden.  After watching for quite a while, he had to have a rest on the windowsill.  I think we’re back to the windowsill shots for a few months.

While Smudge was back in the kitty bed after having had another swim in the water bowl.

Spools and More Spools

Posted on by

12

I couldn’t resist making a couple more spools in yet another size.  These finish at 3 3/8″.  I still prefer the small ones but think I’ll probably end up making a quilt that incorporates all three sizes, although the small ones will be the predominant ones.

Here are all three of the sizes I’ve made together with 3 actual spools of thread in different sizes.  I think of them as economy size, large and regular spools.

It was Mr. Q.O.’s birthday yesterday.  About ten years ago, we found this little music box in a store called “The Elegant Garage Sale.”   When wound up, it plays “Happy Birthday.”  Once we saw the teddy bears in it, there was no question it was coming home with us.  It’s now our tradition to wind it up and play it on our birthdays.

The detail on this is incredible.  Here you can see the little birthday cake with the candle.

And here’s one of the little teddy bears who had been into the cake, it seems.  He’s given away by the icing on his fur.

The boys were relaxing after a day of helping Mr. Q.O. celebrate his birthday.  If you look closely, you can see that Smudge has been drinking — the fur on his face is still a bit damp.

Lester was doing what he does best — stretched out, relaxing.

Economy-Size Spools

Posted on by

16

Saturday, after making some of the small spool blocks, I decided I would try some larger ones so printed out the shapes for and pieced a few of them while we watched the Academy Awards last night.

When I looked at the size of these ones I immediately thought they were the economy-size spools!  They seem enormous compared to the little ones I was making Saturday.  These big ones finish at 5″ while the little ones finish at 2 3/8″.  Mr. Q.O. likes the big ones as well as the small ones.  I prefer the smaller ones, although that may be a result of the fabrics I’ve used to try out the large ones.

Here you can see the difference in size.

And here, as usual, is the back — this time of one of the large blocks.

We have had the most glorious weather the past few days.  Sunny, mild with temperatures around 10 or 11 Celsius and no wind.  They say today may be even a touch milder.  Our long-range forecast makes it sound as though spring is really here.  We may have some cooler days but I think winter is, for all intents and purposes, finished.  And there’s another sure sign of spring — the window washers have started so hopefully we’ll have nice clean windows within a week or two.

Lester is ready for spring.  He was stretched out on the windowsill, although there’s not much to watch out on the roof garden yet.

Smudge patiently waiting until time for his yogourt treat.