Two Pickled Ladies

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Quiltobsession

While I’ve made quite a few of the arcs for them, I haven’t put together many of the Pickled Lady blocks this month. So I thought I’d best get a start on making some for January with these two.

Our weather has been incredibly topsy-turvy the past few days. We’ve gone from relatively mild for mid-January to bitter cold to rain and mild and now we’re heading back into the deep freeze for a few days. At least the rain that fell got rid of most of the snow that lingered.

Smudge decided to sprawl out on the loveseat. This winter weather definitely means sleepy kitties.

Lester was curled up in a kitty bed.

Works in Progress

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Quiltobsession

There’s still a little hand piecing to do on the pink and cream quilt, but I am thinking now about what projects jump to the head of the queue once it and the baby quilt are finished. Along with the Stormy Seas and Pickled Ladies quilts, the Summer Picnic Dish is definitely moving up the list. A little more has been done since this photo was taken, but not a lot.

The POTC blocks definitely have to move up the list to be finished and the top put together.

I want to get this piece, which I’ve dubbed star of stars, basted and quilted. I know why it has languished this long — because I kept thinking I need to add to it and make it square or rectangular. But I’ve decided to leave it in a star shape.

I’m going to arrange these applique blocks and get the top put together.

Of the above projects, the one that will take the longest is likely the Patchwork of the Crosses blocks. On top of this I’m still working on getting to the point I feel confident using EQ6.

My plan for the weekend is to get the fabrics ready and printed for the Summer Picnic Dish as well as finally select the fabric for the 2″ squares used when connecting the POTC blocks and get it printed.

Smudge has a new habit. When we empty the dishwasher in the morning, he likes to sit on the door. I may have been a bit premature in thinking we were over the worst of this eating thing with him. Wednesday he wasn’t interested in food again at all so we immediately went back to the syringe feeding. I am very grateful he’s so accommodating about that process as I can only imagine how difficult it would be with many kitties.

We caught Lester in the midst of a huge yawn. This photo makes me laugh.

Baby Quilt Top Finished

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Quiltobsession

It’s pressed and ready to baste. Hopefully that will happen this afternoon. It finished at 38 x 27. Names for quilts usually don’t present a problem for me but not this time. I cannot come up with a name I like at all. Maybe once I start quilting it something will come to me that works for it. Suggestions are more than welcome.

We’re in the midst of doing some reorganizing and, as part of that reorganization, I’m hoping to free up an area in the apartment where I can use a wall as a design wall. That would be great for photographing something like this little quilt. For today’s photo, we laid it out on the floor and Smudge had to immediately come to inspect.

Monday I spent a bit of time trying to get more comfortable with EQ. Today I plan to spend more time. I am not finding it a very intuitive program at all, but hopefully it will become easier the more time I spend using it.

We think that Smudge has turned a corner. He started eating a lot on his own on the weekend. And eating. And eating some more. That was a huge relief! The next step will be getting him off the kitty junk food and back on to some of the better foods. We also managed to find some foods that have no tuna in them that he likes. Here he was relaxing after one of his meals.

This picture of Lester makes me laugh. He looks like he’s sleeping sitting up.

Pink and Cream Stars

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Quiltobsession

The pink and cream quilt will be the next top finished this year. All that’s left to do is the setting squares and triangles of the large blocks. The cornerstone blocks and sashing are ready, so it should be relatively quick to put together.

The piecing of the baby quilt was completed last night and the final pressing will be done today. I’m hoping to start quilting it this weekend. That will depend on whether our neighbour whose floor I use to baste is around. While I’m at it, I’m going to baste a couple of other small quilts that have been waiting too long to be finished.

I’ve decided to approach the work situation from the perspective that it’s giving me lots of time to play with quilt designs and finish up a couple of pieces. I’m going to fall back on the therapeutic benefits of quilting to keep me centred through this.

We had a bit of snow on Thursday. The cats decided it was a good time for a snooze. Smudge found a soft toy to curl up with.

Lester headed for the kitty bed.

Getting Closer

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Quiltobsession

Another hour or two of stitching, and all the edge pieces will be attached and it will be time to press and baste the baby quilt. I’m thinking that a scrappy binding made up of ’30s prints will be what I choose for this.

Because I normally match my thread colour to the pieces I’m stitching, to finish off a spool of thread isn’t something that happens frequently as a spool will last a very long time. Because of the scrappy nature of the baby quilt, I’ve been using a peachy pink heirloom cotton thread which seems to melt into the seams of every colour for piecing and on Wednesday night actually used the very last bit on the spool.

I’ve not been doing well in responding to comments this week or in leaving comments. There’s no real good excuse for this other than I’ve been dealing with some news about changes in one company with which I work which has left me rather drained. I really do appreciate and read every comment and hope to get caught up on the replies and comments over the next day or two.

Smudge was posing for the camera Wednesday. He has always been a camera ham but, for the past month or so, hasn’t been quite as interested. However, on Wednesday when he heard the camera being turned on, he definitely started striking poses. I think it’s another sign he’s feeling better.

Lester was caught in a funny pose in the kitty bed.

Sparkling Stormy Seas

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Quiltobsession

Two of the batiks I’m using in the Stormy Seas blocks have some metallic gold which I’m hoping will give the impression of sunlight sparkling on the waves. I couldn’t resist making at least one block with both of those batiks. It’s going to be fun when all the blocks are done and I start playing with their placement. I’m thinking that I may concentrate the blocks which have one of the metallic batiks in one area to really give the impression of light on the water. But that’s way off in the future.

More of the setting pieces are added to the baby quilt top. It’s going to take slightly longer than I had anticipated to add them, but I think I’m still on target to have the top completed by the end of the weekend. Between now and then I’ll get the flannel for the backing washed so that as soon as the top is done and pressed I can get it basted and start the quilting.

Smudge is still being syringe fed, although he is eating a bit more every day on his own. So there is progress. And he definitely feels like he’s gaining more weight. Here he was having a snooze after a feeding.

Lester was once again posing for the camera.

Baby Quilt Almost Done

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Quiltobsession

The main piecing, other than the pieces around the edges, is done. I’ve started adding the edge pieces along one side so know it won’t take long to finish adding them and then it will be complete. I have a piece of flannel that’s perfect for the backing and there’s batting on hand, so this won’t take long now to finish and have ready. The only thing I’ll be waiting for is what the baby’s name is once it’s born and I can add that to the label.

I’ve been contemplating what, if any, quilting goals I have for 2011. I am not making resolutions because I know I’d break them. But goals? Goals is another matter. I have a few. I’d like to try making a small quilt in solids. I’ve never worked with just solids and am not sure how much I’ll enjoy that, but I want to give it a try.

My second goal, and probably the biggest one, is to try to limit myself to making small quilts when I start anything new this year. I have many UFOs that are going to be large quilts on the go as it is, all of which I want to spend time on, and hopefully complete, this year. Summer Picnic Dish, the Harpsichord quilt, my POTC blocks, the Pickled Ladies, the clamshell diamonds in Kaffe fabrics, the Christmas Feathered Star quilt (and probably some others I’ve forgotten at the moment) are quilts I want to finish sooner rather than later.

I also know that when I get ideas, some of which are in the ideas book already, I want to be able to play with fabric. Playing with designs on the computer, while it is a good way to get an idea about how something might work, just doesn’t seem to be the best way for me. I want to see what it looks like in fabric. So small quilts is the answer. Then, if something I’ve made as a small quilt top really appeals, I can set it aside to make as a larger quilt.

A third goal is to make sure I have one thing added to the Christmas box every month. 2010 taught me a very good lesson; that I can’t count on having all the time to do things for Christmas in the last 4 or 5 weeks of the year.

Saturday was an incredibly mild day. We broke records and had temperatures in the 52 Fahrenheit range. It was lovely to think it was that mild on January 1. Only a dozen weeks or so and we’ll be starting to get spring weather. I’m already counting the days until we go back to Daylight Savings Time. Along with the mild weather on Saturday, we had fog.

Smudge seemed to be looking at a quilt book as he reclined on the couch.

Lester posed for the camera Sunday night.

December Clamshell Club Report

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Quiltobsession

The months are flying by — I cannot believe it’s already time for another Clamshell Club report! The Pickled Ladies had a few new additions in December, but nowhere near as many as I had hoped. The count is now up to 56 Pickled Ladies made. I’m going to keep going until I hit around 110 and then lay them out and decide how much, if at all, bigger I want to make it. It’s hard to think of not making them as they are so much fun! I’m clearly out of design floor room to lay these out now, so next month will probably only show the new additions. Once the numbers are up to 110, I will then start working on fussy cutting and printing the setting pieces made up of vertical half and horizontal half clamshells.

To see what other members of the Clamshell Club have reported for this month, go to Cybele’s Patch blog post here. I’m looking forward to seeing what the others have done.

It’s hard to believe that this is my last post for 2010. The year seems to have flown by. Thank you to all who have shared my quilting obsession this year and I hope to share more with you in 2011. I wish you all a safe and healthy and Happy New Year.

Lester is going to ring out the old year in typical laid-back Lester fashion; having a snooze.

While Smudge is going to treat us to one more of his classic almost headless cat poses for 2010.

Progress on Baby Quilt

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Quiltobsession

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

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Quiltobsession

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.