Tag Archives: Stormy Seas quilt

Sparkling Stormy Seas

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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.

Stormy Seas Block 8

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The eighth block is finished.  It didn’t take long, as I had already put the units together and really had only 2 long seams to stitch.  My wrist felt much better on Wednesday, although I am going to try to not push it for another couple of days. While I’m dying to haul out the bin with the brights and other appropriate prints for the baby quilt idea I have, I’m resisting it as I don’t think it’s going to take much to set this off again.

All the pieces for the remaining Stormy Seas blocks are sorted and in individual glassine envelopes.  Something tells me I need to find a larger box for them or get half a dozen of these blocks made up rather quickly.  The box seems as though it’s rather overflowing at the moment.

I was looking for a two-fabric applique pattern last night that I’ve had tucked away for a while.  When I started reorganizing a few months ago, I put it and the other applique patterns like it somewhere.  But where that somewhere might be has become a puzzle.  I searched and searched and couldn’t find it.  I remember putting them all in one spot … somewhere.  It looks as though I’ll be through with work sometime early next week for the balance of the year.  Perhaps I’d better have another go at reorganizing, and when I put things in “safe spots” I’m thinking I need to keep a list in a notebook of just where those safe spots might be!

Smudge is much more active, playing with toys and having the odd mock battle with Lester.  And treating us to poses like this, showing off his paws.

Lester was also showing off his huge paws while he relaxed on the couch.

Seven Stormy Seas Blocks

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The first seven blocks are done and the eighth is close to being finished.  The circular effect that these blocks give is something I absolutely love.  I can’t wait till they’re all done and I can lay them out and decide on placement.

I got all the remaining fabrics printed.  In just slightly over 2 hours I had all the fabrics ironed to freezer paper, printed and cut out.  Then I started sorting them into glassine envelopes in sets for each block.  This box has all the pieces for each of 17 or 18 blocks, ready to stitch.

This box has the remaining pieces, all sorted in envelopes by fabric, ready to be pulled and put into block envelopes to join those in the first box.  I love having lots ready to stitch like this.

I wanted to get all the Storm at Sea shapes printed on the fabrics and ready to stitch before I somehow or another “borrowed” one of those fabrics for use in something else.  Two of the fabrics I’ve picked for this are batiks with a slight dusting of a gold metallic that I think are going to look rather like light reflecting on the water.  The best part of this is I know I won’t get bored making the blocks as each one will be slightly different.  There will be 41 blocks to go once I get the current one finished.

We’ve yet to do any decorating for Christmas.  But our door decoration is up.  A few years ago we decided to find something that was a bit different than a formal wreath.  I think we managed to definitely find that something different.

The weekend was relatively mild, but we’ve had a real drop in temperatures that started overnight.  While there was a lot of snow around us, the city once again didn’t seem to get any.  I have a feeling the roads and sidewalks are slippery, though, as it rained on and off throughout Sunday and then the temperature dropped suddenly.

Smudge definitely seems on the mend.  Trying to figure out what he’ll eat on his own is becoming an adventure.  What he likes today, he won’t like tomorrow.  We’re fortunate in that he is still being quite cooperative with the syringe feeding.  I can’t wait until tomorrow when we take him in to the vet.  We can’t see any signs of jaundice now and I think he may have put on another pound.  He was very lively on the weekend and even had one of his play fights with Lester.   He also found a few spots to sprawl out and snooze.

Lester was also in snooze mode a lot of the weekend.

More Stormy Seas

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Up until last night, I had only 3 of the 7 fabrics that will be in the Stormy Seas quilt ready and printed. Last night I got the fabric for the remaining 4 fabrics ready to print and will print all the shapes over the weekend.  Once that’s done, I’ll have everything ready to stitch the blocks.  I’ve found a stitching sequence that makes the blocks relatively quick to construct.

I’ve made blocks using the three fabrics that have been printed so far and am thrilled with how they’re turning out. These three were stitched over the course of the last 10 days or so.

While I had initially thought I’d use 11 fabrics in the Stormy Seas quilt, I’ve now decided to narrow it down to 7 fabrics and will make a slightly smaller quilt. It will be a lap quilt. Making that decision actually got me thinking about the size of quilts I want to make going forward.   Lap quilts seem like the best idea for me.  While I want to make a king-size quilt for us to use, I still haven’t decided on a specific pattern although it may end up being a large Chintz Circles, aka Alabama Beauty, quilt.  I have been slowly printing pieces to make another one of those for us and am debating whether I want to make it a lap or bed quilt.  It would be beautiful thrown over the back of the pink loveseat but would also go wonderfully with the toile wallpaper in the bedroom.

Do you have a favourite size of quilt to make?  Are they all large enough for a bed or lap quilts or wall hangings?  If you do have a favourite size to make, why did you choose that size of quilt?

Smudge continues to improve daily now.  Thursday he was eating more on his own and was livelier than he has been in a couple of weeks.  He and Lester were curled up together Thursday night.

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.

Small Scraps and Basting Quilts

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Yesterday I spent a little time and managed to cut exactly what I needed from the batik that had the flaw running through it.  These small pieces are all that was left over.   I knew it was going to be awfully tight, so I cut all the freezer paper sheets I needed first and then laid them out on the remaining pieces of the batik to ensure there was enough.  Now all that’s left to do is print.

These tiny (an inch from tip to tip) little star-shaped scraps are from cutting out the HSTs.  I can’t bring myself to throw them away and am thinking of using them to decorate cards.  I have a small box that’s chock full of odd little shapes like these from cutting.  I’m also tempted to get a piece of silk and just start playing with adding the shapes on to it for fun.

One of the jobs I dislike most is pin-basting quilts for machine quilting.  Doing up those safety pins is tedious, painful and just plain not fun.  I read somewhere, and I can’t remember where, about these things called Pinmoors.  I’m intrigued by the idea.  I watched the video at the Pinmoors Web site and it certainly looks simpler than using safety pins.  Have any of you tried these?  What do you think?

Stormy Seas

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Putting together the second block was irresistible.. The third block is almost finished as well, but not quite.  Each block has been a learning experience as I sort out a piecing sequence that works the best for me.  My plan for the quilt requires 110 of these blocks, so I’ve got a long way to go.  My goal for this week is to get all the shapes printed on the various fabrics and then get the pieces for each block put into an envelope, ready to stitch.

We apparently have a big low pressure system coming in with lots of rain starting today.  Yesterday I got a migraine that put paid to doing much of anything, including replying to blog comments.  I’m hoping that as today wears on and the rain starts, the headache will lift and I can do a few things including responding to comments.

The cats were pretty laid back on Monday, except at treats time.  We found a kitty treat that’s made with ingredients that aren’t kitty junk food.  Late last week Smudge began behaving like a finicky cat and had been turning his nose up at their food, so we hit the pet store on the weekend to buy a few different types and flavours.  So far we’ve found a couple that he likes and the kitty treats. They learned the sound of the treats bag incredibly quickly — and now as soon as one of us picks it up, they’re right there.  They can appear to be sound asleep, but the sound of that little bag being opened works better than any alarm clock could.

We didn’t get any pictures of them on Monday, so these are a couple of my favourites.  First Smudge:

And Lester:

Project Preparation

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When the Rouenneries line of fabrics came out, I fell in love with it and bought some charm packs and a bit of yardage.  Initially, I printed the shapes for Drunkard’s Path units on 2 of the charm packs.  At that point, I wasn’t sure how big I wanted to make this but now, as I look at the blocks, I’ve decided to print the remaining charms and continue making these blocks.

The deciding factor was that I’d rather have a quilt in a size that’s useful than a couple of wall hangings.  So the printing of the remaining charms is on my list for this week’s preparation day, whatever day that ends up being.   It also is the first of a few charm pack projects I want to work on over the next few months.  I have a number of charm packs and have set a goal for myself of coming up with some design ideas.

I rather like this routine I seem to be falling into of setting aside one or two days a week to plan and print shapes for a variety of projects.  On that note, after I decided to use additional fabrics for the Storm at Sea blocks and figured out the layout I’ll use, I had my new cheat sheet filled out in about 5 minutes.  Now all that’s required is cutting the fabric to the appropriate size and printing.  Another on the list for this week’s preparation day or days.

On Friday evening, we decided to go over to the local deli for dinner.  As we walked down to the sidewalk, we saw flashing lights, ambulances, fire trucks and then we saw a car that was literally hanging from the side of another car at a 45-degree angle.  For a fleeting second, I thought perhaps there was filming going on in the area, which isn’t unusual, as it was such a bizarre sight.  It was difficult to believe what we were seeing was real.  After we came back from the deli, the cars had been separated and a definite crease could be seen all up the side of the one car where the other had seemingly driven up it.  It appeared as though a driver exiting from an underground parking garage and making a right turn was struck by the second car’s right front wheel on its left rear wheel and the momentum caused the second car to ride up on top of the first.   I can’t imagine how frightening that must have been for the driver of the first vehicle.  The good part to the story is that no one was injured, but I can only imagine the damage that was done to both cars.   Mr. Q.O. took a photo with his phone, but we haven’t quite figured out how to get the picture from the phone to his computer.

Neither Smudge or Lester like being in cars.  Smudge would rather curl up and have a nap with some soft friends.

While Lester likes to watch out the window from the safety of his own home.

Stormy Seas

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Back in March, when the Inklingo Storm at Sea collections came out, I made this block and had a plan for a quilt using these 4 fabrics.

Why I’ll never know, but I didn’t sketch out my idea or make any notes about it. But, wanting to get the fabric cut and ready to print on the weekend, I sat down Saturday afternoon and tried to remember what I had in mind when I purchased the initial 4 fabrics.  I spent ages trying to sort out just what that plan was but finally realized that, whatever that initial idea was, it’s not going to happen.  Whatever it was I had in mind, I certainly didn’t buy enough of 2 of the batiks.  So I spent hours working on two different ideas, sorting out just how much of each fabric was needed for both those design ideas.  By Saturday evening, it was down to the point of calculating if I had enough square yardage of each fabric — and it went on and on. So instead of playing with needle and thread, I was working out fabric requirements with the calculator.

The pieces of paper headed “Monkey’s Inklingo Cheat Sheet” are invaluable when working out a quilt design and come with each collection as well as are available to download at the Inklingo Web site.  Once I get my design sorted out, I can make a note of exactly what size of fabric/freezer paper I need for each shape/each colour and am off to the races.  I use the cheat sheets all the time and keep them filed in an accordion folder with my freezer paper.  The four cheat sheets seen here, however, are destined for the recycling bin as neither idea is going to fly.

When I finally realized that neither idea would work with the initial 4 fabrics alone, I gave up for the evening.  On Sunday afternoon, I started going through batiks and pulled out some other blues and a green.  Now I know exactly what I’m going to do with these 11 fabrics and, with any luck, will have all the shapes I need for the stormy seas blocks printed sometime this week.  The only decision left to be made now is just how large I want to make the Storm at Sea quilt.  Once that’s decided I can have my cheat sheet filled out in no time.

We were about to go out somewhere on the weekend, and I had left my purse on the couch for a minute.  I think this look says Smudge was hoping we were off to the pet store for kitty food and toys.

Lester was having some quiet time on the windowsill, although there isn’t much activity now for him to watch other than flying leaves.