Projects

Two of the projects I worked on last week are done, or almost done. The pillow sham (one of them) is finished and the flipflops just need borders. I'm trying to decide if I want to add a little "punch" with a little yellow border before I add the blue polka dots. I dunno...I kinda like it like this. We'll see. I quilted "waves" in the orange borders to indicate the beach (yeah, like I know what that is here in NM! lol) and some curly-q quilting around the flip flops. I will still attempt to shine it up a bit with some "bedazzling".
Another trip to Lubbock with Dad today to follow-up on his procedure from last week. Please say a prayer for safe travel. Thanks!

A week's worth of sewing

I told you I think I may have ADD! LOL Here is what I've worked on this week. Left to right - Flip flops ready to be quilted, DWR pillowcase in progress, "Reflections" blocks made thinking I "might" use them with the flip flops somehow, more flip flips ready for quilting, three "Reflections" blocks made to put on the back of a round robin vest, two "Mary's Flower Garden" blocks for block exchange and one more feather, in the round. I still need to prepare arcs for the second DWR pillowcase, quilt the flip flops and begin to assemble that wallhanging and attach the "Reflections" blocks to the vest. The orange and yellow "Reflections" blocks will probably be put aside for now. I do have enough fabric to cut out four more of them, so they may become a wallhanging someday, too.

The rest of the story..

I've been asked about the "Spin Cycle" quilt and how it is constructed. I used one fabric for all the kaleidoscope blocks, another fabric for the cornerstones and another for the sashings. The border is a whole 'nother fabric but I couldn't believe how well the colors complimented each other. I did not use the quilt-as-you-go technique, but rather, quilted in 3 sections then sewed them together on the front and handstitched the back seams. Thanks to all who have looked and commented!

Our trip to Lubbock went well. They got the venous closures done on both of Dad's legs. He did well, but boy, was he tired when we got home! I pray these procedures help him with all his leg problems.

Early day today so I'd better get ready.

"Spin Cycle"

Finally got this picture of the kaleidoscope quilt and me. My plan is to send this picture, along with a picture of the mini-kaleidoscope quilt, to Fons and Porter. In fact, everything is ready to mail and will go out today. Maybe they'll see fit to publish the pictures in their "Sew & Tell" section of the magazine. Here you see the borders and binding I used. I have another kaleidoscope cut and ready to sew, but I've been too busy doing other things for now.

I'm off to Lubbock today to take Dad for his wound care app't. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you.

One more feather

Here's a feather done with a little hook at the end. This is the way it's supposed to look, sorta. It has a much more flowing feel to it compared to the one in the previous post. I'm addicted! If I do enough of these samples, I'll put them together and make a wallhanging or something.

While watching the Pope...

With the television on in the background, I have been praying and thread playing today. I had ordered a DVD called "Free Motion Fun With Feathers" and it came in the mail yesterday. I think I'm going to like this... I practiced with two sandwiched pieces and had a blast. I have several tops that need quilting and have waited, hoping that eventually I can do something like this on these quilt tops that are folded and hanging in my extra closet. I know I have a lot more practice to get this where I really want it and I need to study up on the types of threads out there. I am hooked on the metallic thread, though. But, I think I need to find a heavier thread made especially for this type of sewing. Is there a perle cotton that the sewing machine can handle? See, I really need to look into this.
Time to dry my hair and get ready to go visit with Dad. I think he's been watching the Pope all day, too.

Another stick figure

 

This little wallhanging is for Carol's friend as a going-away gift. Isn't that a cute idea? Carol saw the baby quilt with this on it and decided her friend needed a wallhanging.

Some fun applique

I found this cute little stick figure girl in the May/June '08 issue of "Quiltmaker". They had a whole big quilt built around it but I thought it fit just right on this little 9-Patch. I started the applique this afternoon, just before I had to go to "jail" for MDA. Judy and I went to the Cotton Patch to turn our donations in and eat a free meal. It was nice. Couldn't wait to get home to finish this, though. I thought I might start quilting it tonight, but I'm just too tired. The comfort quilt I worked on last night really kicked my butt, but I loved every minute of it. I can sure tell I'm getting older! LOL I did get that quilt in the mail today, though.

Whew! I think I'm going to bed.

Wednesday quilting

My name is Veronica and I am a quilt-aholic! LOL Yes, I admit it. When I know a quilt needs to get to someone, I can't help but work until it's done. This red, white and blue quilt will head out today to one of our group's dear friend who's husband is not expected to live. When they asked if we had any comfort quilts ready to go, I knew I had to whip this one out. With the blocks donated by QOR, backing from Leota and batting from Evie, I had all the makings of a comfort quilt. It took me about 5 1/2 hours to quilt and bind last night. The night before I had made the sashings and so when I got home yesterday, early, I put the top together. Then I threw dinner in the oven (Shake-n-Bake pork chops) and cooked potatoes to make mashed 'taters. While all that was cooking, I started quilting.

I used a different pattern than I've used on a larger quilt such as this. My favorite quilting pattern is the circle within a circle because it goes so quickly and looks nice in an all-over pattern. But, I've been reading about all the neat designs a body can do on a domestic machine with just a little practice. So, I gave it a whirl. I hope you can see some of the quilting if you click on the picture. I think I'm going to enjoy "letting go" and doing something different. I've got several baby quilts I'm going to practice on.

Sunday quilting

One of our little lady customers (90 years or so) fell and broke her arm - in 5 places between her elbow and shoulder! This happened last week and she is still in the hospital. Unfortunately, both her elderly brothers are in the hospital, too! So, I thought she could use a "hug quilt". These blocks are from the lotto/comfort quilt collection. I thought about using another color, pink, maybe, to sash these with but I didn't want it to look like a baby quilt. I think this looks more like one for an adult. It's just big enough to be a lap quilt.
This is the back of the same quilt. The bottom picture is just a close-up of the quilting. It actually looks better just as you see it instead of clicking and enlarging. I've finished it just in time to take to show-and-tell at group tomorrow. I'll also be taking both the kaleidoscope quilts and the DWR I recently finished. It will be nice to see the ladies again. I've decided to schedule Dad's app'ts in Lubbock on another day other than Monday so I can get to the meetings.

Next step is to cut the binding for the kaleidoscope. I can't decide what to use for that. I'd like a solid, dark pink that compliments the pink in the quilt. I don't think I have anything like that in my stash so I'm sure there will be a trip to the store.
Time to relax for a bit before bedtime. Or, maybe I'll do some laundry..:-)

Ready for borders

Quilted and ready for borders! Here is the large kaleidoscope (stack-n-whack) that the leftover triangles came from that I used in the mini version a few posts ago. I put this one together in three sections with the quilt-as-you-go method. Once I attached the front of each section, I handstitched the back to cover the two seams. Much easier to deal with than trying to quilt it all at once. Once I attach the borders, that's all that will be under the sewing machine for quilting because the bulk of the quilt will be rolled up and to the left of the machine. (and, over my shoulder :-)

Quilt labels

This label and the one I made for Rob and April's DWR were made with an online program called "Made-by Labels" I thought someone might enjoy making their own with these easy to follow directions.


This is a close-up of the quilting I did on the DWR tablerunner. Please ignore any markings you might see since they have since disappeared due to the ink I used. :-) Notice the binding? It's not really binding. I sandwiched the top, batting and backing and sewed all three pieces together, then turned it inside out. Here's how I did it...I laid the top and the backing (lining), right sides together and the batting on top of the backing. I then sewed the same distance away from the edge of the top pattern (as evenly as possible) all around the piece, cut off the excess, turned it inside out and top-stitched about 1/4" all around. I hand-sewed the opening shut. Then I quilted the entire piece. A few years ago I made several of these that way. I'm glad I remembered how! LOL Not to worry, Joe!

Cornerstones

I finally decided on green, a light and a dark, for the corners of this DWR tablerunner. I usually use two totally different colors for the cornerstones, but the green just seemed to be all that worked with this one. I am happy with it.

I love Quilt Smart!

How else would I be able to get this far with a Double Wedding Ring tablerunner if I didn't use the Quilt Smart method? I started this last night at 9 p.m. (with Jim retired, my sense of time is a little askew these days lol). I worked until 10:30 p.m. (after all, I do need to get up early most days). This being my day off, I took time to pay some bills and do bank deposit preparation before I got back to sewing. Once I was able to sit and sew again, I worked about an hour and a half and got this much done. I need to decide what to use for the cornerstones. If anyone has any ideas along those lines, please, feel free to let me know! The dark color is a dark purple. Before I put the corners on, though, I need to machine applique the arcs. That will go pretty quickly. Then I'll put it all together and quilt it. I'd like to get it done before the end of the week since it's a gift for a cousin that got married last Saturday.

Combined effort

After wrestling with taxes, Judy and I decided to reward ourselves with a little project. I'd seen this on Norma's blog. I've been wanting to try Ricky Tim's design, but haven't bought the book. So, when I read this, the few directions given seemed easy enough, especially with the pictures provided, that I decided to give it a go. I think we like what we came up with! I think we might've angle the borders differently, but that's just another design opportunity. Thank you, Norma!
This little wallhanging will hang in my sister's office during spring and maybe, summer. lol These are the mini kaleidoscopes that were fashioned from triangle castoffs from a larger kaleidoscope quilt which is under the needle as we speak, being quilted by me. I'm doing the larger one in three sections and then I'll put them together. This one was done in the quilt-as-you-go fashion. The back actually looks as pretty as the front except that I added a hanging sleeve and it sorta messes up the design. But, if anyone wants to see the back, they'll just lift a corner.

Judy and I had an enjoyable evening, once we got past the tax duty. We stayed up until 1 a.m. working on the Convergence top. I got up at 7:30 and started working on the borders. By 10 a.m. the borders were on and I was on my way to Dad's for breakfast.

Here it is, the DWR, finished!

As promised, here's a picture of the DWR. With Rob and April holding it up, it doesn't look very big, but, remember, they're both over 6' tall! lol I didn't measure it, but it fits on the top of my king-size bed. It probably will fit a queen-size bed with a nice bed skirt. I'm not sure the closeup shows the quilting very well, but you can see some of it. I started working on this last year at the Amarillo retreat in June, I think. So, it took less than a year!
This has been a long day. I woke up with a sick headache and it didn't get much better throughout the day. I did get to work, but all I wanted to do was get home to sleep it off. I stopped by to see Dad after work and he was ready to go to town! lol I took him to get his spending money and his lottos. When he feels like getting out of the house, I have to put my little problems aside for a while. Once I got home, though, I slept about 2 hours. My head feels better now. Jim had dinner started when I woke up and that helped a lot.

I think I'll spend the rest of the night working on the binding on the mini kaleidoscopes that will hang in Judy's office this spring. Pictures later..

Happy Birthday to....ME!!

It's been a long week since Easter and now it's my birthday. And, that's no April Fool's joke! lol Let's see...since last week's post, we had Dad in the hospital from Tuesday until Saturday. Guess I jumped the gun when I posted his picture showing how "good" he looked! They admitted him for pneumonia, but ultimately, his problem is gallbladder disease. He does have some stones and they would like to operate, but his primary physician is hoping we can deal with it with the right diet. We'll see...

And, big news! I've finished the DWR!! Okay, still tacking down the bindng to the back, but that's good as done! Even the label is on. I'll post a good picture of the finished quilt as soon as I'm done with the binding.

The second label is one I made for my niece's baby's quilt. Can't remember if I've posted a picture of that one. It's a rail fence block with appliqued baseballs and footballs. We were going to go to OKC for the baby shower this weekend, but we need to stay close to Dad, just in case.

I've had a phone call from a cousin this morning, several e-cards from friends and relatives, and a card on my laptop from my husband with a gift certificate to get my nails and a pedicure done! I was surprised! Thanks, honey!

Off to shower to start my birthday day!