Quilts

WIP–An Oldie, But Goodie

August 27, 2013August 28, 2013 Elizabeth E.9 Comments

I made this for my youngest son’s college freshman dorm bed when he went off to school, lo these many years ago (now he’s married, has a job and is getting his masters). I got this far, and he kinda said he wasn’t really happy with it, and could he have something else? So I made him something else, and this has sat for years in the back of the closet. Today was the day to do something, after so many of you wrote so many encouraging things back to me.

It was helped when I folded back the panel on the right to make it more symmetrical. It’s still such a 1990s quilt, though, isn’t it? but I do love the Hunter’s Star pattern.

And wrapped up in the wad of fabrics that I’d stuffed in the cupboard, lo those many years ago, were the outer borders, already cut. I wasn’t going to second-guess my 1990s mind, but I did add the inner yellow border, made up of different yellows in the quilt (and yes, I still have some of those in the stash, too).

So, now it’s off to the quilter’s–my first quilt to go there in probably four months? It was good to see her again, and to hand it over.

I also was delighted to receive my “hang it dang it” quilt rods. It’s basically an aluminum tube which you pull out to the width of your quilt (they have three different sizes), twist the rods to anchor them to that size, then snap the clasp on the center. They have a magnetic clasp and a plastic clasp. I bought one of each, but really, the plastic clasp works fine (and is cheaper). They even have a video to show you how. One nail and your quilt is hanging up, invisibly. No rods show, nothing.

Dot, one of the commenters the other day, in response to my “doldrums” post, referenced me to a carton by Grant Snider, done for Red Lemon Club, a site that caters to the creative type. I spent some time there, reading articles, re-learning about what it means to be a creative person.

Other wise insights that were mentioned:

I think we all find ourselves feeling that way from time to time. It’s called overwhelmed. Something has to go, and it’s usually our hobby time. I find if I don’t sew for a few days I get cranky.
Creative ebbs and flows and sometimes over flows, you’ll get back into the zone soon. In the meantime, follow your bliss, not your list.
It really is hard to find the time to do it all.

So it was nice today to do a little. Cut a few strips. Resurrect an oldie-mouldie and move it to a different place, feel some cloth.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, and WOW at Esther’s Blog.

Quilts

Amish With a Twist 2–progress

July 31, 2013April 27, 2014 Elizabeth E.10 Comments

Today I’m all caught up with my Amish With A Twist-2 Block of the Month program with the completion of these four, plus the components shown below.

I think these will eventually become part of the center star.

I’d be lost without my color sample cards–I snip off a bit of selvage and write the name on it (and underneath) along with the color number. It REALLY helps.

I also cut each block’s pieces all at once, then store them inside the pattern, all folded up for when I can get to the sewing. Done in parts, this quilt will be manageable, I think.

4-in-art_3

Check back tomorrow for our Four-in-Art Challenge Art Quilt Reveal! I’m pretty excited about it, having seen bits and pieces of my fellow quilters’ works. In addition, if you are a Schnibbles fan, Sherri and Sinta will have our newest Schnibbles on display, plus let us know what the next quilt will be. (Here’s mine!)

But today, I’m linking up to Lee’s Freshly Pieced for Works In Progress Wednesday.

Quilts

WIP–Bee Blocks (post revised)

June 26, 2013June 26, 2013 Elizabeth E.10 Comments

UPDATE: I’ve revised this post, because this morning I realized that TODAY is Wednesday, not yesterday (when I’d originally written it: we’re a little foggy on life over here), so today I am linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

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I joined a new bee (newby! newby!). I am honored to be included in the Always Bee Learning bee, and the first block’s fabrics have arrived to be sewn (they have different rules than the Mid-Century Modern bee). But Linda’s blocks for the MCM bee still hadn’t been made, and I like to honor my deadlines.

So I gimped down to the sewing room, pulled out a drawer and put a pillow on it for the left foot, got out my portable iron and pad and put it on the table on the right. I figured it was good to be sewing as long as I wasn’t putting any weight on the foot, right? (I’m really hoping that MY idea of “partial weight-bearing” agrees with the doctor’s).

But had to stand for a few minutes on my right leg while I cut the strips, then I sat and sewed. And twisted to iron, but finished up one block before dinner.

After dinner I finished the other one (normally we only do one, but everyone else was doing two and I didn’t want to be a slacker); I packaged it to mail tomorrow, hopefully making it to Florida by July 1st. That small block in the front? We do signature blocks with our Mid-Century Modern (MCM) bee.

This is what Linda is doing with them: using them to border another set of blocks from another bee. She says she’s stuck about what to do in the corner–maybe a rounded version of the stack?–so if you have any ideas, head over to her blog and leave her a comment. It’s always interesting to see our bee blocks being used. Another quilter in this bee finished up her quilt (scroll down to the Mid-Century Modern quilt in neutral fabrics); I hope when it’s my turn I can be as successful.

As I lay in bed yesterday, I did make a button for that new bee:

At least I can be somewhat productive when I lay around here.

What else am I working on? Well, another July 1st deadline is for this month’s Schnibbles quilt. My husband brought up a camp chair (small chair we use when we go camping) and I could slide it in the cubby hole of my sewing desk, and yes, I did get some of that top quilted last night. While I can only quilt for a short while, it feels good to be productive and to see a quilt take shape.

hanging Kaleidoscope Quilt

Thanks, all, for your nice comments about Kaleidoscope (in previous post). My husband hung it up in the hallway this morning. It brings a smile to my face as I slowly make my way up the stairs. Here it is again:

Final thought: Happy Birthday, Rhonda! You are an inspiration, always.

Quilts

First WIP Post of Summer 2013

June 5, 2013 Elizabeth E.4 Comments

It’s the first post of summer–the first Works In Progress post, thanks to Lee, of Freshly Pieced.

I put together the sections for the Schnibbles block, trimming it up as the pattern recommended (we’re doing Dulcina this month–see Sherri’s blog for more info).

Whoa! Big Shrinkage. (The trimmed up squares are on the right.) If I make this quilt in the future, I’ll try to figure out the dimensions so that the trimmed up block doesn’t lose an inch in each direction.

Final center section, all sewn together. Now the borders. Because I have so much going on in the quilt, I’m looking to build some quieter borders than are shown in the design. But I’m putting this aside for now, to tackle my Big Project: Quilting the English Paper Pieced Quilt: