EPP · Four-in-Art · WIP

This and That for a WIP Wednesday

WIP new button

Many thanks to Lee of Freshly Pieced Fabrics for hosting all of us quilters on WIP Wednesday.

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Picked up this pattern at the Glendale Quilt Show and slid in one more project before my Spring Break ended.  I love the vinyl see-through fronts, so I can find those scissors. . . or spool of thread.  I’ve already packed up one with a hand-sewing project.

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The project is a little bird pincushion made of felted wool fabrics.  Now to find some movie-watching time to work on it.

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What else am I working on?  Our next Four-in-Art reveal is about a month away, and we had to move the deadline because some of us were panicking.  I resolve to not panic anymore.  (Which involves getting stuff done early.)

California Christmas Tree

I’m teaching a class for a local quilt shop (if peeps sign up. . .) and while it’s based on the idea of large globular shapes in a roughly floral design, I didn’t want to copy Kim McLean’s fine work.

originalLolly

So I pulled up the original quilt from the 1880’s, and tried to combine elements that had that funky vibe.  I just finished it, and after I order some kind of Kona red (do you know how many reds there are in the Kona fabric rainbow?), I’ll start constructing a vaguely Christmasy-Hollandish wall hanging for my sample in blues and greens on a red background.

Bit of EPP

I’m also working on this one — in my mind.  The quilt top is pinned to its backing and laying over the chair in our living room while my subconscious mind figures out a way to quilt it.

I’m trying to be patient.  Lollypop Trees isn’t even pinned to a backing yet as my subconscious can only handle one quilt at a time.  There are many other ideas working their way forward, but that’s enough for today, I think.  Click *here* to head back over to Freshly Pieced and see other fabulous Works-in-Progress.

Quilts · WIP

Another Sashless Quilt

ChainPiecing

Starting another sashless quilt, based on what I did in the Sunshine and Shadow Quilt Tutorial.  But this one’s for my newest grandson Chris, adopted into our family this past December.  Chris is eleven, so a “baby” quilt just won’t do, but every grandchild has a quilt from me, and soon he will too.

Sashless Quilt in pieces

In pieces, on the pin wall.  Having a pin wall is a real luxury, I think.  Short of a stiff breeze, all the pieces stick there until I’m ready to sew it together (tomorrow).

Sashless Quilt Marker

The rows are marked.  My Spring Break is half over and I still have a few things to get done, as Robert Frost noted:  “And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.

Another late WIP post, but if you get a chance, head back over to Lee’s Freshly Pieced blog and see what unfinished projects others are working on, plus the beautiful blocks that Lee’s crafting.

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Quilts

More Projects?? Must Be Spring

What is it about spring that makes us open up our windows, welcome the sun and add more projects to our already stacked lists?  I played hooky from my stacks of grading by heading down to Sewing Party in Orange County and breathing in the delicious fragrance of a new quilt shop.  Well, new-to-me.  (Bet you thought I was going to say wildflowers, or something.)

Screen Shot 2013-03-13 at 10.32.58 PMIt’s in a business park, so look for the sign.

One of my Instagram pals had mentioned the Sewing Party quilt shop in her comments, then followed up with an email; I was interested in a class they were offering: The Bostonian Bag, which is really a small satchel with some flair.  Sewing Party is a modern-oriented store, with lots of favorites, plus some Kaffe, Kokka, Moda, and others.

SewingParty Purchases

I indulged in a couple of pieces, plus a few bits from the Comma line of fabric–all good basics.

Bostonian Bag Kit

Cecile (the owner) really knows the way to a sewer’s heart: this is the kit for the Bostonian Bag all in its little bag.  Very slick.

Daisy Chain canvas

She made an exception for me and let me choose the fabric I wanted for my satchel.  This Prints Charming canvas print (see selvage below) caught my eye, and she coordinated the stripe for me for other bits and pieces of this bag.  She has the vision.

diasychain selvage

Love the spelling.  (Kind of reminds me of the stack of Fiction Tests I just graded.)

EPP quilt angle shot

What else am I working on?  Well, I finished sewing all the moving pieces of my English Paper Pieced quilt together, and have one more border to add before I’ll show it off here.

Moon

I do believe this is the latest I’ve ever posted on WIP Wednesday over a Lee’s Freshly Pieced blog.  Here’s a shot of our spring Daylight-Saving-Time moon to prove how late it is.

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Quilts · WIP

Lollypop Tree Top Finished

LollypopTree Top Finished

Rhonda and I started talking about this about three years ago, thinking we’d do it together.  We’d both admired it, yet were daunted by all the work.  Yep, it was a lot of work, but I’m happy to say that I’ve finished the top and ready to start obsessing thinking about the backing and how to quilt this thing.

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So I guess you could say my work in progress is ongoing, but I prefer to think of the next phase as different quilt; while in actuality it is the same, I think I’d prefer to swivel around in my chair while I’m grading, gaze at this draped in all its glory on my pinwall, and just enjoy a completed top for a while.

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I’m linking up to Lee’s Freshly Pieced Work in Progress Wednesday, guest-hosted by Claire.  She has a wild shot of a quilt by an airport control tower that’s worth seeing.  Great commentary, too.

But — hallelujah! — tomorrow I’ll have a picture of my first March finish. See you then.