Those dang diagonals

  That 4 patch experiment is on the wall ...sort of.  I made a first stab at sewing a few rows together.  Those dang diagonals are enough to make me crazy.  It does require my  strict attention to keep things oriented correctly.
  I am taking the block units off the wall--stacked in order---and direct to the machine. 

  You can see I over sized the setting triangles.  I would rather trim to size when all rows are together.

  I had several emails asking for a pattern.....I will put together a brief pattern with details about what I did for this.  Give me a few days.

  Now for the health update.  The evaluation went better than expected.  The results not so much.  Right now it is a ruling out  of things rather than firm diagnosis.  But the initial results indicate erosive osteoarthritis in the hands......rare inflammatory condition with little treatment except OTC for pain.  This is a whammy I did not expect and am not even trying to react because it will only make me cry.  Instead I am returning to the sewing room.  I will be back in a day or two.
Happy stitching. 

Not quite a Blooming 9 patch

  I found parts for a Blooming 9 patch that was started about 4 years ago.  Once i put them up on the design wall, I knew it was more than I could tackle.  The size of the top with 8 or 9 fabrics would be far too large and too heavy for me to try to quilt on the Tiara.  I may pass them on to someone else or just do a basic 9 patch.  For now they are in a box.

    Instead I thought what about trying this technique as a 4 patch and in a smaller size strip.  So, a little figuring and cutting and I determined I could come up with a small wall hanging at least.  I pulled 5 fabrics and played around with the idea.

  I laid a section out on a display board to see what was happening.   It is not easy to determine how things will play together until the blocks are made.   I was mainly working with a stash of strips I had already cut at 2''. 
   I thought my center fabric on the right was dark enough, but once things were laid out....I was wrong.   I thought the contrast  was too "mushy" rather than blending.  Luckily it is only a few blocks to remake.

  I had extra strips cut that I had not used, so I pulled the darkest piece to replace the original center fabric.  Now this is only 4 fabrics.....the center and the outer fabric being the same.    I like the second arrangement better.   I think I like the strong contrast this time.    So for now, I will work on getting this assembled.  It is one of those on point designs I hate to sew together.....another good reason to keep it on the small side. 









  And a new mystery project from Carole at From my Carolina Home.  She just posted the second clue.    She included a tutorial in this clue for a different way to make some 2 patch units.  Her first post talks about the fabric selection and sizes and she has a good chart for every size project to make from this.  So, check out The Twist!  I haven't started yet, but I plan on making a smaller project from this mystery.
  Happy stitching.

A pair of wall hangings

  A pair of small wall hangings kept me busy over the weekend. 
  The first was simple and plain until I added the trio of butterflies. I found a few of these ready to fuse in place.  Some matching thread to zig zag down the edges and I was happy with the results.  With the warmer days right now, I long for spring.
   The binding on this one was leftovers I found in the scrap bin.  Both were the  flange binding but I simply joined them and pretended it was the same all around. 









 
    I also took a close up photo of the corner.  I get a lot of questions about my fabrics and  where I find them.  I have an assortment going back 20-25 years so don't expect to simply buy a couple of fat quarters for these projects.   You can see the fabrics are an mix of size prints, as well as different values.  A large scrap of fabric can yield a lot of 2'' squares, so you don't need much really.    So study this photo and hopefully that will help.



  The second one is part of the pre-printed panel I bought last fall.  The little bit of watercolor blending in the border is just fun for me.  It would be a good way to try your hand at this. 
  I just worked in one upper and one lower corner to frame the design.  A neutral tonal floral finishes off the border. 
   You can see I also added a few more butterflies....I just could not resist. 










   And I found space to work in a few feather motifs  for the quilting.  It has been quite a while since I tried feathers, I was glad to see I still had the touch for them.  The rest of the quilting was curls and loops.










  A nice pair for spring.
Happy stitching. 

Valentine's Day

  Dropping in to say Happy Valentine's Day!  Sharing a favorite wall hanging from 2013.

   And to let everyone know I am still hanging on.  It has just been a painful month.  Some days I have trouble holding a coffee cup.   When the weather goes thru such drastic changes in 7 days, it plays havoc on my body.  It was 70 degrees on a Tuesday,  On Thursday the rains began and stayed until we had over 6 inches of of runoff forming rivers in the yard and streets...etc.  Winds and tornadoes happened on Friday.  And Saturday we turned cold and.......... and snow happened.    Don't you love my Metalbird  on the post?  It was a Christmas present!




   That was last week, which leads to this week and more rain....lots of it.  On the good/better days I try to get to the sewing room for an hour or so.  It has taken a while but I managed to get those pre-printed place mats done.

   Today I hope to work on an older small water color wall hanging that I found in a box of blocks.  I think I must have used it for classes at one time.





  So one final wish, and hug for a sweet Valentine's Day.
This candle mat was made several years ago from scraps and parts.  I love mixing the variety of red prints.

  Happy stitching.