Shades of Summer

  We took a quick trip to NC this week to have a day visit with Sir Old Man's cousin.  A wonderful visit and lunch and some slightly cooler temps there.  Di and I talked quilts and machines, and the guys talked.....who know what they talked about.  It was fun. 

   That day motivated me to come back and  finish my last quilt.  It only needed the binding and label attached.   Label was simple and printed on June Taylor fusible fabric.  Leftover floral fabric added for the frame and turned under before stitching to the back.   Before you ask.....yes, even labels are now machine stitched.  The neuropathy in my fingers is not better and holding a needle for more than a stitch or two is a thing of the past.  So I sometimes do this for the label.  Or else I use a corner folded triangle that is stitched on with the binding. 
 


  A closer view of the block and some quilting I used.  The block is the one I call the lattice block.  You can also see the leaf motif I quilted along with the wavy line I stitched thru the diagonal trellis piece.   To tell the truth.....the wavy line is great, looks great, and was easy to stitch.  Unless you are looking closely at the leaf motif, you can't really discern it.  So to anyone wanting to quilt one like this with busy prints, wavy lines are good:)







   I wanted some good outside photos of this one.....but it was to blooming hot.  The air was like a hot blanket, so carrying a quilt around was not much of an option.  I settled for a quick one of it tucked into a tree branch, and then folded and thrown over the chair on the porch.

 
   Inside the tile floor was a cool and inviting spot for a photo. The dimensional effect shows well when the quilt is spread flat.  I just love the overall garden effect. 

  A scrappy binding for the finish and pulls everything together. 









  Shades of Summer finishes up summer of 2019.
Finished size is 60'' by 70''. 

   Weather forecast is for more seasonal temps this next week after 17 days of no rain and mainly highs in the 90s.  A welcome relief and I am looking forward to being outside more. 
  We need to take a quick trip next week to Foam and Fabric  to see about some items for Sir Old Man's latest project....a bench  with upholstered seat.  I have to wander/walk/stroll past lots of cotton bolts to get to that section.  Sounds like a rewarding trip to me :)
Happy stitching. 

My FMQ motif book

Hot here.  Hot temps.   Hot winds.   No hurricane this far inland but I still keep an eye on the events.  Prayers for our coastline and Charleston right now.

  No time like the present to face the latest top ready to quilt.  It is the lattice quilt.  But I was sort of at a loss as to how to quilt it and be happy with it.
  Challenges I saw were  the busy floral prints....nothing much would show,  there isn't something to feature....it's the overall effect, and lastly I don't like heavy dense quilt patterns on large quilt....it makes them too stiff for me.
  I debated on wavy lines flowing thru the diagonals, and almost started on them yesterday.  Then I saw a leaf motif this morning and remembered the meandering leaf vine I used before.


   I went to my FMQ motif book.  No, it isn't really a scrabble game....just the board from an old game.  We bought the "recycled book" a few years ago at a gift market.  The gal used old game boards for the covers of the books, and the inside pages are also recycled paper---nice weight business or office discarded letterhead papers.  Some have printing on them and others are colored, but who cares.






  I use it as a place to record/store/transfer/ and practice free motion motifs.  Here is a leaf cluster I printed off and then taped into the book.  Then I practiced it a bit by drawing on the next page.  This one is going to take more practice to get the hang of it.









  But anyway, I looked back and found the trailing leaf vine motif I remembered.  It works great to quilt on the diagonal thru the lattice blocks. On this quilt I am making the leaves a bit larger and spaced farther apart than I have on other quilts.   

   Ok, well, it looks good in person, even if it doesn't show up too well here.  It is nice to stitch across the diagonal....working from edge to edge like that  allows me to easily stop for a break.  And the bulk of the quilt doesn't end up in my lap but off to the side.


  I jumped the gun a little bit for fall....I pulled out several table runners, and wall hangings.  I am so ready for cooler days that I want to urge the weather to agree with me.  For now they are stacked on the guest bed, waiting for a tumble in the dryer to fluff them before hanging.  That is my weekend plan......along with this quilting.
Happy stitching.

Tails and Bindings

  Yes, yes, I am still here......just been very quiet and struggling with the pain and heat.  Over the weekend, I pulled out tops, batting, and backing fabric for three things.  The two smaller ones have been hanging around for a while and will be donated.

   I uncovered Hot Legs, my Tiara mid-arm.  What a machine!  It has been sitting for at least two months and fired up and stitched just perfectly.    I only had to barely touch the tension when I changed thread cones. 

  Gentle swirls with tails for the quilting on this one.  The pattern is Crossroads from Connie at Freemotion by the River.   Love this pattern, which I have made before.  Note the binding....all ready to attach and wound up on an empty spool. 


 

  Lots of squares and a few random placed wonky stars here.  I used a medium stipple to quilt, except for the little swirl in the star centers.  I have tons of tails to bury on this one.  I know I am out of practice because I kept getting myself stuck in a corner around the stars.  So I had to break thread and find a new position....oh, well.  I found my self-threading needles that I use to hide tails. 

  The last top is pinned and ready to go.  It is the lattice blocks.  I am just not quite sure how I will quilt it.  I will have to pull out my sketch book of FMQ motifs and see what will work best. 
  In the meantime, I have tails to hide, and more binding to stitch together.  Both of these, well, all three really will have scrappy mixed bindings.  Might as well get them all sewn and ready for finishing. 
  We are expecting rains this weekend and some cooler temps for next week.  It has been stifling around this part of the world for the last month.  Wet air that smothers you like a heavy blanket.   Hoping we can slip up to the Apple Farm in NC and grab some early apples next week......I have a taste for some apple bread. 
Happy stitching.

I finally picked a motif.

   For the past few days I have done little....very little in the quilting department.
   
   I managed a short couple of sessions at Hot Legs to quilt on the border of the Jewel Box Star.  I was trying to find a motif for fmq that would carry on the garden/floral theme.  I had a couple in mind, but for some reason  could not settle on one.  So I pulled out my FMQ motif  notebook, flipped it open and .....
there it was...exactly what I needed. 
The Leaf Meander motif is from Handi-Quilter. 

  It is one of their minute motif sessions.  I had printed out the lesson sheet and practiced drawing it a few times on my scribble pad.  When I am satisfied with the practice, I go to my motif notebook and do a page of drawing.
I also make any notes on source, or changes I want to do, or how I see using the design, like border or fill in.  It then becomes a future reference for designs for me to pick to use. 

    I changed up this one from an overall design to a trailing design perfect for a border.  I also do not do an outline stitch around each leaf, but rather use the outline to fill space or travel back to where I want to go. 

     The leaves can be fat and long, or short, or skinny.  I can do them in clumps or singles, twisting in different directions, with pointy ends or not.  As long as the impression is a trail of leaves, it works for me.  Plus this one fills in quickly and is not completely dense. 
   I am about half way around and I am very happy with the overall look.  So I am starting my month with an almost done quilt! 






   My mind has been a jumble of concern for my brother.  The biopsy was delayed and put off until Wednesday.  That gave us a time to catch out breathe, but it also gave him time to think about things.   He was ready to back out completely yesterday,  not a good thing really.  They suspect inflammation of the artery in the temporal lobe of the brain and that is scary.  There is treatment...no cure...but it can be lived with.  So until he gets thru this, I am living anxiously.  I am trying to be calm and trusting,  yet I am aware how short my fuse is right now. 
  Short sessions at the machine seem to help.  Thank you all for the notes and prayers for us.  Happy stitching. 

More FMQ

    I am working on the Jewel Box Star quilt.    This photo is from February when I was playing around with adding applique to the border.  

   The center has been quilted with a simple meander/stipple.  Now to the more intense outlining of the applique.

  Before I began I reviewed the points I picked up from Helen Godden video.

• Since the applique stem and flowers are all connected, just start at one point and follow it all the way around until you have outlined it all.
•   Second, if you have to stop, stop at a natural turn/point rather than in the middle of a long line or curve.  (Easier said than done in reality, but I tried to do that!)
•  When beginning after a stop, get the needle moving before you move your hands/quilt.  This makes the stitching smoother, and without jerks in the line. 
• Remember to breathe. 

  Before I  share this adventure in photos, the quilt police are banished.  No perfection here.  This is reality at its best.   It has been a while since I tried this style FMQ.

  Once I did the outline stitching, I decided to try some pebbling and dense stitching in the areas between the stems and inner border.  I love the effect but this is tough for my old eyes.   So I decided to mix it up a bit.  The next area was smaller stippling.

The outline stitching was good here.  The area was larger, and the closer stippling closely resembles the pebbling.  So why not?

 
   After a couple of hours, the intense concentration has sapped me.   And....I need to figure out what I will do around the rest of the border.  Maybe swirl flower will be a good choice. 






   On a personal note, my bother has a serious health issue arise yesterday.  He is having more test, scans, and doctors to see today.  I ask for healing prayers.  Thank you.
Happy stitching. 

Simple quilting

  Just a quiet week here.  So I am getting a start on some simple FMQ.  I had the leader and ender project already pinned.   I debated back and forth on how I wanted to quilt this one. 
  The center is all done in floral fabrics...meaning not much will show once quilted.  That really influenced me to just use a smaller stipple, and ignoring the darker triangles that create the star.  Of course, you can't see much from this photo, and when finished it won't really show either I suspect.
 

  Even a peek on the back doesn't show much.  I really, really liked this fabric I picked up from Quilted Twins.  They called it tan, but it is more a pale sage color with a faded floral/swirl motif. 
  It was one of the extra wide backings that I ordered a couple of months ago. 
 

  And now I have a duo of watercolor tops for wall hangings.  Some days just playing with the squares calms me, and takes me away to a better place in my mind. 

  The peeling hands are still there, but seem to be calming down.  Soon I hope. 
  And the pollen season is beginning to wind down...thank goodness. 
Happy stitching. 

Catching up once again

   I slipped up again....being too quiet and got a text from Cousin Di to let me know I hadn't been blogging lately.    Since the sinus infection last month, it has been pollen season and the allergies have worn me down.  And now I have developed a skin condition.....peeling, scaly palms and fingers.  Thankfully, it is not painful but very unsightly.  Apparently it is related to severe  seasonal allergies.   Like I need more evidence that my immune system doesn't work normally. 

  Better things.....I watched the Live Podcast done by Helen Godden for Handi-Quilter.  She is absolutely amazing and inspiring. 
  She was stitching on poly/silk scarves from thrift shops and turned them into beautiful wall hangings.  Her "road map" technique intrigued me.  I played around with it on plain cotton....just to get the hang of it.   Begin by drawing large curls  so that each one connects to the previous one, using a wash away marker.  You do not stitch on the mark but on each side....begin on one side of the curl and follow it all the way around the entire design.  It will eventually get you back to where you started. 






No laughing, or pointing fingers now.
   My results were not the most beautiful or anywhere near pretty.....but the technique does work well.  Yet by stitching this trial, I see how important it is to space the curls apart and not bunch them closely.  And it takes practice to control and be consistent in stitching around a drawn line.  That was always a challenge for me. 
  Helen also shared her technique for grid marking for sewing orange peel filler.  Once again I need to practice if I want to do this for real. 


   Moving on.....to something I know I can do. 
I played around with floral squares and some interfacing. Just to use up the abundance of squares, a more graphic interpretation  than I usually do.   Maybe it should be turned 180 degrees before I decide.   I will probably turn this into a small banner at some point. 


  Storms are moving thru the area right now....and heavy rain.  The rain is quite welcome because it should reduce the dreaded orange haze of pollen that covers us all. 
Have a great weekend.  Happy Easter.  Happy stitching. 

FMQ on Bead blocks

 

   Slowly regaining my strength,  it  took me about 5 sessions this past week to get the Chandelier Bead top quilted. 

  I wanted the colors of the "beads"  to be the focus so I decided not to do an overall quilting pattern.  Lots of texture came up with swirls in all the "negative" space around the beads in the block. 

 
   In case you don't remember this block from a few months ago, this is the post and snapshot of the block I worked up in EQ7. 

      The border is in a teal blue tonal pattern.....I switched to medium gray thread so I could see what I was stitching.  I debated on feathers but in the end went with the butterfly wings motif.  It is 3 plumes in a clump and out line stitched to create a group that resembles  a butterfly wing.  Here's a better post and detail on this motif.     It's one I snagged from LuAnn Kessi's blog  and use it often. 







 
   Time to get this one trimmed up and the binding on.  I will get better photos when it is done.  I love the backing fabric....a crackled blue pattern that reminds me of ice.  It shows off the texture  from the quilting well.

    We had a nice weekend weather wise and awoke to cold this morning.  There were threats from the weatherman about snow flurries this morning, but I believe they lied to us.  LOL....what else is new.   This has been the craziest winter to spring season we have had in a long time.   


  More quilting to come as I have the Jewel Box Stars in floral prints ready to go.  That will be my April challenge to myself.  Happy stitching. 

Absence explained

  I have been absent, not away, with too much going on.  And I never did get cookies made.  Things I did accomplish include......a double batch of Chex mix for the nephews and Sir Old Man to munch on, shopping is finished, packages mailed, Christmas notes sent,  side dishes for Christmas dinner assembled and frozen, small amount of stitching, and birthday brunch out.  Yep, I am a year older and almost forgot about it:) 

    Sir Old Man didn't......He decided to make my life even easier and got me a Surface Pro, you know the fancy thing to replace a laptop or a tablet.    So it is learning time for me.  I called our IT friend and he will help us get all the settings right and set up sharing.  And that's all I really know to date. 

  I did catch the HQ live video on it for this month.  Feathers with Jane Hauprich was excellent!   It's an hour video and worth the watching.  She uses the HQ sit-down machine, but her techniques work even for LAs.   I loved being able to sit in my chair, feet up with  the tablet to watch it. 



  And a second video I watched today from Janome.  Anna Maria Horner shared a pattern for her Turn It Up quilt.  Lots of scraps went into this one as well as a good lesson on using value in our quilts.  You know that was right up my alley.  It's very simple, squares and HSTs .  And she offers a PDF to download. 


   My last to share today is from C and T Publishing.  Click here to get the Carolina Chain quilt pattern from Bonnie Hunter.   They are sharing full instructions for the on-point layout.  This photo is one I made with a straight set several years ago. 

  Stitching.....a bit more to do as I assemble the 16 patch blocks into two narrow foot warmers for the bed.  And I finally decided on a quilting motid for the baby quilt.  Now I just need a few hours without interruption or distraction.    Maybe today.......happy stitching.

On Summer's Wings

I got the small topper completed with borders that I shared earlier.  It was easily pinned and ready to quilt.  I originally thought I would use a basic meandering motif on this.










   Yesterday was a good day to spend at Hot Legs, just quilting away.  But....that's not meandering!  The buttery yellow that I used for the center squares just cried for something other than a meander.   So, the muscle memory took over and the plumify-- originally from LuAnn Kessi's blog--- motif emerged.  I really usually call this "butterfly wings".    It just seemed to fit.




  This motif is denser and a great all over design.  Here is a photo of part of the back that really shows how pretty it stitches up.

   Once all the quilting was finished it was time for binding.  I changed directions on that too.  I had plenty of the yellow and intended to use it for the binding.  But on a quick trip to the J store, Sir Old Man spotted this on the 50% off rack and thought I could use it to fussy cut the butterflies!  Ha!  I cut some up into 2'' squares for Monday's workshop and cut strips for binding, and rolled the rest up for later use.   This is a perfect busy print....lots of color, curved lines, light and dark areas.

 And it worked so well with the small topper.   It picked up the wonderful colors in the floral prints....purple, blues, greens, and then the yellow was a great match.   Just meant to finish off this small project.....and to give it a name.

    I named this, On Summer's Wings.
    Finished small topper is 30'' by 23''.  The pattern used is Crossroads from Connie at Freemotion by the River.     Now if the heat/humidity will hold off, we can enjoy a lunch on the patio and enjoy using the table topper!
 
Tomorrow is the workshop  on watercolor.  Got the bags packed and stuff ready to go.   My chore for today is to order a new/current/usable greeting card program for making my quilt labels.
   Windows in their infinite wisdom did a major update and now my program that I used for making my labels will not open. Grrrrrr!!!!   They deemed it ancient I think and removed whatever linking file that was needed for it to function.  My computer expert tried and tried, but to no avail.   I can not open any of the saved files.....next time I will export the saved labels in PDFs so I can have them as reference.  Technology is great, wonderful time saver and on and on.....  It is the fast forward pace that creates havoc in me.  Just when I get it figured out, the big programmer demons in the silicon valley world want to make things better, bigger, smaller, faster, harder, complicated.....   So once I get a new program, it will take a while to learn its workings.  So, labels will have to wait.
 I will stitch instead.  
Happy stitching.

Heading for the edge

  Nothing like approaching the end of the month and realizing you have ignored, and evaded the one goal on the list from last month!!!  The task  was  to quilt the 9 patch quilt that has been sitting patiently for me.  I figured a bit each day and I could finish it up by the end of the week.










  I was zipping about on full cruise control mode, and I could hear a difference in the sound.  And then a tug.  I looked up and noticed the spool of thread was almost empty.  Close enough to the end, to make me head for the edge of the quilt.    I would rather change spools while on the edge that run out of thread in the middle.
  And I figured it was a good time for a break.   I needed to clean the bobbin area, and  to add some oil.  That change in sound is the signal of either lint build up  in the bobbin, or that the thread has slipped out of the tension disk.

  One other thing I worked on this week......I cut strips from the fabric I was gifted over the weekend.   Browns, tans, black and gray with a touch of blue will make a manly color scheme.  It's a bit narrower than I wanted, as I only had about 30 strips.   My florals would not have worked with it.  Florals......ah, maybe I should do one with all those strips I have stashed.

  So I will be quilting for a few more days......probably all weekend.    Actually that sounds like a good plan.  Happy stitching.

The first week of May....

  I have been quiet.  I have been sorting/clearing  things out.  I have done some sewing.  I have done some baking.   I have done some free motion quilting.  I have done some  fabric cutting.   I like reading that list.  It makes me feel I have been productive....especially when I think I haven't.  

  More rail fence blocks sewn.  This one is turning into a very happy feeling quilt.   I debated on playing around with the setting, but I like this just fine.  I don't do a lot of zig-zag settings any more, as that style setting messes up my sensory input and balance.   No chevrons, please.   This is subtle enough I can handle and enjoy it.





I cut more strips to the 6 1/2'' length and sorted them into light, medium light, med to darker, and dark value stacks.   I will sort and pin them into block units and then put them together.  

   I spent a couple of afternoons free motion quilting the water color throw.  I added an extra row of dark floral fabric strips on the outer border area.  It has a better balance now.   I used an all over large swirl for the quilting.   And I love the over all effect of the light flitting across it all.  Now it needs a trim and binding.

   While I was cutting the floral strips for rail fence blocks, I decided to cut  up the extra short lengths into 2 '' squares.  Whoa.....I ended up with a very large box of squares.  Since I am doing another workshop this month, I had planned to use the extra squares for the class packets I give out.    Needless to say, I have more than enough.  So...........I marked a piece of interfacing with some guide lines and designed this small piece with some of the extra squares.  It needs seams sewn......and border, etc. Designing the top is a good tension easing process for me.

  I also did some errands with Sir Old Man.   This time I found the 90'' wide muslin at the J store......but no Heat and Bond Lite at all.   How can brick and mortar stores expect to get my business if they never have regular items in stock.  I hate running around to several stores to find  regular items.  Sir Old Man complains about the same thing at the home improvement places.  So today I hit Amazon for the Heat and Bond....and a couple of other things.

OH....and I added a new page to the blog----Year of Floral Quilts.  So original, but I reference them a lot and figured they deserved their own spot.
Happystitching.

Stitching and delaying

  To continue the email/internet etc saga.  The last service guy came and spent 4 long hours, going over everything.   There is no real explanation for our problems.  He did change up a couple of settings, and  that has helped.  There is a port on the new modem that appears to not work properly..... intermittently.  So another one may be arriving soon.  Still no idea why the browser stops working or hangs up.....other than we have very slow speed in the area.  For now I am online..LOL.



   For entertainment and therapy.....I was quilting on Hot Legs for a bit this morning.  I have had this place mat  of plumes sitting for a good while, and decided to get it quilted and finished.   It is ready for binding.

  I moved on to quilting the rest of the circles quilt.  This is the back side, as the stitching really does not show much on the front.  I am using loose meandering curls in an all over pattern.  The center section is done and I have the border to do.










   I was delaying ....trying to avoid what is hanging on the design wall.  The long/very long strips of the 9 patch blocks.   All 14 rows of them staring down upon me.  Just hanging there, looking pathetic and undone.  It wasn't enough to get them all pressed---nice and crisp, they actually thought I should sew the rows together immediately.

    Please make a note to self:   There is little else more boring than to sew long rows of blocks together.   Good reminder......instead of long boring rows, assemble them into large block units.  They are easier to handle even if the same amount of stitching is required.




  I let lunch divert me after sewing up 6 rows......and I also noticed a charm pack under some papers.    I rarely buy pre-cuts, but I caught this on sale for a good price.   I love the blues and tans in the pack.   Of course, I had nothing in mind for it and let it sit on the shelf.
  Enter this pattern from Moda Bake Shop......with Orange Peel shapes!  So I am thinking I can expand on this basic design and have some fun with this charm pack.    I even have some stash fabrics that will work with this too.  A small quilt or table runner?
  And that has been my anxiety loaded week, and I realize the month is almost done!  I will be out of commission on Tuesday due to an appointment with the eye doctor.  So I need to review the month and see if I hit most of the goals.  That's the plan for the weekend......there's a free weekend marathon for the Mystery Woman movies.    So a few movies and stitching those rows up.
Happy stitching.