On my own

    I am on my own for a week or so.  It actually feels strange.  Up at 5:30 am to see Sir Old Man off, I napped a lot during the day.

  Sir Old Man landed safely last night.  This is out the window at 11 pm.  Snow, big mountains, still daylight......where is he?






  He had the opportunity to join a mission group from church.  Well, actually, I saw the notice and nagged until he went to the information meeting.    LOL.....it was meant to be. 
 






   This should give it away.   He is in Fairbanks, Alaska.  The team will be doing maintenance and repair of the buildings, and such at Camp Li- Wa. 
   For him, it is full circle as the Camp is now affiliated with the mission at Victory Camp.  His parents served as missionaries in Alaska--he was 6 weeks old when they moved up---- and helped clear the land and build the first buildings at Victory Camp. 





      So I get to "retreat" here at home....on my own.  I caught Bonnie's quilt cam over the weekend and thought the tulip blocks were so cute.  I like the idea of a small wall hanging or table runner, so I am working on a few to see how it goes.  I am not organized enough to use these as a leader/ender......too many small units to get mixed up.  I will say that if I wanted a quilt of them, I would be making larger blocks.  These are 6 1/2'' unfinished.   I think Pat Sloan showed the same pattern in a larger size recently.  Larger is easier on my fingers. 

  Weather finally cleared....and turned into summer.  I mean 90 degrees in May?   But it stopped raining and we had a couple of nicer days.  So I took a couple shots of the Jewel Box Star outside. 

   I have a couple of movies lined up on Prime, the Featherweight to get set up, meals in the freezer or a salad,  and I will be ready to stitch thru the week. 
Happy stitching. 

Jewel Box Star

   The binding is finally on the Jewel Box Star.   This one began in  July 2018,  as the annual leader and ender project from Bonnie Hunter.  

   I used all floral fabrics for the block pattern.  I had to plan that out before I really began.  Since then I have been working on the units and sections between other things, until I had a small size top. 

  I really don't need another large bed quilt, so a smaller throw size was made.





 I knew I wanted a nice applique border on this to carry the flower theme out to the border.  The center would be busy enough and a "quieter" border sounded good. 

   I added applique vines and flowers to opposing corners of the top.   I wasn't really thinking about the quilting when I decided to do that.  I just liked the visual effect.

   The center of the quilt was quilted with a medium meander stitch.  For the  solid border I wanted quilting that would show texture and stand out.  I debated on several ideas, but found the perfect solution in my quilting motif notebook.  It's called leaf meander and worked just right. 

   I used a flange binding here too.  I repeated the inner border fabric for the flange, and used all floral prints for the visible part of the binding.  I think I stitched 5 different ones together for this. 

  While the open areas of the border were easy to fill in with the leaves, around the applique took a bit of time and patience.  The inner section around the applique was densely quilted with pebbling and small stippling, and the outer areas with the leaf motif. 

 
   Another great fabric for the back.  Also purchased from the QuiltedTwins website.  It was listed as a tan but had a distinct greenish tint....I thought it was more a pale sage with a tonal print design of swirls and blooms. 

















 
   And this leader/ender project is done. 


   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. 

Border progression

  The leader and ender project from Bonnie Hunter this year has been the Jewel Box Stars.  I decided to use floral fabrics for the blocks and have enjoyed watching them come together into a very flowery show.   I did not want a  large quilt so I stopped and joined them into a small top.    And now, the blocks are together and it is border time.

  My plan had been to use a 4 patch border on point around it.....but yuck!  I found it so distracting that I did not even take a photo.  But I wanted a enough border for soft quilting.  So here, you can see the progression my thinking took.

    I started with a plain wide border .
 I cut a mottled beige/tan into 6'' widths.
 A little too plain and sort of looks just as it is ---an add on.
    On to the next idea.

 

   I found a dusty rose tone with a gray paisley design in the closet.  I liked the rose tone and it blended well with the blocks.  I cut 1 12/'' strip here and put it between the wide border and the center blocks.
  I like the separation to stop the design.  It also helps define why I want more border.   Alas, it also is sort of lacking.  It needs help.








   So I spent a little while making some vine/stems, and applique shapes from different scraps.  The stem has the backing paper on it still from the fusible, so it doesn't lay nicely.  And I only put up a few leaves and floral shapes to get the effect.  Sir Old Man wants the vine to extend into the blocks over the inset border strip.  That I can do.

   I will be playing around with this for a while.....getting the parts cut, and the borders attached to the quilt blocks.  I think it will be what I want.
Happy stitching:)

One thing leads to another

   It's been slow around here....or I have been moving slow.  We are still having summer temps, as the predicted front never made it this far south and moved north of us.  So no fall inspiration has appeared on my porch yet :)     
                 
  I am still getting thru and sorting strips and strings.  I found another bin tucked under something else.   I decided to just piece up some colorway units.  I cut up some  4'' by 8 1/2'' foundations to cover.  Only one orange unit out of the whole bunch.....guess you can guess I don't use that color a lot. 
   I am not sure how I will use them.  I have a couple of ideas but no true direction.   I still have more to put together.  That will fill up spare moments.








   On the design wall is this year's Leader and Ender project....Jewel Box Star.
    I pressed up the units that I had stacked up over the last week or so.  The pattern is now beginning to emerge.
I matched up some more sets and realized I needed a lot more of the 4 patch units.  I have twice as many of the large HSTs. 




   So that meant digging thru the florals for short strips to sew together.  That was easy, I am just exaggerating the ordeal.  Sewing them together was easy too......zip, zip.   Once they were pressed they need to be cut into segments for the 4 patch unit.  Only.....the corner broke off my slotted ruler. 

  I use this ruler a lot....June Tailor Shape Cut slotted Ruler.    I mean all the time.  For me it is a 2 reason thing.....it is less wear and tear on my wrist that I use to hold the ruler in place, and it gives me consistent cuts.   Once I line up the fabrics....here they are slightly overlapped...I can make the cuts quickly and easily. 
   But luckily the J Store sent me coupons in the mail that morning, so I did a bit of shopping online.  And waited for delivery.  And waited for delivery......the batting came in 3 days.  And I waited for the ruler delivery. 

  Now you can see why I sewed up a bunch of strips and strings.  Before I get comments and questions.....I had checked around town and was unable to find a store with this particular ruler in stock.  Everyone could order it for me, but no one stocked it at this time.  No I did not want the fringe slot ruler, or the one with 1/4'' slots.  I waited for delivery. 
   I know I could have probably finished the quilt by this time, but the ruler came and I got to make my cuts.  It was stubborn, bull-headedness  on my part, but the cuts are made.  I now have a stack of 4 patch units to sew together.

   I finished up at the dentist.....three visits in 3 weeks is enough for a long while.  Only have an eye exam this week and I will be done with the doctor visits for a couple of months I think.   I am looking forward to some inspiration and motivation when cooler weather decides to drop in for a while. 
Until then.....happy stitching.                                   

New leader and ender

   New leader and ender project was announced by the Scrap Queen, a la Bonnie Hunter.  She based it on an antique quilt she discovered .  It is called Jewel Box Stars.     Link is to her PDF.

   I have made a couple of jewel box quilts, and like the block a lot, so I have begun setting up a basket for  my leader and enders.  A small basket that can sit by my machine for the pieces, and a larger basket for finished units.
   Guess  you can see....my fabric selections are not  just anything, but floral scraps.  I saw a version someone shared on FB on the forum  that was done in florals.  I was hooked from that point on.

  The whole point of a leader/ender project  is to work on it between other things.  By breaking down the block into units---like HSTs and 4 patches---- you can stitch one or two up at the end of a row of blocks that you are joining  for a top.  The aim to keep a unit under the needle at all times rather than cut thread and move on to the next row, etc. 
Example would be between my string blocks I would join 2 strips that will be cut into 2 patches for my 4 patch units.  Do another string block, stitch a pair of HSTs to make a unit, then another string block, and so on.   It does require some planning and matching of fabrics for pairs.....go busy work while watching TV.  Or just as a change of pace when you have a few minutes before dinner. 

 This is one of my favorite leader and ender projects.   Charming Bricks, the larger wall hanging, was done as a leader and ender in 2015.  It is based on a pattern published in 2007 in McCall's Quilting.  Here's the post with details. 

  I also did a full size gifted quilt, and a door banner using the same technique/idea of the bricks. 
  So periodically, you can expect me to rave on about the L/E units as they begin to accumulate.  I won't be over-achieving on this one but rather electing to enjoy the progress. 
Happy stitching.