Shed decor!

 

 

   Yep, Sir Old Man came thru in time, actually ahead of time for the birthday gift.   Mr. Red Cardinal was painted and sealed from the weather for his permanent location.  

  I tried not to nag or pester him to get it installed.  I was really patient, or at least I pretended to be.  

  The barn sign was added to the newly painted garden shed.  The perfect finishing touch to add a bit of a bright spot to the shed.  I love glancing thru the window of the sun room or the sewing room and seeing the bright red.  Makes me smile.

   No current finish to share, but these are a few of the wall hangings I shared with my Bible study group today.  And spent time telling the stories that went with them.  

  

   

    I also shared this one...Higher Hope. 

I love the jewel tones and how rich the colors become like stained glass in a cathedral.   And it is time to rehang it in the sunroom, as I love the full colors in it during the winter months.  

  
  I put aside the collage piece as I was frustrated with it.  Maybe in a month or two I will try again.  I have the continuing leader and ender blocks to sew and the latest watercolor is pressed.  Enough for now.  Happy stitching.

Seasons changing

 

  The last of the autumn leaves and the first Christmas wreath to go up on the day after Thanksgiving.  That's a good mix.

  The shed turned out very nice after Sir Old Man finished up the painting and trim repair.  I have a request in for a barn quilt sign to hang on the left hand side of the window.  With a birthday and Christmas coming up fast, I hope he can get it made for me. :)

Our weather for the last month has been full of wet and rainy days, and multiple low pressure systems, so my time in the sewing room has been short. 

 

  Instead of cutting or piecing, I used up some squares already cut for a new watercolor design.  A transitional design maybe that is in direct opposite values. 

   I normally could pull this project together in a few days.....ha!  Over the course of a month, I have it to the just sewn and pressed stage.   Such is life now....slower, much slower.      I am hoping to get this and the spool top prepared for quilting soon....very soon.   

  The Easy Breezy blocks are languishing in a project box.  So I may need to work a bit on them as well as the hourglass blocks.   

                                                  

I attempted a collage project after an on line class.  It looks good here.....but those tiny pieces are just fused and there is probably no way to really secure them by machine.   Finishing this one as a fused project, not sewn, just for a test is probably the path I will take.  If I have a wall hanging, I want to be able to wash it at some point.  But I picked up some tips and pointers, so I count it as good.  Collage is fun, but probably too tiny and fussy for me to do much with it.  

  And that has pretty much been my month!  Facing December which starts the round of labs and doctors visits.....fun.  Until later, happy stitching.

Divide and Conquer

  It was last year when I purchased several pre-printed panels.   I made a small wall hanging as a daily reminder to me to have a grateful heart.    It resides on the pantry door and I see it often during the day.









  A couple of months later I put together another small wall hanging to use as a gift.   I used an accent color to frame the main part,  and added butterflies for an accent.
  That left a larger section to divide up or use together.  I knew I wanted to add a narrow frame around the next batch and blend with the 2'' squares of floral fabrics.








    The larger section got cut up after all.  I wanted to frame the two main portions for an added pop of color.  I had just a small bit of this purple for the 1'' border.    I love how it makes the purple in the printed sections stand out.
   I played around with  very irregular/asymmetrical blended sections.  I tried to keep the darkest to the corners so as not to detract from the center.   It worked to create the depth I was hoping for to give a more artsy feel.
  Garden of Praise is a wall hanging that is 33'' by 36''.



Today all were finished!  With the sun out  and no rain drops to spoil the photo taking process, we ventured out to the deck.    I wanted to have a photo comparison of the finished projects.

   
    Those large pre-printed panels can be intimidating.  They have inherently uneven blocks or sections, or the printing may be crooked.  You need coordinating fabrics to blend with the printed sections, and so on.   
   So this series for me became a Divide and Conquer idea.  Even though I used the same watercolor technique to enlarge each portion I cut out---the divide part--I conquered the designs by altering the type of layout.



   The two on the left are symmetrical  with the blended portion moving around the top one, and in the lower one just accented in opposing corners. 

  The two on the right are the ones just finished.  The larger one I discussed all ready.  The small one...is just that a small left over that just didn't fit into the other ones.  I couldn't let it go to waste, so using the leftover bits from the larger one, I made a small table top mat as a Blessing! 

      I still have the insanity during the pandemic quilt to quilt.  My hands and wrists need a few days to rest and recover before I tackle that.

   And one last look at the 4 in the series of divide and conquer.
  Happy stitching. 

Catching up

  Time to catch up.....I know it has been a month since I posted and several emails from readers reminded me to wake up. 
 
  We had a very nice Spring and Sir Old man worked tirelessly in the yard completing projects from my list for him.  We had 2 truck loads of mulch spread over the beds to give them a refresh.  the crew also planted a couple of new trees we got for Earth Day from the power company and Clemson. 
  Sir Old Man finally added the birdhouse he built for the Bluebirds.  And can you believe it is already occupied!  It has been fun to watch them darting in and out or sunning on the roof.  he is inspired now to build another one for the front yard. 
   We spent one Saturday morning adding some edging plants to the back bed.  It was one trip/venture I made away from home....to the garden center nearby to select some herbs and ground covers for the back.  And yea, we ran into a quilting buddy.  Waving to Yvonne!

 
 
   I was working on the insanity during the pandemic quilt last time  I posted.  It is assembled and ready to quilt.  Thanks to Sir Old Man learning to pin a quilt!  Without his help I would not have gotten both of these ready to quilt. 
  The top one is  another wall hanging build around some more pre-printed panel parts.   Small sections  of watercolor florals frame the parts I put together.  Fusing onto interfacing and simple stitching, I can handle right now. 
  Note to self....you are now out of both batting and interfacing.  Need to order both.

 Both of these are smaller so I am hoping I can manage the quilting. 

  We have had over 7 inches of rain in the last week.....stormy days and such.  All add to the aches in the hands and wrists.  So for simple stitching time.....personal therapy session.... I have been doing some scrap  and crumb piecing. 

   I have a small basket of bits and pieces by the machine.  It is easy to grab a pair and build a section like the center part here.  I needed a leader/ender project while stitching the fused floral units for the wall hanging. 
  I decided to use the light print with and rosy vine on it for a constant thru out.  I have quite a bit of the light, which I am sure I was saving for something that will never happen, and this seemed a good time to use it!
   Beyond freely stitching and a light press for now, there is no real plan.  I have about a dozen together , so many more to grow.    I will square them up to a common size on a less painful day. 

    Our world is beginning to open up a bit.  Sir Old Man has been doing all the shopping, and keeping me home.  I am allowed to ride along when he gets gas or goes to the dairy.  There are times you need to see that the world still exists.  I went to the podiatrist last week but had to wait in the car until they could slip me into a room and then right back out.  I was notified that another of my doctors retired......I am assigned to a new one for next month.  Oh, joy....lol. 


   So while I chose to not blame anyone for what has happened, I do recognize the take aways  during this time. 
   Never forget how much freedom means. 
   Never freely give up your rights to be free. 
  Forever and always be thankful that we are free, and live in a wonderful country that lets us be free.     Free to love others, free to be ourselves, free to walk among the world.
   And today we remember those who died for our right to be free.   And once again I share a favorite wall hanging entitled Remembrance. 
  Happy Memorial Day.
  Happy stitching.

Morning Glories!

  Finished small wall hanging that I called Morning Glories.  I am not sure that there are turquoise morning glories but that is what I was reminded of here. 

 The design began as slightly abstract with dark on the side and a band of dark across.  The more I looked at it, I could see a fence post with broken post.  That lead me to adding some applique using these bold flowers in gold and turquoise. 











 Note the applique is fused fabric , cut out and tucked close to each other to create illusion of a vine climbing the post.  All edges are machine stitched with a small zig-zag stitch.

   So morning glories climbing a broken post seems a natural.  I ended up with a light binding...which is not what I wanted, but now it is done. 
  Hung on the office door it offers up a bright spot of Spring in our troubled world. 

    I think I am on my 21st day of house-bound habitation.  Not completely stir-crazy yet, but approaching outer limits of sanity!  After finishing laundry this morning, I am heading for the porch out back to enjoy some sun and fresh air.  Stay safe and stay well.
Happy stitching.

Successful weekend equals 2 tops!

  I got out and enjoyed some sun over our nice weekend.  Yet, I still managed to finish up those rows and join the sections of the blended 4 patch. 

  I had just enough fabric to add a 3'' border around the whole thing to give it a firm finish.  It now looks complete to me. 








  Confession to make......my final layout and sewing arrangement did not exactly match the screenshot on the post for the recipe.    My four patches are rotated in the outer round, but it works anyway!  I sure wasn't going to do any un-sewing. 
   If you are making this one, twist and turn those units until they land the way you like them. 






 

  Since the weather pressure was being kindly to me, Sunday afternoon was another sewing stint.  This time to add a border to a watercolor that I had added some applique to.    Those turquoise flowers enticed me to find a little bit of turquoise that I used as an accent flange around the center.  It's a folded 1'' strip and just barely noticeable.  Yet it makes any turquoise in the center just pop.  The outer strip of the border is a batik that has a touch of blue-ish spots in it.  I actually had to piece portions together to have enough.  Now it needs a good pressing before getting pinned for quilting. 
 
   I caught part of Angela Walters You Tube video session at lunch today.  She sure is down to earth and so inspirational.    You can always see the lesson on her channel.    She answered questions while doing heavy quilting on a pre-printed panel.  I learned a lot in the past from her and her feathers videos are great :)

   Seems the covid-19 has reared its head nearby here in South Carolina.  And the news has the world in a panic.  Best advice is to let common sense prevail.  After years of working in the laboratory and taking classes from CDC, I know the virus will mutate and our bodies will learn to fight off this new pathogen/antigen.  Antibodies develop over time and exposure, not because we get in a panic....not because we over buy mask, and toilet paper or hand santitizer.    This week began with a time change---nope, I did not forget it---- and has a super moon, and ends on Friday the 13th.  Now throw in the virus panic.   Help!   I am better and smarter than superstitions .....I will survive because I sew. 
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. 

With Gratitude

  The last 2 weeks have been a mix of projects and dealing with medications and insurance.    Sir Old Man  hit a point that he needed medication adjustment....emails, office visit, new Rx, discontinued medication, etc.  Then to come up for review for insurance just before the holidays!  Finally we think we have it straightened out but he will return to the doctor for a check in 2 weeks.  This getting older is not for the weak-hearted, or the soft-minded!  You need a thick skin like a tough old bird to reach this stage of life. 
  With the Thanksgiving season nearing, I tried to find the time/make the effort to get thru with my banner.   I got the quilting done and finished the binding this week. 

 
  Such a timely sentiment that needs to be viewed and thought about each day.  I have elected to hang it on the pantry door, as I must pass by it 20 times a day at least. 
  I quilted it with a mix of meandering and some swirls for texture.  I had intended to use straight line quilting, but after 2 rows, I stopped and ripped it out.  It was just not what I wanted. 

    I am grateful that Sir Old Man had a can of New Skin spray----think super glue in a spray can.  I made a nice slice in my thumb when chopping apples.  It was  more a flap of skin type cut and hard to stop the bleeding.  Glued together, and dinner finished and no trip to the ER. 




   I am grateful for my new scissors.....the large handled Kay Buckley ones with the serrated edges.  Believe me they are wonderful.  Relief for my poor hands and wrists.   I actually just order the next smaller size for a Christmas present for me----to save Sir Old Man the shopping trip.  :)   I am sure he will be grateful, too.

  We are not planning any feast, so I am grateful I can cook a few things and not stress over a big meal. 
  I am grateful to be almost finished with the quilting on the seasonal panel quilt.  I am liking how it looks. 
   To my blog friends far and wide, I am grateful to share with you.  I wish you a joyful, thankful day and week fill with fun, food, and family.   Until then, happy stitching. 
 

   

Update! With a miracle thrown in....

   What a roller coaster ride the past few days have been.  My brother has had several more consults, exams, biopsy scheduled, and so on.  Nothing definitive, but general consensus was only biopsy will tell for sure....and it could be musculature.   Then yesterday he got up and said he felt normal.....less pain, and swelling down....what?

  He returned to his first doctor, and they talked about all the consults, and compared all to how he felt then.  Bottom line, he canceled the biopsy and is talking one week of steroids to see if all the swelling disappears.  He promises to be cautious and rush to the ER or doctor if any change happens. 
  We are optimistic and relieved to not have to rush to Florida, and so grateful for healing hands of mercy from above.  A timely miracle, I think, that brings me to my knees.  And very thankful for all the prayers and concern offered. 

  My creative self feels full and lifted....so I am sharing an older project called Awakening I.  This is my form of self expression.  Over on Linda's blog, Art in Search, she shared a wonderful post on reflections. 
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. 

Apple farm trip and an email note

   Cooler temperatures finally settled on us this week.  Not really feeling like fall.....no color at all in the trees, but we have had much lower humidity and nice breezy days.  I pulled out a few seasonal runners and wall quilts for a change from my summer assortment.
    I have been struggling with the neuropathy and so only minor sewing has happened.   I am not sure if the neuropathy in my legs or hands  has any improvement ....things are different.  Especially in the feet and legs, which has greatly affected my balance and standing.

  Anyway, we took a ride up to Apple Valley to the apple orchard.   It is  a beautiful area and the day was perfect for a trip.  We bought up a bushel of Red Rome apples for Fresh Apple Bread, and then selected a few other varieties to share with the neighbors too.    Baking day for the apples begins on this weekend.

  On the way back down the mountain, we stopped in at Foam and Fabric to find some upholstery weight fabric to recover our bar stools.  I only picked up a scrap bag for $4 and a new seam ripper.   I need one with a sharper point to un-pick short seams of sub cuts for a scrappy trips project.

  Scrappy Trips project......I have two bins of assorted strips of 2'' width.  I got tired of string type blocks, so I turned to a "kitchen sink" pattern.  That means anything goes.  No photos as I am in the sorting and grouping stage.  I really need to clear these strips out.  I will continue with the leader and ender---Jewel Box Star---as I work on these.

  In the email in box this morning......A nice note that gave me a lift.
Kathy originally found one of my quilts on Pinterest, and followed to my blog.  She was planning a watercolor wall hanging for her son for his wedding.  Apparently she had already cut squares to 2 1/2'' and began to have challenges as she was developing her design.  She asked for help with sizes, and blending.
   I gave her all the info I could in an email, and referred her to several spots on the blog for more details.  She promised to send photo of her finish.  That was several months ago.

   Today this arrived.

Made by Kathy

Made by Kathy for her son, who is an architect, and his new wife.  She could not find a pattern for this concept, so she designed her own!

 She also use batik fabrics adding a detail in cross stitch. 
Her finished size is 24'' by 36''. 
Viewed from a distance, the glow from the base of the buildings is striking.   I can almost see the specks of light in the buildings as day begins.   She captured the skyline against the sunrise behind the buildings.  I absolutely love it. 
  Great job, Kathy, and thank you for sharing your finished project. 


  A total stranger finds my blog, asks a few questions, and the back and forth dialog begins.  And I have a new person to help and touch.  Little do these folks know just how much they help me, give me purpose, provide me with a reason to stand longer and fight on.   Thank you.
Happy stitching. 

The Unexpected

   Last week I was quilting.....meander quilting....the water color wall hanging.   I had made the blocks for  a class  using the strip pieced method.  Tutorial for this method is  found here.    This type of water color work is strictly dark to light in a block format.  I had at least 3 sets of blocks for this that were left over from demonstrations.








 I had put them together, but goofed.  The top row was sewn on upside down.  It did not look quite right....lol.

  So a little ripping and re-sewing.......add a border  and finish it up. 

     At first I was not happy with the border color I chose.  But the more I worked on it, the better I liked it.
I began to notice how the border color pulled out the odd blues and greens in the floral fabrics.  Overall it softened the effect.   It became the expected.  Exactly, something different than I usually use. 
 










   Then I found the perfect print for the binding....with touches of dark brown on the light turquoise background.  I liked the way it finished off.

  The Unexpected---wall hanging.
  30'' by 36''

 
Happy stitching. 






 

A Little Knot

  I had 6 blocks that did not get put into my large Garlic Knot top.  I thought they would be a good table topper.....A Little Knot.

   Before binding, I was just a little disappointed at how plain it seemed.  I debated on applique in the border or even adding additional borders.  I went ahead an quilted it up and then had the light bulb moment for the binding. 











 A cute flange binding would give this one a pop of extra color and hopefully improve it after all.  So the blue fabric became the flange and a floral print is the outer binding.







   A Little Knot is 18'' by 24''.


Now I am more motivated to get the large Garlic knot pinned and quilted.  I need to piece up some backing.....that always slows me down for some reason. 

  The water color wreath wall hanging is under the needle already.  I have the center section quilted and just need to do up the border. 
Then on to bigger things.

Happy stitching. 

I was ruthless

  I haven't done a lot in the sewing room this week, but I wanted to get some fabric put away that I pulled out of the closet.  You know how that goes probably.  You have to re-arrange things to get it back in, and in the process you find things.  Don't even think about snickering because it could happen to you.

   First find......a water color wall hanging unfinished......and sewn together wrong!  I remember this one.  Oh  yes, from just before I got so sick 2 years ago.  This was from the last strip pieced class I taught.  I brought home the sample parts and made the last few blocks, decided to make a wreath out of this set and then proceeded to sew the last row upside down or something.  Awful!  I must have hung it up on a hanger and put it in the closet.  Then I went downhill from there.

   So I did the unsew thing and put it together correctly.  It needs a border, but it is up on the design  wall  for now.

    Second find.....was about 20  fabric squares for string piecing foundations.  These were 8'', so I am thinking they are leftover from when I made the Faceted Jewels quilts.


I started to just put them back where I found them on the shelf but caught myself.   I was going to have to face them someday.  This lead to another decision.  4---count them four--- bins of strings are too many!
    I just began to cover the foundations until all were done.   I still need to trim and square up half of them.  I can find a use for them down the road.







 Then the ruthless work, make that fun began!  Any idea what I mean?
   I still had strings and bits in 3 bins and I wanted more control, so I began tossing.  Not over my shoulder like Eleanor Burns would do on TV, but into the trash.  All those small bits and ends, all the really ugly fabrics---where do they come from----fabric too frayed to use.  All gone.  I only saved pieces long enough--6'' or more--and fabrics I liked.  There was miles of one fabric and it all went away.

   Now, I feel in control.  One bin for dark colors, and one bin for light values.   I did keep some triangles that work good for the corners.  But the strings are reduced and I feel better for it.
And I am strung out after this.

  Of course, we all know that fabric bunnies will nest in there and reproduce abundantly.  Every quilt or project I complete, creates more strips and strings.  Does it work that way for you too?

What ever you stitch, enjoy it.
Happy stitching.