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. 

Chandelier Beads done

  Bound, labeled and done!  I promised photos when it was a better day for photos.   Yesterday was just a perfect day that is except for the pollen.  I think it is twice as high as usual everywhere.  So just ignore any yellow haze on things for now.

  Chandelier Beads is a small throw quilt for the back of the sofa.  It is just 56'' square.  The block is and uneven 9 patch block that I adapted for this.  It is set on point.  I kept the beads colorful. More  tonal fabrics were used than prints, although I did throw in a couple of those too.  The background was kept light, but not all white.  I threw in beige and cream  too.

  After a quick wash and dry, it crinkled up nicely.  Nice and cuddly, and the quilting just seemed to pop.  Free motion swirls throughout the background areas, and those butterfly wings in the border.

  And now, I can call this one done.
And move on to the Jewel Box Stars for quilting.    A floral quilt for spring quilting.

  I did play a bit in the sewing room, but nothing to show.  I ended up in the kitchen putting a couple of freezer meals together for this next week as it is full of doctor's visits.  I am not sure why they all seem to come together in one week and bog me down.  It happens too often. 
Happy stitching.

Scrappy Trips anyone?

  It is always nice to get email from followers.  And even better when they share their version of a project that I inspired.  Just this morning I had an email from Nancy with a photo of her version of my "Tripping' thru the Flowers"----the one I use as a banner photo. 

Made by Nancy and shared at Stitchin'  Therapy

  Nancy said she has just recently retired and got going on this.  Didn't it turn out great?  I love her border fabric and how it just pulls the blues out of the center.  Just fabulous and exciting design.  I like her very clever borders too.  Thanks, Nancy, for sharing your finish with us.  

  

   My post with details for Trippin' thru the Flowers is here.    Links to the original source, Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville, and some details about my version.  

   It's a rainy day here, so no photos from my finish yet.  I plan on making a label today at least.  Yet viewing Nancy's quilt inspires me to play a bit with floral fabrics......wonder what trouble I can get into?

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. 

March Round 2

  I mentioned fabric browsing and giving in and buying.  I really liked this paisley print I saw online at the J store site.  I envisioned it as rich pillowcases!  Not my usual but I thought a nice set would update the bedroom look.  We have queen size pillows and those regular cases are just enough too small that I usually remake pillow cases that come with a set of sheets.  And a good cotton fabric gets so soft for snoozing.  

   I got the fabric cut and set to sew last week.  Then spent the weekend pinning my quilt tops.  I had plans to machine quilt a couple of hours each day and work my way thru both tops.  I went ahead and cut up binding even.  Monday morning was still sunny and warm.



  I also started on a set of place mats.  I liked the fabric, it was on big time sale, and would be good for the sun room.  I got 2 sewn, and 2 ready to go.  I will do simple straight line quilting to finish them off.

   On the way to the store for groceries, I noticed how many trees were showing leaves!  And then a couple of hours later, I noticed a headache.  Right over my eye, then behind my eye, I figured it was a sinus headache as the pollen count was rising.


   Tuesday was not very productive as the sinus headache hung on. By that night my face was swelling, and  I could not sleep lying down as the pressure was so bad.  To the doctor asap, and by then my face was showing bruising under the eye.  Major infection, steroids and antibiotics, and on day five I am seeing improvement finally.   The scariest thing was how quickly this infection developed with absolutely no cold or virus before.    My stamina has taken a major hit, and so I am back to working in shorter spurts.  You would think I would quit trying to overdo when I feel good.  Lol.



   But I did manage a bit of sewing therapy yesterday.   I know some people hate string sewing, but it is mindless and relaxing for me.    The bin for floral strings is quite full.  And they are quite small---only 4'' square.  I had a stack of shorter pieces and strips of the foundation shirting I use for string foundations......the largest size I could get out of most of them was 4''.  So that was why the odd/small size is being used.  It is pretty random right now with no design plan.  I figure they can be turned into a small table runner, or wall hanging, or even the base for a tote bag.  For now they are a stop gap for me. 
Happy stitching.   

Missing March

  After a call last night from a friend, I realized I had been missing for  a month.  I found a draft of this post I began the first of the month with just a photo of a test block.  No words, just the block photo.
   I vaguely remember trying to figure out something I saw or that someone asked me about, yet the rest is blank.    I think it was a response to a question after the last post in Feb. about the Scrappy Rails  layout using squares instead of the rectangles.  So, yes, it can be done with the same or similar design effect.



  The winter weather has factored a lot into my energy level, along with pain level.  We went thru almost 3 full weeks of rain, more rain, and then more and a series of low pressure systems that rocked my world.  I had ordered backing fabric for 2 quilt tops to work on this month.  But before they arrived, I had an attack of sciatica nerve inflammation.  That is to say from the small of the back and hip area, over the buttocks, and down the leg.
  One morning I could not even roll out of bed and I was locked into this pain for 2 weeks.  If I found a position I could tolerate, I did not move.  You can guess how little I moved. 
  Let me preface this with some background.  Much like MS, the Pernicious Anemia I have is a demyelinating nerve disease.     Thousands of miles of nerves are sheathed with myelin in our bodies, for protection and aid in conduction of nerve impulses.  Trust me....things go haywire without this protection.
 
   Anyway....I went onto OTC ibuprofen alternating with Tylenol and dug out the physical therapy stretches  for sciatic nerve.  The stretches are simple, and easy, but very painful at first.  Several days passed before I could do more than 2 or 3 at a time.   The weather cleared and I woke up one morning and could walk!
  I can't really say what did the trick, but for the first time in 12 days I walked down the hall to the sewing room!  I took it easy for a few days to be sure I wasn't dreaming, but made plans to get something done this month.   The weather predicted 9 straight days of warmer temps and sunny days.  I could go for that.


    I had 2 quilts to pin and ready for quilting.  So that was my focus for a couple of days.  They are stacked by Hot Legs....soon I hope.
   It was also time to change out a couple of wall hangings for something  little more spring time.  I found this one from 2012, made while participating in an early version of Project Quilting.  I don't remember the challenge, but know this was based on a photo of a Pasque flower I took in Alaska.  The colors make we happy so I hung it in the office for some springtime color.

   I spotted some fabric while browsing on line.....held myself back for a day.  Then gave in and ordered it.  No sooner than it arrived and I cut into it, did the second round of my March  madness happen. 
  And that's a story for the next post.    Because today I need some machine time.  Therapy for me.  Happy stitching.

Scrappy Rails info update

  Just a quick update to the idea I shared yesterday about what I am calling the  Scrappy Rail Fence block and design.  We all know there is little under the sun that is new, and so it proved to be with this idea. 
  Within a few hours of posting Linda at Art in Search blog, sent me a link to info on this.    She had a file from It's a Stitch Quilt Guild from 2016.  They have a challenge each year for their show and provide a pattern sheet called a "Seed Packet" pattern. 
   Click here for the link to the pdf called Cabin Steps.    Scroll down the page to the listing for 2016.  You can then save or print out the pattern.    The only difference I noted is that they used a square for the light rail fence units. 
So now you have options.....buy magazine and pattern, or print the PDF.

  Many thanks to Linda for her sharp eyes to catch  the similar design.  And be sure to check out some of the other patterns provided on the guild's website.  Great to have those PDFs handy.
Happy stitching.