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.

Wonky Courthouse Steps

 
  Off and on during the last two weeks I worked on joining the multitude of wonky courthouse step  blocks.  From my stack of 80 completed blocks came a top. 
  These wonky blocks  are from Bonnie Hunter's tutorial and I sure enjoyed building them.  The strip widths vary and not all seams are straight like the strings, but they all came together.  . 

   And anything goes here.  Close up you can see the odd mix of fabrics. But the above full view just shows a dancing top full of color.   

I really thought I would eat thru the scraps and strings.....but still more strings lie in wait. 
  I did a stay stitch around the entire top to keep seams from popping and things from stretching.  I now need to find backing, or sew odd bits together or if all else fails....order backing for this.
   This was a perfect project for me ......dealing with the extreme pain in my hands and joints.  Such that the doctor is referring me to a rheumatologist  to see if they can determine another course of treatment.  I agreed but am very doubtful they can help.   Even so this will be my first project for the year. 

  This morning's emails brought a wonderful note from Andrea who blogs in Australia.    I don't follow her but she found my blog and the Chandelier Bead blocks I did posts about .   She was asking to use the block pattern for Friday Night sews for her guild.  She said many of the members make blocks and turn them into charity quilts.    I was thrilled to agree and so glad she even thought to ask.  I am hoping some of these blocks get turned into quilts for the bushfire victims there.  It is just horrific what they are dealing with. 
  Happy stitching.     

A couple of finishes

   Remember the panel quilt I started last month?

   Finished with flange binding in red with black.  I thought it really set off the "stained glass" style border.
  Once I washed it, the quilt softened up and got all nice and cuddly.  It is not large, only 48'' by 58'' but enough for a personal throw.

  The quilted texture shows better here.  I only did a large meander in the center along with some free hand outlining of the main motifs like the barn, deer and some trees.  I added a few swirls in the sky for clouds.  The center section is also outline straight stitched along the first grey border stripe.






 
   In the stain glass sections I used a loop and curl motif, very much like the effect in glass blocks today.
  And that red dot backing.....it got washed twice  in Dawn before I put it on the back for quilting.  I can't tell you how long it has been hidden in the stash closet.   I washed the entire thing when finished with color grabbers.....yea!  No bleed.


Holiday Dreams is complete.






  And what else is lurking around here......a little walk down to the workshop to see if there is anything there. 


  Oh my.....a pair of lovely gifts I see.  Small candle holders for tea light size candles.
Sir Old Man has played around with these, being quite hesitant to attempt them.  The first ones he saw were made of simple pine and only held the plain tea tight, not like these in glass.  He claimed to not be creative.  Like I use to tell my students, don't copy: find your own voice.  It will be fabulous.







   He dug through his scraps of wood, glued some up and cut things out.  Sounds like a quilter's process, doesn't it?
   I ended up ordering the router bit that was large enough to cut the hole to fit the glass tea lights.  And I ordered new scissors for me....win/win!







  Sir Old Man added the final detail all on his own.  I think he found his voice now.  Sanding and rounding over the edges was good, but he went one step further.  He added another pass of a different router bit  to create a foot at the base with this relief edge.







Two finishes make you feel so much better!











  As for the iphone saga......It did require a 4 hour trip to the phone store.  But it was solved with a full re-load of the software! Thumbs up for Apple. 
   No new phone purchase required.  I now have to sort out all the apps I use and get logged back on to them.  I am deleting those unused.  And sorting thru the nightmare maze of passwords.  As for the big provider called ATT....2 surveys filled out with only 1 star review given.  I wrote my saga on both surveys and included details about the less than helpful guy at the store.   All of this frustration over a software glitch.  Technology the bane of our lives. 
I am heading back to the sewing room after this.  I need a breath of fabric and thread.
Happy stitching. 

I met an angel today

  The season has rushed in upon me.  Some things got done, others left undone.  I thought I would be really making a lot of progress but instead I have only been limping along.

  I have been working on putting those crazy wonky courthouse steps blocks together.  They are in rows of 8 right now, with more to come.  I have to admit they really suit my mood and state of mind right now.  Nothing has to match....whether seam or color.....to make these work.

   This morning was a big disaster.  My plans were to bake 2 types of breads and then sew this afternoon.  Simple and pleasing.  Instead I got an alert from ATT that my usage was way, way over the limit.  HUH?

After 3 hours on the phone/chat with someone who lives who knows where, I final got transferred to someone who tried to help.  Another hour, and I was told to visit the store as the phone needed a physical fix.  A trip to the store front and the guy told me I needed a new phone.  He couldn't repair it.  Too many $$ and he walked off.  Believe me they won't like my survey answers.

  So we then headed to the Apple store at the mall.  Picture a completely full parking lot zoo, and suddenly a handicap parking space empties in front of you!  OK, something good here.  Unfortunately, the mall was a mass of bodies and I paniced in the middle of the food court.  By the time I got to the escalator to go down, I was having a total melt down/ panic attack.  Sir Old Man was not in much better shape at that point.
    A gentle soul, surely an angel sent to help us, was suddenly there.  She lead me to the side of the walk, got a chair,  and sent Sir Old Man for a coke.  She talked gently to me until things were under control.  Dallas was her name, and I doubt she will ever know what a magical moment of safety she gave me.  Thank you sweet lady.

  As for me, I am now home and phoneless for now.  Sir Old Man will venture to the Apple store tomorrow for help.