5 years to finish

Well it only took 5 years but I finished my Crowfoot quilt!  Here in the evening sunshine I think you can see the texture created by the handquilting. I love this marvellous texture!

 

 I have to deliver it tomorrow to the park for the outdoor show this weekend.  Last Monday I realized I had just days to finish it. 

 I'd been slowly working on the fill-in parallel lines between the feathers in the border and the outside edge.  Not very exciting to quilt I had left it all for the end.  And then there was binding fabric to find,  make binding, apply and handstitch down.   This quilt is 94 inches square and I "burned the midnight oil" a few nights last week to get it done by Friday.

 We went away for the May long weekend and got home this evening but there was still daylight left for a few outside pictures.

 Maybe too many pictures :0)

 Here it is on our bed where it will go when I get it back from the show next week.

I started quilting it 21 months ago. I am excited to start quilting the next project but it's not quite ready yet. I feel a little lost with nothing to put in my hoop. I will get it ready soon!

Happy Quilting!!

not much new...

It's been awhile since I last posted.  Spring break was in there - always a busy week with the kids.  There has been some stitching happening but not much that's interesting to show.

 My friend and I worked on our Circle Game quilt one morning.  This block was so hard!  The curved inset seams just about did me in.  It is far from perfect but I really like it so I'm just going to use it as is.  I still need to choose a fabric for the center circle.  I'm thinking it should be red  :0)

 I have the first 2 branches of leaves appliqued onto vine panel #12.  I really want to hurry this project along to a finish but with 250 (or so) leaves per panel rushing seems like the wrong word to use - lol!  I have a loose goal of one branch per week.  Steady progress will get it done.

 

 I am getting very close to a finish with handquilting my Crowfoot quilt.  I completed the feathers on the border this week and all that remains now is diagonal line fill in quilting (not as exciting to do as feathers)  I like how the feathers filled in underneath my initials and date.  I wasn't sure how it would look to put feathers only on one side of the stem but I think they frame it nicely.  I've entered it into the outdoor quilt show in late May and it should be done on time.

It snowed all day Monday again this week.  As you can see it is melting fast and I appreciate the signs of spring that are appearing.  Spring comes very slowly where I live - it tries my patience every year.  Happily there is always lots of color to be found on the shelves and table in my sewing room :0)

Happy Quilting!!

progress is progress



I am still working away on the handquilting for my Crowfoot quilt.  I started quilting it in September of 2013.  I was so sure it would be finished by this past Christmas and now I'm wondering if it will be completed by late May in time for the outdoor quilt show.  Oh well, it'll be done when its done!  Last night I started on the 4th and final border.  I decided it was time for my initials and the year.  

 Can you make them out?  " JO  2015 "  I was almost going to quilt them in blue thread so they didn't standout too much and detract from the feathers - lol!  I can hardly see them in white thread so I'm glad I went with white.  While I was drawing the numbers and letters I got out my other quilts with stitched dates and initials.  My daughter walked in to see what I was doing and remarked she had no idea that there were dates stitched into these quilts a couple of which we use all the time in the livingroom  :0)  

I also got the surround pieces on one more of my Circle game blocks.  This was the slightly too big block.  I don't mind that the points got cut off a bit - at least I tried to cut them all off more or less evenly :0)  I am still debating about the circle that's slightly too small...

Happy Quilting!!

last post for a busy December

It's the last day of 2014 - wow!  It's been a very busy but wonderful December.  It looks like I won't manage to reach my goal of 52 posts for this year. Oh well,  it's a good goal to move forward to 2015.

So in amongst all the Christmas celebrating, skiing, skating, sledding, swimming and eating I did manage to do a little sewing :0)

 I've enjoyed quite a lot of handquilting.  I'm nearly done the second border of my Crowfoot quilt.  You can see the fill in diagonal line quilting I decided to use in the pieced border. It is so easy to pull this out when company is over or at the end of the day to relax when I'm tired.

 We were away visiting my husband's family for a couple days.  This was the only portable handwork I had to bring with me.  It was shortly finished and then I had to break out my emergency stitching.

 I have been carrying around this mini charm pack together with a paper hexagon template.  It's been in my EPP tin for a very long time.  I had to trace more papers and cut them out with the little scissors I had with me.  I think they look very cheerful - once assembled maybe I'll make a bag?  I was so glad I had this emergency sewing with me - sitting on the couch with nothing for my hands to do is difficult - lol!

 My DH spoiled me with some new books.  I've been really enjoying California Bound so far.  The applique quilts in it are out of this world!

 I've been thinking about this Love Entwined quilt.  I've been watching the progress of a few quilters online.  The free pattern was going to disappear from Esther's website so I printed it.  I had better put this away for awhile and finish my Bird of Paradise quilt first.  I am stuck on the embroidery again and I haven't worked on it at all.  Do the owls really need eyes? ...

 One goal that I did reach was to have my kids' pajamas sewn by Christmas Eve.  I finished the last pj top with just a few hours to spare - whew!  It's kind of a silly picture but I let them arrange themselves and they were much too excited to pose for another.  It looks like the youngest wanted to be the tallest and the oldest wanted to be the shortest - lol.  They are all very huggable in these :0)

And a little stash enhancement also occurred.  My sister's family was visiting and they wanted to drive to Canmore (about an hour away) to skate on a pond with a gorgeous mountain view.  Little did I know that the Sugar Pine Quilt Shop could also be glimpsed through the trees from the pond.  I snatched a few minutes away from skating to snag these FQ's.  I was caught completely by surprise though - I'd have come home with a bulging bag if I had known and brought my purse :0)

I hope 2015 holds many hours of happy stitching for you all!
Happy Quilting!

current projects

I started a new project.  A smallish one :0)  I like so much the coffee table cover up that I showed here  and decided to make another.  I wanted a lighter one to use in spring and summer.  Now that I've taken this picture - it looks like a Christmas project... Oh well, these are the colors that go with my living room rug.  

 I need to make 50 blocks to completely cover up my "well aged" coffee table. I have 13 made so far.  It's not a terribly creative project but I wanted something fairly simple for this space.

 I couldn't resist joining in Lori's mystery doll quilt quiltalong.  I hardly had to cut any squares for this as I found plenty of variety in my bag of 1.5 inch squares.  I wanted a few hst's like Lori's so I used squares from the 2 inch bag for those.  This is my first mystery quilt. A doll quilt didn't seem like too big of a commitment :0)  And, Lori's quiltalongs are so fun!

I've been really enjoying quilting feathers in the border of my Crowfoot quilt.   I'm making big, loopy feathers so it's going pretty quick.  I'm over 1/4 finished with them already.  This picture shows how they are sprouting out of the corner motif.

I plan to have the feathered vines meet in the middle of the border.  I will switch back to blue thread to fill in the pieced border up to the feathers with diagonal lines and probably on the other side as well.  I bet that part will go slow...  Anyway, I'm making progress and it is so cozy to sit under this as I work in the evenings.

Happy Quilting!

top border

Last night I finished stitching the last leaf onto the top border for my Bird of Paradise quilt.  I thought I would lay it out with the top row of blocks to get an idea of how it will look.  I am keeping them as blocks for now because they are easier to store.

 It's not a mirror image from side to side but I was aiming for balance and not perfection.  I love the borders on the original quilt - that top border is much freer than mine.  I am trying to personalize this quilt while keeping the elements of the original that I like.

 So my plan is to make the bottom border next.  Then maybe I will have to sew the top together so I will know exactly how long to make the side borders.  The original quilt is put together this way.  It's interesting to do things differently sometimes :0)

 I also find it interesting sometimes to draw and quilt my own quilting designs.  This is what I have drawn for the corners of my Crowfoot quilt. I guess its kind of a feathered pineapple.  I tried quilting it with white thread and I am pleased with how the quilting shows up. There is likely still some soap lines making it look whiter in this picture but the soap markings don't last for long.

I spent a bit of time trying to make a more precise drawing but in the end I decided a freer look was okay too. Here are my templates for tracing and the $2.00 coin I am tracing for the center circles.  I just love quilting feathers and look forward with great pleasure to quilting the feathered vine in the border as well.
Happy Quilting!!

border decisions

I always appreciate the cool summer evening breezes where I live.  With the window open behind me I can still comfortably quilt in the evenings :0)  I have finished quilting all the blocks for my Crowfoot quilt.

All the sashing in the center portion of the quilt is done as well.  When I lay it on my bed and look down from above it looks practically finished - lol!

 

However, I still have to quilt the outer sashing around the blocks and the border.  The outer sashing I am quilting the same as all the other sashing.  

 

 I'd kind of like to design something special for the corners.  Something feathered I think - to make that big space look like it's there on purpose :0)

And then I have this stencil I'm considering for the rest.  It's not quite wide enough but maybe with some echo quilting to fill in??  I'm also thinking about using cream colored thread so the quilting shows up more.  The light blue that I used for the center gets completely lost in the busy navy sashing print.   What do you think?  It's always great to bounce ideas off other quilters :0)  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Happy Quilting!!

some handquilting, some circles

I thought I would post some progress of my Crowfoot quilt.  I have made good progress.  Last night I started quilting block #15 of 25.  There are wide borders on this project so I'm probably not even half way yet which is fine with me - many more happy hours ahead quilting on this one :0)

 The fabrics are busy and the quilting doesn't show very well in pictures.  I tried taking pictures in a few different lighting situations.

 What I really love is how the texture of this quilt feels and of course I can't take a picture of that :0)

 I think it will be lovely to sleep under - maybe next winter.

I laid out the first 9 blocks of my Circle Game quilt.  I bought this medium blue for one of the 2 setting fabrics.  Next my friend and I plan to piece these circles into their square setting pieces so we don't have to do them all at the end.  There are 16 blocks in the pattern.

Here is the block we worked on this week.  I think it's one of my favorites. 

 

I get to go on a quilting retreat this weekend.  I'm starting a new project and trying a new technique.  I can't wait!

Happy Quilting!!

 

quilting progress

I thought I would share with you the progress on my handquilting project.  I have 5 blocks quilted and 5 sashing sections as well.  There are 25 blocks in the quilt as well as a wide border so I'll be at this for awhile yet :0)  

 

 Then there's this new project I started yesterday.  This one I can blame entirely on a friend!  We were browsing the LQS a few weeks ago and she picked up this pattern and suggested we should make it together. 

 I've been wanting to make a quilt with round blocks for a long time but felt unsure of whether my sewing skills were up to it.  My friend is unafraid of the challenge these blocks present so together we will work on them.

 As much as I liked the quilt on the pattern - I would need an entirely new stash to make anything like  it so I dug out all my Minick and Simpson fabrics and will use those instead. 

 You can see how different her quilt will be.  We made these together last night.  I picked the easiest block to start :0)

DH and I had a weekend trip to LA planned for this past weekend.  As it turned out Friday was not a good day to fly into LAX.  With a detour to San Diego and a bus ride up to LA we made it just in time for the basketball game that evening for which the trip was planned.  I could not believe the weather.  It was like a beautiful summer day. We saw these beautiful roses as we cycled by the beach.  At home it snowed- nearly a foot.

It was good to enjoy the warmth before heading home to boots and winter coats.

Happy Quilting!!

quilting progress

 This is the quilting design I chose for quilting the blocks for my Crowfoot quilt.  Unbelievably it took 5 evenings of quilting to get this far.  As my kids get older they think they need to stay up later  which then shortens my time to sit and quilt.  I think everyone around here could use more sleep except me - I only need more time to quilt  :0)

 

 Anyway, progress is progress!  I love this quilting design - it is perfect for this block as it misses all the seams.  I also love the Quilters Dream Request batting.  It needles beautifully!

 Here is the stencil I`m thinking of using for the sashing.  I`ve had it forever - even used it once for some free motion quilting in a border.  I won`t be posting a picture of how that turned out - lol.  I think I can mark it with chalk or soap.  I`m not sure how well it will show up with the navy print being a bit busy.  Oh well - it will be fun to quilt and will contrast with the straight lines in the blocks.  Hopefully it is dense enough.

This is the book in which I found the block quilting design.  It`s not a big book but has lots of ideas and lovely quilts in it.  I have an extra copy if anyone is interested. 

Happy Quilting!!

basted and ready to quilt

I had plans to sew this week.  I always overestimate how much I can get done :0)  One project was to piece the backing for my Crowfoot quilt.

 

 Next was to get it basted for handquilting.  I was going to try the Sharon Schamber method or at least use a table but...  I am such a chicken and went with my reliable floor basting method.  This is a large quilt - much larger than any I had thread basted before.  It took 3 long evenings to baste.  Wow, did my knees and elbows pay.  I hope I've learned my lesson and will try something different next time!  

Now though, I look forward to all the happy hours I will spend hand quilting. 

Happy Quilting!!

I finished my Crowfoot quilt top yesterday. It is inspired by a quilt in Betsy Chutchian's book "Gone to Texas" I thought I'd have finished this weeks ago but... summer is very busy!
I had some trouble with my pieced border. I thought I'd done the math right but when they were sewn up the corners were not going to work. I could have just chopped them off - liberated style -but I wasn't going to be happy with them that way. You can see my solution and I am happy with it.

I had to take pictures outside because it's too large to lay out on the floor in my house without moving heavy furniture. Since it was outside, I thought I'd snap a picture of it with my mostly recovered vegetable garden :0)

Here it is draped over the bed. I wonder how long it will be before it's ready to be slept under? I intend to quilt it by hand. Has anyone thread basted a quilt on a hardwood floor before? I'm worried about scratching it up with the needle. Not that I have a scratch-free floor with 4 kids in the house, but I try not to intentionally scratch it.

So now do I get to start something new?? :0)

Happy Quilting!!

WISP and whole cloth quilts

I've been sewing. I'm just working away on the same old projects :0) We went camping last weekend and it rained and rained. It was a good chance to do some stitching on my vine. Still working on panel#3.

I've been making a pieced border for another long term project - my Crowfoot quilt. It's been in the ufo pile for awhile and I was thinking of it for my next handquilting project. Here is the link to the last time I posted about it. http://www.mrssewnsew.blogspot.ca/2010/11/lovely-surprise.html

I'm also still making blocks for the Cheddar Posy quilt for my daughter.

At the quilt show there were 2 lovely wholecloth quilts -beautifully handquilted. They were displayed flat on tables. They were folded so it was difficult to get good pictures of them. I would love to make a wholecloth quilt one day.

Quilt #1

Quilt #2

Happy Quilting!!