Hugs and Kisses

I am a member of The Quilt Show and every year they have a Block of the Month (BOM) that also includes video lessons. It is great to see how the designer does things.

So back in 2010, Sue Garman designed two! quilts for the BOM: one was pieced and the other was applique. I fell in love with the applique quilt and when the fabric kit was offered, why I just snatched it up.

Since this is a BOM and only one block was released a month, plus the sashings and borders, it took me almost 18 months to hand applique. I was really enjoying the process. I did redesign the border a bit because two flowers in such close proximity reminded me of the pasties a stripper would wear, not that I've ever seen such a thing except in movies, but still. Instead of the second, smaller flower (which I was really tired of making, BTW) at the join of the swags I did a trefoil of leaves.

I researched long arm quilters and went with one I had used before who assured me that she had quilted applique before. My alert button should have gone off, but it was silent. After months of my quilt being in her possession, I got it back. The quilting that she did was beautiful, but there wasn't anything around the applique! She computerized the quilting in the sashing and somewhat in the border, did a bit of free-motion here and there, but nothing, and I mean nothing, in or around the applique. The swags in the border should have had at least one line of quilting through them to keep them from sagging.

I paid her $250 and took it home to study. I knew I would have to finish it myself but my skills weren't to the level needed. Plus, I didn't want to man-handle it under my Bernina sewing machine. So I started to save up for a sit-down quilting machine. THIS is the quilt that made me want to do all my own quilting. If there is a problem, then I only have myself to blame.

I bought my used Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen in 2013 and just started practicing and practicing.

I learned a lot in the ensuing 3 years, not only with the quilting itself, but how to choose the actual quilting design and what thread to use.

And so, here it is! I used a combination of Invisafil thread on top and Superior Bottomline in the bobbin. I am happy with the way it turned out. I would be even happier if my idea of hand trapunto would have worked out, but my hands do not have the strength needed to pull that long needle filled with thick yarn through the tightly woven fabric.

Dissappointed

I just got a quilt back from a long arm quilter and I am disappointed in it, to say the least. This was the Block of the Month in 2010 from The Quilt Show. This quilter only did half the job! I was wondering why it was so cheap and now I know.

Do you see what DIDN'T happen? The appliques were not ditch quilted. In fact, the swags needed a bit of quilting inside of them. I love what she did in the negative spaces but she fell short on the others.

It is fixable and I am going to do it myself on my DMS. I am saddened about this and I even discussed what I wanted for this quilt, but she apparently didn't listen very well. I doubt that I will be using this quilter again.

Hugs and Kisses

. . . is a completed top!

It is on the design wall because I soaked it to remove the glue, plus I thought it would be a good time to block it so it is 'square'.

Whaddya think? Pretty, no?

Is There Enough Thread?

See the spool of thread in the corner? As of this photo, there were still six more groups of three leaves. Will there be enough thread?

Applique

Did you ever have one of THOSE days? I've had several. I didn't realize it at the time I was working on all of those flowers for the Hugs and Kisses quilt, but I did the wrong flower for the sashing cornerstones. I made the small flower instead of the larger one.

But wait! It gets worse!

Forging ahead, I made the larger flower for the border, thinking it would work. I also used the wrong fabric since the border flowers should be dark blue. Ha! look at this photo. I think it looks a bit like staring eyes or boobs, or boobs staring at you. I don't want a whole quilt of this mistake staring at me *smile*. But I also don't want to remove the cornerstone flowers and put the larger ones on and THEN remake the ones for the border.

It's design decision time. What is inherently bothering me about this is the close proximity of the same shape repeated over and over. After playing with several different elements and fabrics, I have decided to add three teardrop shaped leaves (two big one small) that are used elsewhere in the quilt in the bright green fabric. It removes the boob looking thing and also changes the color.

The next time you see this quilt, it will be a completed top ready for quilting. Now the quilting is a whole 'nother thing.

Randomness

1. 04-jan, 2. 02-feb, 3. 03-mar,
4. 04-apr, 5. 05-may, 6. 06-jun,
7. 07-jul, 8. 08-aug, 9. 09-sep,
10. 10-oct, 11. 11-Nov, 12. 12-dec

• Now that Joey's quilt (Double 4-Patch Emergence) is done, I've been working once again on this quilt. What you see here are the completed 12 blocks. All the prep work completed for the rest of the applique pieces. Progress reports will be forthcoming. It has been good to get back to the handwork.

• On the knitting front, what I thought was going to be a sweater turns out to be a coat!!! The clue was in the name of the pattern: Autumn Coat by Oat Couture. Some yarn, Superwash Bulky by Brown Sheep in a colorway called Purple Haze, picked up at a fiber related garage sale several years ago is turning this pattern into a warm coat. For you knitters out there, this is a no-twist yarn and is a dream to work with.

• Dealing with governmental agencies has tied my stomach into knots. 

• Spring is springing 'cause the flickers are back. Photo is lifted from the American Birding Association site. These birds have cost us a lot of money by drilling holes in two different sides of the garage. On one side, they got into the wall and pulled out the insulation. There were pink tufts of insulation all over the yard. Let me tell you how hard that was to pick up. The problem was solved by installing fiber cement siding. Bet their beaks got bent at the first rat-a-tat-tat. But now they have started on the house. Ugh.

Hugs & Kisses December: Ring Around The Roses

Well here is the final month of the Hugs and Kisses BOM. This quilt is not finished by a long shot.

Next on the to-do of this quilt is to do the prep and then applique the twenty roses in the sashing cornerstones.

Hugs & Kisses November: Crossed Roses

How about another block? Sorry about the photo quality, but it IS the shortest day of the year and I had to shoot this photo with two different types of artificial light.

Hugs & Kisses October: The Whig Rose Wreath

I finally finished another of these blocks for the Hugs and Kisses Block of the Month. May I present October's block, The Whig Rose Wreath? This one took me forever to do! Only two more to go; o and the cornerstones and the border are all appliqued too.

Classic Crossed Leaves

Can you stand to see another block from the Hugs and Kisses BOM? Guess what? I'm now caught up. But, o my, you should see the October block I need to work on.

A Christmas Wish

I know I haven't said anything about working on this Gail Pan design but here it is in flimsy form. Originally, it had nine blocks, but I wanted a table topper for the antique chest that is used as a coffee table in my home. To do that, I needed one more block. It wasn't hard to design one more, can you find the additional block*? The hard part was deciding on a word that fit right in with the rest of the blocks. Without any additional borders, this is a perfect size for that chest.

Now to sandwich it and get it quilted -- maybe in time for Christmas? *grin* But if I don't, then that's okay too. It will fit perfectly under the glass that is on top of the chest.

* it is in the lower right hand corner: cheer

Noah's Ark

 

I stitched up Lynette Anderson's Noah's Ark BOM. This one is for me; you need to give yourself a present every now and then. Tanya added a fabulous border so I 'borrowed' her idea. I set my sewing machine on a serpentine stitch that resembled waves then added the walking foot and presto! it's quilted. The backing is an old Jeffery Gutcheon white on tan fabric with stylized waves. One couldn't find a more perfect backing. It is bound and signed and up on my wall. Too cute!

How Very Odd

Recently, I found myself in-between projects. This doesn't happen very often to me.

The basket of leftover sock yarn was empty after knitting up 38 barn-raising squares. Of those 38 squares, one square used two different yarns and another used three different yarns. If you are keeping track, that is 41 different pairs of socks Wowza!

The kit for Quilt Retreat has been cut and packaged in the container just waiting to be sewn.

Yes, there are quilt tops to be sandwiched and then quilted, but not right now. What to do? I felt no obligation or rush to do anything fiber related. I did not feel at loose ends, though, just relaxed. How very odd.

As another load of laundry went into the wash, I realized that there was mending to do. Mending is not my favorite things, but frankly, I was tired of wearing ill-fitting clothes. I had a mission! A pair of sweat pants ended up with a new waistband and was shortened from waist to crotch, two pairs of corduroy pants were taken in at the waist, a bathrobe zip was mended and seams deepened, another bathrobe had crocheted belt loops added, a fleece jacket's collar was restitched onto the jacket body, and a flannel sheet made to fit a 14" pillow top mattress was remade to fit a 9" mattress.

But wait, that's not all! Blocks were prepped for two different block of the month quilts: Noah's Ark by Lynette Anderson and A Christmas Wish by Gail Pan. All the blocks for Noah's Ark have been offered and three of nine blocks on A Christmas Wish are available.

Homemaker stuff was completed. You know, things like laundry, dusting and vacuuming. Croutons and bread crumbs were made from one of those loaves of sourdough party bread. And a peach cobbler was baked and partially consumed.

The in-between projects did not last very long but a lot of other things were accomplished.

Asking a quilter to mend, is like asking
Picasso to paint your garage.

And I cast on for another pair of socks.

Savannah

Savannah is just so large that getting a good photo of it is proving difficult. The black does not help either. Here, you can see it on the bed. It has a nice drop on three of the sides, but in hind sight I wish that there was a spacer so that the top row of blocks was on top of the pillows instead of tucked halfway under them.

A close-up of the outside border beyond the lime diamonds is washed out, but you can really see the quilting. The long arm quilter used a gray thread for quilting and each block is quilted differently, as is the border. Love the tulips in the border.

A Quilter's Dream Select Poly black batt was used although it seems light weight compared to Warm and Natural or the Hobbs 80/20 that I normally like in my quilts. And now, looky here, Connecting Threads sells a Hobbs 80/20 BLACK batt; wish it had been available when this was quilted. *sigh*


So Savannah is on the bed and keeping us warm.

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Finishes

I do believe I have finish number 2 and 3 on the New Year's challenge by Finn.

Finish #2 is a hard one to photograph. Do you remember the quilt in this post? I finished it. Yay! It is quilted and bound and labeled. I don't have a picture of the completed one because it is so big and heavy I am not quite sure how to proceed. It is a king sized quilt that I named "Savannah" because as I was working on the top I was listening to Tommy Bolin's Savannah Woman. Please note that the preceding is two different links. You can listen to Savannah Woman at last.fm. Click on the square button in the "radio" in the upper right corner.

Finish #3 is the Homespun BOM that I've been putting before you for the last year. Pictures? Yep got them. I put the 12" blocks on one side of the quilt and the 6" blocks on the back of the quilt. The same borders are replicated on both sides of the quilt. I just added a very, very large outer border on the back side. Maybe I should count this as finish #3 AND #4. Does that work? *smile*

The large 12" block side I named "Helen" and the other side is "Baby Hannah" so the whole quilt is called "Helen and Baby Hannah". This poor quilt has been quilted twice. The LA quilter made a very massive mistake and had to rip out ALL the quilting and redo it. It did make the edge a bit frayed but I just trimmed it off and made the outer border a bit smaller.

I can't remember when I stated naming my quilts by women's names but it works. I have Lily, Margaret, Polly's Flowers, Frances, Savannah and now Helen and Baby Hannah.

Homespun BOM: Friendship Star

Here is the last block in the series and how apropos is it that it's a Friendship Star? The pattern is from Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache site.

So you now have all twelve blocks. How are you going to set them together? Since I had to present this block and I knew about it way back in July, I have had this made for quite a while.

Soon, I'll show you the complete quilt.

Homespun BOM: Nine-patch

This is such a simple block but what would a sampler quilt be without a nine patch? Once again, the block is from Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache.

Coffee Klatch

Pull up a chair and set down. I'll pour the coffee and set out the sweet rolls. How've you been? Me? I have been very, very busy.

I went to Denver City on Saturday. And guess what? I saw vultures. Circling over the courthouse in my little town. I wonder what that means? And the corn in the fields was higher than the top of your head. Over in that field I saw cows standing belly deep in a pond. And beyond that there were 4 deputy sheriffs on horseback! Not in a parade or at the fair, but over by Platteville where the veggie farms are located. I wonder what they were looking for? The hay has been harvested and all the hay fields are sporting flattops.

O my it was hot! 103 degrees F (39 degrees C). But the trip was a necessity. You see, I met with a real estate agent to list Auntie's condo. Yay! It is officially on the market. I hope it sells quickly. I told the agent I was willing to negotiate, within reason. I am so glad not to have to go into that place again to work.

Then I went on to the new apartment in the assisted living and was able to have a nice visit with Auntie. She had complained about the heat and I said to turn the AC on. She told me that it blows on her shoulder and chills her so I took a portable oscillating fan and set it up in a corner so it blows throughout the room. I also took about a half dozen books for her and swapped them out for the ones I left last time. She is such a voracious reader that I am spending a small fortune in books. Thank goodness for used book stores. I have started to buy an occasional used hardback because the type is bigger.

I spent a bit of time last week making a blouse sloper for her out of some 50cent a yard pink and white check fabric. She thought it was a real blouse until I had her put it on and she realized there was one long sleeve and one short sleeve. I will only have to make minor adjustments to the pattern thank goodness. She was thrilled to realize that I was going to make some blouses for her. I took five different fashion fabrics down with me, you know the kind -- the slinky, slippery stuff. I wanted her to pick out the ones she wanted. You guessed it, she wanted them all: two long sleeved and 3 short sleeved. Then she said how 'bout some slacks? Well, erm, one thing at a time, ok?

We have been getting some estimates to replace the clerestory windows in the house. One of the thermal windows is actually cracked on both sides. We are in the queue for 3-5 weeks out. That will give me a chance to make some more of the Warm Window blinds like in this post. These are not hard to make and are great if one is trying to either reduce heat gain in the summer or forestall heat loss in the winter and as a quilter I am set up with the space needed to sew on something like this. I actually saved $$$ on all the fabrics and hardware by using those Joann Fabric 40% and 50% off coupons to buy everything I needed. It has taken about a year but now I'm all set. Just need to get started.

The sculpture shows are this weekend. Can you believe that I actually get paid to hang out in an artful place and talk to people and sell some art? Tough job but somebody's got to do it.

I currently have two quilts at the long arm quilter. One of them is the Homespun BOM. When I get it back and bound I am planning on a bit of a giveaway. Stay tuned for more information on that.

Homespun BOM: Signature Chain

There is nothing like waiting until the last minute to do the bl0ck for the next meeting of my mini group. I worked away on this yesterday, slaving away I tell ya!

Actually, this was a very easy block to do, I was able to complete both blocks in a matter of hours. Once again, the block is from Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache. There was one missing measurement, tho. If you are playing along cut that large rectangle for the 12" block at 4.5"x8.5" and for the 6" block cut at 2.5"x4.5". Got that?

Now wouldn't this make a lovely label? That's how I plan to use it. And I think I'll just incorporate this into the front of the quilt and not relegate it to the backside. How fun is that? Add a bit of freezer paper to the big rectangle and then a pen drawing/doodle along with the quilt info and it's done.

That is such a bad photo, but that one really dark fabric is a micro homespun check in black and dark green. I found it in my stash. Perfect!

WIP Wednesday-June 18 2008

I have had the 18 main blocks for this done for several years. It was a Saturday Sampler class provided by a LQS. Do you know what a Saturday Sampler class is? The first Saturday of the month you meet at the LQS. On the very 1st meeting you pay $5 and the packet that includes the block pattern and fabric. After that initial meeting every 1st Saturday you go back with your complete block, sit through a demo of a new product and pick up your next kit. The only expense is that first $5 and time. That is unless you miss a month or didn't make the previous month's block, then it is another $5. After I designed the layout I had the foresight to buy up enough of the same black for the borders, cut the pieces and packed it away. Why? Dunno.

I pulled it out and worked on it last Saturday when my Quilting Friend came over. It is a good thing I did because I had a hard time reading my own notes. Not only that but for some reason I stitched my double four patches wrong so the black when through the center instead of the green. The double four patch blocks make up the diamond border. I also did not cut enough of the 3.5" lime green squares for the corner stones in the sashing. Thank goodness I still had a small bit of that fabric left so I just zipped them out.

Until I took a picture of this, I did not notice that there are several blocks that just sink into the background. I think I am going to add a bit of yellow or orange or maybe even a bit of pink just to make those blocks pop a bit more.

Since the blocks and sashing are just stuck up on the design wall, I now need to get the top into a flimsy stage and then to the long-armer. There is plenty of room for some dynamic quilting in the border. Size is roughly 96x120.