Daydream Tuesday

This is one of those weeks when my time is not my own. It's busy, busy! I sewed fast and furiously yesterday before mowing the pasture, so I hope to be able to show you a block a day while I'm off on a get-away later this week. I'm sure it will be back to 'regular programming as usual' next week.

A Daydream Taking Shape

Yesterday was a play day. I stole away to my basement space, and played with fabric and color. I did a lot just laying one fabric on top of another, and standing back a few feet to look. You saw my color palette yesterday, and you know most of the fabric goes with all of the others. The majority of the time I would say, "Yeah, that works." But I would keep moving it around until I would say, "Wow! Now THAT one is fantastic!"

An Original Fall Flavor--Not Pumpkin, Please!

There's no doubt when autumn blows in. The dippey cones disappear from Mickey D's, and then overnight, everything everywhere turns into PUMPKIN! Good news for you Pumpkin Lovers, but 'mehhh' for those of us who just tolerate it. Hold the Pumpkin Spice, ladies! I prefer to welcome the season with a project focused on some bright, fall colors.  

Tag! You're It! Graphic Bag Finish Up Part II

The bag was a pretty straight forward finish--I thought. I found some 2" D-rings at my local fabric and craft store. 

I'm All Done with Love

There was no rush yesterday. There was no drama. It was downright restful for a change.

Darling daughter and I had coffee with a friend at a real coffee shop--we do get out, and then shopped for something other than quilt fabric. There was no push to get downstairs to piece or quilt after lunch. A vacation day, you might say. Surreal. You see, my machine had to go in to be serviced, and I picked yesterday to do it. I'm hoping it doesn't need parts so I can pick it up tomorrow. I don't think I can handle another day like that for a while! Whew.

Graphic Shooting Star Finish Part 1

Graphic Bag Finish Up

Are you ready for the big finale? Here it goes!

Decide how long you want your strap. I held the bag and measured over my shoulder, but dear daughter is quite a bit shorter and smaller than I am. Use 505 to put batting on the wrong side keeping inside the strip 1/2" from sides. I used a scrap, and even pieced it together here. No one will know.

Little Dresses for Africa

Yesterday I spent the day at an open sew at Heritage Arts Days. My mother and mother-in-law both went along, and for most of the day they finished sewing together children's dresses and shorts for Little Dresses for Africa. 

Quilted Sling Bag--Bright and Graphic

Both blocks are pieced here with sashing, but I thought it need something dark on the bottom to resist the grunge at college. I pulled this graphic print fabric out, and I like it. (So does dear daughter who is getting this bag.) Now to decide how much of it to use. The bottom for sure, but maybe handles and sides, too. Or, if there's not enough, I have other black and white prints. Let's see what works here.

Did You See My New Button? The Process Pledge

Third star done, and fabric for the fourth ready. I'm going to turn the two into a bag. 

Here's the fabric chosen for the other two. The top one 'pops' on the blue.

Vintage Quilt Photobomb and a Turkey

All the quilts shown here belong to my husband's family. They were on loan awaiting a cloudy day to photograph. It gave me time to get to know them, and fall in love with this one most of all. I love every inch of this quilt! It has a lurid history that we are too proper to get in to here, but let it suffice to say, I think it's to die for. It's the ultimate Eye Candy. There's no firm date, but the family history puts it around the 1930's, and it appears to be made without a batting layer.

Paper Piecing Continuation--Door #1, Door #2, or the Llama?

Choice A

Choice B

My two part dilemma: The puzzle of paper piecing is getting easier, I think, but color choices, because I'm really trying to stick by the color wheel with this project, are not so obvious. I have been trying to repeat four shooting stars with a split complementary color scheme here. 

FIrst Adventures in Paper Piecing--One Shooting Star

I started out yesterday like a Good Little Quilter sticking to my project at hand. Then out of the blue, I had the feeling I had been eating the same food every meal for a week. I needed some variety. 

I had been itching to try some paper piecing, and Lucy and I had spent the early morning reading about color combinations in "Quilt Colour Workshop". It sounded like a good recipe to play hooky.

Janome 8200QC, My Burning Love

I'd like to introduce my newest power tool--a Janome 8200 QC. She's a bigger, better, (and let's face it-- sexier) model than my 23 year old Pfaff. I brought her home yesterday after demo-ing her for about 2 hours, and reading the manual cover to cover. The 11" working platform is fabulous! I can spin even my big quilt around in there. AND, I found out it IS suggested to use the sit-down machine just like you use the long arm machine with a frame! The floor models are essentially steered from the side of the frame, so use this the same. Use it from the front, the side, wherever! 

Tricks Up My Sleeve and Background Music

Background filler seems like such a chore to me. It's not the really exciting looking stitching for me, but I realize it carries and highlights the icons here. It calms the blank space, and makes your focal points pop. I view it as background music. You know how silence can be uncomfortable, but put on a little low music and you notice the surroundings more. More here, though, I think it's because I'm struggling with the bulky size and a small machine throat--under 7" from needle to inside of machine. I'm a little sore from my arm to my leg actually. I promised I'd share some of my tricks I'd figured out mid-way. Honestly, some of you out there are probably doing this already, but it was an idea I woke up with.

Big Time 'Wrassling' with the Love Quilt

From back left: Scott, Keith, David   Front row: Davie, me, unknown, and Peggy

"We were just 'wrassling' in the bedroom, and I don't know how insert sibling's name here got hurt! Honest!"

I grew up with 2 older brothers, David and Scott, and on occasion things got so ouchy at home that my mom would roll back the furniture, and let them have a go at each other. Even as the only girl, I thought it exhilarating to spar against my brothers. It was never dangerous stuff, just fun until you'd exhausted the tension. I recall my brother, David, years later coming home fresh out of Marine Corp.boot camp, showing me how to flip someone over your shoulder if they attacked you from behind. I must have been in Junior High School then, and all 6'4" of him got laid out on the grass in our front yard in one swift move. It was like felling a tree, and no one was more shocked than he was! 

Dave passed away a few years ago, but I can imagine him standing next to my sewing machine asking me if I"m "wrasslin'" that quilt. Yup, I sure am.

Auditions and Practice

I've spent hours thinking about how to quilt this project. The thread is pale enough that I don't think it will show much at all on the top, and it will also be hard to follow what I'm actually doing. The medium grey backing will show great detail. So, what to do?

I had a brainstorm yesterday while mowing. Quilt it from the backside, perhaps.

A Man On a Galloping Horse

The Doxie girls let me know when it's time to take a break in my day. They need to go out often. Sometimes it's just to hunt the shrubbery for grinnies, what we call chipmunks, and sometimes it's serious business. I have a seat here, and often take time to read and have tea. It was the same this morning.

I Just Hate to Put a Label On Them!

We're not talking kids here. We're talking quilts, girls. I spent most of the last weeks running from quilt guild to guild. I think in this little county there must be somewhere to go to quilt most days of the month. Isn't that fantastic? Sometimes they get together for a class, but others just have open sewing days. They meet in funeral homes, preschools, churches, and homes among others.

Can You Feel the Love?

Yesterday afternoon I zipped together the rest of the strips on the Love quilt. I've talked about this pattern the last few days. It's from the cover of "Sunday Morning Quilts" by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison. Wow, it's a loud one even for me--don't you love it? I loosely used the same colors, but since it was what I had on hand, it's my own flavor. I would call it "Intense". Today I need to focus on finding a suitable backing. The batting is already in my stash since I buy it in bulk when it goes on sale.

Ergonomics in the Spare Room and Workspace

This is a typical picture of my "not-so-neat" sewing space.

Ergonomics. How many times have we heard this? Does it go in one ear and out the other, or can we use this to our advantage while sewing and quilting?

Web MD says this: 

Ergonomics (say "er-guh-NOM-iks") is the study of the kind of work you do, the environment you work in, and the tools you use to do your job. The goal of office ergonomics is to set up your office work space so that it fits you and the job you are doing.

Wild Saturday Night Love Party with Animals and a UFO

Late yesterday I had a few hours to myself to work on one of my UFO's--(Unfinished Objects). I hadn't decided which would be next yet, but I went straight to the scrappy red-pink-grey that I had been working on from the cover of "Sunday Morning Quilts: 16 Modern Scrap Projects" by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison.

I got this book the first of May, and straight away started pulling fabric scraps out for this quilt. I know it's intentionally meant just for scraps, but I must be more frugal with what I consider a scrap, so I had to hit my stash to round it out. The cutting took the longest, and somewhere along the line I decided I didn't want a huge quilt.  I organized each stack, and there it sat. I think I just loved the colors.

What Defines a Successful Day?

Success can be summed up as a lot of different things to quilters. Most of us would say a day was successful when we powered through a project, or maybe even got through a tough part we were dreading. But can a day be called successful even if you never see the inside of your sewing room?

It all depends on our personal definition of success.

Plus One or Splitting Hares Finish

It's early here. The clematis paniculata is in full bloom already. The outside lights haven't even shut off yet, but I have to run out to get you pictures before my busy day starts. I think the colors are showing off truer, too.

I am most thankful the Plus One is done. Isn't it amazing that we can pick out fabric, dream it up and stitch it all together, and it still gets changed up into something more than what we anticipated?  I love that moment we see it for the first time. Our creative energy investment is fulfilled. But, you know, I feel so emotionally connected to something while in the throes of the project, and the minute it's done I'm off thinking about the next one. Call me fickle, Doxie girls. It's the thrill of the project!

It's not a secret, and most of you know I am really the newbie out here.

First Adventures in Free Motion Quilting-Splitting Hares

Yesterday was a hoot! I nearly completed my first quilt by machine quilting. What a time savings over hand quilting!

I started by marking the quilt top with the design I thought I would use. I used a quilting pencil, and it was a good thing because it changed half a dozen times. To remove, you just blot with a damp, cool cloth, but then you need to wait until it dries to re-mark it. I thought about a hair dryer, but heat will set some marking pencils and pens. I tried to pick easy designs, but not everything looked right. Finally, I was sure of the center block, and decided to just start quilting.

Purely a Labor of Love-Splitting Hares

Labor Day Greetings, Doxie Girls!

What do people say to you when they hear you quilt and sew? Do they share with you their own passion--I hope so, or do they say, "Oh, I could never do that! It's just too hard." Well, Yes and No. Yes, it is kind of hard in the beginning, but we all start somewhere, and we get better with practice. No, it's not impossible, but it does take effort. I would venture to say that to some of us, and especially as beginners, it could be defined as "labor".