New Design Wall

This is my new design wall! We got two pieces of 4' x 8' insulation at our local Lowe's store, taped them together and covered them with 3 yards of cheap (but wide) cotton batting from Jo-Anne's. Bill glued the batting onto the panels with his airplane glue and used two small pieces of Velcro to keep it secure to the wall. Our guests will have ever-changing art to enjoy during their visits. I'm thrilled! Thank you Bill!!

I just started a new project - another Stack and Whack. I think it's going to be pretty. There is a lot of gold in the main fabric so I choose an off-white with gold specks for the main background fabric. The dark green fabric also has gold flecks and it will be the accent.

A close up of the fabrics.

We are still dealing with insurance from our auto accident - but the aches and pains have finally diminished and we are moving on with life. We're still driving a rental car but are actively looking for another Toyota Camry Hybrid to buy. We wanted to buy a new one, but have decided a slightly used one (if we can find a nice one) will be in our best interests and not put us in debt.

We've joined a Bocce  league and play at least once a week. I've learned to play Mah Jongg and games seem to crop up somewhere in the complex all the time. Bill continues to build, fly, crash and rebuild his planes and the out-of-state guests start arriving mid-December. Life is good!

New Projects

I'm fascinated with kaleidoscopic blocks! I'm working on a quilt for my daughter Laura using blues and browns. The main block uses 8 diamonds all cut with the exact same pattern.  

This picture does not do justice to the colors - there are only two background colors at this point, but more may be added as I go along. Each block is currently 12 inches by 12 inches. I haven't added the borders yet.

Traditional 9-patch blocks in the corners of the borders will connect the larger blocks. I'm still working on the final design - it's kind of a design-as-I-go since I'm not sure how far each of the fabric pieces will stretch or if I'll have to add more fabric to make the quilt large enough. I was just lucky the main piece had 8 repeats!

I decided to use the flower baskets for pillow shams so I'm working on a second basket.

Almost Finished!

I've really enjoyed working on this Stack-n-Whack variation. The Moda fabric is a joy to use and the colors are beautiful. I wasn't sure I could ever use yellow again after my quilt-from-hell, but I really like it here - especially with the blue border.

I added an extra row to make it wide enough for our queen-sized bed. I will add a narrow blue border instead of the usual 6-inch border. The back will be either the blue or the flower fabric that I used for the kaleidoscope blocks. I also plan to make a couple of pillow shams.

Hives, Lotsa Hives

Poor Bill. Since returning to Colorado, he has developed an allergic reaction, in the form of hives, to some unknown substance. Last weekend we made a late night run to the local emergency room where they put him on a steroid & Benadryl cocktail. It worked, but once his treatment was over, the hives returned. He is now on a new regime of steroids and allergy pills. He is temporarily banned from yard work and we have to have the carpets and furniture cleaned. I have been washing and scrubbing everything.

The medicine makes him grumpy, tired and generally out of sorts so I decided asking him if I could take a picture of his bumps for my blog was not a wise idea. You'll just have to imagine.

Meanwhile, my newest quilt is coming along - and I LOVE my new design wall.

Goldfinches are Back!

The Swallows may not have returned to Capistrano, but the Lesser Goldfinches have returned to our backyard!

Lesser Goldfinch

Bill and I were sitting on the patio and I had just remarked that I was sad not to see the variety of pretty migrating birds that we saw last May when this bright yellow bird landed on the overhead wires. Over the summer, our feeders are buzzing with Lesser Goldfinches - so much so that I don't usually take pictures - but this male is the first one back, so he gets special treatment. Welcome home!

Inside the house, Bill & I set up a design wall in the spare bedroom. I moved all the furniture around to clear a wall for an 8' X 8' place to design my quilts. I used furniture "sliders"  and was even able to move a heavy dresser all by myself!

So far I'm happy with the way this quilt is coming together. I love the blue and yellow; I must be a Michigan Fan.

New Quilt

My sewing room is set-up and I decided to start a new quilt. I purchased the fabric at my favorite quilt shop in Trenton, Florida and, if memory serves me correctly, my sister also purchased some of the same fabric. It will be interesting to see what we each do with it!

This is a Stack-n-Whackier pattern that I've done before - it started as the "quilt from hell" - but I'm doing it differently this time - more like the original pattern and less like the version I learned in class. Sometimes you have to play with a pattern to get to know it and understand how the different parts interact before you can choose fabrics that work. Hopefully, this time will be better. I love the colors and the beautiful Moda fabrics.

Northern Flicker

 Meanwhile out at the feeders, the birds continue to return. This time of year we look for the Western Tanagers to come through, but, so far we haven't seen any. Our usual visitors, Northern Flickers, House Finches, Mountain Chickadees, and English Sparrows (more this year than in the past) keep us busy putting out sun flower seeds and a special bird butter. The humming bird feeders are out but we haven't seen the little birds yet.

Mourning Doves

 We have lots of Doves. The Mourning Doves like the left-overs under the feeders. We also have the nosier Eurasian Collared Doves but they stay mostly in the trees, calling for a mate.

These two acted like lovers - cooing and touching bills.

Still Sewing

I don't want you all to think I haven't been quilting lately!

My Log Cabin Star quilt came back from the long arm quilter and I'm working to finish the binding. Vicki Cooley did the quilting and it's beautiful! The quilt is large enough for a queen-sized bed but I haven't decided which of our beds it will live on - or if it will stay in Florida or head to Colorado.

Vicki works on an older long arm machine - so everything is manual. It's obvious she knows what she is doing! She is the guest speaker at our next quilt meeting and I'm excited to learn from her.

My sister, Beth, helped me sandwich and pin baste this Stack-N-Whack while she was here visiting. I did some simple stitch-in-the-ditch quilting - per her directions - and I'm pretty happy with the results.

It's not perfect, but it's sure better than I've done in the past! The colors are all me - but the quilt will be Bill's lap quilt until I get his Bargello made. He selected all the fabric and picked the Bargello pattern - I just have to learn how to do it! I'm going to practice on place-mats first.

This is my completed frog quilt that I machine quilted BEFORE my sister's lessons and I'm not happy with the results. I started in the middle, but tried to quilt around each block separately instead of sewing across the quilt to stabilize it first. I also did not sandwich it correctly and did not put any where near enough pins in. But the quilt is nice and comfy and warm.

Beth showed me how to clamp the sandwiched quilt to my cutting table and pin the three layers in rows from the center out placing the special safety pins about 3 inches apart (or the width of your hand). It sure made machine quilting easier - and no more puckers!

You all remember my "quilt from hell." I had it long arm quilted with darker thread to try and blend in the bright yellow - and I'm fairly pleased with the results. The colors are still outside my comfort zone - but it's not terrible - unless you ask Bill. He doesn't like it at all.

The quilting is a circle design which I think compliments the stars.

Our little local quilt group issued a challenge to make a bowl and this is my project. Kinda fun!

Bill needed arm covers and a head rest for his chair - so I've been busy designing and sewing them. If anyone EVER tries to sell you white chairs - run away quickly!

Third Time's the Charm - I Hope!

I refuse to let this pattern get the best of me! I've done two quilt tops using this Whack-N-Stack star and I dislike them both. The first one (see "another Opportunity for Creativity" Nov. 17 entry) had fabric and color choice issues - so I made a second top using beautiful shades of green (frogs!) and blue - with orange accent - that went together beautifully. Then I tried to machine quilt it myself. What a disaster! I apparently had issues with the sandwiching part as I have puckers on both the back and the front. The stars just didn't want to lay flat for me. In my eyes, it's ruined, but I'll finish it anyway as it's nice and warm.

Refusing to be defeated, I'm trying it again. This time, I have a proper template for the diamonds and I've changed the foot on my machine for the piecing. I was using a 1/4 inch walking foot instead of the regular 1/4 inch foot. Both of these changes seem to be working as my blocks are coming together MUCH better.

In these two images, I'm "auditioning" fabric for the triangles. I've stolen the term "auditioning" from my older and much wiser sister who is currently working on a much more complex version of this pattern - and doing it beautifully. (see http://quilterb-bethsblog.blogspot.com/) I will never be in her league - but that's okay. I'm having fun and learning lots.

Both of these fabrics had issues when I put them together with the diamonds as they were too similar and did not highlight the stars enough. I found a beautiful teal batik that looked great - but I only had a yard - so off I went in search of more. The original yard was purchased in Denver and I didn't expect to find more - but at the third shop, I did!

This is as far as I've gotten. I don't know yet whether or not I'll include the blue and/or purple blocks - they are being "auditioned" on my design wall. I'm making this one like a One Block Wonder and leaving off the outer circle. If this turns out - maybe I'll move on to one of the more advanced blocks.

My dear, sweet, wonderful, husband drove me to the three shops yesterday as I've been under the weather and we heard on the news that you shouldn't drive when you have a cold. On the way back, we spotted a group of Sandhill Cranes. Then I saw a larger white bird with the Sandhills. I couldn't believe my eyes - it was a Whooping Crane! Naturally, I didn't have my camera - but we are heading back to where we saw them later today and maybe, just maybe, they will still be there.

Whack n Wonder - aka - "Another Opportunity for Creativity"

The Quilt from Hell

I really do love quilting - but some are more fun than others. Last year I worked on a pattern that had a major mistake - leaving me short of material for the setting triangles. I was angry but my wise sister told me that quilters see these circumstances as "opportunities for creativity." My latest quilt has been such an opportunity right from the beginning!

My opportunity began I signed up for a class at my local quilt shop with 3 of my friends. A couple of weeks before the class was to begin we all headed to our very favorite shop in Trenton, FL to buy fabric. We had our supply lists in hand. Right away we should have suspected something was wrong because the list called for A LOT of material - 13 1/2 yards, not counting the backing, for a single-sized quilt! To make matters worse, my material had a smaller repeat - so I doubled the amount of the main fabric. The larger star blocks have a border and we were told to get a stripe - so I did. All my fabrics looked beautiful together in the pile and I couldn't wait for the class to begin!

Our pre-class instructions included making two plastic templates from the diagram in the book (one diamond and one triangle)and cutting "B" and "D" triangles. Since I had a triangle ruler, I used it to pre-cut the triangles instead of using the template. This turned out to be a good move on my part as the diagram was incorrect.

In class, we proceeded to cut strips for the diamonds - lots of strips and lots of diamonds. When I started asking questions about the diamonds - we were told to cut 66 "sets." At that point, I counted the 11 star blocks on the sample and asked why we needed so many since there are only 11 blocks with 11 sets of diamonds. My teacher looked dumbfounded - deer in the headlights dumbfounded. Long story short, she had totally miscalculated and now I had way too many cut strips - and not enough material to cut the larger strips for the "one-block wonder" diamonds. Good thing I had extra material - except she had miscalculated these triangles also and, again, I didn't need as many strips as she called for. Same with the stripped border.


Once I started putting the blocks together - I realized the stripped border was way too strong for the quilt. It jumped out and you missed the neat kaleidoscope stars and circles. Let me put it this way - if you laid a baby on the quilt, the poor child would throw up. An adult would have an instant migraine. Good thing I had all those extra strips!! I used them for borders. Now I had extra blocks - so I added two rows to the quilt making it wider than it is long. To correct this, I added an extra border to the top and bottom (yep, using even more of the extra strips). Now it's square. Using the main fabric for the borders instantly settled it down - maybe too much. I don't like that I used the same fabric both places but at least I didn't waste it.

This quilt is a long way from being my favorite - but it's OK. The fabrics that looked so beautiful in the pile did not go together any where near as well as I thought they would. Even though the yellow was the exact yellow in the main fabric - it is too bright for the purple stripe. I should have stuck to one color instead of using both the yellow and green. I still have blue that I haven't even used. I don't think I'll put another border on it - and I'm not sure I have enough backing fabric. I'll probably use the stripe cut on the bias for the binding - but we'll see.

I welcome suggestions and discussion. Oh, by the way, our teacher? The poor dear was taking pain medicine that was way too strong - and she literally couldn't think straight. She felt terrible when she realized her mistake - but I told her it was just another opportunity for creativity!