SBOW: Finished Center!

Tonight, to close out 2014, I finished up adding the extra appliques that extended outside the blocks.  I am still unsure if I am going to do the last applique border, it is already larger than the space I planned to hang it from.  Though, the applique would not take very long so I won't make a decision for a couple more days.  Right now I will keep it up on my design wall so I can admire it before I decide the next step.  As usual, it was hard to photograph, but you get the idea. I really do love it.



Little closer for the center where I changed out my initials for the cat:


2014 had some good and some not as good.  2015 is going to be great with adventures I am positive!  Happy new year!

(Just wanted to add, this quilt is from Primitive Gatherings called Sunflower Gatherings)

SBOW Block 13... again

I have sewn down all the pieces that were extending beyond the original blocks in the quilt top (that were already fused underneath pieces already sewn).  This morning I decided to prep the blocks that need more pieces and embroidery, that's when I discovered that I wasn't paying attention to block 13 when I first prepped and appliqued!

All those leaves... they needed to be under the yellow flowers.  In order to make them fit I had to adjust and trim down.  I was already wondering when I finished block 13, "is this it?" because it kind of seemed bare.  Too bad I didn't double check at the time.

Here's what it will look like when it is finished.

I have five blocks prepped with the extra pieces now.  I plan to watch the Seahawks and sew away!

SBOW #13

Finally... I am mostly finished with block 13.  I still need to add on the flower blossoms once it is attached to the quilt top.  At this point I need to finish sewing the middle row which this block is a part of (13 is the center of the quilt), and then start attaching the pieces that extend from the original blocks.  Hopefully that won't take me long, but seeing that my "block of the week" has turned into a 7 month project, there's no telling when I'll be done.


Block 13 is suppose to have the quilt maker's initials in the center of the ring, but I decided to add my cat instead since she was such a huge part of my life. Losing Gracie this past September has really left a hole in my heart.  I decided to honor her in this quilt.

This weekend I plan to sew up the rows and then get started with the applique that needs to be added.  I am unsure if I am going to add the final border of applique as well, but I will decide that after I am done with the block steps first.  The pieced borders are all ready to be attached now as well (I finished up all that sewing while on retreat in September! Whew!  A lot of four patches to be sewn!).

Slow Stitching and SBOW 12 Finished

It's been a while since I have worked on my Sunflower Gatherings Summer Block of the Week, but today I can say that I am done with #12.  I've had it waiting to be worked on for a long time, but once I got to working on the blue round flowers and leaves, I hit a brick wall.  I couldn't do anymore!  Last night I decided to do some stitching while watching Netflix and the World Series... I was able to get everything but two leaves finished because our power went out.  I was happy that even though the power was out, there was still some buffered video left from Netflix so I happily stitched away by the glow of the laptop until I no longer had any video left.

Looking at the stitches today on the leaf I stopped on... well, I can sure tell the power went out (or it was an intense moment on Walking Dead)!  Yikes.  At least power outages don't happen very often here so we are very fortunate.

I just have one more block left to do, and I currently have most of the pieces cut for it.  Maybe this week I'll be done with that.

We finally got power back today at noon.  We spent most of the outage time cracking walnuts while listening to the Seahawks on the radio.  Kevin received two grocery bags full of walnuts from someone at work who has some trees in eastern Washington.  What a great gift.  We managed to shell 4lbs of walnut meat to save for baking and eating.  Kevin did say that we could crunch up the shells so I could use it for pin cushion filler, but I decided not to do that :)  It was nice he thought about me :)

After finishing up SBOW 12, I pulled out my hexagons that I haven't looked at in over a year.  I only have 23 more to go, with 51 finished.  74 was a number I came up with when I found a layout I liked, but right now I am seconding guessing and considering something different (but I will finish up the 74 for sure and decide from there).  I have enough pieces prepped for 10 more in my box, and fabrics for the final 12 cut and separated in baggies.  Maybe I need to get back to my one a day until I finished?  I did finish one flower (like the one partially made in the photo), and tonight I plan to finish up that partial.

It's hard not to want the hexie quilt to be finished faster, but most of all if I just keep at it I will have a finished hexie quilt.  For all the quilters that make multiples of hexagon quilts, I am amazed at your perseverance.  I get distracted so easily--or I get to the point that I just can't even look at one more.

Two Finishes

I finished up the repair quilt tonight, including a soak in Quilt Wash.  I don't really think it helped get a stain out though.  I am going to leave the rest up to the owner, I am really not sure what else you'd attempt to get out a yellowed stain.

Before:


After:


Binding:

In the end I decided to cut away the old binding and attach the new in a French fold binding.  I am happy with how it came out, and the corners came out very nice.  I attempted to practice the other method on a small practice square and it turned out pretty terrible.


And finally part three is finished with my stitch along.  The reds made my camera go crazy!  I had to redo two sides and when I reattached it, I realized that the flying geese weren't going around in the same direction. Sigh.  I'm not ripping and redoing again.  I have part four ready to go, maybe I will get to it next week.

A Repair Project

This past summer I was approached by a family member about repairing a family quilt.  I was happy to oblige, though it does make me nervous to work on other people's vintage quilts.  Through my research I found out that this is a Lee Wards quilt, #08-90541 Pansy applique kit.  I have been able to find one online person that has this particular kit for sale (unmade top, fabrics and pattern).  If it didn't have a price of $425, I may have considered it for replacing the black pieces in the pansy blocks.... but I didn't purchase it.  This quilt is about 81x100".

Anyway, here are the images that were sent to me:








In working on this quilt, I have found that everything, EVERYTHING was hand pieced together, including some of the leaves that use two different greens (sewn in the centers).  The quilting and binding (both sides) are also hand pieced.  That is a lot of work, and I am guessing that this great aunt (of hubby's) must have really enjoyed hand work :)

Here is the quilt with all the black fabrics appliqued over (I did not remove any fabrics):






I am not really sure how to tackle the binding.  It is about an inch wide, single and bias.  I don't plan to do bias, but I will attempt single and not French fold.  Typically I cut my bindings at 2-2.25" and French fold, so they are very narrow... I have never finished a quilt with a binding this wide before.

My plan is to practice on a small square, after doing a little research on how to do this.  I am also thinking I will use my machine to do one side and hand sew the other... would this give me bad quilting karma?  I think I need a lesson on this technique, anyone know of a good tutorial online?

This quilt has been washed often and I think that was probably why the blacks deteriorated as they did.  It's interesting to see the other fabrics being as bright as they are though.  When I finish the binding I am planning to soak it in All American Quilt Wash to see if I can get some of the stains out.  I'm hoping to be finished with this by the end of the month.  Goal set! :)

SBOW Update

I am a couple of days after getting home from the latest retreat I attended at Royal Ridges in Yacolt, WA, and I think I have my stuff finally organized and put away.  I mainly worked on getting all my four patches and alternate blocks made for my Sunflower Gatherings quilt.  I was able to finish those and the pieced border, though I was two four patches short so I had to wait until I got home to be totally done with the alternate blocks and border.

Yesterday I received the applique border pattern and pieces, but I'm still not sure if I will complete that or not.

Block 9 finished at the retreat:


Block 10 started, and almost finished.  I want to do a little detail stitching on the large leaves and I still need to stitch down the small leaves:


And what I have finished so far.  The outside pieced border is not arranged on the wall yet, but it is finished:


I am so close to being finished.  After getting the last three blocks done I will put the top together and then sew down the applique pieces that extend.

I had a great time at the retreat, but I didn't take any pictures.  Still waiting to see if any show up :)  I think I am fully rested from lack of sleep, but I may need to try an afternoon nap today just to make sure!

SBOW: block 8 finished

Just a quick upload, not a great picture, but it will do.  Beyond the bird tail and branch, there is one more flower that extends to the alternate block.  Not feeling very inspired to prepare block 9 yet, maybe this weekend.

SBOW Block 7

I am now beyond the halfway point, just six blocks left and then the borders.  This one has embroidery beyond the block, and I will also applique down the spout after the alternate blocks are sewn together.  I realized after I did the stem stitch that I forgot to add in little thorns on the vines.  Oh well... it would have definitely added more interest, but I am not going back over it again.

SBOW: Block six

Finally....


This one has leaves extending to the left, and a couple of berries (and maybe leaves, I can't remember) that extend as well.


Six together

Yesterday I started prepping four patches for the border... there are A LOT of four patches involved in this quilt.  I have had a difficult time focusing this week, and when that happens, the simple stuff feels like too much.  I need to get over that and just enjoy it, otherwise: why bother?  I tend to make things because something about it makes my heart sing.  This will likely be the reason I would never create things to sell.  If I don't like it very much (pattern, fabric, process), then I don't want to spend the time.  However, it changes if I have a person in mind, that changes my focus.  I suppose it's all in the perception.

So people who are very practical would probably ask why do I spend so much time and money on a hobby that I won't sell or make it profitable?  It's more expensive to pay a therapist I'm sure.  I find joy in creating, I find that these talents have helped me in giving to others as well.  Creating took a major backseat with the addition of my youngest son, but little by little I am able to carve in a little more time to create.

Yesterday I was in a bad mood and feeling basically sorry for myself.  Things weren't going my way (yes, I know... it is very pitiful, but it is something we all feel from time to time), the time out I gave myself to organize for the outside border of my Sunflower Gatherings (the quilt above) helped give me that space to snap out of that mood.  Cheap 45mins of therapy right there.

Anyway, whatever it is, find something that will make your heart sing and try to give yourself 30 minutes or more a day doing it.  It makes for a great attitude adjustment time, and those around you may thank you :)

SBOW: Sunflower Gatherings block 5

This one took me a little longer to do... I dare say that I may be getting burnt out on wool applique again?  Only eight to go, gonna keep plugging away!  I changed the centers of the blue flowers to be more "Forget Me Not" like, they originally had centers of the same blue fabric from the large part of the flower.  There are two blue flowers that extend into the alternate blocks.

I also got the directions for part 3 of the SAL, so I plan to put that together this weekend.  Flying geese for the that round, along with some more wool applique :)  I think that project is suppose to end in November, so there is plenty of time to join in if you want (from Primitive Gatherings, it's free).

SBOW: Block 4 finished

There is one more purple flower that will extend into the alternate block to the right.  One more down, ten to go!

Old Post 2/16/2013: Folk Art Album

***Note, this is from my first blog which got overtaken by a spam virus, and I ended up shutting it down.  While reading through Feedly (where I read my blogs), I discovered when clicking on my old blog (I never unsubscribed my old blog) I could pull up old posts.  I am thrilled because now I can place certain posts here and save them.  I will have this note on top of any post that is from my old blog****

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**update: this top is a finished quilt, but this was a favorite post regarding this quilt so I wanted to make sure I posted this here**

and now I have to consider what the quilting will look like. I won’t quilt over the embroidery, which leaves me with thinking about handquilting because there is more control with that. But hand quilting through flannel (backing is also a brushed cotton) might not be the best idea in the world. Clicking through the photos will take you to my Folk Art Album where other pictures are posted (and you can view larger sizes). I love it. I can’t wait until it is hanging up in our living room. I strayed from the pattern only slightly. The poppies had one change, and I am glad I had enough red/orange wool to be able to add the extra bit for the front part of the poppy flowers: More border details: I wish I had made my coneflowers in the block more like the six I did in the border: and a top corner: I am going to leave this top up on my wall for a little bit and decide if I want to add any other embroidery details. I am still thinking about my initials on the bottom, I thought about adding my full name on each letter (so on the M it would read Melissa, the L Lee, D Devin), and also adding a date on the D. Still thinking on it. The Valdani perle threads and hand dyed wools really make this top shine! The variations in colors give it a lot of depth. Interested in this project? This is where I purchased my kit in 2009, and it still available.You’re welcome

Summer Block of the Week started!

Yesterday I received the first five weeks worth of Primitive Gatherings Summer Block of the Week (SBOW) packets. As much as I wanted to start on it, I absolutely had to finish another row of quilting on the kaleidoscope quilt. Each row takes me nearly an hour and a half to do, but now I am finished with 6 rows--only 3 left to go! I was able to finish the row and now I have some handwork ready to go. I doubt I will ever be totally up to date with the SBOW, but at least I'll have something to do when I am procrastinating on the kaleidoscope quilting.



Prepped and ready to sew!

Looking at the leaf groups for the top and bottom sunflowers... looks sort of like a pot plant.  Hmmmmm... wish I saw that before I fused the pieces!  Oh well, maybe it won't be as noticeable once the rest is on and sewn.

Another bonus yesterday? Part two of the Stitch along was posted! Yah! That one will be quick to do.