Moving on

I've been making very good progress in the quilting arena these past couple of days.  In my last post, I'd finished the Mabel Quilt and was ready to move on to Dan's quilt which I would like to have finished by the time we go to visit him on the 9th.  This is the quilt laid out on a spare bed with the center quilted up in a cross hatch design--very simple. 

And this is a close up of the central fabric.

The center is surrounded by 16" Bear's Paws blocks and I have all of them finished except for the white sashing within the blocks.  Just a simple free hand loopy design and curves in the "claws" of the Bear's Paw.

I was also able to get the quilting done in the gray sashing between the Paws and in the quilt center as well.  Again, a simple free hand leaf and vine design although it looks a lot like a heart design. Whatever you want it to be, I guess.  

I put this quilt aside when I got the next quilt pinned up on Monday and I've been working on that. Again, I want to get this finished by the 9th as it's a gift for our friends that we're seeing that weekend.

This is called the "Past President's Project" (PPP) and it was a guild project a couple of years ago. In my guild, the vice chairperson automatically becomes chairperson after serving a year as vice.  I had an excellent mentor and I tried to follow her example as much as I could. One of the things she did during the year following her chairmanship was the first PPP and I thought this was a great idea--another way of giving back to the members. So when my year as chair was finished, I designed this row quilt and offered it as the second PPP.  All the blocks came from Quilter's Cache but I chose them and decided on the layout. The applique in the center is my design.  

I made up my sample quilt using my (way too) large collection of Civil War fabrics, but some of the members used brights, 1930s and modern fabrics and they all look really spectacular. In  this project we did machine piecing for most of the blocks, applique--either hand or machine--in the center, and the four blocks in the corners of the border were paper pieced--a good learning experience for everyone.

This is the backing I pieced together for this quilt--a couple of pieces of yardage that I'd had for years and now had a chance to move them out of the stash.

So far I have the ditch stitching done and have quilted the designs in all but 2 of the 12" blocks in the rows.  I'm using the same stencil in each of the blocks, and by the end of the day, I should have them done as well as the two rows of sashing and the center applique row.  If all goes well, the border will be finished tomorrow and I'll get the binding finished up by the end of the weekend.  Hurrah!  (Wish me luck. Have you ever noticed that the best laid plans . . . etc?  )

Second finish for 2019!

This has been a great weekend!  On Friday I finished the quilting on the Mabel quilt, trimmed it and sewed the binding on.  In the evening, I completed the hand stitching of the binding. To celebrate, Don and I went to a local watering hole and had a fantastic dinner of Famous Wisconsin Fish Fry.  I thought of taking a picture of my meal when it arrived, but had forgotten my phone and it looked too good to not just dig in!  All of it was washed down with a glass of Farmer's Daughter, a lager-type beer brewed by the local Lucette Brewing Co.  If you've never heard of the Famous Wisconsin Fish Fry, let me explain. If you're familiar with it, go pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage and come back when I've finished my explanation, okay?

Here is Wisconsin, it's tradition for a restaurant to offer a Fish Fry on Friday nights--usually no other night of the week. I think it had to do with the Catholic heritage of the immigrants who settled here.  In those days, Catholics were forbidden to eat meat on Friday so, fish became popular.  A Fish Fry meal is typically breaded or baked cod or haddock with french fries or sometimes potato pancakes, and cole slaw.  At the place we went, they added a small dish of baked beans as well. It's not the most exciting meal, but we Wisconsinites absolutely love it. Don and I decided to have dinner early (for us) and got to the restaurant around 5:30--the place was just about packed !  

Anyway, all of that was a digression. The real news is I finished the Mabel quilt!  And this morning I stitched on the label and took some pics for your viewing pleasure.

Here's the finished top draped over a couch.  It finished up about 60" by 70."  

I really like how the two blocks come together in this quilt, both in the block design as well as the 2 different quilting patterns. And I'm especially happy that all the marking lines came out perfectly. Whew!

This is the back. I used a batik fabric that reminded me of pine trees, and that's appropriate since the Tainter family made it's fortune in the logging and lumber industry in the late part of the 19th century.  

Since I didn't have quite enough of the pine tree fabric, I added borders of pine cone fabric.  This is the fabric I used as background for the colored blocks, but since it's cut into small pieces, you really can't see the pine cones on the front.

In this pic, you can see the cones a little better.

And here's one last look at the border.  I'm so happy with all the colors in the border picking up the colors of the blocks. I may hold on to the quilt until guild meeting on March 5th so I can bring it out at show and tell. I think the theater can wait a few more days before I bring it to them.

I also finished the hand quilting on the little embroidered and quilted box I'm making.  I'd like to make one for each of my girls but if I do, I'll not do the hand quilting.  I'm not very good at it and I dislike how it looks on the inside of the box--which I'll not ever show to you!  I think I have a stitch on my machine that mimics hand quilting and I'll try that on the next box.  Anyway, here it is, before any of the marking lines are erased.

 

I have to trim it up to the proper measurements and stitch on the binding., which I can do in a minute or so and have the hand stitching ready for this evening.  

In between these projects, I prepared the backing for another throw quilt that I want to have finished up in the next two weeks to take to our friends who helped Dan so much when he needed a place to stay near Madison. I've gone through all my photos and can't find on of the finished top, so tomorrow after I've pinned it up, I'll take one and share with you.  

Today, I have to make a run to the grocery store and then I'm in the sewing room the rest of the day, working on Dan's quilt which I would also like to have finished in the next two weeks.  Deadlines, ladies--it's what keeps me going and getting things done! 

A finish is in sight!

This is a picture of my front yard and driveway.  As you can see, there is a lot of snow.  A LOT of snow!  Record breaking amount of snow, I'm told.  And more to come.  We have about 3 to 4 feet of snow on the ground now and another 8 to 10 inches is expected this weekend.  Yikes!  I may have to get out the snowshoes in order to make a trip to the store!

So what should a quilter do in such snowy weather?  Stay inside and work on quilts, of course!  I've been working on the Mabel quilt every day and amazingly, have been able to do it on the "fancy, dancy" sewing machine!  It's a miracle, I tell ya, a blessed miracle!

This is the "plain" block, done up in neutral batik fabrics. I chose a somewhat elaborate quilting design for this block.

In the colored blocks, which have more piecing, I chose a simpler design and yesterday I finished up the last of these blocks, so the entire center was quilted up. As you can see from the pic, I have marking lines that I'll have to get out.  I used both a water soluble blue pen and a Frixion pen so a bit of time in the washer when I've finished the binding is called for. I know I can erase the Frixion lines with heat, but sometimes there's a shadow line lift over that I don't like, so into the washing machine.  Along with a color catcher in case one of these batik colors run. (And yes, I see that I've cut off one of the points of this star but I'm not bothered with that at this point.  Only another quilter would be bothered and altho I've done my best in constructing this quilt, there is more than this one mistake in there.  LOL) 

After I'd finished that last block, it was on to the first border--a simple spiral every 2 inches or so, completely free hand.  I marked the sections of this border with a sliver of bar soap, so another thing that will need to come out in the wash. 

And yesterday I began working on the final border. I'm using a partial stencil for this design and am liking it pretty much.  I have nearly half of this border finished and after I make a trip to the grocery store today, I'll be back in the sewing room, trying to get this finished up before dinner.  

I already have the binding strips cut so it should be easy to get them sewn on and then one or two evenings with PBS and the quilt will be finished.

So that's the progress I've made with this quilt. I hope to add it to the "Finished" list soon, and then I can resume quilting up the one I began for my son.  I also have another throw quilt that I'd like to quilt up so I can give it to a friend who helped my son so much when he first moved to Madison.  My future contains lots of quilting and very little piecing!  

Quilting and embroidering and quilting and embroidering and etc. . .

I've been spending a lot of time quilting up the Mabel quilt. And actually making some pretty good progress on it.  I've finished all the straight stitching and have quilted half of the blocks in the center.  The easy blocks, of course.  Here's a picture of one of them:

This is an 8" block and I had a stencil that fit perfectly, so with the help of a water erasable blue pen, I marked each block as I went along, and stitched using a pastel variegated thread from Superior Threads.  

I was actually able to do the FMQ on my "fancy, dancy" mid arm machine that I bought specifically for quilting, but found in the four or so years that I've had it, that the tension is so beastly touchy that all it's good for is piecing and straight line quilting.  To be clear, I absolutely LOVE using the machine for these tasks, but I didn't spend a small fortune for a machine that doesn't do what I bought it to do. I've had to return to my little work horse machine that I've had for 15 to 20 years, which is not a mid arm, to do the FMQ on all my quilts, including the king sized one's I've made. And believe me, it's a workout to maneuver that size quilt on a standard sized sewing machine.

But I've digressed, big time.  On the Mabel quilt, I had a talk with the owner of the sewing shop where I stopped to get the thread for this project.  I bought a 30 wt thread for the top and tried using a 50 weight thread (the kind I use for all my piecing) in the bobbin. I consulted the info I'd got from my machine guy and set the tension as he'd recommended and began on a practice quilt. It was pretty good, but not good enough. So I began lowering the tension even more until I got it just about perfect.  Get this--the default setting for this machine's tension is 4.0, I think, and in order to do the FMQ I lowered it to 2.8!  I've never heard of sewing with this low of a tension, but for quilting with these weight threads, it seems to be working just fine!  So wish me luck as I begin to stitch on the more elaborate, colored blocks.  

I experimented with some free hand designs, and didn't like them much. I punched a bunch of Golden Threads papers and tried one, and didn't like that at all.  I rummaged through all my quilting stencils and couldn't find one that I thought would work, so today, I'm off to the quilt shop in Eau Claire to find one that will be just right.  So wish me more luck with this, okay?

I'm also going to get a wooden hoop and some paint so I can make a frame for this embroidery that I have nearly finished.

It's the same pattern as the one I made for my hand therapist (who seemed to like it very much when I gave it to her last week) except I made the watering can blue instead of gray, and I stitched the flowers in shades of pink and lavender.  I only have the 2 bumblebees to stitch--tonight--and it'll be ready for the frame.  This one is for me to keep.  I think I'll use some lavender essential oil on the cotton batting that goes behind the stitchery so I have some fragrance as well.

Also, in the past few evenings, I finished the embroidery on the little 5" box that I was working on and have it marked and pinned, ready for hand quilting over the next couple of evenings.  Tonight, I go to the Hand Stitching group and will probably take this along to get a start on it.

That's what I've been up to. What about you?  Would love to hear from you as to how your quilting journey is progressing.

Baby, what a big surprise!

When I last posted, I said I would be pinning the Mabel quilt that afternoon. And indeed I did get that accomplished.  Yea!  And I got a big surprise as I was doing so.

I had it all layered and laid out on the tables at the leisure center where I go to pin quilts.  For $5 they let me use one of their rooms for an hour and I lay everything out on the tables so I don't have to crawl around on the floor which my knees would seriously object to.

I had it 3/4 pinned when I "noticed" something.  And then I "noticed" 2 more somethings. Can you see in the photo below what I "noticed?"

Yes, indeed. I'd stitched in 3 blocks that were wrong!  The corners of the pink, purple and blue blocks needed to be fixed, and instead of screaming in frustration, I was very  happy that I saw the errors before I finished the quilting, for once. Well, maybe a little squeak of frustration escaped from me. :0)   Usually, as in my flower quilt, I find the errors after all the quilting is finished and the binding stitched on.  

So, I finished the pinning, and yesterday, began deconstruction of the blocks and reconstruction of the quilt.  I managed to do that with having to unpin only a small portion of the quilt. Thank goodness all three blocks were in the same area.  And I triple- and quadruple-checked for any other blocks that needed work, and found none.

I was able to spend a couple of hours yesterday doing the ditch stitching and today will finish that up and hopefully change machines and begin FMQ, which should be fun.  I hope!

A few days ago I also began stitching this 5" quilted box called Honey Hive.  

It's a pattern I picked up some time ago, designed by Kathy Schmitz, one of my favorite embroidery designers.  I thought it was cute and unusual and something I'd like to have, so the other night I began the embroidery.  

As of last night, I've finished three of the four corners, except for the bumble bees. Each of the three corners is identical and I did all the branches, leaves, and cherries but have the bees yet to do.  The fourth corner is the one shown on the pattern--the design with the bird and the bee hive.  Tonight I'll begin stitching the bees in the 3 corners and then move on to the fourth corner.

As I was stitching this box, I decided that I'd give it to my youngest daughter when the time comes, and I'll use it to hold the pearl necklace and earrings that go to her when I'm no longer in need of them.  Oh, I just had another thought. I suppose I should make a second quilted box to hold the jewelry that goes to my other daughter.  And what about the jewelry that goes to my granddaughter?  She should have a box as well. I think I'll have enough stitching to keep me busy for quite a few Masterpiece Theater series!

All I have on my schedule for today is to make a run to the food co-op for a few things I need and then it's into the sewing room until dinner time, which is an easy pizza supper.  BTW, the beef vegetable soup with barley (not "barely" as I'd typed in the post!) was a big hit with both Don and me.  

A Winter (and Quilter's) Wonderland!

If you live in the USA, you've probably heard that the upper Midwest has been under a huge snow storm system, which is now over New England still dropping snow!  This is the view from my dining room window onto the back deck.  Through the screen--sorry for the grid, but I'm not going out in this crap! Anyway, you can see in the right side of the photo that the snow has drifted a bit, leaving a relatively bare spot neat the flower boxes. I estimate the snow on the deck is between 2 and 3 feet deep.  Same for the amount on the roof.  Hope the rafters are strong enough to carry the load since neither Don nor I are going up there to shovel it off. 

Since it's been too nasty to go out unless one truly needed to, which I don't, I've been holed up in my sewing room.  I did begin the quilting on Dan's quilt, shown below.  

I got this fabric a couple of years ago while on a shop hop, along with several companion pieces. Sewed it up last year while we were wintering in Gulf Shores, and pinned it last November. 

I got all the straight line quilting done, just a simple grid that you can see below, and stitching in the ditch around all the red and gray sashing pieces.  I have to put this away for now, since I'm going to get the Mable quilt pinned up today and will do all the straight line stitching on that before I change out my machines to do the free motion designs on both quilts. 

Today, I exercised some self discipline and got in an hour of housework before I sat down to check the blogs.  I have a plan that I'll do an hour of housework every day before I sit down to read, surf the web, or go to the sewing room.  I keep to this plan about 3 or 4 days of the week, so I'm always very happy on the days when I actually accomplish a chore or two.  

As I was cleaning the living room, I realized that I needed to change out the quilt in there.  I pulled out my flower quilt and put it up.  Sorry for the lousy lighting, but that's my camera for you.  

Below are the four embroidered flower bouquet blocks in the quilt.  

This is a pattern from Crabapple Hill and I made it a couple of years ago. It was supposed to be my show piece that I would enter in quilt shows, etc, but after I had it finished and hung up, I saw the error, so I just keep it here for my personal viewing.  I loved doing the embroidery, including the Bouillon Knot for the first time, and a bunch of satin stitch which I'd avoided in the past, but now embrace.

I also finished the embroidered and quilted table runner that I'd made for the piano top, shown here. 

I tried my hand at hand quilting on this piece, and had a terrible time stitching with a thimble on my finger, I also had begun the quilting without using a hoop and when it was about half finished, I took a good look at the back and realized that I had to take out all the stitching and begin over--using a hoop this time!  I never mastered the rocking motion that hand quilters mention, and did all of it by "stitch and stab."  I'm satisfied with how it all came out, and it looks pretty good on the piano, so that's that.

After I return from pinning the Mabel quilt, I'll be in the kitchen cooking up a pot of beef vegetable with barely soup--a great comfort food supper on a cold and snowy winter day--along with some rustic sourdough bread.  Mmmmmm.

Screeching cats, lakeside retreat, and embroidered garden

It's been several weeks since I've posted here.  I've been very busy, indeed. After I returned from Maine, I was consumed with helping my son make his big move from WA state to Madison WI, as well as caring for his cat until he moved into his apartment, and making sure his cat and our cat didn't get into too many screeching fights.  Believe me, if you've never experienced the thrill of waking up from a sound sleep at 3 AM because the cats are screeching at each other, you never want to!

At any rate, the cats learned to tolerate each other for the 2 weeks they were together, and Dan managed to get most of his stuff moved to his apartment, and we managed to deliver the cat and other things he'd left here in between foot deep snowfalls and polar vortex temps of super cold.  And now all is back to normal.

Before I forget, I also managed a 4 day quilting retreat in between all this moving activity.  I joined a few friends at Lakeside Lodge Quilting Retreat near Medford, WI, and we all quilted our brains out! 

This is the rear of the retreat center, nestled in among gorgeous pines,

and this is the view from the rear windows during the time I was there, frozen lake and snow covered grounds, and a boat that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

But inside the building it was toasty warm and fun, fun, fun! Debbie, the owner, comes in 3 times a day to cook for her guests, and she does a really wonderful job of it.  The first time I went here, I came home about 10 pounds heavier, but this time, I only gained a pound.  But it was really, really hard to resist second helpings! Debbie's my kind of cook--she believes in dessert for every meal, including breakfast!

After I returned from the retreat, I finished the dozen placemats I was making for the Meals on Wheels program--all from scraps I had no use for--and made another dozen placemats and napkins for the fundraiser my granddaughter's participating in later in February.  These I made from 6 coordinating fabrics I'd bought on a whim several years ago and never found a use for.  Of course, I forgot to take a pic before I sent them off, but the fabrics have an old fashioned woodcutter's theme so I thought  they would be good for a cabin or other rustic setting.  Hope they bring in some dollars to help Lily's group go to the competition in Boston later this year.

Before I went on the retreat, I experimented with several block designs I'd created for a donation quilt.  In my town, we have a truly beautiful "jewel box" theater that is over 100 years old and which has unfortunately sprung a leak in the roof. As soon as I learned that the repairs would be over $70,000, I knew I had to do something to try to help out. Of course! I would make a quilt that they could raffle off . Last summer, Lily and I took lots of pictures of the theater, especially the windows--both leaded and stained glass, and I designed quilt blocks similar to the windows.  I settled on 2 designs and made up all the colored blocks before I left for retreat, and I planned on making up the alternate blocks at the retreat.  I got all the blocks finished but for 5 of them so all I had to do when I got home was a few blocks and then borders.   This morning I put on the last of the borders, and here's the quilt top, laid out on the spare bed.

This quilt will be throw size or possibly twin size when it's finished.   

I'll be doing some free motion designs in the centers of both the colored and neutral blocks and I want to use a lot of feather motifs in the blocks as well.

My original plan was to quilt lots of curvy feathers in this border, but the fabric says, "Just follow the curvy lines already there and call it good!"  We'll see how much time and energy I have when I get to this part! 

 I really like how the border fabric picks up on the colors of the blocks in the center of the quilt.  All of it's done in batik fabrics, again, mostly scraps and yardage I already had. I have enough of the multi colored border fabric to make the binding as well.

And the last thing I want to include in this post is a picture of the embroidery I worked on these past few evenings.  This is from Kathy Schmitz's book, Stitches from the Garden, and it's a gift for my hand physical therapist who has done wonders in restoring function in my hand after the surgery.  I realized that Monday is probably my last appointment with her so I made this up quick.  She and I talk about our gardens as she's torturing massaging my hand so I though this would be appropriate.  In fact, I like it so much I think I'll make up another one for myself! 

That's is for today.  I'm going to head for the sewing room and begin the quilting on my son's throw quilt that I'd pinned over a month ago and which had to take a back seat to all the other projects I had to finish. Or maybe I'll begin working on the bag I want to make up out of some really cute cat fabric.  Hmmmm.