Lazy Daisy - Done!

Well, OK - its not REALLY done 'til it's quilted and bound....but the TOP is done!  Yahoo! 

I now have 2 quilt tops in need of backing.  A trip to a quilt shop may be in order.   :)

Happy Spring!

Spring doesn't begin until March 20, but snow piles are melting away, and tulips and daffodils are breaking ground.  I know, Mother Nature is just teasing us... snow is coming later this week.  But what-the-heck...I'll take it!  

This was my first attempt at doing triangles, and my first attempt at quilting something other than straight lines.  I fell in love with this hydrangea fabric.  Two years later, I still have scraps that I can't part with.  :) 

Lesson Two - The Ah-Ha Moment

The instructor said half way through the lesson we would have an Ah-Ha moment.  But mine didn't come...until TODAY!  Getting all those points to line up was a trick. 

On the first block I ripped and re-stitched the yellow centers 5 or 6 times.  There's so much bulk, the pieces  shift no matter how many pins you use.  I finally hand stitched the center portion, THEN sewed it on the machine.  On the second square I got smart and BASTED the centers together, before sewing the entire seam.  Got it on the second try. 

Here's the completed border on my Olympic Rings mini-quilt. I did a LOT of hand stitching while I was laid up with back trouble. Thankfully, I'm back in action...and ready for a change of pace.

I'm feeling a bit guilty about my Winter's Song quilt.  It's sandwiched, but not quilted.  Every time I look at it it seems to say, "Hey, what about me?"

I rarely get the timing right.  I'll probably finish Winter's Song when Spring has sprung.  The Lazy Daisy topper will be done at about the right time, as spring flowers giving way to summer.  As for the Olympic Rings...if I get them done for the Summer Olympics two years from now, I'll be right on schedule.  :)

Lesson One

Here is the back side of my first-ever foundation piecing project.  When I opened the pattern, it was  intimidating.  But our class instructor walked us through the process.  My goal was to complete one block by the end of the class period.  During class I had to rip and re-do several times.  Fortunately I wasn't the only one.  But I completed all five sections of the square and put them together.  I was beaming with pride and joy!

When I got home I realized I'd made another mistake.  In the top center of the block, I put a  light colored petal where background was to be, and I completely skipped another piece.  Hence the big pink blob at the top!  Time to get out the seam ripper once again.

Lessons Learned (so far):

1.  Take your camera to class.
2.  Bring your seam ripper. 
3.  Put in a fresh needle before class and bring a spare.
4.  My Olympic Rings project is called English Paper Piecing.  This project is Foundation Paper Piecing. 
5.  My instructor showed me how to finish the edge of my previous hexagon project, without losing the points.  If it works, I'll make a tutorial.
6.  For Foundation piecing: The WRONG side of Piece 1 goes against the WRONG side of the paper.  Then sew on Piece 2, with fabric RIGHT sides together.  Sew on the paper line.
7.  Learn to count (I apparently need to work on this!)
8.  As always, have fun! :)

SPAM

I accidentally approved a message that should have been deleted.  The Comment Moderation tab tells me that I have no unmoderated comments, and the Dashboard doesn't seem to let me modify comments, only the post itself. 

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer. :)     -Chris

Hmmmm...Now What?

Made the flowers below as a border for the quilt above.  But the border should never be wider than 3/4 the width of your block, so I went to Plan B.  Now I'm wondering how to finish the edge without losing the points.  I feel like it will lose its character if I trim them to a straight edge.  

Here are the homeless flowers.  They look so bright and cheerful...will have to find a home for them too. :)

How To Make an American Quilt

How to Make an American Quilt is a novel by Whitney Otto, which chronicles the lives of 8 women in a weekly quilting group.  Its like a cross between "Sewing with Nancy" and "The Secret Life of Bees."  Intriguing!

Hexagon Hell

This project reminds me of letting one's sister cut your hair.  One side looks funny so you take a little off the left.  It still looks crooked, so you take a little of the right....and so on.  Meanwhile your long hair gets shorter and shorter.  In this case, this project keeps getting bigger and bigger.  I'm trapped in Hexagon Hell and I can't get out!  LOL

Actually its a good thing I have this project to work on right now.  My sciatic nerve decided to act up.  As a result I can't stand, walk or sit for more that a few minutes at a time.  So mostly I have to stay horizontal or slightly propped up.  Been off work for several days, and I'm getting stir-crazy.  Day time TV is just abyssmal.  Better find a good book, so I can hunker down so I can mend. :)  

Hmong Quilt

I purchased this wall hanging at the Folk Fair in Milwaukee, WI, in the 1980s.  Though time has passed,  I'm STILL amazed at the intricacies of this work.  Below is a close up of the concentric spirals, done in reverse applique.  You can see every tiny, even stitch.  I wonder how many hours someone toiled on this project. 

For more info on Hmong needlework, see:  http://www.womenfolk.com/quilting_history/hmong.htm

For more information about the Folk Fair in Milwaukee, see:  http://www.folkfair.org/

Olympic Rings...or Not?

Here are my Olympic Rings.  Hind sight being what it is... I should have made each ring out of 12 hexagons, rather than 6.  They look more like wanna-be flowers - which might not be a bad thing.  In that case I could add two more wanna-be's to the top, then make it a circular mini-quilt with traditional yellow centered flowers around the border. 

What I've learned so far:

1.  I need new glasses - ASAP.

2.  Buy premade hexagons.  Homemade templates may not be identical despite your best efforts.

3.  Masking tape works better than a thimble when hand-sewing.  I tape both thumbs.

4.  Consider buying Electric Quilts. 

I really enjoy sketching my quilt ideas, so I never considered buying the software.  But its got to be better than drawing a zillion hexagons, only to realize a different configuration would have been more effective.  So I signed up for a demonstration at my LQS at the end of the month.  So much to learn! :)