Friday, October 28, 2011

A little of this, a little of that, and a finish - finally

First, the finish.
Ta da . . .
I have been working on this Hawaiian applique for over five years.  After I got it cut and basted, I put it away, thinking I was never going to have the patience or skills to finish it.  I finally decided I would never develop the skills unless I tried, so I got it out a few months ago and did the needle turn applique.  Then I hand quilted it.  I put the binding on today from an old Hawaiian shirt of Tom's.  It isn't perfect, but I am really happy it is done and somewhat presentable.
It is amazing, but I actually got this done in this mess of a studio.


As you can see, I have projects everywhere.  My design wall is off to the left.  The board to the right holds all my inspirational bits and pieces.  The table to the left holds quite a few orphan blocks and UFOs.  The stacks of fabric and books on the end of the table in the middle are waiting for me to put them away in the other room.  I try and keep everything for one project in a separate basket, so you can see them stacked around.  One of these days, I will have to clean up a bit.  Unfortunately, I would rather use studio time to create, not clean.
Today, I also tried something new to me.  I wanted to try string quilting.


I got a 12" and a couple of 4" blocks put together before I decided to put this away for another day.  I did this by creating a largish strata and cutting the block units from that.  There was much too much waste for me.  When I get back to it, I am going to try a different approach.  Besides, I also discovered that the greens, teals, and turquoise fabrics I want to use are all very different sizes, most much to small to make good strata.  At least I like the results.  Tom likes these and hopes I continue.
Here are the JL blocks I made (2 each).
 


And last but not least is the final block for my BOM quilt.
This is the last you will see of this until it is finished and ready to enter in the contest over at 15 Minutes Play on December 1.
I can't wait to see what I get done tomorrow.  I hope it goes as well as it did today.
What are your plans for the weekend?

5 comments:

Impera Magna said...

Wow... you got a LOT accomplished there! Love your JL blocks and that pinwheel is fab!

sheila 77 said...

You are an amazingly fast worker. I like all the pieces you have done today, but especially like the string quilting with its combinations of colours. I agree with you about the waste on these projects, I've tried cutting strips to gradually fit the triangles but that takes ages. I am being influenced by your Jacob's ladder fabrics and yesterday bought some traditional flower fabrics. And finally I loved seeing a picture of your studio.

Venus de Hilo said...

Love what you've been working on, and congrats on the finish!

12 years in Hawaii for me, and I have yet to attempt a Hawaiian applique... although it's on the bucket list.

My plans for the weekend are supposed to include cleaning up the sewing room. Believe it or not, mine is messier than yours! Somehow I'm still finding enough usable space to keep sewing and not cleaning.

Sarah Craig said...

I love all your beautiful creations, particularly that last block, but I can so relate to your studio! And your sentiment that you'd rather sew and create than clean and organize! There just aren't enough hours in the day to do it all.....

Sue Daurio said...

Love the applique and the Hawaiian shirt for the binding is just perfect. And then that wasn't enough, look at all those wonderful blocks!!