Here we are after our recital. Bella, in pink, was born to be on stage.  She did a fantastic job.  Lisa and I were two of our quartet.  According to the applause and the comments of our family members and some audience members, we did a fine job.  We sang a medley of Broadway musical songs through time.  Once we decided to just have fun, we all really enjoyed it.  I am so glad I did this and can check it off the bucket list.  Oh, and here is the hat.  It is a bit crooked, but I think you get the idea.

I spent a few hours in my studio today and caught up on my June BOMs for 15 Minutes Play.  First, I needed to make some fabric.  I have a plastic bag full of scraps just for these blocks.  I would like to make a quilt with the blocks at the end. 

The first June block is called Beacon Lights.  I have to say I have never seen this block before.  I enjoyed making the block because I got practice making quarter square triangle squares.  I haven't done that before.  This is not my favorite block I have ever made, but it will be fine in the quilt.

The second block for June is the Courthouse Steps.  I do really like this block.  I am using different background material for each block.  For the Courthouse Steps, I used a burnt orange.  I like the way it looks with the turquoise based made fabric.

Tomorrow, I think I will start making flying geese with the Kansas Troubles Perennials.  I also want to start getting everything ready for my sister-in-law's visit.  She is coming from the D.C. area to spend a week with us.  I am really looking forward to her visit.  We are going to do many quilty things.
Until tomorrow, joyful quilting everyone.

Quilting days

This is my sister, Kim, her first time quilting a quilt.  This was also her first large quilt.  Isn't it beautiful.  It is the largest quilt my frame will handle.  Kim is a natural free motion quilter.  This quilt is going to look stunning on her bed.
I finished quilting the D9P and got it off the frame just before Kim got here yesterday.  This is the quilt I made with the charm packs, Fandango by Kate Spain for Moda.  It is my first charm pack quilt.

I finished binding it this morning and attached the label.  I delivered it this evening to Robin, who has been my singing coach all year.  Saturday is the big recital where I make my public singing debut in which I actually have a couple of solo parts.

The last thing I did today was to finish this AAQI quilt.  It is 9" x 11".  I quilted it with triangles in each of the orange and gold wedges and micro stippling around the outside.  Now, I have three ready to register.

Tomorrow, my sis is coming to finish quilting her quilt.  I have an appointment with a quilter who I really respect about the next steps for my iris project.  Tomorrow night, I have dress rehearsal.  It is also my daughter's birthday.  Busy days.  Ain't retirement grand!
Joyful quilting.
Miki

Sunday and the design wall

This being my 100th post, you would think I would have something really important to share, or at the very least, a giveaway.  Alas, nothing earth shaking has gone on today in the studio, and I really don't have anything to give away.  I think I may try and do a giveaway on my 65th birthday in December, but not today.
I did put the star blocks together and added the sashings and first border.  I am at a standstill until I find fabric for the wings on the flying geese border that is next, as well as a border outside of that.  I am happy that my measurements have worked out so far.  I expect they will be fine because I have done the calculations very carefully.  I enjoy coming up with my own quilt designs, or at least I think they are my own.  There is nothing new in quilting, though, is there.
As you can see from the design wall, I have not settled inside any particular quilting box.  I love trying new things.  I would be really bored if I did the same thing all the time.  That is the beauty of quilting, I think.  There are so many ways to cut up fabric and put it back together again. 
Speaking of cutting up fabric and putting it back together again, I have joined another challenge at 15 Minutes Play.  This time, we are to take a painting and interpret it into a 15" quilt using solids.  At first, I was going to use this painting by Diebenkorn called Berkley 23.

After playing around with it for a couple of days, I decided it was not going to work for me.  So then, I took a look around my inspiration board and found this.

This is Three Russian Dancers by Degas.  I love the colors and the fluid lines.  I think this will really work for a free-piecing  fabric piece.  Now, all I have to do is find solid fabric in the colors I need.  I just don't have many solids.  Of course, I may keep looking for an inspiration piece that is more perfect than this.  After all, I do have until the first of August.
I am with Bella on Monday and Tuesday this week.  On Saturday night, I am actually going to sing on a stage with a very small group (four of us), and I got the hat done for that.  Wednesday, my sister is coming over and we are going to load her first large quilt on the frame and fire up Priscilla.  It looks like a full week ahead.  I will be back here on Wednesday.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Painting with fabric - part 2

This morning, I was excited to work more on the iris project.  I finished drawing all the pieces on the SteamASeam and cut them apart.  Then, I put them into piles for the different fabrics I was using.  I ended up using five plus the little piece of yellow.  After I got them tacked down on the right fabric, I cut them out and started building the puzzle.  After I got everything in place, I realized that I had to transfer everything to the fabric I selected for the background.  Hmmmm.  I know there are easier ways to do this, but I just decided to eyeball it.  After all, it is my drawing and if I changed it a bit as I moved it, that was okay.

The next step is the machine work.  I picked up some King Tut in four shades of purple some time ago on sale.  I know I am going to use a double button hole stitch around the edges of the pieces.  Then, I want to do some thread play.  Right now, it is on the design wall so I can sit with it a while before I tackle the next challenge.
Then, I changed directions completely and pulled out my fat eighth bundle of Perennials by Kansas Trouble for Moda.  While I was staying with Bella, I drew up pattern designs for four quilts.  One of them was for this fabric.  In the center are six of my favorite stars.  Around that there will be flying geese.  The outside border is also fun.  I didn't get the stars completed, but enough to lay them out on the design wall.  There will be sashing between the stars, but I don't know what color yet.  I love the fabric line and I want to show it off in this quilt.

What fun things are you working on these days? 
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Trying painting with fabric

I am not sure what the correct term is for my new project.  I decided I wanted to create an Iris with fabric and make it into a quilted piece.  I have seen flowers done with applique, and I have liked them.  I looked for books at the library on how to do this, but there were none at my local branch, and since I wanted to try it now, I decided to just go ahead and jump in feet first.  Anyone who knows me shouldn't be surprised by that.

The first thing I did was go through my husbands photos.  It is so lovely to have a professional photographer around the house.  I selected one of the irises he took last week at a neighbor's house.  After I printed it, I took some time to sketch it out freehand.  I realized I had to simplify the design a bit to make it work in fabric.  I still wanted it to look like an iris, though.  After the initial sketch, I took a black marker and outlined the basic shapes I would be using.  Then, I enlarged it so that when it is taped together, it is approximately 22" x 18".  With the pattern (or cartoon in weaving) drawn, I headed to the new fabric shop in Kent.  I purchased the green for the background, and the three purple batiks for the flower.  I already had some yellow for the center.  All of this took most of the morning. 

My next step was to number all the different parts.  I figured out how to draw the parts on the SteamASeam so the flower would not be reversed, and started cutting for the bottom focus petal.  I decided to do fusible applique after much internal debate.  I really enjoy hand work, but it took me so long to get my Hawaiian piece appliqued, and I would like to finish this sooner than five years.  I would also like to do some thread play on at least the focus petal.  The iris has purple lines radiating up from the purple edges and I think I could simulate that on the machine.  My question is, do I do that as part of the quilting process, or before I sandwich everything together.  I have a while before I have to figure that out.
I mentioned that I went to a new quilt store today.  It is called Running Stitch Fabrics and it is in the Kent, Washington historic district.  The shop has been open about a month and is still growing its stock.  If what they have is any indication of the future, I will be going back there often.  They are building a collection of Island Batiks that is stunning.  I had no trouble finding what I wanted there.  They have the Grand Finale line by Sandy Gervais for Moda which I am in love with.  I think I have mentioned before that Sandy Gervais is one of my favorite designers.  My budget won't allow me to buy any this month, but if I save my pennies, maybe next month.  The shop carries bright fabrics and has a good selection of blenders.  There was a very wonderful fat eighth bundle of blenders, but I stuck to my Iris fabric today.  There is a very large classroom area in the back which is open for quilters to come and work when classes are not in session.  They just got in their long arm quilting machine.  Soon, they will have classes and rental times available.  If you are ever in Kent, I highly recommend this warm friendly shop.
The last thing I have to share today is a completely ridiculous project I have been working on.  I am going to be singing with my small group in a show next Saturday.  We are using hats as props.  It was deemed a good idea for me to wear, at one point in the show, a replica of the hat that Princess Beatrice wore to the Royal Wedding.  I, of course, have to make the hat.  So far, I have used an old baseball cap, heavy fusible pellon, pink fabric, rubber tubing, and a glue gun.  As soon as my husband eats another popsicle, I will have a pair to use to hold the thing at the correct angle, I hope.  Here it is so far.  All I can say is that it is a good thing I am not trying to make my living as a milliner.

At least, I think it will be recognizable. 
I hope you all have a wonderful quilty weekend.

Having trouble leaving comments?

I know that several people have been having trouble leaving comments on Blogger for a while now.  It finally happened to me.  The solution is to make sure you uncheck the "stay signed in" box when you log in.  That has worked for my husband and me.
On another note, I really love to read your comments and try to respond to each one.  If you are a no reply, which means you haven't added your email to your profile, please add your email address to your comment so I can write back. 
Thanks.

Orange and Blue in a Dresden Platter

I worked on my Dresden platter today.  First I cut the pieces in 2 inch strips.  That was my first mistake.  I thought I measured correctly, but I should have added another 1/4 inch.  It was pretty touch and go making everything meet, but I was able to get it all put together.

 

After I got it all trimmed, my husband and I auditioned three different center possibilities.  At first, I was sure I was going to like the one in the center first.  Then Tom pulled the fabric on the left, and I liked it better, but it still wasn't what I wanted.  I dug through the scrap basket when Tom saw a tiny piece of the third fabric, and I found one just the right size with the spiral on it.  That is the one I selected.

Now, everything is fused down and ready for the next step.  I am trying to decide whether or not to stitch this down by hand or machine.  I was thinking about adding some decorative embroidery stitches.  At the garage sale, the seller gave me a huge bag of embroidery thread, and I want to get started doing some embroidery again.  Maybe this will be the right project to get started.
I also finished stitching En Vino Veritas together and moved it from the design wall to the quilting rack. I even found backing fabric for it. I want to get it quilted soon, along with the six other quilts waiting on the quilt rack.  All together there is one gift, four charity quilts, and two I want to enter into my guild's show in July.  I better get busy.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Back in the studio again!

I went to a garage sale with Bella the other day.

The seller was once a quilter, but had to quit because of an injury.

She had many fat quarters, and I bought as many as I thought I could use.

There was a two yard piece of the red in the back.

The pastel in front has cottages all over it that I didn't see when it was rolled up.

I decided to use the golds and the greens to the left for

the mystery guilt for my guild.  Today, I made

100 two and a half inch HSTs.

I also made more of the teal/turquoise fabric to make a new AAQI.

I drew up a Dresden oval and will make the wedges with the

orange and yellow as well as the made fabric.

I will be with Bella again tomorrow, but I will work more on this on Thursday.

Then I will have five days to play in the studio!

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Looking for a small quilty gift? Try the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

I am still having great fun with Bella, so no new projects from my quilt studio.  I just wanted to invite you to take a look at all the wonderful small quilts available for sale over at AAQI.  The June quilt auction is also open right now.  Those quilts may be found here.  I have my eye on a couple of the auction quilts.  AAQI has raised over $500,000 for Alzheimer's research and education since it began in 2006.  Purchasing a gift quilt, or one that you want to hang in your own home, is a wonderful way you can participate in finding ways to cure this horrible disease.  Please hop on over and take a look at what many great quilters are doing.

Playing with fabric

I am going to be watching Bella for the next seven days, so I won't have a bunch of time in the studio.  I have been working hard to get all my blocks made for the various guild blocks I said I would make.  This is my stack of 28 mock log cabin blocks for the guild bee.  The only thing I have left is to start on the mystery quilt.  I have not decided on fabric for that one yet. 
Speaking of fabric, I decided I wanted to play this afternoon, so I made some fabric.

The second May BOM for 15 Minutes Play is a pinwheel block, and I decided to make my spokes blue.  I started piecing scraps until I got enough to put an 11" x 11" block together.  After I got this made, I thought I might like blue and orange spokes instead, so I made some orange fabric.

I cut the blocks to five inch squares, then sliced them diagonally to create the spokes.

Now, all I have to do is piece it all together.  I do love working this way.
I hope everyone has been enjoying a great holiday.  I will blog when I can over the next week. 
Joyful quilting, everyone.

More blocks and some HSTs

Excuse the lousy photo, please.  I just wanted to show that I made three more blocks to go with the yellow.  I had to go to the fabric store for something else, so I picked up a couple of small cuts of the blue and purple pastels.  I am not really a pastel kind of person, but I think these blocks turned out sweet.  I can't wait to see all the blocks other people have made for this presentation quilt.

I also decided to tackle pressing all the little extra HSTs left from piecing En Vino Veritas.  There are almost 300 of them.  I have decided to keep the pile at the end of the ironing board and do a few each time I go to press a seam.  That way, they will get pressed eventually.  While I was pressing these, I remembered that I had already pressed the ones from Farmer's Market, so . . . .

This little piece is only 7" by 8 1/2" without the borders.  It will be another AAQI quilt.  I have pulled the top and bottom pieces to audition as borders.  I really don't know which one I like better.  What do you think?  I still have so much of this fruit and vegetable fabric left.  I am thinking about creating a jelly roll as a swap for something else.  I will let you know and see if anyone is interested.
Have a wonderful long weekend, everyone.
Joyful quilting,
Miki

Guild blocks

Today, I spent some time making blocks for my guild today.  This one is the BOM that is due in June.  One of the things I like about my mostly traditional guild is the opportunity to practice my piecing skills.  I am getting better at making my corners and points meet.  I am also getting better at cutting and sewing with a 1/4" seam.  I think it is all because of making these blocks pretty regularly.

This is one of the presentation blocks I am making.  I will make another one in pink and white.  The only downside of participating in all these block making opportunities is that I often don't have the required fabric.  Until recently, I did not have any white on white.  I looked through my stash bins today and found only two pastels that weren't batiks.  I really thought I had more, especially purple.  I guess I should buy fat quarters of these kinds of colors every now and then so when I need them I will have them.

My quilting tastes are very eclectic.  I really like a traditional style quilt with star blocks.  I also like a good churn dash quilt.  I am drawn to old fashioned feeling fabric like those designed by Kansas Troubles.  Then there is my love affair with improvisational quilting.  I really enjoy pulling scraps and sewing them together to make new fabric and then building something with it or around it.  I love the colors in the new fabrics out there, but I think I may just be a bit too old fashioned to really appreciate all the patterns.  I do appreciate the talent out there and the fabric companies who support these artists.   My biggest problem is that there are not enough hours to make all the things I want to. 

 I did take a little time to make a bit of crazy cloth by cutting up a D9P block I made back in January.  I will be using it to cut up and make a more traditional block.  Oh, how much fun I have in the studio!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful long weekend.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

A little of this, a little of that

At last!  The intuition quilt is finished and I have been snuggling under it for a couple of days.  Yes, it is chilly and raining again here in Renton, Washington.  I try not to have issues with the weather around here.  After all, it is what it is, and I have chosen to live here knowing that.  However, this time of year, I do yearn for 75 degree days with beautiful blue skies.  At least, I have this quilt done to keep me warm.  I have decided to call it "Self Portrait."  It has a bit of controlled chaos, and that pretty much describes how I am most days.  It works for me, though.

I always love getting squishy envelopes in the mail, and this one was a real surprise.  Karen G at K's Quilting Corner sent me a thank you note with this totally cute thread catcher inside.  As you can see, I have already put it to good use.  I love the colors and the fabric and just the convenience of having a little thread catcher right there on the table.  Thank you so much Karen.

I spent a little time today making heart blocks.  This one was made with my crazy made fabric.  They are freehand and a little wonky, but that is intentional. I used a double buttonhole stitch for the upper heart, and a fancy flower pattern for the bottom one.  I am getting better at this machine applique, but it is still pretty new to me.  I would like to get really good at it before I tackle a big project I have on the drawing board. This block is 8 1/2 inches square. It will be going to an online quilting friend.

This one is going to be my next AAQI quilt after I use it as an example of what you can do with the rainbow of geese I am teaching my guild next week.  Again, I used some of my crazy made fabric for the heart.  My wonderful husband really likes the one above, but this heart doesn't make it for him.  He does like the rainbow geese, though.  I used a single buttonhole stitch for the heart and I pieced the curves for the rainbow arch.  I am calling this one God's Promise.  It is 9 1/2" by 8 1/2".  I think the binding will be a dark color and the back will be more of the background color.





The last thing I worked on today was to get En Vino Veritas up on the design wall.  All the blocks are sewn, and I am pretty happy with the layout.  There is supposed to be another row, but I wanted the bottom and the top to look the same, so I left it off.  Now I have six extra blocks.  I will probably make a pillow out of four of them.  I haven't made a pillow in ages, and we could certainly use some.  The process for making this quilt has been a bit repetitive, and when that happens, I tend to make mistakes.  I only messed up twice on this so far.  I intend to be more careful piecing this all together.  Hopefully, I will make progress on that tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

The seam ripper is my friend

I couldn't resist posting this photo of our lilac tree/bush.  I grew up loving lilacs.  My grandmother wore Avon's lilac water all the time, and it is a smell that takes me back to her warm cozy home every time.   This year, our lilac has more blossoms on it than it has had since we moved here.  It smells so wonderful as you walk through the gate to the back yard.  I will probably cut some to bring in the house in the next couple of days.  I am so excited we have this tree and that it is in full bloom this year.
In more quilty news, I spent the bulk of the day yesterday working on Hokule'a.  I finished piecing the circle of geese and am very happy with the results.  When I laid them over the star compass, I decided I really did not like the job I did with the double button hole stitch on the star compass.  I didn't like the color of thread I selected, either.  So, what is a quilter to do?  I got out my trusty Bernina seam ripper and started carefully taking out stitches.  Have you ever spent time taking out double button hole stitches?  Believe me when I tell you it is not much fun.  It took the better part of the afternoon and evening.  I had to quit when my eyes gave out on me.  I finished this morning.  Then, I went to the store and picked up more King Tut in a color better suited for the project, and started over again.

My first mistakes were twofold.  I did not use a fusible, and I did not use a backing.  Beginner's mistakes, I know.  I don't know what I was thinking.  This time, I used both, and I am much happier with the outcome.  Here you can see the geese all pinned down and ready to sew.  I am going to hand stitch them down because I don't want the stitching to show.  I am pretty proud of this piece so far.  I designed it and made it myself, from drawing the pattern, to making the foundation pieces.  Imaging my surprise today when I picked up a copy of the new Quilter's Newsletter to find something very similar on the disc that came with the magazine.  Now, people are going to think I copied it, but I did not.  I hope this does not become a problem when I enter it into our guild show in August.  Any suggestions?
One other project I worked on today was putting together little kits to teach curved flying geese to my guild next week.  I decided to do a rainbow of flying geese with them.  This is what each participant will get.

I will be with my granddaughter the next couple of days, so see you on Thursday.
Joyful quilting, everyone.