Red and whilte

I had a great day yesterday although I think I'll refrain from sewing with the Monday girls for a while. I can home too darned inspired.  I saw one project by Maria and well, I went home and dug out some stuff and then I found some more stuff which resulted in a tin box landing on my head! A teeny bit tender this morning, but I'm OK!  So technically if I really scooted and since I have most of the components made for this project, I could even beat Maria to getting it finished! But I don't have time. I was looking for a second project that Claudette unearthed which I also have as a UFO, but I couldn't find that one - yet!  

However, I did get more work done and those photos are edited and you'll see them later this week. 

Today - it's all about my red and white quilt that I made for Quilts t the Creek. 

I don't know why, but I struggled with this.  I think I struggled for two reasons  - I wanted to use the fabric. Not just cut it up but find a way to really use the print on it. And second, I wanted to use only Northcott fabrics.  After seeing what some of the others did (and what I found in my UFO pile while searching last night), well, I could have done something else. But no matter - this is what the result is and it's done.  Move on!

My first thought was to do an eight pointed star. Actually what happened is that I had a preconceived notion in my head. I had seen this collection used as an eight pointed star in both the red and the black colorway.  I only had the red so I tried, but for some reason, I did like this????   This is NOT like the eight pointed star that I had seen. 

Eight pointed star

I thought I would try it on a red background but still didn't like it. Well, actually I liked it less. 

An eight pointed star on a red background

Hmmm - let's try something else. 

So I ended up with these blocks that I fussy cut and sewed back together. I really really like this, although it was very difficult to fussy cut this design as there was NO real element that was the start or end point. You just had to eyeball it and hope it matched up in the sewing. 

Quartered kaleidoscope

OK - what to put with this block?  I had this vision in my head of making some nine-patches.  I can fussy cut this one fabric for parts of it. 

Fabric to fussy cut for the nine patches

The scale of the piecing was totally different from my original plans and when I put the two blocks together. Well..................

Hmm - this doesn't look right at all

I was disappointed as the nine patches looked too clunky beside the more delicate feel of the kaleidoscope block.    ACK - there is NO time to regroup here.  

What if I try a red on white print for the alternative blocks?

Use red on white fabric???

I didn't like that either.  Instead, I took the same print that I fussy cut the nine-patch center from and I used that as the alternate blocks. I had to sash those pieces with a small strip of white to make them the same size as the nine-patches. 

This looks better

It was only after I got this up on the wall that I noticed that there was a definite line running through the corners of those nine patches. Not realizing this when I was sewing them together, I had to take some of them apart so I could get that diagonal line in the correct orientation. ACK!!!!!

The borders had to be fussy cut as well and not having any specific reference lines was a big issue. 

Fussy cutting the border with NO reference lines

However, it did get DONE and on time!

Here it is hanging at Quilts at the Creek on Day One. 

Hanging at Quilts at the Creek on Day One

It had quilt buddies on this day. On Day Two (don't forget that everything comes down at night and back up the next day!), it was hung off the railing of a building. 

On Day Two

Here's a better picture (taken in my studio), so you can see that diagonal line (in the fabric) in the corners of the nine patch. It only went one way, but that's OK - I at least, got them all going in the same direction. 

It's an Illusion

I did an OK job matching up the mitered corners - they're not perfect, but not bad considering that I basically had to eye ball cutting that fabric.

If you look close, there is one small odd ball thing that happened with the quilt. The only reason that I found it was when I was quilting it.  It's not a big deal and you may or may not find it, but it's there!  What surprises me is that it only happened once as I was totally unaware of the issue when I was piecing!

And what about those leftover blocks that I started with???  I think they would make an awesome quilt in this design.

One more quilt to make!

And just like that - there is another quilt to make!!!!

I'm happy with this - I may or may not put more quilting on it, but I have ONE more red/white quilt to add to my collection!

Well, that's partially how I design quilts. I just wing it for the most part and let the fabrics tell me what doesn't work.

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!

Motivational Monday - progress report

It was a whirlwind weekend and so nice to work WITHOUT a pressing deadline.  That's what happens when you plan. Or more likely there just weren't any major deadlines happening at this time.

It was another instance where that comperized long arm should would have come in handy as at one point, I had the long arm, the embroidery machine and the sewing  machine going at the same time. The embroidery machine was quite fine to run on it's own, but a little difficult to sew and quilt at the same time!

So what did I get done?

I got another one of the Ronald McDonald quilts done!  I counted and there are a few more to do, but they are small and if I focus in this temporary lull, I should get a few more done. The batting is ready for the next one as it had to be joined.

Ronald McDonald quilt - done!

I did get the blocks completed for the next deadline quilt. Well almost. I ran out of fabric!  I had some of this fabric at home - did NOT calculate how much was needed and well, I'm short ONE strip 2 1/2"!  And with today being a holiday, I won't get more until tomorrow. Doesn't matter - the blocks are done, I can sew most of the quilt top together and hope to do that later today.

While piecing the blocks, I was working on my next block for the pixelated apple. Notice all those black/white prints. Yes - I'm using a very busy background. Normally I don't do that as I hate busy background.  No - I don't hate them, I only dislike them when there's not enough contrast to really see the main focus of the quilt. In this case, the main focus is a big red apple - I think the busy background is OK!

One more pixelated block - almost done!

Those blocks are very time consuming, but when you only use them as enders and leaders - it takes a long time. No worries and I went through the black/white stash basket (having exhausted what was available in the black/white scrap basket) and have several more prints picked out to cut into teeny tiny squares.  Now if I were as smart as Peggy, I would know how many I need and I would have it cut and counted. Not going to happen. I'll cut a bunch and if I run out, I'll cut more.

The embroidery machine ran non-stop for two days. Well pretty much non-stop. I was on a roll and figured that if I was quilting/sewing, I could babysit the embrodiery machine. You see, I want to get that Halloween project done.  I have a few other embroidery projects that I want to do BUT I'm not starting anything new untiil this Halloween quilt is done!

Totally random thought here - did we not at one point spell Hallowe'en  with an apostrophe?  Or is that my imagination?

Embroidery machine - slaving away

This quilt uses a lot of black thread. I had purchased a large spool, but you can see that it is getting used up. I checked my thread boxes and found not one, not two, not three, but FOUR spools of the same black.  Why???   NO idea and if you look at them closely, you can see that three of them have been used. Why not use up the smallest one before moving to the next?  NO idea.

Lots of spool of black thread!

All those spools are now in the project box for this Halloween quilt.   I've made a list of what I'm running low. Black is definitely on the list!

So when I went to bed on Saturday night, this is what my design wall looked like.

Halloween blocks

That may mean nothing to you, but I did FOUR of those blocks in one day.  That's the equivalent of almost 200,000 stitches.  I'm not sure the speed of my machine, but there are lots of thread changes, placing fabric for the applique and trimming.  I average about 3 hours per block.


I managed to get a customer quilt done.  A HUGE customer quilt.

One half of the customer quilt

And the other half

 I bought a new camera lens a while back (NO MORE ISSUES with the camera), but the angle is different and I can't get back far enough to take one picture of these big quilts. The next customer quilt is loaded on the long arm and ready for tonight.

Let's see - oh yes - busy at the embroidery machine on Sunday as well and now look at the blocks.

Halloween blocks

 Yep - I was able to get THREE more blocks done yesterday. I could have gotten a fourth one in, but I had to drive my personal chef to the airport and we had dinner out and that killed my embroidery time. Looks like I might be having chocolate for dinner this week!

Let's see - oh yes - I did get some work done on one of my UFOs. I have a wee bit of work to get caught up on those.  I'm making progress. But instead of using it as enders and leaders, I'm going to have to dedicate a day to getting it done!

Blocks trimmed and ready for the next stage. 

Next piece to add on

But while I was watching a movie, I managed to get all the next little triangle pieces cut and marked.


So how is everyone doing on their list of UFOs. Me - I'm not doing great.  I MUST get focused and get those two that I'm currently working on DONE!   I'm off to a sewing day today and I'm taking the project above and hope to make great progresson it. NOT as an ender and leader, but as the darn project of the day. Hmmm - I was going to take my small sewing machine, but I need speed - going to swap out for the bigger one.

It's a holiday here so I get to spend the day with the Monday group!  Can't wait, but first, the girls and I are off to the dog park.

Have a super day!!!


Ciao!!!

What's with the weather?

I feel compelled to chat about the weather this morning. For the last couple of days, the temperature in the house has been warm, not unbearable that we need the A/C on, but warm. This morning, I have a sweatshirt on!

But not only that, I was driving to work on Thursday morning. The sun is out and it looks like a beautiful day. I'm driving east more or less. The highway takes a turn to the north and IMMEDIATELY I remarked to myself -"who turned out the lights".  Literally in a span of a few seconds, we went from a sunny day to low fog. It was pretty weird as I hadn't noticed the fog ahead of me.

Yesterday I'm driving to work along the same stretch of road and it's raining quite heavily, yet to my right I can see the sun blazing.

It's very weird. The weather is very patchy and everyday is a new adventure. I'm sure that regardless of where you're reading this, that you're experiencing the same kind of bizarre weather that we're having here. The other thing I noticed that if we have thunderstomrs or hot weather, it's echoed right across the country. And there's nothing we can do about the weather which is a bit freaky.  But enough doom and gloom!

We had a visitor at work yesterday. One of the staff came in and said, there's a coyote across the street. No way!   Yep - a look out the window and there was the darn thing sitting by a tree waiting for a squirrel. The squirrel was freaking out. Of course we went out for better pictures and turns out - it was a fox. With it's big bushy tail which you couldn't see when he was sitting beside a different tree.   We are in an industrial park, but we're NOT in the country. We're not even in the outskirts.

Fox waiting for breakfast

 Eventually he went away and we went back to work.


I might as well get all the wildlife pictures out of my system today.  Here's one that I snapped on my way to work a couple of weeks ago.  It's hard to see, but there's a coyote just hanging around in the middle of the soccor field close to my house. It's about 6:30 AM.  It's probably safer to walk in the forest because they never seem to be in the forest these days.

Coyote hanging out in the soccor field

Guess what today is?  It's the first day of a long weekend and I have NOTHING to do. Well - I mean I have nowhere to go, no commitments, NO urgent quilt to be done (I mean like it has to be done on Tuesay). I've already been sewing away last night and this morning on the next quilt that is due.   At a very relaxed pace and it's quite enjoyable!

The task master has a list of things that it would like me to do and she and I have already talked and I think we're good!  The biggest problem is not trying to get everything done because it isn't going to happen!

I do have some paperwork that is sorely overdue and I need to get that done this weekend.

On that note, I'm off to enjoy the day!

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!!

Bobbin along!

Yesterday's post was so exciting.  The quilt is back on the wall of the library.  I sent a note to all the parties involved in the process to THANK them for making it happen.  It would appear that the library manager was instrumental in the process!

Without an imminent deadline, I feel like a ship lost at sea!  I know I should be taking advantage of the downtime and get working on the next project, but there is no sense of urgency.  I'm started to work on the next project as I did cut out part of what I need for the next deadline quilt, but there is zero urgency! Wait until next week!  Actually, my plan is to work on that quilt, a quilt for work and one of my UFO projects this weekend BUT ONLY after the dogs have been to the park and I've been out on my bike!

I've also been dealing with the aftermath of that last batch of rushed projects. Sorting the scraps and putting away. The cutting table is looking positively clear. Well - better than usual. 

I thought I would follow up on the bobbin situation.  I heard back from several people and there were two main ideas for keeping the bobbin threads tidy. One was to use those small hair elastics - you know the colored fuzzy ones. Something like these ones. 

I was certain that I have some around the house, but no idea where.  Then as I'm sitting here writing, I realize that YES I do have some of these elastics and I know exactly where they are.  However, I found this picture on the internet so that will have to do. 

So that is one solution. The other solution was to use plastic tubing.  Hm -  I had to make a trip to the hardware store shortly after I posted the bobbin issue.  I scoped out the plastic tubing section and came up with a suitable piece. 

I cut a section of the tubing and then cut a slit on the side. Actually, I cut a small length of tubing, then sliced it open. I opened it up, lay it flat on the mat and used my rotary cutter to cut the circles. 

Bobbin holder

They work really well with full bobbins and even the partially filled bobbins. I think I might cut a few more as some of the ones I cut were a teeny bit thin and don't always do the job properly.  I just eyeballed the cutting.  I'm going to do it again, but using a ruler to get it the exact width of the space around the bobbin. But they are slick. They do take a bit of extra space around the outside of the full bobbins, but not much.

There is only one draw back to this solution.  I had to buy a long piece of plastic tubing!

Leftover tubing!

The thought did cross my mind to cut a piece off in the store  (OH GOD - what was I thinking!), but I did not. I bought the entire piece. It wasn't that expensive. So should anyone want a small piece of plastic tubing - I got lots!  It's always awesome to find a solution to a problem.   I want to thank everyone for their suggestions.  This was inexpensive (The entire piece of tubing was less than $10 and if I sell it to quilters by the inch - well I could easily get my money back!  I'm kidding - if anyone wants a piece, just let me know.

One more area of my sewing is neat and tidy. Someday the entire place will be tidy!

There is only draw back to the plastic tubing.  I did find that if the bobbin wasn't completely full, that little piece of plastic wrapped around so snug that it was hard to grasp it to pull it off.  I think I could have used the point of my awl or seam ripper to help me.


By the way - if you have young children in your life - check out my latest free download!  It's a teepee.  Very cute.  Made with Northcott's Tiny Treasures Fox and Friends collection.  I made M one when she was a kid. It was ORANGE and blue!   Long gone, but now I have a new one.

Teepee pattern  - free download

On that note - it's Friday before the long weekend!  YEAH!!!!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!

Fire proof

Gosh -- my mind is all over the place and almost forgot to blog this morning.

Remember a while back that I talked about the quilt at the library.    That was way back in January of this year.

There was a beautiful quilt that hung on the wall of the library and one day it was gone.  After some investigation, it was discovered that the quilt was removed while they repainted the walls and since it wasn't fire proof, it wasn't going to be hung back up.

After several e-mails with the city and some investigation, I did receive an e-mail a couple of weeks ago advising me that the quilt was BACK in the library.   OH MY GOD.  And I was there this past week and snapped a photo.

Library quilt

And you'll be happy to note that I was able to get that off my phone!   Ronda  - do you hear me???   I did it all by myself!


Apparently the quilt has been fire retarded or whatever they do and is now back up.  But seriously - look at the carpet, look at the thousands of books and magazines. The plastic chairs - I don't get it.

On that note - it just seems that the flood gates have opened and I can't get ANYTHING done. So I best crawl back to my desk to get to work!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!

Confirm.....

It was with a great deal of flourish that I hit the "confirm submission" button last night.  The pictures were taken and edited and the artist statement written. Everything went smoothly and I still had HOURS to spare before the midnight deadline!  AH - what a nice feeling!

I did have to finish an item for work that will be a free download and should be on the web site before the end of the week. But the pace was relaxed, the mood was joyous and I got to enjoy my little art piece while I was madly bustling around. 

However you know that your studio is dire need of attention when this happens...............

The scrap bucket overflowed

I know - that's pretty anticlimactic!   Just a few scraps spilled out of the basket onto the floor.   It's tidy up time!

I swear, I could clear that cutting table often and I do and within hours (or so it seems) it's jammed up with stuff again.  

BUT the good news - things are getting completed.  NOTHING is getting set aside until later.  I'm super happy about that. Well except maybe a label or two, but I love those little sew in labels that I'm using.  

I was going to take more pictures, but I didn't have time so I'll do that tonight when I have NOTHING urgent to do.  The next deadline is almost 12 days away!  I do have loads to get done in the meantime, but nice to have a relaxed pace for a change. 

And here's a picture of the messy cutting table.  That will be the job for tonight. 

Stuff to put away

I swear that I'm becoming positively domesticated!  I had to cook dinner for myself last night and can you imagine that I vacuumed the floors before leaving for work this morning?  I must be coming down with something!  By the way - I did cook - I did NOT eat chocolate. And since there are ZERO snacks in the house, when I wanted just a little something sweet after dinner, I went without!  My waistline thanks me!

On that note - have a super day!

Ciao!!!

Motivational Monday - on Tuesday again!

I missed a day of blogging!  I couldn't help it.  There was much to be done and zero time for blogging.

Well - guess what?   I had all those deadlines?  And I MADE THEM ALL!!!   Wait a minute!  There is one more - tonight at midnight, but the quilt is done. The binding is ALMOST hand stitched in place. All that remains is to take three photos and submit. How hard can that be?  I hope to do that before noon today in the event there is a glitch!   How the heck did all that happen?

This has NEVER happened before.  I'm super excited about it.  And I attribute it all to having a list, setting the priorities and then buckling down.    The next deadline is two weeks away and I hope to sneak in a couple of my UFOs in the meantime.

I have to share this story with you about this last project.  Unfortunately I can't share the project with you yet.  It's for a challenge.  I had a year to do the quilt, but nothing was coming to me about the design. Zero inspiration. Then as the deadline approached, it was on my mind more and more.

I like to read and somewhere I read a quote that happened to fit into this theme. As I was quilting another urgent quilt, I got to thinking about the project again and that quote came to mind. STOP the long arm.  A teeny bit of research and my mind was racing again with design inspirations.

A shout out to a Facebook group for desperately needed fabric (which I received in short order from Shelley) and I was good to go.  I had TWO different techniques in mind.  More thoughts - choose one, then the one, then back to the other one. I waffled several times as to whether I would actually get going on this.

Sunday dawned glorious and sunny.  Hmm -  I could ride my bike, but then a darn dog hit me and knocked me down in the dark park and my knee - well it didn't feel so good.  I stayed home and started to work on this project.  Yes - that was this past Sunday - a mere two days ago!   I'm so glad that the dog made the decision for me.   I wasn't sure how to proceed with project, but after digging out a book, the author said "don't hesitate, just go for it and soon you'll be enjoying yourself".  So that's what I did!   It really and truly was so much fun.  And as one problem arose, I quickly problem solved and moved on. It was almost effortless.

I'm not sure how but I finished the top on Sunday night.  Remember it's only little - 20 inches square.  Then last night, I did some last minute prep work on the top, loaded it on the long arm. Very tentatively started to quilt it and then went for the gusto and got it quilted and trimmed last night.

I have to say that this project is one that I'm really excited about. The colors excite me, the message excites me, the end result excites me.  If the quilt doesn't get accepted into the challenge, I couldn't care less, although I would be very happy.  I'm going to hang it up in my office after I take pictures.

So what did I learn from this?   I learned a new technique, I learned a new style, but more important, I think this helped me to grow as an artist. Both on the long arm and in design. There was a lot of finagling to get the final design in a logical pattern.  I've always said in all my lectures that the only projects that have pushed me are the challenges.  I can practically piece with my eyes shut.  I need a challenge to make my mind grow.  The challenges do it.  They are my most special quilts of anything I've ever done.

Bottom line - if you have a chance to work on a challenge  (and by challenge, I mean a quilt that has to meet certain guidelines - use a specific fabric, or be a certain size or have a specific theme),  then I would most certainly do that.

I remember standing in my lecture at Quilt Canada and saying that I had TWO challenges that had to be done by August 1. I remember saying that the only person I would disappoint if they didn't get done would be myself.  That thought kept running through my head for the last 6 weeks.  And you know what - I succeeded.   I'm thrilled beyond words!!!!!   Just getting them done and being happy with them is satisfaction enough.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures today to share with you.  The backing of the challenge is awesome. I used a teal blue thread on a BLACK background.  Oh boy --- it looks GORGEOUS.  The back is almost as nice as the front.  Time to crank out those contrasting threads and quilt, quilt, quilt!

I do have something to share with you today though.  And that is a new free download.  This is a super cute messenger bag that I designed and wrote the pattern for.   Follow that link or go to the Resource section on Northcott's website.

Messenger Bag

I've tested that pattern and reread it a thousand times.  Hopefully it makes sense to you as well. The fabric is from the Pony Express collection which is available in the US and will be shipping to all shops in December.  However in September, there is a shop hop in the 8 states through which the Pony Express trail went.  Check that out here.  There are super cute collector pins as well.   HOWEVER, the bag can be made from any fabric and I want to remake it now in something else.  I love the bag - it's so darn practical - no hands!!!!

The bag has pockets on the inside as well and let's not forget that plasticore bag bottom!

OK -- got to run.

Have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!