Quilty Goals

My goal for this long weekend is to finish up 3 quilt tops and get them to my favorite long-arm quilter this next week. As of Saturday night, 2 tops are done and the third is underway.

Last in, first done: Bought the fabric for this on New Year’s Eve, started cutting and sewing on New Year’s Day. Pattern is “Stepping Up”, a free online download. 

I fell hard for that orange fabric - and still love it - but now that the top is done, I think I may give it away. Can’t keep them all, right??

Jac’s Flower: I was given that pink flower - already cut, with interfacing attached - and the quilt pattern last fall. Put them together with a jelly roll that’s been in my stash for years and some yellow Grunge left over from another project, but then I stalled out on the appliqué. 

Found Baby Shark cuddle fabric (Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo) on the New Year’s Eve fabric run and knew it had to be the backing for Jac’s quilt. She loves that song!

Added a cute snail for the flower’s center, appliquéd everything down, and project #2 is done. 

Last but not least: First 2 rows of the deer quilt are done. Top-stitching the antlers is slooooooooow going; each deer takes me 12-15 minutes and I have to take a break every two or three blocks to unkink my back. 

It’s coming together nicely though. I may not get project #3 completed this weekend, but it will be close. 

Flower Block

These blocks are sew much fun.

Minor Surgery

One of Leanne’s favorite stuffies had a rather grisly accident. 

A sharp needle, a little thread and it’s all better.

It’s not the neatest job in the world, but I was more interested in making it secure. 

Hope Leanne is happy when she sees him tomorrow. 

Almost

Thought I was going to finish this tonight, ready to put borders on tomorrow, 

but apparently I can’t count. I’m 3 blocks short on the final row. D*mn it. Good thing I bought extra fabric. 

Pretzels

Found this soft pretzel recipe on FB, so Leanne and I decided to give it a try.

Oh my. These were seriously delicious. There’s only one left, which Leanne has claimed for her breakfast. My plans for tomorrow now include making another batch. Yummmmm. 

* We also tried the cheese sauce referenced in the recipe - it’s ok but too bland for me. I’d rather just have plain cheese. 

Artists In Training

Pop came home from last Wednesday’s flea market with a present for the girls.

 Double-fisting her crayons 

They all like making art but Jaclyn is obsessed with painting and coloring.

She was the first baby-grand to see it

and was so excited I couldn’t get a clear picture because she wouldn’t stand still.

The easel has a storage area for crayons 

and folds down to briefcase size, which will be nice if the girls ever let us put it away. 

Circle Block

Finished another block last night

while watching tv and keeping the cat warm. 

This isn’t what I’m making (yet . . .) 

but it is inspiration to keep me practicing and learning more Sashiko.

Sashi-What??

I’ve taken a Sashiko class once before, so when a local guild offered an all day workshop I signed up more for the social aspect than anything else. I definitely don’t need more obsessions hobbies and thought I was pretty safe since the first class left me underwhelmed hobby-wise. 

 Nancy Ota’s Clouds

I’d forgotten what a difference a great teacher - and a different angle - can make. The first class was presented as ‘visible mending’, an idea that was just gaining popularity. Today’s workshop focused on quilts and embellishments as art.

 Nancy Ota’s Cranes and Bamboo

And it was gorgeous. And fun. And relaxing.

I am soooooo hooked. 

 

My first practice piece was nothing to write home about. (It’s a Plover, a type of bird.)

But I love my second piece, which I finished at home tonight. It reminds me of rosepath, one of my favorite weaving structures, but it’s done with just straight lines - no complicated charts or instructions to follow. 

I may have bought the pattern for Cranes And Bamboo (above). And a kit for Fans.

And stopped on the way home to buy multiple yards of dark blue cotton/linen fabric when I had a sudden Great Idea. 

 Sample by Nancy Ota

I may not have wanted a new obsession hobby, but I definitely have one.

Bowls!

I never knew how much I need rope bowls until tonight’s class.

Sew easy. And fun, fast and addictive.

I made 2 bowls in less than 2 hours,

with a $9 bundle of clothesline

and a LOT of thread.

I’ve spent another 2 hours (ok, more like 3 hours) searching Pinterest for variations and tutorials. 

Formulating big plans to rope (ha!) the little girls into painting some cord, and figuring out how to tie dye finished bowls. This should be fun!!

Frustration Fixer

I thought I was almost finished with this top

but my fav quilt teacher reminded me that, no matter what the pattern says,

I really do need to stitch around each of these damn deer rather than relying on fusible interfacing and long-arm quilting to hold them in place. 

 

It’s slooooow going. 

So tonight while Lily toasted herself near the space heater - turning every now and then so all her parts were evenly crispy - 

I made this Chinese Lantern quilt block, from my overflowing scrap bin, for Thursday’s guild meeting. Fast. Easy. Done. 

Tomorrow, I’m back to the deer. 

Cousins

Today, we met up with cousin Meg and her kids for several hours of trampolining, 

pizza eating 

and general shenanigans.

Wish we lived closer so we could do this more often.  

Day After

Another nice day - watched Mary Poppins Returns (fun movie);

played games  

and more games;

baked a cake (mostly by herself)

then cut the first piece out of the *center*.  “But that’s where the best stuff is!” She’s right, of course, but she’s also definitely her father’s daughter. He always does the same d*mn thing!

Quilty New Year

A friend and I hit a couple of fabric shop sales on New Year’s Eve and I fell hard for this glorious orange and pink batik.

Normally I’d buy a yard, take it home and add it to the stash. But all I could think about (or talk about; sorry, Reyna!) was finding fabric to go with it so I could make something. 

We found the white batik almost immediately but locating the third color took awhile; the green was ok but I didn’t love it; my head said the darker blue (bottom right) was the best contrast . . .

but my heart really, really wanted that bright Caribbean blue. 

That night, I went through all my books and magazines while watching TV and waiting for the ball to drop, 

and tonight Leanne supervised while I cut and sewed and played with potential layouts. The original pattern* was 5 blocks by 7 blocks, approx 45” x 60”. Too small.

 

I didn’t like 6 x 7 blocks - my weird brain says rows must be an odd number - 

so 7 x 9 it is. Or will be, once I make more blocks tomorrow. Good thing I bought extra fabric!

* Pattern is Stepping Up Quilt by Donna Robertson.