Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Some last minute finishes in March

Posted by Strlady at 11:26 PM 3 comments
Last weekend was very fruitful. Although I didn't get a start on my March entry for the BOM quilt, I was able to get a start on my PinWheel Sampler quilt.


I'm using the Garden Party layer cake I picked up at the quilt show a couple of weekends ago. It's turning out quiet nice. My Daughter is also working on her sampler using Momo's Freebird line.

I also added the final Border to my Bread and Butter Quilt.


Not a bad month although I didn't meet all my goals.
I didn't finish binding my Bounty quilt but made a good dent in it.


I also finished my Hidden Star quilt and it was delivered to the Birthday girl a few weeks ago.

No quilting was done for my Schnibbles but I was not disappointed since I will be taking a machine quilting class with Hariett Hargrave in June and these little quilts are great to work on as pratice pieces.

I think I need to be less ambitious next month.

The quilter's Four letter word...

Posted by Strlady at 10:42 AM 1 comments
B-I-A-S

I could leave it at that. Every quilter knows that THAT is the word that should not be spoken aloud. It is the nightmare of the perfectionist and has killed the hopes of many newbie quilters. Yes. Even after sooo many year at this, I get kicked in the a** by that dreaded thing.

Look at my beautiful quilt.


Bread and Butter was completed over the weekend.

Not take a closer look....


See the ripples? After struggling with templates and fabric placement, my last border killed my quilt. Should I take it off and redo? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? That would be a NO.

I actually pulled it off my design wall, folded it up and put it way. Maybe I'll forget how disappointed I am in that last border and send it to get quilted someday. For now...it has been discarded as a lesson learned. Don't fool around with the big bad bias.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Enhancing the Stash at the Show

Posted by Strlady at 5:00 AM 3 comments
One thing I was looking forward to doing while at the Dallas quilt show was to enhance my stash for some future quilts. There are some great vendors at the show and I was looking forward to dropping by Bonnie Blue Quilts booth. They specilize in repro Civil War pieces and I knew they had some fabric bundles that would work wonderfully on my Two Piece Puzzle quilt by Tara Lynn Darr of Sew Unique Creations.


I was not disappointed. I also found great Reds, Black and Neutrals in many other booths but Bonnie Blue was carrying the 19th Century Reds collection and were willing to break a FQ bundle to hook me up with the Reds in this collection. They are so wonderful!

I also picked up a kit I had been eyeing for a while.


I know I shouldn't have..


But look at those fabrics!! Yes. I HAD to do it.

You might not have noticed in the picture of my stash, but I also got a little something in the mail from my favorite Pumpkin Patch. Brenda has this set of Crackle fabric that is gorgeous!


The picture doesn't do it justice. These will be going in to my quilt as well. She still has a few FQ bundles over at Pumpkin Patch Primitives. They are a steal!!

When I got home from the show I decided to go for broke and I ordered a couple more FQ bundles.


I am making a Christmas quilt this year using a pattern called Opening Day by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.
Nicole over at Sister's Choice Quilts made one and I fell in love with the pattern. I kept thinking Glace (which is by 3 Sisters) would be perfect for it but then the line dropped off the face of the earth. I finally found it recently and snatched it up before it disappeared again.


I also picked up a FQ bundle of Looking Back By Brannock & Patek. I'm planning on using this one for another Miss Rosie's pattern but I'm still a bit undecided if it will be for the JellyStone quilt or the Ginger Belle pattern.

Last but not least...


I picked up a Layer Cake of Garden Party by Black Bird Designs which I hope to use for Rachel's Pinwheel Sampler Quilt along.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

A Quilt Celebration 2010

Posted by Strlady at 10:31 AM 1 comments
I realized that I had not chatted to y'all about my trip to my Guild's Quilt Show. The Dallas Guild puts on a wonderful Show in March called Dallas Quilt Celebration. This year's theme was the Log Cabin quilts (A Log Cabin Odyssey) and I find it funny that, although I took many pictures, only one log cabin quilt ended up photographed.

***** Disclaimer: I typically am very good at posting the pics and giving credit to the quilter but I was off my game and forgot to get the info on the quiltmakers. If you are from my guild and can identify the quilter, please email me so I can give credit where it's due. Thx!******


This quilt stood out because of the pinwheels in the center.


They were 3 dimensional and so cute!


This Dear Jane quilt knocked my socks off.
I loved that is was red and white vs the typical antique colors.
It really made it stand out from the many DJ quilts I have seen over the years.


I loved this scrappy star quilt. It had some clean lines but kept a cozy feel to it.

Then there were the Wedding Ring pieces...


I love this pattern. Yes. It's old. It's been done.
But I just find it so perfect. My daughter agreed. She loved it too.


Especially seeing it fininshed off square...
(I don't think the pattern actually finishes it off this way but it really makes a HUGE difference)


Of course she loved this one more but this one will be heading her way only in her dreams. At first I was not feeling the off center look but the more you look at it the more it grows on you (no pun intended).


The appliqued tree really had me thinking about the growth a couple goes through as their marriage moves forward. It became a more sentimental piece and I saw the beauty in it.

I had a great time at the show, as always. I had a Stash Enhancement experience as well but more on that tomorrow.
If you want to enjoy the rest of the pictures I took at the event drop by here: A Quilt Celebration 2010

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Templates! ARGG!!!

Posted by Strlady at 9:17 PM 2 comments
Remember last month when I was complaining about the BOM that had no instructions? This month I tackled the dreaded Template. I hate templates. Okay, let me rephrase... I hate templates that I have to make. Last year I took a class with Sharyn Craig that had us using some acrylic Templates she had specifically made for the Northwind block class she teaches. Wow! those things are the bomb! I tell you, easy peasy to use, acurate like nothing else.


Last weekend I started piecing my Bread and Butter quilt. The quilt pattern uses a couple of templates. These are found on the pages you download and you must enlarge 250% to get the actual template you have to use. Okay. No Problem. Oh, Wait! Yes, a problem. The pattern does not have a legend where you can measure your intial template to make sure your printer did not skew your pattern when you prinited it out (usually just an inch square that allows you to make sure you didn't print out the pattern too big/small). I head off to email Terri Degenkolb (the designer) to find out what the actual size of the template (pre enlarging).

Terri is not just a talented woman but also a great customer advocate. She emailed me back saying she had no clue on the template size but would send me the templates already enlarged so I didn't have to worry about that problem. With a bit of tweaking on my part, this worked perfectly.


After translating the pattern to fit the new fabric line I set off to cut... Here is where things got dicey and the reason of the rant. The Templates... again.


I can never find the right method to duplicate a template that makes it easier to cut with. First I tried a thick template plastic (the thickest I could find) but my rotary cutter can't nudge up against it properly and I end up cutting over it or it just slips all over the place. The next thing I try is a piece of linoleoum I picked up for the purpose. This gives me a good edge but this is made of a chaulky material that allows the rotary cutter to edge off bits of it. Finally there is the freezer paper which gives the best results but it takes forever to trace the pieces if you have many to cut. I didn't have too many after so many failed methods but I wish I could find something thick enough to give an edge for my rotary cutter, strong enough to avoid the rotary cutter from chipping away at it and easy enough to cut and create at home.


I eventually got all my fabric cut and the pieces organized so that I could get to the sewing part.

The blocks actually came together fairly quickly and
as the week moved on I completed all the spiked blocks.


Yesterday I started laying things out and piecing it all together.

I coordinated the hour glass blocks...


And sewed the center of the quilt. I have it all on my design wall as I put together the border. The Heart and Soul fabric line is a bit darker than the one used in the pattern so I'm finding myself tweaking the edges to allow the border to be defined. Hopefully I can do this pattern justice.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Hidden Stars is on it's way to it's new Home

Posted by Strlady at 7:15 PM 10 comments
I recieve my Hidden Stars quilt from Margaret this week. I was hoping it would arrive so that I could put the finishing touches and send it with my daughter to it's new owner but unfortunately I could not bind it in time.


I did put the final stitches on it this evening, threw it in the wash to get the appropriate wrinkles and it will go out in the mail tomorrow.


I saw this pattern a while ago and knew exactly the fabric I wanted to use but after waiting for the precuts to become available and starting the process of piecing I was not very pleased with it. It is going off to someone very dear to me and although in my mind this was the pattern I wanted to use for her quilt, after it was made... I was not feeling it. I still sent it to get quilted and hoped that I would find that thing that would make it perfect for someone I loved so much. Margaret really worked wonders because when it finally arrived it was exactly what I had envisioned.


See, she is a quiet gal when you first meet her but strong and capable when you get to know her. Among my girls she was the goth, the one that made me roll my eyes when I saw her outfit du jour. But when I talked to her, heard her laughter (yes even the snorting), I always saw her soft and tender. I will always think of fairies with their soft fluttering wings when I visualize her and at the same time her loud persona, her outrageous ways wouldn't let me use pastels for her quilt.


Essence by Sandy Gervais called out to me for this piece but it wasn't until the quilt was softened with the flowers and leaves in the quilting that made it a perfect fit for my girl.


Happy Birthday Lindsey! 
I miss you every day.



FYI: This pattern can be found in the book Layer Cake, Jelly Roll And Charm Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. I just made it a bit larger.

Friday, March 5, 2010

What to expect from March

Posted by Strlady at 2:56 PM 5 comments
March promises to be a great quilting month. My 'roommates' (that would be my sister and daughter) will be off galavanting across New England at one point or another this month and the Dallas guild will be holding it's annual Quilt Show this month as well. These events make this a quilty month.

What will I tackle? A Big Quilt! I have two prospective pieces in mind. I have those gorgeous Heart and Soul FQ bundle smiling at me and I downloaded a free pattern by Whimsical called Bread and Butter.


The pattern is from an older line but can easily be converted to be used with this new line.


I also have the T for Texas quilt that I keep putting off. I really just need to cut into that. I honestly think I'm going to go with Bread and Butter just because it's calling to me but if I can spare some time I'll cut the FQ for the T for Texas and that way it's lined up for next month.


I also would like to quilt and bind my Sunday Best Schnibble.
Nothing fancy but a piece that will be DONE!
 

I must bind The Bounty and (hopefully)...


the Hidden Stars quilt, so they can head off to thier new homes.


and last, but not least, I will make my four blocks for my BOM quilt.

I think that should get me through the month.

Wish me Luck!!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Bound and Done!

Posted by Strlady at 2:41 PM 1 comments
Did I mention that I bound two of my older quilts last month?

I had three of my REEEALLLLY old pieces quilted in January but I had not gotten around to binding them. Last month I put the last stitches on two of them.


It's a Jungle Out there is my first Stack n Whack. I made it with some really cute jungle prints. It was suppose to be for my young daughter but I never got around to quilting it. I then decided to keep it for future generations. I love it. It's so darn cute!


Compass Stars was made shortly after It's a Jungle Out There. I started piecing it during a workshop with Bethany Reynolds (I was a bit of a fan girl). Until recently I had it among my UFOs since it was missing the last border but I finally got it on and sent it off to get quilted. It has a bit of a Xmas feel to it and the background gives it a lot of movement.

It's good to get these finished. It feels like I can move forward guilt free.

Monday, March 1, 2010

A Schnibble is Born!!!

Posted by Strlady at 9:12 AM 4 comments
I might be a tad bit late for the parade but I had not taken a pic of the Schnibble until this morning. Went to bed in the wee hours of the night but I got the top done!

 

I had a great time sewing at the Charming Girls & Guys Sewing Party and the extra pressure of all the great projects everyone was working on kept me going.


This Schnibble was HUGE compared with the rest of them but well worth it. 
I really love this one.

Anyway, That's it for me and now onto what I'll be working on for March.
 

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