Hand Quilting Completed (HAPPY DANCE!!!)

I have completed the hand quilting on my version of the Florabunda quilt.  (Insert here an image of me dancing around the room waving my hands.)  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  I need to trim it up, make a flange and binding and apply both.  I usually have more hand-work time than I have machine-work time, so I don't know when I will actually get to this part.

So, now that the hand quilting is complete, I've started three or four other projects.  I've been itching to knit, so I started on a wrap using Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Red.  I modified the pattern to make the wrap a bit wider because I think I'm using a yarn that is not as thick as the yarn suggested (but I'm not a terribly experienced knitter, so I'm not entirely sure WHAT I'm doing!).  I had gotten four rounds of cables done and found a few mistakes that I know would have bothered me, so I took it off the needles last night and flattened it out to see if the modifications I made to the pattern worked or not.  On the needles, the end looked wavy, but off the needles it looks like it will lie flat.  So, I ripped it all out and started again.  One of the mistakes was on the very first cable and I thought the stitches I cast on weren't particularly even.  This is how far I got last night.


And, I've got a project I started on the retreat I went on a month ago.  I've gotten all the triangles pieced together and have ironed then and am working on getting them trimmed to size.  Again, I spend less time at my machine than I do hand sewing, so this is somewhat slow going. This is the pattern I will be making with those blocks.  It's from "Scrap Quilts - Fast and Fun" by Patricia Wilens.  Once I get all those blocks trimmed, it will go together fast - if I can spend some time at my sewing machine.

Then I picked up the Tea Leaves pattern again. This is my traveling hand piecing project at the moment.  I made one block a while ago and disliked making it so much I thought it would be an orphan block.  But, I decided I REALLY like the pattern, so I'm working through it and learning new ways to work on the block without hating it. Each leaf is about 3" long and less than an inch wide.  I found that easing the curves together without pinning was making this a little easier, so perhaps this won't be the struggle I thought it might be.  And, I'm putting my new block envelope to good use.

 

And, because it just makes me happy, here are a few pictures from my quick trip to the beach last week.

It looks like there will have to be some work done to move the sand to make that bench usable before the summer comes.  But, I don't think I'll be swimming on this beach any time soon.

Patriot's Day in Boston

I feel a little strange just ignoring the fact that a senseless act of violence marred my favorite day of the year  in Boston and just going on with my normal blog (as sporadic as it is).  I was there, but far enough away to be out of harm's way.  I was near the hospital district after attending the Red Sox game and saw a line of 20 or so State Police motorcycle officers speeding towards the finish line and a steady line of ambulances traveling back and forth.  The whole feel in Boston was tense and unnerving.  I was also there this past Saturday at the first Red Sox home game since the bombing.  The feeling was still a bit tense, but relieved as the immediate threat was eliminated. The tribute to the victims, and all the professionals, volunteers and bystanders who had a hand in helping was very moving.  And, I will be there next Patriot's Day to watch baseball and runners as they near the finish line.  I will never understand why some think that violence will solve anything, but I will not allow fear to stop me from enjoying all the sights, activities and friendly interactions I normally have in Boston on Patriot's Day.

And, to quote Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

Still Quilting, Almost Done

Some days I think I'm truly psychotic.  I have been feeling that the hand quilting on the Florabunda quilt has been taking   F O R E V E R  (said in my best teen sarcastic voice).  I'm nearly finished the quilting on the next-to-last block and was thinking how I am going to miss this when it is done.  How can I feel like I'm going to miss this and wish it was done at the same time?  Craziness.

I went to a quilt retreat two weekends ago and left the hand quilting at home.  I've been itching to do more machine sewing - actually putting together small bits of fabric into larger pieces.  I took along some scraps and sewed triangles that will eventually become a scrappy top.  But, the project I had most fun with was a small machine applique piece.  I saw on a TV sewing program a woman who teaches applique and has her students make an applique 'envelope' to hold pieces in progress without having to fold them.  I thought this was a terrific idea and decided I had to make one.  My first inclination was to make it out of some fruit fabric as the entry into my guild's challenge quilt this year.  But, when I was looking around for a pattern for this 'applique envelope', I found these terrific cat patterns by Val Spiers.  You can see her work and these designs on her blog.  Immediately, I abandoned the fruit idea and decided to make these cats.

The portfolio is a little less than 14' square and will fit nicely into the plastic tote I'm using as my applique design case.  I had to buy the foam core, but everything else is from my stash.

The other thing I accomplished on the retreat was to repair a shirt I had made for my mother-in-law some 10 years ago.  

I did this machine applique with the flowers going over the shoulder.  She gave the shirt back to me probably 2 years ago because she developed thin spots on the inside of the left sleeve.  Apparently she uses that crook of her arm to carry things.  I hesitated to do anything with it for a long time, but found it when I cleaned out the closet and decided it was high time to do this repair.  I opened up the seam on the sleeve, drew these black eyed susans, fused them to the sleeve and did a zig zag around the edges.  Just as I turned the corner on one of the middle petals, the shirt tore again.  So, the lady bug was positioned created and added to the design.

Now it's done and will soon be returned to her.  But, no more repairs - the rest of the shirt is too thin to work on.

New Car, New (old) Project

I did finally get a car.  After narrowing my choices down to 3, I test drove those 3 types one day and decided on a Mazda3.  Then it was just deciding on what I thought was a fair price, and what color I wanted.  I decided on Copper Red Mica which is, apparently, not easy to find.  I did find one at a dealer about 90 miles west of here, negotiated the price and drove the car home the day I saw it two weeks ago.  It's still strange to drive, but fun.

In the mean time, I'm still quilting on the Florabunda quilt and have 3 more blocks to do before that is complete.  This is the block I'm working on now.

I also cleaned out my craft closet (a very small space that was crammed with much too much stuff).  My guild was having a UFO auction and I used that as an excuse to clear out some stuff.  I donated some, threw out a whole bunch of junk and organized the rest.  This is what is looks like now.

 It still looks messier than I want.  I guess I should attack those flags and other decorations hanging on the door next.

Oh, and this is my entire stash (excluding the scraps I've got packed to take to a retreat soon and the plaids on the shelf below) on that shelf.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  There is really not enough of anything that goes together for a quilt, but I'm doing more scrap stuff and appliques lately, so it's probably not bad.  The shelves above and below the fabric have projects  and UFOs sorted into bags.  There are more of them than I remembered, so my plan this year is to finish as many as I can and get them to good homes.

Which brings me to this project.

This is what I'm calling a third generation UFO.  My mother-in-law bought these die-cut hexagons as a project for her mother some years ago.  Laura was my husband's grandmother who passed away 15 years ago.  After her death, my mother-in-law gave me all of her UFOs, including this packet.  I started these blocks a long time ago and they resurfaced when I cleaned out the closet.  I just finished piecing the blocks (by machine) and now I need some fabric for surrounding hexagons.  I'll probably pick up something this week.  I'm not terribly fond of this project, but I think it can look nice when completed.

Oh, and 6 of those UFO projects in my closet belonged to my husband's grandmother.  So, they're not all my fault.  I will take the blame for the other 4 in there, though.

I think I've made quite a bit of progress and have some good plans for what to work on next and for some time after that.

More Quilting, Getting Closer to a Car

It feels really boring to just keep saying "I'm doing more hand quilting", but, I'm doing more hand quilting.  I had done at least 30 minutes of quilting every day this month except for Saturday.  We had a gathering at out house and overnight guests.  Between preparations and entertaining guests, I never found the time to sneak away to the quilt hoop.  If I average out the time, I have spent WAY more than 30 minutes a day doing some sort of quilting, but I was disappointed that I missed a day.  And, the way the rest of the month is going, I may miss another day or two.  But, we'll see.

I have finished quilting the 8th block on Florabunda and have 4 more to go.  I love making progress.

I may have found a car.  I found one on-line at a dealer 80 miles away.  I called to see if they would meet my price and they will.  I have an appointment to take it for a test drive this weekend.  We'll see how it goes, but I may have a new car in the next couple of weeks.

A Challenge Gets Me Going

I joined Beth's challenge and have successfully done at least what I promised every day for a week.  I wasn't sure I wanted to join because I have some commitments in February that will make it difficult to quilt.  We had folks over last Saturday night and on Sunday for the Super Bowl.  Since I do most of my quilting in the evening, I wasn't sure I could fit any in, but I managed.  There was also an evening that I was feeling less than cheerful and didn't really feel like picking up a needle and thread, but I remembered that challenge and did.

So far, I've put in about 14 hours and completed another block.  If I can keep this up and complete a block a week, I should have the quilting done by the end of March.  That seems like a doable goal.

I'm north west of Boston and was caught in the blizzard yesterday.  It looks like we got 25" of snow, but it's hard to tell because of all the wind and drifting.

I decided to use the front door this morning because I didn't have a shovel inside and the back door just wasn't accessible.

But, we're all shoveled out now.  I set up my BirdCam to take a picture once a second and DH converted it into a video.  Unfortunately, most of the snowfall took place after dark.  The video is less than a minute long and you can really see the snow building up against the bumper of the car after dawn.  And, it looks like we took no time at all to clear off the driveway.

I have a few more chores to complete today then it's time for more hand quilting.

Drop and Give Me Twenty Challenge

After much thought and flip-flopping on my decision, I'm making the commitment to this challenge.  So...

I, Mair (known more formally as Maryann), a quilter of reasonably sound body and questionably sound mind, do commit, for the month of February, 2013, to spend at least 30 minutes each and every day doing some quilting, piecing, cutting, ironing, or some other activity that will bring me closer to having one or more of my current projects completed.  I am planning to work on completing the hand quilting on my Florabunda quilt (which needs 12 more blocks quilted), adding borders to the S-Charm quilt (which will then complete the top), and preparing the backing and basting the iris quilt.  I may not finish any of these projects, but seeing them get closer to completion will be a huge  accomplishment.

If you want to enter, take a look at Beth Helfter's rules here, and her blog here.  Beth (AKA Quilting Hottie) is a funny, talented quilter and designer who is hosting this challenge for the second year.  Take a look to see what everybody has pledged to complete.