Here We Go Again!

It’s Tuesday and I meant to post this last night as one of my tips and tricks posts but I didn’t get it done (actually this was written one week ago). The tip is at the end of this post. Okay now for a little update on my UFO’s, Www.allpeoplequilt.com UFO Challenge for 2016.

March UFO Crazy Quilt

March’s number didn’t even get touched. Why? Because I was busy, busy, busy making things to go in the quilt show that my local guild holds every year. I thought I would do a little bit on that project but it didn’t happen. April came along and the number pulled was a good one – number 1 the small aloha quilt. 

April UFO Small Island Quilt

I can handle that. Not. I’m still working on it and here it is well into May. 

May UFO Birds In Flight Crazy Block

May’s number is 7 the Birds In Flight Crazy Block. Now really I should be able to get both of those done this month.

For my tip I was working on this small mini quilt to go in the silent auction held during the previous mentioned quilt show. 

View From My Window Auction Quilt

The small flowers were re-embroidered by me by hand but the fabric was not a quilt quality fabric and I was not happy with the results once I had pieced the blocks together. They were not the right size, and they were not consistent in size. So I did something I rarely do, I took it all apart and started again. Since the flower fabric was a fairly loose weave I decided to stabilize it by adding a muslin backing. I thought the best way to do that would be to use a spray on quilt basting glue. I really didn’t want to do that in the house but I didn’t want to set up a large table outside either. Then I spied this:

TV Tray

Now I know some have covered these and made them into a small portable ironing surface and/or cutting mat. My thought was to cover it with freezer paper (shiny side out) and use that as my glueing table. Worked perfectly and now I have something I can use outdoors when I’m using a spray or a glue that needs a lot of ventilation. I can also use it when I have just a little painting to do. When the freezer paper gets too bad just replace it with a fresh sheet.

Freezer Paper Covered TV Tray

How simple is that!

Oh and the quilt show? My rag dolls “The Slow Stitchers” took second place in their category Textile/Fabric Items.

The Slow Stitchers Rag Dolls

Happy creating!

Rose 

Monday Tip on Tuesday

It’s Tuesday and I meant to post this last night as one of my tips and tricks posts but I didn’t get it done. The tip is at the end of this post. Okay now for a little update on my UFO’s, Www.allpeoplequilt.com UFO Challenge for 2016.

Samantha Doll with refined hair

February’s number was 5. That was a good one for me because I had listed the rag doll I was making for my granddaughter. I’m happy to say that she has received her doll. It took a little bit of doing because of the hair. I had crocheted a cap and then added bangs and a lot of hair to it. Too much hair! So it was back to the drawing board with suggestions from my daughter to start over again. Well I didn’t want to take the time to start over so I stewed over it for a bit. I thought about cutting the cap and reducing the amount of hair at the same time but you know what happens when you cut into crochet work. It unravels! Hummm what to do?

Then I remembered a conversation I had with a quilter at the Houston Quilt Show. She did knitting and crocheting and then cut them up to include in her quilts. How did she keep them from unravelling – she fused them with interfacing. Ah hah! I could do the same. And I did. I’m still not 100% pleased with the hair but it is better than it was so I’m happy for now. I may make some hats with hair attached later but for now Samantha can play with her and I can move on to other works. I’m currently working on three of these dolls for another idea I had.

She Colored Everything Yellow Crazy Quilt

Oh and back to the UFO list AllPeopleQuilt pulled number 3 for March. That is my “She Colored Everything Yellow” crazy quilt. Twelve blocks are sewn and waiting for the hand embroidery. This is another project that will probably not be finished in a month but it will be moved forward.

My tip: Don’t rule out applying ideas from one discipline to another. It worked for me – from quilting to rag dolls.

Happy creating!

Rose 

Finish It Friday

Well that wasn’t so bad after all. I’m referring to the UFO Challenge I joined this year. No the redwork quilt did not get finished but I’ve got 9 blocks completed and I’m working on the 10^th one. I figure if I do one a week all 20 will be ready for the next step in just 10 weeks. 

Nine Blocks and Counting

What is the next step? I’m not sure. Originally I planned to do had embroidery as in crazy quilting on all of the blocks. I did a little on one block and now I’m not sure. I could use my basic machine and do some machine embroidery. The other area I’m considering is putting sashing and corner stones between the blocks. One of the concerns I have is all though I pre-washed all of my fabrics when I sprayed a few with Best Press the red ran into the white areas. Now this quilt is for me so that doesn’t bother me but I had thought to do white sashing with red dots or white with red embroidery. Now I don’t know.

The Samantha Doll

So for the UFO Challenge the next number drawn on February 1 was number five. Number five on my list was something that wasn’t really truly a UFO but I had intended to finish it by Christmas as a present for my granddaughter and I missed that date so I added it to my list just so it would get done this year. I have been working on it though so I’m almost finished with it. Maybe that will be my Finish It Friday today. Just some hand stitching and I’ll be done. And that means I will be done with the February UFO Challenge.

I did take another look at my list though as the doll was something I wanted to finish before I started the next three dolls which have an April deadline and if that number 5 hadn’t have come up I would be challenged to not only finish the doll but work on another UFO. So I wondered what else I had on my list that might be holding up a deadline if it’s number got pulled way after it’s deadline. I’m happy to say everything else on that list passed any concerns I might have had.

Happy Finishings!

Rose 

Where has the time gone?

Really???!??

I haven’t posted since the end of May 2015. Where has the time gone? Do you think I haven’t done any stitching or anything at all? Well I have been busy so I thought I would give a little year end recap of the last half of 2015. (Okay it was suppose to be a year end post but I was having trouble finding all the photos I wanted to use and then my computer crashed.) Finally got it back from the geeks and so here we go! Warning there are a lot of photos, not sure if there will be a lot of words.

First a little collage of the Block of the Month quilt blocks made for the quilt guild I belong to. It was hard keeping up with these and I think I may not participate officially (as in being part of the year end exchange). I may decide to do some of them though as they are to be stash busters and I could really use some stash busting.

Blocks of the Month

Then a quilt I finally finished for my grandson in time for his fourth birthday. It features monster trucks, one of his favorite things, and he kept asking me when it would be done because he wanted to use it. 

Monster Truck Quilt

His party was a super hero theme and so there were capes to make including a Superman cape for him.

Super Hero Capes Ready

Then there was a birthday for a sweet little girl and this rag doll finally was ready.

The Evalyn Doll

Tutu Apron and Hat

Fabric Paper Doll

Another birthday loomed for my granddaughter and a last minute decision to have a kitchen/baking theme brought forth a tutu apron and a chef’s hat. And then to round out the theme some fabric “paper dolls” as part of the decoration.

Then it was Halloween and the need for family costumes which the four year old decided should be a family of trees. The addition on an acorn hat for my granddaughter was the topping of the forest. The tree costumes became a forest of trees surrounding his tent.

Tree Costume became a Forest

The Wounded Warrior quilt was pieced and finished (quilting by my dear friend Kathryn Pate).

Wounded Warrior Quilt

Before Christmas there was a request for a nap mat similar to the one I made my grandson. This one was for a little girl so cupcakes and pink were in order. You haven’t quilted until you’ve stitched through 8 layers of batting (it really should have been only six but I thought it should be eight) on your home sewing machine.

Nap Mat

Christmas brought a set of six microwave bowl holders for my daughter and then 16 (well only 14 got finished) linen placemats for her table. 

Linen Placemats 

Place Mats in Use

My grandkids received a play campfire with hot dogs and marshmallows.

Play Campfire

Oh and sometime between Halloween and Christmas the dog received a warm cover for his kennel and a new bed cushion. This had been on my list for over a year and then it came off the list. Why?, because he escaped on my watch and had to be retrieved from the local animal shelter. Guess I was feeling a little guilty and so decided to put it back on the list and actually do it.

Dog's Kennel Cover

 And finally to round things out I designed the new bookmark for our 2016 Quilters’ Guild ofArlington program list and the 2016 Quilt Show postcard for the same guild.

I will say though with all that I did get accomplished very few were on my move it on and finish it list of projects. In my favor though, I did not start anything new on Friday. I may have come close by getting it started on Thursday but I avoided the temptation to start anything on Friday. See this post for the reason that is important.

Keep on stitching!

Rose 

Just Another Friday Post At Long Last

It’s Friday Again! Let’s Move It Forward and Finish It.

Oh hello there!

I haven’t been around blog land for some time now. Some of you know I’ve been going through some different seasons in my life and well blogging just got moved aside. But I’m back!

Seasons have different phases and this season is no different. From caring intensely for a loved one to losing that loved one to a better world to trying to find where I want and where I need to be, this has been a trying season. I’m not sure where my writing will lead. I may even start a new blog, a new page so to speak. But for now I think I will just try and get back into the habit of blogging.

So since it is Friday here’s where I’m at stitching wise. I haven’t finished anything but I have moved forward on a few items. Funny when I started my Finish It Friday posts based on words of wisdom my paternal grandmother imparted to her family (see this post) I thought I was being different. I almost wrote unique but really is anything really unique? Since then I have found other bloggers who have being doing a Finish It Friday style post for years.

Well back to mine. I didn’t do any stitching for about 3-4 months. Why? I don’t really know. But I finally did get back to picking up needle and thread. Hand-stitching is my focus right now because my sewing space is in a mess due to reorganizing and relocating it. My machine is not set up so I can only move things forward to a certain point until I need to sew on the machine.

I took a workshop class through my quilt guild on back-basting applique taught by Barbara Eikmeier. I pulled it out and started working on the class project a little bit at a time. (Well I’m trying to do my 15 minutes a day method but some days I don’t manage any stitching and other days I’m at it for an hour or more.) Here it is in process.

Sunflower Applique

Today I will finish appliqueing the petals down. Next will be the center and then some embellishment. You might notice in the lower right hand corner that I have a little challenge. When I was adding the border applique I cut it in the wrong place and so I have a little dip that should not be there. What will I do? The choices are:

1. Leave it
2. Cover it up with some embellishment/applique
3. Un-stitch it and redo it

What will I do? Stay tuned to find out.

Summer Hexagon Wall Hanging

Next up is my Summer Hexagon Wall Hanging. This I started a few years ago with embroidery designs from Wild Olive to which I made my own changes. I’ve now finished sewing the hexagons together and will be layering it with batting and a backing and then hand quilting.

Hand Embroidered Doll Faces

Oh yes and I’ve embroidered some more doll faces. Just need to rework the body pattern, cut and sew.

Shashiko and Butterflies Wall Hanging

While moving things around in my sewing room I came across a piece I had started when I still lived on the Big Island of Hawaii. I’ve decided to continue on with it since it requires some handwork. I’ve debated back and forth about the butterflies. Should I embroider them or should I applique them as the pattern called for? When I took it out to look at I was surprised to see that I had started to back-baste the pieces down just like the workshop instructor I mentioned above taught. I know the original instructor for this piece had us using a different applique method. How did I get started back-basting it in Hawaii? I don’t know. But I’m moving forward with it.

Until then,

Happy Moving Forward and Finishing!

Rose 

It’s Friday Again! Let’s Move It Forward and Finish It.

Today I will be watching my granddaughter Samantha so some of my progress will depend on how much she sleeps today. When she’s awake she has my full attention!

For today I’ve decided to try and finish something I started just before Christmas. Microwaveable Fabric Bowls.

Small Microwavable Fabric Bowl

I made a few to test the process and see if I liked them and then I started another set to give as a gift. The project got waylaid and so now I’m back working on it. I’m trying to streamline the process and make it a little easier but so far I haven’t really done much. I did decide to do a little more quilting on these. The test ones I made just had stitching from corner to opposite corner. The pattern said that was all that was really needed but after I washed them I felt that more quilting would be better. The finished blue one had quilting in both directions and it has been washed. The rest are just having diagonal quilting as I want to see the difference, trying to decide how much quilting is needed. You could also free motion quilt and I might try that on another set. That would be a good way to practice the technique.

Bowls in process

The other thing I would like to try and work on today is my rag doll. Either her hair or some clothes to wear.

Rag Doll waiting for hair and clothes

Hope to be back later with a photo or two.

Oh yes and I have to pick an area to order, clean, and organize. That just might be my cutting table as I need it to work on my Saturday projects.

Until then,

Happy Moving Forward and Finishing!

Rose

Move It Forward and Finish It Friday Part 2

Well she has a body! Not perfect but then who is? I will do some things different next time including a slight remake of the pattern. Now for some hair and clothes Definitely an experiment coming up with the hair.

Arms and legs and stuffing added

Moving forward!
Rose

Move It Forward and Finish It Friday

Well it’s the second day of a brand new year and it’s a Friday to boot!

I’ve started thinking about this new year and what I might wish to accomplish. I think I’ve picked out my word for the year but I’m still trying to decide what direction I will go in. My word is discipline as in self-discipline, self-control. I am not a well-disciplined person in that I tend to go from one project, one thing, one thought to another without sticking to any and finishing. Plus I am a procrastinator. Can I do better this year? I will try and in the trying I should at least improve, have some forward movement.

My Friday posts will still be about finishings or at least moving something I’m working on forward so now we have MIF and FIF.

I have some new hints and tips that I will be sharing and I will probably keep the posting of those to Mondays just to be a little consistent. I’ll try to do a post on Wednesday of works in progress and another post that will just be thoughts and ideas which may show up from time to time on another day of the week.

Saturdays I am trying to reserve to working on Wounded Warrior Quilts or quilts for Linus and hats for NICU’s.

So to start off this new year of Fridays this is what I am working on today.

Rag Doll in Process

It’s a rag doll based on the work of Jess Brown and her book “The Making of a Rag Doll”. My daughter discovered her and her rag dolls and purchased the book for me. I’ve used her pattern from the book with some modifications and my own style of face. It’s hand embroidered and based on some paintings by my daughter’s best friend Christina. 

From my Sketch Book

Beginning of the face

I’m hoping to finish the body today. Not sure if her hair or any clothes will be done today but I’m working on ideas for those. She doesn’t have a name or a personality yet. And since she is my first rag doll (well I may have made some as a child but I no longer have them) she will remain in my “first” collection. I plan to make at least two more, one to incorporate some changes and corrections to my original attempt (and to see if I can embroider another face – hoping this one wasn’t just beginner’s luck!). 

More detail added to the eyes

The third one will be to time myself in the making of the entire doll. I like many get lost in the process and don’t realize how much time has passed.

Working on this doll has reminded me that my mother made dolls both rag dolls and Waldorf style dolls for her grandchildren. The ones my daughter received are still in my possession but have been somewhat dismantled for cleaning and are packed away. I plan to find them and restore them. When I do I will take photos to post here.

Later next week I will post items that I have worked on (and even finished!) since my last writing in 2014.

Hope to be back later with a photo or two of my progress on the rag doll.

Damp Stretching the Face

Until then,

Happy Moving Forward and Finishing!

Rose