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: Don't Give Up

If you follow my blog you know I’ve been on a quest to finish projects that have been cooling at times, percolating at other times. These are referred to as UFO’s (unfinished objects), WIPs (Works in Progress), WISP’s (Works in Slow Progress) to name just a few. I’ve tried 52 in 52 (one a week), 12 by 12 (one a month), FIF (Finish It Fridays) and other ways to get things done or at least moved forward. Some items did get finished, some have been moved along. But I’ve also started a number of new items – some that were requested, some that I just wanted to try, and some that were “what-if’s”.

So here I am at the start of a new year and a new attempt at finishing some projects. A friend posted an idea on FaceBook and I was off and running. Www.allpeoplequilt.com has a UFO Challenge for 2016.

List 12 projects and what stage they are in. They choose a number from 1-12 on the 1^st day of the month and that’s the project you work on that month. I can do that. 

My List for 2016

So I made my list – just writing down projects as they came to my mind. Truthfully I probably could list 24 or even 36 projects but I just did 12.

The first number they pulled was 2. Oh, oh. On my number 2 line I had listed what is probably my oldest (that I’ve uncovered so far) and most time consuming project. I was tempted to give up right then. I had hoped for one that only needed a little bit to complete and I would have success the first month to encourage me onward. I even thought about making that second list and then I would have an option to choose which ever list seemed best (read easiest). But I decided even though I would not finish it I could at least move it forward.

At first I found excuses to not work on it but then I realized I could do it – I could! So I opened the project box.

What's in the project box?

It’s a red and white crazy block style quilt with redwork in the centers. Three blocks had been sewn. All of the redwork embroidery was done. 

Where I left it in 2008

When I did those I didn’t know about the wonders of damp stretching my work (thanks Karen). So first I damp stretched all of those redwork embroideries. 

Then I had some cheater cloth of redwork squares that I had re-embroidered. For some reason (probably to protect the embroidery) I had fused some lightweight interfacing to the back of those. This caused the fabric to bubble over time. 

Cheater Cloth re-embroidered and bubbling

First I was just going to accept it as is but then I realized I could peel the interfacing off. So I was able to damp stretch those as well. The three blocks which were already sewn would have to stay as they were.

I have sewn two more blocks, and started to do the hand embroidery on one of the sewn blocks. The month is almost over and a new number will be drawn next week.

Will I put this one away? No it’s going to join my WISP’s. I’ve put the five (oh look now I'm up to six) blocks up on my design wall and I’m loving them again. When I started this project back in 2006 or 2007 I didn't have a design wall. Now I do and it is always a pleasant surprise to put something up there that I've done and let it brew for a while. It will take some time to finish this quilt – but I can do it!

Blocks on the design wall 

So I shared all of that just to say “Don’t give up, small starts count, slow progress moves you to the finish line”.

And that’s my tip for today.

Happy creating!

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 

OK It's Monday Night Time for a Tip

Recently I've been working on this little project.

Sunflower applique

I finished doing the leaves and petals and am about to do the center. As I looked at it I realized the fabric I had originally intended to use for the center just wasn't working for me. It seemed too busy.
So I selected a few other choices from my stash but was having a hard time deciding what to use. So I thought it would be a good idea to make a color copy of my work and also a second copy of the black and white pattern I had been using. With those in hand I thought I could cut the middle section from the black and white paper and use it as a guide for cutting out the center of the color copy of my work. Then I could audition fabrics until I found one I liked.
Well because I also make a lot of fabric yo yos I could have just cut the circles from the fabric and made yo yos from the ones I didn't use. But then not everyone likes to make those and I thought this would make a great idea for my Monday night blog post. So here are some photos to show the results. (Sorry the photos are not that great but I think you will get the idea.)

Photocopies of the project and pattern

Original fabric choice

Fabric is too light

Color doesn't seem right

Fabric is a little bit better

Maybe?

Planning to use this one because I want it to be dark.

So there is where I'm at. I think I may look through my stash for some more dark browns to try. I definitely want a dark brown.

I could also have just scanned the fabric in and used my computer to try out different ones but I didn't have my computer with me so I did it this way.

Happy Monday

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 

WWW Where Do I Start?

Should I just do a recap of what I’ve been up to since October 15, 2014? What? October 2014! Ok so I’ve posted some things in my FIF posts so I won’t bore you with those again but I have done some things during the holiday season that I will share with you.

First I worked at getting the bookmark for our 2015 quilt guild meetings designed and printed. I’m happy with the results. 

Me taking photos

I also took photos of the donation quilt that will be for the guild’s 2015 season. I needed photos for the postcard I create for the quilt guild’s annual festival of quilts show. When I get those I will post a picture of the front and back.

Besides working on those I crocheted 20 drink cozies for the “Meet Samantha” party. I thought I took a photo of them being used but I can’t find it so I will have to do with this shot.

Pink, Grey, White Drink Cozies

This was in addition to the 24 mini crochet dresses I showed in an earlier post. And then I put together some bunting/pennants/banners things for the party. These will be used to decorate Samantha’s room.

Flags getting ready to string together

 Oh that reminds me I made a cloud and hearts mobile for her room too (well that’s not completely finished but close!). And again, no photo.

In addition to all of that I managed to get the final blocks for the 2014 block exchange at our guild finished.

Christmas block

Civil War Reproduction Block

 Then my son asked me to make some finger-less gloves for the homeless they planned to feed on Christmas day. Well he asked for knitted ones like I had made as a gift for him last year but when I started I discovered it would take too long (this was a last minute request). Plus my right hand is not taking too great of a liking to my marathon knitting or crocheting. In the meantime my son and friends felt led to do a much larger scale meal for a low income housing unit. So he really needed more than 10. I got the bright idea to use fleece and so I made 40 sets of fingerless gloves for him to give away.

Some of the fleece finger-less gloves

 And let’s not forget there is the doll I’ve been working on. I have another one of those ready to embroidery the face and I’ve been playing with hair on the original one.

One other thing I started was some fabric microwave bowls. The test ones are okay but when I washed them they didn’t look as great as they did when they were first sewn. I’m still experimenting with the size for these. I did make one that is great to hold my small bowl of ice cream so I don’t freeze my fingers off. So they are good for other things than just the microwave. I’ll share more about those on another day.

Reindeer hats being worked on

Oh yes and I made some of these hats but I will share more about those on one of my Monday tips post.

Okay that’s enough I think to show I really have been working.

Happy Stitching (on Wednesday and every other day)!

Rose