Road to CA 2017 - Day 1

Class today was with Amanda Leins - Fundamentals of FMQ.

Enjoyed the class...hated the *(&#$( machine..the first half of the class, the machine I was on kept shredding the thread...I would be going along fine for a few minutes and blamo, it would shred and break. The tech changed the needle..that didn't help...she adjusted the height of the sensormatic foot...that didn't help...After lunch, I was able to move to a different machine - the lady next to me had to go home. Her machine worked fine! So I don't think it was anything I was doing (you have your doubts when its a strange machine!) Anyway, not feeling the love for Phaff machines, just sayin'

Amanda had this neato overhead camera gizmo that she could project up on the wall..with a Surface computer..I want one!! You can see it in the picture above..

Here are some of the practice drawings we did...

The color pencils show the order of how the motifs are to be sewn....I really like the loopys on the hooked feathers on the left side..

And my practice piece...not even half of the quilt sandwich I came with...

Oh..the air pressure in SoCal is so radically different today due to three back to back storms coming in  - the rest of the quilt show is going to be very, very soggy! Not attending the preview night this year..I have a monster headache. Hoping once it starts raining, the air pressure won't drop anymore.

Tomorrow I am going to see the quilts, go thru the vendor mall and attend Party Time - it's supposed to be a blast..there are prizes!

I had to repack all of my supplies for Friday's class..the wheelie case I have used for years decided it was a great time to break - right in the middle of crossing the road between the convention center and the parking lot! I don't think its repairable..I will just have to get a new set - wonder if they have any cases with the 360 wheels that I can afford.

Fire Mountain Finished!

First finish of 2017 - Fire Mountain!

I bound it with some stripey fabric that has all of the same colors...I did not make continuous binding since I wanted more control over the placement of the stripes so I had to learn a different method of creating the miters - there are videos out there for a Binding Miter Tool (but I just used the corner of an envelope) that show the technique. I think it turned out very well!

Made a ZipZap bag for a Tea I am going to at the end of the month. Pattern is here...I did modify it a wee bit - I made the back pocket full length so my cell phone fits better..I am pretty happy with how it turned out! Those quarter inch straps though...those were hard!  Oh...and I did not use canvas, so the seams were not quite as bulky. I like this bag design in that it does not need 'hardware' for the straps..the other bag I made last year has lobster claws and rings...but it also attaches to my jeans belt loops for a hands free mode!

This is the front of the bag..added a silver dogwood blossom to the zipper...

This is the back of the bag..the pattern has the back pocket only as long as the color part in the center...on mine, the pocket goes all the way down to the bottom...

More Fire Mountain Progress

I asked the same question in my last post to my quilting forum and got some tips on how to keep the Monopoly from breaking so much..I ordered a package of Superior Top Stitch needles and they came in the mail today (love Amazon Prime!!) So OF COURSE, I had to try one out...
Verdict..they are worth the almost 2 bucks per needle!

Pretty much done with the center of the quilt...just need to ditch around all of the appliques. That may not take as long as I think with the thread not breaking anymore.
Here are some hopefully detailed enough shots that you can see the quilting....

Poor quilt needs a bath..cat fur and chalk marks.

Oh and I discovered something else...I am using Grabberoos quilting gloves and was having a dickens of a time with the Monopoly sticking when I trimmed the start threads. Found if I used a lint roller, the trimmings came right off. Have to remember to pack that for both of my Road classes which are going to be FMQ...

Fire Mountain Progress

Spent most of the day working on Fire Mountain..I took all the old hand quilting out, replaced the batting with Dream Cotton instead of the poofy wool and started FMQ on the top..its stabilized...and I have started on the leaf vine in the green areas...

much happier with the quilting now..
but..frustrated with the machine..it keeps breaking the Monopoly...

Question...what does it mean when quilting with a FMQ foot when the top thread does not catch and form a stitch with the bottom thread? I have tried adjusting the tension and that seems to help some...fortunately it seems to mostly happen at the start of a line of stitching..

New Year's Eve

Wow...forgot about posting to the blog for half of 2016...sigh..I will really try to do better next year!

2016 in review:
Finished a few quilts... Echos of the Grand Canyon, Goose, Goose, Duck; Dragonflies Paradise, Hexie Daisy, Thread-Sketching Bouquet, Embellished Antique Linen, Summer Quilt for Dad, Star Mug Rug, Doodled Hexie Mug Rug
Worked on a few more quilts ...Fire Mountain Bargello, Desert Landscape, Wee Hexie Basket, Cape Blanco Light, Columbia Gorge...
Ate lots of good meals...
Went on several trips - Arizona, Texas, Nevada and the annual Quilter's Run in So Cal
Laughed a lot...
Cried some...
DGD moved to Tennessee..we are going to try visit soon..
Still working...Retirement is looming though!

Hope 2017 will be a great year!

Here are the Christmas gifts I made this year:
Squirrel Lovie

 Frog Prince Lovie

 Wolf - kinda a lovie..but I stuffed him...

 Three French Hens

Hedgehog for my hedgehog loving Sis: (not a Christmas Present!) - I had to try out my PomPom makers I bought on the Quilter's Run...amazingly..they work!

I discovered Corner to Corner crochet...it works up soooo fast...

 ...that I made a whole passel of washcloths and handed them out at the Christmas party!

Our tree...

 ..with a silly squirrel under it!

And the mountains out the back on Christmas Day - as close to a White Christmas as us flatlanders in So Cal get!

A Star for a Star!

My daughter really, really likes stars...so I made a star wall hanging/mug rug for her birthday:

I fastened the ribbon holders on with a pair of starfish earrings. The star hanger I got on the Quilter's Run a couple of weeks back.

Paper pieced...this is about as much paper piecing as my tolerance allows. I must be getting a bit better though, since I did not cut any pieces too small and only sewed one seam with the fabric upside down when my mind wandered a bit..I have learned to use HUGE pieces of fabric for paper piecing, and if I cannot see the right side of the bottom fabric when I am stitching on the line...its wrong!

All star fabric, even the label on the back...

Happy 4th of July and A Summer Quilt for Dad

Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone had a great holiday!

I finished the top for a summer quilt for my Dad..I made him a flannel one for winter, but..he needs a summer weight one..He sleeps in a recliner due to some breaks in a couple of bones in his back..I made a pocket for his feet in the winter one. this one will also have a pocket for his feet...

This is mostly a kit that I bought on the Quilter's Run last weekend..I had to add the beige and red stripes at the top and bottom since the kit by itself is not long enough...I frenched all of the seams so that no straggly threads would show through since there is no batting..and the backing is a linen duvet cover - half of which is making the pocket for the feet.

Not sure yet if I will just birth it...or if it will get some quilting...I am thinking around the center panel, around the RWB stripes and across the beige stripe - maybe around the eagle and the USA..but..we will see when it gets down to it!

HST Column Quilt

The HST Column quilt as a top:

Finished quilt: (sorry the color is bad - my normal snap camera is trying to die....and I used the cell phone camera instead..yuk!)

When I showed the top to my Mom, she thought if would make a marvelous summer lap quilt...so I finished it for her - just backed it with one of the remaining bigger pieces of fabric scraps and folded the edge to the front instead of binding.. I did try the quilting in the 'column' part to see if using a different color of thread would make the column stand out a bit more...the result of that experiment: it really wasn't worth it..it would require a way more dense quilting than I had the patience for to get it to change color...best option if you want the column to be noticeable...make those HSTs with a different color!

Here is a closer up picture:

But...Mom likes it and it will serve a useful purpose..and now all three of us have a quilt made out of those dress scraps from long ago.

Embellished Antique Linen

I saw a piece on Kelly Cline's blog that intrigued me.... http://www.kellyclinequilting.com/2016/04/frame-a-quilted-hankie/

Hum...I have an antique linen piece - I think it was an antimacassar  - one of those linen pieces ladies used to put on furniture to protect the places where human skin  or hair would hit the upholstery to reduce the damage to a replaceable piece...perfect!

I soaked it in Terial Magic and arranged the cotton lace - it was badly scrunched! The Terial Magic made it stiff enough to embroider without a hoop. Note there is some damage on this piece (it adds 'character'!) - I glued the broken threads down with OkToWashIt glue..not that I ever intend to actually WASH this piece!

I embroidered the center - making sure to cover up that hole with the big pink rose! I used the silk ribbons I got from Kathy at Retreat (she decided to give up all her beads and threads - a couple of other ladies at the Retreat and I split up the booty! Whoohoo!) Antique linen is pretty fragile...I almost wrecked the piece a couple of times - but manged to hide the boo-boos!

Wool batting, two layers of  plain teal fabric from the donation table at Retreat and I was off and running...

Added some antique lace around the edge and buttons from my Grandmother's stash...et voila'!

I usually name my pieces something more exciting than 'Embellished Antique Linen'...but I have no ideas on what would be better for this piece.

Progress on the HST Column Quilt

The center is put together. It probably could have been arranged better, but I grew weary of arranging the blocks. I ended up printing out a sample of the layout so I could get the pattern right,

Here is the original layout..the column is not very obvious...but the blocks were sprinkled around nicely...

Here is the center after I sewed it..I decided to group the colors to make the column stand out more.

Its pretty small - 21 x 35...so I am going to add a resting strip and a border..

I rummaged around and found a pile of scraps that I will use to make a piano key border...could not find any more of the light blue, but did find a piece of the dark blue I used to make the sashings on Heart's Garden..there are strips already cut that will go almost all the way around and hopefully I will have enough for the binding out of the same dark blue...

And I have enough of the blue plaid or the green and purple flower (top right corner of center) to make the back.

HST Column Quilt

I need a new project like I need another hole in my head..but..when did that ever stop a quilter???

A couple of friends have made HST column quilts and I got to thinking about a stack of HSTs that I have had from when I made my sister her quilt from the scraps of clothes that our Mom made us when we were little..and how cute they would be as a column quilt...

I was going to make them into pinwheels..and even had stitched a  couple up..but they were sad, sad lumpy, crookedy pinwheels...the HSTs were not all the same size and in my ignorance as a young quilter, I though I could just...make....them...fit...

NOT...

Anyway, the HSTs have been hanging around in my quilting studio, ripening, for a LONG, LONG time! First order of business was to deconstruct those two very sad pinwheels..and trim up the HSTs to an even size..I found the smallest one..and that is governing the size of the rest of the blocks...

It is turning into an interesting project...

I am using a gizmo my Dad made for me a few years ago...its called a Square Up (my design, his execution)

It is making the trimming of these blocks really, really easy..especially since I acquired a set of square templates at Retreat last year on the donation table that have a groove on the diagonal which makes it very easy to line up with the seam..the arm holds the template from moving, the base rotates (there are levers to make it go only one way or free rotate)...and it folds up and has a handle so I could take it to class if I ever were going to one that needed to cut blocks (not usually my cup of tea...though...this IS really easy to use - might have to reconsider that option!)

Here is a block before trimming:

That same block after trimming:

And the two stacks of blocks - the trimmed ones look soooooo much neater!

Will post more when I have all the blocks trimmed and laid out...

Mandarin Duck Progress

I have quilted the center of the Mandarin Duck and added binding, which is now finished...
I am going to add quilting in the brown border - Flying Geese...with feathers in the corners, as a nod to Jenny Bowker, the teacher of the class (Images in Landscapes), who uses traditional blocks to expand the size of her quilts to HUGE...
Still have to decide if I want to do the FG in Monopoly like the rest of the quilt or brown quilting thread...but that will be for another day!

Here is what I started with...the picture of the Mandarin duck was taken by my daughter at the LA Arboretum...

Here is what that picture got turned into in class..

...and here is the quilt before I finished the binding...

The quilt is currently drying from being blocked..

Dragonflies Paradise

When last we left off on the Embellishment Sampler on International Quilting Weekend, I had finished the mounting quilt...and had a couple of the squares done..

The whole thing is done now! I really, really enjoyed working on this quilt..its going to hang in my office...at least for a while.

Here are detail shots of each of the squares:
This was the first one I did...I really love the colors that were in the kit and how the outer border has all of the same colors..such a lucky find in my stash!

This one is probably my favorite of the blocks..though...

 ..this one is a close second!

The center..which I think was the second block..on the original quilt, the quilter, Shelley Swanland, used a silkie with a dragonfly on it..and everyone oohed and ahhed about that dragonfly, but my kit came with the roses - not to fear..I found a dragonfly in my stash of bits and bobs...and the rest is history!  At first, I was just going to have the one dragonfly, but DH said he looked lonely...so I found the other two big dragonflies..then had the wild thought about adding the charm dragonflies..which came in a big tub of assorted buttons and other odd pieces that I got at Tueday Morning a long time ago...
So...the quilt was named 'Dragonflies Paradise'!
I attached the center block with plastic turquoise beads..they have a wee bit of iridescence...

For the outer corner blocks, I attached them with turquoise glass beads that have silver centers...

and the center sides (not really sure if this is the correct terminology!!) I used golden glass beads.

DH may be disappointed this quilt is not going to hang in the house, but eventually I will bring it back home again.. He says he likes looking at all of the different aspects...there is too much to take in at once!

Stitching in the Great Outdoors

More stitching on the Fire Mountain Bargello's applique today..we went off adventuring and I got to stitch in the great outdoors for a while..twas glorious!
There are oodles of oranges on those trees...

 Watched a para-sailor ride the updrafts over the top of this mountain...

 A crashed balsa wood airplane  on the upper left (I think)!

Some dark clouds...rain maybe (we hope!)