Input needed, please

I have been working on my Y2K and have about 60 of the 80 blocks completed, the remainder is in strips ready to be assembled into blocks. Needless to say, they don’t all fit on the design wall.

I had been thinking of using either black

             or perhaps a dark red like this:The small white squares are the signature squares.

I asked on online quilter friend in Norway (gotta love the internet) to help me choose. Wouldn’t you know, she had a different idea – gray.  I never would have thought of it, but she thought black might be too harsh. I think she could be right. So, this morning I dug through the stash and started pulling different colored fabrics to get an idea of what they would look like as sashing. Hey, if gray might be better, maybe another color might be even better! Changing fabrics on the design wall to try each color became laborious, and since many of my fabrics were prints, I wasn’t getting a good idea of how any given color would work. Enter MOTH (Man of the House) and Photoshop. So much easier to try different colors in Photoshop!  Thanks, my dear MOTH. 

Here is what a cement gray would look like: (and HG, I do like it, thanks for the suggestion and for getting me thinking outside my box)

                      Cheddar                     taupe

hmm, a sick gold, was going to say spicey brown mustard, but I don’t think I’d want to eat mustard that was this color…….

               a grayish blue                  navy 

 

or this ….odd shade of….brown?(do you think anyone except Photoshop actually makes this color?)

Which would you use?  Something totally different?

Happy Fourth of July! and Design Wall Monday

Wishing a safe and wonderful Independence Day to Yanks all over the world. A special thanks to those who serve and may be far from home on this holiday.

Design Wall Monday is here again, and this time I have something to show.  June’s UFO challenge was the Y2K quilt that I started….well, in Y2k.  It didn’t get very far, and I wasn’t happy with how it was going together. I gave it more thought, came up with a few more ideas and then, after all the wedding was over on the 18th, I began to work. Do any of you remember the great Y2K swap on the internet?  The idea was to get 2000 squares of fabric from all over the world. There were several sites online to contact other quilters that wanted to participate. Each quilter would send 25 squares of different fabrics plus a signature square to each person she exchanged with. If you exchanged with 80 other people, you would get your 2000 squares. If you exchanged with someone from each of the 50 US states and the 13 Canadian provinces and territories, you would already have 63 packets or 1575 squares. I exchanged with quilters all over the world, from Japan, Denmark, Mexico, Bahrain and many other places. Watching for the mail each day was exciting.

Anyway, this past month I began piecing each person’s squares into a 25 patch. My hope was to keep each persons contribution together.  As I put the blocks together I became fascinated by what the fabrics told me about each quilter. One gal either really liked sunflowers, or had recently made something requiring a selection of sunflower prints and had lots left over.

  One person had a lot of tans in her stash,

another a lot of greens, yet another many fun, kid type animal prints, bold colors.

 

One had many tiny floral prints in soft pastels.  Were these fabrics an example of what the quilter loved and had in her stash, or were these the things in her stash that she was ready to get rid of?

 

Here are some of the first 48 blocks on my newly made (and not quite finished) design wall.

And some of the rows of five, pinned together for more squares.

Meanwhile, I finally mounted a quilt on my new quilt frame, did a little more than one row of quilting and the PCQ went kerflewy. I am now waiting for a chip to arrive and be installed before I can do any more quilting. It was going so well until then….*sigh*

A June Groom….

Our middle son was married this past weekend. There were some tense moments due to the weather, but everything went off very well. The bride was lovely, as you can see in the pictures. The groom wore the biggest smile you have ever seen, complete with dimple, on his handsome face. 

The wedding was held at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.  The first picture shows the reception room as it was being set up. Note the rather large guest in the middle of everything.

Then, there he was again, sneaking up behind the father of the groom, wanting to join in the laughter.

The bridal party, and the groom with his brothers.

The happy couple

Partway through the evening, the bride changed into traditional bridal dress.

I can’t tell you how delighted I am with my newest daughter!  Just think, I have gotten two daughters in the past four months-and no labor pains!!

Design Wall Monday

Actually, this came off the design wall today, as the top is now finished. If I get to sew tomorrow, I will be piecing the back. I looked for one of those wide backs, and found one that would work, but then I saw something on sale, and….well, it made me smile, so I bought that instead. I do hate wrangling those big hunks of fabric, but I grin every time I think of this silly, happy fabric, so I’m glad I made this choice. You’ll have to wait to see the backing till after everything is quilted. 

I showed the blocks for this one about two weeks ago, trying to decide how to set it. they were from an online swap, so all 12 1/2 “ were not equal. I decided to just sash it with background fabric to disguise any size differences.

See the two spots that look a little empty, bottom center?  Someone made her blocks in reverse of everyone else.  I’m good with that, it adds a little character and quirkiness instead of being like a bunch of soldiers all in a row.   Click on photo to enlarge.

Hop over to JudyL’s blog to see what other quilters have on their design walls today. http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/05/16/design-wall-monday-may-16-2011

UFO challenge

I’m way behind in the UFO challenge, but this is the one that I finished in April.

These are the dimensional (origami?) type of bow tie block that were received in a swap. All the blocks were made on treadle or hand crank machines made prior to 1900 using reproduction fabrics representing the pre-1900 goods. All blocks are signed by the quilter and also contain her location and the type and age of the machine that was used. It was quilted using my robotic quilting machine-quite the contrast in technology.

Meanwhile, another UFO is on the quilting machine, I hope to get the quilting finished today. The backing for another UFO is being pre-washed so that it will be ready to put on the quilt machine as soon as the other comes off. I will catch up, I will catch up, I will, I will…..

Take a look at the amazing work other quilters are doing as part of the UFO Challenge here: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/05/04/april-ufo-completions

Design Wall Monday

 

My design wall is doing double duty today. It is serving as a post for Design Wall Monday (See what Judy and others are up to  at http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/05/02/design-wall-monday-may-2-2011) and it is also the project for this months UFO Challenge.

I participated in a block swap a few years back, and these blocks are the result. Now I have to decide how to put them together. If you have ever tried to assemble a quilt made by a variety of quilters, you know that as much as everyone tries to make the same size block, they are different.  With this set, most of them are pretty close, but there are a few ‘individuals’. Looking at this photo, I noticed that one block is different than all the rest-hadn’t noticed until just now that the jars are placed in the reverse of every other block.  For this reason, I’d prefer to avoid just putting them all together, the seams will never match.

  A gifted designer friend suggested that I offset the blocks slightly, and fill the space with either lime green or turquoise, similar to what is shown in the top two rows of this photo. I’d have to figure out just how much to offset to avoid having some of the jars stack on top of each other.  How do you think it would look with sashing between the blocks? Ordinary, weird???

Anyone have any suggestions? I’d appreciate some ideas.

Happy, busy times

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Our youngest son was married recently to a lovely girl we are crazy about. If you’ve had a wedding in the family recently, you know how busy all the showers, planning, fittings and such keep you.  We haven’t had much down time before we started doing it all over again, as our middle son is getting married in about a month and a half. That is his fiance with the bride in the first picture. She is well loved by all of us and a welcome addition to the family. Who would have thought that I would  have 2 daughters at my age???

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Design Wall Monday, Tuesday, almost Wednesday…….!

We’ve been trying to get my computer back up and running since Friday, think we are finally on the right track. Meanwhile, while rummaging through fabrics to use as backing for the bright yellow quilt, I found a little quilt that I started several years ago in a class. I quilted and bound that one, it is on the design wall so that I could photograph it. I have also put together the bow tie top that I showed last week. I have changed the layout, and right now it has borders and is ready to go on the quilting machine. If the dang computer hadn’t required constant attention, I could have had this one done already. February  hasn’t been my month for machines. First the quilting machine, then the computer.  Come on, March!

Awwwwww

Nancy and Glo, your wish is our command…. 

He likes it, he really likes it! (in my best Norma Rae/Sally Field voice)

A finish!

Only two weeks ‘late’. This is January’s Monochromatic Challenge (Patchwork Times).

The things you discover when you try to pull from stash for a project like this: notice how all the yellows are so similar, no light, pastel, soft colors. All bright  yellows, with a few going towards  mustard. 

Anyway, it is finished, and since I don’t know anyone who loves yellow dearly, this little quilt will go to my tiniest quilting assistant, my silky terrier Mac. He is forever supervising my work, always anchoring the quilt while I am trying to sew on binding. He manages to get himself wrapped up in whatever part of the quilt is on the floor. Each and every time I go to move the quilt to get to the next section, I have to pull and tug. I wonder how it has gotten so heavy, and then I realize he is rolled up somewhere inside.  How such a little dog can make a quilt so heavy, I will never know.

Still working on a name, considering both “Yellow Peril” and “Blinded by the Bright”.

Design Wall Monday – Ties that bind

On my design wall today are some origami/3-D Bow Tie blocks that I made several years ago as part of a swap on Treadle On. For this swap, the blocks had to be made on a sewing machine that was manufactured prior to 1900 and the fabrics used had to be unbleached muslin and a reproduction of a pre-1900 fabric. All of these blocks are labeled with the maker’s name and location, but also the type of antique machine. Each was made on either a treadle or a hand crank machine.

These have been stowed away for years after I just couldn’t decide how best to set them. You will note that in this arrangement, there is one block missing.  Apparently I was so intent on getting my blocks made for the swap, I forgot to make one for myself, so I shall have to make one more block before I can put this top together.  This is February’s UFO challenge top, and this is as far as I have gotten……what are my chances to get this finished before Feb. 28?  I still have to find fabric for the borders!

Quilters are some of the best people…..

I just have to say thanks and give credit to a quilter and fellow blogger.

I have part of a fat quarter of fabric leftover from a Jo Morton class  I took several years ago at Little Quilts. I want more of this old fabric. In the class was another student, we became friendly and have since left greetings and comments on each others blogs. Karen has since become a part time employee of the store as well as a designer of patterns, so I sent her a photo of the fabric, and asked if she remembered it.

I was hoping if she knew which manufacturer and fabric line it was, I might be able to track down some more.  She didn’t remember it, but knows of a gal named Becky that has an encyclopedic memory of fabrics. Becky remembered the fabric line, and one of them ( not sure if it was B or K) even found an online place that still has some of this in stock.  I have ordered and JEEPERS CREEPERS,  I am one happy, totally blown away quilter!

Thanks so much to both Becky and Karen.

Snowy day, snowy memories

If you’ve been following the news, you will know that the south has been hit by a snow and ice storm that has brought things to a halt. Down here we just aren’t used to dealing with this much snow at one time. We can go a year or two and never have as much as we had over night. Within the first hour, 3-4 inches had fallen on my back deck. The night air was so thick with snow that looking at the street light down the road was like looking through a sheer white curtain.  If it had kept up like that all night we would have had many more inches, but things changed to freezing rain and ice. Less ground accumulation, but it sure didn’t help with the roads!  I’m just thankful that we don’t need to get out for a few days. We will be one less car getting in the way of the folks that have to travel tomorrow. I’ve been able to get some sewing done (previous post) until my son started to dig us out. Seeing him come in all rosy cheeked like when he was little made me think of some old photos.

Then: 

 

Now:

 

Thirty-five or so years later he’s still playing in the snow with the dog, still wearing a knitted hat under his hood, but a lot happier. Maybe its because this puppy isn’t big enough to knock him down and steal his mittens!

Thanks for helping the old folks out, love.

Design Wall Monday -

What is actually on my design wall is this:

Judy’s star block of the month that I never finished. I have actually gotten a little further in the piecing, but not much. This one was number 6 on my UFO Challenge list, so there it sits, waiting for me to continue.

Meanwhile-because no one can have to many UFOs – I’ve started work on Judy’s monochromatic challenge. January’s color is yellow.  Probably a good day to work on these bright yellows, the south is in the midst of a snow/ice storm that has stopped everything in its tracks. That bleak winter gray sky and falling rain is much improved by these bright hues.  This is not the final arrangement, and it is only about half of those that will go into the final quilt.

UFO Challenge

Judy L is facilitating an effort to get some UFOs finished in 2011.  Here is my list:

1. Red Gray and Black
2. Barn Star
3. Lincoln’s Platform
4. 1930’s fabrics
5. Lady Anne
6. JudyL’s Star BOM
7. Little Quilts Buck a block
8. Y2K
9. Jar Swap
10. Treadle on Swap
11. Hidden Wells
12. Hummingbird

Many of these are finished tops that need to be quilted and bound. The Y2K was started at the turn of the century…oh my, has it been that long already?? I have since decided I am not happy with what I have done so far, so I will probably rip everything apart and try again. My intentions are good, I wonder how many I will actually get finished?

Sock it to me….

I finished up a pair of anklets (KnitPicks yarn and pattern) at the end of October so that I could begin a new pair of socks and participate in JudyL’s sock knit-along this month, check it out at http://www.patchworktimes.com.

I really enjoyed this pattern. It is toes up, which I prefer, but this pattern actually fit my toes the best of any I have done yet. I also liked doing the little lace patter on the top side. Not at all sure about the very different short row heel, I finally made a chart to check off row by row since I would loose track. In future, I may combine this toe with another short row heel that I prefer. This heel was odd, because they wanted it to come unusually high in the back so that it would stay up.

This was the first of seven patterns in a KnitPicks kit that I bought, a different pair for each day of the week. Wonder how long it will take to get the next 6 pairs done, given my track record?

Here is the start of the pair I am doing for the knit-along:

I bought the self striping yarn at a lovely little shop in Asheville called Purls. I’ve done self striping before, but I liked a sample made up in a different colorway of this yarn because some of the stripes had a zig-sag  within them (see the pink row above the orange, and the green and white row at the top). I would have bought the other colorway, as I liked it better than this, but this was the only one they had left!  I hope that I can get these finished this month, but I have to pace myself, as my hands get cramped and sore holding the small needles.

October escaped ………

October got a bit hectic around here. Aside from normal doctor visits there was an unexpected trip to the ER that resulted in an overnight stay and then follow up tests. Everything worked out fine, but it took a chunk of time.  October just slipped right through my fingers!

Then, we went camping to Bandy Creek campground in NE Tennessee for our camping group's Fall Rally. The first few days were awfully cold, but generally the weather was beautiful.  Bandy Creek is part of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.  I think the group will be going back there next year, we liked it that well.

 

 

A new toy…

More accurately, a new tool. 

That’s a food dehydrator. Over the weekend, I sliced up some fruit to give it a test run. Pineapple, cherries, grapes, strawberries and bananas on Saturday. Peaches on Sunday. All turned out well except the grapes. The grapes required a type of pretreatment ‘checking’ which I must not have done properly. It involved putting them in boiling water and then immediately into very cold water. I think I was so afraid of cooking them that I didn’t leave them in the boiling water long enough.

Each tastes pretty good in the dehydrated form and would make tasty snacks and would be especially good to bring camping. This morning I reconstituted a few slices of peach and strawberry to have with my yogurt. Yummy!

Now to look for what is in season or on sale…….

A little of this, a little of that

I haven’t posted in a bit, but we are still around. We were supposed to be camping this week, but with temps in the high 90’s, we decided not to. We did take a day trip up to Tallulah Gorge State Park  to check it out. I’d like more time to explore the area, but I’m not sure this campground is “MOTH friendly”. We observed a person having a hard time using his walker, and MOTH was quick to point it out to me. It is an awfully pretty area though, and I’d really like to see more of it.

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I finished those green/purple striped socks a while back, but never posted.  I tried working on them while recovering from my knee replacement surgery-but I was still on painkillers. Do not operate knitting needles while using this medication…… In spite of a few ‘design elements’ that I added, they are finished and wearable.

This area is blessed with several nice yarn stores (as well as good quilt stores) and one of the friendliest is Only Ewe and Cotton Too in the next town. You walk into this store and feel right at home. There are always people sitting there, knitting and chatting, and other folks will help you find what you are looking for if the owners are busy with someone else.  Last month this shop had a knit-along doing the Annis shawlette. I joined in, learned how to bead and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The shawl is now finished and blocked, ready to use…well, if it wasn’t in the 90’s.