Project Updates & Hooking Stuff

In my last post I shared a glimpse of a quilt I was making. The top is now complete so I'll show you the whole thing and tell you how it came to be......

Months ago I joined hundreds of other quilters and started stitching Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street. I made nearly 70 of these sections - - - 

and then realized I had the colors wrong! What to do? (correct colors are below)

One day I was browsing through my quilt books and I noticed the quilt on the cover of Kim Diehl's most recent book. I realized it had the same block section as the one I had messed up.

So I did some more piecing and ended up with this. The center stars are scrappy reds & the churn dash parts are all scrappy green, but the background is only one gold fabric.

For the sashing I finally used a Moda paisley print that I've had for years - it helped me choose the colors for the entire quilt and I quite like it. After cutting the sashing and the binding strips, I had one small strip leftover so I barely had enough. Whew!

I had originally planned to set the blocks 4x4, but ended up doing a longer, skinnier version. Working with 12" blocks was a real different experience for me because I rarely make any that big, but it was worth it. Since this will be used as a couch quilt for watching TV, long and skinny will work just fine.

Another project I have been working on is a Christmas wall hanging. This is what it looks like right now.

I used this book for piecing all the alphabet letters and plan to add some applique somewhere before it's done.

I've used the book before to make this quilt that hangs in my studio- - -

- - - and this one that hangs in the bathroom downstairs.

Saturday at the Hook-In I was thrilled when my Row Rug won 3rd place in the People's Choice Awards! It was a fun, fun day! For more pictures from the hook-in, please go to the Guild's blog here.

On Tuesday Eileen showed me a small hexagon quilt that she made using the same pattern I've been working on. I think she said her hexies were 3/4". Mine are 3/8" and the size difference on the finished product is amazing. Her colors are so beautiful.....

Here's a picture of the rug that she's working on - a classic Emma Lou Lais design. We brainstormed some ideas for the border - she's so close to having it finished!

I have finished polka dotting all the burlap on the twelve table runners for the wedding reception next month. I was pretty impressed with myself because I only made one single mistake on placement! Here's a sneak peek. They're not as shinny as the fabric you can buy at JoAnn's but I think the price difference more than compensates for that.

I've got nothing on my schedule today except to stay home and sew, so that's what I plan on doing.

Seeing Stars

A couple weeks ago I bought five 36" strips of lathe from Lowe's. I wired them together in the shape of a star and slapped on some blue paint. Then I wrapped some Virginia Creeper vines around it and stapled them on so they would stay put as the vines shrink.

Now it's hanging above the garage between two of my studio windows to make the house more interesting to see from the street.

I'm also seeing stars on my work table. I'm making a quilt using some 'oops'  from another project. Here's a sneak peek - I just have four more sashing strips to sew on and the top will be finished for a new couch quilt.

I started a small hexie quilt early in the spring when I took a couple trips because they're so nice and portable for traveling, and I've been spending a lot of sewing time with them while watching TV in the evenings lately. It's getting there! These are 3/8" to a side, so pretty small. I was struggling with the needle I was using - it was just too fat and hard to use while thread basting AND whip stitching, so I asked Jo Morton (on Facebook) what kind of needle she uses for hers and now that I've made the switch it's SO much easier! (John James 11 sharps, or Jeanna Kimball 11 straw - in case you're wondering).

Last week at a Quilt Shop Hop I bought myself a new rotary cutter cuz it was 1/2 price. It's made by Olfa and is designed just a bit differently than the one I've been using for years. Much easier to change the blade and it seems lighter too. The new blade slices through my fabric like butter!

This morning I stopped by a LQS that is closing and I bought this DMC floss organizer for $10. I took out the dividers and will use it for storing various notions and sewing supplies - it joins the other two that I have found previously. However, there is a lot of sticker residue on the drawers - any suggestions on how to remove them and clean it up before I fill it with goodies?

Tomorrow is our Guild's Hook-In in Salt Lake City so I'm looking forward to a fun day with friends. Hope I make some progress on my Maggie B rug, but that doesn't always happen at these events when I get to distracted with visiting and shopping and rug sharing! 

The wedding quilt is at the long arm quilter's, and I only have two more polka dotted table runners to finish 

A Bit of Fall & a Bit of Wedding

I don't decorate nearly as much as I did when my children were small, and I don't really do 'Halloween' - but I love pumpkins & fall leaves so here's the little bit I have on display - - -

This is a wool penny rug I stitched several years ago - I believe the pattern was in an issue of Create & Decorate magazine. The old wood tray is filled with pumpkins of every description.

Here's the front of the house. We grew most of the pumpkins, but some of them are fake and they'll remain till Thanksgiving after the real ones have been carved into Jack O'Lanterns for the trick or treaters. 

The wedding quilt is pieced and I'm waiting for a phone call from the quilter to tell me she's ready to start working on it - soon hopefully! (this picture was taken before the white sashing was added between the blocks)

This is a 12 yard piece of burlap I bought to make table runners for the wedding reception. 

They will be nine feet long and I will be painting metallic gold polka dots on all of them to look similar to this. I'll be using corks about 1" in diameter and should get the same effect for a LOT less money than buying it already painted at JoAnn's. 

That'll keep me busy for awhile, that's for sure!

Wooly Goodness

I had lots of fun wooly experiences last week - to start with I attended my monthly meeting with the Salt Lake rug group - our numbers were few, but there was good show & tell. Nancy is nearing completion on this geometric rug she found in a book by Pat Cross. She switched up the colors from the original to make it her own and it's lovely. 

Nancy recently took a trip to Europe to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary, and she found this gorgeous wool & silk jacket at a small shop in Paris (I think). It's light as a feather - made with a foundation of wool roving, and then silk fabric was needle felted into the design - I'm sure it will be extremely warm to wear without any bulk at all - so pretty! She said it was interesting trying to converse with the artist through the language barrier LOL!

Myra was working on a Maggie B design with three little chicks. The background is much different than Maggie's version - I like it better I think!

A year or two ago I stumbled upon this wonderful blog and realized that the author lived only about an hour away from me. I loved seeing all the projects she shared in her posts, and on Friday I finally made it to her Open House and got to meet her in person! Leisa has a gorgeous shop above the garage of her house and it is full of her hand dyed wool and tons of beautiful stitched projects. Twice a year she has an Open House and invites anyone interested to attend. It was so fun to mill around looking at all the eye candy. The place was packed! Here are a few photos I took of the event. 

This is the entrance to her studio - through the door and up the stairs to heaven!

Some displays around the big open room.

Hand dyed wool for sale.

A trunk show from Wooly Lady & Heart to Hand

I could hardly go to sleep when I got home that night because of all the eye candy and visual stimulation I had received during my short visit. Thanks so much Leisa!

Bleach Painting & Quilt Projects

Way back in high school I remember having a favorite pair of jeans that I embellished with a gazillion decorative stitches in lots of colors using embroidery floss - I think I wore them to death in the 70's - kinda wish I still had them! (not that they'd still fit, of course)  Anyway, this project I did over the weekend makes me think of those just a little bit because I think it's only the second time I've ever fancied up my jeans. Using a Clorox bleach pen I altered the look of this pair of denim pants.

To start with I cut some cardboard to insert inside each leg so the bleach wouldn't bleed through to the other side of the pants.

Then I used the fine end of the bleach pen to draw a design on the denim.  If you look closely you can see the faint chalk line I drew as a guide before applying the bleach.

Repeated for the other side. I found that the heavier the line of bleach, the whiter the denim turned. And you have to be patient and let the bleach sit on the fabric for a good 30 minutes or more. I rinsed the pants in the kitchen sink with my sprayer - then immediately threw them in the washing machine.

A friend has a similar pair of jeans with a Ralph Lauren label on them and I really liked the paisley type of design on hers so I went in the same direction although you could do anything under the sun using this same technique. FUN!

These two small quilt projects are not quite finished, but they need to come down off of my design wall - - - -

- - - so I can get started on the wedding quilt using these polka dot fabrics. The pattern for the quilt changed over the weekend so we're going in a whole different direction now - it will be fun. 

Pickles Quilt Show

I attended the annual neighborhood quilt show put on by the ladies of the Pickles Quilts group - an event I look forward to every summer. Here are a couple pictures, but for even more please go visit my friend Clydene's blog where she shared every quilt that was displayed. This group of ladies choose a quilt pattern, then they each make it using their own colors & fabrics - so fun to see how they're the same & different. Joy's beautiful yard is the perfect setting for this fun day.

I think the pattern below - called Swoon - is what I'll be using to make the wedding quilt for my son and his sweetheart. With nine giant 24" blocks it seems very doable to me.

Puzzle Ball

I finished sewing the puzzle ball together yesterday. Maggie B seemed to think these were sewing related, but I've always thought they were baby toys - does anyone out there know for sure? Anyway, I'm glad to have it done and move on to the next project.