Sunday, February 28, 2010

When It Snows…

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Go to lunch!  We have had so much snow lately and my grandson had a couple of snow days so after the plow went through (driven by my son-in-law!) Katie and I went shopping and then to lunch. 

(OK I confess-this is just an excuse to post pictures of my beautiful grandsons.  Enjoy!)

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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Finally Finished!

I just wish I had some better pictures.607 608 609

This is the stitching that I took out of the first two rows:590

After I stitched one row (and wasn’t sure) I asked my husband’s opinion.  He said it was OK so I did another row and hated it.  So as I was picking out the two rows (each 8” x 77”, by the way) it occurred to me that when I ask someone else’s opinion, I have already made up my mind-no matter what they say.  When I told my daughter this revelation, she said, “Yeah Mom.  We know.”

Anyway, I quilted a feather pattern in the striped rows, although it is not very obvious.  And that is good because I was nervous about doing the feathers.  They are far from perfect but I got lots of practice.  I decided if I waited until I could do them perfectly, I would never do them.

So, it is done, I love my quilt, and I am happy!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Listen To Your Quilt!

So I have my quilt on my frame.  I had originally planned to do a tight stipple on the applique vine blocks and a feather of some type on the stacked coins part.  But then I got nervous and decided to try doing a leafy vine treatment on each row/column of the quilt.

Bad idea.

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Of course I did two rows before I decided I didn’t like it.  Also, the pattern width is the exact with of the opening of the throat on my sewing machine so it has to be lined up exactly AND as I roll the quilt, I will start to lose throat space.

So I decided to do what the quilt wanted in the first place:  a stipple outline on the applique row and some sort of feather on the stacked coins part.  I got this far this morning:

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The quilting really pops out the vine which is what I wanted.  I am still nervous about doing the stacked coins part.  Following a pattern is difficult and I don’t want to screw it up.  But this quilt deserves more than just meandering.  And I really need to learn to do more.  Decisions, decisions!

P.S.  For more on this quilt look here and here

P.P.S.  Check out my daughter Adrienne!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

January Finishes

If you look at my stash reduction plan for January and February it would appear that I got very little done.  But I would disagree.  I think I got quite a bit done.  Shall we go through the list?

First, my Thimbleberries BOM.  I want to complete one each month so now I am up to 5 completed:

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Next is my Fat Quarter Quilt.  This is the quilt our group decided to make:

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This is my quilt so far:

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Yeah.  Do you see the lovely ripples?  Many of the pieces had bias edges on the outside edges and I must have been too hard on them.  Also, I wish that the directions included the sizes of completed units so that I could see where I went wrong.  Anyway, I am planning to sew with my quilt guild Monday, and Lucia, a member of the group, has reworked some of the directions so there will not be so many bias edges.  I am going to take off the 4 corners and see if I can fix it or have to start again.

And speaking of Lucia, she participated on an online swap and did not receive a gift back.  She has been such a good quilting friend to me so I decided to make her a couple of goodies:

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She and her husband often travel so I made her some totes and organizers to carry her quilting supplies.  Below is a ruler carrier-I may make one for myself!

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Finally my stacked coins and applique quilt is on my frame right now.  I ordered some batting which should be here soon so then I can get it quilted.  Here is a picture of the quilt for those who may not have seen it:

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Oh look!  There is my kitty looking at the quilt!

Good Bye January

Last month is not a month I would like to repeat.  I was practically house bound and when not in pain, I was under the influence of heavy duty drugs.  Yes-they finally found a drug to knock me out and relieve the pain.  Therefore sewing was near impossible until about a week ago.  But the worst day of the month was when we took my kitty to the vet for the last time.

Rush was almost 18 years old and just recently started to show his age.  He started to lose weight and was always hungry; he was doing his business all over the house and was always sleeping.  He just was not happy.  I was not able to take him so Lauren took on the task.  She came home in tears but we still had a small laugh at the end:  Rush had never been a friendly cat and he really only liked me.  The nurse had to take him for a few minutes and when she picked him up, Rush tried to bite her.  He was his own boss right to the end.  I miss him terribly but I know he is in a better place.DSC01217

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