Design wall Monday

     I am currently working on making potholders for a fall show, and gifts, so I haven't accomplished much on the quilts that are on my design wall and/or design floor.

     Actually, these are last years crop of potholders. I haven't gotten any photos of this years crop yet. I will photograph them when I get some more finished.

     I have been working on the units for the next row of each though. here is how they stand now. I wrote more about the idea behind the Jacob's Ladder quilt in the previous post, and to see more about the idea behind the strip pieced quilt click here.

     That is what I have been up to. Check out what other quilters are up to at http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/09/12/design-wall-september-12-2016/

      Thanks for Stopping by! 

Design Wall Monday

These are the 2 quilts I have been working on most of the time.

This one is the one I am working on most.

I am making this in three panels. The center panel is finished. The other 2 panels start where you can see the break going across. The 2 panels will be the same, making the quilt symmetrical.

This is my drawing.

 The bottom edge is the center quilt. The quilt will repeat in a mirror image at that point. 

This is a quilt that I made a couple of years ago. 

It was inspired by a Pendleton Indian blanket I saw in a book. I have always liked this quilt, and I really enjoyed making it. I wanted to make another quilt using the same idea, but this time, I wanted to repeat the diamonds all over the quilt.

This is the drawing for the quilt I am using as leaders and enders, a la Bonnie Hunter.

 It is meant to be an abstract version of the sky. I intend to applique airplanes on it. This quilt is a commission, but they are not in a hurry for it, so I am working on it slowly.

Here is the quilt background laid out on the wall. The lower right hand corner is missing, because I transferred it to a free standing design wall that I cam put next to my sewing machine.

That is what I am up to these days.

I will be linking with Judy Laquidara's  Design Wall Monday, for the first time in a long time. Check out http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/08/01/design-wall-monday-august-1-2016/  to see what other quilters are working on. It's always fun to see!

Thanks for stopping by 

Trying Something New, and Some Cooking Too

     A couple of years ago I made this quilt:

     Then I made a pattern from it. I have been teaching this as a class, and folks really seem to enjoy it. I loved it because most of the quilts I make take many months to make. but I was able to piece this one in under 2 weeks. When I was writing the pattern, my friend, and long arm quilter, Regina Carter, suggested a more efficient way of putting it together. I decided to make another quilt to try out her ideas. Then I thought, why make an identical quilt? Why not do something totally different with the colors? So I made this version:

     I have been curious to see what it would be like to make a quilt out of several smaller blocks instead of one quilt size motif. I wanted to give my students another way to use this motif. So, I tried it. 
 

      The blue, and green ones are the left are blocks in progress. I started working on 2 at a time, so I could chain piece them on the machine. I will always cut the block off the back of the chain, and add to it next.

      
      Did you notice the difference in the black and white print in the new blue and green blocks versus the red block? I decided that I didn't have enough of that fabric to make the entire quilt, so I had better start working something else in now. Here are the two stripes together side by side.

      Not sure how I will use the 2 prints. Maybe all of the red and purple blocks will be one stripe, and all of the blue, and green blocks will be the other color.

      I have now cut strip sets in every color.

       I now have a whole box of them that are ready to go anytime. When I go sew at a friends house, I can just take this box with me. I can grab it and go anywhere I can bring a sewing machine, and iron.

     I pull out a strip set, and arrange the strips in the order I think they should go.

     I have also been cooking this weekend. I made some sausage, potato, and spinach soup.

    How lucky was I to find asparagus this thin! I couldn't pass it by!

     And here is my latest yard sale find. We had a big group one in my town this weekend. All kinds of goodies.

      
     Cute huh!

     So that is what I have been up too. I plan to link to Patchwork times tomorrow. You won't want to miss seeing all the Design Wall Monday fun going on there! http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/10/19/design-wall-monday-october-19-2015/

     Thanks for stopping by!

Busy Summer, and Design Wall Monday

     It sure has been a fast paced, busy summer! Quilt shows, classes, rugs to weave, seems like I have been chasing deadlines all summer long. I am way behind on things I have to share with you all.

     Up first, 2 weeks ago I went to a lovely wedding in Charleston, South Carolina. Susan, the mother of the beautiful bride was someone I have been friends with since we were in high school. Needless to say, I have know her for her whole life. 

     So, you know a wedding quilt was in order. I have been working on it for months and months, but was reluctant to blog about it much, because I didn't want to take a chance on spoiling the surprise. I did show it in a couple of blog posts in unit form, I think. It was made entirely out of HST, and 4 patches.This made it a wonderful quilt for working on away from home, and to use for leaders and enders, (a la Bonnie Hunter), at least until I had the blocks made. Then I had to get it on the design wall, and keep my thinking cap on to get the layout right.  Even then my seam ripper still got a work out.

      Susan said her daughter was planning to do her bedroom in blues and browns. I named this quilt: Long Live Love, to reflect my wishes for the bride and groom to have a  long happy life together.

b

      As it happens, the brides brother graduated from college this year as well. He got a quilt too. He is planning to start his working life in Chicago, so he will REALLY need an extra quilt. But, wedding quilts get professionally long arm quilted by my fabulous long arm quilting friend, Regina Carter. Graduation quilts get quilted by me on the regular sewing machine. Not my strong suit, don't look too close, but I keep trying. These lap quilts though are a bit large for me to quilt comfortably. I know others do it. My hat's off to them.

     The name of this quilt is: Lightening Strikes.

     I think I have shown this quilt in progress at Design Wall Monday, before. Well, I actually finished it!

     So that is one thing, of many I have been up to lately. I hope you had a productive, or at least enjoyable summer.

     There are lots of other interesting projects to see at Design Wall Monday, at http://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/09/07/design-wall-september-7-2015/
Take a look, and see if you get some inspiration!

     Thanks for stopping by! 

Design Wall Monday

      Wow, have I been running around a lot lately. I have been to 1 quilt show in Tennessee as a vendor, another in North Georgia, as a viewer, and a 4 day quilt retreat in between. It has been loads of fun, and I have lots to share. 

      First, since it's Design Wall Monday, I will show my Dresden Plate quilt. I pulled it out because I thought I would need some hand work while I sat in my booth at the Smokey Mountain Quilt Guild's show in Maryville TN a couple of weeks ago. Hard to believe that a bit over 2 weeks have gone by since then. 

     When I pulled it out, I was farther along on it than I remembered being. Woohoo! Here it is on the design wall:

 

     I had the strip sets made for the strip section in the upper left hand corner, but I hadn't sewn them together yet. I sewed that together before I left for TN, and hand stitched those dresdens on while in my booth. I also added the blue plate in the lower lower left hand corner of the section in the upper right hand section. Have I lost you? I mean the smallish blue plate, just above the large 3 layer plate in the center. I made, and added the centers too. They are new. I realized that I have just a couple of background sections left to make. I have enough HST to add at least 3-5 rows to that section on the center left. Not sure how many rows I want there. I will decide after I see the first 3 added. Here is a shot of the lower portion:

     Sorry it is so difficult for me to get a good photo of my design wall all in one piece. Some of you know that I am also a rug weaver, and there is a large loom in front of it. Since that is the largest, uninterrupted wall in the house, it is the best wall for my loom, and also my design wall. The loom weighs about 1000 lbs., so there is no moving it out of the way I, although, I sometimes use it as scaffolding to get to the higher parts of my design wall. 

     So that is some of what I have been up to lately. I will share photos of the quilt shows and retreats in future posts. Thanks for stopping by!

     There is always lots of inspiring WIP to see at Patchwork Times. Don't forget to go see!

Design Wall Monday

     This is what is currently on my main design wall.

       This is for a commission I am working on. I am trying to make an interesting cloudy sky background out of Kaliedoscope blocks. WW1 airplanes will be appliqued onto the sky. Here is my drawing.

    
     It still needs quite a bit of work. I was feeling that it needed some more clearer, lighter, slightly green blues, so I bought these:

     Having all of the white showing at the corners of the blocks, is causing  some confusion, but I don't know how else to do it. I had the same problem when I have used this block in the passed. I think I just need to play with it more. It will help a lot when I start sewing. Lately, I have been distracted by other spring time "must do" chores. Hopefully, I am close to getting all of those things caught up.

     One really fun thing I did last week was to present a program to the Common Threads Quilt Guild in Newnan, GA. They were a fun group, and I had a lovely time, spending the evening with them. I want to thank them for their kindness, and hospitality.

    In my quieter, low energy moments, I am working on getting sleeves put on a couple of quilts that are finished, except for their sleeves.

     When I get the sleeves put on, I will be able to hang them, and get a good photo, so I can get them posted on my Etsy site. 

     I used to sew one of the sleeve sides in with the top binding. Since I sell my quilts, I have decided awhile ago that, from then on, I will hand stitch both sides of the sleeve down. That way, if someone wants to remove the sleeve, and not see a sleeve when they turn the quilt down on the bed, they can do that easily.

     That is what I have been up to. There are always lots of interesting works in progress to see over at Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times . Check it out!

     Thanks for stopping by!

2 Design Walls-1 Quilt/Design wall Monday

  Here is what I have on my 2 design Walls. I just played around on EQ until I came up with this layout.

     And the missing corner is on my portable design wall.

    One of the things I am most proud of about this quilt is, that it came completely out of my scrap bins. 

     I wanted a variety of strip sizes, so I went in my  "less than 1 1/2" strip bin and cut 4 strips 10" long, and pinned them together like this.

     I like to work assembly line fashion, so I actually made 46 dark groups, and 46 light groups.

     Then I went in my "1 1/2" strip bin and cut 3 strips that I thought would look pretty with the first 4 strips of each group, and pinned them to the groups.

     Then I went into my "1 3/4- 2" strip bin and cut 3 of those strips that would look nice with each group and added them to each group.

     I didn't remember to take any photos while I was sewing the groups of strips, so I will have to make another group, and take pictures of them for you for the next post.

      That is what I have been up to. There are many more WIP to see over athttp://www.patchworktimes.com/2015/03/02/design-wall-march-2-2015/

      Be sure to go over, and check out whats happening there.

     Thanks for stopping by my neck of the woods!

Return from Virginia and DWM

     Well, it does not seem possible, but I have been home from Virginia a week. I have spent the last week doing all of those things you need to do when you have been away a week- the bank, bills, laundry, grocery shopping, unloading/unpacking (ugh!), and just generally playing catch up.

     Since it is Monday, I will save showing my photos from the Blue Ridge Quilt Festival for a future post, and show the quilt I worked on in the booth while I was there. 

      This quilt is going to involve a lot of hand applique, which I rarely do. It is going to be my "carry around" quilt for the awhile I think. I arranged my plates at the last retreat, and have been working on piecing background sections since then.

     I spent a day sewing at my friend Mary's house last week also. We wanted to get a sewing day in before the summer break is over and she has to go back to teaching. I used the time to cut out a couple of sections of background. Here is one:

      There is a similar section in the lower right hand side of the quilt, so this will go in the upper left.

     On the way home from Virginia, I stopped and visited my friend, Barbara, who recently moved to Franklin, North Carolina. She wanted to start blogging, and I tried to show her what little I know about setting up a blog. 

      I am so excited about this new blog. I think it will be wonderful. She is a very creative, and fun loving person, with many interests, and plans to blog about her gardening, and her journey in a new job and home as well as her quilting. I can't wait to see what she puts together. The name of her blog is: Silver Toad Splendid, and I have added it to my blog list ion the side bar of this blog. Be sure and give it a look.

     At last, I have finished piecing Susan's quilt, both the top, and the back. I didn't take a photo of the completed top. It has been so rainy, and wet here lately, and the Dresden plate quilt was on the design wall already. I was afraid that if I put it up over the Dresden plates, I would knock them off. I send most of my quilts to Regina Carter. Excepting those that I try quilting myself, and that is rare. Here is photo of one half of it, I took before I sent it off.

    So that is what I have been up to. Go to http://www.patchworktimes.com/2014/07/21/design-wall-july-21-2014/, and see how other quilters are starting their week.

     Thanks for stopping by!

Design Wall Monday, June 30th

     I don't want to alarm anyone, but I just realized that as of today, 2014 is exactly half over! Wow!

     Well, there's nothing I can do about that but keep on keepin' on.

     I am still working on Susan's quilt. I got all of the wedges sewn together. I cut out all of the triangles that will make the corners of the blocks.
 

     Now I am sewing the corners onto each block.

      I started out pressing a crease in the center of each triangle, then lining up the crease with the center of the wedge. I didn't take me long to decide that it wasn't necessary. I just centered the point of the triangles with the point of the wedges. I am doing a quadrant at a time, then sewing the blocks of that quadrant together. I have 2 quadrants completely done, and I am working on the 3rd.

     I think this quilt looks a bit more yellow in the photo than it really is because of the lighting. I also took the photo after dark to post it on DWM. I expect to be done with the top by the end of the week. I have some light peach fabric ordered for the back. It is on it's way. 

     The other thing I have to do this week is make some pincushions,

      note cards, and collate some patterns for the show in Virginia I will be vending at next week. It is called The Blue Ridge Quilt Festival. Come by and see me if you are in the area. 

     That is what I have on my plate this week. Go and see what some other quilters are up to at:http://www.patchworktimes.com/2014/06/30/design-wall-june-30-2014/

     Thanks for stopping by!


     

Would You Believe Another Wedding?-And Design Wall Monday

     First things first. It is Monday (AKA Design Wall Monday). I am still working on Susan's blocks. I am about 3/4 of the way finished with them. I hope to finish them this week. Actually, I hope to finish several weeks ago, but other things keep cropping up.

      The blocks that should go in the blank spot are on the portable design wall that I can put next to my sewing machine.

      This weekend I had yet another lovely wedding to go to. Sonja is a member of our sewing friendship group, which usually meets around twice a month, but has not met in weeks because 2 people in our group have been busy planning weddings. Paula is her daughter, and she got married this past Saturday, on the summer solstice.  As I write this, I am regretting the fact that right now, I don't have a photo of either Paula, or last weekend's bride Emily. I am not the sort of person who always remembers to take photos while the event is happening. I know there will be plenty of photos circulating in the coming weeks, but both brides were so beautiful, and looked so happy, it would have been nice to be able to share a photo with you. 

     So, instead I will share photos of the table runner that I made for Paula, and her new husband, Keith.

       Last week I made her a table runner for a wedding gift, but didn't blog about it because I didn't want any of my friends to see it before the wedding. First, I chose fabrics and used them to make a strip set. 

      Next, I spray basted a length of batting onto a back for my table runner.  I cross cut the strip set, and for fun, I varied my cross cut sizes a bit. Next I laid one cross cut piece, right side facing up, down the length of the table runner, on top of the batting. I laid a second cross cut strip, right side down on top of the first piece, and pinned along the edge.
    

     
      Then, using a walking foot, I stitched along the edge of the strips. I sewed through 2 strips, the batting, and the back of the runner.

      Since I wanted this runner to be symmetrical, I  kept adding strips on either side of the center strip until the table runner was as wide as I wanted it to be. After each strip was added, I just turned over and pressed it.

 

      Then, all that was left was to put the binding on.

     So, that is what I have been up to this week. There are plenty more projects to see over at

 http://www.patchworktimes.com/2014/06/23/design-wall-june-23-2014/

      Hope you week and your official summer are both off to a great start. Thanks for stopping by!







    

Design Wall Monday 6-16

    I am still piecing the blocks for my Anastasia order. I have the blocks on one side pieced. There is an uneven number of columns, so I am a bit more that halfway there.

    Still working on this side.

 

     The blank section is has been transferred to a more portable surface that can be moved right next to my sewing machine. That way I can keep my blocks organized correctly, while sewing them together.

     I mean to get this part of the piecing finished this week.

     That is what I have been up to. There is lots more to see at Judy Laquidara's http://www.patchworktimes.com/2014/06/16/design-wall-june-16-2014/

      It is worth you while to check it out. Thanks for stopping by!