Ladybug Quilt Along

Geesh!! I don't need another project to start but since I love ladybugs so much, this just seemed like a have to! http://ivoryspring.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/announcing-dottie-a-summer-quilt-along/ is the site for this. Figure it'll get done as it gets done around here with everything else I'm doing. Not sure what fabrics I'll use--have some black and white prints and a few more coming, so like that idea. Not expecting to start on her beginning date--it's our 40th anniversary!

Free Motion Quilt Along

Usually I don't blog about other people's blogs, giveaways, etc. BUT this looks like such a fun, fun thing to learn to do and in case you haven't heard about it, go here and think about signing up for her quilt along: http://tiny.cc/fcyi1 (i went to tinyurl.com because that was the longest url I'd ever seen when i copied hers!!

Beautiful View From Sewing Room

This is the view from my sewing room--isn't it beautiful? I wish you could see the mountains--they're actually there but not really showing up well. Behind the hill you can see which is across the river from us. We live on an acre in the midst of hundreds of acres of cherry, pear and apple orchards with generous neighbors who share with us. That's a wisteria attacking the window. Such a pretty thing to see in the spring. The tall spindly tree in the middle left is a mountain ash

. Wish you could see the berries better as they look like little bouquets tied all over. My paternal grandpa's favorite tree and I remember them in the side yard at their home near his hammock. Most of the trees on our land were planted by my mom and brother--usually from little teensy starts that reminded me of bottle brushes! Mom would buy them from the Forest Service for a couple dollars each.

We had several trees cut down a couple months ago because our view was obscured from all their growth. I love that we again can see The Enchantments while sewing. Such a beautiful area we live in!!

Sewing Machine Blues And Bunches Of Color

My machine is driving me nuts!! It's so in need of a tuneup but we live 125 miles away from my authorized repair shop. When I bought the sweet thing, Eddie,(the owner of the sewing center) lived near us and would pick her up when needed and deliver her back home safe and sound. Things have changed since he's moved. Thankfully we're going past there in a couple weeks, but in the mean time she's being totally irritable--absolutely noisier than normal, not cutting thread like she's supposed to so wasting lots of thread, and a few other irritating things. I can still sew but grrrrr. Oh, well...this too shall pass.








Made three quilt labels with the embroidery part of my machine and tried to ignore the noises coming from it, but regular sewing isn't quite that nerve-wracking so have been working away on my paintbox squares. If you've not seen a paintbox quilt and want directions, go here: http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2010/01/paintbox-quilt-along-how-to-make-scrappy-blocks.html She gives the best directions with pictures and supplies needed. Aren't those pink elephants too cute? There are also directions if not wanting a scrappy quilt you can make the classic blocks. here's a picture of a finished quilt: http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2008/10/finished-paintbox-quilt.html I got a Robert Kauffman jelly roll then used other materials. The blocks are really easy to make. I made up a chart for cutting pieces and labels for each color. It's the only way I could keep track of everything. I goofed on a couple of the strips, but otherwise think there's enough of everything for my daughter to make a quilt too. Am thinking of actually making two lap size quilts instead of one huge one--or maybe even four baby quilts--will just have to see, but it's enjoyable putting them together right now. Oh...just finger pressed seams until got to the middle square (like second and third picture) then ironed, sewed rest of pieces and ironed again--first picture. Worked well for me.

Machine Quilting on Baby Quilt

This is my first quilt quilted on my machine. I've been sewing for 54 years, so most projects don't intimidate me too much, but this did. I practiced on a couple small things and then realized I've done similar things over the years, just not a whole quilt. It isn't a sandwiched quilt--just the front and the flannel back, but it has a nice heft to it that I like. Part of the reason for that is the foot that was recommended by my machine's manual didn't work really well going over anything very thick. Looking further in the manual there were directions using a different foot--one very similar to the one I use when machine embroidering and wow did that make a difference!! Next quilt will have three layers.


Below are two pictures of the quilting--front and back. Mostly just loops all over the place. Some loops look a lot more like leaves!! Tried making hearts but not good at that at all. Obviously there's a learning curve I've got to tackle!! Also, a lot of the stitching turned out to be longer stitches than wanted, or teensy stitches. Did a lot of stitching on it first that really didn't like at all, so spent several hours picking it out while watching tv--oh, well!!



The last picture is my first use of binding clips--aka hair clips which really, really are great to work with. So nice to not get poked a cazillion times while sewing on the binding--except the occasional needle sticking me while sewing.

Quilt is on it's way to the sweet baby along with a bag for her momma.