Last Quilty Project for the Year

 It's the end of the year, and I've got one last blog post for 2018.

I hope everyone had a happy Christmas and have been enjoying the holidays.  On the 20th we watched our granddaughters dance in their ballet school's Nutcracker selections.  They both dance on-point now and they each had their first solos!  A very exciting time for them!

We had a great time Christmas Eve at our oldest son's home with his family, and then a quiet day on Christmas, just the 3 of us at home.  It will be a quiet New Year's for us too.  We're going to watch the Dr. Who special and play board games.  I'm looking forward to it.

Fortunately, we had some honest-to-God bright sunlight this morning for the first time in days, so I could get some photos I've been wanting to take for a while now.  It's been so very dark and rainy here, and just terrible lighting for photos.  So this was a wonderful opportunity!  Plus, sunny makes us happy here!

 My last bit of quilting this year was a gift for the Tacoma MQG Christmas gift exchange.  It was secret sewing, so I couldn't share with you until now.  I made a tablerunner in my recipient's favorite colors.  She requested tropical blues and greens. (some of my favorite colors!)

This is based on a couple of quilts in Alexandra Ledgerwood's book Improvising Tradition.   I had to use mostly batiks to get the right tones of tropical blues and greens.  Fortunately, I have a small bin of batik scraps, which came in very handy!  I just sat down and started doing some improv log cabin-y blocks, which is my favorite kind of creativity!

When I liked what I had with the blocks, then I had to figure out the right proportions for a tablerunner.  It wasn't too hard, and I'd like to do another one of these.  I made notes so I could repeat this!

The quilting design was courtesy of my DS.  He drew a sketch and then was kind enough to draw it on the quilt sandwich with a hera marker, making the quilting very easy.  

Leigh Ann seemed very happy with this!  

side 1

This was gifted to me, and made by LaDonna.  A great tote bag!  I love that off-set pocket!

side 2

inside view

I love all the pockets on the inside!  Those are always handy. I think all tote bags should have multiple pockets - LaDonna must have read my mind! And the fabrics she chose are so fun!  Kitties and then goldfish swimming in bowls for the pockets.

I don't talk a lot about myself on here, but I will say that I'm glad to see 2018 end.  It has been a tough year.  Dear Son was sick for a lot of it, Dear Hubby was traveling for a lot of it and I got to take up the slack.  Which didn't leave much time for quilting.  :(  Then I broke 3 toes in July and found out I have osteoporosis.  DH retired the end of August, which he really needed.  All that world traveling was taking a toll.

Fortunately, he's around now that I need him, because in October I injured my foot.  The doctor thought it was a sprained ankle.  I rested it and used a cane to walk with and then in November I started physical therapy for it.  But by December, it was much worse!  So I quit P.T. and went back to the doctor.  

I've been staying off of it as much as possible and using a cane to hobble around.  Wednesday the 2nd I'm going to have an MRI to find out what is going on and how bad it is.  I'm kind of dreading finding out - I don't want to have surgery!  So, I'm hoping for good news in January!  Cross your fingers or say a little prayer for me, please!

Goodbye 2018!  Hello 2019!

Since I made my tablerunner with a bin of scraps, I think it qualifies, so I'm linking up with Oh Scrap! over at Quilting Is More Fun Than Houseworrk.

And Happy quilting!

April's Been a Busy Month

I've managed to get quite a bit done this month, thankfully.  First up was taxes, of course.  It's never a fun process, but it's done for another year.  I taught another bag class, and I've been busy sewing.  Yay!  Always my favorite thing to be busy with.  I'm having trouble deciding where to start this post.

My purple azalea

We've mostly had lovely weather this month, and we've had some beautiful flowers too.  A week ago today our high was 86 degrees!  Today we had a high of 54 degrees with alternating rain and sunshine.  Pretty chilly after that warm spell.  But really we can't complain.  Except for the allergies - they are brutal this spring, because we've had so much rain.  Everything is yellow and sticky, and everyone is sniffling and sneezing.

I made another  bag sample for the quilt shop.  I finished it and got it over to the shop so quickly that I completely forgot to get a photo while I had it at home.  Here it is at the shop:

front of bag

back of bag

I had 5 students for this latest class, and all but one got their bag completely done.  C. just had to finish the top edge when she left.

C's bag

J's bag

S's bag

Same fabric as mine, just in the red colorway

I forgot to get a photo of N's bag.  I'll be teaching this class again at least one more time this month, possibly twice.

Forget-Me-Nots in my backyard

I finally decided on what fabrics I want to use to make one of Sujata's Rail Fence blocks from her book Cultural Fusion Quilts.   I decided to use my DaGama 3 Cats indigo fabrics that are made in South Africa.  (I collected these fabrics for many years at Pacific International Quilt Festival).  I only had 15 fabrics large enough, so decided to make 4 half-size blocks with the smaller cuts to fill in for the last block to make all 16 blocks that the pattern calls for.  So I figured out the math for the half size block, made one to test my math skills and it worked!

the first 8 inch block - isn't it cute?

While making the first block, I discovered that my indigo fabrics are not 40 inches wide but 35!!  So, I wouldn't be able to get enough fabric from my 1/4 yards (not fat quarters) for the 16 inch blocks that the pattern calls for.   So, more math skillz.  I figured out that with the 35 inch fabric, I could make 14 inch blocks.  I have yet to test that theory.

Then I finished making the other 3 half-size blocks, since I had already cut the fabric.

all 4 of the 8 inch blocks

So, now what to do with these?  They wouldn't work with the 14 inch blocks.  So I decided make a table-runner.  

quilting the table-runner

And here it is, all finished!

It just fits my coffee table in the living room. I love the way this looks!  Rather traditional fabrics, but a very modern vibe to it.  And I can see and enjoy those wonderful DaGama indigos!  I can see that I have a little wiggle in my border that I'll have to deal with.  Oh well, finished is better than perfect, right?  *grin*  

Here is a pouch I made for my Secret Sister in the Tacoma Modern Quilt Guild.  I used Noodlehead's tutorial for the Open Wide Zippered Pouch.  I love this pattern and have made a number of these useful bags. 

fun fabric for the inside

I had to do take-down of my DH's pottery display at the Spring Fair for him as he was traveling for work.  I saw this photo and had to snap it to share with you.

Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers was one of my heroes when I was growing up, and I love this photo of him!  Look how young he is!  I'd love to know the story behind this photo.

Google to the rescue!  I found this from a search:  "In 1938, a youngster named Roy Rogers opened the show (he returned with his wife, Dale Evans, in 1973)".

From an article in The Seattle Times, dated 1997, about the history of the Puyallup Fair.

I hope you get to do something creative this week!  Happy quilting!

Rhododendron in bloom

Secret Santa - Part Deux

On my last post, I promised that I would show you what I received from my Secret Santa.  Here is the wonderful, beautiful tote bag that J. made for me!  I love it!

It's a great size and I can fit what I need into it.  It's padded so well that I could use it for a case for my laptop.  The handles are padded and very comfortable to use.  And I  love the pattern AND the fabrics J. used for the tote.  Thank you so much, J!

I'm very impressed with the inset zipper.  I've never tried one of those before.

Here's the inside.  Two pockets!  And you can see how well padded it is.  J. did an awesome job on this - it's perfectly sewn and constructed.  

I just took it to a guild meeting today, and I even got the bulky guild camera in here with no strain.  The tote holds quite a bit of stuff.  I'm really happy with this one!

The Block of the Month for the Modern Quilt Guild in December was our choice of block in red and white.  So, inspired by Audrey's Tipsy Geese quilt on Quilty Folk blog, and the fact that I've had Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion book for a while now and I've wanted to play with that, I made the wonky Flying Geese block.  I had to throw in the little bit of dots just for fun!

A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted to try the Rail Fence block from Sujata's book.  I made this sample with some old fabrics that were lying around.  (the question I asked my resident Linguist about whether I should say "lying" vs "laying" caused a 10 minute linguistic discourse!)  

Ever since I got this block done, I've been thinking about what fabrics I want to use for this quilt.  There are so many great ideas of what others have done using this block. (see the Cultural Fusion Quilts blog)  I've even pulled out a big pile of fabrics, but no decision yet.  I'm thinking of using some of my greens since I have so many of them I can't squeeze any more on the shelf!  But what to put with them?  Do I want all florals with them?  Do I want to put some purples with them?  What do I want to do????    So, my thinking cap is on.  I'll let you know when I decide!  

Maybe I should just start making one or two blocks and see what develops.  You know, not plan out the whole thing in the beginning but let the quilt evolve.  Hmmmmm.....

Have a great weekend!  I hope you get to spend some time being creative!

A New Year's Post

Well, 2015 has gone down the tubes and now it's the start of a shiny, brand-new year!  I hope everyone had very happy holidays.  And I hope 2016 will be a good year for all of us, with all the quilty goodness one could hope for.

I'd like to take a moment here to say "thank you" to all my readers who stick with me, through the dry spells when I don't post.  December was one of those times.  I just had so many things going on that blogging just kind of fell off my radar.  But I was sewing and having fun times.  

My granddaughters did another year of ballet, with the December recital being, as usual, selected pieces from the Nutcracker.  It's fun to see them in the different roles and watch how they've progressed from year to year.

We had a very fun Christmas over at DS #1's house with the granddaughters.  We must have been good this year, because I think Santa was kind to every one of us.  Another aspect of Christmas I enjoy is seeing how the girls' Christmas lists have changed over the years.  Our oldest DGD has now become a teenager, and it's so fun to see how she's growing up.  I think the best part of Christmas Day was playing games with the whole family after dinner.  That was so much fun!

The big, fun sewing project I was doing in December was making a Secret Santa gift for another member in the Tacoma Modern Quilt Guild, that I joined this last year.  Her choice of style matched up with mine very well, so it was easy to make something for her.  The guild gave everyone a list of possible hand-made gifts to choose from.  We were to pick 5 things from the list.  That actually made it a lot easier.  So, one of the items my recipient chose was an insulated lunch bag,  And she likes text fabrics and brights with white. That sounded easy-peasy to me! 

I took an idea from Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen, one of my fave books.  I was doing the improv piecing of the sew & flip triangles.  Very fun and easy.  This was test block #1.  It was so soothing to be doing improv again, just sitting and sewing bits together and then seeing how they worked together.  I want to do more of that! 

test block #2

test block #3

It was interesting to see that, even though I thought I was being totally random in my placement of the triangles, they all came out at similar angles.  I don't know if that's good or not, just interesting.

And this is the design I went with.  It was more fun and less expected than the layouts in the test blocks, which pleased me.  The pattern for the lunch bag I was using was this one from All People Quilt.  It was a pretty good pattern and easy to do.  The only thing I would change the next time I make this bag would be to make the bag bigger.

Once I had the front and back put together, I did simple straight line quilting, and I used Thermolam, the insulated batting that one would use for pot holders.  I thought that would insulate the bag pretty well.  I also used a layer of cotton batting, which in retrospect was too much.  Just the Thermolam would be enough, I think.  Of course, making the bag big enough to account for all the batting would help too.  The pattern didn't call for any batting, so that's one reason why it seemed to be on the smaller side.

Here is the completed bag, with the top open.

And closed.

Here is the back of the bag.  My recipient's first name starts with G, so I thought it would be fun to personalize it for her.  I used Tonya's book Word Play Quilts, of course!

Here's a closeup of the text fabric I used in the center of the G.  If you  click on the picture, you can read what it says.  

The inside of the bag.  I used some plastic canvas in the bottom to help the bag hold it's shape. 

And I made a mug rug to go with, using the leftover scraps of the piecing.  I wish I had done the join of the binding a little better than that!  Sheesh!  That's kind of embarrassing.

Here is the entire gift.  G. said her fave designer is Amy Butler, so I found this little jelly roll to include.  

We had a fun Christmas meeting with the Tacoma MQG, and my recipient loved her gift!  Next time I'll share the wonderful gift that I received.

This & That

I know . . . long time, no see.  Again.  I've been a bad blogger this year.  I guess I need to step up my game here.  I keep meaning to post, but it just never quite happens.  I hope next year I'll do better.

Here is my latest "creation".  I made myself a new apron since I was hostess for Thanksgiving this year.  I used batiks, and it's a two-sided apron.  Pattern by Mary Mulari - The Church Ladies Apron.  It was pretty easy to do, but I simplified it too.

close up of fabric

I made the neck piece simpler and also made the apron ties skinnier and only used one fabric for them.

side 2

I didn't add the pockets either.  I never use the pockets on an apron.  They just seem to catch crumbs and things.  Who's got time to put their hands in the pockets when they're cooking anyway?  I've always been mystified about pockets on aprons.  Besides, that leaves more fabric for me to play with another time!

side 2 closeup

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Everyone in the family was here, except for my niece who's in graduate school in Vermont.  My sister and nephew came, and that was a lot of fun.  It was fun to see the cousins talking and having fun together.

My sister brought me a gift when she came.  Well, actually she brought all my birthday presents as this was the first time we'd seen each other since my birthday.  But this one was very special to me.  She brought me my late mother's recipe boxes.  The one on the right was her original one.  I "enhanced" it when I was in high school by decoupaging some cut-outs from a magazine or something.  It doesn't look very good and I was always sorry I mucked it up.  The one on the left was one DH and I made for her a number of years ago.  We bought the box, he stained it and made the stencils and I stenciled it.  I think I'm going to ditch my old, sad plastic recipe boxes and start using my mom's.  I just need to sort through her recipes that are still in them.

This was a 'make & take' project from my LQS, Heavenly Quilts and Fabrics last month.  Now I need to get it done in time for Christmas!  My friend K in CA did blanket-stitch stitching around all the appliques for me (not included in this photo), and now I need to quilt and bind it, and then sew buttons on for the eyes and mouth.  We'll see if I can actually get it done in time for this year.

Last week I took a class at Heavenly Quilts.  Lisa taught us the braid quilt.  This is what I have so far.  I think I need 2 more braids to make a lap quilt the right size.  I have lots of strips cut and ready to go.  My guild gives the lap quilts to a couple of the local assisted living facilities.

At the guild's Christmas party last Friday, we drew for our next year's challenge.  The Ugly Fabric Challenge.  I think these fabrics are waaaay beyond ugly - they're in the "Hideous" category!  We had to got to pick a stapled-shut brown paper sack.  Then we had to write our name on the back of the index card that had swatches of the fabrics stapled to it, so that when it's done, people can tell which fabrics we were working with.  The finished quilts will be shown with these swatches at the quilt show.  Each fabric is about a fat quarter in size, and we only have to use a recognizable piece.  How big do you think that would be?  I'm thinking an inch square should do it.  *grin*  The challenge is due in July.  

I have no idea what I'll be doing with these, but I was assured that over-dying or using the wrong side of the fabric is allowed, so that definitely opens up more possibilities!  These fabrics just make me shudder!  Ewww!  The sad part is, I recognize that middle fabric from (I think) the 80's.  I think I may have even had some of it.  I do find it the least offensive of the three.  Just saying . . .

We've been having very cold weather for here.  Two nights ago was our coldest, when we got down to 14 degrees!   Brrr!  I spent all weekend inside, trying to stay warm.  We've been very dry too.  The static electricity is getting pretty wild.  We've had no ice, except in the pond, which is quite frozen.  Most days there hasn't even been any frost on the cars.  It's too dry!  So the power has never gone out.  Yay!  The furnace has been working overtime.  We even had sun for a few days, which was nice.  We're clouded over now, so it's starting to warm up. That's a relative term.  We made it up to 32*F today.  And  now there's a  possibility of  snow.  

It's been so much fun seeing other bloggers' homes all decorated for the holidays.  Our tiny tree is up and decorated, and DH put some lights on the front of the house.  I still need to put up my Christmas wall quilts.  And that's all that's going on.  I guess we're kind of humbug here - the kids are grown up and it just seems like too much work anymore.  I'd rather be sewing!  I love getting the decorations out, but I really hate putting them away.  So I don't do it anymore.  But I LOVE seeing how other's have decorated and admire them for doing it!  I have to say, my Christmas quilts do make me happy.  And that's enough now.

Happy Birthday . . .

to me!  Today is the big day. I'll be celebrating rather low key - just going to see the movie "Gravity" with my DH The Potter and DS The Kid, and then we're going out to dinner.  Should be a fun day!

Here is my big birthday gift - a new Brother sewing machine!  About a month ago, I heard from a friend about a Really Good Deal on Costco, so I had to get it. (Just checked out Costco.com and it seems that this machine is no longer available!)  It only weighs 13.5 pounds.  It's so easy to more around, and easy to use.  I even figured out the auto needle threader!

The other gift I received is an art quilt!  I found this at the local art gallery that The Potter has his pottery at, and I fell in love with it.  My DH loves it when I do the shopping. *grin*

"A Favorite Path" by Bertha Moore
12 in wide by 14.5 in high

Bertha's favorite subjects for her quilts are landscapes and wildlife.  She is a local lady and a native Washingtonian.

I am as fascinated by the techniques Bertha used as I am by the actual image.

A detail shot.

Here I'm showing how most of the image is constructed and quilted on a piece of black felt, separate from the main body of the quilt. 

The back, showing the stitching Bertha did to quilt and to join the felt piece to the main body.

Here's the new home for the art quilt - in my upstairs hallway so I see it every time I go up or down stairs.  It fits right next to the piece I made - a silver-embossed birch leaf.  I think they suit each other nicely.

sneak peek!

Got my latest quilt back from my long-armer Shari the other day.  Gotta get the binding done on this before I show you any more!