Lollipop Trees

Yep, a new project.  And one that I've been excited to get started on.
The Lollipop Trees Quilt by Kim McClean.  Some of you may remember that I had begun preparations on the Roseville Album Quilt, but other projects with deadlines got in the way.  In the meantime,  priorities have changed, and the "to do" list has been re-drafted.  Working on the Lollipops is a way for me to work with wonderful colors, and it's an easy quilt to applique, leaving some energy over to work on some other projects  ( or so she thinks...)

6 background blocks are prepared and stitched with a central cross done by machine to help with placement. I'm starting with block #1, and using the starter pack I purchased for the Roseville Album quilt.  Just a few minutes of play and I already know that I'll be adding to this pack!

...and now the hardest part of making this quilt I think....

color selection!

warm and cool?

oh my, low contrast...hmm...now what?

let the texture do the talking?

Lots to think about, lots to play with.  Easy?  Hmmm...nope!  Fun?  Yes!

Just hope I can get at least one block prepared so that I have something to bring to the Kim McClean Bee in Haarlem's De Sampler's next session.  I've missed two meetings and can't wait to finally join these kind and creative ladies again and share in the fun!

In the meantime, I'm off to ponder some more colors.....

first 2013 finish...

Yep, it's been a long while since blogging, but the hiatus was good and needed.

The fingers did stay busy and here's the sampler that Jovita and I created for my beginner's quilting class.  Check out her blog for two different versions she's been making of this same quilt.  

The colors were so unlike anything I've used in a quilt before, and I think it has set the tone for me as to how I will look at fabrics from now on.  

This quilt was hand-pieced and hand-quilted.  The fabrics, the colors were just so cheerful and really made me smile every time I worked on it.

It was also the first time I really enjoyed hand quilting as well.  I just stopped fussing and fretting about every stitch having to be perfect and got on with it.  It just got better and better, and easier and easier.

As for the rest of the year - no real quilting resolutions made, except that I'll be finishing up a bunch of UFO's and adding only one new project to the list.  

This was so much fun to do though, that it will be hard not to make another sampler....!

It's flat!

My greatest concern with this Double Wedding Ring project is that after all the tracing, cutting, pinning, and sewing this thing will lie flat.....

It is!  Phew!

I was asked about the fact that I hadn't ironed anything yet.  Before taking the photograph I gave this piece a light pressing, to see if it really was flat and although the jury isn't out yet, for now, I've decided to let the pieces fall where they may.  

When stitching the melons to the large background sections, I've found it easier that they are not pressed because I can easily manipulate all those seams in one direction or another depending on how the melon lays.  

Six interlocking rings are complete, and many more to go.

Just musing how I'm going to continue - work in lengths, row by row?  work in chunks?

Something to think about while at the gym....

a little color...

Just needed to dip into my stash and grab some color, make something happy.

You have that sometimes?

It feels good.  Changes perspective.  Refreshes...

Double Wedding Ring update...

This is what 73 melons looks like.

I've been working on them steadily, completing a melon (and sometimes two) everyday.   Once in a while I stop to prepare the pieces and make packs, but there hasn't passed a day that I wasn't working on some aspect of this quilt.

Here's my melons' temporary abode.  Kept safe and dry from tea, a constant clear and present danger in the sewing room.  The pets I don't need to worry about, they know better than to even look in the direction of quilt fabric!

I love making this by hand, and focusing on the process. It takes my mind off the few thousand pieces that are being sewn by hand, one stitch at a time. 

...and yes, I plan on quilting it by hand too.

40 out of 112 to go.  Now that doesn't sound too bad, does it?

the ides of march...

Gosh, how time has passed!

My fingers have been moving all that time, but now they've come to a stop because there is no more to sew and many more pieces need to be prepared so I can continue my quest for finishing this Double Wedding Ring quilt.  While I've fallen into a rhythm making these packets and sewing at least one melon every night, other projects have been silently waiting for my attention.

I'll get to them, I haven't forgotten them, just want to get some good headway on this. Ever have that?
In the column of my blog I've been noting how many melons I've made out of the 112 that are needed.  35 is the current number.  A few days work and then I'll have enough packets to work on for a while.  It's a bit tedious to have to stop and do this, but it's also a nice break, and well, necessary.

In the meantime, I've been quietly collecting fabrics to make the Trick or Treat basket quilt, and searching for certain kinds of fabrics for future projects, and also have three baby quilts to make!  So while I make lists, sketch drawings, and make calculations, mull things over while sipping tea, my fingers keep moving on this Double Wedding Ring.....
Another good thing while sewing, I'm catching up on movies and shows missed - finally saw all the  Twilight movies, and episodes I missed from Stargate Atlantis and Sanctuary.....:-)

a little more...

Stuck this up on my design board a moment ago, just to get an idea of how it's coming together...
I'm smiling...!

In it for the long haul....

Call me crazy, but this block was too much fun to make!
Just wanted to share, I'm off to make melon number two!
(only 80-plus more melons to go.....lol!)





It's going to be a Double Wedding Ring, by the way.....

Have a happy Tuesday!


- iPad Reports

seeing spots....

I've made a good start on the "Got Dots" quilt.
After preparing a stack to take with me to St.Marie-aux-Mines, and working on them in the evenings,
I've finally got 10 done out of the 20 I'm making of this block.

Yes, I know, they are wonky, but that's how daughter wants them.  She liked the organic/imperfect look of the original quilt, so even though I'm using paper pieces to shape the dots, I'm not getting too exact when stitching them down.

The preparation and stitching of the first two blocks was a bit fiddly and took a bit getting used to with those 3/4' circles, ( making me wonder what I had gotten myself into!) but it picked up pretty quickly, and now they've become addictive to make!
Another fun side effect of this project is that I'm now building a collection of applique threads.  It's great to see all the different colors in my basket, and soon they will have to have their own home...
Any good ideas about storing threads?

Here's a quick picture of the blocks so far:

Out of the scrap bin:

 Well behaved dots!.......

Now for a bit of a change, and work on sorting and prepping the heart blocks for this quilt today.
It would be nice if I could get some done and put aside for evening stitching, and pick up my other projects that have been neglected this summer....