Around the World Blog Hop

I was invited to join in on the Around the World Blog Hop by Michele of Island Life Quilts. I have been following Michele for a long time and enjoy seeing her bright, modern quilts. I especially love all the little bags she makes.  The quilting motifs she uses to quilt her own quilts are always inspiring.

Why do I create?

For one thing, it keeps me off the streets and out of the bars...LOL.

But really, I just love it.  

My favorite part is selecting the fabrics for a project and then I like the challenge of piecing the quilt as best I can. 

Quilting also provides me with a community.

What am I working on?

What am I not working on! I just want to make them all. 

Here is a sampling:

'All Hallow's Eve'

This is a Sew Along I designed for The Olde World Quilt Shoppe blog. 

Anything small really makes me happy!

I am a big fan of Kim Diehl and just finished stitching down 'Penny Garland.'  Wool applique has really become a favorite medium for me. Here is another work in progress designed by Kim Diehl and using wool applique.

Finishes are not my forte, but here is a recent one that even has a binding...my least favorite part of the process.

'Snowbound'

Oh, the list of projects is endless, and I always have a new one brewing in my mind.  I recently took on a part time job at my LQS and my duties include selecting patterns and fabrics.  Boy, am I in heaven!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have time today to stitch and create too.

Temptation!

So hard to resist!

I purchased this fabric up in Prescott months ago, and then I saw the Temecula Quilt Co.'s Back to School Sew Along, Little Letters.  Perfect quilt for gifting to my grandchildren!

You noticed I said grandchildren...plural!

My son is expecting his first child right around my birthday...a little boy.

I will make two of each letter each week and have two quilts when all is said and done.

Now that is a BOW I can handle.

And speaking of done,

'Snowbound,'

quilted and bound.

I used a stripped homespun for the binding and cut it on the bias.  I cut my bindings 1 7/8" wide and then slightly tug on them when sewing them on the quilt...something I learned from Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  

Well, I learned something new!  Cannot pull on a homespun binding cut on the bias...it shrinks.  Next time I use a bias homespun, I will cut the binding wider.

I will not meet my goals this month.  Life just gets in the way sometimes.  Last weekend I was in California for the estate/garage sale to help my mom downsize.  It was a huge success, but an emotionally exhausting experience.  On the day of the sale, we also learned that mom's home had sold, cash deal, 20 day close.  We could not be more blessed.  The home was built by my father, husband, and brother.  It was hard to say goodbye, although I had never lived in the home.

The one decision I have made is to focus on one UFO, Pennies from Heaven.

Here is my abbreviated version.

I have worked hard in the mornings getting all the setting triangles done.  Next step is to piece all the blocks together.  I have ordered the border fabric and will decide on what I will do next when it comes.  It just might be to stop here.  It will look lovely on the wall in my 'green' guest room.

This weekend I will be working at TOWQS to help with Shop Hop and then we will head back to Colorado to winterize the cabin, so I am prepping a lot of handwork, including finishing Penny Garland and working on Sunflower Gatherings.  

Back to work. The day is short.

Snowbound

is an official flimsy!

I decided not to include the embroidered snowflakes that were on the original.  

I'm not that good at embroidery, so I would not want to ruin it at this point.

While searching for a lost quilt in my "quilt closet," the one with the warning sign on the door, I decided it was time to make something out of all the random blocks I have collected.

I choose my favorite house blocks and put them together into this little fellow.  I was inspired by Temecula Quilt Co.'s version.

I also quilted and framed my twisted heart from a few years back.

Now I just have Farmer's Wife blocks, Barbara Brackman Civil War blocks and two collections of exchange blocks to figure out what to do with. 

We had a lovely visit over Thanksgiving week in northern California. Now it is time to decorate for Christmas!  I don't think I will get to any of my blockhead projects until the end of the month, BUT...I am working on 2 cross-stitch ornaments!  Stay tuned.  Mary and Darlene will get a laugh out of this one.

Fall Decor, finishes and...

YES, a new project.

My version of Kim Diehl's 'A Delightful Pairing' as seen in

American Patchwork & Quilting

December 2013

I actually tried my hand at machine applique with this project.  It went fast and looks pretty good, so I might use it more often since there are just too many quilts I want to make and I cannot do them all by hand.

I have so enjoyed seeing everyone in blogland decorating for what seems is a universally favorite season, Fall.  So here is a peek of a few of the fall quilts that adorn my home.

These wool pumpkins, a pattern by Little Bits by Joan, cheer up my hall tree stand.

My original pattern, Autumn's Bounty, looks perfect on our kitchen table.

The following two embroidery projects were so generously gifted me in 2011 by my friend, Debbie. I finally finished them both, although O' Pumpkin Tree is patiently awaiting its prim frame that my hubbie is making for me. As soon as he finishes with it, it will hang in a special place in my sewing room. Debbie did the handwork and all I did was the quilting.

I am making progress on both my applique WIPs.

Here is my progress on Snowbound by Pat Wys.

And,

another block for Le Jardin, by Bunnyhill.

I am trying to get one block completed a month.

Last week, my mom came to visit for a landmark birthday.

I turned the big 60!  It was a lovely visit and my DD gave me a great party.

They went home today and now I am celebrating by sequestering myself in my sewing room

...my idea of a good day! 

Snowbound and a new fusible...

Thanks to the US Open Tennis tournament to watch on TV and a new fusible web,

Floriani Appli-Kay Wonder,
I have made good progress on the last block for my Snowbound quilt top.

The Appli-Kay Wonder was recommended to me when I complained that Steam A Seam Lite 2 was not available.  Here are my unsolicited thoughts:

 I love the fact that the protection paper does not slip and slide, and I can immediately tell which surface to trace my design on!  This helps prevent gummy iron as well...the adhesive does not peek outside the lines!

It is somewhat more expensive, but this can be offset by the fact that I can save all the little pieces to use elsewhere.  When I use SAS Lite 2, I frequently have to throw small scraps away since they separate and the adhesive gets ruined. 

 Very easy to stitch through by hand and my needle did not gum up.  Since I do not machine applique, I don't know how it performs there.

The roll I ordered is limited in size, but I did not investigate other options.  It is somewhat heavier, so you would definitely want to cut out excess on large applique shapes!
  The pressure sensitive side really keeps pieces from moving, but is still easy to re-position.
The one downside is it does not adhere to wool very well.  It is essential to iron it from both sides using a dry iron, just like the instructions say; but the wool still lifts up on the edges, especially at points.  Since the web is heavier and opaque, you can see it under the wool pieces when looking at them from the side.  Therefore, a blanket stitch is essential for hiding this.
I think the product is superior for raw edge cotton applique and has a lot of positives over the SAS Lite 2.  I'll use it for my wool applique, but never for a project using a simple primitive stab stitch.
Honestly, both products have their positive and negatives, so I will use whichever one I have on hand with a slight preference towards the Appli-Kay Wonder when doing raw edge cotton applique.

If anyone else has used this product on wool, do you have any suggestions on how to get it to adhere better?

A Little Something is Better than Nothing!

I have been doing a little hand work here and there.

Two more blocks of Snowbound by Pat Wys are just short a few stitches on the wool, but the hand applique is done.  I had hoped to have all four center blocks done before leaving Colorado this weekend, but 3 out of 4 is not bad!

So, to answer my question from the last post...how to care for your wool and cotton combo quilts.  I decided to go to the source and emailed Primitive Gatherings and asked them.  They were gracious enough to answer my email and here is what Jessica had to say...

" I will usually use a lint roller, and then use a steamer from the back side.  That will get a lot of the allergine out of it, and the dust.  You can also put it in the dryer with one of those Dryel sheets that they have in the laundry aisle.  Just don't put it on a high heat.  Lastly you could take it to a dry cleaners, the customer just really has to be firm that it can not be washed in any way in hot water.  I have had a customer that did that with her dry cleaner and they ruined the quilt.  Any time it is out of my hands I am always leary of having someone do it."

She also recommended that I google the question.  I did and dry cleaning was recommended.  Since my mother never dry cleaned anything, claiming hand washing was just as good, I will just do what I always do...a gentle cool bath and air dry. I will let you all know how it works out.

During these last few days in the mountains, I hope to do a little machine work and finish up those sunshine blocks.  PFH will, I said WILL, get to the flimsy state before the end of the year...I hope.

Snowbound

I know...

another new project???  I just could not resist this one!

This is the first block for 

Snowbound,

designed by Pat Wys & BJ Laird.

You can find the pattern here.

Matter of fact, Silver Thimble Quilt Co. is running a Stitch Along, but I am doing my own thing.  This, along with It's a Grand Old Flag, will be my summer projects.  Both projects are a combination of cotton and wool applique.  

And I have good intentions of finishing up a few of those WIPS as well. My granddaughter's picnic quilt will be pieced in the next few days, so there will be one WIP I can take off the list soon!

I'll start piecing together Pennies from Heaven after the last meeting of the BOM group in June.  I am contemplating making it smaller than the original so it will fit on a wall.