Still No Sashing

I still don't have sashing that I like for my tulips. I have taken them into two other quilt stores and was convinced that I had found something good, only to find when I got home that it wasn't right. Oh well! I did finish my project for guild. It is a mug carrier, to take my mug to guild! I am pleased with the way it turned out. I can't decide if I want to shorten the laces or not. I just tied the ends together in a single knot until I decide. Then I will trim them or not, but will finish the ends so they won't fray. Until I find some sashing for my tulips, I started sewing the sashing on my block of the month blocks from last year. This sashing I like! Do you remember these? It has been a while. They are just Thangles Buck a Block Series #8. I am pleased with the way the corner stones make a pattern with the corner triangles. The brown is just some leftovers I had from a wide backing that I used a few years ago. In case you really have forgotten here are the two borders I am going to use. I did make six extra blocks from the leftovers from the rest of the blocks. I also did the border around each square wider, as is the sashing. The borders are going to be wider as well, turning a 67" x 93" quilt into a queen size. Have a good week and I hope we all get some time to sew!

Colour Problem

I am rather out of sorts at the moment. I managed to fall and break two ribs last week. NOT TOO BRIGHT!!! Then, I am not sure if I like the sashing colour that I had picked out. I think it is too dark. That is a real problem! Maybe a close-up will help me decide. Maybe something lighter. Another close-up? How about a different colour flower? If you could picture the sashing with rail fence quilting and even some thread play on the rails it might be OK. To bad I didn't just want an OK wall hanging. Of course if done right it could be better than OK. I just can't make up my mind. I should know better than to even try when I am tired & cranky. I had better leave it for a week or so and then try again. It is just too hard to scramble around changing the background as I am not cutting any more sashing strips until I am happier with the colour. Anyway, I need to make a different project for my next guild meeting in a week and a half. We had a free motion quilting expert in to speak at our last meeting. I need to free motion quilt four 8 1/2" squares and get them sewn together and the backing on to make a finished 16" square. This is to practice free motion quilting and to have a 16" square to use in a craft at the next meeting. No, I am not putting my tulips away or I might never get them out again. I am going to let them stare at me for the next week or so & see if inspiration hits. I hope you are having better luck at whatever project you are working on. You could leave me a comment, telling me which colour you like better for the sashing! Hopefully, I will be less cranky by next week. Have a good one!

It's A Garden

I finally had two days off and my garden bloomed! That is all eight that I needed to make. I also got the cornerstones for the sashing picked out and cut. Now I just have to get the sashing cut and I will be all set for the next time I have a bit of spare time. The dishwasher is cleaning up after a good dinner, the laundry is done and put away. I am free to do a bit more on this project before I have to get to bed. The five in the morning alarm seems to come very early some days as I am sure that it will tomorrow. While I am cutting sashing out, I will be adding the pieces to my design wall, along with the 17 different coloured cornerstones. I am not sure if the flowers are in their final arrangement. I will have to play around a bit to be sure. At least I have a photo of this arrangement in case I want to go back to it. Have a good week of sewing!

Another Tulip Has Sprouted

Just one more tulip has sprouted in my private garden in my sewing room. It looks lonely by itself! Aaah...that's better. I'm afraid that my garden is growing very slowly. I just hope that I manage to get it all done by the time the real gardening starts towards the end of May. Let's see...5 more blocks, 17 corner stones, all the sashing, 8 set in triangles, 4 corner triangles, at least one border, all the quilting and then the binding. I am not sure if I will make it or not. Also, I have to add in 4 - 8 1/2 inch blocks with my very own free motion quilting for the third week in April for guild. I think it just may be a busy week or four. Have a good week sewing! I hope you are working on something that you really enjoy!

One More Flower

I only had time to make one more flower this week. I guess it is time to show you the material I have for sashing. I just can't decide which direction to cut it. Should the wavy stripes be up and down like a picket fence or sideways like a rail fence? I am having trouble deciding. Now, what did I spend my time on this week? I challenged my quilt guild to make fabric name tags back in January. I told them I would give them two months to see what they would come up with, lots of time for me to make one as well. Well I forgot how crazy busy time is at work and almost decided not to make one, then decided that it wouldn't be fair. So I got busy and used the idea of our guild logo. This really isn't cheating because I designed the logo in the first place. Here is the logo. Now for my new name tag. What do you think? It took me quite a while. I don't have an embroidery machine, so all the lettering was just me following the pattern I made with a satin stitch. At least I made one! I feel really good about that. I sewed two metal washers inside it near the top edge and then have a magnetic strip that goes on the back to hold it on. That way I don't end up with pin holes in all my clothes. It is a busy week for me with two different quilt guild meeting this week on top of 58 hours of work. I am still going to try to get another flower made. I hope you have a good week of sewing!

New Project For Spring

Yes, I had to do it! I know that I have many things on the go, but spring flowers were calling to me. I was supposed to be doing paper pieced flowers, but I just wasn't feeling like it. My sister recommended an older book (from 2004) by Jan Bode Smiley, "focus on Batiks". It had some machine pieced flowers on the cover that just plain talked to me. They said "Make me, make me, make me!!!". So two weeks ago, in a weakened mental state, from working too many hours at work, I bought some fabric. I didn't get to start it until I managed to cut out some of the pieces last night. Here is the first nine inch (finished size) block. As you can see they are on point & I am very pleased with it. It was a little difficult to get the angles right, but after a couple of sessions with my seam ripper, I finally got it right. Here is another couple of colourways that I will be making up. And a few more. The red one isn't complete yet. I need eight flowers in all, so will be searching my stash for some variety. I already have the sashing that will go between the squares. This has me excited! It is exactly what I needed to work on as I dream of spring & the end of my busy season at work. I was good and caught up on laundry and housework before sewing today! Have a good week & I will see if I can manage to have another couple of blocks to show you next week.

Pictures!

Guess what I finally managed to do! These are the pictures that should have been with last Sundays blog! Hopefully this will still work tomorrow when I do my next post!

Still No Pictures!

I am still trying to get my pictures uploaded. Here goes! No luck! It looks like they start to load & I get up to five green bars and then it quits. It doesn't matter if I try to load from my computer or from Picasso, it gets to five green bars & quits. My daughter had me make sure to empty my web browser temporary files and make sure to delete all cookies. That didn't work either. I sent my problem in to Google Blogger, but I haven't heard back from them yet and it has been about a day & a half. I will keep trying!

Picture upload problem

It seams that I am now finding time to post once a month. I will try to do better in the future! So what have I been working on? A cross between a pot holder and an oven mitt. So why can't I load a picture of it? Oh it is the new improved blogger!!

Finally Quilting!

Let's just write January off! OK? I am healthy and quilting. I finally finished the placemats that I was working on back in December. I am sure that my youngest daughter has forgotten all about them. Next, I have a paper pieced heart to make before my guild meeting in two weeks. We are supposed to use it to make something and bring it in for show & tell. It has been several years since I did foundation paper piecing. I picked up an instruction sheet, just in case I can't remember. After that, I have two block of the month squares to do. Then, I can get back to last years block of the month. I still have to do sashing and corner stones and then a border. I will then get back to my Itty Bitty wall hanging. I am also dreaming of starting a new project, but can't make up my mind as to what I want to start. I think I will carry on with a Christmas theme, as I have two Christmas wall hangings planned. I have already booked a hotel in Houston for my girlfriend & I, for the International Quilt Festival that starts the end of October and runs until November 3rd. I can't believe it but we actually got into the Hilton Americas! It is right across the road from the convention centre and even has a skywalk to it. I can't believe it has been three years since we last went. Some promises to myself, to stick to over the next year. Lose some weight (yes I know goals should be quantitative and easy to measure - but that is for me to know & everyone else to wonder about). Make my die cut mini storm at sea that I bought in Houston three years ago. Make at least one new jacket to wear to Houston. Quilt my Stonehenge floor tile quilt. The top has been done for about two years. (I will show you a picture of it next week!) All this and many more & I have just started into my busy season at work. I think February will be a crazy busy month, with March even worse and April, well lets not talk about April. I am hosting my kindred group this Wednesday, so that should be fun. I also must finalize the agenda for the next guild meeting. (Did I mention that I took over as president in January?) I have had some really nice feedback on how my first meeting went. I hope I don't disappoint them this month. I hope you all have a good sewing week, with not too many interruptions. Enjoy!