Done for Now

I've had a couple  of requests for pictures of my ICQC blocks.

I don't know where this block is headed. The colors are fall:  red, orange and green.

This is my Halloween block.  I'm thinking of adding bats, ghosts, a tomb stone, wrought iron fence along a seam.  I have some old orange rick rack (why did I buy this?)  that would be good along one of the seams.  I have a lot of Halloween ideas, so I might end up with two Halloween blocks.  I also want to do one for Christmas and Valentine's Day.

 I'm not sure what is next for the Peacock block.  Probably a lot of glitz.  Maybe a double curved seam under the P. I don't plan on making another peacock block but maybe a phoenix on another block using the same technique.

This is the most traditional of the blocks to me.  I'll add something gardeny, a bee hive, maybe, or some more flowers.  I think it needs some taller flowers behind the yellow tulips, and the lady needs to be holding flowers too.  Maybe a bird or dragonfly above the wisteria.  I've also thought of putting a hand mirror with SRF on the back of it in the blank space.  

The dragon block is wide open.  I'll probably add a knight or mermaid to this block.  I saw a little Viking ship that I liked too.  This one has a couple of nice long seams that I'm looking forward to stitching.

 None of these are completely finished yet, but I'm going to put them away for a month and concentrate on some other UFOs that are closer to completion. I hope to sign up for Kathy Shaw's next crazy quilting class in April or so.

I want to:
1.  Bind Wild and Goosey
2.  Get POD2 ready for the longarmer
3.  Do the last two clues on Bricks, Steppingstones and Cobblestones
4.  Put the borders on Allietare
5.  Finish the cross stitching on Scream House
6.  Keep up with Stars Around the Corner Clues
7.  Continue to participate in Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I didn't make any goals for 2016, but it looks like I have some for March!

Linking up: http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/03/07/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-48/

Seam Stitches

The final task of my crazy quilting class is seam stitching, which I love. I went a little bead crazy on a couple of seams, and I like some more than others, but I'm not ripping anything out now. The ones I don't like will remind me next time what works and what could be improved.   Most of these are simple stitches dressed up with beads or other embellishments.

Cretan Stitch with double-holed seed beads, zig zag stith with sequins and beads:

Herringbone stitch with  too many beads:

Irregular feather stitch with french knots in flower thread:

Wheat chain stitch in overdyed pearl cotton:

Thorn stitch in yellow over variegated pearl cotton:

Three rows of Chevron stitch with beads.  The black long stitches help hold the Chevron stitches in place.  They were too loose for me!

Linking up:  http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/02/29/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-47/

Stash Report, St. Patrick's Day Stitching

I got my Wild and Goosey quilt back from the longarmer this week.  I'll post pictures after I get it bound.

Used this week: 7.0 (Backing Wild and Goosey)
Used Year to Date: 15.5 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date:  20.375 yards
Net ADDED: 4.875  yards

I usually cross stitch my Irish friend Sue something small for St. Patrick's Day.  Here are a few of the smalls I've given to her over the years:

This year I knew I wouldn't have time to stitch her anything, so I made her a 'quilted' ornament.

 I got the ornament kit from The Ornament Girl.  http://theornamentgirl.com  The kits are a little  pricey to me, but everything comes pre-cut, and I didn't have to run to the store to find the charm and ribbon.  Her instructions are also very good.  I had made this type of 'quilted' ornament before, but her instructions helped me to get the second side centered on styrofoam ball, something I was never very good at before.  

One of my goals this year is to finish gifts early.  Crafting and sewing are so much more fun when I'm not under pressure to finish a project.

Linking up:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/02/28/stash-report-february-28-2016/

http://myplvl.blogspot.com/2018/03/tuesday-archives-189-clovers.html

Stars Around the Corner

I spent almost the whole afternoon sewing the next clue in Charlotte's mystery quilt, Stars Around the Corner.  I love Charlotte's patterns because you can throw any scraps at them, and they look fine.  I used a lot of bright green and pink scraps with assorted odd ball prints.

With all those triangles and biased edges, I expected to have more trouble getting everything to line up.  I was surprised at how quickly these blocks went together.  I'm still behind on Gyleen's mystery quilt, but I hope I can work on that this weekend.  It would be nice to get all my projects caught up!

ICQC Monograms

This has been my least favorite crazy quilting assignment so far:  monograms.  If I'm going to put a word or letter on a crazy quilt block, I am likely to use waste canvas and cross stitch.  But that wasn't our task.

We had to embroider a monogram on one of our blocks.  I chose to stitch the word 'Boo' on my Halloween block.  This is the assignment that proved to me I need to take remedial satin stitching.  It has always been a stitch I struggle with.  I can do it on evenweave fabric or linen where I can count threads, but otherwise, it is frustrating for me:  slow and messy.  I gave up halfway though and did some sort of hybrid filling stitch.  The best I can say for this is, it is done, and you can read the word.

 

Next was a beaded monogram.  I put a P on the peacock block, but it is a little too close to the edge, and I'm not crazy about how the beads look.  It is ok, just not something I'd chose to stitch voluntarily.

The ribbon embroidered monogram was the hardest for me.  I didn't really like the examples we were shown.  They looked messy even though the person who stitched them had much better technique than me.  Again, the best that can be said about my 'W' is that it looks like a 'W'.

On to the seam stitches which will be much more fun!

Stash Report, Sheep is the Color

I missed the Sunday stash report again this week, but I am keeping track of my fabric.

Used this week:  5.0 (Trent's quilt)
Used Year to Date: 8.5 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date:  20.375 yards
Net ADDED:  11.875 yards

This year I'm participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Last month's color was blue, and I did a good job of making blue blocks.  This month, 'sheep: brown with pink accents' is the color.  I don't have any two color blocks planned for this challenge, and I don't have many brown scraps, so I improvised.  I made both brown and pink string blocks.  I was scraping the bottom of the scrap bag to come up with suitable brown scraps.  I don't want to cut into my fat quarters for this project.

Linking up:  http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/2016/02/scraphappy-saturday-hot-cocoa.html

Trent's Bargello Quilt

I finished the top of Trent's graduation quilt today.  I'm very pleased it is done early as I hate to sew under pressure.  I still have to get it longarmed and bound, but I've got about 4 months to do that.

This quilt is 88" x 70 1/2".  I am used to working in bright colors, and most of my quilts are scrappy.  This is a nice change from my usual style.  I didn't use a pattern for this quilt, but I've made another quilt with a bargello border, so I knew it wouldn't be hard.  

If you have ever thought of making a bargello quilt, there are many tutorials online, and it isn't hard, especially if you have a design wall.  For the record, I used 11 colors and bought 3/4 of a yard of each color, which was plenty for Trent's quilt with about 5 inches of each left over.  If you cut everything perfectly, 1/2 yard of each color would be enough.  I like to have a little more for safety.

Linking up: http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2016/02/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-little-bit-of.html

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2016/02/pixie-basket.html

ICQC Peacock

The next step in my crazy quilting class was to stitch a mixed technique motif.  I chose to do a peacock using the Pam Kellogg tutorial.  http://kittyandmedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/07/pams-peacock-tutorial-for-crazy.html

This was so much fun to do, I'd like to make another!  But how many peacocks does one crazy quilt need?

Trent's Quilt/Stash Reort

Trent's quilt is on my design wall this week.  I've finished 3 of the big sections.  One more to go, and I've got a good start on that one.

We are having snow/sleet/freezing rain today, so I'm going to stay in and sew. I missed the stash report yesterday.  Here my numbers:

Used this week:  3.5
Used Year to Date: 0 yards
Added this week: 4.0 yards (pillowcases, fat quarter sale)
Added Year to Date:  20.375 yards
Net ADDED:  16.875 yards

Linking up:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/02/15/design-wall-february-15-2016/

ICQC Dragon

My next task in ICQC was to create an embroidery motif that takes a simple design and turns it into more of a story by adding to the design.  I started with a simple line drawing of a dragon that I found by googling 'line drawings of dragons'.  My first idea was to embroider a dragon fighting a knight. I can't draw very well, though, and all the knights I found online were too detailed to embroider and get the task finished in a reasonable amount of time.  My next idea was to have the dragon flying over a castle since castles are made of simple shapes I can draw.  After my embroidery of the dragon was almost done, I changed my mind and  turned him into a dragon guarding his hoard.

It was fun going through my beads and deciding which to use on this piece, but the actual embroidery of the dragon took almost a week.  If I hadn't decided to use two strands of silk and a lazy daisy chain on the wings, it would have taken two and a half weeks.  I need to find some better way to fill big spaces with color.  Maybe paint pens or applique next time.  But since this is a surface embroidery class, this dragon needed to be stitched.

Pillowcases and More

First finishes of the year:  three pillowcases.

The two Valentine ones are for my boys, and the Peanuts pillowcase is a birthday gift for my friend's mom.

I also completed two house blocks for the Neighborhood Block Party.

Participants make  12 1/2 inch square house blocks, send them to Irene, and then a random number generator chooses who will receive all of the house blocks.  She is also collecting house blocks for a charity quilt.  There is still time to join in if you want to make a block.
http://muchashilachas.blogspot.com/2016/01/neighborhood-party-2016.html

To see some of the blocks:
http://www.mysismademe.blogspot.com/2016/01/neighborhood-block-party-linkup.html

ICQC, Beach Ball or Pumpkin?

The next task in my crazy quilting class was to create a basic surface embroidery motif.  I wanted to find something Halloween-themed, but I found that most of the vintage patterns online were either too detailed for a small space or too cutesy for me.  I ended up embroidering a pumpkin, but by using 6 colors, it ended up looking more like a beach ball than a pumpkin.  The addition of tendrils helped, but it needed something more.  That's when I decided to turn my beach ball into a jack-o-lantern.  The addition of a face takes some of the attention away from my unfortunate color choices.

Linking up:  http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/02/08/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-44/

Stash Report, Trent's Quilt

 Yes, I really am sewing.  I'm just not finishing much.  This week I bought fabric to make a pillowcase for my friend's mom's birthday.

Used this week:  0
Used Year to Date: 0 yards
Added this week: 0.875 
Added Year to Date:  16.375 yards
Net ADDED:  16.375 yards

Here's what I worked on this week:

This is Trent's graduation quilt.  

Linking up:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/02/07/stash-report-february-7-2016/

Spider Web and Vine

 The next task in the crazy quilting class is a spider web with a vine or branch and foliage.  

I am pretty happy with my web and vine.  A few of my leaves are wonky, but not bad enough to rip out.  I am less pleased with my spider.  I went to AC Moore yesterday looking for interesting oval beads, but there were very few to choose from.  The legs of my spider are a little too close to the beads, but again, not bad enough to rip out.  

I love this class!  It is so much fun not having a pattern to follow.

First Daffodil and Progress Report

Here, amid the weeds, is my first daffodil of the season:

A week and a half ago, these flowers were covered in 14 inches of snow!  We might get a few flurries tonight, but in my mind, spring is almost here!  I keep track of when the first daffodil blooms each year, and I'm so glad they are early this year.

Year                  Date of First Bloom

2012                  before 2/1/12
2013                  2/21/13
2014                  3/10/14
2015                 3/13/15

I have been working on Gyleen's mystery quilt.  I think we are up to clue 5.  Some of the quilts I've seen have been beautiful.  Mine not so much!  The nicest thing I can say about this quilt so far is that it is helping me use up my scraps.  I believe someone will be glad to receive it anyway because even an ugly quilt will keep you warm.  

Linking up for Scraptastic Tuesday:  http://www.shecanquilt.ca/2016/02/scraptastic-tuesday-february-link-is.html

I've also been working on my ICQC 3 class.  I completed the embroidered tree with leaves.

New Projects! ICQC3 and Trent's Quilt

This week I started two new projects.  One of them is a  quilt for my nephew who graduates from high school in June.  Here is the basic plan:

I was originally going to make a one block wonder quilt for him, but I had difficulty finding prints that would work in colors what weren't too feminine.  I decided on a bargello pattern after seeing how many beautiful grays and tans the quilt store had.  I threw in the dark red for contrast, and I really like how it is coming along!

The second project is one of Kathy Shaw's intermediate crazy quilting class.  I've only done 1/2 of step one so far, but already I'm in love!  This is my version of the twisted tree:

What I like best about this technique is that there is no marking on the fabric, you just choose your threads, twist and couch.  It was a lot of fun and not a lot of planning.  Kathy stresses planning your crazy quilt blocks, so that they stay balanced.  That's not how I work.  Pre-planning anything causes me a lot of anxiety and over-thinking.  I'm much happier just jumping in and starting to stitch.  I'll worry about balancing the block later.  

Linking up:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2016/02/01/design-wall-february-1-2016/   http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/02/01/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-43/