Sunday, February 28, 2016

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.







Wednesday, February 24, 2016

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!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

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!

Monday, February 22, 2016

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

Thursday, February 18, 2016

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.



Tuesday, February 16, 2016

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?

Monday, February 15, 2016

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/