Glow

Here is my ornament for January.

 

This is Bent Creek's 'Glow'.  I've had it stitched for many months, just waiting on the beads.  I finally finished it this morning.

 

To see more ornaments: http://stitchinglotus.ca/2013/01/ornament-sal-january-check-in/

Doom on Design Wall

I've completed 8 out of the 30 blocks in the Project of Doom quilt.  Some of them don't match the original blocks because when I make a mistake, I'm trying to salvage the block.  I've invested too much time in the embroidery to start again from scratch.  Anyone who hasn't done this pattern will probably not notice my variations.

 

This has been a fun quilt so far.  I'm having to force myself to stop sewing to walk the dogs and go to the grocery store. 

 To see more design walls: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/01/28/design-wall-january-28-2013/

Stash Report, Project of Doom

This was a good week for fabric usage.  I finished my Easy Street top!

 http://sewingoutofmycomfortzone.blogspot.com/2013/01/easy-street-top-complete.html.

Used this week: 6.75 yards

Used Year to Date: 12.75yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added year to date:16.25 yards

Net Added: 3.5 yards

 

This is how I estimate the amount of fabric used in my quilts.  I assume there are 1440 usable  square  inches in each yard of quilting fabric (40 inches across X 36 inches wide).  I know that quilting fabric is usually about 42 inches wide, but I use 40 inches to account for the selvages and squaring up trimming.  Then I multiply the length of the quilt by the width of the quilt in inches and divide that number by 1440.  In this case (95x95)/1440=6.27 yards  used.  I added about 1/2 yard to that to account for all the seam allowances in the quilt.  I know 6.75 is just an estimate, but I don't think there is a way to get the exact yards used in a scrap quilt.  Let me know if you have a better way to estimate.

 

To see more stash reports: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/01/28/design-wall-january-28-2013/

 

I've been working on my Project of Doom Quilt too.  The limiting factor in this quilt is how quickly I can get the titles of the books stitched on the spines. I'm doing ok with the paper piecing. It's been really fun hunting through my stash to find fabric for these blocks.  I have a lot more neutral fabric than I realized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy Street Top Complete

Yay!!! My Easy Street top is done.  I don't love this quilt, but I do like it, and I'm glad it is done. I am especially glad that every stitch of this quilt came from my stash, most of it from my scrap bins. I thought I was going to have to do a pieced border, but I dug deep and found a big piece of green that was a gift from a friend.  Thanks, Holly!

 

 

 

 

I expect every Bonnie Hunter quilt to be a test of endurance.  If you want a quick quilt, don't attempt one of her mysteries.  I do them to use up my scraps.  Not the nice strips and ironed squares, but the raggedy unironed wads of fabric that I save but don't really want to deal with.  Bonnie's quilts force me to make something useful out of scraps and crumbs that a lot  quilters would toss in the trash.  To me, this is a form of green quilting, and I feel good about the free quilts I get from my junk fabric.

 

 

 

 

Mouline Rouge in Purple

My husband gave me a gift card for Christmas to get Long Dog's Mouline Rouge framed.  This is the biggest item I've ever had framed.  When I started this (in June of 2004!), I was only thinking that I wanted to be able to see the linen.  I wasn't thinking that using 28 count linen would mean a huge piece and huge framing costs.  I kept the cost and the size down a little by not using mats.

Many thanks to Ming, Juli, Gaby, Dane, Ilsa, and Angela who helped me though a stitching slump and worked on this too.

Mark's Rhino

My son has an excellent art teacher in high school. http://drhsart.com/ Last fall he had the kids each copy a line drawing by an old master.  My son was out sick the day the kids chose their projects, so he got stuck with a very detailed picture of a rhinoceros ( I am not sure who the original artist was.)  It took him hours and hours to draw, but here is the result.

 

I am amazed that all 3 of my kids can draw.  Neither my husband nor I can.  Art instruction in my elementary school was a once a month happening.  The art teacher had no room of her own but traveled to classrooms with a cart of supplies.  I don't remember it being very fun at all.  Since my experience in elementary school wasn't great, I never took art in junior high or high school.  But I've always wished I could draw. 

 

All three of my kids had excellent art teachers in elementary school, and all 3 of them took some art in middle school.  I like that they  had a creative outlet at school.

First Flowers of 2013

About 10 days ago, I noticed the hellebore I got from the plant sale last May I had started to bloom.  I wanted to get a picture, but we were had rain for days on end, and it wasn't worth getting wet to get a picture.  I finally took on on Sunday.

 

I've never planted one of these before, so I don't know if one plant has 2 different colored  flowers, if I got two plants instead of one, or if the white flower will turn purple too.  All I know is that I am grateful for any flower that blooms in January. 

The daffodils are peeking through too.  Some of them should bloom next month.

I forgot to mention in Sunday's post how I'm doing on my personal goals.  My diet was better  last week (a lot less sugar and junk food, more veggies).  But I only made it to the gym twice last week, and only got the dogs walked 3 times, not 5.  Part of that was due to the weather.  It rained and rained.  Then it snowed.  I had a colonoscopy last Thursday and lost a day exercise  to due to the prep.  I don't have to have that test done again for 10 years!  It feels good to have a medical test that shows no problems.