Making a little progress

I worked on my Pineapple blocks today.... when I stopped last time, I had five done out of twenty needed.  Today, I made three more - not counting the first one that I messed up BIG TIME and decided to just toss it in the recycling bag - not worth the work of tearing it apart and starting again.

This is certainly going to be an 'interesting' quilt when it's done... I should probably start hanging the completed ones onto my design wall so that I can try to make some sense out of them and future blocks.

Before I started working on the blocks today, I decided that I REALLY needed to give "Marie" a good cleaning.  It seemed like everytime I thought about doing it, I'd tell myself "As soon as you finish this"... I don't think it's really been that long, but I have done quite a bit of sewing - and cotton fabrics with cotton thread makes for a LOT of lint.  Like this much --  UGH!!

The pile on the left was just from the bobbin case - I'm surprised that "Marie" was working at all!!  I'm going to have to do a better job of cleaning her more often.

What I'm really wanting/needing to do is CLEAN the entire sewing room, but like my fellow quilter Katie says "Squirrel!!"... I get distracted too easily and I have bins of projects just waiting for me to either work on them or just finish them before I can move them out of the room ( I don't want to move them out until the project is done and the bin is EMPTY).

BUT, I'd also like to find a couple of things that are MIA... like my glue dot gun and my E6000 glue... I know when and what I used the glue last ( for 2016 Christmas ornaments for our gkids and ggkids), but darned if I can remember what I did with it after that - and I NEED it to try and fix our vaccum cleaner hose - I don't want to have to buy another tube.  As for the glue dot gun, I haven't the foggiest idea where that is hiding; I've been looking for it off and on for several months now.  It SHOULD be out by "Mo'e" so that I can adhere patterns traced onto golden threads paper on to whatever quilt I'm working on.  I know where the paper is - and I've seen the pkg that the gun came in - just can't find the gun ---  I'm so tired of losing.misplacing things :(.

Ok, almost bed time here... I think I'll go back into 'the dungeon' and work for a few minutes before calling it a night.

TTYL

May's UFO is DONE DONE DONE

I'm really glad to have this done... it was  pretty easy to do, quilting wise, but still something that I wanted to get it over with.

There is a tiny OPPS! that I didn't discover until I got to the last side border this morning... there's a tiny rip in the border fabric... ratchin' fratchin' quilts almost done now what am I supposed to do!?!?  Well, what I did was to quilt the border just like the other side border and then I went and did kind of a woodgrain like stitch in just that one area.  It didn't cover it up, but it did stitch it down enough that I don't think it's going to tear anymore.

Oh and wait til you see this.... this has to be the largest quilt label ever!!

  There was one piece left from the panel and I didn't want it to hang around waiting for me to do something with it so I made it my label.  Works great even as big as it is ( something like 12" x 12")..  I ran glue along the folded edges to hold it down while I hand stitched the two edges that don't get caught in the binding stitching - it really helped,

Now to wait four days until the new UFO number is released.  I'm sure I'll find SOMETHING to do until that day LOL.

It's Sunday night and almost time for my tv programs soooo.....

TTYL

Making Progress

Infact, I might even have my May UFO done sometime tomorrow... MIGHT.... lots of pics to share of today's progress...

This is where I started today.... the bottom 'border' of the quilt... with no idea how to quilt it... I finally posted my question ( and pic) onto a couple of quilting FB groups that I belong to..

lots of ideas came in from all over ( including from the owner of the Hen House - I didn't know she belonged to that group) mainly shells or wavy and lots of pebbles.  I didn't really want to do the whole thing in pebbles - they can get boring pretty quick and I didn't want shells because I'm putting them in the side borders and I wasn't looking to do wavy because that's how I did the water.

Finally someone posted a drawing of a meandering that I thought might work.  Then it hit me... I did pebbles down close to the edges of the black frame bottoms and then switched to the meandering - while 'hiding' in the sandpiper that I orginally wanted to applique' on, a beachball and a bottle with a message in it - ( the bottle was an idea from another quilter and I LOVED it).  All I had to do was go online and find a drawing or picture that I could use - easy peasy.

Once that was done, I took the quilt off the frame and turned it so that the top and bottom edges are now the side edges.  That way, I can work on the border in one fell sweep and not have to keep turning the quilt and the bars to quilt the next section.

The side borders are 12" wide (EACH)... REALLY wide but that's what I needed to get it to measure close to it's length of 90".  I'm dividing them into three sections that will run from top to bottom.  Each section has a set of double lines separating it from the next one.  The inside section was sected again only this time going across so that I have 'boxes' into which I'm stitching the outlines of seashells that I used a stencil and a pounce pad to mark out ( except for the bottom one that I did free hand - doesn't look much like a clam shell, you'll just have to take my word for it).  

The middle section has feathers with squared off ends so that they look a little more like palm fronds and the outer section is getting a piano key, but it's a row of stitching, 1/4"space then another row of stitching then 2" spacing and repeating this til the end.  It's supposed to look something like the wooden chair that's in the quilt body.

I'm quite tickled on how it's coming out and I'm loving my MagnaGlide bobbins and Glide threads... and apparently Mo'e does, too.  I've had no major tension problems which is sooooo nice!!.

Ok, I think  I'm going to call it THE END here and go back to working on that outside section of the border... then I can start fresh on the other one tomorrow :)... and hopefully have it labeled and bound before bedtime tomorrow night.  We'll see what my back has to say about it :(

TTYL

Pluggin' away

I'm not getting a whole lot done... today, it was because I didn't fall asleep until after 3 am last night ( despite going to bed about 12:30) and not waking up until noon.

BUT I did accomplish one thing... I finished the block that I started yesterday...

Each of these blocks take a bit of time because I have to trace all the pattern pieces onto freezer paper, rough cut them out and then iron to fabric before cutting out along the lines.  Then comes glueing, positioning them on the background block and heat setting the glue before I can start the blanket stitching.

Here's the completed blocks hanging on my design wall... along with the block backgrounds for the rest of the quilt blocks.  Four done and five to go.  I'll keep pluggin' away... would like to get it done over this holiday weekend; we'll see.  It will be worth it - I'm really liking this quilt.

Still haven't done anymore with the quilt that's on Mo'e... I know what I want to do to the borders - it's just getting to it.  I'd rather work on other things right now.... BUT it's supposed to be done by next Wed. in order to meet the UFO goal.  Maybe I'd better work on that over the weekend instead of the Christmas quilt.

Enjoy the weekend!

TTYL

Slow going

I did absolutely nothing quilting wise yesterday - and I didn't get the strawberry dessert completely made either.  Maybe I'll finish it tonight since I really don't feel like working with Mo'e anymore today.
This is part of what Mo'e and I have accomplished this afternoon.

I stitched in the ditch on both sides of the black 'frames'  and then filled them in with some stitching - a wave in the fish frame and I don't know what you call the design on the boat frame - just take my word that it's done -----and did straight stitching over the lines that were inside the frame ( over the boat and the fish).  I've outlined the fish, but still have a bit to do on the boat.  And the top 'sky' border and the sashing between the frames is done,. here's a close up of the sashing... this is just for the top portion of the quilt... I think the next sashing is water and then, finally, there's sand so each one will be stitched differently.

Oh yeah, here's a pic of the sandpiper I worked on yesterday... it was supposed to go at the bottom of this quilt but while I'm pretty happy with the bird, it's rubbery and a little hard to get a pin or a needle through ( I tried). 

I think what I may end up doing is using the bird that I painted with acrylic paints... IF I use one at all.... really debating now.

I'm also debating on how I'm going to quilt the side borders on this quilt - they are HUGE... I THINK I have some seashell stencils here someplace - just have to find them and see if I can make them work --might have to enlarge them.  OH!!!  I just had an idea... IF I can find those elusive seashell stencils, I could paint the shells right onto the borders - not heavy, just enough to know they're there and what shape they are.  Guess I'd better go look NOW while the idea is still in the front of my mind.

TTYL

Not Much Ado about Nothing

The only thing I've done quilting wise in the past two days is remove the phone book pages from the backs of Caught Ya blocks.

I am working on painting Sand Pipers... well, painting isn't the right word since I'm using Inktense pencils for the first time... it's kind of fun.  I'm not done playing with it yet, but this is what I have so far...  I'll have to add the legs after it's on the quilt.

I might not get much further tomorrow.... I want to play in the kitchen; have makings for meatloaf and STILL haven't made the strawberry/creamcheese dessert that I've been wanting to make for about two weeks.

TTYL

Ten days - time to catch up

I've been busy - and sometimes too tired to blog - and sometimes just hadn't taken pics to share with the blog.
Today, I'm not too busy, not too tired and I do have pics :)

The first thing I decided to do last weekend was catch up on my Caught It BOM... catching up as in starting over from January's BOM.  When I did those two ( there are two fish blocks each month), I cut the background fabric so that the print was going up and down; when I cut the rest of the blocks for the background, the print went from side to side, which I like much better ( looks a little like flowing water).  It took me a couple of nights to get all ten fish traced onto paper back fusible and then fused onto the fabric, cut out and fused onto the background fabric.  Then it came time for the stitching - by machine, of course.  I have all the fish ( lures actually) applique'd down and am now working on the hooks (BORING!!) - half of the blocks are completely done.... five more to go.

Because I don't want to lay them on the floor where a cat or dog might decide to lay on them and my freezer top (aka workspace) is currently covered, I just took a quick pic of the two piles - finished and almost finished.  Hope to have them done before Monday.

Last night, I finished the quilting on the white and multicolored quilt and added the label and binding.  Took the pic this afternoon after hubby and I got back from running a couple of errands in Lansing.

and here's the luscious backing fabric!  It looks a heck of a lot better in person.

The quilt is so soft and snuggly ... I used 100% cotton batting( I wasn't paying attention when I placed my annual order to Connecting Threads last year) , about 3 1/2 bobbins of MagnaGlide Cream ( first time trying these bobbins and I LOVE THEM!!!), the top thread  - I don't know who made it... just says Home sew - multi ( meaning the color)... whatever it is, I like it.

Now, to get back to working on this month's UFO challenge.... going to watch an online class to refresh my memory on part of what I need to do for the quilt, then, hopefully by next weekend, it will be ready to load onto Mo'e and get it quilted.  Before I watch the online class, I'm going to go try to get a couple more hooks applique'd down before dinnertime.

TTYL

Time for fun

I guess I haven't posted since I finished the last quilt that was on Mo'e.  I finished it Friday.... more than a little upset about the back of it - full of thread 'boogers' - I changed tension several times, needles a couple of times and did just about everything else I could think of... It would be fine for a bit, then a thread booger would appear.  I finally gave up and just finished.... funny thing is that the boogers don't appear in the borders - it was just in the straight stitching in the blocks... go figure.... anyway, here it is....

Yesterday, I stitched up the backings for the next two quilts... one is this month's UFO, which didn't need shortening after all... it just needed side borders added and I did that.  There are a couple more things I want to add to it before I load it onto Mo'e for quilting.  No pics yet...

The other quilt I worked on was the one that's been hanging on my design wall waiting for the side borders to be added... I added them and made the binding & label.  Right now I'm debating on thread colors to use once it's on Mo'e...I was thinking about a multi-color for the inner white sections, but I want to use Glide and I can't find any multi-colors in it.  So that kind of leaves me with cream for the white parts - and that's ok, but then what do I use in the colored pieces????  I do have Glide in other colors, but do I really want to switch threads that much????  I've got some thinking to do and decisions to make.

this pic was the one taken before I added the side borders.

Soooo, today - this afternoon actually I decided to play..with this....

This is the almost completed wall hanging.... It was a kit with laser cut pieces that had fusible on the backs of all those pieces... LOTS of pieces... It took me about two hours just to fuse them to the backgrounds.  It took about four hours after dinner to stitch all of them down.. everything with invisible thread on top except for the white pieces - I did those in white because I really wanted to get to stitching, but couldn't lay my hands on my spool of invisible right off.  I REALLY need to clean off my sewing table - I REALLY need to clean the entire room to be honest; I will - one of these days :)

Anyway, everything is stitched down and the binding was sewn on - to the front ( WHO DID THAT?!?!)... all I need to do is make and add a label and sleeve and sew the binding to the back...   I LOVE IT.... really wish I could have gotten the pillow size of this... so so cute, but also so so expensive and this was a stretch in my budget as it was.  If Colette hadn't said that she wanted the pattern after I was done and would pay me $15 for it, I probably wouldn't have gotten it.

Hubby has a dr appointment in the morning, so I probably won't get to work on it again until the afternoon,   

After midnight now, so

TTYL

Light at the end of the tunnel

;MIGHT be in sight.  I just finished the last of the blocks on my "One of these blocks is not like the others" and went back, ripped out and restitched an earlier block that had tension issues.  Now, all that's left are the two borders; they're pretty easy... I just need to mark for the inner border and I don't feel like doing it right now... it took wayyy too long to finish the last four blocks - Mo'e was stopping for no apparent reason here and there... I stitched one quarter of a block in the wrong direction ( or over went the boundary - or both) and had to remove that stitching and redo it correctly.

Here's a small pic of the two borders... I have to mark distance for the inner border so I know where to put the circles ( freehand)... the quilting in the outside border won't be seen as easily so I'm just doing the meandering.


 Anyway, I'm done for now... hubby and I are going 'out' for dinner... there is a fund raiser for a family battling cancer and tacos are on the menu - #1 we're going out  #2 family needs financial help that we can give and  #3 I don't have to figure out something for dinner and then cook it.... sounds like a win-win-win to me.  I'll probably start the marking on the quilt later tonight and then do the quilting tomorrow... OH YEAH... have to make sure I have enough fabric for the binding, too.  If not, then it will be a quick run down to The Hen House sometime tomorrow.

Speaking of quilt shops... I've been ordering my Glide thread and, now, magna glide bobbins online from Quilted Joy.  Well, my latest order was for the bobbins in cream and black.  They sent the black but said the cream was backordered - even at the factory and they would send them as soon as they got them in.  After a couple of weeks, I called to check on my order and Kelsey informed me they still weren't in.  They arrived here yesterday - with a nice note from Kelsey AND a fat quarter of fabric with an apology.  This is the fabric... I LOVE it.  It's called 8 Days a Week and I want MORE MORE MORE  LOL.  Not sure what I'm going to do with it... it will have to age for awhile, I guess.

that's all for now....

TTYL

Checking in....

I've  been  busy; almost too busy to stop and take pics..  actually, too tired to take pics when I think of it ( or  the quilt has already been  rolled up so the quilting doesn't show).  The latest quilt is ALMOST done... one more row and then the borders need to be completed -  and I have to rip the stitching out in one of  the blocks in the first or second row and re-stitch because the tension was BADDD.
I've had quite a few issues with this quilt.... first the tension, which wasn't  that hard to adjust - just took time and some froggin'.  Then the thread kept shredding... I switched to a new needle but that didn't seem to help; I switched from a 16 to an 18 after checking Superior's website to see what they  recommend for So-Fine thread... that helped a little but it still kept shredding occasionally ... I loosened  the tension one more time and that seems to have fixed it.. knock on wood.

Ok, here's a pic of what I've been working on... I'm calling it  "One of these blocks is not like the others" because that's what happened.  I accidentally cut one of the blocks backwards and didn't have any  more fabric and didn't want to go buy  more.  The reds are from a layer cake that I bought at MSQC that sat around here for months waiting for me to decide what to do with it.  I used one of their videos to do the quilt, but I'm not sure I did it right - it might be a whole new design LOL.

I think with this quilting pattern it will be harder to pick out the odd one.  Sure is time consuming  -  about 15 minutes per block... ruler work.  It's far from perfect, but hopefully before guild meeting tomorrow night, I'll be able to call it done. 

I'm liking it a whole lot  better with the quilting.... LOTS of texture.  I'm putting just  a big meander in the outer border - it's red print so hard to see so I didn't want to do anything labor intensive or detailed.  In the small inner border I'm doing just a somewhat straight line down the middle with a circle every two or so inches.  It didn't need a lot and I thought that it gave it a little more movement.  I'll take a pic of the inner border tomorrow.

We got our new numbers for the All People  Quilt UFO 2017...this month is #2 - my 'beach quilt'... a top that's done but not done... it's HUGE - too huge and I need to figure out how to make it shorter - it covers a queen size bed from the head to the floor at the foot.  arghhhh  and I've got some more things that I want to do to it before I put it on Mo'e to get it finished.

TTYL