Busy Week

 I finished this quilt yesterday and am really pleased with how it turned out.  The customer is a neighbor and had a preview of it the other day when she was walking her dog.  IShe  seemed really pleased.  I did get a rack so I can hang a quilt to photograph it and to show the client without clamping it to the curtain rod in the family room, blocking most of the light from the room!  It was a good thing.  Today a friend came by to ask me about an antique quilt she had and saw the quilt hanging in the living room.  She loved it and is going to go through her sons' tee shirts and possibly have some made for them.

This coming week is a short one for me as I leave for Chicago Thursday night to spend the weekend shopping for a wedding dress for my eldest daughter!  I'm going to spend some time working on my Dancing Lady quilt I started at Empty Spools this past spring. In anticipation of spending my time sewing I started  a crockpot full of pulled pork!  YUM!!!

 Pulled pork

Then I set up my computer by my sewing machine and watched a few episodes of The Quilt Show.  I watched an episode with Jean Wells Keenan.  I'm signed up to take a class from her at Empty Spools next spring.  Ricki talked me into it (Ricki Made Me Do It) and now I'm really excited about it!  I need Ricki to push me artistically.  She talked me into taking Ursula Kern's class and I probably learned more from her than just about any other teacher except for Jinny Beyer.  Same same but different.

 Sewing machine set-up

My goals for this week is to quilt the simple Turning Twenty quilt I did for Ally and Josh to give their friends.  I want to take it with me to Chicago this weekend.  Then I get to play with Dancing Lady.  It' took me almost a complete block today to get back in the swing of the process.  I'd like to get the majority of the blocks done by the time I leave.  When I get home I'll get back to making the next tee shirt quilt then I have 2 quilt tops to quilt for another customer.

Until next time,

Happy Stitiching

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!!

I'm hoping the computer gremlins have finished their games!  Here is the completed Disappearing Nine Patch.  Fast & easy!  Back it, Quilt it, Bind it.  That's this week's goal.

Disappearing Nine Patch

 Here's a close-up of some of the quilting I did on the Ohio Star.  The 9 Patch is going to get a simple, all-over pattern!

Close-up of quilting on Ohio Star

 Nest on our UFO Hit Parade is the Lotus Temple I started in Ursula Kern's class at Empty Spools this past March.

Getting close

Closer....

Here all the blocks are complete and waiting to be sewn together.  I'm so pleased with the way it turned out!  Below is the inspiration picture.

Lotus Temple, Dehli, India

I hope to have the edges finished off and I will back it and quilt it lightly with no batting as the foundation will make it heavy enough.  Another project I hope to complete this week!

Now that fall is here and the weather has cooled down, (and the pool has closed), I can spend more time quilting.  This week will be a busy one as I am playing in a fund-raiser tomorrow and Wednesday evening and my normal golf league day on Tuesday morning.  Add to that, my work-outs and I'm a busy girl!  Now that I've gotten my quilting mojo back, I'm looking forward to the creative process.  I also have the added incentive of a new project I want to start before I quilt another UFO!  It's called Hidden Circles and I'm going to make it scrappy to use up more of my scraps!  I'll post pictures as I go along.  The next project I'm going to quilt is my New Zealand quilt from a class I took at Empty Spools with Janet Fogg in 2009.

Until I post again,

Happy Stitching!

Monday...

I didn't get much accomplished this weekend.  I'm still not feeling great.  I got my voice back but have developed a cough.  I'm not one to run off to the doctor at the first sign of being sick but it's been almost a week now.  And I don't want to be ill when we go out to Denver this weekend.

As I've written about before, I've been working on my Lotus Temple top which I started in Ursula Kern's class.  I started with 2 shoe boxes organizing my palate.  It's now grown to 4 overflowing boxes!  I have quite a few "ish" colors  (yellow'ish', pink 'ish', etc).  For being a quilt "outside my box", I sure have a lot of boxes!

Below is the original picture of the Lotus Temple in Delhi, India.  I was there during the day with LOTS of people.  We were not allowed to take pictures of the inside, which was absolutely stunning!  I was looking for a picture of the inside, of which I found none, but came across this picture.

 I took the pictue and blew it up.  We then "gridded" it to make individual blocks.  I've marked off the blocks I've done

 I then isolate the block I am going to do-in this case F3-and make a muslin foundation on which I will sew fabric that loosely mimics the box.

 I want the block to finish at 6" so it will be 6.5 unfinished.  I use a 7" square piece of muslin as  it will "shrink" as I sew on it.  It's easier to cut it off than to add it on.  Believe me, I've done it both ways and would rather trim! 

 I made the angled line which is part of the roof line and broke the sky up into 4 (later 5) separate areas.

 The pencil lines don't show through the fabric and if I used a Sharpie the black may show through when I use light fabric.  I had one of those "Brilliant" moments (Oprah calls them "Ah ha Moments") and used a new water soluble pen.  The ink is a lighter color and if it shows through all I have to do is wet it and it disappears!

 Here's the line on the front of the muslin
 

 

Here's all the lines marked.

 

How the line looks on the back!  I'll be able to see it when it's time to sew on it.

 It's kind of difficult to see in the picture but the lines are pretty clear in real life.  If they were too light I could always go over them again with the soluble marker.

 This is where it will be with some of the completed blocks.

 The next step is picking out the fabrics to use on the block.  I want a light fabric for the roof and fabrics a bit darker for the sky to give the impression of the building glowing in the setting sun.

 To keep track of where each fabric goes I have numbered the flower pins (this Brilliant Idea comes from my friend, Ricki Selva) and stick numbered pins in the fabrics indicating where they go on the foundation.

 The numbered foundation with the first fabric.  I have changed my mind (I'm blonde and I'm a woman.  It's allowed!) and now have a 1 and a 1a.  I layed fabric 1 approximately 1/4" over the marked line making sure it covered the marked area with plenty to spare.

 I then pinned (!) 1a with PLENTY OF OVERLAP and making sure it covered the required area when flipped over.  I can't tell you the number of times I didn't pin and the fabric folded itself over and I had to tear and swear and do it all over again.

 Both ends pinned down.

 Flip it over and start sewing AT LEAST 1/4" beyond the foundation.

 After the seam is sewn I set the seam (press it just as it came out from under the needle).

 I then press it open making sure there are no little creases.

 Next, I flip it over and take my Handy Dandy Tool (I got this one from Deb Karasik) and line it up along the NEXT STITCHING LINE!!!

 Sure enough, I didn't measure correctly when I drew the line, but it's not that critical with this project so we'll just fudge it.  Anyway, I hold the foundation back over the Handy Dandy Tool so I don't cut the muslin...

 ...and I take my 1/4" ruler (it has a 1/4" lip) and butt it up firmly against the foundation wrapped Handy Dandy Tool (HDT).  (The HDT gives extra firm bulk so the ruler won't slip when you cut).  OOPS!  I didn't take a picture of me cutting!  But then again, I've heard so many horror stories of people getting cut with their rotary cutters I don't want to take a chance of getting cut!

 I'm a firm believer that there is always more fabric that needs to be bought so I tend to cut pieces larger than needed.  That and I've been caught with cut pieces being too short and having to tear and swear and reposition too many times.  I can buy more fabric but have yet to find somewhere to buy more time!  To measure my next piece I start by giving myself a generous 1/2" to 3/4" from the previously cut edge. 

 I didn't show it but I give myself at least 1/2" extension off the end and measure the widest part-here it's almost 3".  I call it 3.5"  I then look at the longest measurement and give myself at least an extra 1/2".  Here I cut the fabric 9" x 3.5".

 I repeat the pinning, checking that it will cover the section, sewing, setting the stitches and pressing.

 The next piece I want to fragment.  I cut a small piece to give me a little triangle next to the roofline.

 I sew it at an angle and trim the seam.

 After I press it I cut the edge so it will line up with the previous piece that has already been trimmed to the 1/4" seam allowance.  Pin and stirch.

 I haven't mentioned yet that I use the thinnest pins I have since I will be sewing over them occasionally.  I also sew pretty slowly so the needle can slide over the pin if they come in contact with one another.

 At this point in the block I am coming to an eventual seam intersection.  I will eventually need to turn the foundation along this line so I don't want to stitch too far over it.  I try to stitch right up to the line and fix my stitch and cut it at this point.

 Here is the completed untrimmed block. I'll now trim it to 6.5"

 I'm such a blonde I put Post-it notes next to the 6.5" lines on my square!  I note where I want the roof line to fall and make sure that the entire 6.5" area has fabric-no "open" places!  I trim the right side and top.

 I then flip the block and line up my lines with the cut edges.  Trim the last 2 sides and Voile La!

The block in it's new home!

I then started going through my nephews' tee shirts.  I really should get started on those quilts.  I'd like to finish both of those quilts and Sara (my trainer)'s baby quilt before the pool opens.  I do love going to the pool and reading.  It's really the only time I dedicate a lot of time to reading.  I am a sun worshiper.  I know it's not good for me and I do put on sun screen.  I have wicked Seasonal Affective Disorder and probably feel the best in the summer absorbing all the sunlight!  I do have one of those simulated sunlight lamps that sits in front of my sewing machine to help with my moods in the winter but there's nothing like warming my bones, reading and visiting with friends by the pool!

I really should get some hand sewing done.  I WILL finish hand quilting my feathered star quilt by the end of the year!

Happy Stitching!

....While I Was Gone....

So I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:

Left on March 18th for Albany, New York where I met up with my buddy, Ricki, for 2 weeks of creativity!  After I went to the wrong hotel to pick her up (she flew in from Hawaii the day before) we drove down to Greenville, NY to the Hudson River Valley Art Workshop.  We spent 5 glorious days taking classes from Paula Nadelstern!  She is such a lovely woman, phenomenal artist and inspiring teacher!  The first project we did was the Nadelstar.  It gave us the opportunity to grasp the idea of making a kaleidoscope using fabric.

Mine is second row center.

We then went on to make a full kaleidoscope block.  Took me 3 days to get this done!  I did start another and have yet to finish.  Another UFO!!!

My kaleidoscope block.

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the inn, which was charming but here is a picture of the little cottage Ricki and I stayed in.  It has 2 rooms-Ricki and I were in the room on the right.  It was cozy-had a fireplace, big bathroom and just the perfect sized room for the 2 of us.  The food was OUTSTANDING!  I know I gained weight-something I was trying to keep under control while traveling.  Dinners were unbelievable AND there were fresh baked cookies every afternoon at 2:30!

 Over the river and through the woods to our cottage!

After 5 days of fun with Paula, Ricki and I packed up, drove back up to Albany, boarded separate planes and met up in San Francisco for round 2 of quilting and creating at Empty Spools!  We drove down to Pacific Grove and spent the first night in a little inn across the street from Asilomar, where the next class was to be held.  We lucked out in that they had a washer and dryer we could use to wash our clothes!  I was not looking forward to spending quality time in a laundry mat!  After the laundry was done we drove down the coast to the Big Sur area!  HOW GORGEOUS!!!  We had lunch at Kaffe Fassett's family restaurant.  The BEST sandwich I've ever had!

Sandwich + View = Wonderful

We drove back up to check into our rooms and get organized before class began with Ursula Kern at 4pm.

Fireplace in room!

Ursula's class war INCREDIBLE!  I've never had "art" classes, except in grade school and jr. high so I was blown away by Ursula, who was a professor of textile color and design at University of Basel in Switzerland.  It was a creative blur for the first 2 days as I absorbed the information.  I had brought a picture of the Lotus Temple in Delhi as my inspiration piece, not really understanding what we were doing.  I worked on that for the first 3 days until I had my "Color Dream".  It's difficult to explain but it was of a woman I had seen in Pushkar, India.  There was no picture taken of her but I have "seen" her in my head since my return.  I have put those colors on a page using Ursula's "Chop Suey" method and will make it in the near future.

My Board for the Thursday Walk About.  The Lotus Temple work is the upper left side, my first "Get Acquainted with the Process" piece is mid-way down on the right and my Pushkar Dream piece is the center bottom.

One of the views from Asilomar to the ocean.

Ricki and I on the boardwalk.

We went into Carmel after Empty Spools and this was a view down one of the little alleyways.

We then drove up the coast back to San Francisco.  The waves were crashing and it was SO AWESOME!  (Thanks, Ricki)

The adventure came to an end on the 31st as I boarded a plane back to Michigan.  It's been difficult getting back into the groove.  I want to stay in my creative bubble!  I made an overnight trip to Grand Rapids to visit Colleen and deliver her dog, Guapo, to live with her.  She has a great apartment and seems to really enjoy GR.

On a brighter note, I got my Mustang convertible on Monday!  More on that tomorrow!  (I have a sore throat and not feeling so wonderful today)

Happy Stitching!