Fiddlesticks Friday.

Wednesday's post was about the denim quilt on the worktable. After sorting the cut-up jeans by color and setting them on the table to cut, I realized the plan called for 12 inch squares. However, the largest square possible with the available material is 8 inches. It looks like the majority of the squares will be six inches. To do the planned design will take many, many squares.

The final size will be roughly 48 x 60. Four feet by five feet.

So... it's back to the drawing board for the denim quilt.

Spent some time ironing and cutting out squares. Nothing dulls a rotary cutter quite like denim. *sigh* (ack - listen to me whine. fiddlesticks!)

Found some heavy blue cotton that could be used for some of the larger squares on the original design. Thinking about using it; let's call it Plan B. First I'll try to work out a visually pleasing pattern using only denim.

Pictured above is a very rough drawing of a Seattle Streets quilt pattern using batiks, water colors and hand-dyed muslin. All but the hand-dyed muslin is shown here.

Perhaps enough fabric for two stained glass quilts.

Perhaps. What a powerful word.

Another powerful word is perchance. I mention it because it's "bedtime for bunnies" and this old Grandma.

To sleep, perchance to dream.  ~ Hamlet by Shakespeare

Switching Gears from Quilting to ?

Although I've been working on the Winter Picnic quilted wall hanging, I'm not very happy with the way it is looking. I'm using an outline stitch on the holly leaves, but the back of the work isn't looking like my embroidery usually does (mostly the same on the back as the front). The regular quilting looks great. I haven't quite decided which direction I'm going to go. As I see it there are two options: rip it out and start over OR embroider the holly leaves on the back using embroidery floss. I'm leaning toward option 2. 

In the meantime, several other projects are calling out to me.

I've been working on a crochet baby blanket from The Ultimate Book of Baby Afghans. This pattern is called Lavender and Lace. Caron Simple Soft in Orchid is the yarn shown in this photo. It has a nice reflective sheen that works up pretty. The pattern itself is your basic 3-row repeat; easy to follow along. I only have about eighteen inches finished. I pick it up; crochet a few rows; put it down. The hook size is what's taking me so long. I'm sure it's going to be absolutely gorgeous when it's finished, but really -- a size D hook? Tiny stitches = slow progress. I like to see progress.

Kitty Kat Lullaby is another afghan I've made from this book. The pattern was complex enough that I have "counts" of the row length at the end of several rows to make certain I didn't make any mistakes. My guess is that I made the same mistake more than once and the note was a reminder. (rows 5, 7, 9 and 11 have the note "27 + ch2".) Even so I remember that this pattern was very quick to make. It turned out amazingly well!

There are 22 patterns in this book - both knit and crochet.



Not sure that I'll crochet today though. I'm leaning toward embroidery or quilting. Then again - it's Spring and I have a hankering to work in the garden in the fresh air with birdsong all around me. lol Good thing there are enough hours in the day that I can do both!

Blessings on you and yours today. May the sun shine warm upon your face and a fragrant breeze lift your spirits.

Trapezoids and Triangles

Being new to machine quilting I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew. The local Brown Bag Challenge has provided an opportunity to compete with other quilters that I eagerly embraced. The chosen pattern seemed simple enough - a nine-patch surrounded by trapezoids and triangles. Yet something didn't seem quite right after all the pieces were cut.

The central  nine-patches were simple to put together using strip piecing techniques learned earlier. The problem was the trapezoids and triangles that surround the nine-patch blocks. The triangles joining the trapezoids just seemed way too large. I put them together, but there was an awful lot of fabric left that didn't match up. After a bit of help from my friend the seam ripper four blocks were completed. The extra fabric was ignored.


These blocks were supposed to measure 12 inches when completed. Mine measured 11 3/4 inches.  I suspect that my cuts were slightly off.

My original plan was to put sashing between the blocks. The blocks looked fine when laid out against the sashing and background fabric. When joined it just didn't look right. So... rip, rip, rip.

Next I tried joining the blocks together, but the points were disappearing. So... rip, rip, rip.

After two failed attempts to make the points stand out I gave up and decided to hand piece them (in progress).


Here is a picture of the blocks right now (the vertical center seam is still pinned). My question is this: have any of you had problems with trapezoids and triangles? What did you do to fix them?

Amazing Service!!!

Farm Animal Nursery Quilt - Continued...

On Friday I ordered the Farm Animal Nursery Quilt block pattern from Jack Dempsey Needle Art so I could "fix" and finish the quilt. It arrived at the Post Office today via First Class Mail. This is a picture of the wall quilt I ordered at the same time.










It came with six free embroidery blocks and a little note that read:
 

JACK DEMPSEY NEEDLE ART MENTORING PROGRAM

In order to cultivate, educate and engage a 

whole new generation of embroidery

 enthusiasts, we are sending you a free sample

 to share your passion for embroidery with a

friend, family member, scout troop or anyone

 else you think would enjoy embroidering as 

much as you do.

www.jdneedleart.com

Isn't that nice? What a great way to give back! I'm thinking of speaking with my local librarian about holding an embroidery class. What do you think?

Now it's time for me to get busy and embroider that last block so I can finish the quilt.

In the meantime, here's a photo of the free blocks.

Market SNAFU

Farm Animal Nursery Quilt - Part Three
OR Good News/Bad News

All nine blocks have been embroidered now.

There was a block that can be personalized in the set. It's where you put the baby's name, date of birth and weight - if you're making it for someone special.  Because this quilt isn't for someone in particular I decided to put a line from a nursery song that I felt was appropriate regardless of whether it's politically correct or not.

The text was easy enough to make. I used the Block Letter Guide included with the kit as a template for the letters. I drew three horizontal lines on a piece of typing paper then creased the paper in half vertically. To center the text I used what my old typing teacher taught: count the letters and spaces and divide that number in two. If it's an uneven number, center the middle letter on the crease. Once all the letters were traced onto each line, I placed the template under the block and, using a pencil, very lightly traced the letters onto the block. Easy as pie!

Next, I cut the sashing to go between and around the blocks and sewed them together as per the instructions. I had to take out one of the seams and re-sew it because instead of two right-sides together I had put a right and wrong side together. Not really a big deal, because it could be fixed and all I lost was a little time.

The SNAFU came after I had pinned the last block on the strips together to sew. (You sew the short sashing to the blocks, then sew the blocks together, then sew the strips to first the inner then the outer sashing). As I pinned it to the inner sashing I noticed that I had neglected to cut the extra fabric off the block. Can you guess what happened? YUP. I cut the sewing line instead of the cutting line. UGH!!!

All nine embroidered blocks are shown below sitting willy-nilly on the background fabric.



Here's the good news: cutting this one block on the sewing line didn't ruin the quilt, it just delayed the completion.

I went online to Jack Dempsey Needle Art and ordered a new kit. Which, by the way, was on SALE! Their shipping and prices were so reasonable that I ordered a cross-stitch sampler too. Can't wait for them to arrive!

To market, to market to buy a fat quarter...

Farm Animal Nursery Quilt - Part One

These Farm Animal Quilt Blocks were purchased from Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, NC while on a day-trip with my mother and daughter. We spent hours browsing the shop and came away with some beautiful fabric. They have an incredible selection of all types of fabric and notions at great affordable prices. If you happen to stop by there check out their reproduction fabrics.


Mary Jo's had several patterns of stamped embroidery blocks. I liked the Farm Animals best. The pattern itself was made in the USA by Jack Dempsey Needle Art in St. Louis, MO. Here is a link to their other patterns they offer: Jack Dempsey 9" Nursery Quilt Squares Inexpensive. Made in USA. Both good selling/buying points.

The pattern instructions told the size of material to use for the front and backing. It also noted additional materials needed to complete the project were batting, a hoop, needle and floss.

It took a while to decide which "check" fabric to use for the sashing and backing. After rubbing the fabric between my fingers and looking closely at the thickness I chose this wonderful woven red check cotton fabric. Isn't it funny how you can just feel quality fabric? I guess that's why it's referred to as the "hand" of the fabric.

I didn't need to purchase the other "additional materials" so after a nice lunch at Red Lobster, we headed home.

Here is a picture of the kit I chose.

It comes with pre-printed cotton/poly broadcloth blocks, a Block Letter Guide (to use if you want to personalize the quilt) and instructions on how to assemble the quilt. Other materials and notions need to be purchased separately. The notions and fabric requirements are shown on the back of the pattern - just like on sewing patterns (Butterick, Simplicity, etc.).

I already had the notions needed. The woven check I chose is shown below.

Isn't it lovely?

It takes a while to embroider the blocks and that's the first step.

For now I'll just have a spot of tea and reflect on my next post.

Have a great day, y'all!

Brought to you in part by....

So here I am listening to http://www.youtube.com and looking out my kitchen window at the sunshine reflecting off the snow. The same sunshine that came out from behind the clouds as I was bringing in the last armload of cherry for the day.




After a week straight of snow, snow and more snow, the sunshine was blindingly bright. My first thought was "Where did I leave my sunglasses". The second random thought was I wonder what the Eskimo Indians did to protect their eyes from the light? [answer HERE]
As the sun brightens the day, I sit here reflecting on my circumstances. Who would have known that I would be unemployed for a year? I don't know of anyone else unemployed for that length of time that doesn't feel defeated. And that's definitely what I'm feeling right now. Hundreds of job applications, all those interviews, all the follow-up phone calls and letters. Still no job.

But the sun is shining and it's the first day of Spring so I'm determined to make the best of this day that I've been given.

All my life people have been telling me that I have a way with words. Friends and family have told me that they can "see" what I'm telling them about in my letters and emails.

"The secret's in the sauce - or so I'm told" says a character from one of my favorite movies. [Fried Green Tomatoes] Here's my opportunity to "give y'all a taste of my sauce". I'll serve it up. You let me know what you do and don't like.

This blog is brought to you in part by:
The Need to Create
I-R-Unemployed N NotLikin'It
Family Members
Facebook Friends
Too Much Time On My Hands <-- for those of you who are listening to this in your head right now. It'll make ya wanna get up and DANCE!