Another Cat

Prompted by an activity at "Artrageous Quilters".  We were instructed to use paints, stamps, stencils to create just the impression of something.  Simple, lots of fun, only 13" wide and 10" tall.

Scattered

I feel like my attention has been scattered in a lot of different directions!

I've been asked to teach a class on collage animals.  The patterns by Laura Heine (Fiberworks) have been very popular in this area.  So I had to give it a try.  It is not on a background or quilted yet, but my collage cat is together.

Next up is what I call "playing with Grandma's scraps".  I have a box full of scraps that came from my grandmother.  A while back I came across them and wondered what I was saving them for?  I have a love of free-form scrappy blocks, so, with inspiration from Victoria Findlay Wolfe's 15 Minutes of Play, I made four propeller blocks.  First it had a much brighter yellow border.  I was stuck for a while, then changed to the gold shown here.   

This afternoon I added half square scrappy triangle blocks for another border.  I'm not finished yet, but will think about the next step for a while.  I still have plenty of  Grandma's scraps.

The last item in today's SHOW-AND-TELL is a fidget mat that I made for my neighbor.  Her mother is an Alzheimer's patient and nurses had suggested this.  It was my first try, but I think it turned out OK.  It was kind of fun to find a variety of textures and baubles and sew them on VERY SECURELY. 

I continue to work on the small quilt with striped squares shown previously.  It is being hand quilted as we speak!  And I cut out to sew a bunch of Cathedral Window tree ornaments.  They'll appear here soon! 

Not a Quilt

It is a rainy Sunday afternoon and I headed upstairs to the sewing/craft room to play for a while.  I hadn't done any jewelry-making recently, so I sat down to see what I could find to do.

First I found a pendant that I had started.  Some wire wrapped around a (shell?) disc.  It was pretty plain and the wire wasn't stabilized very well.  I added some wraps with finer gauge wire and also added the dangles at the bottom.  I think it looks better now!

Next, I found a zip-lock baggie of brass "rice" beads.  I had to go to 22 gauge wire to get through the beads.  I made this dainty little bracelet.  As I was cleaning up, I came across the little turtle charm, so I made a jump ring and added him!

I  also found a bracelet that I had started a while back, with green  glass beads.  It didn't take too long to finish, but I'm not 100% certain that I used the same gauge wire.  Next time I won't leave an unfinished project for so long, or I will at least make a note!   

When I have a few more pieces ready to go, I will clean them all up and add a patina, which will darken the copper and make them look more finished.

Inpiration

I found the inspiration that I mentioned in the last post.  It was on my phone, not on the other computer!

I saw this at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I visited NYC last April.  Epic fail - I failed to note the artist.  It was in the area of Picasso and other 20th century artists.  If you can provide me with a name, I'd appreciate it.

I started playing with the colorful strips of fabric with this in mind.

I sewed until I ran out of red and orange.  So that's how big it will be.  Since I like strips and strings so much, there may be more in the future.  Now, back to the machine to sew it up!

Somebody Else's Scraps

We've all done it.  No matter how wonderful our own fabric is, we love looking at what everyone else has.  I've started a new idea today, using my play scraps.

Someone gave another load to Lizzie and she gave me a big bag that I dumped right on top of my scrap laundry basket.

I fiddled around and kind of came up with a color scheme of sorts.  Red will be my accent or "treat" fabric as Victoria Findlay Wolfe calls it.  I cut a bunch of strips.

Then I started sewing strip sets.  Some strips were too wide so I trimmed. Nothing is over 1".

I'm trimming to 3 1/2" square.  The picture of  my INSPIRATION is apparently stored on the other computer, so I'll have to amend this.  The inspiration was something I saw at the Met in April....... 

It's a Struggle

Teaching an old dog new tricks.  Here I am, trying to import a picture from the old camera to a new computer.  You have to save it in a different place.  You have to crop it a different way.

Last time I posted, I showed the Fat Quarter of Sharpie tie dye.

Today, I'm ready to show off my finished project if I can just figure out how to do it ...

Obviously, I finally found it.  Wish the detail showed a little more clearly.  It's another big stitch quilting project.  The circles were hand appliqued with the freezer paper method.  I like it, let me know if you like it too!

Sharpie Tie Dye Project

Here's my Sharpie tie dye fat quarter.  I auditioned it with other fabric and found a pretty intense aqua that worked.

I cut four 9" squares from each and used the instructions for "Peppermint Pinwheel" in Cultural Fusion Quilts to make two blocks.

The pieces are kind of wonky when the sewing is complete.  I pressed each piece well and squared to 7".  Then I made two blocks.

I'm probably going to put them together the same way I used two blocks made with a leaf print fat quarter back in 2015.

My New Big Ugly Bag

True confessions.  YEARS ago (5-6) I happened to pick these up FREE in NYC while visiting my sister.  A chunk of pre-quilted fabric (yes, it looks a lot like a moving van blanket) and a roll of wide tape.  I  thought I'd make a tote bag.

I didn't get around to it.  For a while they lived in my attic.  Then they made it back into my sewing room.  Recently, I was packing up a box for Goodwill and they almost went in.  

ALMOST

Today was the day!!!  I set out to make a big tote bag.  I referred to another bag to figure out handle length. 

There was binding on two edges only that I wanted to take advantage of.  I was able to figure things out so that there would just be one side and one bottom seam.

I boxed the corners and turned down a cuff.  In the future I may add some big buttons to secure the cuff behind the handles.

It's not the most beautiful bag, but it's big and soft, about 19" wide and 20" deep.  You can never have too many tote bags!

What do I do with the leftovers???  Maybe they can go to Goodwill.

  

Sharpie Tie-Dye

Short and sweet, this is what we all did on Saturday at our monthly meeting of Artrageous Quilters.  First, we ironed fabric onto freezer paper.  Then we drew on the fabric using colored Sharpies.  Some decorated scarves, some experimented with different effects.  I drew flowery pop art shapes with curling lines of dots winding through them.  The next step was to drip, dribble or spray alcohol to make the Sharpie ink run.

Once the ink and alcohol were dry, the freezer paper was removed and the design heat set by ironing or in the clothes dryer (I used the iron).  My colors really spread out so I chose to enhance the blurry shapes by adding more to the drawings with black Sharpies in two widths. It was FUN!

Where did the week go?

OK, it's my own fault because I have a short attention span.  

All I did with the colorful paper pieced blocks this week was move them around.  I'm leaning toward the pinwheel arrangement.

The big stitch quilting on the batik lap quilt continues.  I hope that by the time I finish the inner border I have decided what to do in the outer border.

I made two more "Splendid Sampler" blocks.  I'm going to have a Stitch and Sew group at the shop for people making the blocks, so I'd better be a good example!

Then I took time out and made another pair of baby socks. 

Last but not least, I've cut pieces for another quilt.  It will serve as class and shop sample but I think I'll enjoy it in these colors.  Batik fun!!! 

What I did with my weekend

I went upstairs to the playroom this afternoon.  It's not fancy enough to call it a STUDIO.  Across from the sewing area, on the opposite wall, I have a smaller table set up with an Ott light and my beads.   Copper wire in 4 different sizes and tools.  It had been a while, and I was rusty.

I persevered and now I have a new bracelet!

Not the greatest photography, taken with the phone, not my nice camera.  Now I think it's time to head for that easy chair and a pair of socks that are almost finished.

So, no quilts today, but there will be quilting again tomorrow in my special Monday group.

Playtime

I'll start with the little idea I found on the internet, searching for "turtles", believe it or not.

I drew it out on EQ4 and printed 15 copies, thinking that I would make 3 columns of 5 blocks.  Just as I was finishing the 15th block, it dawned on me that because it takes 2 columns to form the pattern, I would need 5 more.

Tonight I trimmed.

Then I arranged my blocks in 4 columns.

THEN, I had a "what if?" moment ......

So, I might need to think about that for a while.  It's a good thing I have 99 other projects waiting for me! I've gotten started on my Splendid Sampler blocks by making the first three in the book. 

Then I picked out a couple of easy ones from the middle of the book.  The blocks vary widely in difficulty and method.

I've invited interested people to come to the shop on the 3rd Saturday of the month, beginning in July, to work on the blocks together, sort of a Splendid Sampler Support Group.

I've put the hourglass quilt aside for just a bit.  I have another hand quilting project that I've worked on sporadically for a WHILE.  Now that I've reached the borders, I want to concentrate on getting it finished.  It's one of my Cotton Fields patterns called "Crooked on Purpose".

I challenged myself to quilt it with no markings.  The only guide I gave myself was to score lines with my stiletto in the side triangles to keep myself even. I used the stiletto and a 1" ruler because, who knows where my hera marker is?! 

Progress

Well, I'm working on about four different things this week, so progress is slow on each but it IS progress.  I had a chance to start the quilting on the hourglass quilt.

I've also had time to play around a little with the quilt idea I found on the internet while looking for something else.  

I'm making a quilt along side my beginner class AND starting the blocks for the "Splendid Sampler".  There's a SAMPLER support group meeting for the first time at the shop on July 15.  So, I'd better get back to the machine.