Another Shop Sample

Here it is - hot off the sewing machine!

This quilt pattern is called "Rick Rack Out of Whack" and was designed by Susan Fuquay.  I'll be teaching a class on it in July in the shop.

Remember all of those triangles I cut off in the process of piecing the large blocks?  

They have all been sewn together and are waiting to become the next little free-form project! 

Playing Around (or It Was a Pink Weekend)

I found myself alone on Sunday afternoon and evening and I completely ran amok!  First, I started a new knitting project (remember, I've finished two projects lately).  Just taking baby steps - learning to use double pointed needles.  This will be a drawstring bag. 

The next thing I did was finish a BOOK.  I highly recommend the series of books written by Laurie R. King, beginning with The Beekeeper's Apprentice.  In a nutshell, she has picked up the Sherlock Holmes story where Doyle left off, giving him a young, talented protege named Mary Russell.  I've lost count, but I think that there are nine books in the series to date, with another expected in the fall.  Read them in order.

After the reading interlude, I went back to the crafting frenzy.  I put together another "Rag Bag".  I don't think much of charm packs, but one had come into my possession recently, so that's what I used.

While the bag was in the washer/dryer, I had one more thing to tackle.  My little recycling project was hanging on the wall and wouldn't take long to machine quilt (only approx. 20" square).  I'm thinking about adding a heart in the position shown.  Might need to be bigger?  Probably.

So, I had some fun on Sunday.  After all, it was my day off.  I have NO idea why all of these projects are PINK.  Now, back to that new quilt top .....

  

Step by Step

The new shop sample is coming right along.  I cut out all of the pieces on Thursday and made myself sew on all of the (72) triangles.

The next day, it was actually a bit of a chore to trim and press them all!

Now, all of the ingredients are ready.  This top will go together quickly, with four small pinwheel blocks, nine larger blocks and twelve large rectangles.

I told myself that I couldn't start any more knitting projects until I finished some.  A week ago, I finished a second "waterfall" scarf (see March post titled "The Scarf") and last night I finished this neck warmer.  There is an opening where one end is pulled through.  Ironic, since we are currently having some 90 degree temperatures...... 

  

Back to "For the Birds"

The last time we saw "For the Birds", I had machine quilted the background and added felt birds.

Tonight was the night to finish it up.  I had already added the binding.  Now it was time for the finishing touches!  I added some felt leaves, attached by embroidery stitches and found a few beads, for eyes, some kind of berries(?) and a red bug.

Here's a close-up to show some detail:

Before I played with my birdie project, I did some "real" quilt shop work, starting with selecting fabric for a new quilt.

I cut out everything I needed for the quilt top, except the borders.  The floral will be the border eventually. 

Then, I MADE myself sit still and sew all 72 triangles needed for the first step. 

I used the same method that I showed in a much earlier post and wanted to finish this step so I could remove the tape.

Tomorrow looks like a busy day, but I should make some good progress over the weekend.

Rag Bag

One of my quilting friends had the CUTEST bag along with her the other day (at a quilters' get-together, of course).  Her son bought it for her out-of-state at a craft fair.  It wasn't long before the purse was dumped and all of the quilters in attendance were examining it.  A day later I put together one for myself:

I cut 4 inch squares of coordinated scraps for the outside and 4 inch squares of muslin for the inside.  Squares of cotton batting were cut slightly smaller, then each layered square was sewn with an X across it to keep things together.  All of the squares are sewn together seams side out and the seams are clipped.  Handles were added last, just before stitching lines around the top of the bag to strengthen it.  Then into the washer and dryer.

I was looking for ways to streamline the process, so layered a fat quarter of print fabric, batting, and a fat quarter of muslin, pressed them together and marked a 4 inch grid.  I marked all of the diagonal sewing lines and sewed it as one big piece before cutting up the individual squares.  I just used straight pins at intersections and removed them as I went.

Here's one of the side panels and one of the individual sewn squares.

When I made today's bag, I remembered to add a loop for a button closure.  Here it is finished.

Last, but not least, since it is Wednesday, we had our usual meeting of our Dear Jane sewing group.  It took me over TWO HOURS to make this little block.  It is number 21.

The Orphan Block

A week ago, in my "Buried Treasure" post, I told about a block I had adopted to remodel.  The block itself was just strips and a couple of squares, no real design.  What I liked about it was the colors.  I took a couple of the strips off, straightened them out, re-sewed and squared the block:

Next, I found a nice pink texture and added a 2 inch border.

With my largest square ruler, I trimmed it again, WONKY.  A long string of smaller pieced squares was also in Mary's bin and that provided a border.

I'm thinking about adding an appliqued heart, BUT, this morning I came across some novelty yarn that is just the right color, so we'll have to wait and see what happens!

For the Birds

Back at the end of May, some in our Non-Traditional group took the challenge of making a non-traditional block without the use of rulers.  This is what I came up with.

I planned from the start to add some birdies.  I'd add some embellishments, too, maybe some beads.  I had chosen a gold print fabric for the birds, but then decided to use wool felt.  I just got back to this little project yesterday.

First I machine quilted the background.  Stipple for most, up and down squiggles in the two light patches, and pebbles in the tree.  I have a new, open toe quilting foot and it made it a lot easier to see where I was going (except for the tree where my thread matched too closely).

I added a little foliage at the top of the tree, one big bird in the foreground and two little ones on the branch.  Big stitches with 3 strands of embroidery thread hold everything down.

Not quite finished, but I will probably bind it before I add the 3-D embellishments (eyes and more).  Look closely and you can see the chalk lines where I'll square it up.  Here is a close-up: