CONFETTI

 I have spent most of last week planning and starting a new scrap quilt. After finishing my Drummer Boy I spied a new pattern on Stitched in Color called Confetti.  It is a bit addictive.  

It is primary paper pieced.  I have done paper piecing now and again.  It seems at least for me it has a learning curve for the first couple of hours when I have been away from this process.  

This is my first block.  It was accomplished after two complete failures after the first one or two pieces started.  I cut off the piece instead of the doing the seam allowance.  I finally got the hang of it and finished the original block.  I forgot to cut outside the finished lines 1/4 inch, and as this is two parts sewn together to make the block that didn't work.  The block was 7 1/2 inches instead of 81/2 inches.  Finally I got the hang of it and things began to come together.  One would think that after 30 years of this craft I could manage better than that.  

However, there is finally success.  Only 60 more blocks to go.  I have enjoyed deciding what fabric to put in each block.  There are bits and pieces all over the room.  We are talking very small scraps.  Some as small as 1 1/2 square up to no bigger than 3 1/2 inches long or square.  That little itty bitty blue square one is 1 inch finished.  

While digging around in my closet for scraps I found this paper pieced pattern.  For a lark I tried it out as well.  I'm two down for the count, time to read the book and try to figure out what is going wrong.  That angle is giving me fits.  I just can't seem to get it right.

Some of you might remember Houdini my daughters way ward  chicken.  She is an escape artist and is in and out of her fenced in chicken yard while all the other hens stay put.  My daughter kept watching her in and out of their burn pile and decided to find out what she was up to.  

Seems she has been laying all her eggs in this nice little nest she has made for herself.  While all her chicken family politely lay their eggs in their nice cozy coop boxes, where my daughter collects them for the family's use and all the neighbor too.  Houdini has gone renegade, of course they had to be tossed and my daughter surly doesn't need any more chickens hatched either.  Fact is she wasn't sitting on them either, she is much too busy for that sort of nonsense.

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MID WEEK MAKERS

CONFESSIONS OF A FABRIC ADDICT   

  
  

  

 

DRUMMER BOY AND SEAGULLS

This week as been more productive.  The floor in our home office was installed on Tuesday, and the installers were so nice they even moved our huge roll top desk back into the office for us.  It weighs a ton, so we were very appreciative of their help.  All the furniture is back in and now just doing a bit of touch up painting on the closet and room entry door and the job is finished.  Plus we did a good deal of cleaning out and organizing.

I finished putting my Drummer Boy quilt top together this past week.  The original plan was to be 100 blocks, but when I pulled all the blocks outs of a container that was stashed away I only had 80 done, so I sewed one more together and called it done. I laid it out in 9 rows of 9 blocks, a good size at 54 by 54 inches.  I bought the pattern from Stitched in Color a good 2 or 3 years ago.  Rachel has since moved from South Carolina to the Netherlands.  My hope was to have her quilt it, but postage being what it is I will have it quilted in the US.  I love the multiple scraps in this quilt, there are lots of them and many really different.

I finished my Gadget Girl's Tool Kit this week as well.  This was a really fun project and great for taking with me on the go. 

I have been fussing around with this Seagull Paradise Block 1pattern put out by Suzy's Crafters and Quilters.  I am not sure I will actually go on from Block 1.  I have 9 blocks downloaded and I think more to come.  They are released each month.  It makes a 52 by 68 inch quilt, so not sure I want to continue beyond this one block. 

We sadly had to have our little dog Ginger put to sleep on Sunday.  We have been back and forth multiple times to the vet since January with heart problems.  Lots of up and downs, but by last week she was having a good deal of problems breathing.  When we took her into our vet Sunday morning, he told us she was experiencing severe heart and kidney failure.  We loved her dearly but could not see her suffer.  We will really miss her.

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MYSTERY SOLVED & GADGET GIRL'S TOOL KIT

Well this past week has finally solved the guild's mystery quilt lay out problem.  I finished my guild mystery quilt, squared it up and then received this correction.  

Yes, the original layout given was not correct. 

The big question was do I fix the lay out.  Well, I thought about it and came up with an absolutely NO!  It would involve ripping out four rows, six blocks and I just am not going to do that.  Once it is quilted I think it we look OK.  Now, however, as I put this up on my blog I am having a great deal of misgivings.  Not sure maybe I will fix it after all!

To sooth my misgivings about his whole mystery delemi I decided to search through my UFO piles.  I bought this kit while on a mini vacation in the spring of 2019.  Yep, two years ago.  Smart me for a change after this week's madness, all the needed supplies, thread, and even fusible interfacings and fleece are in with it in the storage container.  I had cut out all the pieces and that was as far as I got before something else caught my eye.  This seemed like a great thing to escape my creative problems.

The pattern calls for using vinyl for the pockets, I did modify that to this mesh instead.  I happened to have the nice matching blue color and thought it would be fun to use it instead.  

The pattern calls for this tape to use when securing the vinyl to the zippers.  I had never used this before.  I am a huge fan!  This was great stuff and a great solution when pins or even clips get in the way.

All the pockets are on and the inside of the tool kit is complete.  Yes, a bit fussy but the directions are absolutely right on.  I am excited to finish it up.

My husband called to me to come out into the yard to see the pretty flowers we had growing.  I called out and said pick a couple and put them in a vase.  He said no come see.  They are chive seed blossoms.  Actually really pretty too.  They will seed them selves and we have fresh chives growing all year long. 

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QUILT MISHAPS AND TURKEYS

This past week has not been terribly productive, at least not in the sewing studio.  A remodel of our home office found me painting, ripping out carpet, and ordering new laminate flooring.  The last coat of painting of baseboards has me at the end of this ordeal.  This a a beautiful site.  I am done, the floor installers will put these on and caulk them too.  I survived!

I did finish up the cars quilt.  It will go off with its prepared binding and then make its way to the local Pregnancy Center along with several others finished off in earlier weeks.  I still have three more cut out, but I am a bit burned out and want to do something more artsy.

This quilt had me wondering where I left my brain.  I had all four rows completed and when I went to sew the top rows to the bottom two they did not fit.  The red strips between the car blocks at the top finished at 4 inches wide, cut at 4 1/2 inches. So I cut the bottom row strips at 5 inches instead of 4/1/2.  However before I was done I ended up un-sewing rows several times.  Sometimes the simplest things cause the most problems. 

I have all the guild's mystery blocks done and started putting it together.  I think there is an error in the lay out right in the middle where two pink florals touch each other.  It just doesn't look right.  I have checked the pattern over and over several times and according to the directions I have laid it out correctly.  I will get the last three rows on and see if in the end it makes since.  Maybe its me, given my sewing week so far I will not be surprised if it is.  Will I take it apart if in deed it is me.  NO!  It is a charity quilt, and hopefully the person getting it will be less of a critic than me.

The wild turkeys have come to town.  You can see boss man Tom Turkey with all his ladies taking over the park area  A bit of an issue for everyone.  They are not nice, leave a big mess behind themselves, and make lots of noise too.  

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MID WEEK MAKERS

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JUST A LOT OF THIS AND THAT

 I have spent this past week just finishing up a few things in-between  working on painting our home office.  I am the painter, husband hates to paint, but is a great wing man.  He holds the ladder, pours paint into paint trays, and cleans up brushes and rollers when I am finished for the day.  This project is a bit of an over haul, the very old carpet is coming out and a new laminate floor going in so it has become a real on going project for the next week or two.  I am not a marathon painter though and 3 or 4 hours in the mornings and I am DONE for the day.  

One thing I did accomplish this past week is a clean up of the floor in my sewing room.  Walking over piles of in progress projects just got to much.  JoAnn's had this cart on sale and I decided it was the perfect way to solve that issue.  The hope is three trays so only three projects at a time.  That is a bit of a joke for me!

I have finished up several projects this past week though.  This first baby quilt for our local Pregnancy Center is ready to go to the quilter.

And this second one is done as well.

Plus another cat project finished for a fund raiser one of my daughters participates in that trap and neuter stray cats.  With our area opening up a bit after Covid closures they hope to have an event in the next couple of months.  So I may be putting another one or two of these together for her these next couple of months.   

A yes another baby quilt project.  This one is going to take a bit of work.  I am fussy cutting out the little cars.  All different sizes of fussy cut pieces that have to be fitted into a 9 1/2 inch block.  Not sure what I was thinking of but these last three baby quilt tops have been an exercise in getting rid of rather small left overs.  I am very much a math person so the challenge to do this type of thing is fun, at least it beats painting.

No photos of my youngest daughters peacocks, chickens or ducks.  Only this guy one of her cats.  Not sure what he was looking for, but seems very intent on watching something or someone.  

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A FINISHED ART PIECE, PLUS MYSTERY, BABY, AND DOG QUILTS

Finished and on the wall.  It will be hard to find something like this one that is as much fun to work on.  

My guild newsletter in January started a mystery quilt.  I figured that I would be able to use my stash for it and move a bit of odds and end leftover off the shelves.  The white fabrics are all leftovers from other projects so I am able to rid myself of some of those pesky scraps.

January's start was just the cutting directions and then February had you making these little 4 patches.  

March added the two florals.

And finished off with white fabrics.  I now have 32 of these 8.5 inch blocks.  Interesting to see where April's instruction go.  Must admit they are a nice spring theme.  Perfect for this time of year.  

The local Pregnancy Center is asking for small baby quilts.  Their preferred size is 36" square.  These guys go together really fast at that size.  This is the one finished off this past week.  I don't have to do anything other than a top and prepared binding.  Our charity group takes care of the process of backs, batting, quilting and finishing with the binding.  I have a couple more cut and ready to put together.  Pretty much I am using the same pattern.  Block sizes are 9 inch finished.  

Yes, Ginger the snooty Yorkshire Terrier finally decided she likes her new quilt.  This is her favorite nap time place in my sewing room.  She pulled out her flannel blanket that you can see just in the right hand bottom corner, and pulled her quilt into her bed.  A good 5 minutes of pawing it, pushing it with her nose and head and finally several wiggles and bunching it up into this perfect arrangement and nap time comfort was finally achieved.  

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MID WEEK MAKERS

CONFESSIONS OF A FABRIC ADDICT

QUILTING ROOSTERS AND ART PART THREE

I have had a pretty productive week.  My quilt guild activities still consumed a bit of time.  I am the treasurer and March began the fiscal year, so budgets and trying to arrange a budget meeting with the board under our still somewhat restricted Covid rules took a bit of my time.  However, I did manage to get a good deal of afternoon sewing time in.

I am not a free motion quilter.  Despite a 5 day intensive class I still can't manage it.  Over the years I have learned to resort to all sorts of alternatives.  I have this bin full of paper templates.  It had been some time since I had used them.  But, once I started quilting my daughter's rooster runner I determined they were just the perfect tool to use.

I can easily sew on a line and rarely miss.  Just shorten up the stitches a bit and the paper tears off with ease.  

I have numerous templates in multiple sizes so things are progressing really well with quilting it. 

I also continued to work on my art project.  I ended up adding grass by using the double stitch and 12wt thread.  I have a boat load of 12wt threads so I found some really nice greens and even some browns to add.

I put some little pink petal flowers on.

Then added some more stems with a zig zag stitch and 12wt thread and some simple oval blossoms.

Not sure I am done.  Husband thinks I need something in the middle and on the left side.  He is a good critic so I am thinking about that for a day or so and see where that goes.  

This is a morning of egg collections from my daughter's hens.  Busy little ladies very hard at work.

My daughter is also hard at work preparing for her spring vegetable garden.  Some nice new top soil added to one of the beds.  But, since the ladies have been such dedicated workers she allowed one last spa day as a reward for their dedication.  

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ART PART 2 AND GINGER'S BLANKET

I finally got out to a quilt store and found some Batiks to continue on working with my newest art wall project.  

Now I can move on with stems, grasses, and a few flowers.

I got a start on it earlier this month, but my Batik stash was missing some colors to continue.

So the dark green has been added as stems.

And now I think the lighter green with some shorter grasses.  Then I added some flowers for some brighter colors.  Plus I will be adding a number of stems with 12wt thread and maybe even some flowers using the heavy thread and zig zag stitching.  

This is Ginger, our Yorkshire Terrier.  No chickens, ducks or peacocks at my house.  

And this is Ginger's old blanket.  Yes, it is shameful and we are pretty sure it will not make it through another washing.  A little 6 pound dog needs a snuggly blanket in the winter months.

So over the last two days I took the time to make Ginger a new blanket.  It needs to go through the wash just one time before she will use it.  It seems she doesn't think it is snuggly and soft enough yet.  I got a complete rejection last night.

  

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS

CONFESSIONS OF A FABRIC ADDICT