Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Summer Activities


      June has flown by and I have not posted very often. I had a great short visit with a sister.  We visited the Ashe County Arts Council “Forest Fantasy Show” where she has 2 art dolls. They have both sold so this was my only chance to see them finished. 
This is Alvina, a wood fairy.  Photos cannot show all the details on her.  She sits on fabric wrapped coiled mat representing a tree stump. 


This is Applewood Lady.  Her body is actually a piece of an apple tree from her yard.



They have both sold so this was my only chance to see them finished. My sister is so very talented.
    I began the week by sewing a dress for my youngest granddaughter’s birthday soon.  Today a guild friend and I spent most of the day paper-piecing guild nametags tops.  We made up 8 kits and 7 more tops ready for new members.

    Yesterday I sandwiched the Circle Back top and late this afternoon started quilting.


     July will be especially busy with 2 weeks of “Grandma Camp” and a family reunion. I hope to post occasionally on what I work on sewing, quilting or with granddaughters.


Enjoy some time sewing and quilting!

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Catching Up

    Where have the days gone?  I have stayed busy but don’t have much to show.  The Circle Back quilt top is ready to sandwich but it will have to wait until next week for quilting. 


This was a very easy pattern.  I think it would make a great scrappy comfort quilt using an accent fabric.  If you want more info on it, you can find it on this YouTube link with Cozy Quilt Designs. 

    Today was sew day for my church quilt group.  After 2 ½ years, our interim pastor is leaving next week.  We had a visit to give him a lap quilt from our group. 

Stay cool and enjoy time sewing and quilting. 

Thursday, June 16, 2016

New Project

    I started a lap quilt that will be a gift the first week of August.  I subscribe to the Cozy Quilt Designs channel on YouTube.  I love her recent pattern “Circle Back” and decided to use it.  It is simple cutting and construction using 2 1/2" strips.  I have half the blocks finished. 
You can watch her presentation with the following link: “CircleBack” – Cozy Quilt Designs  

   Last week I taught the wine tote class for JoAnn Fabrics.  Here is student Wanda with her finished tote. 


It is insulated so would be a great way to take a chilled bottle of wine for a gift.  I plan to make several. 

Enjoy some time sewing and quilting!

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Two More Comfort Quilt Finishes

    I have finished another 2 comfort quilts.  The first is a child’s jungle panel.
I am always trying to improve my stitch regulation for free-motion quilting and used the panel to practice outlining and a variety of motifs. I did not want to quilt very heavily but I love the lion.

I thought this motif was good for the border, similar to the panel leaves. 



    After Debbie Clarke of Stitchin’ Therapy gave a presentation at guild and taught a workshop, several members of my church group wanted to try some watercolor blocks. We used a collection of donated watercolor 2” squares and fusible grid interfacing. 
I sashed the blocks with white and sewed a strip set of fabrics to cut the border.


I quilted with cream thread so it does not show much.  In the border I quilted free-motion feathers. 
Enjoy a few minutes of sewing or quilting.

Friday, June 10, 2016

Finished Is Better Than Perfect

      No quilting project is perfect but sometimes they are less perfect; however, with numerous UFOs (unfinished objects) a finished project is better than unfinished.  Today I have a project to share.  As I type, it is in the wash with some Synthrapol which will hopefully take out excess red dye.  After I sewed the top together from orphans and scraps, I sprayed a little water to help press seams flat and was surprised when I saw red running onto white.  I ALWAYS prewash my fabric and usually use a dye catcher sheet with reds.  Somehow I had missed that a fabric had a problem.  If you don’t know about Synthrapol, you may be interested in watching this Man Sewing’s Youtube video on it.  

Later*

Success! 
In the wash with Synthrapol I also used 3 Shout Color Catcher sheets. 
I have NEVER  seen so much excess dye when I used these sheets; however, they and synthrapol did the job.  The quilt looks great and ready to give. 


Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Finishing Comfort Quilts

    I finished the quilting and binding on this scrappy comfort quilt. 

The FMQ is a point-to-point continuous line design.  In the blue background the FMQ is loops and hearts. 


    I finished quilting this panel comfort quilt by practicing outlining the shapes and meandering from shape to shape. In the border squares, the FMQ is a spiraling square-like motif.


   I have one more sandwiched comfort quilt to work on and the half-step RWB bargello comfort top to sandwich this week.


Enjoy some time sewing and quilting inside during this hot week!

Friday, June 3, 2016

Grandma Camp

  My granddaughters are spending the day with me this week for "Grandma Camp" with craft time.  Yesterday they finished woven placemats.  Here they are working.




I prepared backing fabric with fusible web and they freely chose from my large stash of single fold bias tape.
Mattie even sewed the hem edges on the sewing machine to finish hers.

Lily (soon to be 4) needed more help and a smaller woven area.  They did a great job.


I was surprised to note the difference in age of some bias tape in my stash which has been added to from many sources. One package is from before 1946. It has been waiting for a long time to be used. I'm glad it could be used.on this cute project.


Enjoy some time sewing and quilting!