4-Seasons Spring Quilt

You have seen the Spring quilt I made for myself in the many scrappy shades of green, lavendar and purple that I have (tea leaves). I prepared a bunch more of those tea leave flowers, in preparation for the 4-Seasons Spring swap quilt, but after doing so I am contemplating a different approach. I have selected a partner that is crafty, and whimsical. She is a talented quilter and very creative. (I know, I know...that describes most all of my readers!) So here's a sneak preview to what I am making.

I LOVE green. All shades of green, but especially the more lime shades which are perfect for spring. I also have an equal amount of purple & lavendar shades that will also be incorporated.
There will be some of these tea leaf flowers, but the quilt will most definitely NOT have these as it's focus, as my SPRING quilt does. It will be far more whimsical and imaginative...less traditional, but still very lovely (I can say that because it is quite far along in it's construction; I'm just not going to show a picture of it just yet...let the suspense build).
So what exactly is my inspiration for this mini-quilt???
I was given this metal Hallmark tree years ago. It's basically kind of ugly, and was intended to have these little mini-frames hung onto it - with family pictures in them. It's the "family tree". Despite it's ugly factor, I kinda like it, and it sits atop my bedroom dresser. My bedroon, incidentally, has about 20 black & white and sepia-tone old family photographs, dating back to the late 1800's. It fit's my decor. I saw it one day a week ago, and knew it was my quilt's inspiration. It has Spring written all over it. It has the whimsical swirls and nice shape. Now...if only I can appropriatly utilize this concept for a quilt!

This is MY spring

Another little quilt to adorn my hallway walls is complete (once the painting is finished...therein lies the problem!). The painting is at most 40-50% completed, and my motivation is waning.

This was my 2nd attempt at machine quilting. It's not the best, but it's not bad thus far. I love the colors. They are truly me. Spring definitely needs that bright chartreuse. My thoughts are still pondering about the "ball-like" flowers. They are a bit folksy for my taste (ie., not my favorite), but I did them like that to mimic the flowers in the outer border (zoom in for a better view).

For those of you lurking around...my 4Seasons spring quilt is NOT this particular one. It may be quite similar, but a touch smaller, as this is 22-23".

Our spring is still looking to be light years away though, as we got another 6" of snow last night. This is an amazingly snowy winter. I don't think we have seen the ground since early December. It might be a mid-April spring :-(

Is this what you were expecting?

This is my 8" block (well actually it is 8.5" square) for the Spring Fling round robin that I am hosting. It took about 4-5 hours to do over the last couple days. Except for the blue & white fabrics (which I have been holding onto for years, awaiting just the right project), it is all hand sewn, appliqued, embroidered. I have done a lot of needle-turn applique lately, and enjoyed doing it. The Asian feel of the blue & white just drew me into doing a dragonfly instantly. The wings have a red rayon thread woven through them. The sheen of the rayon does not show on the camera, but it is pretty. There is also a little bit of metallic embroidery thread used. I have used that spotted batik on a number of different projects. It is a fabric that has a great punch with a small amount of material. I am tickled with how it turned out. I just hope that the final recipient and the other 2 that will add it's borders like it as much. I won't reveal which fabric is being sent along with it. I'll let the person who I send this to do that (the particular cloth is BOLD!). BTW...what fabric from these would you send as a fat eighth for the next person to incorporate into a border? Thoughts??

Become Intrigued!

After a horrible last 2 days, I just needed to sew. I NEEDED TO!

My boys have been gone to my mother's since Sunday so that I could allegedly paint our upstairs hallway & stairway and in one of my son's bedroom. Now our hallway is no small space. It's got 7 doorframes to paint around, plus the stairwell is 16 feet tall. I went great guns on Sunday morning with paint I had leftover from when I painted the living room 3 years ago. Seemed a little odd that there was 2/3 of a can left in it, but not enough for me to think too seriously about it. Now as an aside...we have a few other rooms painted in shades of green - my bathroom is pale sage, the kitchen is a deep forest (which was originally a slightly different shade, but was changed when I didn't like it), and the living room is also sage. Therein lies the problem! Too many options at the paint shelves. I painted 2 of the 16 ft walls, hoping that the paint would just dry a little lighter and match where it ties into the living room. WHen it dried, it was about 20 shades darker. UGH! My want to give up was kicking in. I moved onto my son's bedroom. That was simpler and how could I mess up tan?

Later on, I went to Home Depot and got a can of the right color and tested it. It appeared to be good. Phew...After Sophie went to sleep I cut in around the trim. The next morning, in between taking her to the doctor and the ER, I rolled these walls. It all seemed kosher so far, looking much better than the mistake-dark green. After she went to bed, I worked a little more. In my attempt to get as much paint out of my roller as possible, I rolled over a few (shall I say 3 at least) walls in the living room that were looking a little dingy. Again, it seemed logical.

Upon waking this morning (just before I pulled out my hair and wanted to scream!), I noticed that the paint is a touch lighter. It's not enough to tell in the hallway, but in the living room, atop the existing sage paint, it looks all splotchy. Could be because I only bought a quart of new paint and not a gallon. Who knows. My day has also been taxing because of Sophie being very fussy. The med she is on (prednisolone) makes her dizzy, fussy and a little angry. I have to follow her around to make sure she doesnt bump into things.

Consequently, I have just lost my will to fix the mess. The hallway has a 16 ft ladder still up, dropclothes around, paint cans, etc. I have gotten about 90% of the stairwell done and 25% of the hall done. So what does one do in this predicament???

Start a new sewing project. That's right. Don't bother finishing the 16 I have started. A new one!

So if you are intrigued about where this is going, good. That was my goal. It is for the Spring Fling round robin. The block is NOT completed. A key design element is not yet on it. And incase you are wondering, it is not going to be a peacock!

MY Spring Mini

The tea-leaf quiltlet is coming along. I practiced my machine quilting on a Project Linus quilt this week, which incidently did not turn out too great. It had this ultra-thick poly batting, which I personally hate to work with. If it had not been free, and that I have 5 yards of it, I'd have used something else. Anywho, what I did on this spring quilt looks considerably better. The practice did help. It's a more manageable size for my machine and the batting is a thin cotton. I think it is not perfect, but decent. It's done with a lime green thread, but I hung the quilt in a window, so it looks overly pearlescent in the pictures.

My appliqued border is not completed, but you can get the idea.


closer up view...
and for effect, a view in a window from the back side...

Now if only spring could actually come. Here's what my front yard looks like still (snow up to my nearly 6 year old's shoulders)

Busting the Scraps

I had a good afternoon of sewing on the many partially-completed quilt tops I have started. I finished two of them. I have this awful habit of sewing 80% of the top and then cutting out borders and putting everything into a bag to finish another day, month, year. You get the idea.

Sometime last summer I was going through a bag of the ugliest pieces of cloth I have seen. They were donated to me by somebody else trying to clean out their sewing room. I didn't have the heart to put them in the trash.

As I was pondering this afternoon, I came across Luisa's blog , which reminded me that I could probably make another 50 of these with what I have stashed away!

This is about 40" square and will definitely be a quilt donated to Project Linus after it is finished. Last year, in 2007, I made 28 of these donated quilts. This year so far, I have none actually finished, but at least 6 tops nearing the "sandwich" stage. There's another quilt top just like this one awaiting its borders too.

I hope to actually try my machine quilting on this. In the past I have not been too pleased with how it has looked, but I know that I can only benefit from the practice.

Week of Good Progress & Goodies

I made good progress completing projects last week. Coupled with only spending 15 cents in a quilt shop, that's a good feat. Afterall, I needed just a couple inches of a particular color fabric. I have completed the top and bottom of my son's train quilt. I will post a picture soon. I have also made tremendous progress on my tea-leaf springy mini quilt. Again...pics soon!

This gorgeous treat arrived today. I was awaiting it for a few weeks now - It's my 4-Seasons winter quilt. The pictures posted of it pale in comparison to the real thing. The machine quilting is amazing. Simply beautiful (as are the little goodies that Maria included with it).

On a different subject...

I have kicked of another internet quilt swap. No, it's not the spring instalment of the 4-Seasons. It is a Round Robin. If you are interested, please check it out! Signups are right now.

Another View

This is under natural light, perhaps showing the colors better ( & the snow!)

Pictures of Progress

My first completed knitting project. Actually I have knitted all my life, here and there. I remember starting a couple of sweaters, but this was the first I remember actually finishing. And it fits her too! It's made with Bernat Cottontots yarn, size 2/3US needles. I plan to type up the pattern soon. I bought 3-3.5oz balls, and have 3oz left (measured with our kitchen scale!).

Here's the 12"x12" assembly of the tea blocks I showed a few days ago, upsidedown & sideways. The color is off a little, as it transgresses upwards to a nice light apple/kiwi color. I haven't decided if I will do one similar to this for the swap, but it is possible, and will certainly utilize many of these same fabrics. Many are leftover from this quilt I made last year, and have once again started hand quilting (again). What can I say, I love purples & greens, and especially when they are together.

I am looking for a tip on fabric markers. Does anybody have any experience? I want to make something that has children (6 year olds) using them so they need to be easy to use & robust. Looking for a tip on where to buy them and what kind. thanks

I have been Missing

I know, I know. I have been missing. Not posting. Absent. sorry...

Truth is, life got a little hectic. I went back to work after having nearly a month off. That is my excuse anyways.

Reality is different. I have not had the attention span to sew for 6-8 weeks. I have had good intentions, but I haven't followed through. I spent as much time with my seam ripper than I did on the machine. I have so many projects started I can hardly decide which is least frusterating to finish. As I read recently (and laughed at it's appropriateness to me), "I have had the attention span of a gnat".

With that said, I have not been totally void of any accomplishments. I got a knitting book for Christmas. I promptly went out, bought some yarn and started knitting a sweater for my daughter (only her because the project is much smaller than if it was for me, who really needs a sweater). I quickly discovered I did not like knitting the pattern I was doing. The stitch was overly time consuming and not as attractive as I liked. Knitting is fun - it comes out way easier than rogue seams do! I resorted to the internet, looking for patterns. In the end, I discovered she had a sweater (different color) that actually had a similar gauge, so I copied this pattern. It is 99% completed - lacks the last 3 rows to complete the buttonhole placket. There will be a picture soon, promise.

Before this sweater got nearly finished, I vowed I wanted to learn to do fair isle knitting (cables will be next). So last weekend I got some colorful balls to make her another sweater, for next fall - a little larger. The back of the sweater is knitting up nicely. IT is about 6" now. UNfortunately it is smaller than the other and thus may not work next fall. UGHH... Do I start over?? the quandries... Further, the yarn is a rather slippery micrifiber. It has a lovely sheen, but doesn't grip the needles well. One of my needles fell out a few days ago, and as I fumpled to get stitches reloaded, several rows un raveled. Setbacks...

Back in December I did do more on my intricate star quilt. I made one mistake that needs taking out and it's been sitting at the end of the ironing board ever since. My son's twin quilt has had progress too (though like an inch worm progresses). I have added a 2" inner border around what is shown in that link that looks like train tracks. I have also pieced almost 90% of the back. It is, again 90% done. That last small % kills me! Part of me is hesitant to complete it because it will open another door of "Need to do's" - Namely, completing his new bedroom, painting, buying a bed, etc. He's something of a napping beast right now. I have not resolved to him in a normal bed where he can get up as he chooses.

I have pieced 90% of the tops of a couple scrappy Project Linus quilts. I have not been much in any mood to actually sandwich and complete them though. Right now, I think there are 6 tops ready to be finished. I have been a good girl, not buying fabric this past month except what was so desperately needed. Anything I am making except for the 2 big quilts is from stash.

My partner Luisa has received her 4-Seasons Quilt from me. She does like the color and design. The piecing is very precise. It is really prettier (I think) than the pictures show. Snow in Maine, I think, can often look shades of soft lavendar. I am glad she likes it. I wanted to send her something as an appreciation of the lovely one she sent me last fall.

Here's the inspiration fabric for a small project(s) I am starting... The camera/computer does not do it justice. It has happy sage-apple colors of green in the leaves. It's the epitomy of spring, and coordinates awesomely with the pattern I am doing...
And lastly, of course I have another project started (above). For me, the joy is in the starting, not the finishing. I am making a mini quilt that may end up being for the spring quilt swap or it may be made for me and a duplicate/similar one made for the swap. It is the Tea Leaf pattern that comes from this book. I have looked on the internet, and there are many interpretative designs called Tea Leaf. This is a very old, hand appliqued pattern. I can do them in front of the TV (ie out of the basement). I'm making it in shades of purple and green. This one I love thus far. Oh, and if you don't have the Quiltmaker books (there are 2), they are gorgeous! They are based on 2 children's books. My kids have the books, which have amazing graphics and nice quilt patterns throughout. Joanne Larsen Line adapted the books to quilting books, based on the patterns in the children's books. These are dreamy. I highly recommend them.

Check back soon - I am going to add some more pictures to this blog entry later.

Middle-Man's Train & Polar Bear Quilt

It's quite a juxtiposition there: trains & polar bears. I suppose if you are thinking about The Polar Express (which he frequently is), then these two things do go together. Initially, I was skeptical how I'd use these fabrics together, but I think the quilt top is coming together well. The back is also pieced, but is predominantly the polar bear fabric. Hopefully next week I can show the completed top. It needs a 6" medium-blue border & an inner border of train tracks. I think that I will have the winding train track motif quilted into the blue border too.

Ready for the Mailman

I've been procrastinating a little on finishing the label for my winter swap quilt, but today I finally did it. I picked up some fabric pens that I kind of like. I'm pretty pleased how well the purple shades actually match the quilt. I hope my partner likes what I did. It is more traditional than many of the quilts I have seen completed, which are also lovely. I just didn't feel compelled to use blue & white, typical winter colors, as they are not "my" colors, or do appliqued mittens & trees -- all very typical of winter. The ivory fabric has a subtle snowflake patterning on it.

And yes, it is sitting on real-live snow. Two feet of it to be exact! And I took my picture just in time, as it has begun to snow here.

Progress

Adding some borders to the summer queen-sized star quilt...

I now have 8-18"blocks and one 24" center block. There's four with this border (blocks are different color stars though)

One center block on point, with neat mitered floral border.
And 4 blocks with this greenish color border.
Together, the blocks with their shades of sage, lime, turquoise and burgundy are heavenly!

9-12" blocks complete

I have all nine of these blocks completed. It took around 20 hours I think to make them. Now I am using .JPGs of them in my scrapbooking software to arrange the placement and further the quilt's design.

Two of these:
Two of these:
Two of these:
And two of these (but I am undecided if they will have the border or not):
Here's the center block that will be on point:

Some Christmas Projects

I couldn't show these before Christmas for fear that the recipients may see them. And it is kind of a no-brainer who they were for if they happenned to see them.

This is my neice Alyssa, with her new fairy quilt. I did her a pillowcase for her birthday in November, but I don't think she had any idea a quilt was in the works. It's bright. BRIGHT. I had a local woman, Mary Dacey, do the machine quilting so that I'd ensure it'd be finished in time.
My mom got the 60" table runner, as requested back in the early summer. I don't think she expected it though. Perhaps nobody really expected that I actually listened when they subtley made requests. Her runner has 8 matching dark blue napkins too. I learned that the mitred corners look great and are not that hard to do. Use the iron! The fabrics are some great ones I got at a local quilt shop. It's hand quilted too.

Here's a picture of a table runner I did and sent to somebody. It was a big quandry whether to actually give this one away or not. The piecing took a long time and is exactingly perfect, if I do say so myself. I love the Provincial style fabrics. In the end, I let my husband decide if we kept this or gave it away (actually, he chose between this runner and another I was working on and have of course NOT finished!). I am really bummed, which sucks because it's not at all in the spirit of Christmas, but the recipient of this lovely runner sent us something with no appeal whatsoever, and just like every past year, has yet to even say thank you. Oh well, next year this runner will be for me!

My brother met his wife when his submarine stopped in Japan, 10 years ago. The sub was enroute to home port in Hawaii. She was working civil service on a Navy base there doing occupational therapy. Within a year they came back stateside and begun planning a wedding. Since about 2000, they have been living in either NY or CT, and we have visited frequently. We watched as they had 2 girls, that are now 4 and 6. At the end of this month, they are being transferred to Italy for 2 years. She used to travel a lot before they married. So, for my brother & sister-in-law, I made these placemats and napkins in pretty Japanese fabrics, to help remind them of where they have come from, as they venture out into their new life. I just love how they came out. The napkins are in the parasol Geisha girl fabric. There is also a table centerpiece that I failed to get a picture of that is a hexagon with the parasol girls that is done like a kaleidoscope. Real cool. I was kind of in a funk on Christmas and did not get pictures. That's a pitfall to my character...I love to make the great presents but the holiday itself stresses me out so that I cannot really enjoy it. I often just get frustrated and upset that other people do not put the forethought into presents that I do. That's life...

My Son's new quilt-to-be

I am starting a new quilt for my middle kid. He's 3 and a half and is ready to be out of a crib. I have designed the quilt using scrapbook software, as I do many other quilt projects. The wide blue border is really a pieced assemby of diesel train fabric squares. The boy (and why do I allow a 3 year old select his bedding???) wants his room to be with trains. Though a couple months before that he thought he loved polar bears. So because I had already purchased several yards of this adorable polar bear material, we settled on using both. The back of the quilt will be mostly polars, and the bed skirt will be the dark blue, something he won't outgrow in 15 years I hope.

And here's the square that is repeated 24 times... It's rotated to make the pinwheel patterns. The trains and bears are individually cut so as to frame out the patterns.
Thoughts?...

Busting the Scraps

My piles of scrap fabric are approaching the size of the piles of snow we have here!...Here's a very quick - 1.25 hours - quilt top that I hope to finish in the near future for Project Linus. I might even try my hand again with free motion quilting it. Previous attempts haven't been that good, but the practice can't hurt. So many people donated scrap cloth to me last year that I have bits and pieces of more than I know what to do with. Just making a scrappy top doesnt come close to making a dent in the stash whatsoever. Not sure that 25 tops would honestly. This top is not really lovely, but some little girl will be delighted (I hope) with all the flowers.

I spent time last week moving my sewing "stuff" to the basement. The dining room where I did have it was becoming a MESS and a temptation for my youngest kids to mess with. The basement is a tad chilly these days, but it has more sound proofing so that I can sew early in the morning and during naps without fear of awakening the kids. I love being able to race my machine and get things done fast! Here's the before...

That's actually part of my problem. I have a real need for some quick gratification now and then. But then I like to do intricate projects too so I don't bore with sewing. But without these quickie quilt tops, I'd never have the stamina to complete the more time consuming ones.

I'm currently awaiting some fabric I ordered so I can complete a top for my middle kid's new bed. It has trains and polar bears, which was his request. Sounds a little odd I know, but the pattern and fabrics are really cute, and cute together.

My winter 4-seasons quilt is all done except for the label and will be enroute to it's new home soon.

And I have begun knitting Sophie a sweater. The back is done. 1st attempt at anything beyond a scarf or hat...

What are you sewing??

A new project

One quilt top completed for next year's Project Linus!...

It was just going to be scrappy colored 9-patch blocks. Then I discovered the race-car Santa material I had been given.

New Project

I'm starting a summer quilt for our bed. It's going to take a few months to put the top together because I'm designing as I go, and the blocks are heavily pieced. I plan to have it machine quilted so I don't care so much about all of the seams. Normally I hate to hand quilt something like this. I just love the 30's-40's vintage small prints, especially in lime greens and light aquas. This has some of those type materials. I'm testing my skills with all of the triangle piecing, trying very hard to keep all the points. These blocks are 13" square and take about 2 hours to make once all pieces are cut. Te background is really a cross between sage & lime (photo color is not the best).

new projects & old projects

I find myself at a loss for projects that I can post about, since many of my latest works are Christmas presents. In another month I can post pictures of some things, but not now.

Lately I have resurected this. I started three quilt tops last winter, and stopped before any of them were completed. They are what I call my Legacy Quilts. Each quilt has some of the same fabrics. They are all uniquely different, although made partly of the many of the same cloths. The styles are all distinctly different, but are all facets of my personality as well as styles I love. Someday when my kids are older, they will be for them. Much of the sewing I do gets given away. I wanted to do this so that my family might get to have beautiful quilts in our home, as well as so that my kids may someday have something I made for them when they were small. Before I embarked on yet another project, I decided I'd finish one of these quilts. I presently have the binding half on, and the hand quilting is 98% completed.

I have also been stitching away slowly on my Winter swap mini quilt. Being the orchestrator of the swap, I know who mine is going to. I know, I know...many of you are still waiting for your partners. Hopefully by week's end that will all be out. Here's my snowflake thus far...

I am still pondering how I will quilt it.

For anybody interested, here's the next Legacy quilt I will finish. Look familiar?? It was used for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap button!