Leaf Quilt - Binding is DONE!

I just finished the binding for my Leaf Quilt. Now for a sleave and label.....

Stashbuster Topic of the Week - Labels

Lately I've been hand writing my labels with a Sharpie. (fine point) I have a couple of the Micron pens, but think they are too light. I like the dark line of the Fine Point Sharpie. The reason I've been hand writing my labels is because my printer is out of ink and I've just been to lazy to buy a new set of cartridges. I usually design something nice and fancy in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop and print it out on the treated fabric sheets you can buy and Hancock Fabrics. I have a packet of Printed Treasures, but haven't tried them yet.

I include my name, title, year, location, and maybe a photo the pertains to the design of the quilt.

Any notes that I've written are either in my sketch book or put in clear sleeves and put in a three ring binder.

Now I've started this blog to journal what I am thinking while I am creating each new quilt. It should be interesting to read back in a couple of years what I was thinking at certain times.

Eleanor Burns & Geese Widgets

ForestJane pointed me to Eleanor Burns' technique for making Flying Geese. She makes them with a regular ruler, but also with a specialty ruler. I like that she showed both options for cuting. Her version of flying geese is just as magical!

So, if you want to watch, grab a cup of coffee, breakfast, a snack, and settle in, her video runs over eleven minutes...

Leaf Quilt - Quilting Progress

Just got the center/middle done this morning. Still need to quilt the border and of course the binding and an appropriate label.

Carefully quilted around the 3-D squares so they came out even more puffy than when I first made the top. Did a leaf vein on the leaves themselves, and then echo quilted aroun each leaf. It made the most sense...


While watering the yard I found my toad again! He has moved to live under the faucet now. I am so glad he is back. I thought maybe the neighorhood cat ate him.


Well, I should get dressed and go out to take advantage of some the the weekend sales and stock up on groceries. Only the cats are eating well right now!

Magical Geese & Mystical Triangles

Making Flying Geese and Triangles can be so much fun when using the "MAGIC" method. I love the way Flying Geese just magically appear. Some folks have been kind enough to create tutorials on the web, I made PDFs of these and refer to them all the time!

Magical Flying Geese
These are BEST magic ever! Who had the first thought to create this method? I am forever in your debt!

Print this, laminate, save save save it. Note the triangle calculation too, I use these things ALL THE TIME! You can make them any size too!

Mystical Triangles

Setting Triangles
Triangles Tutorial

Did I mention I love & use this info all the time enough times??

Two Quilts Given Away

I presented my two service quilts to my guild's president last night at our monthly guild meeting. She is collecting 108 quilts for a long term care hospital and that is how many beds are there. We are half way there as many people brought their finished quilts to donate.

IKAT-like Idea Contemplation

I was looking through one of our fancy design magazine at work yesterday. Yes, I get paid to look through magazine! Well actually when it is in relationship to trend analysis, which I have to do for the stuff that I design for a living. Anyway, I came across these images made me think of Ikat weaving or Kente cloth, it would be interesting to take a photo and create a similar effect out of fabric using strips. Ikat traditionally uses pictorial image motifs tie-dyed into the thread of the warp and sometimes the weft.

I think this is a woven rug (the caption was in French), it is so graphic and would look great in fabric. Colors?

It appears to be less organized than Bargello, which is more geometric & abstract.

Wikipedia had some good definitions.
A cool glossary quilt related terms.


BTW, I stayed up until midnight last for the final push of finishing the binding for the service quilt I was making. Now both are done and will given away tonight. On to finishing the wedding quilt and then I will be working on my own projects for a while.

Yeah!

Ironing Board Issues

A couple of years ago I bought a fancy new Rowenta Professional DE-92.1 iron and to go with I also bought a nice stable ironing board.

True to my nature I researched the stuffing out ironing boards and eventually settled on this nifty Polder 1751 board from an major online company that should stick to selling just books (you know who you are). Red flags should have gone up when it took them nearly four months to ship the thing.

I do love using it, it is a great design, until now that I have to find a replacement cover. It is a special size; 51 x 17", European or something. Bought a cover from the same online-book-store-that-shall-not-be-named that is suppose to be the right size. But no matter how I tugged and pulled on it, it just would not lay flat on the frame ... urgh! I even ironed it thinking that it might go flat then, but all it did was seal that fact that I wouldn't be able to return it. So I took it off and put it on my old, sub-standard smaller, standard board which it fit just fine.

Right now my compromise is that I pinned a scrap of cotton canvas to the top until I can find or make some thing to get my surface smooth again. The origional surface has several holes and tears now.

Has anyone one else ever encountered such a dilemma over an ironing board and its replacement cover? What did you do? Did you make your own? What did you use? Has anyone ever made their own "Big Board"?

I am thinking of making my own big board, just have to get the wood cut, I am pretty sure I can handle the rest. I figured I can pad it with left over cotton batting. I just not sure how to attach it to the existing ironing board frame. Anyway ... there's my rant for the week.

Timon & Printed Bed Sheets

Timon has decided in the last month that this printed bed sheet is either the enemy or absolutely fascinating

This is not the first time he has gone after the little flowers on this sheet set. Not only does he always "help" when I am making the bed, no matter what the print is, but he will attack these particular flowers at all times of the night. (peaceful rest is not an option for me, I guess)

What is he trying to tell me?
"What are you thinking by displaying such a crazy floral?"
or
"I just love these flowers, if I could only peal one off and *really* play with it!"

My Tax Dollars at Work in my Yard!

See the nice men installing "my" new lamp post!


TaDa! Even better than the brochure!

Quilting MOJO!

I got my quilting groove back! Whoo-hoo!
I sat down tonight and ran all over this quilt like a drunken fool ...with a plan. All I have to do is tie off the threads and bind it ... an' datz nuthin'! Yeah!!!!!

(Note: I use Machingers for my free motion quilting)


Tonight I came home from work and saw that MLGW has planted some Watt Seeds... Maybe something will grow up tomorrow!

Google Meme-What I "need"

Google your name with "needs" and see what comes up... this is hilarious!

Christine needs a playgroup (yup! as long as it includes fabric!)
Christine needs constant attention (not true, I play well with others...really)
Christine needs to stop looking at clothes (who is this person? did I Google the wrong name?)
Christine needs to go to sleep (zzzzzz)
Christine needs this blog (and a few others that have made a similar list)
Christine needs to see her doctors (do I need to know something?)
Christine needs some solid home cooking (have you seen my hips?)

Well, that was fun, I could keep going on and on, but these were the best I found on the first three pages

What do you need?

Ok, a couple more...

Christine needs her own reality show (are you serious? as long as it doesn't involve anything "old")
Christine needs to know where her inventory is located at all times (is it fabric?)
Christine needs relevant information
Christine needs a personal assistant (oh, please Lord, you know I do!)
Christine needs all the help she can find (now we're talkin')
Christine needs to get out more (what? blogging isn't enough?)
Christine Needs Some Lovin`

Well, my quilting is going so well that I am here messing around here instead....

Quilting WIPs

I am working on quilting two quilts right now. A little frustrating on both, not exactly PQP right now.

The service quilt started off skipping stitches ... urgh! ... Problem solved once I changed the needle, but I had to rip stitches. It is moving along pretty well, still have half to go. I thought I would be finished this weekend!


I couldn't quilt the Leaf Quilt as planned through the middle of the square "thingies" because they were so thick that the quilting line looked forced and jaggie rather than elegant and straight the way I imagined it. ....urgh!... more stitch ripping. So I drew up a complex path of weaving around the squares in my sketch book and am using it as a guide to sew around. May look cool, the squares appear like they will be puffy. I sure hope so!

Tag your it

If you want to....so that it stays fun. If you've done one already, let me know so I don't miss it! I like the ones that are quilty, I chose to be a lot more personal.

Swooze
Sande
Joyce
Samantha
Calico Cat
Vicky

=)

Seven Interesting Things About Me

Well, you already know that I am passionate about my quilting! I was tagged by Quilt Musings (Lori)'s

So, here goes...

1) I love Sci-Fi, especially Star Wars, I know an insane amount of trivia about the original movies. When I play the Star Wars Trivial Pursuit game, I usually win, but recently I was finally beat be a better opponent. I can't wait for the rematch!

2) My favorite musicians and music groups right now are: Röyksopp (the Understanding), Air (Moon Safari), Gus Gus (Polydistortion, This is Normal), Massive Attack (Mezzanine, 100th Window, Protection), Tricky (Ruff Guide, Vulnerable), Nine Inch Nails (Year Zero, With Teeth). I so fickle that my tastes are constantly changing, I don't know what I will like next year. I almost never listen to the "old" stuff from when I was younger, but I will sprinkle in some classic Talking Heads and Kate Bush in now and then.

3) I love just about ANY Asian cuisine; Chinese, Thai, Indian, Japanese (especially good Sushi), you name it, could eat it every day. The best food I had was while I was working in China for three weeks last year, yum!

4) I've never married. I was in a big time six year relationship that I am embarrassed to admit I don't think I've moved on from, though I've done my best. My next relationship is not in my hands to decide when.

5) I used to work in Glass, before I went into Design. I still have all my glassblowing tools, a kiln, etc. I plan to do something with glass again someday. (right....)

6) I really want a yellow lab, and I love agility courses, but won't do either until I am in a place were I can spend good time with both. I keep saying when I retire.

7) Some of the custom lights that I designed at my last job can be seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Florida, and Tokyo Disney Seas, Japan. I guess that means I am part of history now. It was so cool to work for that company, I will never forget my time there. Probably the best job I ever had, I liked all the pixie dust.


Hope you enjoyed reading about some of the other aspects that make up me. I am going to tag YOU next! So if you respond it would great if you put a comment here so I can read about your interesting things too! Thanks!

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you to everyone who has decided to be a Mom! I am sure glad my mother decided to be mine!


Also Happy Mother's Day to everyone who is part of a child's life (the village) and to all those fur-moms too!

happythings String Quilt Tutorial

The most stunning String Quilt Ever! I just have to share what I found....

String Quilt Tutorial

happythings has posted an amazing quilt along with a tutorial on how to do it. It is so delicious I just want to drop everything else and start something new (but thats not hard for me)

Stuff Busting Tip

From Sister's Choice (Nicole)'s Blog:
What a great idea, I am always aware that I need to reduce my stuff, but don't always act on it, this is a great way to do it.

"...Real Simple magazine that advocated throwing out 50 items that are cluttering up your life. Just spend a Saturday picking out 50 things that have no further purpose in your life and chuck 'em. There were a few stipulations that made the process a trifle trickier. For instance, if you were going to toss your old magazines, you had to count the whole lot as ONE thing."

Thanks for sharing this great tip!

My WIP for today

Besides finishing the Leaf Quilt top and back, I've also been putting together our BOM. Nine patch square, cut into fours for small interesting blocks we will swap at our next meeting. Another good stash buster too!

HP7!

I'm a HP dork! I have my order in for the last Harry Potter Book. Like so many others I just love these books and have eagerly read each as they have been released.

What is really cool is to read JKR's interview, I really like hearing what she has to say about her methods. The best quote is so perfect for how I see my own artistic process... I am looking forward to what she creates next!

"Everything you've seen, experienced, read, or heard gets broken down like compost in your head and then your own ideas grow out of that compost."

Awesome!!!

Leaf Quilt - Back (larger)

It is bigger to fit the bigger top...


Saw this on the freeway on way to work, ummmm, does he keep them in the back? Do people actually call him? It just seems like such a weird way to advertise a major appliance, especially a used one. Anyway, made me laugh enough to reach for my camera!


And my Day Lilies are starting to bloom!!! Look at how many buds are in just that one little picture! Happiness! This is were Mr. Toad lived, but I don't know where he went, maybe he moved in with his new family ... I don't know enough about toads to know what they like to do. Haven't seen him in a couple of weeks. "Don't you know my garden is the best?"

PQP!

Be sure to get your daily dose of vitamin PQP!


This is my inspiration to Quilt 'til you Wilt (Ann)'s PQP concept! (pure quilting pleasure)

I have access to some fancy 3D software and made these beauties with pictures of my currently favorite fabric. Yeah! Give me the large dose!

Leaf Quilt - Bigger for Laps

I am much happier with the larger size, just have to do some quick modifcations to the backing and I can Sandwich! It is about 61 x 45", just right for a TV snuggle. Need to finish it before the 31st so I can mail it to the Bride in time for her June wedding.


Next stop, I still have to finish quilting a charity quilt before May 22nd
This is me basting it, I've already planned the quilting for it. It doesn't count towards my stashbusting since I am only doing the quilting on it, so rather it is a donation of my time.

Poll Results Confirm flippytale's Blog Changes

Doesn't that title sound important?

Thank you for your comments, everyone responded positively to what I felt instinctively. I like my blog's evolution and may do it again if I feel the need to evolve further. The cool thing is that the web site says the same so everyone else's links will still work. I like that I can be fickle and stable all the same time!

Leaf Quilt - Back

After mowing the lawn (whew! at 86% humidity!) I have recovered enough to sew the back for my Leaf Quilt


Remember the front?


BUT..... Now I am second guessing myself into thinking I need to make it bigger. I think will add an extra border to the top and bottom so it could be used a lap quilt, besides as a wall hanging.

Regardless, I've already planned my quilting of the leaves and the sashing.

More Cat Pictures

Tucker REALLY likes his quilt!

It may not be my best prize winning quilt ever, but I sure to get a treat everytime I see the boys rolling around on it!
And Timon likes to be UNDER it!

Oops, did I wake you?

Blogarithm

Oh, I thought I was sooooo cleaver by putting all my favorite blogs on Blogarithm. For the last few days the web site didn't even come up. Now, when I open it I just get a helpful message "We'll be back soon" .... wha' the ......?

Well, that was a time saver, I didn't want to put my links on my blog because I thought it might show favoritism, 'cuz I do have my favorite blogs, but I didn't want to hurt the feelings of those that hadn't "made the list" (see "Kind Blog" button below), meaning I haven't discovered your blog yet.

Okay, Blogarithm, what's goin' on? Did your site crash? Are you upgrading? Can I have my links back? ... please....

5/5/07
PS, Blogarithm is back up again and I copied my favorite links to a safe place ... Whew!

Acronyms

After learning about FISHing (and not the evil email scam stuff either) I had to look up some other quilting acronyms and found this handy site. There were a lot of quilty acronyms I didn't know.
QuiltPox Acronym Dictionary
QuiltPox Quilt Dictionary

Timon & Tucker's Bed Quilt

It will be mostly Tucker's Quilt since I've positioned it at his favorite spot on the bed.

Can you see my "excellent" quilting? I did only what I had to hold it together, will see how it goes through its first washing, I may need to add more. The corduroy is the perfect fur magnet too, not sure if this is a good thing or not.

Anyway I finished it last night and it removes two items from my UFO list .... Yeah!



Click on Tucker to read about my progress on this quilt:

F.I.S.H.

Urm.... I am this, so compeletly.... I want to thank Cat in the Batt (Vicky) for inventing and sharing a name for this condition:

Fabric fondling + Inhaling + Stroking + Holding = F.I.S.H.

Oh that sounds so wonderful, yet so dirty, and fun! Oh wait, I've been doing this all weekend with my new fabric ... gulp! hehe

Well, I did it...

I made some subtle changes to my blog site, can you find them? What do you think...