I Mailed the Quilt!

I don't know why I drug my feet mailing it, I suspect because I had so much fun making it. I took a lot of pictures and can make another one if I want to... I could have sent it Monday, but I waited until today. I wrote a nice card and sent some washing instructions too. I really hope they like it.... I think they will... I always feed odd giving hand made gifts, even when I know they will be liked.
Timon had to put in his paw of approval on my wrapping, or maybe he just wanted to eat the raffia. I shooed him off when ever he tried to snack on it, but I know he sure would have liked to.

Leaf Quilt - is DONE!

All of it, Label and Sleeve. Now I just have to write a nice card, include some care instructions, find a box, and put that puppy in the mail!


PS, It is for my cousin in Austria, who is getting married. We met once about fifteen years ago and have kept up with each other through email.

Leaf Quilt - Binding is DONE!

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

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!

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!

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?"

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.

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.

Leaf Top is done

Sunday I finished the Leaf top. All I need to do is make the back, sandwich it and quilt it (yup, that's it). I had no idea how it would turn out when I started and a pleased with where it ended up. Should I do another? Maybe, I like this technique, but maybe something different than leaves. I should sketch for a bit about it. Something more abstract? Less symetry, I dunno... I like it when the fabric tells me what to do, this one sure did.


Tomorrow I am donating this quilt that I made while learning to fussy-cut radiating patterns. It will be donated to a local Alzheimer's hospital to be displayed there along with other quilts from my guild. I have the book somewhere, I won it as a door prize at a guild I belonged to in Pasadena. That's how long ago I made it. I've enjoyed looking at it, it is in good condition, and it is time for someone else to enjoy it now.


My pet toad is doing well and came back after I mowed the lawn, I feared that the motor sounds must have been terrifying to the little amphibian. I am glad it has decided to make a home in my yard and look forward each day to checking up on it. I don't know how to tell if it is a he or a she, sometimes I refer to one or the other gender. It is still cute ... maybe I should kiss it ... just kidding ... right?


This is the home of where my Creeping Jenny cuttings came from. They were growing everywhere, which what I hope they will do here too. Cute fountain, I have a pot that converts into a fountain that I should hook up again. It served as a holder for one of my plants during the winter and is still only full of leaves.


ooh, am I being wordy or what lately?

Fun in the Yard (& a bit of quilting)

A detail of the square in my quilt top, the top is almost done, and would be if I hadn't fooled around on the computer for so long. But hey, I found some great sites today. I favorite so far is
Crazy Aunt Purl, a light hearted blog about knitting, cats, and life.


I mowed my poor lawn, it went back into dormancy, so most of what I mowed was saw dust and weeds, but I just love when it is all the same length after a good mowing. The best part is that the weather was perfect today and I was outside fooling around with my yard!

(my pet Toad lives in the flower bed on the left side of this photo)

My Iris is blooming!!! The first blooms since they were planted two years ago, my hydrangeas got cooked by the cold snap and probably won't bloom, again (bleh!)


A cool picture of my pansies... they are happy because I gave them "Pansy Booster", I give them until July... They were orphans that I adopted from Lowes last fall for 10 and 25 cents a pack. Love those bargain plants!


Speaking of Bargains, Dianthus!!! Best bang for my buck (well, actually is was my mom's buck) They bloom all summer, cut them back, they bloom again, they bloom in the winter, they bloom when it is dry, they bloom when it is wet. I love these little plants!!!

Leaf Quilt - Border

I added some squares to the sashing and am now choosing my border. Because of the way that the squared are inserted into the seams I will have to cut the border the same length of my blocks. I think this fabric (which I just love with the blocks) will be okay with seams. I will have to let it marinade a bit more...



My Iris' are going to finally bloom! This will their first since I transplanted them two years ago from a friend of mine's yard. I was so worried that they would freeze during that surprise cold snap earlier.


And, I have a pet Toad! Well, actually, it has chosen to live in my daylily bed, and I am happy to have it as my guest! Love the warty skin and cute little shiney eyes!


Technical note:
the squares were introduced to me on a Simply Quilts episode (QLT-743) featuring Ami Simms

WIP Leaf Blocks - this evening

Last bit before bedtime.... these trimmed to 12-1/2" blocks, unfinnished and are currently pinned to my design wall.

WIP Leaf Blocks - this afternoon

I plopped the blocks I made up on the wall to arrange...

I think I like this arrangement best, so I will add some purple sashing. (I am still apprehensive of what I've got here, but want to finish it so I can make the next ones) The good thing is that I don't hate it, and already have ideas of what I will do next. It will be just the right size for a challenge my guild is having, so the tea cozy will have to get made out of something else, or from the left overs...

It has been so fun to be cutting and sewing fabric again, I don't think I really did much the last two weeks other than the crocheted rag rug I am working.

WIP Leaf Blocks

Well, the voices and I have been having a conversation again... I've been contemplating making a leaf block for a few weeks and was inspired by Sande's Tea Leaves blocks and the technique I learned last fall at my guild's retreat "Stack a new Deck". Briefly what happens is: Layers of fabric are stacked up, cut, shuffled, sewn back together, trimed to a uniform size, sashed, batted and quilted. My Onion Peal quilt was a result of that class.

So here is my twist, is it good? I don't know yet, I will mess around with these blocks today and see what happens. I am hoping they may become a gift for my cousin's wedding, but as a back up I might just turn what I have into a tea cozy ... or something.

WIP-ish Wednesday

I can't say that I have anything new but am continuing to work on two important projects:
"Storm at Sea"
"New Timon"

My WIP will really occur on Saturday when my first day off starts, but I keep basting the pieces to "New Timon" each morning and evening, three to a dozen pieces at a time, while I drink my morning coffee and breakfast, or evening TV.


Storm at Sea is top of my list since it MUST be complete in March. I am currently working on the Lily sides


This morning I unearthed a few more UFOs that I need to evaluate as to what I want to do them:



1/27/07 Note:
The leaf pattern was from a Quilter's Newsletter in the mid-nineties, and I sort of made it up from there. The leaf pattern is pretty common, here is one pattern that I found....
LEAF

The acorn I saw somewhere and drafted it to fit the leaf. All was made a long time ago using templates