Monday Work

I am going to get the Improv Stripes put together.

And maybe get the Dino Panel  I got for Sawyer while I was in North Carolina may get put on the longarm.  It should be a quick finish.

I will keep it here for him, if Carrie gets her hands on it, I will never see it again.

While I was at the CAAWS Shelter yesterday, Julie brought me the painting of McGee she did for me.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

There he sits with his Martini and Rope Toy.  Yep, that's McGee!

Here is the Leaves quilt I finished yesterday.  The binding is now done!

All I need is a label, which is what I hate to do most of all.

They call her Iris.  Do you wonder why?

Pillowcases

I took this pile of miscellaneous fabrics and turned them into pillowcases.





Even more amazing, I spelled that "m" word in the prior sentence without the need for spelllcheck!  And got it right!  LOL

I have two Russian Dolls

Aquarium Fish and Viva Las Vegas

Eclipse?

Dogs.  But of course!

 I wanted to use this train fabric for a great male oriented
pillowcase, but it was in part of the fabric that came in contact with my dye jars in the flood.

I trimmed the border on my Leaves quilt.  This one was on the frame when the waters came up.  It sat rolled up on the bars in the Quilt Haus while we rebuilt.  I finished it up when I got the frame set back up  in the house.

Now I need something to sew on while I am at the CAAWS building this weekend.  We are getting a new AC/Heating system put in.

 I want to commend myself for choosing the most perfect border fabric for an amazing quilt!

....pat myself on the back a bit.....

Triangles and Leaves

Cindy needs to go back and take Hurricane Lessons!  She turned out to be a dud, which is a good thing.  We didn't have anything like the weather people were prophesying.  (Is that a word?) In fact, we had just under an inch of rain so far......like .8

As I said, this is all good.

My fiber group was cancelled, but we decided to meet anyway.  gosh these people are so creative.

I showed my 100 Meter Swim Meet quilt top today, even though the theme was "scent".  I pretended it was the chlorine in the pool, LOL.  BeBe had a fantastic perfume bottle she took a photo of, manipulated and printed on fabric.  she also had a piece that she printed at Spoonflower.  Tracy made some scented bracelets, Yvonne tested out some ways of finishing her piece and Judy found a UFO from a technique class 10 years ago that she finished up.


I have been working on the Leaves quilt on the long arm.  I had made the decision pre-flood to do the millions of tiny circles in the background.  Now, post-flood, I still have a million tiny circles to do.  I am thinking my decision was probably not the best decision.  But.....It is looking fabulous and I am getting really good at tiny circles!                                                                  



I pulled this from just before the flood.  I took one picture with the grey at the Quilt Haus and the one with beige is on my design wall.   Same quilt looks totally different.  Not sure which one I like better.

But I have a couple other things I need to work on before I have to make that decision.

Done, Done, Done, Done and Done

five more blocks are completed.  The four I told you about yesterday and a new one.

I am now 29% complete.

Here they are in no particular order.

Leaves

I loaded up a quilt yesterday afternoon late, and started quilting some circles on the blocks.  I need to go change out the thread color to blend with the leaves.



HSN is having a fabulous sale on a lot of the things I really like.  I just bought a liquid knit jacket for covering up in restaurants for $14.95!  The one I have worn for the last 4 years has little holes........I was so upset.  Last week I bought a black skirt for wearing out when I need something just nicer than casual.  All my work clothes were in a 12 or 14 and way, way out of style.



I will have a whole new wardrobe before the sale is over!

Oh Oh, I see something else I need!

Look how skinny I am........

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  One of my pledges this year is to participate in that great site more. 

This was at the Modern Guild Meeting Show and Tell.  Look how skinny I look here.  I need to buy me a black door and just carry it around with me!


I  bought me a thimble.  I did extensive research to find what I should buy.   I know all the rage is the Roxanne thimbles.  This one was $6.50 and I got to have lunch with a good friend and visit with a few people at Daisy's Quilt Cottage.

Or Cottage Quilts.  I think.  Which ever it is, I got a new thimble.



And I wanted to show you one of the Corner Quilts that I actually like.  I love it.  Sometimes Corner Quilts Rule!!

Can you see the elephants in the backing?  I love me some elephants!!!

I plan on quilting a different background in each leaf block.  When I took it to the Quilt Haus I had sticky tabs on most of the blocks with the choice of background.  Now I  have to redo the tabs!


This quilt is the culmination of a project I did with a group of about 10 or 12 peopl  e from across the world.   We  would teach something, and everyone would use that technique and send you a block.  I taught  them how to do a curved seam.  If  you look closely, not everyone played along and did curved seams.  In fact, those people whined alot and did applique.

Regardless, I just love the quilt.  It is totally me!

Duvet Cover Part 2 (or maybe 3 or 4)

 Thank you all for the wonderful well wishes for our anniversary!  It was fun hearing from so many people about their long relationships.  So few of us these days!



We had lunch and exchanged cards.  You will not believe what happened.   Read what the card says and it is even funnier.  We even bought them at different stores! 

After lunch we went to Dick's Sporting goods and looked at some kayaks.  Found this nice set up, but didn't buy anything.  Still looking.


OK.  Back to fabric.

I soaked the back of the Fish Duvet Cover in soy milk and iron sulfide.

And I had Frank chop up a dowel and an old implement (like a shovel) handle.  But obviously not small enough, because it would not fit into any pot I had available.  And I had to sacrifice my old turkey roaster.

I figured if I become famous for my incredibly beautiful ecoprints it will be worth buying a new one come Thanksgiving.

So here I am, I wrapped some leaves from Paula's yard and my yard.  Paula contributed a gorgeous purple leaf crepe myrtle, sycamore, hackberry and tallow.  From my yard came some bush I  can't remember, a palm frond, two caladium leaves and two huge iron plant leaves.

I wrapped my eco-bundles and they are currently boiling away in the turkey roaster.

I had an amount of fabric left over so I took my dye pot, smooshed it all into the bottom without rinsing out the mordant.  I added some ice from the freezer on top and sprinkled some Fire Red, Bright Yellow and Skye Blue Procion dyes over the top.

Now I am waiting.............the boiling needs to go on forever!

Eco-Bundling

I have some silk from a while back, for some project long forgotten.  So I thought to use it for my Eco-Bundle.  So what is an eco-bundle and why would you do it?

Because!

And Eco-Bundle is a piece of natural fabric wrapped up with a bunch of natural objects like leaves, nuts, rusty things.  And you  know how much I love rusty things!

I started with that piece of silk.  Found things like:

Oak leaves and some walnut and gum leaves.

magnolia leaves and a seed pod.

Dirt.

Some purple wandering jew leaves.  The freeze got them so they are in the process of drying up.

Rusty things!






 Here is everything laid out on the silk piece.  And some St John's Wort tea that is dried. 








I used some cotton twill tape Frank had in the garage.  He didn't tell me he had this wonderful tape!  I think he tried to sneak it in on me.  He knew I would lust after it.

Here is my bundle rolled but not tight yet.

 I wrapped it like a little mummy!  This is like what the Egyptians did with herbs and ointments and naards.  After I wet the whole thing, I buried the mummy in a very dark dirt flower pot because I didn't want the idiot child to dig it up.  I will try to remember to keep it moist and see what grows.

I couldn't decide whether to put it in a soda ash soak or pour some vinegar on it.  I think the rusting process will happen over time and moisture without the vinegar, but if not I can rust it after I dig it up.

I want to keep it buried until spring when I replant the pot.  This might be a new use for over-wintering pots!

What Am I Doing Today, You Ask?

I wish I could say I was buying a new car.  Or even finishing plans for a new quilt studio in the back yard.  But no, I am just going to Pilates Class.

Today I hope to put a quilt on the frame and get some wild free motion work started.  And I want to work more on the London Fog Tea Towel.

Cynthia Ragone came to the meeting last night and saw about 15 of the quilts she taught last year.  She said it was humbling to see her work entwined into our work.  And she commented on each one!

OK, I will post some photos this afternoon with some of the work I have accomplished

It Is a Good Thing I Have Credit Cards

McGee was upset that I was trimming the edges of the quilt in my room and not watching him.  I was not happy when i saw my check book.  He ate every check. ALL of them.

But somehow I got the quilt quilted and trimmed.  Now I need to find a binding.

When the retreat was cancelled due to a burst pipe in one of the freezes we had, my hopes of completing this quilt last month were dashed.  I loved it when Carol suggested the name, it suited the situation! The Forest of Frozen Sorrows is the perfect moniker for this quilt.

The backing came from my old curtains.  Nothing was purchased in this quilt, it all came from the stash!  I consider that a win as well.

After I put it on the frame I battled the tension for three hours.  I have no idea why it was so  difficult to set the tension, but I had all kinds of problems.  Not machine problems, mostly human error.  Like this.

I realized at some point that one of the thread guides was empty so everything I had worked had to be re-worked.  And McGee ate my lunch. And then the napkin.  And then the instructions on how to use the Towa Guide.

I was not happy about that either since I had to find the YouTube video on my iPad to tell me how to work it.

I wanted to do something simple so I did loops to indicate the wind blowing the snow and the leaves around.  The pattern and the fabrics were going to overpower any quilting, so the loops are difficult to see.  But here they are on two of the lighter colored leaves.  Smooth.........

All I need is the binding and it will go into the finish column for the OPAM.




OMGosh!   I MUST WORK ON MY TEA TOWEL.........I MUST WORK ON MY TEA TOWEL......REPEAT 2000 TIMES...........