Paperweight Top is Done!

Now to think of backing and quilting!  This is wonderful.  I am hoping it lays straight.  (fingers and toes crossed).  There are so many not so straightway seams and no square edges anywhere.  When I pieced a background and a circle I made sure it laid flat and ironed it.  Some I set with starch, but I think the starch was messing with my allergies and causing my eyes to swell.  So I left it alone and just used the heady steam.

I like it a lot.

I went from this:






To this:












To this:













To this:  Do they look alike!

By Lunch Progress is Made

I worked hard putting the circles and half circles together.  First there were two rows on the design wall.  Looking good.


Then I put the two columns together to make a nice center portion.  I had to tweak some seams to keep things straight.  But it is looking very nice now.

I just noticed I put the center section on the right upside down.  LOL.  I am glad I have not sewn it in yet!

Poor Lady Jane, she has not been granted freedom, she will be beheaded on Friday hence.


The dogs are on the close patio.  Can you see the little boy?  He is one who likes chairs and sofas, he is.

Lunch now!

glen

Elephants of Sri Lanka and the Lady Jane Grey

You will be very happy to know that Charlene H. now has, in her possession, my Ellies!  YES!  She is a brilliant quilter and will do such a special job on this quilt.  I can't wait to see it.

A couple of weeks ago I brought them to show her, she came right up with a great quilting idea.  She is so smart!  I had to trim up the top and create the backing for it.

When I purchased that backing, I bought 5 yards, thinking it would be more than enough.  But it was not.  I needed about a yard and half more!  Leftover fabric from the borders made up the difference.

This will be a big claim on my Stash Reduction report on Sunday.

I had some time today to work on the final circles and half circles for the Paperweights.  (Poor Lady Jane Grey.  She was part of a plot to keep a Protestant as leader and thus thwart Mary, who was Henry VIII's oldest surviving child and an unmarried woman of 31.  Queen Jane was not even 17 when she was manipulated onto the throne.  And it was just a matter of weeks, because once it was known that the boy King Edward was dead, Mary began to raise an army to take her rightful place as Queen of England.  And Anne Boleyn's daughter Elizabeth was not far behind her.  Poor Jane, I am sure she will be beheaded.)

I finished up the paperweights, I spent some time rearranging the colors.  I decided to toss one of the light green circles and make a darker brighter one.  And am now piecing them together.  I have one row completed.  I am afraid it will be too small a quilt.  But that would require 7 more circles.  Doable but not desirable!

As you can see, I am ready to move on to an Auction  Win.  It is a completely cut out quilt, waiting to be assembled!

More Paperweights and a Dog Bed

This week is the week that the National Specialty for the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club is being held.  The girl who got my duffle bag in the raffle had her dog win the Ambassador of the Breed Award, which is quite impressive to say the least.  Her dog Whisper has about 15 different titles and is really an incredible girl.  Chris, herself, is a wonderful dog trainer.  Both really deserve this honor.  I am glad for them.  And I wish I were there!

I did get 3 full circles done and 6 half circles for the edges are complete as well.  I also sewed the remaining kites, although I will have to un-sew several to use the halves for the edges as well.  I can still move the majority of the circles around.  I do "test" them in different places.  And I also have about 4 more sets I can make to replace the ones I don't like.  Or if I want them all I can add an additional row and make it wider.  We shall see.

You can see how large the quilt will be, of course it will draw up some because of the seams yet to be sewn, but there is DiNozzo sleeping on one of his 200 or so dog beds scattered about the house.

That dog bed, let me tell you, is wonderful.  I used two old bed pillow to stuff it. I bought one of those oversized bath towels, like a beach towel size.  Folded it in half and sewed the two sides up.  I put velcro on the open side.

I made two of the covers so I could take it off, wash it and have one clean to go on the pillows.  Cheap and easy.  The Swissys were too big for the beds but they loved to hang over the edges on them anyway.  The bassets fit beautifully and Hugeaux the Grand-Dog Cavalier all  fit nicely.

You can probably find old pillows at the resale shops to get a really cheap and good dog bed!

I am dying to see Charlene's paperweights.  She is using a jelly roll and it will be different from mine.  But I am sure it will be incredible!

glen

Work on Paperweights Resumes

Yesterday I was able to accomplish about 4 things that have been hanging over me in the quilting room.

3 sections together

I got the two leaf blocks done and mailed
I got the Brit Dogs mailed to Mary W
I cleared the space so I could work (although it didn't stay clear)
I sewed three, well one and two halves, circles for Paperweights
and
I was able to put three sets of circles and kites together as a unit to see how they worked and how they fit.

It was good.

The duffle bag I sent to the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog National Specialty got raffled off and a good friend was able to win by stuffing the bucket with tons of tickets!  She loved it.

I need to make another one and a quilt for the next Specialty.  In a pile of paperwork, I found the pattern for the Yappity Dog block I love so I might have to start just making a block from the scraps when I finish a quilt.  That way I will have a bunch of blocks to just put together when I need one, or just get enough and put it together and let it hang in the closet with the rest of the finishes that have no place to go.

glen

Design Wall Monday 8-27-12

Progress on the Paperweights has been good and steady.  Are you tired of me talking about it yet?  Here is what it looks like now.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:

It looks like Hurricane Isaac is heading straight for us, due to hit on Wednesday at 7 am..  It was 20 years ago that Andrew hit us killing 8 people and toppling trees and power lines all ove Baton Rough.  We lost the two trees in the fron of our house.

And 7 Years ago this week, Katrina hit east of New Orleans.  We just hat minor tree damage here, but the hurricane that followed, Rita, hit Baton Rouge way harder and 2 people lost their lives whe trees fell on their homes, one in our neighbiorhood.  We were out of electricity for  two weeks.  

I finished Dan's BQ Quilt and put the binding on but didn't sew it down yet.  Handwork for the night in front of the TV.

I need to put the binding on The Dogs and sew it down by hand during TV time.

 I also have joined two of the blog hops.  One is Leafs Me Happy because I love leaves in quilts and the other is,  of course, Wicked!  That one is Halloween, how could I pass that up when I know that Charlene will DEFINITELY be there too!

Click on the buttons on the side to see how each works and I will be helping you with info as we go along.  If I don't forget!  LOL.






Several people have asked about the name Paperweights.  I think the designer, Pam Dinndorf, must have thought it looked like those glass paperweights.  I think she is right!

I am heading to a retreat for the weekend, four days this time.  So I should have some nice stuff done again and some yardage used for next week.  Or maybe the week after!

glen

How Are the Paperweight Fish Looking Now?????

So.......waddya think?

Taking Time With The Paperweights

And deciding what quilt to put on the frame next.  No quilting since I have been dealing with my mom stuff and Lois' funeral stuff.  So joyful yet so sad to lose her.  Over her many years, she created a tight family unit and they all came to her for her wisdom.  I imagine that Suzette will now fall into that role.  She is so like her mother.

We just got back from the movie 2016.  If you plan to vote either way this election, you need to see this one.  It is a historical and fact filled documentary.  That is all I will say about it.




Now off to sew more Paperweights!  Anyone wishing to do the Paperweight by Aardvark pattern will find it easier if you talk to me first.  Unless you are a really experienced quilter or like going through the figuring out process, it will be easier to have my mistakes and education as a guide.

It is NOT difficult, but it could be!

Maybe we could get together at the Red Stick and go through some of the ways to do the various sections and see what we can accomplish!

By 4 o'clock it was definitely growing! And feeling good.  There are circles that didn't have the proper cut strips so I have been using them as the edge half circles.  It works out nicely.

And I am getting better at sewing the circles and using the registration marks.

I found this on the internet at some point, it is called Cafe and I am not sure who did it, but I love it.  See the kites and the triangles?  Maybe that can be my NEXT project!  You know I have all those leftover shirts and plaids!

glen

DiNozzo Loves the Fish, Too!

I am off to the Social Security office in a second, my iPad is charging up.  I imagine a long unproductive wait.

Who me????

But first I have to tell you that the comments I am getting about the Paperweight quilt are incredible.  Thank you all, a number of you don't have email addresses.  So know, I love to hear from you too!

This morning, darling, dear DiNozzo decided to help with the fabric I had organized in all those bags, remember that?

This is where I am right now

While I was brushing my teeth, not that long either, he rummages through my fabric bags, ripped all but 2 of them up.  He distributed all the fabric strips in the living room in various corners.  Tossing them everywhere like beads at some drunken Mardi Gras parade.

THEN, he took the background kites and ran up and down the hallway letting them fly on the winds of serendipity.  One was even lodged on the top of a CAT PICTURE!

THEN, he got the mustache trimmer I just bought yesterday.  I use it to rip out seams and usually have to fight Frank for it...........hmmmm, he has no mustache, I wonder what he uses it for?  I probably better not ask. DiNozzo took the box and chewed it open, got the trimmer out and trimmed his mustache.


I could tell he used it because there were bite marks on the handle.

How Do I Organize Fabrics For The Quilt?

To me, this is the most exciting time of a quilt.  The very beginning.  Not the picking out of fabrics or pattern.  But the cutting out once all that is done.  Sometimes, when it is being sewn together, and I am seeing how things are going, it gets a bit discouraging to see difficulties.  So the cutting out is the best part for me.

Here is what I do to organize my fabrics when I am cutting out a quilt?

((((((((OMG!  you are not going to believe this.  I just deleted my entire folder of Paperweight pictures.  How did THAT happen???????  I hate computers~!))))))

Plastic bags.  Lots of plastic zip lock bags.  Lots and lots of them.  I keep mine in a, well, a zip lock bag!  I recycle them over and over and over again.  I have some that are for sure 8 years old!

I make address labels and stick them on the bags to indicate what piece this is.  Luckily there are only 5 pieces in the Paperweights quilt.

A through D and the background.  I sorted out the fabrics by color and then as I cut them, placed them in the bags.  I don't have the ruler yet, that should come on Monday, so I can't cut any of the backgrounds out yet.  Not a problem, I am into making the strips right now.

So when I am ready to sew, I can just line my bags up on my table, dig into the bags to get what I need and I am ready to go!


glen