A Short Video of some Motifs/Techniques Learned in the Free Courses!
...of last year's round robins. This is Velia's block. Isn't it already so pretty?!! I'm auditioning trims for the two center seams. I'm really liking the rose and black one...but not so sure about the gold trimmed one.
It seems a bit too bright at the edges. And, although it technically 'matches' the colors in the block...that bright shade of gold just screams out at you. It takes away from the delicate stitching already on the block.
This little bit of dyed lace is pretty and would be even prettier once beaded...but, it's a little 'ho mum'...yawning!
This dyed trim was done in the same dye batch as the floral piece...but it has more dimension and therefore more interest to me. So, think I'll be using this one. Right now, they are just pinned in place. Now, what to add next? The block does not have any lace pieces...and I'm thinking that they would add some real texture. The theme is 'encrusted' so the block needs loads of 'stuff' to qualify for that theme!
These four lace motifs are the right size to fill some space and carry the viewer's eye around the block...without overpowering the other elements of the block.
I like the idea of tucking the lower one under the trim...you'll have to use your imagination to add the beads and such to these.
This top area will mirror one of the lace motifs, and add a darker one in the same color family (from the same dye bath actually).
Now, I'm off to actually stitch these all down and start to add some embroidery! See you back soon with more photos.
Do you have an Acer?
I spent Brady's nap time today packing up the Acer Chrome Book that I bought in December. Already, it is out of sorts...as the screen keeps blinking and getting weird boxes on it, but nothing works. I only used it for Pinterest and Netflix...and the technician tried helping me to clear out everything and reboot back to factory setting. That didn't work. So, it is being shipped off to Temple, Texas...and I was reading their comments section of their website. No favorable comments...none, zip...nada. That's not a good thing. Several folks said that they got calls saying their laptops were 'water damaged' which is not covered under the warranty....but they had never had them near any water. Mine has not been near water either...but now, I'm leary of what they will say. Keep your fingers crossed for me that they will be honorable and just fix it as the warranty requires.
My mother and SIL both have Acer computers and have had no problems with them...but this little Chrome book has been troublesome from the start; had a real learning curve with it...and it's not very powerful. I strongly advise you not to ever consider getting one. And, I'll let you know how the repair support is when I get it back...and how long that takes. The Technician said 7-10 days after they receive it....but the reviews say weeks.
S is for SNOW!
Hope you have a great day! And, that you get some stitching done.
This is my effort in my knot garden to date. It has been easy to get lost in this garden...but I finally found a way to simplify the task of stitching these 5,000 plus knots needed in this design. Well, the stitching itself is still the same...just that the order has become a bit easier.
In stitching my first 'ribbon' of hedges (see the green) I started first by stitching knots along the outside lines of one ribbon...following a single line over and under other ribbons marked. Now, I'm filling in this area to actually create the hedges. (See the area that is already full?)
Approaching the design this way, I determined that it was actually two totally separate hedges...interlaced. You can see the second one traced, but not stitched yet. So, I'll stitch the first one completely...then tackle it's partner. Might even do this second hedge in a different green.
But, I'm also taking a little departure from the hedge right now, because the tight turns of the hedge are causing the "spaces" in those turns to become lost. So, I've stopped the hedge work temporarily to add in some blue varigated knots where these little bits of space are...before they all become lost and I can't see where to stitch. I'm going to do these spaces in the 'partner' hedge too before starting that.
This knot garden is part of this year's challenge at StitchMAP. We'll be doing three different needlework designs, in hexagons. This month, I contributed two designs of my own...one in silk ribbon and one in embroidered bullions. So, this third design (done by Shari Jensen, owner of the group) is my only option for stitching as a member participating in the challenge. So, knots it is...they are tedious...but as it grows, I am starting to enjoy the journey. Shhhhhh, don't tell Shari I said that...as I have already indicated that I'm saving for airfare to Colorado to 'thank her' for her design which requires all these knots!
You might note also that the design is transfered using a red pen....gasp! I read about these pens on Janet's blog...QuiltsALot...and ordered them off Ebay.
They came to me from the United Kingdom, and are completely water soluble. I tested them on this background fabric...and all of the ink washed out very quickly. So, after the knots are done (say about Thanksgiving timeframe?)...the piece will get a good soaking.
I'll keep you posted on how the project goes.
Oh, and you are welcome for the link to Janet's blog...isn't it wonderful! Makes me want to lock myself in a room for months and just applique!
I know some of y'all must think I've left the country or something...but nope, just busy as heck! And here is mostly why...Brady has learned to crawl and pull up. No more setting him down on a pallet to play why I stitch...nope...he is busy too! Here he is, going after one of Buddy's nasty yucky chew toys...his favorite actually, the squeeky skunk.
But, I retrived it just in time and threw it to the window seat. Here is Buddy, just his rump in frame, heading to retrieve it. And Brady wondering "what happened? I almost had it?"
Come on...isn't he cute! Even if I am just a proud great-auntie. He also has a good set of lungs and believes that growling and yelling "Aaaaaannnnnt" is the way to call me to get him up when he wakes or wants something. He'll be a little red-head handful of trouble when older for sure!
And, this greeted us last week. This is my front porch and steps. No getting down this way yet, had to wait until it stopped and then sweep and put out ice. I still stayed upstairs, but at least someone could get up the steps in an emergency.
The snow is was beautiful! But, it came way to fast...and way to much for our southern roads to deal with. Standed thousands of folks (perhaps even millions across the state) on the roadways trying to get home or to schools. The schools were open as the streets were clear in the morning. But around 9:30 they announced closures; and around 10:00 tons of folks were on the roads to get their children...but the snow was already everywhere and ice was beneath that. Loads of parents could not get up to schools that sat on top of hills...and many schools had to keep some students overnight. The teachers did a great job of taking care of the kids...but the parents were upset at not getting to them for sure. Even little Brady stayed with me one night because his mother was stranded at work for several hours in the evening. It was safer for him not to travel...and then Dad could concentrate on getting to Mom in their four-wheel-drive truck. I didn't mind one bit that he was here for longer!
T is for Too Cold!
My friend Colleen posted a message on the HGTV Message Board to see finished French Rose Quilts, and of course that had me searching for photos. Not having the pattern, I just drew up a similiar version myself. Aidan and I had great fun this weekend working on a nine block quilt for my newly born great niece.
My Aidan is growing up right before my eyes. Where did my sweet little cuddle baby go? Time sure flies by. She is sewing up the leaves (until she found she had sewn about nine without any bobbin thread)...then see moved to chief presser because she got so aggravated. Ha, been there...done that before.
Here is the link to our pattern version if you'd like to try this yourself. It took us about two days...but we did other things too, so really you could get this done in a full day if you pushed yourself. We chose to use a very thin interfacing on the back of the flower pieces, then turn them inside-out by snipping a hole in the interfacing side. We did not trim any fabric away as we layered...but you could if you didn't like the bulk.
another start to a week...that could be "unusual"?...nope, not around here
we are as predictible as the sun beaming in too early in the morning
Here are my first group of blocks for the I Believe in Snowmen quilt. Not the traditional redwork as seen in the pattern...but I'm very happy with this country version.
The latest crazy quilt block I've been working on belongs to Colleen, and she titled it "Gypsy". It gave me a great canvas to add some crochet roses that I'd been saving for just the right project. I was gifted with about six of these...but only needed two for this block.
To begin, I added three trims to the lower seam areas...then added some tatting pieces, and some stitching and beads.
This was a lot of fun to work on because it was so bright and very open to using different types of supplies.
Here is the block as it is now, ready for the next stitcher.
Here's the next letter in this series for you.
V is for Valentine! Coming soon.....
INGENIOUS? INSANE? LAZY? or a bit of all 3?
Here's the story...
Just started working on my I Believe In Snowmen quilt, designed by Bunny Hill Designs. It's a redwork quilt, but I'm trying hard this year to use of some of this fabric stash that I have. There is a piece of Thimbleberries winter style fabric that I've had for at least ten years...and I love it. So, I reworked the idea of the quilt and am using that. I'll post more on this later on as I get a section complete...but today, I wanted to share with you how I prepared my linen for the embroidery work. Yes, I'm using linen instead of just quilters cotton for the embroidery blocks...mostly because I had about seven yards of this oatmeal colored linen...and it matches perfectly with the Thimbleberries fabric.
If you go to the Bunny Hill Designs link above and check out the quilt...you'd see that it is full of embroidery blocks. And these are about six inch blocks...so a lot of tracing.
My time is precious, and I was not looking forward to tracing all of those designs...so, instead...I printed them on the printer. (well, technically...I put the pattern page on the glass and hit the COPY button...so, really I copied them instead of printing them...but, you get the idea.)
First, I prepared my linen by washing, ironing, and starching. Then I cut a piece of freezer paper (waxed paper used to wrap meat at the butchers)...and ironed it with the wax side against the linen. The paper and fabric was about 10 x 12 at this point.
Then, I trimmed the newly created linen/paper piece to exactly 8.5 x 11.0 inches since that's what my printer likes to take.
I fed this into the single-feed area of my printer. (NOTE: My printer like the paper to be face-up for printing...so the linen is on top. Some printers like this to be face-down...so if you try this...mark a piece of fabric...then feed it in (remember the way you face the marked side) and copy something...when done, look to see what side of the paper the copy image was put on...is it the marked side or the other side? This will let you know how to feed your fabric/paper piece.)
Now, here's where it gets scary...the blocks printed (this one is now in my hoop ready to stitch). Of course, there is a lot of other information of the pattern page that I didn't need...but, I'm okay with the waste of that bit of linen. I only wanted the center image with the embroidery on it. BUT, I was mortified when I saw that the linen had also picked up a shadow image. You can see that at the bottom of the hoop above. This occurred I think because the image was on the DRUM when it turned the first time and it kept printing. My laser printer is at least fifteen years old...although the drum is only about a year old. Your print might or might not do this...and mine didn't do it on the snowflake block as you can see from the first photo above.
But, all is well...because I stitched one snowman block...and soaked it for about 15 minutes in dish-washing detergent after a quick little scrub of Borax washing powder too. Rinsed...and all of the printer powder came out. Whew! (Laser printer use a dry powder...not sure if this will be true if you use an ink-jet printer because the liquid might be more easily absorbed by your fabric.)
Then, I designed some snowflakes to add to the pattern...and since I was creating them for printing...I could make the ink color dark gray...instead of black. These printed and did not have any shadowing (see first photo)...so, this technique saved me hours and hours of bending over my light table and tracing...but if I was limited in my amount of linen I would have stopped after seeing the first "shadow print" as that was scary!
It was worth my time to continue and hope that the extra image washed out...and it did. So, use caution...but this might be worth you time to test out on your printer...and see if it washes out.
I'd test each fabric before doing this...but, I'll certainly consider it if I have some fabric to waste in the test. Thought you might think it worth your time too.
A member over at the HGTV Message Board Group was looking for help creating a quilt for her Aunt and Friend now living in Assisted Living. She asked for blocks of any style, and indicated that her aunt liked teddybears and strawberries. Well, I had a piece of pretty little dainty strawberry fabric...and looked for it for three days...but never found it. (Sound familiar?)
But, I found a second piece of strawberry that I didn't even remember owning. (Again, sound famliar?) It was in a stack of fat-quarter bright fabrics, so I think that I must have gotten in during a swap of fabrics. Anyway, it is really bright...that yellow is like a school bus yellow.
Thinking that it would over-power any other blocks being created, I searched for a matching fabric in the stash...and found a green and a white tonal. So, decided to do an entire top...so that the strawberries would not be 'gauty' but spring time and pretty instead.
Here is the design I sketched out...looks like a real mess doesn't it?
Ha, that's how my muse works...just hit and a miss at an idea and she's off and running.
I'll show you the finished patchwork when done...it will need borders I'm thinking...but my cyber friend will deal with that before she quilts is. A red border I'm thinking...
