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Friday, August 24, 2012

Piecing with a Twist!

Finally!  

As promised, here are pictures of my finished "Twister" Tree top ..... 
37" by 42-1/2"
....and its own little Mini-me!
11-1/2" by 13-1/2"
Here they are together so you can get an idea of the truly tiny size of this little Mini-me tree quilt =^..^=

What a fun way to learn how to use the Twister Tool!!!

Our Guild sponsored the class which was taught by one of my most very favorite people, Miss Starr Howell.  Here we are, all of us working like little bees....
We started with squares like this...
and then we used the Twister Tool to cut out "twisted" squares, like so...
We had to be very careful to turn them all exactly the same direction and keep them in the exact order.  Starr advised us to lay them in order on a 6x24" ruler as we cut each row, which helped considerably!  

Then we were able to just take the ruler to the sewing machine and sew the rows together without getting confused.  Easy peasy!  One note here - we had to be careful because cutting them "twisted" like this meant the edges became bias edges!  But even so, they went together pretty easy and quickly.

When I sewed all of the "twisted" squares back together, I ended up with this...


How cute is that????

Here is a closeup of the way my scrappy backgrounds came together to make it look like snowflakes ... I love it!!!

And this is the border fabric I finally chose to go with.  You can't tell these true colors on the full quilt picture.  It was a challenge to get those large elements to work, but I was happy with the result.


Of course, we only had time enough to work on our large trees in class.  But for those of us who wanted to make tiny trees too, Starr gave us excellent instructions on how to be oh-so-careful to not cut too far into the surrounding fabric.  She advised us to cut "close" to the ends and then use a pair of scissors to cut the final little bit.


When I was done cutting out all the large squares, I had this sweet little pile of squares left over......=^..^=

When I got around to cutting these down into 2-1/2" squares, I saw why it had been so important to take such care.  In some cases, I barely shaved off some threads to get the square...

Because these little squares ended up on the bias, they were a real challenge to sew together and then cut with the 1-1/2" Twister Tool.  I thought I had taken a few pictures of that, but it doesn't seem as though I did.  I actually had to block it to size before I put the borders on because it wanted to lay pretty wonky :*)  Here you can see all the seams on the back of it...
 It feels heavy and dense like a quilt even before it's quilted!  

I hope my adventures in Twisting have inspired you to grab the tool and begin playing with your own Twisty quilts!  I will leave you with some pictures of some of the other Twister quilts Miss Starr has made which she shared with us the day of class.  I really want to make these too!!! 



So go out there and GET TWISTIN' !!!

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Slow Stitching Sunday

I'm visiting with my daughter this weekend, so posting has to be done with BlogPress and the little one-finger-typing keyboard on my iPhone. Needless to say, this post will be short and sweet =^..^=

The Lord and I are sitting here together, enjoying each other's company and surrounded by the peace and glory of a late summer day on Christy's front porch. =^..^=

I hope it is as gorgeous in your neck of the woods as it is here! Mid 80's and happy sunshine dappling through the leaves, a gentle breeze - aaaaahhhhhh!

I have begun stitching on my next block for Promises and Borders.



I am behind on this project. This is Block 6, and she has released two more since this one, so I have some catching up to do. But this morning I am in no hurry ;-)

I am delighting in the Lord and all that He is!



I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts today. Since I can't link on BlogPress, this is her blog address - http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/

Go visit her today if you can. Her posts are always a blessing!!!

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday, August 13, 2012

Design Wall Monday - August 13, 2012

Hope ya'll had a lovely weekend!  It was kind of quiet at our house, and that was okay with us :*)  The PGA Championship was on TV, as well as the end of the Olympics, so we had plenty to keep us entertained while I stitched and Don's knee recuperated.

On Friday, I went to Joanne's and loaded my niece Raney's graduation quilt, Raney Days & Mondays.  You can see my post about the fabrics and the piecing for this Disappearing Nine-Patch quilt HERE.



It looks huge on the machine, but it is really only about 60x90, a long twin size.  I did iron it - promise! - but I had to fold it up in the bag for transport, and it sure doesn't look like an iron ever came near it :*)  It quilted out just fine though!

This is the fabric Laurie (Raney's mom and my sister) chose for the back...



Raney's baby quilt was a multi-colored polka-dot like this, so Laurie felt this piece would make the quilt even more special.  I think it is the perfect fabric :*)  Doesn't the quilting show up nice on it?  So cute!




My favorite panto - Daisies Galore.  Simple and fun and a little flirty - just like our sweet Raney! :*)

Here is the whole quilt (this was taken before quilting).....Don't you just love the design the Disappearing Nine-Patch makes?  And it is SO easy too :*)



I have the binding all made and ready to apply, which I will do this week.  And I also need to make a label for it so Raney will have the provenance of the quilt if she ever needs it someday :*)

Also completed this weekend - this block for the Promises & Borders BOM....finally!


I really like it laid out on top of Raney's quilt...


I'm thinking I may re-think the layout for this quilt!  I really love these colors surrouding it and giving it a lot of color punch!  Jenny's design calls for a 3-fabric sashing & borders, but this peek at what a bright scrappy sashing might look like is enticing me to experiment.... stay tuned! =^..^=

And I completed my Twister Tree - woohoo!!!  But I'll wait until another post to unveil that because I have lots of photos to share & I don't want to overload this post :*)  However, I will leave you with this little tease of the tiny tree our instructor made with her scraps from her big tree....
I didn't measure it for exact measurements, but this tiny quilt is only about 8x10 inches!!!  And it is TOO cute!!!  I've started trimming down my scraps to make mine... I can't wait!!!   Many thanks to Starr for teaching us this fun new technique :*)

I'm linking up with this week as always with Patchwork Times for Design Wall Mondays.  Also linking up with:


Tuesday Linky Party at Freemotion by the River
WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Slow Sunday Stitching =^..^=

What a beautiful Sunday we are having in Nashville!


In previous posts, I've shown you my stitching view at my son's house and then my daughter's house.  This is the view at my house from the side porch where I often spend my mornings talking with the Lord and making plans for the day.  Today it is just a little cool, which is a very welcome break from the heat.

The hummingbirds are loving the feeder, although one of them has decided is it HIS and he guards it very jealously :*)  I don't think that is him on top of the pole - he has a deep red ruby throat.  This may be one of the little females.  We have really enjoyed watching them this year.


On foggy mornings, this is what it looks like....


Ahhhh, just the thing to make me feel the closeness of God and remind me that I am covered with His amazing Love!

It is also the perfect place to sit and slowly make progress on my hand stitching project, Borders and Promises.


This is my current block.  I still have to finish up the bird and eggs, and of course the small leaves and flower centers.  But I'm taking my time and enjoying this sweet project :*)  I've been working on this one for a while now though, and it will be nice to start on the next block.

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  What are you doing to make your Sunday an excellent one?  I'd love to know....

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Pets on Quilts

Sliding in Just Under the Wire!!!


This is our cat Gypsy on my newest quilt......Doesn't she look happy?  No?  Well, that's because I had just woken her from a sound nap.  She's clearly saying, "Excuse me, I was taking a nap here if you don't mind."


She does look as if she was pretty comfy, wouldn't you agree?  She's practically snoring :*)  Oh well!  As soon as I saw her curled up there, I knew I had my chance for a photo shoot to join in the fun for the Pets on Quilts Party over at Lily Pad Quilting.  She's not usually one to hop up on my quilts, so I didn't have any pictures before today.

This is a Stars quilt that my friend Joanne gave me yesterday - isn't it a beauty?!?  

She can't remember for sure, but she thinks she got the blocks in a yard sale at our guild one year.  She's been working hard this year to finish up some old UFO's, so she pulled out the old blocks, put them together, added some borders and quilted it.  

This picture really shows her beautiful quilting.  She had planned to give it to charity, but I loved it so much that she gave it to ME!!!  You all know how much I love scrappy, and this quilt sparkles with scrappy goodness!  Yes indeedy, I'm a lucky girl to have such wonderful friends!!! Thanks Joanne!!! You know I will treasure it! =^..^=

Once Gypsy got over her irritation with me for waking her, she decided that the quilt was a pretty good place to take a bath too....
A lady must have clean hands at all times!
Gotta get those ears really clean .....
A clean belly is SO important!!!
And let's not forget those nether regions!
Can a girl get a little privacy here?????
Oh yeah, she has cattitude in abundance!!!  LOL!!!!  But when you're as old as she is - 16 this year - I suppose you're entitled to a little attitude, right?

Hope you're enjoying all the beautiful pets in the Pets on Quilts Show over at Lily Pad Quilting. If not, you're missing out!!!  Hop on over and see for yourself :*)

Pets on Quilts

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Stash Enhancement Report - Oldies Style!


Have you discovered Pandora Internet music?  I just love clicking on the ap on my iPhone and then sewing to the sounds of Motown and other oldies from the 50's, 60's and 70's ... they have loads of oldies stations!  Of course, if you're not an oldies fan, they have just about any music genre you love.  

These are some of the gems I sang along to yesterday.....  

Sam Cooke - Wonderful World!  ....don't know much about History ... but I do know that I love you... and I know that if you love me too, what a wonderful world this will be!

Otis Redding - Sitting on the Dock of the Bay!  Amazing song - takes me to the beach with the first notes!

Aretha - (You make me feel like) a Natural Woman! Ahhhh Aretha!  'Nuff said!  Give the diva some R-E-S-P-E-C-T!


 Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine! I bet you're wonderin' how I knew.... 

Ummmmm, what was the point of this post again?  Oh yeah, now I remember.... 


Stash Enhancement Report :*)
I have some finishes to report again this week - woohoo!!!  I used about 6.5 yards for the backing and binding of Raney Days.  And I used about 1.5 yards in the Twister Tree top.  My only addition is one yard I bought for the border of the Twister Tree.  I'll post pictures on tomorrow's Design Wall post =^..^=


Stash Enhancement Report - August 12, 2012 

Used this week: 8.00 yards
Used YTD 2012: 101.75 yards
Added this week: 1.00 yards
Added YTD 2012: 173.50 yards
Net Used for 2012: -71.75 yards


How's your stash looking?  To see how others are doing with theirs, go to Patchwork Times and visit some really fun blogs!

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=
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