Slow Stitching on My Design Wall

On Sundays I always like to link up with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts for some Slow Stitching!  And since I posted yesterday about my Rainbow Pineapples, I'll link this up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.

I'll be working on The Blue Collection applique project while watching the mediocre Carolina Panthers play football today.  At least I'm loyal, right?  Hope springs eternal that they will mount an unbelievable comeback and start winning every game for the rest of the season..... well, okay, that hope has pretty much fizzled out, but I'm still pulling for them :*)

Back to the real world.... 

This is how my strawberry dish turned out using the starch method to prepare the pieces....

Sweet!!!!  I just love that dotted fabric for the strawberry!!!

I still had a little trouble with that leaf, but it was the stitcher, not the method that was at fault.  I think it turned out okay, so it's staying on.  Here is a picture of the designer's block so you can see what it will eventually look like...

The Blue Collection - block by Maggie Walker

I've started on the teapot now ......

I just love this teapot, and I'm absolutely in LOVE with this fabric I'm using for the body of it!!!!

If all goes well, I should have this block finished up today.

***UPDATE****

I did finish up the teapot block ------

Now I'll start on my peaches bowl.  Do you remember my Great Peach Quest post?  Click HERE and HERE if you want to refresh your memory.  I'll wait..... Okay, you back?  *smiles*   Well, here is what these peaches look like all prepped for stitching down....

I was amazed at how great they are going to look in that bowl!  What really tickles me pink is that the size of the peaches in the fabric is almost exactly the size needed for the pattern =^..^=  I may have to tweak them a little as I stitch them down, but I think it is going to work splendidly, don't you?

This is Maggie's block - No offense to Maggie who is one AMAZING designer, but I think I like my peaches better :*)  And I didn't have to paint anything - yep, that's a winner for me!

The Blue Collection - block by Maggie Walker

For those who enjoyed seeing my granddaughter's first attempts at embroidery (HERE), here is her finished piece!!!

For a first embroidery project, I think she did an amazing job!  She even designed the layout, choosing the designs from her book and placing them in position to make her undersea design.  I think she has some definite potential as a future crafter =^..^=  We will be making a sweet little pillow out of this so she can gift it to a special friend.

And last, but not least - the news you've all been waiting for.....  * Drum-roll please!*

The winner of my Birthday Giveaway is....... Andra Gayle!

Andra Gayle said...

I became a follower. Can't wait to see your progress on Hawaii Sunset ( I am very far behind you) and Easy Street (haven't officially decided to participate yet)!

Congratulations Andra Gayle and thanks for following along.  I hope you enjoy the magazine and pattern!  I've sent you an email, so be sure to get your snail mail address to me quickly :*)

That's it for me today!  What about you?  Are you slow stitching today?  What's on your Design Wall?

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

I'm linking this post up with...

 Kathy's Quilts

Back to the Blue!!!

I've  really been down for the count this past week, sick with a sinus infection and bronchitis -yuk!!!  Hopefully this will be my "obligatory" sick session for the winter and I'll have great health for the rest of it :*)  Once I started feeling better today and was able to sit up for a while, I got out this hand-applique project to see what I could work on while just sitting...

The Blue Collection
Design & Quilt by Maggie Walker

This poor project has been sitting ignored for WAY too long!

The Bad News -----

I was pretty shocked to realize the last time I touched  Blue Collection was in March!!!  

Wow!  Really???

The Good News ----
Almost all of the blocks are done for this quilt - whoohoo!!!!  Last week I finished up the next-to-last standard block before beginning to put the center of the top together - this is the tall vase standing on the left-hand side of the quilt ....

I left the top un-sewn to allow for those wonderful vines that will flow from it....

I still have one more block, as well as quite a bit of tracing and template prep for the outer border features, so sitting in my chair while tracing off those pieces was not too taxing at all :*)  My last true block will be very intricate - I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping it won't be too difficult....

The center block that holds the tree that moves through the center of the quilt

Here's how it looks in Maggie's wonderful quilt....

Of course, you know I'm prone to make things hard on myself, right?  I'm using a border print for this pot, which will just add to the challenge!  

Where you could usually use one fabric for the bowl itself, I will need to cut individual pieces and fit them carefully together to get the right angles with this print.  And I don't have a large piece of it either, but I really think it will be worth the effort!

Something you might not realize either is that the tree - that's 3D!!!  Yes, it's is 3 fabric ropes braided together and appliqued down.  Now that I think about it, is it really any wonder I've been dragging my needle on this one???

I also have to make some upgrades to a few blocks before I put them all together.  I started this quilt before I really learned how to do applique well, so some of the blocks are roughly done :(  For instance, see these pathetic attempts at koi below? ...... aren't koi supposed to be beautiful, elegant fish???

Ugh!!!  Nothing graceful about these poor things!!!  I found a print of some koi that I will use to make a new template - hopefully these elegant fish will look much better when I'm done :*)

It's not 2014 yet, but my mind has already started thinking along the lines of finishing up some UFO's which is my plan for the year.  I didn't touch anything at all on my December To Do list, but when you're sick, you have to do what you can do, right?  Hope you all have had a much better week than I did LOL!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Linking up with:

Slow Stitching Sunday
Design Wall Monday

Tuesday Linky Party

So Many Projects!!!

I thought I'd share a few of the projects that are getting the lion's share of my attention lately.  I've got so many quilting irons in the fire right now!  But I think I really work best when I have a lot going on.  It keeps me energized and inspired to have lots of different projects to choose from on any given day.  There's always something in the works that trips my trigger and makes me want to play in the studio!!!

Blue Collection is one of my Dinosaur UFO's - it's been in process since 2008!!!  It's my focus project for this year, and I've been steadily plugging along on it.  I'm happy to say that I've finally added the 3D tree in the center!  This tree has been a stumbling block for me from the beginning.  I've been dreading it!  But it got to the point that I couldn't add other elements until the tree was stitched down, so I finally bit the bullet and went for it!

The tree is made from three tapered bias strips of brown fabrics that are braided together and then loosely arranged on the quilt center, with lots of little branches and leaves sprouting out from it.  (Rocky felt that this particular strip should be his - we had a little bit of a disagreement about it, but happily I finally won ☺)

I had to piece together the blocks in the center section of the quilt with their blue-and-white checkerboard sashing before I could begin to make the tree.

When I appliqued that bottom pot, I left a section open so that I could slip the tree limbs down inside ....

I'm doing hand-stitched applique on this quilt, and it's pretty difficult work handling this large center section to stitch down the tree and all those little remaining leaves, but there was just no way around it.  Of course, this little guy with his curious little nose in everything I'm doing doesn't help LOL!!!  This picture was taken just seconds before he snatched the whole piece off my lap and tried to run for it!

There are quite a few wonderful little details stitched into this quilt ....

And lots of stitching remaining to be done!  But I can't tell you how excited I am to have gotten this far on my Blue Collection project!  I will try my best to post about my progress more often :*)

I usually try to have at least one project all set up and ready to stitch at the machine, so that when I have a spare few minutes I can use it stitching.  This is a paper-pieced project in progress called Diamonds Are Forever from a class I took at guild several years ago.

Lots and lots of scrap strips are going into this fun quilt, and it is amazing how quickly these blocks add up!

Happily, I also have an almost finish to show you!!!  Notice Rocky photo-bombing in the top right?  Believe me, he's not going to miss a quilt-on-the-floor opportunity!!!

Calypso is a kit My Guy bought for me quite a few years ago at a local quilt shop that is no longer in business.  I made the quilt top and then put it on my flimsy shelf to be quilted - and it has remained there for way too long.  I decided to put it on my Guild UFO Challenge list, and it's number came up for this month.  My friend Joanne let me use her long-arm machine so I could git 'er done ...

This will be a feel-good finish for me - I love whittling down that flimsy shelf!

Tomorrow my plan is to quilt and bind my little 14" Fractured Seahorse.  The fabric on the bottom is my backing fabric, and I'm thinking to use a scrappy hot pink binding.  This one is going to go in my stand-up frame in the living room for the summer!

After all the sewing I've been doing on my Janome 6600P, it was finally time to send it off to the spa for a good cleaning and to check the timing, etc.  While it was gone, Rocky found a new favorite place to sit and watch me as I putter around the studio ....

He's such a fun little guy, and I love how he keeps us smiling and laughing!

I'll be linking up with lots of fun parties this week:

Slow Sunday Stitching

Design Wall Monday
Main Crush Monday 

Oh Scrap!

I May Have a Scrap Problem

Linky Tuesday Party
WIPs Be Gone 

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

The Great Peach Quest!

As promised in THIS POST yesterday, I headed out this morning with a really great group of friends in search of suitable peach colored fabric.  Not just the color that is called "peach" but fabric that would really look like a peach in my Blue Collection applique project.

We headed north to Smith's Grove, Kentucky, so we could visit one of our favorite shops - Whittles!   If you're ever in the area, this is a quilt shop you've got to visit!  Great fabrics at unbelievable prices!!!  They also sell online - you can click on the name to link to their website for a nice little visit.  =^..^=

Once there, we were all wandering happily around the shop -- most of us a little drunkenly, because that's what happens when you overdose on fabric -- and suddenly I heard Joan around the corner say, "Hey Teresa?  Didn't you say you're looking for fabric to make peaches?  Look at this...."  

Peaches!!!  Real peaches on fabric!!!

I'm not really sure if I will be able to actually use these in my Blue Collection bowl of fruit ....

.......but wouldn't that be great if it works?  My greatest concern is that it may look out of place with all of the other "ordinary" fabrics, but I'm definitely going to try it and see what happens.  I know you'll all be chomping at the bit to find out the results of my foray into the world of broderie perse :*)  There was also a fabric with cherries on it, so look out world!!!!

If using the peaches fabric doesn't work, Judy over at Shade Tree Quilting had an excellent suggestion for me.  She said I might try to color in a "blush" on whatever fabric I use in order to get a more realistic peach look.  And by golly, I think that would work really well!  I've been wanting to play around with using crayons or colored pencils to shade in quilting elements anyway.  This would be the perfect opportunity to try it, right?

I also picked up a few other fabrics..... what, don't tell me you're surprised?!?  LOL!!!  My Stash Enhancement Report will take a real hit this week :*)   Look at these additions....

108" wide backing for a neutrals quilt I will be making in 2013.  My neutrals will include brown, black and gray, so this backing will be perfect!!!  That background color is black, not blue.

A really gorgeous neutral for a background ... at $4.50 per yard I just couldn't leave it there!

I just LOVE stripes - even better to find stripes AND polka dots!  I got a piece of all three colors =^..^=

Hoping to use these in a table topper for my breakfast room table.  I couldn't decide whether I liked the cream background or the gold background best, so I got both :*)

And of course a few random pieces just because I like them!!!

And what is it about Butterflies and me lately?  I saw this butterfly quilt made up as a sample at Whittles several months ago and FELL IN LOVE!!!  Yes, I know, I'm pretty wanton, falling in love with every quilt I see :*)  They were out of the pattern that day, so when I saw it on the pattern board today I quickly scooped it up......

I've already started collecting bold colorful fabrics for this one.  I think it will be a fun, easy & quick project - maybe SOON!!!

I couldn't have asked for a better group of fun ladies to spend a day with!  And I'm hoping we can all do it again someday soon!   =^..^=

I hope to soon have an update on progress on the Pillow Shams for the 

Scrappy Bearpaws quilt!

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

DWM - Learning Something New!

                  ***  Looking for my Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 6 GIVEAWAY?  Click HERE! ***

The Blue Collection has become one of my primary projects recently, and I've been trying to stay focused and keep blocks prepared so that I always have one ready to work on when it's time to sit down for some slow stitching.  Like yesterday.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any blocks prepared yesterday, so instead of stitching, I had a lot of prepping to do!

These pieces are not yet stitched down, but I laid them out so you could get an idea of how they will look when they are.  All were prepared using the Starch Method, a new method for me that I decided to try after hearing some really good reports on other blogs.  I have to tell you, so far I'm a very happy camper!!!

This method involves using freezer paper templates, and painting liquid starch with a small paintbrush on the seam allowance edges that will be turned under.  It was a simple enough procedure.

This little piece very quickly went from this....

..... to this.....

to this..... and it's as close to perfect as I'm ever gonna get!!!

Here are a few other pieces that would normally have given me some trouble trying to needleturn them, but they were very easily shaped with this method....

Aren't those curves nice and smooth!  Yep, I'm a happy camper!!!  This next one has a couple of problem areas that would have given me fits before.

See the little round bump at the top?  Designed for torture!!!  But it was no problem, and the curves are nice and neat!

This piece was so tiny, I had to put my finger there to give you an idea of its size so you could be REALLY impressed with how nice and neat it is :*)   It is the stem that goes on the tip of this piece.....

It's a strawberry leaf, and it does have a little bit of a raveling issue in that little deep cut.  There just wasn't enough fabric there to fold over on both sides.  I think it will stitch out okay though once I remove the paper.  It's really the only piece that gave me a problem.

I believe The Blue Collection is going to be much more fun finishing up than it has been to this point!  There are many tutorials out there on the Internet if you are interested in trying it too.  Just Google "Starch Applique" and you'll get lots of them.

Hawaii Sunset is still sitting front and center on my Design Wall - I haven't been able to touch it this week at all, but I hope to work on some flying geese tomorrow at sit-n-sew =^..^=

And I thought I'd let you know - I have officially decided to join in on Bonnie's Mystery, Easy Street!   I just love the colors she's using this year, and the fact that she has promised to take it "Easy" on us helped me decide.  I have all the fabrics in my stash, so long as I decide that the gray will work.  I'm still on the fence about that one.  You can see the paint chips laying (lying?) next to each colored stack of fabrics. 

There may still be a few I'll pull out - too dark? - and a few I'll add in, but for the most part, this is it!  I hope some of you are going to join in the fun!!!

That's all I'm up to right now.  What about you?  Do you have something fun and exciting to show us on your design wall, or floor, or bed - whatever it is you use to view your beautiful quilts in progress?  Please join the linky party at Judy's Patchwork Times so we can all enjoy it too :*)

********************     And don't forget, if you want a chance to win one of these....

..... don't forget to go HERE to get in on my Birthday GIVEAWAY !!!

Have a gorgeous week!!!!

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

Linking up with .....