I often claim to have a Quilting "Hobby" in attempts to hide my obsession with fabric and color.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Projects and questions.

As usual, I have dropped off from blogging, because truth be told, I'm just not a writer. I sew. I create, I cook, and I am a mom. But I didn't realize how much I dislike writing, especially about myself. But my mom reminded me that it is her way of seeing my work, my progress. 

So, I am keeping "Kayla's Wedding Quilt" a secret a little longer ( I want her to be he one to show it off at the wedding, and send pictures I can include I'm my post). But I have been busy with other projects. Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville put out a very fun mystery quilt back over Thanksgiving. Loving her work, and knowing I need to challenge myself to get better at my craft, I decided to play along. But, I wasn't thrilled with the suggested colors. So I tweaked the colors slightly, and started into the mystery. And the final project was very nice. So nice, that my husband was smitten with it. So I dedicated it to him, and decided to add it to our personal collection. Seems I often keep more than I sell. Oh well.




The overall size is perfect for naps. And I decided rather than buying fabric just for backing, I would use what I had on hand. It was funny because I had two pieces but neither was enough. So I sewed them side by side, then cut it in half and rotated on half, to create a giant four patch.  I decided to do a FMQ of a wave/scallop. It's neat how it disappears on the print, and shows on the solid. Bobbin thread was purple, and top thread a neutral cream. I'm still learning how to keep my tension even so I don't get eyelashes on the back, but thankfully, Brian isn't a quilt show judge, and he knows it's the front that matters....

Another project I tackled was the daunting hexagon. I got an AccuQuilt Go! for Christmas and a Hexie die. These are so pretty, but not a ton of fun to sew. I used equilateral triangles to turn the blocks into diamonds so I could strip piece them. But even the act of sewing the rows together caused some cussing and tears. Not for OCD prown quilters.

New (untitled) project. Batik hexies w eq. Triangles.
Having a hard time figuring out how to quilt it. Some thoughts that come to mind are a geometric or floral pattern in each Hexie w a simple outline in each triangle. Of course my oldest has already declared this "her" quilt.  Would love some suggestions from fellow crafters. I am inclined towards geometric themes since the quilt itself is very angular. 

And as usual, I'm already moving on. Another Bonnie Hunter quilt! I am doing one of her classics, a called " My Blue Heaven" because I have always wanted to do a two color quilt.  
More to come later...... Happy Spring everyone!



Monday, January 6, 2014

Ice Storm of December 2013

Well, here it is a new year, and I have found myself again sadly lacking in the blogging department.  But, what a better way to kick off a new year than to share the pictures from a phenomenal end to 2013?
The weekend of December 20th, we were hit by some crazy weather that delivered snow, rain, freezing rain, and crazy temps. The result was almost an inch of ice on everything. Our trees took a major beating, and we ended up loosing multiple branches from our pine, the honeysuckle, and the birches. But all said, we were only out of power for an hour at lunchtime on Monday. Not too bad considering many spent the majority of the break (and Christmas) in the dark!




One nice thing about the ice? It gave me a great excuse to stay home and sew sew sew. I finished up two Christmas wall hangings, got started on Bonnie Hunters latest mystery quilt, and prepped for my first client project for 2014!