On my Design Floor

Back to this WIP.  I've added 7 more. You can see the first post here.  Don't know what size it will be as I may run out of the tan fabric before I make all the blocks I want to make.  We'll see.

I'm doing some more as leaders and enders and have gotten this far with the next six.

I'm linking up with Judy's DWM, Lyn's BOMs Away, Beth's Monday Making, and Em's Moving it Forward.  Lots of beauties there!

Some of This; Some of That

First the destashing:  Used 2.42 yds for 9 blocks I'm using in two projects and the binding for the t-shirt quilt.   I'm giving my neighbor another 2 yards for her stash - she's a new quilter and hasn't built it up yet.  So my YTD total now is 63.06 yards.

This afternoon, after my DGS leaves, hope to do some slow Sunday stitching on an applique block I prepped earlier this year.  I've been working on it as I take my friend to her radiation treatments.  I don't think I've shown this Anna's Garden block before:


This is one of my WIPs Be Gone projects, so I'm glad to be back to working on it.

Out in the garden I found a last and rare blooming going on.  One of the last flowers to bloom are my sulfur cosmos. These have grown taller and blooming later with each season I save seed. So I may have to start from brand new seeds next spring. When I first planted them, they were only about 2 feet tall when they bloomed.  Now if I let them - they'd be 5 feet tall.
I'm standing in a well around the house. That's why they look taller than I.  I see these from my kitchen window.  Here's a close up so you can see the luscious sulfur color. 

And the rare flower (well at least to me as it is a night bloomer and I rarely catch one open) is from a Pilosocereus cactus I noticed from my bathroom window.  

I'm linking the Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, and quiltpaintcreate's Sunday Stash report. Check them out. 

October is almost gone!  Blessings,


Quilted, Bound and Shown.

Commission quilt is done.
       Quilted, bound, and shown to recipient:

It's a t-shirt quilt. That's why it was so hard to guess the quilting motif.  Some of these fronts of the garments have a lot of paint on them, so all I could do was go around the designs.

Measures 55" by 59". Quilted on my domestic Juki. Still have to clip some threads. My mom put the top together and then handed it over to me to quilt.  It's quite heavy, and was more so, when I had all the pins on it while I quilted.  It's for my DD - a student adviser at UC Riverside for the past 19 years.  Besides guiding 460+ students a year the above is what she has been up to at work on the side of course. 


Drawing Outer Space


Working with students, it's always a surprise what interests them, or not.  Last month, I placed Draw 50 Outer Space on our art table in the library.  The art table (with various drawing instruments -ie pencils, markers, crayons) invites students to peruse the book there and perhaps contribute to our rotating art work display board.  This one didn't interest my 190+ students as much as the fairies book did. It's an excellent book with step-by-step examples by noted author, Lee Ames - just not as exciting as dragons, aliens or other worlds.  Here's what I was given from two artists:
Drawn by first grader, AS.
"Why did you use pencil?", I asked him.  "Space doesn't have color" was the reply.  Hmmm. 
"Tell my about your squiggly lines over your planet".   "That's space," he said.
Drawn by 7th grader, CG.


"Would you check out this book?" I asked.  "Maybe, if I need a drawing for a science project."


I received this book (published by Watson-Guptill Publications)  from Blogging for Books for this review. 






Friday Finish of Sorts

I didn't get a whole top done as I spent my sewing studio time quilting that commission quilt.  It's slow going.  Some of the blocks have a border around them before the sashing.  So, I'm concentrating on doing those before I go onto the actual sashing.  It won't have an outer border.  It's a bit lighter than it looks, however this is what I get when I take a photo at night.

So for my breaks in between quilting sessions I made a couple of blocks.  This first one is a pink one for the 2017 RSC challenge.
The second block is one I saw at Angela's linky party, and I liked it so much I visited the blog from which it was posted and found the directions for it. Thought it was a great block for scraps.  I may embroider or applique something in the center unit. Still thinking about that.
Both of these measure 9 1/2" square.  The blue one came together as a leader and ender creation as I made the pink block. I see two WIPs being added to the pile. Such is life.

I'll be linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday, Muv's Free Motion Mavericks, Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Myra's Finished Or Not Fridays, and Angela's 2017 RSC Challenge.  Do go by and see all the doings posted.

Have a blessed weekend.

On my Design Wall

is a mess.  Wanted to make another quilt as last week's, but it went awry.  I thought of making each block have a different solid.
Ugh - I didn't like it.  No cohesiveness as before with only one sash color.  So what to do?  I decided to take those blocks I'd made and change them a bit.
This I like.  Need to change out the other blocks to decide for sure.  Has this happened to you?  I see the use of making a color drawing first before one starts to make blocks.

I've finished quilting the blocks on that large commission quilt.  Here's another block:
Have you guessed what's on the other side yet?  The quilting was getting difficult because the quilt is so heavy.  I've never been one to use gloves, but my hands were getting a rough workout. Maybe I should go to the LQS and buy some.  Then I remembered. 
Not long ago, I bought a pair of gardening gloves at the 99 Cent store.  Gave them a try, and they worked! Made moving the quilt around much easier.  With all the blocks quilted on to the sashing.

The mailman delivered a wonderful package! Free Spirit was celebrating National Sewing Month (September) all month long with a big giveaway.  The top prize was a Janome machine.  While I didn't win the Grand Prize, I was one of three winners on day #11.  

Yes, 24 fat quarters of Amy Butler's new collection Soul Mate plus Coats+ thread to quilt what top I make.  I know just the top I want to make.  Ah, WIPs get farther down on the list. Linking up to Design Wall Monday, BOMs Away, and Monday Making.

What are you up to?  It was 98 degrees outside today, so it was a good day for being indoors and quilting.  Blessings,


WIPs, Where are You?

I've been sucked into the whirling space of "new project".  I feel like Dory - I'm going to finish what I started - Oh look such a cute new project.  Am I hopeless?  Here's my latest start - I've finished all the blocks for it.  They're even sewn together (didn't get a photo of that - it's gone to another St. Anne's member for sandwiching and completing).
 I love this pattern. Anyway you turn the blocks the seam abut very nicely to give one flat intersections. It went together fast once I found all the scraps of leftover baby fabric to make the centers.  These were all in a scrap bag - another one almost emptied.  The blue strips came from my stash.  I just happened to have the yard I needed. Once I had those 49 centers,  I used chain piecing to whip through the blocks
 I laid down the strip on my machine, right side up and put a center piece on top and sewed them together.
Left a teeny space (1/8"-3/16th) and added the next center. Once the strip was full, trimmed the blocks and added added strip on the other side of the block doing the same procedure. "Top measures 39 1/2" square.

And then my next distraction from my WIPs is a commissioned piece I am quilting.
Crazy motif, but all will be explained when I can show you the front.

What are you up to?  Come by and I'll go see your WIP.  I'm linking to Sara's Can I get a Whoop Whoop?  and other (you can check them out under my More tab).  Blessings!


Some This; Some That

First in destashing:  Had to remake my four-patches for the QAL, so I used another .3 yards of scraps for those. The first set was on my design wall here.  The new YTD total now is 58.64 yards.

On my design wall is the completed top for the Palmateer Point QAL.
You can go to Lori's post and see all the ones shared on her linky party.  They're great!  I had a bit of an issue with my obsessive, compulsive nature and the 2"squares aren't as random as I wanted.  I really like the more scattered look of others for that. Could also be I had so many darker squares. Maybe I'll try again when I find the first set of four-patches.  One frustration I had with this 21" square top is trying to nestle seams when assembling. I'm sure there's a secret to that. Just haven't discovered it, especially with having to turn the four-patches this way and that to get the colors where I wanted them. Live and learn.

What are you up to?  Let me know and I'll come by. I"m linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday and a couple of others.  Check out my more tab to see those. Blessings.

Mod Baby Top Finish

But first let me show you my DH's pride and joy:
This is why he grows cactus.  They may only bloom once a year, but when they do, they're spectacular.  And look at their color combination!

An analogous combination right out of the color wheel. Wow.

He's got quite a few ariocarpus in bloom.  It's like going down and seeing a carpet in place.

Below you'll find what I call my Mod Garden Plots.  The top will come off the design wall and get sandwiched and begin the quilting this weekend.  I wish I could tell you who should get credit for this pattern.  I saw it on the internet with white sashing and loved it.  But for a baby, I was hesitant to use white.  Now I wish I did.  Maybe I'll make another one with white.  The squares measure 8 1/2"  square when sewn.  I wanted it to be a size usable in the NICU.  It will measure 32"  square when I'm done.  Think I'll try using a Baptist fan type pattern when I quilt it.  I bought some rulers that will make this doable on my Jukie.

I'm linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday and some other parties as in my "more" tab above. Check it out for some great projects.  Have a great weekend!

Some of This; Some of That

First the destashing.  What with renewing my design wall; finishing a baby quilt top, the quilt a long, and a charity block, I've used up 4.2 yards in the past month.  That brings the YTD total to 58.34 yds.

That charity block is for Covered In Love  and is still on my design wall:

My DGS finished the pot holder for his Mom.  He's also made a placemat. Forgot to take the photo of that.

Found a delicious recipe for stuffed eggplant on Facebook post by Delish.

The recipe called for regular eggplant and a half of one made a serving - too large for me.  So I used Japanese eggplants and made it a side dish. They are so good!

Off to finish my Palmateer Quilt A Long.   This is going to be a cute 21" square quilt.  I'm looking forward to the link up to see all the ones made by others.  There are already quite a few on the Humble Quilts facebook page.  Lori is going to give us quilting ideas for it.  I'm almost to the put the quilt top together stage.

Hope you all had some time to quilt. I'll be linking with Judy at the DWM party.  Check out my tab above (click on More) for other parties. Blessings,


SAHRR Round 5 and 6

  Ready to show rounds 5 and 6. Actually, the prompt for 5 was make 4 of something. So I chose four patch, and actually since that made my q...