Unit 3 Near Finish

It's been a short sewing week for me.  Starting on Tuesday instead of Friday, I'm much closer to finishing Unit 3 of Sweet Land of Liberty. I was busy with making all of the parts this required.

 I had a bunch of letters, a basket, an eagle,  and bias stems.  I still have a star and cherries left to add.

Then it was deciding how to place them.  I didn't want my letters over the stems. Now to find a rich deep red that won't bleed.

I've also done a bit more on my Love Entwined - the vase and some flowers.  I'll be linking to Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop,  and Finished or Not Friday. Visit them for quilty stuff.                                                                    

I Finished Part 5 of LE!

April Fools!  Don't I wish!!  I did get farther along though.

Those leaves were so small - not as small as the stems  - grin, but close, so I chose to do them another way rather than individually.  As you can see from the photo below - those leaves were down to 3/4" long and 3/8" or less wide.  No way was I going to do them individually.

I decided to do them in pairs as they would sit under the stem. Some have probably done it this way, but it was a lightbulb moment for me - hehe.

Much easier.  What have you been working on?  Please leave me a comment, so I can go to your blog or photostream, and see what goodies you are working on.  I'm linking to Esther's WOW and Connie's Linky Tuesday Party - lots of goodies there, and to Judy's Design Wall since this part is still up there.

Bye for now!

Applique Tuesday

I've been working on Part 3 of Soupçon.  Here's as far as I've gotten:

The hardest part is selecting the fabric to use. Karen has some fabulous ideas in this Hexagon Quilt Along and I'm learning a lot. Will have to look for the next fabric for the background - some of the blue will be cut off.

And some progress (not much, but some) on my Love Entwined, I'm happy to report.

Those 1/8th inch bias stems are a bit time consuming, and I have a few more to do before I can start to assemble flowers. Luckily, I bought Pearl Peiera's DVD that shows me how to do it.  Pretty nifty trick and lots of other tips.

That's it for my applique report for Tuesday.  How are you doing on your projects? Leave me a comment and I'll come see yours and do the same - leave you a comment that is.  I'm linking to Connie's Linky Tuesday, Esther's WoW, and Lorna's Let's Bee Social.  Go on by and say hello.

Applique Tuesday

Well, I did it - I can't believe it, but Part 2 of Love Entwined is done. 

Phew those zigzags were a trial.  I sort of used Happy Appliquer Heather's method (see my blog list).  It took her 4 hours  - it took me 4 days! LOL.  It called for very precise piecing to get those strips just the right width.  Veer for just a millimeter and over time - put the whole set out of whack - sigh.  That seam ripper was getting a lot of use.

I'm linking to Connie's Linky Party Tuesday and Esther's WOW.  Would love to see your applique or any other project.  Don't mind if it was something you made a while ago - still new to me. Come on and share.  Linky below:

Applique Tuesday

The temperature is getting to me.  The last 4 days it has been hot - which would not be a problem, but the humidity has been from 47- 60 percent.  This is a major change when the average is more like 30 percent for us.  I'm feeling nauseous during all the mid day times and it ain't fun.  And further down this week it's suppose to be hotter still (it hasn't helped since our tropical storm which dropped over 2 inches in 2 hours) later this week. So I haven't done much.

I did work a bit on my LE. 

The camera doesn't give a good photo of this.  The leaves around the compass are really a nice dark green - and what you see as blue in the compass is really teal.  Even the pie shapes are not as dark as they look.  I'll have to find the manual and see what I can do about the photos my camera takes.  Thanks to all who commented on my two versions.  I decided to go with Version 2 and I am machine appliqueing those pies.

Would so love to see what you're up to - applique or otherwise, new, old or dreaming.  Linky below.
I'm linking to Esther's WOW.

Wow, A Design Wall and a Finish

I'm in the midst of finishing two baby quilts for twins, so won't get to post much this week.  Here's my Stash Report, DWM, WOW, Applique Tuesday, NewFO, and Lovely year of Finishes in one.

Stash Report - I was BAD.  I saw this wonderful fabric last Tuesday and ordered it before I even took a breath. And worse - I have no idea what I'll do with it (well actually I do and it will be my NewFO this month - a wall hanging designed using Judy Hopkins' method). I just wanted it - materialism at it worst.  I bought 2 yards from Fabricdepot.com  - it was on sale:

 

I also used 2 yards for the backs of those twins' quilts so my numbers stay the same.

 

 

On my design wall is my Love Entwined (LE) - My WoW and Applique Tuesday for this week:

 



The colors in the photo are way off - I need to read my manual again.  Those leaves are really a soft moss green (medium value) not black!  And the blue in the compass is not blue, but a nice teal. My compass is now appliqued to the background and I'm working on those leaves you see - seven more to go.  I've decided now that I've finished that compass, the rest of the elements will be machine appliqued - I just don't have the luxury of time to do it by hand. Some parts will still be by hand - like the tiny stems that come next - but for the most part it will be by machine.  LOL - then again there are so many tiny parts - it may be more by hand than I think.

My Lovely Finish for July is a cute I Spy House that Sophie picked for Block Lotto.  I'm so glad I include an easy finish each month! 

Even if I don't win the blocks, think these houses would make a great calendar quilt. Thanks, Sophie!
Have a great week!  I hope to post again for Hexie Friday to take a break from all the mad quilting. Linky parties are underlined.

Here's the Linky for Applique Tuesday - would love to see any and all eye candy - doesn't have to be applique - but if it is all the better for us.

Oh, the Learning Curve in attempting LE!

or the latest good/bad of quilting.  I made my compass - you saw it on a past post.  Next step was to attach a circle with the 5/16ths dots on it.  I cut my background square, drew the circle and position of the dots, tried some of the dots - worked okay - I was surprised with the needle turning.  Here is my saving piece of equipment that made it possible to answer the question:  How do you applique such a tiny dot?

Yes! - A magnifier.  I remembered I'd gotten this from my neighbor.  You put the strap around your neck and balance it on midriff.  Makes what you're working on 2 times bigger than it actually is.  I don't know the power, but it did the trick and did 8 dots as a start. HOWEVER, once I tried to reverse applique the  circle to the compass - the compass was too big!  And I couldn't tell around the edge if I was sewing it with the right seam allowance.  Arrgh.  Plus the dots wouldn't line up right.  Ready to throw in the towel, I took out the reverse applique (only a bit over a 1/4th of it done before I saw the pending disaster), and drew with my drawing compass an exact 8" circle on freezer paper for the unfinished compass. Then I found the exact center of my compass, and ironed the FP to the Compass. I then cut off the excess fabric from the side where I had very generous 1/4" from point tip to edge.  Then what?!  After some pulling out hair and gnawing of cheek, I decided to just pretend it was 4 joined drunkard's path blocks and sew the seam with my machine. Sort of success -

I forgot to mark the 4 quarters of the circle and at the last one had a little fullness to contend with. Ay de mí!  By taking out a bit of the first quarter circle seam, finishing the seam and then ironing and starching the circle - I got to the above. But now it looks too flat to me!!  It's going to be a longgggggggg 18 months - but I'm learning new things.  That's my good/bad of quilting for this week.  I'm linking to Block Lotto to  commiserate with other quilters.

Design Wall Monday 7/8/13

Here's my compass for the Love Entwined Coverlet. First one I've ever made.  And it was paper piecing, ugh - not my favorite, but I learned a good bit from making it.  First off if one folds the paper at the sewing line, making sure of the correct seam allowance is easy. If the piece you're adding is roughly a larger version of the one on the paper, it's usually the right size, but to be sure, I made an extra copy of the section and cut it up and used it to determine rectangles for each part. A trick I learned from Esther Aliu - is color one of the segments so you don't sew the wrong piece to the wrong place. And - if you do them assembly style, it doesn't seem like such a chore to make 8 segments (cuz most paper pieced blocks are more than one segment - LOL).  Phew! I got through the sewing with only one seam to rip. Oh and the center is appliqued. Except for the background, this will be a big scrappy quilt. Now for the ring around it.

I'm linking to Judy's Patchwork Times, Esther's Wow, and Lyn's BOMs Away  as this is part of a 18 month BOM.  What are you up to?

Applique Tuesday 7/2/13

Wow! Where did the week go?  I have been trying to survive the hot weather here. The first days were the worst, but I'm acclimatizing and it has gotten a tad cooler.  It was only 100 today. So I'm hoping I can get some sewing done.  I've been prepping to make the first element of Esther's Love Entwined, and yes, it does have applique. Hundreds of read emails later, I'm confident I've learned the best way to make a mariner's compass (my first), construct the center circle and make 5/16ths dots for the ring around it - last two are applique.

Here's my fabric and the papers for paper piecing.  Once the compass is done, I'll make the center circle.  I'm not too keen on the one shown in the pattern (others have changed it).  It reminds me of a face of a power ranger (remember those characters?).  So I'll have to come up with something else. One participant fussy cut a flower - now that is a great idea.  I'll see. 

In the meantime, what are you up to - applique or otherwise?  Please share your eye candy.