my cinco by hand

At the tender age of 62 years +11 months, I have decided it is high time to learn a bit about hand quilting.  I have tried in the past, but never stuck with my attempts long enough to actually get the feel for it.  It seems I just did not have the required patience to practice, practice, practice.   After a few minutes of quilting, I would become frustrated because my stitches weren't blue ribbon perfect,  I became a quitter. Not a quilter.  What was I thinking? 

 

This is a quilt I finished a few years ago, when I was using other people's patterns.  It is Cinco de Mayo, by Karen Stone and I just loved all those happy colors and fabrics.  I did change the arrangement and made mine into a bed size quilt, as in 110" x 110".  I got it all ready to machine quilt by stitching in the ditch.  YIKES.  I do hate stitching in the ditch by machine.  And that was precisely what I felt this quilt was calling for.  So I dragged it out from under Juki, spread it out on a table in my sunroom was inspired to take needle in hand.

Yes, yes, I know, you are all saying that I have now officially lost my mind.  But you know, the mood was just right.  It is something I can sit down and relax with (or learn to relax with) and my awkward and uneven stitiches don't show up (too much) among all those  fabrics and tiny paper piecing.  I am actually becoming hooked on this process.  What is the saying about teaching old dogs new tricks?  Dog gone it!  I am not going to be an old dog yet.

Check back in with me around 2016.

for Mallory Kate

Quilt label (front)

Mallory Kate (front)

Mallory Kate (back)

machine quilting closeup

quilt care label

  Mallory's mom chose the fabrics to coordinate with the nursery decor and asked for a simple quilt that could grow with her into her "big girl" bed.  I made it into a twin size so that Mallory will enjoy using it for years to come.  She is a month old now and is a beautiful, sweet baby. 

A Southern Bridal Shower

After the storm, life is returning to normal for many of us.  My niece, Sarah Beth, will be married in June.  To celebrate the upcoming event, I hosted, along with my cousin, Lora, a bridal shower at my home.  We decided on a very traditional, southern style, girlie party with all the fixings. Mom and I polished up the silver and washed the crystal.   I washed and ironed the linens.  Lora and I made made yummy finger foods and champagne punch.  I trimmed the blooms and leaves from the southern magnolias and dogwoods for decorations.  It was so much fun to do something special and girlie pretty.  It was a such a sunny, happy day.

 

Lots of lovely ladies dropped in bearing gifts for the bride to be.

the bride and her grandmother

And of course quilts were involved. The bride and groom were happy to finally get their hands on this quilt that I had custom made for them.

  I do think it was a huge success.   And now we are all looking forward to the wedding.

And while I wait, I guess I will fill part of the time getting back into my studio and getting my hands on some fabric.

a long and winding road

Just when you think that you can take a deep breath, things are all under control and you will have time to spend doing the things that you enjoy, it all comes crashing down.  I, personally, have good news to report for most of my family and friends.  But there are so many not so lucky.   I have found pieces of homes and family possessions scattered over my yard and neighborhood from the horrific storms of April 27, 2011.

 My son's yard in the Chattanooga area. 
He was one of the lucky ones.

 my favorite quilt shop 

Sew Bee It

Ringgold, Georgia
not so lucky

You can view more pictures of destruction in this area
by clicking here if you are inclined

My great friend, Martha Steele, has been helping in salvaging as much as possible and was able to recover many of the quilts hanging in the shop, including one of mine. Many of the ladies, along with Martha,who are employed by the shop owner, Gloria Black, have dug in and begun helping her to recover whatever is possible in the shop.  They are also pitching in to assist the rest of their town, which was almost totally destroyed.

I know that quilts are not a priority in this time of crisis.  However, it is just a small indication of how all of the surrounding areas in southeast Tennessee, northwest Georgia as well as Alabama, Mississippi, and other parts of the south have joined together to help one another and begin the long process of restoring, healing, and recovering. 

Please keep everyone in your heart.  It will be a long road ahead.

just so you know

For the past week I have been in a coma of sorts.  Don't be alarmed, not a medical coma, but a technical coma.  First my computer got a virus and crashed.  Bought a new PC, got it up and going within a week.  Yippee, back in the high life again. Or so I thought.  Next it seems that the new computer was already having major problems.  Back and forth to the shop where I had made my purchase.  Not the computer's problem, it seems.  It is issues with AT&T  in my neck of the woods.  Next my telephone and Internet goes totally out of commission for 168 hours, give or take an hour or two.  The solution was quite simple, however, AT&T just seemed to keep putting me on their back burner day after day and almost put me over the edge of sanity.  I knew I was spending far too much time on the Internet.  But I didn't realize how addicted I had become to my PC and the WWW.  Or how much I depended on the www for all sorts of things.   Maybe now, for the time being, or until it rains again in southeast Tennessee, I am reconnected.  Whew!   Enough of that rant.

Now it seems that since I couldn't constantly hop over to my PC and check on what is going on in the world, I did spend much more time working on pieces in my studio.  I actually got lots accomplished.   I even cooked a few nice dinners, and got out and exercised a bit.  I am feeling so much better today.  I have been able to check in on my friends to see what I have missed.  Y'all have all been really busy out there.  Wow, have I got a lot of catching up to do.

Let me show y'all a bit of what I've been up to since I've been on my high tech hiatus.  Remember my last post about my lantana?  I have made several creative decisions, gotten several hundred more pieces cut, and some sections sewn together.  

This is one fabric choice for the background that I ruled out. Although the picture makes it look a bit better, the deep blue and purple was far too overpowering in real life.

I took my background clue from one of the names that lantana is also known by, "sand verbena."  I made some design changes, since I choose less busy fabrics for the background.  That meant much more piecing, but why not make it more complicated somewhere along the way, as is, far too often, my modus operandi. 

 And here is where I am today.  About 500 pieces (or more) (who's counting) later.

Got several more things accomplished, which I will show and tell at a later time.  If I don't loose my connection, yet again.

my Lantana has begun to grow

Deciding to begin with the most difficult sections seems to have been a good idea on my part.  I wanted to be certain that the teeny pieces would have the desired effect.  And be worth the effort.  Try as I might, I just could not come up with a more simple pattern.  I am certain that Ruth McDowell  could easily simplify it.  If she saw what I was doing, she would likely run screaming from her computer.  I also opted, rather than use all commercial prints, stripes, dots, etc, as I normally love doing,  it was time to cut into all those hand dyed fabrics that I created last summer. This would give a different look to the piece. 

Working on the first section, I had serious doubts.  

 

The next section, I am thinking that maybe this was not a such good pattern after all.  

 

Stressing out over values and selecting just the perfect color was another issue.  I had to constantly remind myself that I was not striving 

for a photographic image, 

but an interpretation using geometric shapes.  

(You should see all the post it notes covering the ironing surface, my machine and the design wall.  Being of a "certain" age seems to bring on a dependency on such items.)  

is that pathetic or what

A few days later and I have pressed on and I am thinking that it could be worth the effort.

So here we are.  Some on the tiny pieces have been sewn together.  Which is not what I normally do.  Since they are not much bigger than my little finger nail, I was afraid they would get lost in the shuffle.  So why not go ahead and stitch them up.  If one of these little sections doesn't look quite right, I can always remake it.   Once I have all of my small sections made, then I will sew them into larger sections.  When all the sections are sewn together, 

it  should be about 76" X 60".  

Unless . . . . . .

I only use half of the pattern for this piece and save the other half for another quilt.  

Or it could even become a triptych. 

Three small quilts rather than one large quilt.

Oh the options. 

 I am now thinking that as the larger sections are sewn together 

 Ms. Lantana  will look even better.  

Methinks that these sunny colors are just the anticdote for rainy day blues.  

I keep forgetting how nice it is to sit down and write myself right through the angst of the unknown.   Gotta put up a post-it note for that too! 

what's next

  I shot this photo a couple of years ago at  our cottage in north Florida.  

Thinking that it would be my next project. 
The time has come, at long last to begin my next project.

  This is going to be one of my most difficult pieces to date, because I want to try and highlight each of these blossoms within the blooms.  What caught my attention, initially, were the buds.
I was fascinated by their unusual shape. 

After taking umpteen pictures, I chose a few that weren't too blurry and printed them off.  From those pictures I chose 4 (so far) blooms that l liked and arranged them for my sketch which would become the basis for drawing the pattern.  Here's a peek at the progress.

Because of the tiny pieces involved, I drew it out on a 19 x 24 inch piece of paper.  I laid a piece of tracing paper, the same size, over the drawing to begin working out the pattern.  Got a bit done, but it could be simplified, unless I decide that I really want to piece it this way.  I played with an enlarged section to see how this might play out. 
I normally used multiple commercial print fabrics, but this time I want to use mostly my hand dyed fabrics.  Since I did all that fun dyeing last summer, it is high time to cut into them.  And I found that I had gobs of fabric that would work perfectly. 

Now to enlarge the entire drawing.  And thanks to my friend, Melody,  I now have use of her overhead projector. She generously offered and I gratefully accepted.  Thanks Mel.   No more trying to explain to the clerks at the enlargement booth at the local office supply chain  how I would like to have this enlarged.  "Oh," they would ask, "is this for stained glass?  It will be beautiful".  "No", I reply, " it isn't a stained glass, it is an art quilt."   At which point, they would smile blankly and dismissively then totally ignore my requests for enlargement size.

Yes, yes, I know.  The last quilt was no rules, seat of the pants fun.  But I have fun drawing patterns as well.   I just have fun challenging myself.  I so enjoy trying something new each and every day.   Beside, I've got two other seat of the pants projects on the design wall to keep me loosey, goosey, when the mood strikes.    And I've got a new toy to play with to boot.  I'm off to play with the projector.  I promise that I will do my best not to break it, Mel.  I am soooo excited.

It started with this

it started with this

it ended up like this

 

Don't you think that it would make a wonderful rug for my family room.  

If only everyone would remove their shoes before walking on it. 

I named it 

"not your prim and proper log cabin with posies inspired by the ladies of Gee's Bend" 

I followed no rules, no patterns and broke most of the right and correct methods of piecing,applique, quilting, and binding that I possibly could. 

It was most fun I have ever had in making a quilt.

I highly recommend this method.

TGIF

Thank god it's Friday.

Although when you are retired, every day is Friday. Well, almost everyday, some days are not so Fridayish, some days it seems as if I need to get an outside of the home, paying job for a bit of relief.  Nah, not gonna happen anytime soon.

Let me start over:

Thank god it's finished:

I think that I actually had more trouble photographing Vanilla Bean, that I did working with a  neutrally colored design.  Forty odd shots later, this is the best I could do.

The quilt as you go method was so, so cool.  It was almost a shock to realize that once it was all stitched together, it was completed except for stitching on the binding.  I am so hooked on this technique.  "Beanie" finished up to a whopping 68" X 82". 
What began as playing around with linen scraps left over from making slacks, jackets, blouses, along with all types of scraps of batting,

resulted in a lovely coverlet for someone's bed.  Probably not my bed, alas, 

as Miss Annie-cat's claws would reek havoc with the coarse, linen weave.

The QAYG method easily allows for straight stitching feed dogs up style.  Which is what I did with Beanie, since there is no way I can stitch a straight line free motion style.  But now that I have gotten this under my belt, why not try a bit of free motion quilting on the next piece. 

 

  Got this Fresh Modern style piece in the works, which I had originally planned to straight stitch.  However, it just seemed to be asking for a curly, loopy design and off I go. Best laid plans never seen to work for me.  Nothing could be easier than free motion quilting on a piece that is only 12" to 15" in width.  Even though it is 62" in length, it is much more easily manipulated under Juki. In no time at all I've gotten one panel all quilted up.  Great practice for my free motion skills.

Only four panels to go, add the QAYG border, and voila', instant quilt.  Let me tell you folks, I am sold on this.  In case you missed my previous post on what I am talking about, and you have an interest in giving this a go, jump over to The Quilting Edge.  

Marianne has the best tutorial on how to. 

It's the weekend, go have some fun! 

aren't surprise gifts the best ever?

This surprise arrived yesterday.

From a delightful lady, Emily, a.k.a, Joanie Appleseed. 

She practices random acts of kindness, something that this world needs more of.  

This piece of sunshine will be a constant reminder to me of this fact.  

If I am feeling blue, I can look at this and be instantly uplifted.  

Thank you, Emily Douglas, from the way down bottom of my heart.

You are an inspiration in so many ways. 

I hope that life is repaying you a thousand fold.

And the winner is

I have arranged and rearranged and then rearranged again.  Trying to find the right balance.  It is difficult for me to do when playing with monochromatic neutrals.  I settled on this layout.  But to add color or not to add color.  I do so love to play with color and pattern. 

One suggestion I received, during the agony of trying to decide whether to add color or not to add color, came from Sujata.  Why not try adding some delicate saffron slivers rather than the strips with the tiny bits of colors. I loved this thought.  As I tried playing around with this idea, the light bulb went from 75 watt to 150 watt.  This piece does not need any color.  What was I thinking?  Each block is quilted in it's own pattern, as if it were a separate piece of fabric.  It needs no more than that.  She had gently led me back to my original thought, which was a soft, neutral quilt.  Thank you Sujata.  Isn't it wonderful to have so many good friends to help you find your way back home? 

And VANILLA BEAN it is

 

Joining the individual blocks were a breeze.  Joining the longer strips of blocks, not so easy.  Well, the joining part was easy. I did enjoy  the challenge of hiding the joining strips. And the challenge of fitting all the odd sized blocks together.   Since there is no busy pattern to hide the strips, I didn't want them to be in your face.   

Guess you can still pick them out, but hopefully I've made it a bit tricky to see. 

Now you've got to quilt these joining strips and that involves more manipulating.  But then, it still beats quilting the whole quilt.  I could get used to this. 

I could have this whole thing completed by next week, if I stick to it.  

But there is this other project that I keeps asking for rearrangement.  She provides a nice break when I begin to be a bit twitchy from sewing straight lines and cramming all that linen under the sewing machine throat.  Here is what she is feeling like today. 

What does she make you think of?  

Hopefully not a Las Vegas showgirl's head dress. 

We'll she how she feels tomorrow.

I have been Leibstered

 Marianne over at The Quilting Edge has presented me with the Liebster Award.  I am so honored to be recognized by her, as she is quite the talented artist.  She continues to inspire me with each post.  And, I might add, teach me a thing or two as well.
Here are the rules:

• Tell your readers who tagged or nominated you.
• Add a link to their blog.
• Pay it forward!!! Award 3-5 bloggers who you think deserve this award.
• Inform them and post directions to your blog
• Pick blogs with under 300 followers

As there are so many talented quilt artists out there, it is quite difficult to choose only a few.  I would really like to give a shout out loud to all of you out there and say that y'all are just plain wonderful folks.  Since rules are meant to be broken, I guess I could do just that.  However, being a bit lazy when it comes to typing in all the links to all the blogs that I check in on through out the days and weeks, I would probably end up with carpel tunnel syndrome.  So let me just say that from all y'all, because I have always tried to follow the rules,  I have selected some ladies, that I would like to pay it forward.  Just because. 

Click on each of their names and see why I chose them:

LeeAnn
who just keeps on coming up with wonder upon wonder

Emily   

who I have renamed Joanie Appleseed because she is constantly spreading the seeds of happiness, cheer and thought provoking wisdom

Stacey
who blows me away with her designs and use of color

I promise that you won't be disappointed when you jump over to see what they have going on.

adding some toppings to the vanilla.

So, I have quilted all of the individual blocks.

 

I think it was the most fun I have ever had in doing machine quilting. Well, at least not nearly as stressful as maneuvering a big quilt under my Juki.  Most of the blocks have similar, repetitive designs but on the occasional block, I just had to stitch something a bit different. 

So now comes the big decision.  To add or not to add. 

The bits 'o color strips.

I had all but decided to only use the goldish bits and already dubbed her as Butter Brickle,  I just had the feeling red was going to be too abrasive.  Not that I think red itself is abrasive, because there is nothing better than red in a quilt. And I am thinking that the blues and greens were adding too much contrast.  I just had mono on my mind.  Or perhaps because it was warm and sunny outside, I didn't need any added color.   But today was cooler and not so bright, I thought to try again.   I needed some reds and greens and blues.  I think I will let her hang a while longer and see what happens during the next few days. 

Do you ever think that the way you make a final decision on something creative 

just might be based on your mood at the time?  Or the weather? 

And now I am so in the mood for color.  So I took 3-4 steps in my studio 

and turned to my other design wall.

  

Another design idea for peacock colors.  Using this as my inspiration.