Color audition

Hello, everyone. Today I started working on a small quilt. I pieced a few squares and found some more pieced squares, then raided the (many) charm packs to find some compatible squares. This is just an allover collection of 5" squares. 

I'm auditioning fabric for narrow sashing between the squares.

This is the color shot.

This is as close as my phone gets to plain old black-and-white. (To look at values of the fabrics) Somewhere during updating, some idiot decided that I REALLY need about 8 different color variations but only 2 that are at least close to B&W. And at the end of the row there's a little arrow. I tapped it to see if the B&W option has been hidden in the corner. NO-O-O!  The arrow leads to some pitch that involves Samsung membership update. Or something. They don't even tell you why you want to do that.

Way to go, Samsung! That was pure genius. (Not, for the sarcasm impaired!)

I might move or change out one of those dark purple squares. They're both batiks. I'm pretty sure there is a milder shade of purple available in the stash. 

Bonus Blocks!

Hello, everyone. There were bonus blocks leftover after the patriotic centerpiece was completed. They found their own purpose for existence. 

Several of these, on being stitched out on the white twill, proved not to fit into the petal template for the centerpiece. Also some are thematic in that they have lines from "My Country 'Tis of Thee" embroidered on them. (Not all the lines of the first stanza got embroidered. And one had far too dense of stitching in its test and has joined the scraps pile.) 

I had gotten the white cotton twill for making  Christmas gifts...still on the To Do list...it worked out reasonably well for this. The backing of these little flags is cotton from stash. 

Photographing something at the top of a window was tricky. I finally resorted to doing it after dark, using the room light for illumination. During the day the sunshine shone in and overruled the pennants.

Finished a new project

Hello, everyone.  I finished the Fourth of July project.

This began with a picture on Embroiderydesigns.com, which I looked all over the site and couldn't find it. I did find a similar shaped centerpiece with flowers. So began a hunt for directions and for suitable designs to put on it. 

This was all before they made the patriotic one available through their blog. The blog listing includes the suggestions for designs. The designs suggested are nice, but some of them also somewhat densely stitched. This seems to be a tendency in the "cute patriotic designs" category overall. I used two layers of stabilizer under most of them.

Oddly enough, this year the classic "spirit of '76" image has not been popping up.

It was fun to make this.

New Sewing Club Project

Hello, everyone.  We're in normal summer weather in this region: partly to mostly sunny, and if it doesn't rain, the day's high temperature will be in the 90's F. 

In this weather, what we call "air conditioning season" we enjoy indoor hobbies during the afternoons. Like sewing.

This large quilted bow was our meeting project at Sewing Club. I finished the ladt topstitching and assembly after getting home. This purchased pattern required tons of 4" squares to make the bow pieces. It also involved fusible fleece batting for the support of the "ribbons." 

In the execution,  I discovered that maybe the seams of the piecing should have been pressed open, instead of to the side for nested seams like I did. The seams did nest, but they were very thick. Also there was a lot of bulk in the bow tails; maybe leaving out the fusible there would have been wise. 

Topstitching the edges meant stopping to walk the needle over almost every seam. 

After completion, though, the bow came out pretty. I suppose I could see doing another in a different color assortment. It does clear out stash fabrics.

Learning new things (edited for spelling)

Hello, everyone.  

I have been working on the lessons that came with the upgrade to my embroidery software.

From first to third, the key fobs made in the lesson about editing shapes. 

I don't think the first one (cork) worked out that well. Poor choice of font, and general first-attempt confusion.

The second was done on some thin vinyl I had gotten at Hobby Lobby a while back. Now sitting in stash. 

The third used a thicker vinyl, also in stash, and I note that both of the vinyl ones showed a tendency to pouf up. 

The blue one was glued to the stabilizer with basting spray. Possibly the decorative design was just too busy.  The shell has more stitches than I realized.

The black one was taped down instead of being glued. It still did the same thing. The puffiness seems to start at the yellow arrow. 

Anyway, it was a learning experience!

Costume update

Hello, everyone.  The costume is finished.  I'm posting a picture of the reticule (Regency era purse) that goes with it.

There was enough of the accent ribbon to embellish the reticule. As the fabrics for this were either extra from the dress or (lining) sitting in the sewing room, I'm calling this little bag a stash buster. 

I did quilt the bag exterior for the extra strength it gives, because the satin and tulle are a little delicate for purse construction. 

It's nice to get the dining room cleared of project materials.

The second little fabric tree is done

Hello, everyone.  When I posted about the fabric table top tree a few days ago, I mentioned that the pattern makes two trees. The areas between the pieces of the bigger tree provide also three more triangles for a companion tree.

It's about half the size of the first tree.

Decorations are once again sequins, pailettes, and beads from stash. There was a little mother of pearl butterfly which got tacked onto the center panel (the "front") for a bit of an accent.

It's nice to have finished one of the "gonna-do" projects in the sewing room.

A new Christmas craft project

Hello, everyone. As promised, a picture of the latest Christmas craft project.

As you can see from the pattern photo, this makes two fabric trees. The first is done enough to stand on the table. It lacks a seam or closure on the third side. If I do a seam as called for in the pattern, I have to find a place to store it standing up. The tree is around 15 inches tall, so this is a little bit difficult. 

If I do a closure on the third side, like maybe some little snap tabs made of ribbon, the tree can be stored flat with such larger objects as the Nativity scene.

The second tree has been pieced and cut out. It needs the binding on the three triangles, decorations, and the seams. (Plus closure?) 

The decorations on the tall tree are sequins, in stash, and #8 seed beads, also from stash.

Speaking of stash, all of the fabric and batting was in stash. I do think that my scrap batting was a bit too thick. If I make this again, I'm going to either cut the batting strips narrower than the fabric strips or buy a craft pack of the extra thin cotton batting for potholders and potato bags.

This is what needs to be done with the batting. 

The curved-ruler pieced tree is decorated

Hello,  everyone.  It's been busy around the home place, but we're in a calm spot for a few days, so there's time to make a post.

Last year I made a wall hanging Christmas tree. It wasn't decorated--no time, and no plan! This year, a plan grew for decorations for the little tree. First rule of the decorations was that they have to be light weight. The gorgeous rhinestone brooches would make the tree too heavy to be held up by tape on a door. Fortunately, there were a lot of little Free Standing Lace mylar light bulbs left over from the Kimberbell Christmas quilt project a few years ago. I also have a cute little Starlight Mint coaster/ornament pattern from Designs By JuJu. They're about 4" and the free standing applique is very light weight. A couple of FSL ornaments turned up in the Christmas boxes, too.

Now it really looks like a Christmas tree.

I always feel like I need to use the test stitching

Hello, everyone.  Today I finished a book tote. It started out as test stitches for the embroidered brown pillow last year. The pillow went to its new home, but the test swatch sat there staring at me. For months. Reminding me that something should be made from it.

Fortunately there was more of the red duck in the stash.

It is lined and has a slip pocket. There is also a small D ring at the side for a key chain or charm. It's the right size for many hard cover books, too. 

Fabric: cotton duck canvas from stash, quilting cotton lining also from stash.

Another class project finished

Hello, everyone.  Today's finish is a sewing club project that we started last February.  It's the Sisters Common Thread Caddy Pad. I did the "Junior" size because that's the one that fits my travel iron. They also have a tiny size and a regular size. 

This is a combination iron tote and small ironing pad. 

The front cover of the instructions.  If you shop carefully you can get a pattern that includes the silver toned heat resistant fabric for the inner surface.

The finished tote. (Yes, I did stick the iron in it without removing the official Rowenta cover. It's late.) I followed the directions as written, pretty much. It's been a while since I started the project

 I did make a stitched box for attaching the handles, though, even though it will probably not have a lot of strain to contend with. I just like it this way.

Fabric: a fat quarters of quilting cotton for the outside in a lilacs and leaves abstract print. Binding and handles are from stash fabric, as also the yellow buttons and the elastic loops.

A small project to relax with

Hello,  everyone.  After the big quilt, I was a little tired, mentally,  and wanted to do something that's not such a HUGE commitment of time and energy. 

A piece of scrap from the vinyl sided zipper bag we did in Sewing Club a while back looked a little bit like a boat...one thing led to another and it turned into a fidget mat.

There was a satin triangle that had been a stitching test piece, so now it has stitched texture, and a triangle also left from that zipper bag, a piece of solid blue left over from making a different zipper pouch, some more of the shiny, blue "fur" in the stash...I embroidered a couple of fish in the blue water and added bead "bubbles" and some decorative stitches from the sewing machine to imply currents and seaweed, more scraps to make a hillside building with a little path and some button shrubs...it was all very relaxing until it was time to stitch onto the fur. Then the texture was getting into the presser foot of the machine. I ended up covering all of the fur with Sulky Solvy to hold it still.

At the end, I  used solid golden binding that was left from the big quilt. (I had cut about 10 yards and connected them all together. It wasn't a surprise that there was some extra.)

It was a nice break from manipulating huge piles of fabric. 

Detail photo on the quilt

Hello, everyone.  The other day when I posted about the quilt, there was a detail of the center panel that I wanted to post, but the Blogger app insisted on turning it sideways. Even after cropping to get it wider than tall. A couple of days later it appears that the revised shape of the image has settled in.

The silhouette of the cowmen and their horses is what I think attracted DH to fall in love with the wall hanging in the store. This detail also shows most of the star blocks.

The white frame around the panel is linen from the stash. The prints, while I love them, are very monotone and the highlight really helps punch it up. IMHO.

The quilt is finished

Hello,  everyone. The quilt that was begun before the baby quilt, and set aside temporarily for it, is now completed. 

Overall view, on a bed:

This is the quilt that began when we saw a quilt using the center panel hanging on the display wall at the quilt shop in Hannibal, Missouri. The six side squares were another panel in the fabric line. The various horses prints and the cattle print, plus a number of semi-solid browns, tans, and golds, worked with the panels. The fourteen star blocks used a hats print that was in stash for the center squares.

This was a pretty big project, but it's the right size for a bedspread. I like making things that can be used and enjoyed.

A finished quilt, plus bonus from scraps

Hello, everyone.  There has been all kinds of activity around the home place. Particularly there has been sewing.

The baby quilt, draped over the sofa. (Nobody else was available to hold it up.)

Y'all might recognize the color scheme here.

This is the Quiltsmart Midi bag. The squares finish at 2 inches, the pattern comes printed onto fusible interfacing which makes the corner matching easier. I followed the directions to add a pocket, but I'm not excited for it, as the fold a pocket into one lining piece methods they use leaves one with a pocket on a 45 degree angle. (Oh well, I have now tried that idea out.) If I make another I'll either skip the pocket or use a more sensibly aligned method to put one in.

Progress report 2 on maintenance

Hello, everyone. The last post showed shirt #1 ready for Fray Check and soaking. Shirt #2 has been basted and stitched now. 

This is the view from the front.

Both shirts have been dabbed with Fray Check and are now dry. Today it's time to soak off the Sulky Fabri-solvy from the underside of the stitching. After this dries, there will be testing try-on. 

User tip, you really do need to stabilize the dickens out of the damaged area with both a backing fabric and basting stitches. The basting stitches also allow you to check the thread color for compatibility with the fabric. 

On both of these tee shirts I ended using a different thread than I expected. The light playing on the merino wool wanted the shades I ended up with. (Stash has now increased by several spools of fine polyester thread.)

Another item that was extremely helpful, in addition to the embroidery hoop and the size 28 tapestry needle and ball point straight pins, was the Ryobi battery powered magnifying light. It gave me a good look at the winds of the yarns. I'm so grateful to DS for giving it to me!

Trying out new things:pillow edition

Hello, everyone.  It's been chilly and the days just get consumed by this and that. 

I have a set of embroidery designs that calls itself Damask. They're all monochrome florals. 

This incorporates 2 of them. I did it in 3 colors but the 2 whites are pretty much the same color. Base fabric was not from stash. (!) I got some brown upholstery fake suede for this. It's a 12 inch pillow, very usable size. 

It did take over 70 minutes to stitch out. And the fabric required a size 14 needle.

It was fun hunting down something to put on a 12 inch pillow. Designs stash for the win!

Color play: reverse side edition

Hello, everyone.  Today's color play is a test layout of the reverse of a queen-sized bedspread. The yardage alone isn't big enough to get the job done, and an assortment of blocks are posing with it here.

This isn't going to be the final, but it's looking good as a start, in my opinion. Here is the black-and-white version:

It seems like the values are reasonably spread out. 

Study of the small blocks reveals that they're not 4.5 inches, mostly, they're 4 inches. This calls for either switching them out or adding sashing strips.

As these are all orphan blocks, this counts as a stash festival. 

Starting a new quilt

Hello, everyone. It's a chilly, wet day in South Texas. Fairly typical for this time of year.

As the title says, a new quilt is in process. The design is sketched out on graph paper requires 14 star blocks. Here are the first few.

Thanks to the advice on the internet from Mr. Appel! These sawtooth stars are 4.5 inch unfinished. 

As y'all can see, the theme will be Western. I was able to make the centers of the whole set of stars from one print, a few strips of 2.5 inch fabric that was in the stash. 

Update on the quilt-in-progress

Hello,  everyone.  I hope all y'all had a merry Christmas. We've been busy, of course, but some progress has been happening on the quilt.

This is the present limit of the stitching; it's a machine sewn binding with mitered corners. (Autocorrect tried to confuse that sentence. I really have to look sharp all the time.) There actually is a fair amount of these greens in the quilt panel, on the various water-oriented parts, even though none is showing at this corner. Other than the twigs in the border that is.

I found these fabrics, except the binding, at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Denver last summer. They also had a really cool exhibit of a couple of kinds of quilt making. In depth coverage of the potential of the two way to work. We really enjoyed it, and also the quilt fabric shop attached. 😉

Just in time for Christmas,  I  completed a yarn bag gift. 

This was made from a Sew Can She pattern, except for quilting on the sides and some piecing. I got to use some of the cool hardware I got at the Houston Quilt Festival a couple of years ago, too. All fabrics and the foam stabilizer were from stash, because at the last minute who has time to shop?