Happy Birthday Amber!

Well it is hard to believe my oldest daughter turned 36! Where did the time go?

During the Holidays I made her family new Christmas stockings. They really enjoyed them.  She asked if I would make her some Heirloom wall hangings.  Con job if I ever heard one! LOL. It had been on my quilt bucket list for several years. I figure I would start with hers and work on the ones for the other 2 daughters as holidays popped up.

Last week was her birthday. I got a late start on her birthday wall hanging, but it is done. I will mail it today with an additional bonus. I made her a St Patrick's day wall hanging as well. Her husband is of Irish decent and I thought it would be great to start with these two wall hangings to get her "Heirloom" collection going!

Louis Quilt Finished!

Louis turned 2yrs old in January. He is very interested in words, objects and being quizzed. I made this quilt with 5 inch blocks his mom picked out. I used my scraps for around the quilt blocks and triangles. My stash for the black and white fabric. Louie loves circles and  the fish fabric was nice contrast for cornerstones. I also was on eBay and bid on a box of 11 lbs of fabric. In the box were some odds and ends. He fell in love with the map fabric. 

After much struggling with the thread (Trilobal variegated) I finished it. It broke over 100 times. I ripped it out several times, but I am stubborn and kept going. It was Signature Trilobal. I reset the tension on the sewing machine for 2 days, changed the needles to several different sizes. Watch Thread doctor on The Quilt Show to get hints. Use the 100/16 and that worked for a while. I thought it was the machine. Thread was only breaking while I was doing FMQ. If  I did straight stitching, it was fine. One of the things that was happening was the thread was pooling and also snagging on the little notch on the spool. I filed the crap out of it and still had an issue. Then I had a light bulb moment!  "PIRATE"! She made an adapter for use with the Sidewinder for bobbins.  So I took her invention and made a horizontal spool holder. My Janome 6600 only has a vertical pin and my cone holder didn't work either. This worked with feeding the thread but continued to break. I pulled off a dozen feet of thread and it worked again for a while. I started watching the thread instead of the FMQ and could see that the thread was coming into machine with one strand split here and there. WE ARE NOT AMUSED!!!!!! I will be writing a letter to Signature. I also read a few comments on the forum from other ladies having skipping issues with the Janome 6600. This was also happening. Time to service my baby!!

So below is the quilt and the spool holder. Thanks Pirate for all the tutorials!

Louie Louie Quilt part 2

Well Louie loves the top and the map for the back. Now I have a dilemma. If I quilt it with FMQ on the front, this will cross over the State boundary lines on the map. If  I quilt it from the back and follow the boundary lines, then I have to sew down all the triangles on the front first. I don't want to make 2 quilts. It seems that would be the only solution but not something I wanted to do.

What to do next?????????????????????

Aileen

Louie Louie Quilt

I have been working on using up my scraps. I have them all cut in the Bonnie Hunter method. I go in now and again and get a few pieces but never make a dent in it.


My grandson Louie loves to hang out with me in the sewing room. He is 2 years old and points out squares, triangles and loves looking at my novelty fabrics. We picked out a few pieces for centers and then I took out my 2 1/2 in strips. I have a neck injury from a car accident in October and it is difficult to cut out fabric or sew for longer than 20 minutes at a time. I wanted to be sure I have this done before I have surgery on my neck. Needless to say it has been a Very Slow Painful Process.
Today I was able to assemble all the pieces I had on the design wall. This is the result so far.

I made the triangles 3D. Its the method Ricky Tims showed on YouTube for sewing them with one seam. After I finished Louis spent some time talking about the different things he sees in the quilt. I still have to put outer borders on and then sandwich it. I have a piece of fabric of the United States. I may use that for the back. Louis loves to learn and reads everyday. He remembers everything. His favorite thing to do is be quizzed about his picture books down to the littlest detail. Maybe we can teach him all the States! Why not! He already knows the alphabet and can count to 10. ;o)

What to do with FMQ sample block?

In January I did a SewCalGal challenge. Now what to do with this block. Don't want to waste it. Well, I decided to use it to make a Alzheimer's Priority Quilt.  The Theme this month is Bird. So Bird it is.

 It is my first attempt at thread painting. Not the greatest, but I have to start somewhere. It was so messy on the back that I put an extra piece of fabric on the back before binding it.

My grandson loves it. He named it Birdie!

Aileen

SewCalGal Challenge - January

It is January 26th and I finally got around to trying the SewCalGal Challenge. No bad, not wonderful either. Had a lot of problems setting up my Janome 6600 so it would do FMQ correctly. The back kept showing the top stitches. After changing every setting, it occur to me that the sandwich was to thin. So I doubled it by using two different weight battings. I did use the little washer Leah Day suggested in the bobbin and the gloves and the Super Slider. I could see the difference from the first attempt to the last attempt. I am following both FMQ tutorials. I can use all the help I can get. I know Practice, practice, practice.

It is hard to see because I used blue thread. I didn't want to waste it, so I am going to use it on a background on a AAQI Priority Quilt! Will post finished quilt when it is done!

Aileen

New Year 2012

It has been a very busy few weeks. We enjoyed the Holidays with our youngest daughter and Grandson. He really liked the lights and ornaments on the Christmas tree. Grandpa took him for a walk around the neighborhood to see the lights. He came back saying candy cane. One of the houses had a lot of candy canes lit up on their lawn. I don't know who enjoyed it more, Grandpa or Louie!

Finished DH quilting and then did the AAQI quilt. Came out cute.

Now to get back to doing the Orca Bay quilt for my DD. We also need another quilt for Louie so he has a backup. I dug through my UFO's and found 38 - 10" Autumn blocks from a Forum Swap going back to 2002. I don't even recognize the names of the makers. There are even 4 inch squares in the envelope for the borders. Not really great choice for a 2 year old but thought I could use it for the back of the blocks. I want to do a QAYO or Fun and done quilt. Kill to birds with one stone. There is one block from Alaska that was a bear sipping a cup of Joe. My favorite block. Louie loves it too!

Still that is not the oldest UFO in the tub. The oldest is a Thimbleberry from 1995, I don't know what the name of the quilt was nor where the directions are. I will probably make it into the baby quilt and get it done. It is very girlie so not a good choice for Louie. He is more of the truck, airplane and animal kind of boy.

Seasons Greetings!

It is December 16th. My birthday is Saturday. We bought a real Christmas Tree this year. It has been a very rough year for most of my family. I would like to end this year with "Good Cheer" and "Happy Memories".

We have one daughter home with us and a wonderful grandson here as well. Louis will be 2 years old in January. Its been a few years since we decorated the house. I think that is just what we need, some Christmas decorating to make everything festive! Maybe even bake some cookies to get the holiday smell into our home!

First we are going to need a few Christmas stockings for my daughter and grandson. Hopefully he will learn to recognize his name! Wouldn't that be a plus. Next we need to clean up the living room and get cracking with the decorations! There are a lot of very old ornaments I have not seen for a while. We will have to make a few for the Grandbaby!

So decorating the tree is full swing. Baby Louis is thrilled at looking at the lights and the ornaments. His mom is working hard putting up the lights and ornaments, Christmas music playing softly. It will be a very special Christmas this year!

Aileen 

Orca Bay Part 2 Pretty in Pink

Sewed a little yesterday. Love the way the pink strings are coming out. Looks like candy! They sew up very fast. Have 40 done. Will probably get them all done today! I am using painters paper as foundation. Very thin and cheap. It looks like brown wrap and is 15 " x 180 ft for 4 bucks. I had bought it to do Roll Roll Cotton Boll. Still have not started that one. 

I made all my blocks with the center string the same. I figured if there is a specific direction in placement, this will create a secondary design element. Not sure I like the one piece that is brown and pink. My daughter does. It has attitude! I guess a little attitude never hurt anyone. LOL!

Orca Bay Part 2!

So I finished the 224 HGU plus 12 more just in case some are wonky. Still have to trim and square up but the sewing is done.

Now to start sorting strings and getting my paper piecing tissue to start sewing. I decided to look through my ancient clothing patterns and use one of those. Should rip off easily.

I found one that is my mothers from the 60's she never even used. 
It reminds me of something Donna Reed would wear. Fitted and don't forget the Pearls!!
The cost of the pattern in 1960's  was 60 cents!  The next one was a Kaftan I must have made 10 times in the 70's. Cost of pattern $1.00!  The kid pattern $2.25 circa 1982  and the Baptism outfit pattern also 1982 is $3.00. Try to buy that pattern now for under 10.00!

Well the ladies in the Forum are telling me that I should not cut up vintage patterns that have never been used. May be able to sell them on eBay.  Okay, okay, will rethink it.

 Aileen

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt by Bonnie Hunter.

Just starting to work on this Mystery!

I changed my color selection 3 times already. I had to really think of the person that will be using this quilt. I decided on my youngest Daughter. Her favorite colors are brown, pink, and teal.  So time to get cracking.

So far I have made a dozen HGU. All of them are short a hair. So I am stopping and starting over. I checked my 1/4 in seam and it is good. This only leaves my cutting. Time to cut more strips!

November Christmas Pineapple

I have not been able to post for a while. Was in car accident in end of October. No broken bones but lots of discomfort. No sewing for 2 weeks, boy was that sad. My mental therapy has always been to sew or make something creative just to get my mind off what ails me.

In that vain I signed up for a Quick Doll Quilt Swap.  Cutting the strips was an exhausting ordeal. I did over cut as we all do. Then had to take a nap! I am not a napper. Two hours later, I came back to try and sew something. It was a challenge just to sew for 15 to 20 minutes. One little block done.
It is coming along nicely. The theme is Christmas or Wintery. So we are trying to get them done for the Holidays. Time to rest again.

About a week before the accident I received in the mail my Pineapple Ruler and book "Trash to Treasure Pineapple Quilts" by Gyleen Fitzgerald !  Love the book and ruler. I have always wanted to make a pineapple quilt but did not want to do it paper pieced because I tend to break stitches getting out the paper. The first block did take me about one hour. Slow and steady with 2 sessions of sewing. Once I had my sample block it did go faster because I knew exactly the placement for each round. I made 6 blocks, 4 for the doll swap, one for AAQI and one for me, that I will turn into a new mini for my work cubicle. The beauty of this method is that you don't have to control the placement. You can design on the fly or do it more controlled. I will be using the remainder of the strips to do a totally scrappy placement and see what evolves!

In posting the picture, I can see that two of the blocks are sewn in reverse to what my intention was. I am going to leave it the way it is. Concussion confusion! I have been staring at it for 2 days trying to see what was odd. The odd was me! LOL!

Whats in a Name?

This is the story of Sophia's Quilt.
My husbands good friend had given birth to a lovely little girl around 2004. I told him that I would make a quilt. Time past and I completely forgot about it. My husband lost touch with his friends for several years. One day last year (2010) he received an email from them. Dear husband reminded me about the quilt. I was busy making quilts for our daughters, friends, AAQI, and assorted online swaps. I kept putting him off because I just didn't have the time. He bugged me so much that I went online and ordered a special selection of  fabrics for Sophia's Quilt. Something girlie. We have three daughters but none of them are especially fond of pastels, flowers, or bows. You get the idea.

I found a great pattern called Arrowhead by Anita Grossman Solomon in a Quilt Magazine. Loved it. I cut everything out,  sewed and sewed and after several weeks I had all the blocks made. Pinned them up on my design wall and was happy with blocks. My husband not so much. Anyway I sewed the middle blocks together and ordered more fabric for the borders. While I was waiting for the fabric to arrive, I started a Fun and Done quilt. You quilt it as you go. So when you get to the last block you are done!

  Last year the living room had been very cold due to the tile floors so I thought FUN and Done would be an easy way to make a few dog/cat blankets and throws for us to use.  I had been in an Obnoxious Fabric Swap and had gotten 53 - 10" inch blocks back of some crazy fabrics. Lots of them were bright big prints. It was around February and the online hostess suggested a Superbowl String quilt block sew in. Everyone would sew while the Superbowl was on TV. I got everything cut but didn't get to sewing for a couple more weeks. Months went by and I worked on all kinds of stuff and my husband kept asking  about Sohpia's quilt. I was working on the Fun and Done quilt one day when he came in. I told him I would get to it. He asked me if this was Sophia's quilt. I said no it is for us. He then told me that he liked it better than the one I was doing  and wanted it to be for Sophia instead. FINE! So now I had to make it bigger than I planned. I cut out an additional 24 blocks.

It is now 10 months later. I have finished the quilt. Label and all. It is ready to mail and he does not have an address for them. Apparently they got caught up in the hurricanes that hit NY, NJ a few months back and got flooded out.  So I am waiting for an address. AH it gets better! My husband shows me the last email he received from them . They are a lovely family. I'm reading over his shoulder and I see a pretty little girl named Sonya. Who is Sonya? Why, that is the girl you have been making the quilt for, he states innocently. WHAT!
 Are You Kidding Me! For 10 months he has been asking me about Sophia's quilt. The label says SOPHIA!!!!. AGRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
It could have been worst. I was short some backing fabric and kept toying with the idea of making blocks that spelled out Sophia. I would have surely been a arrested for assault if I had to rip out six blocks and replace them. He is a lucky man that after 39 years I love him enough not to knock him out with a frying pan!

Sonya's Quilt.

 P.S. Package on the way!   Quilt  has been received! They love it! Happy dance here! ;o}