Friday, May 1, 2015

Dot to Dot Placemats

Yay! A finish on Friday!  But "sniff" as well, because I missed the ALYOF deadline on this project by mere hours.  All I had left last night at 10:20 was about another hour's work...and then to blog about it, so make that probably two hours, knowing me.  Because I was again going to Mysore yoga for 6:30 this morning, I was going to be up before 5:30, so I thought, nope, ain't gonna happen; I need sleep.  What did happen yesterday besides a long but good meeting with our financial advisor, was dropping off all our stuff for income taxes.  Normally they're due April 30 in Canada; because of some glitch, the deadline has been extended to Monday, May 5.  Glad all that money stuff is out of the way, but it interfered with meeting this particular deadline.  Ah well, so I lost out on some possible prizes; I won in the new placemats division, right?

Bright sun or inside were my options, so a little over-exposed
This morning I set to work on them as soon as my "had to" list was done, and an hour was all it took.
I worked on the royal blue sections in the Dot to Dot class I took last week with Angela Walters (in case you missed it, not on Craftsy, but in person).  The Merged Lines design (top left) I did at home. It's out of her Shape By Shape book, but she did show a group of us how to do it during the class. The designs in the pale blue squares are ones she showed us in class, but I stitched them at home.
I did the royal blue sections here as well in class; the designs in the pale blue are from Shape by Shape
Remember that weird-looking triangle design that I nearly ripped out?  I'd mentioned in that post if I added in something symmetrical (one of her many tips) on either side, maybe I could salvage it?
I think it worked out pretty cool!
I did a different filler in the four "mountains": pebbles, ribbon candy, wishbone and then back and forth lines.

Here are the green placemats.

Feathers? In a Dot to Dot class? I just had to; they're my favourite...and yep, been there, done that as in took Angela's Feathers class on Craftsy ;-)

The designs in both green placemats are from this class, the Craftsy class I took last year, and her Shape by Shape book
I did all four on my Bernina (which is now, woot woot, dropped into my IKEA hack sewing desk, yay).  I don't have any rulers to use with a DSM, so these were all FMQ, no walking foot except for the lines in the white sections.  For the longer lines I used my Hera marker to help guide me.  They aren't perfect, but, as Angela said over and over, FMQ is NOT perfect.  I just LOVE the design in the lower mat, lower right square; I used it several times on Shamrock.  But I also love the design in the opposite corner, the aqua rectangle!  That is actually a border design from Shape by Shape but I thought it could work in that rectangle.  I added one more echo of triangle shapes.  Need to do this on a big quilt!

What do they look like on the back?
Pretty freaking cool I'd say!
Label crazy, that's me; I just put one on...sorry about the shadow at the bottom
I used the same thread in top and bobbin, Isacord for all of the FMQ; white Sulky rayon for the walking foot quilting, and Robison Anton black rayon for stitching down the self-binding.  I think that's what you call turning the backing, which is cut 1" bigger all the way around, folding it twice and stitching it down.

Think the angle is a little better here...whatever; they just look so cool!  btw that's Pelee Island wine sitting in the Ann Arbor, MI pottery wine holder, just had to point that out.

Bella is happy to be directing my sewing efforts in the "up north" sewing space.

The lake and the temperatures were absolutely beautiful today, about time!
Once I wash these babies up, I'll take another picture or two...maybe in the shade!

Our daffodils are way behind everyone else's but that is because Joe only planted them last Fall, so they're just babies.  I'd forgotten he'd done that; what a nice surprise to come home to!

Placemats stats:
Size: 18 3/8"X 14 3/8"
Pattern: my own design
Fabric: Kona solids
Warm 'n Natural batting scraps
Threads: Isacord #3951, 4421, 5450, and 3600; Sulky rayon 1001; Robison Anton rayon
Quilted using Angela Walters' Dot to Dot designs

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, and TGIFF

11 comments:

  1. You DEFINITELY won in the new placemat division!! I love the back as much as the front!! So glad you did not rip out those triangles - it looks great with the fillers!! So fun to see all of the different designs on the placemats. They look really great on your patio table :) Woot Woot for a Friday finish!

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  2. Wow they are just scrumptious-doesn't matter that you didn't make the ALYOF deadline, you are done and that is what counts and done very very well indeed!

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  3. Wow! Those placemats turned out GREAT!!! I might even like the backs more than the fronts. Or not. It's too hard to decide as either side looks terrific.

    You are inspiring me. I'm working on five months of not sewing a stitch (one tiny exception but hardly counts) as I've been all wrapped up in Christmas travel and then travel as in moving from my home of 30 years to a retirement home. But you are giving me the swift kick that I need to get back into the groove.

    Great job!! Love it, love it.

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  4. Oh, and Bella looks charming. :D

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  5. Those placemats are nothing short of exquisite!!!! And oh, the backs of them are just way too cool! Reminds me of your stunningly beautiful yoga mat bag you made!!! Excited to see them after they're washed :)
    Beautiful daffs! Mum will love those! :D
    Oh Bella <3

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  6. Your placemats are wonderful! The quilting is fabulous!

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  7. The placemats turned out really cool Sandra! The backs are so good looking that these are reversible.I see some great motifs in there.
    What a great Springtime surprise to have forgotten about Joe's daffodils.
    Hope your mum arrived safely and that you have a wonderful visit!

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  8. Wow Sandra - your placemats look gorgeous! Your quilting is so perfect!

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  9. Amazing! Especially that you didn't use a ruler. My favorite is the first green one. Love the added feather.

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  10. The backs of those placemats are just as great as the fronts - the color on black is so striking! Bella is darling as always.

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  11. Fabulous show of quilting front and back!

    Julie

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