Better Floral Dreams Finish Pictures

So I had a soggy morning and first part of the afternoon sitting at the Folk Fest Booth at the Farmers' Market.  Eventually it dried enough and the sun came out, bonus, for me to walk over to Lakeside Park to take some outdoor shots.

Talk about timing.  I turned onto the park path at the end of the street to see a flock of turkey buzzards on the ground at the shore!  Usually they are floating high up on the thermals.  They are HUGE, chicken-sized birds, black with a red head.  The only other time I have ever seen this many on the ground was this past winter in Florida close to our condo. We think there was a carcass nearby they'd been feasting on.  This time?  No clue.

Two or three more circled in for a landing as I watched. So glad I had the iPad with me and not my iPhone!

Up until early spring, this used to be a weed and rushes-filled sandy marsh for birds, turtles at one time, and who knows what other wildlife.  I've seen groundhogs several times here too.  For some reason, one which annoys me deeply, the town has seen fit to raze the grasses here this spring and summer.  I've heard they are planning on putting a pier here, and continuing the walkway along the lake.

I turned the corner from here and saw the spot for picture #1, under a giant cottonwood tree.

Okay, this quilt, Cynthia's June Scrap-a-Palooza Bricks quilt, is 52" wide.  Kind of gives you an idea just how wide a diameter this ancient tree has...

I think if I lay down and had a nap on this quilt in this spot, I just might wake up 100 years from now à la Rip Van Winkle...  Trees hold a special place in my heart, always have done, especially since driving through Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island.

Close-up showing some of the texture of this oh-so-fun spiral surrounded by feathers pattern from Cheryl Malkowski's Doodle Quilting:

Did you notice the "magic" bridge in the first photo?  That was where I was originally headed to photograph the quilt, well, there and the flower gardens.  Fairies and gnomes live here, they do....

This is Mill Creek, so cool because in Edmonton, where I grew up, there was a Mill Creek close to our house!  The creek flows into Lake Erie right here, but in this shot the creek flows into the lake flows into the sky!

One last quick shot here (sniff) as someone else had designs on photos at this 90-year-old bridge...

Look closely, near the top of the pic.  You might spot some actual "fairies"!

Yes, a wedding party was headed for the very same spot, a popular one for wedding photos.  I'd have loved to snap a pic of four of the (downright stunning) crystal-blue-eyed little ones, who followed me, an unwitting Pied Piper, for some time!

Two shots of the back.  Lovely texture on the lovely and soft brushed flannel backing.   I liked the shadow-play too, not gonna lie...

The handmade-by-moi label, sewn onto the backing this time, but quilted through:

I made my way to the flower gardens, on which the Horticultural Club is working so very hard this year, adding a multitude of plants to them, as well as sprucing them up with new cedar chips.

Just had to include this magical shot of Floral Dreams

By a late-blooming hydrangea

Rolled up.  Love a striped binding.

When I got back home (had to take the long way since the bridge was slightly unavailable, which is what led to the shot above!) I took one last photo to show off the texture.  I haven't washed this baby yet, not sure if I should before selling?  What is the protocol?

I am linking up to Sarah's (Confessions of a Fabric Addict) Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?  You should  check out her Friday post, which tells all about her Christmas in July fundraiser to help bring a special needs child from China to the US for her daughter's family to adopt.  Quite the wonderful story.

Upcoming project!
Whaddaya think?  Bella approves. This cat ADORES new-to-her fabric.  Well she also had a grand old time with the paint chips until, much to her annoyance, I pulled them out of her mouth...but not before she chomped a couple of tooth marks into the one corner.  Terrific. as the paint chips have to be displayed with my quilt.

Just what is going on here anyhow?  It's our paint chip challenge for the September show.  You got the fabric (fat 1/8th) and 3 paint chips for $8.  You make a small quilt that incorporates the focus fabric and three fabrics that match your paint chips.  You may add as many other fabrics as you like.  I am hoping to do a kaleidoscope.  It's been some time since I have done one, à la Paula Nadelstern.  The brown and the orange on the outside are extras; the centre 3 are the fabrics I think closely match the paint chips.  Bella has moved my row apart slightly; they were lined up nicely.  See? another reason to have an ample stash, as there was no need to go to a fabric store to pull matching fabric!  Yay!

Shortest. Post. Ever.

I have Floral Dreams finished, and can just make it in time for Laura's TGIFF linky party.  Today it's hosted by Izzy of Dizzy Quilts.

Sorry for terrible lighting, blurriness, and inside shots, but my eyes are blearly (so maybe the photos AREN'T fuzzy??!!--here's hoping) and if I took the quilt outside, well...let's just say it's darker than the inside of a cow out there, as it's 10:30 and my bedtime...

Here you are:

I'm really happy with the edge-to-edge spiral+feathers pattern I free-motion quilted over the entire top.  I used a rayon thread in ivory so there's a gentle sheen to the quilting.

A quick view of the back:

Love how the quilting shows up so well.  It's a brushed flannel I had in my stash, bought for a quilted jacket lining that...well...never happened.

One last shot for tonight:

This quilt is for sale, but I haven't listed it -- wait I don't even HAVE a tab to list it on yet! -- on my "coming" Quilts for Sale.  You can always email me if you just have to have it...

I will take some better outdoor pics tomorrow, weather permitting in the afternoon.  I'm volunteering, sitting in the Kingsville Folk Fest booth, from 7:30-1:30 at our Farmers' Market tomorrow!

Quilt Details:
Size: 52 X 54"
Fabrics: scraps from Moda's Simplicity and Seaside Rose lines
Pattern:  June Scrap-a-Palooza Bricks quilt from Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Summer Breeze - A Finish!

The seagulls took off, but one circled back!

My Erie Shores Quilt Guild meeting was tonight, so I sewed on the binding this morning and then spent 3 hours this afternoon hand-sewing it down to the back.  Threw it in the wash on delicate, into the dryer for 20 minutes and with no minutes to spare before the meeting, found 10 anyhow to run down to the beach to snap a few fast pictures for my blog!!

The wind was blowing a gale all day, and it flipped the corner up without my help!

Draped it over the beach picnic table for interest.

Here you can see the yummy texture.  I did a chain of wave-like swirls in the white bars between each block, with smaller clusters of swirls on either side of the bar between blocks.  In my last post, I had wondered about changing the thread from the variegated grey to a pure white. . . I decided to go with a Sulky rayon in pure white, and I'm really happy I did, although the Aurifil did sink into the quilt.  I cannot say enough about my darling Avanté, my Avril, just taking whatever thread I throw at her, and rarely asking for changes to her tension.

I knew I would do this design because of the swirls in the one fabric!  I used Angela Walters' Dot to Dot method in one of the blocks.  You can see the half diamond motif in the turquoise block above.  I made myself use the blue ruler I got (the same one Angela uses), and I really noticed improvement over the course of the quilt!

OUCH

However, while attempting to stitch in the ditch by the edges of the quilt where I get a lot more bounce in the quilt, and while using my left hand to guide the machine, holding the ruler with my right,  (opposite to what I usually do), the hopping foot hopped over the edge of the ruler, and tried to quilt through this thick plastic ruler, NOOOO. . . oh I said a word that would make the air very blue, as a chunk of my ruler flew who knew where, the needle broke, and a HOLE was ripped into my quilt, because my left hand wasn't programmed like my right to shut the damn machine off!!  I don't stitch in regulated mode, where the needle moves when your hand moves; Angela recommends that you don't, so you get the proper feel of the machine and you will regulate the stitches yourself.

The hole was created by the blunted needle punching through the fabric for several stitches until I stopped the machine.  I did find the half moon chunk of blue plastic and Krazy Glued it back on.  I really liked using the ruler, especially for the half diamonds, but also for the straight line down the centre of the lemon yellow fabric you see above.  I FMQ-ed the flowing lines on the sides of the block however.  Not bad, I'd say!  As for the torn fabric, I've left it as is, and it wasn't noticeable after washing.  It's not a show quilt thank goodness!

The label.  I top-stitched it onto the backing and then quilted through it.  You get the idea of how much quilting there is on the quilt.  The backing is Festive Forest which I bought from Fat Quarter Shop in their sale section, such a good deal!

Full view of the quilt.  Such a light and airy feel to it; I just love it.  I bound it with the Cobblestones in grey.  I really like the way the Aurifil stitched by hand; I found it didn't twist and twirl as much as Gutermann does. As for fuzz build-up, I found it the same as the Gutermann.

Fantastic wave action on the lake today!

Quilt Details
Size: 58 X 63"
Fabric:  100% cotton:  Textures line by Angela Walters + two pieces from her Legacy line and Kona cotton in Snow; backing is Camelot Fabrics "Festive Forest"
Pattern:  Off Track by Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew
Quilted with Aurifil variegated grey 4060 and Sulky rayon pure white 1001


I am linking up with Karen's Sew Darn Crafty linky party of Sew Many Ways as well as Lee's WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

This 'n that

Slow going today, but I played a little (avoiding appliqué? moi?):

I got Tula Pink's book out of our county library!  Until I made Over and Under, I did not know how much I LOVE Tula Pink's fabric.  I'd heard of her, and admired her drawings and talent, but hadn't seen her fabric.  I had the kit for Over and Under (first and only project I've ever bought from Quilt Sampler, and I've bought that magazine for well over a decade.  I made it this winter, and lo and behold, it's Tula Pink's Parisville line!!  Now that also has importance of the "Twilight Zone" variety, because as anyone who knows me knows, I have always loved all things France!

These are 6 1/2" blocks, so those 4 centres in the log cabin-style block are 1" finished.  Teeny!  That is block #1.  The first block I did I just let the book fall open, and it landed on #38, which is the triangle one.  These are made out of leftovers from Over and Under.  Think I've started another quilt. . .   And why am I making two?  I'm not sure, but I listened to my inner gut.  I, nope, my higher self has a bit of a plan here, but it's top secret still, even to me, lol.

I pieced the backing for Summer Breeze.  As of tonight after yoga class, Skyping with Brady, and watching half an episode of "Call the Midwife" (loooove that show, and the Tigers got rained out, so yay, I was able to watch a little TV) it is loaded onto the Avanté (pieced some batting today too, love it when I can make some big pieces from other projects useful).  I have a pretty good idea as to how I'm going to quilt it, and doodled around for 1/2 hour today just to be sure.

Bella had to get some kitty fur onto it too:

Look at her twinkle toes stretched out!  How can you get exasperated with such an adorable posing girl?!

Okay tomorrow I am GOING to tackle the appliqué on my Round Robin!

Summer Days (Daze) A Finish!

And. . . the name of this quilt got hit by??  my menopausal melon. . . sigh.

The pattern is called "Summer Daze" and I blogged about it already here.  I loved the name; I adored the display quilt in Guildcrafters Quilt Shop.  Well, as I was writing on my label, getting it ready to sew into the backing (those of you who have read my blog know that's what I pretty much always do), this is what I wrote:

Summer Daze

Woot! Woot!  Another finish!  I finished this last night but I wanted to get a daylight picture.

By the way, it's the top only that's finished; I will quilt this happy quilt on my longarm.  Think I might do this one first, as I plan to do a gentle all-over meander which is nice and easy, so a good way to get back in the swing of quilting on a longarm.

These colours are just so not-in-my-stash, but I absolutely ADORE them, and this quilt has that graduating or stepping action in the pattern, which I just love.  Your eye just travels over the quilt, eating it up, like you lick a fast-melting ice cream.

Here is the original December picture.  Even rolled as they were, those colours just call to me, singing of summertime.  I got this pattern and kit from Guildcrafters Quilt Shop in Berkley, Michigan.

Someone else LOVED the new fabric.  Honestly, she DOES!  Every time I get new fabric which is not rather often, or start a new project, Bella just HAS to get her 2 cents' worth of fur on it.

Purring mightily away, scrabbling a bit on the pattern sheet. . . mmm!  Nice scratchy sound.

This was a cool way of constructing, similar but a little different to that in a Trip Around the World quilt.  You sewed strips of fabric together, making two strata, 17 strips long by 44" wide.

Bella wanted to be in the picture to check out the front balcony!

Then you cut the strata apart in 4" strips.  Here you see my strips all cut.  The sun shining through an ornament made a pretty pattern on the wall and floor, no?  (It's not dog snot, just so you know.)

You then sewed all the strips into one gi-normous long strip of 340 squares!  Once that was done, you undid a seam every 21 squares, with a few squares discarded here and there (4 in all) to create each column.

What I thought was cool (and thank you to whoever did the math to figure out the repeat pattern) was that the columns were not in order.  You got Column 1, 5, 9 and 13 off the first four 21-square repeats.  Then the pattern system was established.  Too smart!!

I do see why people pay for patterns rather than spend the hours figuring out the math or system for quilts like this.  I read somewhere that a quilter wondered who would pay for her pattern, but yes, there are people who do not want to spend that kind of time figuring.  They would rather get right to the cutting and sewing stage, so will happily pay to skip the figuring part.

Here it is on the design wall, waiting to have the columns sewn together.

Quilt Details:
Name:  Summer Daze
Size:  56 X 70"
Pattern: designed by Guildcrafters Quilt Shop
Fabric:  100% cotton, several from Dear Stella Fabrics