Bird Haven

 Bird Haven is a new applique project.  I am taking a class at the local quilt store with a couple friends.  The class starts next week, but I picked up the pattern last week and as you can see in the second photo, have a few of the blocks already done and a couple more started.  They aren't trimmed or blocked yet, but at least a couple of them are done except the embroidery.  The basket block will have ruched roses in it and there are a couple more blocks with ruched flowers too.  I am going to let Nancy show me how to make those next week.  For some reason, this quilt seemed to call out for pastels, or maybe it's just spring...  The rose fabric in the top left corner will be the border and I pulled the other colors from it.  A couple colors came from the stash and are left-overs from Kate's quilt but I did purchase some fabric when I bought the border fabric.  It's different from anything I've made in a while, but it will be fun to work on it with the women in this class.    

I have also been hand quilting on the oak reel quilt.  I have it all marked with wreaths of oak leaves in the empty blocks and a border of oak leaves and acorns on all 4 corners.  After I get those quilted, I'm going to do a fairly close set diamond design over the whole quilt, so this is a long term project.  I have one wreath done and 3 to go...   

My guild's quilt show is next week and I will be busy Thurs, Fri and Sat.  I'll help set up on Thursday and do white glove, help with food, take tickets and whatever else is needed during the show on Fri and Sat.  On Thursday, I'll drop off my Star Light, Star Bright quilt and the hand quilted baby sized quilt to be in the show.  One very wonky and one very traditional...  I'm really looking forward to seeing them hang in the show.  The show is every two years.  My goal is to get the hand quilted oak reels quilt into the next one.   

This is the center for a medallion quilt.  We have Quilters Night Out once a month and we are working on different border and sashing designs.  You could do a row by row quilt with each design or you could do a medallion quilt and put the borders around the medallion.  I had seen a feathered star quilt in the NY Red and White Quilt Show a couple weeks ago and thought it looked pretty cool.  I hadn't pieced a feathered star before, but I was really careful and it turned out pretty well, meaning the points more or less match.  I really like the scrappy reds, which is a good thing because I got carried away cutting fabric and must have 500 triangles of various red fabrics, so several of my borders will be done with triangles.  Fortunately we are doing a pinwheel design in May so that will take a few more... I only have 300 or so of the white/cream/gold triangles...  this star is only 16 x 16 so it will take many borders to make this a bed sized quilt.      

Progress

I know, it has been forever since I have written.  There just isn't much to take pictures of...  or write about.  Everything is in progress.  I'm in the middle of a really cool basket-making project at basket guild, have marked and just started hand quilting the oak reel quilt (which is going to take me about a hundred years, I have over-estimated my hand quilting abilities to the point where I seriously hope I live long enough to finish this), have finished 3! knitted dishclothes, am about 3/4 done with the baby blanket on the loom, have signed up for another applique quilt class at the LQS (because some really good appliquers are taking the class and I will get better just being around them), and best of all, tomorrow Harold and I are off to order my new Gammill long arm quilter.  It will be really cool to be able to quilt my own tops.  Harold also thinks that I should learn a skill that has the potential to make money (to support my "therapies"), and since I told him that I needed a lot of practice and I don't retire for 4 years, well, you get the picture.  I think I have 4 years to practice, Harold, of course thinks I really only need 4 months of practice... we will see.  He even went down to Detroit with me to see the quilt show last weekend so he could check out the "competition".  I'm not going to be "competition" for a long time.  I think we are going to one of the big national quilt shows this summer, so he can see real machine quilting...  Anyway, I have 4 full size and 4 baby quilts waiting for the LAQ so I will have plenty to practice on for a while.  The baby quilts will be first, since the babies are all here...  It will be a couple weeks and I'll post photos when I get it.           

Ideas and Snow

This is some of my new reading material; Amish quilts, Susan McCord's fabulous appliques from the Henry Ford, Gwen's wonderful quilting, Ami's stitches, and Tonya's words.  Enough ideas for dozens of quilt designs, now I just have to find enough time to get some of them onto fabric.  I love having lots of options and opportunities to try new things.     






This is March 24 in my back yard in mid-Michigan.  Last week was in the 40 and 50s, all the snow melted, and I went to buy seeds.  Hmmm...this week we got 5" of snow and 1/2" of ice on Tuesday night and it is still hanging around in the trees.  I'm going to be optimistic and pretend that spring really is here.  Tomorrow I start my tomato, basil, and flower seeds in flats in the florida room.  It will be good to see little green stuff.  It's time.      

Still Knitting and the World Wide Swap

Okay, TWO dishcloths have been completely knitted.   They aren't perfect, but as Nita keeps telling me, "they are dishcloths". 

On the other front, the on line quilting group that I belong to is having a world wide swap.  I just spent two hours foraging in the boxes in the florida room to find my extra pieces, strings, buttons, and bows.  Tomorrow these will be going to Connecticut and I will be getting a package from California.  It is worldwide because we also have members participating from Australia, France, Panama, and Germany.  Harold is less than impressed that we are shipping fabric scraps across 4 continents.  I think it is totally cool! 

Knitting, not Purling...The Dish Cloth

Okay, once again, Nita is teaching me to knit, notice that I did not say purl...yet, only knit.  My next lesson is purl.  I decided to figure them out one at a time.  It doesn't seem like it should be difficult, however, my motor memory seems to be faulty when it comes to knitting.  Of course, practice would help...and practicing oftener than every 2 months would be even better.  I will figure this out, even though I have to admit, I'm not sure that dish cloths are really worth the time or money for cotton yarn....but I need to make something to start.  Don't look really close though, every time I said that I had made a mistake, she said "keep going, it's a dishcloth". 

Oak Leaf Applique and Kids

I have not been blogging, but I have been busy.  This was spring break week for the kids' colleges and they both went out of town to visit their sisters and then spent a couple days at home and Chrissy brought her housemate too.  It was a lot of fun.  We went to Detroit and the Eastern Market yesterday, drove around Belle Isle and down Jefferson so she could see where they made the Chrysler commercial.  We had lunch at PF Changs and walked around Somerset eating Godivas.  Chrissy drank Starbucks again and again, since she can't get it up north.  But back to school today... 
The Oak Leaf Applique
I started this applique about a month ago.  I was thinking about maybe hand quilting a whole cloth  quilt when I saw this style in an old magazine.  I loved the oak reels and with big spaces between them, I'll have lots of room for fancy hand quilting.  The blocks are 25" with a 2" green border and a 5" white border.  (It's amazing how big and white 25x25" blocks can be when you are going to fill them up with stitches.)  I used white Kona muslin for the background and 1948 Roses by Maywood Studios for the varigated green applique and border.  It does have a fairly distinctive rose pattern in the green, but it was exactly the shades of green that I was looking for and I don't think it bother me when it's done.  I'm going to wash and dry it so I understand how it shrinks and then hand quilt it.  When it's done, I'm thinking about maybe tea dying it to give it a more vintage look and take some of the whiteness out of the background.  The next step is to decide on quilting patterns.  This one will take some real time.  Postscript...thanks to Harold for holding it for the photo (it was starting to snow).     

Free Day at Basket Guild

I think we all had a good time.  It was our guild's, Mid Michigan Basket Weavers, free class day.  We had 10 new weavers looking for entertainment on a snowy Saturday.  We offered supplies, tools, instructions, lunch, and chit chat and they made small market baskets.  Everyone finished their basket and seemed pleased.  A couple people signed up to join guild (always a good thing) and I think a couple more may be back too.  It's a nice weekend; Chrissy is home from school with her roommate for the weekend and we had a good day making baskets.  I'm always grateful for family and fellowship with like minded women.