Fanciful Quilts

It's been "awhile" since I last posted.   Can't share that I accomplished much other than a plan to reorganize the SQS (that's Sharon's Quilting Studio).  Several plans in fact.  No, make that over a dozen.  There was a quote I read somewhere - something about Perfection being a pipe dream.  God is perfect - I am not. We are in Ft Myers, Florida now and have today & tomorrow to enjoy the balmy temperatures.  Okay - maybe not so balmy.  However, 56F beats 22F at home.  We have a lovely balcony view from the hotel.....yes, this was taken this morning.  Beautiful sunrise.                                                        A bit hazy, yes ... but then my iPhone 5c is a bit - uh, challenged?  Okay - OLD. Brought along 6 placemats to hand quilt.  Wrong thread.  Wrong needles.  Oh heck - I just am not a fan of hand quilting.  Even placemats.   Had quite a bit of B&W ... so why not use some.  Appliquéd flowers (appliquéd by machine,

Tilt a Square is still tilting away.  I know - that's terrible, but it's getting late. Learned something new....  Not all decorative stitches are meant to be used as an appliqué stitch.  No kidding?  No kidding.   Next block under the needle.... I added tear away stabilizer underneath.  It worked wonders.  Old dog, new tricks.  Now the trick will be removing it.   Close up of the stitching.  Choosing a color that blends into the fabric has its pros and cons.  Pros?  One is - can't see the mistakes unless one looks very close.  Cons?  One is - you can't see the edge of the fabric while sewing.  It's all in the eye of the beholder.  Sorry - it's been that kind of day. I'll continue to plod on until all 12 blocks are done.  I'm kind of anxious to see this through completion.   Many blessings..... Sharon

First off - it cannot be the 4th of November already.  This means Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Aaack.  I'm actually planning on cooking for more than the two of us.  Aaack again.   Project #33, Tilt a Square Kit, is coming along very nicely.  So far, so good.  Bad joke that sports the punchline "so far, so good" but I'll spare you. To date:   Yes, two whole blocks completed.  Appliquéd.  Without fusing.  Kit instructions call for trimming behind each appliquéd square before next one added.  First block:  okay, trimmed it.  Second block:  okay, not trimming.  I may regret the no-trimming by the time I load this top on to the frame, but at this moment, I'll stand by the no time decision. Care to see a close up of block #2?  Okay.... The plan is to use a different appliqué stitch for each block.  Twelve blocks - twelve different appliqué stitches.  Did I think ahead to ensure Mz Janome has 12 different stitches available?  Absolutely n

...and progress.  Oh yes, progress. Project # - geez, what the heck was that number?  Oh yeah - #33.  Tilt a Square (kit). Can't say I'm overwhelmed with how these blocks are to be put together (again:  READ THE DIRECTIONS BEFORE BUYING).   Since I certainly cannot toss this project without gaining the reputation of - what?  Whatever reputation one gets when one doesn't follow through....and I'm sure it's not a nice name. With that in mind.... Here's the proposed layout of the blocks.  Yes, subject to change.  Always subject to change.   It's so nice to have a large ironing board.  If nothing else, it's great to lay out blocks.   And it's a great catch all for stuff that has wandered out of the room....and.....  Yeah, not a whole lot of ironing happens.   In the meantime - tomorrow, furniture shopping with mom.  Not much to buy.  Bed, dresser, couch, coffee table, chair & maybe two end tables.  Surely that can't ta

...and hello to November - tomorrow, that is.   FQs for Tilted Square - all chopped up now.  Each FQ was to be cut into a 10 1/2" square, 7" square, 5" square, and 3" square.  To be appliquéd on top of each other.  Note to self:  READ THE DESCRIPTION FIRST BEFORE PURCHASING.  I am not a fan of raw edged appliqué....  Did you catch the fact that each block will consist of appliquéing small square on top of next size square...and etc?   And here they are....all 12 FQs cut to size.  Remains of each FQ carefully set aside.  Okay - remains of each FQ shoved to one side on the cutting table. And my go-to project when I need a break.... ...block #2 of the 7" blocks...101 Log Cabin blocks.  I'm actually going to try and make the rest of the 7" blocks in order.  Ha. As if.  I've made a few of these already.... Just in case you were wondering....here's a list of the blocks yet to be completed: Th

It's the 29th of October....and truth be told, I am so looking forward to a more sedate November. Mom has been moved from Oshkosh, Wisconsin to Dayton, Ohio.  Courtesy of sis & her husband and Riley & me.  She did quite well on the drive back.    She moved from a very nice retirement community in Oshkosh to living temporarily with sis and her husband.  She's been welcomed warmly by our church family....attended her first bible study this evening....and today she selected where she will live come the 21st of November (if all goes well).  A very nice retirement community - smaller place and she's fine with that.  Whooeee - a mere 20 minute drive from our home.   Meanwhile on the sewing front. #56 ("Pretty in Pink Flowers Kit") was completed....which I am sure I shared.  Okay, so maybe not completely completed.  As in - wow, that line of quilting really stinks....  I've become quite adept at removing quilting stitches by Mz Bailey and replacing them

After much deliberation - actually, while ironing the freshly washed and dried fabric - I have decided #64, Halloween Yellow Brick Road, will be put the side.  Anyone reading this - if you would like the package of fabric, I will be happy to send to you.  No more to be said. New challenge awaits....which randomly happens to be #33, titled "Tilt a Square".  Darn if I remember exactly what that is - a kit?  A pattern with fabric set aside?  Oh the joys of treasure hunting. More to come...once ear ache in both ears subside and stomach is settled.   Sharon

Finally.....!!! Granted, I must admit (with a whisper) that #56, first of the randomly selected UFQs (that's Unfinished Quilts to those not in the know) that number 70 in total, isn't totally done.  I saw a few areas where Ms Janome, Domestic Machine Extraordinaire, will have to do her famous FMQing (aka Free Motion Quilting).   Acronyms - what would we do without them?   Don't answer. Here she is.... I love the stories each of our quilts tell... This one...well, I know I shared the fabric came in a bundle many moons ago.  While not a fan of pink, many are and a little girl will love this.  Color aside, the backing was purchased at a LQS closeout.  I hate it when a LQS closes its door....most times.  But this time the owner chose to as she felt God has directed her talents elsewhere. I'm all for listening to God's voice and following His directions.   I had no idea what the fabric would be used for ....and when the top was complete, that

And it is October 6th.  2018.  Saturday.   First the rant. Late September hubby ordered a group of bookcases.  Ikea.  Online.  Long story short, bookcases were to arrive this past Friday.  He lines someone up to put together the bookcases plus do the finish work.   Truck pulls up.  Bookcases on the manifest.  Bookcases NOT on the truck. Twenty phone calls to Ikea yielded absolutely nothing.  Not even the glimmer of a real person at the end of the 1-888 number.  This is not customer service - more like customer aggravation. Called the delivery service.  Success!  Talked a real live human being.  Again, long story short.  The Columbus warehouse was contacted.  Drivers of the truck didn't answer their phones.  Was promised a call by end of the day with an update.  No call.   Email from Ikea was waiting for me early this morning.  A very nice apology for "lost" shipment and new shipment will arrive in 2 weeks.  Please don't reply to this email as it is not monit

First off - #56 challenge, aka Pretty in Pink.   While the floral fabric isn't too bad, the yellow isn't to my liking either.  But I digress. Progress! All rows done!  Still, pink overload.   You will notice they're sitting on some sort of - what is that?   Why, it's the big ironing board that I had to buy a few years ago - when I had plenty of room for it to be set up permanently (so to speak on the "permanently" bit).  And now? Yeah, there's very little room to dance.  One must dance when one has completed a project.  Guess the dancing has to be done in the hallway.   The past few days have been busy. Yesterday - tour #1 of retirement community for mom's move from Oshkosh, WI.  Lots of pros - lots of cons.  Sure wish we could have a mother in law tiny house in our backyard...that would come with a separate big ole kitchen and a chef.  On our way to another errand (after the tour), Riley commented something along the lines of

Okay - so #56 Challenge is not quite marching on, but a post titled "#56 Challenge Crawls On" doesn't quite have the impact I'd like it to have.  Yes, "marching on" is a bit of stretch..... Soooo..... Hubby Riley decided he wanted to mow the church's grass yesterday.  Not a big area but it does have it challenges - a nice sloping area - both sides of walkway to the front door of the church.  Okay, I'll go with you, she says somewhat enthusiastically. Actually it was more like "really... now?!?!?!"   He mowed. I pulled weeds one on side of the aforementioned sidewalk.  A measly 40 minutes. This morning I woke up and there wasn't a bone or a muscle in my body that didn't complain.  When did I get so old?  This had to be overnight - and has nothing to do with my lack of exercising.   That aside (whew - way aside), I did manage the unthinkable.   I sewed ALL the pesky blocks for #56.   All of them. I know darn well

Finally - a chance to attack  tackle #56 project, aka Pretty in Pink Flowers.  If you have a better name, by all means let me know.  Obviously pink is not one of my favorite colors.   To recap, this is the EQ7 drawing.... And this is what I accomplished today.... Thank you AccuQuilt.  That 2 1/2" strip die is to .... well, die for?  Okay, could not resist. Silently, I have a 20 minute daily challenge...anything Quilty.  Does setting up a huge ironing board (you know the kind - BIG...), ironing the fabric and then cutting?  Of course it does.  That big ole ironing board was a great buy - when I had the room for it.  Now it languishes in a closet....where I wrestle with it for about 10 hours to get it set up for 15 minutes worth of ironing.  Is it worth it?  Absolutely not.  But at this moment, hubby won't consider knocking the wall out between the SQS (that's Sharon's Quilting Studio) and the Exercise Room (no, we don't label it ER - but co

The adventure begins. Okay - so the challenge is a "few" days old but the adventure is finally underway. From the list... #56. For lack of a better name, "Pretty in Pink Flowers Kit" was chosen. Did I happen to mention this already?  If so, a repeat is always nice. The fabrics?  Yup - this is a repeat.  As is the name of #56. Not exactly my cup of tea - or even coffee for that matter.  However, I couldn't bear to donate or toss such well made fabric.  Quality at its highest.  Did I happen to mention earlier that this bundle was purchased without a pattern?   Measured each length.....Floral, one yard.  Yellow, barely a yard (one inch short - how weird).  Striped, one yard.   Out came EQ7. Let me digress. EQ7 and I have a nodding acquaintance.  I haven't touched the program more than a few times after I paid for a transition fee from my other laptop to an Apple laptop.  Love my MacBook Air but honestly these "transition" fees

Nothing like starting late in the year to tackle those wayward projects...whether they be panels, quilt tops to be quilted, BOMs, kits (both self made or commercially purchased).... Project started yesterday...capturing all those projects.  At first count, 52.  Didn't seem that bad.  Then I had a thought....where could go these buggers be hiding??  Yup - more were hiding.  In here....Well this is the before the great organization took place.... And this is afterwards..... Behind door #1.... where I found two more kits hiding away..... And behind door #2 ...where I found panels, more kits.... All that to end up with ... not 52 but 70.   70 projects in one stage or another .... Yes, I know that a lot of quilters have many more but to me - it was a YIKES moment. After posting the list to google docs (any time you want access let me know), I gave thought (lots of thought) to how best tackle these unfinished projects.  Each project was giv

Today is Tuesday ... the 10th of July 2018.  We moved into this beautiful house several weeks ago...and we're still "moving in".   Moving in had its challenges.  Riley's mom passed away early on the 2nd of July.  We had driven up to Wellington on the 1st of July after church service, arriving around 4pm.  She passed away very early in the am on the 2nd of July.  Funeral took place on the 6th of July.  She is in heaven with dad and all those who have passed from this earth before her.  That was (and is) a huge comfort - knowing she is in a much better place.   To continue..... You would think that moving from "small" renovated office space (about 1800 square feet) to a 2112 square foot house would be a snap.  After all, how much stuff could two people accumulate in 6 years living in a 1800 square foot space? Lots. Dear God, we are hoarders.  Pure and simple.   How I wish I could find a photo of the "library" Riley creat

The last stitch was completed awhile ago on the Fussy Crumb Bird Block Quilt.  This usually means a hiatus on quilting for awhile.  A week, a month, several months.  Usually.   However, every time I walk into the QS (aka Quilting Studio, so dubbed by my husband), I hear the VOICES.  Multitudes of voices coming from a large basket underneath the quilting frame.  This large basket just happens to house a multitude of flimsies.  Multitudes?  That's a number larger than 5 - and no, I haven't counted.  Don't need my blood pressure to raise any more than it's current state...which isn't that good.  Another story for another time.   ....so I looked among the stash .... and saw something that looked pretty lengthy.  No, you can't see it lurking in the photo on the left.  But I saw it.  Okay - that might make a nice backing.  It was somewhere on the right side of the cubicles...oh seriously, you don't need to know that.   So, I squared it all up....whi

And victory is claimed!! Fussy Crumb Bird Block (aka FFBB or the ARRRGHHH quilt) project has been completed!  Yes, binding and everything.  Okay - not a label.  I haven't prepared a label yet.  For another day.   A word to the wise....multiple seamed quilt tops do not play well with multiple seamed backings when one quilts the layers.  Creatively speaking, the wavy lines when one looks closely (or even not that close) are a result of Mz Bailey, my trusty mid arm, not liking it very much when she had to sew across all those seams.  I swear I heard her mutter "I think I can, I think I can....".  (If you never read the Little Engine That Could - you should).   But it is done - and it is a very heavy quilt.  I imagine once it's on our bed, it won't slip off the bed easily.  Hey - good excuse.  I would have gotten out of bed earlier but the quilt wouldn't let me.   Next project?  Hmmm.  A flimsy waiting patiently in the wicker basket is

And there is real progress! Yes, indeed.  Two full passes of quilting.  Brightly variegated thread was chosen...and the pattern? Words fail.  Call it a combination of X marks the spot and swirlies across the sashing.  Throw in a bit of meandering also.  My Xs are not quite straight but it will do.   To sum up:  so far, so good.                                                                                                             And then there's the every growing piano key border.  No, haven't measured the length yet.  Very doubtful it has reached the magical width yet... around 300".   And that will be sewn to these blocks: Blocks  - all 36 of them - have been squared up (or is that squared down?) to 12".  And no, they have not been sewn together yet.  THE PLAN (so to speak) is to sew them together, add a peppy red border - probably around 2 1/2" wide - and then the piano key border and then one more red border.  Backing?  My firs