SNOWBALL QUILT READY FOR BORDERS

Today my thoughts are back on the snowball quilt I am working on....the center is done and now deciding on borders, how many and what width....so far it looks like there will be a 2 inch inner red border and then finish off with the wider 4 inch outer ivory border like the snowballs....

I was trying to figure out what kind of design I was going use on the outer border which would have decided the width and gave up drawing one but while thumbing through old quilt mags I found a leaf that is just perfect....

I can quilt it end to end and with a little jump make it continuous which will be a big help and its a 1 needle one...not only that but it is the width of the block so no big problems spacing....still have to decide on the corner though....maybe a leaf diagonally placed....

I have pretty much decided on quilting in red this time....the back will be just a shade darker than the snowballs (couldn't get the same color for the back)....I guess you would have to say I will be doing red work quilting instead of embroidery lol.....it will show up on the back well too....there will be a red quilted heart in each of the snowballs too...and diagonal quilting on both sides where the corners met the snowballs...it will show up like an on point box around the hearts....

Earlier I thought about using 4 patches for one of the borders but most of the ones I have made are not all 4 different...

they are mostly co ordinated or done with white etc and just not right I don't think so back in the bag they will go for another quilt.....

I have finally made I think all the decisions for this quilt unless something goes wrong and I think it will make a great gift....I am liking it already and it might be hard to give it up when the time comes.....more later.....

UFO GETTING ATTENTION TODAY

Today while drinking my coffee still trying to wake up I decided to look at the back pictures in my camera file to see if I missed anything....sometimes I take a lot of pics to use with posts here and I miss one now and then....well I am not sure but I think I found one lol....

This a UFO I started couple years ago...all it is lacking is the rust border maybe about 5 inches or so then it will be ready for quilting....I started it because I wanted a different layout for the string blocks...I call it southwest stars....it reminds me of the colors you would find there....the background looks white but it is a very light gray...these colors you wouldn't normally find together but they somehow work just like the sunsets in the southwest....it will be bed size when finished....this is on the agenda to finish before the year is up....

I seem to have a fascination with star blocks....

I keep going back to a challenge that I participated in while back and made this topper....I like the colors and the design of the topper ....I wonder if a large quilt would look good with them.....or something similar ....maybe more later on this one...

Update on the snowball quilt....I did get it to the narrow border stage after getting the rows done but didn't take a picture yet....I have been trying to decide on just how big to make the borders or how many....that will be the story for later this week lol.....

One of the first things I have to do today is do up the dishes and straighten up the kitchen....when I work on a project in sewing the kitchen always suffers ...I just eat and pile dishes and go back to sewing....so now it judgment time lol plus I gotta cook something today so I can do both at the same time lol....geez its a new week again....time is flying....and so am I lol....more later....

MAKING SNOWBALLS BUT THERE IS NO SNOW

Yes I am making snowballs today but its raining not snowing lol....as I mentioned in previous posts I am making a snowball quilt as a Christmas present and will hand quilt it so its get down to business and get the top done so I can get on with the quilting....

 

The 9 patches have been done and I started on the snowballs earlier in the week and between last night and today I have them ready for putting together....in the picture is the quilt so far in various stages....I used 1075 -2 inch squares in this quilt so far....I just might use up all my little squares lol....I could even possibly have enough 4 patches to use as a border....more on this later....

 

When I leave my blog I will go back to the sewing machine and start putting this quilt in rows and maybe be ready for a border later today or tomorrow....

 

I put a few together to see what it is beginning to look like....the ivory 'snowballs' will be ok I think as she does not like things to look 'too new'...I worry about the squares looking a little too bright but will have to see after it is put together....

 

I made her this small quilt for display in her old cabinet while back and the colors were bright but the background was dull and she thought it was ok....

 

I got the batt out today to relax on the couch, no pun intended lol but I don't have anywhere else to stretch one out...I thought about  fixing some mounting  things in a double doorway but the batt might get ripped as people would move it to go through the doorway....so will let things be the way they are..that is all the info I have about this quilt so far but more to come later....

 

The prism quilt???? its on the sidelines till I get the snowball top done and in the quilting frame then I can work on it when I get tired of  snowballs lol....

 

So I need to find some lunch now and then get back to sewing...more later...

NEW TECHNOLOGY AND OLD SEWING MACHINES

I am all bummed out today....I wanted to start doing a lot of straight line machine quilting but I don't have a even feed foot for either machine...so I went looking for them....and I found that I cant get one for either of my sewing machines...now I did have doubts I would find one for this machine....its a Neechi...

I bought it in 1960 so it is ancient by todays standards lol...but my Husqvarna I bought in 1995 I thought would still be ok to find parts but I am finding not so....is it a fossil too??....I know technology has advanced with leaps and bounds the past 10 years I guess I haven't  lol.....but oh to start deciding which is the best machine to buy now is a challenge with all that they do....my Husqvarna does some lettering and fancy stitches but no embroidery....

I guess I will be looking for a new machine sometime in the future very soon.... but for now I have a snowball quilt I have to get done by Christmas so that comes first....then the winter months I will be working steadily on the girls grandmothers flower garden quilts hand quilting them...so it might be spring before it get around to looking seriously for a new machine...but I am keeping an open mind about all of them while I investigate.....

ok off to the machine....and quilt for the week end....more later....

FISH QUILT AND DESCRIPTION READY FOR CHRISTMAS

Here are pictures of my sons Fish Quilt I made for him this past 2 months and is hand quilted throughout....

I had gotten the fabric about 3 years ago...I found it on sale in one of the fabric catalogs...at the time I didn't know how I was going to make the quilt but at least I had the fabric...I particularly liked the collage fabric but I didn't have enough to do much else with it...in fact I just had enough to use as a border after I matched it...the ends had to be seamed to work.

 

I drew a fish to use as a stencil for the brown border and quilted it in navy blue...I put them in a line to look like a fish swimming....the ones at the top seem upside down but this is a directional quilt so if the quilt is upside down to my son when using it he can see the fish right side up....lol...I freehanded the cattails in the corners of the quilt....I think they should have been bigger now after looking at the quilt....

 

The back is still some of  the fabric I bought to go with the quilt at the same time....its an all over fish print...

 

I was going to use on the front somewhere but it seemed right for the back....the binding gave me some trouble...on the last side it kept twisting and causing ripples along the edge of the quilt so finally had to hand baste as I went along to get it to lay right........its the color of the narrow border around the panel in the center to tie it all together...the  batt seemed a little thick though it didn't say it was extra thick , it did turn out fine....I am glad this one is done and now 1 more to get done before Christmas....

 

I hope to keep up with the pictures lol....I just don't take the time to get the camera going....I could bombard you all with pictures if I took of all the  things I did in a day lol...but you would get tired of seeing them I am sure lol....but I will try to do better than I have.....more later

ANSWERING A COMMENT AND MORE INFO ON A QUILT

To answer a comment from the last post by Love of Quilts....at first I thought the border might be too bright too but after I remembered that am going to add a quilted heart of the block color in the center of each block I think that will make it better and also the border might not be that wide...I will play around with it some before deciding...thank you both sheri and love of quilts for your comments...I always like comments....

Sometimes I have a hard time deciding on a color for a border unless its very similar  or the fabric like the rest of the quilt....I don't seem to put a lot of contrasting borders on them....

I have to get the fish quilt done before October 3 for show and tell at the quilt meeting....maybe if I hustle I can have one of the small ones done too to show....but high on my list is PUT ALL THAT FABRIC AWAY!!!! .....more later

MORE QUILTS IN PROGRESS

The fall festival is over for another year....the weather was great, a little cool but ok.....the crowd was a little thinner I think and looking not buying unless it was food....that was the busy places...according to one vendor people just seemed to be out for a stroll lol....but then I kind of expected this as I hear every day on the tv that the economy is still not the best....

Here at home at this very moment I have 3 quilts started on the back corner of my table....I think all three will be at least  double bed size....you will see more of them as I work on them but I had to package them up to keep it all together...that becomes a problem sometimes as limited as I am for space...

 

I got my order Saturday with the border fabric I am going to use with the floating boxes quilt...that should make it twin size....

its another one of those conversation thingys that my family most likely will comment on....its kind of a fun quilt so why not put a fun border on it....it might go to the nursing home to brighten up someones life...more on that later.....

 

All those medium and pastel fabrics I had out when working on the sherbet colors quilt I decided to make another one only prism design....

years ago I made one with pastel prints where the colors are with white as a background....it went to my nephew's family and I liked it so well that it stuck in my mind and I said one day I would do another....the colors I had out seemed the right choice for this one instead of the prints....more on this later too....ok I am editing this...I was looking over the blog and found I had a picture on the right of the last prism quilt with the prints....so you can see what one looks like done....

 

Life is back to normal for me now lol....my brain is working overtime as usual so maybe I will come up with some goodies .....more later.....

HERE IS THE 'SHERBET' QUILT

Well here it is....the 'sherbet' quilt all finished with hand quilting....it too will go to the fall festival...not sure it will sell, the public is hard to figure for sales but at least my work will be out there to show...

 

While the pastel and medium color fabrics were out all over the sewing room I decided to make another pastel quilt larger baby size this time....4 different color triangles around a  light beige square....I made one of those only with plain white center and calico print triangles around the outside...as I recall the blocks were smaller and on point...but it made a beautiful baby quilt....my nephew got that one for his new one years ago...its pictured on the right with the caption 'Nicoles Quilt'...anyway I made 19 blocks which will be 4 1/4 inches square....not very big but the quilt will be very colorful as is this one I am showing today...

 

I am on the outside border of my sons fish quilt, may work on it later today some....right now I have so many things going its hard to keep track of them....I have got to get some order to things or I wont get much done just running here and there....

 

the weather has been so nice I feel I better be outside and enjoying it so I guess I will get a few groceries sometime to day....I really need some good ideas for meals lately I have been fed up with food lol...no time to sit and look for recipes so will have to wing it ....just roam the grocery store looking for something good.....more later....

A FEW MORE THINGS FINISHED THIS WEEK

Today feels like a fall day...and it wont be long till it is fall here in Illinois...and that means lots of sewing projects for Christmas....which right now my head is so full of quilty things that there are no ideas for anything else....

I have done a lot of sewing this last 3 months and I am not caught up yet....I finally got pictures taken and put in computer of things so I can post them for awhile till ya get tired of them lol

As some of you know I am participating in a fall festival with my gd later in the fall so have been making up some things....

 

couple of runners.....

 

 

At the moment I am trying to finish my sons 'fish' quilt top so I can sandwich it and start with the hand quilting....I have been talking about it for the past couple years or more and now finally getting started....I hope to finish by October for his birthday but if I don't there is always Christmas lol....or next year....I have learned not to make promises though the years....lol...

 

My new computer has taken a lot of my time lately trying to find things that are there but not where I would have liked them to be lol and today I had to load a couple more programs that didn't make it....first I had to look up the disk I knew was here....grrrr got mixed in with the empty cases....that took about 2 hrs to find....as you can tell I am not a very patient person lol....

 

Looking forward to Chicken salad sandwiches for supper tonight...I got hungry for them for some reason so thawed out chicken breasts, cooked them and will make it when I am done here...might save out one and use broth and have a 'dab' of chicken and noodles...

 

That seems to be all for today....not too gabby today but then I haven't been doing anything but sewing....I am sure there will be more later.......

 

 

HERE IS MY 2 GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN QUILTS

Finally!!...i have had trouble trying to post this picture....here are my babies....these are my 2 Grandmothers Flower Garden quilts so far....the tops are done so the next step is to sandwich them and start hand quilting them....so it will probably be at least 6 months before they get done, maybe longer....they measure 74x92 inches and are all hand made and i didn't use any paper disks....as i dont like English paper piecing or any paper piecing for that matter lol

I am back on my laptop today...my new computer quit working....tech and i thought it was in the computer since he installed a new monitor and it still didn't work...but after he left....my mouse decided to die....so now i need to get a new one and hope that was the problem...to tired today to make the trip to get one....

I have been working in scraps most of last week and so far into today.....and this afternoon i worked on straightening up my work table....geez what a mess!!....i hope i can keep it cleaned off....FAT CHANCE!!...i did put some of the 'stuff' in bags sorted so that helped and maybe i wont be moving it around.....

Its been a long day so far and i need some food and i am tired, brain tired....hope you enjoy the gfg picture...the girls at the quilt meeting helped hold them up so pictures could be taken....they were a spectacular site seeing them both together.....so glad  i stuck with making them.....more later....

PICTURE OF FOOTBALL QUILT/MATCHING PILLOWCASES

Here is the picture of my grandsons quilt i finished and delivered....i am glad to have it done and gone....

and the pillowcases to match below

while quilting it i found i had quilted a couple huge wrinkles in the back....it took almost a day of ripping and smoothing and i finally got it ok....the back fabric was soft and easy to wrinkle....i am thinking maybe i could use spray starch on  the next back to see if that will help keep wrinkles at a minimum....i hope so....

i am having a lot of trouble with my left knee today...the arthritis has kicked up....i must have been up and down a lot the last few days and scooting my chair while sewing irritating my leg....i hope tylenol and my pain med will take the pain away enough for me to get to the store...got a few things i need that cant wait.....more later....

SHERBET QUILT IS ALMOST DONE!

i decided to start with something bright and cheery today...its clouding up so maybe it will rain some and cool down....as long as its hot i am contented to be inside where it is cool....i found these flowers in the garage along with some others and decided they might look nice on the deck even though they arent fresh....i have a bad habit of forgetting to water plants outside...my kids say i put them in 'dry dock' lol...

i am making progress on the 'sherbet' quilt...working on the border now...

got almost one side done last night and now the markings are gone for around the corner so will have to mark that and the next side...it moves pretty fast when i get started...i think it will be a 'striking' quilt when finished...i may put it up for sale at the festival but being its hand quilted i would price it higher....

i need to quit sewing for a bit and start putting fabric back in the cabinet...i have all the pastel and brights i used in the sherbet quilt still out and fabric from several of the runners too....2 piles on the machine arm makes it hard to sew and  piles behind the little ironing board makes it hard to press things and god forbid if i had to press a large piece of fabric....and i guess i will just have to gather all the scrap i have accumulated of late and just put in a bag for now as my scrap box is overflowing....i feel another string quilt coming on lol....

ok i either have to find something in the freezer for my supper or get out in the heat and go eat somewhere....i am leaning toward the latter lol....no cooking...its a good thing! lol....more later.....

PROGRESS ON THE 'SHERBET' COLORS QUILT

It sure is hot here in Illinois this week but then its the middle of July...from now through August we can expect this...i have seen it as hot as 114 degrees actual...it was so hot then that my husband had to carry our dog across the patio to the grass to do his business, just too hot for his little paws...almost too hot for everybody...i hope we dont see it that hot here again but this year of extremes who knows!

I put together the 'sherbet' quilt this week and now decided to hand quilt it....and i am almost done with the center of it....i got out a stencil that would fit the block and decided it had too much detail so i didn't mark a lot of the lines and found it created a 'wonky heart' design....i like it very much i will have to make a note to do that or later i might wonder where i found that idea lol...i am still deciding on the border...its 4 inches and i have a scollop design stencil i may use ....

Yah i am dragging my feet on pictures again but later today if i get bored with the quilt i will wind up the camera and come in and post again today or wait til tomorrow....geez i am so lazy lol....i will blame it on the weather lol....

Well back to the quilting....maybe i can get the center (20 blocks) done today....onward....more later....

STARTED A NEW QUILT

Today i started what i call a 'sherbet' quilt....well its not sherbet ice cream just a lot of colors you might find in sherbet...

I made one of these about 3 years ago and gave it away right away at a baby shower and it was a hit with all that saw it...i have posted here before....

well while back i started cutting strips and cutting big triangles after 2 strips were sewed together creating color combos...well last night about midnight i got started again and just kep puttin blocks together and i got enough done to make another baby quilt....

this past week i made another runner


it too is based on the scrappy quilts using various strips....i didn't have as many blues as i did the browns, oranges etc...

my granddaughter was here for a bit this afternoon and we kind of discussed our strategy for the fall festival sale we are planning on....it should be interesting to say the least....

i will have more pictures when i get the 'sherbet' quilt done...should be this week...just got to remember all i need a picture of......oh its fun to get old!!!!....more later!

PROGRESS IS MADE ON MODERN MAZE QUILT

Back when i was making the pastel 'maze' quilts i thought somewhere in time i would make one that was made with batiks with the same principle....so about a year ago i started drawing up a new pattern for one....you have seen the block in earlier posts and i have been working on it now and then....

i am almost done with the top...

i have been putting together sections in 9 square blocks (3x3) and have 2 more sections to go....i think i have enough 6 inch blocks to finish...then decide if it will be another row of 3 wider and longer....

here is a closeup of a 9 square section.

before i do that though i want to work on my grandsons quilt i started before my health problem....i have the back, gotta wash/iron it yet then sandwich and i can quilt....i hope i can do a good job on it on my little machine....then also quilt those pinwheel runners too....

yesterday i mostly spent in the kitchen trying to cook things that didn't have salt...that is one losing battle...i have doc appointment next wednesday so i thought cook reg but watch the salt very carefully and see if i am doing ok at the docs....i havent cooked with salt for years...my down fall is eating out!...i will have to get used to using unsalted products as i find them....i keep forgetting i can season them later with salt substitute....

a very good salt substitute is called "no salt"....i swear by it!

time for lunch so gotta run...more later....