Design Wall Monday 8-15-11

I rummaged through my fabric stash and found exactly what I needed for a backing and the batting for the flip-flop wall hanging, so it is now ready to quilt. After binding it the last step will be to somehow secure the clothespins to the piece.


And finally, I found a fabric that I'm okay with for the border on the bandana quilt. I really struggled to come up with something I like. This black fabric has dots that are mostly the colors of the bandanas used in this piece so I think it works okay.


My new hobby, however, (like I need another hobby) is making these wreaths that are all the rage right now. Super easy. Not too pricey. And a lot of fun to make.


Visit Patchwork Times today for Design Wall Monday - a fabulous source of inspiration.

Design Wall Monday 8-8-11

My Design Wall has't changed much except that I did finish the scrappy star quilt - I love it! I also finished the bargello piece but it's quite slender so I'm definitely going to have to be creative about something for the sides - it's plenty long enough, just not very wide for a bed-size quilt. I didn't take a photo for today's design wall but will for next week. Don't forget to dash over to the Patchwork Times to see all the inspiring creations today.

Design Wall Monday 7-25-11

Be sure to check out Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times!

Once again, my quilting and crafting hobbies have come to my rescue. Tuesday I had gastric bypass surgery and am recovering. While I didn't get much done Tuesday-Friday, Saturday and Sunday I sewed a lot. The up and down motion of sitting at the sewing machine, moving to the ironing board, moving to the cutting table, then back to the sewing machine, has helped to alleviate a lot of the discomfort I was having. I purposely left on my "to do" plate several very easy projects. Here they are.


I'm always surprised at where inspiration for a quilt design will come from. Several weeks ago a local boutique published an ad for a sale and the ad featured flip-flops hanging from a clotheslines. Oh my gosh - it was adorable. So I put my own spin on it. The twine line in this photograph will be replaced with a piece of real clothesline. I will also use real wooden clothespins for "hanging" the flip-flops. All I've done so far is the applique - I need to finish the raw edges, add the clothesline and clothespins and, of course, quilt the piece. It's about 18" x 30". And since one of the rooms in my house is named "Just Beachy", I suspect this piece will end up in that room. I also suspect it may get some bead embellishments ...


Scrappy stars - when I got home from the hospital Thursday I had 5 stars made. Now there are 28 - and that will be all because I ran out of white fabric - will buy more this week. The blocks are 9.5" square, so I'll cut 44 plain white blocks for a total of 72 and will randomly place the star blocks. I'll think about the border when I get there. I'm hoping to find a happy color fabric with a star motif, and I'll have it quilted using a star motif as well. Just a fun, fast quilt.


And the bargello from last week's Design Wall Monday - I'm sewing the strips together. Still no real plan for the border - after I get the center panel finished I'll take it to the quilt shop and see what batiks she has. Cotton Fields always has a nice selection of batiks.

Anyone interested in reading about my bariatric surgery, please visit my other blog Sally's Lapband Journey. I had lapband surgery in August 2008, lost a lot of weight but in August 2009 started having complications. In December 2010 the lapband was removed and the weight quickly started coming back so then I had conventional gastric bypass surgery.

Design Wall Monday 7-18-11

Check out Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.


After a 2-3 week hiatus from sewing because of an ill-behaving sewing machine, the machine is now good to go again and I'm off and running. Lori issued a challenge to me for the scrappy star quilt so here it is, in progress. Check out her blog for details on her scrappy star quilt. I'm going to use a scrappy white background, and each star will be from a different color family. I plan to make a bed size quilt - these are 9.5" blocks, so I have to make a lot more. After the first three blocks I settled into a nice rhythm so the rest will go much faster. These are quite fun to make - no pattern!



I've also laid out my next bargello quilt. This is a jelly roll pack from South Seas Batiks. I laid out all the strips and arranged them in a light to medium to dark value scheme. Then I sewed them together, evened up the ends of the tube, then just started cutting strips from .75" to 2.5" inches wide - no pattern! I took some time laying it out to get the look I wanted - I'm pleased with this wave effect so I'll go with it. To make it a bed size quilt, I'll need to add some kind of side borders, then a plain top and bottom border. Don't have clue yet what that will be. Will ponder it while I sew these strips together. Maybe "piano key" side borders?? Am planning to name it Jungle Dance.

Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be less thread yardage on spools these days?

Have a great week everyone.

Design Wall Monday 7-4-11

Happy 4th of July! Visit Patchwork Times today for Design Wall Monday.

Nothing to speak of on my design wall but the knitting is coming along nicely. This is an oven towel pattern by Rachel van Schie. She has a fabulous selection of knitted washcloth patterns, for all seasons. It's difficult to see on this towel because the design doesn't show up well until it's been blocked, but the wording says, "Grandma's Kitchen. Kids Eat Free." Too cute.

Each year I choose a word to live by - the word is used to help guide me in decision making and as a way of looking at life. Last year my word was "adventure". This year my word is "simplify" and I'm also trying to make it a point to use what I already have. Repurposing when possible ...


So, keeping the word "simplify" in mind, I looked around at what I had on hand that could be used for propagating plants, one of my hobbies. The plants need kind of a "greenhouse" effect. Hmmm ... what could I use? Empty two-liter soda bottles worked perfectly. I cut the top third of the bottle but not all the way through, and drill drain holes in the bottom. I have 12 azaleas, one rose, one honeysuckle vine, a camelia, and 4 hydangeas propagating. The plants get the greenhouse effect they need but rain can still get in, and there is enough ventilation that the plants don't get too hot, and they're easy to move around. A simple idea that repurposes a trash item, too. Cool.

Design Wall Monday 6-20-11

Today I'm linking to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday. What's on my design wall is the bandana quilt. I did pick up some fun fabrics from Cotton Fields fabric shop that I'd like to somehow use for the borders and backing for the bandana quilt. I'm thinking of using the oranges fabric as 4" square cornerstones, then use the limes fabric as the vertical borders and the lemons fabric as the horizontal borders. Then I'll piece together the backing out of these three fruit fabrics. It's a summer time quilt so I'm hoping these will work. I'll audition them and if I'm not happy with it then I may skip adding borders to this quilt and just use the fruit fabrics as the backing/binding.


I've also picked up my knitting again and am knitting the drop-stitch scarf Judy posted on her blog - I've finished the blue scarf and have started a 2nd scarf. The yarns I chose are from The Loopy Ewe and are Malabrigo in the colors Plena, Saphire Magenta, and Whales Road.


Finally, I've pulled out a block of the month kit I ordered last year from Keepsake Quilting, "Lake Forest". I've started tracing the pattern onto fusible web for the first and most extensive block, but that's as far as I've gotten.

It feels good to have picked up the knitting again. In addition to these projects I also am ready to get busy quilting 715 Ann Street and Sister Chicks III which I posted about during the last 2-3 weeks.

Guess I have enough to keep me busy.

Design Wall Monday 6-13-11

I'm linking today to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.

This quilt is called "Shall We Dance" and is a kit from Keepsake Quilting. I purchased this kit about 4-5 years ago, started it, became frustrated with it, put it down and it became a UFO. Last week I pulled it out and tried to figure out where I left off on it and was determined to finish it. Here it is, such as it is. It's not square so the borders are ruffly. The machine quilter I use, Lilly Lucier out of Vanceboro, NC, is sometimes a miracle worker so I'll take it to her and see if she can do anything with it. Regardless, it will just be a lap quilt for me.

I'm not sure why it turned out so un-square. All of the turtle blocks should have turned out 12" unfinished, but one side, the same side on every single block, was 11.5". I couldn't trim up the squares too much or the legs would have not have lined up like they were supposed to.

Oh well, it's another one I can tick off my "to do" list even if I'm not especially pleased with it.