Tracyhttps://touchogrey.wordpress.comI'm starting my second half of life. I have been cutting fabric apart and reassembling the pieces for as long as I can remember. I also ride my horse, knit, cross stitch, and garden in the Bay Area, CA.
We returned from our vacation last Sunday. I was ready to start and finish some things I needed to do. I even made a list while sitting on the plane. All the things I wanted to do while I was doing vacationing things. I got home and set about doing laundry, catching up on all the mail/bills, restocking the fridge, getting back to life/reality. Then Monday night, I crashed, figured it was the nine hour time difference catching up. Next morning I was still lagging, I started thinking “what if one of the thousands of people I had been exposed to…” . Yeah, lucky me, I caught the covid virus during the last few days of vacation. I’m pretty sure it was when we were in Naples, we took a street food tour, and were walking through crowds of people. All I was hoping for was a pizza, which I didn’t get 😦
Nine days later, I’m getting started on that list again. I got two rows of quilting done on the last Nocturnal quilt. I chose the stars pattern because it stitches out fairly quickly, no back tracking.
I am working on the little winter birds cross stitch. I took this along on vacation, but didn’t get to stitch much. I worked on it more last week in between naps.
I put a few hours in at the Consider the Lillies piece. I finished the first page, and am starting the second page to the right. I really wanted to stitch the horse, but it is on the page below the first, which I don’t have printed yet.
I finished off the two floral animals quilt tops I started before I left. These are from the Mia Charro line I have a bunch of fabric from. I also started two more tops with the dog and cat versions of this line. The cats are interspaced with Kona solids, the dogs, I found this denim looking print in the stash. I have not decided if I want to use some more color or the complimentary red print.
Once I get this posted, I’ll try to get another two rows quilted and maybe square up the commission quilt I need to finish. That involves a bit of crawling around on the floor, which may or may not be to strenuous for me today. Sorry to admit that.
In a few short weeks we will be vacationing in Italy. My first time there, and I’m excited to see the lands and eat the foods, maybe meet some of the peoples. I have been trying to get as much done on projects with deadlines as I can. While also getting my house in shape for a live-in caretaker while we are away. Cleaning or crafting, hmm, which do I want to do more?
The last Nocturnal quilt top is complete, and I pieced the backing yesterday, so it is all ready to go on to the frame once I finish the vintage appliqué quilt. That quilt it going along pretty well, so far. I started the computerized designs in the borders yesterday. I got the left long border done and most of the inner sashes are done too. Today I want to work on the blocks, so more free hand and ruler work.
On the cross stitch front, I am making progress on the Consider the Lillies piece. Although, the past two nights I have been trying to finish the small I started in April, Gathering Stitches. It’s a one color piece on Aida 18 ct (I think). I was working on the second bird last night, I think I must have ripped out 25% of the stitches I made and re-did them. In future I will try not to stitch with two threads, especially on smaller count fabrics. I am thinking of starting the Blue Flower design I have kitted up, called Huckleberry Farm. It is sort of a medium sized piece, 14 x 13 inches, in between the giant CtheL and the smalls.
Things I want to start or work on once I’m back:
Swordfish Quilt – Judy Neimeyer paper pieced giant quilt
The dog days have come and gone, officially ended on 8/11. I’m ready to cruise into fall now. I have a few finishes to post this time. First is the Cross stitch piece “Heaven and Nature” designed by Teresa Kogut. I stitched this over a period of 7 months, starting at the end of January 2023. During that time I also stitched on and finished Pilgrims Progress (Longdog Sampler). Both of these are now framed and on the wall. The Pilgrim I had professionally framed, I started to do it myself, but the straight border wasn’t staying straight. I tried pinning and lacing, but there was too much surface area to get it to even out. H&N was a bit easier, I laced it and only had to tweak it a bit. When I placed the design on the linen, I started a little closer to the left side than I should have. It was about and inch off center, so I only had about 3/4 of an inch to pull around to the back on that side. It all worked out though. Oh, and I started on Consider the Lilies. Another huge sampler, I’ll be doing a SAL with Jo Kramer, of Jo’s Country Junction. It’s a pretty loosely scheduled SAL, one page a month for the next 24.
In my last post I was celebrating the last Dwelling themed quilt. I spoke too soon, and there is to be one more made with the scraps. Sigh. I have all the star blocks made for another Skylights pattern. I am going to try to get the square block pieces cut this week.
I other quilting news, I threw this top together last weekend. It started as a fat quarter pack of Liberty fabrics I got on sale some where. The pattern is by Busy Hands Quilts, called Whimsical. I had seen this quilt a few times and liked its simplicity and ease of using scraps and such. All about the placement of the HSTs. I used the Accuquilt 3 ½” triangle die and it got cut up in no time. The borders are a little different, as I ran out of FQ’s I searched and searched for an appropriate or matching Liberty print to no avail. I did find this pretty magenta one, but only 3/4 of a yard was available, so it’ll be the binding. Another impetus for making this pattern is a set of quilting designs that I got from Wasatch quilting last month. In the August Masters collection are two sets made just for this quilt. Its the quilting that makes the quilt right?
August also brought me another commissioned quilt. A beautiful sampler quilt from the late 1980s. The maker started hand quilting this one, but for whatever reasons folded it up and put it away for a while. I am going to machine quilt the rest of the blocks and borders and she will finish hand quilting the center. Getting this on the frame took a bit of engineering. The backing isn’t square, thankfully it is large enough with plenty of extra on the sides. I put it on long-ways so I can quilt the long borders first. Plus one side had the selvage still attached, hooray for straight edges. I may have to turn this one, but the borders are made of Celtic knots, so with some careful measuring and placement I may be able to do the horizontal top and bottom vertically. Once I got the backing attached to the leaders, I had to smooth out the quilt and batting from the center. Lots of rolling back and forth, so there can be no folds in the backing. Although the batting is a thin-ish polyester, it is cooperating and adding enough pouf. Yesterday I stitched in the ditch around the first six blocks and did a bit of cross hatching in the background of the one with the lace cameo. I am planning on doing one inch grids in each block background and some quilting of the blocks motifs. The hand quilted center is done this way. Thankfully this is a well made quilt and the only stitching I had to remove was the basting threads.
The Q24 was kept busy these last few weeks too. I quilted the Sparrow quilt and the Batik Christmas tree quilt. I was looking for something when I came across the binding for the Botanica quilt. I had thought I finished that one. No, I did square it up, just didn’t bind it. I bound the three of them over a couple of days. The Botanica is a queen size, I warmed up with the two smaller ones first.
Two weeks ago, I loaded up my car with a bunch of fabric, books and notions to go to Fab-Mo. They are a non-profit organization that fosters fabric and fiber arts in the community and schools through outreach. They get donations and grants from all kinds of places, and try to keep those supplies from ending up in the landfills. All kinds of fabrics, leather scraps, carpet and wall paper samples, ceramic tiles, upholstery fabric, all kinds of trims and even some yarn. About once a month they have a sale, I have attended this before, to make money to further their outreach. I donated a bunch of stuff, but you know, I could probably do more.
I put the last stitch in the binding of the last quilt I am making using the Nocturnal fabric line. I still like the fabric, but I am just done with working with those color ways and those prints. I don’t even want to sort the scraps, but I should clean them up and get the box off the floor. These last four quilts are part of ten that I made for a client this year. I started in March, received the fabric, looked for patterns and made them bigger or smaller and started sewing. 10 quilts in 4 months.
They ranged in size from crib to king. It’s sort of cool to see them all together, I am a bit proud right now.
I am on back to my own devices, or UFOs as it may be. I knew that I wanted to get the Sparrow quilt put together and on the frame next. I added the horizontal sashings, top, bottom and sides. I thought this older Kaffe Fasset print would look okay with it as a backing, and there was just enough. For the quilting I have a feather design, that I am looking at, just not sure yet if it’ll work. I saw a different one that I liked more, but I already own the first one.
I’ll decide when I get it ready to quilt. I have to get my house cleaned up today for a party tomorrow, so its a no sew day/weekend for me.
One last Nocturnal fabric quilt to make. I started yesterday, first with a EQ8 design and then with a list of the numbers of blocks I need to make. I then cut about half of them with the Accuquilt cutter, I think the 3 ½ inch triangle is my most used die. I’d like to get the rest cut out today, and maybe start sewing some together. The nice thing about using the cutter is that I can stack the fabrics right sides together and cut twelve at a time. I goes rather quickly, and then sewing them is easier and faster as they are RTG or rather RTS.
I quilted the solid colored quilt top that is a version of Storm at Sea. This is the one that was machine pieced and had wads of fabric where the points joined. The blocks were all machine pieced, but Y seamed and inset seams. This type of construction would have made me crazy, and it’s no wonder that the top is a small size. With the quilting I tried to bring out the star patterns that were were formed, and avoid the lumps. I also used two battings, cotton with wool on top to cushion it and make it look softer. I was afraid if I only had a cotton batt it would look flat and the bumps would protrude. It turned out pretty well, I think.
I’m still picking away at the Heaven and Nature piece. Last night I had to rip a bit of the star and flower border, I stitched four X’s on the vertical posts and not five. Luckily I caught it before I stitched in the stars. I think I want to do the raccoon next. My DH has a strong dislike for them, for some reason, he thinks they have razor sharp claws (?!?). I’m sort of fascinated by them, especially their hands/paws, and that they wash their foods. We used to have a few around here, but I haven’t seen any in a few years. I got the rest of the DMC colors for the Consider the Lillies project, I made up the thread holders with the symbols and numbers. I even serged the cut edges of the linen, found the starting corner and hooped the fabric. I just haven’t started yet, it’s such a big project, maybe I am still trying to recover from the Pilgrims Progress. Many other bloggers I read have ten or more projects going at a time, but I feel different about it. Maybe because I have three major projects in three different crafts going at a time. Quilting is the one with the most UFO’s for me, I usually only knit one thing at a time, and cross stitch one big project and maybe a small.
I think what it boils down to is that there are so many pieces and parts to a project and a certain rhythm or style for each. It is hard for me to switch gears, so to speak, mid project and start another. If I loose interest in a project, and put it down for a while, then its easier to start a new one.
Touch of Grey 