Sewing Relief

After more than five years hiatus, due to a family illness, from sewing and quilting, I began again.

I connected with the designer from Blue Moon Embroidery  from Malta, near Italy, with fantastic embroidery designs, that I have started testing designs for. I love how her  designs stitch out! It’s still sitting on my shelf, folded and ready to leave my sewing room. 

For nephew and niece on Honey’s side of the family that has twins.

For Dear Daughter and Son-in-love, using fabric from their Pinwheels and Postage Stamps wedding Quilt Four years ago.

For a sister of my heart, has been there for me through so many hard times and the good, yet she still chooses to be my friend.

For The QL... who has taught me so much and challenges me to learn more and challenge myself

Under my needle on Francis, my sewing machine. QL challenged me with sketching out the FMQ designs before stitching them out.  Admittedly, she was right on this one (as always).  I noticed a new FMQ design called Onion Peel.  It's hard to find a good tutorial or example on how to achieve this, so I cornered QL in church (shameless, I know).  She quickly whipped out a scrap of paper, and it suddenly made sense.  I'm such a visual person.  Working on matching quilt. Hope to sell it.

Branching out on paper piecing with this boy quilt. I’m still working on how I’m going to quilt it. I'm thinking of clouds and a flight path for each paper plane. Hope to sell it as well...

Give this dog a bone please!

Our son's dog, Bandit, sure was a cute little pup when he first brought him last year. Yes, we know he wouldn't stay little very long and he didn't!

This DOG has chewed holes in two walls, chewed on our beautiful bed and dresser... But the last straw... The last straw was when he chewed a hole in my own personal quilt! I almost cried when I discovered it and I literally HUNTED the dog down! But what could I really do?  I have no idea when he did the nasty deed and he has no idea what naughty mishap/deed he did was finally discovered. 

It has been a month since IT happened, but I really was unsure how to fix it.  Every time I snuggled with my quilt or placed it on my bed at night, all I seemed to see was THE HOLE.  I finally had enough of letting it upset me.  I mean really.  It's a quilt!  It could have been something much worse and it could have been in a worse place!

There's no mistaking who chewed on my cozy quilt

Since it is a quilt, and quilts are patches of fabric that have been sewn together, what a better way to fix it, than with a patch!  I was thankful to still have a piece of fabric from the front border and one that was even

"Patched" fix on front of quilt

"Patched" fix on back of quilt

Brighter pillows

I'm not a huge fan of winter and I really need something bright and cheerful. Since our couch pillows have been chewed on by the dog, wadded for comfort, used in pillow fights, and have a few holes in them seen MUCH better days, I decided to use the quirky and failed quilt pieces to add some color.

Wonky quilt pillow on left, "Faux" clamshell on right

First one was simply a block of the failed quilt. Simple, fast, and while not perfect, it adds the splash of color I wanted craved. 



After seeing a pillow made from Clamshell quilt pieces, by Rachael at Stitched in Color I wanted to try one myself. . I didn't have the Clamshell pattern (which would have helped) and I don't live close enough to afford the luxury of attending Rachel's class, but I used a circle pattern instead. It made the placement more tricky, but it worked for the moment.

Circles ("faux" clamshell) pillow

 I cheated when I arranged my "shells" by using a touch of fabric glue to hold them in place until I could get them sewn down. The plain background fabric is some sturdy duck-cloth type material I found in my stash. I hope it holds up better than the flimsy silky material they used on the bought pillows these replaced!

It's been so cold and rainy lately and my hands have been achy, so the thought of hand stitching these down was not even possibility.  I used a "special" stitch on my sewing machine and went around each exposed shell, starting at the bottom and working up. Didn't take me but 30 minutes, but maybe next time I can do hand stitching.It's not bad for an experiment and having no directions and Only thought it was nice.  Next time, I will get a pattern for the Clamshell! 

Funny thing is Miss "I" looked at it and said "Um,  what happened to the rest of the pillow.  It's missing."   She was NOT impressed. 

Miss AB's Just Growing quilt

When Miss AB's birthday began approaching, I knew I wanted to make her a quilt.  Something fun, with bright colors that alluded to her sparkling and energetic personality. 

JellyBean jumble

I had a plan in my head that I wanted to use Jellybean quilt pattern by Thimble Blossom.   Had my material all picked, blocks pieces cut and assembly started.  Then I realized I was doomed.  I had grabbed some white pieces from a previous quilt, Raine's X-rated quilt.  It really messed up the whole thing! Wonky to the seams and no matter how hard I worked, ripped, re-sewn, and adjusted, it just wasn't working out, so literally, I scrapped it. While it may look okay in the picture, the cute little white turned squares were not matching up, which threw off the rest of the points and seams. 

Cute dots on applique

Plan B:  New material, different pattern:  LeAnne Ballard's Just Growing from Moda Bakeshop.  I've had this in my "going to make this quilt someday" book (everyone has one right?) and loved the cute personalized flower applique.  It really seemed like the right choice for Miss AB!  Easy construction and layout, thought I made two major layout errors, Honey and Only said no one would know.  Well, now the whole world does!  I left off a white square on the second row and I completely flipped the last two rows. I can't follow directions worth a hoot!  I decided to only add one strip of fabric instead of two, like LeAnne directed, mainly because I wanted it to fit the quilt batting I already had in my stash. 

personalized flower

Cutting out the applique letters and flowers took some time and some thinking power, but Oldest took that evening to introduce me to Duck Dynasty... life will never be the same (can you see me rolling my eyes). Honey said the flowers needed a little something, so I added some "star" dots to the center of the flowers and voila! 

Personalization on the back

Using soft baby brown corduroy for the backing, I appliqued her name in Polaroid type frames, making sure they were purposely wonky, then added another flower underneath, using a blanket stitch for all the applique.  Because my machine was acting up, I decided to get out my walking foot and quilt straight lines, connecting the corners, leaving the strip of fabric across the stop un-quilted for an added focus on her hand prints (brought together to form a heart).  I wish I had a picture of that, but I don't at this time. This is the first time I "went beyond the border) and did not add a border and I must confess I liked the idea!  I'll have to do this one again as it was such an easy and fun quilt to do! 

The front before quilting

Ready to be snuggled with

The doomed quilt pieces?  I'll have to save their final purpose for another day.  I'm so glad you stopped by today!  Have you ever started a project and had to "scrap" it because it was a total fail?  I'd love to hear how you "saved" the day!

Net's Blissful confection

My Blissful Confection

 Once upon a time I decided to make myself a quilt.  It was one of the first quilts I made and I really didn't know I was doing, but I had a great coach and mentor. 

I chose the quilt pattern  Blissful Confection  by Rebecca Silbaugh of Ruby Blue Quilting Studio
 because I could use a variety of smaller scrap material I had.  I loved the end result and color combination of fabric, but my FMQ quilting skills were not great. I'm still learning, but loving it more.

I hid adjectives that I (and my family) thought describe me or are special to me. Kid's names, missions trips, things I like to do, and tried to practice some FMQ patterns that I've been wanting to try.  Not perfect, but that's okay. I wasn't aiming for perfect, just cozy and cheerful.

The back

The colors on my first pictures were not vivid or accurate, but they show the whole quilt. It is not my "dream" quilt, but I like it. I love having a quilt all my own, even if I do find my husband using it from time to time. Guess it's time to make him one!


















 







 

D & L's Wedding quilt

Several months before my niece and her fiance got married, I began working on a quilt for them using Auntie's Diamonds by Jamie Mueller (Sunflower Seeds)  - a Moda Bakeshop Recipe.I was confident I could get it done by the wedding, but it didn't happen.  Last week I was finally about to really put those final touches on it, finishing quilting all the adjectives they requested, and nervously sent it Priority Mail.

More specific were the words I  "wrote on the brown border of their quilt: The chorus of the song they had their first dance to and 1 Corinthians 13 - all the "i's" were dotted with  ♥.  One of the pink rectangles is a rough replica of the Unity Cross they used in their wedding ceremony.  Some of the words I included in the main part of the quilt were:

The back

• goodness
• failthful
• kindness
• laughter
• patience
• joy
• peace
•  dreams
• love
• unfailling love
• steadfast
• affection
• family
• God gave me you



Auntie's Diamond Wedding Quilt.

 His is appliqued in NB Cornhuskers, her is OU

Duh, how did she get so smart?

Last week test confirmed I have carpal tunnel in both hands and I have found some relief in this awesome hand/wrist brace that has Memory Foam in it. Dr wants to do surgery on my left. Not sure when I'll be able to find time for that!

This carpal tunnel thing sure interferes with many activities, but one really bummed me out - quilting! My hands get so tired and very sore and the brace doesn't fit under my Grabaroos. I mentioned this to QL the other day and she asked "won't the brace fit OVER the Roos?"

Genius! It's not the prettiest thing and it makes taking off my Roos much more tedious, but it works and its much more comfy to quilt. Now if she could just solve some of my other issues!

Pinterest tape?

Tallgrass Prairie Studio using Painter's Tape

Honey and Youngest were watching football, when I mentioned that I needed to get some smaller  painter's tape to use for an upcoming quilt.  I currently use the wide painter's tape when I put my quilts together and tape the back to the floor.  Recently I read on Tallgrass Prairie Studio about using painter's tape to help with quilting straight lines.  Genius!!!  

Anyway, back to my story.  Youngest looked up a little confused.  "What's Pinterest Tape?" 

Obviously we talk about Pinterest a lot here, and camping all weekend in the freezing temps, PLUS being around guns has skewed his brains and hearing.

It's a pain

my lovely bones

  It's been a pain having constant aches,
makes me a very grumpy person, well, maybe grumpier than usual.

I went last week to see the orthopedic doctor.  After x-rays of my hands, hips, and shoulder, and the dreaded blood test. I've got those fun veins and arteries that love to play Hide and Seek and it is usually a very painful (more than usual) process.  Thankfully the poor tech took pity on me and was able to draw it from my finger! 

Dr. said my inflammation levels are at 10, which is way under if I had RA or some other auto-immune disease (20-60), my bones and joints show no signs of wearing down or deterioration.  Problem with hands and arms- probably carpal tunnel and will have a nerve study test on the 23rd.  Due to shoulder pain, he gave me a cortisone/steroid shot in my shoulder - felt like it was HORSE needle, but after a few days, it feels 90% better!  I know it's temporary, but for now, I'll take it. 

Saturday, we really wanted to go to a huge ice cream festival, but with the rain, we nixed that and went for a weekend at home. I headed off to for a quiet few hours at a local quilters exposition. It was fun to see the wide variety of quilts and interpretations, and how each was quilted. was truly inspired, but so many of those quilts were way beyond my dreams, ability, or desire. I do think someday, when I grow up, I want to have a long-arm quilting machine and sewing room!  I bought some material for my dream Swoon quilt and maybe this next year, I can get it made. Meanwhile, I keep collecting ideas and fabric.

I was finally able to go to church yesterday after being gone for almost a month.  It felt so good to be back and the worship time was just what I needed. Having all the aches and pains and no clue to their cause makes me think of Paul and so many of the others have dealt with illnesses.  While I'd love to think I'm just on top of the world of this and handling it like a humble, uncomplaining, I'm not very good at this and I don't hide my emotions or feeling well.  I'm not asking God to take this away or for miraculous healing, though we have seen Him do a miracle in our Youngest, but whether this is temporary or "forever", I'm learning and know, it could always be so much worse.

Until then,  I'm filling up the tub and warming up my bones.  These cold rainy days are not my friend!

Miss A's Jellybean baby quilt

Sweet Miss A

When I saw a pattern for this Jellybean quilt at Thimble Blossoms, I knew I wanted to make it someday.  Loved the colors, but it was the "motion" and way it was laid out that drew my attention.  I didn't know yet who I was going to make it for when I first saw it, but then I found out SHE was on the way and I knew.
(You would think with 7 months of knowing she was on the way, I would have this finished before now) 

All pressed and ready for lay out!

Last Friday, Miss A arrived and I knew I was really going to have to beg my machine to be nice and keep the tension right.  It's been wonky and I've not been able to do any quilting on it, just straight stitching. I still have to square the blocks up, but overall, I've been pleased.  It felt so good to sit down and work on a quilt again.  Almost like alone time therapy!  The solid connecting squares were tricky for me trying to make sure they line up right, but in the end, it was easy to construct.

Bible Verse in Border

The Back

Even my mother-in-law said she would like to make a quilt using this pattern.  Always been impressed with her quilts - she does each of her totally by hand, nothing electric here

each block 

Quilted Scripture

 each stitch
every seam

all the quilting:
 I' m not there yet

The color of my pictures are not great (taken with my phone camera)  - the middle squares are really a purple, but a lot of these fabrics are inspired from her nursery theme.   If you'd like to see another lovely Jellybean quilt, head over to Laurel's  Flicker pictures using white as the neutral middle diamonds. 

Lynnet

Bookshelf Reading:   This week, I borrowed Only's library copy of Karen Kingsbury's Coming Home: A Story of Undying Hope and about cried all the way through the final Baxter Family book.  The girls and I read many books this week, but two new ones were Ollie the Stomper  and Miss Mary Mack (now that was a hoot trying to teach a two and three yr. old the hand motions!  It's hard enough doing Drive My Car or Tony Chestnut (Toe Knee Chestnut)