Sneak Peek

I am quilting on the Album of Memories quilt by Robert Callaham. i've been after it for 3 days now and estimate another 12 or 13 hours to go. i am quilting quite densely.

Here is a sneak peek.

The plan is to be done by Monday for show and tell at quilt class.  fingers crossed!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day to all my friends near and far. 

We are staying at home and I am cooking....ham, sweet potato casserole, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce and rolls. and cushaw squash pie for dessert..with cool whip.

What are you having?

Ebony and Ivory top finished

This is a quilt top that was designed by my friend, Mary. i think it is so pretty. i did a few things differently than the pattern....some intentionally and some accidentally.

Here is the pattern

And here is a closeup of the pattern.

Here is my version.

Had i read the instructions instead of just looking at the picture, i would have realized that there was supposed to be a black border first before the white border. but i didn't notice it until i had the white border on. sorry, Mary...you know me....it wasn't getting re-done.

You will notice mary's quilt has embroidered blocks between the pieced star blocks. but i had this black and white toile fabric that seemed to go with it. 

And, my blocks aren't in the same configuration that hers are. i used different fabrics in different places and had to move them around some.

Some blocks are simpler than others

But all the blocks are very nice.

I think i got them all pieced properly.

But, in the end, it all turned out great. it might get quilted soon...i like it. i'm thinking of making a red and white one. if i do, i shall do the embroidery blocks.

Thanks, Mary, for a great pattern. the blocks are paper pieced so that makes them easy. the blocks are 6".

It's official....the Duck has WALLS!!!

I just got back from a week at the Duck. i didn't intend to stay that long....but my contractor didn't start hanging drywall until Sunday....then it continued on to Monday....and then finished up on Tuesday. 

I spent 3 days finishing up the insulation installation before he got there. i don't even know how many rolls of insulation i used....i think about 14 or 15.  i am sick of insulation. i still have the back porch to do....and i have more than half of a roll left....so that should do it. but i am in no hurry to do that.

I know once you see one wall with drywall on it...you've seen them all....but here are some pics for you. i am sooooo happy to have walls.  the tape and mud won't get done till spring since i don't have a furnace and am told i can't do that in the cold. but.....i have walls. hahahaha

This is the second bedroom. i had removed all the tables and pillows and such so still have to bring all those things back out again. but i was too tired to do it yesterday.

Other side of second bedroom

This is the master bedroom and the dressing room/closet area at the back. there are french doors that go there.

That little stack of drywall on the floor is all that is left of 80 sheets. 3 full sheets and some pieces. and the 3 sheets will be used in the living room...once the pocket doors are installed.

Entry/foyer....whatever.  this is off the master bedroom and might be used as a little sitting room. i could put a nice chair there with a lamp and have a reading area. that door on the right goes to the enclosed front porch

Hallway that goes to the laundry room.

Kitchen. still need new windows in here. and some cabinets...hahaha...and a sink...and a stove....and a frig.  you get the idea. but....i have WALLS!

other side of kitchen. through that doorway goes to the dining room....hallway goes to the laundry room.

part of living room. window on left looks onto back enclosed porch. that space sort of curves around those 3 windows. i need a large curvy couch. hahaha

Office space. 

My main man, Rick.

Rick's helper, Thomas. 

I did an awful lot of picking up behind them and sweeping and vacuuming and mopping. it doesn't seem like a big house until you start mopping. hahaha

My next trip out i will hang the doors back up between the rooms. then i can finish up my barn wood walls in the dining room. still lots to do. got to save money for a furnace. think that will be my next large purchase. plus i need to go down in the creepy basement and pull out the rest of the wooden boxes that were built for ductwork for the old furnace. 

Getting closer

Red Center top is finished

I got 2 borders on the Red Center quilt top and called it done. it is pretty large. about queen size. thanks again to Vicki for bringing this to my attention.

The borders are a different red print. i used all the red and purple print that i had for the center....i had 2 5" squares left. and all of the red and blue print for the border....2 8" pieces of that left. so it worked out ok. more out of the stash....but more in the to-be-quilted cabinet.

Today was reporting day on MQR to confess how many UFOs and WIPs you have plus how many unquilted tops. i am almost embarrassed to say my totals were:

UFOs....56
WIPs...7   these i am working on presently
TBQ....70  the to-be-quilted cabinet is about full. i need a new plan for those.

But i did finish 36 UFOs this year....problem is i probably added a couple dozen back in the piles. and now have more to be quilted.  it's a vicious cycle. will i ever be finished? i don't want to die before they are all done. LOL    hear that God?  LOL

Red Center

This is another quilt from Kathy Doughty's book. it is the third quilt i have made from this book. 

I still need to put borders on this bad boy but so far it is 80" x 95" and i like it a lot.

I never would have used this red fabric for anything else but it seems to work here really well.

That is all i have of this red print, so that is as far as the middle goes. the second darker yellow pic is the truer representation of the colors.

I have another red floral print that i will use for the border(s)....as far as it goes. 

I want to make another. these pieces go together so quickly. i cut them all...then chain piece them all...then add 2 pieces together....then made 4 pieces...then 8 pieces.  fun, fun, fun.    

Thanks to Vicki Welsh for suggesting the book. sometimes she gets me into trouble....but not this time.

The 65 pound quilt

Last year i was in an online embroidery group....The Crazy Quilt Journal Project. the idea was to make one crazy quilt block each month and then log onto the site and show what you did. well, i figured if 12 crazy quilt blocks was good....well, then about 100 of them would be better...right?  and ... over-achiever that i am....made 9 blocks each month....different colors each month. at first i was going to put the colors all together into a 9 patch and then piece the 9 patches together. when i tried that, i didn't like it. so i took them all back apart and just pieced them willy-nilly.

Well those blocks had lots and lots of stuff on them....buttons, beads, rick rack, braids, pictures, and all kinds of doodads. hahahaha  I got the top all pieced together and put it in the to-be-quilted cabinet. it was taking up entirely too much space in there so i pulled it out last week and decided to quilt it up.

WOW....it is 100" x 107"  and weighs about 65 pounds. my poor longarm. I did a curvy line around the seams of the blocks and then just did a large meander around each block to hold things together. it was a chore to not run over anything that would break a needle. i am really surprised that i did not put a needle through my finger....i was really close to that needle for most of the quilt.

Luckily i didn't have any incidents quilting it. there was one place that had a heavy piece of lacy stuff that the longarm didn't want to sew through so i went around that.

I don't know what will become of this quilt as i don't like heavy quilts on me at night. i guess i could leave the furnace off and open a window....then it might feel good. LOL  hubby says no way.

It was really cool to make all the blocks and i sort of got to relive the experience as i was quilting them.

This block has so much stuff on it that you can hardly see the fabrics.

This one has a piece of sweater in the middle with a floral design

There are several tassels on the quilt....this is the longest one.

This little elephant came from India. i bought him and the colorful braids that have the shiny 'gemstones' on them. the package came to me from India in a muslin bag that the lady had sewed shut. she told me that is the way they ship things in India. I incorporated that bag into the quilt, also.

Here's another tassel and some buttons on a black block.

This one has lots of stuff, too. see the tape measure ribbon?

That last block has a little nest with beads in it.

It surely was fun to put this quilt together. makes me want to make another one. i do have lots of embellishments yet to use up.

Here is a link when i was showing it last year.... hope it works.  www.brunerwoman.blogspot.com/2012/09/crazy-quilt-journal-project-top-done.html

if you want to see more....go back from there.

Glory Garden

This was a fun quilt with a mixture of applique and piecing. still using up the wool felt, so the applique is wool felt. 

So far, it is still a top and not quilted but it is going to be fun to quilt. i made myself a note to quilt the colorful borders as seasons; green is spring; yellow is summer; orange is fall and blue is winter. would have been better if the colors followed each other.....but i didn't think of it until after it was done. and you know i rarely take anything apart and re-do.

The applique was easy and fun. it was my evenings entertainment when i went to the Duck.

It's nice using up leftover fabrics.

I put buttons between the flower names that were embroidered

For some reason i had trouble getting the pieces right on these blocks. there WAS some re-sewing there.

The Posy panel had almost 100 pieces of applique. it took forever and a day.

It might not all be according to the pattern.....i improvised a place or two.

I love the little birds in the nest. i need to put a worm in momma bird's beak.

I got a little carried away with the butterfly and embellished him a bit while i was appliqueing him down.

And although there is an applique bee for the bee hive, i also added a button bee going into the hive. he's a little fuzzy and hard to see. oops!

That makes 2 things to cross off my to-do list for November. isn't it funny how you get things done quicker if they are on a list? LOL

I have a pork roast in the crock pot to make BBQ sandwiches tonight. i might have to take a nap so i quit smelling it for a while. they are tempting me.

Antebellum

This quilt is a pattern from Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession in her book, Making Quilts. It's the second quilt i've made from this book and i really like it. there are 2 or 3 more i plan to make in this book, too. that is pretty unusual because i usually don't find that many quilts in one book that i like. I got a recommendation for the book from Vicki Welsh. so, thanks vicki and kathy. 

So far, it is just a top and not quilted but i am going to have fun quilting this one.

I hand appliqued all the pieces, using some wool felt that i had.

I didn't do the pieced borders around the blocks like Kathy did....but i like my version, too.

I appliqued all pieces with black embroidery thread.

It is an easy quilt if you want to give it a try.

I love this block with the slave and the cotton.

This is supposed to be a spirit of the dead over the church. just a bit creepy. 

Hopefully i can quilt some feathers on this eagle.

This is my favorite block of them all.

The quilt top is actually square and flat....i just didn't iron it before hanging and taking photos. you know i need instant gratification and can't wait. hahahaha

Now on to another Robert Callaham lovely. i am determined to use up all those wool felt pieces.