Adding graffiti to the living room wall at the Duck

I spent a couple days at the Duck and added more pieces around the doorway.

On the left...

A few close ups there....i was out of materials here ... so there are a lot of buttons. haha

And i got a start on the right hand side, too....4 pieces.

And a few close ups

I added birthdays for me, hubby, son, and ddil

There is a soldier on a horse here

Here's a better pic of him

I love the little skulls...and the 3 soldiers guarding the castle. haha

I have now found boxes of stuff to continue on. yard sales and thrift stores were awesome the last few days. 

I still have quite a ways to go to finish this wall....but....the next project is the side of the garage. i have to ponder it a bit. i know what i want to do....i just have to figure out the execution. wonder if the neighbors will love me or shy away. hahahha  

Passacaglia quilt

OK....rosette #1 is finished for my Passacaglia quilt.  

There were 90 pieces to this one and it took me 3 or 4 days. it is slow going when each seam is just 1 or 1 1/2 inches.  

It is 13 1/2" across

Not bad for the first one. i hope to get better with the others. my biggest problem was finding a marker that would work on the black fabric. i have chalk but it didn't stay. pencil or pen didn't show. i finally used a silver Sharpie...haha....yeah, i know....but i could see it. only thing is it wasn't a fine line so i was trying to sew inside the line. almost all of my points turned out good.

I have to be more precise in how i fold the seams back so i can put them together more easily. i had a few problems there, but i'll figure it out. 

Rosette #2 is a bigger challenge.  there are 3 of them to make.  you make the same as the first one, then add 4 more rounds. i'll be busy for a while. 

Blue Selvage Mess

There is no getting around it....this quilt is one holy mess.  it was pieced December 23, 2013....i don't know what was going on then.....i must have been having issues. haha    this thing wouldn't lay flat if you laid it on the floor and stomped on it with both feet.  after a while, i just quit trying to make it behave and just let it do what it wanted to do....so there are many tucks and pleats and folds and whatever.  it will just be a 'love' quilt. hahhaah

Remember Suzanne's Meandering Magic....i haven't done that in a loooong time, so, that is what happened here. i had to be in the front to avoid the intersections so a panto was out.

It is 64" x 78"....kinda, sorta...haha

I tried to find a bad spot to show you, but couldn't find one....and i know there are at least 5.....i guess quilting really does cover a lot of errors. and let's not talk about the feathers.....mine do not look like Suzanne's. i don't think i passed her class.  but, done is good.

The back was Christmas fabric from JoAnns.....at half price....i have enough more of this for 3 or 4 more backs.

Top thread was Glide Aqua...bobbin thread was So Fine tan and gold. i finished up both of these spools and then needed 1 more bobbin of another gold.  i alternated the bobbin colors but with the color of the back, you can't even see the difference. binding was a blue with brown polka dots....that used the last of that piece of fabric, too.

I love using up the last of something.....thread, fabric.....it feels good to think i am using up stuff....before i die. hahahaha

Japanese Goldwork

This one was just pieced on December 17, 2015....but i had to do a small one since the next few in line are large. haha

The blocks are done on the embroidery machine.

It is about 38 x 46"

Don't you love the sumo wrestlers in the border? haha

Here are close ups of some of the blocks

Back was something from the stash

I kept thinking i should do something else with this fabric but never did 

Top thread was Glide gold and bobbin was So Fine black. no quilting shows on the back. and not much shows on the front, either. binding was the yellow

I just quilted over the embroidery pic in the blocks, SID the sashings and blocks and borders. did a wavy watery thing in the yellow border and clamshells in the last border. 

Truth in advertising

This sounds really healthy....right?      

First ingredient....Whole Grain

But, what it DOESN'T tell you...

Second ingredient....sugar     hahahahaha

But, it is my choice of snack these days.....and they ARE magically delicious.

hahahahahahahaha

butterfly puzzle

It's good to try a different kind of puzzle once in a while. i do a lot of jigsaw puzzles and thought i would give this americana butterfly a try.

Nowhere on the box does it give you the size...should have been my first clue.  it has 1000 pieces.

That baby was HUGE....40" wide and 24" tall.  took me 4 days to get it done.

It is pretty cool .... the only 'problem' is that the sides are identical so sometimes it is difficult to figure out which side a piece belongs on. now it is my sister's turn to try it.

Garden Happenings

This has marinated long enough....since December, 2013.  and it has languished on the frame for a week...sheesh....i am such a procrastinator.  but, done is good. I used boards from RS Design for the quilting...called circuitry. easy pattern, goes quickly.

It was a panel of little garden blocks with bunnies, butterflies, frogs and birds. i cut those into pieces of 4 and then put a couple borders of brown selvages around them. 

The border is brown selvages, too.

The backing is two pieces of fabric i had in my stash that were a similar print, one a bit darker than the other.

I used the part of the backing that i cut off after quilting for the binding. 

It is 70x88.....used Glide gold for the top  and a Bottom Line reddish orange for the bobbin.

Adding details to the Lower 48 Map

I decided the Lower 48 Map needed something besides quilting.....so i am adding some details with my embroidery machine. i remembered i had the 50 states CD and am taking some things from the states to add here.  so far, i have done today..

Texas

New Mexico....as i was almost finished with New Mexico, i panicked for a moment....i was thinking....my god...is this really new mexico?  is it arizona?  i hope this is right. then i took a breath and realized i had it correct. i am going to have to really watch these. haha

Arizona

I know the smaller states won't get so much but i hope i can get something in them.

Lower 48 states map

This has been hanging on my design wall way too long. i started cutting out the pieces on May 14, 2015....and it has all been hanging on my design wall since then.

I did have a special piece of fabric i was going to use for the background .... but i guess i put it in a 'safe' place...because i can't find the darn thing...and i searched for 2 days.

It was quite the chore to get those all pinned down so i could fuse them in place. in some places they didn't meet up exactly but i don't think it will be too noticeable.

I am kind of excited about it now, though, and will probably quilt it next. 

I am going to find things to put in the states....like oil wells for oklahoma.  that might take a while to find them. but i am thinking, i can use my 50 states embroidery CD for that. we'll see.

At least now my design wall is empty and waiting for something new.

Well, there are 2 rows of hexies up there. haha

Halloween Town top is pieced

I think these are the coolest Halloween blocks i have seen in a while. they are done on the embroidery machine....and have applique.  even the sashings and cornerstones are done on the embroidery machine.

The top is 50" square

I started the embroidery on February 17, 2016

And finished the piecing on May 5, 2016.  

All pieces have batting in them already...which should make it interesting to quilt.  i might not add batting again

I loved all the sashing choices, so i used them all. 

I wanted a scarier backing, but it was already past Halloween, and the fabric store only had a few choices...so this will be the backing. unless, of course, it doesn't get quilted before Halloween this year....then perhaps i will find something else. haha

This is why i don't get any quilting done....i keep making more tops.  sigh!!