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November's UFO Challenge quilt is done early...how about that? this was a pretty simple pattern...snowball blocks and 9 patch blocks. and i made the blocks bbiiiggg. LOL this was my 'pattern'...i drew it in EQ
This used up some blue and brown fabrics. it's a pretty good bed size.
Snowball blocks
And 9 patch blocks...how simple is that. then why did it set in a box as an UFO for months? sigh!!
Borders of tan and more blue....binding yet another blue. i seem to have a lot of blue fabric.
Backing was plain muslin and i quilted it with my 'go-to' quick and easy maze board from Quiltazoid.
Just one more UFO Challenge quilt for this year...December. i've already started it....ssshhh...don't tell Judy. LOL in fact, December's box of 2 1/2" strips has sooo many.....there will be 2 quilts.
Then it is time to start the UFO list for next year. dare i try for 2 each month? mmmmm....maybe every other month could be 2. we'll see.....there are still lots of UFOs living in my studio. are you sure you didn't sneak some of your UFOs in with mine when i wasn't looking? i might have to check on that....
Later
I finally decided what to do and pieced my Color Palette Challenge for June. This is a monthly challenge for the year...organized by Judy Laquidara .... www.patchworktimes.com with color palette photo given by Vicki Welsh .... http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/
Here is our photo for the month. a close up of a flower with purples, greens, a yellow and an orange. ... and my chosen fabrics. ... Moda solids.
And, as usual, i could not decide what to do. i wanted to do a one block piece this time. i played in EQ for days...changing my mind and re-coloring. yesterday i thought i had it...and hit a wrong key and closed EQ out and lost it all. i got frustrated and went on home. finally i decided on the Storm at Sea block and got it set up. this was a paper pieced block. my piece is rectangular so it looks stretched out.
And here is my finished piece. Looks like i moved the camera....i have shadows. why is it when i look at a photo of what i have done......i always want to change it. LOL i'm thinking i would have liked it if the inside corners of the block would have been yellow......the pieces between the other 2 yellow pieces. wonder what that would look like. well.. who knows...i'm not making another one.
So, one more thing crossed off this month's list. now if i could only finish the customer quilt on the frame. i am such a procrastinator these days...and that is so not like me. i should go finish it now....or.....
Later
It is not even the middle of June...and i have my UFO for this month.....#12....finished. a great sense of accomplishment. the pattern is a split 9 patch. no idea where i got the pattern.....possibly EQ. all the pieces were cut out and most of the blocks were done. had to piece about 8 or 9 blocks, assemble and quilt. i like finished.
This is the printout that i had.....so i believe i put this together in EQ. it was designed larger...30 blocks. but i stopped at 20 when there were no more brown pieces left. good enough.
I also changed the layout that i had. i like the new layout better. it's about 82x98". only about a 5" strip of that border print left.
Glide thread on the top....Bottom Line in the bobbin. goldish colors
Used panto called Star Swirl...i like that pattern....quick and large.
The back was pieced with the last of the yellow...the last of some gold floral i had in the studio...and some dark brown to make it long enough.
I haven't used muslin in weeks....i wonder how many more backs i can piece from my stash.
Now i shall go dig through the UFO pile and see what else i can dig out and finish up. .... or at least work on for a while. if i finish anything else ...i'll show you...
Later
We have a pretty picture of a flower for this month's palette. thank you, Vicki
My fabrics are .... coral, cerise, violet, thistle, ochre, olive, and a dark army green (lost the tag on that one).
Hmmm....now what shall i create...flowers? too obvious? thinking.....thinking....tune in for results...
Later
I have my April color palette challenge pieced. this month was a very strange inspiration.....a picture of a moldy pie.....forgotten in the back of Judy's refrigerator. LOL
I couldn't for the life of me decide on a design...i had about 4 or 5 in EQ but couldn't commit to one. finally i decided i wanted to make a 'pie'. so i made one large block....crazy quilt fashion. this is my EQ drawing
This is my pie. i think when i quilt it at the end of the year....along with all the other palettes for the year....i will applique some moldy spots on this pie. LOL
It's a bit strange but i actually like it. don't know what that says about me. this was my first time to paper piece this lage a block....15". that was a challenge in itself.
So, i got to check one thing off this month's to-do list. i need to quit playing with other things and get more crossed off that list.
I almost have a customer quilt finished....another day or 2.
I'm leaving town the 24th and will be gone the rest of the month....so things better get hopping around here....sooner rather than
Later
I have finished the May section of my CQJP. this one took a while...it kept getting set aside for other things.
Here are the other 8 blocks that go with it. they did not get extra embellishments as i did in previous months. i may still go back and do that.
I don't seem to have as many purple scraps as other colors.
I had mislaid these for a while. they got covered up with other projects and never got worked on again. when i was ready to put them all together...i couldn't find them.
I started to make more...and after the first re-do...i was SURE i had made them already....just had to find them.
Finally uncovered where they were hiding. so, no further embellishment for now. hopefully, later.
Here is the section all together. it is all dreary and rainy here today so i had to lay it out on the deck to get a half decent picture.
It is not my favorite out of the bunch....maybe it's the purple. couldn't get 'into' it like the others. gotta get my mojo back. LOL i think i will do the next month in neutrals.
Gotta go play with fabrics and see if i can find the mojo. talk to ya
Later
Here is my March Color Palette Challenge. this was a bit of a struggle. it wasn't the colors....it was my design. i wanted to use a block that i normally wouldn't. and though i only made 12 of them....it seemed like many more. triangles just have their way with me. i must have some weird brain block on them or something. it's a bit wonky but it is finished.
Let's recap...here is the color palette given to us by Vici Welsh
Here are the fabrics i chose to use
Here is my design that i made in EQ
Here is my top. looks just like it.....if you don't check those points too close. i steamed and stretched and starched the hell out of it and still it doesn't lay flat. it's not my fault...my brain only likes squares and rectangles ....it doesn't work in triangles.
Here are 4 of the blocks together....in my normal fuzzy picture fashion. i tried to show you the good part...LOL look at the bottom left corner for mayhem.
Now all my monthly obligations are finished and the rest of the month is mine. i am going to play for 2 days and then go to the Duck on Monday for a few days of ceiling demolition fun...or something.
The ground is too wet for yardwork....aw, shucks...LOL
I started a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle last night on my kitchen sewing table. so there will be no sewing for a few days. i probably won't get it finished before i leave for the Duck...so it will get finished
Later
The UFO challenge number for March was 8. i only had a few pieces of this sewed together and it had been marinating in the box for some time...probably at least a year.
The pattern was designed by my friend, Maralie, and she called it Tsunami. it became a problem from the first stitch. LOL
The original pattern was only 40"...and i really didn't know how much i needed to make it larger. but i wanted it about couch size. HAH!! this turned out 98" square. i was just happily cutting along and stitching.
The only reason i finally stopped was i just had about a yard or so left of the main fabric and wanted it for the border. all the rest of the fabric are ones that i have dyed. i added a couple extra lines to the top and bottom to make it a bit longer. but somehow after i added the border, it still came out square. i have NO IDEA how that happened.
The back is pieced with strips of all the hand dyed fabrics that i had. some of these are not in the front....but i just wanted to use them up. major stash busting.
I used my Quiltazoid pattern to quilt it. i was going to do all SID but now glad i didn't. i guess because of all the bias edges...this thing grew on its own. it has several tucks in it to make it somewhat square.
I used Glide red thread on the top and green Bottom Line in the bobbin.....a combo that ALWAYS works on my machine. but not this time....i had issues with the top thread breaking and the bobbin thread getting loopies. and i used a Warm and White batting...which i usually don't use. and i had issues with that, too. little bits all over the back. i am going to throw it in the washer and dryer and see if that tames it any. if not...well .... so be it. it will be a donation somewhere....we just won't tell who did it. LOL
I can only hope next month's challenge is easier....or quicker....or better....or something. right now i am going to finish up the color palette piece for the month and then take a few days off and go visit my sister.
I'll be back...
Later
I am finished with the February Section of my crazy quilt for the CQJP (Crazy Quilt Journal Project).
I am liking these large sections and think it is going to be one awesome quilt....not to mention large and heavy. LOL
Here is the actual February block
And some close up sections of it. here is the main focus....a lovely Victorian lady surrounded by lace and rickrack and some beads. scrunching up that lace and stitching it down was the pits....just sayin'
Love this little crocheted starflower that i found. with orchid silk ribbon inside.
Had to put this little bunny button in the flower garden. i braided some yarn there on the bottom. and stitched over the leaves in the fabric to the left of the bunny. made those little purple flowers behind the bunny with waste canvas. i have just discovered that and like using it. it does take a bit of getting used to though.
A gold heart shaped button with more trim and embroidery embellishment. that was a gold velour ribbon that i tacked down with the rickrack shaped trim on the edges...then added french knots to the trim...then added X's to the ribbon....then put silk ribbon under the Xs....then added french knots to the Xs. got carried away. the piece of velour ribbon will be the last thing standing on this quilt....it is stitched down GOOD. LOL
A gold filigree trim tied down with some silk ribbon and a bit of embroidery fern. right above that is some blue rickrack with orched embroidery thread down the middle. .... then tiny tack down stitches of pink in the middle of that. i think i like layering. hahahahaa
Some silk ribbon flowers and a tiny purple dragonfly bead. the leaves are a trim that i bought. the flowers i just made up as i was stitching.
This was a rather large beaded earring that i found in a thrift store...LOL...it's about an 1" across. but the purple, green and gold beads just seemed to fit. and a bit of white trim with red decoration on it. then i added some red stitches to that with embroidery thread.
And here are the blocks surrounding the encrusted middle block. I just add a piece or 2 of embellishments to these blocks. this one has a white piece of trim with cute little tassels.
I was in Jackmans Fabrics last week and found a basket in the upholstery department with bits of trims on sale for 25 cents each. that is where this little bit of purple trim with tied tassels came from.
This one has a large piece of lace dyed dark blue in the corner. it reminds me of a spider web and if i can find a spider button i will add it there.
This one has some dark blue rickrack and a piece of purple lace. i dyed all my pieces of lace to match the squares.
More rickrack and a tiny bit of flowery trim right above the blue floral batik in the center
Piece of light purple gauzy ribbon on the bottom left and another dark blue trim on the right
More dyed laces
In the top right corner is a blue sort of crocheted net piece. i found that at the Upcycle Exchange place. it was part of a sample card with different colors and styles of netting. rather unusual. look for more of these pieces in future blocks. also a bit of purple lace. and some tiny red velour rickrack in the bottom left corner.
I like this section better than January, i think. i kept going back and adding more. i don't know if it is the crazy quilt 'way'....but the more i add...the better i like it. is that a bad thing? ahahahahaha
I am currently working on the March block....it is red, orange and gold. will be an eye opener for sure. get your sunglasses ready.
Keep stitchin' and be happy...talk to ya
Later
