Candy paper wrappers

You can quilt with colorful foil candy paper wrappers.

I was eating some Rollos and was intrigued by the colorful candy wrappers....all Eastery colors...pink, green, blue, gold.  if you unwrap them gently and press them flat...you get about a 2 1/2 inch square. so, being a quilter....the brain went to work.

I found a star paper pieced pattern that could use that small piece and this is what i got.

The block will finish at 5". it was easy to work with. i fused the candy paper to muslin. i see a wallhanging happening here. if you look closely you can see the Reese's peanut butter cup logo. too cool!

I have wrappers from Rolos and Reese's and Nestles and Hersheys. woohoo!

So far i just have this one....but i am saving and fusing wrappers and there will be more to come

Later

Dumpster #2 filled

I went to the Duck for a couple days and got a bit of work done.

When i left...my throat was a bit scratchy and my nose was runny....sinuses i figure. but i got worse as days went by so i didn't do too much work. but, on Tuesday my sis helped me fill up this dumpster. this is the second dumpster i have filled...my garage is clean once again. but i will need a third once i get all the ceilings down with their plaster, lathe boards, and insulation out of the attic. it took us 4.5 hours to fill it to this point on Tuesday. i was in the dumpster and she was bringing me the boards and bags out of the garage....i arranged them all neatly so everything would fit in. LOL   on Wednesday morning we went back for a couple hours and finished the job with more sheets of plywood and more bags of plaster. then i trimmed some bushes down to the fence line and threw those in there, too. it was all filled to the top when we were finished.

I got there Monday about noon but didn't feel like going to work....so i stitched on block #3 for My Tweets...and here it is....all finished. i also got about half of block #4 finished. a bit of progress there, too. 

I've told you about the oil pumper in my back yard. the owners came out Tuesday and Wednesday to replace the pump that is underground. it was pretty fascinating to watch. see those long poles laying there in the front of the picture...on the metal stands....when they were through pulling....there were about 50 of those.

I talked to the man and got a bit of lesson....this pumper is 1500 feet deep....a shallow one for the area. there are about a dozen in my neighborhood. the oil all gets pumped to huge tanks in a field at the end of my alley...on the next block. and i learned in the museum in town there is a picture of all the pumpers....before all the houses were built in the neighborhood.

They got it all put back together and pumping once again. it takes a while for the oil to start pumping again...first it pumps out gas...then water...then oil. so i learned something new. and i have their numbers in case i notice the pumper is not working....i am supposed to call. it breaks belts pretty regularly.

Now i am trying to rest up and get to feeling better so i can stay upright for more than 2 hours. am feeling kind of puny. quilting will have to wait for

Later

March Color Palette Challenge

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

March UFO Challenge is done

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

Secession Sampler Quilt

This is our class quilt for this year..started in January. so far i have managed to keep up with the homework and have all the blocks finished that we have been given. here is what we have so far.

Alabama

Applique with cotton boll and tobacco leaves..there are 4 of these that go in the middle

These are the corners for the inside border

Florida

Georgia

Louisiana

Mississippi

South Carolina

Texas

Virginia

And these are the setting triangles...there are lots of them.LOL

It's going to be a cool quilt....as always.

There will be more blocks to come....

Later

Red and Green I

I have finished Kay's first red and green quilt with embroidered blocks. it seems like it took forever. but i guess it was just because i was working on about a dozen things at a time....as usual. here is the front. i almost got all of the quilt in the picture...my picture taking seems to be getting worse.

These are the embroidered blocks i had to work with.  they looked a bit plain until i put the red around it...that sparked it up a bit.

And this is the pieced block that i made to go with them. to me....the block sort of looks like the embroidered block...same kind of design. i only noticed that after i was finished. maybe that is why i chose it.

The border fabric was a pretty red and green floral.

Backing was muslin. i used a panto to quilt it. Tan Glide thread on the top and pale yellow Bottom Line in the bobbin.

I have 6 more of these same blocks to make another quilt with. i think i have an idea for the alternate blocks. should get that started next month.

Later

My Tweets blocks

I have finished 2 blocks so far (along with the middle section) of the My Tweets hand applique quilt. i am loving this pattern. by the time i am finished i will probably have appliqued hundreds of leaves. and dozens of tail feathers. LOL

This is block 1

Love those birds

This is block 2.  i am changing up the placement and shades of tail feathers. just because i can

Cute little tulip flowers

All the blocks are different so it keeps it from being boring.

Stay tuned for more blocks..

Later