Quilting Feathers

Life has been interupting my quilting lately but that's ok, family first I always say. David's quilt is coming along nicely. I looked at it for awhile, wondering what the heck I should do with it. I even emailed Joan from Leschenault, a fellow domestic machine quilter, and asked technical question. You should see her machine quilting by the way! Rather than ditch quilt the whole thing or just meander over the top I decided to put a feather in the red areas.

Here is a close up.

In this picture you can see the meandering stars I did in the blue areas.  You will probably have to click on it to make it larger in order to see the stars.This picture is actually the best one to see the true colors of the quilt.

It is so nice to be able to quilt without machine issues, thank you Sewing Machine Doctor! I am breaking thread every now and then, not enough get excited about, just a little annoying now and then.

I have been drawing in my sketchbook more. I really want to start working on more of my own designs. I do have my favorite quilt designers, and it is nice to have the hard stuff all figured out but there is something so satisfying about making a quilt from your very own design.

Hope you are all having a productive week. With Spring here officially and sweet little surprises in the garden now, my thoughts are turning to this year's garden. I have found that a lot of quilters are also gardeners. Do you agree?

Another Top Done

Just finished pressing the top. It doesn't quite fit on my design wall so it looks a little wonky. Now that its done I think I would change out the blue fabric for something different, although I don't know what. I kind of wish the burgundy fabric was a little darker too, but overall I think its all right.
Next thing on my to do list are to start quilting some of my tops. I have Trail to Eagle, Scrap Basket, David's quilt and now Feather Stars.
So Wednesday's goal is to baste David's quilt and start the stitch in the ditch quilting.

Signs of Spring

Two signs that Spring is coming, Snowdrops and seed packets.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I'll be back with some actual quilting content very soon.

Design Wall Monday March 7, 2011

Well I had promised to have the top done by this morning and unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I couldn't do it.

I made progress though. I made the triangle pieces the way Kim Diehl instructs in the book, which ends up making the "geese" four layers thick. I suppose she did it that way because the pieces are 1 1/2 inches square and could be a challange for more beginning quilters. I used to make miniature quilts and worked with patches much smaller than that and I will likely change the pattern to regular templates next time. Don't forget to go to Judy's Patchwork Times and see what everyone has on their walls today.

Center Block Finished!

I have finished all the machine applique except for eight leaves and four teardrop shapes that I can't put on till the blocks are sewn together. I have high hopes of getting the top done before Monday.
My pile of tops is getting pretty big so I better get in a machine quilting frame of mind. Now that my Singer is working great I am really energized to get some quilts finished!

I'm Back!

I made it back from Texas Friday morning at 6:30 AM after a twenty hour drive. Needless to say I was wiped out for the rest of the day. It was so nice to be outside without needing a coat, scarf, gloves and a hat! I saw green grass and daffodils in bud and did I mention I could be outside in just a tee shirt. Texas was nice but damn it's such a long ways away. We really pushed to get home before the big storm, but we ended up driving for hours in the rain and the last five hours we drove through blowing snow, but it was a fun adventure.

One of the best things we did was go to Hobby Lobby. We don't have any Hobby Lobby's here and I just thought it was like Michael's but holy cow! The Hobby Lobby in Longview is HUGE! I could have done so much Christmas shopping that day. Great store and the prices were really nice too.

Anyway, the laundry, cleaning and paperwork are caught up so back to the sewing room I go! Hopefully I will have some quilting to show in the next day or two.

Right now it's 10 degrees out, it's 54 in Longview, I miss Texas.