Two More Elephants

Still working on making a few elephants each month for the monthly Rainbow Scrap Color Challenge:

The one on the left is the last one from April's multi-color challenge and the one on the right is for May's green challenge.  The green one is feeling lucky because she has lots of lucky ladybugs!

I have quilted a few more for Sunshine On-line Quilters, but I need to have a Binding Blitz day to finish these up and get a box out.  Maybe this weekend ...

Panto is Arrowhead

Panto is Celtic Scroll

Panto is Mod Hearts

Check Out the Multi-Color!!

Speaking of the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge, I picked out my multi-color scraps for more elephants last weekend (see this post), and finally started making them last night.  I’m lovin’ the newest additions to the herd!

Only two are done, since I am undecided about the third fabric.  But I’m pretty sure I want to go ahead and work with the directional rainbow fabric, so watch for that elephant soon!

 

This is the quilting design I picked for the giant Project Linus chevron top that I have mentioned:

It was a panto called Cool Beans and it stitched out beautifully – nice easy curves.  It’s finally finished and already returned to the Project Linus local group – whew!

I must repeat that it’s such a joy to return to smaller kid’s quilts … this one was 63 x 65 and seemed huge!

And in news of the weird, my poor dog has been in the cone-of-shame this week:

 

Although the vet really couldn’t pin down the origin, she somehow got an infection in her paw at the nailbed of one toe.  I suspect that she either got cut when they tried to trim the dark toenail or when trimming the fur between her paw pads, or she cut herself on the sharp acorn tops due to the bazillion of acorns we have had this year.  I’m not kidding about those acorns – they have been so abundant that it’s been hard for her to walk on the grass – it’s been like walking on gravel around our pond and you can’t avoid the oak trees that drop the acorns around here.

Anyway, after paying the ransom for antiseptic wipes, oral antibiotics and an antibiotic ointment, she is doing much better.  She only limps now when she has to go on the grass and then it’s much less than it was.  She doesn’t limp anymore when walking on the sidewalk, so the cone might come off tomorrow.  She will be so happy!

Auditioning for Multi-Color Madness

You may remember that I am sewing along with ScrapHappy’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The colors have been Purple, Aqua, and Red for the first three months and the April color is Multi-Color!

This month will require me to undertake me a little auditioning from the old fabric stash.  Some of my previously made elephants have had a few extra colors, like this one:

 

But the background fabric makes this block *read* aqua.  My personal challenge is to find fabrics that don’t read a certain color, so the auditions begin:

The above were rejected because the first one definitely reads yellow and the second one reads green.  Out they go.

Now these are questionable:

 

They have lots of colors and the bugs are cute – that one might make the cut, but the rainbow beads might be hard to turn into elephants since the fabric is directional.

Now these are really getting on target.  This one will do nicely - looks like an elephant to me - lol:

And this one has lots of color and the black background is minimized – it’s a keeper:

This one is great!

But what to do with that directional fabric issue?  Might require some heavy brain work that I’m not up to right now.  It’s in the *let’s think about it* pile right now.

Look for some multi-color elephants later this week and see which fabric made the cut (oh, those sewing puns are endless – groan)!

And on a side note:  Can you believe I’ve had this box of fabrics for a few days and still haven’t opened it?!

It’s full of fabrics that will be used as backing for my children’s charity quilts.  The sale prices were good and I’m stocking up for when my quilting will be in demand after a retreat of the Sunshine On-line Quilt Guild in June.  We’re expecting to make over a hundred quilt tops – fun! 

And the Project Linus giant top is still on the frame - this is a photo before I loaded it up when I was trying to think up a quilting design.  I hope it gets finished soon - sigh.

What's Up Wednesday

It’s pretty late and “today” is almost “tomorrow”, but I got busy quilting – you all know how that goes!

So, What’s Up with Today in History?

Today in 1903 was the first day that people saw the “Teddy” bear” that store owner Morris Michtom devised.  Michtom had received permission from President Theodore Roosevelt to use his nickname for the new toy.  Although the stories differ, it is often told as being based on a compassionate act of Teddy Roosevelt to save an adult black bear.  When political cartoonists later portrayed the bear as a cub, they were intending to show a sensitive side to the macho, he-man image of Roosevelt.  No matter how it began, the Teddy bear is now beloved by children and adults alike. 

This cute teddy is Brogan - Available at plushhub.com

Since I love Teddy bears, this is the backing fabric that I have selected for a panel that was sent to me to quilt up for Quilts Beyond Borders; it will be next on the quilting frame: 

And, here is a pattern that I bought at a quilt show when I saw and fell in love with the sample:

One day, I will make this quilt!

Two Are Quilted

I had such trouble with my machine last year that I was frustrated and sent it back to the factory to be refurbished.  It was returned in fantastic shape and is quilting up a storm now.  I had done one quilt that I debated whether to remove all of the quilting stitches or just donate it as it was (in bad shape).

After a short deliberation, I decided that I had to send in something reasonably proper especially for a donation quilt where the recipient's feelings must be respected.  You never know if this might be the only quilt they ever receive and it has to hold together.  So I spent time off and on ripping out quilting stitches and finally got the quilt top back to its pristine condition.  This lady makes particularly well made tops.

This is the quilt that inspired the fish panto described in the last post with its lovely fish blocks (to be bound).

And this is the quilt that I didn't know was wrapped in the other top until last weekend when I finished removing stitches (also to be bound).  It is quilted with musical notes and treble clefs - it is wrinkly from being folded:

What was the inspiration fabric for the panto for that one, you say?  It was this, of course!:

But then, what happened with the purple elephants of a few posts ago?  Well, they've been going to the dogs:

What's Up Wednesday

I was quilting today.  Usually, I take inspiration for my quilting designs from fabrics within the quilt.  Since I quilt primarily for donation to children's charities, I try to find something interesting for kids.

Today's quilt on the frame was made by someone else and I am quilting it up for her.  There were three fabrics that caught my eye:

So this quilt is themed for FISH!

This is an example of a real Copperhead Butterfly fish:

You may be forgiven for thinking these are Butterfly fish, but these are just butterflies (sorry for the blurry picture, but they were moving fast!):

the panto is a Judith Kraker design called Fishes

Full quilt to be revealed tomorrow ...

Monkey Goes Square Dancing

I quilted up the Monkey quilt with a panto called Square Dance.  The squares went very well with the modern fabric in the quilt and made the Monkeys happy!  Still needs binding ... but at least it's now in that queue.

Just Monkeying Around!

One of our local quilt shops was having a pre-inventory sale with good prices for end-of-the bolt sales, so I ended up with an extra large piece of this cute monkey fabric.

In my recent efforts to use what is in my stash, I pulled out this fabric and began the hunt for bits and pieces that might go with it.  I wanted to use a pattern called Anthony’s Star from an older Quiltmaker magazine, and I found a few fabrics I liked and I auditioned them as I went:

And this is the design as it grew (not sewn together yet).

I think it will end up 40 inches wide, but I didn’t want it square so I am still adding to the top and bottom.  So what I’ve really created is another UFO!

Oh, and we did have an early cold snap in FL last November – this is the proof in the Fall Foliage!

Usually, we don’t get many red leaves, just faded green and yellow, but this one looks pretty in the back yard.  And it did get cold last week:

 

not frost on the windows, but condensation!

But the cold is gone now and rain is expected.  The poor tourists can't catch a break!

Edited:  I linked up with Oh, Scrap! at http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/
I always seem to be at least a day late - maybe I'll get the hang of the Friday update soon!

Work in Progress Wednesday

My inspiration pattern was a fabric line called “Emma Grace” by Kathy Brown for Red Rooster Fabrics:

And this is the progress I have made on my blocks using 1930s reproduction fabrics:

Still pulling from my scraps and stash, but I am not that good at totally scrappy.  I’d have to identify with the group that calls themselves “controlled” scrappies!

Working With Homespuns

I love the look of homespun fabrics - the plaids, the colors, how they get softer and softer in the wash, etc.  But I cannot love how the squares slip and slide and stretch during the sewing process!

Nevertheless, I am putting together this little quilt that has mostly homespuns mixed with a few flannels.  It will be very cozy when its finished and backed with snuggly flannel.  I am using scraps, triangles and leftover blocks that were sent to me by a fellow Sunshine Quilt Guild member.  It's just plain fun to work with someone else's stash sometimes!

I am adding blocks at the top and bottom to make it just a little larger, then it will be ready to quilt.

Quilting Again

Yesterday’s project was a cute top made by the MIL of the sister of a friend in NJ (a fellow member of our Sunshine On-line Quilt Guild).  Nice networking Beth!

Beth warned me of the possibility of rippling borders.  This happens when a person does not measure the mathematically correct side and top borders to square up the quilt.  But this particular quilt had another small issue:

Yep … this happened to me once, too.  The is where someone had fussy cut a piece out (you can tell by the pinked edges), then the rest of the yardage was unknowingly cut for borders forgetting there was a dip in it.  So my solution was to cut all of the borders down by a small amount – and it ended up helping tremendously with less rippling since there was less fabric in the borders (win-win).

The pictures don’t do it justice, but the center is the Disney princesses (or are they fairies since some of them have wings? I have to keep up with Disney – it’s mandatory in the State of Florida – ha!):

This top also used several different materials – one was a textured thin material, the awua below (maybe a type of chenille – can’t remember the name) with raised thread dots, and one was a pique (that might have been a cotton blend) and, of course, quilting cotton.  I wasn’t sure how the machine would quilt these various types – i.e., would the tension handle it ok?  But they all worked beautifully and the aqua has a nice feel with that texture.  I just wish it wasn't so thin.

The quilting is a panto called Fable (appropriate, huh?).  This is the finish before binding … that stack is growing …

Those squares that appear grey are actually light green and light blue!

I have more of these tops to finish and some of Beth’s, too, so it’s up to the sewing room I go!

Big Time Score!

A local quilt shop is having their pre-inventory clearance sale and I scooted up there today.  It’s my destiny to help the economy, you know!

I made out like a bandit!  For all but one of the above I got 70% off the price per yard for buying what was left on the bolt.  And that meant that I paid only $3/yard for $10/yard fabric.  I was so excited.  And the other piece was 60% off and the two panels were 50% off.  This fabric just feels so darn nice in your hands … I may have to fondle it awhile before I make up a few quilts …

And I noticed that I had forgotten to post a few of the sneak preview close-ups of the quilting I was doing for Beth in NJ for Wrap-a-Smile quilts.  This is Musical:

You can see grace notes and whole notes and the upside down treble clef – so cute!  These are part of the bunch that I am binding now.  I'll be done tonight and show them all soon.

And this one is Butterfly Enchantment – butterflies, of course and swirls for them to perch on:

And I have to include the Nature Shots of the day.  The first is the Woody the Woodpeckers that we have been watching.  These things are just so huge and they sound just as nutty as the cartoon Woody when they call.  First, this is how far away the snag they like to run up and down is behind our house:

This is a stock image of the male Pileated Woodpecker from Wikipedia.

I think I have a breeding pair.  They are just too cool.   And this is as closeup as I could get with my puny little camera:

And we’ve had so much rain, it’s been hard to get too many outside shots, but this was a nice sunset the other day:

That’s the fountain in the pond in front of our house.  Very pretty!