Workshop Sketchings

Last month I took the plunge and signed up for Bethanne Nemesh's Fiesta Feathers workshop. As we all know, there hasn't been opportunities for in person workshops and my one effort with an online workshop back in 2020 was a bit of a fail (IMHO) 

Having followed Bethanne on IG for the past while, I'd been seeing her videos of quilting and how she was approaching her viewers. I was optimistic that her class would be good and I signed up, after waffling for several weeks. I'm so glad I did. We have had 2 lessons so far and although they are a lot of review for me, I've gained so many opportunities to clean up some bad habits I'd gotten into over the years. Here are a few sketches of ideas I've done.

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 I'd love to feather your quilt top.  If interested, please reach out to me and we can make a plan.

Keep stitching,

Sharon

Simply Scraps

This whole quilt has been made with left over blocks and scraps. Even the batting was cobbled together from leftover pieces. The fabric for the sashing and binding was cut from pieces in my fabric bin but one of them was the last remaining piece of wide backed fabric from my first bolt that I bought in 2005 when I got my longarm. The back was fabric I've had since about 2009 and the bolt was finished once I made this back.  And to be completely honest, the bobbin thread was lots of different cream/white last bits on bobbins that kick around a longarm quilters studio. 

Credit to ModaLissa as she posted a quilt on her IG that was my inspiration!

What I started with.  A bag of 1/2 sq triangles that were off cuts from quilts made from Bonnie Hunters Pineapple Blossom pattern that is free on her website.  I had hundreds of red and blue ones and all had been pressed and trimmed to 2 1/2"

Working out ideas on the design wall.  The 4 patches in the corners were from a stack of assorted cream 3 1/2" squares that are also used in the Pineapple quilt.  A 4 patch of them made for a perfect 6" corner.

Pondering ideas for the center of the blocks. Notice the pinwheel center didn't make the cut.

This pre quilted photo shows the border on both sides.  I didn't have enough 1/2 squares to make a top and bottom border and I was also trying to stretch it a bit wider.  After getting the sides on, I threw away a handful of 1/2 squares that were left over.  Yes, I truly USED up all that I had in the bag.

The binding was hand stitched while I was in my isewlation in BC.  I traveled there to see my family and literally packed up my sewing room and took it with me.  Trust me, 14 days isolation is a VERY long time when you are healthy and not recovering from anything.

I went to town with feathers on this one.  I haven't had a customer request for feathered wreaths in a long while, so I thought I'd keep my skills sharp and load up on this one.

 The end result makes me smile.  A true scrap quilt.  And do you see the mistake?  I did, but I certainly wasn't going to get out the seam ripper for that!  One more bag out of the closet and another quilt finished for a future trunk show.  Now to figure out what to do with the green and brown bags of these off cuts that are hanging out in my studio closet.  A tree styled block?

Are you getting any UFO's out of the closet and finishing them?  I hope so.  Get them finished and if you don't still 'love' them, they just might make a perfect donation quilt.  Winter is coming!

Keep stitching,

Sharon

One Bite at a Time

I promised I wouldn't bore you with lines of hand quilting every few days, but would show my progress once a month. Trying to hand quilt everyday hasn't been difficult, hey, it was January. I am outlining all the applique, so a lot of that had to get done before I could start working in the grid lines.  Now I'm at a point where I can bounce back and forth.  Outlining is a PITA job, as the quilt is a tank to constantly shift. (I quilt in my lap).

I managed to stitch 28 out of 31 days. This quilt is just like the saying, "How do you eat an elephant?" "One bite at a time" This quilt will get stitched one stitch at a time, so even if I only have 15 minutes, that's 15 minutes closer to being finished.

Looking at what I accomplished in January has made me rethink my July 2014 deadline. I'm now thinking Dec 2014.

There are 25 blocks plus borders and after one month I can comfortably say 2 blocks are completely finished. I have ignored my machine quilting work in January, there is no gardening, I've been trying to rehab a broken bone in my foot (unsuccessfully) so no walking or yoga.

So you see where I'm going with this? In January I had an extraordinary amount of time to sit on my butt and rock the needle.
I hope I can keep the momentum, but some days there just are not enough quilting hours, I'm sure most of you can relate.
Sharon

A Real Beauty

This is what is keeping me out of the bars! DebS did all the applique and now I'm quilting it for her.

I've made the same one, but mine is a 4 block piece while hers is 88 x 88

Mine is marked for hand quilting, it's going on my machine to be basted as soon as I finish Debs.

I am so in love with this pattern, it's a Rose Kretsinger pattern that was published in a McCalls mag a few years back.
Sharon

Norma's Quilt

My friend Norma is a fabulous piecer. She allows me to quilt her beautiful work. It has been mentioned that I don't share much of my longarm quilting on my blog so I thought I'd show this one off. My arm is telling me I need to make some decisions about doing custom quilting, but as long as one isn't in a hurry and I can take my time, I can continue to work on projects like this.

OK, blogger is misbehaving with photo uploads, I will leave this post with the few photos that managed to sneak past blogger! I do love feathers, and this quilt has them in the setting triangles, all around the red inner border and inside each heart. I did a background fill of free form hearts. This was fun to quilt.

Sharon

Trying to Feel Caught Up

I will never be "caught up" when it comes to quilting. There is always a project at some state of completion and then there's the tops hanging in the closet, crying to get quilted and bound. But there is a place that I can get to that gives the illusion of being caught up. Right now it's having this quilt finished and boxed up to mail back to its owner.

I worked on this all morning and into the afternoon today, and it's on my door step so I don't leave home without it. Here are a few more shots of it. The back looks fun too, it's one big feather worked throughout the whole quilt top.

Yesterday I spend some quality time with my P9P swap blocks and I've made great headway. I would have them finished today, expect I have to go into work for a special project. Going in this afternoon will give me some time off during the week, so I know I'll hit the deadline of June and have my 36 blocks in the mail.

These fabrics are home dec quality and they are crying to be put into pillows. I also have two hand quilted pillow tops that have never been finished. I think the red florals will make nice backs for the handquilted fronts? what do you think?

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Yes, I'm feeling caught up....until I get back in my sewing room and start pulling out more UFO's. I love piecing and quilting, so I'm trying to focus on the process rather than the project.
Hope your weekend has been full of sunshine!
Sharon

Charming Stars

I have made a commitment to teach some classes in 2009. The main reason was that I would be forced to make a commitment that I had to keep, something I haven't done much of in 2008. Teaching also enables me to network with other quilters, I always learn something from a student or two, and it gets me out of my house. I made this block in 2006 with 2 charm packs from Moda Chocolat.It all started on a road trip to Jackson Hole with my gal pal Paula. We delivered a horse, but also made time to stop at lots of quilt shops. I hadn't seen a "Charm Pack" but it was too cute to pass up when we were in Rupert, ID. Then I saw them again in Pendleton,OR and, well, since I thought one was a good idea, two would be better, right? After much pondering, this star was the perfect project for pairs of charms. Since I"m working on a B.O.M. of 30's repro fabrics, (more on this later) I wanted a few more accent pieces to decorate with, so out of that came this runner. This is the project that will be taught on the 3rd Sat of March. It was made with charms (5" squares) and the finsihed size is 16 x 80 without any borders. I got a fantastic variety by participating in an online swap in 2007. After taking about a 6 week break from longarm quilting, this was my first project this year. I free hand feathered it and love how it turned out.

Take a few minutes to quilt today

Sharon