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Saturday, February 28, 2015

Last of the pink butterflies

The latest...

So, as long as I have been paper piecing, I've been making "mistooks". (Hahaha... spell check does not like that one.) Anyway, the two on the right are made with 2 colors of off white. It's a scrappy challenge, and I didn't realize I didn't have enough of the one color. Also, The pink rose print ran out... Well, first off I made 2 of the same side - like the heart I made earlier this month.  Mistooks all over the place. So I made two mutant butterflies. I hope they multiply - in lots of different colors. (You do know that pink is a mutation for butterflies anyway.) LOL

Have a wonderful weekend. We are having a sunny (so far cloudless)  day, so my weekend is starting out great... except for the fact that our washing machine is broken down. It's only 3 months old.

Hugs,
Terri

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Project of Doom #8

I thought I was making this one for charity, then I realized - it's my background. She would want us all to use the same color for the background... So this one is mine.

I have figured out the names for them, but not how to apply the names. I don't want to embroider - too slow and bumpy. I do have a pen, but I also have a shaky hand... I'm thinking I might get some computer fabric sheets and using different fonts send a bunch of titles through the computer and printer.
Have a lovely weekend.
Hugs,
Terri

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Cluttered Chaos of Cuilting....spelled with poetic license

Okay, Val  set down the challenge and linky. . show your quilting space. OMG!  Have I got a challenge for you.

My CA studio was 12 X 15 -  this one in WA is 9 X 9.5, with a turn at the doorway that wouldn't allow one of my sturdier tables. The movers couldn't get it in.

 From the hallway - paper bag storage, and a plant table that will be removed to the living room later today.
 Inside to the left - see the silver closet door "knob"? There is a closet that is not well used.  Fabric is stored by color in boxes (from the move). Project boxes for the butterflies and other  projects (from Costco - good and cheap). Plants on the top shelf to get maximum light from the one West facing window.
 3 movable foam core design walls...only 2 can be visible at any one time. (The red and purple Love Ring is on the other one.) Top of my armless rolly chair in the foreground is in front of the sewing machine. The portable ironing board is on top of the cutting board that over runs the folding table that also supports the lid of the sewing machine cabinet.

 
On the machine are the 4 rows of Good Night Irene that I'm making for the  Sweet 16 QAL where I will link this up later today. I like my sewing machine on an inside wall. Fluctuations in temperature can ruin a piano, so I don't want to take chances with my sewing machine either.

The bulletin board not yet hung because it keeps the wall heater from blowing on my sewing machine cabinet. Lots of things hanging there. Patterns and a few sentimental things, like the butterfly batik piece that my daughter made in 5th grade, and the black velvet "pincushion" with a paper heart taped onto it that she made for me. The white plastic bag is for snippets. I use them to fill floor pillows for the grandkids.
Another picture showing the top of the shelves - near the top left is Rachy's "Hersey". She made it and used it at my house once. I can still see her joy, galloping around our much bigger house. It's an oatmeal container and the plastic putter toy we had for them to play with. (It's the expensive toys they like best.) Plants are my orchids. Orange container at the end of the shelves is my Piggy Bank Challenge (see Val's blog).


From the design wall there is the closet... not far away.

And the plants on the top left side of the shelving... featuring my newly transplanted Southern Magnolia Tree that I started from a seed. Three years old and getting bark now!
And in the kitchen East facing window, another plant brag picture. Here is the root that broke off my Rabbit Foots Fern during our move, and I put it into water hoping it would root. . . I can't tell you how many times I was ready to throw it out. Nothing was happening, and I just was quite depressed about it. Well, here it is! It got a root, and a week or two later I planted it into this very elegant cottage cheese container. Now if you're interested - look closely and near the top bend you will see a new frond striking out of the furry root. I am such a proud plant Mamma.
 
Sew, feel really good about your sewing rooms, studios or areas now that you've seen mine. I know it's a mess, but I've got sewing to do when I'm in there. I don't want to use it up organizing. No suggestions for your space, Val, but I will link up on your blog today. Maybe someone will get a good laugh out of my space.
 
Have a beautiful week.
Hugs,
Terri

Friday, February 20, 2015

POD #7

Wow - seven weeks already? That went really fast.

You all know how much I like to make new plants from slips. Well, that's a Tentacula vine, just a slip, of course. Can you see it moving? I have a Hoya that moves on its own, so it's not hard for me to see a Tentacula move.  The green book will be something about plants. I haven't started any of the embroidery of titles. I'm looking for an easier way. Maybe rubber stamping. I have some really tiny letter stamps, on light fabric, it could work.
Have a lovely weekend.
Hugs,
Terri

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

4 More Bflies

Yesterday I made 4 more PINK butterflies.


That is all...

Hugs on Hump Day!
Terri

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Almost a Flimsy

I've got a few more blocks in the works. I want one more column. You know how quilts shrink once you sew the blocks together... all that pesky seam allowance.  Here is how the design wall looks now.

Showing this at Sweet 16 headquarters today and tomorrow on Design Wall Monday, go to Patchwork Times by Judy L. I thought she had a button, but NO.
 
Have a lovely, quilty week.
Hugs,
Terri
 
 

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Remember these?

Well, I fixed them.

So he is getting a mug rug from me for Valentine's day.
 
Hugs,
Terri
 

Thursday, February 12, 2015

The Latest POD Block #6

Week 6 paper pieced block for the Project of Doom - a book case quilt based on Harry Potter books and artifacts.  I think the left hand "book" looks very magical, the next one is about dragons...

and the picture frame is (on my quilt) a miniature of the Mirror of Erised.  Nobody is looking into it right now, so it has a swirly non-thought going on. I  like it.
 
We had a lovely lunch with our married grandgirl. Thanks for hanging with us, Honey. And it was a beautiful sunny day... so rare here in the winter.
 
See you tomorrow for some linky fun.
 
Hugs,
Terri

Monday, February 9, 2015

Design Wall Sweet 16

I have a few of the blocks up on the portable design wall.


I have more blocks. Just haven't had the time.... Had to watch Downton Abbey and Alaska, the Last Frontier last night. I might have to make more blocks... we'll see.
Back to the arranging.
Hugs,
Terri

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Sweet 16 coming together...

I've made some 16 patches and some kisses and the next step is to sew them together to make a Good Night Irene for the up coming Hands to Help Charity Challenge... see the button on the right.

I may have to make more - I only have in the teens of each kind. I haven't bothered to figure out how many are necessary for any particular size, yet. I do have a bunch of strips left...
So no slow sewing here today. I'm hoping to make that machine hum - later. Right now, coffee and reading blogs.
Have an exciting week.
Hugs,
Terri

Friday, February 6, 2015

Pink Butterflies? - and Miracles!

Why not Pink Butterflies?

The one on the left is a fairy frost fabric. Not really sparkly, but shiny, and so pretty.

And here is my back saving miracle. I found 50+  white on white squares that are 5" that I think I can use for the snowball part of the snowball and 9 patch sew along. I don't remember cutting them so it was a long time ago when I thought about making another snowball quilt. The corners would be greens and reds. I remember planning that much.  Then I also found these, seen below.

4.5" blocks that go perfect for my Xs part of the Goodnight Irene for H2H. (I sewed corners on one side already.) Somebody up there is helping me, I think. My Angel would like the quilt to get finished on time and sent to Happy Chemo.
 
Hey, the sun did come out today!  It's been raining for days... so DREARY.
 
Sew have a lovely weekend. I'm working with precuts!
 
Hugs,
Terri

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Since Last Time...

I finished the bow ties... These are the last of 16.
I made them for the Bitty Block Adventure from the Quilty Pleasures blog - run by employees of the QuiltMaker Magazine.   I really enjoyed making them. This month's block is really involved... a basket. I don't even know how many to make. I think I'll make a paper pieced pattern and make them that way. I'll be more accurate. These are supposed to be 3.5" and some are only 3.25". Oh, dear!




I love containers. This is a box from Christmas cards a few years ago. Just couldn't throw it away. Inside I keep my

clips that I found a new use for....(I know the grammar is bad, or is that badly? Lol) Anyway, I used them to clip all the tiny pieces I cut for the Bow Ties. Each block had its own clip. (Without the clip I kept losing the little 1 1/4" knot parts. I hate when that happens.

Now for the true confessions part of the blog:
Someone was making hearts yesterday, so last night I tried it. Nooooo I wasn't making two. I put the bottom on the wrong side. Guess I'll make second halves now. (Maybe I need to have an affair? I'll have two valentine hearts... what to do with the second one?)
 

And this is my finished Project of Doom block #5. We are making a Harry Potter bookcase. The book at the extreme right is the Invisible Book of Invisibility. Once the whole quilt is put together you'll see this one as background. The gold band gives it away. I might change the second book, since it has the same bottom band as the print of the book next to it. I thought I was coordinating the two books. It looks a bit like it is levitating. If I can find a book on the list with levitation in the title I'll leave it the way it is. (That blue print is left over from a skirt I made for my SIL.)
 
Hubby planted out the Christmas tree today. It's been getting lots of new growth on it indoors. I took pictures, but none of them turned out... they're all fuzzy.  That's the way things are here....FUZZY.
 
Tomorrow we get to take our old married Grandgirl out to lunch. We are looking forward to that!
 
Happy Hump Day,
Hugs,
Terri
 

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Sweet 16 Start and Pink!

First I want you to know I'm linked up to the Sweet 16 QAL. The button is on the side bar.

I'm writing this during the Super Bowl.... I am in the room, but only to see the ads. Aren't they great? My favorite is the doggie and his horsey friends for Budweiser. Made me cry.

Now on the quilting front, I started to make the Sweet 16 blocks for the QAL seen on my side bar.  I start with strings of 2.5" wide sewn together dark (or bright) to light and dark to light... At first I didn't like the strips together... my color choices just didn't excite me. Now that they are cross cut and rearranged together, I like 'em... so I made more.

 First 4 blocks. I like them now.
(Please excuse the poor staging, but I don't have any space in the sewing studio... Ones on the right are on my tiny ironing board that stands atop of my cutting board. I've figured out how to use the cutting board without moving the ironing board. It takes me a while... learning curve, you know.)

The next 5 strip sets are made, and just hanging out waiting for cross cutting and resewing.
(That reminds me of some friends from high school who got married... anyway, he wonders why she cuts up perfectly good fabric and resews it to make a quilt. Why doesn't she just use the whole cloth. Duh! It's art, Randal.)
Anyway, the February colors has been named and it is

That's Carnation Pink, Tickle Me Pink on the right, and at the bottom, Salmon - the only 3 pinks in my box of 64 Crayola brand crayons. I tried other colors that looked pink to me, but they turned out to be in the purple family. Anyway, I've got plenty of pink fabrics, as you well know. I used some of them in my grandgirl's baby quilt... if you haven't and want to, see it HERE.


Figuring that pink would be the color for February, I made this pink butterfly to represent myself on the label of my grandgirl's baby quilt and kept a single picture for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Now I realize there's no way to group it with other pink butterflies. Oh well. I'll make some anyway. They make me happy. 
 
So now that I've rambled on, and on, I'll leave you with a wish for a wonderful week of sewing.

Hugs,
Terri