Teaser two

Strips cut and organized

 

 

 Another view

 

Some blocks, the inspiration and  the math.

 

Hugs,

Terri

New Project Teaser/Wordless Wednesday

It's Friday!

I guess Friday's are the day of reckoning for me. I did stuff again today!

I made 5 blocks for the QOV Big Blowout Block Drive over at Alycia Quilts. You make 5 blocks and send them in and you are registered in the drawing for lots of prizes! Every 5 blocks is a chance to win... Hop on over there  to see what's what.  I enjoyed making these - based on a foundation piece. There are two other kinds of blocks requested.

 

 

In other news: I've almost finished the new grandguy's first birthday present - the I Spy quilt I've been working on for longer than he has been alive! Putting on a hanging sleeve this afternoon, as I am hoping that it will be used as a game rather than dragged in the dirt, or used as a dog bed. I'll take pictures to show off. Come on back to see.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Terri

I did stuff this week!

There have been some weeks when reading your blogs was the most worthy thing I did ... (Thanks for being there for me.) and I really didn't do that much this week either... Well, here, you decide.

For Mary Lou's hubby. He has terminal brain cancer. (They want blocks with a car on a light blue background... here's my offering. It's the Ford Anglia from the Harry Potter Paper Piecing blocks on
Fandom in Stitches.) The tires are yoyos that are turned in... I couldn't get mine smoothly round, but I think they look like mud and snow tires this way... extra tread for mudding.

 

And I got back to my grandson's I Spy quilt, finally! His first birthday is coming up at the end of the month!!! I wanted to try the machine sewn method of binding, so I sewed it onto the back - it went on quite smoothly, but then for some reason, I thought I was going to have lots of trouble with the sewing onto the front. Left it for about 6 weeks. Yesterday, in an attempt to get out of painting on the patio, I got back on the horse, and just did it. Except for one corner, it went on easily. I don't know what I was so afraid of...

Yes, that is brown binding. (You know I don't like the color.) I'm quite proud of myself for stepping away from my prejudice against the color to bind - in a practical color - number 8's first quilt from Grammy.  I'll show you the whole thing once I get the label made... say in a month or two? LOL

 

I love that you can use the clips even on the sewing machine. They work better than pins, except at the corners... then I used pins. I will be using this process again! It was sew easy.

 

So that is what is going on here... Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

 

Hugs,

Terri

Hexie Friday

Hello  Lovely Readers!

I have been doing a little hand sewing at night. From a distance I love how they look, but the hand stitches don't look good to me closer up. Maybe when I quilt it I can disguise the uglies.

At least a little progress to share at Hexie Friday.

 

Have a lovely weekend!

Hugs,

Terri

A Dragon in my Backyard!

Sorry, no quilting... I've been gardening. Well, potting up snips for Halloween. You've gotta make them early, so they are rooted, and maybe even blooming for the kids. This might be my last year doing this... we are looking at moving to Superior, Wisconsin... Yes - it's cold country, but there we can buy a house that we may be able to live in for free and the tenants pay rent that will pay for our house and utilities. (Otherwise we could easily become street bums.)

Sew there really isn't anything to share - picture wise - except this one and variations...

a golden dragonfly perched on the very top of my potted Silk Oak (from seed)

 

The pot contains the silk oak, and his buddies the Cosmos plants that provide seed to the local Goldfinches. They love the seeds, and took so many last year that there were none for the seed packets for the Trick or Treaters.

Our Phoebe also sits this perch in the early evening to fly out and capture bugs.

These all are views of my back yard. The bush to the left is a Pineapple Guava, and on the right is one of the 2 Avocado trees I started from pits. We have gotten fruit off of the one, the other is the guardian and gets ruined each year by the frosts. I have made quite a few Avocado trees from the pits left after eating the fruit... and some pits have come from the possum eating  fruit.

 

Hope you enjoyed the dragon in my backyard. Have a lovely week.

Hugs,

Terri

 

Now There Are Three

New = Common Blue - I use a sparkly blue for the main part of the wings to simulate iridescence.

I consider myself at least an intermediate paper piecer, but I had a lot of trouble with this block... It is not the fault of the pattern. It is a relatively easy pattern, but I must have had my mind on other stuff. I'm glad to see that you cannot see where I sewed on the edging along the wings using both sides of the light blue. Once I noticed, I did like the effect, so I left it. I tried out every mistake you can make on this little insect.  You are not going to believe...  

Here's a solo.

 

 

Sorry this is out of focus, but it doesn't matter cause it's a picture of nothing... I put it here to remind me that I actually had to rip out about 10 seams on this one. Several times I sewed out of sequence. (It doesn't matter if its a piece that doesn't touch the next or previous numbered piece, but that was not the case.) I put #1 on then sewed #7, #6 and #5 before I realized what I'd done. Can  you believe it? Even a Kindergartner would know better.  Several removals were because I had inadvertently flipped over some of the fabric before sewing. (That will happen sometimes as you shove the pattern and fabric under the needle to start the seam. I usually run the seam ripper under to make sure that doesn't happen, but I guess I was particularly arrogant yesterday and didn't follow good practices.) Another kind of mistake I made: Not enough seam allowance, and I mean just threads... gotta pick that out and start over. Oh, and the worst mistake... I used the wrong side of the fabric on the #1 spot - in this case not acceptable. I had  to remove 3 pieces once I found the error. (How many words are there to describe  "mistake"?)

Anyway, I'm working on the Peacock Butterfly now. Oh, what a beauty - at least one fabric from every bin... red, 2 blues, yellow, pink, black, 2 browns, and a green for the background. (Something from every bin except the multicolor bin.) It'll take a while - lots of pieces!!!!!! and of course, there will be mistakes and ripping.

 

Have a lovely week of sewing!

 

Hugs,

Terri