15 DP blocks so far

So far I've got 15 Drunkard's Path blocks done.  (I'm enrolled in Vicki Welch's Drunkard's Path Quilt Along... see the button on the right side.) I'm hand sewing the curves and will machine the straight sides -
Here's a pic

I'm only cutting and sewing at night after packing to move and reading blogs, of course. We did make up 100 little plants for Halloween, but that will be another post.

Have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Terri

Here's my new house

Some of you wanted to see the inside. Click here to see my new house on Zillow.

Hugs,

Terri

There and Back!

No, we didn't go to see the Hobbit.  We went to Washington - the state - and bought a new house. But first here is my Drunkard's Path quilt start.  I'm going to make the Wedding Ring setting... I'll show one in a day or two.

I made the pattern the night before we left on our house seeking trip. I got the pattern from www.mccallsquilting.com and I made the pieces 142% larger on my printer. Then I applied the pattern to template plastic and cut them out so the curve would be for hand sewing - traced line on the curve is the sewing line and on the straight lines is 1/4" seam allowance for using the sewing machine -  like I did on hundreds of smaller blocks ages ago. I thought I'd sewn a few more red & purple ones...  I started out trying the circle technique, but I don't like what happens when I clip so close and while manipulating a glued bunch the fabric shreds and there's very little seam allowance... see below.

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Now for some pictures of my new house....

The front yard is huge, so it  will fit my magnolia (I started from a seed).

 It's the corner house  of a cul-de-sac. We're going to get the old guy a riding mower, cause that's a lot of lot to mow at his age. It's on a quiet street, and seems like a nice neighborhood. The house is 3 bedrooms (2 are really small) and 2 bathrooms. The kitchen is about 1/2 the size of my old one... Oh, well. Less to clean! Right?

On the way home I took this picture of Mt. Shasta... over 14,000 ft. Magical, I think.

 

So now the big work starts... finish packing, build a bunch of little plants for  Halloween (one of our last days here), coordinate everything and move. Wish me luck. I think we're going to need it.

 

Happy Monday,

Hugs,

Terri

Starting the Drunkard's Path Quilt Along

I've started a couple Quilt Alongs over the years...  I really haven't stuck with them. The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is one of those. This time it is Vicki Welch's Drunkard's Path QAL and the rules sound really easy... See the button in the sidebar.
I've always wanted to make a Drunkard's Path (here after called a DP). I've made some vests and other things of the small version. (2" squares - see below)

Believe it or not - this is a purse with a zipper and shoulder strap! Made from leftovers of a vest I made for my Mom.

 This time I'm going to try to use that new circle technique I showed a few blogs back and see if that works. It is sew easy.

So "Yes" I'm in Vicki....

As I was scanning through an old Quilter's Newsletter Magazine from the 80s I found a DP  listed as  Pumpkin Vine. (Lots of the old patterns have multiple names.) I hope I can find out that DP has another lovely name suitable for my Granddaughter's Wedding.

Sew I'm off - but you knew that. Going to the sewing room.

 

Having a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,

Terri

Only 4 months late

I'm happy to say I have a Friday Finish! The H2H quilt I should have finished for June 1 is finally done and being sent today! Hurray!  Here is:

Being held up by the ever Handy Hubby (see the head, hands and feet?).

 Those little red things are paper pieced ladybugs. (Close ups farther down.)

 Above shows the quilting pattern I just invented!  I call it "Bumps in the Night". Just go along for a ways quilting in the ditch, and then wobble a few bumps. It made the quilting go along so much faster - why is that? Probably because I wasn't afraid that I'd make a mistake... I could just make it into a bump. Try it, you'll like it. It's just right for the Jelly Roll kind of quilt.

More of the bumps...

Here's one of the ladybugs... (long ago pattern out of QuiltMaker Magazine)

This is a shot of the binding, and the other bits of quilting. I tried to quilt every strip with a different quilting pattern, but I couldn't think of enough different patterns that I could do, so I ended up making wobbles down the middle until I "thunk" up the bumps.

The other two ladybugs. See another quilting pattern I tried, Zig Zag. Lots of shifting the quilt around, and in my condition quite difficult.

So the quilt is done and off to Happy Chemo for the H2H challenge 2014. (I really should start the 2015 now, they take me so long.) I did make my granddaughter's wedding quilt in between. Now I have another granddaughter who is engaged... Anyway, finally a Friday Finish to link up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts, and maybe even A Creative Princess (see her button in the sidebar).

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Terri

New technique to try

I am working on the quilting of the H2H, honest. I have it all set into the sewing machine, ready to go again. But last week on the blogs, I came across a new (to me) technique that I was most anxious to try. I don't remember whose blog it was on, but here is the LINK. It's for making circles using the sewing machine - well, here are some pictures of the ones I tried.

These are the fabrics that my grandson "picked" out for me. (I added a bunch from stash to get enough for a drag along quilt for him.) Then I got the idea to add the circles for contrast - more pieces from stash. (Do any of you enjoy shopping your stash more than going to the store? Lately the stores carry 70s designs, that I really don't care about. I find better stuff in the stash.)

 Anyway, here's one of the circles (below) that I sewed on the machine!  (I purposefully set mine off center, so I didn't have to center them.) (I'm quite proud of them, and it was sooooo easy!

 Below is the circle from the back...

 Some of the other circles

 

 This red one is my favorite.
Anyway, if you are interested in a new fun technique.

So back to the quilting...
Have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,

Terri

Around the World Blog Tour (Hop)

I was reading blogs this morning and came across the Around the World Blog Hop written by Beth at Love Laugh Quilt, That reminded me... I was supposed to write one today! I was invited by Sarah at  Confessions of a Fabric Addict. (Check out her blog. Lots of pretty quilts and great stories.)

By way of introduction... I'm Terri and I enjoy quilting - especially paper piecing. I also love Halloween, Harry Potter and my Hubby... not necessarily in that order.  I make up lots of little plants to give away at Halloween in our diorama of the greenhouse in the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban . The trick or treaters love that they get a little plant along with their candy. We love doing it, too.

We are supposed to show some pictures and answer some questions... Here goes.

Jazzy Snowballs 2013 Pattern from a Quilter's Newsletter or QuiltMaker Magazine in like 2010 or so.

 

Paper Pieced Butterflies from a pattern from Claudia. I don't see the same butterflies there anymore, but there are some shown in the gallery, so they must have been there once - right? Why she would take them down, I don't know, but they are beautiful and I enjoyed making a bunch of the 9 designs that I bought.

 

Simpler paper pieced butterflies - from the book 365 Paper Pieced Quilt Patterns (or something like that. All my books are packed away, and have been for over a year, so I can't check out the name. We are getting ready to move, and it has taken a year for our house to be sold. Finally, last weekend our buyer found our house! She sounds excited to buy it. I'm quite happy for her, but now I have to find one in Washington state that I like. Help!)

 

A red (Ford Anglia) for a blog friend's hubby.

Paper pieced, of course, from a Harry Potter pattern from Jennifer .

Donation blocks for a QoV for Alycia.

 

Grandson's I Spy quilt which is now my header on the blog.

Hubby's 70th birthday present. Made right under his nose for a QoV - or so he thought!

Paper pieced hexies for a QoV - still a WIP

 

This one being worked on as a quilt for H2H Happy Chemo

I'm late on the deadline by months... sorry. So many other things going on here.

 

Granddaughter wedding quilt finished in June 2014

I tried 2 other designs before I liked this one for them. 

 Most recent finish - a doll quilt for the Mrs. Claus project.

(See the button in the side bar.)

 

 

a UFO

 

 

 

Apple cores paper pieced UFO

 

 Another paper pieced UFO

Dolly quilt made and sent years ago for the Mrs. Claus charity

a star for the female astronaut making a quilt

 

A quilt for my latest granddaughter (she is 8 months old and I started this 4 months before she arrived!) .. pink, white and lime green. Paper pieced of course... and I've been picking the paper for a year in between all kinds of other projects. I just recently restated it, and will be working on it as well as the other projects below.

 

 

In the works, tomatoes

and carrots. Paper pieced veggies - produce in process. Lol

 

 

 Below are the two projects I'm working on now. 2 "I love you" ASL symbols for a friend. 

This one needs some fixing... I messed up and added the wrong color on the bent finger, which makes it look fat. Can't have that!

 

And now the questions.

 

What am I working on?

See the above pictures. The hands should be in the snail mail today. Still a lot of work to do on the veggies. I'll show pictures of the finishes after the recipients get their gifts.

 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Well, obviously, it's different because I did it.

Then there is the fact that any quilt is different from another in the design, colors and fabrics chosen and the pattern choice... and they are all unique in the arrangements of the blocks, too. You can try to make something exactly as another has designed, but there will always be the unique differences... fabric cut here and not there... the quilting is always an identifier. Then there is the label - mine says made by me and yours says made by you. LOL

 

Why do I write/create what I do?

Short answer: to use up all this fabric! lol

No, really I don't know what I would do if I didn't have something creative to do... clean house? Ugh! It might be necessary once in a while - like when the dust bunnies start to attack... but really, cleaning (incessantly) is for the people with no imagination or skills. I write my blog to join in the community of quilt bloggers. I've learned a bunch from this community, and shared a few thoughts. I enjoy the write/create (most of the time....)

 

So I think this does it for the blog hop/tour. I wish I had 3 in line to carry on from me, but I don't. If there are any visiting who would like to host one - please do.

 

Have a lovely week of sewing.

 

Hugs,

Terri