New Stuff

It didn't take me long to break down and get the recommended rotary cutter. My Olfa arrived right on time to keep my sanity intact. The other cutter is sitting upright in a fabric bin to remind me to listen. Maybe someday I'll try a new blade in it. The one it came with could very well have been defective. Those things are known to happen. And it's just my luck. Lesson learned.

In the works is a very special project; one detailed enough, and just different enough to really get me going. My husband is huge with scenery of undersea life. His arm is a big reflection of that in the tattoo I designed and did for him called 'The Aquarium from Hell'. Bold, bright color in an undersea land of fantasy creatures. So, when my charm pack order of 'Splash' batiks came, he pounced on it.
     "Underwater colors. There, there, and there", he said, pulling them from the pile and setting them aside. He had that glint in his eye, then nodded and walked away.
Well, that settled what his kitchen table placemat theme would be. I'm calling it 'Under a Foreign Sea'. Once the dimensions were set, I realized I needed more of the same fabric, so I ordered another charm pack. Once it arrived I could organize the colors and do the math- how many of this and how many of that. I had a LOT of fun designing this project! When the second graph workup was done and hubby said 'Ooooo', it was time to go to work.
My desk is covered with pieces and parts and pens and markers. On my TV tray is the cutting mat, my precious Olfa, and more pieces and parts.

I pulled the graph paper out of the notebook and keep it with everything else involved in this, right next to me for special notations. Each row is cut and stacked and placed in a baggie with it's row number marked on the bag. It's the only way I can do these projects and not mess them up.

This TV tray has been the handiest little investment for my studio. I can move it anywhere, leaving room for my chair to roll between the desk and the sewing corner.

A major snowstorm hit us, but that didn't bother me. I was designing! But, I did manage to catch Dobby, our coyote snow dog, waiting to be let back in. We are discovering that he likes to play in the snow. He wants to be chased around in it. Well, that won't happen anytime soon.

And then the sun came out, lighting up and revealing all those lovely snowbanks.

With all this fabulous new fabric, I noticed a certain set of colors were emerging that looked great all together, so this is the pile that will become a quilt for my Mom. She likes the small print, too, and the colors match her.

It will be a basic star block- simple enough where I can't make too many mistakes. The cutting will start today, and I'm learning that I like all the cutting to be done so I can just sit and sew. This whole process has been a journey of discovery for me. Not only did I ever imagine I would do this type of detailed quilting, but I never dreamed it would latch on to me with a grip of steel. And at my age!

I took the piece on the far right out of the equation. The white was just too stark. Now it balances

Now that my dialysis schedule is back on track, I hope to get these all done and pick up on the two in-progress quilts. And there's my treadle to work on. If I ever get caught up, I'll be lost.

Stay Warm and Quilt the Day Away!

On The Desk Today

I really didn't feel like doing much of anything this morning, but by early afternoon, I was bored to tears, so I got going on some quilting I've been wanting to do. And I actually made some progress.
Last week, my friend Dee Lowe, sent me a pay-it-forward package, and it had the most amazing fabric pieces in it. After organizing the fabric in bins and baskets, my head started rolling and tumbling with all the possibilities staring at me. One thing I absolutely had to make was a Dresden Plate from the most beautiful sunflower fabric I have ever seen.

These little beauties needed to be balanced after cutting and sewing, so here is the circle that I came up with.

Of course after sewing them together, I neglected to take a picture, but trust me, they're together and bright as the sun. Aren't they just the cutest?

I just happen to have a fabric that will make the center and look like seeds! You'll see the end product in a later post.

Watching quilting videos is a learning pastime for me, and one was on the disappearing four patch. Rummaging through my new charm packs, I found some nice floral in purple. I hope I did this right!

The cutting and rearranging-

Now it's ready for the lavender backing.

I put this block together after I got the new charm packs, a present to me, along with a cutting board and rotary cutter. Two more strips and she'll be ready to back.

The fabric for this little blue floral mug rug was originally part of curtains that my Mom made a long time ago. Even though the curtains have no place on any of my windows, it does serve a wonderful purpose in this case. After the front was together, I realized exactly how the back needed to be.

These are ready to go. Personally, the back with the floral grouping looks much better than the front. So, you can choose your side.

Now, I'm wiped out and there's other things to do, and I'm so very glad I don't have to get up tomorrow. Once the holidays are over, my schedule will go back to normal for a year. Thankfully!

I owe you all a Dresden Plate post, and that will be forthcoming as soon as I catch my breath.

Happy Sewing