It's Monday....

And I have a finish on my wall today.  Binding is on and hanging sleeves attached and ready to be taken to my friends house.

'Sunshine Ripples'

47"x 55"

quilted by Quilt Bugs

While I was making this top I knew exactly how I wanted it quilted.  I HAD to have ripples!!

  The gal that owns the shop didn't have the pattern I wanted so she very generously told me she would order it for me.  

I wish I could tell you the name of the quilting pattern .... but I have no clue!  I just knew it when I saw it.  ;-)

Here it is close up..... 

So now I'm heading over to link to Judy's Design Wall Monday.

I hope you're having a great day. Glad you stopped by.....Linda

My Design Wall....

I'm slowly getting the blocks made for this quilt.  I've always said that I must be the slowest quilter ever.... and this is sure proof of that.  lol
I have one more block made but it's still laying by my machine.  But since I've another Dr appt soon I didn't take the time to put it on the wall.

I love this quilt!!!!  

I think I'm going to name it 'Sunshine Ripples'.

Now I'm heading over to link on Judy's Design Wall.   

I hope you're having a great day. Glad you stopped by.....Linda

Almost half finished....

It's been one of those weeks where I've been rather scattered and time just keeps rolling along.

I have managed to get a little sewing done on the commission quilt.   The top three rows have all been sewn together and the blocks in the next two rows almost done.

This is turning out sooooo much prettier than I even imagined and I'm going to hate to give it up.   But she should really be happy with it and that's what this is all about anyway.   I just may have to make one for myself one day.

Since I messed up the first block I made I had to come up with a solution to be able to not make that same mistake again.  So I thought I'd share what I came up with.   Who knows.  Maybe this is common knowledge.   But it wasn't for me so I'm patting myself on the back that I thought of this.  hahaha

First I had to number the different fabrics (as I cut the pieces) since each block is made with different fabrics in different positions and there are eleven fabrics to keep track of.   I printed a copy of the quilt from EQ and used that as my roadmap.

Here are a couple of trays of the cut pieces and the way I numbered them.  Not all fabrics are showing.

When I'm ready to start sewing I lay the patterns (after I trim the excess paper) for one block in front of me face up.
And this is where the problem started on that first block.  I just looked at the roadmap and the pattern this way and started flipping and sewing along merrily.

Not the right way for these blocks!!!

Then I realized I needed to find a way to keep track of the correct fabrics (and their correct places) by looking at the back of the patterns.  Sooooo Now I turn the papers over (keeping them in the right order) and as I check the roadmap fabrics I write the correct fabric number on the corresponding section.  Like this.... 

Problem solved!

Now I'm ready to start sewing the fabric patches on each section.  The first piece can get a bit wobbly and move if not careful, so I use a tiny little spot of Elmers school glue (it's washable) to tack down that one piece.  

Just a tiny dot will do.  I lay the starting piece down (making sure it covers the complete area) and then I'll touch it with an iron to set the glue.  

See.... it's just what's needed.  

And the rest is simply folding, trimming and sewing the next patch.  And all blocks are correct and beautiful!  

Now I'm going to link to Judy's Design Wall.  Come along if you'd like.  

.....Linda

What's on my Design Wall?

So it's Monday.  A new week and a new month and I am determined to get this last commissioned quilt made.  It's going to be a wall hanging for the same lady that I made the embroidery wall hangings.  More about all that here and here.
Once she had settled on a quilt that she liked I spent hours searching for the pattern.   But to no avail..... so I sat down in EQ7 and designed it myself.

Here is the beginning layout.  That's the easy part.
Or not!
Actually I spent hours rearranging these blocks to get that 'just right' setting.  Whew!  Finally!

Don't you love the fabrics she picked out?
Yesterday late afternoon I started paper-piecing the first alternate block.  I had carefully measured each unit and cut the fabrics that would be needed.  These blocks need to be set together a specific way in order to complete the overall effect.  It's going to be tedious to say the least.  You'll see what I mean when I get farther along.

Soooo I get the first block sewn, trimmed and at this point I'm feeling very smug and satisfied.  I have a plan and I've thought this out and all my papers are printed  and I'm on a roll.
OOPS!!  .........  Well dang!
I forgot that I am paper-piecing and everything is backwards!!!!
First block.....fail!!!
OMGosh!  I hope I have enough fabric to recut!!!  ;o(

Stay tuned..... today is another day and I will not be defeated!  hahaha

Let's grab our coffee and head over to Judy's Design Wall Monday to see what other quilters have been up too.

I hope you're having a great day. Glad you stopped by.....Linda

Monday morning....

Soooo it's Monday and that means I can link to Judy's Design Wall.  And since I have a bit more done on my friends embroidery I think I'm going to link this.

Crosshatching is 1½" apart.

It is definitely the perfect quilting look for this piece (thanks Crispy & Kitty).  

Yesterday I finished the crosshatching on this and 'erased' all the blue marks and let it dry overnight.  This morning I just checked on it and found a few more little spots that I missed so they are taken care of now.  

Today the binding gets sewn on by machine and I'll finish by hand.  

I hope you're having a great day. Glad you stopped by.....Linda

And so it's Monday....

Here's the second set of embroideries that I've gotten finished this week.
It certainly is much more intense than the first one I made.
Those little squares finish at 1" and the whole piece measures 27" x 33".

I have enough fabric left that I can cut some big squares and piece the backing for both of these.  Now I'm pondering how to quilt them.
I could do a simple meander on both of them .... ????  Or maybe just on the first one and then do a crosshatch on this second piece.  So I'll keep them both on my design wall and sit and stare at them for hours until I have a firm decision made.  heehee.
So for now here are a few closeups of the blocks.  Keep in mind that these were made by a very small girl.

And since it's Monday that means that I'm going over to Judy's Patchwork Times and link up to her Design Wall Monday.  

See you there. And I hope you're having a great day. Glad you stopped by.....Linda

A Friends quilt...

A local gal called me one day and asked if I would be interested in making her a quilt to hang above her stairway.  We visited a bit about what she wanted and I told her I would love too.  Soooo after a visit to her home, and several questions later we had a design chosen.   I had pinned several quilts to my 'inspiration board' in Pinterest and after showing her several designs she narrowed it down to one.  I'm going to love putting this together.  (more on this design later)

And then she showed me some dish towels she had embroidered when she was a child.  Her grandmother taught her to embroidery and as she talked and told me about their time together she started pulling out each towel.
Let me just state here that she "loved" these towels almost to death.  One in particular!!  haha  
Over the years some of the towels have disappeared and these are all that she has left so she asked if I would make a wall hanging out of them so she could keep them forever.

So this is the first piece I've put together.   There will be a second piece with different embroidery pieces that she made.  Both will be hung in her laundry room  so she can enjoy them.  

The fabrics I chose to use was 30's prints that I bought from Quilters Delight in Holdrege.  

All towels had to be backed with fusible interfacing.
They were all so thin from so much use over the years.

A few had to be pieced because there were a lot
of wear holes in the cloth.  

The kitten face was a pot holder.  I attached it to a
piece of leftover towel from one of the other pieces.

Size:  34" x 20"

This has now been sewn together and I'm starting on the second set of embroidery pieces.   I'll show them later.  This second piece will be take a bit more time to sew together but the fabrics will be the same.  

I hope you're having a great day. Glad you stopped by.....Linda