Taking Care of the Essentials

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Joseph Addison

I am enjoying the warmer weather although it has still been cool.  That's fine with me because I don't like hot.  It is to get into the 80s this weekend.  Spring is definitely here because my world is covered in a yellow haze of pollen.  My sinuses can attest to this also.  I know from some of the blogs I read that snow is still around in some of the Northern Hemisphere so I'll share some more flowers to help warm your day or give you Spring envy at least.  My irises have been putting on a great show! 

 This is my smaller patch.  They have been blooming for over a week now.  I was happy to see more purples this year.  When I planted them they were in a single row about 4 feet away from the crepe myrtle.  They will soon surround it if we don't thin them out.

Here is a closer view.  The purple is much deeper than this.  I couldn't get it to show true color even with a little adjusting.

This is the batch in the center island.  They have just started opening.  This picture is several days ago.  Yesterday all those buds you see were open.  I'll try to get more pictures today.  I think a few purple ones should be open in this group today too.

I have one more batch of colored iris that blooms later.  I'm hoping I won't miss them while we are on vacation later this month.

Ready for some more purple?  Here is my Rainbow Scrap Challenge block.  The colors in it are much richer than they show here too.  Some of these look blue but they really are purple.

I have flourescent lights in the studio that just change colors even though they are daylight bulbs.  There is too much pollen to lay it outside.  It would turn yellow I'm sure.  LOL

Here is a peek at what I'm working on at the longarm.  Not too fancy but it is getting
DONE!  Yeah!  

I haven't done the wavy lines this way before.  I'm really liking it!  One day I won't chicken out of doing the ruler work.  Still more skills to master.  I'll get there one day I hope.  This is a good thing - refer to the quote above.  LOL

How's this post for a Happy Trifecta? Flowers, quilts and something for the Grandbaby.  I hope your day is a happy one too!

Linking with:  Really Random Thursday and Let's Bee Social and Linky Tuesday

Looking Ahead

The imagination is literally the workshop wherein are fashioned all plans created by man. 

Napoleon Hill

I have been busy with quilting and reorganizing my studio work spaces.  It takes a bit of thought and energy to figure out the best place to put things.  I now have better access to my large fabric storage bins and I plan to go through them and cull some of the less useful fabrics over the next few months.  I still haven't had much time with my new machine.  I did manage to put a zipper in a pillow back for what will be a Christmas gift.  It is the quietest machine I've ever used and I really love the bright lights on it.  

I wrote a blog post last week that disappeared when I hit publish.  Grrr...  (Note to self, if you have left the compose screen open for too long, hit refresh BEFORE you start writing again.) So I have been thinking of you I just haven't had a lot the share.  I need to start keeping a list of things I can write SHORT posts about.

HELP OR IDEAS NEEDED!!!

It is now November and the Holidays are approaching at lightening speed.  If you will take a minute and VOTE in the POLL to the right about what you think would be a good name for my Christmas Tree Skirt Linky Party I would appreciate it.  If you have a better suggestion for a name PLEASE SHARE it in the comments.  I also need a Clip Art Picture or something to use for a Linky Button to share.  I have been so focused on my quilting and organizing that the creative ideas for this project just aren't flowing.  Any bright or helpful ideas would be appreciated.  I would even give a small prize to anyone that has an idea or name that I use.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE A TUTORIAL ON MAKING A TREE SKIRT?

I would like to feature some fellow bloggers during the linky party.  If you would like to share a tutorial on how you make a Tree Skirt or maybe on how you like to make the ties, closures or binding for one please let me know ASAP so I can get a schedule organized.  You can find my tutorial that I made in July HERE.

How to Make a Hexagonal Tree Skirt

I thought I would share some pictures of the textured quilting I did on the the quilt I finished a few weeks ago.  There were three areas to quilt sky, a tree and snow.  These pictures are from the back side because the threads matched and did not show up well on the front.

Sky texture - wavy lines and swirls

Tree branch texture

Snow

Not too exciting to look at but the flowers in the print are smaller than a quarter and the quilt was more than 80" in both directions.  It was a lot of quilting!  No pictures of the front as it isn't my quilt.

I was looking for some batting on Joann.com today a happened to notice they have a really good deal on EQ7 and some other EQ products today.  I know many of you were interested in it when I ran the giveaway.  If it is on your Christmas List Now would be the time to get it.  I don't know how long the sale price will be good.

I also learned about a Giveaway the Keepsake Quilting is running.  You can enter daily to win 52 yards of fabric a year.  Sounds like a dream come true to me! 

Enter to Win Fabric for Life from Keepsake Quilting

That's my news for the day.  I'll be back soon to share something new and old that came to my studio recently.

Linking with:  Linky Tuesday

My Day on the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. 

Roy L. Smith

Today is my day on the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop.  First I want to say a big thank you to Madame Sam from Sew We Quilt and Carol from Just Let Me Quilt for making this event possible. Just looking at the posts done yesterday, the first day of the hop, was enough to inspire some more projects for Christmas.  

I was in another Christmas Blog Hop in July and that project was rather large.  This time I went a little smaller.  So without delay let me share the table runner I made for this event.  I really love how it looks on my dining table!

Size 19" x 43" 

This was made from a book by Terry Atkinson call Minnesota Hot Dish.  I don't think it is available anymore but you may be able to find another quilter who has it.

Free Motion Quilting done on my Innova Longarm Machine

A Closer Look at the Muslin Backing

I added an accent flange at the binding.

The threads match too closely for the quilting to stand out.  The top is all batik fabrics.

How about a giveaway?

This little pattern is a good one for beginners.  It could be made to look like a Christmas quilt but doesn't have to.  It also contains the stitchery pattern below.

I'll even add some floss so all you will need to get started is a hoop, fabric and a needle.

All the blog hoppers for each day are listed here at Just Let Me Quilt.

These are the ones who you can visit today:

August 1

Vroomans Quilts

Abyquilt

MacDonald’s Patch

Life and Everything Around It

Hill Valley Quilter

Traveling Quilter

Quilting Lines You are here!

The Reluctant Quilter

Pig Tales and Quilts

Teatime Creations

Ravelly1

This Giveaway is Closed.  Thanks for commenting.

Linking with: Link a Finish Friday and Sew Many Ways

Oh! Tweety Baby!

When I was a young man, I didn't think about having a family. My wife and I were too poor to have babies. Then all of a sudden, one came along and scared the hell out of us because we had no money. Once the baby arrives, you make do somehow. You fall in love with the baby and life adjusts itself. You find you don't need as much money as you thought. When that happens, you can ask the questions that should have come before the baby. 

Ray Bradbury

I thought I'd take a few minutes to share one of my finishes for the month.  I've been trying to get better acquainted with Aislin Joy my new Innova longarm.  We have been getting along pretty well so far.  I finished this charity baby quilt and tried several new things on it.

This is the second panel like this that I've quilted.  I shared the other one a while back.

What's not to love about Tweety Bird?

I tried to see how small I could get with some background shells.

I used the plaid as a guide for some Terry Twist quilting.  It gives some good texture.

 Here is a view of the back.

I used a 3 step Zig Zag to stitch the binding down.  Can't say I'm thrilled with it but it holds it down OK.  Next time I'll use a more decorative stitch.  I have dozens to choose from on my machine and this is a good place to play with them.

I'm linking to New to Me at Celtic Thistle Stitches

Today is the first day of the Ho, Ho, Ho Blog Hop.  My post is tomorrow so I need to go finish things up,  In the meantime check out the list of the ones posting today at Sew We Quilt or you can see the list for the whole hop at Just Let Me Quilt

A Calico Finish

God gave man the challenge of raw materials -- not the ease of finished things. He left the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and the problems unsolved, that man might know the joys and glories of creation

Unknown

What would you pair with this calico print?

I know, not the most beautiful fabric in town, but how about these two?

Many quilters have purged their stashes of all their older and more common fabrics from years gone by.  I still have a pile of calico prints.  I vacillate at times between keeping them or donating them to a charity group.  Yet I still find myself pulling them from time to time to use in different projects.  The new projects I shared this week contain some of them, these will end up being charity quilts and I think they will have some charm.  They may not be as stunning as a quilt made with the best and newest fabrics available but I'm sure they will still be a source of comfort and warmth in the finished project.

I have had finishing the binding on this mystery quilt on my 'to do' list for several months now.  This is mainly because I was tired of having to move it around from place to place in my studio where it has been for several years since it was quilted.  I was determined that I would get it finished in May so that I could be done with it!  I persisted this week and I finished it!   

This was a New Year's Day Mystery by Dorthy Young a few years back.  She has a yahoo group A Pocket Full of Mysteries and does just a few mysteries each year.  She is a good designer and writes excellent patterns.

When I decided to do the quilt I was in a use up the old stuff and get it out of the stash mood.  I had yardage of the calico and pin-dot and enough of the bright aqua for the bed size quilt.  I haven't measured it exactly but it is about 86" x 76".  I got the top finished within a few weeks and it went into my 'to be quilted' lineup.

A few years ago I had a quilt to do for a friend.  It was a lovely Martha Washington block set on point in a strip quilt setting.  I got brave enough to try some custom quilting on it.  I had not done any ruler work with my old longarm because it didn't have needle down or stitch regulation.  I decided I'd try it anyway and this quilt had the same size blocks and I would practice my design on it first.

Block quilting

Border quilting

Backing

I had to draft the setting triangle and corner square patterns from the block pattern.  They turned out fine.  The problem was the machine and the fact that I used a stiff, thick poly batting that fought me especially on the ditch quilting.  Can you tell I'm a little critical of my work?  It comes from my Mother who made me redo my skirt hems when the stitches showed when I was learning to sew in grammar school.  

I learned a lot by doing this quilting and the friend's quilt turned out pretty good.  One thing I learned was that ruler work would be easier on a better longarm!  I'll be trying that soon on my new Innova.

The reason it had not been bound was because there were some lines of over stitching where I had gone back to make the stitch in the ditch better.  I was totally frustrated with it for a long time.  Now I have made peace with it and it's DONE.  I now look at it and see a good learning experience and a heck of a lot of decent quilting.  Sure there's a few bobbles hear and there but so what?  It was from some of my cheapest stash fabric and once I wash it and it softens up it will be fine.  It will be donated at some point soon.  I'll add a full back and front picture after it's washed.

Do you have any old calico prints in your stash?  Do you plan to use them or get rid of them? How do you think this quilt turned out?  Be honest, you won't hurt my feelings on this one. LOL

I'm linking this SECOND BED SIZE FINISH for May with:

Richard and Tanya Quilts Link a Finish Friday

Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday

Quilt Story - Fabric Tuesday

Diagonal Quilting - A Problem?

The line of life is a ragged diagonal between duty and desire. 

William R. Alger

I love the way that diagonal quilting looks.  I have used it on a few quilts.  It looks really good on an Irish Chain Quilt and similar patterns where chains of squares or triangles march across the top in a bold angular line.  There can be a problem with it however as I was told by other quilters many years ago when I was talking about how much I liked it.

Can you see the problem?

I've been trying to photograph all the quilts I have that I've made and are still in my possession.  I have found some problems with some of the older ones.  Now I'm a firm believer in using quilts and not keeping them put away for fear of them becoming damaged.  I think they and art of any sort should be enjoyed everyday of your life.  Today is the only day we have to enjoy anything after all.  Tomorrow isn't here and yesterday is but a memory so enjoy life and ALL it's treasures TODAY!   Excuse me while I go pet my fabric...

OK, I'm back now.  Where was I before I was getting so, so ... well, I'll move on.  Do you need another picture of the problem?  How about the right side.

Sweet kitty face!

One of the things I like about diagonal quilting is that it is possible to quilt an entire quilt with very few stops and starts.  I think that is what I did on this one.  Start at a corner and quilt across to the other edge, pivot sew the the other edge, pivot and so on.  There are some diagrams in quilting books and probably on the web of how to do this.  It is fast, done with a walking foot, and if the quilt is basted well you will not get tucks when you cross the previous quilting.  It looks good when it is done and can be done on any scale and with any distance between lines of quilting.

So what's the problem?  Bias, the first thing a quilter or  sewist should learn is about fabric grain.  Lengthwise grain has little stretch and is very stable.  Crosswise, from selvage to selvage, is stable but has a little stretch but bias, the 45 degree angle of fabric, has a lot of stretch.  Thread and seams sewn with a straight stitch have little give to them.  Therein lies the problem.  As the quilt above has been used, tugged on and loved some of the quilting seams are popping.  The fabric stretches but the thread not so much.

What to do?  I will repair the quilting.  I think I did a couple of places in it a few years ago.  It may need more in the future.  It's an easy fix and I still have the matching thread.

As I surf the web I see many quilts, frequently modern types of quilts, by quilters new and old that have diagonal quilting.  If you love it do it.  There are a few tricks you can do to cut down on the stress on the quilting lines [-just had to use that phrase ;-) -] that you can do.

• Quilt only one or two rows of blocks at a time.  Go across the quilt with a large 'V' or 'W' pattern.  By using a shorter line of quilting there will be less stress.  The final look will be about the same.  Longarm quilters have to do this all the time because of the limited space that they can quilt at a time.
• Use a very small zig-zag stitch to quilt with.  This puts more thread in the line of stitching and therefore you have more stretch.  Stretchy knit garments are sewn this way because the seams will have give.  The newer machines have a stitch that almost looks like a straight stitch but is in fact a nearly vertical zig-zag.
• Use a wave stitch or stitch with a wavy line.  This again uses more thread and is not just stitching on the true bias only.

Now I guess you would like to see what the whole quilt looks like.  The name of it is "My Cats Love Plaid".  It is a tessellating cat that was fun to do.  I used cat prints in one direction and neutral tans and browns in the other.  Large border and backing were plaids.

My Cats Love Plaid

So that's my life lesson for the day.  Would you like to see what I'm working on now?  I'm not telling what it is or what it's for but here is a hint of pretties to come soon.

Playing with More Batik 

I'm linking with Patchwork Times and Sew Happy Geek and Freemotion by the River and 
Freshly Pieced and Quilt Story and From Blank Pages

Have you had any problems with diagonal quilting?  What did you do?