RSC15 week 44

MOVING ON

As far as brown goes, I have no more new projects in the works with brown that you have not seen.  However, there is a lovely pot of brown on my deck that has not died off yet.  It was a Mothers Day gift from my family and I have enjoyed the coleus, begonia and sweet potato vine combo all summer.  I even saw a hummingbird trying its flowers for nectar, and just an hour ago two birds were checking it out.  So it has given pleasure to many.

  

Now this new month excites me, not only for the light green, but for a book that has me ready to get started on another WIP to join the crowd.  However, I really do intend to get the quilting and binding done on the butterfly quilt, which is staring me in the face.  You all are my witnesses to this promise.

The 9-Patch Pizzazz by Judy Sisneros is the book I got on sale that has me hooked, and look what I found in my stash!  The perfect feature fabric for 12-inch squares and a nice blending fabric for the patches.  This is going to be FUN.  We will have to wait and see if I can keep my hands off it.

    Meanwhile, a happy November to all of you dear folks.

RSC15 week 43

BROWN, OLD AND NEW

About 20 years ago, in my antique quilt collecting days (which have continued with my daughter's help), I found this stack of old blocks nicely pieced in about 1870-1900.  They were waiting for someone to give them a good home, and I could not resist.  They had been pressed, but developed stains and some folds over the years, naturally.  

I thought this brown month was the time to share them.  I need some advice on how to handle them, i.e., wash or not, piece them,etc.  if you have some ideas or can point me to someone knowledgeable about treating antique quilts, I sure would appreciate any help you can offer.

Here is how my dark chocolate block looks with some of the others, very good I think.  In two months I will have 36 blocks, but I have no idea about turning them into one or more quilts.  I will have to get out the grid paper and do some designing.   Soon that will be one more WIP.  They seem to be stacking up on me, but I am quilting the butterfly D9P, just simple diagonals, so it won't take long.

Thanks again, folks, for all your encouragement and inspiration.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com and Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com. Please come join us, it's lots of fun.

RSC15 week 42

WHAT COLOR BROWN?

Well, after all the input I received about brown last week, I chose my absolute favorite brown, dark chocolate.  I love those Lindor Truffles in the dark brown bag, which have a luscious burst of dark, dark  heaven when you pop one in your mouth.  If you haven't tried one, you must!

So here are my balloons looking very happy in their rich dark frames.

I also stitched together my fruit and veggie panels.  I think I will make two table runners out of it.  I have a couple of friends in mind who might enjoy one. All they (the table runners, not the friends) would need are slightly wider gold borders. 

I finally got my butterfly quilt pinned and ready to quilt, which is my next major project.  It is throw size, not as large as the twin sized rainbow quilt.  I used the raspberry batik for a border and will bind it from the back, the navy print.

The best colors I saw this week were on a drive through a nearby cemetery on a perfect day.  Wish you could have been there with me.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com and Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com.  There are some good things to see there.

RSC15 week 41

A TRIBUTE

Here is a quilt for my son, Chris, which I began when he was in college.  He wanted a black quilt, but I said, "No way."  I decided on dark blue with a simple Amish style pattern.  I got it almost quilted when he got engaged and married.  She had a different color scheme planned, so I put it away all these years.  He lived through cancer and a divorce, then side effects in recent years.  I hoped to finish it for him, but he passed away in April at age 47.  

    Not long ago I read about Cynthia Brunz's idea for volunteers to finish a quilt for another.  I took the quilt to my local Monona Quilters and one of the members very kindly offered to finish the hand quilting and binding the quilt for me.

Here is the cable border and finished hand quilting beautifully done by Laura Gottlieb.

This quilt will be my small tribute to Chris, who was taken too soon.  I am grateful to have this new community of caring quilting friends, both near and far, who have helped me to focus on a way to give of myself and my talents now and in the future.

FRUIT AND VEGGIES

I have been working on this piece with shades of brown and other gorgeous colors.  I added a gold strip to the top of each 7-inch strip by WOF.  Here they are folded because my first idea was a tablecloth, but am thinking now about making two table runners.  Slow but steady on this one.

I'm also pinning my butterfly quilt tomorrow and will start the quilting.  It is more of a cuddle size, so it will not be a huge job.   Lots of WIP.  

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com. Come join the fun.

Sew Cute Tuesday, October 8

This is the girl quilt I will donate to Project Linus this month, a UFO since last winter.

It is fleece backed and so I machine tacked each block, which is lo-o-ts easier than pushing a needle through fleece.

Hooray, today i finished the binding, so here it is at last.

The flimsy came very close to the 50 x 60 inch size of the fleece blanket backing, but with a little fudging I managed to get the binding on, not the neatest job, but the happy little girl who gets it will not care.

You can see how well the front goes with the fleece, which is how I design them, from a given back to a coordinating front.  I think this limitation makes them more challenging, which I love.

    This quilt will be collected at our Monona Quilt group.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.  Come and join us, it's good fun.

Throwback Thursday, October 8

LITTLE MEN #3

Last week in #2 of this series the little men were in Africa observing the animal life there.  Unfortunately they were too busy watching the giraffes to notice the leopard observing them from the bushes.  When he pounced, there was sheer pandimonium as most of the men were scared to death.

Of the remaining survivors, only one little man kept his wits about him and was able to continue his journey.  Now he is on the threshold of EXPLORATION.  As he looks out at the world he sees many facets to explore.  The world of the mind is there offering art, literature and man's inventions.  Beyond that he sees the beauty of nature all about him in the trees,blooming plants and geologic wonders. Above in the heavens he can envision and explore the stars, planets and galaxies.  All he has to do is go forward on new adventures beyond his imagination.  

This wall quilt of my own design was made for a quilt show challenge, which won first place for use of color.  The bright graphic areas represent the world of the mind. 

I did free motion quilting with metallic thread, a nightmare in itself in the early 1990's.  But it was done by the deadline.  I used leaf motifs in some nature areas and swirls like comets or galaxies in the starry pieces.

 

Overall, I was very happy with the way it portrayed the theme of EXPLORATION as the culmination of the series.  I doubt that I would attempt it today.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.   Please check them out.

RSC week 40

WHAT COLOR IS BROWN?

Brown has finally turned up for our Rainbow Scrap Challenge, a month I have been dreading.  I have been wondering how to combine it with my bright primary balloon blocks, while brown is a mix of other colors. So I dug deep into my batik stash to try to find some brown pieces that would work well with them.  I'm still not sure what to do.

Here are three different groups of fabrics to consider.

1.  These are more or less dull brown tones, but there is a pretty good range from dark to light.

2.  This group is brighter and busier overall.

3.  This final group is softer, not as bright, but stronger in saturation.

So I will be thinking about this for awhile.  Any thoughts? 

    Meanwhile, I am working with a fun group of veggie and fruit fabrics, all WOF, and golden yellow strips to separate them.  This photo was before I trimmed the width to 7-1/2 inches, essentially a row design.  I love these prints that came from the group giveaway table.

Finally, one more photo as a clue to my posts on Throwback Thursday.  I hope that you

Will have a chance to check out my blog itself for Throwback Thursday on Sept. 24 and Oct.1 to see what these little men are up to.  It is a three part suspense story, so take a look.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.   Hope you will join me.