a transition quilt

We have been here a month now, in our new town. We are mostly unpacked, still settling in, working toward normal.I still haven't found a few items, but there are boxes we haven't opened. If we are moving again in a year, it really isn't necessary.

We are getting used to this house. It is not a bad house, it is just not one I would choose in other circumstances. Our lack of space is just something we will cope with. The dogs are still adjusting. They are quite clingy, and exhibit some anxious behaviors, but they are here and safe.

This neighborhood, though, or should I say are neighbors, are amazing! Could not ask for better!
Truly a gift! They greeted us with open arms and open hearts and we are really enjoying being around them.

Working from home is great! My stress level has plummeted. Now that I am on the phone for meetings, I seem to be able to fend of all the negativity of my workplace.  Yes, I have mentioned that here before, and it had settled down, but here comes more upheaval! But really, being on the phone instead of in the room, makes a huge difference!

Okay, chances are you did not land here to read about yet another example of corparate chaos, so here is my transition quilt. I call it that as I pieced the top prior to the move, and now it is the first I have quilted here. So a mixed bag of emotions. May I present, Dreamsicle:

I used Bonnie Hunter's tutorial to make the blocks. I just made them 16" square.

Mixed reds, oranges, pinks with my low-volume whites, adding blacks at the edge to frame.

Free-motion quilted on my Tiara. Feels good to have a finished quilt. Hoping life settles down for a bit!

So we moved...

So we moved, 94.5 and an hour and a half away. From a new-ish house with ample storage to a smaller, older, house without. This is a rental, very dog-friendly, in a GREAT neighborhood. We can walk to the local park which has an off-leash area for dogs. The neighbors are amazing, I already feel as if we have made life-long friends! The drawback? Trying to cram my sewing/quilting studio equipment into a 10' by 11' room.

I went from this:

to this:

to this:

The tiny room was designed to be a bedroom. I grew up in a room just like this. It was perfect as a child. But for a quilting space it has been challenging. I had a mini-melt-down earlier in the week, which considering the situation was really good. I do have space for a design wall. But books, notions and backing fabrics haven't yet made it in here. Probably won't.

We are renting, since we do not know the area, and fully intend to look for an appropriate place to buy once our other house sells, so I know this is temporary. In the interest of maintaining my sanity, I have made it work and yesterday whipped up this pillow:

It is for a fund-raiser at work. Just half-square triangles, but it feels good to be making again.

Recent projects

A FMQ initial for a friend who spoke at our guild. I love making these!

Detail:

A pillow, gift for a beloved cousin.

My machined binding:

Love the finished look.

can you tell I love FMQ-ing?

Or: please indulge me while I show off a bit!

Here is my recent finish, the first of 2014:

A shop sample for Papanana's, one of the places I teach.

This one measures 20" by 14", a beautiful Kona cotton with 2 layers of Warm & Natural batting.

It is fun to experiment with new stitch patterns, to see how the varying textures work together.

It was also fun to photograph this with  different light sources, to see the puffs contrasting with the dense stitches.

I am going to make one of these for me, to keep!

One more for 2013

This one squeaked in under the wire, i got it bound around 11:30 last night.

I call it "Sweet Dreams", as this is for our bed. It is 97" long by 108" wide. I engineered the pattern to fit our king bed without a turn-down at the top.

I started it last New Year's Day, as just a large star. I jumped on the #scrappytripalong and used those blocks for the border. I think it has a vague Russian-Gypsy feel. I went with the patterned dark background because our dogs get on the bed and this will hide those indiscretions. 

And I love how vivid it is! Nice to start 2014 under a new quilt. Quilted in a stipple on my Mom's Gammill, with feather accents added on my Tiara.

let's wrap this year up

A few finishes not yet blogged:

Daily News, 63" by 80", my own random piecing:

 I used all stash for the front, prints and batiks.

Quilted using different motifs, and some ruler work.

Why "Daily News?

Remember the silly riddle: what's black and white and red all over? The newspaper!

Photographed at the beautiful Bethabara Park, in Winston-Salem, NC.

And my small stuff:

A 16" by 20" Christmas pillow cover. I free-handed the lettering using the satin stitch on my Sapphire. Then random piecing in red and teal (love this combination!)

And another:

A 24" square snowflake. Fusible applique, free-motion swirls. Leaving this out all winter.

My winter table scape featuring the 22" Poinsettia block from sew kind of wonderful:

Leaving this out all winter, too! So happy 2014 to all of you!

Squeezing a project in

The Thanksgiving holiday break is a great time for me to get in some quilting. The cooking, cleaning, feeding, cleaning all hits on Wednesday-Thursday, so while a seemingly large number of people are shopping, I am holed up in my sweatshop, happily stitching away! I was able to begin, and complete a wall quilt, all on Friday.

This is yet another awesome pattern by May Chappell "All Squared Up". It finished at 24" square.

I purchased the pattern as part of a kit from SewLux Fabrics. I swapped out the center square fabric, using instead a fussy-cut piece of "Winter's Lane", and instead of a solid background fabric, I used a low-volume print.

I had a blast quilting this. I used a bright polyester thread on my sweet Tiara & just let it fly!

Yep, that is some insane matchstick quilting in that border.

And some gratuitous back shots!

This will hang in our foyer as our "winter" wall quilt.

Spare time quilting

At long last, my manic business travel season has come to an end. Can I say "whew"? For a while, I only knew where I was by looking at my calendar!

I did squeeze in some sewing the few times I was home. Started some projects, finished a few. Here is one I finished:

 

Regal Garden - a wedding gift for a friend of my dear hubby. I have not met the bride, but the groom told us her favorite color is purple.

This is my 2nd using May Chappell's Lazy Sunday pattern. Can I say again how much I love the pattern? This pattern allows me to indulge my love for layer cakes, and enables me to make best use of my limited (of late) quilting time.

I used an "Urban Oasis" layer cake and added both an inner & outer border.  It finished at 56" by 68" after washing.I FMQ-ed it in all over loop, nothing showy as this quilt is all about the colors.

I love the striped binding. It really made everything pop.

Autumn Afternoon

My amazing friend Lee of May Chappell fame released a new pattern called "Lazy Sunday Quilt". She designed it to use 10" squares (layer cakes, an addiction of mine). Lee writes wonderful patterns. Her directions are always clear & she provides great illustrations.

I used "Origins", a layer cake by Basic Gray that was a deal at the Missouri Star Quilt Company a while back.

This pattern went together like a dream!

I made the small size, this measures 44" by 56" (pre-wash). 
Directions are given for sizes up to King.

I FMQ-ed this with a loose loopy stitch path to keep it soft and cuddly.

I already have layer cakes lined up for more.

A great pattern, and you really can make it on a "lazy Sunday Afternoon".

The 800

According to the Blogger stats, this is my 800th post. Pretty amazing for me. I was never one to keep a hand-written diary or journal. This format of being able to add in pictures with prose while being mobile has kept me at it. So indulge me a bit of reflection.

I began this blog in November 2006. My only son was a senior in high school. He is now in grad school pursuing his Master's in secondary education. He is an amazing man, full of life, joy and a delight to be around. My MIL and Dad wre still here, they have now passed on. My blogging was a bit unfocused, rantung sometimes, random others, then it became my personal quilting journal. And that stuck! I have virtually met many wonderful quilt artists through blogging. Their friendships are very special to me.

I like being able to look back through my blog and see where I was, what I was doing, at any point along the way. Thanks for reading, and commenting!

Now, for a picture!

I made this pillow for our United Fund drive at work. This is a traditional block, the Rolling Stone, done in modern fabrics, it is a 16" pillow.

Oh, and to share something I did for me:

I bought a new machine! A Baby Lock Tiara, 16" sit-down long arm.

Yes, it is love! I thought there would have been more of a learng/adjusting curve, but we just clicked! The extra space and light has lifted my enjoyment to a whole new level! I will share more on her in the future, but suffice it to say: the only problem I have had since getting her is finding enough time to quilt!

New finish

I totally fell in love with these fabrics & this quilt. I used a variety of fabrics (Amy Butler, Jennifer Paganelli) along with a subtle white-on-white. 

This is a wedding present for a bride who likes Lily Pulitzer, green & pink, very girly.

I quilted it with my all-over swirly stitch.

It measures 72" square after washing and drying.

For now I am calling it "wedding star" but I am open to suggestions for a name!

2 pillows...and a mug rug

2 18" pillows made from orphan blocks, created from my scraps. A mugrug (with mug) for our TMQG swap.  That's about it lately.

my kind of intuitive

This is "good for the Gander":

 57"square

I used no pattern, making it up, deciding on the parts as I went along. I started with some random scraps, using this method for the Flying Geese. It is a fantastic, precise and fun way to make this block.

I love medallion quilts so I set out to find an appropriate center. I settled on this block, but I strip pieced it instead of the method given. I made positive/negative versions for more visual interest.

After some thinking, exploring and pondering, I stumbled upon this method for Flying Geese, and changed it up to have the Diamond strips.

After a bit more pondering, and auditioning different blocks, I opted for a piano key border. I kept the quilting simple, mostly SID (stitch in the ditch) as this is a quilt that for me is about the play of fabrics. I FMQ-ed feathers in the setting triangles.

What do you think? Like my method of intuitive quilt design?