Tag: Table Topper

Progress, in several areas

Well. my hospital hexies are finally looking like something.  I feel like I have made progress.  I believe my plan will be to make a scarf for my dresser.    Seems fitting since I am the crazy dog lady.  As I type this there is one at my feel and one on the chair next to 20161003_195603_resizedme and one on my lap.  This is a great travel project because everything I need fits into my little dog bag (of course).  In my photo, you can see my Ruger.  This was my late Husbands “Hunting Dog”.  He weights six pounds and is scared of ants, so I am not sure what he would hunt.  Cute as a button though.  He is the only male dog in my herd, so he thinks any female is his.  He frequently rolls all over me as if he is making me his and then gives Kevin the evil eye.  Miss Moka’s paws are on the table where they should not be.

Other progress is with my beautiful daughter Miranda.  I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It has been six weeks now since her accident and she makes progress everyday.  I update my Miranda’s Journey page often.  It has saved me many many phone calls and texts.  Friends and family know they can go to the page and get an update on how she is doing.  We still have a long road ahead, but we will get their.  Thanks to everyone for their support.

Hospital English Paper Piecing

So, since quilting is my stress reliever. and I am spending a lot of time at the hospital with my daughter since her accident, I decided to try English Paper piecing.  I haven’t got much accomplished, since I still can’t think straight.  Miranda is doing better, which I am grateful for.  We still have a long way to go.

I don’t really have a plan for my “Dog Bones” (I hope that is what they look like), but it could turn into a table topper for dresser.  I guess that would make it a dresser scarf or something.  Not really sure.  Depends on how difficult it turns out to be.  So far, not to hard and it doesn’t take up to much space to work on, so that makes it easy at the hospital.

Thanks to all for the kind words during our difficult time.  They have been much appreciated.  To Follow Miranda’s Progress, please click on Miranda’s Journey Page.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

Treasure your Family

Ahhhh….What I learned this time…

Quilting is always an adventure.

So I finished the piece that I pebbled.  While I was pretty happy with the quilting on this one (odd for me), I learned a couple of lessons, again.

20160813_210935First, I read a lot of stuff.  There were quite a few people that recommended using quilting gloves.  I could not figure out how that would help me.  So, after considerable time, I ordered a pair.  They actually sat on the kitchen counter until I was half way through this piece (I have no idea why).   I happen to pass by the kitchen counter and grabbed them and holy cow did it make a difference. It was so much easier to move the piece around.  I bought Machingers and they worked awesome.  It was a great $10 investment towards my quilting sanity (I need to stop being so cheap).

20160813_210942Second thing I learned is to pay attention to everything.  I used some scraps from a dog quilt I made some time ago.  I hung onto them because I am the crazy dog lady.  I usually use scrap pieces of batting on these small pieces.  I have a giant bag of them in my sewing room.  So, I grabbed one that was big enough without a lot of thought.  Started he quilting and noticed that it stuck to everything.  I had pieces of this batting on everything.  Looking at it after it was too late, I discovered that it was some sort of odd polyester.  Thinking about it, I found it odd that I would have ever made a quilt with it.  I think it might have been a piece of snow from my Christmas village that someone  accidentally stuck in my batting bag.  So, I don’t like how this piece feels.  It is so lightweight.  But, it has my cute dog fabric, so I will have to use it.  Lesson learned.  Pay attention to everything.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

 

What to do……with this……

I am that person that has to be doing something at all times. If I sit down to watch the news or something else on TV, my hands must be occupied. If not, I will be eating something (which I certainly do not need to do) or I might fall asleep.
I have done some piecing by hands, but I find that it winds up being a lot of the same thing, so I find embroidery keeps my attention a little better. Since, I really like to quilt, I have to find ways to incorporate my embroidery into quilts.

Currently, I have this Halloween picture that I need to do something with. If I remember correctly, this was a picture from a coloring book (maybe. Honestly, I am not sure). I do remember that it took a fair amount of time to do this picture.

The problem I have is that now I am not sure what to do with it. I am a practical person by nature, so I do like things that I can use. So, maybe a Table Topper? The only issue is that it a picture that can only really be seen from one direction, and it would end up getting washed a lot (not sure if that matters or not). I already have one for hanging on the door, so I don’t really need another wall hanging….  It is also about 16″ x 18″ which is fairly large.

So, I am looking for ideas, if anyone has one. I have all my Halloween fabric out and am just staring at it with that blank look. Thanks.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

Spooky Spider web Table Topper

So, I got bored with Hard Candy and went on to something else.  I sometimes think of it as quilting ADD.  I must move from one thing to another and have as many projects going as possible.  I liked this pattern.  I thought it was cute.  However, I found it a little difficult to do the applique through all the fabric and batting.  This is what they suggested.  I found it a bit difficult to keep from bunching.  I think I will try it again, but do the applique separate and then quilt.

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The quilting is awesome on this one.  LOL.  I think that is because I was actually appliqueing it more than quilting and I got to use one of those fun stitches on my machine that I would not normally use.  I thought the stitch looked like a bunch of spiders, or my imagination got the best of me.  Either way, it is sort of cute.

The pattern is from Connecting Threads and is called “cobweb”

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

A bit of success with Hard Candy

So, I practiced a bit again.  This one I don’t hate.  I think it is because I love Halloween fabric and I used a matching  thread so you can’t see the actual quilting.  I think I will practice on something else next time. I need a break from Rock candy.  However, I will continue practicing my quilting on these small pieces.  I find myself watching a lot of Leah Day videos.  Some day I will get a long arm, however, I have a child to educate, so it will have to wait a while.  Maybe by then I will get the hang of it.  Leah Day makes it look really easy.

Practice the quilting with Hard Candy

So, I do not like my actual quilting, ever.  So, I decided that I would work on practicing this while at the same time, hoping to create a few gifts.  Well, while I believe that I will keep this one for myself (quilting is hideous), I did manage to learn a few things.  Slow down……  That is a big issue for me.  I totally need to slow down.

Until you get much better, use thread that is not so noticeable.  Duh.  The thread I used on this, was so pretty on the spool, orange/yellow/brown.  However, it is so noticeable on the piece that every little mistake (and there are tons) shows up, and I see every one of them.

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I actually like the back of this quilt better than the front.  Probably because the awful quilting is less noticeable.  I also liked the fat quarter that I used.  Never knew what exactly what to do with it, but this sort of worked.  You can tell that it was not quite big enough, but it still looks ok.

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So, my geometry skills also suck.  Weird thing about that is that I am a math/science person all the way.  The only math I did not like was Geometry, which is totally weird because I love quilting and it is geometry.  I did not have enough acorn Fabric to make enough pieces at the full length.  So, I figured that I would just shorten them a bit and make a smaller topper.  Well, that would have made total sense if you shortened the correct end.  Duh, again.  I shortened the small end, which just made the hole in the middle bigger.  So, besides practicing my quilting, I need to brush up on my Geometry and maybe give back that MBA to the university.

 

More Rock Candy practice to come.

 

Happy Sewing

 

Happy Quilting

Weird Table Topper

So, this was an experiment because I have never made anything round. I used a sample fabric pack of odd fabrics. There is a store in Amish country that sells the samples they get. I love these to make small pieces. Anyway, this is one of those sample fabrics. I just wanted to see how hard it was to piece something round and bind it. I don’t think I really like the fabrics all together, but maybe I can save it for Easter.
Well, it wasn’t that hard. I like to make small pieces to give away at holidays/birthdays. I have three sisters. Funny thing about that, I didn’t realize that they even liked my quilted stuff. Then, when my mother died, all of the quilts and table toppers I had made for her disappeared. So, I am guessing that someone must have liked them.

I also plan on practicing my quilting with these. Maybe I can manage to do something other than meandering. This pattern was in an issue of Block by the Missouri Star Quilt Company. There example was red and white for holidays, which was quite lovely.
I have already cut out fabric for a few more of these, so expect to see them.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing