No Willpower!

There is so much temptation out there... and I have no willpower!

Thanks to Wendy at Snippets of a Quilter for this inspiration.

So earlier this week, when no one was looking (he-he), I snuck down to my studio and cut some red and white squares to use my Lil Twister ruler... which I had never used after purchasing it probably a year and a half ago.  Okay.. so do I get credit for finally using a tool that I bought and hadn't used??  Is there an acronym for that..?   ... UQT? Unused Quilting Tool, maybe? :-)

Fun and easy to use!

Piece of cake to make this 18" x 18" heart.

Before I knew it, it was time to baste my Twisted Heart together!

What do you use to baste your quilts?  I have always used thread, and in particular this Basting and Bobbin thread.  Here is why I like this so much... it is 100% cotton and it is very thin.  It is made to break easily - which is a good thing.  It won't cut or tear your quilt or pull your quilting stitches.  And it comes out of  your finished quilt really easy.  Now I mention all of this because I have been trouble finding it in my local store where I buy most of my thread. I finally was able to find it online and was so excited.

Who knew someone could get so excited about a spool of thread?
Only a quilter...

If you see the Quilt Police outside of my house.....  I'll be hiding downstairs in my quilt room with Lucy.

Shhhhhhhh!

Deb

Sharing this week at Slow Stitching Sunday and Let's Be Social

One More!

Cleaning up in the New Year is always a good feeling.  Whether you are cleaning up your sewing room, closets, or project baskets - it feels good to clean out the old and reorganize.  I think we all do this periodically and I found myself doing a bit of this yesterday... and of course, guess what I found.  More UFOs!!!!!  It's not that I forgot about these projects, I just wasn't thinking of them when I made my 2014 UFO list. :-).  By the way,  I loved Elita's comment on my last post about calling them PhDs (Projects Half Done) rather than UFOs.  I agree that it has a much better ring to it!

 So I am adding this table runner to my 2014 UFO list.  I started this in 2010 ( I think) and it is called Uncle Sam's Hat and it is based on a hooked rug design by Polly Minick.  I would really like to get this one done!

I need to finish the applique, quilt it and bind it. 

However, I think I will be spending my Slow Sunday Stitching working on the Hospitality Table block from the Bountiful Life quilt.  Thanks again to Kathy's Quilts for her weekly linky party.

Our eldest cat, Miss Suzi, is feeling poorly, so it's a good day to stay close by and stitch!

Happy Stitching!

Deb

What's a UFO??

Now this may sound like a strange question coming from a quilter...but what REALLY is a UFO?  It is something you are currently working on (WIP)?... or maybe something you worked on a while ago and haven't touched in weeks, months....  dare I say... years?  Or BOTH?  Yikes, I could be in a lot of trouble. LOL.

So I am a little late with this, but I have been toying with the idea of a 2014 UFO list.  You know...those quilts you plan on getting done, hope to get done, or regret not touching when the end of the year rolls around.  However, it's kind of like telling everyone  you're on a diet, or proclaiming to the world your New Years resolution.  I am sure you can understand my anxiety! It's frightening when you think of the potential of failure and public scutiny! LOL  But, I have decided to press forward!  With some support and encouragement from all of you, I might just get some of these UFOs off the list in 2014!

So here is the pile of UFOs.

 

Here is the list in the order they appear above:

1. Caribbean Angel Fish - needs quilting and binding
2. Sweet Hearts - needs borders, quilting and binding
3. Baskets - need to complete blocks, borders, quilting and binding
4. Sweet Sixteen - needs borders, quilting and binding
5. Libertated Log Cabin - need to complete blocks, sew blocks together, quilting, and binding
6. Candy Cane Bouquet - need to sew binding down
7. Bachelor Buttons - needs to quilting and binding
8. Chintz Bouquet - need to sew binding down.

And of course they all will need labels!!!!!

 

I will post the list permanently on my blog to 1. Remind myself, and 2. To keep me honest!

Thanks to Kathy's Quilts for this great motiviation!

Whew!  Okay - now that I have taken that first step - It's time to get to work!!!

Thanks for your support!

 

 

Deb

Winter .... Had Enough?

With the bitterly cold temperatures that most of the country experienced this week... I think most of us are saying... Enough!  While it has warmed up the past couple of days, the cold weather earlier this week put me in the mood to make something 'wintery'.

This is a pillow I made several years ago that I bring out after all the Christmas decorations are put away and only my snowman (snowperson? do we have to be politically correct here??) collection remains.

sorry for the bad photo

So Wednesday after dinner I saw this cute little candle mat in the winter issue of Primitive Quilts and given the below freezing temps, I decide to put this together.  Off to my wool collection and in about an hour, I was ready to start my buttonhole applique.

Today, I will work on finishing snowman faces and embroider the snowflakes.  So cute!!  I am linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Lucy seems to be taking it slow today too on the back of the couch.  Wonder if she's move all day.  She will if there are treats to be had!!

Happy Stitching!

Deb

Hospitality Table Block

I am on to the next block in the Bountiful Life quilt.  This one seems a little less challenging than the previous one!

Here you can see I have already started working on the left stem, with a little help from my little snowquilter.  But let's back up a bit and go through the process.  Inquiring minds want to know!

I started this block with the stems.  I made very narrow bias stems with the Clover bias tape maker and appliqued them to the background.  

Next I moved to the leaves.  Lots of leaves!  If you look closely you can see I changed the style of the leaves so that they did not have stems.  I think it looks cleaner and it's a whole lot easier!  

In order to keep track of what goes where, I number the leaves and their corresponding location on the pattern.  I cut the leave patterns out of freezer paper right on the traced pencil line and iron them onto the right side of the fabric.

I then mark around the outside of the leaf pattern with a marking pen or pencil.  My favorite is the Clover White Marking Pen.  It goes on clear and dries white.  When ironed the white marks disappear! Wonderful!

My other favorite for lighter fabrics is a Berol Karisma Graphite Aquarelle pencil.  Unfortunately they no longer make these pencils, so they are like gold to me! They are water soluble pencils which are great for making applique and quilting patterns.

Once the shape is marked, I trim closely to the marked line.  This line will be my guide for turning the edge under as I applique.  I remove the freezer paper template (which can be reused quite a few times!) and place my leaf in the spot I want it appliqued.  A few pins or basting and I am good to go!

You can also see in several of these photos the blue water soluble pen outline where everything should go.  With the amount of applique on these blocks I found it was much easier if I traced out the placement.  This was a great suggestion from Kerry at Simple Bird Applique!  

That's enough leaves for now.. Now onto the needle turn applique!

I hope this has helped some of you that have asked me what process I use.

Happy Stitching!

Deb

Strawberries in Season? At my house they are!

Strawberry block finally done!

While the rest of the Northeast was getting belted with snow and single digit temperatures the past few days, I have been working on my Strawberry block from the Bountiful Life quilt.  You probably thought this was done long ago, and understandably so since the last time you saw it was September!  I am so happy to have this block finally completed.  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  Those 14 little strawberry caps were challenging!

I even added a couple of strawberry blossoms.

Yesterday as we drove by several farms in the area, their strawberry fields were blanketed under 8" of  fresh snow that fell on Friday.  I am glad my berries survived the winter weather!  Most yards looked just this.

Now, onto the next block...

Stay warm under a handmade quilt... or in a basket of warm towels.

Happy Stitching!  

Deb