Category: quilt top

daily life · quilt top · quilting

Crazy Week

Wild Rose Quilter3 Comments

This past few days have been hectic around here, ups and downs. The downs were related to my parents and my father’s progressing Alzheimer’s. They are an hour away from me and that is too far under the circumstances. Moving day to get them up here will be here soon. My little mom is so ready So are the rest of us. As soon as their new house is ready, the moving will begin! Lots of progress is being made.

2015/01/img_7086.jpg

My guest room is filling up with stuff for the wedding. Hobby lobby had wedding stuff 1/2 price. Yay! Lots of bows to be fluffed and pressed. Guest book, invitations, and various other items.

2015/01/img_7180.jpg

Little tea light candle holders were 1/2 price, as well. I got 100 of them!

2015/01/img_7181.jpg

I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to wedding planning, and honestly, ours is going to be a bit hodge-podgy, lol. The caterer has been hired, the photographer booked. Invitations arrived and will start mailing those this weekend. I ordered some Mexican papel picado banners and little flags for the reception, to bring in more of Efren’s culture. I hope they turn out right and get here on time. They look so cute on the website.

In between all this and my day job, too, I did make a couple more blocks for baby Chase’s quilt. I will stitch down the edges of the center “windows” after all the blocks are made. I think I will top stitch them by machine in matching thread rather than hand stitch.

2015/01/img_7178.jpg

I was going to make at least a couple more this evening, but my son just texted that Chase’s big brother, Caleb, wants to come over to Mammy’s house. Thus, I best get off here and get ready to play with a precious four year old boy! Later!

Circle Lord · feather quilting · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting

Saturday Stitching

Wild Rose Quilter3 Comments

Did a little longarming.

Did a little piecing. The center portion of my Fons & Porter Stars & Stripes Sampler is finally complete and ready for borders.  The piecing has some issues and I will have some challenges to “quilt out”, lol. Nobody to blame but myself, hehe.

Before I left town for my work trip, I also did a little online shopping. These little gems were waiting for me when I got home, and I can’t wait for the right project to try them out! Lisa Calle’s Quilter’s Groove rulers…these things seem like they will be awesome to use!

Other than that, not much to say today. Hope your weekend is great!

embroidery · fabric · feather quilting · freehand quilting · longarm quilting · machine quilting · pretty fabric · quilt top · quilting · quilts · stash busting

Stash & Quilting Report

Wild Rose Quilter11 Comments

  • Incoming Yardage to date: 75 yds.
  • Outgoing Yardage to date:  56.25 yds.
  • Total Stash Busted to date: -18.75 yds.
Ok, so my time in the positive was short lived.  But I love my new batiks! (see previous post for the full disclosure with photos you will drool over) So, I’m not feeling too bad about it.  Ok, not bad at all.   I don’t think I will, either, as long as there is movement going through my stash.  Some in, some out…just not all in, in, in.
During my lunch hours, or while I’m cooking something for dinner, and I’m waiting, I’ve been sitting down at the sewing machine and working on the pieced borders for my Boston Commons.
000_9739
I also got labels made for my friend’s comfort quilt.  I haven’t finished trimming the jump threads, so just ignore them. It took me right at an hour to get the first one all programmed into the machine.  The stitchout was 74 minutes, and that did not include the time it took me to change thread colors.  I thought I was never going to get done with it.  I started on it after work one evening, so I was already tired, but it was worth it.  I also made a small label to go beside it, just stating that I made the quilt.  Couldn’t fit it on the other label.  A more experienced embroiderer might have been able to, but this was the best I could do.  I don’t have any embroidery software yet, so I have to sit at the machine and program each letter in one by one, and it will only let me put so many characters on a line.  So the machine stops after each line of stitching, and even if I’m not changing colors, I have to be close by to restart the machine.  I hate to invest a bunch of money in embroidery software that I’m not sure I will use that much.  There is a lot about the embroidery that still confuses me.  I may address some of that in a future post.  Maybe some of you embroidery gurus can clear up a question or two for me.
000_9741
000_9742
I started working on Joanna’s quilt a couple of days ago, but until today, I didn’t have anything to show for my efforts, except SID (stitch in the ditch).  I’m sure she is anxious to see how it’s coming, so if you can stand a dose of cuteness, I’ll show you a peek!
000_9738
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week, y’all!
longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · stash busting

Stash & Progress Report

Wild Rose Quilter8 Comments

First, I will get my complaining and whining out of the way.  I had great intentions to get so much accomplished this weekend.  Then wham! Wake up Saturday morning, early, with a headache.  Get up, take Imitrex, back to bed, next time I wake up it is after 9! And I still feel cruddy.  Head is better, but I feel cruddy, sluggish, achy all over.  So needless to say, my Saturday wasn’t what I hoped it to be.  I did manage to get the cute piggie quilt finished and ready to be delivered this week. Today, I felt better, but my shoulder & rib pain has really been ramped up the last few days, as well as my allergies.  Some of you know the latest on my issues with my shoulder blade & ribs, but for those that don’t, I am now seeing a physical therapist, at the urging of my chiropractor.  I had my evaluation with her Wednesday, and she agrees that it is not normal, the way my shoulder blade is moving.   No one can really figure out WHY I am having the issues I am having, which is frustrating.

I go back next Wednesday, and she is going to show me how to tape my shoulder blade, to try to stabilize it, and will have some exercises for me then, also. She has had one other patient in her eleven years that had similar symptoms. She said my shoulder blade is the only one she has felt doing what mine is doing. Apparently, it is moving around way more than it should, and going where it shouldn’t. And, my chiro has to keep putting my stupid ribs back in place. My entire right side rib cage is lower than the left, and there are three that keep “popping out of place”. He can get them back, and within days, they are out again. My shoulder blade sounds like it is grinding against bone. It sounds, and feels, terrible. Pain ranges from moderate to excruciating, and is near constant. I also think it causes some of my migraines. The PT said she hopes that we can get some improvement, but that it will probably never be all the way better. But some better is better than none better.  Sorry to bore you with all that, but you never know when someone else might be having the same problems, and either you help them with sharing your information, or they might help you with some advice or answers you haven’t found yet.

So now, back to stash reporting.  After today, my stash amount busted is now back in the positive for the year.  A whopping 4.25 yards!  I busted another 4 yds. this week, backing the comfort quilt for our friend with breast cancer.  I got the quilting finished on it today.

000_9682

I love the pink thread over the cream strips.

000_9678

I also managed to get zippers attached to my leaders on my longarm.  I hope I like using them.  I did NOT enjoy the process of attaching them! But they are on, and I am looking forward to giving them a try.

I’m looking forward to getting started on my next customer quilt, but I still have some finalizing of the quilting plan to finish.  Joanna, I hope to be sending you some more ideas over the next day or two, if all goes as planned.  I will try very hard to be able to get started on it this coming weekend.

Speaking of weekend, I am sad that it is almost over already, especially since I wasted most of Saturday, just trying to feel better.  Oh well.  Have a blessed & wonderful week y’all!

pretty fabric · quilt top · quilting · quilts · stash busting

I just kept sewing yesterday!

Wild Rose Quilter14 Comments

By the time yesterday was done,  I had worked a bit on FIVE different quilts.  Well six, if you count the prep work on a customer top I’m fixing to start quilting.  But I made a little bit of progress on five of my own WIP’s.  Yay!

I made great headway on my Boston Commons.  I have one more row like these, then adding white fabric around and between, a pieced border, and then I am going to add an additional plain border all around so I have some more space to quilt feathers in.  The original pattern, which is by Darlene Zimmerman, ends with a narrow border of the the squares and white triangles.

000_9593

While I was sewing Gracie’s Star together, and while I was piecing on the above quilt, I worked on my leaders/enders quilt, Oklahoma Backroads, and I had my embroidery machine running, cranking out some blocks for a red & white Christmas quilt.

000_9595

And then, when I went to bed, I took my 9P & stripe quilt with me, and worked on knotting and burying some of the thread tails I left on it.  I should have done it while I was going along on it…now it feel like I will never get them all done.  😦  I’m glad I decided to go back to a backtack before I finished.  And I still have to bind it!

I did get my backing and binding picked out for Gracie’s Star.  Now I just have to decide on which quilting pattern I want to use.  I think it’s a bit dark & busy to spend a lot of time on custom, but a pretty allover will finish it off nicely.

The first part of this year I just kept starting new projects.  Maybe this last part will be about finishing!  I would like to finish these projects I have started with my stash fabrics!

freehand quilting · longarm quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts

Sewing, sewing sewing!

Wild Rose Quilter10 Comments

It may go into remission occasionally, but that Quilting Fever always comes back!  Gracie’s Star is now a flimsy!  I have to pick out my backing fabric and an allover quilting pattern for it.  I’m going to use Quilter’s Dream deluxe cotton batting.  It will be cozy!

000_9582

000_9585

And I quilted this cute pumpkin table topper for my friend, Betty.  If you are reading, I hope you like it, Betty Lou!  I will bring it to you Tuesday, unless you want to swing by and get it sooner.

000_9586

000_9588

000_9591

Trying to decide which project I want to work on next, while I’m on such a good roll!

pretty fabric · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

Stash Quilt Reporting

Wild Rose Quilter14 Comments

I don’t think my reports are about stash busting any more, but what I’ve done with my stash.  I added 5 yards of Kona white cotton back to the stash, since I’m using what I had in my Boston Commons.  That is a staple I like to keep on hand.  I finished by sawtooth star blocks, finally.  And, I think I might like them all together, after all.  If you’ve been following my progress on them, you may remember this previous post, where I posted the ones I had finished together, and then divided into different color groupings and settings.  Well, here is the whole lot of them, finished and laid out how I would sew them together, if I decide to follow the original pattern.

000_9179

000_9181

I think I do like it.  My husband likes it.  How about a poll?

To see how they looked divided into orange and no orange groups, click the link to the previous post, mentioned above.  I’m curious to see which one wins.  Doesn’t mean I’ll follow it, but I might!

quilt top · quilting · quilts · stash busting

Thankful Tuesday and Early Wednesday WIP

Wild Rose Quilter13 Comments

I know it’s usually thankful Thursday, but I’m going early this week on some things.  My Dad is doing much better.  Everything seems to be resolving and doesn’t look like anything too serious is going on with him.  Yay!  My husband had some tests a week ago Friday, one involving what the doctor suspected was another cancerous mole.  But it wasn’t! Yay! And while he was having that biopsied, he also had the blood test that screens for prostate cancer, and that came back normal, also.  Yay!

And I’m thankful for all my blogging friends that sent prayers and kind thoughts.  And thank you all for the encouragement you’ve given about my 9P & stripe! So many sweet comments.  I appreciate them all!

I’ve been doing a bit of piecing on my star blocks again, but I don’t think they are going to end up in the pattern that was intended.  I love the blocks, I love the fabrics, I’m just not loving them together.  So, I think this project is going to go a different direction, which will require a bit of extra thinking on my part…lol.  I think that it’s the orange fabrics not going with the reds…maybe.  At least not when they are butted next to each other, like the pattern.

000_9010

When I pull out the orange ones, I like it better.

000_9013

And the oranges  aren’t bad on their own.

000_9015

But I’m still not really feeling it.   Maybe it’s a value thing…I’m not really sure why I don’t like it, it just doesn’t seem to be working.  But I know these block have the potential to be an awesome quilt, or maybe more than one quilt.

So, I looked closely at the fabrics, and notice that several share a similar green accent color, that happens to be very close the color of this bolt I bought to use for backing fabric.  And I wondered, what if I set them on point, and used this green for setting blocks and triangles?

000_9022

Or, sashing and setting triangles,  with the blocks on point, which I think is my favorite.

000_9025

Even like this, I don’t think the polka dots and oranges go with the rest, and will figure out a way to put them together, on their own.  What do you think? Am I on a better track with this?

feather quilting · freehand quilting · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · stencil quilting

Wednesday WIP, 5-27-09

Wild Rose Quilter14 Comments

More 9P & stripe…26.5 hours into it…y’all are going to get tired of seeing this one.

000_8989

000_8992

000_8995

000_8998

000_8994

I’m not sure I am making all the right design choices…but, this is a learning project for me.  A project to expand my skills and challenge myself, so I’m ok with that.  For example, I’m not sure the large size setting triangle feather is working that well, but even so, I’ll probably just go forward with it.  I’m having fun!

That scroll-y design is a Karen McTavish stencil.  The setting blocks are stencils, as well, but I forgot to see who from.  I’ll get that later, for anyone interested.  I’m at work now, but remembered that I forgot to mention that.