Keeping busy...

Working on clearing up a lot of half finished project this weekend but couldn't resist starting something new...

I go this crib quilt a week or so ago.  It is in poor condition but I like the general layout and since the piecing is fairly easy thought it would be a good one to reproduce.

So far so good...the first decision: to make it how it may have looked originally or to use neutral fabrics and go up no more than a shade than it is now.  The latter was very tempting - I was thinkin g of how cool this could look made up with some double shot cottons and some of the new grays.  As expected however I decide to try to use repro fabrics circa 1870...or earlier.

The cats have been a bit uneasy without Macbeth...Brownie waited by the front door all night.  I've never had a cat "grieve" before...hopefully she will recover soon.

RIP MacBeth

Some sad news.  MacBeth crossed the rainbow bridge this morning.  He had liver cancer and it had spread too far.  Thanks for all the encouraging comments the past few days.








Mac has been a great dog.  He loved people and other animals (yes, even cats!)  He was my companion as I navigated my way through living with MS.  I'm sure I wouldn't have regained so much mobility if it hadn't been for him encouraging (throwing his body against the bed!) me to walk him twice day...every day...at almost the exact same time.  That is a Scottie!

 Mac the quilt inspector

 The quilt tester...

 Covered in Spring pollen...

 The "sure it will only be another minute until we walk" look....

 The arm of the sofa gave him a great view out the front window...

Mac with Dobby...the inspector in training...

Mac off for a walk in Prestbury...

He loved to travel and meet new folks.  Nothing was better in his book than a walk across the fields to the pub for a visit with everyone in the village.  He loved living in England!

Macbeth update...

Looks like Macbeth will have to have surgery on Friday.  Which means a few more days of my being a wreck!

It is so hard to see him get so weak.  I had friend over to day to stitch and Mac just sort of wobbled in to great them then sacked out in his corner under the coffee table.

Not sure if I posted this pillow I got from Edinburgh a couple of months ago (made by Crafty Thinks in Scotland)...when you have a Scottie you find there are lots of Scottie "things" that you start collecting.  I have a small bathroom with all the Scottie stuff...my Dh refers to it as the dog shrine....TMI?  sorry...

I have gotten a bit of stitching done...nothing complicated.  I put a little wool chicken on some dotted linen...at first I planned to make a pillow

but now I think I'll make another chicken on the other end and make a table runner...I'll use the wool circles for some tongues on the ends.

stress stitching (or not)

If you've read my blog for any amount of time you know my Scottie dog, Macbeth.  Well, he hasn't been feeling well lately and today is at the vet's for an entire day of tests.

So of course I am stressed and having problems focusing.  I have several appraisals to do final edits on...not a good day for that.  I have a stack of applique blocks to work on...not a good day for that.  I have fabric piled on my table to cut for a new quilt...not a good day for that.  The list goes on.

I've gone out and taken photos of the garden...this is the first year my Hydrangea has bloomed.

And it looks like a bird thought about using my birdhouse but found it too small...

And I played with layouts for a Quilt of Valor using blocks donated by members of my quilt guild.

Until the doctor calls with news on Mac I guess I'll just continue to "putter..."

Pattern Drafting

I've been working on those patterns again.  I'm working from photographs so getting the right size is a bit tricky.

Here is how I go about it.  First I print out a photo of the block and mark the half way mark.  The photo is about 7 inches.  Then I cut out some of this grid pattern making fabric.  The size I am going for is 14 inches.

Then I start cutting some templates/shapes from graph paper.  Don't know why but the graph paper works best for me...helps give me perspective as I start trimming.  Usually I start with the largest piece (the vase), then a medium (the pear) and then a small (a bud).  I want them to be right relative to one another. Also, I use a clothes pin to keep the templates together...when they are labeled in red they are the final one!

In the past I've done a mock-up using colored construction paper to check my templates.  This time I had piles of felted wool on the cutting table soooo.....

The colors are a nod to the original....and just need to be pressed on to the flannel background and a bit of stitching...

So now I have to go by the fabric store on Monday and get more of this bright green flannel...looks like I'll be making two small quilts this summer!

Lost threads...

Bad enough my cat Brownie has a thing for bits of fabric and likes to carry off quilt blocks to her hiding place behind the couch.  Now Dobby, my big male cat, has developed a thing for balls of thick embroidery thread.

I looked all over the living room today for a ball of red Valdarni No 8...I just used it yesterday.  Silly me should have known to look under the cat!

There was one problem...he didn't want to let go....note the ears and the claws...it took a lot of treats to ransom back that ball of thread!

When I wasn't trying to search and sort the leftovers from my last project I was making decisions on my next one...

The "set aside" stash with potential fabrics.

some of you may recognize the block in the back.  I have permission from Bill to use it...After collecting fabrics for the past couple of months and drafting the patterns for a couple of the blocks it really is time to start stitching!

The "go dark" option...

The oxblood red and the green fabric was amazingly easy...I had some in my stash.  Just an amusing note...I had three different versions of the green on the shelf.  The one I'm using is slightly darker than I'd like but the print is the smallest.  As the blocks are going to be reduced in size to 8-1/2 inches scale of the print is a big consideration.  The yellow/oragne and the purple/gray...now those have been a challenge

The "light with print" option

I pulled the purples that scale didn't work then paired the darker purples with the darker yellow-orange then did the same for the light.

The medium with solids

One of my yellows has a bit of a print but I keep going back to it for the color....

I considered mixing up the fabrics and making it scrappy (that would be making it more me...) but I think that would also lose some of the naivete of the original piece.  So I'm back to picking four fabrics...sheesh...

Luckily the first block I'm going to make only used the green and oxblood...buys me a bit more time for that yellow/orange...

and here is how Dobby the cat felt when he realized I had hidden all the balls of thread...the boy really needs his nails clipped!

Wool Project finish

Really enjoyed doing the embroidery on this little project from last weekend's workshop with Lisa Bongean.  Amazing to watch how much the piece changes as the embroidery is added.  I decided to add a bit of piecing to the sides to make a  20 inch pillow/cushion. (this was photographed on the back of a chair...it really is flat and even in real life!)

I have another wool project that I will start after I get another finish under my belt!  Today I basted my challenge quilt for the show in October and hope to finish quilting it tomorrow.  (want to get it done so I can play with wool again!)

While I was away at the workshop my Dh was looking though the second hand book stores (we do that most weekends!)  He was excited to find a quilting book with a name he recognized...

First is a Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham book from 1993 - Quilting with Style  I love this book!  It is really dense with information and has great photographs.  Really is helpful to understand selecting and marking a quilt.  I think it works for both hand and machine quilting.  Second is the Quilted Clothing by Jean Ray Laury published in 1982.  Interesting to see the variety of styles in this book which was written as quilting was really coming into its own.

Still a bit worn out the trip.  Another day of so and I'll have recovered enough to want to do it all over again!