Thursday, August 31, 2023

Cross-Stitched Teddies, framed with white-on-white. The fourth photo is one of the blocks from my 1936 Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  Those blocks were given to my mother when she was married in 1936.  They were appliquéd and stitched by family and friends.  I plan to quilt the Teddies quilt similarly. 






Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Cross-Stitched Teddy Block

I’m working away on these Cross-Stitched Teddy blocks, and all of a sudden I think, Oh, no, this one has a big stain on it! But nothing spilled on it. Did I scorch it with the iron?? 😧

And then, Oh. It’s just a yellow balloon from a block underneath showing through. 🙄

The teddy blocks are all cut apart, and eight of the twelve blocks are framed and trimmed. And all of them are half an inch too small. Looks like they all get a double frame now. 😐🫤



Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Cat Silhouettes on Violet's Quilt

 The cat silhouettes are appliquéd on Violet's Pink Split-Blade Pinwheel quilt, and a turquoise bow attached to one.

The last load of clothes is in the washing machine... the kitchen floor is swept... three pairs of Larry's jeans have been patched... a skirt of mine has been rehemmed... and the stuffed peppers are ready to be assembled on plates as soon as Larry gets home with the sour cream and the picanté sauce.

Every time I go in the laundry room, it seems, another cluster of geranium blossoms has bloomed!  These are the geraniums Caleb, Maria, and Eva gave me for Mother's Day.  It was blooming when Maria brought it, and there have been three blooming incidents (uh, incidents of bloom?  😄) since.

After supper, I will start on Malinda's quilt.







Saturday, August 26, 2023

EQ8 Design Possibility

 I played with EQ8 today, coming up with a design I might use with the cross-stitched teddies for Malinda's quilt.  Daughter-in-law Amy found the teddy bears at a secondhand store.
















Cat Silhouettes for Carolyn's Quilt

 After finishing Keira's quilt, I knew that, yes indeedy, I had to add a little something to Carolyn's quilt.  So I appliquéd the cat silhouettes I'd considered putting on it in the first place.  It's not ideal, sewing on appliqués after a quilt is finished, but I pulled out my invisible charcoal thread for the top and invisible clear thread for the bobbin.  The thread is very fine, .004 mm, and hardly shows.  I attached a pink bow to one kitty's neck, and called it done.  The cats for Violet's pink quilt are prepared and ready to be sewn on to her quilt.  I'll put a turquoise bow on one of her cats.





Charcoal invisible thread

Clear invisible thread on the back of the quilt

Silhouettes ready for Violet's pink quilt


Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Keira's 'Puppies & Kittens in the Flowers' Quilt

 Granddaughter Keira's 'Puppies & Kittens in the Flowers' quilt is all done.  Now for a hanging sleeve -- because this quilt is going to the Hill City, South Dakota, Quilt Show September 9th and 10th.

This quilt measures 67 ½" x 75 ½".  The batting is some sort of polyester of unknown origin; I'm trying to use up batting scraps.  Frankenbatting!  I tucked an extra layer of it under the letters of Keira's name.

The top thread is white 40-wt. Omni, the bobbin thread is white 60-wt. Bottom Line, both from Superior Threads.

I successfully used up the pale green fat quarter Keira herself picked out for one of my birthday gifts a couple of years ago.  She chose it because of the kitty/squirrel/fox/owl print.  I've been planning to use it in a quilt for her, somehow, ever since.  See it in the diamond shapes of two of the big blocks, in the pinwheels at the bottom, and in the small diamonds of the top left corner.

The puppies and kittens blocks and strips were all one piece of fabric that I found in one of my late sister-in-law Janice's bins of fabrics that she gave me at Christmas time 2014, a few months before she passed away.  She'd hemmed the sides of the piece to make a 'fake sham' for laying atop pillows.  When I took the hem out, it left a faded crease.  An asparagus-colored Crayola color covered the lighter green fabric, and a forest green Crayola color covered the darker green.  A touch of the iron (using a pressing cloth) set the colors.  Two or three of the other fabrics came from Janice's stash, too, as did the backing.  The backing is a thin, soft fabric that I suspect has some polyester in it.


















Addendum:  
Here's the big fancy ribbon I won for Best of Show at the Hill City, South Dakota, quilt show in September:





Tuesday, August 22, 2023