Monday, March 15, 2010

a non-stitching weekend :-)

But I got a lot of other things done. :-)

I spent the majority of my weekend piecing my Quilt By Numbers quilt. I really didn't think it would take me as long as it did to get this together. In my head I was thinking one day max. But it took all of my available day on Saturday and half of Sunday. But there are over 550 blocks plus I had to lay them all out before I started to join them to the pattern right.

I got this quilt pattern from an old issue of one of the McCall's quilting magazines, maybe from 2007/2008? That's all I remember and I only saved the quilt instructions not the entire magazine. The fabric is from Cherrywood Fabrics. I purchased this to practice my machine quilting skills and that is still the plan. I'll do a continuous line orange peel in all of the triangles with a simple curving pattern for the borders. At least that is the plan for now. I have two others quilt tops that I need to also get ready to machine quilt but I need to take my machine in for a tune up first. I just don't know when I'll do that however. The closest Bernina dealer is an hour away from me and quite frankly, I don't believe I can live without my machine for very long right now. :-) In mid-May I have two agility weekends back to back so I'm thinking that would be good timing as I'm only sewing on Saturday and Sundays.

I was able to finish Garden Flowers on the way home from work on Friday evening. Part of the weekend's plan had been to finish it into a pillow but I didn't like any of the fabric in my stash for it. Can you believe I have yards and yards of fabric and nothing worked!?! So I need to go shopping. Bummer. ;-)

Garden Flowers - design by Stone & Thread
32 count Dark Tan by Silkweavers
Various overdyed threads

I finished up hooking my second little rug on Saturday night and started turning it into a pillow on Sunday. I haven't put on the binding yet. It's all done by hand and I was just too tired last night to even start it. But the finished product won't look to different from this photo. I have two more little rugs in my stash and I'll start on one of those this week in the evenings.

After I finished up piecing Quilt by Numbers I started working on my Civil War Tribute quilt's second installment. For month two we received four 15" blocks. They are all the same. I'll finish them up next Saturday. Good timing as I expect I'll receive month 3 by the weekend.
As for my new stitching start I kitted up Margaret Harris from Honeysuckle Manor by Blackbird Designs. I'm not using the silk called for but rather an assortment of cotton overdyed. I'm disappointed that BBD are starting to use Belle Soie more and more. Not only are they so not colorfast but they are now more than $7.00 a skein with the new price increase! Way too expensive for me.


I didn't get a chance to start on it today because the alarm clock went off way to early for me today and I promptly fell asleep as soon as I got on my train so look for the start tomorrow. :-)

Have a great week!

11 comments:

staci said...

My goodness but you are a busy talented girl! All of your projects are just glorious!!!

Rugs and Pugs said...

Margie ~
You simply amaze me. That quilt top is unbelievable. How did you not get totally confused?
The spring garden is delightful and your hooking already looks so perfect. I am so impressed ;-)
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Alice said...

Shopping? Too bad for you...
I am impressed with all you manage to do! Would you believe my alarm went off way too early this morning as well? My body was screaming 'ahhhh! 4 am!' That clock lied....I hate daylight savings time.

Coni said...

Whew! I'm so tired after reading about all of your adventures this weekend that I need a nap.

Night night.

(Everything's fabulous, by the way!)

Theresa said...

Wow!!!! You are amazing!!!! How do you accomplish so many things in one weekend?! The quilt, the stitching, the hooked pillow, everything looks so beautiful!!!!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

WoW, Margie! I just don't know how you do all that you manage to do AND work! The quilt top is amazing - the colors are wonderful and I can't even begin to imagine trying to piece that together. Love your pillow and I really love your Garden Flowers finish - really pretty! I will enjoy watching your CW tribute quilt come together.

Susan said...

Sleep is important. Congrats on the 2 finishes. I also do not buy the silks because of the cost. I would rather put the money into a new stitching piece or the fabric. I hope the designers take note of the fact that not all stitchers use silk and always include an exchange for something else in cotton.

Happy Stitching!

MyLifesAStitch said...

Loooove the quilt top, Margie! You do an excellent job with everything you do - impressive.

What a great finish on the Garden Flowers, too!

How do you do it all? Really... I swear if you let me in on your secret I won't tell a soul...

I agree with you re: the Belle Soie... even the NPIs are a stretch for me. I really hope the designers take note and think a bit about people's budgets... we are in a recession after all!!

How did you manage to wake up at the appropriate time to not miss your stop?? Are you the last stop? I remember doing that once - I had to ride the train into DC for work for a while, and luckily my stop was Union Station (last stop for the commuter train). A nice older gentleman politely tapped me on the shoulder and said "Miss, you may want to disembark before they turn the train 'round for the return trip". Ooops!

Have a great week!

Stef said...

Margie, the little pillow turn out just darling!! As well as Garden Flowers! And your Quilt by Numbers quilt top is amazing, I can't wait to see your progress on the Civil War Tribute.

Berit said...

That pillow looks so good-and I don't even like rug hooked stuff! :D

Michelle said...

Wow, the quilt is amazing!!! I love it. I especially love the blocks that go out into the border. What fun. And your other two finishes are amazing as well! Woohoo!! I agree with you on the Belle Soie - the other problem I have is that there is so much variation from one dye lot to the next - you can't be sure what you're going to get unless you buy them in person.