another one bites the dust

 I finished up this quilt over the weekend.  Only two to go!  This was the first one that I tried to mix it up a bit - different border and different designs in the squares.  I love how it turned out. 

I LOVE feathers!

I can breathe!

My sinus surgery was a complete success and I'm happy to report that I can breath through my nose.  :-)  I still have a headache and my left eye hurts a bit but there is still a tube in there that gets removed on Friday and I suspect that is the culprit.  But it's almost over - a year of being sick.  I can't wait to start to feel better.  Hopefully I'll be able to stick to my running plan now.  I want to loose some of the weight I've gained over the past couple of years and I can't do it without exercise and running is my exercise of choice.  Over the past year, I haven't been able to find any momentum because I'm always sick.  I want to run at least one half marathan this year (targeting the fall) and lot's of smaller races.  I really enjoy it. 

 I didn't make as much progress as I was hoping to on my scissor case.  I didn't feel like stitching at all while recovering from the surgery.  Hopefully I'll feel like it soon.  I really want to get caught up. 

 Here is another quilt hot off the quilter.  This is the final JoAnn Fabrics BOM I had laying around.  This one is earmarked for a niece.  Thinking I might need a wedding shower gift in the next year or so.  I'll just put it away until it's needed.  I have two more that are quilted and just need to be bound.  They should be done in the next couple of days.  And the last top is on the machine already half quilted.  I can't beleive I have no more tops to finish. 

Not much progress has been made on my house over the last six months or so.  I havne't had a ton of money and time is always an issue.  But yesterday I got my front hall closet door hung!  I only lived with the gaping hole for 18 months.  :-)  It feels good to get going again.  Next month I'm starting work on my sewing and spare room.  All new oak floors and trim work.  Then I'll start working on the half bath attached to my bedroom.  Lots of cool plans there.  I can't wait!

Second Casket Project - Progress!

I've actually been making progress on my second casket project.  It's a tiny glove scissor case and this is the cuff at the top of the glove.  The size of the linen is giving me fits.  I just can't see well enough with even my best cheater glasses and even though I have progressive lenses in my glass, they are worthless for stitching this fine.  I broke down and bought the highest power cheaters yesterday but didn't have time to stitch last night.  I hope they work.  I think it's time for a Dazor light with magnifying lens.  I'll need it for all the fine work I need to do on the casket. 

I finished up a couple more quilts last week but only took photos of one.  Don't know how I forgot the second one.  This is another blast from the past - a Thimbleberries from about seven eight years ago.  I think it's called Bird House Quilt?  It was a block of the month club I belonged to at the time.  Still cute even though it, like so many other quilts I've finished lately, don't match my house at all.  But it's sorta spring like and it's on my couch.

Close up of the quilting pattern - like how it turned out.  As I said before, I finished two last week and I'll take a photo when I have a chance.  I have another quilt on the frame but as fate would have it half way though the quilting yesterday the machine started to misbehave badly so I quit for the day.  I already ripped a ton of quilting out and that is not easy to do so I walked away and I'm looking for advice from my Yahoo Group on my brand of quilter.  Sometimes I hate this machine.  I'll only have two quilt tops to go after that!  I can't believe I'm always done with almost 20 tops.  :-)

Think of me on Wednesday - I'm having a mass removed from my sinus and I'm quite apprehensive.  I've never had any sort of surgery and it's freaking me out.  :-)  I'm sure it will all end well but I hate not knowing what I don't know. 

My First Casket Project (and more quilts)

Here is my first completed project from my Cabinet of Curiosities class - the Butterfly Pinkeep.  We had a choice of two colorways, the bright original looking colors and the faded colors (or we could do our own of course).  I went with the bright colors based on what the ladies were using in the late 1600's.  And they are bright.  Love it.  Tricia has set up the course so we learn to use the silks and techniques that we will need to make our caskets.  And I'm really glad she has set it up this way.  I love the colors of the Soie Paris silk but I hate working with them.  And they are pricey and money is a concern for me so I'll be looking for substitutes for them.  I'm thinking Vicky Clayton silks will be a start.   And I can order variegated colors and that would be cool.  I'll then have more money to spend on some of the other threads that have been developed for the course. 

 And I've already started work on my second piece - it's a little glove - this is the band.  All tent stitch over 34 count linen.  Oh my eyes!  :-) 

I'm way behind right now.  We are currently on month 10 of lessons and instructions and have already received complete supplies and instructions for four projects and started on the instructions for the fifth.  And I still need to start work on designing my box panels.  And for that I need to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator and my Bamboo Tablet.  I don't want to draw and redraw the panels over and over again as I change my mind.  But the learning curve for my plan is huge.  My plan is to have all my casket panels more or less designed and colors and stitching styles selected  by the time this first course is over.  And I want to have most of my supplies gathered - stitching frames, linen, silks, extra bits, etc. by the time the second stumpwork course starts (nine months from now).  Then I start working on my box as the months of that course unfold. 

And don't forget I still need to buy my casket.  I'm sure it's going to be around $3,000+ or so but I'm pretty sure we can pay for it monthly with delivery after we are done paying for it.  For me that is in a couple of years.  :-) 

 I finished another quilt last weekend.  This was a Timbleberries quilt pattern with Timbleberries fabric from around 8 or so years ago.  It's called Paintbox Stars.  I did hundreds of flying geese.  :-)  But super happy with how it turned out and it fits my king size bed!  My first quilt ever to do so.  I'm glad the long arm quilter can do up to this size quilt because I want more!

 Close up of the quilting pattern.  I'm very happy with how it turned out.

 This is a quilt I finished up a couple of weeks ago.  Can't remember the name of it or the pattern line but love how it turned out.  Quilted it with black thread and happy with the end result.

Up for this weekend (already on the quilt frame) is another JoAnn Fabrics quilt of the month from around seven years ago.  That one I plan on keeping as the colors still work in my house.  Then I can start a French General that I made a couple of years ago!  Can't wait for that one.  French General are currently my favorite line of quilt fabrics.  The just one more top to go and I'm totally caught up with my tops.  I have my next quilt cut out - it's a smallish wall hanging - about 36 inches square but with lots of little pieces.  And the beauty part?  I'll be able to quilt it right away.  :-)  It's great having a long arm quilter.  I still have around a dozen or so quilt tops kitted up.  I really want to start to get to those also.  I hate buying more when I have tubs filled with uncut fabric.  And it's always been a goal of mine to be a finisher and not just a starter with everything I do.

still quilting!

Still a lot of quilting going on in my life!  I'm down to only three tops that need to be quilted on my machine.  Here are several quilts that I managed to get photos of.  I just noticed I'm missing one or two and I still have three that are in a pile to have their binding finished off.  :-)  I'm down to three tops that I still need to buy backing for so now I have started to piece more tops!  I'm starting to run out of space to put all my quilts.  A happy problem to have for sure.

 This was an old JoAnn Fabrics quilt block of the month quilt.  I think it's around nine or ten years old.  I gave it to one of my brothers as a thank you for all the help he has given me on my house.  He was quilt thrilled with it.  :-)  It's big - queen size at least.

 This bright little guy I put together last summer (along with the same quilt in a different color way) and my sister needed a quick baby quilt so I let her give this one away. 

 Here is another top that sat around for years waiting to be quilted - this pattern is a Miss Rosie (she is one of my favorite quilt designers) and it was my first fabric random (scrappy) style quilt.  I did it around eight years ago.  This one is big also.  It almost fits my king size bed.  If I would have done more more column and one more row, it would have.  Bummer.  :-)

Here is Isabelle in her favorite chair sleeping watching me quilt.  The long arm machine is at my sister's house and she gets tired out from playing with my sister's lab, Hunter.  Break times are always in this chair. 

 Here is my first ever "real" quilt.  Everything before this had been just putting together blocks and making stuff up.  This one is at least 25 years old.  I bought a booklet that taught the user one block and technique at a time.  I hung onto these 12 blocks for years and years and around two years ago, I put the top together.  And here is it finally quilted!  The colors are dreadful so 80's but I still love it.  I plan on putting it in my sewing room when I'm finished with renovating it this spring. 

 My latest finish just came off the frame on Sunday and I bound it last night.  This is the warmest quilt I have ever done.  It's 100% flannel top and back with 100% wool batting inside.  It's from a design from Primitive Gatherings and again, is on the large size.  The photo on the bottom is a close up of the quilting .  It looks great with the strips. 

Until next time! 



year in review

I don't know about you, but I'm glad 2012 is over.  It's been a really tough year for me and my family and we are hoping for better in 2013. 

Even though I haven't been getting as much stitching as done as I wanted, I have been able to pull 10 quilts off the long arm quilting machine in the past month.  It's finally starting to work more often than not and soon my sister and I (mostly me) will start to learn freehand skills instead of totally relying on digitized files for the quilting.  But the edge to edge designs sure do look pretty.  We spend a small fortune on 100's of Anne Bright designs but every one so far has been worth the price.

As for 2013 it has lots in store.  I'm pretty sure now that I have to have surgery on my sinuses at some point in the next several weeks.  But that's ok because I'm tired of being sick and tired.  So I'm hoping I'll start stitching on the train more.  Night time will be for working on my casket designs - I still have to master Adobe Illustrator but that should be easy once I start to work on it.  I'm ready to start working on my stumpwork - that will happen in the evenings also.  The stitching frames are too big to lug around on the train.  Lot's of quilting in store for 2013 - I have at least 10 more tops to quilt and that many at least that still need to be pieced.  Home improvement starts again in January - more hardwood floors going down in my sewing room and spare bedroom (I'll be half way with all the hardwood in my house!) and working on my sewing room!  Yeah!  I have so many plans for the sewing room.  It will be fun to start to get it all together.

Here are the projects that I have finished in the last couple of months. 

I never got a photo before I gave it away.  :-)  The quilt is called Cheese and Crackers and it's done in thimbleberries fabrics.

 I love my hutch with the quilt on it.  It was the plan all along to use the hutch as a quilt holder. 

 I'm planning on doing little pieces for the back of my front door.  This is the first one.

 My first 12" mini quilt.  I have at least a half dozen in my stash.

 I went though a stage a couple of years ago when I was buying different things.  Doesn't really match my decorating plan but it's still pretty. 

 My favorite so far of what I've quilted the past month.  I'm planning on doing a lot more of this style. 

 A nice a warm flannel!  The pugs love this one.  It was super easy to piece and quilt.

 This is a twister.  An experiment because I wanted to see what all the shouting was about.  I won't be making anymore.  ;-)

 Another really different one for me!  I won't be making any more like this one either!  :-)

 My first penny rug!  This was fun to work on while on the train.  I want to do more. 

And last a baby quilt for my youngest great niece.  Only two years late.  :-)

I have one more that I just pulled off the frame yesterday but it still needs to be bound.  So it's going to be my first 2013 finish - unless I get busy right now!  LOL!

Have a great 2013!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

short update

It's short because it's all the stitching I've done in two months!  I finished up the first of several projects that are being provided with our Casket of Curiosities project. This piece is small, maybe 2 inches by 2 inches and is going to be a pin pillow for my box. The colors are marvelous but I hate the silk fiber that is provided and it's supposed to be the basis of the stitching. I'm almost 100% certain at this point I'm going to try to match these colors to Vikki Clayton silks.  I like to work with hers better and they are so much more affordable.  While I love the color and gloss of the finished project, this is already costing me thousands of dollars and I don't have enough cash to spend more in silk thread.  I'll make do with substitutions. 

I'm way behind on my casket project - Tricia has provided four or five small projects to date and this is only the first one (each one teaches a different skill and lets us try out the products before we spend major funds).  My design progress came to a screeching halt when I decided to convert all the designs that I was interested in to PDF format so I can move them around the casket blanks and recolor to my hearts content.  So I had to go buy a digitizing tablet plus Adobe Illustrator.  Still learning how to do the basics. 

I've also been spending hours and hours in front of my sister's long arm quilting machine.  We have manged to master the basics of the machine and the computer program that controls the quilting and are taking at least two quilts off the frame a week - I even managed two small ones alone last night!  It's her year to provide the family with gifts and she wanted to gift at least 10 and we are almost there.  I've even been able to sneak in a couple small quilts for me and I'll take photos and post them as soon as they are bound and washed.  I'm proud to say that not only am I a piecer, I am a quilter.  :-)  It's great to have total control of the entire process. 

Butterfly Pinpad Finis

I finished up my butterfly pinpad over the weekend.  Cute little piece!  It was a needlework nibble from Tricia at Thistle Threads and I enjoyed stitching it and finishing it. 

Have a great week!

Swan Lake finis

I finished up Swan Lake this week - number seven in the Anniversaries of the Heart series from Blackbird Designs.  I'm half way done!  Yeah!

 This is what my Anniversaries of the Heart looks like half way finished. 

I didn't feel like moving onto number eight (Clara Ellen) so I started the first panel of A Petit Sampling Etui. This is actually the second time I have started it - I started back a couple of years ago using Vikki Clayton silks but I didn't like how it was turning out so I frogged it all out and this is the restart. 

This month in my casket class we received the first two projects!  Yeah!  I'm going to get started on the stitching right away so I can keep up with everything.  I started to convert all the patterns into electronic files yesterday.  It will take forever to get everything I want converted but in the long run will work out great. 

Halloween tree

Here is this year's Halloween tree.  I finished off all the ornaments that I stitched last year and I hope to still add a couple more this year.  I'm running into the same trouble however as I am for the Christmas cross stitch tree - lack of small ones for the top of the tree.  I'm not feeling like doing any over one right now so I'm only looking for small designs or designs that  I can take an element or two from.  Maybe there will be something in this year's Just Cross Stitch - my copy should be here any day - today even.  :-)

I also finished stitching my needlework nibble on Thursday evening.  I hope to finish it off today.  I'm happy with how my stitching looks.  Yesterday the postman delivered my stumpwork kit from Australia.  I little underwhelmed with what I received for the cost.  But last least now I have examples of the sort of base fabrics I should be using - and now I can go purchase yards of it to practice on.  The kit didn't include anything that I can't purchase at JoAnn's or Michaels.  That was also nice to know.  Just wish I would have tried on my own and saved the $50 bucks.  I could have put it toward a nice needlework slate that I need to buy for my casket embroideries.  Oh well, live and learn. 

Have a great weekend!

A little pin pillow

Here is my progress on Swam Lake - I can't believe I'm close to finishing this one up!  Yesterday I purchased the Just Cross Stitch Halloween magazine and I'm hoping to get a couple more stitched for my tree this year.  I pulled out the three that never were totally finished from last year (I stitched five I think) and I'm hoping to take care of that in the next couple of days.  My tree is starting to fill out but I need some smaller ones.  Right now everything seems to be the same size.

Thistle Threads came out with a new needlework nibbles a couple of weeks ago and I started on it yesterday.  I need a lot more practice with my non cross stitch type stitching and I figure I need to get going.  So far I'm happy with what I've done.  A couple more hours and this will be ready to turn into a little pin pillow. 

monthly update :-)

I've turned into a once a month blogger!  Not sure how that happened.  Ok I know how it happened, I stopped stitching and started sleeping on the train and watching tv at night.  :-)  I've had a chronic sinus infection now since January and it's really making me worn out.  No matter how much sleep I get I just can't get enough.  I've been on antibiotics for months and months and it's just not working.  Not sure what's next but a trip back to the doctor for the fifth time is in my future.

Here is my progress on Swan Lake from Anniversaries of the Heart.  When I finish this one I'll be more than half way done.  I really need to get going.  I've also been quilting on the weekends but nothing finished to show yet.  But lots in progress so stay posted for that.  My sister and I went to a huge quilt show a couple of weeks ago and I purchased a ton of goodies - mostly miniature quilt kits.  I'm really liking those tiny quilts these days. 

I've started work on designing my casket (above is a first pass at my top piece) - I'm going with the double casket design - more areas to design but actually less to stitch (but more secret drawers!).  I've also decided that I'm going to cover mine with 100% stumpwork.  A tall order for me since I have zero experience with stumpwork and my embroidery skills are rusty.  I've been purchasing every stumpwork and embroidery book I can afford get my hands on and I think I'm ready to start to practice.  I purchased my first stumpwork kit from Jane Nicholas just yesterday.  It's the style of stumpwork that I want to emulate - more modern than the traditional sort.  Since it's coming from Australia I don't expect to receive it until October but that will give me time to finish up Swan Lake.  I've also purchased a Wacom Bamboo Create graphic tablet!  I'm so excited.  I'll be able to trace in all my designs and then edit them at will.  Tricia also provided the fiber colors in computer format so I'll also be able to color and recolor to my hearts content before putting in a single stitch.  This will be so helpful.  It took me hours to trace the above outline and I already need and want to change it.  The sun need its to be way bigger for balance and I've decided to put a sitting dog in place of the running dog.  Plus I need to add a lot more objects to match the style of the original caskets.  So it needs to be totally done over.  Once I get it in a computer file, I'll just swamp out images over and over again until I'm 100% happy with it.  Then I can color it in using the codes provided by Tricia.  This is will very helpful as I work on shading.  There will be a learning curve of course but I'll have plenty of time as I don't expect to start the actual stitching on the casket for many many months.  Maybe even next year or even later.  As part of the class we are being provided five mini projects where we learn the skills needed to execute the caskets.  And I need to take the next class session that deals with stumpwork specifically so it really could be a while.  We have already started on the first project - we traced a design onto linen and learned how to get it on the slate frame - next month we start stitching I think.

And last but not least, sorry Anna!  Not much of a story connected with my photo with Harry Connick Jr.  My sister is an exclusive independent insurance agent for one of the largest insurance companies in the country.  Every year they organize a fabulous trip for the top agents from the previous year.  There is a gala dinner with entertainment one night during the trip.  This year's entertainment was Harry and they set up a photo session with him for the top, top performers.  I got to go along for the ride.  :-)  But it's still as yummy!  As a side note, next year is Monte Carlo and Paris!  Go sell insurance Maryl!  I want to go!  LOL!



vacation!

After a really hard two months I starting to stitch again on the train this week.  I haven't gotten much done yet on Swan Lake one of the Anniversaries of the Heart Patterns, because I'm fighting jet lag.  Yes you heard correctly, jet lag.  A week after we buried my brother-in-law my sister and I got on a plane for Switzerland.  Specially the Lake Geneva area.  We stayed three days in Montreux and seven in days in Geneva.  It was good to get away. 

 Château de Chillon in Montreux.

 Some of the many vineyards on the shores of Lake Geneva.

Oh, and Harry Connick Jr.  :-)  Yummy.

Wow! It's been a while!

I can't believe it's been this long since I blogged!  I finally finished up Part 4 of the IsaV Marquior yesterday.  I haven't been stitching at all at home and almost nothing on the train rides to work.  When I first picked this back up two months ago I thought maybe I would want to just get it finished but I'm finding I do want to work on something else.  I'm thinking maybe another month to the big Blackbird Design that I'm half way finished with.  I think I'm on month seven?  I do know it's the block with the swans. 

Remember the needlework casket course I mentioned a couple of months ago?  It started three months ago and we are into the start of designing what we want to put on our boxes.  I mention this because I need to start to work on my embroidery and stumpwork skills.  My embroidery is quite rusty and I don't have any stumpwork skills.  :-)  So I'm looking to work on those.  I've been buying stumpwork books like crazy but all the books in the world don't do me a bit of good if I don't start stitching.  I have this huge fear that I will spend all this money and not even put a single thread to linen. 

Nothing new on the house front - I've been lazy and broke and it's too hot!  To tell the truth, as I write this I'm wondering myself what I've been doing the last month or so.  I don't seem to have anything to show for June.  :-) 

I've starting work with Isabelle on her retrieving skills with an eye toward AKC trials.  It's lots of hard work but she is so much fun!  We spend hours at the dog lake - she loves nothing more than to swim after a duck dummy.  This weekend we are going dock diving for the first time.  I know she is going to love that.  Still doing the occasional agility trial with the pugs.  Big trial coming up in two weeks.  It's Aoife's last chance - if she doesn't turn things around, I'm going to focus on Clancy full time - I don't have enough money to toss away on bad trial behaviour at this point and that's all I'm getting from Aoife. 

Have a great Fourth of July!  I'm on vacation starting tomorrow!  Almost two weeks off!