Well, I was able to stay weekly for a while. Better than I expected actually. LOL! But here I am. I'll type in as much I can before I have to go. Today is my "stepson's" 23rd birthday, and we've got early dinner plans. Anyway, there's been a bit of creativity going on since March; not as much as I'd like, but some. Let's see, where to start.........
Glendale Quilt Show
I did make it to the Glendale Quilt Show on Sunday. Yes, in the pouring rain! One of the women in AVQA emailed a bunch of us the prior week, asking if anyone would like to join her. She had promised to take our Opportunity Quilt to the Show, and wanted some company. I immediately volunteered! I really hadn't planned on going. My car doesn't run very well, and I don't like to drive it more than I absolutely need to; plus, I really didn't want to spend any money. But, since transportation was provided, and entrance into the show was covered (we got in free since we were there with our Opportunity Quilt), I was all set.
I did buy a bit of stuff. I've been wanting to try some different types of batting. I've only ever used the Hobbs cotton batting and I've been wanting to try out a few other types. I bought a crib size wool (Hobbs Tuscany) and a crib-size bamboo (Fairfield's Nature-Fil) batting. The bamboo batt is actually 50% bamboo, 50% organic cotton. I also purchased five pieces of bamboo felt. It is so soft! I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but once I touched it, I had to have it! I had told myself not to buy any fabric or patterns, as I have more than enough already. Unfortunately, I did see one that I had to buy. I can't recall the name of it, and, of course, my studio's a mess and I can't find it! LOL! It's a miniature of kitties, 15" x 18", and just too cute! I'll give you the name of it is soon as I find it!
Sharon Schamber's Workshop Piece
I finished the appliqué on the Sharon Schamber's piece. I now have to wash it to get the glue out. I've also found the fabrics for the bag I'm going to make.
It will be a messenger bag with the appliqué as the flap. The green underneath, which is the same fabric as the leaves and stems, will be the back of the flap. The flap will be quilted and bound. The black and white flowered canvas is the outside of the bag, and the black with colored flowers will be the lining. I've got the bag designed, and now need to create the patterns, cut the fabric, quilt and bind the flap, and assemble the bag.
Terry Waldron's Workshop Piece
This one is almost done! I just need to add the sides.
The fabric you're seeing under the lavendar straps, is actually the lining inside. I finished the bird, quilted the back, bottom and side pieces, added straps, and put 5 pockets on one side of the inside. All the edges are bound with the lining fabric, except the sides. I ran out of fabric and, of course, now can't find it. I found another fabric, which works fairly well, but I'm not sure. I may look a bit more to see if I can find something closer. The new fabric is a batik, but it's mostly black, and doesn't have as much color as the original. Maybe I'll look a bit more this weekend.
VS1-Filigree
I've been working on my Filigree quilt. I quilt on the bus ride home from work almost every day. It's almost done!
I decided on the solid pink for the overall quilting. I really like the butterscotch, but my stitching isn't uniform enough yet that I feel comfortable using it for the entire quilt. However, I did use it to do the initial stitching up against the appliqué itself. I also decided against doing an echo quilting motif. Because of the "curviness" of the appliqué, I would have needed to mark the quilting lines, and, frankly, I really didn't want to! LOL! I wanted to start quilting this, so I decided to use the pattern of the background fabric, and quilt scallops following the ovals in the fabric. I used the wool batting. I had been told by a couple of hand quilters that it's really the nicest of the batts to hand quilt through; and they were right! I'm hoping to have the quilting done in the next couple of weeks, so I can add the binding. As much as I love this quilt, I'm ready to work on a few other projects, but I'm determined not to let this end up in my ever-growing UFO pile! I will finish it!
VS1-Palm
The next piece in this series is the palm tree. I've got the pattern drawn, and the fabrics pulled.
It's only about 18" x 24", so it's not too big. I wasn't sure initially what style I was going to do on this piece, but I've decided it will be a raw-edge appliqué. I'm going to use a technique that Terry Waldron showed us for cutting tree trunks. The palm fronds will be sewn down like the feathers in the Bird Tote, again just raw edges. I may even unravel a few threads and leave them hanging. Palm trees have string-like fibers hanging from them, so I might as well add those. I'm also going to use some cording for the spine of the frond. I can't wait to start on this one.
I&M Quilters
I finally finished the Scrambled 9-patch I put together last year! I don't have a picture yet, but will get one relatively soon. I have two other quilts for this group pinned and ready to quilt. I'll try to get pictures of them next week.
We're doing Sindy Rodenmayer's fish blocks (see fatcatpatterns.com) for our raffle quilt this year. We did her chickens last year, and it was really well received. A couple of us, actually three of us, are also doing embroidered blocks based on Japanese designs. I need get mine started. I've got my patterns printed and we're all using the same background. I now need to pull my fabric for the sea dragon and get it done. I've got the embroidery floss pulled for the "coral" pattern I'm using for the embroidery. We've got until August to get these done, then the head of our group will put the top together and quilt it.
I've got a bit more to discuss, but will leave that for next time. Until then, take care.
Michele
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