I did it! I loaded another quilt and quilted it yesterday. I thought I was going to use the same color thread as the last quilt but in the end I decided it was a little too dark so I changed it. I made this top in 2011. If you go here and click on the last photo you can see what the whole Trip Around the World center looks like.
I got the binding sewn on and started the hand sewing, about 1/2 of one long side done.
I forgot how tiny the goldfinches are. They like the Sneezeweed flowers. Later the female was here too but they both flew away before I could snap another photo.
This little baby bunny has been in my back garden almost every day. There is a lot of clover in the grass for it to eat.
Raindrops on the Hosta. I have this Hosta in a pot on my front porch.
I didn't have any finishes for June yet so as the last days approach I had to get busy. I finished this one yesterday.
I just did a large meander, the same as I did on this one back in February.
It ended up 55" x 75.5". To be able to pin this on my design wall I first had to use 4 sheets on a lint roller to clean all of the threads off the wall. Otherwise the back of this quilt would be covered with threads.
I used the same backing fabric as is on the other similar flannel quilt, a 60" flannel print from 1996. This makes 17 finishes in the first 6 months of 2015. 18 would sound so much better so I'll look today for another fast one to finish.
The hosta on the right is at least 3 feet across and needs to be dug up this fall. I will pull all of the babies off of it and replant a smaller portion. Right now it is covering up several other small plants. The one on the left is my tallest hosta and blooms late Aug. or early Sept. with big sweet smelling white lily type flowers. I have about 5 of these throughout the back garden. I dug and pulled weeds a couple times yesterday because it was a beautiful day to be outside.
Yesterday was the twice monthly sew-in so I took my GO Baby! die cutter and batik scraps and cut the kite shape and corners. I put the block in the photo so you can see what the pieces will make. I left early to go home and mow the back yard. I got new batteries for the mower so I was able to finish the whole yard.
My tomato plants are getting huge.
This one is the "on the vine" clusters like you can buy at the grocery store.
This one is the "Early Girl".
Mama Robin was worried every time I went around the corner of the house. I dug out some huge weeds in the back garden and have a lot more to tackle today.
I promised a collage of the beginning through the final sewn quilt top for this colorwash. I added one more column on the left edge when I decided that edge wasn't quite dark enough. It is in the last 2 photos.
My 2 friends came over yesterday and Sarah gave us tips on the One Block Wonder quilt. She got us started and then put her blocks up on the design wall.
This is the fabric she started with. It is amazing how much it changes when cut into identical equilateral triangles and then sewn into blocks.
Here is a close up of a few blocks.
This is my fabric and the blocks made from one 4.5" strip (6 layers).
Here are more ready to sew and more cut triangles. We are getting together in 2 weeks to play with layouts so I won't be showing this again until then.
I'm still working on the double 4 patch too. Variety is the spice of life.
Kathy Faust, you are a no reply. Would you either leave me another comment with your email in it or email me directly with the link on my side bar?
More storms and tornado warnings a couple miles south last night so I had the machine unplugged again for awhile. 8/10 of an inch of rain and lots of wind.
I finished sewing this together by 11p.m. and then pressed it and did a row of stay-stitching around the edge.
When it is sewn together I can really tell if it is successful. When it is just pieces on the design wall I have my doubts. I'll call this one a success! It is 44" x 64". I will be posting a couple collages of the progress as I worked on this one.
I ran out of steam last night after sewing 14 rows together. I hope to get the last 8 sewn on today.
I want to do another colorwash class at my house, probably one and a half or two full days. I'm thinking late July or early August. If anyone is interested email me. Added at 9 a.m. - I can tell from some of the emails of interest that some readers are probably using a phone or tablet to read my blog and don't have my side bar on their screen so you don't see my location. I'm located in Sandwich, IL.
I took the pieces off the design wall before any disaster could happen, like bumping into the wall and seeing the pieces flutter to the floor. I showed the sewing procedure on the one I made a few weeks ago at the end of this post. There was lightning and thunder last night so I had my machine unplugged and I will start sewing this together today.
Finally, it is ready to sew. I spent another 3 hours on it yesterday searching for a few new fabrics to fix the spots I didn't like. I'm adding the "before tweaking" photo below so you can see the comparison. The greens at the left are one area I worked on. There were a few other pieces moved too.
I just had to go down to the basement and work on this piece first thing yesterday morning.
After a few hours I had it all filled in and it was ready for tweaking. I'm not happy with the dark streak through the yellows or the line of the olive greens on the left.
After many trips to the basement and cutting some new yellow pieces I have the center pretty good. I moved a few pieces in the olive greens but it still needs a little work. It will take at least one more day of tweaking.
Here are my tomato plants after 3 weeks in the ground. There are lots of blossoms on them now.
The bell flowers are plentiful again this year. They have planted themselves everywhere. More pollen for the bees to spread around.This group is in the back garden near the peonies.
It was too wet to mow the grass because of rain in the morning yesterday so I had the whole day to work on my projects. This photo is 32 double 4 patch blocks, 4 each of 8 fabric combinations.
I continued on the batik rectangle colorwash. I got this far by noon yesterday.
I had two afternoon sessions on it. This was the first one.
I ran errands, then came home and started this colorwash on a double design wall (7' tall) yesterday morning. I went out to lunch with a friend and then mowed part of my grass. Since the grass was tall the battery in the mower stopped before I could finish in front of my house.
Later in the afternoon I mowed a second section of the grass and then came in and worked another hour on this piece. I also found the box with more of the brown fabrics for the double 4 patch so I can cut some more 4.5" squares and sew more blocks today.
I had planted the cannas a couple weeks ago and there were only 2 peeking out of the ground a couple days ago. Now with all of the rain I can see all 5 coming up. This is just one of them.
Some lilies are blooming.
This is some ordinary Verbena compared with yesterday's photo of the Wicked Verbena. I really like it in the pots.
This squirrel didn't mind getting his furry tail wet in the tall grass. It rained off and on yesterday with a quick stronger storm coming through around 6 p.m.
After the art quilters left I went out to check my gardens. The milkweed is tall and ready to bloom. I haven't seen any Monarch Butterflies yet.
I had to look at the tag and see what I had planted in this pot. That is "Wicked Verbena" and snapdragons.
Here is a closeup of the "Wicked Verbena".
This is a reminder one more time for the commenters: if you don't hear back from me when you ask a question you are a no reply. I have an email link on the right side bar and another in my profile.
I ran errands, then came home and started this colorwash on a double design wall (7' tall) yesterday morning. I went out to lunch with a friend and then mowed part of my grass. Since the grass was tall the battery in the mower stopped before I could finish in front of my house.
