At last!

Yes, I can finally post a picture of the completed block that I've been struggling to get done.  It was a 'bear' and it took me 6 days.

 I struggled with the y-seam construction at the corners and sides of this block.

 I found that I had to undo the end of the sewn seams in order to make the insets lay flat after they were sewn.

 So, I used teeny, tiny pins on one side and regular pins on the other when I pinned.  It made it easier to sew around the pins.

Almost half done... and looking pretty good.













And the final result.  The greens are probably too similar in color to make this block show up to it's intricate advantage, but as I've said before...I have a real problem choosing fabrics that go together.







The holiday season seems to put me in the mood to try new methods of crafting so when my dd lent me a book to read about making japanese gift bags etc., I jumped right in.  Haven't completed anything because I picked a purse to make and it required more handwork than I could handle.  I still like the idea and I'll give it another whirl at some point - this year, I hope. lol

Here's the project I made a bit of progress on.










And the book - Omiyage - of really pretty patterns for anyone who likes itty-bitty stitching.











I'm going to start on this year-long project to make Just Takes 2 while continuing with my yellow quilt.
(Quote:  Just Takes 2™ is a mystery quilt.  It is divided into four main sections. It’s finished size without borders is 72 X 90 inches. Every three months, you will receive instructions for assembling one section of the quilt. By the end of the year, you will put all four sections together. The blocks are 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 inches. There are both pieced and appliqued blocks, although the majority of the quilt is pieced.)

I love redwork and can't wait to do some embroidery.  If you want to join in, the block patterns for Just Takes 2 will be posted once every three months; six are up now...just go to Sentimental Stitches and click on the red link at the bottom of the January 1st blog post.  The more, the merrier!  And it's a pretty quilt.

Hope 2012 will be a wonderful one for everyone...

Such good intentions...but no results yet for the next block. Not that I haven't sewed more but I'm still working on it. Even though it's New Year's Eve, I'm going to try to finish it up. Yesterday as I was piecing it together, my dd who doesn't drive, called to say that she was out of doggie food...and with three big dogs, that had to be corrected right away. So, off we went to get some along with a package of marshmallows and cans of corn for the chickens. Haha...yes, she feeds her chickens marshmallows and they love them. They lay lots of eggs so it's not hurting them at all and one of her Silkies had 5 little 'peepers' a month ago. Now why would a cute little chicken hatch babies in the middle of winter? We don't know and the locals have never heard of that happening. I think that Britney just likes to be different...and she felt like hatching chicks. lol Also, she's sitting under a warm heat lamp unlike the other 'girls'. Anyway, I better get started on that block or I'll be sewing with a glass of champagne in my hand...because I'm determined that block is getting done today!

Tough One

This particular block - F9 - is taking me some time to complete.  It has lots of tiny little pieces to be sewn together, then those tiny pieces must be sewn to other tiny pieces.

 These sections were strip-pieced and cut on a 45 degree bias but they had to be joined together to produce the eight diamonds that make up the center of the block.  Tedious!

 Only five more to join together...(yes, that's Jaik snoozing on the instructions haha)

 ....then decide if I wanted the green print in the center or the more colorful fabric....

 Jaik helped as much as he could but I decided that the green center looked best because I still have to put the corners on and the yellow will fade into the green too much for the block to look dramatic.  So, tomorrow I'll finish it up.

I do have to go to the post office to mail off a fruit cake to my son in California tomorrow after picking up a few things to include that my dd forgot to send to him also.  Even though it was a wonderful and fun Christmas, I guess it was a little hectic for me to be sending forgotten items after the fact, huh?

I thought I would post a couple of pictures of silliness from Christmas Eve.  My DIL has a bit of a silly streak and likes to wear mustaches at her parties and she talked my dd into doing the same. 

 As you can see, Laura had a hard time not laughing when she saw herself.  A fun time indeed.  And good risotto for din-din.

Can't wait for New Year's!!  lol

The Holiday Season

The time between Hallowe'en and New Years day was two months of sewing, having parties and going out for lunch with one person or another. Oh, and did I mention traveling to visit people in faraway localities? It's been a little busy here.

That doesn't mean that my sewing machine got a rest. On the contrary, it was probably busier than usual...I made/revised/helped with 3 or 4 Hallowe'en costumes, then shopped for fabric to sew up a few casual items to take to northern California for Thanksgiving and whipped up a dressy dress for dinner before Christmas. Working on 'the quilt' was put on the back burner.

Now that Christmas is over and there's no more decorating to be done and entertaining is over until New Year's Eve, my thoughts turned to blocks...blocks for the yellow quilt.  I made this one on Boxing Day...

F-7

 ....and this one today.

F-8

These blocks were added to the F row of the quilt in November.

...as was this one.













So, even though I only added five new blocks to the quilt, I feel like I've done a lot over the past couple of months.  And because I might turn these blocks 'on point', the F row may be where I stop and think about how I want to complete this quilt...but I really don't like to think of myself as a quitter.....so that may not happen and the additional 7 rows of ten might happen.  I must think about it and decide what will make me happy. ;-))

Lovely today

The architect's office with trees

Purple, pink, red, yellow and a touch of green

Blowing leaves along the driveway

Vibrant yellows and reds

Poor gladiolus bloomed late

Almost six rows 

I am working on F-4 and am hoping to have an F-5 also in the next few days.  In the meantime, my DIL is out of town and I get to pick up my two lovely grandsons at 4pm from Homework Club at their school.

Hope everyone has good weather and beautiful colors in their area right now.

Yay! Got more done!

In spite of more drama happening - dd trapped in a shed by wasps - I've managed to make two more pretty complicated (for me at least) blocks.

F-2  Fool's Puzzle

 

 

F-3  Bow Tie

These two blocks involved sewing curves so I learned a lot doing that for Fool's Puzzle.  Bow Tie required set-in seams - Y seams - and though I had done that before, it was good to do it again.  The more you do, the better you get is my motto.  So, the sixth row is well on it's way to being done since I have all of F-4 pieces cut out and ready to sew.  Yay!

My dd is okay after being trapped in a small shed with wasps.  She moved an old uphostered chair and they swarmed blocking the only door; she had no way to get away from them and had to cry for help.  After 5 minutes, someone heard her and threw her a blanket to wrap around herself and she ran outside stripping her clothes away as she ran.  When she called me, she was not able to breathe well and couldn't talk.  I'm glad she called me; I went right over with a nice bottle of white wine to calm her down and it did the trick.  Once she relaxed, she could tell me all about what happened.  She was very frightened and that's what caused the shortness of breath, I think.

Back to quilting today although I have guests coming to watch the final 3 parts of a movie series - a 3 hour funfest.  I better make a casserole and get some wine in here for nibbles etc..

Difficult blocks

Busy, busy, busy... a few days ago, my dd's doggie went to the vet to be spayed.  She came through it all fine but it was a long day for me.  The vet's office was 45 minutes away and Sally (doggie) had to be there before 8am so that meant I had to be up by 6am in order to get from one end of the island, where I live, to the other end, where Sally and my dd live.  Yawn!  Then the long drive back and then the long drive back to pick up the doggie at 2pm.  We did go an hour early so we could wander around the local Goodwill in that town, which always has some nice buys - new things that are donated unused by local stores... so I got myself a nice $4 blue cardigan sweater that will come in handy when I'm visiting my son in San Francisco next month.  I also picked up a brand new Hilfiger brown and cream colored duvet cover with matching pillow covers for $10.  So, even though I lost some sleep, the day was a gainful one.

I've worked on a couple of new blocks off and on over the past 5 days so I feel like I've been getting something accomplished toward finishing my yellow quilt.

E-10

 

 

 

 Not sure I'm very good at picking out colors that compliment each other.  It's one of my major failings that I thought I might learn as I made more quilts but it doesn't seem to be happening.  I don't think that light blue fabric looks very good with the brighter blue and the green polka dot fabric.  Well, at least it's done.

F-1

 

 

 The colors in this block could have been more contrasting but since this is a scrappy quilt, it looks okay.

Crazy piecing!!

 I think this block was payment for me saying how good I was getting at doing pointy parts of these blocks.  Piecing this block was very difficult for me.... but I'm trying to think of all I've learned and I'm sure there will be more than one 'as challenging' block coming up.

And yes, the next block is one that I've never made before in my life so this is definitely a learning experience.  Look at this....

Fool's puzzle F-2

All those curvy seams are going to be very difficult... but I'm up for it.  lol

The upcoming week will include one more dog to get neutered so I'll be making the same long, long drive again next Thursday.  Cats are so much less trouble... even diabetic ones.  Jaik seems to be doing well on his diet but he's eating like a horse.  I don't think that's good but he looks and acts much better than when he got diagnosed.  My fingers are crossed.

Have a lovely week everyone.