Snowball quilt out of mothballs and the first signs of Spring

This weekend I was inspired to pick up an abandoned WIP quilt top. I finished the top and had purchased the backing fabric and batting a couple of months ago.

I quilted a fairly large scale swirly pattern over the surface of the quilt.



I'm using a variegated cotton thread by Gutermann's from Joann's. I had a terrible time adjusting my machine's tension with this thread. I used a polyester (*gasp!*) Coats & Clark with my large last quilt and it quilted like a dream.

I left the borders unquilted until I can settle on a design. I may just quilt more swirls or perhaps an orange peel design? I started to do some swirls and then ran out of thread... I guess a sign that perhaps I should let it sit for a few days before I make a final decision.



Moving from snowballs to flowers, the first signs of Spring have emerged in the Bay Area.


Fruit tree at parent's house in Walnut Creek on February 15

A few things I'm working on

After the busyness of the holidays we've settled into a very rainy, wet January. I've been puttering around with a few miscellaneous projects. I even had a freebie day off work due to a powerful storm that took out the power at the office.


Jujitsunagi (Linked "10 Variation)


Manji (Buddhist Symbol)


Diagonal Cross


Mitsu Ume (Three Plum Blossoms)

Blocks are from Susan Briscoe's Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix & Match. I'm working with traditional Japanese fabrics (indigos and brick reds), sent to me by a friend in Okinawa, and scraps of Japanese prints leftover from my Bento Box quilt.

I just finished the applique block which was the most labor intensive of the bunch. I used freezer paper for the templates, plastic template for the flower centers, and Perle cotton for the embroidery. The flower centers proved very challenging for me and look quite crude. I'm obviously not very skilled working with such small pieces. I'd love to hear from anyone who may have suggestions/tips on how to achieve nice smooth shapes.

I finally cut into the fabrics I've been collected for a new bed quilt for Elizabeth. She requested a quilt in teals, blues and greens. We decided on a string quilt using my handy-dandy strip ruler from Cozy Quilts. Instructions to make the Daniella block are included with the ruler. I will post a tutorial soon.



The turquoise solid was purchased at Mendel's which is a wonderfully funky store located in the the City's Haight-Asbury district. They have what is probably the most comprehensive collection of Alexander Henry fabrics to be found anywhere under one roof, and a good collection of vinyl's and fake fur (should one have a pressing need!).

A New Year

Starting off the New Year with a look back at some of my sewing and quilting projects from '09:



I realized when I created the mosaic that most of my bed-sized quilts are WIP's - one is in the process of being ahnd quilted, the others are completed tops only. What should be an immediate goal for the new year but instead I've been having fun sewing old-fashioned type blocks, inspired by the book my husband gave me for Christmas, 5,500 Quilt Block Designs by Maggie Malone.

Chosen design for my Shrinking Quilters' quilting bee:



Practice block:



And the final using Jessica's fabrics:



And from Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix andMatch by Susan Briscoe (a library book I'd dearly love to own):



I cut into some lovely Japanese cottons sent to me from a friend in Japan - the indigo and red print. It's a very loose woven, light-weight fabric that tends to stretch a bit. Next time, I'll definitely starch my fabrics before cutting. I hope to put together a Japanese-style samlper with these fabrics plus some scraps of Japanese prints letftover from a Bento Box quit I made a a few years ago.

So check back for more on this.

Happy Holidays!

There's nothing like undertaking an "emergency" quilting project right before the Holidays. My family draws names for gifts and I had drawn my sister's name. She wanted something "Christmas-y" and I debated for a loooong time on a homemade vs a store bought gift. Finally, I came across this pattern in an older issue of American Patchwork & Quilting and decided to go for it. I was sewing like crazy (and cursing myself) up until 2 days before Christmas.

Fabrics are all from my stash.



Oh, and why not attempt needle turn applique for the first time on a tight deadline? Actually, I used freezer paper technique for the leaves, and used a running stitch around the berries with the thread drawn in over the template to make the circle shapes. This was supposed to yield a perfect circle, but mine were still pointy in spots.

Backing and binding fabrics (Heather Bailey's Garden Pop) I had originally intended to make into an apron, but I thought worked well here -- not to Christmas-y as I didn't use any specifically Christmas-themed fabrics on the front. I used Mono-filament thread to quilt in the ditch around the squares and white thread for the freemotion design in the center applique square.



Of course, Axel had to get in the action.