Quilt, Read, Eat, Sleep.... What Else Is There? discussion

As I mentioned in my introduction, we're getting ready for a move so things are sightly chaotic to say the least. However, I know that is exactly when I need the comfort and therapeutic benefits of quilting the most so I intend to sew through the whole process.

I'm currently sorting my fabric stash into project bags for quilts I want to make for our new home. As I sort my stash, I'm packing any fabrics I don't plan to use for the upcoming projects so that it can be moved. Today I hope to finish that part of the process.

I will have several quilt projects for our new home. I want to make at least one blue and white quilt for the living area, one pink and rosy red quilt for my daughter's bed (full), one lavender and green (very soft, mossy green) quilt for our bed (king), and one dark brown and gold quilt for what we're calling the Music Den. I'm also sorting out polka dot and stripe fabrics for a future quilt, vintage 30s fabrics for a future quilt, and doggy related fabrics for a future dog bed for a future puppy.

So, lots of sewing projects in the works. Hope to begin actually sewing on one of them before this week ends.

I'm working on three 4 different quilts for clients. One is an embroidery block setting, another is a wedding quilt from painted and photo transfer quilts. The other 2 are vintage quilts that need repair before quilting. I hope to be sewing on my own things in at least a couple of weeks. This week we have a house full with FIL's 80th b-day party and my hubby's siblings flying in from East and West.

I'm not working on anything right now. So far, I've done only small projects. The things I've finished most recently include a prayer shawl for a friend with cancer, a comfort quilt (wall size) for another friend going through a tough time, and a wall hanging for my husband's new office.

I'm leaving tomorrow for a family trip to Nebraska, where we'll catch up with many friends we haven't seen since moving away from there 2 years ago. I'm giving the comfort quilt to my friend Lisa when I see her new home for the first time, and I can hardly contain my excitement. She's the friend I met when I took my first quilting class. I started the project last fall when her husband left her and her father died... and I've kept it a surprise from her all these months, but I almost blew it yesterday because I was trying to wrap it while talking with her, and I got so excited about it! LOL! :-)

I don't usually quilt much during the summer months, but when I pick back up in the fall, I'm planning to start with a wall hanging for my mom.

right now i'm working on a black and white quilt (piecing) and a customer quilt (quilting). the black and white is a shadow squares variation.

Liza, I hope you'll share a picture of your black & white quilt when you're done. I've been wanting to do something in b&w, with just a splash of something vibrant (yellow maybe?) for a while. Just haven't found the pattern that strikes me right yet.

I'm curious... do any of you hand quilt? I really love hand quilting my projects most of all, but I confess that I've had my last several projects professionally machine quilted. "Too many projects, too little time," as they always say!

As I said in my introduction, I'm not quilting. I did get a partial quilting fix when I refolded every piece of fabric that I have and went through all the quilt books. When I go to quilt camp a week from tomorrow, I will take 3 different classes.

One class I'm taking is called Simple Elegance. I think this will be a good project for one of the oriental pieces I have. I'm taking another class from this same instructor called Jungle Fever. It uses a Layer Cake package. I wanted to make this using batiks, so I was able to get the blocks of fabric the size of the Layer Cake pieces from the shop where the instructor works in Rapid City, SD. My niece took them to the cabin where my friend and I will stay at night during camp, and I will pick then up when we get there. The other class I'm taking is called Sparkler Quilt and is taught by Mary Sue Suit. I've taken classes from her before and I really like her methods and teaching style. It should be fun!

If push comes to shove, when I get from camp, if the cabinets haven't shown up, I can set up my Featherweight. I have a table for it that was my mom's. I've never used the table.

Angela, you asked about hand quilting. I do as little hand work as possible. My mother loved to hand piece and applique as well as hand quilt. I guess I don't have the patience for it. I'm more about the geometry and color placement. If I thought it would look good, I'd both side of the binding by machine, but I've tried it and I didn't like the turned over part done that way.

Angela wrote: "Liza, I hope you'll share a picture of your black & white quilt when you're done. I've been wanting to do something in b&w, with just a splash of something vibrant (yellow maybe?) for a while. Just..."

black and white or black and grey are my favorite quilting colors! you can see the "test block" for my current b/w quilt at

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Ge0pfA9YPs...

and an eq6 picture of the whole quilt (as yet unassembled) at

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Ge0pfA9YPs...

i don't do much hand quilting for several reasons: arthritis! yikes!, i never have much spare time, and i spent a zillion dollars on a longarm quilting machine so i HAVE to machine quilt stuff!

Liza wrote: "Angela wrote: "Liza, I hope you'll share a picture of your black & white quilt when you're done. I've been wanting to do something in b&w, with just a splash of something vibrant (yellow maybe?) fo..."

I've often thought of doing a black and white quilt. I haven't made one, but I've thought about it! I really like your sample block, Liza.

Judy wrote: "Liza wrote: "Angela wrote: "Liza, I hope you'll share a picture of your black & white quilt when you're done. I've been wanting to do something in b&w, with just a splash of something vibrant (yell..."

well thanks judy! i'm pretty excited about it. for now though i need to be whittling away at the queue building up just a little faster than i can comfortably get through of customer quilts. they're caaaaaaallllling to me!

FYI - my sewing machine cabinet and cutting table came today! They were delivered in an Allied semi - and we live at the end of a cul d' sac! LOL! Each piece was a little over 400 lbs, so it was a little dicey getting them down the stairs. They are, however, all set up and ready for my use when I get back from camp. These pieces are way bigger than I thought, and I even drew then to scale when we were designing this new space. I'm excited (hard to tell, huh?); everything is now in the studio an waiting for me to get started. First I need to pack since we're leaving tomorrow!

Angela wrote: "I'm not working on anything right now. So far, I've done only small projects. The things I've finished most recently include a prayer shawl for a friend with cancer, a comfort quilt (wall size) for..."

So now I have a new project simmering... While vacationing in NE last week, I stopped by the shop where I took my first quilting class and picked out fabric & pattern. I'm going to make a photo quilt using the pictures I took of us visiting with all our old friends on this trip. I think this is the most excited I've ever been about one of my projects!

I'm putting aside the quilting for a bit until I get my next project finished.

The next project that I plan on finishing is to finish refinishing a buffet that my aunt gave to me. For some reason, somebody along the line decided that it was a great idea to paint the thing black. It's been sitting in my garage now for months. It has about 10 different drawers and I believe it's made out of pine. I've pretty much got all the black off and am now sanding. I may have to sand a couple of times because I keep finding new black spots. After the sanding is done, I'll then be able to start staining and varnishing. I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, but I guess we'll see!

Once it's done, it's going in the basement. I hope to have it finished by the end of the month, but it depends on what other fun stuff I can find to do!

Sounds like a great project! I have refinished a few pieces, including a 90-year-old upright piano that had been painted black. I love the end result, even if I was crushed by having a piano repairman tell me a year or so ago that the piano is "not musically viable." :-(

I just finished organizing my quilting area, and I'm about to start a Christmas wall hanging today. I have been putting it off because I am a bit nervous. It's been quite a while since I made a quilt, but I decided that today is the day! I have always loved to listen to audio books while I quilt. Currently I am listening to One Summer by David Baldacci. That also motivates me because I am immersed in the story and want to keep listening, but I don't allow myself to do that unless I am working on some aspect of quilting. Does anyone else list to audiobooks>

Yea, Barb! I use to listen to audiobooks all the time when I quilted - and sometimes I still do; however, with the advent of TV recording and Netflixs, I find that I catch up with what I recorded or watch something from my instant queue. I think it also has to do with the digital recording. I've never quite figured out how to mark where I am on the CD or computer in digital format as opposed to taped. I'm sure it's simple; I've just never taken the time.

It's easy to stop and start recordings, but you are getting a brand new Kindle Fire I see, Judy. And one of its nice features is to be able to convert written to audio. As I understand it, you can just buy your print book and then play it if you want and read it if you want. You'll have to play it and tell me what you think. Meanwhile today I spent hours trying to get my sewing machine working right and when I did finally get it, I was too tired of sitting to do much. I had planned to make some real headway on my quilt today. Oh well, there is always tomorrow!

I'm not getting the Kindle Fire, Barb. I have the Kindle 2 and am thinking about getting the 3, but I have no need for a tablet. I simply don't travel enough anymore to warrant it. You are correct, though, in that you can have your Kindle read to you if you want. The problem, in my opinion, is how "robotic" the voice sounds. I'm sure they'll figure out a way to make it sound more human.

I'm still not using my Kindle enough. I have the most basic one, but that's not the problem. I'm still attached to books and use the library to get them. My library has started to offer a limited selection of books for the Kindle, but I haven't used any titles yet.

How sad that the voice is robotic. I think that could be a real deterrent. I do still want one though!

Don't get me wrong - I love the Kindle! I do like holding an actual book, too, but truthfully, the Kindle, with the cover is lighter and easier to use. I miss being able to search for a name or something that happened earlier when I'm reading a virtual book.

I have started a heart quilt for my queensize bed and had to add another row to made it wide enough. It seems,that most patterns like the quilt just to hang over the bed. But I would like to have it cover us went in bed. So a little more work but it's worth it.

That is so true Regina, with the mattresses all being different in size what fits my bed won't necessarily fit yours. I'm glad to hear all you had to do was add one more row to make it fit.

Well, after going through what felt to me like forever getting my sewing machine to work again, I think I finally have it. My last crisis was that I took out the bobbin housing to clean it and couldn't get it back in correctly. I must have tried for several hours. I may yet get that Christmas quilt finished in time for Christmas!

I am working on a Dresden at Heart project with applique. Actually having fun with this one. I usually don't do hand applique.

To my great sorrow my daughter has breast cancer and needs 5 months worth of chemo before a chance of an operation so I am making her a quilt with the Moda Dogwood Trail line. She has to keep her job however it must work but a comfy when she comes home might help alittle.

Elizabeth, First my condolences. She has a hard couple months coming. I am so sorry. Here is what I did when my best friend had stage 3 colon cancer. My husband cut out a bunch of off-white flannel squares, and we sent them off to all of her family and friends, asking them to trace their hand and write in a message of love and encouragement. i made a quilt top for her with a Star of David because that is something important to her. When we got the squares all back, I stitched them together and used that as a back. We used heavy quilting because chemo tends to make people cold, and then had it quilted by another friend. My best friend loved that she had so much encouragement to literally wrap herself in. She napped under that quilt every day. She is currently healthy with no sign of cancer and it's been four years. I know your daughter will treasure the quilt you are making her.

Thank you for your kind thoughts. I need all the good thoughts I can get at this point. She had brain surgery the first of Feb and and appendenctomy the first of March. I do not know what we are being tested for.

My prayers are with you.

I have finally recovered enough from a recent Carpel Tunnel release surgery so I can start back cutting fabrics. I can hardly wait to begin piecing, appliqueing, and then quilting a large wall art quilt. I hope it will be ready to submit to the Houston IQF next year. Wish me luck!
Happy sewing and quilting to all,
DianeL

Elizabeth you and your daughter are in my thoughts and prayers.

Diane, did you go through withdrawal after surgery not being able to get to your quilting. Thank goodness for books, right?

It's been quiet around here, I hope everyone is doing well. I put on my apron with turkeys on it today. We're less than a week away!

Elizabeth, I'm so sorry. Like Barbara, made a quilt for my friend who had breast cancer. I used flannel and backed it with Minkee. It was heavy as could be but it was warm and she, too, used it every day during the chemo procedure. I'm sending good thoughts and prayers your way.

Diane, good luck with your quilt for Houston!

I'm still working on the hydrangeas wall hanging. Yesterday I discovered I don't have enough petals, so I have to trace, iron, iron some more, stitch, and tear again. I'd like to think there was a mistake in the directions, but it was probably me although I triple-checked the number I had to trace initially. Oh well. I'm knitting scarves instead!

Judy wrote: "I'm still working on the hydrangeas wall hanging. Yesterday I discovered I don't have enough petals, so I have to trace, iron, iron some more, stitch, and tear again. I'd like to think there was a ..."

I'm knitting scarves as well. Have you seen katia triana yarn http://www.katia.eu/lana.php?idLana=t.... It makes this very cool sort of layered ruffled scarf. It is trying my patience as it slips off the needles very easily, but the final result is wonderful.

Nope, haven't seen it. I'm going there now!

Hi, I am trying to get back into quilting and patchwork. At the moment I've got 2 Christmas scrapbook/journal covers to make - one for me and one for my mum. I bought some more fabric yesterday so hope to get them finished this weekend. Small projects, but at least there's more chance of me finishing them!

I bought a new Janome Gem Gold recently to use as for when I'm traveling and I just love it. Only 12 pounds and only has a few stitches, but plenty for basic piecing and it has a nice solid feel to it. I got so inspired that I pulled out an old UFO I've had forever - a Jinny Beyer wall hanging - and took it with me on a recent trip to Texas. Now I'm halfway finished and really pleased with how it is coming out. I've also been making a lot of cute luggage tags for Christmas gifts. That's a fun way to use up some of my scraps.

Good for you, Marie! I'm still "stewing" about the lack of flower petals! LOL!

Have finished Mum's Christmas journal cover - photo on the UK Kindle group page. Now need to get mine done today - can't believe how quickly December is sliding by!

You'll do great, Marge! Just start! You can always rip out the stitches if you don't like the way they look. I'm anxious to see it!

Yep! And no one takes away our birthdays or fires us from trying! :-)

We changed the guest double bed for two stackable singles, so now need 2 quilts for them...
At the moment, I'm thinking of doing a garden theme, but I'm really not keen on doing matching quilts - I'd rather go for unique patterns but within the same color range. Do you think it'll look odd if the quilts aren't identical?

My personal opinion is it's would look just too-too with matching quilts. I think your idea is spot on. When my parents were alive, they had a cabin in the Black Hills and had 2 single beds in the bedroom. She made a quilt for Dad's bed that was browns and pheasants and some other things you hunt, and hers was a hand appliqued flower quilt in whites and blues and pinks and yellows. It looked absolutely lovely. I'm with you, I wouldn't want to make the same quilt twice, either. In fact, I never make the same quilt more than once.

I like the idea of two unique patterns within the same color range. That would look nice. I enjoyed Judy's description of the quilts in her parent's cabin - quilts to match the individual.

Thanks for that. Itching to get started now, but I really need some time to do the design bit properly! Love the 'his' and 'hers', Judy!

I am sewing lots of Primitive Dolls and animals at the moment. I just love to spend time in my sewing room!

I'm still pressing fabric.

Just been and bought some lengths of fabric for my quilts project.
I did buy a couple of gorgeous rag doll patterns last summer - sort of elfin looking - never had time to make them up, so maybe this year...!

I just started making my dolls last winter! They are fun to make, i love waiting to see how they turn out! Judy you poor thing Don't you hate pressing all that fabric, that is my least favorite thing to do.

Sharon, just seen your Primitive kitties via yr blog - they are Gorgeous!!
Look forward to seeing more of your dolls.