Novice Round Robin Update

It's been a few weeks but I forgot to do a blog post about Sarma's block!

Sarma asked for an asian themed block with no lace or plastic.  I think she plans on doing a bed quilt.

I did a very simple feather stitch with lazy daisy stitches on one seam.

 Then, I added a rose vine to the spider web that Lynda made.

Not a great picture, I really need to stop being lazy and grab the camera.  Not my phone.  But, I love the paisley.

My favorite is the golden feather.  I interwove metallic gold through the back stitches.  Then used perle cotton and gold beads to couch the black rick rack down.

The whole block, including the beautiful tree and flower cluster that Lynda stitched.  I'm excited to get the next one but have to admit as we get further in, it's harder to mesh with the last person's vision.  It's a challenge, for sure.

Kinda, Sorta Getting Going

I apologize for the really terrible pictures but I was too lazy to go get my camera... The iPad is great but doesn't take amazing pictures.

I wasn't going to do the Splendid Sampler, I was just going to follow along and see what others were doing.  Then, I forgot and did the first 3 posted blocks.

I decided to make them purely from my stash.  All pinks and reds.  Pink/red has been on my to do list for a long time.  The idea is that I'll just use any shade of pink or red on any block.  By the end, I'll have so many different brights and darks that they will all blend together.  It's a grand experiment.

These 6" blocks are ideal for a stash buster.  I'm hoping the whole thing doesn't end up being hearts, though.  That might be perfect or it might be too much with my color scheme.  There will be 100.  I'm not commiting to that.   I'm just going to do what I want and then see what I've got when I decide I'm done.  I have to admit, it's nice to have a pieced project going.

If you're interested in following along, you can find them at TheSplendidSampler.com.  They have tutorials and pictures for everything.

 For TAS, I chose my 2016 challenge.  I'm going to work on the Art Nouveau quilt bonus blocks.

 This is a terrible picture!  But, you can still see how pointy my curves are.! I might revisit this one to smooth it out.

Also in TAS, we've been making some needle books.  I demonstrated the "how to"  but they were so simple, very little instruction was neccessary.  In Jan, we transferred the pattern and started the embroidery.  Then this month we added ribbon roses.  Most of the girls did momograms but I already had my monogram and chose to do a birdhouse. Simple, simple but I think it's very sweet.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you soon!

The Final Round Up

This week I headed back to work full time.  It's bittersweet.  I love the people I work with.  I realize how lucky I am just to have ANY job.  If I'm totally honest with myself, I have to admit I'm just a homemaker at heart.  The things that bring me the most joy in life are all domestic endeavors.  However, I live in the real world.  In that real world, I have 4 kids that live at home.  That means 6 cell phones, 10 cars, college tuition and butt loads of groceries. Therefore, I work full-time.

So, I made a mad dash to finish my fun things up before I headed back.  I worked ahead on CQJP 2016.  I did Feb and Mar, just incase things got too busy.  I learned a new stitch in the Feb block.  I'd never done a bouillon chain stitch (peach flower on vine) before, that was exciting. I was able to use my new hand painted button on March's block.  That's a terrible picture of it.  Trust me, the button is beautiful!

 I finally dug in and finished Twisted Mystery 2011(?).  Don't you love Hunter's face.  He gave me several really great expressions to choose from.  I call this one, Mommy Says I'm Special... I waited a few weeks for the designer to get back to me on the inner border size.  She never did, so I had to figure it out on my own.  Then, I remembered that I did the whole thing wrong from the beginning.  That center medallion was supposed be different but I screwed it up.  Which made all of my measurements wrong at each section.  Which was probably why I stopped working on it to begin with!  So, really, if she'd given me a number, it probably wouldn't have worked anyways.  Alas, it's finished now!  I've spoken to Jane Hair about quilting it for me.  She can't work me in by June, so it's not going to be a wedding present after all.  All the other kids loved it, so someone will probably get it someday.

 So Many Plates to Fill got sewn together.  I waited and waited on inspiration for the setting on this quilt.  I was stuck thinking it needed sashing and borders but couldn't decide on anything.  Then, out of nowhere, I decided to just sew them together and leave off all the borders.  I like it, it feels more modern this way.  So, now I just need to quilt it.  That's a total of 3 empty project boxes!

Last but not least, I DID start a new project.  I've got a story tell you about my epic road trip,too.  I think I've mentioned how I want to learn all forms of needlework.  I had done a few Hardanger projects but knew I couldn't call myself proficient.  Then, I was reading a blog  I follow called Sewing After Seven.  Super talented lady!  Look her up.  She's participating in Mabel Figworthy's Round In Circles Stitch Along.  So, I decided to as well.  It's your basic stitch along.  They post a Hardanger pattern each month and then they explain how to do it in 2 bi-monthly installments.  This is January.  There is supposed to be a circle around it but I suck.  The white lines are my feeble attempt at a grid to keep track of my stitches.  As the months progress, so will the difficulty.  Not looking good for me so far.  I think I had to frog and re-stitch everything twice.

So, about that road trip.  You've read 'If You Give A Pig A Pancake', right?  I needed to find Hardanger fabric and was hoping for something more interesting than white.  The embroidery supply stores are limited in this area.  I googled, and could only find 3 that I could confirm were still in business.  I started out at the First and Last Stitch.  A lovely store with great threads and a delightful owner but she's exclusively Needlepoint.  Then drove to Needlepoint Clubhouse, at this point I'm realizing Needlepoint is NOT a poor man's hobby.  Even more beautiful threads here but still no Hardanger.  I knew that my 3rd store was also Needlepoint and decided to skip it. Seriously, 3 Needlepoint stores in St. Louis...?  Weird, right?  So, I decided I was half way to Three French Hens (a designer/ decorator store, heavily advertised in my area).  I'd never been there either and was curious.  Turns out, not my favorite place.  It's basically overpriced imported, pretty, crap.  But, now I know.  Also, now I'm an hour away from home.  But, only 1/2 hour from the Quilted Fox.  Another store I'd never been to.  They ARE worth the trip.  She stocks my silk appliqué thread and I had just run out of light green...But, no Hardanger.  Fine, I give up.  6 hours after leaving the house, I get to Joann's in Fairview (my regular destination).  I buy the Hardanger in white and a packet of green dye.  Head home, dye my fabric and some silk ribbon while I'm at it.  Ta da, I have hand dyed Hardanger fabric for my new project.  It only cost me $6 in supplies and a full tank of gas.  Now I know why everyone buys online.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll catch up with you soon!

It's Okay, I'm Irish

I've got a funny story to tell you about being Irish.  So, growing up my father always told me we were Irish.  My maiden name is Purdy.  Not very Irish sounding but I never questioned it.  And, once I saw it in the Book of Irish Surnames.  Good enough proof for me.  So, I grew up identifying as Irish.  Irish this, Irish that.  If I lost my temper, my Irish was showing.  I went so far as to write an Irish poem on the wall in my sewing room.  It explained my skin color, etc.

When I asked my mom what her family ancestry was for a school project, she also said Irish.  Irish from both sides, that must mean I'm 100%... But, she added that it wasn't the same as my dad's family.  The Bradley's were "black Irish".  Okay, so you have to understand, I'm from southern California.  We were living in West Covina, which was a very culturally diverse area and I was 5.  I thought my mom was telling me that I was part black on my mom's side.  Like African American, black.  This did not help me understand why I was so dang white and my friends had skin like chocolate!  I did, however, understand why she could tan so easily.  This all made sense to me.  And, I was PISSED when no one would believe me when I said I was part black.

It took me into my late teens to realize that she was referring to the color of their hair.  Which was black, as opposed to my dad's family's tendency towards red.  I know.  I'm super smart.  Looking back, I feel super smart.

Mind you, either way, I'm still Irish. Until I get connected to my cousin who did the Purdy family's genealogy.  I'm in my mid to late 30s by this point.  She was wonderfully generous and sent me a copy.  I'm like, hey, where's the Irish?  She's like, nope, no Irish.  We're English/ Scots.  The woman was thorough.  We started in France but got kicked out.  So, we went to Germany, and got kicked out.  Off to England, guess what, kicked out.  Then to Scotland, back to England then kicked out again (or something like that).  Then, on to America.  We're like, 14th generation American.  Basically, the only people more American are the actual Natives.  Yeah, so why is it so important that I identify with anything other than American?  Who knows, it makes no sense...

So, I got this major complex about my heritage.  My whole life had been I lie.  I was super uncomfortable being attracted to anything Irish.  I stopped celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  I felt like that white chick who identified with being black and basically lied to everyone so they'd believe she was black.  It was embarrassing.  I was super embarrassed that my father basically appropriated Irish culture with no reason to believe he was, indeed Irish.  Totally weirded me out.  This coming from someone completely comfortable with being part black...  I know.  Ridiculous.    

So, then Rich and I had our DNA tested by Ancestry.com.  Turns out I'm 59% French/ German, 13% Irish, 12% British and 11% Danish.  All white.  Shocker.

LOOONNNNGG story, long.  I now feel fine with identifying with Irish culture again.  So, I started a Triple Irish Chain last year and I make it green, to boot.  Yes, you can make one without being Irish but it just made me uncomfortable.  Don't judge me too harshly...

I've had the base of the quilt done for quite some time but I stalled out when it came to the border.  I wanted it just like a picture I'd seen but didn't really know how to get there.  The instructions on the pattern I saw basically said, now make the border.  Add leaves.

All the pictures are a small tutorial on how I did the 2-tone border.  I started by cutting an 8 inch border in dark green and a 6 inch border of light green.  Overlapped them by 2 inches making them a total of 12".  Then, used my walking foot to free hand a wavy vine down the center of the 2" overlap.  You can feel the edge of the bottom layer with your finger, also I knew that my pins were 2" long.  As long as I didn't go above or below the pin, I stayed in range.  When I was all done, I trimmed the top layer to about 1/4".

Then, I mitered the corners.  Danged if one end wasn't too short.  So, I added on, then mitered.  This corner turned out pretty good.

This corner was a disaster.  I tried to avoid this awkward meet up but shit happens.  A lot, apparently.

Then, I made a bias tape vine.  This is just zigzagged on with invisible thread over the basting stitch and open edge.

Then, I added around 200 leaves along three sides.  These are zigzagged using my free motion foot.  Kind of interesting.  I set the machine to do zigzag but I had complete control over the shape, speed and size.  You can go backwards, forwards and sideways without having to constantly re-adjust the quilt as you sew along.  I'd say it was about 2 hours of  stitching for 200 leaves.  Much better than what I expected.

The finished quilt.  I love it!  It'll be awhile before I actually quilt it.  I plan on using it as a learning tool for my free motion quilting.  Dare I say, with a celtic design.  But, that's okay, because I'm Irish.  I can do that now.

Roberta Anne with an "E"

I'm finally done-ish with Roberta Anne, With An "E".  It's not quilted but the top is done!  I thought I'd do a little recap of the months only to realize I never  posted a couple of the blocks to begin with.  The pattern name is really Bertie's Year but my mom's name was Roberta.  So, I imagined that I convinced my mom to wear a silly hat every month for a year.  However, she wasn't what you'd call a silly woman.  I was known to convince her of a lot of things that weren't in her best interest.  Like pink carpeting.

January

May

I couldn't get May to post in it's proper slot, so just pretend it's all in order...  May was one of my favorites.  I can just imagine convincing my mom to wear a flower hat on her head.  Incidentally, I had a hat like that for Halloween back when the kids were in pre-school.

February

Mom was married 4 times, so being courted wasn't that far of a stretch for her.

March

March was the whole reason why I wanted to do this quilt in the first place.  I just LOVED this bee stripe & hive.  So, cute!

April

Honestly, who hasn't worn bunny ears.  You know you did.

June

I love anything with a strawberry on it.

July

Mom was a tomboy, so I can totally see her challenging her boy cousins or brothers in a watermelon seed spitting contest.

August

Here's where I lost interest.  I just couldn't get into the pear and bandana.  Also, dark orange was never a favorite color.  And, why no cute hat?  It took me a couple months to get up the interest to finish when I got to it.

September

September perked up a little.  I like the acorn hat.  I also like the funky teal leaves.

October

October was supposed to have a jack-o-lantern face but I hated it.  So, I kept it as whole pumpkins.  Major kudos for the candy corn hat, though!  Another thing I like about the pattern is that each month has a different format for the 1/2 square triangles.  Reminds me how much can be done with a triangle.

November

November is sweet but I should have given her a Pilgrim hat.  Mind you, I can't draw for crap but I might have managed.

December

Why no Santa hat??  And then, I realized I used the same reds in December as I did in July.  Dang it.

Finished

My original plan was to get more of the background fabric and do the sashing with it.  Then, the stars were going to be all different colors.  But, they were out of the background fabric and replaced it with an almost identical print.  It was larger and less detailed.  Close but not the same.  So, I cut up the fabric I was using for the car embroidery quilt and used it for sashing.  Then, platinum stars.  I thought the different outer border was fine, as long as they did't touch.

I'd like to get it quilted before I go back to work but I don't think I'm going to have time.  At least I have an empty project box now!

Hey, Cupcake

I managed to custom quilt Hey, Cupcake.  It took the better part of 2 days.

 I experimented with lots of different ideas.  I did meandering hearts.

These are supposed to be flourishes.  Not quite as successful as I'd like.

I loved the little crowns but my transitions need a lot of work...

Daisy petals.

I really like the fleur-de-lis and hearts.

I loved the bows.  I've done them before, so it wasn't really new.

Same goes for the meandering daisies.

Cross hatching in the checks.  Loops on the inner border.

I really like the look of these corner loop flowers.

Every time I quilt something, I become a little more confident.  There's a whole lot of room for improvement but not as much as there used to be.  For 1, my Pfaff is fantastic.  Anytime there was a problem, it was 100% user error.  Also, it doesn't like my cheap thread.  I've switched to Aurifil for quilting and I think it's also made a huge difference.

Lay-off is almost over.  Sad face.  But, I've still got some things to finish first.  So, I'll see you again soon.