Garden Quilt Progress

I have been working off and on to get a quilt done for my newest grand baby, Layla Grace. 

 I made a block with a pot of tulips.

I used the freezer paper appliqué method, and machine-stitched with invisible thread and a size 8 needle.  It went together pretty easily.

Then I remembered the problem with stitching through freezer paper.  You have to cut away the backing fabric and pick all the paper out of the seams when you are finished.

My team's football game was not very exciting today, so I picked with tweezers while halfway watching on TV.

I think I got most of the little dribs and drabs of paper out.

I also embroidered antennae on the butterflies and eyes on the birds.

Layla is getting excited about it...hurry up, Gigi!

Handwork is a little difficult for me because I have a dislocated arthritic thumb on my left hand.  I have been getting by with steroid injections, but I think it may be getting bad enough to have the surgery to fix it.  It is not an easy process, and will require a big cast and weeks of rehab. 

We are in the North Carolina mountains this weekend, and are blessed with beautiful sunny weather to show off the autumn foliage.

We are also celebrating my husband's retirement from work.  His official last day is November 1.  He is going to go by on Monday and say goodbye, but his office is cleared out and his work is done!  We are so blessed that his cancer is in remission, and now we have some time to enjoy his retirement together.  I am looking forward to this new phase of our lives.

Back to the Mountains

We were able to rest up enough to come up to our mountain cabin on Wednesday.  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day.  We were so excited to see the autumn leaves on this lovely drive.  And of course our own little piece of Heaven was a sight for sore eyes.

On Friday, both of our sons came up with their families.  It was a joyous reunion.  How wonderful to all be together again!

 As you can see, the weather was considerably cooler than it was in southwest Florida!  Jackets and hats were necessary on those rides up the mountain.

Some other friends and relatives also joined us.  I will end with this giant group "selfie!"

Baby Quilt: Almost Finished

Last weekend I was able to finish quilting the woodland-theme baby quilt on my Gammill before we left the mountains.

There were lots of motifs in the fabrics to inspire free-motion quilting designs.

Mostly I did swirls, leaves, and curves to sort of echo the circles in the border fabric and add texture.

I have also sewn on the binding to the quilt top, but have not hand-stitched it down to the back yet.  It will be a diagonal stripe.

This weekend I stayed home from the mountains in order to attend Art of the Carolinas in Raleigh.  I feel lucky to be only twelve minutes away from this venue.  I have met many students who flew in from Colorado, South Dakota, Michigan, Florida, and other faraway places to take advantage of the many classes and instructors who are here for this conference.  There is also a huge trade show which I visited before my class on Friday night.  I have one more class tomorrow morning.  So far I have finished one painting, but don't know what I will do with it yet.  It is a watercolor batik on rice paper.  I have one watercolor class to go, tomorrow morning with Tom Lynch.  Photos to follow!

Meantime, the Raleigh area is still enjoying the autumn colors.  It turned a lot colder on Friday, but it is still beautiful outside.  Here are some pictures of the pond at my Raleigh home.

Double Wedding Ring Antique Quilt

Here it is, fresh off the long arm machine...a double wedding ring antique quilt!  This is another top made by Helen Stewart, my sister-in-law Debbie's late grandmother.  To see some of the other completed ones, please visit this page.  And here is another with a picture of Helen holding Debbie's daughter, Rachel, when she was a baby.

I have to admit that I did not like this one much at first.  The background fabric is a flowered sheet.  I thought it was too busy for all that piecing.  But, it has grown on me and now I think it is very cheerful.

This quilt top had some issues, the two biggest being that it did not lie flat, and that the piecing seams were not very strong.

Instead of spending a lot of time making repairs to the top before quilting, I decided to just use a curvy overall meandering pattern and Make This Sucker Lie Down Flat!  It worked pretty well.  I decided I would not worry about any pleats formed by stitching through the extra fabric.  And I was able to catch a lot of the seams as I went, strengthening them at the same time.

I also used a very thick polyester batting, Quilters' Dream Puff, which helped ease a lot of the fullness.

My plan worked splendidly!

Hettie quilted the old-fashioned way, by using up fabric from sheets, clothing, and curtains.  I recognize some of the fabrics from other quilts that I finished for Debbie. And she recognizes some of the dresses that her grandma lovingly sewed for her.

The backing is white-on-white muslin.  I used a Seafoam green thread in a leafy vine to somewhat echo the floral vine print on the background fabric.

Now to bind around all those scallops and get this one done!  (I've only had it for three or four years.)

We took a last October trip to the mountains last weekend, and were rewarded with clear blue skies, colorful foliage, and warm temperatures.

Next weekend we will stay in Raleigh to help host our annual pig picking.  It has been a great October!
                                         

Autumn Color Inspiration

It has been a fabulous three days in the North Carolina mountains.  It rained on the way up on Thursday night, but after that it has been beautiful, with a full moon and mostly clear skies.  We took a couple of trips into town to buy groceries and other supplies.  Signs of the season were everywhere!

We took a ride up to the top of Mount Jefferson to see the colorful view.

Of course, we took some Gator rides closer to home.  It was so pretty.

I was a happy girl!

Our contractor has finished excavating for the basement of our new cabin..  Now when we look out the window we see this.

But the view from the new cabin will be nice.

Tomorrow morning I start my class with Fealing Lin.  I am both nervous and excited.  More to come!