Of Dogs and Quilts

I spent yesterday afternoon upstairs, quilting on my longarm machine.


This is my faithful dog at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for me to come back down and play.

She often lies on one step and has her head on the next.

At least, that's when she's not sneaking a nap on the leather couch.

The little rug by the front door looks just like our last dog, Maggy.  Sometimes Kasey lies right on Maggy.  It makes me smile.

Here is a cute little charity quilt for my guild's Quilts on Wheels program.  They are given to senior citizens in rest homes to serve as lap warmers in the wheelchairs.

I bought the blocks for this quilt on E-bay a long time ago, pieced the blocks together, and there it sat for more than six years.  I brought them to my bee's sew-in day in January, along with the extra fabric that came with the blocks.  Carolyn Ormond added a white inner border and the floral outer border.

The floral print looks like geranium leaves with little blue flower clusters.  I tried to quilt in a design that evokes that shapes in the print.

I used a soft, almost aqua blue thread.  It gave definition to the white background, and blended. right in with the floral print.

I searched my stash to find a backing fabric that would look nice.  I think I hit the jackpot.  It's a dark blue and green abstract floral.

I didn't realize it until I was taking the pictures, but the shapes in the backing fabric are very much like the free-motion quilting designs.  You could use either side of this quilt, and it would look pretty.

So, another UFO is finished (or will be when Carolyn does the binding.)  Now that it is done, I wonder why I never finished this one.  It would make a very cute table topper in my home!    I may be prejudiced, but Quilting Makes the Quilt, doesn't it?  At least it's now ready to use and add warmth, comfort, and hopefully pleasure to somebody's grandmother or grandfather.  And if you have ever visited a rest home, the visitors and staff also enjoy something fresh and pretty.

If you have an old UFO (Un-Finished Object) in your closet, I challenge you to get it out and finish it for Project Linus, one of your guild's charities, a wounded soldier, a charity auction, or even for someone in your family. It's a good feeling!

First Panto Quilt in about Six Years

Okay, so it's back to quilting this week.  Last year I volunteered to quilt a large number of donated quilt tops and backs for the Quilts on Wheels program at Capital Quilters Guild.  I finished thirty!  But the last group of donated tops that I brought home had a problem.  Most of the quilt backings were not large enough to mount the quilt on the longarm.  When you are quilting by hand or by domestic sewing machine, you can get away with the same size or a slightly larger backing.  That won't work when you have to pin the backing to the leaders of a longarm.  I like to have four inches of backing fabric on each side, if possible.


Monday, I spent the afternoon adding eight-inch strips to the bottoms and sides of at least five quilt backings.  None match.  All are now big enough to load up, though!

I also got the binding made and applied by machine to the little blue baby quilt. Navy blue seemed to work the best.   I have it hemmed about a third of the way around.  That's a chore I can do in front of the TV.  Or maybe at my quilt bee on Thursday night.

So, on Tuesday, I decided to start with a St. Patrick's Day theme top,  which might get delivered to a nursing home in time for the March holiday.  Or given to somebody Irish.  Or just someone who likes the color green.

This top was very nicely pieced.  Sorry I don't know the piecer- many quilters just drop off their finished tops anonymously at the guild meetings.That  narrow little border is a striped fabric.  The shamrock border has little lady bugs.

I had the thing all mounted and ready to begin.  I always do free-motion quilting from the front of the machine.  I put in the needle, brought up the bobbin thread, pushed the "go" button...and nothing happened.

Huh?

The light was on, the single-stitch button on the left worked, but the switch on the right handle must have died or shorted out.

I was beginning to think it might be time to spend the afternoon cleaning the sewing room.

Nah.

On the newer Gammills, it is easy to change a switch.  Pull off the cap, pull out the old switch, plug in the new.

On mine, you have to solder the new switch to the wires.  That's a job for Duh-Hubby. I mean Dear Sweet Husband.

Then, I had the brilliant idea that I could do a pantograph pattern from the back end of the machine.  A quick check showed that both switches worked on the back.

Hmmm...what pantograph to use?  Pantos are large rolls of paper that have quilting patterns you can follow with a stylus.  You can lay out the pattern the whole length of the twelve-foot table.  I have a laser stylus that projects a little red dot on the pattern.

I thought, well, I haven't done one in six years.  It doesn't matter which pattern.  I need the practice!  So, with this leafy green quilt, I pulled out the first one that had leaves in the title.  It's by Linda Taylor, and I remember that I chose it for my friend Cathy Carter's quilt.

What was I thinking?  This pattern requires two passes for each roll.  It takes forever!  Look at all that stitching!  It looks like a lovely texture now that it is done.

When I got ready to start, I realized that I had removed the Style-Laser from the side of the machine years ago.  It is mounted near the thread cone, and I didn't see any need for it to possibly get in the way of my thread path.

Guess what?  I remembered where I put it, but it was in pieces.  I tried to put it back together.  Somehow, something was missing.  I couldn't figure out how to keep the stylus from slipping out.

No problem- about six inches of clear packing tape took care of that problem!

I remembered why I dislike doing pantos.  It's kind of boring, sort of like tracing a line for several hours. And sometimes I get seasick doing a long row on a big quilt. And sometimes the thread breaks, but since the needle is on the other end of the machine, sometimes you don't notice and keep on stitching with no thread.

Also, I have this directionality problem.  A couple times I lost my way on this complicated pattern and double-stitched.  If this was a customer quilt, I would be frogging today.  (Rip-it, rip-it, rip-it out) but for a rest home wheelchair quilt,  I think it will be okay.

The backing is a light green and white stripe, although it looks gray in the photo.  I do like the sculptural look of the quilting.

When I finally got this done, I decided to quilt the little green and blue floral star quilt that Carolyn pieced together at our bee's sew-in day in January.  We are meeting tomorrow night, and it would be nice to have it ready to give back to her.  When I was mounting the quilt from the front of the machine, I forgot about the dead switch, and by habit I pressed the Go button.

It worked! 

What?  Come on! 

 No problem at all.  Maybe the switch is not dead, just loose somewhere.  I crossed my fingers and kept going.  Got 'er done!  This quilt is still on the machine, but it looks real cute.l

I'll take better pictures later.  If my switch decides to work today, I'm going to work on Tonya's quilt this afternoon.  If not, I have plans for my personal mechanic tonight!

An Incredible January Day...but it's over

Temperature of seventy degrees at the end of January?  Unbelievable, but true here in central North Carolina.  Just had to stay outside as much as possible!  I convinced the hubs to go walking with Kasey and me.  He brought along his new camera.

After dinner (standing rib roast which he cooked on the smoker- yum!) it was still warm enough to sit outside and watch the sun set. 

Alas, January weather has now returned, and it is 37 windy degrees.  But it was a lovely respite for one weekend!

Beautiful Day

I hope it is as beautiful where you are today as it is here in Wake Forest, North Carolina.  The sun is shining, there is not a cloud in the sky, and it is 52 degrees Fahrenheit.  Raleigh is hosting the National Hockey League All-Star weekend, and couldn't have asked for better weather.

Kasey and I just came back from a long nature walk.  They have continued to work on the new section of the Heritage development across Rogers Road from our street.  Unlike the older section which is named for golf courses, the streets here derive their names from flowers and nature.  Here is one that made me smile:

I like the name Evening Snow Street, but I LOVE Fawn Lily Drive!  I will have to show that one to my granddaughter, Lily.  I did not know there was a flower named Fawn  Lily, but I googled it and found that there is, indeed.  Maybe I will start calling my granddaughter Fawn.

I like walking the dog in the new neighborhood, because there is no traffic.  Just wide open spaces and nice paved roads.

The new roads ramble all over through pine woods.  There is no chance of getting lost.  You can hear the traffic from Rogers Road, and then there is this homing beacon.

That's the antenna for WCPE.  It is actually on Chalk Road, but as the crow flies, it is through the woods right behind our house.  We like to sit on the screened porch during thunderstorms and watch lightning hit the tower.  WCPE is known as The Classical Station, and is available via the Internet and satellite and cable TV stations as well as FM stations.  Back in 2003 they increased the height of the tower, and we got to watch men working 1200 feet in the air. 

And here is the old homestead on Shasta Daisy Road.  Too bad it was in such bad shape that it could not be preserved.

It now sits only about 100 feet from these new homes being built in very close proximity to each other.

This is the finished part of Heritage View Drive, which is actually my same street, but across Rogers Road.  I think it looks pretty with Forgotten Pond in the background.

One More Floral Painting

The last "Lessons in a Bag" from Karlyn Holman had two drawings/paintings in one.  So, today I worked on the second one.  These are almost all warm colors.  This was my first attempt at depicting glass. 

Here is how the two paintings work together.  Maybe I will frame and hang them together. 

Now I am ready to get back to sewing and quilting.  And my next painting is not going to be flowers!  Maybe a woods scene.

Of course, my patient assistant doesn't care what I paint.  She just keeps hoping some food will fall off the table!

New Watercolor Painting

Today was the first sunny day- too nice to stay in and sew in my little room on the third floor.  I picked up a couple of books that I had requested at the library, and took Kasey to the greenway.  No deer this time!

Here is the latest watercolor painting I have completed from a one of Karlyn Holman's Lessons in a Bag.  The drawing and a reference photo and a few step-outs are provided, along with a photo of Karlyn's painting.

This one is 11" x 11."  I did not add any collaged Oriental papers, nor did I sand watercolor pencils over a stencil to create a background.  The checkerboard areas were drawn in with watercolor pencil and painted.  Some stripes painted in at the end add interest to the background.

I think I am getting better at letting the watercolors blend and not fuss with them so much!  I think that is especially true on the pitcher in this painting.

I had to smile when I looked at my two library books.  Animals Make Us Human, by Temple Grandin, has a beautiful golden retriever on the cover.  I have been listening to this book on tape while I worked on my journals, but my name just came up on the print copy list.  I love reading about books in the newspaper or hearing about them from friends, and then requesting them from the library on the Internet. 

The other new book is Watercolor for the Serious Beginner, by Mary Whyte.  This book has beautiful sample paintings, and lots of instruction in everything I need to know to start composing my own watercolor paintings.  But what made me smile was right there on the first page of Chapter One.

The painting (which Blogger keeps rotating sideways for some reason) is called "Studio Clutter." 

Now, what did that remind me of?

I got a lovely surprise in the mail today.  I got a note-sized decorated envelope, and opened it to find this beautifully embossed patchwork notecard.  Not recognizing the name and address on the return label, I opened the note to find that it was from someone who had purchased one of my quilts at the Heritage Day Auction last October! 

Carol Thrasher purchased my Star of the Garden quilt, and was kind enough to send some compliments about the quilting.  I have given several of my quilts to charity auctions, and have never heard anything back from the purchaser before.  I was just thrilled to get this nice note!  Here is the quilt that Carol purchased.  She is a member of Capital Quilters Guild.

I blogged about this quilt back in 2007.  This quilt had been the Challenge Quilt for the Carolina Longarm Association show that fall.  Since this year's challenge quilt also featured a blue and white color scheme, I decided to donate the previous one to benefit the Capital Quilters Guild and an organization called Military Missions in Action.

It has been a good day.

Art Journals

That gray, cold wet weather of the past couple of days inspired me to get out my art journals and play with some pretty color.  I finished a page that I had previously painted a hot pink with acrylics.  I drew a lady's face in pencil.  To help get the proportions correct, I cut out a face from a cosmetics advertisement and put it on the facing page while I was drawing.

The butterfly is from a copyright-free Dover image.  I cut up scrapbook paper for some of the collage elements.  The little butterfly was originally a doodle on a Post-It note.  The page also includes black ink from a Pitt pen, and silver markings from a paint marker.

When I was scanning this and the image started to appear from the top of the page, her eyes looked wild and red.  Maybe I should give her some white paint as artistic Visine!

Some of my journal pages were mentioned on Tracie Hanson's blog today.  She is the online instructor for the Doodlicious Daybook class at 21 Secrets.  I need to get that journal back out and doodle some more.  Maybe next time Lily comes to visit.