Moving along in Fantasyland~

Just want to show a little of my progress   That goofy tree (from the last post) is really filling out and looks kind of enchanting.  The jury is still out for the bubble tree.  Isn't it interesting how you get a better perspective with a photo than just the naked eye?

I linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Dolls Quilts.

Robin

The upward trek

The photography makes this look ghastly.  It really is much prettier in real life.

I've been working on the top panel for the Roseville Album Quilt.  It doesn't look like much but I've already spend a lot of time.  The house is in the center of the panel with two trees on each side.  The one tree with only 3 leaves looks pretty scrawny but it will end up with multiple leaves, long stems, and an abundance of fruit.  I can't decide if the fruit is supposed to be dates or coconuts.  Regardless of what they are supposed to be - I'll be using much more colorful fabric to represent the fruit.

I'm on the final border for my charm quilt.  This should have only taken me about 2 weeks to quilt using the big stitch but here I am almost 2 months in and it's just finishing up.  I'm having a hard time making myself go downstairs and stitch.  It has something to do with the heat.  The unusually miserable heat. . .

I cut out a scrap quilt last week so I would have a leader/ender project.  After it was all cut out I had to laugh at myself because I have no quilt I'm in the process of piecing.  This is it.

The scrappy bear's paw is from Miss Rosie's Spice of Life Quilts book.

I'm using a very random mix of FQs that I had stuffed in a drawer.  I have won FQs at various times through the years at my quilt club.  It seems like 2 or 3 times a year I win a drawing or someone is passing out FQs for part of their presentation.

Anyway, none of these fabric really go together and they are not all quilt store quality but it's a scrap quilt.  That's what scrap quilting is all about, isn't it.

The cute scrappy Bear's Paw block is below.  Miss Rosie has a different set of instructions for cutting out than I am used to.  It's taken me a little while to figure it out but I think I've got it down, finally.

I had a big piece of white kettle cloth (I don't know what they call it now) from the 80's or 90's that I'm cutting up for the neutral in this quilt.  It will be a good use for it.

I've also started a new cross stitch project for fall.  I've wanted to make this sampler for years, the pattern came out in 2011.  I found the sparkly gray Aida and then aged it all for a while.  The cloth isn't long enough to make the whole sampler so until I decided what to do instead, the pattern and cloth when into a box up on a shelf.

I love the sparkly cloth and hate the thought of not using it.  So I finally made myself make some decisions.  I picked out the colors I like, not all are the ones suggested.  I decided to shade the pumpkin differently than the original pattern (below)

And, I am only going to stitch the Halloween Eve part down.  I'm not going to stitch the alphabet and now I have enough cloth to get the most important part (the bird, pumpkin, and cat) all stitched.

Why do we take so long to decide. . . ?

Yesterday the question for the designers to answer on the Moda Blockheads BOW was "Do you wash your quilts?"

When I read Lisa Bongean's answer about never washing her wool quilts I wasn't surprised but, it made me realize that I don't make wool quilts for that very reason.  My quilts are made to be used.  And if that use requires cleaning then I want to make sure that can be done without ruining the quilt.

It's something we all have to decide.  How are we going to use the finished project?

Don't get me wrong, I think the wool quilts are wonderful.  But, I guess I think the wall hangings are even better because they can be tossed into the dryer on low (like Lisa suggested) and get clean without any problem.

What are your thoughts?
Robin

The stain is gone!!!

I finished the Father's Day block (see previous post for naming thoughts) yesterday and I soaked it in Oxy-Clean.  It took about 4 hrs. but there is no trace of the raspberry stain -whew!  I'm surprised how many raspberry colored fabrics ended up in this block.  It was fun to make.

The large center flower is supposed to be make out of three different fabrics including a center circle.  When I came across this Amy Butler fabric I knew it would be perfect.

Now, I'll take a little break and finish big stitching the quilt on the frames.  Then it's on to applique the top border for this quilt.
Robin

I'm linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching

Little Juicy Fingers

 I've been working on another block for the Roseville Album Quilt.  I'm calling this one the Father's Day block.  (More on that later.)  I applique at my little rocking settee in the dining area.  The morning light shines in through the window behind me as I sit and stitch.  It is such good lighting but, alas, it is also quite near the food preparation and eating area.  Hince the stains on the top and bottom of my block.  GASP!

I think it was from the grandkids but at this point it isn't about the blame - it's about how am I going to get these stains out.  The block was folded in half so I have a big stain at the bottom and a smaller stain at the top of the block.

This is the delightfully delicious culprit of the the red fingers who touched my block to probably move it out of the way so they could sit on a stool at the bar and continue to nibble to their little hearts content.

You can see the block in the background.  I need to remember to move it into another room when I baby-sit each week.

So. . . .   any thoughts on how to remove raspberry stains?

Back to the block's name - I'm calling this the "Father's Day" block because these little blossoms remind me of carnations.  Years ago when my DH was seated on the stand each Sunday, I would get him a carnation boutonniere on Father's Day.  He seemed to like it.

I've decided to finish appliquing the block and then try and remove the stain.  If it's a stubborn one - I'll just figure out a way to applique over it.

You just never know. . .
Robin