A happy discovery

 I was so sorry to hear that Barb Adams of Blackbird Designs had passed away.  She died just before her 70th birthday.  

I have always looked forward to Blackbird Designs new fabric lines and books.  But,  they have mostly concentrated on their cross stitch patterns the last few years so I figured maybe they weren't making any more lines.

BUT WAIT!

I discovered this new line by Blackbird Designs but it doesn't come out till next February.  

I am still delighted!

I hope there is a book of patterns to go along with it.

It makes me feel a little less sad about Barb's passing. 

 I needed something to look forward to.

Robin

Gotta whale of a tale

Well (Whale?) it's finished.  It's one of those quilt tops that I like well enough that it doesn't matter whether anyone else likes it on not.  It was a delight to make.  It's such a different color scheme from what I usually choose but it makes me happy.  It measure 80" X 91" and is much bigger than I thought it would become.

I didn't have any one to hold it up for me so all my photos are taken from my lawn.  This is the top half.

And this is the bottom half of the quilt top from one angle showing off the spiral.  It would have been a lot easier if I had decided what to applique before I attached the borders but I still couldn't sew the whales on until the very end.  

And this is the bottom half of the quilt top showing how long the whale is.  I've considered sewing an eye on the whale but it's not supposed to be exact - it's just a representation.

This is the best picture I could get of the whole quilt top.  I find it a little amusing that I made a quilt top about the ocean when we are so deep into a drought.

 I put the leftover fabric into a big tote and I definitely have enough to make another large quilt top. 

 So. . . .

               no more purchasing Janet Clare fabric for a while.

I was sitting in my bedroom when I heard this commotion outside my window.  I knew it was birds but was surprised to find two mail quail fighting it out right beneath my bedroom window.    

These pictures are taken through the screen on the window.  

They figured out their problem and the winner is pictured above.

  

Here are some of the chicks with the male.  They just sat there for quite a while once the spat was resolved.

Hope you're having a great day,

Robin

Just a little update

  Blogger is acting weird and I can't get my pictures and words like normal.  So, it will be few words.  I finished the blocks and put them all together with dark corner stones.  It is such lovely fabric but it didn't do anything for me.  So, long story short, I found some coral colored fabric and replaced half of the dark cornerstones.  I think it makes the quilt sparkle.  Now I'm working on the applique for the borders.

Robin

Mini quilt UFO done

I'm still trying to get caught up with some UFOs.  I decided to work on this little piece that I made from the leftovers of my huge Lady of the Lake quilt made from Valentine fabric below.

about 85" X 93"

I hand quilted the mini  so it took me a while to finish.  I called the above quilt Mayfair after my favorite See's Chocolate.

Here is the completed little quilt.  It's not a very good picture but you get the idea.  It measures less than 25" square.  It has a pieced backing - I didn't get a picture.  The fabrics are from a  couple of Deb Strain lines.

I used the one on the left but I just had strips and pieces.  One thing about Deb Strain's reds,  they are over the top saturated with color and there is absolutely no bleeding.  Bonus!

I call this piece Bordeaux after another favorite chocolate.

So I can chalk up another finish in my list of UFOs.  And, hopefully I'll remember that I made it so I can use it to decorate next February.

Do you remember this quilt?

  It is my Welsh Quilt Study II from a few years ago.  I had it out on display and noticed something amiss.  Can you see it?  There is a big honking mistake that I had never noticed before.  Once you see it - you can't not see it.  I'm sure some of you noticed it before but were kind enough not to mention it to me.

I knew it was going to take a lot of tedious unpicking, rearranging, resewing, and requilting.  Is that a word?  I threw up my hands, folded it, and stuffed it in a cupboard downstairs.  MAYBE someday I would fix it but I was in no mood at the time. It's been down there for over a year.  It is like mending, my least favorite sewing task!!!

While I have been stewing about what to use for the sashing and cornerstones on the Janet Clare quilt (in my previous post) I decided it was a perfect time to use my unpicking skills on this little Welsh quilt while my mind was relentlessly trying to come up with a solution for the other quilt.

I could win a medal in unpicking!

I unpicked all the quilting, reversed the two offending strips, and appliqued it back in place.

The reason I missed seeing this mistake in the first place (and 2nd or 3rd) is because much of the hand quilting on a Welsh quilt is done from the back.  Here I am pinning the shadows of the quilting on the back

And then tracing my quilt lines on the front with water soluble marker so I can hand quilt it once again.

I couldn't just use the shadows on these pieces on the front because they were now reversed and the quilting would not have matched.

It took me a few days of concentrated effort but it's done now.  So another monkey off my back - whew!

I went to my quilt group last Thursday night.  It was the first time I have met with them since February 2020.  It was so good to see everybody and hear about their lives.  One of the ladies is moving to Hurricane so she will no longer be meeting with us.  We started out 18 strong when we began about 10 years ago but we're down to 7 or 8 now.  We need some new recruits.

It was our annual potluck and exchange.  I found two pieces of fabric and a quilt book that I wanted.  One piece is an old Terry Clothier Thompson floral and column piece from 1999.  It was a great find.  The other piece might be just exactly what I was looking for to add some "oomph" to the Janet Clare quilt. 

I hope I hope I hope.

 It's raspberry season so I had some on my waffle this morning - yum!

Have a great day without problems, conundrums, or fires to put out.  Bliss~

Robin

Oh boy! I need some help!

I didn't think it would be so hard to figure out what color to use for the cornerstones in this quilt.  I've never had this much trouble before.

 

I originally thought I would use these light star grunge squares.  But they do nothing for the quilt with this border. 

So I thought I would use the same fabric as the sashing for the border and see how that looks - meh!

I found a coral colored fabric in the stash.  Coral comes from the sea, right?  

Ooooh!  Too bold!

I tried a less intense red.  It's interesting but it doesn't blow my socks off.

This red is nice but how does it look with the blue border?

That blue border looks like water but I think it draws too much attention to itself.

I tried a gray/brown from the Riverbanks line by Jeanne Horton.  It's the right theme - kinda.

And then with the tan border. . . . . . . . . 

I think I'm going to have to come up with another plan.  

Please, please, please make some suggestions, I obviously need help.

Robin

 I realized I had not shown this quilt completed.  I finished it last month sometime.  The pattern is Comfort & Joy by Pat Wys & B. J. Laird.  It is 62" X 76".

The picture is taken in the bright sunlight so it is a little washed out.

I made it for my daughter and her family.  She says the border fabric makes it look like it's wrapped in Christmas paper.

It was really fun to make and I'm glad it's finished well before Christmas.

Off to 100 degree temps and sewing in my cool basement,

Robin

Progress on one front and retreat on another

I just wanted to show the progress from the quilt I started in my last post.  I have only eight blocks done so far but I am in no hurry.  There is no reason to be.  I'm just enjoying the pairing up of the fabrics.

We had no late frosts this year which is very unusual.  Our apricot tree is just loaded with fruit.  The last time we got more than a handful of fruit was in 2014.  The weight is really too much for the poor tree and one branch has broken.

Life is like this sometimes. . . a blessing can turn out to be more than we can manage without help (as shown by the board that is holding up the other branch).

Robin