Ripping out stitches

I started a quilt a couple days ago that I knew would be a little more work.  It was custom work and I decided to use 3 different colors of thread on the quilt.  When I rolled up to the bottom of the lone star, I put in two feather wreaths in each corner.  Then to my horror I realized I had forgotten to change threads.  All the wreaths on the top and sides of the quilts were done in a light variegated purple/pink thread and the bottom two wreaths were in a dark variegated purple thread.  I couldn't believe what a stupid mistake I had just made.  I wanted to throw a fit, kick something, yell, etc.  Not that it would do any good, there was nothing to do but to pick all those stitches out.  It took 5 hours to get them out!!!!  I was up at 5:00 a.m. the next day, cleaning up the area of any little thread bits and then restitching the design in the right color.  It was a lesson to be learned -- you can still make stupid mistakes even after 11 years of the machine quilting business.  And when you make those kind of mistakes, there's nothing to do but own up to it and spend the time (even if it takes 5 hours) fixing it.  I'm just glad it could be fixed.  I'm posting a picture of the ripping out of the stitches as well as the finished quilt.  Thankfully the quilt turned out very nice.

Changing Quilts Around

Sometimes even a little change can brighten a day. We have had one of the coolest, rainiest, springs I can remember. I am itching to get out in my garden. But there's no working the soil when it's this wet. So today I decided maybe some inside work would cheer things up around here. The first thing was to change some quilts on the wall. That almost makes it feel like a new room. I hung the award winning wholecloth quilt in my studio. It's way too big for the quilt hanger. Then I changed the quilt behind the couch in the living room and lastly hung my appliqued basket quilt in the front hall. I never got any further then doing those three, but it still felt sunnier inside.

Hawaii

We've been home from Hawaii for almost a week now. It takes about that long to readjust to life here :) We had a wonderful time. It was so restful and fun to be with friends, several of whom we had not seen in many years. One of the things I enjoyed most was the flowers and birds there. I've always been a bird watcher and seeing some that I had never seen before was special. We spent a couple days on Oahu at Waikiki and then 6 days in Kauai. I enjoyed Kauai more because of it being less crowded. We hiked, kayaked, walked the beaches, snorkeled, had some amazing food, etc. What a blessing to have a vacation like that. I hope someday we can return.

Hawaiin Bags

I decided I needed a new beach type bag for Hawaii. Having very little time to make this I grabbed some fat quarters in blue and green. After sewing them together, I put the piece on the longarm and quilted it. Then it was cut out, a zippered pocket sewn on the front and a zipper pocket sewn in the lining (not shown). It took me about half a day to make this beach bag. Then I decided I needed a small bag just to carry a few essentials around. So I made another zippered bag with a long shoulder strap so I can put it over both shoulders and wear it more securely. Now I feel ready to go! We leave Wednesday morning -- I'm so excited!

Customer Quilt

Here's a little table topper I did for a customer. I love doing these small projects. This one turned out so cute! Here's a front and back view.

Gardening Grow Light

I love to garden. But I've never been very successful at starting seeds indoors. Living in the Pacific Northwest, we just don't get enough sunlight to keep seedlings on a window ledge. They end up being spindly. Anyway, that's been my experience. So this year I saw a plant light grow system made from PVC pipe, shop lights and chain in a gardening magazine. It looked simple enough. I asked my dear husband if he would make it. A few days later it was done. It cost about $40.00 to make the whole thing. We put it on a small folding table and so far it's amazing. The plants are growing great. I think the two keys are, keep the lights within 3 - 5 inches of the plants and keep the lights on a minimum of 12 hours. We used regular flourescent bulbs. Two are the blue lights (6500K) and two are the red lights (5500K). Another tip is water from the bottom. If you water on the top, you run the risk of a fungus growing on the soil and literally eating the plant at dirt level.
It's a big savings if you can start your garden plants from seeds. I'm hoping for my best garden year ever!

Customer Quilt

This was a fun way to do leaves -- just double the lines. It made it 'pop' a lot more in this border. Another idea that is great for borders is a simple wavy line. It makes an outside border frame the quilt more nicely and best of all it's easy to do. I don't mark but just eyeball the spacing. Because it's wavy it doesn't need to be perfectly accurate. The center of this quilt was meandered -- something I almost detest doing :)

Customer Quilt

I really like this quilt. Unfortunately because the photo was taken with no flash (to make the quilting stand out) it doesn't do justice to the colors. The quilt has beautiful fall colors. I think it's one I would like to make -- but then how many times do I say that? Way more often that I really have time for. I used a double leaf in the border and then a swirl/leaf pattern in the center doing some extra special designs in the appliques. Nice, very nice

Rainy Saturday

There is almost nothing on the agenda today. It's rainy and pretty grey outside. I think it's a day to sew. I was out with a friend a couple days ago and bought fabric to make a raffle quilt for 4-H. It will be raffled off at the Clackamas County Fair in August. I'm making a quilt similar to the one I made for a wedding gift a couple months ago (the pictures and article about it should be further down this blog). Only this one will be queen bed size. I love the fabrics. When I was at the quilt shop, I asked someone who worked there what was the most popular line of fabric they sell and she took me to these fabrics. They are from moda called Mason De Garance part of the French General line. I love the colors and can't wait to see this come together. Of course I'll post when it's together.

A Few More Pictures

Just a few more pictures of this reverse applique quilt. I've never seen better applique work. I think it might take me a life time to finish something like this!