Lucy Finish

My Patchwork of the Crosses designed by Lucy Boston is finished! I had to force myself to finish this project. I did NOT hand quilt, I actually machine quilted the little quilt with my sewing machine. She's not perfect but she is finished!!

I'm not a table runner sort of person, for now this is hanging on the wall. It is pretty and I do like it now that it's finished, but I never want to make another one.

My original plan was to quilt around the flowers which is the way the white connecting fabric was quilted.

But I didn't like the way that fabric puckered so all the rest of the blocks are stitch inside each elongated hexie. The addition stitching made the hexies lie flat which is what I wanted.

Colored thread was used for the quilting. You don't really see it on the front but the back of the quilt looks very interesting.

For the outside border, I quilted a Baptist Fan design. This little quilt measures 29" by 40-1/2".

Linking to Free Motion Mavericks, Peacock Party, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!, Brag About Your Beauties, Finished Or Not Friday, Oh Scrap

Lucy's Back!

Do you remember Lucy? I had decided on the border fabric last winter. I've finally attached it. I decided the easiest way to go was to just baste the flimsy to the fabric then hand applique, obviously I removed the EPP papers first.

After I finished appliqueing, I carefully cut the center out of the backing.

I had planned to hand quilt Lucy but now I've changed my mind. The seam allowance on the backside is wider than 1/4" which makes quilting 1/4" from the edge difficult. I've decided to quilt 1/4" from the edge with my sewing machine. I'll still hand quilt the outside border.

Here's a close up of the back.

Since Lucy isn't going to be hand quilted, this means Sweet Surrender is next on the quilting frame. This is a link to my last post about Sweet Surrender.

Some people mark their quilts as they quilt. I don't, I'll get the marking done in August and into the quilting frame.

Here's a link to a BOM  called Happy Little Things which starts in August.  The information is found on Jacquelynne Steves website. Looks like fun!

I'm going to take the month of August off from posting. See you back here Sunday, September 1st! Hopefully Lucy will be finished by then and Sweet Surrender will be in the hand quilting frame.

Linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, HQAL, Oh Scrap, Bambi's Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, BOM's Away, Moving It Forward, WIPs On Wednesday

22 Weeks of Hand Quilting!

It's been 22 weeks of hand quilting on the Pastor's Attic quilt. I've started row 5, which is the last applique row. I'm actually seeing the start of the top border!

Last Sunday I told you I had friends coming to quilt this week. We quilted the section between rows 4 and 5. 

Here are pictures of the quilting. When I look at the quilt in real life, I can see a slight size difference between my quilting stitches and theirs but I doubt you can see it in the photos. The difference doesn't bother me. 

Right side border.

Left side border.

I was so glad to have them come help, this gave me a real boost in the process. I rolled Wednesday evening and Thursday I started in again. 

Yes, this is the correct orientation, this is the top of the right block.

I'm working on the 2nd block now.

I also quilted the right side border but it looks like the picture of the above border so I didn't picture it.

I didn't get accomplish more quilting because . . . I sewed the rest of the hexies onto Lucy last week!

The next step for Lucy is to applique this section onto an outside border fabric. Right now Lucy measures 23-1/2" by 35-1/2".

Linking to the Peacock Party, Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, Bambi's Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, BOM's Away, Moving It Forward

Hand Quilting and Lucy

I was busy piecing with my sewing machine this week and didn't get much hand quilting accomplished.

The right side border has been quilted.

The first right applique block has been quilted.

I've started this block, it will quilt fast. I just need to stitch around the outside of the applique. 

Lucy was a priority last week, all the sections have been stitched together!

I need to baste 30 more of the elongated hexies. I know I had said it was 40 before but thankfully it's only 30. I'm not sure when I'll get those basted. As I said before, I'm so happy that I decided to not make the full sized quilt. I love the way she looks but I haven't enjoyed the process like I thought I would.

I have more Amaryllis blooming. They are such a bright sight this winter. We haven't had a lot of sunshine this winter.

I have another Amaryllis with 5 blooms!

See in the center, the 5th one is just opening.

There is also a another plant that is just opening, I can see it has a teeny, tiny flower bud in the center too!

I guess these bulbs just needed last winter to rest, they sure are doing well this year

The large green planter holds all the 'babies' that have unattached from the large bulbs when I transplant them. I planted them all in one large pot. Someday they'll be big and have blooms too.

I used to have a group of the 'intermediate' sized bulbs but I gave those away. Some of those might bloom this year, but eventually they all will.

Linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, HQAL, Oh Scrap, Bambi's Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, BOM's Away, Moving It Forward

Lucy, the Attic & More Flowers

Lots to tell you about this week so this is a long post with varying subjects.

I finally got the last of the boring sections stitched for the Lucy project. Now I'm starting to sew the sections together. She's looking so nice, I'm excited about her again, but I am very glad I decided not to make the whole quilt. 

I have had several people email or comment saying they'll never finish their Patchwork of the Crosses because of the other sections that need to be made. Everyone seems to enjoy piecing the larger fussy cut sections, it's the more mundane, tedious sections that bog everyone down.

Update - When I was sewing with Lucy last evening, I realized I need some hexies for the outside, 40 of them. I'll baste those when the already prepared sections are sewn together.

Even though I've been EPP'ing on Lucy, I haven't stopped hand quilting. 

The pictures of the quilting this week are a little dark. If I turned on the over head light or used the flash on the camera, the quilting wouldn't show which is the whole point of showing you the progress.

I've quilted to the center of row 4. I'm reaching in to about the center of the blocks. 

Left side border.

Block 1. This block quilted fast, just needed to stitch in the ditch around the outside of the applique. 

Added a little extra quilting into the center circle.

Block 2, this block and the center block took awhile. It takes time to quilt around all the little ovals.

The ovals are supposed to be wild strawberries and have embroidered french knots on them. I french knotted 2 ovals then decided I didn't like the french knots and removed them.

Block 3, the center of the row. This one really took awhile. I could only stitch one stitch at a time around the little circles. And then there was that lattice in the vase to be quilted.

More Amaryllis are blooming. I've had 2 salmon colored plants and a true red open this week. The plant in front is just starting to open it's bud. So far I can see darker red, I won't know until it's open more exactly what color it will be. Part of the fun of having Amaryllis plants is seeing what the color of the blooms are.

I also have the large 'Christmas' cactus blooming again. The first blooming started at the very end of October. It kept blooming through all of November and most of December. Now it's blooming for the second time this winter. I'm very happy to have the flowers, a touch of summer in winter.

I know it looks like bright sunlight in the background of the cactus but trust me, it's not. See the sky in the tree photo below, that's what it really looks like outside except the ice and snow have melted.

Several weeks ago on Sarah Lizzie's blog, she showed several beautiful projects she's working on. 

One of them was a basket quilt and she showed the older book it was from, A Bouquet of Quilts edited by Jennifer Rounds & Cyndy Lyle Rymer. I wanted that book. My local DIL checked around and found a used copy for me from Better World Books. I received the book in Friday's mail. I love it! 

Last Monday evening, we had freezing rain. Everything was coated with ice. The electric went off once during milking Tuesday morning. When that happens you just kind of freeze, is it off? Or will it go back on? Fortunately the power switched at the  sub-station and we were able to finish chores without anymore drama. 

(These gray skies are what we see most of the time this winter.)

When I was washing the breakfast dishes around 8:30, the power went off again but stayed off this time. 

This means it's time to hook up the generator. The  milkman was coming, he needs electricity to pump the milk into the tanker, then we need the electric so the automatic washer will wash the bulk tank. And of course the cattle need to be able to drink water. It's also nice to have the furnace running in the house and I did have soup in the crockpot. And, I need my OTT light so I can see to quilt! The electric came back on at noon and the generator was put away until the next time we need it.

Happy stitching this week everybody! 

Linking to Peacock Party, Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, BOM's Away, Moving It Forward

Quilting Progress

It was cold last week and this old farm house isn't very warm when the temps are frigid and the wind is high. Several years ago we installed a small gas heater in the dining room (which we never use to eat in). The downstairs stayed cozy warm, the upstairs (where my sewing machine is), not so warm. I sewed the binding on the string quilt Tuesday morning with my sewing machine before the temperature dropped. The rest of the week was spent downstairs in hand work.

I quilted all the way across row 3, progress!

Right side border.

Left side border.

This week I will quilt the seam line between the blocks of row 3 and 4.

Lucy saw some progress this week too. I completed 2 side sections and 3 of the corners. Corner 4 is being stitched now. I need 2 more side sections and then the sections will start being stitched together.

I also started a new dishcloth. You can see it at the top of the Lucy sections.

Linking to Peacock Party, Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, BOM's Away, Moving It Forward, WIPs On Wednesday

Pastor's Attic & Lucy Too

The row that was started 2 weeks ago on the Pastor's Attic quilt is finished. I think the quilting designs in the corners of the blocks look so nice.    

The block I missed taking a picture of last week. I like to lightly brush my fingertips over the quilted applique, it has such wonderful texture.

It took awhile to get all those cherries quilted.

Now the rest of the row.

This vase also took quite awhile to quilt. The red area in the vase needed to be quilted on both sides but so worth the time and effort.

The quilting between these applique blocks. This is an older stencil I've had for years. Got to love the hearts!

Again I quilted along the embroidery and I stitched in the ditch around the centers of those flowers too. I don't just stitch around the outside of the flower petals, I stitch beside them on top of the black.

This flower design is my favorite of the stencils I'm using. I've had this one for several years but this is the first time I've used it.

This applique is not original to the quilt. There were two blocks I didn't like in this quilt so I substituted. 

The pattern for this Rose of Sharon Block came from a quilting 12" stencil. 

I had originally planned to use larger stencils in the corners but there just wasn't enough room. You wouldn't have been able to see enough of the quilting design to make sense of the quilting.

The half stencil dividing the center from the outside border. I only stitch in the ditch in the seam line when there's a stencil design. Otherwise the diamonds go across the seam from the border into the center.

Right side border. You can see I quilt around the randomly placed circles in the border. The pattern didn't have the circles. I added them because I wanted to.

Lucy is making progress. I've been EPPing the various components that go into this wall hanging. Some people are confused by what I'm doing. There's more to this project than just the fussy cut blocks everyone shows. There's the more mundane, not so beautiful blocks but very necessary.

This section is what I'm working on now. One is completed and need five more.

This is what the various parts look like now. Too much orange/gold together.

How about this layout? I don't need to decide today. I need to finish the edge pieces first.

You can tell by looking at these blocks, I liked the blues and orange/gold fabrics the best.

After the edge pieces are completed, I think I'll start sewing the sections together. Hexies will need to be added onto the outside edge but I'm ready to see some progress!

Linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Esther's Wednesday WOW!