Love & Flowers

I asked my son if I could put a strip of free-pieced letters on the back of his quilt, saying something like, "made with love by Mom."

He didn't look all that excited about the idea.

He suggested I use "xxx..." which is the way I traditionally sign my emails to him. Everybody knows the X's mean kisses, and the 3 dots mean "et cetera." But in a Valentine's card my son gave me many many years ago, after his signature, he added the three x's, the three dots and then, "(infinity)". It's been sort of a tradition ever since.So I followed his suggestion. This -will- be on the back of the Sunshine Quilt I am not showing you.


In a totally non-quilt related area, this is a picture of the planter I have out on my porch. I positioned so I can see it when I sit at the dining room table

It gives me something nice to look at, instead of the blank wall of the building next door. I also have a nice big planter of purple wave petunias that I can't see from where I sit at the table. Out in the back, I have a container garden of thyme, oregano, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, mint, catnip, several kinds of basil, some peppers, a planter of arugula and a tomato plant.

Fat Quarter Frenzy

My sister and I went out to Henniker to the terrific quilt shop there on Friday for their "Fat Quarter Frenzy." They had an estimated 20,000 fat quarters for $1.00 USD each. You had to get at least 25.

I didn't have any trouble. I had been squirreling away a few dollars each week, and the day before the big sale, I brought my jar of coins to the bank, where they exchanged them for bills. I had $11 worth of coins. Whee!

I went with a list. I wanted about 5 yellows, 5 whites, 5 blues, 5 Asian-themed, 5 "large prints" and 10 batiks. It helped me from going completely crazy. I ended up spending $55, which was all the cash I brought.

There were a lot of beiges and browns, and novelties and "charms", but none of those interest me. I was pretty happy. Now they're all washed, ironed and folded. I've also harvested the selvages.

Later I'll be working on the backing of the Sunshine Quilt I can't show you.

A Sunshine-y Day

This is me NOT showing you my progress on the Sunshine Quilt I am making for my son. Remember he doesn't want to see it until he is finished. Here I have pinned two rows of blocks together.
In this next picture, I am not showing you four rows being ironed.In this picture, I am not showing you the finished top. {I can see my son rolling his eyes right about now!} Ha ha ha! Love you sweetie!

Tomorrow I will show you the 55 fat quarters I bought for a buck(1USD) each.

Here's Rusty!

The special Gizzy Quilt, "Where's Rusty?" has reached its intended destination, and its new owner is very pleased:

Within 10 seconds Rusty was off his chair and on the quilt. He sniffed it over and then made a face! I think he smelled a bit of Millie. He then rolled all over it and now it is his. I took some photos and will send them off this evening. From the first day we had Rusty, we have called him Houdini Kitty. He can be with you and then poof he is upstairs looking down at you. To see all the extra Rustys in the windows and the yard is our Houdini Kitty!

As you can see, I kept three of the four "Rustys" hidden until the quilt was received by its owner. Can you find all four? You can click the photo to enlarge. (sorry it's not as sharp as it could be.)

~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side note, my son has changed his mind. Now he wants the Sunshine Quilt quilted. AND he doesn't want to see it until it is finished. Which means I can't post about it until it is done.

{Sigh}

A Little Sunshine

It's been raining the couple of days. Again, again, again! Really frustrating. We did have a perfect day on Sunday.

All this reminded me that the summer was fleeting by even if it didn't feel like it, and that I had better get going on the Sunshine Slashed Squares Quilt I am making for my son. I tried arranging the blocks a couple of months ago, and didn't get anywhere, so I set them aside. Now that I have all my "obligations" finished (placemat swap; apron; special Gizzy Quilt; curtain), and my sewing table is moderately clean (and I'm housed-out), I have a bit of time.

So I got out the blue tape and then played around with the blocks, and in no time I had a layout I liked. I photographed it, then stacked the blocks in rows. I'll probably get to them later this weekend.

My son has decided he doesn't want the quilt quilted. He wants to be able to use it at the beach, and on picnics and wash it with abandon.

I don't usually quilt my quilts. I've explained why in previous posts. You'll have to go back to the very beginning if you want to read why.

Basically, it's the way my grandmother made hers.

Placemat Quilt Swap

I participated in the Placemat Quilt Swap over on Flickr. This is the placemat I made for my swap partner.

It's about 13" by 18". It's a big seminole patchwork band with seven strips. The back is the pretty sunflower fabric, and you can see the quilting.It's going to Donna.

Sneak Peek

I participated in the Placemat Swap on Flickr. Here's a tiny bit of the placemat I am finishing up for my partner. I will finish the binding tonight and send it on its merry way tomorrow.

Dots

If a three year old child colors a house, you may very likely end up with a drawing that looks like this:
How do you translate it into fabric? Use dots, of course...
This dotted house block is 19-1/2" tall and 24-1/2" wide.

You can click the photo to enlarge.

A Little Shopping Therapy

Yesterday my sister and I took advantage of a lovely day to drive out to Henniker to the coolest quilt shop in the area, Quilted Threads. I was partly motivated by their impromptu 20% off everything-in-the-store sale.

These are the fat quarters I bought. (I made sure to pick the ones with selvage dots.)I bought half yard cuts of these.I also bought several yards of a beautiful batik I plan to use for my godchild's quilt (the housing development quilt).
I didn't really have any particular project in mind when I entered the shop. They loved my Selvage Shopping Tote. I'll be back at the store later next week, as they are having a big special on Fat Quarters - $1.00 each, with a minimum of 25. They expect to have 20,000 Fat Quarters available.

I am counting the days...

I fixed it

Those of you with very sharp eyes probably noticed the difference in color in the background of this house in yesterday's post. I had run out of fabric.

While I was cleaning up my sewing table afterward, I found more of what I needed.

So I ripped the bad color out, and replaced it.

Happy Fourth of July!

Where's Rusty?

I just love this house. I've already ordered more of the "ruler" fabric that makes up the body of this house so I can make another one.

This quilt isn't going into the Housing Development Quilt, it's going to be a Gizzy Quilt for a ginger cat named Rusty. This big block is 22-1/2" by 29-1/2". So where's Rusty?


There he is!
Rusty's in the window!

It's Option One

I've decided go to with the Teal fabric (option 1) on the house in yesterday's post. Here's why.

The house is intended to be representational of a typical house in New England. We have cold winters, so the roofs are usually dark, to absorb and hold in the heat. Brick is a traditional building material. The house is brick red.

Callie was correct when she pointed out that the tonal values of the dark fabrics were too similar to the red to make an exciting contrast. That's true, but... The tipping point for me was driving home from work yesterday, looking at all the roofs on the residential homes in my area. The overwhelming majority have dark roofs.

Besides, I wanted a nice blue sky/background, and if I made the roof light, it would have not "read" as a roof, and been confusing.

Remember my house...
Dark roof.

Why not the other dark fabric? Because the dark blue green is a darker value of the lighter blue green I'll be using for the "sky," and it will make a more unified design. Also, the blue flowers on that dark brown looked too much like holes, and nobody likes a leaky roof.



So how come I didn't do any sewing? Because I was watching the tennis at Wimbledon. (Go Federer!) Don't look for anything on Friday morning either. I have to work very late on Thursday closing the fiscal month before the long holiday weekend.

Thanks for all your comments!

Opinions Needed

First, a caveat: This house is NOT a part of the Housing Project Quilt. It's for something else.

Usually when I design houses I make all my fabric choices before I start sewing. This time, I was a little overeager and started sewing before I made my decision about the roof of this house, and I'm in a bit of a quandary.

So I need your help. I've numbered the possibilities, and I'd like to know which one you think would work best. The whole "vibe" for this quilt is the warm reds with cool greens and turquoises. The other fabric choices surround the house, and may not all be used.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

This blue green is Option One.
This pale cream is Option Two.
This dark brown with blue flowers is Option Three.
These light brown swirls are Option Four.
These little brown boxes are Option Five.
This soft cream is Option Six.
Currently my favorites are Option Three and Option One.

If you look closely, you will see that I have covered up a couple of windows. This is deliberate, and will be a surprise for X.

(And X, I am particularly interested in your opinion!)


PS, the door -stays- blue!

Primary House

Here is the second house based on one of KidBean's colored drawings.

I love KidBean's intuitive sense that the sky doesn't touch the ground. He's moved the horizon line up. This block is 17-3/4" tall and 12-1/2" wide.

The house really is this bright. True blue, purple, bright grass green, red-orange. I made two slight changes in the colors, mostly because I didn't have enough of a cool red "blender" fabric for the house. I used a slightly warmer red-orange. This necessitated a switch to a yellow-orange fabric for the windows instead of KidBean's selection of a true orange. If I had used a true orange, the windows would have almost disappeared.

KidBean's use of these vivid colors reminds me of Matisse's paintings, seen here and here.


I have sewn 15 house blocks so far, but I will probably only use the ones based on the children's colorings in the quilt for their baby brother. The whole point about the quilt is for the siblings to be involved. I might add one or two of my interpretations, but the quilt isn't about me. I do have other elements I want to include, including wonky letters, hearts and stars. You'll see.

True Blue House

"SweetBean" selected a bright blue to color a house. I had made copies of all the house drawings, so I could figure out which house she had colored.

Now, "SweetBean" is 3, so she doesn't have the coordination of an older child, and I knew her drawing would be mostly scribbles. I knew that I would work with whatever colors she had selected. I hadn't expected a monochromatic colored house.

This is just one example of how a challenge can get you out of your "comfort zone" and push your creativity a bit. I would -never- have created a monochromatic house, but it was a great idea.

I went through my stash and scrap bins choosing fabrics. I didn't want to use the crutch of "blue and..." fabrics. I wanted to use blues of different values and of scale of pattern. I worked out how I would assemble the house (the red lines on the drawing) and started sewing.
I am quite happy with it. The block as shown is 21" tall by 18-1/2" wide. I will trim it down later.

Not A House

My bathroom window faces south, and I need a small curtain for privacy. My old one was really faded, so I made a new one. This one fits into the window frame using a spring rod. The top of the window looked really crummy by comparison, so I added the valance.

As you all know, I have to make an apron for my Mom. I couldn't decide how to use the playing card fabric, so I decided to use the fabric with the peas. Here's the front.
Here's the "lining."
I just "winged" it. There is no pattern.

I still haven't decided how to use the fabric with the playing cards, but I do know I will modify my apron design somewhat. The "bib" will be shorter, and the pocket will be set a bit higher, and won't go across the whole bottom of the apron.

That's not all I did. I watched the tennis at Wimbledon, washed windows in three rooms, changed the sheets on my bed, and did the laundry.

Which means I can do whatever I want today. Like wonky houses!

KidBean House #1

Here's the first house based on KidBean's drawing. I am really happy with the way it turned out.

His mom said, "He lit up when he saw the fabric house!"

While I watch the Tennis today at Wimbledon, I shall make another house. I haven't decided which one, so you'll have to check back later.



OK, it's later.

Housing Development Plans

Here are the drawings from my "fairy godkids." They arrived yesterday, and I am very excited.

This first batch was done by "SweetBean" who is 3. Her room is full of pink, and she has a great pink quilt, so I was surprised to see lots of blue here.I think I will have fun doing an all-blue house. I have some wonderful blue fabric with fish, and I think the second blue house will be fish and water themed. The others have enough color ideas to get me going.

These were done by "KidBean" who is six. Lots to work with here. I love his yellow roofs. And what I had drawn as a tree in the house on the lower left, here looks like a birdhouse on a post. What a great idea! I have to figure out what's going on in that house's roof though. (I am wondering if he drew his bed with his quilt on it.) And plaid house... what fun!

Mom did a few too, so lovely and charming.
I love the dog and cat in the one on the lower left, and in the windows on the house on the right are drawings of Mom and Dad, KidBean and SweetBean, and the cat and dog.

(Readers, it looks like I will need small bits of family-themed fabric and some with children and pets. Has anyone got any to spare? For these windows, I wouldn't need more than a 3" square.)

Which one did I decide to do first?


I've put the cat in the window, but I might need a livelier fabric for the door. I can't forget to make a sun for sky. I can just imagine KidBean saying, "Auntie, you forgot to draw the Sun!"

You can click the photos to enlarge.

Great Day

My son got his Third Degree Black Belt yesterday. Here's the group photo. You can see him running "Form Four" on Millie's blog. He's pretty good, if I do say so myself. I gave him an iTunes gift card and a pan of homemade brownies as congratulations gifts.

My sister has a First Black, and is standing behind my son. My nephew also has a Black Belt, but is not in the photo.

Apron

Part of the deal for getting my mother's sewing machine was that I would make an apron for my aunt. My aunt likes to play bridge. This was My Mom's inspiration.And these are the fabrics my mom selected.Now here's some fabric that I have.You know I'm going to have some fun with this, don't you?

Time-Out Tuesday

Making wonky anything makes my sewing room a mess. I get fabric strewn all over my work and ironing tables, my bins always end up opened and spread out all over the floor and my work space gets smaller and smaller. It makes me crazy.

So I have to clean it up. I don't want to feel stressed when I walk into my sewing studio.

Wimbledon has started at just the right time. I only get the Tennis Channel on the TV in my living room, so I gathered up all my scraps and piles and dumped them on my coffee table so I could fold and organize while I watched Monday's matches.Tonight I will set up my ironing board and deal with the little tiny bits.

Remember last week I said my sister asked for a stack of my house drawings to take home to color? Here they are.
What inspiration! I love them. I -know- I will make the one in the lower left corner. And I love the one in the lower right corner. And first one in the second row...