What I've been up to....

Hi there, here's a snapshot of some of the things that I've been doing since my last post.  I think I've mentioned before that I've started an online art journalling course.  21 Secrets has 21 teachers each teaching a class that can be done in your own time and any order you wish.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to share my work cause I'm no artist more of a wannabe but I'm really enjoying what I've done so far.  This is the front page of my journal and it is one of the activities in a watercolour class with Tammy Garcia.  I really enjoyed the class, I love painting with watercolours though they are harder to use than I first thought.  I did improve as I did each exercise, I nearly gave up after the first one cause I found it very challenging.  I had forgotten what it's like to be a beginner learning new skills.

I'm still having problems with my laptop for the life of me I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.  It's the reason I haven't been posting more regulary it's very frustrating.

As you can see Harry's not letting the stress get to him, relaxing is his specialty.  If only he was so relaxed about getting his hair cut!

I survived the four weeks that Jack was away, it was very quiet but I made the most of my time.  It's great to have him home again even if it now means we are sharing my car.  While Jack was away I had to take the photos of my quilts as best as I could.  I'm really loving the cake stand quilt though I haven't made any more progress on that one at the moment.  I've got the centre of the Flowering Vines quilt sewn together just need to put the borders on next.

I've been doing some more decluttering with mixed results.  My priorities have changed and I would rather make space for my art supplies and find a space where I can work.  I've found it quite difficult to part with some of my collections and books and things but in a way it's a relief as well.  I'll never be living in a minimalist house but it was time to let go of my country style decor.  Another reason for getting rid of my excess stuff is that Aleisha will be moving back home for a couple of weeks.  Finding room for her and all her things is going to be quite a challenge, the next couple of weeks should be lively if nothing else.  I'm going to her place tomorrow to help her with her packing wish me luck!

Happy Stitching till next time,

Debra.

Medallion Quilt update.

More technical issues with my laptop tonight, I have the photos loaded but the words have a mind of their own.  I have no control over where they're going but I think the photos are fairly self explanatory anyway. 

The next round on my medallion that I've done since the workshop with Gwen Marston is the pink and red half square triangles.  Remembering that this is being made without a lot of the rules and regualtions of what you can and can not do, I was pretty happy with it.  I think this is going to make much more interesting quilts - that's my story anyway.

For the next round I considered a few different colour options.  I think the only downside with making a quilt border by border is that the options are endless and each decision is going to make the outcome completely different.  I really liked all the options but in the end decided I just better choose one fabric and get on with it.  I am concerned about getting wobbly edges so I think the whole fabric borders will help control the wobbles.  I haven't made up my mind what to do for the next border, Different triangles, a row of strings or 2" squares....


I have stitched together the cake stand blocks and will add a border of half square triangles to finish it off.  I'll post a photo when I've pressed the seams.  I've also been doing a bit of hand quilting on my pink lemonade quilt.  There's nothing like having plenty of projects to keep you going.

Till next time, Happy Stitching

Debra.

New blocks

I've been working on a new project during the last couple of weeks.  This is my first batch of basket blocks, its the cake  stand block and it is a quilt that I've always loved and wanted to make.  The quilt that has inspired my version is from a book by Roberta Horton called Scrap Quilts The Art of Making Do.  I've had the book for years and its a great source of inspiration. I love Roberta's quilts.  I was reminded a few weeks ago of this quilt by a discussion on Kathie of Inspired by Antique Quilts blog.here. Kathie had a picture of the cake stand quilt on her notice board the quilt is called Cake Crumbs by George Taylor. Since I was cutting up my old fabrics for scraps I decided to have a go at the block. 

I have been cutting the triangles for the block using my go cutter which has been working out really well.  I don't think my way of cutting the fabrics for the blocks has been any quicker than any other way but the accuracy is a lot better.  The inspiration quilt has an interesting mix of fabrics, a lot of pale pinks and washed out colours with some bold prints mixed in.  Some of the blocks are high contrast and a few are very low contrast.  I decided it would be perfect for using up some of my old florals that I've been hoarding for years.  So even though I think these blocks have been quite time consuming to make I have enjoyed the process of choosing the backgrounds and the baskets, its been like visiting with old friends. 

I've finished the first part of my applique border for my Jubilee Quilt.  I'm glad I didn't change the size of the letters or numbers I'm really pleased with how its turned out.  The challenge now is to decide what to do for the next side!

I had intended to make this border the bottom of the quilt but when I pinned it on I pinned it the wrong side round, so now its the top.  Good thing its not going to make any difference.

I hadn't realised that my border was a bit too long so my flower has ended up right on the edge, this really has been a learning experience.  I like to believe there's no such thing as a mistake in quilting just a design opportunity!

Happy Stitching,

Debra.