March Schnibble Done!

This month’s Schnibble, Hook, was quite a challenge with all the bias edged triangles to keep from stretching!

I used 2 charm packs from an older Moda collection called “Urban Couture”.

And I was soooo happy to find enough of the green fabric from the collection on  Etsy to buy for the background!! 

I really love it when Carrie uses the leftover fabric bits for a scrappy pieced border!!

I found an even older piece of floral in my stash for the backing!!  I named it “Stars in the Meadow”!

I had a triangle ruler to use for cutting out the star spokes, but it was a much larger ruler than was needed.  So, I was about to scour my notions drawer to find that thin bright neon removable tape to mark the 3 1/4” line on the ruler, when I spied the thick dimensional purple tape stuck on the side of my machine that I occasionally use to mark the seam allowance line on the machine foot plate.

It was actually perfect to use on the 3 1/4” line on the back of my triangle ruler, as being thicker than the tape, it provided a ledge for the edge of the strip set to bump up against!!

Voila!!  A new use for something I already had!!  Don’t ya  just LOVE that when it happens??

I used the amazing Waterloque app on my iPhone to turn a few more pix into lovely watercolored art!!

Sigh… outside it is again snowing!  Only to get a few inches this time they say…  HOPE SO!!!

Guess what Yoginess is doing as I post this???

 

Pots of Spring!

Well, I am pleased with my “Pots of Spring” quilt!

It is finished and up on the wall above the fireplace mantle in the family room!

It is a bit smaller than the other mantle quilts, so I had to use a different rod to put it up.  :-(

Many have asked how my mantle quilts are hung on the wall.  We’ve tried hard NOT to put so many holes in the walls here in the new house. 

So, I found this system for hanging quilts using super strong magnets that are mounted on the wall using the Command Strips.

(I apologize for the fuzziness of some of the photos!!  Pure laziness on my part… using my iPhone for the photos instead of my Nikon!!)

I think the rod is causing the quilt to not hang straight…it is a telescoping rod with a slight dip in the middle, I think!!  Grrr!  :-(

Making these appliqué quilts are a bit scary…

Not the appliqué part, but the quilting part.

My process is this- I sketch out the pots/flowers/critters on the paper side of the fusible IN REVERSE, then cut each piece out about 1/4” outside the sketch lines.

I  then iron them onto the wrong side of the chosen fabrics and then cut them all out  ON the sketch lines. 

 

I place them on the pieced background and move them around until I have the final look I want.  Then I press them  ONTO the background.

I layer the top, batting and backing and pin the sandwich securely all over.

Now I start stitching around the edges of each fused piece- each leaf, stem, petal, etc.

I also stitch in the leaf vein lines and other sketch lines as desired.  I do start in the middle of the quilt and work my way out to the edges, but work on the appliquéd pieces first, and finish with the background around and between them.

So the background is poufy and dimensional when I start on it…which is really scary to see…  :-(

It is amazing how the quilting pulls it all in and  flat…  WHEW!!!  What if it didn’t?  YIKES!!!

On this quilt the background and pieced blocks on the edges are all stippled with a fairly small design!    And when it’s laying on a table, it is perfectly flat!!  YAY!!

So, although the forecast is calling for more snow on Tuesday here in VA, it may still be winter OUTSIDE,

but INSIDE the Monica home, it is truly spring!!  :-)

I put all my snowmen away yesterday and put out my spring stuff…bunnies galore!!

Has spring come to your neck of the woods??

Happy Worldwide Quilting Day!!

Today is Worldwide Quilting day!! Time to celebrate our art!

I hope you can set aside some time to do a bit of quilting or sewing…

even fondling a bit of your stash would count!!

Or even some fabric retail therapy!!  Yay!!

I normally don’t get much sewing done now over the weekends as when everyone is home, I prefer to do things with them rather than be in my sewing room all day.

However, my peeps are all out and about today, so as soon as I get this written and posted, I can get back to my latest project!!  Curious?

Well, when we moved into this house last August, I hung my poppies quilt up over the fireplace mantle, and it was a perfect fit for the space!

So, I’ve been making other quilts exactly that sixe, to hang there as the seasons of the year progress…

a fall one-

a Christmas one-

a winter one-

and now I’m working on a spring one!!

I’ve got the blocks made and sewn onto the background…the flower pots made and fused on…

and Thursday and Friday I selected the flower and plant fabrics from my stash..

got them laid out on the pots…

and finally fused on!  

Now I’m quilting it as I stitch around the petals, stems and leaves.

I’ve finished quilting the moss roses, the tulips and the berry grass pots!  And am quilting the pots and background areas equally densely!

I’ve added some ladybugs, a snail and a frog!

Stay tuned!!  More pix to come!