A Vintage Piece to Share

Just so I would have a little variety to show on this post, I’m including a photograph of a tatted cross.  I’ve mentioned before how my Aunt Mary had a huge impact on my love of handwork.  As far as I know, she made only one quilt, but she did beautiful work in many other crafts including tatting.  This cross is very dear to me and I had it framed several years ago.

Work continues on the 68 Hovering Hawks blocks for the Civil War Chronicles quilt.  I will be so glad when they are finished and I can work on the next set of blocks.  These little gems are 6 ½ inch square with lots of seams and directional fabric.  As I work on these blocks, I am also continuing to put together the components for my Jacob's Ladder QAL blocks leader/ender style. 

 

A Little Progress on Jacob's Ladder QAL and Civil War Chronicles

My house guest last week was a late riser and that gave me some time to play in the sewing room while she slept in.  Since I didn’t want to disturb her, I used the time to lay out Jacob’s Ladder blocks on the design wall and then stitched them up on Saturday.  I have now completed 23 of 48 blocks called for by the pattern. 

While at the Civil War Chronicles club meeting Wednesday, I purchased a neutral fabric from the clearance table and took advantage of a club day discount to pick up a print for the Jacob's Ladder quilt borders.  I hope they work.  The pattern calls for three borders.  The center border is pieced using the two fabrics. In her original design, Charlotte Angotti used the darker fabric for the inner border, but I may reverse the order and use the lighter neutral as the inner border.

Also on Wednesday, I purchased the backing for the Civil War Chronicles quilt.  Due to other meetings being rescheduled in November and December, this was probably the last time I will be able to meet with the CWC group.  Bummer.  The club wraps up with a Christmas party in December.  As much as I have enjoyed the group and the project, I may opt to do something different in 2012.  I am waiting to see what other block-of-the-month offerings are available before committing.  I’m glad I did a Civil War quilt on the 150^th anniversary of the war; I just don’t know that I want to invest that kind of energy into another project using reproduction fabrics.

After church on Sunday I worked on some more of the Hovering Hawks blocks for the Civil War Chronicles quilt border.

Design Wall Monday -- 10/17/2011

Our Civil War Chronicles Club meets Wednesday, and I almost missed the deadline for having September’s blocks finished prior to getting the kit for October.  Here they are, four Broken Window blocks.  I’m still working on the 68 Hovering Hawks blocks that will comprise the outer border.  Since those are the assigned blocks for December, however, not having them completed yet doesn’t make me behind schedule.

I decided to continue with the stitching in the ditch on my Plaid Obsession Quilt.  I like the subtle improvement it makes.  The sashing and border seams appeared to have a slightly bubbly appearance and this process makes them look just a bit crisper.  I was pleased to see that I have enough of the fabric I used for my hour glass quilt binding to use for binding this quilt as well. 

We have a busy week planned including the arrival of company on Wednesday afternoon.  So, if I’m going to make it to the CWC club meeting and Sit ‘N Sew, I need to spend today cleaning house.  I’ve been unable to participate in either group since August and I have missed spending time with my quilting friends. 

Visit Patchwork Times today to see what other quilters have on their design walls.

“Don’t Cry Over Broken Dishes” is Bound, Labeled, Done!

We spent two days at the ranch this week tending to some chores and I had the time to finish the binding on my hour glass quilt while we were there.  It is already on a guest bed and ready for Larry when he arrives next week.

Progress on Plaid Obsession and Jacob’s Ladder

Last weekend we made a quick trip to the ranch and I was able to put Plaid Obsession on the frame.  I used a simple edge to edge design and it went quickly.  Since taking it off the frame I’ve done some additional stitching in the ditch along the outer borders.  The change is subtle, and I don’t think it could seen in a photograph.  I like the way it adds definition to the borders and I’ve thought about doing it along all the sashings.  I doubt that I will, however.  I think I’m going to add the label binding and consider it finished.

 

I also decided to put together four blocks for my Jacob’s Ladder QAL project.  This is the block placement from a quilt design by Charlotte Angotti that I'm considering.  I'll have a better feel for whether I really like it after I have more blocks ready to go up on my design wall.

Just Checking In...

Plaid Obsession is a flimsy.  Once the quilting is finished I’ll post a picture.  It’s hard to believe that after making two quilts out of these fabrics, I still have so much of it left.  Is the plaid fairy making deposits while I sleep?

Here is a picture of my most recent splurge.  I was so happy with the Omni thread I used recently, that I bought a color chart and three more small cones from Superior’s try me special.   I also got the color chart for Superior's Bottomline thread.  I love how much I can get on a bobbin, which greatly reduces the number of times I have to refill it.  Now I can check colors without worrying that my computer's monitor might not be giving me a true representation.

I have a growing stack of half square triangles that will become part of the blocks for the Jacob’s Ladder Quilt Along.  I decided to play with them a little.

Design Wall Monday – 10/03/2011

Plaid Obsession continues to be my primary quilting focus.  The center is finished and I began adding a piano key border last night after this picture was taken.  Then it will get an additional border that looks very much like the sashing strips.    

This project does not require much precision piecing and it proved to be a good therapizing tool last week.  "Therapizing" is a new-to-me term that I encountered this weekend while browsing Angie's blog, but I had an immediate connection with it.  I needed a lot of therapizing last week.  In addition to attending to the needs of my loved one recovering from surgery, our two doggies also needed medical attention:  one with an injured paw and the other one just plain sick. 

I am happy to report that everyone in our pack, both 2-legged and 4-legged, is doing great including the care giverJ.  Thank you to all who kindly sent their good wishes after last week’s post.  It always means a lot when people connect with you during stressful times.

We had a front come through our area last week.  We missed our chance for rain, but the weather is much more enjoyable and the forecasters are hopeful that we have had our last 100 degree day for 2011.  If they are correct, we will end the year with a total of 90 days with highs of 100 or more.  Even by Central Texas standards, that's enough!

Be sure and check out what’s going on over at Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.