Jacob's Ladder is Bound, Labeled, Done!

I finished the handwork on the Jacob’s Ladder quilt binding last night.  Since it was completed during bluebonnet season here in Central Texas, I’ve named it Texas Blues.  This was a relatively inexpensive project since everything except the backing and border fabrics came from my stash, and two of those were purchased on sale. 

Belated Progress Report

Yesterday was busy with household chores, and I did not get around to making a Design Wall Monday post.  So, here is a belated picture of Strips That Sizzle on my design wall.  This is the layout I decided to use, and I have begun sewing the rows together. 

I have a small cut of the fabric on the right.  If I have enough and it looks okay pieced, I may make a narrow inner border order out of it to add a little punch of color before adding a wider outer border.

I’m also ready to start doing the handwork on my Jacob’s Ladder quilt binding.  It will be the project I take to at Sit ‘N Sew today, but I am a slow stitcher and it will take several days to finish.  Sometimes I like just taking handwork to my group sewing days.  There is less stuff to carry in and out of the classroom. 

And…it’s turtle season again.  I had to rescue this little one, which somehow got inside our fence but couldn’t get out.

Jacob's Ladder is Quilted

We spent the night at the ranch and when I took my walk this morning, I was totally captivated by the beauty of the season.  Every time we have a wild flower show this good, I try to memorize it in my mind’s eye as well as take lots and lots of pictures, always mindful that it may be a long time before another one this pretty comes along.

While we were there I finished quilting Jacob’s ladder.  It is ready for its final trimming and binding.

Spring Break and Bluebonnets, but Not Much Quilting

Even though our time the last few days was pretty much filled with activities involving our grandsons, I had an unexpected opportunity to work on my quilting while the boys went on an outing at the ranch with their grandfather.  I didn’t actually get to do any quilting, but I did get the Jacob’s Ladder flimsy loaded on the HQ frame, the thread changed, the bobbins filled and a new needle installed before we headed back for town.  Here it is being sized against the roll of batting before it was loaded. 

We are beginning to see bluebonnets.  Usually we need rain in October in order to get a really good show.  This year the rains came late, but we are already seeing more wildflowers than we did last spring.  You can even smell them on the breeze.

The day was very overcast, but I couldn’t resist taking a couple of pictures.  The season will change very quickly.

Jacob's Ladder is is Flimsy

If I am going to continue making large quilts, I really need to get a bigger design wall.  This top ended up being 72 X 91 inches, much larger than I thought when I began the project.  I used an existing pattern that was based on 1 ½ inch strips and I was working with 2 inch strips.  This photograph doesn’t really show the outer border.  I have so many other projects pulling at me that I am glad I got to this point.  It isn’t finished until it has been quilted and bound, of course, but at least it’s a top.

Design Wall Monday -- 02/13/2012

The center of my Jacob’s Ladder quilt is complete and now I am ready to consider whether or not to move forward with my original plan to add borders.  Sometimes, I prefer omitting them.  My collection of blue and neutral scraps is a lot lighter than it used to be.

We made a last minute decision to go to the ranch for two days last week.  When you spend time in the country, you expect to see wildlife.  Over the years we’ve seen exotic game from nearby ranches including a fallow deer.  Several years ago a pair of emus visited us before moving on.  It is quite common to spot raccoons, skunks, bobcats, feral hogs, and the native white tail deer. 

Last week we were visited by this group of goats that found a way through the fence that divides our property from a neighbor.  They are relatively tame and hung around the house for several hours.  We have been in conversation with the neighbor.  As the goats have access to food and water and apparently go back and forth easily, we are not under a lot of pressure to round them up immediately.  It will take some coordination to get them home before fence repairs can be made.

I didn’t have a project ready for the quilter so it was a perfect opportunity to continue going through the boxes of stored items we have not used since our move to Texas.  Several weeks ago we packed a pickup truck load of items for a charity garage sale.  At that time I discovered some boxes had water damage.  Fortunately, the boxes of photographs were okay and we moved them to what we think is a more protected area. 

Judy Laquidara’s Design Wall Monday post at Patchwork Times is loaded with inspiration for quilters.  Be sure and check it out.

More Jacob's Ladder Blocks

I pulled out my Jacob’s Ladder blocks today and began laying out some more on the design wall.  These may complete what I need for the center blocks.  It should be fun to work on them again since blue has always been my favorite color.

Stolen Moments

Christmas family gatherings will continue for another week for us, so sewing activities come in the form of stolen moments.  Here is some of what I’ve done in the last two weeks.

This ironing pad was a bonus project sheet given to us at one of the Civil War Chronicles Club meetings.  I decided it would be easier to transport than the rigid ironing surface I usually take.  I even had some fabric left over from the iron tote I made a couple of years ago.

My design wall has the start of a Valentine’s Wall Hanging on it.  The design was published in the February 2010 issue of McCall’s Quilting Magazine and is by Judy Block.  I had marked it as a possible project for our quilt club's heart challenge, but ended up submitting a different project.  Since I recently put up a quilt hanger, I hope to make a series of seasonal quilts I can rotate.  The design calls for some additional applique, and I am beginning to prepare flower petals, leaves and stems.   

Also on my design wall are four-patches that will eventually be incorporated into my Jacob’s Ladder borders.

Having Fun Alternating Projects

I’ve really been enjoying being moving between projects the last few weeks.  This is the first Jane Stickle block I have done in months.  If you follow the book by Brenda Papadakis, it is block B-7, which she named World Series.

One corner unit of the Civil War Chronicles quilt is complete.  If my piecing is such that I can’t get it to fit on the center, you may never see another post about this quilt again.

I completed eight Jacob’s Ladder blocks at Sit ‘N Sew Tuesday.  Looks like I will need to do some more cutting in order to have enough for 48 blocks.

Working on Jacob's Ladder Blocks

I finished a few more Jacob’s Ladder blocks at Sit ‘N Sew today.  I wasn’t nearly as productive as I expected since I ended up spending a lot more time visiting than sewing.  It was a nice day, though.  I decided to put all my completed blocks up on the design wall to see how they are coming together.  I believe I have 30 out of 48 done. 

The additional rain we were hoping for came around midnight last night.  According to the LCRA gauges closest to our house in town, we received .73 inch in the last 24 hours.  The gauge at our ranch recorded .8 inch for the same time period.  Our lakes are still horrendously low.  I believe we will need an accumulation of around 20 inches before there will be enough run off to bring them back to normal levels, but we were so very grateful for what we received.

Now it’s time to clear out the sewing room to make room for air mattresses.  We are expecting a visit from the kids this Thanksgiving. 

Happy Turkey Day all!

Design Wall Monday -- 11/14/2011

Month 10 of the Civil War Chronicles BOM is complete.  These blocks are a variation of a block called Contrary Wife and went together fairly easily.  I cut out Month 11's blocks last night.  The blocks are similar in construction, but the color placement is such that they look entirely different.  They are called King’s Crown.  Cutting them out was tedious.  I will be making 64 hsts that finish at 1 1/8 inches.  Other units called for 5/8 inch increments.  There are a lot of hours left in constructing this quilt top, but the end is in sight.  After Month 11’s blocks are done, I get to see how accurate my piecing has been as I can begin constructing units to add to the quilt’s center.

I’ve also laid out some Jacob’s Ladder blocks on my design wall, from all the leader/ender units I’ve made. 

Be sure and check out what others are up to at  Patchwork Times.

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.

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 -- 09/26/2011

I was very distracted last week dealing with a loved ones's serious and urgent medical issues.  The resolution appears to be everything we prayed for, and is hopefully something that will stave off a future crisis.  So, given my emotional state, I put what time I had for quilting into projects that did not require much concentration. 

My collection of bits and pieces for the Jacob’s Ladder Quilt Along is growing.  I am doing this as a leader/ender project using Bonnie Hunter’s color scheme and piecing instructions for her Blue Ridge Beauty quilt which was originally published in Quiltmaker Magazine in the 2008 January/February issue.    However, I have a different layout and border treatment in mind based on the Charlotte Angotti’s Up the Ladder quilt published in the June 2008 issue of McCall’s Quilting.  I will be using the 2 inch strips specified by Bonnie rather than the 1 ½ inch strips Charlotte used.

The design calls for 336 four-patches, of which 96 will be used in the border.  I will have to make a fabric purchase for the borders, but the rest of the top will be totally from my stash.  If I stick with this plan, I think the finished quilt top will be just under 60 X 80 inches and will require 48 Jacob's Ladder blocks.  The QAL officially begins October 1, so there is still time to join.  A link on my side bar will take you to the host blog and you can find details at http://imperamagna.blogspot.com/2011/09/jacobs-ladder-qal-info.html

I also did some work on my Plaid Obsession quilt.  Each sashing strip for Plaid Obsession yields 14 leader/ender units, hence all the leader/ender pieces for the Jacob’s Ladder QAL.  Plaid Obsession is spread across my design wall, guest bed and sewing table, so it’s not exactly what I would call a good photo op. 

Judy Laquidara always shares links to design wall projects on Mondays, so be sure and visit

Patchwork Times today.

Oh, yes.  Yesterday, September 25, was our 86^th day of 100 degree weather this year.  Almost 32% of 2011 has had highs of 100 degrees or more.  Depending on which source you use, the forecasted high today is 99-101.

Jacob's Ladder Quilt Along

I had already started cutting up blues and neutrals for very scrappy Jacob’s Ladder blocks when Debbie at Stitchin' Therapy gave her readers a heads up about a Jacob’s Ladder Quilt Along at Impera Magna.  If you follow the link, you’ll also find additional information about Bonnie Hunter’s tutorial on this block.  I’m in, though I may not keep up with the rest of the group.  It will be fun to bust some stash and participate with others.  Here is a picture of a very messy stack of some of the blues and neutrals I’m cutting into.  It’s representative of just how out of control my collection of remnants has become.  Delving into this pile has been fun, though, since it reminds me of projects I’ve really enjoyed working on.