Crazy-Puss Border Pre-View!

I am tearing my hair out at this border trying to get it to turn the corners right. I should have just done the Maverick "whack it off wherever it ends" thing, but I really like how it does the 'partial star' thing in the corner, and at the center of the borders where the diamonds change directions :c) SO...I will press on! (and curse on and swear on and cry on and on and on...) Three sides have borders with one more to go.

But you know what? Another reason I think I need one more outside border (have found a black print that I think will work great) is to kind of re-square and ease in any wavy-ness from this pieced border. It ruffles just a bit, even though I've worked really hard with it. Sometimes pieced borders are stretchy and wobbly and have a life and a mind of their own, so adding another border to anchor that free edge can tame the whole thing back into behaving. So that's the plan so far.

I'm planning on quilting spiderwebs in the plain blue squares. Not sure about what is going to go on in the pieced blocks, but it will be a fun one! I have fabric in here from the 1980s! And you can't miss those little heart and paw prints.....those were so popular when I first really was getting into quilting. Amazing that there are still pieces in my scraps from that long ago. I gag when I see alot of them, but still, I like remembering what I made with them originally, where I bought them, who the quilt was for....and the scraps...how MANY scrap quilts have been a method to use up the leftovers from 20 years of quilting? This kind of quilt really does contain "pieces of my life."

Bonnie

Read More»

More Oscar Antics!

I have this wonderful little old toy sewing machine that Lucy brought me when she came from the Netherlands last spring! Along with the machine, she made this eensy teensy little quilt, handquilted it no less....to go with the machine! This sits on my low wall that is on one side of the staircase that goes down to the laundry room from up here in my quilting room....I keep lots of

nick nacks like old tins and stuff there too, kind of a fun ledge to have "stuff.".

I caught Oscar yesterday......up on the ledge....curling his feet under him and laying on top of the edge of this eensy quilt! With all the regular sized quilts and beds in this house, you think he would choose something MORE comfy than this, but he seemed to have liked his perch mighty fine. Didn't even mind me coming up on him with the camera flashing in his face! *LOL*

Crisp sunny days in SC the past couple of days. It's been brisk, but I've still been going out and trying to hike my 5 miles a day in the forest. Yesterday I went to the library down town and checked out 3 more books on CD for loading up into the MP3 player. I don't find myself having alot of time to just sit and read a book, but it is sure fun to listen!

I'm still trudging away on piecing this border for the crazy puss-in-the-corner blocks. I did end up setting them with the blue, and I've got a double sawtooth border done on the two long sides so far, now for the two short sides. One thing with pieced borders....I don't like the feeling of chopping off the points when it comes time to put the binding on, and I don't like it with all those little seams that can pop open while quilting, especially if it's going to be a long term hand quilting project...so I'm thinking it's going to need one more solid border outside the pieced one to kind of anchor everything so I don't lose points into binding, and I don't have seams popping open. Makes sense? I guess I'll come to that decision when I get there!

I hope everyone has a wonderful warm weekend with some quilting time in there somewhere!

Bonnie

Read More»

More Chocolate Indigo!

I pulled these out to take a closer up pic for Finn since she said she never heard of them. They come from South Africa...and even now after washing they still smell faintly of melted crayon (wax) from the dye process! They make them in red and blue too....I love the blues..they are wonderful!

Bonnie

Read More»

Christmas Getaway Project?

I've been thinking of UFOs that would be easy to bring to the cabin for the Christmas week away....

This is a pic of a Dear Jane variation that I've had set aside for nearly a couple years now. I love it...it's just tedious as all (*&#(*$ and I think it wasn't scrappy enough for me. It's all double pinks and chocolate indigoes. I bought the indigoes at Quilt Market in Houston, fell in love with them even though they are a thicker, coarser weave. They come waxy and stiff as canvas, they soften when you wash them and get all the excess dye out. The background is a tiny pink/white shirting. It looks VERY old...and I love it..I just burned out on it.

The blocks are more than 1/2 done...I could pack all of this in a small tub and have enough sewing to last me the whole week or more...so I'm thinking this is what I'll be bringing. Maybe it will get me eager to work on it again?

Bonnie

Read More»