More paper piecing

I finished two of the partial sunburst blocks and got comfortable enough with the ebb and flo that I significantly reduced the time it takes to complete one 'sunburst'. This epiphany of sorts came about because I happened to watch the You Tube video on paper piecing in my own blog! I also reduced some of the twisting and turning I was doing to work the pieces and came out of it with good paper piecing in less time! Yea!!

Being so caught up with the project, I decided to try to place my blocks on a grid so I can see how they work together. I used Annie's sample blue Quilters Palette quilt as my guide and then placed my completed blocks. I will continue to use this layout to determine my fabric selection in the remaining blocks.



Speaking of paper piecing, I have always been curious about English paper piecing but never pursued it until today. So, I googled it and found this very very interesting site! They call themselves Threadbangers. I am delighted to see younger folk getting involved in quilting. Take a look and then go hit up Google for more information. Click on this link to see the video.


Quilting Techniques- English Paper Piecing - More DIY How To Projects

I have been listening to CNN all day as more news of Michael Jackson's death comes to light. I was particularly struck by longtime MJ friend, Deepak Chopra's analysis of the situation. Believing his death was a result of improper prescription drug use, he repudiated the actions of celebrity doctors who carelessly and indiscriminately dispense drugs to their patients. If anything good comes of MJ's death, perhaps it will be increased pressure on physicians to re-address the age-old ethical codes of their profession.

An old interview between Barbara Walters and Michael gave me pause to reflect on how sad a person he was and how he became the man he was at death. He just wanted people to understand him. He referred to a song he wrote called 'Childhood'. He laments never having had one and that his affection for children was about reliving his lost childhood. In another interview he mentioned how afraid he was, as a young boy, knocking on doors with his Jehovah's Witness family. He shrunk from it, afraid of danger when doors opened and unknown people would appear. He was a victim from the get-go. Does brilliance always have to emerge from oppression of one kind or another?

RIP Michael. I always felt for you and never believed you had hurt children. I was serving on jury duty in Santa Maria during that infamous trial. RIP all of those who were hurt by the circumstance of that event.

--bb

What a day!

They say that tragedy happens in threes, and once again, it has proven to be true. Ed McMahon, the beautiful Farrah Fawcett, and now Michael Jackson. So sad. The breaking news is conflicting. TMZ has MJ dead, CNN reports he is in a coma, the LA Times says he has died. Either way, it is shocking and sad.

I feel so badly for Farrah and her son and Ryan O'Neal. It is a good thing she did not know that her son Redmond was in jail. Wondering why they couldn't have let him have one last visit yesterday. Another sad sad situation. I hope the devastation of losing his mom will help him recover from his addictions, but I'm betting it only gets worse. Fame and fortune isn't everything, is it?

On to happier things. I finished my Thistle block and it is not totally square. Darn!! Live and learn. I will not do it over, but hopefully I will learn to stitch on a line better in the future! (referring to paper piecing lines).

I will now begin working on the sunburst blocks which require more paper piecing. I have to do eight of them, so I should get it right. I noticed that my needle does not line up with the red arrow on the foot, therefore misaligning the stitching direction. I will pay more attention to that so I can stay on the lines better.

By the way, here is a look at a completed Quilters Palette quilt, the project I am working on. You can see the eight sunburst 'blocks' in the periphery of the quilt. Lotsa paper piecing yet to do. Many thanks to Annie Smith of Quilting Stash podcast fame for creating this fun online video class.


Well, that's all for now. I need to get to work.

-- bb

The Thistle and other blocks

In yesterdays blog I said I would post the four blocks I have finished thus far in my Quilters Palette class, so here they are, all together. Unfortunately, some of the detail is lost but you will see the colors working together.


I spent most of the day working on the paper pieced thistle block. First, I traced the pattern onto sandwich wrap as I decided the heavyweight printer paper would be a pain to stitch through. Then I had to select the colors I would use. This block will have a different background as it will serve as the center block. I am constantly faced with the issue of a very dark background fabric that makes it difficult to use all of the fabrics evenly. I didn't want the center block to stand out like a sore thumb, so I selected one of my dark blue fabrics to act as the background. Happily, the dark green showed up well enough on it so that I could use it as one of the leaf parts. I used the orange again, as I need to distribute it in bits and pieces throughout. Were I to do this again, I would definitely pick out all medium light and light fabrics. The darks have a really really hard time showing up on the black background. Live and learn, they say.


So, here are the parts needed to put the thistle flower together. On the right is one of the four 'patches' that make up the block. Above it are the sandwich wrap patterns, and to the left, the fabric strips layed out in order of use. One item sitting above the fabric is a big post card which I used as a straight edge to fold the paper foundation with. I have three more 'patches' to go - they take a bit of time, but maybe they will be done tomorrow.

Last month we celebrated Baby Girl's first birthday party. Many of her little friends and family came to celebrate with her. It was a perfect day, actually. My SIL Allan, a talented artist, had some fun with sidewalk chalk. Everyone loved it.


Here she is, digging in with the help of her mommy. Oh, to be young again?!


--Bonnie

Back in action - it's Summer!!

Seems like we were looking at the beginnings of spring in my last post. And now it's summer already. I've been really busy, well, to tell the truth, about as busy as a lazy retired person can get!

I think I left off talking about the Alex Anderson workshop I attended in Livermore at Alden Lane Nursery. That was one great experience. We made reservations at the Holiday Inn to return in September for Quilting in the Garden. Alas, we have to defer this trip one more year. Other matters have come up that keep us from going. So, never one to exist in a void, I made a reservation to go to Pacific Intl. Quilt Festival in Santa Clara in mid-October. That should be fun. We'll see if we make it though. Hard to predict the future and what may take place that alters your plans.

As to the present, I am totally enjoying the wonderful June weather we have had. Nice and cool and beautiful. Couldn't ask for more. We are expected to reach the 90s this weekend though, maybe even higher. So, here comes summer I guess. And up goes the A/C bill. Up up up. And the water bill. Up up up up. We have to keep our beautiful trees, hedges and plants alive, especially our scent-ual lavender. By the by, our little baby granddaughter is seen enjoying the weather out on the lawn, playing with her first birthday toys. How cute is that!

And, presently, I am participating in an online quilt class complete with video demonstrations and weekly video chat. We are doing a sampler with some unique blocks and a unique design. I really like the design and I find I am liking changing gears and using different quilting methods, such as paper piecing, machine applique, and regular piecing. Check it out, the class is offered by Annie Smith, a fave of mine. My wonderful sister, Leslie, treated me big time to the fabric needed for the class, which was skillfully put together by another Leslie, owner of Material Pleasure in Morgan Hill. Here is a photo of my fabric and tomorrow I will post photos of my first four completed blocks.



This is a screen grab of the quilt design we are working on. Annie designed several of the blocks herself. I love the border treatment, rather, non-border. I haven't seen anything like this before and it is way different from any other sampler I have seen. I'm really gonna like this!! And, for once, I think I'll even finish it!! Thanks, Annie!




Okay, now to share something really neat I read this evening. Helen Godden of Oz sent out this email that shares a great wonderful idea! Using Press 'N Seal to mark up designs for quilting blocks! If this interests you, check out Helen's blog/website at www.helengodden.com.

Check back tomorrow and I will have photos of my blocks and more.

Happy Springtime!

Okay, I see it has been a very long time since I blogged - more than three months! Well, I can assure you that nothing much has been happening since then... EXCEPT several great quilty experiences! I'll tell you all about them.

First, way back in late January, my sister Leslie and I traveled north to Livermore's amazing and beautiful Alden Lane Nursery for a three-day workshop with none other than Alex Anderson! We had a WONDERFUL time. I don't know what to mention first - meeting Alex and learning from her; seeing the most beautiful nursery scape ever (believe me, it is smaller but more beautiful even than Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach!); or eating the best ever catered lunches! Here are a few select photos from our wonderful trip north.

Something else fun happened in January. I started an Adult Ed quilting class in Santa Barbara. It has been almost 14 years since I did this. Retirement gives you many opportunities and this is one I very much looked forward to over the years. Problem is, we moved away to Santa Ynez (about 35 miles) and it became a little more difficult to plan activities in SB. It has been so much fun to reconnect with this quilting experience!

The same teacher I started with is still there - Marty Frolli. She is so articulate and detailed in her preparation and instructions. We are lucky to have her. The class this semester covers using fat quarters to make traditional pieced quilts. I have learned so much from this class, even though I never completed a thing. Shame on me! Here are some photos of how the snail trail block is designed. Marty has us draft them first on paper. I like this as it teaches us how to design a block and resize it as needed.

The pieces that form the block.

Putting the blocks together.

One of the benefits of attending this class was the Show and Tell opportunity. I wish I had photos of the quilts students brought to share. Beautiful quilts, a variety of styles and color choices. I just have to add a photo of one here. The week's topic was the pinwheel quilt. Dundee Schulte, who loves lots of color, brought her completed top. Amazing how she can pull this off. Here is her quilt:

That's all for now. I will share more about my recent quilt experiences in the next blog.

Happy New Year!

It's been a long long while since I blogged here. I haven't been doing a whole lot of creative work, just mainly taking care of baby Carrie and planning for the holidays. I hit a big slump, but have a lot of plans for the next month. 

I now have a blog on The Quilt Show, Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims' fantastic online quilt experience. If you are reading this and never heard of it, hasten ye there and take a look at all that is offered. I have met some instant friends there through my first two blog posts. 

There is a 2009 Block of the Month program that I am going to attempt - a medallion quilt with the center being a feathered star. This is a very intricate design, but there is a lot of instruction and a variety of tutorials available to get you through the intricacies. I will give it a try! It can be scrappy, so I am going to try to make use of my stash. I do have to decide on a focus and a background fabric before I can get started. Off to the LQS I shall go. Here is a look at the design. The January block is the center medallion. The instructions provided are very thorough!

While I begin auditioning fabric for this block, I will have to get busy finishing up the baby quilt I started months ago. I've done NOTHING on it. The quilting had me stumped. I will conquer it - soon. 

I also want to work on this new project for the baby. It is a pattern for a shopping cart cover called a "Cootie Cover". Baby Carrie is getting almost big enough to use this. She is getting way too heavy to haul around in her portable baby car seat, so for grocery shopping, we will put her in this cover!

One other big project looms. My sister Leslie and I are traveling to the Bay area on Inauguration Day to participate in an Alex Anderson Simply Stars seminar at Alden Lane Nursery. The class begins on Weds, Jan 21, but we need to get there the evening before. The plan is to watch the inaugural events as long as we can before we hit the road. I do not want to miss this historic event. TIVO is a blessing, is it not?

We have purchased our fabric for this class and I am thinking I might even like to use something similar for my TQS January BOM project. We shall see. I must move on now, so, you should be hearing from me more often. I will sign off with our cutest little Christmas package photo, taken by my nephew John. Guess who?

Still on earth, just busy!

Wow, I haven't blogged in several weeks! time flies when you're dragging your feet! Truth be told, I have been busy and not busy. Motivated and not.

Today I tore into my sewing room to reorganize and toss stuff I haven't touched in years. Gone was all my tole painting books, dried up paints, old instructions and project sheets, magazines, etc.. I am in my quilting phase for good and will not be returning to painting forever(?) ... hard to say.

When we moved into this house 5 years ago, I wasn't sure how to organize this room. In went a love seat and a matching chair... this house did not have a family room and so we had to put it somewhere. The photo I have not yet taken because I am washing the sofa slipcover will show that there is a nice sitting area with a TV cabinet and built-in book shelves. Nice, but I'd rather have the room to set up my Hinterberg frame which sits in pieces waiting for me to make the big move and get rid of the couch and chair!

The built-in cabinets in the room and throughout the house are well done, really nice. But I just stuffed things in them 5 years ago and now that I am retired, I am committed to going through the house and reorganizing the junk that got 'temporarily' tossed into all the cabinets. That project will take me a long long time, cuz I have to be motivated to subject myself to such a distasteful project. I started with my sewing room 'cuz the mess it was in was keeping me from working in it. Ergo, I have not sewed in weeks. Clutter, dust devils, disorganization, yuck, who'd want to work in that environment? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Once I have this room in order I will be able to sit and work in it again without sneezing my head off from all the dust and devils. Then I will finish the baby quilt and camp quilt started oh so long ago. Speaking of the baby, of course I do have a photo or two to share. Biased or not, this child is cute cute cute!





Until next time, take care everyone. 

Bonnie