Finally some slow stitching

It's been a hectic spring at our house. The great weather outdoors constantly beckons me to come out and enjoy nature.  So, often at this time of the year my sewing time is given up for the green outdoors. But, that is just fine.  Afterall, it's the colors in nature that often inspire my quilts.

Of course, while outside doing the yard work, I noticed the lanterns on the front of the house were looking pretty bad.  The black paint was badly faded. So down they came and the spray paint came out.  I used a hammered bronze paint which really turned out great!

We have also spent some time updating the furniture in our family room.  Furniture shopping is very draining especially since we were looking for a piece that we both could find comfortable.  We ended up with a power sectional.  Then a new lamp shade was needed and another lamp.  We went to a neighborhood garage sale Saturday and found a 2 dollar lamp that had a great base and I knew Tom could add a harp and with a new lamp shade it would be perfect. It is a wood lamp and of course the wrong shade of stain so I spent time painting it while Tom did the modifications to add the harp. More sewing time gone, but it was a fun project to do with my husband.

But, I did find a few hours each eveing to hand piece some more half square triangles.  I only need to do about twenty more to have enough to make 36 - 16 patches.  It seems like I just started stitching these, how time flies.  So I apologize for not posting but I have been too busy.  But today, is definitely a stitching day. Hopefully today, I can get a good start hand piecing  those half square triangles and getting them all pressed and ready to assemble into sixteen patches. I will join Kathy and the others linking up their slow stitching progress.

Keeping it Simple!

I know when I started quilting I was attracted to the technically most difficult quilts.  Now that I have tackled a few, I keep reminding myself that it's the simple traditional patterns that I really love.  I think it's because they really showcase the fabric or combinations of colors.  So, as I was piecing my hst's I kept reminding my self : keep it simple!

So yesterday, I started assembling a 16 patch.  Now do I set them on point for a zig zag effect or not.  Again, reminding myself:  keep it simple.  If I don't set them on point I can quilt with a diagonal line thru the triangles which will keep it simple and let the fabric shine.  I don't know how many quilters consider the quilting when actually piecing the top.  It is always on my mind.  I piece so I can hand quilt, I guess that might not be true for those who have their tops longarmed.  So all my decisions have been made.  Oh! except maybe how wide the sashing and outside borders will be.  But first, I need to get these blocks assemnbled.  I am using the machine to stitch the blocks even though I hand pieced the hst's. There isn't a rule against that is there?  I really like both methods so why not combine them?????

Hand Pieced QAL finish!

I am so glad that I joined the QAL.  Although, I have made a couple of hand pieced quilts I had never worked with blocks and so many points.  As with everything else we do, practice does improve our skills so that was a bonus.  As I said in a previous post the fabric I used was light and not as tightly woven as some quilting fabric, but I managed to hang in there.   Now when it came time to quilt it, the lighter fabric was a dream to quilt.  I pulled Jeana Kimball's book: Loving Stitches from my library and got a lot of ideas on how to quilt each block.

There also was a simple basket weave pattern in the book that I decided to use on the negative space.  I have never enjoyed using stencils basically for two reasons. 1. They never seem to be the right size for the area I want to use them. 2. They are flimsy and tracing or pouncing thru them is difficult for this girl.  I use my quilting rulers and make my templates when it comes to hand quilting.  The basket weave is a simple version and very easy to mark just using a ruler.

I started by marking a one inch  grid at a 45 degree angle going in both directions. Then I drew a line down the middle of each square and would alternate the direction in the next square.   One line is horizontal and one perpendicular.  Nothing hard about that!

I usually try to do something new or different with each quilt I hand quilt.  For this quilt I  used a varigated quilting thread.  I find it difficult to choose a color when the spool is varigated but I had this spool in my sewing box for several years. I had won it at a quilt show and just never found the right quilt until this one.  The pastel greens pink and yellows were perfect for this quilt.

I thought I would switch to gray when I started quilting the gray fabric but decided to continue with the varigated and really loved the bit of shimmer it added to those dull gray areas.  I can see using varigated threads in the future as they are a lot of fun.

The finished quilt is approximately 29x29 and so it quilted up pretty quickly. Also an artic blast came thru Texas last weekend and I sat and stitched every moment I had free.  Once I got going, I was having a hard time putting it down.  I must say I am pleased with the finish and will hang it in my sewing room.  

Now it is time to decide what is next.  Hand piecing a few more sun flower blocks this summer would be fun and I need to prepare my trailing vines for hand quilting.  There always seems to be plenty to choose from around here. I have joked that I don't need anymore quilts but somehow I always start another and have several tops waiting to be hand quilted.