January is such a nice, quiet month. For the first time in a long while I have been able to spend time quilting, and I have been enjoying it immensely!
After the holidays, I took time to catch up on the mail. One of the magazines was Keepsake Quilting and inside a found the most wonderful page of Star Wars fabric. I had heard from my DD that the boys were having their own wars over the quilt each morning, so-o-o-o, I ordered enough fabric to make two small lap quilts. Each quilt is just a bit different and has their name on it. I sent them to the house via UPS and each boy got a box. They looked pleased and excited that they now have their own quilt. I love being able to do things like that.
One for each of the boys...
Next, I finished my Cheap Trick quilt. It is OK, but I had hoped to be a bit more thrilled with it. I think it's the background quilting, it should have been a bit less rigid.
The one quilt I have been working on for awhile is made from fabric my DD got me when she was in Bali. It is a combination of the Millefliore pattern in the center, broderie purse from the Bali fabric, and various applique elements. I just finished appliqueing the last quadrant and am working on embellishing the applique. I saw a segment by Ricky Tims on using pearl cotton woven with thread. I had thought about doing French Knots to repeat the small dots in the Bali Fabric, but this is so much better and very much easier. I laid it on the floor to get some idea of how it will look.
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| Detail of embellishment |
In the mean time...I got an idea for a couple of other quilts. Will their ever be enough time???
The holidays are one of my favorite times of the year, however, they are tiring. We enjoyed the whole family for four days. Gifts were exchanged, laughs were had, a 1,000 piece puzzle done, and we enjoyed my DD and SIL's cooking.
Now I get to stay home and quilt. And quilt I will. In mid December I finished another Christmas Quilt. All of my Christmas Quilts are red and green. I don't do snowmen, Santas, or other Christmas icons, just red and green. This quilt started in the early 2000's and was put in my cupboard only to be found when I cleaned up my sewing room last fall. I decided it was time to get it done.
In October I went to Ricky Tims Super Seminar and saw a couple of techniques that I hadn't used recently. I did the applique using the double blanket stitch on my Bernina and backed the blocks with Ricky's StableStuff. The double blanket stitch is quite different from the regular one. It is much more noticeable and will require a lot of practice, but putting the StableStuff behind it really works well and it will soften considerably once I wash it.
In May our guild will be having our quilt show (Sinnissippi Quilters, Sports Core on Riverside, May 6 and 7) and there are a couple of challenges that have been issued for the show. The first one is the theme challenge. Our theme is Bits and Pieces. We have set the criteria to be that a log cabin needs to be used and it should be in the 20" to 50" size range. I am in love with this quilt. It doesn't have a name yet, but it is approx. 36" square.
The second challenge is celebrating Rockford's own Cheap Trick's entry into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame last year. It is to be an original interpretation relating to Cheap Trick and be 20" square. I realized that I missed most of their music while I was raising my kids. I needed to listen to some, but the iconic checkerboard and multi-necked guitars caught my imagination.
There is a quick project I am working on, but more about that later.
I am still working on an original applique that seems to be going on forever! More about that later also.
Lastly, I am going to submit a quilt to Cherrywood's challenge this year: Van Gogh. I have my packet of fabric and a design, I think. Last year was Lion King. I can let you see that one.
Have a calm January and spend all those free minutes quilting.
