Intentions, Progress, Finishes

I'll get right to it. I've gotten plenty of tasks accomplished over the past few months, but they weren't necessarily the ones I had intended to do. This happens occasionally and that's ok, but I want my focus to stay more on target. So, I'm going to try the monthly intention listing again. It's helped in the past, I believe it can do it again. 

 

First up:

I want this piece completed, now. It needs more quilting to lay flat. The binding has been prepared for it. The center will get a brown unit. A circle, Hexie, yo yo, or ? I'm determined to get this done by November 6. 

#2

Here's where my piece has progressed to for the Basic Crazy Quilting Course I'm taking online with Kathy Shaw. It's a free course, has 12 tasks, and is very doable. Check out her site for when the next course will be offered. I have plenty of tasks to finish out before I will consider it done. Projected completion is November 30. 

The red one is another impatiens placemat that I want done by Nov. 30. This one, unlike the yellow one, will not be appliquéd to the top of a background. I want to try a pillowcase/facing finish it. This will be a sweet little table topper when done. 

I have an idea for a quilt that is rambling around in my head.  It will use lots of different size blocks, scraps galore, and strips to give it a portrait feel. I have orphan blocks, scraps, and left-overs from several finished projects. I will be searching for one or two fabrics for bringing some cohesiveness to it.  I won't be using any basic neutrals, as that just isn't what I'm looking for. 

I also have a piece started that I refer to as my Pojagi piece. Not sure where I'm headed with this. 

There are also one knitting and one crocheting project. Both are sitting in the basket. I'm not pleased with how they look, so they may get undone and the yarn put back into a ball for the future. 

On my design wall is a piece I call Flower Garden. It has flower heads from hand dyed cloth fused on. I want to try couching the stems with my longarm onto it. Even if it doesn't turn out the way I want, I need to try. 

I think that my biggest drawback to getting some of my projects underway has been fear! Yep, fear of messing up what I've already done. That's why I'm counting on this post to help keep me motivated to make progress. Progress comes before completion! I really should print that out. Maybe even have it tattooed on my forearm! 

Well, that's enough for today. I'll be back as I get some progress made. 

Until then, Let's Create Today!  Luann

October Review

Considering my usual level of activity, and finishes (or at least progress made) this month is looking pretty dismal. Why? Well, I'll explain.

I returned from vacation on the 4th, to find out I needed to evacuate for Hurricane Matthew. They wanted people to go inland 100 miles from the South Carolina coast. Well, I didn't get back from that until October 9. 

George did the yard clean up, we only had minimal tree debris. He also helped in the neighborhood with some tree limbs that stopped folks from entering their house safely. 

I took care of getting all laundry caught up. Clean bedding, and a general zone up of house that sat for 18 days, some of those days were without power. We only lost two items from the refrigerator. We try to have nothing that will spoil in it when we go on vacation. I spent a bundle at the grocery store and just putting it all away seamed to be taking all my energy. I hadn't realized just how stressed, on the inside, I was about that hurricane. But, it's past now and I know what to do if another one comes- get myself outta here! lol

I had two clients, each with four quilt tops, that needed to have things quilted. Finally, a few pictures!

Betty's four:

And Paulette's four:

Here are images of the texture from the quilting. 

That circle meander by Nancy Haacke is fast becoming a favorite of mine. 

I did some quilting on this wallhanging/table topper. It needs more quilting. Then the binding, and a brown center is best for a sunflower!

It's Saturday the 29th and my focus is not on being creative at the moment. I'm going to give myself a 'break' by posting this now and that way I'll stop fretting over having no 'finished' items to show for the month. My kitchen windows are clean! That makes me happy to. I guess I generally don't look at getting seasonal cleaning done as a creative endeavor. I really should, considering how creatively I can get when I'm looking for reasons to not clean! Anybody else have 'creative focus' issues going on?

May God bless you with a unique idea this week, one that surprises you!  Luann

September Review

This post is going to be short and sweet, but lots of pictures.

 

I finished this quilt's binding. Then made pillow cases to go with. 

Next up was a Labyrinth pattern. (Debbie Maddy) I tweaked it a bit for how I wanted it to lay on the bed and to accommodate only having a single one yard piece of my focus fabric. 

Instead of pillow cases, I made the Euroshams to fit two pillow forms I was able to get locally. 

Here are princess covers for two of the grandkids. Their mom had given me the fabric last spring. I thought it was about time to get something made. Only had a 'skimpy' yard of each. Some stores are downright stingy. They cut at 36" but it isn't a square cut to start with and you get less than a yard to work with. 

 And because the prom fabric finally got used, I was able to cross this page out completely! First full page crossout since May of this year. Lots getting done, but they aren't all on a few pages. Some day I plan to have this little notebook filled with 'finished' projects. Just a fun thing for me. 

Four fat quarters that I dyed up. 2 are ice dyed, and the other 2 are a low water immersion method.

 

The beginnings of a quilt. And a pillow case to accompany it. I had to remake a pillow to fit, sometimes my fabric choice just is 2 inches shy, and I use it any way. Then I have another project to get done. 

I'm taking a Basic Crazy Quilting Course with Kathy Shaw. I've really enjoyed learning her techniques. 

 I really like how it's turning out. 

 

 3,283,792 stitches since I got my machine at the end of July last year. And I have 5 or 6 quilt tops that will be delivered early October for getting made into 'quilt sandwiches'. Sandwich Making is a lot of fun. Yes, that's what I call it when I stitch the top, backing, and batting together. 

By the time this post goes up I will be on the last few days of my vacation. I'll see you back here sometime in October. 

May God bless you with a loving family, and time to spend with each of them. - Luann

Review and Intention Time, Already?

August has flown by for me. Several intentions were accomplished, and many others were put on hold. This happens when I decide that I am going to make two quilts before I leave on vacation! And to top it off, I've never done either design previously and the pattern wasn't the size I needed! EQ7 to the rescue. But before I could start designing with it, I had to reinstall my program. That was one of the many glitches that came about from my problem with Windows 10vs7 back in the spring. Moving on,

I'll start at the beginning of the month. 

I finally cut and appliquéd my hexies onto the 'slashed' area of my One Block Wonder quilt. They did exactly what I wanted, without attracting any undue attention. This is now a FINISHED quilt.

A

Below are pillow cases for McKade and Eliza, two sweet kids in the UP of Michigan. They'll get these, and their quilts when I visit this fall. Under them are the cases that go with the OBW quilt. Four pillow cases FINISHED. 

I also worked on making an improvisational background for my yellow Impatien. The flower portion is a Judy Niemeyer design. My intention was for this to be my entry in Cobblestone Quilters Guild President 2016 Challenge. It is not quilted, but the backing and the binding are ready for it. Sad to say, it will be rejected as it is 1/2" shy of the minimum size. I know I could add another piece of border, but this is how I want it. And after quilting, it may miss the 30" minimum by more than that. I'll like it, and the person that will receive this will be quite pleased. Not a finish, on the list for September. 

This was where my 'pojagi-look' piece is at. I've since removed it from my design wall, after pinning all those pieces onto a sheer curtain panel. Most of them are silks, or very thin cloth. I want this to be a curtain art item, so I'm really trying to be ok with no batting or backing. The plan is to sew them to the curtain and then hang it for enjoying. Most of these pieces were received from people around the world that I traded surface design cloth with, back in 2014. September?

I realized that I had not gifted pillow cases to my sister or brother in law when I gave them quilts. So I made one to go with the Civil War reproduction fabric quilt, and a black and purple one for my sister. The other 6 pictured here go with 3 quilts that are on the 'waiting bench'. Eight more FINISHED cases.

Here's a FINISHED I'm proud of. I ordered these pole cradles for my quilting machine awhile back. They've been sitting in my longarm quilting area ever since. I knew I would enjoy the mobility they give when loading my quilts, but I just would freeze every time I thought about taking my machine's frame apart! I watched the video, read the instructions. Twice!  Why I let my inner critic even talk is beyond me! They were installed in less than 30 minutes, and YES, YES, YES! They are terrific. 

In my desire to reduce the basket of "what am I ever going to do with these left overs", I pieced this table topper. I had 19 blocks. Why not 20? Probably will find it someday in the bottom of another basket. I chose to add the gray sashing, but as I was doing this, I found that I had 15 blocks that were the same size and 4 that were SMALLER.  Now had they been larger it wouldn't have been quite the issue, but because of this I added extra depth borders to one block. The center fabric is an old timey print of canisters, the backing is coffee cups and coffee beans on green. So, Canisters On Caffeine is a FINISHED table topper. 

The next photo is something I saw at Coastal Coffee Roasters in Summerville, SC. They've got great coffee and some pretty terrific sandwiches. Their Breakfast BLT is my favorite. Check them out if you are ever in town. This is made from plastic water and sports drink bottles, some chicken wire, paints, and a lot of creativity! I'd love to make one of these for my screen porch. Maybe next spring?

I've gotten myself into working with yarn again. On Annie's Attic I found the pattern for this vest, along with a boatload of other wonderful designs. This was $7.00 for a digital pattern. I'll let you know when it becomes 'something in progress' around here. Looking towards December or January. 

Kathy Shaw has started another workshop for the basics in crazy quilting. If you google her you can sign up for her next one. I've done plenty of embroidery, but never this much precision. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I approached it with an open mind, and I'm loving it. She sets out all of the perameters in this basic class and really gives you in depth instruction. There are 12 tasks and I have finished 6 this month. It is not a 'finish', but it is RIGHT ON TIME.  PS-Kathy Shaw's workshops/classes are free! 

This is a completed top. I used Labyrinth, by Debbie Maddy. She visited the quilt guild and many of the members took her workshop. I wasn't able to make that one, but I purchased the pattern. When I got home that night, I went to her website, clicked thru for her Craftsy class, and got it at 50% off. I was pumped, as it includes patterns for 3 other quilts. I used the EQ7 to help me get this to look how I wanted it to, and for the size I needed. Listening to the Craftsy class helped me pick up on her  techniques. Well worth the investment. I did use my Accuquilt Go to do all of the half square triangles. It made this easy to cut. Then I put each piece up on the design wall to make sure I would get the optical illusion I wanted. I used some of my hand dyed fabrics and I've ordered specific thread for the quilting. The top is pieced, but I won't call this a finish, until the binding is on. Must be done in September. 

My Jamaican Carpenter's Wheel quilt for Mr. Ethan is ready for the binding. This is from the Debbie Maddy class on Craftsy. I had a few thread issues, but all is fixed. I was told that he favored Rasta colors. When I asked what Rasta colors where, I was told, 'red, yellow, green, and black like the Jamaican flag'. So I Pinterest searched for Jamaican colors, found a palette of 8 and went into my fabric on a search. I thought I was the only one that liked such bold colors, but I've got a 16 year old Grandson that likes them too. Yeah!! Another one for September. 

Yesterday, when I just could not get in the right frame of mind to sit and stitch, I decided to clean up the crumbs, snippets, etc from my basket of trimmings from Batiks and hand dyed cloth. I've always wanted to do a confetti quilt, so I decided to fill some jars with colors for that future project. Both of my trimmings baskets have been cleaned. Last week I did the basket with commercially printed fabrics. 

Here's the bag of giveaways, that goes to guild for others to enjoy. 

That's where I'm at today at 3pm. I may go to the sewing room and get that binding on, or I may just go take a nap!  I have found that blogging about my month, and using pictures, shows "me" that I've had another creative month. The name of my blog is, let's create today, not let's get it finished today. So with that in mind, I'm off on my next creative adventure. Luann

Call and Response Challenge

Back in May, I handed to each member of Palmetto Fiber Arts Guild this little grouping of 'stuff'. 

Brown paper sandwich bag, cd, and pieces of fabric, yarns, threads, lace, and a section of a panty hose leg where the beginnings of our challenge. That was the 'Call' portion. Everyone was encouraged to be inspired and create. No other perameters were given. 

More will be coming in but these were the 'Responses' shared on Saturday. 

I know some members weren't up for this, but that's ok. It was meant to get some creative energy happening. 

Bev L. brought in her Dancing Diva, Freida Friday. She would receive the 'Best Last Minute Effort', because Bev told us it got done the night before! Way to 'rock on'!  

Next is Susan I., owner of Fabulon Studio. She takes the 'Early Bird' award. Her's was finished back by our June meeting! Obviously, she was inspired early on. 

Here is Angela's Flower Garden. She used everything but the bag and cd. The panty hose?, yep they are her stems. This one gets 'Best Incorporation of Materials into Another Piece of Artwork'. 

Kathy B., our President this year agreed with me that so many ideas kept running thru her head until she finally decided to just 'do' something. I think this is her rendition of those kitchen witches from the past. So her award is, 'Better Done Than Not'. Front and back. 

This next one from Sandy H. gets the 'Most Inspired' award. She didn't use any of the items that she was given. However, she told how the variety of them inspired her. To my best recollection she said: There were shiny and dull surfaces, thus her choice of yarns

The insertion type lace led her to make the open work area where the drawstring goes thru, and

The 'strings' gave her the direction for those drawstrings. There might have been more, but my memory only has so much space,,, oh, I think we can safely say the brown 'bag' is represented, too. 

Finally here are my two pieces. A little something for my sewing room wall. And the bookmark/note pad I used for keeping track of all those July finishes, etc. I get, 'Everything and the Kitchen Sink' , the only piece you can't see is the fabric strip and that was used on the backside of the bookmark to hold everything together. 

The 'Call and Response' challenge was something I read about on someone else's blog. I don't remember who, so if you read this and it was your blog, let me know and I'll put your info on this. 

I recall it was a Jazz term where one musician would play a 'rift' then another musician would respond with their 'rift', and on it would go. 

So, I hope this encourages some other creatives to put together 'goody bags' and challenge your friends to be creative. 

May God bless you with inner peace and joy. Luann

Icey Delights on 8 Tshirts

I basically use the ice-dyeing techniques that Lynda Heines shared with us through her Icey Delights Online Class. You can find all of the information on her Bloom, Bake, and Create Blog. She shared how many specific colors looked when they split during this process.

I chose my own colors for some Tshirts for the grandkids. Each picture gives you a pretty good idea of the splitting, and the dyes that were used. 

I hope this helps those of you that had questions. 

If you are getting too much white, I suggest to massage your fabrics once all the ice has melted. This tends to move things thru all the layers. And if a few dots of dye annoy you, put your garment in with the front away from the ice. By the time it moves thru the fabric the dots are generally gone. 

Hope you're having as much fun as I am. Luann