Birdhouse UFO Finished!

It feels great to have another UFO completed! The birdhouse was begun in 1995 (you can read about it here and here), and I lost interest.

I set a goal in 2017 to do something with this project, and I lost interest.

In 2020, I actually worked on it (I shared here). Life happened. My sewing machine needed a new part, and the part sat off the coast in a cargo ship for months (Thank you, Covid).

My sewing machine is repaired, and I chose this month to push through! I am done with it cluttering up my mind and taking space in the sewing studio!

Funny thing…

I lost interest because I didn’t like it. Once I came up with a plan…well…

I like it!

It needs a name.

Hubby suggested ‘Spring Song’.

Do you have a suggestion?

Quilt On!

Jessica’s Patriotic Quilt

When my daughter, Jessica, was a young girl, she and I designed a patriotic quilt for her to sew. She chose her fabrics, and she cut and pieced all of the blocks.

Now those blank squares were not meant to be blank. Jessica wanted to fill them with appliqued American symbols.

She found symbols in coloring pages and other places and applique proceeded slowly.

Very slowly.

A lot of life has happened, including courtship, marriage, and three children. She is becoming an accomplished photographer with her own website.

A move across the country motivated Jessica to dig into her UFOs and pull out this patriotic project to finish.

Now the flimsy is back in my house. I have the honor to quilt it for my daughter.

I have it pin basted and ready for quilting.

This will be one of those New Year’s resolutions.

Or maybe I will wait until she moves back to my side of the country.

Quilt On!

Garden Baskets and Iris Projects

I have hand stitched the tulips, fruit, birds and kitty to the borders of Garden Baskets.

A little detail has been added, too.

There are a billion buds and leaves to stitch to the borders. That is going to take some time.

Garden Baskets

Garden Baskets Update and a Gif

Garden Baskets Update

Garden Baskets Update 3

Garden Baskets Update 4

My Step-Mom gave me a small pack of fat quarters recently, and asked if I would make an Iris wall-hanging for her.

She has never asked me for anything, so I am delighted to take on this project!

I chose a hand-dyed piece of fabric (one that I dyed several years ago) that I thought would work well for the background. I also found a free coloring page for inspiration.

I have a tracing paper overlay and I am using Steam-A-Seam 2. I like Steam-A-Seam 2 because it allows me to reposition pieces until I am ready to press them permanently into place.

I am using a mix of hand-dyes, the fat quarters that my Step-Mom gave me, and a few prints that I have in my stash.

I am liking how it looks!

It will be ready for thread painting soon. However, Betty Boop is still in the hospital (it has been a month now). It seems that replacement parts are hard to get. So I guess the Iris will stay on the design wall for a while and it is back to leaves and buds for the Garden Basket quilt for me.

Quilt On!

Garden Baskets Update 4

I’ve not been sewing very much. Betty Boop (otherwise known as my Janome sewing machine) is in the hospital and awaiting ordered parts. I hope to have her home soon, but there is no telling when. So, during this drought/heat season, I have been spending a whole lot of time with Ancestry and having fun pursuing family history.

Nevertheless, some hand work is happening.

To remind you of the Garden Baskets project, here is the flimsy that I am working on:

I have the borders and the vine stitched on. I am currently working on the hundreds of buds and a few other appliques.

I’ve drawn all of the parts onto freezer paper, ironed the freezer paper to the fabric, and cut out all of the shapes.

I am using the ‘freezer paper on top’ method. Why?

I don’t know…I just decided to do it that way. I have stitched as many of the shapes together as I can. In other words, stems and beaks and other parts are fitted together to make the whole before I stitch them to the quilt top.

The pieced kitty is pinned and ready to be stitched to the background.

The washout blue marker is my guideline for some embroidery to be applied.

One applique stitched down. Hundreds to go.

I know there are many…what is your favorite way to applique?

Garden Baskets

Garden Baskets Update and a Gif

Garden Baskets Update

Garden Baskets Update 3

Quilt On!

Bow Ties, Farm Girl Finish and Birdhouse Updates

 

If I counted correctly (and that is questionable), then I should have 768 bow tie blocks in this basket.

That is enough to sew these into bigger blocks for a layout.

Bow Tie Leader/Ender

Hubby made a frame for the Farm Girl stitchery, so she is completely finished and ready for gifting!

I love how she turned out!

Farm Girl Post 1

Farm Girl Post 2

Farm Girl Post 3

Farm Girl Post 4

The birdhouse project (I really should name this thing) has gone from the designing stage to the fused applique stage.

I really like it now…definitely enough to finish it!

Birdhouse UFO

This is my first post using the ‘new’ WordPress editor. I am a bit lost, but I am figuring it out. Except that I cannot seem to make photos clickable anymore. Hmmmmm?

*I have figured out how to make my photos clickable!  At least for now!

Quilt On!