Catching up

I've been plugging away at my Lisa's Garden blocks and the Summer Freebies but haven't taken the time to take photos in a while.  Here are the blocks from week five:

I am still completely in love with these blocks!  They are so much fun to work on.  I also finished week six:

I also love the summer freebie blocks.  I finished the second one:

Last, but not least, I finally finished the last My Garden Album block!  I had a problem with one of the fabrics bleeding but I was able to get it out by soaking it in Synthrapol.  I'll post a photo when it dries.  I now need to turn my attention to the pieced borders.  I'm not entirely sure what Homestead Hearth intended for us to use in the piecing - they sent two single pieces of fabric when the pattern calls for one plus a lot of scraps.  I don't like the idea of just using two fabrics - I think I will have to supplement with my own scraps to make it a little more like the pattern.

I'm looking forward to heading off on a four day retreat a week from Thursday.  I need to decide what to take - I certainly have a lot to choose from!

Incredible Workshop!

I had the pleasure of spending the last two days in an intermediate applique workshop taught by David Taylor.  David also lectured at our guild meeting last night.  He is a fantastic teacher and presented a wonderful program!  I only wish I would have spent the time needed to adequately prepare for the workshop.  I decided not to use my own photo at the last minute and instead opted for one of the class kits.  I still learned a lot, but I would have loved to have David's help making a pattern from one of my photos. Here he is demonstrating how he creates his patterns using tracing paper over an enlargement: 

And here is what one of the patterns looks like when drafted (this is one of the class participant's kitty):

David has a very interesting applique stitch.  I tired very hard to do it but failed miserably!  I resorted to my usual method for stitching, but did use his method of prepping the pieces.  The jury is still out on the starch prep method...I love having the edges all perfectly turned when I am ready to sew, but I sure hate getting them to that point!  I am starch-challenged.

David does incredible, extremely heavy quilting on his pieces. He showed us his stitching process on the white board - it's like drawing lots of tiny, close together flames with all different colors of thread.  I can't believe how close he gets his lines without ever crossing over!  Here's a shot of the demo:

Gee, one of these days maybe I will finish my hummingbird and give this a try...

Setback

No pictures to post today, although I have finished the first Summer Freebie block and a couple of the BOW week 5 blocks. I also started a new rug on Saturday at Wool Club.  I'll have to post a picture of it later.  It's a snowman...it's kind of funny working on a snowman during a heat warning. It's supposed to be 100 F the next couple of days.

Sometimes a little whining makes me feel better...

I spent the afternoon at the machine yesterday, diligently working my way through the first step of the March clue for the Runaway mystery quilt.  The clues have no text or explanation - just line drawings that are filled with the approximate color that the pieces are supposed to be.  I use the word "approximate" because the colors aren't entirely obvious in some of the clues.  So anyway, I finish all 80 sub-blocks and press them nicely, then take a look at step two.  Step two calls for 64 green triangles.  I have 10 left after sewing the 80 blocks.  Only then does it occur to me that what I thought was green in step one was supposed to be black.  Not my happiest moment of the weekend, to be sure!  I now have 80 blocks to "un-press", unsew, and redo.  I made it through the first 10 last night.  Only 70 left to go.  The worst part was that I decided I had better take a look at the rest of the clues, including the final layout, to make sure I hadn't screwed anything else up.  It kind of ruined the fun a bit - I like a true mystery - but I am glad that I did it. If nothing else it prevented me from making a mistake on my border.  The good news is that I really like the final quilt and think it will look nice in my colors, so I guess I will bite the bullet and grab the seam ripper!

August Update

First I must mention that my Lisa's Garden blocks look better "in person" than they do in the photos... The fabric is dyed to look antique, which kind of gives the appearance of wrinkles.  The wrinkled look really comes across in the photos. Honest - I ironed all of the blocks before taking the photos - it's the fabric, not me!

I fell short on a number of my goals for July:

1.  Applique Affair block 7 - didn't start
2. My Garden Album block 12 - started, but less than half done
3. Hook June & July flowers - Done!
4. Bind Bird Party - Done!
5. Runaway Mystery (finish Feb clue) - Done!  (Started the March clue, too.)
6. Primitive Gatherings BOW (all blocks for weeks 1-4) - Done!
7. Sue Spargo BOM block 1 - didn't touch
8. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1- didn't touch

I guess I didn't do too badly for being gone a week and having way too much going on at work.  I also started a block for my first Nancy Page quilt, made a bit of progress on my Crewel rug, and designed a new rug for Wool Club. Our theme this month is "Christmas in August".  My plan is to hook this little rug to donate to our quilt guild auction.

So....time to plan for August:

1. Applique Affair block 17

2. My Garden Album block 12
3. Hook Aug flowers
4. Runaway Mystery (finish Mar clue)
5. Primitive Gatherings BOW (pieced blocks for weeks 1-6, applique 5-8)
6. Falling Leaves (three blocks)
7. Sew Ewe-nique Baltimore block 1
8. Begin Snowman rug

I have a couple of other projects that I am dying to start (so what else is new?!?), but I will stop here for now.  Too bad I have to work today - I am anxious to dive in!

Lisa's Garden

I've been having such a great time with Primitive Gathering's summer BOW!  I prepped a bunch of blocks to take on my trip and managed to make quite a bit of progress.  Here are the applique blocks for week two:

And here are the applique blocks for week three - I also did the nine-patch blocks for this set, but didn't take a picture:

I finished the last of the week four blocks this morning:

I prepped the week five blocks along with the first week's summer freebie this morning.  I'm not sure which project I like better - the summer freebie blocks are adorable little baskets of flowers.  I can't wait to start on them!