Morgan's Wedding Quilt

For the shower yesterday, I could only let her see a glimpse of the quilt top.  It wouldn't have been a good thing to rush through it and be embarrassed with the quilting.   So I decided to continue on at my slow pace and be thrilled with the results.  Now that she's seen it, I can share the top with you.

Morgan's Wedding Quilt

It will be a good size for snuggling on the couch for popcorn and a movie.  She noticed right away that there are Auburn colors in this top.  I didn't want it to be too much of a sports theme, but as a new grad, I thought she'd like these colors.  The print is an oriental botanical, which compliments the horticulturist degrees.

I'll take some close ups once I've started the quilting.  The backing is pieced and ready to be loaded on the frame.

It's time to run to doctor and hair appointments and to pick up a new kitchen light, plus we'll need to stop by the house and drop off a few things for the contractor.  I'm hoping to see new duct work soon in the sun room and rec room soon.  They found rotten subfloors in the guest bathroom, so there's now a large hole where the floor used to be.  For some reason I cannot fathom, this is supposed to be good news.  I think contractors have a weird sense of goodness!  The tree service is planning to return to get rid of those huge stumps.  It's good to see progress.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

Ready for Binding

I like to have a project ready to take with me while I wait for my kids' music lessons and dentist appointments.  So I'll get the binding ready quickly and take it with me this week to hand sew.

Here's part of the back side.  There were lots of starts and stops on this quilt.  At first, I didn't want to trace around each house, but it didn't look right from the back side.  So I reloaded the quilt and added those extra stitches.  The church birdhouse didn't have a pole to elevate it, but I quilted one in place.

This was taken with the flash on.  It washes out a little too much.

Similar view without the flash.

I did mention yesterday that some of the quilting is a little rustic.  There are lots of imperfections here.  But I'll enjoy this quilt and work harder on improving on the next quilt.

This was taken with a side light on and no flash.  I think the quilting shows up better this way.

Again, no flash.  A small table lamp cast nice shadows instead.

I'm glad some of my explanations are helpful.  I learn so much from reading other blogs!

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

More Birds On the Birdhouses Quilt

It's really nice that this quilt has a kind of rugged feel to it.  The stitches are not as precise as I'd like them to be, but it lends a bit of country appeal in the wobbles.  Since I'm out of practice, I don't mind sharing some of the good, bad and the ugly.

I've added a few more birds in the negative spaces of this quilt.  Just in case you're wondering how, I cut out a template and then used quilt pounce chalk for the darker fabrics.  This product is so cool!  It applies easily and erases with a hot iron.  For the lighter areas, I traced the template with a blue water soluble pen.    These areas must be completely gone before touching the hot iron to them.  It's a bit of a risk to use both on the same quilt top, but you cannot see the chalk on light fabrics nor the blue pen on dark fabrics.

The background around the birdhouses don't show up well with my cell phone camera.  There's a better one on order since we wore out the camera after taking the storm damage photos.  Anyway, that background quilting consists of wavy stripes and stars.  Each birdhouse is outlined, but not quilted much inside it.  I added some quilting on one or two of the birdhouses, but the busy prints hid it completely, so I didn't see a reason to continue.

The rest of the family is about to watch a movie on DVD, so I have a good excuse to finish this one up tonight.

Enjoy your evening!

- SeeingStars

Patriotic Birdhouses ... didn't make the finish line for Memorial Day

This quilt top came from an HGTV message board swap of patriotic birdhouses.  We each purchased some of the fabric line and designed and made a group of blocks, maybe 10 or 12.  A twist for this block swap was that the blocks could be in a range of sizes, which made the layout more creative.  The hostess, Quiltaholic, gathered all the blocks, distributed and mailed a set to each participant.  When I received mine, I admired them and let them age like a fine wine.  Some quilters call blocks in this state UFO's or Un-Finished Objects. 

So once the UFO's pile up very high, I select one or two to complete.  For this quilt, I joined them with extra scraps from this fabric line to make the top.  It was loaded on the frame before the tornadoes and has waited patiently for some attention.

It feels good to get back to quilting and to get something accomplished.  I discovered yesterday that if the stitch regulator isn't plugged into the machine, it misbehaves in the most awful way!  Thankfully, once I realized the error, it was an easy fix.

I've not used a ruler before, but for this one, I'm stitching in the ditch around those large blocks with the help of a straight ruler.  It's going to take some practice and I feel the need to stand up higher and peer directly top down, rather than at an angle to see everything clearly.

One row is finished and there are 3 more to go.  Simple stars and wavy stripes as a background to the birdhouses.  Then, I may go back and do a little more quilting on the birdhouses.  There are some embellishments like large buttons when I need to avoid.

I've just finished an oriental and batik top that I'd like to give away soon so I need to get this one finished and off the frame. I just found a terrific backing and binding for the next one!   I'll share photos of it once the birdhouses are quilted.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

More interior

Here's the upstairs bathroom. No more jungle plants nor frogs on the wall. I think the color is a little more aqua than the photo shows.

Here's the purple room. The color isn't quite the same as it was, but it looks great.

... And here's the teal room.

Here's the master bedroom. I really like this color on the walls, which is more blue and less purple than the camera's portrayal. This fan is new also.

And now back to the quilting studio. I really like the sunshine and shadows from the windows illuminating the brick.

Enjoy your day!
-SeeingStars

A Glimpse inside

Here's the living room in progress. Those french doors will hang in the laundry room's new closets. The fan is new. We're happy with the smooth ceiling. That cable sticking out of the wall is for a wall mounted tv, but will probably be covered with some art work. I think the tiles are in the laundry room now, so the doors may be installed soon. It's really nice to have the drywall dust gone for awhile.

Yesterday, the painter started working in the kitchen. The paint will remain yellow, but it needs a fresh coat after cutting out that doorway.

Once the HVAC is replaced, we can have hardwoods delivered to acclimate to the right temperature. Also, once the new ductwork for the additions are installed, those rooms can be drywalled. The dust will return, but hopefully just for a few days.
- SeeingStars

House in Progress

Here's a view of the exterior from the back. The left room with large windows is the new quilt studio. The hot tub is leaving slowly.  We'll have to work on the lawn after the tree stumps are removed or turned to mulch.
I'm struggling today to post photos, so I hope I can add several to one post.
Fingers are crossed!
Hmmm.  No luck.  Guess I'll have multiple posts today.

No Photos!

I cannot upload photos right now!  Since I've tried signing out and back in, rebooting, etc.  I'm ready to publish this and try a new post.

I wonder what's going on!

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

Bottled Rainbows

On Friday, I joined my local Project Linus group for a day of sewing and some girl talk.  I've been eager to try some bottled rainbows and a child's quilt seems perfect for this technique.  Here's the Stitched in Color link to learn more about it.
It's easy and fun and I really like the results so far.  This quilt will have 9 rectangular blocks.  Here are my first three.

Orange

 

Red

Turquoise

Last night, as I finished up the turquoise block, I met a raccoon.  (S)he was hunting for bugs which were attracted to the light of my floor to ceiling windows.  So when I caught a little movement out of the corner of my eye, I looked down and saw the raccoon looking back at me.  Too funny!  I'll try to capture a photo tonight if I make it to my sewing room again.
The house repairs are coming along.  Hopefully, I can post a few more photos soon.