Betta Fish

This fishy wall hanging was started Sept 2011 with the woven background.  I'm so glad it's done now and almost ready to hang.

All the fish pieces were made from stash.  Those eyeballs are leftovers from Halloween fabrics.  The added benefit is that those eyes glow in the dark!

I started with a picture of a betta to use as a guide for proportion.  The lips are extra big, because I wanted them that way.  Then sketched these guys on freezer paper so I'd have a pattern.  After picking out the fabrics, and fusing them, the fin shapes morphed as needed to fit with the lines in the fabrics.  Then, it was just a matter of setting the zigzag stitches to the desired width.

I like the cool background colors against the warm foreground colors.  They work well to make the quilt bright since they're complimentary colors (purple/yellow, blue/orange, green,red).

Here's the back side.  There's no added quilting on this one, just stitching at each raw edge.  Those eyes almost need a stitch around the centers, but since it's the back side, they'll do without .... for now. I still need to hand stitch the hanging sleeve at the bottom edge. 

Painter's tape helps with all the white batting fluff against the black backing.  This is one quilt where black fleece would be very successful.  I just haven't splurged to try that yet.

A friend at work has a betta fish, which began to look very sick last week.  That little guy is the inspiration for this quilt.  And when he looked like he was minutes away from a flush burial, I decided I'd go ahead and add fish to the woven background.  The good news is that he's made a wonderful recovery following a water change so he might even get to enjoy the wall hanging.  We'll keep it over his tank for a week or two, just for fun.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

Hot Off the Press

I took this photo while the last seam was still hot from pressing it.  Our guild invited Kelly Corbridge to visit and show off some of those incredible Cherrywood fabrics.  The dying process leaves each fabric looking like suede.  It's very easy to work with - not stringy or stretchy at all.

My camera made some funny rays across the fabrics which aren't really there.  You can see the suede-like texture in those rich colors. 

Those who took the class on her pattern, Evening Harvest, had a blast.  There was lots of giggles and chocolate along with the sewing.

Kelly included quilting ideas with her pattern, but I think I'll try something different on mine.  Not sure yet what to do, so I'll hang this one up and think about it awhile.  I've not worked with solids before and there's certainly lots of room to play with the quilting.  But .... I don't want to cover the threads too much and hide the effect of the textures dyes.

So, while I ponder, I'll play with the woven quilt that was started months ago.  There's a stack of fabrics waiting to become a fish or two.

My mom and her husband are on the way to town for a quick visit tonight.  It will be fun to see them before they head back to Texas.

So now, it's off to work I go.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

Off the Frame

Well, this one has been off the frame for a few days now, but I haven't made the time to grab the camera.
I think this little Project Linus quilt will be loved by someone very precious.

The fullness worked its way into submission, except for the borders.  I have a DVD by Kim Brunner which addresses this issue.  Obviously, it's time to review it again!

I like this quilting design (4 patches and darker borders) and just might use it again for another one.   In the centers of the print squared, I ended up quilting a star.  It also seemed to fit with the fabrics and it allowed the extra fabrics a place to go.

Today we had a class with Kelly Corbridge, using Cherrywood fabrics.  It was fun and informative.  Kelly's organized and can roll with all the quirks of her students.  I hope I can finish that one soon so I can share it with you.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

Another for Project Linus

This purple top is adorable.  Although I don't know who made this one, it's easy to see that it was made to share lots of love and comfort with someone who needs it. 

It does not want to lie flat, my solution is to double up on the batting.  Then quilt each area densely.  I hope to provide a place for the extra fullness to puff in the print fabric. 

I hope when it's done, it will warm a little girl's heart.  Our Project Linus group donates quilts to the neonatal ICU, and to firefighters and others who can distribute a quilt to a child or teen who have lost their home and belongings for various reasons.  It's amazing how fast these are given away!

When our group meets again, I hope I'll return with a small stack of quilted items.  Most likely, I'll still have a stack left with to-be-quilted tops for Linus.  So I won't grab another stack until I finish these.  I'm thankful that others who use their longarm machines for PL are much faster than I am.

I used the design in the print to come up with the quilting design.  Then I just jumped in without worrying too much about sketching and trying a few different designs.  So far, I like the quilting in the solid areas - borders and 4 patch blocks. 

This print area is still a bit weird.  By starting in each corner and making a few arcs and swirls, the fullness is left in the center.   I'll work on the rest and then look for some solution to pop in my mind for this area.

Looking forward to a reunion of friends this evening.  It's been more than a month and we've missed one another.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

Twin Quilts for Project Linus

Our local Project Linus group meets quarterly.  So at the last meeting, I scooped up a few tops and fabrics for the backs.  Today was a good day to quilt a couple of them.  These 2 tops would be neat for twins, especially for a military family. 

The piecing is very simple, yet the overall effect adds interest since the patterns are all busy and different.  I used the stars and loops idea from the last Time Travel Tuesday post.  Then, I combined it with http://www.pigtalesandquilts.com/ idea to use a mustard yellow thread for a Red/White/Blue quilt.  Some of the high quality flags have the stars appliqued using a gold fabric.  It makes those stars really shine!

In these two quilts, I like that the thread shows up in all the fabrics, but the contrast isn't so striking that it steals the show.

Thearica quilted one of my quilts before I found my Tin Lizzie.  She owns an amazing Gammill machine and was trusting enough to show me how to load a quilt and follow a pantograph.  Then she allowed me to quilt a little bit.  I had so much fun and couldn't wait to learn more one day.  I think of her as my big sister in quilting.  Her work is amazing and always calls me to stretch my creative wings.

Once these little quilts were quilted, my husband and I played lumberjack in the back yard.  We still have a few battered trees remaining from the tornado damage.  Several of the survivors are sweetgum trees, which are undesirable to barefoot kids who run across the lawn.  So, we cut down the first of 3 sweetgums - the easiest one.  It has cleared the way for us to work on the other two.  Both of these lost limbs when the others fell.  With the lost weight all on one side, they both lean towards the house and are tall enough to be a threat.  I guess these 2 are officially in the pondering phase, in which we think about how to remove them safely and without property damage.

Teens are at a band competition, so we're going on a date tonight to watch a football game.  I love this sweater weather!

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

Off the Frame

Still on the frame here

This top seemed like a good one to finish next.  I just wanted something fun and simple to quilt.  There was some pondering what to do with the twister shapes and sketching out several ideas.  Nothing seemed quite right.  So I decided to work out inner and outer border ideas instead.

I decided to quilt white ghosts on white and to repeat the pumpkins from the busy outer border (which doesn't show too well on the camera nor in person.  It was fun to give them all a different face.  These two have similar arm positions, but most have different arms too.

It naturally followed that I could add ghosts to the twisters too.  These showed up well against the orange fabric.  They alternate with black bats on the neighboring shapes.

Here's the whole front before I've trimmed it for binding.

And a glimpse of the back.  This one has Warm 'N Natural batting and Isacord white threads.  The black are Bottom Line for the bobbin and So Fine for the top.  Although I did have some orange and some purple, they just didn't seem quite right stretched across the top.

It's really nice to have a day off from work to get things done here at home.  I'm going offline to gather some gardening tools and finishing planting the iris bulbs which were dug up and separated last weekend.  I've made a mess around the bushes and now I get to make it look better again.  Those iris will enjoy having a little more space. 


Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars

Playing on the Design Wall

I enjoy the process of making blocks and rearranging them until they are just right.  Since I haven't run out of these fabrics yet, I guess I'll keep making blocks and see what size this will become.  A few strays might end up on the back side.  I already have a recipient in mind for this one too. (Shhhhh!)

So this means that I'm finished with my challenge quilt and can play again without a deadline.  That's a tremendous relief to me right now.  I tend to over-commit.

In fact, I do this so much that one of my darling teens has made fun of me.  I had a little extra room on the design wall, which was set up just for me to learn a new vocabulary word.

The joke is that even when I try to say, "No!", I'll end up agreeing to do just one more thing.  Half of these look more like ON than NO.  I guess left-handed minds are truly wired in weird ways.  Or maybe I shouldn't have rotated them around to spell out ON just for fun.

 It's not all bad, being willing to help others or teach a class or join a challenge or lead a guild for a year ... It's just that moderation is the sign of wisdom.  And longtime stress isn't fun or healthy.

So, I'll visit current commitments and basic priorities before adding to my to do list.  Are we allowed to make a resolution in October? 

My teens just arrived home, so I get to hear about their days.  There's almost always a funny story or two involved.  (No pun intended, for those who know me by name)

This is the day that the LORD has made .... so

Enjoy your day! 

- SeeingStars