2/3/14

Moving Along


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This morning I had to leave the house early for a dental appointment. Not my favorite thing to do, but I had a good check-up (Look Ma! No cavities!) and my teeth are positively gleaming! A nice way to start off February and a new week. Now where did I leave the sugar?

Like so many others not particularly interested in football, I spent the day in the sewing room. Mike had the TV on, and so I was sewing with one ear on the TV. I don't really follow football, but I was glad the Seahawks won. We don't have a professional football team in Portland, and so Seattle is our best option. I just continued on my merry way with the I Spy section of the Wind in the Whiskers quilt.

For all I've whined about this quilt, I seem to have come to a place of peace with my one-step-at-a-time approach. Honestly, it makes such a big difference to avert your gaze from the entire template and focus on just one small section. It is a challenging project, but I become completely engrossed in the work and time passes very quickly.

When I left off on Saturday, I was here, with the first two flowers climbing the pole fused down.


Sunday, I just started working my way up, using a darker purple for the next one,


And continuing on up with the two shades of purple,


Until it was all done.


Then, I started on the flowers across the bottom. The pattern advised making one flower at a time, which works well with my one-step-at-a-time approach. When I had all the flowers for the left side done, I fused them down.


Aren't these fabrics beautiful? There is a reason these quilts are so compelling, and a reason they are so "fiddly". I can't remember who used that term, but it is a perfect description of them. Still, look at that iris. Doesn't it look like a real iris? Even Mike was impressed at the detail when I showed him, and he's not one to lavish praise. You might notice that the flowers on the extreme left are coming off the edge a little. That was by design. There will be a border there when the whole quilt is sewn together. I slid my pressing sheet halfway under them to avoid fusing them completely, and I also needed to leave enough space for the seam allowance. 

All that's left now is the right side flowers, and I'm going to get to work on those as soon as I finish here. For today, however, I seriously needed some retail therapy. The past 24 hours could have gone a little better, and then to follow it all up with a trip to the dentist just seemed like the black icing on the frozen cake. (I think it's good to think of sugar when dentistry is involved.) Anyway...I stopped off at a fabric store on the way home where I have a fairly significant store credit, and picked up these fabrics for the rose wall hanging I want to make. I needed some more greens for the sashings and borders. The one in the bottom right corner looks a little brown in this image, but it truly is a green. While I was at it, I picked up that blue. I wasn't intending to use it in the quilt, but I think a few little glimpses of it might be very pretty.


So that's it from me today. I don't know if I have enough hours in the day to finish up Wind in the Whiskers, but I'm going to give it a serious shot.

23 comments:

Cath said...

I love, love, love it. I think it is a beautiful block but I love anything with flowers! (oh and cats!)The fabrics you bought are rather special too.
Cath @ Bits 'n Bobs

Dasha said...

Beautiful. Once you get all that fusing done, you will be dead pleased you took the time to do it.

sophie said...

Your approach seems to be working beautifully. That block is gorgeous!

WoolenSails said...

I am amazed at how beautiful the piece is coming, just love it. What type of fusible do you use? I learned that scoring helps to keep it from unravelling, but I can never get the nice edges that you have.

Debbie

Kate said...

It's a beautiful block. I wouldn't have the patience for that "fiddly" work.

Brown Family said...

The flowers are gorgeous!

Kirsty said...

Wow, wow, and WOW! I am endlessly impressed with your progress and how fabulous this quilt is shaping up to be. I just don't have the patience for these art quilts and their 'fiddlyness' but I am living vicariously through you (sorry to leave you doing all the hard work) and loving the experience. I really enjoy seeing it come together and think it is going to be stunning!

Dana Gaffney said...

Wow, I love those flowers.

Sherry said...

The end result is definitely going to be worth all your effort. It is stunning already.

Celtic Thistle said...

Gorgeous flowers Barbara this is going to be a stunning quilt.

Gina said...

Love how that block is looking. YOur new fabrics are gorgeous and the blue will look great with them . Will make the greens pop xx

kc said...

GORGEOUS! Your blocks are coming along beautifully. I'm pretty sure I have a piece of every single fabric you just bought, so if you run out, just holler. I may never use them, but it's nice knowing they're in the closet should I ever get going, eh?

Jan Baker said...

This is the most beautiful quilt. Maybe in a few years I can attempt something like it.

Anonymous said...

That is so gorgeous!!!! The flowers are, truly, so lifelike! Much needed right now!!! Your photo of the retail therapy... that green batik (second from the right) is like one I used quite a bit of in the "Stained Glass" quilt. I think it's so versatile cuz of the blue that's there along with the intense emerald/jade green. Great choices!!! Hugs...........

works4me said...

What great progress. One bit at a time really does work beautifully.

Diane Wild said...

Beautiful progress on the "whiskers" quilt. It's fun to see it come together for you. Arn't batiks amazing fabrics? I love them.

Anonymous said...

Your flowers are lovely, worth every fiddly moment! And your new fabric is droolworthy too.

Denise :) said...

You've done a great job with this so far -- it's looking fabulous. And yes, all the flowers look real! The batiks, with their soft flow of lights and darks, make good prints for floral arrangements. And I really like the 'off frame' flowers, too -- adds to the life-likeness! :)

KatieQ said...

Your work on this project is absolutely amazing. The flowers look so realistic.

KatieQ said...

Your work on this project is absolutely amazing. The flowers look so realistic.

Dar said...

Such beautiful fabrics for a beautiful block. The flowers do look real both in shape and color. You did a nice job.

KatieQ said...

Your work on this project is absolutely amazing. The flowers look so realistic.

quiltzyx said...

Yay for you & no cavities! You must be doing something right - or have good "teeth genes"! Hah!

The I Spy is getting more lovely by the minute - good job!

I did actually sew on Sunday too - since I don't have "regular" TV right now, only Netflix, I wasn't able to watch the Super Bowl commercials like I usually do while I sew that day. But I did finish one UFO - some pillow covers a friend had asked me to make with some tea towels from the UK. The other things I will reveal at a later time, like in this month's NewFO Challenge! heeheehee...!