Yesterday morning I finished up the hand-stitching on Jackson's block for the Live, Love, Teach quilt. The only thing left was to machine stitch the outer ring. I used the triple stitch on my sewing machine for that, and the block was finished. Here is Jackson's original block:
Here it is rendered in fabric, floss, thread, and crayon. There was a lot of hand-stitching in this one, and I spent five days of embroidery time on it.
Jackson's mother explained that the "wild rumpus" is a quote from Maurice Sendak's book "Where the Wild Things Are". Somehow both my kids and I missed Maurice Sendak. I think we were too focused on Richard Scarry at the time. Gold Bug, Pig Will, and Pig Won't got the lion's share of our reading time.
I'd prepared for finishing Jackson's block the day before by tracing out the next Hocuspocusville block. This is Block #4 of the 12 blocks, Morgana's Apothecary. Not sure where I'll use the orange floss this time around, but I'm thinking possibly the flowers and maybe some of the items in the apothecary jars sitting in the window.
It was hooped up and ready to go.
But I had other fish to fry yesterday morning. I got an early start on my errands and my grocery shopping because I had a 1:00 haircut appointment. When I arrived back home and put away the groceries, I still had an hour to spare before I needed to leave for my haircut. When I got home from my haircut, it was just 2:00 p.m., which left me with a whole afternoon unplanned. What to do? What to do?
You know how I whine and complain about sandwiching quilts, but it seemed like a good opportunity to get a head start on January. There were six little quilts and one large quilt to sandwich, and so I got to work....only, as usual, there was a furrsome problem impeding progress.
The Icy Blues table runner has to wait a little longer because I'm still waiting for the backing fabric to arrive. Also, I decided to let the Quilting Snowladies wait a little longer. Before I'll be ready to quilt those, I want to practice quilting the winter table quilts I've been working on. Whose Woods are These? was at the top of the list.
Sticking with the "woods" theme, I decided the Four Fabric Forest 2.0 was next.
When I'm sandwiching little quilts, I'm often sewing together scraps of batting. It's easy enough to do. Simply lay the batting strips together and give them a fresh straight cut. Then, butt the edges together and stitch them. My favorite stitch for doing this is the "double overlock" stitch on my sewing machine...#10 on my Bernina 750QE, at the default settings.
It gives me a very secure seam, and nice and smooth. No lumps or bumps.
Next up was My Vintage Kitchen. I'm looking forward to finishing this one and replacing the little quilt currently hanging on the wall of my kitchen. I'm kind of tired of looking at it, and the kitchen needs a fresh face.
And, finally, Samson is going to have his day. This is the "A Cat is a Cat" make and take project I made while taking a class from June Jaeger. Also, I found a strip of scrap binding that will work perfectly for this little quilt. You can see it there on the left of the image below.
And, finally, Mom Cats. These little ladies have been waiting their turn for a long time.
I'm a little worried about quilting them because my border is a little, um, wrinkly. It's a victim of imperfect piecing, I'm afraid. I'll have to be careful to keep it straight while I quilt it. It's a case of "quilting out" the imperfections, and I think every quilter knows how well that can go sometimes. These little ladies are headed for one of the walls of the Cat Quilt Mewseum in the stairwell, and so no biggy if they aren't perfect.
So, there are still two more, but it's really nice to have a stack of sandwiches for quilting. I'll probably start with Whose Woods are These? so that I'll have it ready to replace the Christmas table topper currently residing on my breakfast bar. It'll give me a chance to practice with metallic thread and also, I'll get to see how well the new bobbin washers help with my tension. (Please let them be the answer to my prayers, okay?)
This morning, I got to work stitching the Hocuspocusville block before sitting down here to chat with all of you.
Sue and I are walking today, and it will be a big effing miracle if we don't get rained on. I'm donning my rain gear in preparation. I've been putting off housework for a couple of days, and so I'll need to do a little of that this afternoon. Still, I'm hopeful I'll get to start quilting Whose Woods are These?
What's on your agenda for today? Anything fun going on this weekend? I'll just be trying to stay dry.
4 comments:
I am totaled just reading your post!!!!! We finally got an hour's worth of snow (LaCrosse got 1.4") which made our switch-back hill roads absolutely treacherous!!! The road crews were a titch slow on the sand/salt/plowing. Your rain streak is never-ending!!!!!
Ah. Another storm is coming from your neck of the woods. We still are thankful at this point. The storms are spaced out enough that nothing is sliding yet.
Getting ready for Christmas is the highest priority. All packages that need to be sent are on their way. Now to wrap the gifts that go under the tree. The tree still needs decorating. Electrical work was being done this week right where the tree and garland sits so had to wait to put them up.
Nice to see all of your quilts getting to the sandwich stage. You have accomplished a lot (as usual) this year. Pat yourself on the back. Pat your fur helpers, too.
I do LOVE those 4 fabric trees! I pieced scrap batt for my minis - use it up. Well done on the latest retirement block - stunning. My furkids were in a furenzy yesterday - NO TREATS in the house. Picked them up this morning when I ran the 'in-town' errands.
You are set up for a very productive 2016. You've got the not fun stuff done. Hope you get a few dry moments this weekend.
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