3/6/17

Piles of Pinwheels

Before I get to the properties of pinwheels, it's time to pick a winner for the Bag Ladies of the Fat Quarter Club Stitch-along.


Cat Patches

Mr. Random spun his wheel and came up with:

#3--Nan Brown

(Pause here until wild applause dies down.) Congratulations, Nan! I've sent you an email, so check your inbox. And thanks to all who participated. I noticed some folks are posting to the FlickR group, but not linking up at the party. Not to worry. We're a small group, and so I'll check in each month and link up with any stragglers. Bag ladies. What can you do but give them a nudge in the right direction? And if you didn't win...still not to worry. I guess the message of the day is that there are no worries here. We're a small group, and so everyone who is stitching is going to win eventually.

It was an NBS day yesterday, and I'm surprised to say I have Pinwheel Poetry ready for quilting now. The remaining 14 pinwheels went together pretty fast, and they're even laid out with a semblance of symmetry. Don't be worried if you can't see the symmetry. You probably have to be a little off kilter to make it out.


Less than an hour later, it was all sewn together.


Ten or more fabrics auditioned for borders. I really wanted to use the little "jacks" fabric from my stash, but with so many colors and so much movement in the pinwheels it seemed too busy. Then I tried out a few solids, but couldn't decide on a color. Red might have been nice, but the red in the pinwheels is a dark red...almost a rust color...and that was too dark for such a bright quilt. Finally, I settled for giving it a rainbow flange and using my first choice, the "jacks" fabric.


In my wanderings through the forest of my stash, I found this fabric. It seems as if it would have been illegal not to use it for the back. And there's the last pinwheel made from the 284 bonus triangles I started with. That dark fabric is a royal blue, and not the black it appears to be in this image.


Also, I cut a few of those pinwheels to use in the cornerstones for the quilt top.


This quilt was made to answer the March challenge for Kathleen Tracy's Small Quilt Lovers group on Facebook. The "Be My Little Valentine" quilt was made for the January challenge. 


These two little quilts will be used for kitty beds in the new camper. There are some cabinets above the head of the bed where kitties can claim cubbies and I'll just fold these little quilts in half so they can each have their own. Smitty told me that Sadie can have the Valentine quilt. He'll keep the pinwheels for himself.

Hearts are for girls. Pinwheels are more apurropriate for boy cats.


Sadie is okay with that. She likes the hearts. She helped me piece together some strips of scrap batting for the batting in Smitty's quilt.

It's very impurrtant to butt the edges together carefully. I appurrove of these.


So the Pinwheel Poetry quilt is ready for quilting now. I need to spray baste the layers together and then I'll do some straight line quilting on my mid-arm machine. It seems like a good opportunity to practice using my rulers again. I'll use that same rainbow fabric from the flange for the binding. Hopefully, I can finish it today.

It's been a while since I showed you the progress on the tomatoes. (When writing in catspeak, it's hard to go back to peoplespeak and not write words like "purrogress." I only mention this in case I lapse into Catonese occasionally.) As for the tomatoes, three seeds were planted in each cup, and nearly all have germinated now. The ones that haven't, probably won't...and sometimes I lose count while I'm planting them. The seeds are very tiny, and so it wouldn't surprise me if I missed a few.


Their little stems are so spindly, and I was propping a few of them up with toothpicks after I took this picture. When they start getting their first true leaves, I'll thin each cup to one plant. They're supposed to go out into the greenhouse by April 1st, but the greenhouse is still in disarray from last season. We keep waiting for a warm weekend to clean it out, but it doesn't appear that is going to happen any time soon.


You're looking at last night's snowfall. There is about four inches of accumulation. This was supposed to amount to short-lived flurries. And to that I say, Lying Liars. Oh well. If you can believe the Lying Liars, the temperatures will get into the 40's today and it will begin to rain. I have my doubts. It's okay, though. I'll just sit inside and sew.

Tomorrow I'll need to start the process of packing up for my class on Thursday. It's a dreaded job because there is so much crap to drag along, and that doesn't even include my clothes. I figure I'll pack up the sewing stuff tomorrow and pack up my clothes and toiletries on Wednesday. The class starts Thursday morning at the very civilized hour of 10:30 a.m., which gives me plenty of time to drive up to Vancouver, Washington...a little more than an hour north of us. It will be less of a hassle from last year because I already know what photograph I'm using, and so it will narrow down my fabric choices. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm using this photograph of my brother:


My goal in taking the class for a second time is to solidify the technique in my brain. With that in mind, I have an idea about doing a second photograph in my motel in the evenings. I'm not talking about doing any sewing for it...just drawing out the pattern. For that (and if my brain at the end of the day still resembles something other than jello), I'll do this photograph of a blue jay from our bird feeder.


The sky is getting brighter as I write this, and so it's probably time to get on with my day. Sewing awaits.

11 comments:

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Pampered pets - their own little quilt for traveling. I can't wait to see your next adventure with this class.

Lana said...

Purrfect quilt for you Smitty. Lol. The pinwheels are so cute as is the pinwheel fabric. And the jacks fabric takes me back to my childhood. Also I really like the addition of the colorful flange. And all that snow! It's beautiful but I would be ready for it to be gone.

Lynette said...

What a gorgeous snowscape. I want to build a greenhouse - mainly for home grown tomatoes. :)

beaquilter said...

LOVE LOVE that rainbow flange on the quilt and great choice in fabrics. I'm sure the quilt police would have tied you to your sewing machine and confiscated your fabrics if you didn't use that pinwheel fabric for the backing too!!

WoolenSails said...

I always love how you have the perfect fabric in your stash to match a new quilt, the pinwheel quilt is so fun with the fabrics. I like your choice for class and can't wait to see how it comes out. I have one of my son with a sheep, would like to do that someday.

Debbie

Dana Gaffney said...

I thought you were driving up to the other Vancover, this one is so much more doable, LOL.

Kate said...

Pinwheel Poetry turned out beautifully. It's perfect for Smitty, it goes well with his sparkling personality. Enjoy your class this weekend. I bet it goes much more smoothly this time, your brain has seen the material once before, so it's not a completely new thing. Looking forward to seeing how both pictures translate to fabric.

Jenny - the lilac cat said...

I know what you mean about getting ready, it's the thought that if you forget something crucial it's a pain and then remembering that as you get all the stuff out it all has to be put back afterwards!! But I'm really looking forward to my doing this course, virtually of course, through your eyes. It was such a fascinating process but I'm guessing you will have a head start and such a lovely meaningful picture even I can screen out the snake!!

Debbie said...

The pinwheels looks great and love the rainbow flange that you used. It really worked well. Such patience with the tomatoes! But the snow is still with you....again. And we are in the 70s already. Love the blue bird photo....I pinned it for inspiration. Looking forward to what you do in class. Enjoy.

piecefulwendy said...

We had rain, thunder, lightning and a tornado watch last night -- in the first week of March! That is really unusual around here. Your pinwheel quilt is very nice; bright happy colors! The kitties will enjoy those cute little quilts. Looking forward to hearing about your class!

Brown Family said...

Thank you! I love the needle threader. It will probably move down the hall to the quilt frame. Threading 'tails' into the quilt gets trying when you cannot get needle threaded. I like the choice of the flange, border, cornerstones and backing! You always seem to have just what you need in your stash! I know the kitties will love their own personal quilts.

Packing for a class is a pain, You have to remember every little detail, every little item you use at home without thinking! I always get to class with out the thread snips!