Thursday, September 25, 2014

Quilting Done On Mountain Majesty

 I finally figured out what to do with those orange sections of my Mountain Majesty quilt. This is the back of the quilt as I just took it off the longarm. I still need to pick up little pieces of threads and tie in some ends but the quilting is finished. I kept trying to come up with designs that had straight lines but none of them were right. then it hit me............more curves and some of the same components that I did in the blue sections. So I forged ahead on one of the blocks to see how it looked..........yep just right. I did all the centers the same but treated the remainder of the space with a swirley design. I really like how ti looks. Now I need to find a binding fabric. I am leaning toward blue for this.
 I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart that sent blocks for Nicole's comfort quilt. She is slowly putting her life back together after her house and studio burned. In the coming days I will be figuring out a setting for the blocks and piece the top. I think there is a great assortment of fabrics and color placement that will make for a great quilt.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Florida Trip

I just got home from Florida yesterday afternoon. Going there reminds me how much I dislike the humidity, population density, traffic, heat and flatness. There is some beauty there and being there as a tourist is not too bad, just would not want to be there too long. I did get to visit with my mother and brother who have lived there since 1964........that is a long time to be there.

The first night we drove down to Sanibel Island so that I could do some shell hunting on the beach. The word they have some of the best shells anywhere. I guess it is good that it was not too sunny or I would have looked like a cooked lobster. There were dark clouds to the North as my brother and I strolled the beach looking for shells. I did find some good ones. The the thunder started rumbling so we jogged most of the way back. The dark clouds do make for wonderful photography so it was all good.
Sanibel Island
 After the beach we headed out to the lighthouse on the South of the Island. It was raining but we did get out and see a little of it.
Sanibel Island

 One of the days we went North from Tampa to a place Called Richards Beach which is along a river close to the Gulf of Mexico, we did a little swimming. After that we drove to another beach on the coast and I snapped this photo on the way back. The coastal swamps are very scenic.



I am one of those people that always wants a window seat when I fly and I spend much of the flight looking out of the window watching the landscape below change. There is such a variety of things to see flying from Subtropical Florida to Desert New Mexico. I have no idea where this photo is. My best guess Louisiana or East Texas but I love the fields and shapes below and it might make a good jumping off point for an art quilt.

I did buy some half yard cuts of some blue fabrics to add to my stash. I have been using lots of deep blues lately and need more variety. These were really pretty so they followed me home. Just need to pop them in the washer and dryer so I can add them to the stash.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

I Just Love It When The Vision Comes Together

 It is always very rewarding when a vision comes together. I had an idea for the quilting on my Mountain Majesty quilt  and started drawing last night. I just did not seem right. Then I went to Pinterest and again nothing really jelled. Humm I had thought a spiral in the center and that is round so how about I pull out my circle templates and see how that would work...............Yep! The circles seemed to work great and once I got going the ideas started to flow and now I really love they way the blue areas have come together. The plan is to finish all the blue parts and then come back to the orange. I could do the orange the same as the blue but that might be too much of a good thing so I will mull it over while I am working my way thru the blue. In the meantime this is a fun pattern to quilt out. If you are reading this let me know what you think?


I just love my set of circles. I have a whole stack of these from 1 inch up to 12 inches, many in half inch increments.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Next Quilt On Longarm

I finally got myself going on the backing for the Mountain Majesty quilt and did a pieced backing. This is going to be a wall quilt but I wanted something kinda special for the back. I had an one block extra form the top and made two additional blocks so I could have a row across the back. Now to get it loaded onto the longarm and begin the most fun part of the process which is the quilting.


I also finished my last 30 blocks for the new project and will now figure out how to put them together. This was mostly a stash buster project but alas I have added to the scrap bin. Unless I start another bin I will have to start working on that scrap bin. I think it is time to cut things up and sort by size for scrappy projects. I have had my eye on some great leader and ender projects over on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Blog.

So this is what 130 six inch blocks look like!


Saturday, September 6, 2014

Starting A New Project

I always work well with multiple projects going at the same time. I do not really have any that are in the piecing stage so decided I needed another stash reduction session. I found a beauty over on Exuberant Color Blog in a color combination I really love, blue and green. The quilt pattern Crossroads was designed by Amy Walsh coauthor of the book Colorful Quilts For Fabric Lovers. You can see Wanda's version HERE on Exuberant Color Blog, and you can see Vicki's version HERE on Field Trips In Fiber Blog. Both are beautiful. I just knew when I saw this that I had to make it. It will be a very simple, fast quilt to sew up but it will be all about color. The hardest part I know will be to put all the pieces in the right places but really that is much of the fun to come up with placement of blocks.

I have been cutting into much of my blue and green fabrics the past three days for the 130 squares in a 6 1/2 inch size and 130 strips in a 1 X 6 1/2 inch size. Once I have 100 of each size I will start slashing the squares in inserting the strips. I will not cut the last 30 combinations till I have the rest sewn. This will allow me to audit the results and fill in with colors that will work best with the design I come up with.

I just snapped a few photos of the squares and strips I have cut so far. You can see it is a foggy morning here in New Mexico. The sun should come out this afternoon.



Friday, September 5, 2014

Purple and Green Batik Sampler

I thought I was never going to finish the beauty. It is (as my friend Shelley likes to say) "a whole lot of real estate." I was not sure what to do with that wide triple border but find some inspiration online. I found a great video made by a longarm quilter who had a wonderful demo. I knew I just needed to try it. I did not do the same thing that was in the video,  but I did break up the border into triangles quilted in different ways. I do love how it came out.  It did take A LOT of time just for the border and I enjoyed doing it. I always love to learn how to do new things.

Being a Sampler each block is pieced differently so each block is quilted differently as well. I can now package it up and send it back to my friend in Arizona. Thank you Ellen for letting me quilt for you.








Thursday, September 4, 2014

Block Swap About.com Quilting 2004 Arizona Retreat

Today I was in search of two extra blocks for my Mountain Majesty quilt. I was going to use them for the pieced back but I never found them so I guess it will be plan B for the quilt back. In any case trying to make sense of all the stuff that I did find I decided to sew together the pile of blocks from a exchange we did at the 2004 Arizona Retreat. Boy did those bring back some memories of all the new friends I met for the first time that year. I think I will just put a border around this and make it a nice lap quilt for when I am watching TV or something in the cooler months. Each block is signed which makes them really special.



Tomorrow I will piece a back for the Mountain Majesty and get it loaded onto the Longarm so I can quilt it. I did finish up the beautiful sampler I was quilting for my friend and she will be getting it back in a few days.


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Labor Day Weekend In The Rockies

 I am very heartened with the quilting community. These are the blocks have been coming in for Nicole's comfort quilt. I posted about Nicole HERE She is slowly picking up her life and trying to put pieces back together after her home and studio burned to the ground. Thanks to all of you who have sent, or are still sending these beautiful blocks to make a quilt for Nicole's bed.

4 Wheeling On Red Mountain Colorado
Red Mountain Colorado
 We headed up to Ouray again for Labor Day Weekend. This time with both daughters in tow. We spent one day 4 wheeling over Corkscrew Pass, Hurricane Pass, California Pass, down to Silverton for lunch and then back over all three passes. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was amazing. At the top of the mountains you just feel like you are on top of the world. It was a wonderful way to end Summer and welcome in Fall.
Old Mine Near Silverton Colorado
Placer Mine Colorado


Having Fun 4 Wheeling In Colorado

Aspens
Now it is time to get back to work. I have to finish the quilt on the longarm for my friend. I had not planned to take two trips in such quick succession but have to say that I did have an awesome time and built some great memories with my family. Going places and seeing things also is great for inspiration for my art. I have been wanting to do at least one aspen quilt and have taken a few photos on this trip and hope to come up with a future design for a quilt.