Easy Street Step 5

Ahhh, it's almost Christmas. I have presents to wrap and gift cards to label and candy to bag up...but I have my priorities. It's time for another step in Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery!!!



There's been some discussion about what these units are called...since they're not Flying Geese per se, Bonnie suggested perhaps they're Sitting (or Squatting) Turkeys. Personally I think they look like little houses!!

Smokey is not interested today, for whatever reason. She did watch me briefly but then decided she had a better shot at seeing something “interesting” if she faced the window.




And last but not least, here is the Mystery Monday Linky to see the other participants' blog posts!!!

Easy Street Step 4

More geese! I'm actually almost enjoying making flying geese now that I have my fancy new rulers :)



Right on schedule, Smokey showed up to help. What a gal! She never fails to keep me company when I'm sewing.

Here is the link to the Monday Linky http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-4.html and here's the link back to Bonnie's blog, should you want to play along and/or save the steps and make your own Easy Street quilt...http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/easy-street-mystery.html (editing from my phone, sorry for the inelegant links!)

Easy Street Step 3

 

Here's the latest step in Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery! These little guys finish at 3" and were surprisingly easy to make with the Easy Angle ruler. I need to make 16 more but need to cut more black & white strips first. Just thought that 16 of them made for a nice sized photo op!

Here's the Mystery Monday Link Up so you can see the work of others participating in the mystery!



Above is an updated photo showing the other 4 aqua fabrics. I made a total of 4 units for each of the 8 colors. Below is Smokey inspecting the units. She says you have to get VERY close to inspect the seam allowances!

Easy Lane - Step 2

 

I'm so excited with how easy this step is going! I had read Bonnie's suggestions last year when doing her Orca Bay Mystery to buy the Easy Angle and Companion Angle rulers but I didn't buy them until recently. They are so nifty! I also like how versatile they are, as each one can be used to make several different sizes (unlike another Flying Geese ruler set I bought that only makes 2 different sizes). She also made a killer video on how to use them properly!!

So here are the first few geese I've made for my Easy Street (or in my case LANE) mystery quilt. I will be making about 50 more but wanted to at least knock a few out and get them posted so I'm "keeping up" as best as possible. To see other participants' posts for this mystery please visit http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html



I had practiced with the rulers over the weekend and made even SMALLER geese (finishing at 1x2") for a Farmer's Wife Sampler swap that I'm participating in. I got ahead of myself and made the geese dark and the sky light in the first set before I realized that the Cups and Saucers block is the other way around. Whoops! Bonus block for me, I guess :)




I then made another block using different fabrics...I liked the look of the 2 blue ones but the lighter one was thicker than the other and it made the seams very bulky. Unfortunately the pattern in the dark purple is conflicting with the angles of the block so it kind of makes one a little dizzy looking at it, LOL. Good thing I only made one of this one too...but I like it enough I think I'll keep it for my own quilt.

Easy Street...or Maybe Easy Lane?

It's time for a mystery!!! Here's my Step One for the latest Bonnie Hunter mystery: Easy Street. The finished size if you do the entire quilt is 84" square and I just want more of a couch quilt/throw so I'm doing half of the steps to make something closer to 60" square. Therefore the working title for MY quilt is Easy Lane ;)

Here are 98 three inch finished 4 patches...the grey is our "constant" and is a batik. The other parts are black on white prints. The colors in the quilt are purple, aqua and apple green. Below is a photo of the fabrics I pulled, except I changed the grey to a darker one. I also pulled out a few of the other colors that I thought weren't quite right and set them aside for later...we'll see if they feel right later on.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/11/easy-street-monday-link-up-1.html

Tulip Mini Quilt for ALQS7

It's been a long time since I've had a chance to work on many personal projects as I've been very busy the last 2 months with the Taylor Bridge project, but I had to take time out to participate in Kate's ALQS7 as I absolutely love how her swaps work!

For those not familiar, usually you're assigned a partner in a swap like this, and there's always worry and strife about whether the recipient will love your final product. There's also the stress about meeting the deadline, or what to do if someone gets sick and has to drop out. Not so with Kate's swap! There is a deadline to get the photo to her, and as long as you make that deadline you're in. If you can't make it, no worries, you just won't participate in that round. She then lets all the participants send her a list of their favorite quilts among those submitted, and she has the difficult task of divvying them all up...but she does a fabulous job and we appreciate all her hard work!

So here is my little quilt. The challenge this round was to make a 12" mini quilt. Yikes! I started on a tiny little Hawaiian Applique piece but abandoned it as I decided my design wasn't good enough (self designed, first attempt). Maybe another time....then I had an idea to use some of my collection of Australian fabrics, but before I had a chance to do anything with them I got a Craftsy email with a free pattern for a 10" Paper Pieced Tulip block. Hmm...10" block + 1" border = 12" mini quilt. Score!

The batiks proved to be difficult to photograph, and in editing the colors to make the tulips, leaves and borders look right I ended up washing out the aquas. Here I've added some extra photos to show how the background looks.

I also wanted to give a shout out to my friend Shelley (aka Pirate) for her great Freezer Paper Piecing tutorial. I love it, and refer to it every time I need to paper piece something like this!

Sadly, Blogger ate half of my original post so I may have to come back later and add some forgotten details, but here are the rest of the photos in the meanwhile...

Smokey Inspects My Taylor Bridge Fire Quilt

Smokey just *has* to inspect everything I'm quilting! Here she admires the color changes in the variegated thread I chose to quilt the Jewel Box top.

It's made up of primary colors and is a discontinued color from Connecting Threads.

I think she's partial to the swirly pattern, as she seems to be more interested in the quilts on which I use this design!

I made binding for it this morning but then had to go to work. I'm having a friend over Wednesday to sew and I plan to get that binding attached so we can call this one DONE!!!

In case you don't follow my other activities, please come see the Taylor Bridge Fire Quilts blog

Great Grandmothers' Quilts

No, I didn't put the apostrophe in the wrong place, I have quilts to show from TWO of my great grandmothers!

Mum had been telling me ever since I started quilting 4 years ago that she had a couple of her grandmothers' quilts. It took all this time to figure out where they were, as she would alternate between saying they were in the cedar chest (which has a huge TV on top of it) and telling me they were in the linen closet (which is packed). But finally last week they surfaced, and are now in my possession for safekeeping!! 

This first one is believed to be by her paternal grandmother. Mum's memory is a little rusty (cough) and of course there's no label and no one else to ask, so we're going to assume that is the case! It is hand pieced and hand quilted, and approximately 60 x 80".

 

You'll see that a lot of the blue fabrics faded to nearly white over the years, but many of the baskets are still quite vibrant. It has some stains and the single layer of binding is shredded in areas. I will probably hand baste those areas for now, just so they don't get worse.



Here is a close up of some of the fabrics. If anyone has an idea of what decade this might date to I'd love to hear your thoughts!





Below is a gorgeous Double Wedding Ring hand  pieced and hand quilted by my mom's maternal grandmother, Zeal. It is 74 x 81"



She's the one who also made the baby quilt I posted previously. Some of the fabric dyes have transferred to other areas, not by bleeding but by crocking (contact/rubbing onto the others). The binding is double fold and is in very good shape. I only found one part that was frayed. I took a few close ups of this one too. I recognize the fabrics as being feedsack/30's but am not sure when it was actually made.

 Enjoy!!!

Taylor Bridge Fire Quilts

Hey all! I'm taking a break from my regular quilting to work on a very special project. That project has its own blog: http://taylorbridgefirequilts.blogspot.com/

My friends and I are making quilts for the victims of the Taylor Bridge fire in Cle Elum Washington. It's a terrible fire that consumed 48 homes and more than a dozen other structures in a matter of hours a week ago today. In fact, the fire is still burning but at last word it was about 47% contained and they hope to soon make an announcement of 100% containment if the weather would just cooperate. They're having trouble with the wind :(

If you are interested in seeing what I'm up to, please visit the other blog. And if you'd like to help...just drop me a note on either blog!!!

-Misha

Hawaiian Applique - Halfway Point!

Hawaiian Applique - Halfway Point! 7443, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I've been working on this on the go...and maybe I should stop working on it in the car, based on some of the lousy curves, but it's all good! I'm learning as I go :)

I'm right handed and working counter-clockwise. The stitching begins at about 4:00 and ends at 10:00. I'm taking a class by Nancy Lee Chong on Quilt University, and loving it!

Hawaiian Quilt Class Progress

The inside Vs are the hardest part so far, but I learn a little bit more with each one I complete. Almost 1/4 of the way done!

Splashes of Color - with Smokey

Splashes of Color with Smokey 7439, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Smokey is inspecting the stitching. She says it's a little "large" but at least it's consistent. Comfort quilt made for my friend Molly following surgery. She hasn't seen it yet, but as far as I know she's not aware of my blog so it should be a surprise!

Free pattern for quilt here: www.allpeoplequilt.com/projects-ideas/bed-quilts/splashes...

Click on the pic to go to my Flickr page to see additional photos!

Hawaiian Quilt - Basted

 

The result of the first lesson in Nancy Lee Chong's Hawaiian Quilt 101 class I'm taking from Quilt University online. Tonight we'll learn her techniques for needleturn applique. I'm so psyched!

I should note that we were told to baste it with "ugly thread" so we'd be motivated to make progress on the block and therefore get to remove more and more of the "ugly thread". This is why it's basted in brilliant orange! ;)

Quilt University Class

I signed up for my first Quilt University class the other day...actually I signed up the very day that class started! It's by Nancy Lee Chong and it's Hawaiian Quilting 101.

I followed the instructions on how to email pictures to the Dean to the letter...I made sure I scaled the photos down in size, etc. For some reason, however, they still saw fit to crop the images significantly, showing only a small portion of the fabrics I'm considering. Here I've posted the full photos so you get a better idea of what my fabrics look like. The background is not my counter top, LOL, it's the white batik with purple detail that I'll be using for the background of my applique. I'm undecided at this point whether to go with the teal/blue fabric or the fuchsia/blue for the applique itself.

I'll decide Friday which one to use and will cut out my Ulu pattern provided for the class. I'll continue to post my progress as the class continues over the next few weeks!

Comfort Quilt for My Friend

My non-quilty friend is facing some serious surgery this week and definitely is in need of some comfort! I only learned about her surgery a couple of weeks ago, and at the time was facing my own (less serious) surgery so I had to briefly hold off on starting this present for her. I was looking for something that would showcase some of my batik collection, and came up with Splashes of Color from All People Quilt. It's a neat (and free!) pattern, if you wish to download it. I changed the blocks to a 12" size, cutting my centers at 6.5" and the bars at 3.5" wide.



The photos were taken as I basted it, so please ignore the random white thread lines you see.

Yesterday I got the last of the blocks plus the top sewn together and today I'm basting it. I hope to get all or most of the quilting done tomorrow and ideally have it finished by this weekend. I will be returning to work myself shortly (likely this Thursday depending on how things go) and am trying to make the time go faster by immersing myself in my project.

Quilt by Great Grandma Zeal

Mum told me a couple years ago she had a quilt her grandmother had made but she wasn't sure where she had put it. Today when I asked she said to check the linen closet and there it was! I almost didn't see it because it was folded with the plain, solid yellow backing facing out.

It is a hand pieced, hand quilted 9 Patch and appears to be 30's or feedsack prints. Mum is saying she thinks it was a baby present for my older brother, but it's PINK so I'd like to think it was meant to be mine ;)

It does gave some faint stains which actually pleases me...as I'm a firm believer in USING quilts :)

This will be proudly displayed in my quilt studio!!

A or B? Help Me Choose!

I'm totally on the fence here, working on a Row Robin quilt. I don't know why but I've had a really hard time making up my mind lately.

So which do YOU like better? Between comments here and on FB in the next 48 hours or so, majority will rule.

Grrr, stupid Blogger won't upload the pics...going to post links to my Flickr instead

Center "A"

Center "B"

Drunkard's Path

DP misc, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
A sampling of some of the fabric combos for the Drunkard's Path quilt I'm working on right now. I wanted a take-along project and I'm appliqueing the quarter circles down. I know this isn't a traditional way to do it but that's ok with me!

Here are some of the block layouts I'm playing with...nothing at all has been sewn yet. The quarter circles have been glue basted to the backgrounds with Elmer's School glue.

FMQ - Sew Cal Gal Challenge for May

FMQ May, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Wow, this month just FLEW by, and I almost forgot to do this! Here's my May submission/piece for Sew Cal Gal's FMQ Challenge.

I didn't have anything laying around that I thought this pattern would be appropriate for (and I have yet to put together the sampler piece I'd meant to at the beginning of the challenge) so I resorted to quilting scraps of fleece again.

The bottom center part looks odd because the fleece layer below was catching on the needle plate. But all in all it is a cute pattern and really does remind me of railroad tracks!

I've Been Nominated!

Thank you to my generous friends who nominated me in Amy's Creative Side's Blogger's Quilt Festival for Mum's quilt. They've finished the nomination portion and now it's time to VOTE for your favorites! Here's the link, if you'd like to participate bloggers-quilt-festival-vote-now


There isn't much time, as the winners will be announced at the end of the week, so please vote ASAP. There are so many lovely quilts to choose from!

Turtle Bay

Turtle Bay after washing DSCN7274, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Wow, this is the 6th of six baby quilts I was making this spring. I had made another top with these fabrics (except the Kona solid) and while I liked it, the borders had "issues" and while trying to figure out how to fix them I saw a cute idea on Pinterest.

This, however, is NOT that idea, LOL! The idea was to make an interlocking chain-like design with the prints making one set of chains and the solids making the other. It was actually a tessellation, and while it looked really cool in general I decided that I liked this layout better for these fabrics. (Both designs are a simple 2 bar rail fence block.)

If you click on the photo you can see more close ups of the quilting, before and after I washed it.

It's-a Me, Mario!

It's-a Me, Mario! 7260, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Well, Mario is finished AND delivered! Little Conrad was born very early today and it was my day off so I drove out to the hospital to deliver it to him personally. His mom, Christina, gave it a glowing review...but she had been up for over 36 hours straight so she may have just been delirious ;)

Click on the picture to go to my Flickr page to see some close ups of the quilting, etc. Thanks for looking!

Always helping...

Always helping..., a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
When I turned away for a minute Smokey firmly planted herself onto a corner of the quilt, and cranked up her motor. She loves quilts!!

I'll be finishing the binding and label soon so I can deliver this next week!

Mum's Special Quilt

AmysCreativeSide.com is running a really neat Quilt Festival right now, complete with a contest! Here is my entry, #563:

One of the reasons I became interested in quilting was to make special gifts for friends and family.

My mother tried to teach me to sew clothes when I was younger, but I wasn't all that interested. I didn't know about quilting, or the creative process it could encompass.

A few years ago I began quilting, and knew that I'd make something special for her one day. She and I both love Laurel Burch and when I saw this panel I just knew it would be the right starting point for her quilt.

I designed my own Dahlia applique pattern, and spent months carefully stitching down each little petal. In the end, one of the more challenging aspects of this project was turning those tubes inside out to make the stems!

FMQ on my Singer 404

With its beautiful gold accents, the Laurel Burch panel was just begging me to quilt it in gold...but I was new to FMQ and not familiar at all with using metallic threads. Through trial and error (and a lot of help from my friends on about.com!) I finally got the right combination of needle and thread and did some really fun, swirly quilting in the flowers. I also did outline quilting on the animals in the pattern.

Here we are, holding up the final quilt! She was afraid to use it at first, but I insisted that it was made to be snuggled under, not just displayed!

Mia and Landon's I Spy Quilts

Twins 7228, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Well, I finished the quilts, and as of last weekend they were delivered to the twins' grandfather so I assume they've been received my now. (Update: I heard from the grandma and they're already being used, yay!)

This was my first time doing a novelty/I Spy quilt and also the first time doing quilts for twins so this was a lot of fun! The babies belong to my husband's cousin, Jeff and his beautiful wife Katie.

Be sure to click on the first photo to go to the Flickr album as there are several more pics there to see, including close up shots of the quilting, Smokey inspecting the quilts, and to see the awful poetry on the labels! ;)

I'm also entering this into The Bloggers Quilt Festival. If you'd like to see the contest and other participants you can click here. Changed my mind, see the newer post!!

Devyn's Paisley Owl

Finished this owl quilt the other day for my co-worker/friend Holly. Saw the baby yesterday and she's so precious! I had given the finished quilt to a mutual friend on Tuesday to deliver it, but would've held onto it had I known the were coming by work Thursday. So I will have to get a pic of Devyn WITH the quilt later.

Thanks to Melisa for holding it up for the photo. More pics including a close up later. I'll also post the sketch for the design once I'm home.

(note: the owl looks a little discolored in the middle because the fleece backing is showing through. There is no batting in between)

Hospice Quilt

Awhile back I posted pics of two blocks I made for a quilt to be donated to the hospice in memory of our quilty friend Chris who passed away last year. The quilt has been quilted beautifully by our friend Hilda using a panto called Rita's Feather http://www.patternman.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=604

The block pattern is "10th Star" by Marcia Hohn and is available here http://quilterscache.com/V/VOS_TenthStarBlock.html

The block on the right in the photo is mine :)

We're hoping they raffle the quilt because we all want to buy tickets!!

Under the Stairs

This snowshoe hare is hanging out under our stairs today. S/he was there for a bit yesterday too, but s/he does go out when it's dark. I think they may be close to getting ready to molt, as their coat is looking rather shaggy. I'm sure they're happy where they are, because it's warm and dry and a bit shaded :)

I'm shooting straight down through the metal grates, so that's what the pinkish thing is on the left. Enjoy!!