Design Wall April Fools Day

Saturday it was almost 70º, I sat on the porch, the birds were singing and little green things were visible in the garden. Yesterday it snowed, and froze, hard.

Last week was the unpicking week. Don't ask .. a border I didn't like, another one that was so wavy it was seasick, a sashing strip that mysteriously moved 1/8" over and wasn't noticed until I went to press it.

Domiciles is done and on the design wall so I can admire it. See many other quilter's design walls at Patchwork Times.

No two house blocks are alike although some fabrics have been used several times. The blocks with tiny houses were done 'freestyle'. Some are short and stout, others tall and skinny. There is a barn with a tall grain bin. Very tiny scraps were used and that part was fun.

Only the bias binding to make and the backing to piece, then it goes into a bag to wait it's turn to be quilted.

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No, You Will Not Sew

I had planned . . .

. . . but Bella had other plans.

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Design Wall Monday

Very little on my design wall this Monday and this is a good thing! It means I am getting stuff done. Top left are four blocks for, one day, a scrappy blues Ocean wave quilt. They just sit there from week to week because I like looking at them.

Top right, I have added quite a few 2-1/2" triangles to my ongoing 'leaders & enders' Thousands of Triangles quilt. All the triangles are bonus triangles from various projects; most recently the little red houses blocks. I join them into sets of sixteen to make an eight inch block. If I live long enough one day I will have a bed size quilt.

Bottom left are two batik windmill blocks. This is my present to myself for being a good girl and completing two UFOs, I get to create another one, but only 4 blocks, then it is back to turning UFPs into happy dances! Woo-hoo!

Mt Domiciles top is pieced, all that remains to do is make a narrow border, piece the backing and make the bias binding.

Check out lots of other Design Wall Monday blog posts at Patchwork Times

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Silently Falling

This morning it is curiously warm, probably because there isn't a breath of wind.

The white spots in the picture are enormous snowflakes, falling straight down.

I was amused by Boysie snapping at snowflakes landing on his back as if they were flies. Little things please little minds! Since the snow was literally hock deep for him at a little over 6" on my measuring stick, he didn't waste a lot of time before asking to go back inside. That dog hates wet feet.

My plans for today are simple:

• finish sewing rows together on my Domiciles quilt,
• find a border & binding fabric,
• make a narrow border & bias binding,
• catch up on some friends blogs, and,
• finish reading (re-reading) The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye while curled up in my chair, drinking tea.

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Monday Design Wall

Having cleared all the works in not very much progress off my design wall, this is the current project to be finished before I even look at anything else! It is my Domiciles house quilt, pattern by Aardvark Quilts, available here with free S & H.

This pattern is not the tiny paper pieced houses that had such a following last year. These blocks are 6" finished, quite small enough, thank you

I am having difficulty keeping blocks up on the design wall.

Kitty Bella has developed a passion for the yellow glass head pins I use. As fast as I put blocks up she takes them down and runs off with the pins.

I had six rows arranged before she fixed it! Grrrr!

See lots more design walls at Patchwork Times.
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Snowy Saturday Houses

I woke this morning to a dusting of snow. It is quite lovely. Being from the islands I am thrilled by the snow. Boysie, not so much. He is thin coated and I think his toes get cold, but you know, everything is bearable when you have a red ball.

I have been avoiding new projects and plan to actually finish some of the things I started since getting here.

First step to accomplishing this was to find them all, there are rather a lot!

I cleared off the design wall, made a list and noted what needed to be done to each one. Then I sorted and bagged the pieces, the fabric and the pattern with my "to do" note.

Number One was the project which required the least effort. The blue and green batik kit quilt. Finishing it only involved one corner, trimming to square, piecing a backing and making bias binding. "Done" is a virtuous feel good moment. Onward

Next on the piecing list is the Domiciles red houses quilt. When I started it I thought the pattern size of 48" x 60" was pretty wimpy and useless for anything other than a wall hanging or baby quilt. Mine was going to be bigger! Much BIGGER! Then I got tired of it, the butterfly brain went "Oh look" and found another project. The house quilt languished and sulked in a pile of fabric. So sad.

My method for small block scrappy quilts is to start making blocks and stop when I run out of fabric or enthusiasm. I had made 66 blocks plus one four house block. The pattern supplies a paper piecing template for the teeny houses but I do not enjoy paper piecing so I winged it on mine, the houses are a little wonky (but charmingly so) and I prefer wonky to picking bits of paper off the block any day of the week.

My get it done plan is to make a total of 99 blocks, set 9 x 11 and add a 3" border to yield a 60" x 72" top. Not a lot bigger than the pattern but a good size for a snuggle up to read quilt or a bed topper.

Goal for the week:

• make at least 16 house blocks
• start laying them out in rows on the design wall
• paw through my stash and probably Lori's stash too for the backing, binding and border fabric

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Goals & Progress Report

Not too much sewing has been done. The weather has been glorious and I have been playing in the garden, wonderful Mr Mutchmore came and tilled the vegetable patch. I immediately planted Early Girl tomatoes, three pumpkins, lettuce, and a few radishes. The little boy next door is going to grow corn in the back 40 (square feet) and I will plant runner beans, spring onions and carrots when the plot dries out from our recent rain. Fingers crossed we do not get another freeze.

I have used either Lori's or my own Singer 15 exclusively for rather a long time and have become very set in that particular rut. Here in South Dakota I can use a 15 at Lori's house but I have a little vintage (1955) Singer 99K in mine, click image to enlarge. The “K” in the model name indicates it was made in Kilbowie, Scotland, it is a long way from home.

The Singer 99 is a 3/4 sized machine but still plenty tough. Surprisingly different from the Model 15 in its little quirks, probably nobody else would notice, but did I mention, I am very set in my rut.  I have had to 'cowgirl up' but because of those differences I have put the Double-X Effect quilt, which is all triangles, back in the "To do Box"

My choices of machine to bring to this house from 200 West Main were limited, it is the only Singer and the youngest machine in my collection of antique and vintage machines. I bought this particular machine because it was a bargain, it is absolutely pristine, looks like it has never been used and it has a cabinet or sewing machine table, as opposed to a case. Those 3/4 size cabinets have never been common and are getting really hard to find. Back from the wonderful machine repair shop in Mitchell, it has a new electrical cord and plug and is much happier.

Quilty goals progress: 

• I have finished piecing the Swoon quilt which I started last year, the backing is pieced and it is waiting it's turn on the quilting machine. The Baby Swoon is in Texas awaiting the birth of baby Brock next month. This is the first time a quilt has arrived before the occasion. History is made!
• The Domiciles,  project has 36 little houses completed, 63 to go. I am enjoying this one which is decimating Lori's stash of reds. For scrappy quilts my personal rule of thumb is no more than 5% of any fabric and preferably no two identical block/fabric combinations.
•  Summer Porch from Eleanor Burns Quilts Through the Seasons: A Quilt for Each Month of the Year book has four new blocks, for a total of 30 completed on the blocks. there are a bunch of simple border blocks too. It is my "keep at Lori's house project".

Progress on non quilting goals:

• Mow the lawn - done, several times!
• Fill the birdbath and dig the flower bed around it. - done and Morning Glories have been planted
• List Lori's very large box of surplus books on Bonanza and Amazon (different ones on the different sites)- done
• Continue weeding the front and side flower beds - in progress, may be ongoing for months :(
• Plant my hanging basket for the front porch - done, I made two and a large container, all are on the front porch.

This weeks goals:

1. Five more Summer Porch blocks
2. Ten more Domiciles blocks
3. Sand and paint the $1 coffee table I bought last week, I am thinking Swedish blue to complement the ratty carpet which needs to be replaced.
4. Continue weeding front flower beds, removing river rock 'mulch' and rotted shade cloth.
5. Plant Asiatic lilies and some perennial flowers.
6. Make a climbing trellis for Moonflowers by the side door deck.

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Design Wall Monday

Twenty six blocks for the Eleanor Burns Summer Porch quilt, which I mistakenly called Front Porch last week. The pattern is in her Quilts Through the Seasons: A Quilt for Each Month of the Year book. The size I am making will require a total of forty two blocks.

Above, twenty six scrappy little red houses for the Domiciles quilt, a total of 99 are required. My design wall tells me I need to use more darker tans and less beige and very dark browns for the backgrounds, and I am considering adding brown and maybe pink for some of the houses. What do you think?

There is no magic in the number twenty six, just a co-incidence.

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Design Wall Monday

What is on my design wall today?

On the right, the first few blocks of my Domiciles little houses quilt, the pattern is by Aardvark Quilts. I loved the quilt on the pattern cover so mine will be scrappy reds too. They are simple little blocks (Lori thinks they look like little red barns) and the pattern instructions are great. I have been making these as leaders and enders.

On the left the first five blocks of an Eleanor Burns quilt called "Front Porch". It will be my first Eleanor Burns quilt and I have to say what everyone else in the world probably already knows - her instructions are incredibly clear, and detailed. Wow!

This will be the second quilt called Front Porch I have made, the first was a Miss Rosie pattern back in 2002. My mood for this one is faded, soft, pastel, tranquil florals. Sound familiar?

In the background is Double X Effect, it is sulking. I don't have the energy to deal with it right now.

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Goals For The Week

Easter Sunday morning and town is strangely quiet!

My quilting goals are:

• Add sashing and outer borders to my Swoon quilt (which I started last year)
• One more diagonal row on red and tan Double X Effect
• Make 4 test blocks for a possible joint project with Lori
• Make 10 cottage blocks for Domiciles, a little houses project I can't interest Lori in at all, which will be made with red scraps from her stash and neutral scraps from mine.
  

Non quilting goals:

• Mow the lawn
• Fill the birdbath and dig the flower bed around it
• List Lori's very large box of surplus books on Bonanza and Amazon (different ones on the different sites)
• Continue weeding the front and side flower beds
• Plant my hanging basket for the front porch
  

It is doubtful I will achieve all of them but they are only targets and I am going to enjoy them, not stress over them.

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