Applique on the Road

It has been so long since I paid attention to the blog, oh my.  Traveling in The Rectangle has taken my focus off the internet and on visiting places new to us.  I have, however, been working on applique that has been in my bag of applique for two years.

 The grapes from the last post are ready to go so I started working on the grape leaves. These were fiddly so decided to do the Sharon Schamber stabilizer method of tuning with glue down and am happy I did as they would have not gone so fast if just needle turning.  Sharon's Secret Foundation link

15 cut and ready to turn onto the stabilizer

 Got them all turned and pinned onto the wreath. Have to say I like them.

I am using the embroidery method to secure just to give some play to the leaves.  This is not as easy or quick as I had thought with the small ins and outs of the leaves but pushing forward gets me to where the end will come and they will be done.  It is still quicker than needle turn yet the glue down of the edges took a lot of patience and time and wine.  The end result is so worth the effort but at the time I wondered if the glue down would ever end.

The leaves are all secured and the veins completed on each. 

The wreath looks fab and I am happy with the results.  Grapes are next and I am starting to experiment with placement. 

Thresholds Through Our Motorcoach (opps this is a republish?)

We are traveling for several months (left home Aug 1 to return mid December) through the Northeast having gone up the Midwest to Michigan and Wisconsin and New York and Massachusetts and then other places yet defined and home.  The main goal of this trip is to attend the Wool and Sheep Festival in Rhinebeck New York and see a few leaves turn and have some cool fall nights.  The take along on this trip is applique to do after I finished the lobster towels.  I am in the process of making 110 grapes for a Baltimore Album block of a grape vine wreath.  Here is my pics of this using  Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles www.karenkaybuckley.com  and method only not doing the starching as I do not have any with me.  It is like making a hundred yo-yos in miniature.  It is easy but then my travel iron burned up, yes literally started smoking and about to go to flame when I got it unplugged and outside the Motorcoach (fire alarm going off due to the smoke).  So much for making grapes till I buy a new iron.  Have taken out my other applique I brought so will share that later. Oh, I currently have 42 grapes done.

Lobsters for New Year's Eve favors

Each New Year's eve family and friends come to the house for lobster and Dom dinner. Something to take home is always on the menu. A few years ago Martha Stewart had lobster dish towels to embroidery in a kit and a discount internet site (no longer in business) had them at rock bottom price. I bought 15 and set them aside...fast forward to now and all 15 are done ready for the New Year 2016.  Simple stitching all done while traveling in The Rectangle   www.livinginarectangle.blogspot.com 

Doing 15 of anything the same can seem endless, but they went by quickly and I know they will look great on the tables this year to ring in the New Year.

Rainbow FWMQG Trade

The trade for the Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild was issued a few months ago to trade in September a mini rainbow quilt. I knew I would be on a Fall trip for several months so had to get it done. It was a really hard decision on a pattern but with no time to tarry I got to choosing. Wow there are a lot of choices but with it being a mini I knew I could not go too crazy. My attention was drawn to the fact my swap partner liked batics and abstract. I have always been drawn to the Arcadia Avenue by Sassafras Designs  http://sassafras-lane.com/products/arcadia-avenue-bom-book  block of the month as I saw it on Internet sites and had it in my pattern stash. Paper piecing is not my always go to but I really liked the patterns and the size of each block would make for a nice size mini.  I chose block number 4.  

Color choosing 

Looking like a Rainbow

all done starting to  quilt

center quilting like flower pedals

back quilting effect

quilting done and binding made

All done!  May there be a pot of gold at the end of our Rainbows.

Love Me Some French Knots

Stitches on my needle began with embroidery at about age 5. My mother and grandmother always had stitches on a needle working either crochet, knitting, tatting, quilting and of course embroidery. I was given material and a very large needle with thread to "sew". My dolls all had "blankets" with embroidery I did. First I learned to do stem stitch, back stitch, then lazy daisy and french knots. I LOVED learning to making french knots with the relationship between number of wraps, tension and poking the needle to the back finding the dot there on the front. All my early work had a lot of dots/french knots. I am sad to say all that early work has long ago been lost as I am not a keeper type of  person. I still love embroidery so when an idea pops up I draw a very simple pattern and jump in. I wanted to do french knots and from that came a pillow pattern. Seeds Feed the Birds indulged my need to make french knots.

The center seeds are all french knots done is a variegated black/light yellow thread.  I would tell you the name of the thread brand, but alas I had put on a "bobbin" and did not label thus no name or maker.  It is a single thread embroidery type, bulky but nice to work with.  I know summer will end and those seeds will be preserved to feed the birds all winter.
 Need to know how to make french knot, link below will start you off well.
How to make a french knot

Lost and Found the Threshold to Finishing

Back in January I completed a small project for a challenge with my modern quilt guild #FWMQG  all was well until a week later I go to quilt it.  I crossed the threshold of my sewing studio and went to exactly where I had put it GONE, not there, missing.  Tore the place apart looking for it, NOTHING, no where to be found.  Searched car (never know it might have been with me in the car?), searched high and low.  OK, it is lost. Jump to July...looking for backing for another project and out of the material I was considering jumped that silly challenge piece.  No earthly idea how it got into the middle of 4 yards of backing material but it had returned.  To not let it escape it jumped  to the top of my list and I finished it right then.  DONE.

Moda Beach House material challenge 

Who does not love half square triangles for versatility?

Starting the layout. Why do we move one that makes us move another and on and on? move one walk away come back rearrange

Final layout by me and letters for create found on internet (create letters: Pattern designed by Kristy@Quiet Play  )  they are so perfect

Top done

Auditioning binding color-black not it

Testing binding color. White wins

Completed

I like it a lot. I can see it in my sewing studio a friendly reminder that is all about CREATE.. no matter how long creativity may hide. 

One More for the Kids

Ok, got busy and did the next kid quilt because the Priority Mail box could hold it and since it is the same price to mail no matter how much is in the box it just seems right  to save money and mail them together. 

the theme of the quilt is golf because I had a novelty print of golf and shamrock (lucky clover) for the back.  I love that two more pieces of material are out of my stash and it will keep a child company.

Another Quilts for Kids
Another Charilty Quilt in 2015

OhhhLaLa, mon "Qult for Kids" faite et poste. C'est bon.

Another kids quilt for Quilt for Kids is in the mail  (see my first here  http://stitchesonmyneedle.blogspot.com/2015/04/thresholds-to-kids-quilts.html  )

I found the French themed  material fun especially since I have for the last 6 months been on Duolingo taking the French course.  It is a free language site and I have really enjoyed getting to know another language and learning a lot along the way. (I know poste needs an asterisk over the e but I cannot figure out how to get it there.) 

Fast and easy four patch with solid block.  Another charity quilt in 2015 done.  (already have another top ready to sandwich/quilt/mail).

Walking and waiting for Mojo to Open a Threshold

I would love to show you all the work I have done and how much I have been in my sewing studio but truth be told I have not really had the mental sewing mojo.  I am a bit stuck on a pattern for a longhorn for my vortex (looks more like a moose) so I have needed to step back a bit before I attack it again.  Here pics of the endeavor. 

One thing I have been doing a lot of is walking and have been successful at putting in at least 4 miles a day some days more.  My walking in the neighborhood is really delightful and now Spring is once again changing the flowers along the walk.   Pics of the beauty

Me and my shadow go walking

nice mailbox

mimosa

roses

magnolia

Flags

Day Lillies

Dandalion

Cottonwood tree snow

Wildflowers

MQG QuiltCon Inspired Challenge

The challenge from the Modern Quilt Guild was to create something inspired by the quilts at QuiltCon this year.  It was great to review and renew the thoughts as one saw so many quilts (all inspirational or thought provoking) and think??what to do??

Inspiration: Words...

So...

I decided to make something to hang in my sewing studio to inspire me to do what I  want to create.  One of my favorite punctuations is the ... after a word. I love those dots that leave it all up to the reader ...

My word creation:

On the design board

Got it "sandwiched" ready to quilt.

Quilted on my free motion Baby Lock Tiara

It is done.  I can fill in the dots now with ...