Pigtail, Furry Legs, Eyelashes, and Nostrils

What is the first thing that comes to mind in saying these words together? I think of human anatomy LOL, even with the furry legs, some are furrier than others hehe. All of these items became embellishments on the Farm Girl Vintage quilt. I am ecstatic how this turned out. After making the chenille bloom, I got the giggles because it added so much stinkin’ cuteness to this quilt.

Let’s talk about specifics first, when doing embellishment chenille, you need to determine if you want it done before or after quilting. Both decisions will change when you bloom the chenille. I did mine on the longarm, but you can certainly do it with any sewing machine at any point. Make sure you use polyester thread for the chenille. Rubbing the fabrics vigorously, can shorten the lifespan of cotton thread. My advice, watch my video on tips for this technique.

Lets see some pigtail!

I am not gonna lie, but the pigs eye is a bit scary. For those of you who have ever gazed into a pigs eye, it is scary! The fuzzy tail is so darn cute!

And eyelashes, of late, the longer the better is the trend. So if humans can wear false eyelashes, so can cows! Some eyes are open watching over the others, and some are closed. These gave me the giggles because it added that special touch that was lacking.

And with eyelashes, come the nostrils, not as cute as the eyelashes, but then again, what nostrils are really cute anyway. HAHAHA

The curved uni-brow eyelashes had me in hysterics. Watch out for cousin Guido cow, you will end up at the processing plant. HAHAHAHA

Here are some ridiculous odd colored legs, it is fun though, eh?

My least favorite cow is the one done in blue eye shadow ahhahaha, still funny though. And magical through the eyes of a child! What is not shown in any of these pictures, I did not have any brown scraps at my quilting machine, so I waited to chenille those under my featherweight foot. The cows all now have brown fuzzy tails too. 🙂

And farm girl vintage quilt top got bound and is ready for gifting. I bound the binding in brown, which surprisingly worked! The backing was two homespuns that were a very light orange or sherbert. This is quilted with pink thread, which you can just see a glimpse of above. And here is the whole sha-bang.

I wanted to use the barn fabric border for a tote bag later. But using it up now is preferred. Shopped the stash with delight.

I actually got much done this week. Even though I have met most of my goals and even went the distance to create and complete more goals, the week ended on a rather sour note. My mind was in a miff today. It caused me to be a tad angry. And a tad sensitive. And a tad of question mark. Even though I should be happy, I was not. I cannot put my finger on it. But I was off today, which interfered with getting more done. I got in the way of my own self….hmpt.

I sewed the open gates quilt box pattern that I got in last months box. It took me about 3 1/2 hours. This was a simple wall hanging that was very enjoyable to make. And it quilted very quickly too. And I think I nailed the quilting on this. It reminds me of the action lines of north and south poles of a magnet with the attraction in the corners. Ribbon candy in the border, and orange peels in the center motif. This turned out way better than I ever imagined. This is all bound and ready.

And you can see the finished pillow case lace next door. I had to tat 4 more motifs to get that to fit the pillow case I made. Some of the churn dash pictures you will see the pillow case peeking out from behind. I did not snap a photo of the pillow case because it is just a simple pillow case with one color fabric.

Last week I was tatting a doily from the WorkBasket magazine. I finshed another round on that and actually got out my doily setter and pinned it out and misted it with some spray starch. It turned out perfectly round and very pretty. I failed to get photos of that. I will try to snap a photo in the coming week.

Today after a meh day at work, most of it meh, because of my mood, I gravitated towards the garage for quilting on a clients quilt. I realized before I loaded the quilt, I needed to clean up a bit. And then I realized that instead of the backing she supplied being 108 by 108, it was 108 by way longer than 108. It took some finesse to get it on my rollers.

For those of you who purchase lovely 108 fabrics, do yourself a favor before sending them to your longarm quilter, it is best to pre wash them. Think about how much warp is in standard 45 wide fabrics. And then take that times 3. Warp and Weft can really cause havoc and not be true nor square. Washing it tends to get that snapped into the right shape. I fiddled with that so much I ran out of time and did not even get the batting or top loaded onto the longarm. Goal almost met.

My goals from the previous week were:

• Quilt the Farm Girl Vintage quilt check the box
• Chenille the Farm Girl Vintage check the box
• Do a quilt tutorial of the chenille process check the box
• load a customer quilt (yes I am getting paid to quilt for others)
• start either a bag pattern or a NCW pattern (necessary clutch wallet) Check the box

I was very close to checking all my boxes. Tomorrow is another day. And I got a call this week telling me I won a prize from our quilt hop. I won a $25 gift certificate to a local longarm quilter who does amazing work. Not sure if I will ever use it. But I can reach out to her and see if she sells fabric, cuz $25 worth of free fabric sounds great!

And speaking a bit about the last checked off item on my list was to start and NCW or a bag. I have started gathering supplies for my Barbara Bag from Sallie Tomato. I had to make a list of what I needed. I went to moms to see what kind of stabilizer or interfacings she had. I got some bosal foam. And I found some woven interfacing that was left over from a tshirt quilt a did a few years back. Looks like I will need to purchase a couple of 8 inch zippers for the NCW. Somewhat started, I know it is started enough to make it look like a mess on the table. hahahaha

Goals for the upcoming week:

• Work on customer quilt (a finish would be a plus)
• Work on building the Barbara Bag (purchased thread today to sew some vinyl)
• Find the right fabrics and zippers for the ncw
• Find matching thread for the pillowcase and lace marriage
• Pull fabrics for a dragon scales baby quilt
• Try not to let my 40 hour paying job wear me out (it wears on my patience and poops me out most days).

Yay! Let the Happy Weekend commence! And thank you for reading my blog!

Catching up

This week was hot, up until yesterday. As much as I wanted to get to the hot garage and quilt, my energizer batteries were depleted. So no quilting. I am going to share a few makes that I have made in the recent weeks but failed to get a picture taken and uploaded.

This is the Open Box Quilts subscription box project from last month. As much as I loved some months, I would never make the patterns that they put out there. And as far as the fabrics, they are really pretty each month, but as pocketbooks tighten, I am no longer interested in the surprise each month. Some fabrics were great and right up my alley. The last box was all halloween, and that is not something I do. I do not sew ANY holiday themed projects. I would much rather have my $50 in my pocket to happen upon a deal or get exactly what I want as far as fabrics go. Most all patterns were gifted away. I had this for 7 months. Meh….some people like it. I wanted to cancel months ago, but just kept forgetting.

During the quilt hop, Helen done a fabulous demo of cathedral windows the old fashioned hand stitching way. She gave me all of her demo supplies so I could play with it. I learned much. And this is on my bucket list, but it would take me years. Not interested right now in anything that will take years.

Starting on Monday evening during a trip to the library, I started this doily. The center is a rose with lovely greenery around it’s center. There is an error in this pattern and found it before too much tatting occured. I found a lovely website with a gob of free Workbasket magazines from the past. If you quilt, knit, sew, crochet, tat, macrame, and the list goes on, click here to go to that website.

I purchased this magazine for $1 at the antique store. As I thumbed through this, I was surprised how much things cost back in 1978 as compared to today. I recall we were going through inflation times back then as we are now. But somehow back then it was different.

This is a nice pattern, and I will not have enough thread to finish it. I have very little left for the roses. So I will either have to change colors, or order more, or not put any in the outer perimeter. No worries, I am enjoying it, no matter how it turns out!

And luckily enough, while at the thrift store this week, I came across some cebilia tatting thread. You cannot purchase this new in the states anymore. Not sure the story behind this, but my guess is, there is not enough demand for it. I will treasure this thread. And I will have to get really good at tatting because this is size 30. Size 10 or 20 is my go to. That is another great thing about tatting patterns you can change the thread size and it will not matter. This will make something very delicate and pretty one day.

I also found a Laura Heine pattern at the thrift store. I gifted that to my mom. It was only $2. The retail cost of that pattern is 19.99

Goals for the week:

• Quilt the Farm Girl Vintage quilt
• Chenille Farm Girl Vintage
• Do a quilt tutorial of the chenille process
• load a customer quilt (yes I am getting paid to quilt for others)
• start either a bag pattern or a NCW pattern (necessary clutch wallet)

Glad the week is behind me, I have had the blahs this week. I am thinking this is probably due to my diet this week. There was way too much junk food at work, everyone pushing donuts at you. It is hard not to socially eat. Do any of you feel compelled to eat because everyone else is eating? I do. I hate that. Not sure how to change it other than potentially being rude.

To close is a video compilation of a quilt show. Lots of photos. Enjoy!

And thanks for reading my blog!

360 degrees 365 scraphappy

For those of you who do not know, the amount of degrees in a full circle is 360 degrees. A full circle my 365 quilt block challenge quilt has come.

I entered it in a show for all to see and appreciate. That was all I entered it for. I knew my fellow quilters would see the hard work and scratch their heads how I persisted. There was hard times and easy times, whether it was building a block that took 7 hours, or a life event that made going on difficult. I persisted. And I won. I won the battle of procrastination. In the quilt journey, the destination was always a finish. The finish was the win.

I am happy to report, that not only have I won bragging rights to finish this behemoth red monster, but I have also got a ribbon to show for it. Yes, that is right. I got a ribbon! The quilt journey has come full circle. What a journey, worth the prize at the end. But here is the thing, the 365 quilt will continue to have more 365 days ahead, probably years. And so it will come full circle, every time it wraps me in warmth, for every time it nurtures me in sickness, for every time it hugs me at bedtime. Let it be known that through all 34 yards of fabric, it was worth it! 14 -19 yds in the piecing, and 15 in the backing and binding. I have a bit of backing left over and every time I use up this scrap in another quilt, the 365 will put a smile on my face again, because the fabric I spent, and the time I spent created a marvelous memory. It will also weave in time to create a marvelous story, long after I am gone. The biggest scrap quilt of my life is completed but it goes on. For now it will be stored (I am afraid to get it dirty now in the summer months of the high Texas heat. Ground temperature water is running at about 84 degrees or higher. The water would certainly make the red fabrics bleed).

I had anticipated to have a completely different post, but I was so moved by this journey, the words easily found their way out of my brain, into my fingertips and onto the screen.

Never underestimate yourself as a quilter. Regardless of your success or failures, you are making a story that will last. The story becomes a legacy. And someone else will treasure that legacy even more. Never underestimate the power of a quilt. It sure can be mighty, and it sure can be good.

Now onto more scrap happy events/news. Today I will join Gun and Kate to spread scrap happiness! Please make sure to visit all the links below to see all the scrap goodness, and how the gang is all making out with their scraps. (I feel like I am losing the scrap battle, because the more I make, the larger my scrap bag gets)

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Bekki, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Bear, Carol,
Preeti, Edith, Debbierose and Viv

This has been a very good week. I managed to get a couple fat quarters sewn into a caddy for my sewing desk. Sorry did not snap a photo. I did start quilting on the farm girl vintage baby quilt.

And below are progression videos on a churn dash pattern/kit I got in one of my open gate quilts subscription box. I put this together in an afternoon.

I think I have finished my pillowcase lace. I will now have to make the pillowcase to see if it measures up. I laid this out on a pillowcase I am using and it looks to be just about the right length. I enjoyed tatting again. I need to get my shuttles out more often.

Probably a good thing I have finished this when I did. When I started this lace, I had a whole bolt of fabric. I have made many quilts and backings with that bolt. I know I have enough for a pillowcase, but it went fast. And time is flying by!

I am sharing a video of behind the scenes of picking up my quilt from the quilt show. It is very orchestrated, but had some kind of flaw where 35 quilts were unaccounted for. This delayed the pick up lines by an hour. I think everyone left happy. I know I did.

I kind of chuckled because as I was waiting in the hallway, the quilts were being carted into the big room for their departure/pick up. Because most people used white pillowcases, it looked kind of like the quilts had done their job and pooped out in layers on the carts. You will see a bit of this pandemonium in the video. I completely had to remove the sound because there were hundreds of happy/chatty quilters talking in the room. It was a roar of sound, and all was good.

And lastly, don’t forget I am having a quilt along that starts at the end of September. All you need to do is read and follow this blog, my youtube channel, or follow me on instagram or read my posts in the QuiltSpace app. This is a scrappy quilt along and all of you are welcome. I will be posting fabric requirements mid sept. The quilt will measure around 50 by 50. The picture below was designed in EQ8. In summary, it is free and my gift to you for believing in me and following me. Thank you!

Well, I need to get going on chores and tidy up a bit to prepare for my quilting adventures in the coming week. Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my blog!

The not much post

Readers, my goal is to bring content. In the past several weeks, all I have accomplished is quilt show prep. Sleeves sewn. Quilt labels on. And surviving the heat wave of this summer. That heat wave makes one want to move as little as possible to survive and stay non-sweaty so to speak.

And then there was the quilt hop which I dedicated two whole days too, so not much sewing has occurred.

I did sew a tid-bit on the Farm Girl Vintage baby quilt. After staring at it for weeks on the design wall, I opted to remove the tractor and trailer. It messed with the Feng-Shui of the quilt. I am sick that I spent all that effort and am not going to use it. Without all the “rust” from the tractor, this looks a little more baby friendly. Because it was so large it drastically affected the layout. Before and After photos.

It needed the sparkle of color!

After looking at this a bit more I have also decided to add chenille for the tail, nostrils, and eyes. I want to sew buttons for the eyes, but am more worried about baby safety, so I will just make some eyes with bias.

I will be piecing this and aim to get this done with a nice girly border and hopefully start quilting it next weekend. But gosh, did I tell ya how hot it is here? It is supposed to cool off and not reach a 100 for a few days this week, so maybe that will add energy to my caboose!

I swung by the antique store today on my way home from work. The last time I was in there they had old copies of the workbasket, and because I did not have my glasses with me, I was not able to really see any of the fine print and patterns in the books. So today, glasses on, I enjoyed looking through them specifically for tatting patterns. And I found one that I will eventually make! Along with that I have been collecting old feedsack fabric and found a few of those bargained priced.

And amazingly I found a Jenny Beyer quilt kit (I KNOW RIGHT, at the antique store of all places). The pattern is called tessellating cats and it is no longer offered, but this kit back in 2001 originally sold for $140. I purchased it for 10. It looks like they cut out all the pieces in the correct shapes for foundation paper piecing, which is puzzling. I will attempt to make a go of it one day.

The kit I got seems to go to blue in one corner. The fabrics are rich and beautiful and the border print is gorgeous!

Well, like I said not much happened, perhaps in the coming weeks I will have a little more exciting posts. 🙂 And thank you for reading my blog!