Quick Finish

I meet my deadline, goody! 

It was a quick quilt and not to difficult to complete once I set my mind to it. I even had some healthy competition from Shay. Though I don't think it was fair for her for a couple of reasons. 

1. Shay is quilting her complicated appliquéd orange peels. I was doing a big grid. 

2. We both wanted our quilts done by Saturday. But Shay is a day ahead of us as she lives Down Under.  

3. Shay is unpacking her parents into their new house. Me, I'm just sitting around eating chocolates and feeding kittens.

See its just not fair but I did like the challenge. Thank you Shay!

I did say that there wouldn't be any fancy quilting but I wanted to slow down and give Shay a chance to catch up. Also I think that area around the name needed some more color. If I did anything fancy anywhere else it would have been lost in the fabric patterns. 

Just a few swirly feathers to fill the space. 

Hot pink backing was a bold choice but I wanted a plain backing because I FM quilted her name all over the back. If anyone steals this quilt from my SIL, they will have a @"*+ of a time removing all the tight stitched words from the quilt!

I'll try to get pictures tomorrow hopefully with a BIG smile! 

Shay, I'm looking forward to seeing your finish! I know you can do it! I'd send you some chocolates for energy but they'd never get there in time. 

Grab some Cadbury bars with fruit and nuts and send me the bill. And throw in a couple packs of Tim Tams!

Take care and have a wonderful weekend!

Brandie

Flimsy Excuse

I just finished putting the flimsy together! This was yesterday's goal but I got busy (season 4 of Downton Abbey) and didn't meet my goal till this morning. 

Today's goal is it layer it and get started quilting. My plan is to have this done by Saturday so I can hand deliver it to my SIL. 

There will be no fancy quilting. I spent that time machine satin stitching the letters. Boy are they imperfect! This is why I hand appliqué!

Back to work! No more TV till I finish... at least the sandwiching. 

Take care, Brandie

Pause

This weekend I decided to take a quick pause from my appliqué-dresden quilt. 

I had just returned from seeing my SIL at the care home she lives in and I had an epiphany. Why haven't I made her a bright happy quilt?! 

Many of you know of Libby Lehman. She had a similar stroke and has had many of the same happenings as my SIL. 

We are starting to see more improvement with my SIL but it has been a long slow heart breaking journey. 

When I read about other quilters making Libby quilts, I should have connected the dots but I'm slow and it took me much longer.  

(The instant fabric hits the floor, cats come from nowhere to claim it!)

So I came home and I ransacked my fabric stash to find that swan fabric, one that I bought years ago with my SIL in mind. Than I grabbed all my hot pink (we use to call that slut pink!) fabrics. Not enough of them so I threw in purples and melons. 

I needed something bright and happy but not childish. 

(Are you looking at me? Is this my quilt?)

I'm going to add big bright letters, her name, to keep this quilt in her possession, hopefully.

I'm just hoping to reach her, to reconnect  with the girl I grew up with. 

Take care!

Brandie

Moving Right Along

I think I'm on the right path. I'm excited to see borders added to my little dresdens. 

Right now this is my favorite quilt!

Take care, Brandie

An Idea

Just a little idea that may or may not work. The only way I'll know for sure is to stitch down a side and see.  

Those who know me are probably laughing at my small toe dipped in the Kaffe pond. But we all have to start somewhere! And don't forget, it takes all kinds of quilters!

Back to my favorite form of quilting, appliqué. Wish me luck!

Take care, Brandie

Slow Days

It seems that with the heat and the kittens, I'm not as productive as usual. Last week the heat was so bad I was sweating just to walk into another room. Thank goodness that's passed! Now it so chilly in the mornings I have to close up the house before bed. What kind of crazy weather is this!?

The centers were finally finished Tuesday while waiting for an appointment. Though I think it took me two more days just to get them to my sewing room. 

As you can see, I needed help to hold them down. 

I really need a design wall! Cats just can't resist anything laying on the floor. Anything! It's like a cat trap. Just lay fabric or paper on the floor and soon every cat in the house will act as a weight to hold them down for you. 

I did manage to attach every dresden and complete the main part of the quilt. Now that I'm done with that its time for me to think about the appliquéd border. I've run out of all but a fat quarter of the black so I'm thinking maybe its time to introduce another black for the border. But I think that will be decide IF I can find said fabric. 

Mama cat had her surgery and we took that opportunity to separate the babies from her. I bathed them and brought them into the house. The first few days they seemed as if they were adjusting. Then they escaped their cage and we had to re-catch them. My hands suffered a few bites, good thing I'm not doing my appliqué yet! This morning my hands seem to feel better not stinging like they were all day yesterday. Lots of ointments and lotion!

Our intention is to hand feed the kitties till they are comfortable with our hands. Then to hold them as much as possible. 

Yesterday we let mama out of her cage so she could go back to her outside home. But she didn't want to leave. She sat on the porch in front of the door howling for her babies! It was so sad! This is a feral cat that we've been feeding for about two years and assumed was a male. There is no denying that animals don't feel affection or love. Unfortunately they seem more affectionate than my BIL! But that's another heart breaking story that I'm not sure I can say out loud. Please just keep my Sister-In-Law in you thoughts and prayers. She needs all the support and love she can get. 

Thank you!

Brandie 

Surprise Package

Quilters are the nicest people!

Imagine my surprise when I received a package from fellow blogger Lindi. 

She's so sweet, she was sending out gifts on HER birthday. Not only is she sweet, she's creative and master glass maker. 

She stuffed the package full of goodies! 

 Do you see those bundles of fabric? It's wool! Now I have no excuse to not try out a wool pattern. No more excuse, Lindi has made sure I catch the wool bug!

Than I saw these glittery threads. Than I instantly thought they'd be perfect with my little dresdens! I'm looking forward to playing with them. 

Lindi also stuck a few of her glass creations in the box. That snowflake is absolutely gorgeous! It's so delicate.  I careful hung in in my kitchen window. I don't like snow but I love this single snowflake!

Thank you Lindi for the lovely gifts and the surprise of winning a giveaway!

Last night was our annual guild sew night. We all get together and make quilts tops for the community. Ours will be for a boy who is aging out of foster care. 

We started with a basic 9-patch in mostly browns. 

Then our leader cut up those 9-patches into these blocks. It's still a mystery to me how they do this! All I know is that it turns out much nicer than the blocks we started with. 

We are still working on putting the blocks back together. Maybe next month we will have them done. 

But we finally finished or HST quilt and now I've got to get it quilted. That's my weekend job. I need to get it sandwiched, with several layers of cat hair!

Have a Great weekend!

Take care, Brandie

Weekend Work

 

 I wanted you all to see the finished quilt. It's a new favorite and I'm so glad I copied Jo's idea! If she hadn't started a tree of life quilt, this quilt may not have existed. I'm sew glad she did because this is in my top favorite, even though hers is sooo much better!

 The simple quilting add to this quilt and give it an antique look (MHO) which I really love.
It took several mouths to make, but it sew was worth it!

Now lets talk about the dresdens!

 As you can see I have a layout. The color isn't showing to its true brilliance so just believe me when I say it's soft and colorful.

 I added a periwinkle flag (Thanks Lynn) around each dresden and then a small border of more black. I auditioned several fabrics to be a border and none of them fit the bill. So I just went back to my trusty black fabric.
I'm thinking maybe I'll have to quilt it with a colored thread? That kind of scares me but maybe this is what this quilt needs. I'm not going to worry about this now, I've got months to think. And maybe if I put it away like the trees it will just age beautifully and the quilting idea will just pop into my head. I'm liking this idea of aging quilts!

 Besides the sewing going on this weekend, we also found 4 more kitties.

The only kitty who wasn't scared of the camera

We trapped mommy and her babies, after several hours and several attempts.
This is a new cat and we suspect that she was dropped off. She isn't as feral as many we've caught.
There are two little striped ones, a gray one with 4 white boots and nose and a very fuzzy gray calico.
My guess is that they are around 4-5 weeks. They are eating solid food and mom seems to have dried up. These poor little guys were so hungry that Hubby scruffed one and picked it up. The poor kitty was caught unawares! But we will tame them and find them good homes.
In about a month they'll be adoptable, If you are local and would like a kitty, let me know!

Have a wonderful Monday!
Take care, Brandie