Saturday, April 16, 2016

A Delightful Day!

My Saturday began early with helping my beloved Husband Wonderful get off to a good start and out the door to his trade show this weekend.


I played in my scraps and sewed up a respectable "nest" of mice, the calico catnip variety, that is.


My next door neighbor, Al, had pretty much cleaned me out of them with his eight, yes, eight playful kitties.


I wanted a few extra mice and I made that above seen HST orphan into a nice French Lavender & Pakistani Rose Petals sachet, too.

These were all gifts for my Quilting Guru, Ellen Peters, up in Laconia, New Hampshire. Below is Ellen, wrangling a small "Franken-batt" that I'd cobbled together from scraps of batting.



Ellen was helping me by loading my little top made from fabrics designed by Howard Marcus', "Collections For A Cause" Community line from Moda.


This top was sewn from a couple of Charm Packs that I'd bought in the wee hours of the night when I was lonely and bored and although I know better, I bought them anyway!


I just love those olde timey looking Civil War reproductions! Soon the little 48" by 58" top was ready to Rock & Roll. Or Minuet, as the case might be.


I quilted this one in just over an hour in spite of it being a small, recliner-sized quilt.


What took the extra time was my learning curve for a new-to-me feathers cluster blossom quilting pattern that I had heard discussed on a fellow quilting group, Stashbusters. Here is the scrap of paper that I practiced upon and brought with me to place before me as I worked. Click to enlarge the shot.


Going in lines in either direction and keeping the scale evenly spaced was quite challenging enough for me, thank you very much!


The echo-stitching often got way off course, but the overall effect came out very pleasing to the eye.


Soon it was done and my back and shoulder muscles were very happy that it was a small quilt.


The regular stripe of the outer border was a Judie Rothermel by Marcus Brothers' Textiles that had been kicking around in my stash. It felt good to see it chime in perfectly with the Moda. The backing was a lovely red paisley that was given to me by my very dear friend, Ila, in Illinois. Thank you, Ila!

Now the quilt is home and ready for trimming and binding.


The late afternoon sunshine made the quilting just glow.


Not bad for a rank amateur, huh? Glad that I chose an antique tan with a rosy overtone for the top thread, with a deep red in the single bobbin that I used below on the backing.


Before you leave, let me also share a quilt that Ellen just completed called, "Simply Woven," done in batiks. (Link)
She quilted it in a large, loose, bubble pattern that is very becoming! Nice work, Ellen!


Roseanna held up her lovely and elegant fused applique giraffe top. So fetching!


It was a great day all around!

This post is linked to Scraptastic Tuesday! Link.

Ps. This was from a little later when I got the little quilt trimmed.


It was still sunny at 6pm!






All set and trimmed!





Miss Emma Lynne tried to help by chasing kitties down the hallway because she knows that kitties aren't supposed to be inside the house, gasp! Those are outdoor-only kitties!!!


Good dog, Miss Emma!
Linking up this post with So Scrappy! Link.
And to Love Laugh Quilt! Link.

Happy quilting!















8 comments:

Janet O. said...

Look at you, branching out with adventurous quilting patterns! Good for you, Victoria! It looks wonderful. I love the dominant red/brown color scheme, too.
That Woven quilt just shimmers, doesn't it?
And what a fun giraffe. Is it being made for someone that has a particular connection to or fondness for giraffe's?

gayle said...

I always enjoy watching your long-arm adventures! Someday I'll try it myself! 8)
That charm quilt is beautiful with all those luscious reds.

Kate said...

The quilting turned out beautifully! Hopefully you've found time to get the binding done too.

Sandi1100 said...

Nice job on your quilting! Enjoyed your Blog.

Nicky said...

It is good to try out different quilting patterns and a new quilt is what we need for that! Well done for buying those charms. Thank you for linking up to #scraptastictuesday

Joanie's Trendy Quilts said...

I enjoyed reading about your delightful day! Love the quilting design that you drew and the one quilted on your darling little quilt.

Cathy said...

Oh. I'm soooo impressed with your cluster blossoms! Good for you. Who says you can't teach an old fogey new tricks!

Bonnie said...

Lots of fun things being shared from your studio. Good for you on your quilting adventures.

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