Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Short, Sweet and Finished

And does it not look fabulous on my kitchen table!
Short and Sweet by Kim Diehl.
I kept the quilting simple...
Cross-hatching in the center and echo quilting around the border.
And, 
here is the gratuitous picture of my precious granddaughter on it.

Progress to report on Primitive Pumpkins.
The leaves are not in their permanent spots yet. 
 I like to sew down the vine and pumpkins before I iron them in place. 
 They tend to come off when I am stitching.
The hardest part has been finding wool that will contrast with such a dark background.  
I seldom buy kits, but it might have been easier to buy one from The Quilter's Station.
I shrank the quilt down to 2" finished squares, but did not change the size of the applique shapes.  I wanted them to be more prominent.
Cannot wait to do the leave quilting motif in the borders.

I have the first block of my Pennies from Heaven prepped.
  It is a BOM, but I know this will come as no surprise...
I want to change up the colors, but I am having a hard time committing to the bright lime green petals.  
Risky business, for sure.

Well, off to another buttonhole stitching marathon.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Approaching the Finish Line!

I feel like a marathon runner at the Olympics,
 but I am quickly approaching the last of the 96 petals.
I wonder if they tire of the journey as the end draws near?
My fingers are aching from piercing the needle through wool and seams
 as I buttonhole stitch my way around the track.
Just a little disappointed my body has not become lean and mean like theirs!
So worth it, though.
I love this one!
I am anxious to stitch the last petal, 
quilt it quickly and
add the icing to the cake...
the scrappy binding.
Wouldn't a miniature version...
meaning only 5 snowball units...
I am not that insane...
be sweet too?

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Short and Sweet

Nothing like a new book full of inspiration,
and some free time
to get the creative juices going again.
My version of Kim Diehl's Short and Sweet from her new book,
Simple Charm.

This is what it should look like when I finish.

I did resew Primitive Pumpkins, 
and with the help of a my friend,
Deb,
now have all the wools collected for the applique.

So between the two projects,
there will be a lot of button hole stitching going on around here.
In addition,
I start my BOM, Pennies from Heaven, tomorrow.
Wool, wool, glorious wool!


Fell Off the Wagon

 It was bound to happen. I had stuck to my guns until I saw Laundry Basket Quilts' pattern, Alaska Magic. I told myself,  "It is te...