SAL - A Surprise Finish

You may remember that I've been working on the crown design needlepoint case in recent SAL posts. I think this is where it was when you last saw it:

I was making good progress, although I had to take out a bunch of work along the lower edge of the crown when it didn't line up right.

I'm quite pleased with the way it looks now that I've corrected the design line and finished up the major elements of the crown.

But instead of finishing the crown I found myself working on this tulip design:

This was another one I wanted to alter as I worked on it. I'm not a fan of detail stitches and I wanted to try out some variegated floss I'd acquired.

They were used in the green areas at the bottom of the case. I also blended a couple shades of orange for those petals of the tulip. Makes me wish I'd thought to do the same in other areas, like the leaves. Oh well. I haven't blocked this yet but it looks pretty good anyway.

There are several of us participating in these stitch along updates every three weeks. I invite you to take an inspiring tour by clicking on their names below.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Susan, Kathy,  Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Catherine

Maybe my crown will be done for the next SAL in February!

All Purpled Out

We're coming to the end of the first month of this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The color prompt for the month of January was purple. These are the blocks I've made most recently:

I've decided to add 16 patch blocks to my Rainbow collection this year. There will probably only be a few each month. They may come in handy as alternate blocks when it's time to build a rainbow quilt top at the end of the year. I had patches in the right sizes for the 10" and 7.5" Wrench (or Churn Dash) blocks so I made those up just to use the patches.

And here we have another postage stamp star with some lighter purples.

The Bow Tie blocks are just 6" like the Shoo-fly and Hole in the Barn Door blocks but they look bigger in this picture for some reason!

Angela has invited us to show quilts or tops we've made featuring our RSC blocks. I've shown this little baby quilt recently but it's been quilted and bound since then so I thought I'd show it again. ;- )

Many of those stars were made last year during my RSC efforts. James took his quilting cues from the setting fabric I used in the middle and around the  perimeter of the quilt.

The thoughts expressed in the print I used for the back seemed appropriate for a baby quilt even though it's not technically a juvenile print.

I'll be linking up with the other Rainbow Scrap bloggers. There will be lots of inspiration to see I bet!

Bee, Myself and I - Take Two

When I learned of Carla's personal challenge to make a few blocks each month for herself it sounded like a good idea. I wanted to use it to keep on top of hand embroidery projects at that time. Since then I've joined the monthly stitch along (SAL) organized by Avis and her friends and my Bee participation dropped off. Now I think I've found a specific project that fits the bill.

One type of fabric I can't seem to resist collecting are batiks in pure, tropical colors. I haven't been able to come up with a plan for using them however. Something fun to make, something that would show off the colors to advantage, something that would make me happy on dreary days. Then I started using up my 3" scrap strips to make Truly Scrappy Trip blocks (as opposed to scrappy trips in organized color palettes). Shortly afterward I had a light bulb moment: what about scrappy trip blocks in the batiks I like best? Duh! Once I get the strips cut it will be fun to sort them into potential blocks. The assembly process is familiar enough now to be fairly mindless on those days when my brain isn't working well. The challenge might be in restricting myself to just a couple of blocks each month! To that end, here are my first two blocks:

My plan at the moment is to keep the blocks pretty monochromatic. I think I'm going to stick to a yellow, orange, and pink palette for the most part too. I may add in some bright blues and lime greens later on, we'll have to see. I already have my Grandma's Box of Crayons quilt...

So I think I'll want to try to blend the colors of the blocks from one block to the next instead of keeping them separate like I did with this one.

Look for my next Bee post toward the end of February. This weekend there will be an RSC link party and a SAL post. I'm happy to report there's been progress on both of those fronts!

Prayer Flag

I learned about prayer flags several years ago and was intrigued with the idea of a physical manifestation of hopes and desires. I've seen prayer flags others have made since then and of course I wanted to play along. Not until recently have I been motivated enough to take action however. I'll give you three guesses as to what prompted the creation of my first prayer flag, and the first two don't count. ;- )

I was working with my purple scraps when I came across a piece of Cracked Ice from long, long ago. It was already the size prescribed as a base for prayer flags according to the format developed by a guest on Quilting Arts TV. (If you search 'prayer flag project' you'll find pertinent links.) That was all I needed to get me going.

Next I cut a square of wool felt, and when I pulled it from my stash I also found this piece of hand dyed something - I don't know what it is. It has sort of the texture of thin paper. It's not woven, it might be an interfacing material. Whatever, it seemed appropriate to use. I stitched the word free hand - I tried to keep the whole project quick and spontaneous although it took most of my working day to reach completion.

I added the turtle as a reference to the humble tortoise in Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare. The crescent moon was added because the moon gives lesser light than the sun but still has it's moments of shining brightly. I stitched the heart charm down with red thread in a zig zag to indicate a broken heart, the essence of humility.

When I was rummaging around for the wool felt and other bits I came across strands of dyed silk ribbon that blended beautifully with the lavender of the background fabric. I made them into a tassel to be stirred by the breezes, thus carrying my prayer out into the world.

So far it has only hung on the fence for a day. I want to make more flags and string them together. In the meantime, this one hangs in my studio where I can be reminded to practice humility even as I pray for humility in our nation's leaders.

Confession Time

I've had a skeleton in my closet.

Behind that skeleton is a set of shelves loaded with yardage, not all of it quilting cottons.

And this is what poor Ruby Blue has been laboring under for months:

Ruby Blue is my second machine.
She's great for zipping up long
straight seams and applying bindings.

Stacks of blocks that are technically part of my Parts Department. That's not the only stack in the studio either.

My local quilt guild holds an auction every year in January. The monies raised are used to fund our charitable activities. I've pretty well cleared out the books I could bear to part with. I've never been one to collect patterns or rulers or other gadgets. The one thing I have too much of (if that's even possible!) is fabric. The logical conclusion was to take advantage of the auction and share my wealth.

To that end I have cleared out 99.9% of my flannels. Of all the fabric in my stash I figured they were the least likely to be used in the near future. Most of them were infant or juvenile prints anyway, and there are gals in the guild who focus on making preemie quilts. My focus needs to be on utilizing what's in my Parts Department.

Empty shelf!

Look how well the pizza boxes I use for block storage fit on that empty shelf:

And now Ruby Blue is free of her heavy burden. I can use her more easily and more often to make more blocks and bind more quilts. ;- )

No doubt there's further organizing that could take place here in The Magpie's Nest. For the time being however, I need to return to activities that are more fun. In particular I'm hearing the siren call of tropical batiks...