Ruler Work

 I made it to the bottom of my quilt! I just have this last border left. This part goes rather quickly since I don't mark anything. I use rulers and the blocks in the quilt to figure out where my designs go.

Those parallel lines are 1/2" apart. This ruler makes them so easy to sew. I bought this ruler at MQX years ago after taking a class that showed us how to use it. This particular ruler was from Deloa Jones. She used to teach and sell all sorts of rulers and accessories for longarm quilting. Since the pandemic, the quilt shows haven't really returned. It was fun learning new techniques and buying tools for the longarm. Mail order just isn't the same!

Some Shopping and Some Borders

I've been quilting and trying to keep cool in this heat. I did manage to go to a quilt shop and bought this adorable needle minder. It's supposed to be a gift but it's just so cute! I just may go back and get another one for me!

I went to the quilt shop to buy a few Christmas fabrics. I have a table mat I'd like to make as a gift but needed a few more reds and greens. I used to run to JoAnn's for these sorts of fabrics. I sure do miss that store!

I'm so glad to report that I have reached the borders at the bottom of the quilt! I have my red triangles all marked and have to fill them in. I only work a little bit at a time on the longarm. I tend to get sloppy after awhile. I guess that's all it takes to finish! So exciting to reach the end!!

The Last Two Blocks

 It's been a few hot days up here. I've been busy but also trying to stay cool along the way. Lily was snoozing on the couch last night. I couldn't help but take a picture and share it. She looks so cute! She's almost 15 years old. I can't believe she's that old! She sleeps right next to me everyday when I knit on the couch. She's nice when she wants to be but also doesn't want too much attention other times! I guess she's a typical cat!

I quilted the last pieced blocks on the Whiskas N Catnip quilt. I'm so glad that part is done! I still have a good amount to quilt but it's all borders that I've already decided how to quilt. No more decisions to make! I used a combination of ruler work and free motion quilting in these last 2 blocks. I didn't get to quilt today. We had someone come and clean the exterior of our house. It was getting very dirty and moldy. It looks much better now!

Have a great weekend and stay cool!!

A Fun Weekend!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. It was a hot weekend here. We saw our son and his band perform Friday night. We had such a great time! The show was early and very close to our house. That's my son in the green shirt. 

This is the latest block I quilted. I used lots of straight lines within the triangles and kitties with a loop meander in the background. It was quick but effective!

My sock is done!! It took awhile but it's finally done. I have already started the next one. It will look much better once it's blocked. This sock is a rather difficult pattern but I wanted to challenge myself. 

It's a very humid and wet day here. I'm staying in for the rest of the day. Tomorrow should be better!

What I've Been Doing

This is the latest block I quilted on Whiskas n Catnip quilt. I quilted a lot of orange peel all along the major portion of the block. I did a little free motion quilting as well as ruler work in the corners. This block seemed to be a quick one to quilt. I guess it was pretty straight forward to quilt. 

I'm almost ready to knit the toe on these socks. This sock is using up so much more yarn than I expected. I went online to try and find another skein. Many stores were out of it but I did find one store that had it. I'm not sure about the dye lot. I'm hoping that's not an issue. I'll get it next week and then we'll see how it goes. I wish I had bought more when I originally bought it. Sometimes it's better to buy more!

Have a great weekend! I took my mom to the doctor yesterday and all is well!

More Quilting!

I had planned to post over the weekend but I think I forgot all about it! Oh, well! There isn't too much going on over here. I'm still quilting this quilt on my longarm. I'm using straight lines, arcs, curved cross hatching, etc. This middle block was difficult only because it's a regular block with these triangles and squares around it to make it even larger. I came up with the design as I got to the longarm and started to doodle. I just couldn't decide on anything until I was at the machine and had to do something!

I already had a plan for this block and the quilting was fast! What a difference when you already know what you're going to do! I quilted lots of arcs with ribbon candy. So fun!! I have 4 more pieced blocks as well as the borders. I guess I am making progress although it doesn't always feel that way!

We had great weather over the weekend. We're expecting rain the next few days. That's okay. We need it!!

More Quilting/Ruler Work

I've been working a little bit each on day Whiskas N Catnip Quilt. It's 97" square so it's big and each square is different except for the corner squares in one of the borders. It's a little bit of a challenge coming up with a new design for each block. As you can see, I am using ruler work with all sorts of loops and arcs.

There's some curved cross hatching as well as ribbon candy and more arcs.

I treated these 3 rectangles as one big rectangle that measures 6" X 12". I made that big diamond in the middle and then free styled the rest of the block. I had to take a picture so I could remember what I had quilted. I think I have 8 of these blocks throughout the quilt. It's easier and it will look better if I just do the same thing to each area. 

I'm starting the center block which is much larger than the rest of the blocks in the quilt. I'm hoping to come up with ideas for that one soon! I feel I'm making pretty good progress. It's just not very easy to come up with new ideas!

 

I Like Thursday #318

It's time once again for I Like Thursday! I actually have a Thursday that's not too busy so I can post today. Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up with more participating blogs. I finally put a label on my Facets Quilt, washed it and put it on our bed! I love this pattern. I got sick of making these blocks but they do look great! I really think a variety of scraps really makes a quilt look shine. I'm very happy with this one!

I turned the heel on the cable socks I've been making for my daughter-in-law. This is such a wonderful pattern. The pattern uses lots of great techniques including a Japanese method to make an eyelet. I guess I can still learn new things!

Our vegetable garden is coming along really well. I have to admit that this is all my husband's doing. He loves being outside and planting. I tend to forget about plants so I'm not the best. I'm lucky he loves it so much!

This week's conversation starter asks what makes a good picnic lunch. I don't go on many picnics but I do have cookouts often outside on my deck. I'll have to say it's the food! I've been at friend's cookouts and if the food isn't good, it's just not fun. I feel a nice variety of foods is the best choice. Some cookouts work whereas some others are just a chore. It's funny, but you tend to remember that over the years. 

Have a great weekend!!

More Quilting FMQ/Rulerwork

 I've spent the last few days working on the Whiskas N Catnip quilt top. I've been quilting the corner blocks. I wish I could say I had everything planned before I started quilting but I ended up just sort of improvising as I went along.

These 2 pictures are the same pattern but 2 blocks on either side of the quilt. I think some things are easier to see in one picture than the other so I thought I'd show you both of them. I quilted up and down loops in the large triangles, straight lines in the smaller triangles, 2 large arcs in the squares and arcs with pebbles in the middle. Phew!! Again, this thread blends so well that it's difficult to see but it's there!!

I'm quilting feathers on either side of the flying geese. They look good except for one area where I'm thinking of fixing it. We'll see. 

I couldn't decide on one design for the flying geese so I settled on 2 designs! One is a very small feather and the other is ruler work. The sides just have parallel lines. I thought the small feathers would be great practice!

I'm enjoying working on this quilt. I'm itching to sew at my machine but I really don't want to start another project. I'll have to try to control myself!

Hope you're staying cool!

Border 3 Quilted WNC Quilt

 

I finally figured out what to quilt in the third border of the Whiskas N Catnip quilt. I quilted triangles using the blocks in the previous row as a guide. Then, the next hurdle is what to quilt in these triangles. I decided to quilt curved cross hatching in the upper triangle.

Then, I went back and echoed the triangle line 2 times and followed that with a wishbone pattern. Both triangles are filled!

I went back and forth so many times as to what I should quilt in this space. I wanted to use 2 different motifs but wanted to make sure it would all work around the quilt. Since my quilt is loaded, I had to resort to paper. I tried to use Electric Quilt but it was taking me too long. I used my old reliable graph paper and it looks like it should work out. (I hope!) So, I'm done the 3 outer borders and I'm actually making my way into the center of the quilt where all the pieced blocks are. This is definitely a process!!

Quilting WNC Quilt

 I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!! It was a hot day but we had a nice cookout with lots of great food. I did manage to start machine quilting the Whiskas and Catnip Quilt. The outer border is made up of swags with ribbon candy inside and straight lines finishing up the area. It's hard to see since my thread blended so well with the fabric. 

Once the outer border was done, I started on the border made up of cat's cradle blocks. I quilted arcs around the inner area and a variation of arcs in the larger triangles. I hate making decisions on how to quilt different areas, but since this is such a large quilt, I'll be doing lots of that! It may slow me down but I like taking the time to figure out which motif to stitch.

Ooh, I almost forgot! I quilted stars in the corner blocks. This is so quick and easy but always looks great! I'll post more pictures as I make more progress.

Heat and Projects

 It was a hot day today and it's only getting hotter. I finished making the Whiskas N Catnip quilt top last week and I really don't want to start a new quilt. I started to load the quilt top on the longarm. Since it's so big, I've been loading it very slowly! I loaded the backing yesterday and the quilt top today. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so I'm not sure if I'll get to it. I'm just taking my time. I bought a light grey Fil-tec thread for quilting. I'm looking forward to custom quilting this top. There's some nice open areas that will be fun to quilt!

I started a pair of socks for my daughter-in-law. We bought the yarn together when we went to the yarn show a few months ago. It's a very pretty lace weight Berocco Vintage Sock yarn that is pink. Hard to tell from this picture.

I hope to stay home and keep cool!

I Like Thursday #317/Two Finishes!!

It's time for I Like Thursday! Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up with more participating blogs. I finished Whiskas N Catnip yesterday as a quilt top. It measures a whopping 96.5" square! It was hard to fit into this picture so this was the best I could do. I can't wait to start quilting it. I already have a few ideas! I'm not sure how long a quilt this size will take to quilt but I don't think it will be quick. I expect it will be a lot of fun to come up with quilting ideas.

I finished my shawl yesterday too. It still has to be blocked but I think you get an idea of how it will look. The points will be much sharper after blocking. This was a fun project to make and I'm looking forward to making another one. I think I may give this one as birthday gift to someone.

We we warned that a storm was coming and the wind started up. I went out on the deck and took this picture of the clouds. It was a little scary! We had thunder and lightning but the air was dryer once the storm was gone.

The prompt this week asks us if we went to the beach as children. We went to Salisbury Beach State Reservation for years as kids! We were allowed to bring friends with us. My mom would pack up the car and off we'd go. It was so fun. My brother would bring his fishing rod and fish off of the Black Rocks. I got to wear a bikini and felt quite grown up for only being 12 or 13! Those days at the beach made our summers so fun. I still have great memories of those times. We bought a summer pass and went as often as we could go.

Have a great weekend! Can you believe it's 4th of July next week??? Time is flying by!

Pieced Border

I'm working very slowly to complete these borders. I think making 80 blocks is a daunting task so I seem to be slowing down but I'm still making progress, just very slowly! I have 16 more blocks left to make. I'm hoping I finish this week. We'll be having a Father's Day cookout tomorrow so I'll be busy but I'll get there next week.

This is the fabric I bought for the back of this quilt. Isn't it just purr-fect?!?! As soon as I saw it, I just had to buy it! It's a wideback so no seaming needed. Love that!

Since Jo-ann's is no longer around, I had to change battings. I always used to buy The Warm Company cotton batting. I like batting that's a little thicker. I've been buying this one instead and it's pretty close to what I used to buy. It quilts up very nicely.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! Have a great weekend!

 

Cat's Cradle Border

 Now that the blocks have all been sewn together, it's time to get that pieced border done. These cat's cradle blocks measure 4.5". They look different when oriented this way but they do make a nice border. The directions help with making nesting seams so it's easier to join the blocks together.

I put the border on one side. I wasn't sure if it would fit easily but it did! It's always nice when things fit together nicely without much effort.

I made enough blocks for the second border. I love how it looks! I'm halfway done making cat's cradle blocks. I have made 40 blocks with 40 more to go. I know that sounds like a lot but they're quick to make. Using the cat's cradle ruler, you make two at a time. After this border, there is one plain border left and this quilt top will be complete! Phew!!

I Like Thursday #316

It's time once again for Thursday Likes! Please visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to link up with more participating blogs. Our peonies are just starting to blossom. I cut these 2 and brought them in the house. They're so pretty! I wanted them to be indoors so I could admire them more. And they smell good too!

My daughter-in-law took me to a yarn show back in April and I bought this great hand dyed yarn. I decided to make a shawl for a friend's birthday. This design is from Jen Lucas and is called Juniper. You start off with 349 stitches but I'll be decreasing soon. Thankfully!

I recently changed a quilt on my couch. This is Moondance by Beth Ferrier. This was a free block of the month that I made way back in 2006. It's all hand quilted. I wasn't machine quilting at all at the time. It's full of applique and I love it! It looks great in my family room. The batiks are so pretty. I think I displayed this quilt in a quilt show when I was in a quilt guild. Long ago now!

That's it for me this week! Have a great weekend and stay cool!

Whiskas N Catnip Update

 I've been making great progress on Whiskers N Catnip. At this point, I have all the blocks together, except for the block corners which you will see soon! This piece measures 48" square. It wasn't very difficult to piece together since there weren't a ton of matching seams.

I'm finally using the flying geese strips I've been making as I was working on the blocks. The flying geese finished up at 4.5" X 48.5". What I forgot is that a pieced border can stretch a lot so I had to be very careful adding those 4.5" strips onto each side of the flying geese. I had to start over a few times and pin very carefully!

This is where I added those corner blocks. I think those blocks add so much to the overall look of this quilt. The quilt now measures 72.5" square. I had to orient those corner blocks a few times before I got them correct. I don't think it would have made a huge difference but I wanted to get it right.

The last border makes this quilt top measure 80.5" square, so far! I have to make 80 cat's cradle blocks for the next border. Those will definitely take awhile. But I love working on this quilt and will truly enjoy myself! 

It's getting hot out there so I'm happy to stay in and sew! Stay cool!!!