Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Birds and Bees

Geff painted beehives instead of eggs for Easter.  Aren’t they pretty!  These are Garden Copper Top hives from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm in North Carolina. We have been very pleased with the quality. 

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The new hives are to be added to the one little beehive that made it thru the winter.    Kind of reminds me of my one lonely girl dog  …

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He also has his birdhouses put out for spring.   You can see more about his birdhouses at this earlier post http://www.sewingwithrascal.com/2014/12/chickadee-house.html#more

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birds_bees_collage

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Petals and Text

I’ve been collecting text and newsprint fabrics and liked the idea of using them for background squares.  I followed a pattern from a magazine Scrap Quilts (see small picture).  I started with purples for the petals but changed to various shades of blues and greens because my purples made it look teenage girly.   I’ve always liked blues with black and white and am happy with the way it turned out. 

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I used my design wall to decide on the placement of the different blues.  I pulled all the greens and blues from my scrap stash and managed to find enough that complimented each other.  The pattern called for raw edge appliqué but I did a turned appliqué method using freezer paper that I learned in a class from Jodi at Whistestop recently.   Hopefully I’ll get a post together on it soon.

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     Now to get it quilted...  I am going to use a text print for the backing. 

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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Quilter’s Design Wall

I wanted a design wall but didn’t have a large empty wall in my house so I decided to make a small one.  It is about 80 x 84, large enough for a twin size quilt.  It is the same color as the wall so not to stick out like a sore thumb when not in use.

Don’t know what a quilter’s design wall is…  well, it’s a vertical  wall to display and “audition” fabrics and quilt blocks when designing a quilt. They are usually made with a material that quilters cotton will stick to without pins. Typically flannel is used  because cotton adheres to it very well.   Being vertical allows you to view the design from a distance and easily reposition the pieces.  For example, I can see a dark print that looks out of place currently on the wall. So much easier to change out before it is sewn together. 

wall_before design wall installed Quilters design wall

I (ok Geff) made the wall using Insulating Sheathing boards because they are light and can be held on the wall using L screws.  It was relatively simple to make, just cut the boards to fit the wall and duct tape together. Then wrap the boards in a layer of thin batting and secure with duct tape on the back .  Finally, add a layer of flannel and pull taught then tape on the back.  

DSC_3184 - Copy installing quliters design wall
What an odd picture of Geff, his head was bent down and looks like it is missing.  He said most people wonder if he has a head anyways, falling for these projects all the time. 
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We used L screws to secure the flannel wrapped boards to the wall.

Wondering what is on the wall?  It is a bunch of text fabric with some petals from a pattern I found in  a magazine Scrap Quilts.  

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Look at a few of  these cool newsprint and text fabrics I found:

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Sunday, March 8, 2015

Quilt Wizard Design

Been playing around with Quilt Wizard software.  I wasn’t ready to invest in EQ7 and found this Quilt Wizard software for about $20.  It is very, very basic but it did help me visualize an idea I had for making a sort of Irish chain with a random sprinkling of stars.  I made about 3 rows so far and decided to use a smaller middle square in the four patch block unit.   
coldspell snowbird
I am using a Moda Snowbird jelly roll and am making the stars from just one strip and some background fabric.  I had to tinker with the dimensions to get a 10.5”  block that I needed for my quilt. 
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One Jelly Roll Strip

Snowbird designed by Laundry Basket is mostly blues and creams and matches my bedroom decor.  Moda has a new fabric line that I adore releasing in June named Coldspell which is also blues and creams. I’m designing this quilt as a prototype for submitting to Moda Bake Shop for use with Coldspell.  Think they’ll like it? 

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Another Moda Bake Shop post

I wrote another tutorial for Moda Bake Shop on making a quilt with denim circles.  Here’s the link if you would like to see it http://www.modabakeshop.com/2015/02/denim-circles-quilt.html
It was hard to get the cover photo for this one because I wanted a picnic shot with a basket and some ants ( Karen’s idea) but the weather just would not cooperate.  I ended up having to photoshop in some grass…

Denim Circles