I love to share my Quilting projects with other Quilters. My goal is to share my progress on projects that I am working on. I would love for you to follow along with me during my endeavors. I hope you enjoy watching me tackle new techniques and projects. Hopefully you can learn from my "hiccups" and mistakes and make your journey easier.
Here is an updated picture of Clay’s finished stand for his leather sewing machine! He now has a nice set up to sit down and work on his leather products. He has made some very nice gun holsters and has made me cross shoulder leather case for my iPhone! Think I will get a new one this year.
I decided to pull out all the Mini Dresden’s I have made so far this year (cannot remember when I started them). At least it looks like I have done something! I have more cut out and ready to sew together – they are addictive! (Looks like I cannot keep the rows straight on the Design Board) Oh well what can I say! I am using my 1930’s fabric for the Mini’s. I will need to save enough fabric for Aunt Bea’s Parlor, but do not think I have to worry as I always over buy! Anyone else do that?
Happy (almost) New Year! 2018 is coming right around the corner! Looks like most of the country will be COLD and that includes South Texas. So glad we are home bodies and not party goers! However you chose to bring in the New Year (I always love them) be safe and have a wonderful 2018 beginning!
I have been slowly working on my Mini Dresden blocks and slowly progressing (and I mean SLOWLY). I would love to say that I will have another 20 done today, but then I also thought 2017 would be a good year, so no predictions over here! In fact my New Year’s Resolution is to plan my day, but if it doesn’t work out that plan moves to the next day! That way I will not become frustrated when all those stupid Unforeseen Requirements hit me in the face! This is my last post for 2017 – Number 181 and the last post that does not show any progress in quilting (well, OK, I hope so).
Clay received his Christmas Friday afternoon – it is a HA-1 Kenmore (Singer 15) Straight stitch sewing machine – It is in immaculate condition! Very good price also. Such a beauty. I think it was made between 1950 and 1960 in Japan. Evidently Kenmore had this one. Clay will be using it to stitch his leather projects. He does all by hand and has decided that the machine would be just as good and easier on his hands. He has made the wood box to sit it on – such the Engineer! He will stain it with Golden Oak – so pretty. It is hard to believe that this machine is in such perfect condition and with shipping it only cost $538.00 It is made to sew on leather and mostly used by those who lived in the country and needed to repair saddles and other leather products. It is a very interesting read on the history of this machine! One can tell that it was a Singer!
By the way – if anyone out there in Quilting Land has the pattern ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ and wants to sell it, I am interested! Send me an email to fredericsneice@gmail.com.
Have a very Happy New Year and may we all meet our 2018 goals!
Merry Christmas (belated) and a Happy New Year – 2018 is 4 days away and I could not be happier to see this year over with! 14 days sitting in the chair, not wanting to do anything of value is on a downhill slide – Still have to continue taking it easy so my immune system can get over the shock and awe of the wonderful 2017 Type A Flu! I do not recommend this trip for anyone – In fact, carry a container of wipes and hand sanitizer around your neck along with a mask. Run from anyone coughing! If you see a nut job in public with all these goodies hanging around their neck it is ME! Thank goodness for HEB Curbside! Go on-line, order groceries, drive up and they load you up! I will be doing that until the Flu Season is GONE!
We had a quiet Christmas (all cancelled due to illness). But Santa was good to us. I upgraded to an iPad Pro 12.9″ with 512GB and purchased a Space Black Milanese Loop watch band for my Apple Watch! Then as a bonus for being sick, I ordered a Dooney and Burke handbag! Santa brought Clay some things that he had on his list and a 1950 Kenmore Heavy Duty sewing machine (coming today or tomorrow) for his leather work! Talk about 2 spoiled kids! We will share our Christmas with Melissa this coming week-end! Santa has left some gifts for her also!
OK – now back to the world of quilting, and hopefully I will have a very productive year!
I am going to attempt to do the 2018 Challenge – 6 in 6 in 2018. This will fit right in with my very low productive 2017 year of quilting.
So here goes:
6 UFO Projects from 2017
A Bountiful Life (version of Civil War Bride) I have 6 blocks completed, 4 ready for applique and a remaining 10 to finish the quilt.
Stonefields – About 6 blocks waiting for applique (they are small blocks) and Section 5 will be complete – AH half way through the 10 Sections
Sweet Stitches – trying to convince myself that I love the black embroidery thread (although getting bored with it) 6 more blocks to embroider
Brinton Hall – I really need to get with the program on this one – just more hexies for the side panels and then I will be piecing the remainder of the quilt. I would like to have it completed by May – not sure if this is doable!
Mountmellick – Will be starting Border Number 3 in January – This one is a must finish if I am going to enter it in a quilt show this summer.
6 New Projects for 2018
Aunt Bea’s Parlor – Embroidery – I am looking forward to working on this one as it will be multi-colored thread – not just black!
Star Dance by Jill Finley – Piecing
Plantation Stars by Heartspun Quilts – Piecing (hum could be the blue and white quilt)
Afternoon Delight by Sue Garmen A mixture of applique and piecing
Work on my Stars and Churn Dash Reproduction quilt – it will need a design setting also.
There could be some changes for the new projects and will update as I make the final decisions. But as you can see I am really behind on my hand work. Could it be those pesky surgeries? I have more projects that I am thinking of working on, but will wait until I am at 100%. I would also like to participate in OMG and 12 in 2018. Maybe I can do without that 8 hours of sleep……
Have a wonderful day – it is nice and cold here in South Texas – 38 degrees for the day and no sun. It will be this way for a week. I am enjoying winter so far – much better than the 100 degrees each day this past summer! Now for more rain!
I had my last 2 weeks for 2017 planned – should not have done that. I was scheduled for a Radio Frequency treatment on Thursday to help the back pain!
On Wednesday I started a little cough and thought it was Cedar allergies. UNTIL 7PM that evening! By 8 I was in full-blown ‘Oh Oh I am getting sick’. By 10 PM I called the answering service for my Pain Management and cancelling the Thursday appointment. I started my antibiotic and Tylenol to hopefully control the fever.
By Thursday evening I was headed to the Urgent Care in LV. I found out that I had the Type A Flu! Wonderful! I was given a shot of Motrin which did stop some of the aching, but the fever is still with me. The doctor told me it would 7 days and by the 10th day I would feel more like myself! WHAT?
So I am now into Day 5 of this misery and I am slowly getting better, but it has been a total bummer! I could not take the Tamiflu that was given to me so I continued on with my antibiotic.
Yesterday Clay started coming down with it. He has started the Tamiflu and hopefully it will help him.
I am going to assume that when we went shopping on Monday to the Apple Store and WalMart we somehow were exposed to this stuff. If you start getting a funny type of little cough – head to the nearest doctor! I lost my appetite, using an inhaler, living on Tylenol and an antibiotic for the congestion. I am weak and it will take me some time to get over this, but maybe it was not meant for me to get the RF treatment now. That is the only consolation I can take. I am hoping that today I might feel like some hand work.
We are hoping that we will be well for Christmas Day as it will be the first Christmas we will spend with Melissa. Until I become normal again, have a great week.
Mountmellick is a beautiful design but takes time to make each part of this 2014 Mystery Quilt. I have now finished the Medallion and Borders 2 and 3!
The directions called for the quilter to make a grid of 2” squares and then applique a circle on the 48 squares. I followed the directions, but after appliquéing all 48 circles on 2” squares, I realized that the 2” square drawn needed to be 1 7/8” in order to yield a 1 3/8”. When making a ‘test’ block, it appeared to be fine with the cutting instructions of the HSTs. BUT, I had to square each 2” block down to 1 7/8”!!!!! That was just too much fun.
During the process of sewing the border strips together, on the 2nd set, I found 4 of the circles that had to be removed and re-appliqued because they were not centered.
It was at that time that I realized that I would have saved a LOT of time by putting the borders together and THEN sew the circles. So anyone thinking of making this quilt should consider doing this.
I was hoping to finish this portion of the quilt by this last week-end but I had to take a break from the project. It is intense and does not allow for any mistakes.
When selecting fabrics for my quilt I followed the Medallion very closely and used Dutch Chintz fabric and will continue using the fabric on the next border. For Border 3, I studied the picture of the quilt very carefully for color placement of the circles. Di Ford used 6 different colors for the circles and I used 3 different shades of reds and 3 shades of blues. But on the HSTs she added a variety of fabrics to effect a scrappy look.
Because I am not a big fan of ‘scrappy’ quilt I used a black background from Pam Buda’s Conestoga Crossings fabric line which has tan, black and red in it. The fabric used in Border 1 has black in it so I framed the Medallion in black to showcase that color.
It is a good feeling to have achieved success with this quilt! I will have my RF treatment on my back tomorrow, so the next 3 days will be hand work only while resting!
Welcome to South Texas – at 41 degrees and rain all day – mostly the type that will soak into the ground – I am happy happy! I have completed the Center Medallion of Mountmellick and the first border!!!!!! This makes me so happy since I tried to start this quilt in 2014….I am so pleased with it. The mitered corners are appliqued down and the 4 flowers completed and appliqued! I chose to not add any BP leaves from the Dutch fabric like Di Ford did, nor did I add the diamonds with the circles. I did not want mine to be so busy!
So far, everything is square and right on target for measurements! Yea Di Ford!!!!!
Now for the real fun part. The next border consists of 48 circles that were sewn onto a background fabric grid! Now to make them into Border Number 2. From this:
And now into this:
I am now going to do a test to make sure that all the itty bitty HSTs are true and accurate to provide the 2″ border (finished) that will become the 2nd Border! Wish me luck!
Have a great day and enjoy winter if you are experiencing the lovely cold weather! This is my favorite type of winter. Hoping we have more and more rainy days this winter to make up for another drought!
I finished the first border for Mountmellick! I am so happy, it feels so good to be back into my quilting life after such a long time in making easy things.
Just had to share. I will still needle turn applique the corners down and finish the 4 hexagon flowers in the corners.
I have had so many issues with a couple of Australian patterns that I was beginning to become gun-shy in starting another project. Di Ford is a well-respected Designer and I had hoped to have no issues with Mountmellick. This time in making a complex quilt I am keeping the past lessons I have learned from past ‘mistakes’ from the Designer, and that I need to go slow, read and re-check the pattern each step of the way. So far so good and even though it is slow, I do believe that this will be a very successful project.
This morning I am ready to put the first border on the center medallion. I always make the background fabric 2 inches larger than the pattern requires, mainly to ensure that I will be able to square the block, or medallion without issues! If the medallion is not perfectly squared the remainder of the quilt will be a total disaster!
Before I did anything, I placed a padding of muslin on the ironing board and placed the appliquéd medallion face down, sprayed it with Sizing and PRESSED not iron! I did this step to make sure the fabric would not flare (had this problem before!)
I started with a 20 1/2″ square did the math to ensure that when reducing the medallion to 18 1/2″ it would be perfect! I started by bringing my medallion down to a 19″ square. I have a 20 1/2″ Creative Grid ruler that really helps in accomplishing this step. Before I cut, I marked the background as to where I would cut and checking all sides to ensure equality on each side! Then I measured an additional 1/4″ on each side of the medallion inside the 19″ marking. BUT I did this by marking the medallion 1/8″ all around, checking to make sure it would be square, cutting it to 18 3/4″ and THEN measuring another 1/8″ to bring it to 18 1/2″ square. During this process I kept measuring from corner to corner to make sure all things were remaining square!
After all of this I took the 18 1/2″ square and did a stay stitch on my newly cleaned Designer I to ensure that when sewing the first border there will not be an issue with flaring. (been there done that one before without a stay stitch). Here is a picture of the finished perfectly squared 18 1/2″ Center Medallion!
So now to adding the first border. I want to thank Lu Ann Krug for sending me the border fabric for this quilt. It was a piece that she had left over from when she made the quilt. I met up with Lu Ann through her Blog in 2014 just as I was beginning to start on this quilt when my step son was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Here it is 3 years later and I am FINALLY back to a “sameness of routine” as my friend Gretchen stated in her morning post! This last year I discovered Gretchen and what a surprise to find out that Lu Ann and Gretchen are friends and live in what I call “Quilter’s Heaven” because of their love of quilting! How I would love to live closer and attend the Retreats with them! Both ladies are great and dedicated quilters.
Well, off to put the first border on….. more to follow!
Monday morning Clay and I decided that we just wanted to do something different and we did! We left at 10 AM for Rockport, Texas. We were so very very disappointed in our Galveston trip that we wanted to see how the little town was faring after Harvey. Rockport is really struggling to come back and it will take at least 2 years to bring the beautiful area back to life! A lot of construction going on, so much damage, and unbelievable amount of debris that is still stack in front of homes, etc. There are boats along the highway and the large boat storage is totally destroyed with destroyed boats still in the storage building – and there are hundreds of them.
It is just so sad! Rockport really needs help in cleaning up from Harvey. Hopefully this will happen in time. The Lighthouse Hotel is in sad condition – no construction going on there. The Inn at Fulton Beach is still under the rebuilding phase. Charlotte Plummer Restaurant is about the only eatery that is up and running!
We did enjoy a little time watching the waves and at least the Jetty was untouched. Most of the piers are gone or unusable!
I love the water – so peaceful and quiet with the wind blowing the fresh salt water air in one’s face! Oh well.
Now to quilting! I have completed my 48 circles for the 2nd border on Mountmellick. I am now ready to cut the blocks into 48 and sew the little triangles on each circle block to make the 2nd border. I certainly hope that I do not make any errors on this as it was a lot of work to make them. Then I have 4 hexagon flowers to complete for the center medallion corners.
My goal is to complete the first 3 borders by the end of December. 2018 is coming fast!
I was drawn to Bonnie Hunters colors for her On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt project. It started on 24 Nov and will finish by February 2018! I will be working fast and furious if I do this one because I am already behind on 9 patches and flying geese. Jaydee and I are going to go for it. I will do mine in Batiks using Bonnie’s colors, but not as scrappy. Now this could be a pipe dream – we will see!
About 2 weeks ago I ordered some Sulky 12wt embroidery thread (lots of them)- when they arrived I decided to return them and did. Mainly because I had made a decision to switch to Presencia Threads BUT with all the hand surgeries I had put that decision out of my mind! I did one project with this thread a few years back and loved it. I did a lot of searching for the best prices for the thread and Crafty’s had a good sale so I purchased some more! I am glad I did stock up as they have gone up about $3.00 a pack. I feel now that I have plenty to work on my embroidery projects! I have a mixture of 8wt and 12wt threads!
Now for some wonderful thank you’s to hubby for cleaning and fixing my Husqvarna Designer 1! The feed dogs button was not working and the reverse stitch button was hanging up. He took the entire machine apart, cleaned it and it runs like a dream! Probably saved us about $500.00! This is a 2002 D1 and does not have the hours that most machines that are 15 years old have. In case you might be interested, here are some pictures of the work and the “back in the saddle” picture. Clay is just so brilliant – he can fix anything with his wonderful Engineer mind. This morning he is now cleaning my Husqvarna Sapphire. I used my Sapphire when we traveled, so there are not many hours on that machine either!
My 2002 Designer 1 all cleaned up and ready to sew!!!
I do hope all have a great week-end and enjoy this time of the year! So much to be happy for and thankful for even with the bad that happens at times. Happy Sewing!
Here we are now in December. Where did November go? We Quilters never have enough time in a day to complete our projects as fast as we would like. So I am setting some goals for December and hopefully I will achieve them! It is time for me to get through or caught up on my UFO’s as 2018 is knocking on my door!
A. Complete the first 3 borders on my Mountmellick quilt by Di Ford.
B. Complete Section 5 of Stonefields by Susan Smith
C. Complete Blocks 7-12 of Sweet Stitches from my Kathy Schmitz BOM
D. Prepare Aunt Bea’s Parlor quilt for Embroidery.
E. Work on Civil War Bride and Nesting (two needle turn appliqué projects) (This will be a miracle if I even get near these projects!)
F. FINALLY at least load my Antibellium Ladies quilt on my Grace frame for hand quilting!
G. Take my utility quilts to the Scrappy Quilter Shop to be quilted – maybe I can get caught up from the last 2 years.
H. OK – do not laugh – start on Bonnie Hunter’s On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt! Maybe or Maybe not! We will see!
NOW, if I do not sleep I may achieve some of the goal, but I am bound and determined to complete some of my 2017 UFO’s before 2018!
Chopin - A Passionate Quilter From Texas 