New Moody Blues Stash Pack New Stash Pack - Moody Blues I was looking over my collection of Stash Packs recently and thought that I needed a new pack of blues to bridge between Caribbean and Midnight. Midnight has a great collection of dark blues with some black, gray and purple. Caribbean has the bright ocean blues that have a bit of turquoise running through them. I created Moody Blues to bridge the gap. It has a light to dark range of pure blues and will be great for skies and water. You can check out all of the Stash Packs in the shop.
New Clearance Items! While you are shopping don't forget to check out the Clearance Section. Fabrics are 20 - 30% off and I added lots of new fabrics this week!
When I had my big day of post-mulching rest last Thursday I discovered the British Bake Off show on Netflix. That turned into a weekend of binge watching. I don't know why I like that show so much because I can't eat one thing that they make but, for some reason, it's much more fun to watch than the US versions with all of their fake drama.  But the time wasn't a total waste. I finished off a new set of flower applique blocks. I've done so many of these that they go pretty quickly now. I've finished 40 and have 16 left to make.  I often recognize some of the fabrics from reprints that I've seem (or collected) over the years. I'm sure I had a repro of that blue one with the circles on it. I showed this one to Mom and we both think that her Mom had a dress made from this fabric. She made lots of dresses from floral prints just like this one.  I also got the repairs done on Lost My Marbles and decided to quilt a few veterans quilts before I load another quilt from my waiting list. I might get started on these today.
 Crystal Mandala by Andrea Sullivan, 39" x 39" I'm so happy that Andrea Sullivan took photos of her quilted Crystal mandal with side lighting because it's her exquisite quilting that's the star of the show here. Her quilting motifs perfectly enhance the color patterns in the fabric.  If you are more interested in quilting than piecing you can't go wrong with one of the Crystal Mandala's. The pattern from the folding and ice dyeing creates a suggestion of a structure that you can build your quilting motifs off of.
For sharing, Andrea received a 20% coupon for the shop that's good for 3 months! If you have made anything with my hand dyed fabric I hope you will consider sharing it in the Customer Gallery. The only rule is that projects have to be complete. It doesn't have to be made totally from hand dyed fabric, just include a recognizable amount. The past 2 days I really pushed and got the rest of the mulching done. I had projected 7 truckloads but it ended up being 8. The last one was brutal because it rained Wednesday night so the mulch was wet and extra heavy and I had to wheelbarrow all of it. Usually I can just back the truck up to the tree and rake it out but the canopy on the last 2 trees was too low for that. We've got to do some serious pruning on the maples this winter! I cold have waited to do the last truckload for a day or two but I really just wanted to get it over with. I usually do this chore in February and March when the weather is more pleasant but we had so much rain this winter and Spring that I couldn't drive the truck in the yard. The weather was a little cooler this week so that's why I had to push to get it done. Today I'm exhausted and my allergies are a little crazy but I'm happy to be done with yard stuff for a white. I'm not sure how much I'll get done today but I thought I'd at least organize my to do list.  I have fabrics for a new Stash Pack that need to get ironed, cut and packaged. These have been patiently waiting a week. Meanwhile there are yards and yards in the soak baths now that will be ready for ironing and photography later this weekend.  I got the cutting table moved out of the sewing room so I'm ready to block this quilt. But first I need to make the 2 repairs. That's first on my agenda for this afternoon.  After the Marbles quilt repairs are done I'm going to knock out a few veterans quilts before I pick my next longarm project. I have 3 "next projects" to choose from. They will all be very involved and 2 of them are huge.
But today I'm going to mostly relax! Yesterday was a very busy day with errands and more mulching so I didn't get to the computer to post. Today is dyeing and more mulching. I'm so close! Only 2 more truckloads and I'll be done for a couple of years. I'm so glad I don't have to do this every year.  Had I gotten to the computer yesterday I would have posted this! The background quilting is done.  I'm quite happy with the background quilting and I like how it sets off the marbles.  All of the background quilting looks great from the back too but I did find two repairs that need to be done in the marbles so I'll reload the quilt and take care of those tomorrow.
I got the cutting table put away and the sewing room floor cleared so I'm ready to block it this weekend and I'm dyeing the fabrics for the binding today. It's soooo close! One I finished all of the marbles on my quilt I was doubly inspired to get it finished so I jumped right in to work out background quilting.  of course my nature is to quilt something really dense but I ultimately want this to be a bed quilt and I had to take that in consideration. The quilting also had to be simple and fast because I really want to get it done. I'm tired of looking at it. I decided in a mix of pebbles (to continue the circle theme) and wavy lines.  The quilt is a diagonal gradient of light to dark browns. I picked 3 shades of brown Wonderfil Deco-Bob thread for the quilting. It will completely blend into the background so the quilting will just show as texture.  This is the best photo that I was able to get to show off the texture. I"m really happy with it and am excited to get it finished. I got through about half if it this weekend and am about ready to start with the darkest thread. I can't believe that this quilt is going to be wrapped up soon!
Well, except for blocking, binding and a label. There's still all of that left to do. I should have a lot of time to devote to this quilt this week. I only have a dentist appointment tomorrow and shooting practice Thursday. At some point I need to go shopping for a suitable tile to finish off the dye sink backsplash. I don't think I'll find the exact blue penny glass but I should be able to find something reasonably close.  Joyful Dreams by Patricia Caldwell Today's featured project is Joyful Dreams by Patricia Caldwell. She used the Gray Skies Gradient as her background combined with lots of gold snips, couched hand dyed yarn, gemstones and lots of free motion quilting. For sharing, Patricia received a 20% coupon for the shop that's good for 3 months! If you have made anything with my hand dyed fabric I hope you will consider sharing it in the Customer Gallery. The only rule is that projects have to be complete. It doesn't have to be made totally from hand dyed fabric, just include a recognizable amount.  Gray Skies Gradient There are only a few days left for the 10th Anniversary celebration sale! 10th Anniversary Sale! Use Coupon Code 20PERCENT for 20% off ALL FABRIC! Sale ends Sunday, June 9!EVERY fabric in the shop is on sale!  Gradients are on sale!  Crystals are on sale! Shop now through Sunday and get your favorites before the sale is over! Use code 20 PERCENT at checkout.Yesterday was dyeing day but I saved some time to get the last 5 marbles quilted on this quilt.  16 segments, slip 7 with wave ruler making sure it's centered in the block.  14 segments, skip 3 with 4 large circles, repeat the motif in the center with 3 smaller circles  9 segments off center, skip 4 with 4 ovals  12 segments, first pass skip 5 with large circle, second pass skip 1 with long skinny oval, 3rd pass skip 1 with small circle for the edging I had the idea for this last one for a while but I saved it because I thought it was the most appropriate last design since it uses the most rulers.  20 rulers in 1/2" increments, start with the smallest ruler in the center and stitch each ruler until you get to the edge. Make sure that the center line of the ruler stays lined up with the center line of the circle (1/4" from the edge of the quilt. Now it's time to start quilting the background and that means it's time to start agonizing about the background designs. I think I'll pick a few filler designs and just start quilting and start mixing them up in the background.
I got one more truckload of mulch spread yesterday (only 3 left to do) and even got some clay shooting practice in. My shooting skills have really struggled the past year but I recently invested in getting my gun fitted (shortened stock) and I switched from using both eyes to just my left and now I am finally seeing some good results. I have a lesson tomorrow that I'm really looking forward to. I had to switch to one-eyed shooting because we discovered that my eyes were switching dominance in the middle of my shot. I've learned a lot about my vision with shooting practice which was my main goal. We quilters spend all of our time looking up close and I noticed that distance vision kind of fatigues me. That's why I started shooting practice and it's really helping. Like many women, I don't have a dominant eye at a distance and by distance I mean 2 feet! Apparently it also explains why I sometimes get a little vertigo walking down stairs. Growing up I probably should have spent a little more time outdoors and a little less with my nose stuck in books! Do you find that because your hobbies are close up that your distance vision is more difficult? Or are my eyes just naturally messed up?  16 sections, wide oval at ever point, travel to the next point on existing lines. Center is 8 sections start in center using a small circle to great each petal. But of course after some long distance vision practice I went right back to my happy place and started quilting more large marbles! Here are 5 that I did yesterday and I only have 5 left to do. These large circles are such a challenge. Less than half my rulers cover the diameter of a circle this big.  14 segments, working from the center and using a ribbon ruler stitch to each point and back .  4 segments 2 skinny ovals for the outside design and 2 circles for the inside design - simple but effective  21 segments marked on edge and on a 3" circle in the center. Use heart template around the edge skipping 2 spaces. Center skips 4 with a circle.  15 segments, skip 2 with 5" circle. Doing these is mentally exhausting so 5 is about my limit but I'm going to chain myself to the machine a get the last 5 done today.
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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