Whiskerless

I have been SOOO excited to finish this quilt!!!  The moment I put her in the washing machine, I realized that I still hadn't added the whiskers.  Drat.

And my cat was not a helpful model in the photo shoot.

Get back here!

(But if you click to enlarge you can see the 4 different quilting textures.)

Seriously??? Like you can't sit still for 5 seconds.


(Oh, but notice the texture of the hand quilting behind her butt.)

Can you find the secret dragonfly?

Well, at least THIS cat does what she's asked to do. 

I guess I need to go back and add whiskers and tack down the recalcitrant leaf edges before I can declare completion.

An interesting week

It's been an interesting few days.  I'll only share the good, quilty bits with all of you.

I got a turquoise fabric care package from Rhonda.  (However, this may be the start of a new baby quilt instead).

And another from Kristine. (Check out those shimmery dots!!!)

Kristine's fabrics arrived with this ADORABLE elephant pin cushion from Sonia!  This seriously was the only thing that got me through work today.  Every time I opened the drawer where it was stashed, it made me smile! 

I was supposed to be at a quilt retreat with these two last week and the gifts were completely unexpected and absolutely delightful.

Sunday, when I had run out of thread, I decided to run by the Boise Basin Quilt Show for a few minutes.  (We will just pretend that the show was anywhere near the store with the thread.)  I won this as a door prize.  I'd be more excited if it was colors or styles that I enjoy.  Any takers?

I was really impressed this year with the depth and variety of the quilts being displayed.  Unfortunately I am now consumed with the idea of a "Whisper" or "Telephone Game" challenge.  This link shows how this worked for one group.  Anyone interested in doing an on-line version of this challenge? 

I did actually stop at the fabric store closest to the quilt show.  They didn't have the brand or color of thread I was looking for, but this fabric was on a sale table by the door for $2/yard.  I didn't even know it was a border print until I took it to the cutting table.  As a dietitian, I just couldn't resist fabric with names of fruit all over it.

I was working furiously to try to finish the Charley Harper Cat quilt by Sunday night.  I still have about 1/3 of the filler sections between the leaves to stipple.

I just CAN'T WAIT to wash and dry this quilt.  The texture is going to be amazing. 

Hmmm.   I think I need to make friends with someone visually impaired.  I think I would really enjoy making a quilt for someone who couldn't "see" it, but still totally enjoy the design.

I better go hand wind a couple bobbins so I can finish this quilt  (yea...just one of many things that went bad this week.)

Cat Progress

I have been making excelleng progress on the Charley Harper Cat.  Although I'm a total rookie at FMQ, I bit the bullet and used a varigated brown thread and this design to add texture to the bark on the quilt.  (Not sure why this photo bleached out the fabric color so much...)

This pic is more true color.  As I was working on that skinny branch, I realized that I needed to bind the quilt before I finished quilting it.  I realize that 2.5 hours seems like a long time to spend hand stitching the back of the binding on.  But the look is SOOO worth it.

I added the pre-quilted leaves this afternoon and have been quilting them in place using FMQ over the pre-quilted lines.  The lines are far less exact than when I quilted the dimentional leaves using the walking foot. 

I had been thinking about adding secret bugs embroidered on the back of some of the leaves.  But now I'm thinking that I may include them in some machine quilting/stippling b/w the leaves.

Mischief Managed

I re-arranged and added a couple strips.  This photo was taken at dusk so the colors aren't true.  I feel good about the balance now.   I think maybe a white strip to the right and then this one is done!

Improv Part 2

Now I have 3 sections.  Unfortunately, I like each of them individually, though not really together.  Hmmm.  I'm sure it'll work out.  I have more of the dk pink on the far right, also green and white.  There are only small bits of the dark fuchsia left and no light pink.

WOW: Wips on Wednesday 3

At 5pm Wed, I realized that I had nothing to report upon.  I was going to spend the hour that I had before a dinner date with friends stitching on the Charley Harper cat, but then a stack of triangles that were a door prize from the shop hop caught my eye.  Since there was no pattern to go with the triangles, I just started stitching them together.  That left me with 5 squares a bit over 6 inches.  I dug through the stash and found some shades of lime and fuchsia that matched the free triangles and started adding strips in a random and organic kind of way.  I think that with lots more white and little bits of lime, this could turn out to be a dandy baby quilt for a little girl.  And an opportunity to practice some free motion quilting.

Applique - little finishes.

I finished some hand-work while in the car this weekend.  This pattern was a Shop Hop block, and this version of it was the demo for Bailey's quilt group.  I decided to leave off the flowers from the pattern.  When I got home I did some machine quilting of wavy lines close together (using the walking foot), then got brave and did free-motion on the soles of the shoes.  Once again, I have weird tension things going on the back side in some sections, but my stitch length is getting a wee bit more even.

I had also started a sea-shell quilt a half a dozen years ago.  This one had been about 1/2 finished and I got it done on the way home.  I need to find the few that I did finish and find a way to put them together for a pillow or a beach bag.  My enthusiasm for making this a full size quilt is completely gone.

I also swapped out the chartreuse beak for a yellow one and got one of the legs done.  I had time to make the other one, but realized that where I had drawn it on the back was faint and somewhat wonky and I didn't have the pattern with me, nor did I trust my bird-foot-drawing-skills.

The purpose for my road trip was a family gathering of my husband's cousins.  Part of the fun was taking the parts of Popsicles Momsicles I have done and having the artist sign the quilt where it was signed in the painting.  I will embroider over this.  It was quite enjoyable to have it spread across her living room floor with a copy of the print sitting next to it (the original is currently at a gallery in Hot Springs, Arkansas).

I have a busy week of work, so don't expect to get much quilting in until Friday.  Will share with you then.