Under my Needle

After finishing up Gertie it was time to move forward.  In order to move forward I first needed to revisit the past.  in March of 2016 my BFF Marilyn and I attended Asilomar and our 1st Empty Spools Retreat.  We had a wonderful time taking a class from Victoria Findlay Wolfe.  It was a great class and I made a couple of things while there for the 5 days.

Here is the project that I’ve decided needs finishing so it’s now layered, pinned and the quilting started. 

I used my favorite Red for much of the background and then used a combination of old linens and newer fabrics for the rings.  It’s hard to tell what it looks like but here’s a little closer look at it.

I think it will end up on my dining room wall once it’s finished. 

So far I’ve named it “Half of Me”.  My father’s family came from Mexico in the early 1900’s.  My Dad was the youngest and I believe the only one born in the United States right here in California.  I love Mexican themed linens and have collected them over the years.  I’ve used them to make blouses and decorate jackets, so this time I decided to use some of them to make a wall hanging. 

The quilting has begun.  Have you ever seen so many pins?

Marilyn and I also took a class from Cindy Needham, way back when.  Cindy is a fabulous machine quilter.  One of the things Cindy does is anchor the quilt by stitching in the ditch………………. in every stinkin seam.  That’s what I’m doing now.  The decorative quilting (I use that term loosely) will happen after I have anchored all the seams by stitching in the ditch.  It’s hard to see but believe me there are a lot of seams.

Back to stitching in “ESS” (every stinkin seam). 

Enjoy,

Gertie is Ready for the Quilt Show

Well almost ready.  I still have to permanently glue the pearls under her eyes down but other than that, she’s finished.  Oh and a label, I sewed one of by Robin Quilts, etc. tags into the binding but I suppose it needs a proper label.  But other than that she’s ready.

Have a great, safe Memorial Day weekend. 

Enjoy,

Gertie Is Under My Needle

I didn’t get a chance to work on Gertie yesterday but this morning she (and I) have found our way into my sewing room and is now under the needle of my beloved Juki. 

This is where I just get to scribble quilt all the glued down pieces.  Her left eye is done and I’m now starting to work on her right eye. 

This is a fun process but you do tend to make a mess.  Here is some of the left over mess that’s on my sofa.  It’s time to clean up or start another project.  I think I better clean up, I have too many other things that need attention. 

This is where I sat with my basket of scraps and cut out lots of flowers from various fabrics.  Once cut out you just start adding them to you project and when you think you are done, you start gluing them down using a washable school glue stick.  The idea is to glue them down just enough to be able to top stitch quilt everything in place.

Here she is again, right before I pulled her down off the wall and placed her under my sewing machine needle.

Soon I’ll start thinking about binding (I guess that means I’m already thinking about it).  A nice stripe would be good, don’t you think?

Enjoy,

Day of the Dead - Día de Muertos–Progress Report–5/20/18

She’s almost ready for all the top stitching that will hold her all together. I lot of progress has been made, pieces are glued down and she now has a name.  With the help of my daughter Shelli, she is now named Gertie!  My grandmother on my dad’s side was a little Mexican women named Gertrudis Gutierrez Ceniceros.  So when Shelli suggested Gertrude, Gertie seemed just right.

Still a work in progress but she’s getting close. 

The neck was a struggle for me but when I came up with this, it seemed to be just right.  The donkey and parrot pinata’s where calling to me asking that they get to join in for the Día de Muertos celebration so they are joining the party. 

I’m not sure I will have time to start the scribbley top stitching today but if not, there is always tomorrow. 

Enjoy,

DOTD–Progress Report–May 19, 2018

She’s coming right along.

I still haven’t decided about the neck.  Neck or no neck?  This one is just temporary for now, I’m still deciding. The earrings are maybe too small but they are flip flops (you guys know how much I love my flip flops), but maybe they need to be bigger.  These are a few of the things I’m looking at and will maybe add to her today.  OH……..and a name, she definitely needs a name. 

Enjoy,

DOTD–Progress Report–May 18, 2018

So far she looks more like an Alien than a Day of the Dead skeleton, but it’s a start.  I have lots and lots of flower cutting to do and I think she needs a neck but or now, I’m having fun. 

Enjoy,

New Wall Hanging–Step 1

I just finished some simple diagonal curvy quilting.  It’s now hanging outside to dry.  I used a water soluble marker and had to wet it to remove the lines. 

Now it’s time to go figure out how to draw a skull and decide what fabric to us for it. 

See you again soon………………….I hope.

Enjoy,

The Beginning of a New Wall Hanging

I’ve been wanting to make a Day of the Dead wall hanging quilt for quite some time.  I kind of had a thought about how I wanted to go about it but until this last weekend my thoughts hadn’t come together.  Then I went to M&L with my daughter-in-law and found this piece of flannel in the flat folds.   I’m not 100% sure where I’m headed but at least I have some initial ideas. 

I am planning on making it using the method I learned at the Jean Impey/Freddy Moran retreat I attended earlier this year. Here’s one of the little quilts I made during the retreat. 

This one is called Molly and Me and is loosely (very loosely) a self portrait. 

Ok, so back to what I’m starting to work on.  One of the suggestions at the retreat was to use flannel as your background.  When I found this green flannel I knew it was exactly what I didn’t know I was looking for.  The other thing that I learned from the retreat was to pre-quilt your background fabric before adding your subject.  So that’s where I’m at.  I’ve layered a piece of green flannel, pin basted it and now I’m ready to start quilting the background.

Here’s the backing fabric.  Not only is it the backing but it’s also part of my inspiration.  Speaking of inspiration, I found this on the internet and it will also a big part of my inspiration.

So now it’s time to quilt my background and figure out what fabric I’m going to use for the scull.  Then I can have fun starting to play with lots of flowers. 

Hopefully I can remember to take picture along the way and post my progress. 

Enjoy,