Moon Quilt Top

Sometimes my camera distorts the image, like this one where the edges don't look square. It is square, though. Rotary cut, 1/4" guide on the presser foot makes this as square as humanly possible, but it still looks crooked. Oh well, even if it weren't, after Lyric gets ahold of it, hopefully it will be loved, dragged around and broken in properly!

I usually opt for brighter colors over pastels, and this is a good example of those choices. My Mr. went with me when I needed to get a few more blues to plump up my selection. He found the one that has the yellow and orange in it, and I'm glad he did. It shows up because of the yellow/orange in the center panel. I like a mix of prints, and these are all batiks, my favorite fabric. Sometimes it's difficult to tell the right from the wrong side on them, but I love the feel of the it. It has a smooth, tight weave, and I was surprised to notice the differences in un-batik printed fabrics after having sewn with batiks for a while. There's a noticeable difference in the quality most of the time. I think this will wear well. I have a feeling it will be going through the wash more than a few times.

The quilting plan is free-motion in the center panel, and diagonal straight line in the squares. My Babylock machine is great, and makes it easy to accomplish all these things with ease.

I have to put it aside until Monday, but I hope to have it finished by the end of next week, and in the mail to Lyric's mom and dad in Ohio, where they're eagerly awaiting his arrival.

Second Project

For some reason, I seem to find it necessary to work on more than one project at a time. I think by the time I get to the part of stitching the current one together, my mind is already looking for the next one to begin. These fabrics were in a jelly roll from Moda®. Forty 2 1/2" strips, arranged by color in such a way, that I didn't want to disturb them. But that only lasted for a while. My rotary cutter and mat are wonderful tools, because they feed my need for instantaneous gratification. If I had to measure each strip and cut it with scissors, this post would not be taking place. Plus my machine has a foot with a 1/4" guide on it, so even with my impatience, it's nearly impossible to stitch inconsistent seams.

The one thing that bothered me was that these strips were cut with pinkers, and that sawtoothed edge was biting into the quarter inch seam allowance. After it's all done, it won't matter, I guess, but it makes the cut edge a little more unstable as I sew the seams.

Last photo is my beginning attempt to lay them out in a color wheel sort of fashion. I already see some things that have to be changed. Funny that I didn't see it when I was looking at it, but when I saw the photo, I noticed it right away. And I may have to use some other fabrics, because this group had several pastels, and I am going for brights in this one. Well, I am as soon as I finish that baby quilt.
PHOTOS©pegyates/2012

And The Stitch Goes On

It has been a delicious relief to have the humidity drop ahead of a thunderstorm. One that didn't quite make it to us, unfortunately, but it is bearable outside now. I was really hoping for a drenching rain to water the grass, flowers and shrubs, and generally wash away the grime that has accumulated on everything since the last rain we had. But I'll take the cooler temps even without the rain.

I Love You To The Moon And Back detail.

I decided to free motion stitch the letters down before I layer and quilt this piece. I figured that if I did that now, and stitched the blue background after I sandwich it all together, they will pop a little more. The edges of the letters are meant to fray a little after washing to give it a used and loved look, but with all the stitches, they won't be going anywhere.

This quilt was one out of my imagination. I did google the name of it, with 'baby quilt', and got some hits, but nothing like this at all. I get myself into these situations of sewing but mostly they turn out okay. I do fine, unless I am sewing for someone with a deadline attached. For some reason, that takes all the fun out of it for me. 

After and before cushion covers.

My step daughter asked me to make new covers for her cushions. It was something I had never tried before, but how could I say no? Old on the right, new on the left. I even picked out the 12 zippers and reused them in the new covers. They were in great shape, and it seemed a shame to toss them, aside from the fact that new ones weren't nearly as well made, but yet, they were still expensive. It would have cost about $60 for upholstery-grade new ones.

The plaids match on these cushions, even to the gussets on the sides of the back cushions. Thanks for forcing me to understand the finer points of that, Grandma. I learned to sew from her when I was in the 5th grade. I stayed over night with her on a Friday, and Saturday morning we got up and make a jumper for me, in an uneven plaid, and it matched, everywhere. She made it impossible for me to buy plaid off the rack, because it never matches. So, 6 back cushions, 6 seat cushions, and 12 zippers later, my machine was all ready to go/sew after 4 months of sitting in the box from our move. I LOVE my Babylock.

More photos will be added as this quilt goes together. In between stitching the letters, I have rotary cut strips for a miniature wall quilt. I have missed sewing time, and am fortunate to have the equipment and supplies to sew as much as I want...so get busy, Peg.
PHOTOS©pegyates/2012

...And I Begin Again...

Epic failure at this blog, but I am going to give it another go.
Most important, the husband was able to resume his travel after the medical adventures, and the first trip was to Japan in January. Quite a big step across the ocean for a first go, but it was uneventful.
I was a little twitchy, with him on another continent, meds, and a list of the meds packed in his carry-on bag. I tried to get the list for him from the pharmacy, and they told me they couldn't give it to me, that he would have to come pick it up. "Really?" I said. "You will let me pick up his drugs and call in refills, but you won't give me a list of his drugs?"
"It's a privacy matter." they said.
"Well, it's a convenience matter for us, because his hours are long and I do as much as possible to clean up the fringe for him by doing things like this."
"Sorry Mrs. Yates, but he will have to come in himself."
And they didn't even ask him for his ID, to be sure they weren't giving it to the wrong person.
Add two more trips to Pearl Harbor in May and June, and you have a ballistic missile man who is back on the horse. The last two trips were successful test missions, so, Yay! Oh, and I also had a hysterectomy in August of 2011, so with that, and moving from the river in October of that year explains a lot of why I didn't keep up my rambling....uh...I mean blogging.

On to more things:
Another baby quilt is in the works. AJ & Lea are expecting their first baby, a son, named Lyric, in September. She has such a way about her, and tells her husband on Facebook that she 'loves him to the moon and back'

Well, this quilt was a no-brainer, given that way of sharing love, so Lyric's quilt will reflect those words, surrounded by blue patchwork. I am going to put a hanging sleeve on it, in case she wants to hang it on the wall, but it will be easily removed if she wants to cover him up with it.

This is the center panel, and I am stitching the letters down before layering and quilting it. The strips of fabric under it, to the right are being sliced for a wall hanging. I need to make up for lost time, and so at least two projects are up for prep work, along with the quilt which I hope to have done it a week.

There, Peg. That wasn't so hard, was it. A little bit, every few days, and you will be an official blogger.
PHOTOS©pegyates/2012