FrankenWhiggish Rosebuds, Michele's Log Cabin Stars Quilt, Laundry Room Makeover, Swedish Pancakes + A 21st Birthday Celebration

Good Morning, Quilty Peeps!  As you can see by my way-too-long blog post title, I have lots of ground to cover today.  First things first, I am happy to report that I've finished prepping ALL of the remaining broderie perse rosebuds for my FrankenWhiggish Rose blocks, they are all glue-basted in position on the blocks, and the hand stitching to secure them is in progress.  That's right; I have a portable hand stitching project again FINALLY!

All FrankenWhiggish Rosebuds Are Prepped and Ready for Stitching!

In case anyone is interested in what's in my portable hand stitching "toolbox" for this project:

• YLI 100 wt silk thread in color 256, matched to the rosebud fabric
• Bohin size 12 Appliqué Needles (these are the only ones I've tried that don't bend or break on me)
• Colonial Needle Company Leather Thimble Pad stickers (I use one on my right pointer finger to help grab the needle and pull it through the fabric, or to protect my fingertip when I need to exert a little pressure on the back end of the needle to force it through a spot where the glue dried stiff)
• Thread Heaven (no longer available) or Thread Magic thread conditioner to help prevent snarling and knotting -- I don't need it when I'm using silk thread, but I have it in my hand stitching kit because it's a big help when I'm hand stitching quilt bindings with cotton thread
• My new 2.75 magnification sewing glasses from Warby Parker, so I can thread the eye of my needle and see how many threads of fabric I'm grabbing with each stitch
• That nail file in my kit is actually for my fingernails, because often I'll discover some little scratchy spot at the edge of a fingernail while stitching when the thread gets hung up on it
• Not pictured, I also have a tube of Neutrogena Hand Cream in my hand sewing kit and another one in the drawer next to my sewing machine.  I like this kind because it's not greasy, has no fragrance or dye, and a tiny drop goes a long way to just barely moisten my fingertips so I can get a better grip on what I'm stitching without gooking it up with lotion
• Either my Apliquick 4" Microserrated Scissors (pictured) or my Gingher Spring Action Thread Nippers (preferred if I'm just clipping thread and not trimming needle turn appliqué shapes while stitching).  If I'm planning to take my hand stitching kit on an airplane, I'll swap out for a cheap thread clipper (in case Airport Security confiscates it and throws it away) with a pack of dental floss that I could use as a backup thread trimmer in a pinch

(Those are affiliate links, by the way).   You probably won't see much of FrankenWhiggish for a couple weeks while I'm stitching the rosebuds to the blocks because, if you've seen one of my blocks get rosebuds, you've seen them all!  My Seven Sisters pattern and templates finally arrived from Australia and I'm planning to start on that project in September.

Instead of sharing FrankenWhiggish, I thought I might share some of the backlog of long arm quilting clients' quilts that I haven't posted about before, like Michele's version of Emily Dennis's Log Cabin Stars quilt.  Here's a teaser to whet your appetite; we'll return to this quilt later in today's blog post:

Michele's Log Cabin Stars Quilt, Pattern Available here

My Suddenly-Empty Nest + My Client's Gorgeous Jason Yenter "Seasons" Quilt

I have a gorgeous client quilt to share with you today, but first -- OH MY GOSH; it's SO QUIET and empty in my house right now!!  If either of my sons was home right now instead of being away at their respective colleges, they would definitely still be asleep, but still.  The silence of the suddenly-empty nest is deafening!

My Son Anders -- and My Kaleidoscope Quilt -- Live at Furman University Now

We moved Son-the-Younger into his Freshman dorm at Furman University yesterday.  The Giverny Teleidoscope quilt I made ended up fitting the dorm bed just fine, although Anders did complain about how he's going to be too hot now and "suffocate."  Poor baby -- smothered by mama's love, even from hundreds of miles away!  😂

Anders' Quilt Blessing at Christ Lutheran in June, Photo Credit Annabelle Laine

I don't think I ever shared any photos from the quilt blessing at our church, Christ Lutheran, back in early June.  They did it outside with just a few families at a time this year due to the pandemic, and summer photography intern Annabelle Laine took this great photo for us.  

Of Piecing, Binding, Eastering, and College Visiting

It's been a busy week, but I still (barely) managed to squeeze in enough personal sewing time to stay on top of my goals -- in addition to my "extra duties" as Family Event Planner, Easter Chef, and Travel Agent/Tour Guide to Out-of-State College Towns.  My label is appliquéd to my bear paw quilt and I sewed the binding to the front of my quilt today.

Bear Paw Binding Began Today

Goodbye, October 2020! Baby Quilt Update (and Happy Halloween)

 Well, October is officially a wrap.  The trick-or-treaters have gone home and my husband, younger son, and I have set ourselves to the task of finishing off the leftover candy.  I've powered off my long arm machine for the night, even though I'm only 2/5 of the way through quilting the baby quilt that was supposed to be Part Two of my One Monthly Goal for October.  Here's what Charlie's quilt looks like so far:

My Letter Home Monogram Baby Quilt is 2/5 Quilted

I loaded this quilt on my frame upside-down, so I'm actually quilting it from the bottom up.  There are five rows of 8" blocks in this quilt and the first row took me awhile because I only had a fuzzy idea about how I was going to quilt this one.  I wanted to keep the quilting fairly light and open, similar to the density of the pantograph design I quilted on my October OMG Part One quilt (below), but this baby brother quilt is getting SID, light ruler work, and a little bit of free motion rather than E2E pantograph quilting.  

Big Sister's Quilt, Aiming for Similar Quilting Density in Baby Brother's Quilt

I don't normally quilt such a large scale meander freehand, though, so keeping the size of that pattern big and somewhat uniform is challenging, and I'm also reminding myself that LARGE quilt blocks with LONG ruler lines to quilt are a lot harder than quilting the exact same designs on smaller blocks.  So my "quick and easy" quilting plan has evolved to require a bit of marking, which is helping to keep lines straighter and more evenly spaced.

Doubting Design Choices After the First Row

One thing that slowed me down was that, since we took the machine head off the frame to install the interchangeable hopping foot upgrade, my horizontal channel lock hadn't been holding as securely as it had previously.  I use my horizontal and vertical channel locks to keep my seams straight and square as I'm quilting, and this was bugging me, so there was an interruption of troubleshooting that yesterday with Bernie and the folks at APQS Tech Support (One little washer was all it took to snug that wheel back up to the carriage and correct the problem).  But, while I had Bernie and Anders available, I had them lower my frame about 3 1/2" so I could quilt from the front of the machine more comfortably.  I'd been wearing high heel platform sandals the day before, since we'd raised my frame a few inches for quilting pantographs from the back side of the machine.  We also moved my laser light from the back of the machine to the front, where it will be more useful to me once my IntelliQuilter gets installed.  But I digress.  Back to the quilt at hand:

40 wt Fantastico in #5007 Wales (Lime, Bright Green, Turquoise, Green Variegated)

I selected a cone of Superior Thread's Fantastico variegated 40 weight trilobal polyester thread in shades of Lime, Bright Green, Turquoise and Green, which I auditioned against the Kona Bone background as well as on the Indigo and the green fabrics.  I wanted to use one thread color throughout to "keep it simple," but knew that a white or off-white background thread might look really harsh against the dark blue.  I was excited about the variegated thread until I started quilting with it, and then I second-guessed myself midway through the first row.  

Superior's Fantastico Thread in #5007 Wales

I was tempted to start ripping out all the quilting I'd done so far, because I felt like the quilting was just screaming at me instead of playing a supportive role to the piecing design...  But the next day, when I came back to it, I reminded myself of my self-imposed deadline and how I wanted most of all to have this finished, so I soldiered on.  And, you know what?  I'm glad I kept going rather than reaching for my seam ripper, because the more I got quilted, the more the thread began to grow on me.

By the End of the Second Row, My Thread Felt Like the Right Choice

This is a good reminder to TAKE A STEP BACK before making rash decisions involving seam rippers!  With my face 8" away from the quilt surface, the green pastel threads seemed like they were too loud and fighting with the quilt, but from a distance it's much more subtle.  If I'd ripped out all the variegated thread and switched to yellow, green, navy and white, not only would I have slowed myself down considerably, but the quilting designs would have disappeared into the fabrics more -- and I might have been disappointed that I couldn't see my quilting designs well enough!  Knowing how the quilt will soften and smoosh and crinkle once it's finished and washed for the first time, I think this thread will be just fine.

So now my only question is whether those giant green 8" HSTs have enough quilting in them.  I mean, I know they have enough quilting to meet the requirements of the batting.  I kind of like the way they look right now, but maybe I'll come back and add something when everything else is finished.

Speaking of finished, I did finish the big sister's quilt, which you can read about here.  Here's a glimpse of how that one turned out, freshly washed and ready for gifting:

October OMG Part One Was Finished On Time!

That's it for me for tonight.  I'm going to eat too many Twix bars with my husband and son while we watch Saturday Night Live.  I just realized that this is probably the last Halloween that I'll have a kid at home with us, since Anders is a high school senior this year.  They don't come home from college for Halloween, so this will be an Empty Nester Holiday for us from now on.  So strange to think about that!  Okay, I lied.  I'm leaving you with one more picture, from my favorite Halloween in 2006 when the boys were 3 and 5 years old:

Halloween 2006: Anders is Batman, Bernie is Aquaman, and Lars is Spiderman

Anders is in the Batman costume on the left, Lars is Spiderman on the right, and my wonderful, amazing husband is wearing what is supposed to be an Aquaman costume.  I did not have an Aquaman pattern, so I made this costume from a Jalie men's figure skating costume pattern, out of green stretch velvet for the figure skating pants (more revealing in real life than they appear on TV during the Olympics) and an orange sequined lycra figure skating top, because the sequins were the closest thing I could come up with at JoAnn fabrics that looked like scales.  Bless his heart; he got more than a few catcalls from the neighbor ladies as he was out trick-or-treating with the kids, but my sons were SO HAPPY to be their own little Justice League with Daddy!

Happy Halloween, everyone!  I'm linking today's post with:

SATURDAY

·       UFO Busting at Tish in Wonderland

One Monthly Goal at  Elm Street Quilts

SUNDAY

·       Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

·       Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

·       Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts

MONDAY

·       Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

To Do On Tuesday: Piece 3 Blocks for Beware the Ishmaelites Sampler Quilt

Hello, friends!  Since I used up so much sewing time blubbering all over old photos in my last post, THIS one is going to be short and sweet.  I promise.  

Anders' Beware the Ishmaelites Sampler Quilt, Queen Size

It's time to return my attention to Beware the Ishmaelites, my adaptation of the Moda Modern Building Blocks sampler quilt from a few years back.  I swapped out some of the blocks for different ones, and changed all of the Moda colors to Kona Solids that coordinate with a mod graphic wallpaper in my son's bathroom.  Then I resized all of the blocks to make the Queen size Moda pattern fit a Twin bed, which necessitated some REALLY wonky block sizes that are not one bit ruler friendly...  (Moda Modern Building Blocks design uses block sizes that are all multiples of 6", but mine are slightly shrunken to multiples of 5") 

 And so I set it aside for a few years after struggling to make the first giant block without the modern advantages of rotary cutting tools.  I paper pieced it, which required taping together multiple pages of newsprint, and if I had it to do over again I would have cut those giant green triangles so they had straight grain instead of bias along the outside edges of the block.  Live and learn.

First and Only Block Completed, MMBB Block 2 at 30 x 30

Ironically, while I was ignoring this project, my son hit a growth spurt that necessitated replacing his Twin bed with a Queen.  The original Moda Modern Building Blocks pattern would fit his new bed perfectly, all with ruler-friendly block sizes.  But then I would not be able to use the 30" block pictured above which I worked SO HARD on...  So I slapped borders onto my Twin adaptation to make it a Queen size again, and I like my borders.  Seriously -- and this is me envisioning how the quilt will look on the bed, in the room.  

I will be piecing the remaining blocks for this quilt using a combination of traditional template methods and foundation paper piecing, in order to deal with the weird measurements.

These are the blocks that are up next:

MMBB Block 1 at 30" 

I'm going to foundation paper piece the red and white center of that star for sure, and will probably cut the larger triangles out with tagboard templates.  The rotary cutting instructions I printed out from EQ8 want me to cut a 16 3/16" square and cross cut it into QSTs, for instance.  No, thank you.

Not In MMBB: Replacement for Block 3 at 25"

The block pictured above is not in the Moda Modern Building Blocks pattern.  It's from my EQ8 software block library, and I swapped it out for MMBB Block 3.  (It is SUPER convenient to have access to thousands of blocks in whatever size I want them, and to be able to print out templates/rotary cutting charts/foundation patterns for any of them with a few clicks.  Seriously, even if you never use the software to design a quilt from scratch, it's totally worth the price just to be able to print out any of a gazillion quilt block patterns in any size your heart desires!)  I think I'm going to try to paper piece this block, too, although I have a nagging recollection that I didn't love paper piecing for the first giant block.  The large fabric pieces want to scoot around too much on the paper, but I guess I'll have to deal with it, because no way am I rotary cutting 7 7/16" squares to cross cut into QSTs.  I mean, I COULD, but I already printed my foundation patterns on newsprint, and I do love how nice and precise my points come out when I paper piece...

 

Last but not least:

Also Not in MMBB: Replacement for Block 4 at 20"

This one isn't in the original MMBB pattern, either -- it's another block from EQ8 that I plopped into position where their Block 4 was supposed to go.  The two blocks that I replaced from MMBB were boring and too similar to other blocks already in the quilt; I thought these ones tied in nicely but were a lot more interesting.

The biggest blocks make me more nervous than the smallest blocks do.  I feel like, once I get these three done for a total of 4 blocks finished and on the design wall, the smaller blocks will come along more smoothly and they should be fun to make.

So, here's my To-Do List for Tuesday!

1. Piece the three large blocks for Beware the Ishmaelites quilt as pictured above
2. Squeeze myself into the dress I'm planning to wear to a wedding this weekend to ensure that it still fits (I've been stress-eating in anticipation of abandoning moving my son into college, so there will probably be Spanx involved).
3. Get a pedicure and pack for said wedding.
4. Shop for school supplies with Anders, my high school Junior who will be sleeping under this quilt once it's finished.  He goes back to school on Monday, as soon as we get back from my niece's wedding.

I'm linking up today's post with:

• ·      Colour and Inspiration Tuesday at http://www.cleverchameleon.com.au
• 
  
• ·       To-Do Tuesday at Stitch ALL the Things: http://stitchallthethings.com

Son the Elder Deposited at College (and YES, His Mission Impossible Quilt Fits His Dorm Bed!)

So THIS happened yesterday:

Last Look at Lars-of-Ours in His Dorm Room Before Driving Away

As you can see, the Mission Impossible quilt I made for him fits his XL Twin dormitory bed perfectly.  Doesn't he look LITTLE in there?  I know; he's not little anymore.  He's 18 years old and he's six feet tall and he's going to be just fine.

My Goodbye Hug: Mommy and Lars

Sometimes I still think of him like this, though:

Mommy and Lars, Just a Few Years Ago

And then of course I had to get this picture of the two brothers together:

College Freshman Lars & High School Junior Anders

Which only reminds me of so many other great photos of these brothers together over the years:

Anders & Lars, Faces Decorated With Magic Marker Courtesy of Lars-of-Ours

Anders & Lars

Anders & Lars in Stripey Pajamas

Lars & Anders, Driving to School

Superman Lars & Batman Anders

Lars & Anders

Lars & Anders at One of Anders' Birthday Parties

Lars and Anders With Their LEGO Creations

Lars and Anders

As much as they can get on each other's nerves, these boys are definitely going to miss each other this year.

Lars and Bernie at Entrance to Tunnel Between East and West Campuses

I didn't get any really great shots of Lars with his dad.  Here they are together at the entrance to the foot tunnel beneath a busy road that bisects East and West campuses.  (The spray paint was done for or by some other Bernie, but it called for a photo opp!).  

And here we have the two gentlemen who still primarily reside in my home, acting up on way back to the car after saying goodbye to Lars:

Goofball the Elder and Goofball In Training

The mountain scenery is beautiful in Boone, by the way.  It makes a person want to twirl around and start singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music..."

My Kid Lives Behind That Window Now

Sometimes the kids are ready to leave for college before the MOMS are ready for them to leave for college, if you know what I mean.  He will be fine.  He will be GREAT!  He will have so much fun.  And we are driving right back to Boone to scoop him up again a week from now, to take him to his cousin's wedding in D.C., so I'll see him again before I hardly have time to start missing him, right?

Cutie-the-College Student, Ready to Take On the World!

Whew!!  Now that all of THAT has been taken care of, THIS momma is in need of some serious fabric therapy!  I think I'll piece the second block for Anders' modified Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt today.  He's only been waiting for that quilt for two and a half years now...

Beware the Ishmaelites Quilt for Anders, Queen Size

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and it you are blessed to have children or grandchildren in your life, hold them close for as long as you can!

I'm linking up today's post with:

SUNDAY

·      Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com

MONDAY

·      Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com 

·      Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts http://www.cookingupquilts.com/

·      Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/

·      Moving it Forward at Em’s Scrap Bag: http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com.au/

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·      BOMs Away at Katie Mae Quilts: https://www.katiemaequilts.com/blog/ 

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 7, Augusta: The Diaper Block

I finished another 6" sampler block yesterday!  Behold Block 7 "Augusta" from The Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Sampler:

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 7, Augusta

This block went together more smoothly than the last one I did.  This time, before joining sections together that needed seams matched, I stuck a pin straight through at the intersection with the papers still attached on both sides, then slid the two units apart along the pin, put a glue stick gob between the two seam allowances, and then slid them back together so they were right up against the pin head.  Then I removed the foundation papers and pinned the units on either side of the seam intersection, with that "stab pin" still holding the matched intersection in place while the glue dried, and put pins on either side of the matched intersection LAST -- right before I put the whole thing under the presser foot to stitch the units together.  It's more accurate than the other things I tried on the last block, and there was zero seam ripping -- much more fun!

When I chose the fabrics for this block I wasn't sure about how they would play together in the block.  Now that it's finished, I do like it -- the only thing I might change is that there is a LOT of that busy blob print.  It would look better if the four triangles surrounding the center square were in a solid color like orange, pale green, etc.  However, that fabric came from an oddly shape scrap that was left over from my son's diaper covers circa 2003-2004 -- my son who is nearly 16 now and towering over me.  I used to pair that diaper cover with different solid colored Hanna Andersson T-shirts (no boring navy/brown/gray wardrobe for my baby boy), so when I look at this block I see a pudgy blond toddler with big, blue eyes...

Back in the Diaper Days: Anders at 11 mos.  Soon to be a Licensed NC Driver!

Can you believe this kid is eligible to get a driver's license next month?!  Yikes!

Me, Lars (18), Bernie, and Anders (15)

My husband is going to take issue with my posting a picture of his hair doing that weird rhinoceros horn thing, but it was windy the day of Lars's high school graduation, we were in a rush (what else is new?), and this was the best family picture we got.  Anyway, with 15 years of gentle care and feeding, 10,000 bed time stories and plenty of love, a pudgy blue-eyed baby in a ladybug bib and psychedelic diaper covers grows into a 5'10" young man.  In the blink of an eye.

Alright, you guys -- the day is wasting away in a puddle of nostalgia.  I've got to get ready for a dentist appointment this afternoon, then select my fabric and supplies for the Karen Kay Buckley workshops I'm taking tomorrow and Friday and pack all of that up, and we have our guild meeting (followed by Karen's lecture) this evening.  

I threw my newly completed FW1930s Block 7 up on the design wall with my other Motley Fools (6" blocks from various sources plus a 12" applique workshop orphan block) and rearranged a bit.  When I first started making the Farmer's Wife blocks I was going for a more muted and traditional color palette, but then I decided to just pull out whatever I felt like playing with for each block and see what happens.  When I decided to mix in the 12' applique workshop block I knew I'd need some darker 6" blocks to tie it in, hence the darker colors in the two blocks I've just finished.  I'm not sure what size blocks we'll be making in Karen's workshops this week, but I'm thinking of adding them to the other Motley Fools.  

Motley Fools On My Design Wall

It's also totally possible that these blocks won't all end up in the same quilt together.  I might separate out the calmer pastels for one quilt and put the Bold, Bright and Bodacious blocks together for something different.  

I'm linking up with:

WEDNESDAY

·      Midweek Makers at www.quiltfabrication.com/

·      WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

THURSDAY

·      Needle and Thread Thursday at http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/  

FRIDAY

·      Whoop Whoop Fridays at www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com

·      Finished Or Not Friday at http://busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/

·      TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday: http://tgiffriday.blogspot.ca/p/hosting-tgiff.html