Wondering when

I, actually both of us have been sick since Tuesday....we have not left the house in days.  I am wondering when I will ever feel like sewing again.  I have not been on this computer in days.  That says I am really, really sick to not be on it.  I have been on my phone and tablet a bit, but even those not much at all.

Hoping we can be more back to normal next week. 

For Lorelei

If you are here for Sepia Scenes, scroll on down.

Done! I finished it, and it has been washed and dried.
It is not really anything to brag about, but I am proud of it.
Almost everything was done on the machine...except I did applique the body of the duck by hand.
When Sarah was little, I was making a quilt for Rachel that was inspired by a book called The Fuzzy Duckling. Rachel never liked quilts...and to this day she uses them in a way all her own.
Sarah, on the other hand, liked being covered from the beginning. And when I got that quilt done, she took charge of it. And it had to go with her wherever she went. I am not joking. We just did not leave the house without it. If we did, we would be coming back.

So when she was pregnant I wanted to make a quilt for her baby. I could not make up my mind what. I started one thing, but just couldn't come to some decisions about things. So it sat, and still sits down in the basement. Then the idea for making her a fuzzy duckling quilt hit and I knew that was what I wanted to do.

I thought I could just go and put my hands on my old pattern. So I didn't start right away. I forget what was going on, but I have to have peace of mind to start a project. Once I get going if it is not complicated, it can become an escape from troubled thoughts. Just not at the beginning.

Then, when I did decide to start, I could not find our old book. I could not find my original pattern. You would be amazed at the treasures I have to do with quilting and sewing. It is a chore to go through everything. So, couldn't think what I was going to do.

Then I remembered mom wanting my pattern. I have a box of her stuff upstairs. I went and got it to look through it, and I found the body to the duck. I had found my original butterfly down where I thought the whole pattern was. I could draw the legs, eyes, and beak again. My original one did not have a barn, but I added one to this. The original was just made of random fabrics I had here and had a flannel backing. And it was tied.

I would show you pictures of it, and maybe I will take a picture of what is left of it if I can remember tomorrow when I go to Sarah's. All that is left is rags.

This one is is probably more well made, has better fabrics, but so much smaller than the other one. It is machine quilted, and does not have the flannel back. However, it is made with love.

Quilts

I feel like a bird that has just been set free...I went up to my sister's house in Crawfordsville today and while we sat and visited I finished the binding on this baby quilt repeat. These photos were taken before washing. I think this is a better picture than the ones of the first baby quilt.Other than that, we have had sunshine all day today! I have been outside without a jacket...glory hallelujah! I am definitely a person that needs the sun! At least some sun. The endless days of cloudiness sure get to me. I don't think they bothered me as bad when I worked outside all the time.
Today as I was driving up to Crawfordsville I kept thinking to myself that I need to make that drive with the intentions of taking pictures. I seen so many side roads I wanted to take but didn't have the time. It is approximately 50 miles up there so quite a drive. And by the time I head home, I just want to get home.

Quilt finished

One is finished--it is being taken to the baby shower tomorrow. I started machine quilting it last night, got almost done and my thread started shredding. I was using Coats and Clark...I seem to have trouble with it whenever I use it to free motion quilt. I quit because I was tired, and got up and started this morn. I have not done much else today/yesterday except work on this. I started about 9:00 a.m. and finally finished the binding at 2:00 a.m. Not a mistake on the time--I started 9:00 on Friday morn and just finished a couple hours ago and it is now Saturday. It has been washed and dried....I always have to wash a quilt the first time. I have a fear of one either falling apart or the colors running. If this doesn't make much sense, I am too tired to think straight.

I use a spray bottle and make a mixture of retayne and water and spritz the whole thing down, plus I use a color catcher in the wash. So far, I have had good luck this way. These are not very good pictures but at this time in the morn, I was making myself get these cause I know it leaves here early tomorrow morn. My daughter goes to work, and stops for the baby shower on her way home.

Not the greatest but still nothing to hang my head in shame over...I was really pleased with how it turned out. It is 57 1/2 inches by 64 1/2 inches.

Someone on one of the quilt forums reminded me I needed to make one (thanks Kim:-)...and with the story behind this it does need one. This is not the greatest picture....I really need to make a place to hang quilts to take their picture. Just cannot come up with where that is going to be.

How do people decide what to make next in quilting...every time I finish something I have the most horrible time deciding what I want to start on next. I always think I am just going to go start cutting but the choices are so great that it is hard to do.

However, I did start cutting 2 1/2 inch squares tonight...out of some of my not so loved anymore stash. A lot of those are Joann Fabric materials, though some are not. Right now I am cutting a lot of blues and browns...more browns than anything.

My DH came up with the idea that I wanted to go to Arthur, IL today...and I never refuse that trip. (Arthur is an Amish community.) I go to two places over there: Miller's Dry Goods and Stitch and Sew. Miller's Dry Goods is out in the country which makes for a pleasant drive. They have all kinds of fabric including polyester from ages ago. They do not have electricity so I tend to get kind of frustrated looking at the material...you just cannot see with the gas lighting. They also have a lot of stuff the dime stores used to carry.

Stitch and Sew is my favorite shop over there...it is not huge, but has a pretty good selection. I did come home with some fabrics that could be classified as lights--I have the hardest time picking out lights. My stash is 90% medium to dark. I added yellow to the last two quilt tops I have worked on, no make that three--it is the only thing that kept them from being one big boring mess. If I ever get my desk fixed for my Juki, I will probably machine quilt them next.

My DH and I spent yesterday at the hospital with my friend who was having a heart catherization. She didn't find out anything new--she done knew that she had a slightly leaky valve. It can be taken care of with medicine and should not get any worse. We were both very weary when we got home. I did not sew a stitch yesterday.


Today has been a different story. I did all the quilting I am going to do on my string quilt. Here are a couple pictures of it, but I suggest you click HERE which will take you to my pictures at Inbox...click on the album titled 'String quilt 1970's-2007.' It will show close-ups of some of the quilting.

I tried different things in my quilting since this quilt was a mess to begin with. I am definitely of the better finished than perfect persuasion. I cannot wait to have a quilt top/quilt sandwich that is sewn and basted half-way right. I really like the look of all the quilting. I definitely need all the practice I can get, but I will take more time with a quilt top that I have done right to begin with.

I don't know where to begin to tell about this quilt top. I did the string piecing part when I was in high school...I can tell because two or three of the fabrics used are from my freshman year. I used magazine pages folded in half lengthwise and cut off the corners. That was the base I sewed to. I apparently did not do such a good job of getting them all the same size. My mom set them together and I think she gave up on them and just did anyway to get them sewn together. This was planned as an everyday quilt from the very beginning...and it will keep us warm. So all is not in vain.

The third picture is a piece of fabric that I just love. And I think I have seen similiar to it maybe in Hancocks of Paducah catalog...I would dearly love to have some yardage of it. It is the only piece in the quilt I think. My BIL's mother died either when I was still in elementary school or right after I started high school and she had several dresses cut out and ready to sew. This was from one of those.

What to write for my first post...not sure. Maybe I should say that I am starting this in the hopes that it will encourage me to take more pictures and accomplish more in my quilting.

I am constantly dreaming about what I want to do in both subjects, just need to actually do more. And even reading other blogs seems to encourage me sometimes.This is Friendship Cats. It is entirely machine piece and quilted. I finished putting the binding on this afternoon.