Weekend Plans!

While the Cat is away, the rest of us & the mice will play!  

My DH has left on his annual trip to Colorado.  

I have the house to myself & sole possession of the remote control! 

Among other things, besides attending the IQF later today (hoping for embellishment inspiration for the Wicked challenge quilt), I have planned: a trail ride, a super quick trip to the Michigan house to cut grass & visit a favorite nursery (want more lavender for the west side of the house), some clearing of clutter from the garage, a click flick or two (maybe even Season 4 of Downton Abbey), hanging out on the couch with the cats & dogs and my two favorite Uncles – Ben & Jerry. 

and, of course, STITCHING!!

Up on the schedule this weekend is the assembling of the Daring Downton Debacle Challenge quilt.  The new fabric I got the other night is already washed and dried and ready to become sashing & border bits. The rows are hanging on the design wall, still needing a pressing, squaring up and probably a bit of sliver trimming.   I am excited to get back to the Studio and do some stitching.

It was been raining, storming, hot & humid all week but the weekend looks clear & sunny. ENJOY!!

Let's meet back here next week & I'll have pictures to share!

Ending the Suspense!

It's official! 

The suspense I've kept you all in, on the edge of your sewing chairs is over!  

You can all breathe a sigh of relief - I have the fabric I need to finish the Daring Downton Debacle challenge quilt.

In a anti-climatic fashion, I stopped at the LQS that is hosting this challenge, conveniently located right on my drive home from work, popped in and there it was!   They had plenty of the light blue and I snagged a FQ.  As far as the dark blue is concerned, I did have a brief moment of heart pounding - 'is there enough left on the bolt'?

Yes - I needed a yard and a half and there was a yard and three-quarters!  Of course the whole piece came home - no sense tempting the fates.

I did have two back up plans, well, three actually, after all I am an experienced fabric hunter.  The first back up was another LQS that carried the Downton collection but they are an hour from me.  The second back up was the quilt show this week, with the third being the internet.  What, I never mentioned the quilt show?! 

I am heading to the International Quilt Festival in Chicago  (really it's in Rosemont, a suburb, but closer enough).  I'll be attending on Friday, the second day of the show.   I have a few other things I'm hunting though I not sure what they are.  Confused?  So am I.  

Not really, it's just I will be looking for embellishments for the Wicked Challenge quilt and I'm not sure exactly what I need or want, but I'll know it when I find it...hopefully.  

Garden Shots

Fabric hunting will commence after work today, as the LQS is closed on Sunday & Monday.  The most important piece is the FQ of the light blue.  The borders can be reworked is necessary but I am hopeful and fingers are crossed.

Last night, we had a quiet evening - even the cats & dogs were tuckered out.

Zena rolled up tight

Before I lost all the light, I snapped a few shots of the shade garden to share it's progress.

BEFORE: Last month - just planted

AfFTER: Transplanted Hostas doing great!

AFTER: Last night - shade garden

This morning brings storm warnings so I'm off to start my day.

The Good News, the Not-So Good and the Plan

First off - Belated Happy Father's Day!!

Wil was off doing his thing for most of Father's Day Sunday, but I sent him off after a yummy breakfast and welcomed him home with dinner...reservations!   My own Dad is on vacation in sunny Florida, having a great time, though I did talk with him on the phone.  Funny thing is he had to call me - he doesn't always have his cell phone on & I knew my folks had plans for today with my aunt & uncle.  My day has been spent at home.

I transplanted the lavender to the west side of the house.  The pot it was in is now home to a small cherry tomato plant. The grass got cut and I spent some time with paper and pencils.

The good news is I have a plan for the sashing and borders of the Daring Downton Debacle quilt!  Yes - the sashings will be pieced, though not intricately & no triangles are involved!  The flange idea has been scrapped - just not going to work with the way the rows are being set in.  However, I am keeping the eyeliner idea, using a narrow (half inch) black outlining strip around the rows instead of the flange.

This is the plan as last you saw it.

Here is the new plan - with sashings and borders colored in.  

Not the greatest picture but you get the idea

For the sashing, I wanted to keep the light center to dark edge progression that the rows have but to follow the final month's guidelines, I can only use Downton Fabric.  I decided to limit the palette to the greens and blues for both the sashings and borders.  Hopefully, this keeps the focus of the light, pinks and oranges in the rows, letting them shine. 

Of course, nothing comes together without a hitch - this quilt included.  The not-so good?  I'm short on fabric. I need a quarter yard or FQ of the light blue and a yard & a half of the dark blue. That's it - not too bad.  I'm hoping I can find what I need without too much trouble.  The fabric originally released last November & we all know how quickly fabric disappears, never to seen again.  DH might be visiting some quilt shops for me this week, after I make some phone calls. 

Fingers crossed.

Delay of Game!

While trying to catch up on some long overdue blog following, I also needed to check upcoming challenge deadlines so I could map out a plan of sewing attack.  Imagine my surprise (and delight) to find the deadline for the Modern Quilt Guild Michael Miller Challenge has moved from June 23^rd to July 25^th!  WooHoo!!!  As usual, I still don’t have a design plan but I now have an extra month to come up with something.  Okay – that’s not exactly true – I do have an idea floating around in my pointy little head but it’s not on paper and it’s a long way from a cut list and sewing plan! 

Michael Miller Challenge fabrics and coordinates

 In the meantime, I am working on the sashing and border design for the DDD challenge quilt.  Here are all rows hanging next to each other. 

Kind of cool the secondary pattern that forms from the little corner triangles.  BUT that’s not how the quilt will be put together.  There will be sashing and borders.  Now according to the guidelines, the sashing and borders only need to be made from Downton Abbey fabric. You know – plain strips, so wide, join together to make the length you need, blah, blah, blah.

I am NOT knocking that – some quilts need plain stop borders and some quilters would happily follow the challenge guidelines and have Perfectly Lovely Quilts!  I can’t do it.  Oh why, Oh why must I always have to do things differently??  It makes me crazy.  But all along, in the deep recesses of my addled brain, I saw black flanges outlining the rows.  CRAP!!  Skinny, little, perfectly straight black flanges – like eyeliner – around the rows stopping and containing all that movement in the blocks. 

And then there’s the thought of pieced borders. But do I  really need more movement?  Not sure but I know I have to try out the different ideas running around my brain on paper at least, so that I am 100% sure how to proceed. Not saying my ideas are going to work but I have to try them to find out the hard way. 

I swear if I end up with plain sashing & borders, I’m going to scream!  Sometimes there is just no living with myself – the logical half or the creative half!

Stay tuned for the next installment of “As the Quilt Turns…”  

A Letter for Me

I received a fabulous letter in the mail over the weekend that I am excited to share here with all of you!

It was a letter from the Wisconsin Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum notifying me that my yurt panel quilt “Snow Crystals” made it into the new traveling yurt exhibit!

A total of 25 yurt panel quilts, each depicting one of the four seasons were selected.   The Museum will be displaying the new collection from June 11-15 at their Cedarburg location.  

From there, the first stop on the travel schedule will be the International Quilt Festival, put on by Quilts, Inc.,  taking place June 19-21 at the Donald E. Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.  I will be able to attend that show this year & will get to see the traveling yurt exhibit’s new clothes!  I will share pictures as soon as I can!

The Weekend - Part 3, The Wrap Up

It was a great road trip - short but sweet.  I headed out Friday evening and came back Sunday afternoon. 

Hard to believe, this is my luggage pile for a day and a half - only another quilter would understand.

The coolest thing piece of luggage is the ArtBin rolling tote. It was a second prize award in the Midland Michigan Historical Society quilt contest a few years back.  I can fit a ton of tools, fabric and supplies in it. 

Here's a tip for keeping projects organized and recycle at the same time.  Rather than buying plastic storage project boxes, I use shoe boxes with flip tops.  They stack, they are sturdy & reusable.

Even with all of this in the back of the Element, I managed to fit in some plants for the backyard planters.  Got them planted up Sunday afternoon.

Violet Wave petunias and white pansies

Salmon geraniums, violet Wave petunias and white pansies

Back to the design wall for my next Challenge.