WIP UPDATES - Part 2

I know I promised an update on The Train quilt, but I want to take some additional pictures of the fabrics and other items I want to include in the quilt.  Once the pictures are taken, I will do a two-part post so you can see all that I have to work with.  In the meantime, here is an update on the rest of the WIP list.

7.  Cathedral Windows

I have to change the number of rows completed to 9.  I just finished a row and have another almost ready to attach.  It is getting so big, I can't get the whole quilt into the picture.  Here it is draped over my cutting table.

I love how it is turning out!

8.  Delectable Diamonds

Remember the picture from the book?

Mine is turning out a bit different.

It needs a few more rows down, so I have some more needlework to do.  I have four more units ready to stitch and enough to do eight more plus I have more blue fabrics I can use for alternating diamonds.  The original quilt shows the blue fabrics all mixed up.  I am not sure I will do this 'cause I like this layout alot.  We shall see.

9.  Blue Diamond Silk

This is the quilt I have been working on for my son, Joseph.  It is a queen size quilt that goes all the way to the floor on three sides.  Most of the units are completed, but I need more ties.  It is so large right now I can't fit the whole thing on my design wall.  Oh, and the units are not arranged in any particular order.  I have to work on that, too.  The picture doesn't show the blues up very well but I assure you, every unit has some shade of blue. 

10.  Love's 1930's Pinwheel Medallion or Rita's Water Ice

I changed the title on this one.  Love sent me the pattern for this quilt.  It is the same one she used for her Summer Sherbert.  I have most of the colored pinwheels done but found out I need a lot more of the light ones.  Cut and pinned a bunch yesterday and have one machine set up with white thread to start stitching today.  This is 1/4 of the quilt on my wall.  Thank goodness the directions break it down in sections.  Love, is this a queen or king size?  It is really large.

11. Fabric Frolic - Leader/Ender - King and Queen

I list this as one quilt but it is actually two - a King and a Queen.  The King is for my niece and the Queen is up for grabs, LOL.  I have been working the units as Leader/Enders (Bonnie Hunter's method) and have 250 units completed - I need 300.  Once the units are done I can start adding the black sashings.  I've posted pictures of the units before.

12.  Pinwheel Party

Nothing else completed since I posted pictures of the pinwheels.  The completed blocks are 12 inch units which will come together pretty fast once all the pinwheels are done.  Here is what it looks like on the design wall with the pinwheels in their approximate positions.  The little green papers have the unit numbers marked on them.  The one large block is the only one that is actually finished.  I am setting up the other machine with black thread to complete these.  (God, I love having two sewing machines, LOL.)

Having so much fun with this one.

OK, with the exception of the train quilt, here is where my entire list of Works in Progress stands although the Wannabe's list just keeps on growing.  So many quilts, so little time!

Love from Liri

WIP UPDATES

Seems like everybody in blogland is making lists of projects to finish in 2011.  Since I have an ongoing list in my sidebar and I move from one WIP to the other (in no particular order or as my Muse moves me, LOL), I thought you might like to see pictures of my progress.  I will do a few at a time and we will start with No. 1.

1.  A Tisket, A Tasket

Three blocks completed on this one.  Got stuck on one of them, it just wasn't working but now I think I have it figured out.

2.  Under the Sea

Haven't worked on these for a while now.  Six blocks completed.

3.  Snowbound

Only 7 blocks done, but I already know how I want to set this up.  I think I may make this a large wallhanging instead of a full size quilt.  I don't usually do wallhangings but this is really turning out just as I envisioned.  A picture window!  What do you think?

4.  APQ Swap Blocks

As you know, this top is finished but I haven't had the chance to get batting.  No picture 'cause you have already seen it.

5.  Train Quilt

I have pictures of all the embroideries and I am going to do a separate post for this one.  You are all going to help me compose this quilt, right?

6.  Koala Redwork

Top and sham are finished and just waiting for batting.  Already published those pictures.

OK, that is the first six, with a promised post for No. 5 which I will try to do tomorrow.  I will be updating my sidebar with the info.

Love from Liri

SANTA'S ELF...

WISHES YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Oh my gosh, only 364 days left 'til next Christmas!  I better get started!

Love from Liri



MUSINGS

As if I didn't have enough ideas, just wanted to share these two items I found at the Thrift store yesterday.  How do you like this tea cup?  I liked it because it holds even more than the cup I have been using for years, but look at the patterns!

I can see several quilts here.  Can you?

And then I found this plate from Mexico.  I believe it was handpainted.  Isn't it beautiful?

I am not sure what the animal in the center is, but I love it!

Finally, here are some of the pinwheels from the Pinwheel Party quilt.  There are still more to make and then the blocks need to be assembled.  Check out Twiddletails blog for all the patterns and layout.  (Remember my Muse wanted to play with these?)

I used the scraps from the Koala Redwork and the black & white scraps that Kathleen sent me.  I will be adding a few black & whites from my stash and a very special piece of red/white/black fabric I found this summer.  It won't be done soon, but I am adding it to my Works in Progress list. 

I am also pleased to report the Christmas Dress is finished.  The hem was just the right length so I will be using black lace to finish.  Autumn loves it and my daughter couldn't be more pleased.  Autumn will wear the dress at our annual Christmas Eve get together and I will take pictures when she is all dressed up!

Love from Liri

NEEDLEPOINT WINNERS

Well, there were only 7 entries for the needlepoint drawing.  They are as follows:

1.  Country Log Cabin Quilter said... That is amazing! Yes! Add me to the drawing

2.  Carolyn, wannabe quilter... What wonderful finds.. Please add me to the drawing..I'm one of those people that can't sit without something in their hands.

3.  Beth said... What a great find... as often as I have ever visited thrift shops I haven't ever found a treasure.... Lucky You.... Hope my name is drawn!! They are lovely.

4.  free indeed said... I'd like a go at finishing some of these. I don't do Halloween so those could go to someone else...They are lovely...I wouldn't be able to pass them up either!

5.  Marsha said... Ohhh, what a great find! I enjoy having something to do while watching TV at night and those would be perfect! It's not that I don't have enough projects to keep me busy, but I can't pass those up! Thanks! ! !

6.  Barbara said... I do cross stitching and would love some of the fabrics. Hard to find some of those colors locally. Good find for you.
 
This actually worked out quite well.  I rolled a single die and here is what came up.  First roll was for the fabric:
 

Congratulations, Carolyn wannabe quilter.

Second roll for was the unfinished pieces, instructions and floss:

Congratulations, Marsha!

 

Carolyn, I will send you an email so you can send me your address.  Marsha, don't I have your address?  If not, send me an email.  I will get everything ready and try to send out this week.

 

For those of you who were interested in the needlepoint, I am sure there will be other finds (sometimes I think they find me, LOL).  If so, I will let your know.

 

Love from Liri

WHAT IS A MUSE?

From Greek Mythology, three goddesses known as the Muses, inspired the creation of music, literature and the arts.  But we don't live in ancient Greece and although there was a lot of creativity back then, times have changed.

For me, a Muse is an entity that inspires creativity.  Any creative person has a muse - whether you are a quilter, painter, mathematician, writer (I could go on).  As long as there is a creative process, there is a Muse in the background.  How do you know?  Your Muse is that little voice in your head that says, "Whoa, wait a minute.  You see what you just did?  What a great idea - expand on it!" 

Your Muse is tailored to you.  Some people have gentle Muses and some people have "Gung-ho, Go for Broke" Muses and everything in between.  If you are not careful, they can get you in a lot of trouble.  All those UFO's you have?  That's the fault of your Muse.  Remember how each one started with a really great idea?  Remember how you felt when you started it?  All that enthusiasm and "This is gonna be the greatest quilt ever"!  And then what happened?  Your Muse lost interest!  Muses are not known for follow through.  They have to be managed.

How to Manage Your Muse 

1.  Get to know your Muse - They are very likable, for the most part.
2.  Listen to your Muse - No one likes being ignored and Muses are sensitive.
3.  Keep your Muse entertained - Ever wonder why you have so much fabric?  Your Muse loves new fabric, trimmings and gadgets. 
4.  Keep your Muse busy - Got a problem with a quilt?  Give the problem to your Muse until it is worked out.
5.  Keep your Muse interested - Even if it means working on multiple projects.
6.  Discipline your Muse -  Every Muse needs discipline.  Sometimes you just can't stop what you are doing to indulge them.
7.  Indulge your Muse -  When you can, just to show them how much they are appreciated.

Case in point, right now the Blue Silk quilt is up on my design wall.  I really want to finish this quilt for my son.  But my Muse is stuck on the Koala Redwork.  Not the quilt, mind you, but the scraps left over from the border and the black & white scraps Kathleen sent me.  (You just never know what will grab their attention.)  She thinks I should combine the two and make the Pinwheel Party BOM I collected from Twiddletails.  I think it is a good idea, but I want to finish the blue silk.  So I made a deal.  I will make the pinwheels for each block if she will let me finish the blue silk.  At least she'll give me some peace for a little while.  My Muse can be very insistent.

But despite the chaos she sometimes creates, I really love my Muse and wouldn't want to be without her.  The ideas she inspires are just so cool and our thought processes mesh so well.  (Can you tell we have been working together for a long time?)   And who did you think Liriopia was, anyway?

Love from Liri

KOALA REDWORK IS FINISHED

Do you recall the conversation I had with my muse the other day while working on the Christmas Dress?  She promised she would show me how to finish the border.  And she did!  Here is the top!

(Yeah, I know, the picture is a little wonky.)

As you can see, the border ended up just a little different than I envisioned, but I like how it turned out.

Luckily, I hadn't made the additional corner squares I was going to use.  Also, I finished the pillow sham.

That makes two tops completed.  All I need do now is quilt and bind.  Did you know Joanne's is having a huge sale beginning December 18th?  I have one 50% coupon, five 40% coupons and one good for 20% off total purchase.  You can bet that I will be there.  I am going to buy batting, cut to size, LOL!

Love from Liri

THE CHRISTMAS DRESS - Elastic, Ties, Side Seams and Hem

Me:            OH, NO!  (Watching as the ribbon disintegrates while threading the elastic)
My Muse:  I told you not to use it.
Me:            But it was so perfect!  Cream satin with little red poinsettias and just the right size.
My Muse:  Yes, but I told you not to use it.  It's acetate and kinda old.  You know how acetate ribbon breaks down.
Me:            But I don't think I have anything to replace it!
My Muse:  You probably do.  Lets check the box.  (sounds of rummaging)  Here, use this.
Me:            Black lace?
My Muse:  Yes, it is just the right size and nobody is going to see it anyway.
Me:            Well, OK.   (hanging my head)  I'm sorry I didn't listen to you.
My Muse:  That's a good girl.  Now fix the dress and I will show you how to fix the Koala quilt.

So went the conversation.  I had to substitute black lace for the lovely ribbon.  Here are the pieces we will be working with.  These are the last.

Thread the elastic through the casing on the sleeves, securing both ends.  I used straight pins but you can stitch inside the seam line if that is easier.  I used a safety pin to thread the elastic.

Back of sleeve.

Front of sleeve.  (Remember to do both sleeves.)

Now pin the ties to the bodice between the armhole seam and the waist seam, on both sides.  You can baste these in place if it makes it easier.

Join the side seams, right sides together.  Start by matching and pinning all the seams.  Pin the long portions of the sleeves and skirt by halves.  Much easier that way.

Now stitch from the sleeve down to the  hem.

Trim the sleeve and clip the corners at the sleeve ends.

Press the skirt seam open.  If this was a larger garment, you would press the entire seam open, but this dress is so small, pressing the seam above the waist would do more harm than good.  Look, it is a dress!  Here is the front.

Here is the back.

I am going to see my daughter at a family party this weekend and Autumn will be there.  So I am going to wait and try the dress on her before I hem.  Other than that, the dress is finished.  I like the way it turned out. 

Love from Liri

THE CHRISTMAS DRESS - The Sleeves

Before we get started, I'd like to address the comment made by Katie with regard to pinning satin.  Katie, you are/were correct.  There was a time when you had to be careful pinning satin.  Old satin looked like satin because the finish was put on top of the fabric.  It sorta glued the fabric threads together much the same way as a feather zips together.  Once you put a pin in it, it broke the finish and created a hole which could not be fixed.  The satin I am using in this dress is a modern synthetic, so it doesn't have this problem.  Can you imagine how much care they had to take while constructing those beautiful satin gowns the old Hollywood starlets used to wear?

The dress is getting very close to finish.  Let's prepare the sleeves and put them on.  Here are the pieces.

I put the gathering thread on when I did the skirts.  The gathering thread should be run between the notches on the sleeve shoulder.

To finish the bottom of the sleeve run a line of stitching 1/4 inch from the bottom, press and stitch.

Then add the lace.   Notice I left the 5/8 inch seam allowance.  Again, I hand stitched the lace.

The directions were written to form a casing at the edge of the sleeve for elastic.  I have always found elastic at the elbow to be very annoying and, since I wanted the lace to lie flat, I moved the casing so the gathering would be above the lace.

Isn't that ribbon pretty?  Ivory with little red poinsettia and just the perfect size.  I measured on the outside and pinned the ribbon on the inside.  The casing won't be seen.  More's the pity, LOL.

Stitch the ribbon down on both sides.  The casing is ready.  Done with this part.  Now the sleeve.  Lay out the dress so the armhole is flat.

Pin the center of the sleeve cap to the shoulder seam.  Then pin from the edge of the sleeve and armhole to the notches on both sides.  In this case, the notches on the sleeve and the armhole do not match.  (Remember the sleeves are from another pattern?)  Not to worry, use the notches on the sleeves as your reference points.  There is no gathering under the arm anyway.

Secure the gathering thread on one side and pull the gathers up to fit just as on the skirt.  Pin by halves.

Ooo, lots of pins, LOL.  Make sure there are no tucks or puckers on the back, then stitch your 5/8 inch seam.

Run a second line of stitching 1/8 inch above the seam stitching.  (This is another seam I used to tear out.  Get the impression I was hard on my dresses?  You don't know the half of it, LOL.)  Now trim the seam to just above the second row of stitching.  You can clip the curves if you want but I don't.  It never seemed necessary.

Now repeat for the other sleeve.  This is what the dress looks like now.

All that's left to be done is insert the sleeve elastic, install the ties, join the side seams and hem.  That's for the next post.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Love from Liri

THE BOOK LIST

Who makes these lists up anyway, LOL?  Here is the list.  Bold - I have read it!  Italics - I want to read or it sounds interesting.  The rest?  Who knows!

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. The Harry Potter Series- JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible - Parts here and there only
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22- Joseph Heller
14 The Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenberger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House- Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited- Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 The Grapes of Wrath- John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The DaVinci Code- Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick- Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From a Small Island- Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Wow, I surprised myself!   I count 40 have reads.  Some of the want to reads are new and directly from this list.   Some I have the books but have not yet gotten around to reading, yet.  Now how about a few additions, like these!

1,  Grimm's Fairy Tales in the original version - These'll scare the pants off you!
2.  Anderson's Fairy Tales - same comment as above
3.  Any Greek Mythology - These were as good as fairy tales for me
4.  The Foundation Trilogy - Isaac Asimov
5.  Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (this one will make you read all the books on the list)
4.  Edgar Allen Poe (do I have to elaborate?)
5.  H. P. Lovecraft (any book)
6.  Robert Heinlein (any book)
7.  Clan of the Cave Bear - Jane Auel (once you read this one, you have to read the rest)
8.  The Dark Tower Series - Stephen King (I don't like him but this series is terrific)
9.  Otherland Trilogy - Stephen Donaldson
10. Redwall - Brian Jacques (Lots of books in this series)

I could go on and on!  Guess you can tell I am a reader?

Love from Liri

CALLING ALL NEEDLEPOINTERS!

I go to the thrift store and the flea market at least once a week, sometimes 2 or more.  I have a habit of buying boxes of items that look interesting, usually for only a couple of dollars.  Needless to say, I wind up with a lot of stuff that I don't really need.  I group the like stuff together and give it away.  Other times, I come across something that is so special, I just can't leave it behind.  That is what this post is about.  Here is an assortment of Aida needlepoint cloth that I have accumulated over the summer.  A piece here, a couple pieces there.  I don't do needlpoint!

I know that Aida cloth is not cheap and it's just sitting and taking up space that I need. There are all different colors, sizes and counts here. I also found the following pieces.

(The last two pics are actually two halves of the whole.  It was too big for one photo.)

As you can see, the pieces are unfinished.  They are done in petit point (embroidery floss).

In addition I believe all the charts, graphs and DMC color numbers are there.  And the embroidery floss (no picture, you know what that is)!  The cost for the above - $5.00.  See?  To good to pass up!

I don't know if the person who did these died and the family just wanted to get rid of them or maybe they just got too old.  You would need really good eyesight and finger dexterity because the stitches and canvases are so small.  In any case, considering the workmanship, I really feel they should be finished and displayed.

If you are an enthusiastic needlepointer and would like to have either the cloth or the unfinished pieces (complete with instructions and floss)  or both, leave me a comment and I will draw numbers at random and mail them to you.  Make sure you leave an email address so I can contact you if your number is drawn.  I will be accepting requests until 12:00 PM next Sunday.  Merry Christmas and Happy Stitching!

Love from Liri