Gone To The Beach: 10.02.2017

Monday, October 2, 2017

September Update ~ Bitty and Other Projects

Hi! Let's look back at oh-too-swiftly passing September, to see what I and my faithful helper Mo accomplished this past month.
Zzzzzzz......

Bitty is coming along nicely!

I did the garland stems this weekend. Mostly they're attached by machine. If someday Bitty is an actual baby quilt, this will make it sturdier. Here it is on the corner cupboard, so you can see the size.

I undid all the lollipop flowers and redid them over cardboard templates. Still have maybe 5 to sew, plus some have center circles to add. And then comes the challenge of removing all the lines I stupidly drew.

Here is a flower with its center dot.

I redid these buds...

This is a quandary, why did just this leaf run like this?

Or is it from the Crayola markers I used? The appliques from the same piece of prewashed batik show no sign of bleeding, so I'm mystified.
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My friend Sue has been busy travelling but she has some Bitty to share too.

Her fabric choices are very nice, more prim and personal than my choices, where I stuck to the original design.

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Here are my Stars , finished, for the Silent Night applique border. I love the deep blue and off white.

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Next is Lori / Humble Quilts' little quilt sewalong. I was up to date but then didn't want to press open the diagonal set of blocks, since I wasn't sure what I'd choose. This is not the final layout!

Obviously the pink set looks much better! The final clues were posted today! Lori always surprises us.
Next Friday [this Friday?] we are supposed to be all done with our little tops , ready for show and tell.

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Mentioned this before--- a Cheri Payne design called Black Lovage.

Doesn't that sound so witches' cauldron-y and creepy? ---even though black lovage was, it seems , a common European cooking herb, entirely edible. The name comes from the heads of seeds, rather like Queen Anne's Lace seed heads, but lovage seeds are black. The flower are yellow, or in this case deep orange. Mine may be blue!? I dyed this linen piece for the backing.

The pattern photo is very dark, so I sketched out a line drawing. The design is quite large, I may reduce it it. I'd like the sew the raw edged wool appliques with black wool or black linen thread.

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And look at this!

Oh I so love these old fashioned odd colors! I treated myself to a fat quarter set of the entire line, Jamestown by Windham.

I had planned to use it, maybe adding black calico, for this Gettysburg Sun pattern.

This is a book of mini quilts but I was, may still, enlarge the pattern to a 12" block. Much as I love these fabrics though I'm not sure how that will translate into a full sized quilt.

And last, thinking way ahead, today at the paint store I picked up some paint color chips for my future project, Cheri Payne's Christmas Quilt. The colors of the chips are a bit off/ browned down, especially the reds, but it helps me stay focused on my color plan as I begin finding fabrics for this large quilt.

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Nature notes: These dark sunflowers from my "Meadow" seed pack have been attracting many Monarch butterflies. They are the same colors! And I saw the Oystercatchers circling and leaving today, a bit sad for me to say goodbye. They leave on October 2nd always.