Quilting with a newbie

Several weeks ago, my granddaughter asked me to teach her how to make a quilt, and I told her we'd better wait until school was over for the summer, since she and her family are always pretty busy. Today was the day! I got out graph paper for her to practice sewing straight lines, which she did much better than I'd expected — and with much less practice. :) Then we selected fabrics for the doll quilt she wanted to make; it's all in pinks to coordinate with the bed. I'd thought we'd make a Rail Fence quilt with three "logs" in each block, but DGD had a tough time deciding among four she liked, so we finally went with all four fabrics, arranging them to her taste.

She did so well! She's barely six years old, and she was enthralled — and very disappointed that we didn't have time to finish the quilt. This is what she accomplished today. The blocks are 4" square, and all that remains to finish the quilt top is to add that third row of blocks and a border. I did the cutting, pressing, and pinning, but she did everything else. I was less worried about possible accidents than I might have been if I hadn't had a finger guard for the presser foot on my Bernina, and I sat right behind her while she sewed so as to see exactly what she was doing.

Have you ever seen a cuter little quilter? We've set a date for the next session. :)

Hold Everything Bag

Outer bag

This is a pattern I've been meaning to make for some time, but I kept procrastinating. Then my LQS advertised a class to make the very same bag, so I signed up in order to force myself to make it. LOL! The class lasted six hours, and it's a very good thing that I'd already quilted the fabrics to their Soft and Stable center layers and cut out the various pieces, because it was almost impossible to finish the bag in that amount of time. I did finish today, though, and I think I'm going to enjoy using it to carry various quilting tools with me when I go to classes or similar activities.

Removable "pages"

Like most of the other bags I've made, this pattern was designed by Annie Unrein, but it's a bit more involved an undertaking than most. The trickiest part is the main zipper and the binding around it, but it's done now! :) What's really nice is that the inside pockets, other than the two mounted on the cover itself, are removable "pages". How handy that will be! All of the pockets use clear vinyl, making it easy to see what's inside.

I did make a couple of modifications to the pattern, adding an embroidered monogram to the outer front and using only two fabrics instead of the suggested three.

More knitting

Some time ago I looked around for a yarn shop and couldn't find one all that conveniently located for my area. The only one I did find was disappointingly unfriendly. :( However, last week I had a very happy surprise when the local newspaper wrote an article profiling a yarn shop I hadn't known about and that was reasonably close to home! Yay!

Needless to say, I zipped over there as soon as I could, and — no surprise! — eventually came home with a new pattern and some yarn to make it. The owner there is very nice and welcoming, and there's some very yummy yarn in the shop, with the promise of more to come.

I've been knitting my new cardigan since then (I was getting sort of bored with dishcloths, anyway ), and I've now finished two repeats of the lacy edging on the bottom of the piece. We'll see how the rest of it goes. ;)  The edging will, of course, look nicer after it's blocked. The pattern I'm using is from a British company, and I think it will be very versatile.

Drunkard's Path progress

Not too long ago, I showed you some fabrics that are to be in my next quilt. Yesterday I began making the blocks and continued today. I'm pretty happy with the way they're turning out, though there's one at the lower left in the photo that looks pretty wonky. However, that's because it's sitting on top of a lot of seams in the blocks beneath — it's a smooth curve, I promise! The larger blocks aren't hard to do, but the smaller ones are a bit trickier. Still, they're coming along nicely. I have another set of small ones to do — perhaps tomorrow — before I begin cutting sashing and putting everything together. No rush, though! And I may need to make more blocks if I don't have the "right" mixture of fabrics already put together.

An embroidered finish

When I recently began using the embroidery module on my Bernina to create labels, I had no intention at all of using it for other embroidered projects. Yup. So much for that idea! ;) Since then, I've done a few small free-standing lace embroideries, and I did those little gift card holders before the holiday season, too. Then, during an evening "event" at my local quilt shop, I saw a set of designs that were various French themes. I was sunk! I used to be a high-school French teacher, and I definitely have a soft spot for a lot of related things. That set came home with me, as you might have guessed. LOL! I used a pattern for a cushion (found in Creative Expressions magazine, issue 34), though I decided to make it into a little wall hanging instead of the cushion.

This quilt measures about 18 3/4" square. I couldn't do a lot of quilting on it without causing the central embroidered panel to puff out, so I just did some curlicues in the floral corners and a motif I adapted from the floral print in the plainer side triangles. The braided border was done with the Double Diamond ruler, which isn't all that easy to use when you're left-handed. ;) I added the corded piping I like so much next to the binding.

I still have no intention of doing a lot of embroidered projects, other than quilt labels, but what's the harm in doing one or two now and then? ;)

A beautiful orchid!

Sunday was Mother's Day, as many here know. We have two daughters with five grandchildren between them, and we all spent the afternoon and evening together. The grandchildren all had a wonderful time swimming, and then we had dinner. Daughter #1 prepared a gorgeous salad and a delicious and light trifle for dessert. Daughter #2, who hosted us, fixed wonderful appetizers, followed by grilled salmon, scallops in brown butter sauce, and pasta. It was all soooooo good!

As if that weren't enough, there were lovely cards and even gifts. I now have a gift certificate for a pedicure, as well as a gorgeous new orchid plant. You may remember that I had an orchid for last Mother's Day, but it died. I replaced it with another (a magenta dendrobium), and now I have a second one. This one is a spectacular white phalaenopsis, also known as a moth orchid because of the shape of the blossoms. I rushed right out yesterday and bought a cache pot for it and a plant stand so it would be safe from curious doggie noses. ;)

Next on the agenda

What do you think of these fabrics? I love them! I bought them about a year ago to make a pattern I'd had in mind, but — as so often happens — I was sidetracked with other projects. Now, though, I'm going to prewash these and get busy cutting them for my next quilt! It will be another variation on a Drunkard's Path; I do like curves. :)

I'd have begun already, but I've spent the afternoon "supervising" a repairman who was here to change our telephone and internet service. Of course I'm kidding, as he didn't need my supervision at all, but I like to watch what they're doing when someone is here, just because I'm curious.