Ready For the Quilting Frame

I went with the light brown hand dyed fabric and in the end I like it better than my first choice. Making it a bit narrower made all the difference. The picture is a little bit dark so you don't see how beautiful the batik outer border is.

The Didgeridoo

Here is our friend EJ from Australia playing the Didgeridoo.

Back to the Stars

When we were in Winnipeg yesterday I stopped in Fabricland to see if I could find any border fabric since it seems that Joannes has no more of the one I really wanted. It's the one on the left side. The top left is a hand dyed piece that I made last week. I like it but maybe it is a bit dull. The one on the top right is the piece I bought yesterday. I like the color but the pattern seems a bit rigid and square. I might try a second dye session to see if I can get a bit more contrast between the yellow and brown. On this one the brown pretty well covered the yellow.



Of course, you can't go to a fabric store and only get one piece. The picture is much more dull than the real fabric. The one in the middle has a nice golden glow. The rainbows are much much brighter. They will find their way into my next wonky quilt I'm sure.

Another Draw

Myra over at Tactile Pleasures..In Fabric is having a 200th post draw for a thread catcher pin cushion and there will be a tutorial in case you don't win the draw. What can be better than that!

It's Done

It's done. For the next one, I'll get some really heavy interfacing so it will hold it's shape better. I might get some stiffening for the bottom too. I have some plastic grid but it was too short. I did use the magnetic snaps and they are a snap to use!

Christmas Bag

Since I scored a huge piece of Christmas fabric at the thrift shop last week, and I didn't feel like doing anything complicated today, I started this Christmas bag. The red is the lining which is not put in yet. Before I sew it in I have to decide a couple of things. First, one long strap or two handles? Second, what kind of closing? I have magentic snaps which could be at the top or on a flap. If a flap, what shape? I could do a zipper but I have been wanting to try those snaps I got awhile ago. Third, should the handles be poinsettia or red? I have enough fabric to make a dozen of these bags or a lot of shopping bags so the decision is not crucial.

Kaliedoscope Number 2

I am almost done the piecing on this one. I have eleven more hexagons to sew together. I may need some more boxes too. Now I have to find the best way to arrange them. Then I have to pick a border color. Usually, I would go for black but there may be enough black in the center. Maybe pink or yellow or a bit of both would be better. I'll know better when I have settled on the layout. Ideas would be welcome.

"New" Truck

Today we brought home a "new" truck. I believe it's a 1984 Ford. It's mainly for hauling garbage and wood so we don't need anything fancy.

Of course, today being Tuesday, it's thrift day. I scored all these fabrics, some only scraps and some bigger pieces and the iron for a spare, all for $8. The brown stripe and the plain red are heavier fabrics that may find their way into bags. I can see a couple of Christmas bags with the red paisley and the poinseta fabric.

Another Walk

Today was nice and warm so we went for another walk. Here are a few pictures from along the way.



The red leaves are small mountain ash trees.


This is a little meadow near the creek that is probably quite swampy in wet weather.


Some mushrooms growing on an old tree. It's hard to believe that this will all be under snow before we know it.

Kaliedoscope Number 2

Today I tried to dye a series of grays that went from dark to light for use in the kaleidoscope boxes. I didn't think there was enough variation so I took the darkest and the lightest, added black and voila! It worked.


Here are the hexagons I've made so far. I have three more strips to make into triangles and sew together. The next thing will be to figure out what color to use as a border. Maybe I'll try dyeing something using low water immersion so there will be some texture. But which color? And how many borders?

Autumn Walk

This morning we went for a walk on the Trans-Canada Trail near our house. This is where we start. As you can see, the leaves are starting to turn.


Here is a little bridge across the creek.



Here is an idea for quilting colors. I love how the green is outlined with yellow.


Here is a large tree that the beavers are starting to cut down.


Here is the dam that they have made. We walked across the top of it to get to the bike trail that is on the other side. The weather is beautiful and warm. There are no mosquitoes or wood ticks. It's perfect walking weather. Care to join me?

Two More Boxes

I made two more boxes today. These two illustrate the importance of getting the correct shade between the dark, medium and light parts. On the top pink one, you lose the effect because the light and medium are too close together. For the bottom one I used white instead of a light pink. The shape shows up much better. I am also very happy with the brown and cream one but less so with the top one with the pink and brown. On that one there is a bit too much pink on part of the medium color. I should have fussy cut it to avoid having the pink near the pink light area. Sometimes my stash is not extensive enough.

New Look

I have finally decided to upgrade my blog. My new profile picture was taken by granddaughter, Sacha on the train in China. The quilt in the background is my Fungly quilt, finished last month.

Another Box

Here is the start of another box for the K Quilt. These tiny pieces become holes in the box.



Here are the pieces all laid out, ready to sew.


Sewn into two half hexagons.


And here they are with the hexagons I have made so far. There are many, many more to go.

K Box

Here is how I made one of the boxes for the Kaleidoscope quilt. This is one of the simpler ones. Some of them have three pieces per large triangle. I'll show the parts to that one later.

You start with two strips each of light, medium and dark fabrics, 1 1/2 and 2 3/4 wide. The hard part is to find the right shades in fabrics that read as solids unless you have a huge stash. I find that many batiks work really well.
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These are the larger trapezoids.


And the small triangles.

Laid out on the ironing board. I have to follow the pattern in the book for this. Some of you might be clever enough to do it on your own.


Here the triangles and trapezoids are sewn together. The book recommends not trimming off the ears. They help with placing the pieces together. They also press all the seams open.

Here the halves are pinned together. I'm quite happy with the shades on this one. Since my fabric for this one has lots of colors, I'll be making more colorful boxes, unlike the dragon one in which I used black and white for the boxes. The next time I go to a fabric store I'll bring the piece of selvage that has the dots of color used in the fabric and try to match some of those.

Kaliedoscope Number 2

This morning I put the borders on Scrap Therapy. I would have loaded it onto the frame for quilting but I don't have a big enough piece of batting.

Here are the basic steps for making the hexagon quilt. If you want to try it, I would highly recommend buying the book, One Block Wonders or the one I have, One Block Wonders Encore.

First of all you find some suitable fabric. You can test it by holding two mirrors at a sixty degree angle to each other on the fabric. You will be able to see what sort of patterns you will get. This is a gorgeous Japanese fabric that I got at Blue Bamboo in Minneapolis.
You cut each repeat of the pattern until you have six layers. You pin these very carefully matching the patterns exactly.


Cut the fabric in 3 3/4 inch strips from selvege to selvege.


Cut each strip into triangles using a 60 degree ruler.


Arrange the triangles into a circle with the straight grain to the bottom. of each triangle.


Sew the triangles into half hexagons and pin them on the middle where they will eventually be sewn together.


Put them up on the design wall and enjoy them until you have hundreds made. Then you have the fun of finding the perfect layout. You sew them in long strips and then down the middle where they were pinned. I'll show that step when I get to it, but it will be awhile.

The Dragon

Here is a section of the original dragon fabric. I copied this dragon in a bit less detail. It's less clear when there is only the outline. I guess I could try to put on the scales. I'm not sure that I'm that advanced in machine quilting though.


Yesterday I cut out and sewed together a few hexagons for my next Kaleidoscope. There is a LOT of sewing to do before you start with the arrangement so I like to do a few at a time while working on other projects. It's too boring for me to do them all at once.

Dragon Quilting

Here is the paper copy of my dragon from the fabric. Sorry about the poor pictures but it's not very bright today and I had to use the flash.


This is how it will look on the black border fabric. It doesn't show up much, which is good.


Here it is from the back. I used gray on the back so I could see how it really looks. I learned that I will have to draw it on with sharp chalk and not just depend on the dots. It gets too confusing around the face and feet. I will have to do it upside down on the quilt so that will be a whole other challenge. I will probably put two on each side, facing each other and fill it in with flames and meanders. The big question is, does anyone want fighting dragons on their bed? Would you be able to sleep without nightmares???/