What's Next?

There's a wide open empty space in the studio...  the area that used to be filled with Sundance is looming large. I might be sad about Sundance moving on to a new location, but I can't be; she is living happily in her new home, much loved and well-cared for. I went by for a visit on Monday and she was already quilting a baby quilt and performing well.  Since her departure I have spread out a number of things on the floor, the latest being "Destination: Unknown" with all four borders attached, now measuring in at 40" square; it will, eventually, hang on the wall between the two windows pictured. What will it hang above? What's next for this floor space? 

Any guesses?

Life is Good!

Bye-bye, Sundance!

Sundance has left the building; not to worry, it's all good! There are changes afoot at The Strawberry Patch, stay tuned for further updates. Sundance has served me faithfully and well for the last six years; I had the unique opportunity to sell her, locally, to a phenomenal sit-down quilter who is ready to take to her feet and expand her own quilting horizons, I am so happy for Laura. I hope Sundance is enjoying the rest today, even though disassambled, she won't be collecting one bit of dust at her new home... she'll be busier than ever!

 I've been busily preparing graduation quilts for tying by the Quilt Ministry. Working in small batches, four were ready this past week. My part of readying them is to cut the fleece backs to size, embroider the church logo onto the backing and then layer them with the batting. I stitch through all three layers (envelope style) before turning them right side out and top-stitching the edges all around. There's a lot of crawling around on the floor during these various stages, I like to think of this as my new daily work-out. Whew! We did some recent calculations and figured that, counting this year, we've sewn up eighty of these quilts to present to our congregation's high school graduates; we began with the class of 2009, what a meaningful tradition this has become!

I'm happy today... as happy as if I had just opened a case full

 of "Christmas Morning"!  Oh wait, that's exactly what I did...

Life is Good!

Outgoing...

The last few weeks have seen many things running under the needle and straight out of the house. A baby quilt, variation of this pattern, was finished up and gifted last weekend.
The recipient is a sweet baby girl who just so happens to have two older brothers. This quiltmaker decided her quilt needed to be delicate, feminine and personalized... just for her.

The embroidery machine has been humming, too. I made up some special burp cloths for another new baby. In between projects I've added names to a few shirts, an Easter basket and some draw-string bags, all of which have gone to live elsewhere.

Last Saturday the smart and talented Lady L. (with the assistance of Sundance) stopped by and quilted this vibrant baby quilt that is to be a gift for a family friend. She, and her equally smart and talented Mom, (Lady L. comes by it honestly) pieced this quilt as a team; now her Mom is finshing up the binding. It was a great way to spend the morning on National Quilting Day! One more beauty to be in, out, and on its way!
Life is Good!

 

Obedience School

"Obedience School"  50" X 57.5"

With the help of Sundance all the quilting is completed, at long last, on "Obedince School"; I'll be applying binding this afternoon. Luckily for me, I found the perfect piece (and exactly the right amount!) of dark blue/black fabric yesterday in the stash closet for binding; it truly has become the closet that just keeps on giving... oh dear, do I ever need to shop again?! This quilt top has been in the "to be quilted" queue for quite some time, making the (soon to be) finish on this one all that much sweeter. As always, Hannes is more than happy to pose on any right-off-the-rails quilt; he looks especially at home on this one though with all of his canine buddies!

This is the backside, giving you a feel for the density of the quilting on this one.

" Obedience School" detail.

Life is Good!

What's Underfoot (Paw) and Under The Needle

We have new rugs in the kitchen, the old ones had served their purpose and lasted for ten+ years; Mr. Goodneedle saw these in the LLBean catalog and thought they'd look good, I agreed and the order was placed. We had two of the grandchildren here, napping, when the rugs arrived. We opened the package, unrolled the rugs, and immediately placed them on the floor. Gregory awakened a short time after that and when he came into the kitchen he walked right on this rug, looked down, and asked "what's this"? We told him that Nana and Pawpaw bought new rugs. "Oh", he answered, with a sad voice, "I liked the old ones better". He's a funny little boy. At 3 years of age he has already told us that he "really loved" the old TV in the kitchen after it was replaced with an under-cabinet mounted flat screen and he claims that the old sofa his parents got rid of, in favor of a new sectional, was his favorite sofa! With apologies to his Methodist grandparents, it looks to me, through this mindset of his, as though Gregory is truly Lutheran through and through! There are no complaints on the new rugs from Hannes; they're hooked from 100% wool and are super warm and cushiony underfoot, he loves them... and so do we!

Sundance and have I spent a good amount of time quilting this week, as many hours as we could squeeze in. For some (crazy?) reason I decided to quilt this one with dense background fill stitches; it's coming along, and I do love the results, and yet... it's s-l-o-w going (lots of hours and thread). I've named this one "How Much Is That Doggie?", it measures 52" X 59". The pattern, "Nickel Dogs" (the puppies can all be made up from five inch charm squares), is available from Me and My Sisters. It's a good feeling to get this one out of the to-be-quilted queue.

Life is Good!

Whatcha Waitin' For?

At long last "Sturbridge Strawberries" is hung in our family room. If you've read any earlier posts you  might remember that I pieced this quilt back in 1997. Why has it languished in the "to be quilted" pile? Probably because, if the truth were to be told, I suffer from quilting paralysis; that inactivity prompted by fear... the "I can't quilt well enough to do it justice" kind of fear that stops me dead in my tracks most of the time. It's irrational to think this way; not because after I have actually quilted something I think it's all that, but because I have to admit, even to myself (and who's harder on us that ourselves?) that it's not all that bad!

Sturbridge Strawberries, quilting detail

Chicken Soup #1 is off the rails and ready for binding. Chicken Soup #2 is being quilted today. I'm pushing myself into action and really enjoying the rhythm of forward momentum. I continually ask myself "whatcha waitin' for?" and really wonder why there's no genuine answer. So, I've decided it's high time to be far less critical of myself and more accepting of every effort that displays progress... how about you? Whatcha waitin' for?

Life is Good!

Smooth Moves

There's lots of slick things going on at Chez Goodneedle these days... cooler temperatures and the advent of fall have seen us gliding right on in to a new season and some fresh, fun projects! Mr. Goodneedle presented me with this wonderful, hand-turned, fruit bowl a few weeks ago. The finish on this one is just as smooth as silk, it's the absolute perfect size and a handsome addition to the kitchen countertop. While we're talking about slick additions to the kitchen I have to rave about the silicone baking sheet liners that my daughter gave me for my birthday. I had never used one before but after baking up some Candied Pecans and a batch of granola I know for certain that I'll never go without one of these beauties again! These liners make smooth work and an easy release (and clean-up!) from what could have been an otherwise stuck-on mess!

Sliding out of the kitchen and into the sewing room is one easy transition, 

something sweet's happening in here too.

A smooth, swirling quilting design, "Waterworld," on Chicken Soup #1.

Life is Good!

One Quick Quilter!

I loaded this bright and colorful baby quilt onto Sundance last Friday so that it would be ready for my daughter-in-law's arrival on Saturday and her first machine quilting lesson. She arrived before 9 AM; I had her do a few walk-throughs over a panotgraph before we threaded Sundance up and switched her on. Leigh Anna, the new quilter, was done before noon;(seriously, it took longer to load this than it took her to quilt it!) she took to driving the machine and quilting like a duck to water. She did an absolutely wonderful job, she's a natural; born to quilt. Lucky me: I'm realizing we have one quick quilter in the family, this could come in VERY handy. Lucky Lynnleigh: she's the recipient of one lovely quilt made by her Mama to grow up with and love! Win-win!!

Life is Good!

Leigh Anna and her beautiful Baby Zig Zag ~ 40" X 56"

Potholes and Pitfalls

I am treading carefully in the studio these days, deftly stepping to avoid tripping as floorboards are replaced after moving a floor plug to a better location, directly under my sewing tables! You're probably thinking "why wasn't it there to begin with?" Well, it was... until Sundance moved in five years ago and the furniture placement was changed to accomodate the quilting machine and a twelve foot table! Ever since that time I've been making do with extension cords running here, there and everywhere; we didn't want to change anything too hastily in case I wasn't happy with the machines/tables where they were. Okay, five and half years later is suffiicent time to realize that this arrangement works just fine! I'm moving judiciously, in that same manner, around the dining room table as the photo documentation project drags on... potholes and pitfalls lurk at every turn in there too. I could write a manual "what to avoid" when embarking on such a task; it's almost impossible to avoid tripping up by either (a.) heading down memory lane or (b.) overthinking what to keep and what to pitch or (c.) spending entirely too much time trying to identify complete randomness (in many categories, i.e: quilt pictures, other people's children from thirty years ago, cars(!?!)... that group is never-ending). I'm finally ready to leap high over these stumbling blocks and be done with it all; and not look back! It was nice having Mr. Goodneedle underfoot (literally) yesterday while Sundance and I put the last quilting stitches in Sturbridge Strawberries... he and I were, literally, working only inches apart; I had to keep a watchful eye behind myself every time I stepped back!  This floor plug move will be nice, no more extension cords running evrywhere over the floor; this has been on the top of my home-improvement list for a long time; I am so thankful my list and his finally coalesced!

"Sturbridge Strawberries" ~ 56" X 68"

Quilt model/ surface embellishment ~ approx. 11 lbs.

Life is Good!

It's All Good...

Sundance and I spent the entire day together on Saturday.  I chose to quilt arcs (which  line up nicely to form "kissing" circles) all over the surface of "Sturbridge Strawberries" using a pretty "toast" colored thread; except for in the appliqué areas where I have free-motioned some little pointy-swirls, and the feathered outer borders. This photo can be enlarged by clicking it for more detail. Interestingly enough I ran across this picture, below, just the other day from a guild meeting back in June of 1997. I did the  program that evening on Round Robin quilts and just happened to bring this top then for show and tell (even though it is NOT a Round Robin quilt). It's hard to believe that this one's been shelved, and waiting, (with the binding all prepared!?!) for the last sixteen years; but that's the truth!

One thing I have learned is that the longer one waits for something the more one appreciates it when it's a reality; for, after all, anything worth having is worth waiting for (which makes the worth of this one astronomical!). Stay tuned for the finish and the hanging, I'm in the homestretch and on a roll now...

and it's all good...

Life is Good!

Feather Fear

I'm fearful of  feathers. Not those flying friends of mine who visit the feeders, but of my ability when it comes to stitching feathers, ... and, yet, I love them! I shy away from the idea of quilting graceful, undulating, curved feathers on my borders and, yet, I can't stop thinking about how much they will add to the finished quilt. With this fear at the forefront of my mind I have adopted a new mantra: "you can't improve on the feathers you never stitch". How's that for deep? If I want to be fearless and tackle feathers without a second thought I need to work on them, conquer my fear! I don't think you can see the feather in the floral border on the right, it doesn't show up very well, but... it's done! One down and three to go!

 You can see the quilted feathered border here on the underside of the quilt. I loaded "Sturbridge Strawberries" on Sundance yesterday afternoon and have worked in the little bit of time that I've had since then, we have grandchildren here for the next two days (and nights); any further progress on this one will be during naps! I'm tickled with the way that this is turning out and will repeat my mantra over and over!

"All Are Precious..." came off Sundance yesterday morning, the quilting is done on this one at long last!

It feels extremely liberating to be moving these old tops off the hangers and out of the closet, seeing them actually "come to life" through the quilting is very satisfying.I am hoping to get this quilt piped, bound and hung by the weekend!

Life is Good!

C'mon In...

 ... let me show you a few things that I've been working on, and thinking about, lately. There's never any shortage of projects in various stages of construction in and around the sewing space!  "Scaredy Cat" has come off the rails after machine quilting, Sundance did a great job with the woodgrain on the fence and the swirling, starry night sky. The pumpkins are wool; I will hand finish them with big-stitch quilting. I will hand-couch the thread to add toothy-grins for the cat, moon and pumpkins; plus I plan to add flat, black button overlays to those white, zombie-eye circles, giving them a less possesed appearance and one small round button eye to Mr. Moon! I'm pleased to get this one done up and ready for fall, it's only been two years in the works! This pattern is from Kim Diehl's book: Simple Seasons. This project, however, is a newbie compared to what's on Sundance today. I pieced the quilt below from a McCall's Quilting magazine (mid 1990's) pattern named "American Melting Pot". I added the folk-art border after taking a Sue Nickels' machine applique workshop back in 2005!  I layered it and pin-basted the sandwich, eight years ago, and quilted most of it on my domestic machine. For some reason I stopped working on it, I don't have any idea why; just lost interest I guess.

All Are Precious In His Sight   56" X 68" circa 2005

On Tuesday this week I stopped by to see a friend who just bought a new longarm machine, an APQS George, the sit down variety. I stitched on it for a few minutes and realized, immediately, how very long it's been since I sat and machine quilted! I tried to recall the last quilt I had quilted that way, before Sundance came into my life; this one (I have renamed it, see above) jumped to mind. I came home, dug it out, and loaded it onto Sundance by wrapping it onto the rails, I couldn't load it by the conventional method; 80% of the quilting was already done, all that remains to be quilted is border work! In 2005 I had been quilting a small stipple in the border; yesterday I found just enough of the matching thread to give it a go and see if I could make this work, and look seamless. Lo, and behold, I can! I need more thread and will be moving this one, soon, from the recesses of the stash closet (where all self-respecting UFO's hang out together) to the bedroom hallway; in a special spot I had chosen for it to hang many years ago!

Star Flower block pieces arranged per  QAL at  A Crafty Fox.

You may recall, earlier in the summer that I began collecting low-volume fabrics to make "Chicken Soup" quilts to give to my children for their respective families, a quilt to put away and use on those inevitable stay-home-from-school sick days. As a sick day quilt, I felt, the fabrics chosen would need to be soft and quiet; and so, the fabric hunt began and the collection grew... and grew, and grew! It's time; time to stop collecting and start cutting! Now that I have the fabrics, and they're all so gorgeous, what pattern could I use to incorporate them all, scrappy style? I cut out a few diamonds and placed them on a background.

Sunday Morning strip block from the book: Sunday Morning Quilts.

Tumbler block pieces, randomly arranged as a small test piece.

And, so... my decision? All three! I told you I had collected a LOT of low volume fabrics this summer! I plan to make a Tumbler and a Sunday Morning and let my children draw straws for those. I'll do a Star Flower to keep for myself. These soft, quiet fabrics hold great appeal for yours truly; I believe each one of these is a classic quilt just waiting to be born! Looks like I have my work CUT OUT (or about to be!) for me. Thanks for stopping by today to see what's being finished... and what's being started... life in the sewing space at Chez Goodneedle is all about balance!

Life is Good!