A Carolina Finish

I put the finishing touches on Carolina and I could not be happier with this finish.  This top looks much prettier in person, it's was a dreary weekend here and this was as good of a picture as I could get.

The red fabric is a very pretty tone on tone leaf print, "Lately Arrived from London" by Barbara Brackman.  If I run across more I will buy it for my stash, it's a great red.

When I started on this quilt in March we had snow on the ground, the weather hasn't improved a whole lot but at least the grass is green and the snow has been replaced with rain.  That's one of my favorite things about blogging, to go back and read my posts from start to finish for each project.

I sure grumbled a lot while working on this quilt, and now I don't even know why, it wasn't hard and turned our perfectly. Maybe it was the weather making me such a grouch and not this pattern.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 104

The pattern is Carolina by Bonne Blue Quilts.

It finished at around 90" x 90"

It has approximately 1,833 pieces.

Read more

Something New

So while I'm putting the finishing touches on Carolina, I'm already thinking ahead to my next project.  And this is it, Coastal Lily by Minick and Simpson.  I know what you're thinking, "Thelma, another lily quilt?".  Yes, another one!  Even though I'm just finishing one lily quilt, I'm in the mood to start another one.  For some reason I just can't get enough of these bloom blocks.

 This pattern doesn't have a date on it but I don't think it's a new pattern. The fabric Minick and Simpson used for their Coastal Lily is Wiscassat, I think that fabric was released in 2007. The good news, the paper pattern is still available from Minick and Simpson, click here for more information.  

So even though I'm doing back to back lily quilts, this lily quilt will have a totally different feel than Carolina.   For one thing, one bloom block in Coastal Lily is 10 inches, that's a big bloom, 3 times bigger than the blooms in Carolina.  I'm  going to use fabric from my happy bins for Coastal Lily, and that fabric has more of a modern feel to it, but I think it will suit this pattern perfectly and also give it a different look.

I spent the better part of yesterday selecting my fabric, and even though it was a rainy day, just playing with that bright fabric made me happy.

I'm going with a different fabric for each bloom.  For the leaves I'm going to use that stack of grays.  For the geese I'm going to use those grays and add navy.  The blossom berries will also be navy.  A lot of the fabric is from Bonnie and Camille's newest released line Happy Go Lucky by Moda.

If you were thinking about doing a lily quilt, but were a little scared off of Carolina by my constant talk of those fussy points and seams, you may like this pattern better. First off, those bloom points float, you don't have to worry about cutting them off when piecing the blocks together.  Also, the stems, ARE PIECED, not appliquéd, that's really appealing to me right now. And finally, no border to speak of, you really don't need any yardage for this pattern.  I think any type of fabric would work for this pattern, I think this pattern would look good with totally scrappy traditional fabric, or any 3 Sisters,  Minick and Simposn, Bonnie and Camille, Fig Tree, or even French General family of fabric.  Really, any fabric you've got laying around your sewing room would work.

Maybe this is just the pattern you need to make your own lily quilt!  Come on and join me, couldn't you use a few blooms in your life?

Read more

Looky Looky, Here Comes . . .

an almost finish!

Ta Da! 

All my Carolina blocks are connected.

Three borders and this one is moving to my Lifetime Quilt List.   I'm so glad I stayed with that sashing, I like it and think it will look even better once the borders are on, which should be by Friday, stop back by!

Read more

Back in love . .

I'm getting used to that sashing now and I have to agree with all the comments you left on Wednesday, the sashing really makes those lilies pop.  I'm very happy with how this top is looking, and in the back of my mind, I sort of figured that's the way things would go.

Another plus, the assembly is coming together perfectly.  I just love it when that happens, no fudging, no stretching, no missing points. 

I've gotten a few questions about my 6 inch pineapple blocks.  

First off, I'm going with creams and whites for my lights. 

Regarding the foundation paper patterns - I printed off my original block using that EQ7 software.  I don't know much about that software, but there is a library of blocks one can access so I just selected  my pineapple block and my size then printed the block using the foundation printing option.

For some reason the sewing lines did not extend past the 6 inch block line on the block, so I extended the lines using a ruler and a black marker.  I have no idea if I did something wrong when selecting my print options or if this is just how the software works, I just knew that I needed to extend those sections of the block so I would have enough fabric to square up the block and also have a 1/4 seam allowance.

I also circled all the section numbers with a red marker where I was to use red fabric.  I confuse easily, anything to keep me on track is usually time well spent.

Once I was done adjusting my master foundation block I just ran copies using Carol Doak's Foundation Paper.  It's a wonderful product and available in most quilt shops. The Fat Quarter Shop also carries it.  (click here)

I've not touched those pineapple blocks since I got home from Paducah, I hope to get back to them soon.

Read more

I'm sticking with it

Finally, some real progress to report! One of my favorite quilting quotes is, "Quilts take a long time, when you don't work on them".  And some quilts take a long time when you do work on them.  I don't get hours of uninterrupted sewing time very often, but I'm making the most of the time I have this week.

My sashing was a breeze to piece.  Even with making sure all my grapes were hanging down.
(see that sunshine in this picture, the sun is back, for two straight days now!)

Ok, so I'm still feeling a little uncomfortable with all that sashing action surrounding those serene lily blocks, but it's not unusual for me to take awhile to warm up to things so I'm sticking with it.

It's also not unusual for me to fall in and out of love with a project as I progress, so I'm sticking with it.

It did just occur to me that my browns are darker than the browns on the pattern cover, maybe that's another reason they look so busy to me, but I'm sticking with it!

I got a couple of notes from folks about an antique Carolina Lily quilt Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville saw in an antique shop in  Maine.  It's a wonderful quilt and the green stem and leaf fabric has faded to an interesting shade of gray while the yellow and red pieces look as good as ever.  I'm attaching a link for you to check it out but I'm warning you, this is one of those blogs with commercials and advertisements everywhere, it takes forever to load a page. click here  I can't decided if I care if some of my quilts end up in a flea market or antique shop, better than the landfill I suppose, it sometimes makes me a little sad that these wonderful old quilts are not being enjoyed by the family they belong to.  Every quilt deserves a good home, I feel the same way about dogs, it's a wonder my house isn't full of antique quilts and puppies.

Read more

Blooming . . . .

25 flower blocks, all done, that's all I need for Carolina.  Sometimes, on past patterns where the entire quilt was made up of one block, I would get bored with the piecing.  I enjoyed making each one of these blocks, even though they were identical.  Maybe because they were the only thing blooming around here. I'm still not missing those handles on the sides of the baskets.

Now it's on to the sashing.  After looking at these flower blocks for weeks, I have to admit I'm not so sure about that checkered sashing.  But I like to think I learn from past mistakes, and remember how I didn't like the looks of the sashing on 3 Barns, and sewed all the blocks together without it, then un-sewed the blocks and added the sashing!  I like the looks of the blocks with the sashing on the Carolina pattern cover so it's full steam ahead on making the sashing and using it.

How was your Mothers Day?  Mine was very nice, although this year, for the fist time in ages, I wasn't with my daughter on Mothers Day.  But she did send me these beautiful roses.

AND A RED TOASTER!

You may not remember, but a few months ago for a giveaway, I asked folks to leave a comment telling me about their favorite red thing.  Someone mentioned how they got their day off to a happy start by making breakfast using their red toaster.  It had never even occurred to me to have a red toaster.  I gave no thought to my old stainless steel toaster, I used it then put it away, but I liked the idea of a red toaster, and now I have one.

This is my kitchen, I don't like things out on the counter, I prefer to store items, like my can opener,  mixer, and paper towels in the cabinets.  I use them then put them up.  I only have the necessities out on my counter, the banana basket, we always have bananas, the coffee maker, the canisters that hold the coffee, and now my red toaster.

It's just too darn cute to put in the cabinet.

I'm not wantint to jinx myself, but right now I have a pretty free week ahead of me, I'm hoping for a very productive week in my sewing room, it's been ages since I've spent some real time up there, I've just been squeezing in a hour every now and then for weeks, I'm ready to finish up Carolina and move on to something new.


On a very sad note, Paula Barnes, the designer of my Carolina pattern and half of the team for Bonnie Blue/Red Crinoline Quilts lost her husband unexpectedly this month.  I took a class with Paula at the the Buggy Barn last fall, she shared some wonderfully funny stories about her family and her husband.   That family has been in my thoughts this week as I work on Paula's pattern, will you send some kind thoughts their way this week as well?  I'm sure the family would appreciate it.

Read more

Back in my sewing room . . .

Besides unpacking, working, running errands and doing all the other things that I was behind on after being out of town for a week, I did manage to get some sewing done last week.

I've got 14 Carolina blocks done, the pattern only has 25 blocks, I'm over half way there.

Please forgive this horrible picture, the sun has decided to shine about as much in May as it did in April, which was about two days, so even though this picture is dark and dreary, the blocks are not.

Between the number of pieces in each block and matching up the points and seams, these blocks are a little fussy, but well worth the effort.  

Just in case you've forgotten, I'm making Carolina by BonnieBlue Quilts.  

I selected my fabric for my project but the gals at Bonnie Blue still have kits available, click here.

I'm loving Carolina so much I've decided to make another Lily quilt, Coastal Lily by Minick & Simpson.  Except instead of going with traditional fabric, I'm going to go with some of those more modern fabrics in my happy bin.  (click here for more pattern information)

Remember Hilda, who is hand appliquéing a Quilt Mania lily quilt?   She's made her first block and has some great hand work tips, be sure to check it out. (click here)

While in Paducah at the AQS show I took an all day longarm quilting class, stop by Wednesday to hear all about what I learned.

On a blogging note, if you leave a question with your comment, but don't have your email address associated with your comment, how would you like me to answer your question?  Should I add it to a new blog post, at the bottom of the blog post where you left your question, or as a reply in the comments section?  I always feel bad when someone asks a question and I have no direct way of communicating with that person.  Is there some sort of blogging protocol here that I'm not aware of?  Thanks!

Read more

Carolina

Make a few stems, make a few blocks, that's the routine I'm following these days.

These blocks are a little fussy, several seams to line up, points to match up and not cut off, so they're going slow.  But I'm enjoying the process and really feel like I've accomplished something each time I put another lily block on my design wall. 

I'm not missing those basket handles at all!

I've also decided to stop whining about those stem blocks.  I got a note from Hilda at Every Stitch saying she was getting ready to start the Carolina Lily pattern from Quilt Mania.

Hilda's looking forward to doing the stems for this project by hand!  Sure puts those little stumpy stems I'm working on into perspective!  Hilda, that's going to be a treasure when it's done.

Is there anyone out there not drowning in rain?  There's a rumor that we're in for some sun this weekend, I'm sure hoping so!

Read more

Let's Talk Stems . . .

So if you've been following along from the beginning of my Carolina project, you know I've not been over the top excited about the stems for my blooms.  But they've got to be done so I decided to work on  a few every day while I finish piecing my blooms.

3 blooms - 3 stems, no big deal really.

So the directions in the pattern said to use this template to place the stems in the correct place.

Getting the stems in just the right place is important, see how the left and right stems need to line up with that seam and base on the flower?  If the stems aren't in the right place that doesn't happen.  I don't know about you, but it would drive me crazy to have stems going everywhere but where they should be.

So I made this overlay out of pattern ease to attach my stems to the block.

I made the overlay by tracing the lines using the template in the pattern.

See those red arrows on the left and right stems? That is the all important edge.  My stems need to line up perfectly with that line, it would be great if the stem fit right in that canal perfectly on both sides, but it doesn't matter if the stem is over or below the bottom side, it just needs to meet that top line perfectly.

So I take my fabric and press a line down the middle, so I know where the center is.

Then I place the overlay on top of the fabric, lining up that center line on the overlay with the pressed line on the fabric, and line up the bottom of the overlay with the bottom of the fabric.

Then I put the side stems where they need to be,

then the middle stem.

Once the stems are pressed into place I  machine appliqué them on.

I'm using this bias strip guide for pressing the fabric and attaching Clover fusible bias tape to the back.

Two done, only 23 more to go!

Read more

Spring is in the air

I'm going to town on my Carolina Lily block flowers.  I like watching them bloom and grow on my design wall.

Sherri and Sinta have revealed this month's Schnibbles sew along project, Hat Trick!

Count me in, this little quilt finishes at 26" x 32", a perfect table topper size, at least for my table.

I've been itching to make some sort of spring project for weeks, I'm thinking of going with one background fabric for the whole project, this fabric.

And I'm thinking of just sticking with some green and pink fabric for my 9 patch blocks, something that I"ll put on my table that screams spring and will perk me up this time next year, when it seems like spring is never going to arrive.  It will probably perk me up this year too, just working on it.

Read more

Finally, a flower is blooming at my house . . . .

This is what greeted me Monday morning, 16 inches of snow. It is melting, and the streets are clear, but it sure doesn't look like spring in my neighborhood. 

I'm still working away on all the pieces and parts for my Carolina Lily blocks.

But I had enough pieces and parts to make one inspiration block.  I was worried about those side stems matching up correctly with the seams at the base of the flowers.  Woo Hoo, what a relief, the stems did match up just right.

It feels great to know the blocks should go to go together easily and to finally have something blooming at my house.

I'm not so sure I like the direction of those grapes on my basket, I may cut those triangles again, so the grapes are not diagonal and they all look the same.  I'm not missing those basket handles one little bit.

My trunk show for the Homespun Quilters in Mt. Carmel, Illinois was nothing but fun. There were at least 50 members in attendance.  They were a very welcoming and engaged audience, I immediately felt at ease while I talked about my quilts.  They are also a very civic minded group volunteering their time and energy making pillowcases, Quilts of Valor, and fleece quilts for local youth.  I felt honored to be asked to speak to such an active and experienced group of quilters.  Thanks so much ladies, I could not have had a better time!

Read more

Carolina State of Mind

It's official, I've started Carolina, the beautiful lily pattern by Paula Barnes for Bonnie Blue/Red Crinoline Quilts.  

On the back of the pattern Paula reveals that the peak blooming time for the Carolina Lily is July to August, I thought maybe it was more of a springtime flower, but that's OK, maybe I'll have this top done by July or August.  Right now I'll just go for anything that blooms.

There is a Carolina kit available at Red Crinoline Quilts, click here for details.  In the product description they do mention that the handles and stems are appliquéd.

So the first thing I wanted to try was the stems.  Paula recommended using the Clover bias tape maker and that's what I used.

I machine appliqued the stems and had no problems, but those side stems must be perfectly placed to meet at the correct seam when piecing the block together.  I won't know how I did for sure until I get the rest of the required block parts cut and pieced.  I used an overlay to get the seams in place.  If it works I'll blog about my process.  I'm not sure what I'll do if it doesn't, let's just think positively.

But I need 160 flying geese before I can piece blocks, so that's what I'm working on now. I'm using Monique's Fit to be Geese rulers and everything is going smoothly.

I'm using tricky background fabric again, where the front is just enough darker from the back to be noticeable when the quilt is done but not while you're piecing.  So I made my little cheat pieces of fabric and keep them right next to my sewing machine for reference.

Tomorrow is my trunk show, thanks so much for your words of encouragement, I'll let you know how it goes. I'll be staying a couple of days with my folks while I'm home so I may be off my regular blogging schedule this week.  Did you even know I had a blogging schedule?  I try to blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but sometimes I have to blog on Tuesdays or Thursdays if it's the first of the month for Blogger Girls BOM or the end of the month for the Schnibbles Sew Along.  Speaking of which, are you counting the days until Sherri and Sinta get back to hosting that sew along?  I am!

Read more