red and yellow

The red and yellow blocks are coming together.

freehand flowers (pq5)

More attempts at the freehand flowers from the pajama quilter.

I started drawing target circles for my flowers. That helps me keep the flowers bigger because they had been getting really small. (look at the ones on the right in this photo) I also tried a couple of variations in the flower centers, still trying to get the flowers to be bigger with better petals. Some of them came out pretty good,and some of them were not so good. (sigh)That splotch under the particularly bad flower is where my needle deposited a blob of oily linty grunge.

freehand flowers (pq 5)

First attempt  practicing some free hand flowers I learned  from the Pajama Quilter.

heartstring project

I started making blocks so that I can have a sample quilt finished for quilting program I am planning for the library in January. We are going to make heartstring blocks. Here are the ones that I have started.

practice piece 01

Here is the first practice piece completed. You can’t really see the quilting stitches (maybe just as well since this is my first one on the new machine).

field trip

I’ve been wanting to drive up to Asheville to visit Waechter’s Silk Shop for ages and I finally made it today. I’m really glad that I went. They have a beautiful selection of fabrics and patterns. Best of all, they have many garments on display using the patterns that they stock and made from wonderful fabric combinations. It is truly inspiring. They also have a comprehensive web site. If you are interested, you can see for yourself here.

I bought these two beautiful rayon batiks.

Hopefully, I will do a wonderful job making the drape neckline blouse in the picture.

I am also busy quilting  my practice piece. here is a photo of how it’s going. At the last minute I decided to just meander the entire quilt. I chose a very neutral thread color so that my mistakes wouldn’t show. I wish now that I wasn’t so conservative. I would be a lot prettier with a nice variegated thread.

practice…practice…

I’m still getting to know the new machine. Here’s a picture of my practice fabric.

I pieced these squares together for a practice quilt.

I think I will just meander this one because I want to really get a feel for what I’m doing before I try anything very complicated. I just hope I don’t change my mind before I’m finished.

the new machine

Here’s my newest toy. As you can see, these are my first ever doodles. Up to now, I’ve been using my little home sewing machine for all my quilting . This should be a lot more fun. I have a very simple quilt almost ready to load on.