Can Raindrops Be Quilted?

Today is the quarterly reveal of The Endeavourers art quilts.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

was the Challenge theme for this May 1, 2019 reveal.

How did I endeavour to sew this challenge theme? 

I'll give you the rundown here:
(Please know the beads were added after the quilt was completed.)

• I used a fat quarter of dotted, light grey fabric for the background (suggesting raindrops all around). 
• I sketched a lady wearing a dress and a hat. (This is a summer day.)
• I used Steam-A-Seam 2 on the back of the fabrics for the arms, hat parts, hair, and dress. 
• After pressing the pieces in place on the background fabric, I appliqued each with a small zig-zag stitch. 

• I placed the quilt top on a piece of batting and used the free motion foot to machine quilt grey thread lines in the forefront, making little raindrop swirls every inch or so as I moved down the piece.

• I placed the backing fabric (a darker grey dot) underneath what I just quilted. Then I quilted straight lines between the raindrop swirl lines. But these were mid-ground, so I did not quilt over the woman. I stopped and started so my needle and thread would not sew over any part of her.

• I added the binding, which matches the backing fabric. I bind my quilts completely by machine. You can read and see how I do it HERE.

• Finally, I used Aileen's Jewel-It (no afilliation) to glue a glass bead in each raindrop swirl shape to give the piece sparkle, as one might see from a raindrop in an unexpected summer shower. (Note: I think it would have been easier to have sewn the beads, so they would have been exactly where I wanted them.)

Thank you for visiting.

You can visit the other members of The Endeavourers listed HERE.

Christmas RAPPing Blog Hop

Christmas RAPPing Blog Hop begins today. 

Two talented women from the quilting world have joined forces to bring you a new book! 

Margaret Willingham (of Eye of the Beholder Quilt Design) and Nan Baker, (Marketing Director for The Quilt Pattern Magazine and Purrfect Spots Designs) have combined their distinctly different styles in Christmas RAPPing, Christmas quilts featuring Reverse Applique and Paper-Piecing.

The 10+ projects vary in size from table runners to wall hangings to full size quilts and even Christmas tree decorations.

  

There are multiple quilt size options and alternative color variations.

The variety of designs all include the unique Star patterns found throughout the book.  

Two projects include interactive quilts that can be great for helping children young and old start the countdown for Christmas Day! 

All the designs feature Reverse Applique and Paper Piecing so you can learn new techniques using the book’s easier, more streamlined methods.

The patterns in this book reflect the individual styles of both Margaret and Nan blended together to create gorgeous quilts to celebrate the Christmas season. They hope you enjoy making their quilts and find your Christmas favorites which will become family heirlooms.

We must thank our wonderful sponsors: 

Island Batik

Aurifil 

and 

June Tailor, Inc. 

Here is the schedule of the designers' posting for the blog hop. 

Visit each day to see the projects made from this new book and enter the giveaway for prizes. 

29 April –  MooseStash Quilting

30 April – One Quilting Circle

1 May – Kathy's Kwilts and More 

2 May – Beaquilter

3 May – Powered by Quilting

4 May – Dizzy Quilter

5 May – Barbara Gaddy

6 May – Patchwork Breeze

7 May – Vicki's Crafts and Quilting

8 May – Quilting Gail

9 May – Michelle at Creative Blonde

10 May – Maryellen McCauliffe

11 May – For the Love of Geese

12May – Maria Hrabovsky

Latest Sewing Projects

My husband and I enjoyed the Easter weekend with our daughter and son-in-law. It was a welcome diversion from the normal routine around here. My daughter asked to sew some nature-themed bowl cozies and a potholder for friends they will be seeing soon. I did the sewing while she helped with cutting, turning right side out, and pressing.

Three more April blocks arrived just before Easter for my Queen Bee Gridster quilt.  I put them on the design wall after taking the photo.

I'm working on reveal projects for The Endeavourers Challenge on May 1

and my post for the Christmas RAPPers Blog Hop on May 6. The blog hop begins on April 29-just a few days away. You can click here to find out more.

 

I helped out for a few more days in the high school art room. Just a few students were finishing up. But the supplies were in need of major organization. While going through the monster lists, the teacher found one 2nd grader's projects that wasn't chosen by an art student to make. So I worked on this at home, so no one was missed. It was very fun to "create as I sewed." It's a pretty good likeness, don't you think?

Using my scraps, I began working on "Scrappy Flowers Coaster Set" to hopefully sell at the consignment shop. The pattern is in Quilters World magazine from Spring 2016. It's an easy, quilt-as-you-go pattern by Chris Malone.

I also made some journal covers for the consignment shop. I watched a few YouTube videos that showed how easy they were. It was extra practice in free motion quilting. 

Gosh, when I look at the week in summary, I see I have done a good amount of sewing. What have you been sewing this past week? 

Snow Puts Sewing on Hold

I was fortunate to have finished sewing the t-shirt blocks together BEFORE the power went out. I am making the quilt for a high school graduate. I found fabric for the backing on my stash shelf and got it pieced and squared, too.

It snowed from about 10 a.m. this morning

until 6:30 p.m. this evening.

We just finished reheating soup and eating dinner when the power went out.

I am sure the 8" of heavy, wet snow that fell today took some trees down onto power lines. We have the generator going, but have it running the important appliances.

I am glad I fed the birds once I saw this cardinal looking at me!

I don't have a hand project to work on at the moment. So I guess I will work some Soduko puzzles.

2 Quilt UFOs Finished

On Wednesday my friend, Teri, and I got together for a sewing day. I was able to finish a table runner I started a few years ago for Christmas. I added bindings to 2 quilts that I picked up last week from the longarm quilter. (A photo of one of the quilts is coming.) I'm linking up with The Crafty Quilter's UFO-Works in Progress.

Last evening I made a little more progress on my Queen Bee quilt blocks (read about that HERE).

April's Queen Bee Block

Now that April has arrived, I can post that it's my month to be Queen Bee of the Gridster Bee (#gridsterbee) group. Being a member of this group has been so fun. The group changed it's name to Gridster Bee in 2017. Prior to that it was the Mid-Century Modern Bee. I joined the MCM Bee in 2016. There are 12 of us from various regions of the United States. I enjoy the anticipation of each month's Queen Bee revealing her block choice. We don't if she'll choose a traditional or modern block, or designed an original block that might become a written pattern!

I chose a traditional block this month. It is a scrappy red, white and blue Friendship Star with 4-Patches in each corner. I am pretty sure I had seen it as a free pattern on Pat Sloan's website, but I didn't bookmark it and can't find it now. I re-drafted it from a 9" block to a 12" block.

I already received some blocks from some very speedy Gridster members. Thank you, Elizabeth, Linda, Allison and Kelley.

That got the plan rolling for a queen size quilt setting. I want to use fabric from my stash. The setting I am toying with looks like this, which I designed in Electric Quilt.

I'll be making a few star blocks and lots of blue and white patches to fill in the quilt. I look forward to the completed quilt sometime this summer!

I leave you with a little peek of Spring from outside my door.

From afar it's more like Autumn.


A closer looks reveals grape hyacinths and snowdrops popping up.



A crocus stretching after a long winter hibernation


And a few more open


And the not-so-shy chickadees are always around the feeder. I wish the goldfinches and nuthatches weren't so cautious of me.