What I'm working on: An orphan quilt, hand quilting & some embroidery

It's has been 11 years of me saying "I'm not a hand quilter, I'm just not patient enough". Which it is true I really do have to work hard on my patience. Last night I say down with my block that I had prepared & set to work hand quilting. I was disappointed with my work & I was venting my frustrations to a friend. Her encouraging words of "Vicky you've got to start somewhere" reminded me that I am a beginner.  Here's my progress so far

I think that I need to loosen the fabric in the hoop some. I'm so used to having my embroidery hoop taunt. That it's weird having it so flimsy. 

I am a huge Bonnie Hunter fan. I noticed on her blog & FB page that she was hand quilting an orphan block quilt. It got me to thinkin that I know that I've got lots of orphan blocks & leftover pieces from the last 10+ years. In just a few days I had what I thought was enough blocks but it turns out I was 2 short. That's not a problem. I can come up with 2 more blocks. This is the first layout

Husband did not like the swastikas on the left side. I didn't notice them! So I switched things around & came up with this 

It's going to be another biggie but that's ok. I just don't make small quilts. With a 4" border I believe it will be around 104" square. 

I've been making some progress on my newest embroidery project. 

This project will take a while because I need to make 8 of these blocks. They are going to be in a broken star quilt when they're all done. 

I hope y'all have a great day. It's looking like it will be another spectacular day here in the middle of America.  More later on,

Vicky

Me & hand quilting

Hand quilting & I go way back. I remember my mom was really into it when I was little. I just never understood why she would want to do something so slow. When I got into quilting I REALLY didn't understand why people would want to do something so slow when you had fast machine quilting. 

Something has changed in my perspective. I'm not sure why but it has. I had been intimidated by those small needles. I've got these huge man hands & thought I'd never be able to do quilt with those small needles. Well I was wasting time on YouTube the other day & I came across the Australian (Sarah Fielke) lady hand quilting using Pearl cotton embroidery floss & large embroidery needles to hand quilt. Well that got my attention. My curiosity was spiked & now I just had to try it. I was over anxious to start & thought that my first hand quilting project should be a queen sized quilt. My friend & LAQ said that I should do something small the first time just to make sure I liked it. So I came home & found this block

I need to put a border on it, find a backing & get started! I'm curious to see if I will like it. I'm kinda hoping that I will. I showed this block to my husband & explained my idea to him. His response was "what are you going to do with it?"

He's very much a everything has to have a function kind of guy. I told him that once I got it done I'd hang it in my sewing room. He replied "I see".

I hope that y'all are having a good day. It's another beautiful autum day here in the middle of America! More later on

Vicky

What in working on: A serious happy dance!

Oh I'm so stinkin happy. The Apple core quilt is done!!!! I'm excited, thrilled & relieved that it is done!

This has probably been one of the longest on going quilt projects that I have ever had. I've been working on & off with this quilt for over a year. I was determined that it was not going to go back on the shelf it was going to be completed ! Woohoo! Knock that one off the bucket list!

It's also been very busy on the scrappy front. I have been gifted oodles of scraps!

All of this came from 3 people. I'm looking forward to going through it & then putting it into quilts. More variety!

On the farm front my husband tricked me I thought we were done with hay but nope we're not. It looks like I'll be in the field tomorrow raking & baling hay. Woohoo! What a way to celebrate our Anniversary, but that is the life if a farmer. I hope y'all have a good day. It's beautiful here in the middle of America. More later on,

Vicky 

The hideous beautiful Apple Core quilt

Progress has been made!!! That is so exciting for me. With straight edge piecing the whole process goes so quickly but curved piecing is another story. It's not hard but it does make me go a lot slower. I'm so excited that all of the rows are made & now they just need to be put together. Woohoo!!

I've decided that this is as big as this is going to get. There will be a happy dance when the last row is attached. The next decision will be what to do on the binding. Do I square it up & do a regular binding or cut with the curve & make a bias binding. We'll see I'm not there yet so that decision does not have to be made. I hope y'all are having a great day. It's beautiful here but allergies are still keeping me inside. That's ok because I'm a quilter, I'll stay busy. More later on,

Vicky

What I'm working on: The Hideously Beautiful Apple Core Quilt

I try & work on one quilt at a time & not stop until it's done. It was something I told my husband that I would do. Well I've been somewhat successful in that statement. I got my Accuquilt Die cutter last summer & I got the Apple Core Fie shortly there after. I've always loved curved pieced quilts but I've never wanted to cut them out. That was no longer an issue with the die cutter. I cut out a whole bunch of pieces so that I could pin them on our way to Chicago last summer. I might have pinned a few at best. This project has been stopped & started so many different times. I am determined that I am not going to stop until this quilt is done! I have been using all different fabrics from my novelty stash. I even asked for novelties in my guilds Birthday FQ exchange so that I could have more variety. Here is where I am at currently

I am not cutting anymore pieces until I get what I've got cut pieced together. I think I might even piece a backing for this quilt, I haven't done that in sooo long but it's green apples & pearson a black fabric. Perfect for this quilt!

That's all for now. I'm yawning way to much so maybe a small nap will be in my future. I hope y'all are having a great day. Check out what other quilters are up to at patchworktimes.com

More later on,

Vicky