Go Tah’s!!

It’s going to be a sad adjustment year without MY PHIL  I wish for him all the best with his new career.

With My Phil retired, I’m in the hunt for a new fixation…..young James O’Connor is a candidate.  Now, isn’t he just a cutie?  I think he’s all of 21 years old.  He has his own ‘love me’ web site…..isn’t he special?  Hey James…..don’t let that Pommy party boy lead you astray in Melbourne this year, ok?

Then there is not-so-young-anymore Berrick Barnes.  I hope he and his new wife are happy – I’m still waiting to see the wedding photos…..Berrick?  Hello?  I’m WAAAAAAAAIIIIIITTTTTTING!

And finally – there’s hubba hubba Adam Ashley-Cooper.  Now that he’s with the Tah’s, he’ll be even more fun to watch.

Most weekends, there are 2 games on Friday, 2 or 3 on Saturday and another 2 on Sunday – this is for the Super 15 (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa).  Then there is Rugby Club on Thursday nights to catch up on what you may have missed or any gossip or simply just to hear 4-5 men rabbit on about what happened (why are there no women on this show?).  If you’re desperate, there is a podcast you can listen to weekly (which includes the European Rugby scene also) and for those 4AM moments when you can’t sleep….there is Rugby Heaven and the Green & Gold Rugby Forum.

Ahhhh…….all is well in the world……..or will be at 5:30 kick-off today!

This week, Leah taught us how to sew our quilt sandwiches together.  Since I have another use for my quilt sandwiches (thanks to an idea from Frantastic Stitch Witchery Fran Moore , I didn’t have a specific assignment other than practice, practice, practice.

I decided to tackle a quilt top that I had made with scraps last year.  The problem with this particular quilt is that I made it using foundation piecing and even without batting and backing – the sucker is heavy.   I used an old sheet for the foundation fabric.  (Note to self…..don’t do that again……a sheet is too heavy.)

Because of this, I choose to practice my large stipple.  I’m so glad I didn’t decide to do leaves or feathers.  In spite of its relatively small size – it was very cumbersome.  I think it’s probably harder to do a large stipple than a small stipple on a home machine  - because you have to move your hands so often.  I managed though.

I choose red thread – so I could examine my work easier.  I’m relatively pleased with my stitch length.  Oh sure, there are variations – but they aren’t that noticeable.  I found that it helped to ‘listen’ to my machine to find the best rhythm between my hands and my machine speed.  Rev the motor and my stitches were too small….slow it down and the stitches ended up too big.  Guess it’s the Ying/Yang of FMQ?  OMMMMMMMMMMMMM

And, to use up the thread in a bobbin, I did some more funky feathers to practice the SewCalGal challenge for February.  I’m still laughing……

Unfortunately, Ms. J (Janome) is starting to complain that I’ve been working her too hard and not giving her time off so she’s off for a spa treatment.  Apparently many of her friends are in for spa treatments so it looks like it will be several weeks without her (they say three).  Guess that gives me several weeks to do prep work and hand work.

Thanks to all who have come by my blog in the last 3 months.  According to the handy-dandy tracker that Mr. W installed, I have had 1846 visits in the last 3 months.  And they’ve been from all over the world!  How amazing is that?

Thanks so much!

Binding finished on 2 small quilts, 2 placemats and 1 table mat.

We had a break in the rain so I took a few quilts outside for photos.  Brief descriptions are on the ‘Quilts in our Home’ page.

I didn’t have a quilt top with sashing prepared to quilt this week and I was short on time so I just did some general practice work on some fabric sandwiches.

Oh, and I did my first ever in my life feather (following the Sewcalgal FMQ tutorial).  My feather is certainly a mangled feather….more on that on my Sewcalgal post.

I was actually looking forward to my FMQ time this week – go figure.  I’m working to get another quilt top layered so that I have something to practice on for the next couple weeks.

Feathers anyone?

Talk about being totally overwhelmed.

Our SewCalGal FMQ challenge for February is feathers.  Nothing like throwing the baby in the boiling pot of water!  Here is the SewCalGal link to the February tutorial with Diane Gaudynski.  What an amazing machine quilter.  Being a newbie to the world of FMQ – I am amazed on a daily basis with the talent out there.  And, here is a link to Diane’s blog.

I started my feather process with several hours of doodling in front of the TV on my new dry erase board.  I’m not too bad at doing it on the board.  :)

Then I attempted my first feather.  Immediately afterwards, you would have found me on the floor laughing my ass off.  Oh how hilarious.  I have many practice hours ahead of me if I EVER hope to be proficient at quilting feathers.  No worries though – it’s rather fun.  By my third feather, although still not good (let alone GREAT), I was starting to get the hang of it.

One of the gals on Facebook suggested doing a feather a day – which I think is a great idea.  I might just earmark a quilt top to be my ‘feather a day’ quilt.

FINALLY!  Success!  I love it and can’t wait to quilt it.

What did I do?  I sprayed the top with 50/50 water & white vinegar then wrapped up rusty nails, washers & thing-a-ma-jigs (thanks scott!) and an old film canister inside it.   Wrapped it in handi-wrap to keep moist.  Let it sit for about 20 hours.  Unwrapped it.  Soaked it in salt water for about 30 minutes.  Washed it.  Dried it.  Pressed it.  Then did the same thing again because although I liked the results – there wasn’t ENOUGH rust.  Then I did the same thing with the binding fabric.

I can’t wait to do it again.  EVERYTHING is fair game……I have left-over sheer curtain fabric that I think I’ll try next.  I’m also going to have the neighbors dig through their sheds and find some rusted objects for me.

And, did you know there is an entire world of wacky rust aficionados out there?  Google ‘rust’ or ‘rust fabric’ or ‘rust photos’ – and be sure to go to Google Images…..some amazing work out there.

Word of caution…apparently you need to ‘treat’ your rusted fabric every 6 months or so in order to retard the rust process continuing.  And soda ash is better than salt.

With all the free motion quilting that I’m doing, I will certainly be quilting this baby up in the next month or two.  I need to place another Isacord thread order….I’m thinking a dark rust color and I’m thinking to quilt in large circles or spirals – using the old film canister for a motif.

I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about something quilty…..this was seriously fun.

And this is what I made:

I just didn’t think the little hearts and daisies and dots would work with my selection of fabrics – plus, I really just didn’t like the center blocks.

A light grey dot for the background, bold-ass fabric vomit fabrics for the flowers which I took from the 2005 book Bits and Pieces by Whimsicals.  I used vliesoflix (wonder-under) and a slate colored hand buttonhole stitch.  I left a space in the center as I think Leanne’s pattern might have something there.  If not – I’ll probably add another flower of some sort.

I know it’s bold and wild, but I think with my fabrics, it works.  I like it anyway and that’s what is important, right?

Now, I’m on to the next border section….it will be a good project to work on during my road trip later this month.