I started working on my For the love of geese quilt. I always admire paper pieced quilts but dread the thought of actually sewing them. I have a hard time visualizing what way to cut the fabric so that it covers the space and tend to end up wasting a lot of fabric. However, when I saw Denise's method using strips, I was very intrigued.
When she shared videos recently demonstrating the method, I was all in. I ordered some batik fabrics since she said it was the easiest to work with. Then I spent over a week dithering about which way to arrange the fabrics in the pattern. I finally made a decision, printed out all the foundations, and started over the weekend.
Here are the fabrics I started with--Island Batik's Petal Party fabric. I am using Kona white for my background pieces.
I started with the outermost circular ring of flying geese. My sewing time has been kind of limited lately, but I am still making some progress. {School only goes one more week, so maybe I will gain some time then?} Anyway, I have had very little waste so far and have only had to rip out three seams to redo. Sadly, one I ripped out, repositioned, sewed, and discovered I sewed it in the exact wrong place again! One was a trimming error. I can't text and sew at the same time! LOL.
I really like how this is looking so far. I can't wait to finish this ring and start on the next to see its progression. My goal for May (One Monthly Goal) is to finish this ring and at least one more.
Based on my experience so far, I would suggest you check out Denise's For the love of geese blog and her patterns as well. It has really made me look at paper piecing in a more favorable light. By the way, this is NOT a paid promotion or anything. I'm just super excited to be sewing such a complex looking pattern with very little effort.
Want a little nature update? Our rose breasted grosbeaks started arriving this weekend. We also saw our first Baltimore orioles. I think I might have seen an orchard oriole last night, but couldn't get close enough to tell for sure. No hummingbirds yet. We seem to have solved the issue of the cardinal attacking my sewing room window. We had a larger window screen that we propped against the outside of the window and so far, so good.
The peas, lettuce, and bok choy are coming along nicely. The beets are struggling. Most haven't come up. The three pineapple tops I am attempting to root also look to be struggling. On the positive side, my baby pineapple looks good.
And finally, we got our first electric bill after a month of solar. $9.64 was our total for the month. That is the meter fee and taxes. Not too bad, right?
Have a great week. It's time for me to teach math to my kids.
Linking with For the love of geese and My Quilt Infatuation and Finished or Not Friday.
Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal May Link-up
Happy Earth Day!
I'm pleased to share with you my finished Meadowland quilt, my second finish of the year. My finished quilt is 70" x 85". I added four inch borders around the outside of the finished top, but other than that, I sewed it exactly as the pattern, by Then Came June, instructed. It's a pretty easy pattern to sew. I think it would be fun to make a half-size or smaller version. I do love working tiny. :)
I quilted my top with the Wishbone pantograph by Threaded Quilting Studio and used white Pellon cotton batting. As a member of the Longarm League, I am offering 20% off edge to edge quilting on Meadowland tops through the end of July. Hop over to my quilting website, Quilting by Anne-Marie, to sign up. Or send me a message. I'm pretty easy to work with.
I'll throw this out there too--are you a quilt pattern designer? I'd love to partner with you for a project or two (or more!). Message me or leave a comment and let's talk.
I'm still slowly moving along with projects. Many of my mornings are still spent doing math with the kids. I'm teaching my son Algebra and trying to tutor my daughter in pre-calc/trig. Although I can't remember much of the trig, we are doing pretty well with it. I think we have two weeks left. My daughter will be done after that (she's a senior!), but my poor son will be stuck doing Algebra until we finish the book we are working through. I'm such a mean mom. Ha. Lest you think I am torturing him, he absorbs math more quickly than just about anyone I've ever worked with. Did you know that I have a degree in math? I taught math and English before my kids were born.
Anyway, back to the projects. I finally finished sewing together the main part of the Frolic quilt. That feels so, I don't know, epic? What a lot of work. This coming from someone who actually completed the 365 quilt in the 365 days. Now on to the borders.
I have not made any further progress on the Unity quilt, the Fig Tree blocks, or anything else. I did finally figure out a color layout for the For the love of geese pattern. I need to print all the foundations for that. (Had my husband buy a case of paper when he went to Sam's last week.)
I did cut, sew, and quilt another Quilts for Kids quilt. I cut and sewed the majority on Monday afternoon and added the two remaining borders and quilted it yesterday morning. I used a pattern that came with my software. I'm calling it "boxes". We thought it went well with the robot fabric. I used a remnant of Quilters Dream Blend batting. I'll try to bind it this week, and then it will get added to the pile. I'm looking forward to the day when I can finally ship in all the quilts I've accumulated for them.
I just love when you can work from stash and create something of value. I will admit that I have a bit of a problem of "saving" special fabrics. Or most fabrics. I am working on shopping my stash first. It's worked out pretty well over the last few months. It doesn't do anyone any good to just put the fabric in a box and put it in the closet.
I've spent several days this week working on my sister site, Quilting by Anne-Marie. I'm hoping to debut its snazzier look soon. Also, I would like to upgrade to a larger long arm machine, so I am selling mine. If you know anyone who may be in the market for a computerized workhorse, let me know. It's great for charity quilts with the robotics and it loves doing custom freehand work.
Let's move on. My couple tulips outside my sewing room window are blooming. I've noticed a few of the irises are starting to bud. Many of the seeds we planted in the vegetable garden are sprouting. One of the crabapple trees we planted last year is covered in blossoms.
We've found a bird nest in one of the clematis. The clems are popular nesting sites in our yard. I believe this one is a cardinal nest. Speaking of cardinals, we have a male attacking his reflection in pretty much every window on the back of the house. We have placed stuffed animals in the windows and added lots of window clings in an effort to make him stop. Ugh.
How about something happier? Food? Does anyone else feel like you just sit around and eat constantly during quarantine? I have gained a few unwanted pounds. We are cooking a lot more, of course. We've been trying new recipes since we have nothing but time right now. Here are a few recipes we made last week that were really good.
Sesame Ginger Beef--I really liked the green beans cooked like this. We used a one inch chunk of ginger rather than the three inches it called for.
Sour Cream Chive Bread--This bread machine recipe is so good we've made it twice this week. Did I mention that we bought some chives from a local farm and got way more than we expected? I think we had at least two cups chopped. Half a cup went into the loaves of bread. :)
Do you like to cook? I have several recipe boards on my Pinterest account. I haven't made all of the pinned recipes, but I've made many of them. I'm always happy to weigh in on what we liked or not. I do delete the ones that we really didn't like.
Linking with For the love of geese, My Quilt Infatuation, From Bolt to Beauty, and Finished or Not Friday and Meadow Mist Designs.
