Turkeys and Ostriches, Oh My!

I found this cute turkey made from a leaf block (here).    I didn't have her pattern for the leaf, so I made my own.  I did use the templates for the turkey -- it's sized for a larger block (eight inches instead of the seven incher that I used.)

 Here is the whole table runner -- mine's a little smaller than the pattern because I sliced off a little bit on each end to make it fit the piece of fabric I wanted to use for the back.

I couldn't find the right fabric for the background, so I dyed my own.  First, I dyed a yard with diluted blue and brown.  Then, I stenciled the leaves with thickened purple and greyish-brown dyes.

I quilted it with stylized leaves.

And because Beth will ask, here is the backside.

I finished the ostrich block for the Civil War Bride quilt.

I used all my own hand-dyes for this except for the centers of the flowers.  The ostrich bodies are from a shibori-dye I did a while ago -- it's been marinating on my shelf -- waiting for just the right project!

The flower centers are made from my friend Chris Daly's wonderful hand-dyed silk/rayon velvet.  You can get your own here at her etsy shop.  I'm using the "flora collection."  I think I need to get some of the "brights" now too.  These were really easy to work with -- I cut a template of no-melt template plastic and did a running stitch around the seam allowance of the circle. Then I pulled it up tight and basted it with sizing.  Hit it with a warm (silk setting) iron and it was ready to go.  Easy-peasy!  I'm trying to decide where to use this stuff next!

And here is a shot of the next block.  I have a way to go...

To see other appliqué projects, click here to go to Angie's blog.

October Bounty

My design wall has those BOM2011 blocks on the side, but I've put up the stuff from the "Buck-A-Block"  deal that my one of my LQSs has.  The yellow/white ones are from last month and the orange strip is this month's.
 The blocks are made using "Thangles" and the LQS owner made hers in mini-size.  We are duplicating it in EQ7 and I'm duplicating it for real.  I just couldn't resist those bitty blocks.  They're 2 3/4 inches, so they will finish at 2 1/4.  So cute!  To see other design walls, click here to go to Judy's blog.

 This mess on my cutting table is the audition for the next block in my Civil War Bride Quilt.  I've almost finished the ostriches -- there was a lot of football this weekend (Go Badgers!).    I'm thinking I'm going to use the dark green for the background even though there are a lot of leaves and stems in the design;  I'll use the lighter greens for the appliqué.

And these beauties are my haul from the farmer's market this weekend.  I found my all-time favorite squash, some gorgeous cippolini onions, and this lovely Romanesco broccoli.  We sampled the Romanesco Saturday for dinner ( I drizzled it with EVOO and roasted the florets in the oven until they were browned, then a little Kosher salt and lemon juice to finish -- OMGosh! -- delicious!)  We had a couple of the delicata squash for dinner last night.

Appliqué Update Thursday

All that football last weekend enabled me to finish the first block of my Civil War Bride Quilt. (Go Pack!)

A couple of the leaves on the edges aren't stitched down because they will overlap the next block after I get them all sewn together (grin).

Although, I might not be finished with this because I'm thinking that the flowers really need some embroidered stamens....

And I made some pretty good progress on the ostriches -- one is finished and the other is almost finished.  This block is going a lot quicker than the first one did.

To check out other appliquérs, click here for Angie's blog.

Appliqué Update for Sept.1

 I've mostly finished my first block of the Civil War Bride Quilt.  I have finished all those (darned) leaves and all the flowers.  I have a couple of buds and the centers of the flowers to finish.














I used a washer and did a running stitch around the edge of the circle, drew it up, hit it with some sizing, then ironed to make the circles.  But they're not quite round.  And the little pleats are unsightly.  So I'm going to have to redo them.  Any suggestions are certainly welcome...

And just in time for tonight's football extravaganza -- I got the pieces ready for the next block.  Those are ostriches!   This was my favorite block on the quilt that first made me fall in love with this pattern.  I waited to do it because I wanted to practice on those (darned) leaves before I attempted the complicated ostriches.

So tonight my two favorite football teams are both playing.  At the same time.  Oh woe is me -- which do I watch?  I think my TV has picture-in-picture, but that seems unnecessarily confusing.  So do I watch the Badgers in their season opener?  Or do I watch the Packers play the Saints in the final preseason game?   Or switch back and forth and miss all the best stuff?

For a look at some other appliqué, check out Angie's blog here.

The Civil War Bride Quilt

 Readers may remember my infatuation with this quilt at the show in Omaha.  I posted about it here and you can read about it on Cheri's blog -- she is the woman who won the ribbons for this quilt in Omaha.

She kindly directed me to a blog that is all about the Civil War Bride Quilt.  I would include a link, but it has been closed off to non-members since I last looked at it.

She also directed me to Corliss in Australia who wrote the pattern and from whom I purchased  the pattern.  She can be reached here:  http://www.threadbear.com.au/index.php

 I was so excited, I dyed up these background fabrics as soon as I returned from Nebraska.  They're a bit darker than they look on my monitor.

Then I dyed these fabrics for this and another project that I can't talk about right now.

 I pulled a bunch of fabrics from my shelves.

And I shibori-dyed a whole bunch of fabrics for leaves and animals.  These are the greens -- I can't find the photo of the other shiboris, so that will have to wait until I cut them up.

This is the first block -- I've finished about half of the leaves and part of one bud.  There are more leaves, but they're in my bag at the moment.  I'm getting much better at the hand-stitching -- practice really does cause improvement -- although I'm sure perfection is a ways off.  I've found that I get in a rhythm when stitching.  This is going to be wonderful when the football season starts.  I need something to do with my hands when all those players are standing around and this is it!  

It's the Wall with Blocks

My design wall for this stormy Monday in July is full of projects.  On the left are my 2011 BOM blocks -- minus the ones I took to the group last Thursday -- they're pictured below with the everybody else's blocks.  

At the top is the Surface Design Round Robin piece that I'm thinking about.

On the right is an attempt at dyeing a one-color gradation.

And in the middle is my piece for "1000 Words" -- look closely to see the progress on that.

These are the NY Beauties from Thursday's meeting.  Mine aren't sewn together because I'm going to use them in the corners of the quilt.  I really love the layout of the one in the upper right corner -- she didn't want all that brown in the center, so she flipped them around.  I love this one!

In the lower left corner is a block from someone new to the group -- she's catching up.

And these are the fan blocks.  Of course, mine is the eye-popping bright one in the upper left corner.  I fussy cut the suns in the base of the fans and the center blade of the fan is a cat fussy cut from the same fabric.

Sorry about the fuzzy photo -- I wish I had a better camera.  Oh sure, blame it on the camera....

To see other design walls, click here to go to Judy's blog.  

This is a sneak preview of another thing I'm working on.  I'll have more about this in the coming weeks.