Smitten

I'm so in love with the "My Tweets" BOM that I just couldn't resist working it today. I even re-made the templates using the stitch and wash just so that everything would have the same "treatment" so that when it comes time to wash the quilt there will be no unintended surprises.




It took me quite a while to get all the pieces made for the peacocks but you have to remember that this is my first applique project. The thing that gave me the most trouble was those little top knots on the peacock heads. Oh and I lost the little beaks in the construction process, so I'll have to make more of those tomorrow. I pretty much worked on these two birds from lunch time until 8pm. Of course I have my share of distractions with kids that need to be fed, Lego creations that have to be admired, art work that needs to be praised, and bathroom breaks! The hardest thing for me is picking out fabrics. It seems like I auditioned 5-6 fabrics for each section of the bird. I have a stack of about 35-40 fabrics sitting on my desk right now and only 6 fabrics where used. I may go crazy by the time block 3 rolls around!




I can't decide which background fabric I want to use. The one on the left is Kona Charcoal and the one on the right is Kona Snow. I'll have to take another look at it tomorrow in some nice natural daylight. I think the Charcoal may be too dark but maybe Kona Coal or Med. Gray would be nice. What do you think?

~ Norma

I Couldn't Resist

I've gone and added another project to my list for 2011. Can you really blame me for falling in love with this awesomeness?

And that's only the middle block of Erin Russek's "My Tweets" BOM.

GORGEOUS.
right?

I don't even remember how I cam across Erin's blog but I'm glad I did. She has a wealth of information on applique, lots of eye candy, and lots of free patterns. Did I mention that she is offering up "My Tweets" for FREE? Well, you do have to buy the middle block from her etsy shop for a mere $10, but blocks 1-12 will be offered on her blog absolutely free! How can you not join in? Her amazing patterns would easily be sold for $10 a piece putting you at $130 just for the patterns. How can you pass up this great quilt pattern for only $10?

Erin already has block 1 up and ready for download.

I already cut out all of my freezer paper pieces for the left bird but right after I did I realized I didn't reverse the image. doh! Luckily the birds are pretty much the same size so I'll be using the the pieces for the right bird. I'm not very good at handwork, well actually I'm pretty good at it but it takes me forever and I usually loose interest midway into a project. So I'll be doing invisible machine applique to speed me up. This morning I realized that I should really be using the washable fusible I got for the Joseph's Coat quilt to make things easier. Good thing I realized this at block 1 and not at block 10!



This will be my first BOM and applique project. Hopefully I won't loose steam because this is going to be a lovely quilt.

~Norma

All "My Tweets" images are copyright Erin Russek and were used with permission.

Decisions, Decisions...

I've been saving up my pennies to purchase a stitch regulator for my Brother 1300. This would be a huge step towards goal #10 (see bottom left sidebar.) I finally have enough pennies saved up, especially since the stitch regulator is on sale for $50 off the regular price. I was so ready to click the "check out" button over on Kathy Quilts when I decided to look around first.

Well... Kathy quilts has an amazing price on the queen size Start Right Frame for only $400! This is pretty much what I paid for my Sturdy-lite frame which you can kind of see in this picture here:

If I where looking at getting a frame for the first time I would buy the Start Right in a heart beat especially at $400 (50% off!) Now before you all run out and buy one here's a little bit more info, and a few things you should know:

• It doesn't get smaller or bigger, if you buy the crib size you can't make it bigger. The queen size won't become smaller but you CAN quilt smaller quilts on it. 
• The biggest quilt you can quilt on the queen size frame is a queen size (about 90" wide)
• You need either a stitch regulator ($500) or a speed control ($70+) for your machine, as this frame does not have a place for a foot pedal and handles that activate your foot pedal.
• You need a machine that is compatible with either the stitch regulator or speed control.
• The maximum throat space of a machine that will work on here is 13" so you can't put anything bigger than that on here.

So my thought was to sell my current frame and upgrade to the steel frame and then save up some more pennies for the stitch regulator. My husband thinks I should buy the stitch regulator first since this will get me to my goal right now and hope that the steel frame is still available at this price in a few months. What would you do? The one thing that I should mention is that I will not go into debt, not even a little bit for anything (been there done that and I like being debt free much better.) So everything has to be paid cash. At the moment there are only enough pennies to do one or the other. If it was your choice what would you do and why? I'd love to hear your opinions!

~ Norma