Piecing the Back for Lala's Chain--post 3

Leftover scraps from the project

Goal number one on my October list was to document piecing the back for Lala's Chain. You can make your own top after visiting Melva Loves Scraps sew along page. First I gathered all of the leftovers from the project. There were quite a few scraps! Yet not enough for the back. I looked in my stash and found a striped fabric.

Beginning the planning and piecing process

Laying the top on my bed to ensure I made the back big enough, I began laying out the chunks and cutting some pieces of the stripes to make the back. I do try to set the smaller pieces toward the center of the back.

Completed pieced back

Piecing a back takes some time. I spent a day piecing this one! In addition to the interest a pieced back brings to the quilt, I love that I've used the leftovers. These were all pieces that did not go into my scrap saving system. I count that as a double win!

Ready for the longarmer

The top and the backing were at the longarmer. I chose a panto of bicycles. This week, I received a call that it was quilted! My husband picked it up. I look forward to binding and finishing it as soon as I can sit at the machine again! I used fourteen and a half yards in this project. Much of the fabrics were scraps and all of it came from stash! That is a total win!

I won't count the yardage until I finish the project. Not counting the yardage is another incentive to finish the project! Linking to Oh Scrap and Sew & Tell.

Rug Weaving--post 2

First Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians! 

Goal number two on my October list was to document my rug weaving process.  Last April, I took an online course from Ilka White, a fiber artist from Australia. I posted about my experience. Since then, I've worked on growing this project!

Torn strips ready for weaving

I start with 10 strips of the navy sheet and the light blue flannel sheets. Sometimes, if I'm close to the end of the sheet, I'll rip the remaining bit. 

About to add three flannel strips

As the strips become too short to act as the weaver, I'll add another strip. Ilka recommends keeping the strips about 18 inches. I decided not to cut the strips into those lengths. First, it meant less times to add a strip and second, less strips mean less knots. The longer length didn't bother me with the weaving.

Weaving one pass

It is't difficult to weave this design. the weaver and the strips are the same color. It is an over and under process row after row!

Inserting the crochet hook

When I reach the end of the strips, I insert a crochet hook into a nearby finished loop. 

Positioning the crochet hook
to pull the tail through the loop

I pull the tail of the weaver through that loop. 

Beginning to pull the tail through the loop

Usually, the loop I'm using will be the same fabric. 

The strip almost pulled through the loop

I do try to fold the edges of the strip so the right side of the fabric is out.

Once the strip has been pulled through the loop, I go back to adjust the tension in each of the strips. This process takes a little time too; but, the result is worth the effort.

Detailed view of the strips

At the end of September, my rug measured 31 inches in diameter. I have torn all the bottom sheet and have started tearing the top sheet. I am past the half way point of this project!

31 inches of woven rug

My husband asked if I knew how to finish this project. I said that although Ilka had told us how to decrease the strips and had included the directions in her class handout, the answer was no! The class was too long ago to remember what she said so I hope that when I get to that point, I'll be able to achieve the finish!

34 inches of woven rug

I've been working on the project during the times when I am working on my sitting ability. (I had knee revision surgery the middle of September and I'm not ready to be seated in front of a sewing machine yet!) I was surprised to measure the rug before snapping the latest photo to find it is about 34 inches in diameter. Now that the rounds are larger, it takes longer to gain those inches! Note that it is almost as wide as my kitchen table!

This isn't slow stitching; but, it is a handwork project so I'm linking to Slow Sunday Stitching. I'm also linking to Finished or Not Friday and Patchwork and Quilting.

September Recap and October Goals

Surface view of rug

My September goals were:

✔1. Document making a special pillow case for the youngest granddaughter.

✔2. Document the activities the youngest granddaughter did during her visit.

✔3. Piece the string blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month the color is purple.

✔4. Share what I did at the summer virtual retreat.

✔5. Share my progress on the book club quilt Garden Flowers.

✔6. Make progress quilting the butterfly.

Strips ready for weaving

✔7. Make progress on my rug weaving.--Post surgery, I started with three  one hour sessions of PT to work on sitting. I've spent 45 minutes of each session weaving my braided rug. The second week, I was up to 45 minutes five times per day. I have torn all the flannel strips of the bottom sheet and they are attached to the rug for weaving! The rug is now too big to fit on my sewing room workspace. It is on the kitchen table. 

Every time that I think I'm feeling comfortable with the process, I note an issue trying to happen. I can see that I need to add more stitches as the rug is trying to curl. I am loving the results so far! It now measurers 31 inches which is six more inches than last month!

✔8. Make progress on Lala's Irish Chain.

✔9. Determine what to do for the next book club quilt. We are reading Radium Girls by Kate Moore.

Thoughts of a project for Radium Girls

--I drew some thumbnail sketches. Picked one to pursue. After thinking about it, I decided to come up with a different design and use the main fabric. I even chose different fabrics. Now to make the pattern. .  .

✒10. Do what I can to make progress on the Magnificent Mystery and Floral Baubles sew alongs.--I didn't work on Floral Baubles. Sitting is still not all that comfortable.

✔11. Recover from knee revision surgery--Because 23 months after knee joint replacement surgery, I still have pain and loss of mobility. 

Focus fabric for the Radium Girls project

It was another terrific month in spite of spending half of it outside of the studio rehabbing my knee! I hope to feel like sitting at the machine to piece and quilt in October! I do feel like living life is just around the corner for me!

Fabric Accounting:

Current Month:

Fabric in: 8 yards

Fabric out: 0 yards

Net gain for the month: 8 yards 

Year to Date:

Fabric in: 57.25 yards

Fabric out: 124.75yards 

Net loss: 67.50 yards 

Fabric purchase this month. Fat quarter 
bundle for string project.
Yardage for Magnificent Mystery project

Best Book of the month: The Forty Year Grudge by Liza Tully. This is the second book of the Merritt and Blunt mystery series. It's a cozy mystery. A murder occurs during a small gathering of sorority sisters who are together for their 40 year reunion. I thought I knew who did it and why; but, I was wrong!

My October goals are:

1. Document making the back for Lala's Irish Chain.

2. Document my rug weaving process.

3. Pre-wash and starch some background fabrics for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

4. Document my plan for the project for Radium Girls.

5. Make a Memory Bear. I cut out the pattern pieces from the flannel sheet that I'm using to make the woven rug.

I'm listing a few goals because this may be a difficult list to achieve. I sure hope that I'll be stitching. Three weeks into my knee revision recovery, however, my body is not ready for sewing. My last PT session set me back. I've returned to using the walker to get around the house. No position is currently comfortable. Sigh. . .I so want to be doing other activities!

Linking to Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell and To Do Tuesday.

Machine Embroidered Monogram Pillow

Trial stitch out 

Goal number one on my September list was to document the pillowcase that I made for my youngest granddaughter.

She was moving to a loft style bed and her mama wanted to decorate her daughter's new bed with a monogramed pillow containing her initials. I have Bernina embroidery software which I hadn't opened in a couple of years. It was time to reacquaint myself with the program.

I played around a little with the fonts and liked at the library of monograms available. I decided I wanted to make my own monogram. My software included a few templates. I used one of the templates. I picked a font that felt a little Asian since I had used a scrap of panda fabric. 

It was fun to play in the software. I found that I needed to refresh my skills because I had forgotten a TON!

Then it was time to choose thread and stitch a sample. People often think that you pick a pattern and the machine automatically stitches the design perfectly. Not so!!!

In the trial stitch out, I could see that I needed more stabilizer, better alignment and a tension adjustment. I also decided to leave the cut away stabilizer in place around the smaller motifs. When I cut away the stabilizer in the second sample, I nicked the threads and had some of the motif unraveled.

Third sample

By the third sample, I had figured out the alignment. I had determined the best tie to cut the jump stitches.  I determined that I liked the colors and the order I stitched the colors. 

The monogram on the pillow case

The fourth time I stitched the monogram, was for "real!"I made the pillow case and topstitched the monogram to the pillowcase. I like how it turned out. My daughter liked it so much that she asked for a second pillow.

Two days later, I embarked on a second pillow. This time, when I went to embroider the monogram, the machine wouldn't recognize my hoop. I hadn't changed any settings so I didn't know what that was about! I took some time to research what could be going on and tried a fix through my settings. It worked,

Stitching the design, the thread broke and the program wouldn't allow me to restart the machine to finish the stitch out. I had surgery and when I'm ready, I'll poke around and see if I can figure out what happened. It likely is an easy fix since it was working great before!

Linking to Finished or Not Friday and Patchwork and Quilts.

Quilting the Butterfly--post 10 and Knee Revision Update

Warning: A short update regarding my knee revision is included at the end of this post. Knee photos follow the close up photo of the butterfly quilting. Stop reading the post at that point.

Examples of free motion quilting
in green and batik  fabrics

Goal number six on my September list was to make progress on free motion quilting my butterfly quilt. My plan is to stitch around the motifs and to take advantage of any "filler" type prints used in the design. I also plan to match the thread to the fabric so the quilting provides texture. Over the years, I've learned that plans change so I'm going with how I feel.

Stitching on pink fabrics

This project has been made with lots and lots of small scraps. There is a variety of fabrics used too. Some of the fabrics are: fashion fabric, swimwear fabric, batiks and quilting cottons. Many of the scraps are from my friend Martha's strip and crumb inventory.

Stitching pink thread on a motif

The photos represent about eight hours of free motion quilting. I believe I've stitched the black fabrics and most of the bright green fabrics. I had planned to quilt using one thread color; but, decided to quilt areas of the quilt instead. Quilting areas will allow me to keep the density of the quilting more even.

Overall view of project

I'll admit, I was getting into quilting this project. The closer the day of my knee surgery became, the less I slept so I was doing a lot of stitching at the beginning of the month! I hope to make more progress next month!

Close up of over all quilting and texture

My post surgery recovery is in full swing. I'm beginning to feel a bit of knee pain/tightness. Most of what I have felt has been muscle tightness. It's been a long time since I could extend my knee to walk so those quadriceps and hamstring muscles are protesting that I'm asking them to stretch and contract in ways they haven't. They loved their vacation!

Close up view of the spongy bandage and 
wound vac tubing

Between the wound vac system and the ice machine system, I have had little swelling and bruising of my leg. The swelling in the photo is a little less than I had before surgery. 

Bandage compressed against wound via the wound vac machine

I'm sharing a photo of the bandage as well as a photo of both knees. I'm moving forward faster than I did with my first knee surgery. 

The spongy bandage puffed up after the wound vac machine battery life ended.

Friday, the surgeon removed the spongy bandage and I returned the portable wound vac machine. I was surprised to learn that parts of the machine are recycled; but, that is thrown away. It benefited my healing process.

Steri-strips in place

The wound looked good. The edges had come together nicely. I now have steri-strips supporting the wound. The strips will fall off as the wound continues to heal. The purple lines are registration marks that the surgeon uses to close the wound. Once the wound has healed, I'll be able to try swimming. Only six more weeks to wait! Life is good!

Linking to: Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell, To Do Tuesday and I Quilted This.

Fun at Gran and Papa's

Airplane ride

When you are four and live in another country, going to your grandparent's home is an adventure because you fly on an airplane for a long time. The best part of the ride is that mama packs a lot of snacks to munch while I get to watch my shows!

Playing in the sand at Cape Cod

Mama and I spent some time in Cape Cod to visit friends and to give me time to adjust to the time change. I loved playing in the sand, eating pasta and finding a mermaid t-shirt! I had less jet lag when I arrived at Gran and Papa's house.

Sorting string fabric

At Gran and Papa's house, I got to sort fabric. I thought Gran had lettuce in her sewing room because that was what the scraps looked like to me!

Lap time with Papa and Bailey

Bailey shared Papa's lap with me whenever I wanted. She was an awful nice dog to pet and scratch.We celebrated her 12th birthday while I was there.  I will miss her when I come to visit in October because she crossed the Rainbow Bridge four days after I returned to London. I know Papa and Gran miss her!

Sewing strings

I learned the parts of the sewing machine and how to make the stitches go forward and reverse. I laughed when Gran told me about the "foot." I thought she was kidding me because I know what a foot looks like! Sewing strings was too boring. I decided it wasn't safe for a four year old to press as I could burn myself with the iron. I told Gran that pressing was for adults! 

Gran repaired the rip in my favorite striped dress and let me wear it as often as I wanted.

Scraping zucchini seeds

I like cooking. Especially when tools are involved. I liked using a spoon to scoop out the zucchini seeds. Gran cut the pieces so they fit my hand. I got to do a lot of scraping!

Zucchini shreds everywhere

Better than scraping was shredding because Gran let me use a machine she called a food processor. I said it was a giant shredder! I got to measure the shreds and sometimes the shreds went other places than in the bowl or the plastic bag. I don't know how those got on the floor!

Adding chocolate chips to the top

Gran let me write on the freezer bags. She said there was enough zucchini to make three zucchini cakes later and one for today. I like eating especially if one of the ingredients is chocolate. I got to use the mixer to stir in the ingredients. Some ingredients went in a different order than how Gran usually makes the recipe.

Testing the batter

The cake was delicious so the changes I made were okay. I liked being the taste tester to ensure that while the cake was baking  the batter was edible!

New swimsuit

Gran made me a new swim suit to wear to my friend Wendy's swim pool. I love to go swimming. Gran let me choose the fabric. My cousin had a suit out of this fabric so it was special to have one like hers!

My art for thank you notes

We painted and made thank you notes for people who gave me gifts of swimming and puzzles. I like to watercolor. I like using a glue stick and I love the color pink! I wrote my thank you on the front and Gran translated my words on the back of the card. 

Checking out the castle at Enchanted Forest

My cousins and Auntie took me to the Enchanted Forest amusement park and the zoo. I like hanging out with my cousins. My auntie is special; but, my uncle really rocks!

Paper removal of string blocks

Ripping the paper from the back of the completed string blocks was a lot of fun! I could do it faster than Gran!

Riding the trike with Papa and Bailey

Papa and I walked Bailey. I rode the trike almost every day.

Pillow case removal

Gran showed me how to take the pillow cases off of the pillows to wash the cases. I liked shaking the pillow which was almost as tall as me!

Baking sourdough bread

Gran and I baked a loaf of sourdough bread. I liked it best as toast with lots of butter.

Hammering the nails

Papa and I watered the flowers and cut off the old flowers from the roses. I built a letter box out of a kit that came from Home Depot. When my right arm was tired hammering the nails, I switched to my left hand. Papa always started the nails and held the parts still. I never hit his fingers. Papa said I have good eye/hand coordination.

Finished letter box

Gran helped me decorate my mailbox with stickers that came in the kit. I love stickers.

Tracing a coloring sheet

Gran showed me how to trace. I liked making the lines; but, I liked painting best. When I come to visit next month, I want to bake another cake and paint a lot more! I bet Gran will let me!

Documenting my granddaughter's activities during her August stay was goal number two on my September list. Linking to Finished Or Not Friday and Patchwork and Quilts.