Tuesday Tutorial ~ Daughter's 2022 bday Doggie Card

My daughter is a major dog lover. I'm not pleased with the turnout of this card. Still a lot of learning to do with shade and contrast, but I think you can tell it's a dog. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tuesday Tutorial

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This graphic can be found on several internet sites. 

I could find no copyright claim nor anyone to give credit.  

I printed the picture to fit 1/4 of the paper.

 

The graphic was taped to the back of the "Bottom of the Barrel" scrap sheet 

I've been making HERE and HERE. 

I made this sheet with white scrap pieces. 

I started with the eye.

The pin is helping to show where to put the fabric on the other side.

After stitching line was followed on the picture,

the piece was trimmed as closed to stitching as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

Too many flowers. 

Too confusing. 

The flower around the eye was a total surprise turn out.

After some hand stitched embroidering for teeth,

and highlight on the eye and nose,

I decided some of the flowers had to go.

Couldn't tell the difference between the dog and the background.

I decided to use the soft plain flannel on the main part of the dog.

A tactile feature! The sky is flannel as well.

Wished I had changed the bright green and

especially the bottom right corner.

 Oh well, I hope she likes it. 

It still reminds me of her doggies.

Happy Birthday!

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*2 weeks later*

Well I just could not stand how this turned out.

Even had it in the unsealed envelope.

The morning I was to mail it, I just had to revise it.

 

The bottom right piece was just too distracting, I thought.

So I auditioned some pieces.

 

My visiting friend and I decided this lighter color

brought out the dog more.

 

 

Carefully took it off the card......

 

Then I made the next mistake.

I didn't follow the process I had used for the rest of the card of

stitching on the back of the card.

Instead, I stitched on the front.

There is a major difference in the look of the bobbin stitching,

and needle stitching.

 

So I thought if I added a heart,

it looked more deliberate?

At least my eye sees the dog better now.

 Sewed it back on another card.

She called to thank me for the card and gift.

Sun Best~ Nancy's Milk Cow Barn Beauty

  

Metcalfe County, Kentucky, USA

South Central Kentucky

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Nancy used to milk cows in this barn.

I just had to get permission to share this beautiful sky.

Thoughtful Thurs 183~ Not Waterproof Enough for Labels

 

 

I have been using these very expensive pens, in my opinion,

for probably the last 5 years

to make my quilt labels.

 

 I truly believe quilts, especially those made specifically for someone else,

or that hold memories as in a Memory quilt made from clothing or other fond articles,

should be labeled.

I gained this appreciation after my parents died.

As we went through their collection of quilts,

we knew they had stories of my Mother using our clothes as we grew out of them

or ruined them.

We knew some were made by grandmother's and aunts.

I knew one was pieced by my Dad when he was a child.

He said his Mother made even the boys stitch pieces by hand during the winter

to keep them out of trouble.

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When I retired and started making quilts again,

 I would try to remember 

to use my machine features to make a label. 

Sometimes I just stitched a name and date on border or even the binding.

Coin Quilt: A Memory Quilt, 2015

As I go through my online quilt gallery,

I see the first label I show using these pins was in 2017.

This was on the Game Quilt.

I started making handwritten labels,

because I wanted to tell more information than just a name and date.

 

 

In the last couple of months,

I've come across a couple of quilts I have gifted,

and discovered the labels had faded so badly after their first wash

that they couldn't even be read anymore.

I had used these pens on these labels,

because they clearly say

 "WATERPROOF" 

and

"PERMANENT"

 

Am I the only person that didn't know I was not to use these on labels

that would be washed?

I'm so upset,

I felt I needed to tell others 

DO NOT USE

on any project that will be washed.

 
I have kept hard copies of my labels,

so recently, I was able to write over & redo

a label made a year ago.

This time I'm trying "Sharpie" fine point.

I remember those pens in college days

never faded from our underwear 

that was washed very often.

NOT JUST ONCE

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I thought paying for expensive pens would work?

I guess I thought wrong.

Tuesday Tutorial~ Quilt Sleeve

Getting a quilt ready for a quilt show may mean you have to add a sleeve for hanging. Maybe you just want to hang one in your home?

There are several videos showing a method. I've put it in quick reference pictures. 

 

 

 

You can use any fabric, especially if the sleeve is temporary. I had enough left to piece a length of fabric to go across the quilt. 

Using the same fabric, it seems to become part of the quilt.

Now this quilt is ready for our Quilt Guild show this month.

 

Sun Best~ Southern KY Morn in March, 2022

 

Thanks to Mike B of very Southern Kentucky

and his wife for posting this beautiful shot,

and for allowing me to share it here.

Quilt Shot Block 143~ Dutchman's Puzzle

 

Dutchman's Puzzle

16 inch Square 

 

Another HST for the Group QOV quilt for National Sew Day

The first and second  as well as directions were posted earlier.

 

 

A look at a 4x4 quilt layout

No change if block is rotated

 

Layout images made with "combine" tool on Photoscape by Joy

 

 

 

 

Thoughtful Thurs 182~ Fidget Towels for Special Kids

 

I was asked to make what I will call a Fidget Towel

for visually impaired students.

I've made Fidget lap quilts before,

so I thought I could do this. 

 

I love making things like this because,

its so impromtu.

My goal was to include bright colors,

and different textures for feel.

 

Black towels were used, because the teacher

said it contrasted the colors the best. 

 

 

Making projects like this

give me a chance to try different techniques

like couching

using a rarely used foot.

It also gives me a chance to use the massive collection I have

of ribbon, yarn, lace and fabric scraps.

Among the scraps was leftover blanket pieces from

making PJ pants.

The edging was still on this piece,

so it was turned into a soft pocket.

I was told black and red were great contrast colors that attracted

the children.

In all, 4 different towels were finished.

 

There is a lot of thought that goes into a project like this.

You are thinking about both what the teacher needs to work with the student,

and what will give the student a great experience. 

 

I didn't think to cover my eyes and test the feel with my own hands.

Hey Kids,

It is my thought and hope that

you enJOY the warm fuzzies on this towel.

 

Tues Tutorial ~ Plannning/Laying Out Hexies to Sew

     I thought I'd be able to just pull hexies out of the box and just sew on the next one. It didn't take me long to find out that a plan had to be made, because I was ending up with gaps where a Grandmother's Flower would not fit into the Garden.  So a plan had to be made.  Here's what I did.

 

 

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Tuesday Tutorial

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First lay out the flowers where you want to to be in the quilt.

I do realize a Grandmother's Flower Garden puts white/solid color

between the flowers.

 

Look for the beginning and end of sewing each flower.

The clue is both beginning and end are the end of the road for stitching.

I start with the number 2, 

because the number 1 can be hard to find in print fabric.

Number the beginning hexie where the next sewing will start.

After all pieces have been numbered,

stack the pieces,

starting with the last piece

to the first piece on top of the pile. 

enJOY your organized hand stitching of hexies.