Dragonfly

 

I have tentatively named the quilt for my friend P "Dragonfly" because there are so many dragonfly fabrics in it. I left it with Janet-Lee for quilting. JL chose this pretty green as the quilting thread, and we picked a quilting design with dragonflies in it. I can't wait. Pretty sure P can't, either.

Pink Panther, Quilted

 

The Pink Panther quilt is quilted in a pattern called "Jester" which is appropriate, given how this quilt played with my head while I was making it.

Here's a closer view.

Millie had to give the quilt a once over. 

She gave it a second and third-over too. She was quite thorough.

Here you can see the back of the quilt, and the binding I'll use.

It's not often I have THREE quilts I'm excited to finish all at the same time.

Alegretto, Quilted

 

I am not generally a fan of fussy complicated quilting patterns, but the Alegretto quilt is so totally over the top that Janet-Lee and I decided to go for it.

This is the quilt with the big parrots on the backing. My son told me once, "When you go over the top, you keep going." And he is right.

Here is the binding I have selected for this quilt. This quilt is staying with me. I like this one a lot!

Binding x 4

I've cut and prepared the binding strips for four quilts.

 

Here is the binding for The Pink Panther. I'll be picking up this quilt from the long-arm quilter later today.

This is the binding for Allegretto, which I'll also have later today.

Here is the binding for Deep Space.

Here is the binding for P's quilt (quilt needs a name). The fabric is an ombre, and I sewed the dark ends together and the light ends together so the print will go from light to dark to light all the way around the quilt. I'll be bringing this quilt to be quilted today.

Once I had all the bindings made, I added the binding to the Deep Space quilt.

I like to fold the binding over and pin it all the way around before I hand sew the binding down.

So THAT's what I've been doing lately. I have a lot of hand sewing in my future...

Flowers & Color Choices

 

I went to the flower shop yesterday because I felt I needed a pick-me-up. Normally I can go into the walk-in cooler and pick what I like, but there was a leak so all I could do was stand at the door and point. I pointed because I didn't know the names of half the stuff. I started with the black dahlias and then chose the Solidago (my SIL helped me with the names later). Then I added the purple orchids (one of them is a branch that extends out to the side in front of Millie.) Next I chose the lavender Lisianthus and added the two Gingers (the big pink things at the top). I picked the misty statice (filler) and then added a yellow green hydrangea.

Adam, the florist, kept saying how beautiful the bouquet I had chosen was. I lamented I had forgotten to bring a vase. Adam offered to put it in a vase for me. OK, so I let him go do that, telling him I wanted it pretty as it it were up against a wall, so pretty on 3 sides. And I told him to add whatever he thought it needed, since he was a florist and I wasn't.

Now, there were at least eight different colors of roses, and lots of bright colorful Gerber daisies in the cooler. But I wanted different. I was drawn to the black dahlias and the yellow-green of the Solidago. Just like buying fabrics, I checked out everything that was there before I made my choices. Once I had decided those two things, I knew which direction I was going in, so I picked the orchids, the lavender flowers and went from there. Adam suggested a Stargazer lily, but I said no, because I knew it would take over, and I didn't want that. I picked the two pink ginger things. I also selected the various greenery. Later I realized I was selecting flowers the same way I shop for fabric.

Since I didn't know what anything was, I hadn't paid any attention to the price chart hanging on the wall. I was not particularly surprised when he said it was eighty bucks. Hell, I thought the thing was eighty kinds of spectacular, and it was FOR ME. 

What surprised me was that Adam kept saying how beautiful what I had chosen was. I mean, like, DUH! But when I thought about it later, I realized that most customers wouldn't be drawn to a deep blue violet / yellow green color combination, so that combination wasn't on his radar for "beautiful." 

He packed it all up in a box with filler around it, and wrapped it carefully, and actually carried it out to my car and gently placed it on the floor on the front passenger side of my car.

I had to pick up a prescription at the drugstore, so I went to the drive through. After I completed my transaction, the gal inside told me she thought my flowers were beautiful. I hadn't realized she could see them. That kinda made my day.

Then I went home and cut binding for four quilts, which I will show you tomorrow!
 

The Quilt for My Friend P

 

This is the wrong side of the top of the quilt I am making for my friend P.

This is the backing for the quilt. At first I thought it was too pretty bluish but...

then I set the quilt down on it and it is pretty clear this is going to be beyond perfect. P is thrilled about the quilt.

Her dad died last week, so she's blue, as you can well imagine. He may have been over 90 and a bit of a tyrant, but he was still her dad, and she's going to miss him. Send a prayer in her direction if you can; she could really use it.

This is a Slashed Squares quilt, and it's not hard to make. You can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

More Birds,

 These birds were made by Marky from Wisconsin.

The one on the left is a "snowbird." A snowbird is a person who flies south to warmer climes when the snow starts to fly. Marky said that she expected New Hampshire has snowbirds the same way Wisconsin does.

The bird in the middle was inspired by the rose fabric at the neck. Marky said this is a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.

As for the bird on the far right, Marky said the wing fabric reminded her of Ostrich feathers, so she gave the bird a long neck and legs. 

Gosh, nobody has ever given a bird such a long neck! So much potential! (I can imagine a pink flamingo!!)

These birds were made by Jane from California. 

This is all the birds I have received so far. I just threw them up on the wall, I haven't really tried to arrange them yet. These birds are terrific! I am so excited!

There is still room on this quilt for more birds, so if you want to join, email me at PatcheryMenagerie AT Gmail DOT com. I could use some birds that face to the right!

If you to make some birds of your own, you can get my tutorial here at my Etsy shop!

 

Birds From Across the World

 There were two birds in my mailbox yesterday. 

This one is from Joan, from Scotland (notice the plaid), an ocean away, East of my home in New England.

This one came from Cheryl in Oregon, across the country to the west of me. She wrote, "This strong-billed, stocky bird would like to join your flock. I've been enjoying making these immensely - my favorites are the ones I have done 'wrong.'" 

Let me repeat that...

My favorites are the ones I have done "wrong."

Dear readers, it is amazing just how many bird tutorials I have sold. They are literally all over the world. I get emails and convos at least once a week that make my day. I love seeing what my "students" do with them, how they take my ideas and go off and do their own thing. And then they take these ideas and they go do something else - they push some other boundary and do something wildly creative. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.

I delivered the Garden Party quilt to my Dad the other day. He was thrilled. I had made a document about it, told the story of the quilt, so Marjorie, the Lady Priest could read it. I printed it so my dad could see it. "Oh," he said, "she is going to love this."

So it's been a good couple of days.

And Millie? She's been sleeping on the couch. What can I say? She's a cat.

A Side Trip

 

This is my bedroom, as seen from the door. I generally don't like walking into a dark room, so I try to turn  a light on when I get home from work.

For whatever reason, my cat Millie has been rather chummy in the evenings lately. She has been coming to ask for scritches after I get into bed. This is not really a problem, except when she starts getting demanding when I want to go to sleep. When she is curled up next to me I can't reach the lamp on the other side of the bed to turn it off. 

What to do?

Then I remembered the remotes. 

So I placed the order, and when they came in I realized that the light on the right side of the picture plugged into an outlet behind the bookshelf. I needed an extension cord with a flat plug so I could use it of that light, and the one on the bureau. So I went online again, and two days later I have moved everything (and vacuumed behind the bed and the nightstands) and now the lamps on the nightstands work with a remote along with the lamp on the bureau and one other all work with a remote control. In fact there are TWO controls, one that will live near my bed, and the other will live on the bookcase beside the door. So now when it is dark in the house, I don't have to blunder into the room in the dark. I can reach onto the bookcase, and click the button to turn on any one of the five lamps in the area.

And I can do it from the bed too.

All because I don't want to disrupt my cat.

 

Go ahead, laugh.

The Garden Party Beauty Shots

 

I did all my errands on Saturday morning. The laundry was done, the sheets were changed, the bills paid. I considered working out in the garden, but decided to sit on the couch and finish sewing the binding on the Garden Party quilt.

I finished about dinnertime, and there was enough light left to take beauty shots, so I drove down to the community garden and hung the quilt over the door. I really like this quilt, and I think it came out great.

I ran the quilt through the washer and dryer so it is soft and crinkly. Now I will write the story of the quilt to give to the Lady Priest and then bring it to my dad. He will deliver the quilt at a later date.

Garden Party

 

Thank you Stitchinpenny, for naming this quilt. Garden Party it shall be. There were a lot of good options. Thanks for all your suggestions. I have sewn the binding halfway around the quilt and hope to be finished this weekend. It's really pretty.

After I finish the binding on this, I will add the binding to the Deep Space quilt. I still have to put the binding on the pink barn quilt, Larkspur. In mid-October I'll pick up The Pink Panther and then bind that one. Can't wait!

Ever had one of those weeks where every day it's something, and then you get to the end of the week and wonder... where the hell did it go? That was what this week was for me.

The next couple of weekends will be spent putting the garden to bed and swapping out the summer/winter clothes, taking the screens out and putting the storm windows on the porch doors and that kind of thing. 

I've been replying to several requests for my address for bird blocks so there are more coming my way. If you would like to join in, please email me at patcherymenagerie AT gmail DOT com.

Binding the Lady Snaps

 

I have been sewing the binding on the Lady Snaps quilt. It is really coming along very well and I think it will be very pretty. 

I need a better name for the quilt than "Lady Snaps."

Anybody got any better ideas? I designed the quilt to be reminiscent of a flower garden, so perhaps we start there.

Epic Birds

 Today's birds come from Germany, New York and Tennessee.

Birgit from Germany writes that this bird's name is "Lizzie, a young wren. In German, a wren is a "Zaunkonig". Zaun = fence, like the wing and Konig = king, like the crown (be careful, the crown doesn't like the hot iron). Zaunkonig = wren.

"She would like to be the star in your new quilt, just like her bird breast shows you."

I continue to be amazed at the ways students have found their own ways to customize my birds. I am really happy about this, because that's why teachers teach -  to see students take an idea and do something new.

This bird is from Linda in New York. I love the way she has used the batiks in this, and also the way she has fussy cut the beak.
 

This bird (quite possibly the biggest bird so far) was made by my friend Julie, who lives in Tennessee. Julie says that quilters "use math so this background fits pretty well. ... I didn't name her - but maybe Calculating Bird or ? Surely, there is nothing shy about her!" Julie says this bird is all Kaffe Fasset fabrics except for her beak.

In case you want to see JUST how big this bird is...

I'm still collecting birds for my student bird quilt. If you are interested in contributing a bird, please email me at PatcheryMenagerie AT Gmail DOT com. If you want to make a bird, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

Binding for Lady Snaps

 

I knew that for this quilt I wanted a variety of colors and fabrics. I chose one fabric for each color - pink, lavender, blue, light green, yellow and orange and cut strips about 21" long. I also cut strips of a floral print with a white background. Then I sewed the strips together, inserting the floral print between each of the colored strips. 

 

Next I folded the long strip lengthwise and laid it out on the quilt - hoping to avoid a join in the corners.

Although you can't see it in this picture I have one corner where a join lands on a corner. Usually this isn't a problem for me, but for this one I had a hard time with it. At any rate, the binding is attached to the quilt, and I have folded it over to the front and pinned it in place. All (all!!) I have to now is hand sew the binding down.