Come and Dine Banner - part 2

In my previous post, Come and Dine Banner, I was talking about the designing part of the banner project.  I finished that post at the point where it was time to break out the fabric.

First I trimmed each piece of paper roughly around the designs.  At this point I only trimmed around each word as a whole.  On the left I picked a purple tonal print, and green tonal print for the leaves.  Under each word is a rough cut piece of brown tonal print fabric.  On the far right I put a different brown that reminded me of home baked bread, and a grayish stone looking print.

 Then I laid it out and snapped a picture with my phone to get a more disconnected view of it.  Once I saw the picture, I decided that the gray just didn't work.  So I switched it out for a reddish brown print.  I liked the reddish fabric much better, it shows up nicely on the pieced yellow mosaic background.  Here is a close-up of the gray fabric, it just blends into the background.

 Once I switched the reddish brown fabric for the gray fabric, I snapped another picture and decided that I was satisfied with how it looked.

This shows how I cut the brown fabric originally the rough shape of the entire word.

At this point the background is complete, the designwork is done, and the fabric has been auditioned and chosen.

Next time I will tell my method of applying the appliques for grapes, leaves, words, bread, and oil jug.

Let me know what you think.

Army Cathedral Windows Quilt update

Finished two more rows for it today; only 6 more rows to go! 

Army Cathedral Windows Update - Picture

Finally got the picture of the quilt together; I added 3 more rows to it yesterday and it is coming along; only 8 more rows, I think, lol.

The red is the sheet on my queen size bed.  The quilt background is made from old Army uniforms; it has two types of camo in it the older more curvy camp and the more modern digital camo.  The inset squares are solid black.  I need to take a close up of this; and also a pic of the back as the black zig zag stitching that holds this together, makes a pretty design that reminds me of the black leading in stained glass.

Update on Army Cathedral Windows quilt & other craftiness today

Got to work some more today on the Army Cathedral Windows quilt; got 2 more rows finished.  Then I cut out the rest of the black inset squares for it. 

And while I had the cutting equipment out I went ahead and cut out most of the inset squares for a wallhanging I am planning. 

And I finished 13 cards today and got them in the mail.  I like to decorate my envelopes too.  So this took a while.  So I sent out all the birthdays and other events for May.  Yes some are somewhat late and others are early - but I can live with that.  Hopefully I can some day have them all done on time.

Update on the Army Cathedral Window quilt

Over the weekend I was able to get a lot done on the Army Cathedral Window quilt.  I got 6 rows finished and attached to the main body of the quilt.

I have to cut about 125 more of the black inset squares.  Hopefully later today I can set up the rotary cutting mat and get cutting.  Unfortunately, although the sewing machine is all set up in my bedroom, so multiple times a day I can just set and sew for a few minutes or more.  But the rotary cutting mat is bigger and I have to set that up either on the living room coffee table or the kitchen table. 

I have a small pile of denim cut from old jeans and 1 uncut pair of jeans built up.  Hopefully I can get them all cut into the circles for future quilts.  The store easier in less place once they are cut.

I have an excited new variation of the Denim Cathedral Window quilt that I am eager to do; but I am trying to finish the Army Cathedral Window quilt first.

Army Cathedral Windows Quilt Update

Well I finally have the sewing machine set up again and plugged in and all that good stuff.  So I started working on the Army Cathedral Windows Quilt again.  I got 4 rows finished today.  But had to make a  run to the store for more black thread and black fabric.

This is it before I add the 4 rows I finished today.  This quilt is for my son-in-law, he is retired Army and the background is made from all of his old uniforms.  This pattern is my adaptation of the old Cathedral Windows quilt pattern; but it is done entirely on the sewing machine - no hand sewing!

Will post an updated picture as soon as I can figure out how to get them from this different camera onto the computer, lol.

Army Cathedral Window Quilt

This is the latest cathedral window quilt.  Insets are all solid black; background are the actual military uniforms worn by the retired Army sergeant that this is being made for.

Second Crazy Quilt Wallhanging is Half Done

 

Just finished piecing the second block for this crazy quilt wallhanging.  I am liking how this is turning out.  It is in a similar color palette as the first one that I am embellishing.  

It has been too long since I did any handwork like embroidery or beading and I am enjoying it alot.

New Quilt Design

Got inspired to draw up this design last night .. I am calling it Irish Pinwheels.

Monday's Crazy Quilt update.

Got some time to work on the Crazy Quilt last night and tonight, yippee! 

Here are some pics

I added a multiple length green blanket stitch to this seam and then added tiny white beads.

This is a way cool vintage button with neat patina from years of love ( it is slightly blurry in the pic for some reason).  Then the seam between it and the beaded spiderweb has a pink row of leaf stitched and then I went back and added a crossbar at the intersection of each stitch.

The white washed out a little from the flash in this pic.  The white lace medallion is really two pieces I cut out of a lace edging and rearranged into this design, I added a large pale lilac bead in the center and beaded tiny pearl beads around the edge and a small spray of them coming off the upper left and trailing down.

This shows the pink edge trim that I cut from a fancier design and then added the green pearlized beads on it.  The central motif starts with a huge vintage button and has a beaded loop hanging from its holes.  I gold metallic corner is tooked under the left side.  Two beaded green loops and a large lilac bead and a seashell are up top.  Further on the right is a groupings of mother of pearl and old off white vintage buttons, interspersed with a purple bead from a pair of favorite earrings that bit the dust.

This lovely lavender motif is a vintage piece I inherited from my Grandma Kuchenmeister that adopted me.

The flash messed with this a little.  The red teardrop jewel is surrounded by tiny white beads that trail off into a flourish of larger beads.

Finally this is the block (lower left in the piece) and how it is looking so far.  You can see the small string of pink pearls that I couched down along the long purple seam in the upper right.

Third Quilt Design Post

This design is made entirely of log cabin blocks; but they are colored in such a way to look like a Lone Star or Star of Bethelehem star.  A couple of the lines are darker than they should be; because the markers I used to color it, were NOT exact to their lid colors.

The colors are a variety of blues that blend well for the star, a variety of yellows for the background; and each log cabin block will have a red center.

Another Quilt Design

Here is the second design I drew:

I like how it appears to have circles and curves in it, even though it is all straight lines.

Some Possible Future Quilt Designs

Been drawing up possible new quilts.  This is the first one, totally different from what I usual do.  But I think I like it.

Quilt Designs

Been drawing up some quilt designs for my next few projects, since I finished the US Navy Denim Cathedral Windows quilt. 

Got a Nature Crazy Quilt in the planning stage.

One I am calling Expanding Exploding Star Within a Star.

Then there is a Log Cabin Star quilt.

Then a Scrappy Star quilt.

There are two others I have drawn but not sure how to describe them and haven't named them yet; but they are nice.

That is nice and vague, isn't it?  LOL.  More details to follow.

US Navy Denim Cathedral Windows Quilt

Just finished this quilt for an 80 year old Navy veteran.

This is done with the Navy version of Robert Kaufman & K&Company's Patriots fabrics.

I really like how this one turned out.

Finished a quilt today!

I finally got the Princess Denim Cathedral Window quilt that is for my 2 year old granddaughter finished today.

Here is a close up.

TGIF

Today has been a crummy day; dh has been arguing with me all day. But I am off in my office/studio and am determined to get into a better mood. Playing my favorite playlist in itunes. Trying to fight off a headache.
Things I have been up to lately:
Been to the DAV Auxiiliary meeting this week.
Went bowling last night with my second son, his wife and daughter.
Been working on my 2 year old granddaughter's Denin Cathedral Window Princess quilt; got 2 rows done and ready to attach to the main part of the quilt; and 2 more rows ready to be joined together.
Had a crazy amount of birthdays this month:
My middle daughter turned 21; my oldest son turned 25; my youngest daughter turned 16; my second grandaughter turned 2.
Also it was the birthday month for my sister-in-law, two aunts, cousin, and a brother.
Personally life seems to be transitioning again; as I move from place to place [sometimes physically, but more often moving emotionally or in life decisions.

Denim Quilt Update

Got another 2 rows done on my daughter-in-law's red bandana Denim Cathedral Window quilt. I like it when I get to the part of the project that the momentum kicks in and then it seems to go so much faster.

Quilting Update

I managed to get about an hour or so of quilting time in Wednesday. Got 2 rows finished on my daughter-in-law's red bandana print Denim Cathedral Windows quilt. Her hubby (my oldest son) has a lap quilt exactly like it. When I asked her what she would like her lap quilt to look like, she decided to have it be exactly like his and then I can join it to his and they will have a twin size quilt. That is one of the really cool things about these denim cathedral quilts ... because each little square is finished before you butt it up to the main part and zip-zag in place; you can stop where you want as it is always finished and you can add another row anytime you want.
My second son did that with his lap quilt. Each time he saw me sewing he would bring the quilt and ask me to add just 1 row on 1 side. Since this didn't seem like much effort, I would slap a row on there. His quilt was twin size, when it got stolen while he was working in Louisiana.
So I have made him an Army print Camo Cathedral Window lap quilt; he says he plans on having me add to it until it is queen size and then it will be used on his bed.

Organizing Family Photos

In another chapter of my ongoing organizational efforts, I am trying to get my family photos organized.

I am also an avid scrapbooker, so have some photos that are in scrapbooks. Most of the other photos have long since been removed from those destructive magnetic photo albums that were so popular in the 1970s. They absolutely will destroy your photos. These photos are stored in 3 photo boxes made specifically for photo storage. Originally I had divided the photos in the boxes, placing all of my dh's family pictures in one box, all my family's pictures in a second box; and then all of us and our children and grandchildren in the third box. This has gotten a little unorganized over time; since when the kids look through the boxes they see no need to return them to the proper box. I have also made an effort to label each photograph on its back. I include who is in the picture, where it was taken, when it was taken, any occasion that it may be of, etc. Again this is not 100% completed, as I occasionally find unlabeled photos in the boxes.

The biggest problem for organizing photos is trying to organize all the digital photos as they number into the 1000s. With digital cameras, no requiring any expensive developing, to see our images, we shoot infinitely more pictures. A birthday party now can have 200 photos; instead of the 24 that the roll of film limited us to.

Also being a genealogist, I have scanned 100s of family photographs from near and far family members.

The problem comes in labeling, organizing, and ultimately being able to easily and quickly locate a picture when I want it. And I admit that I am probably only doing a C- job of digital photo organization.

I have made many stabs at getting them organized. Some of my efforts have been:

1. I created a folder on my desktop that I named Pictures; and I drag all pictures on my computer into it. So that they are at least all in one place.
2. I have created subfolders in the Pictures folders in the following categories:

• Crafts - pictures of crafts I have done, or pictures of crafts I have seen that I would like to do or use for inspiration. There are sub-folders within this sub-folder for the various types of crafts I do; such as: Quilting, Crocheting, etc.
• I have a subfolder for each family surname that I research, and place all photos of that family in each folder. Within the Talbert folder I have a subfolder for each of my children, one for pets, one for places we go (trips, vacations, etc), one for reunions, etc.
• Scrapbooking - I am hugely obsessed with scrapbooking and have a massive folder with numerous subfolders about scrapbooking, such as: Sizzix, Cricut, Titles, Tags, Page Layouts, Pages I Have Done, Alphabets, Fonts, Borders, etc.

Now this may seem very organized but not really so much so. As there are 1000s of photos in there and there are many, many folders which are only labeled by the date that the computer imported them from the digital camera. Also when one of the kids stops by they pull their memory card out of their cameras and download a copy of all their photos onto my computer. Which is good because I have all the pictures and also good because they have a backup else where of their pictures. However, if they don't delete the photos from their camera after downloading to my computer; the next time they download it will download not only the new pictures they have taken since then, but they will redownload additional copies of the photos that were downloaded last time. This makes for tedious matching up to find the duplicates and delete them.

I guess, to put it into perspective. Yes, organizing is a necessary but tedious part of this; but that is only because we are blessed with the technology to save our littlest memories so easily. Our ancestors, would have priced as a priceless heirloom even one photo of that dear baby or of mother and father. So we are blessed, just overwhelmed. Like anything else, working on it bit by bit and having an organizational plan can help us get organized and remain organized.

Good luck with preserving those visual memories.