stitching away

I've been stitching away on heart blocks for the past three days. I am calling myself done for now except for a little embellishment on one of the kitty heart blocks. There are others that the Bama Belles will be turning in to add to the quilt top.

Three of the blocks are free patterns from the Ula Lenz site--double hearts, inverse heart at the bottom of the picture and the corded heart in the middle row, right. The ruffled heart block was in Sew Precise 1-2 software but I also found a version of it on AZ Patch, actually I think several of those ARE also in the same software. The block on upper right is Friendship Heart from Piece by Number .

I got the bright idea to take the cutaways from the blocks and make a crumb pieced heart though I am not sure that I like the resultant piece. I don't have to include it in the quilt top if there are extras. Sarah did a lot of crazy patching for fillers around donation blocks. She, like Theramae, hated to see us throw anything out and would often take the cutaway strips from the quilt backing. It would not take long before you would notice those bits turning up when we pinned a top.

I still need to put the eyes, nose and whiskers on the Kitty Love block--the link is in the previous post along with the one for the cat with the heart. The last small block, "Heart in Hand" is a freebie from Christine Thresh and one that I have had in my files for some time. I included it here because it is a traditional symbol of friendship. The other two blocks I made earlier in the week are in the last post.

I got a call mid week from the lawyer who had commissioned a couple of t-shirt quilts and 4 or 5 SEC quilts in the past. Initially he said he wanted a simple quilt done with some neckties given to him from his former father-in-law's estate. By the time I arrived to pick up the ties, his ex had convinced him that pillows would be better. He plans to re-gift his former mother-in- law with the pillows. Seems she has a neutral, Oriental feel going on so avoiding the Victorian look of crazy patch and velvets.

So it is going to be two pillows using a fan design and thankfully, no giant rush on these. I don't think I know a whole lot about making pillows or working with ties but I will learn. They are slippery, slide-y fabrics cut on the bias and contain how much fabric???? I ordered a used copy of Shirley Botford's Daddy's Ties for my reference library as it was the only source of help that I could think of on the subject. (I may pick my friend Ginny's brain too as I think she made something with her FIL's ties? Not sure about that plus she is busy with an out of state move.) The daughter has some ideas about the backing fabrics. At some point she will go shopping with me to get that and the pillow forms. I just hope that there is no fancy cording or gee gaws involved. I am a quilter, not a good seamtress. I can do enough to get by but sewing clothing was abandoned years ago. I'm definitely not a decorator. I'll call her after I get the blocks done to set that up and just ordered the Moda shade that come closest to matching one of the tie colors for a background.

The ex would also like a t-shirt quilt done for her younger son at some point. I will probably do it because I already did for the half brother and she had mentioned this before. It doesn't mean that she will follow through. Every one I have made so far, I have thought it was the last one. Speaking of which, I need to get busy today on the present one to move it along. Tomorrow I play with my bargello again--Norma will be working on her borders while I still have two more stratas to make. I would also like to get a couple of tops quilted sometime before our next meeting on the 26th.

I am going to a retreat up in Collinsville is coming up this next weekend from Thursday evening till Sunday afternoon. Joy and Debora are our hosts and Nessa will feed us some of her good food. My pal Aline from here is going with me and some of the my row group are coming. My 4 patch stacked posie is my UFO of choice to work on though I have more blocks done than shown in the linked post. My choice for new project would be the Christmas Patience Corner like the one Norma is working on shown HERE Both she and Cher sent me some cut Christmas squares and this is my choice of pattern for how to use them. I would still need to cut them to a uniform size along with a packet I already own as well as cut the sashing bits--maybe Thursday morning before I go I can get that kitted up. I may take my last two snowmen bluework with me for a change of pace when I get tired of the sewing machine. Don't we also drag more than we can possibly get done to these things?

That's the long range plans--more immediate plans, go heat up my oatmeal (double batched it yesterday) and get dressed. Temp is at 51 degrees, a little overcast and not windy so perfect for walking. Hope you have a good weekend in whatever you chose to do.