The Bonnie Hunter Carpet Line

Did you know Bonnie Hunter now had a line of carpet ????

No, you say ???

Well, lookie here at my den floor - isn't that a lovely rug?  Kitty thinks so...  it's about 2/3rds quilted...  one thing I love about quilting on a sit-down machine is I can take the quilt down and work on it a bit at the time - I have a phenomenally short attention span, so this is good !

Kitty plopped down on this and had a flashback of her Kittenhood  -  here she is as a 4 month old kitten, on the partially pieced top of this same quilt !!  TWO YEARS AGO, AND NOT FINISHED YET - UGH

 

oh look - more Bonnie Hunter carpet:  this is in my sewing room - it's not fully installed yet !!!  Oh my, there's a hole in that corner... 

 

 

 As you see, I'm having a UFO Christmas - one of these is the Bonnie Hunter Mystery from TWO years ago - the other from LAST year !!

And no, I'm not doing this year's mystery - maybe I'll be caught up by next Christmas and then I can do two at once !!!!

I'll let you know if I finish any of these - you can alert the media !!

Kate,              having a wonderful quilty holiday..

 

A Project for Christmas Eve

So, let me begin by saying 'Merry, Merry Christmas", to all who celebrate this holiday, and Happy Holidays to those who celebrate another holiday.

DH and I and the furry ones are having a quiet Christtmas... we'll have a bit of company and a bit of travel in the next week... but today and tomorrow we have declared "do whatever you want"  days !

I talked DH into cooking something simple - so we'll dip back to a dish we loved when we lived in Louisiana - and feast on crawfish etouffee !!! 

So - what's a quilter to do?  Well, why not dig out a UFO and focus on that?  So - in a corner, in a bin, I have been keeping an eye on this:

It's a Bonnie Hunter pattern - a Mystery - maybe last Christmas??? 

So here's where it gets interesting - I have all the little "parts" - but no more completed blocks...

Cause I am NOT A LINEAR QUILTER...

I have always admired quilters who make all the blocks, and then assemble the quilt... no, I make two or three blocks, sew them together, make some more, sew them together... I just can't wait to see the top coming together... 

So let me go see if I can remember how to make the last three blocks...  I did find the corner and setting triangles... 

A good cup of coffee will certainly help...

Happy Christmas Eve to everyone.

Kate

A Little Trip into Town

Tonight we went into town......................

I grew up in the country, about 7 miles from "town".  I went to a 'county school' - not the "town school"... 

The 'town' kids were richer, smarter, more advantaged...

And went we 'went to town', it was a big deal - the grocery, the hardware store, the five and dime, maybe an ice cream, maybe the clothing store.... always buying just the things we couldn't raise, barter, or 'make do' without.   Mostly we ate from the garden, or from the hog or pig we butchered.

Town was a typical, southern small city with fewer than 20,000 people - with a hospital, a Lipton tea factory, a newspaper, you know, small town America....


Well, a lot of water has gone under the bridge....

And now I "go into town" in SAN FRANCISCO !!

And I have decided I love my adopted city...

So let me share some holiday photos of "town"...while you sing "I Left My Heart .... in San Francisco".... 

What a great TOWN !!

Merry Christmas, everyone..

Kate

The "Staring" Phase

Hi there...

Several people have asked how a linen quilt is born, so I thought I would take you along on a journey.

I do use the word 'born' purposely - I don't think I "plan" or "design" it...  rather, I serve as a midwife.

This is my next 'delivery'  : 

It's a gorgeous piece of Madeira linen, probably from the 1930s, probably made in Portugal.  Madeira linen later became very popular and was eventually overproduced for the tourist trade - there are some rather poor examples from that period.  But this one has the grace and elegance of an earlier work. 

It's all wrinkled, sorry - no need to iron it yet.  I just got it from England, on ebay... 

Step One?   Staring... I will just leave it on this table, and stare at it for a few days.  I will try to think about the need to enhance the original needlework, not to detract from it...  and I will think about the need to balance details and larger designs, and I will think about colors of thread, and of backing fabric.

I will not think about how long this will take - that's simply inconsequential. 

Let me show you some of the beautiful embroidery and cutwork:

After I have stared at it for a bit, I will try some different colors behind it and see what looks good - I'll take some photos to share !

Have a great day, hopefully finding a few moments to quilt or sew!


Kate

"Still "

Hello everyone - -

Well, it's starting to feel a lot like Christmas - I even put on some Christmas music yesterday - it must be coming soon !!

My post is entitled "STILL"... BECAUSE THAT'S MY THEME....


I am STILL quilting on this quilt,  the "Enormous Hexagon Quilt" .  Yes, I am quilting this on a domestic machine, not a long-arm, so I can stop and start at will...  finding the WILL is the hard part... I have a rule that I must work on it every weekend...  so I do, usually on Sunday morning.  Slowly, gradually, I am getting there, but no finish in sight yet !

I am also STILL quilting on this Bonnie Hunter mystery - I can't remember the name or the year - wasn't last year, maybe two years ago...  I am doing this on my sit-down APQS machine, so that should be easier and faster... 

Like all quilters, I have an occasional disaster.  I was trying to create a simple little piece to use as a sample...  lovely little doily, and fabulous background fabric from Cherrywood fabrics.

But, I guess I forgot to prewash it, cause when I soaked it to get the marks out of it, it bled and the linen piece is now a soft peach color...  I'm going to try another wash with a color catcher, but I am not optimistic.  Rats - I bet I don't forget to prewash again !!!!

My rule of thumb is that all fabric gets prewashed - it's a simple "better safe than sorry.  And, since Cherrywood, which I love, is a hand-dyed fabric, it was even more important !

Well, it can still be a class sample, but it will teach a different lesson... now, won't it?

Well, I'm going to go do some power sewing on some scraps before my Sunday drifts away.  Homemade soup is in the crock pot, so it will be a yummy day.

Good luck getting all your Christmas projects completed !!

Kate

Nearing the Finish Line ..... hooray !

Hello hello hello, I hope you are still feeling the glow from the holiday ! 

I had the whole week off, and just had a glorious time sewing and quilting...  and made significant progress on this little linen quilt...  that is now almost, almost, almost finished...

It's made from a Madeira vintage table runner, placed on some gold Radiance fabric, and quilted with Kimono silk thread... lots of it!!   Pardon the garage table - when it's totally finished, I will get some better photos !

Here are some detail shots...  I quilted in a line of little leaves to complement the leaves on the original piece - they were so fun

 I originally quilted the center feathers in white thread, but they just didn't show up, so I hand-embroidered over them using some Magnifico thread - much better !  Add a little bling, too!

BUT - you know how, no matter how hard you try, there's always something yucky on every quilt?  Well, I had several thread nests on the back...  and they were quilted over many times - in fact they were completely flat, and picking them out was going to be impossible.  I was sick...

and then I remembered that Cindy Needham often decorates the backs of her linen quilts - aha - an idea was born !!

 

I'll need to scatter a few of these lovely vintage coasters around the back to cover the uglies and to make it look like decoration instead of 'emergency' ... 

 

That's my 'state of the needle'  for today - hopefully in another week or so I can finish up all the last stuff, label, sleeve, etc.  I would love to call this a 'finish'.

 

Happy Sunday...  heading toward Christmas...

 

Kate

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WAY TO GO, MACY'S

Are you ready for one of those 'feel-good', make you cry stories?

Well, Macy's in San Francisco has done it again...

This is Union Square at Christmas - packed with people, pretending that it is cold, and Santa's shaking their bells - and an ICE SKATING RINK !!!! 

Macy's has fabulous windows on the square, and the crowds shop the gorgeous windows...

For the secon year, Macy's has set aside one of their fabulous windows, on the very busy Union Square section of the city,  for the SPCA, who brings kitties and dogs there for adoption, during the Christmas season... 

And it works - nearly 300 adopted last year !

Grab a tissue... and click below.

http://www.examiner.com/article/union-square-macy-s-features-spca-holiday-windows


Kate