Friday Face Off

Welcome to the Friday FaceOff for this week.   I will start with a confession.  I have been sick with a mystery bug (not covid, I tested.)  When I feel badly it is difficult to create.   The spirit is willing but the body is resistant.    

Luckily I had put together this face a week or so ago and never have shown it.    My plan was to use up some almost useless scraps for as much of it as possible.  None of these pieces had fusible on the back of them.  Rather,  I layered a piece of batting under a sheet of Steam-a-Seam 2.  This fusible is sticky making it easy to work this way.  Of course I went about it the WRONG way.  I created the face first and then added the background.  That meant that when a piece touched the face, the edges had to be tucked under the edges of the face.  
There was a bit of careful lifting to be sure that the fabrics didn't fray.  

Aunt Lucille

Looking at the photo, I can see that this is not quite finished.  The eyes are lacking pupils and highlights. Ah well, that will be an easy fix as I draw in the pupils with a black sharpie and then use a spot of white paint for the highlight.  If  I felt better, I would just go add it and take a new photo. 
Hopefully I can do that and share the corrected version in a few days. 

__________________

I couldn't stand not fixing it.  So here is the face with the eyes finished. It amazes me how much that tiny bit adds a spark of life to the face. 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is great fun

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

First September Finish

In the last post, I told you about preparing a binding.  Thanks to that binding, I have the first finish of September.  I am loving it!   One of my favorite things is how the corners mitered perfectly including the flange!

I confess I slowed down a lot when I got to the corners to be sure it lined up nicely.  I got my needle to drop precisely in the corner.  Yaay me!

I took this quilt to the park, along with another that you will see in a couple of days.  I put this one on the bench  in the shade - it was over 90F outside and little or no breeze.

You can see in the above photo that the backing matches the outer binding.  It was super easy to make that decision.  And the front has so many fabrics that anything would have been okay there.  I do wish I had added borders so the flanged binding would show up more.

It would have been really great if the bright green that was used for the diamond had been in my stash for the flange.  But this is a true scrap quilt and I had used most of that green in the string blocks. The diamond focal point was a last minute decision while I was laying out the blocks.

I hope you are putting your scraps to good use. They can add up to a really fun quilt.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

String Along - A Top is Born

After sewing ninety of the 6 1/2 inch string blocks, it was time to decide on a layout and just go with it.  I really liked the Four-patch that I had auditioned with the four similar blocks. So, I decided to use it as part of the design.  It is the only part that is different from the diagonal layout of the quilt.

I really love the way it looks.  There are so many different fabrics with only a few that repeat in a fairly consistent manner.

One fabric that is only in the quilt once showed up in the perfect place.  I promise that I didn't play this at all.

Can you see the yellow with the spider in it to the right of the diamond?  It is like the spider is crawling to the "web" created by the diamond.  That made me grin a lot when I saw it.

*** Cool hint: Save those triangles that you trim off when doing corners....they are  perfect for this type of block!

Now I have two quilts that need quilted pretty soon.
Have a great week.
Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

String Block Update

Even though I have a cruddy little cold,  I have been making a few string blocks.

Those are stacks of 10 but there are more than that now.  My best guess is about 85 at this point.

I tried making four that are very similar but not identical.

The color is truer in the top photo.  

The lower one has all the matching corners turned in. While the upper one has two in and two out. I am thinking that these would make a great pillow cover - or at least the center for one.




Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Crumb Block Top Completed

It took a lot of pinning and sewing  and refilling a bobbin - they always seem run out on a long seam - but the Crumb Quilt top is complete.  After pressing the last seam, I took it outside to hang in the sun for a photoshoot.   Of course there was wind.

 But I managed to get a few shots anyway.  If you see the dirt on my car in the background - that is pollen.  We are having a rather early pollen season I think.  And in other photos you may see grass/weeds that haven't been dealt with - If the ground ever gets dry enough during what is apparently this Alabama monsoon, I will get that fixed.

Believe it or not this top was pressed but the humidity and the wind seemed to magically make the wrinkles reappear. 

Nevertheless, I love the bright colors and happy design - I also love that most of my points match thanks to a lot of pins.

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in posts may be affiliate links for which I am compensated if you click through and purchase.

Scrappy HST become Stars

I have been having some fun today.  We started off with a trip to the grocery store. Since I am at a friend's house, it is a store I don't always get to shop at - it was fun.  I got a few things I can't get at my store. 


Then  we went to the Guatemalan store for a couple of items. I love shopping there. The store has no pretense and the staff is so friendly.  Then we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant that is always good. Items on the menu are not interpreted so it is always fun to go "I wonder what that is?"  The waitress is Latina but she was clearly raised in the USA.  I had to ask about a couple of items.  I got the Huarache. It was a plateful.   YUM!


Then back to the house for some real fun.  I got my plastic box of scraps from scrapbusting with my AccuQuilt GO! cutter(this was round two of scrapbusting.)  
I sewed all of these half-square triangles (HSTs) together. 

Then I sat down and used some of my scrappy HSTs and some 4 1/2" squares and made a scrappy star.  It looks wonky, not because it is, but rather because of the two green points that are medium value rather than dark.  

Won't these make a fun quilt?  I am loving it.  

Post 195 -Edging toward a big one

Folks I had a pretty creative night. I don't have any pictures to show right now. So I am just going to tell you what I did. I started out with a new painting. I am ashamed to say that I have gotten so caught up in quilting and sewing that I have neglected my painting.

Tonight I got my groove back, just call me Stella! Ha ha! Yes, I started a full sheet painting. (That means a full sheet of watercolor paper which is 22 by 30 inches.) I am painting in acrylic. I would love to show it to you, but sometimes with non-objective painting we hit an "ugly ducking" stage. I got there tonight. I will confess that I am not sure where the painting will go. I am hoping it talks to me in the next few days and I see a path to follow it down. Now, should I be worried about that? Not in the least. This is a process that is normal for me.

So after the first big layer of paint was down - and needed to dry. I washed up, cause painting like I do is M-E-S-S-Y, oh yes. Besides the first bottle of paint I opened spattered my left hand quite a bit. Anyway. after the wash-up, I pulled out the parts of the quilt that are sewn together.

I took the big pieces and laid them on the bed. WOW. I am getting excitedhappyjoyousthirlled and a few other good emotions. Once it was all laid out, it looked like a quilt! A nice, scrappy, happy, snuggly quilt.

I almost laid down on it to luxuriate. But I didn't. I saw that I have another set of 4 BIG blocks to make. (remember each big block is made of four of the 9.5 blocks)
So I started digging. I found some already made blocks and partial blocks from last weekend. I found some Scrapibilities that I got in the mail yesterday. I started some ironing and sewing. Finally I got a bit tired.

So back to the painting to add just a bit more. Then, wash the brushes. Finally I came here to post this big old rambling post.

I apologize for being all over the place with this one. But at least you get an idea of what is going on with me. (and that when the muse hits me, I jump if I can)

Peace to y'all.