Tidying up -

 

 

Before I play with the backing - 

 

And layering -

 

My Antique Squirrel - BIG BROTHER version - 

 

 

I thought I would tidy up some loose ends - 

 

So I made the label for Ladies - 

 

And for No Rules - 

 

And for my FMQ Essentials -Practice Quilt - Craftsy Class - Christina Cameli -

 

 

Then I made the Label and Scrap Card and Heart - 

 

For "I Used to Be Placemats" - 

 

Which is in the pile to be quilted - 

 

Then I made the label for Colorwash 360 - 

 

I still have to make the Heart and Scrap Card for that - 

 

But I decided to work on the Heart and Scrap Card - 

 

For my FMQ Essentials -  Practice Quilt first - 

 

And finished those up - 

It's a nice break from my Antique Squirrel - 

 

And is easier than trying to layer a large quilt - 

 

Which I will try to do tomorrow - 

 

After I actually sew the labels on the quilts - LOL -;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

 

Ladies -

 

 

Is one of my favorite quilts - 

 

And the RED batik - 

 

Seemed to be the perfect choice for the backing - 

 

 

I used RED thread to quilt it - 

 

Because I knew it wouldn't show on the backing - 

 

And it worked surprisingly well - 

 

I used pale pink and peach - 

 

In the background of the Ladies themselves - 

 

Who would have thought that RED would work so well? -

 

It might become my new neutral - LOL - 

 

Surprise yourself - 

 

Do something unexpected - 

 

And see what happens -

 

It's only a quilt - 

 

And if you don't like how it turns out - 

 

You can always make another one - LOL - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

 

Corner triangles -

 

 

Were added to the back of my Ladies - 

 

Last week - 

 

And my camera thinks that the backing is ORANGE - 

When it is really RED -

 

 

But that's OK - 

 

I won this round of "binding chicken" - LOL - 

 

So now Ladies is all bound - 

 

And is a completed quilt - 

 

Ta Dah!! - ;))

 

This is one of my oldest UFOs - 

And is finally off the "to do list" - 

 

But don't worry - 

 

I have a few more on that list - LOL - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew 

 

 

Quilting is done -

 

 

On the Ladies - 

 

I finished up the last wonky 4-patch - 

 

 

And the wedge section at the top - 

 

And the one on the left side - 

 

And the one in the bottom left corner - 

 

Then I changed to a "khaki" colored thread -

 

And did some "sort of echo" stitching around the ladies - 

 

The stitching doesn't show that much in the next two photos - 

 

But it's there - LOL - 

 

So this one is quilted - 

Tomorrow I'll decide which one to quilt next - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

More quilting -

 

 

Of the Ladies - 

 

First - 

 

Some "sort of straight" lines - LOL - 

 

 

 

Then some wavy lines in a wonky 9-patch - 

 

 

Similar to the other one to the left and below it - 

 

But going in the opposite direction - 

 

Then a section of wedges - 

 

Where I started at the bottom - 

And worked my way up the section - 

First from left to right - 

Then from right to left - 

 

I'm better at left to right - 

But right to left is good to know - 

 

Then another square - 

 

With "sort of straight" lines - 

 

Worked vertically from right to left - 

 

 

I still have some more wedge sections - 

 

And other areas to quilt - 

 

So stay tuned - LOL - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Some more quilting -

 

 

On my Ladies - 

 

First I redid the purple patches in the wonky 9-patches - 

 

I did a wonky double loop - 

and though they aren't wonderful -

they're good enough - 

 

 

 

 

Then I redid the Lazy 8s or Wishbones in the long rectangle - 

 

 

And did some wavy lines in another wonky 9-patch - 

 

 

And some pebbles in a black strip - 

 

 

 

And some "orange peel" in a section of squares - 

 

With some loops in the pink patch in the top left - 

 

 

A square spiral - 

 

 

And a funky flower - 

 

 

 

I'm making it up as I go along - 

 

And I'm not going to worry about the wobbles - 

 

Because I agree with everyone who says - 

 

If I can't see them from across the room - 

 

It's OK - 

 

And I seriously doubt that anyone else - 

 

Will be able to see them either -

 

Except my daughter - she has "eagle eyes" -

 

And if she says anything - 

 

She can stitch her own quilts her own way - LOL - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

The next one -

 

 

To be quilted is this one - 

 

I call it "Ladies" - 

And it goes back a long way -

 

All the way back to April 2011 - HERE -

 

 

That little patch on the bottom right is a scrap that I can use to check the tension without actually sewing on the quilt top (I learned that trick somewhere along the line - but it's been so long ago - I forget where - sorry)

 

I started with the vertical row of squares in the bottom right section - 

 

And chose a red thread - same as the ditch quilting -

 

And - believe it or not - it blends right in - 

 

 

It shows up on the black, of course - 

 

But not that much on the pink batik - 

 

Then I stitched the wonky 9-patches near the center - 

I did swirls in the light pink/orange patches - 

And a funky square-ish spiral in the purple ones - 

The swirls are not great - but fill the space - so I'll leave them as is - 

But I didn't like the spirals - so I "un-sewed" them - 

And will stitch something else in those patches tomorrow -

I stitched Lazy 8's or Wishbones in the long rectangle - 

But I didn't like them either - so I "un-sewed" them, too - 

Tomorrow I'll redo them and try to get them smaller and closer together - 

 

This is one of my favorite quilt tops - 

Definitely "improv" - LOL - 

And I've been hesitant to try to Free-Motion quilt it - 

But now is as good a time as any - 

I might as well - 

Just Do It - LOL - ;))

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

 

Cards -

 

 

From friends are the best!! - ;))

 

Today I received a Valentine's Day card from Linda -

 

Not her fault it was late - 

She mailed it in plenty of time for me to get BEFORE Valentine's Day - 

But I think it took the scenic route - LOL -

 

 

It reminded me that I never showed you -

 

The one she sent me for Christmas last year - 

 

Or the one I received from Cindy for Christmas last year - 

 

 

It is so AWESOME to be included when they sent out cards - 

 

They are such talented ladies - 

 

And I LOVE their creativity - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -