Calico Quilter's Casita; Spring 2016

Angels welcome here

Angels welcome here.

  

April 2016; In the garden...

Spots of lavendar, rose geranium and sweet alyssum grow amidst a mint patch which is kept in check by hardpan soil.

A view of my Calico Quilter's garden in the springtime.  It's not a large area, but every garden requires daily maintenance to thrive.  I spend early mornings in the garden, watering and tending the plants.  Roses do well here.

Child's Duffle Bag and Drawstring Backpack

Still cranking out bags for the granddaughters.  These are for Natalie.  Nat's 4 years old (almost 5) and currently into gymnastics.  I lined the duffle with this very cute print fabric and with the leftovers I made a drawstring/cinch bag backpack, just the right size for Natalie.  The bag measures about 13" wide by 15" long.  I looked at a lot of drawstring backpack patterns before I came up with this version of my own.  I used Butterick 5934 to make this duffle.  I had no struggles sewing this one and have made it twice already; definitely a go-to bag patterns.

Dance bags in the making

Chloe is an endearing grandchild who loves her ballet lessons.  When she was younger I made a ballet bag for her, pink canvas with black gingham trim, custom-sized to her small frame.  Chloe is 7 years old now and she needs a bigger bag.  So, here it is sewn up in  red, with hot pink trim; Chloe has loved the color red for a while now.  Thank goodness for granddaughters which gives me good reason to use the embroidery feature on my very fancy sewing machine.  Chloe's bag...all done!  Next I am working on a bag for Natalie who is our little 4-year-old gymnast.  After that, I'll be making a dance bag for Jaden who will be 13 in July.  Three fabulous granddaughters, Jaden, Chloe and Natalie. We are so blessed : )

Travel Pillow

Making travel pillows for my girls.  This one measures 8-1/2" x 16".  That handle will be very handy when on the go.  Very easy project; I'll be making more of these.  The only thing I will do differently is to add a pocket on the back side.  

Little pillows

Found this Pillow Pal pattern on Etsy (Nanoo Designs).  The finished pillow measures about 10-1/2"x13-1/2" not including head and appendages.  I embroidered those sweet faces using two strands of black embroidery thread.  The hair and rosy cheeks were ironed into place using Lite Steam-A-Seam II.  I blanket-stitched around the edges of the hair and cheek circles to finish the raw edges. It would not be difficult to create your own pattern pieces for a project like this.  I would note that the heads on the two Pillow Pals that I made, flop at the neck; however, they are cuddly soft, travel pillows which I hope will make two little girlies happy.

Little quilt blocks

I am embroidering tiny bonnet girls, part of a Little Blues sampler from Sentimental Stitches. And then there's these tiny house blocks, my favorite new endeavor from designer Jeanneke's "Building Houses from Scraps."  It took me a couple of tries to get into the rhythm of cutting and sewing these house blocks.  The original pattern top corner pieces, came as single pieces.  For easier piecing, I divided that pattern piece into two sections; much better!  I did try to paper piece this tiny pattern, but opted instead to simply cut and sew like any other pieced block.  More tedious?  Maybe a wee bit, but the pieces are manageable and lots of creative fun in the making.  I've many more little houses to make before it becomes a quilt; however, at last I have found that special thing, a little aside that I can pull out and work on between bigger projects. Mixing and matching the prints and colors and seeing the end result, it's like chicken soup for this quilter's soul.

Miniature quilts...on a roll!

11" x 12-1/2"

10" x 12"

Two more miniature quilts that are currently on my table and soon to be done.  I have captioned each with the approximate finished size.  Can' get enough of making teeny tiny quilts.  The fun is in the making and the end result satisfies this Calico Quilter's soul.  "Hands to work, hearts to God"

A room with a view

Morningtime at the Casita.  I'm looking at my work table and enjoying the view.  Quilting gives me joyful pleasure, enough so that I capture the moment before starting a new project.  Lately, miniature quilts have captured my fancy.  My goal, a wallful of them. Onward!

Doggie quilts all done...off the bucket list!

Henry's Quilt

Sammy's Quilt

Happy's Quilt

My sis has two doggies, Sammy and Happy. Sammy is my l'il doggie Henry's best friend. They have known each other since Henry was just a little pup; Happy came along later. I made Henry a quilt a while back and when he stays overnight at Aunty's from time to time, his quilt goes with him.  All the doggies love Hen's quilt and since they are family, how could I not? Finished at last, these to blanket quilts are on their way to Aunty's.

Henry and Sammy

I can stipple...hurrah!

Here is a wall hanging which I pieced together, a "Mini Star Quilt" from Edyta Sitar's book, Scrappy Firework Quilts.  It has been sitting in the closet waiting to be quilted for a long, long while.  I have avoided free-hand machine quilting completely until now, although I have books on the subject, researched tutorials on the internet, and even signed up for Craftsy classes. But it's time; time to stipple, Calico Quilter!  I did what all the teachers say to do, "practice, practice, practice."  I did that and now I understand why; I get it.  In fact, it is almost enjoyable; come on...really, CQ?  On the back side of my work, there are threads that need cleaning up, i.e., pull through and out of site.  I have read that we each have unique stippling signatures. Is this mine?  Like cursive penmanship, I imagine that my stippling "signature" will improve over time and with lots and lots of practice.

Calico Quilter gets organized

http://www.aquiltinglife.com/2016/01/quilt-your-stash-week-one.html

I found this great article on www.aquiltinglife.com, which prompted me to give thought to what I was going to accomplish this year with quilting.  That includes finishing unfinished projects, organizing my stash of fabrics, and selecting new projects with projected deadlines.  Here's my list so far:

PROPOSED WORKBOARD

1. Ongoing projects to finish within 6 months
2. Long-term projects currently in progress
3. List of quilts that need making for family members, including the dogs
4. 2016 make a quilt from a quilt kit
5. Make lap quilts for around the house
6. Stashbuster small projects, i.e., potholders, mug rugs, table runners
7. Mini quilt wall hangings, for the fun of it

Tiny Tumblers

I have found a perfect quilt shop very near to where I live.  Hurray!!!  Primitive Gatherings is located at 26855 Jefferson Avenue, Murrieta, CA 92592.  If you live around here or are in the vicinity, go there; you will not be disappointed.  It's a huge shop with so many fabric offerings, including a large selection of wool fabric.  On my very first visit, I happened upon this pattern which includes a sturdy plastic template; Tiny Tumblers.  Teeny tiny blocks to piece together. "Only you, Calico Quilter," says me to myself.  With this one, I am using up more bits and pieces from my fabric stash.  The finished quilt will measure about 13-1/2 x 13-1/2 inches.  

Parsley and Posies

Flat-leaf parsley, white violas, Iceland poppies; these do well

February 2016; late winter, early spring.  I grow herbs and posies in containers.  We have had cool nights, warm days this past week; in the 40s at night, mid-70s during the day.  I know!!!  The Temecula sun beats down heavy in any season, and so I use small umbrellas to shade those plants and seedlings that wilt and wither in extreme heat.

Happy Calico Quilter

It's quilting time for this Calico Quilter.  There's a couple of quilt tops that I'm currently working on, but I still take time to do small projects, just for the fun of it.  My sis wanted a Mary Engelbreit mug rug (pictured), just like one I made for myself.  And then there are potholders, one of my favorite quick turnaround projects; can't have too many potholders in the kitchen drawer.  In the foreground is an Amish star quilted potholder which I found on YouTube; so much fun to put together and not terribly difficult to make.  With these small projects, I am working my way through my scrap bag. Feels like springtime and I'm a happy quilter.

Happy New Year...mid-way thru January 2016

This Calico Quilter does quilting, sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery, some
rigid heddle weaving...so on and so on.  My cupboards are stuffed full of yarn, fabric, bits and pieces, notions and tools in support of these many hobbies of mine.  It's the beginning of a New Year (2016), and I am piecing together quilt blocks that have been on the back burner for a while now. Here's a snap of my quilt wall and what I'm working on this week. The Hawai'i-style Sunbonnet Sues are truly adorable; each finished block will measure 9 inches.  Those magenta pink prints have been jumping out at me whenever I'd peek in the cupboard; thus, it's time to make this quilt and be done. The smaller blocks in the photo, are part of my Mrs. Lincoln's Sampler Quilt (design by Lori Smith). There's joy that goes into the making, especially since hand applique is by far, one of my favorite pastimes.  Each block measures 6 inches.

My quilt wall

Hand applique block in progress

Late blooms; autumn bouquet

Late blooms from my garden, picked this morning.  Roses, lavendar, and a sprig of rosemary for remembrance.  Their fragrance is simply heavenly.

Bead Embroidery!

I am taking a Bead Embroidery class through Craftsy (www.craftsy.com). The beads pictured here are tiny and I use a magnifying glass while working, so as not to completely blow out my eyesight. I love bead embroidery!

A note about Craftsy:  Simply the best platform out there for online craft classes and and all kinds of other hobbies.  I recommend Craftsy classes highly.

Looking back...Spring 2015

Bits and pieces from Calico Quilter's garden, Spring 2015.