Virtual Retreat Aug thru Dec 2015 Info on first post

[golfjane]

Thanks, Ritzy for the information. Found it on Amazon and just put in my order.

[golfjane]

Geneva - Awesome picture of Victorina Rose. (I'm sure we'll get together sooner or later too).
Lois - DH and I passed thru / stayed in your area couple years ago attending the Hershey Swap Meet.
Dawn - Neat totes.
Ritzy - I've not done much crocheting - snowflakes do sound fun!
Annis - Fun to hear about and see what you're doing the shower curtain bird runners look great!
Barb

[golfjane]

Dawn, that's a lovely tote! Your grandbaby will love it!

Annis, that is a gorgeous runner (both of them!), and that pattern is delightful! I'll have to hunt down your website and download. Looks fun! (And I would likely also get it all backwards....I'm queen of that)

I finished the quilt for MIL, label is on just needs hand stitched down to secure it (fused, but needs stitching) and then a quick wash and wrap it up for her. It is quite imperfect, but she will love it, which is the point. I'm pleased with it for a first go at FMQing entirely. By the end, I was doing well Next time, will practice and plan more rather than just doing what strikes me at the moment. (planning is NOT my strong suit....).

I will have my boys help me take a picture in a bit and come show you all

We head out to Colorado tomorrow, be there until Christmas eve, so I'll not be around. Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone!

[golfjane]

Annis...love the quilts!!! :cheer:
Ritzy...I have that book...made some last year
Heather...have a safe trip, and very Merry Christmas!!!

Dorothy

[golfjane]

Heather - Hope you have a wonderful Christmas too. (Its sure to white in Colorado). Looking forward to picture of MIL's finished quilt. You by the way have more courage than I with FMQ. (I know practice, practice, practice).
Barb

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Great Winnie the Pooh totes - who wouldn't love those (I'm a big Eeyeore fan); Cute baby photos and lovely table runner very nice antidote to all the stuff that is around this time of year. Great shower curtain idea

I haven't been able to finish anything lately excepts some additions to my wardrobe but I really needed to relax the other day so dug out some place mats I cut out in early autumn and started piecing. Oh my; that was so soothing B) I'm using some blocks I didn't include in a quilt I made last year that I thought would be a starting point for another quilt but they are not very quilt-able due to thick seams so thought place mats would make good use of them. The pictures are of the two sides that will be one placemat once they are layered, quilted and bound





Heather, have a great trip to Colorado; see you around when you get back.

Marianne

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Very nice Marianne!
Barb

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Lately I've been smitten with the color combo of aqua and red. Today, I put together some mitered borders for a snowman panel I've been hanging on to for a few years. It's only the top but I don't have a lot of winter decorations, so I decided to pin it to the top of my poppy quilt by the fireplace. The aqua plaid borders of the poppy quilt surround the snowman and his borders. Now I'm giving some thought to adding a pieced border that would have some aqua in it! Oh my, when something simple takes on a life of its own I'm in trouble, again!



I'll enjoy it, as is, for a few days before I get myself in deeper.

Merry Christmas to everyone

Luann

[anne1]

Luann, It's lovely. I've never done anything with panels but yours is so pretty I'm going to start looking out for them.
Merry Christmas
Anne

[anne1]

Anne,
Just be aware that many panels are printed off grain. The other thing that happens often is: the design itself isn't necessarily a squared design. On the snowman I checked to see if the printed red border had square corners, so I could get straight edges to trim out from. They were not. So, I squared up the edges as far out as possible then worked my way in. Took some slivers off each side until I got to an inch away from 'most' of the holly leaves. I wish they would print panels with more background between them. 3" extra to a panel would only raise the price 1/9th and the sewist could work with it better. Oh well, when I print my fabric panels I'll remember that,,,

There are some beautiful ones out there. I'll post pics of two recent quilts I've long armed.

[Marianne-is-sewing]

>>Luann, It's lovely. I've never done anything with panels but yours is so pretty I'm going to start looking out for them.
Merry Christmas
Anne <<

I've never paid attention to panels in the past but just this week I read an article about "Framed Quilts" by a lady called Janet Rae in a supplement to a magazine. Apparently they were all the rage back in the beginning of 1800 in Great Britain so ladies used those panels as a starting point for large quilts adding pieced "frames" around the centre panel. At first I thought it was just a British name for a medaillon quilt but the panel is the difference and the fact it is never set on point like the early American medallion quilt centres were.
The article sparked all kinds of ideas in my head for uses of all the scrap 4-patches I'm churning out.

Luann, your snowman panel is very cheerful and the ones you have quilted are very nice too. How big are those panels? I'm interested to hear you are going to print your own. That was the idea that first hit me when I read the above article. I could use some of the artwork I make in Inkscape and have it printed to panels. Although I quite like to appliqué I'm terrible at it (Yes I know, practise, practise, practise :P ) but having a panel printed wouldn't feel like cheating too much inch:
Marianne

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Marianne,
You must check out Spoonflower.com
You can print your designs onto several different types of cloth. And if you get 'the Spoonflower Workbook' it'll walk you through things like repeating designs, and uploading your image so you can print it to the size you want, etc. I've only done simple things so far, but I really enjoy it. If you are drawing your own designs it would be so unique to do this. Everything must be copyright free or yours, that's used in your uploads. That way no one can legally reproduce someone else's work. But, their are artists on the site that have their designs for sale. Not inexpensive, but worth the unique factor for special things, I think.
When I worked at the quilt shop in Wisconsin I found that most panels are printed 24" per cut. That way quilt shops can cut and prepackage the entire bolt. The one I showed that has The Lord's Prayer on it, is 36 " by width of fabric. That's unusual. Sometimes there will be companion fabrics showcased by the panels and it's a good idea to get a few fat quarters to mix with your own stash pieces to bring it all together.
Have fun!
PS and I hope that auto correct hasn't changed anything! LOL

[Marianne-is-sewing]

Luann...LOVE the snowman, and the other quilts! I'm really liking the attic window I did with the deer panel. I'm FMQ it now, and really happy with the way it is turning out

Dorothy

[Marianne-is-sewing]

A quickie preemie quilt. Measure about 24 inches square. Little Alfie has gained weight, is out from under the lights and only has an NG tube which is feeding him only mother's milk! Yeh!

[Jdeluka]

Terrie, the quilt is lovely. Looks perfect for a snuggle! Glad to hear Alfie is doing well! Gotta love that home brewed liquid gold - hope momma is doing well too. In our NICU we always said that breast milk is baby's first, best medicine.

~ Jen