Dee's Doodles

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Quilter's Block to Sewing Happy!

Well, I won't bore you with the snowy-cold news here!

It's been a blistering -13 today.

Which means shovelling out the driveway multiple times, sidewalks, trips to help others, no Ball State and no work fur the hubs or Jon!

Lost of hot chocolate being consumed here in between times outside!

This is my dream cup of hot chocolate! Served at a sewing retreat where all my quiltey and bloggy friends are!

Sigh!

Last week I finished up my Winter table topper

Very happy! Very pleased!

Inspired by this picture on Pinterest

This week while surfing, I came across this

and fell in love! Sort of. Kind of. How about another spasm of inspiration?

I really like the color...but not much orange happening here.

I love the heart centered with the bow...no heart locket, tons of snow, no travelling and the prototype fabric heart I tried, well, didn't work out in the long haul I'm a-frayed.

Twiddle thumbs. Take a drink. Walk around. Look out the windows. Surf Pinterest again. Come back to the same, original picture that caught my eye.

Ok.

Into my tote of vintage linens. Maybe something will connect with me there.

I find this basket of posies. Very Springy, happy, colorful and smallish. I cut it to a square 6 1/2".

The Pinterest picture has a scrappy border that makes me smile. Now off to the scraps totes and buckets. I decide on only one border of scraps all the way around (instead of two at the top and bottom...but maybe I'll change my mind when I go back to it later today).

And now I have this

I'm beaming! What a bright, cheerful, pick me up on a cold winter's day!

In the original inspiration, there is quilting on the paper behind the locket. I took out my ruler and my Pilot Frixion pen and mark quilting lines 1" apart on both diagonals.

And here is where I am starting the day off. I'm not much of a hand quilter, so I marked 1/4" dashes and tried to sew straight. LOL Do you think it looks like paper toweling too? (shaking my head...I need caffeine!)

Not sure where it will end up. But I'm pretty happy. It looks nothing like my inspiration piece, but that's the fun of it! Taking something, adjusting here and there, changing this, replacing that and making it truly YOUR own!

Hope you're staying warm and safe wherever you are today!

Come be inspired!

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Monday, December 30, 2013

Goodbye 2013!

2013

was a busy year! and I'm looking forward to 2014!

We'll have two graduations (highschool and university), an official highschool freshman, and a wedding!

Hoping to wedge lots of sewing in between these huge milestones and events. A quilt for the couple and one for Chris.

Finishing this year happy!

Started December inspired.

Ending it satisfied.

I think I nailed it!

An improvisational-wonky Log Cabin table runner for the winter months. Nothing but scraps used. These were quick and fun to put together and gave a sewing fix in between homeschooling, co-op classes, decorating and family festivities.

Just a down and dirty all over meander for a quick finish. I took some of the remaining red scraps and pieced them together for the binding.

My great-grandmother came to stay with us the summer I turned 13. I treasure the time I got to spend with her and all the things she shared with me!

This was her on her 87 birthday. She passed away many years ago, and didn't get to meet my husband and children. I wish they could have gotten to know her. She was an awesome cook, wrote for her local paper and stayed busy and active throughout her life. She taught me to make a family favorite food, Rivvles and to crochet. Every time I make this dish, I think of her and I think she would smile to see her gift of teaching me to crochet used to gift others.

Simple single chain stitches. One of my favorites for scarves! Not a lot of space for the wind and biting cold to get through. I love the little rows of stitches lined up like little toy soldiers ready to fight Winter's worst...and if you're consistent in your stitching, patterns emerge in variegated yarn. The top one especially with its blue "stripes".

The "chocolate covered cherry" one is for Chris's special friend, Olivia. The purple, teal and blue on the bottom right is for Jon's fiancé, Rebecca. The light blue, cream and purple on top is for my mom.

What a fun way to let my great-grandma "hug" these special ladies in my life.

I hope you get to spend some time looking for inspiration and ways to pass childhood memories on to those you love!

Follow me to these blogs and find something that makes you smile and maybe motivates you to get to the machine today!

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Monday, December 9, 2013

Sew excited!

My LQS Always in Stitches just made my year!

Saturday, we took Ben and went to Noblesville, IN. There are several stores we like to browse, shop and ogle!

The town had ice sculptures all around the square. It was a beautifully sunny day, but only in the low 20's.

I love having our kids along for "adventures" in antiquing and shopping! Ben found a WWII Air Force coat he was quite intrigued in.

I found my Christmas present!

Always in Stitches is now offering certification classes to rent and use their HQ Avante' longarm and their Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen free motion quilting machines!

I'm asking for a class and the time to go quilt!

How fortuitous that Christmas is coming up. How handy that Tax Season Saturdays (hubs works all day...it's just me, the kids and the pets) are on the way.

Don't bother calling me on Saturdays, 'cause I won't be home!

I love the HQ16! I've test driven it several times, but it's a hefty investment and it does need some space. Not as much as a longarm, but it would require significant shifting of stuff that just isn't practical or possible right now.

There are quilt tops I would love to quilt on this machine.

Higgeldy-Piggeldy

Rose Star Quilt

The Linens Quilt

(when it's finished! LOL)

While I was drooling and dreaming over the thought of using these machines, I managed to find some fabric.

A 5" charm pack of Heather Bailey's "Lottie Da".

Oh the colors! Makes me want Spring now!

"Honeysweet" from Moda. Oh, so soft, feminine and sweet!

Work continues on the winter tones quilt.

I have over 20 blocks now. It's super easy to sit down in between helping kids with their school work and make a couple of these.

This was the Pinterest color-way that inspired me. Such calming colors with a pop!

Hope you had a great weekend and stayed safe and warm!

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host linky parties each week. It's a great way to connect with other bloggers who love to sew and quilt. Come get inspired and encouraged!

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Monday, December 2, 2013

December Finish and WIP

Hello campers!

It's December! I totally blew November off for posting. We finished off October with soccer. The Sr. High team took Third Place in the Gold Division for Nationals. This was Chris's last year on the team and a mild concussion during the third game kept him from finishing out the tournament.

Here he is with their trophy, and thankfully, he's all over the symptoms of his concussion now!

November was a crazy month! Homeschooling is one of the best things we've ever done, but it's time consuming! We hosted Thanksgiving for hubsmuffin's side of the family and my Mom and Dad joined us this year.

Here we are relaxing after the turkey and ham were eaten, dishes washed, chairs put away and company gone home.

Ahhhhh!

Thanks to the hubsmeister, I got to have some sewing time over the weekend.

Another sweet repurposing of a vintage hankie into a basket to hold goodies around the house.

Flower Sugar, Ruby, scraps and leftover linen from the Linens Quilt.

Which is still in progress, just put up to work on after the New Year. This was because my sewing area is in the living room and needed to be organized and cleaned before our Thanksgiving company came.

Having time to cruise Pinterest is dangerous!

love, love, love!

Out came the scraps!

Some fun blocks using the colorway as inspiration.

Can't wait to get back into the swing of things and peeking at what all the other bloggers out there are working on!

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Monday, October 21, 2013

Sunshine!

...really helps motivate me!

What about you?

Lady certainly disagrees with me. She just wants to nap on the cozy-comfy chair with a quilt and some pillows!

Speaking of Sunshine...have you seen Tanya Wheelan's line "Sunshine Roses"?

Here is a snippet that really caught my eye!

Love the vintage-ness of it all!

I was able to add another row to the Linens Quilt.

Here it is from the top of the stairs. At night. Not a great picture. You know the drill. Shorter days, autumn blahs moving in for overcast days...

It's about 3' x 5' (that's how big the rug is and how I know...LOL). So here's where I need some help.

Do I keep adding to it (my inclination), or do I call it a day and put on a border for a lap-ish size?

I also took this little piece and backed it with batting and quilted straight lines along the seams on either side. I will add a back from another half-started project. The fabrics are mostly vintage and just raw-appliqued onto the gingham.

Another pillow for the kids to rest on! I love walking in and seeing them wallowing in a pile I've made!

Two WIP's put to good use.

And I added another row to the Scrappy Trip Quilt. Sheesh. It only took, like, about....months! LOL The three on the left side are new. I wasn't sure about the top, left one...so dark! but I like the balance it gives the blue. I had been individually cutting the squares 2" x 2" and sewing them...but I might try the strip method for the next one? Might help make things go faster, but I don't want to lose the effect I have going on.

What about you?

Are you sewing anything fun? useful? frustrating? uber-cute?

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Back to Work! Back to Work!

The Doodles have been busy!

Soccer.

School.

ACT.

Fall cleaning.

Wedding.

Soccer.

But I did get to sew some last week!

A very sweet and special lady that I absolutely loved and admired while growing up blessed me with some nostalgic pieces she had stored away.

She was our neighbor when I was little and she and my mom still visit and chat. My mom shared my current project of the Linens Quilt with Shirley.

Miss Shirley brought my mom these hankies to give to me to use in the quilt.

They belonged to her husband's mother.

And while they are a little too delicate to use as blocks, I did have an inspired idea for how to repurpose them into the present.

Since yellow is one of my favorite colors, I chose this one to use in the prototype.

There are a lot of spots and stains, but I was able to salvage the corners.

Using Ayumi's tutorial for a fabric basket, I rummaged around in my yellow scraps and came up with this:

I cropped out the stains and used the corner pieces on the front and back of the basket. My Janome also has a sweet little decorative stitch I used all the way around. I probably won't do that on the next one I make. I like it, but I think it gets lost in the scrappiness of it all.

Now that the prototype is finished and I know where the mistakes will be made (lol), I'll be making one for Shirley as a way of saying "thank you" and helping her remember her family!

Here are the centerpieces for a couple of blocks I've finished for the Linens Quilt.

Love them!

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Monday, September 9, 2013

Monday, Monday

Wow!

Lots going on here at the Doodles' house.

Jon is a senior at BSU and Chris started a dual credit class at Ivy Tech as a high school senior. Ben and Chris started homeschool classes Tuesday and co-op began Friday. Add in some soccer games and we've got a jam packed calendar!

I did get to work on the linens quilt a little.