Quilting Hiatus (Knitters Beware)

The other day I unfolded this remnant of a vest I cut out weeks ago, and, voila! Or should I say, "Moo."

Got a good laugh from seeing that. Anyway, the one quilt strip I was able to salvage from it ended up in this little quilt top for Project Linus.

And a quilt TOP it will remain, at least for now. Why? I'm out of commission for 8 weeks as far as quilting and knitting, due to a nerve issue in my left arm, which was caused by...knitting. To be more precise, knitting while leaning on my left elbow, which was always propped on the arm of the chair so that I could get more lamp light on my work. Knitters beware. This was a gradual progression, as I did not realize at the time (2015) how dim my eyesight was becoming, due to cataracts.

Cut to 2017, when I had cataract surgery on both eyes and could see great! No longer did I need to lean on my elbow into the lamp light to see my knitting....but I kept doing it anyway. I was so in the habit, that I repeatedly caught myself doing it all the way through 2018 and into this year.

And then the tremors started. First in my hand, then in my arm, then working their way up to my shoulder and neck. It's only visible in my hand, though. Then, last week, the muscles in that arm started occasionally tightening by themselves. Stress aggravates it, too, as stress does any physical condition. So now, long story short---no knitting and no quilting (which irritates the nerve somewhat as well)---for 8 weeks.

My poor husband. LOL No, seriously....

A happy Independence Day (July 4th) to everybody in the U.S., and a great weekend to all.

Linda

Something Fishy (Again)

 This week saw a finish for the underwater quilt. Nothing was added to my original design except the sapphire-blue binding. Again, I loved the background so much I just didn't want to add any more detail or even any borders.

Beneath the Waves is 22" x 42" (the full width of the background fabric turned lengthwise). The fabric is Gradients by Moda.


The seaweed was cut from a half yard of Kaufman Artisan Batiks Patina Handpaints. (The lake in my quilt Still Waters is a large piece of this same fabric and colorway.)


The fish and turtles were cut from West 22nd CX1418 Tropical Fish, and fused with Steam-a-Seam II Lite. UPDATE: This is a Michael Miller Fabric, by the way.




There is a mistake in this quilt that really tickled my funnybone when I discovered it, which was after all the applique was fused. I chose not to correct the mistake, since it's subtle and would have required a bit of re-designing. (Hint: you might figure it out if you can look at the photo upside-down. I first noticed it when the quilt was turned upside-down on the ironing board.)

                          

Will I tell potential customers about this funny mistake? Nope. It's just not a big deal. Something even funnier happened with a landscape quilt I made and sold many years ago, titled Change in Routine and shown here below. See all that golden hay just behind the fence? 

A bit blurry. My present camera would have done a better job.

After I had completely pieced and fused/glued the scene, I suddenly realized there were tiny minnows...yes, FISH...all throughout that fabric! What I had thought was prairie grass was actually an aquatic plant. That gave me one of the biggest belly-laughs ever! Couldn't believe it had taken me all that time to notice all those minnows. That mistake, though, needed correcting. It was one of those things that, once you see it, you can't un-see it. I used a golden-yellow paint marker to obliterate all but one of the fish...I left it there as a wink to myself, even though I'll never see it again.

Those are the only two such instances in my landscape quilting "career" that I know of. Hopefully they're the last, but I'm not crazy enough to bet on it.

Have a great weekend.  :)

Linda

Done and Done

This week it's an overdue finish for the third (and last!) triple-arch window quilt, Forest Villa.

Here are some closeups:

As I finished this landscape quilt, it suddenly occurred to me that I had packed the previous arched-window quilt, Wooded Villa, for shipping without sewing a hanging sleeve on it. If that doesn't prove I was ready to be done with this series, I don't know what does!

Next week, a finish for the undersea quilt.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linda

Geeking Out

You know you're a fabric geek when you freak out upon seeing a character in Outlander wearing something you've only ever seen in your stash...

...Murtagh!! In season two, episode six, Suzette dresses him in a luxurious waistcoat for the ball at the Palace of Versailles. When I first saw it, I rewound the dvd and paused it to make sure...and it is the same, or nearly the same, bird fabric (in a different color) as the ones from my upholstery sample books! Shiny fabric (I don't remember what type) with beautifully embroidered birds all over it. I still don't know what I'll do with them (the pieces are only about 8" x 10", if that).

On the quilting front, I just received the binding fabric for Forest Villa (the last triple-arch window quilt) and am waiting for the binding fabric for the underwater scene, which is now quilted, blocked and trimmed. Meanwhile, there's a new lake/sailboat scene on the design board, incorporating an interesting stripey batik I've always wanted to use for water.

Have a great weekend!

Linda