Ta Da, It's Flutter!

Flutter is finally finished!

I started this quilt in 2015.  The top went fairly quickly.  I knew I wanted to hand quilt it but the finished top sat in my sewing room until early this year because all my hand sewing time was taken up with Rondeau.  After a false start with a quilting design that wasn't quite right, I landed on this pattern of diagonal lines and am pleased with the way it came out.  

I didn't quilt through the butterflies, just around them, which made things easier.  Hand quilting through the added layer of fabric plus the adhesive from the fusible web would have been difficult.  But the butterfly pieces are small so this works out fine.

By the way, my new favorite tool is this Clover needle threader, wow, is it ever fantastic!  Well worth the price, it makes threading the small eye of a quilting needle a breeze!  Why didn't I get one of these earlier, it would have been so handy while I was English paper piecing too?  Live and learn and now I won't be without one.  If you are certain that the eyes of needles keep getting tinier and tinier, along with the font size in newspapers and restaurant menus, you need one of these gadgets.  So easy to use!

In the photo above, you can see how the quilting design comes together across several blocks.

I used a variety of ecru fabrics for the block backgrounds and a Hoffman strip pack/jelly roll for the butterflies.  (A charm pack will work too.)  I used a dark brown tone-on-tone from my stash for the binding, it matches the butterfly bodies though you can barely see it.  The pattern is Little Butterflies by Laundry Basket Quilts. There is a stencil available that makes cutting out the shapes much easier.

Must go, I have another quilt waiting to be bound.

Garden Delights from In The Beginning

I really have no business buying fabric because I have more than enough to keep me occupied for the next few years (if not my lifetime, especially at my current rate of productivity).  But what quilter ever heeded that kind of voice in her head!  No, it is pretty easy for me to justify any fabric purchase. And when I saw the Garden Delight line from In The Beginning Fabrics, I was quivering with the must-have-its.

If you like the English Liberty fabrics, you will like the Garden Delights line!  If you've always wanted to make a quilt in rainbow colors using floral prints, you will love this line!

The line comprises 40 small floral prints in rainbow colors from red to violet, with cream and gray for some neutral balance.  I bought a jelly roll and a fat quarter set in the blue and green colors from ShabbyFabrics.com.  Stitchinpost has very good images as well as a project book.   Delightful, right? I  have a few vague ideas of what to make with my stash and am giving them some time to crystallize in my brain before I start.

My other recent purchase was the latest Quilt Sampler.  It was good for a couple of hours of browsing and a few items caught my eye, unfortunately samples of items displayed in the photos of the featured stores rather than the project featured in the magazine, so I will have to track them down. 

Still Here!

Lordy*, it's been too long!

First, our girl Miss Main Street graduated from college.   My mom flew out from Michigan for the occasion and we drove up to Saratoga Springs for the festivities, then back home with all of Miss Main's stuff in our two cars.  It was a festive family time as we were joined by my sister and her two young adult kids as well.  We are so proud of our girl!

She is at home with us, looking for a job or internship in writing or producing for TV or movies.  Her major was Theater, with a minor in Media and Film Studies, and she has a talent for comedy.

Next, Mr. Main Street attended his last commencement and retired from his job as Chair of the English department at Peddie School.  But it is not quite total retirement as he is going back in the fall as an adjunct** to teach one class.

But pretty much the same-old, same-old for me, with my job and my quilting when I can squeeze it in.  I'll be back soon with an update on my current project as I've made real progress.


*Don't you agree this word deserves a come-back!
** Latin for works for next to nothing