Happy Quilt Almost Done

I finished quilting this week and I so enjoyed working on it. All those happy colors to keep me busy during this stressful time. I was going to do it on my Sweet Sixteen, but did not feel like dealing with all the tension problems I usually have. Since it is fairly small, about 52 x 38, it was easy to do on my trusty Bernina.

I quilted it very simply, loosely following the the outlines of the motifs.

I wanted to bind it in blues and yellows and I had to piece those leftover 8 inch strips.

The binding is all pieced and sewn on the quilt. Now some hand work for TV watching in the evenings. I'll post it when I'm done.

I'm linking up with Off the Wall Friday.

This and That

My sister is making coiled baskets and I was inspired to make one from the little strips of scraps from that colorful quilt I was working on before I got sick. I had to cut a one inch strip from each block and was just tossing them in the basket. But I pulled them out thinking they would be useful for something and this little scrappy basket was perfect.

It's not very big, but a good size for gathering things in my studio.

I made the above baskets last year. The chicken was challenging, but I think she's so cute.

The sequin ribbon arrived from MIchaels. They said it was reversible yet the back side was just this black meshy fabric.

Then I realized that if you brush the sequins in the opposite direction, you get silver sequins.

Here it is on a four inch ornament. I love the way it fills in that gap.

And the end of the masks. A friend requested blues and greens and one dark blue. I still have to put the ribbons on. I am finished making masks. My next big project will be to quilt that pretty pastel quilt.

I am linking up with Off the Wall Friday.

Sparkle Plenty

I just love that name. She was a character in the old Dick Tracy comic strip. I even named one of my quilts after her many years ago. I thought it was also perfect to describe what I am working on now. I did some of these in Florida and I am back to them now. Opulent Ornaments using Paula Nadelstern's gorgeous fabric.

I am finished sewing for awhile. I have some mysterious ailment which is causing me a lot of pain. We are trying different drugs, including Prednisone, which is a miracle drug, but you can't stay on it forever. We are waiting the result of blood work

The ornaments are easy to work on since I can just sit at my work table and work on them when I feel like it. All these sparkly things cheer me up.

I started in Florida with 6 inch styrofoam balls. It was fairly easy to stretch the fabric around the balls and then add lots of beads, sequins and colored head pins. My plan was to pile them in this beautiful glass bowl that I bought in Germany, but I quickly saw that that is not big enough. So now I am planning on getting some tall clear glass columnar vases. I know that Pottery Barn has them that are quite pricey, but hopefully I can find some online for a better price.

Here are the balls in three sizes, six inch, five inch and four inch.


It was little harder to get the fabric smooth on the five inch, but I did make four of those, too

Now I'm working on the four inch. Much more challenging to get that fabric smooth, but I do a lot of slitting and tucking.

On this four inch ball I cut two fairly large circles and they almost meet evenly in the middle. I am waiting on another sequin order from Michaels which includes some sequin ribbon. It should cover up that "seam" perfectly.

Here in one end of the above 4" ball.

Another 4" using a different fabric. Notice the light blue sequins in gradating sizes forming that swirl. I get these from Michaels. You get three different sizes of the same color in a set.... large, medium and tiny. BTW I have already used a half pound box of straight pins. More coming from Amazon.

So I'm glad that I have something to occupy my time. I would love to be outside in this glorious spring weather putting some flowers in the ground, but I am not up to that yet. Hopefully some day soon.

I am linking up with Off the Wall Friday.