Waiting In The Wings

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Phew - made it with a post after three weeks!

 I do not know what has happened to my blog postings,
can 't believe the number of posts I made prior to this year.
Methinks this could be due to the situation we all find ourselves in throughout
the world with Covid,  plus personal issues which also throw a spanner in the works 
and then of course various countries in the world
have their own crises to deal with.

All said, it's been a heck of a year for us all.
 So thank goodness for fabric and thread to keep us sane.

On the fabric and thread side things for me
have been a little slow but I now have only two more
rounds to add to Matt's quilt, latest photo below taken on a windy day
in the back garden


and hoping to have the top complete by the end of this week.
The next step will be the question of quilting. I don't see machine
quilting this with, for example, an edge to edge pattern, not good at all I
think it would ruin the simplicity of the design.

I see this as needing to be hand quilted, perhaps with a perle cotton and
big stitch style, I'm thinking keeping with the straight lines of the
fabric and possibly very four lines each round in the
direction of the lines, something like that, I'm drawing a
plan on paper. Any ideas/suggestions welcomed.

Did I mention that I was enrolled in  Colorwash 360
with
Wanda at Exuberant Color?
Am amazing course, fantastic detail on Colorwash quilts at which she is the maestro.
I decided to buy a small pack of Kaffe OOP fabrics from Wanda in readiness
for the course,  here are
three of my favourites


but what a delight to see all the fabrics in the pack!
Lots more fabric from my KF Collective stash needed to be cut into
2 and 1/2" squares, still not enough to give me the required effect
so it's on to the scrap boxes, that's gonna take an awful lot of time
so I've decided to leave this project until the New Year. I have three quilts
already on the the go and fabrics cut some time ago for more, the
occasional squirrel comes along to visit also.

I do have my blues pretty much sorted for the Colorwash,


a good range from light to dark but more needed for greater choice.
I like to check the value by editing


and I'm reasonably happy but as I said, a few extras needed.

I am as crazy about books as I am about my fabrics and have so many
waiting to be read, this is a minute stack which sits on my
bedside cabinet each one waiting in turn


presently this is the one I'm reading now


Freya Stark makes magic with her words, I'll tell you all about this
in a later post.

There is a book pictured below which has such memories
for me, this is on my list of 'unstealables'. I'd love to share
with you the reason it means so much to me, perhaps in my next post or
at the very least the one after that.


Time for me to prepare dinner but as usual I have something from
the garden to show.

Rosa Multiflora

She is a monster and will take over totally if left to her own devices,
we give her room because her scent is incredible, so sweet.

Another rambler is

Veilchenblau

again with a scent which covers the whole of the back garden.

Below is my favourite rose from David Austin.

Sharifa Asma

At the time I bought her he had stated she was his best rose,
again with an incredible scent.

That's all from me until next time, I know Thanksgiving is
almost here and I'm not sure whether most will have to miss the large family
gathering this year, but I do hope you can enjoy the day
no matter where you are and who you are with.

Take care and keep safe!

Maureen





16 comments:

Nancy J said...

Your fabric choices look superb, and KF can always give you that depth of colour. Garden beauties too, I am thinking I will save Moxy's rose petals and make some potpourri . A good idea to save the colourwash till next year, I have too many things to finish here,Love the Nebula 2 patterns, and the projects, but they are paper ones and have to be posted, so gave that one a miss.Guess what, Sunday, so did the pill routine once again!!!

Joyce said...

Love the striped quilt top! Big stitch quilting would really enhance it and a relaxing process.

Debbie said...

Wow, are you ready for class! I am sure you will create a real masterpiece.

FlourishingPalms said...

Oh my! Fewer blog posts? I'm quite the opposite. During this pandemic, I've been posting more frequently to my blog than ever. Maybe it's because I've had many more makes this year (staying at home) than I would in a typical year (going more places to exercise and participate in activities). If that quilt was mine, I'd FMQ a ribbon in every other rectangle, and maybe straight line quilt the others... or quilt ribbon candy in the others. I did similar quilting in my recently-finished "Maze" quilt, so I can vouch for quilting going along quickly. I haven't read any of the books in your stack, so be sure to let us know which ones are worth spending time with. Isn't it lovely to have flowers to admire and appreciate when the world is falling apart around us?

Julierose said...

Your stripey quilt piece is just beautiful--I love your color pairings on this one, Maureen. And I think big stitching (perhaps changing neutral colors for each stripe?) would be lovely; perhaps diagonal holding lines by machine at the four corners to start?? I like to do that when I am big stitching as I don't use a hoop to hand quilt...

That is one gorgeous D.A. rose--I just love all the layers in it...
We are gray and gloomy here awaiting chill rains today...

Thanksgiving will be just we two--still staying in our own little bubble...but we are so thankful that we and our extended family are healthy these days...stay safe;()
Hugs from across the world Julierose

MissPat said...

I took Wanda's Colorwash 360 class, too. I chose batiks and worked from my own stash. I thought I had more than enough choices, but, alas, some additions were needed. My top is sewn together and, while not perfect, it's done. And Wanda graciously pointed out that she doesn't think she's been perfect yet either. I've no advice on the quilting, but agree than an all over pattern would detract from the geometry of your piece. Hopefully you'll feel more up to posting in the coming weeks.
Pat

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I love your garden photos so much as we are in the beige and brown stage now. I hope you will post some flowers even if you don't feel up to writing a lot.

Big stitch would look great but will take a long time. I would ditch quilt between every other border by machine to stabilize it if I were going to do that much hand stitching. Also just straight line quilting top to bottom by machine would look great.

Linda Swanekamp said...

I agree with Wanda, straight line quilting would work nicely. Love all the fabric shots and the flower photos. Everything here is getting coated with sloppy snow today, so I really treasure those flower photos.

Louise said...

New Kaffes are always a treat! And I'm just imagining what you garden must smell like...heaven! However you quilt the striped piece, it will be so wonderful and masculine when it is finished. Keep sewing and stay safe!

gayle said...

Always good to see you post - love peeking at what you're up to!
Your roses are so wonderful! I think the best thing about roses is the way they smell, so I love the old varieties. Too many modern roses are all looks and no scent - what a waste!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Thank you for sharing the beautiful flowers and describing their fragrance. Like Wanda, we are beige and brown here so green and blooming is a treat. I love the striped quilt top in the works - and I agree with Wanda and Linda about simple straight line machine quilting (unless you WANT to do the hand quilting and then "go for it").

Ann said...

Such a wonderful post. What fun you will have with Wanda's class. You were clever to get some fabric from her but I can't wait to see how your beautiful prints mix with them. It's cold here so the description of your gorgeous flowers was a special treat. A scent of summer!

O'Quilts said...

This is a lovely post...yup with Wanda on the straight line stitching. Love the fabrics, the quilts and the flowers...but love best that you were able to post xoxo

Rosemary Dickinson said...

I love the quilts made of stripe fabrics. It's gorgeous. Such beautiful flowers, especially the rose. I always love seeing what you're up to with Kaffe Fassett fabrics. His fabrics are one of my favorites!

audrey said...

I do so love stripes and plaids so this quilt is very much up my alley! Yes to the simpler quilting motifs and something busy would ruin the impact perhaps.:) I know what you mean about the declining blogging--for so many of us. For me it's partly the energy it takes to sit down and get the post accomplished. 2020 has apparently severely sapped all the extra energy I once had. Much easier to drift off somewhere else and ignore it for another day!

Raewyn said...

Lovely to see what you're up to Maureen.... yes, it has been an odd year, that's for real, and like you, I also find it satisfying to find solace in needle and thread. I love your stripes quilt! And agree that hand quilting will look great on it. I also have a Sharifa Asma rose and love it...one Dad gave me - the only rose he ever gave me as he wasn't a rose person (loved his fruit and nut trees) but he saw it on a sales table and knew I'd like it!