Exciting Lemons Results

Mr. Cowboy has weighed in. The salty lemons are good to preserve them for long periods of time but the taste will make your eyes water says Cowboy!!

His favorite by far is the sugared lemons which are great for cooking & making lemonade!! It appears that I can use ever part of the sugared lemon (zesting, grating, etc.)

Thank you all for waiting patiently.

I'm off to watch the Super Bowl!! Have a great rest of Sunday!!

Monday, Monday

Remember to pop over to Judy's for Design Wall Monday to see what other are up to!!

I've been stuck on the fractured diamond  for a week. All the possibilities were circling around in my head.

This first one was made from the above "kite" type template which is very easy to make.

This next one is my favorite because the diamonds are floating free. I made another template making the square a half inch larger which lends for a wider space at the bottom of each block. When all  blocks are sewn together, you see more of the background fabric.

Notice the square in this template and the width of the pointed wedge at the bottom of the photo. This kite is not as wide as the others. This will allow the diamond to become more distorted and will float each diamond, as well.

All three of these will go to the helping hands ladies after I've quilted them. Each is about 36 inches which is ideal for their needs.

Hopefully, the fractured diamond thingy is out of my system for awhile and thankfully a large portion of my scraps are gone.

Final Step and Done

I eked out some time to finish my woodsy project. Now, mind you, this is my take on the photo, which means I can choose to alter the photo to suit what I want to achieve. You know how we quilters are. We see and love a pattern, design or block and sometimes change it to make it ours.

 I think it's important to take photos as you go because it allows you to see what needs to be added or taken away. This way you can evaluate what you're doing with perspective. Sort of like squinting at a block to see you've made a mistake.

The sky fabric I found and added to the backgrounds really helped to define the piece. I also added more shadows around the bottom of the little quilt.

 I then compared the original photo to the piece. I added more branches across the front of the rotted tree trunks and more shrubbery , as well.  I liked what I saw and pressed everything down before I changed my mind. Sometimes I tend to over think a project.... not good..... you can definitely go overboard.

The final piece measures 13 1/2 by 12 1/2 inches but I might trim it more later.  I just love the subtle colors mixed in with the dark shadows.

I have no idea of how I want to quilt it but I'll think of something.

What are your thoughts????

Autumn

I've often talked about my "wacky" girlfriends who come up with loads of crazy ideas usually involving something painful, well not painful but some loony sewing project.  The following is one of the first weird things we participated in years ago before I knew what I was really getting into.
But first, these are the "sisters" I'm so fond of.  As you can see, they have influenced me and not in a good way.... LOL  One of our beloved sisters passed away over a year ago (Jerri, seated in floral) but she is always with us in spirit and always manages to make us laugh to this day.  Her favorite line.... "Not it!" when we hatched with some outrageous idea.

 This project started as a wild idea at a retreat years ago. I think one of the girls had had a couple of too strong coffees or something. Anyway, we all wound up at a local quilt shop with goals of looking for a fabric for each of us.  Something unusual that could be use as a background. I chose the  marble-y brownish woodsy sort.... boy was that a mouth full.

 Once each of us chose and purchased our background fabrics, we brainstormed about what to do next. Notice we tend to plan as we go.... LOL

My theme was "Autumn" and each person was to make one or two block with that theme in mind.

Some of the ladies really got creative and ambitious.

One group member decided to make hands and hearts to go in each quilt top.

Note the spider in this block..... very funny, someone.... very funny!

I was really happy with the overall quilt and how well the background fabric worked out. At the time this was made, I was not very good at making sure the quilt squared up but it was definitely a learning experience and one of "MANY" that I've ventured into with my "wacky" girlfriends.
Final measurement 44" X 62"

Two Block Star Quilts

I drafted this design a few years ago because I was fascinated with half square triangles and solid blocks. Plus, I was experimenting with extending my design to get a secondary pattern, which is demonstrated in the first quilt below.  This quilt was done in two colors, gold and black. I was very pleased to get a radiating type of design with framing at each corner.

This quilt measures 40 inches square.

The next 2 quilts, I was playing with colors. My favorite is the pink and green one.

The pink/green quilt measures 30" X 40" and the red/white/blue measures 25" X 35".

I used fabrics from my stash in the making of each quilt attempting to lower the volume..... LOL

Round One

Well, I finally finished round one of this little quilt (approx. 29" X 29").  If you remember, I've been experimenting with fabrics and finally settled on the scrappy look.  I just happened to have some scraps lying around and dug right in.  After making several groups of half square triangles, I couldn't help myself.....I started a couple of rows just to make sure that I'd like this design.

I like to take pictures during the process and review them as I go along.....this really helps to see any mistakes but, alas, there are times when you still don't see what's wrong.
I decided to make this quilt small because I really like the looks of the smaller quilts. In this way, you can hang more around the house, drape them over the sofa, use them as table runners and whatever else you can think of.
The blocks are 2 1/2" squares and HS.  I did try to not look at each one as I sewed them together.  There are a few of the same one together but you really can't tell.  I'm happy the way things turned out.
The next round is going to be a dark stopping strip followed by a little surprise...so stay tuned.

Navigational Bar

This is my effort to add a navigational bar. This date is actually September 24, 2008. Here goes.