More 6-inch block prep..."Still Life With Cat"

I feel like I have been cutting up some fruit for fruit salad...with a little cat added.

This little block will be part of the LITTLE TREASURES - Dog and Cat (1) bundle of patterns, very soon to be added to my web store.  It is called "Still Life With Cat."  I don't know what is more fun...coming up with new blocks or naming them.

I am having so much enjoyment trying to utilize some of my dotted fabrics in making eyes.  (Stash justification!)  For this cat head, I reverse appliqued the eye sockets, then "fussy cut" the dotted fabric so that the eye pupils would be in the right place. 

This way, the eyes look like they are recessed in the head, which, I guess, is normal, huh.  Sometimes I put the eyes on top, employing regular applique, so they "pop" and look prominent.  It is nice to have options!

Here is what they look like from behind...kind of owl-like...hmm...

...and this is what I "fussy cut" the eyes from...

These pictures may be redundant to the point of nausea for some of you, but I am still trying to convince some people that applique is fun and easy to do, even on a tiny 6-inch block!

I love my vintage pattern weights...I just found a few more on Ebay...so pleased!  They hold the apple and the cat head in place while I glue other pieces on top.  

To make the basket unit, I am working right on top of my pattern.  I will move to my light box when I am gluing the unit to the background (this is easier for taking pictures...).  

If I use TINY dots of glue for basting, my work shouldn't stick to the pattern.  If it sticks, shame on me!

First, the banana...see my tiny drops of glue baste in the next picture?  They will spread when the two fabrics meet and mash the glue dot, so I do not glue too close to where I will actually be stitching later.  

I pick up the banana piece with my long tweezers instead of my clumsy fingers...so easy and quick!

Then, I put my weights down over the glued area after placing the banana.  I leave them there for a minimum of about 20 seconds, then move on to the next piece to glue.

Now, the green pear. 

(The hash marks on some edges of my freezer paper patterns tell me to leave a wider margin when I am cutting out my pieces.  That way, the overlapping piece will have plenty of fabric to "catch" as I applique later.  I allow 1/8-3/16 inches when I trim to turn under and about 1/4-5/16 inches when that edge tucks under another piece.)

Now there is a hole where the purple plum should go...

Before placing the basket piece, I am gluing the two cherries together while I can see the pattern so well.

Now I set my cherry duet aside, apply my glue baste dots,  place the basket, and add the weights.

Spare parts awaiting their turn in the glue-basting process...
stems, leaves, a cat nose, and a pair of cherries.

I remove my freezer paper pattern using my stiletto.  After I loosen a corner, I slide the shaft of the stiletto between the fabric and paper to gently separate.  I don't just grab the paper and peel...that might pull the glue loose and it makes the freezer paper too curly to store in a sheet pocket protector neatly (spoken like a true nut with obsessive/compulsive disorder).

Since the freezer paper is reusable for a few pressings, I save the patterns if I think I might make the block again.  I DEFINITELY want to break out of the reproduction fabrics at some point!

Sometimes I remove the paper before gluing...it just depends on the complexity of the pattern.

Here is the tiny pink cat nose.  Thank God for tweezers!

I often put an arrow on pattern pieces to remind me of the orientation within the block...usually indicating the top of the block. Since my patterns are hand drawn instead of computer drawn, leaves and such are rarely symmetrical, so orientation is important.

All glue-prepped!  I am really missing the cat mouth, cat whiskers and cherry stems.  Once I have placed all the hand stitches, I will transfer the embroidery lines and do the final stitching.  

This Moda "Crackle" is one of my favorite backgrounds...EVER!

One new pattern prepped for stitching...several more to go!  I ran out of prepped blocks, so I must get several prepped so I have something to do in town tomorrow when I wait while getting the oil changed!  

I hate siting and waiting somewhere without something on which to stitch, and these little blocks are so portable!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Have you seen THIS?

This is a drawstring bag that opens up to a 44 inches diameter containment system.  I think it is designed for Legos and toys, but wouldn't it be an awesome "play area" for LITTLE SCRAPS????

For those of us who use every last snippet of scraps, we struggle with organization so that little pieces of fabrics aren't migrating around the house, stuck to socks, shoes or the cat/dog/husband/kids.  But the scraps also need to be accessible.  I like ones with a little "rim" that helps contain the madness.

I have to say I am intrigued.  I am really more excited about the smaller versions, also pictured above, which I didn't find on the same website.  I think 44 inches would be a little large, although I could spread it out on the ping pong table. But if I go to a class or retreat it might prove a little clumsy if working space is an issue.

I wonder how may quilters it would hold at one time?

Hmm...

There are tutorials online for making something like this, ones to purchase on Etsy, etc.  Amazon even has different kinds and sizes.

I have worked pretty hard to tame my little scraps, opting to put some of them in little flat containers...they take up little space when pressed and ready to go.  

I pick through them with long beading tweezers rather than my fumbly, clumsy fingers.  Really easy, fast and convenient when I know what I want to use.  I set up and maintained several of these for making the music quilt, where I used brighter fabrics than I am currently using on the LITTLE TREASURE blocks made from reproduction fabrics.  I wish I had taken the time to make some little boxes for my repro scraps, but I had no idea at the onset that I would me making so many little blocks!

(These little containers are made by Iris, are really made for storing 4 x 6 and 5 x 7 photos, and can be gotten from Joann's and Amazon.  At my old Michigan Joann's I found them in the scrapbooking area, not the little containers near the fabrics. At the Joann's website, the 5 x 7 are here, and the 4 x 6 are here.  At Amazon, the 5 x 7 are here, and the 4 x 6 are here.)

But then I still have some larger scrap boxes like this...sorted into warm (red/pink, orange, yellow), cool (blue, green, purple), and brown/black colors.  Oh, and a fourth one for the neutral giblets.

These boxes fit well on shelves, but it might be fun to have a drawstring bag to dump them into while "fishing" for what I want, or when going to a class or retreat.  It is hard to "fish" through these without stuff spilling everywhere because they are basically at capacity.

Hmmm...may have to order a bag...no time to make one right now...

Stash and scrap maintenance is definitely on ongoing, ever-changing thing in my quilt cave.  I do very little permanent labeling for that reason (insert index cards that "peek through" the see-through containers and use easy-to-peel-off label tape in my label makers for drawers).

Anything to make the prepping of applique blocks and scrappy quilts easier, more organized, and streamlined is groovy to me.  I am always looking for ways to reduce the amount of time when I "sit and spin" or "wring my hands" or "tear hair and gnash teeth." Those activities waste time!

Happy stitching!

Teresa  :o)

Signs of Spring and Summer...

There are still a few daffodils blooming outside here in NW Alabama, and a two blooming indoors.  Daffodils are my husband's favorite flower.  They started appearing here at the end of January. 

In Michigan, we weren't graced by their blossoms until very late March/early April, and that was after they had fought their way through snow, ice, and frozen mulch.

Spring seems like such a struggle up north and just happens like "plop" here.

This is "Daffodil Delight" and is now available in my LITTLE TREASURES - Flowers (2) pattern bundle at my web store, either by digital download or snail mail, click here.

All the blocks finish 6-inches, but there is an enlargement recipe in the pattern bundle to adjust them to a 9- or 12-inch finished size.

Freshly picked and freshly stitched!  This is "Festival Pineapple" from my LITTLE TREASURES - Fruit and Veg (1) pattern bundle. 

It is weird, but I actually had the taste of pineapple in my mouth as I stitched the block.  Fresh pineapple makes me think of summer for some reason.  I had all these tiny reproduction snippets that I cut the outer pineapple pieces from.  It is so satisfying to use every...last...scrap.

Both blocks will finish 6-inches square and be inserted in my ongoing Repro Madness swap quilt, if I can ever make up my mind about the center medallion.

I am out of prepped applique blocks, so I must stop everything to choose fabrics for the next blocks.  I fell out of bed this morning with some block ideas to finish my first Dog and Cat bundle and a second Misc bundle.

Drawing for me is so weird.  Sometimes I sit down and try to force ideas to come, which isn't usually productive at all, except for producing frustration.  Then, when I am busy with something else, like trying to get a new refrigerator moved into the kitchen (or cleaned up after), the ideas come.

After 3 weeks of refrigerator research, 2 weeks waiting for delivery, 1/4 inch trimmed from the cabinet above, my fabulous husband made the perfect space for our new frig.

Steve used his circular saw and a hand saw to remove a bit of cabinet moulding...no harm done...just a lot of sawdust.

The back of the frig case fit, but there was a panel across the top, just behind the doors.  OOPS!...THAT wasn't in the specifications on the Lowe's web site.

I will have to get used to it being so shiny!  (so shiny, it was hard to photograph at night with the lights)  It is "counter-depth," so it doesn't stick out as far as the old one did.  And hopefully it won't freeze the produce and warm the milk up like the old one, either. Ka-ching!!

Now, I need to spend some time updating this blog site.  It has been so long since I did anything to it that I will have to figure it out all over again.  Is it just me, or is Blogger a bear to use?!?  I miss my Weasley kitty, but I think it is time for a new header picture and a few more changes to my pages.

In stitches,
Teresa   :o)

"LITTLE TREASURES" Block Bundles are now available!

Introducing "LITTLE TREASURES" bundles of little quilt block patterns!  

There are now five bundles of patterns (containing 9 blocks each) available at www.fabrictherapyonline.com.  They are available as digital downloads or you can get them the old-fashioned way...through the US mail.

(When figuring postage on the store site, each "bundle" is considered a "pattern.")

The thumbnails of ANIMALS (1) are pictured above.  Each bundle contains nine patterns and a thumbnail/instruction page.  The patterns can be used "as is" to make 6-inch blocks, or you can follow the enlargement directions to make 9- or 12-inch blocks.

Here are the thumbnails displaying the contents of the FLOWERS (1) bundle.

I got so carried away drawing flowers that there is a second bundle of flower blocks.  Here's FLOWERS (2)...

There is a bundle of fruits and vegetable related blocks, FRUIT-VEG (1)...

The MISC (1) bundle contains a range of blocks including two that can be personalized by embroidery or archival Pigma pens.  The "Bundle of Joy" block celebrates the birth of a baby and the "Anniversary Banner" can celebrate a wedding or relationship.  They have room for names and a date.

There are more coming...another MISC bundle, a DOG-CAT bundle, and a BIRD bundle.  Coming up with new blocks is easy...doing it in multiples of nine is a little trickier.

There is a PHOTO GALLERY OF PATTERNS on the store site where I am putting color pictures of each block as I get them stitched up.

Here are the most recent completions...

This is such a fun project to be working on!  And this is really pushing my computer skills.  I just drafted another 8 blocks in the last 24 hours that I need to prep and stitch.

I chose to make the blocks to finish 6 inches as I am mixing them with swap block for a Michigan Memory quilt.  They would also make a nice quilt label at the smaller size, worked up on a larger background, of course.

I am looking forward to making the flower blocks to finish 12 inches for another quilt I have in mind.

Watch this space!!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS OF BALTIMORE RHAPSODY NOW AVAILABLE!

Baltimore Rhapsody has joined the digital age!  The blocks are now available as digital downloads on my webstore.  That means instant gratification and NO SHIPPING CHARGES!

The journey continues with this quilt project.  It started with me unsuccessfully looking for music patterns to make, which forced me into quilt designing.  That, in turn, forced me into pattern self-publishing and a whole painful world of desk-top computer work, LOL!.

The quilt won first place in the Bed Quilt-Applique-Hand Quilted category and Best of Show Bed Quilt at Sauder Village in Norhwest Ohio the week I lost my parents.  (Thanks Mary for taking pictures and picking up my quilts after the show...)

Next, it traveled to AQS Grand Rapids and won Viewer's Choice.

Then it traveled to AQS Chattanooga and won Viewer's Choice...again!

Then, it went to Shipshewana, Indiana.

Then it went to AQS Paducah...

Then off to Houston for the IQA International Quilt Festival...thank you Barbara for the pictures!

And currently, it is in Chicago at that IQA show...thanks again, Barbara, for the pictures!

I am hoping it comes home now...I have not touched it since last July.  It has been touring since Houston, and I am not even completely sure where it has been.  It is definitely better traveled than I am, LOL!

I appreciate everyone's support in this project!

In stitches,
Teresa   :o)