InPsyD my Life

As some of you may remember, this August I entered into a PsyD program in Clinical Psychology.  In other words, I am on the journey towards earning my doctorate.  The first semester is going well, although the time commitment is immense.  Other events have shaped my life as well.  My step-mother, who cared for my children while I was studying and earning clinical hours, was diagnosed with acute myleoid leukemia about 3 weeks ago and remains hospitalized.   She is turning a corner now, and I hope she will be in the comfort of her home within days.  This horrible illness has meant a huge change for her and for me and my children as well.  They entered into daycare, but thankfully the pain of transition was minimal.

So where has quilting fit in with all of this?  Uhhhh, it hasn't, at least until recently.  Fall break has afforded me a little window of time to work on quilty things.  I am so glad that I started a new hand project in the summer.  Available time to sew has been fleeting, and this project gives me a small fix before I have to pick up a new assignment.  Here is my progress to date:

In addition, I finally finished a quilt back intended for Orca Bay.  I even pinned the quilt!  If I am fortunate, I will be able to start on some quilting tonight or tomorrow.  I am still not certain of the design I will use; I will likely stick to straight lines I think.  This quilt has me baffled.

Finally, here is an updated Stash Report.  I finally used some more fabric!  I am so happy that I am still in the black.  If I manage not to go on some fabric buying spree, I think I will meet my yearly goal of using more than I purchase.  Maybe, just maybe, there might even be one more quilt finish for this year!

Stash Report

Used this Week: 6.5
Used year to Date: 30.5 yards
Added this Week: 0

Added Year to Date: 21.75 yards
Net Used for 2012: 8.75 yards

UFOs (Charlotte's Baskets, Orca Bay, Hexie: Part Deux)

I leave you (for how long?  Who knows.) with this nice picture of my youngest son.  We may have started something bad here, lol!

Orca Bay top is complete!

If I didn't feel so sick, I would be doing some cartwheels!  I wasn't sure about the outer border for a while, but after some quick opinions from quilty friends, I decided on a thin outer border.  I imagine it will make quilting easier without all of the seams on the edge.

I will be machine quilting this one.  I will be looking for a semi-dense design that will not overpower all of the piecing.  Ideas are welcome!

I am thankful to my blog friends who have helped me along the way!  Thank you for your encouragement and fabric scraps!!

Natasha

Festival of Hexagons

I heard there was a really fun linky party to show off hexagon quilty projects, so I had to put my name in the hat!  Many of you have seen this quilt a few times, so bear with me!

I started this quilt in 2010 to have something to do during vacation.  I had an idea of how I wanted it to look, and only used scraps from my stash.  I used 1" hexagons.

Slowly but surely, the quilt top came together.  I sewed mostly during nap times.  I wish I kept track of the hours!  About 7 months later, I had a finished quilt top!  The picture below was taken somewhere around Christmas 2010

The handquilting started in February 2011.  I borrowed a hinterburg frame and worked on it turing TV time.

 

After many more months, I finally finished the quilt in March 2012! I loved the process so much, I started another on last July! 

 

Here is a full view.  This quilt is bed sized, about a full.  Working with stash made the quilt inexpensive.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my hexie quilt!  Check out the Festival of Hexagons for more fun!

Orca Bay: Step 2365243.25

Hey all!  Just giving the next update on my Orca Bay project.  I am almost done with the top!  A friend suggested I go with flying geese.  I wanted the border to be dynamic, so I used the rest of my grays to radiate from nearly white to solid black.  I love it!  Since this picture was taken, I was able to sew the two long side sewn down and get the final two sides completely assembled.  I just don't know what to throw in the corners.  I need something that is 4.5" square.  The outer border will be 4" wide and will be the same deep plum fabric you see.

Now for the stash report.

I purchased 3 yards last week for the Orca Bay border and used 2.5 yards of it.  I also purchased 5 fat quarters for my english paper pieced quilt.  I needed yellows and greens.

Stash Report

Used this Week: 2.5
Used year to Date: 24 yards
Added this Week: 4.25

Added Year to Date: 21.75 yards
Net Used for 2012: 2.25 yards

UFOs (Charlotte's Baskets, Orca Bay)

 

Please check out Judy's Patchwork Times for more stash reporting!

Willow has her mat!

Just a quick note to tell you that Willow received her mat today!

Before today, I had not actually met her.  She is soooo soft and very muscular.  She is tiny, but weighs about 4 lbs.  I think she likes it!  My son (shown in the picture) seemed to be really intrigued.  Look at those eyes!

Orca Bay Check-in and Stash Report

I am so excited to show you a finished center!  I spent an hour ironing pressing the top, and am ready to share it with you!

Normally I am not brave enough to show the back of a quilt.  You can't hide things!  I am pretty happy with the seams/seam allowance.  I think it would have been a sight a few years ago had I tried to make this quilt then.  I have come a long way with consistency and a better 1/4 inch seam since then!

No more stalling.  Here it is!

This is one of the "this-looks-even-better-in-person quilts!"  As I have stated before, I do not plan on using Bonnie Hunter's borders.  I am thinking of a few options.  All options will include a small black resting border I think.

1:  Piano keys.  Can't go wrong with piano key borders!

2.  Flying geese.  I am thinking a mid purple with the inner triangle moving from a gray to black and back again.  I could also just keep with a black and white print instead

3.  solid border.  I could find a funky print that includes purples and grays.

4.  Solid border, four patches (purples and grays?) then solid border.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Finally, here is my stash report.  I am including fabric used in the art quilt.

Stash Report

Used this Week: 1.25
Used year to Date: 21.50 yards
Added this Week: 0

Added Year to Date: 17.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: 4 yards

 

UFOs (Charlotte's Baskets, Orca Bay, Art Quilt)

 

Check out Judy's site, Patchwork Times, for more stash reporting!





Cats on Quilt

It is time for the Pets on Quilts Show!  This is my second time entering the show after seeing how much fun it was last year.  This year, by coincidence, a friend had asked me to make a "cat mat" for her Cornish Rex kitten, Willow.  If you don't know what a Cornish Rex looks like, here is a picture.  These kitties are long, lanky, and have a tail that looks like it came from a large rat!!

My friend was hoping for a cat mat with bright colors, considering there is no color on Willow.  Winning this lovely fabric and pattern from Sandra Kaye's blog was perfect!

I started with the pattern, but quickly realized that this pattern was not (completely) meant to be.  All of a sudden, I was thinking that the mat needed a slender kitty on it!

This is what I ended up with!  This mat will be taken to cat shows and to food demos.  Because I wanted the cat mat to have extra sturdiness, I used a heaver weight twill for the back.  I love it!



Check out all of the other pets on quilts at Lily Pad Quilting!!!  Thank you for visiting mine!