Over-thinking Just a Bit?

Am I thinking too hard? Will my brain explode or just give a few warning beeps and go dead as my cell phone does?

I was thinking and re-thinking about my little beaded fringes on the bottom of my quilt. Since the edge curves should the bead fringes shorten to keep the lower edge in an even horizontal line? Do others even stop to consider this petty things?

Well, I tried it and it didn't work.

Apparently, the curve of the fabric at that point didn't equal the space required to eliminate one bead in each of the last rows.  Now the last three rows of beads are traveling uphill.

It's time to "cut the apron strings" or, in this case, the bead strings and "let the beads fall where they may" (they usually do) and re-stitch the last three fringes. And then the quilt will be done, again!

Do You Travel in a Straight Line?

Bounce, bounce, bounce! Do you travel through life in a straight line? I certainly don't. I bounce back and forth.  When I have a project that requires more thought, a project that won't cooperate, or, face it, a project that I'm mad at for the moment, I travel on to something different.

Well, today I'm traveling back to a previous project. My "pods" project may have had binding on it but I didn't consider it done yet. I know that goes against every rule and that wonderful feeling of "when the binding is finished, the quilt is finished, ah!"

Are you still following me? Back to "Pods" and more to do. The addition of beads was my answer. A trip to a local bead store and I was set to add detail to my quilt. So I added beads to the top binding. I had never tried this before so it was a learning experience. After a few tries, I was happy with this result.

Then I added another section to the quilt. Added, of course, by beading the two sections together.

I was on a beading roll now and my bead tube was far from empty, so beads were added to this new section.

And why not some beads dangling off the bottom? That's where I am right now. 

How will this all look? Please stop by again for the finished product. (Just hope nothing gets in the way and my quilt will finally be finished.)

As always, I would appreciate your comments.

All "Puffed" Up

One of the techniques that we explore in my "Puffs, Tucks and Pleats" class is making puffs. This simple technique can be used to add excitement to your next quilting project.

To make a puff, cut a circle that is twice the desired size. The outer edge of the circle can be left raw-edged or can be finished off by any number of sewing (or serging) stitches.

Make a secure knot at one end of your thread and hand stitch an inner circle. I like to use a quilting weight thread so it is less likely to break as I draw up the stitches.

Next step: Draw up those stitches, gathering the fabric into a puff. Pull the gathering thread to the wrong side and knot.

Yes, it's as easy as that.

Here I've used free-form circles to make flower shaped puffs. Three puffs grouped together created a fast and easy corsage.

Teaching at WI Quilt Expo 2011

I had a wonderful time at WI Quilt Expo meeting so many enthusiastic quilters. We had a fun time in class learning dimensional techniques to add to our quilts. We "yo-yo"ed and "puffed" and "ruched" and "flounced". 

Serendipity Surfaces

Today, I am back to an earlier post. I was busy quilting this piece, another quilt from my "Pod" series. You have followed me through the stippling and quilting following the leaf design. I have also quilted vertical lines to pop up the curving shapes. A wonderful surprise happened when I stitched over the striped silk. It developed a woven look.

Don't you love it when serendipitous things creep into your projects enhancing them beyond your expectations? Ah, the moment of discovery. This is worth your time and efforts. 

May you, too, have an exciting moment of discovery today. 

(Now, I have to go measure my quilt to see if it is as crooked as it looks in the photo. Hopefully, my quilting skills are better than my photo skills indicate.)

P.S. It's not done yet. Look for this piece to show up again.