A Potpourri

It just  came to my mind that this post is about things that start with the letter "p".  First of all and so wonderful is that there was an e-mail from our dear little  Peace Corps volunteer Hannah this morning - she is safe and sound in Africa and full of enthusiasm and ready for her wonderful adventure.  Then late this afternoon, Sherry called me and she had just talked to Hannah on Skype - she was bubbling over and so happy to have talked with and seen her.  The wonders of technology!   Just wanted to share our joy!

Now I will switch to paper piecing!   Next week Linda in our guild will be teaching a class and we will be doing a design she has created on EQ 7.  She is a master at the art of paper piecing and it will be wonderful to spend the day in her class.  I have been picking out my fabric - went "shopping" in the basement and was able to come up with almost all of the 11 different fabrics needed.  I did have to buy the background fabric which is the black with the swirly design in dots.  I just don't have very many larger pieces of batiks.  Actually, I don't have large pieces of  many fabrics since I do such scrappy quilts.  I usually buy the bigger pieces as I need them.

The third "p" in this post is for the Polka Dot Girls that I started last fall.  They have been kind of hidden away in their box but I got them out the other day and now about have the fourth set out of eight finished.  This one is wrinkled and has not been washed or pressed yet.  I also see that I didn't embroider the rake!  Back in the hoop it will go.  (Click to enlarge)

Polka Dot Girls

Here are the two blocks for the third section of Polka Dot Girls. Have the fourth ones on the fabric and ready to start the embroidery. Will also piece the section these two belong in.

(Click to enlarge)

Polka Dot Girls

Here is the second block or section of the girls. This is the prettiest fabric - Moda makes good stuff. Love the soft, romantic colors. I goofed on the big block on this one although I would never redo it. When I copied it in mirror image and printed it out, it was actually bigger than the original so I almost had to sew over some of the embroidery when I sewed the blocks together. Have it figured out for the rest of them. I was almost done before I realized and there is no way that I would make a new one. Things like that keep a person humble. (My color is not too good in these pictures - I suppose I have pushed some wrong button on my camera!)

The first section - the girls are so cute. Great designer. (Click to enlarge)

My Polka Dot Girls are Back Again

I'm liking the fabrics in this! They are so very lush and pretty - shabby chic? I am using the layer cake from Moda called Aviary plus a few other pieces that I like with it. This first section still has another row to go. It's going to take quite a while to get all the blocks embroidered - although my friend Barbara has finished embroidering hers. They are gorgeous. Will do another post when I finish the third part of this section, but I was anxious to get this up. (Click to enlarge)

Polka Dot Girls

Here is the last of the first three blocks of the first section of PDGs. There is one area that I may want to change and that is the color of the floss for the outline of their faces. Will try the faces first in the next one and see how that goes - then I could change out the color in this block. I do like the reds and pinks, though. I think I am going to go ahead and piece the rest of this section and maybe do the piecing as the blocks are finished. (Click to enlarge)

Today is the class in fabric dying (dyeing?) and I think I have everything gathered up to take along. Looking forward to it and hope I come home with some lovely fabrics!

First of August!!!!!!!! Time flies!!

Feels Good to Get Some Things Done

Our guild has been making quilts for charity and this is one of them. Helen made the thirty-five blocks and I volunteered to put them together and now Mary Ann will bind it. There are other ones that have been made, also, but I don't know how many total. This was a wrestling match to get together and I hope no one looks at how the seams match up too closely, but it's sturdy and will keep someone very warm and cozy.

Then I am wanting to start my Polka Dot Girls embroidery blocks. I think I am going to do them in one color and it will probably be this pink. The fabric I have has lots of that pretty color in it. I did the teacup because I wanted to test out using a transfer pencil by tracing the pattern (after I had scanned it and printed it in mirror image) on tissue then ironing it on the fabric. It does very well! I also took one that I had experimented with and wet it down - the pink came out quite well so I don't think there would be any trouble in having it smear.

To the far right is the tissue still over the pattern and left is the tissue ready to iron onto the fabric. Makes tracing much easier than trying to trace it on the fabric. I think that is the way I will go. The Polka Dot Girls are so cute! Barbara has lots of hers done already and they are beautiful. The patterns she traced on to her fabric look like they had been done professionally.

Seems like everyone is getting the itch to embroider again! (Click to enlarge)