Wednesday's Wanderings #3 - Key West Southernmost Point

Week #3 was inspired by two of the most popular sites to see in Key West - the sunrise and the location of the southernmost point in the United States. (I took a little poetic license here, because the sunrise is not visible from the buoy.)

People start lining up in the morning to have their photo taken at this unique geographic location.  I am always amazed how polite and orderly we can be as a group of human beings.  Everyone takes a turn and usually the next person in line snaps the photo.

Even Bailey and I got into the  act.

And the sunrise here does not disappoint.

I spent a day using Lumiere paints to create the fabric for the sun rising over the ocean.  I played with both dry and wet white cotton fabric, first painting the sky and ocean, leaving space for the sun and it's reflection.

I let this dry and heat set it and added the yellow paint.

 I was not happy with the results.  The paint just bled into the other colors, even though I heat set it. (I later read that there is a resist that you can apply to the fabric to prevent bleeding.)

This led me to creating the sunrise and the ocean separately and then creating the sun as a fusible applique.

I didn't really want to spend the time to recreate the buoy.  My goal is to finish my block in a day.  So I went shopping and bought this cold drink can cozy.  It's foam rubber.

I cut out the buoy and whipstitiched it to the background.  Why not?

Wonderful Wonderfil #2

This is the second sample that I made for Wonderfil threads. 

 I really loved making this one because it included silk, lots of hand stitching and circles.

 I call it "My Wish"  - peace, love and happiness.  What could be better?

I first quilted the dupioni silk background, that was layered with a low loft batting, with 12 wt cotton thread (Spagetti).  I love the way you can really see the quilting.  The circles were hand stitched with a whip stitch using Razzle, Dazzle and Spagetti.  These threads added a little bit of bling.

 The heart was fused and machine blanket stitched  with a variegated rayon thread. I created the banner with rubber stamps and attached them with a sequin and a bead in each corner.

For the background, I used the chicken scratch stitch, which is so much fun, and Sizzle.  I added seed beads to add a bit more sparkle.

I had a really hard time putting this piece in the mail.

Wednesday's Wanderings #2 - Key West Rooster

The first of Wednesday's Wanderings begins with the noisy and ever present rooster in Key West.  Roosters are everywhere and they just don't crow in the morning. 

They crow all day long.

And there is a law that you can do them no harm! 

Some people love them. Some people do not. 

So here's my block of the week, celebrating the Key West rooster.

Wednesday's Wanderings #1 - Key West

Happy New Year to everyone.  First I want to share what it's like in Key West for New Years.  then I want to tell you about my annual quilting project.

We have spent a few New Years in Key West.  It has to be one of the wildest places to celebrate New Years Eve. I am getting too old for the craziness so I thought I would just do a short walk down memory lane (or Duval St aka Main St.).

The hottest spot for bringing in the New Year is in front of Bourbon Street Pub.   People are packed in like sardines.  Restaurant employees are throwing beaded necklaces off the roofs  and porches of the building.  As midnight approaches, a drag queen named Sushi, positions herself into the dangling red stiletto and is lowered to the street amidst other drag queens.

The next hot spot is in front of Sloppy Joe's where a huge Conch shell is lowered at midnight.

And last but not least, a wench is raised up the mast of a sailboat down by the water.

A couple of times I went out with my grown kids and we roamed the craziness.  Last time we were here for New Years, my husband went out with me.  That night I decided that was my last time. 

 And I'm sticking to it. So last night was movie night and leftovers.

 

But I spent today making a small quilt block.  I am committing to making a block a week.  I have been inspired by my wonderful friend Kelly, of Pinkadotquilts. She said I gave her the idea.  frankly I don't remember.  I find a need a theme to motivate me.  My theme is "Oh the places I've been".  At this point I am planning on it being a travelogue.  This may change over time.    But what won't change over time is that I will share a block every Wednesday on my blog.  I am calling it Wednesday's Wanderings.  At the end of the year I am going to put the blocks together to make a quilt that will reflect my travels for 2012.

 

You can guess that my first few blocks will be inspired by Key West.  I am unveiling the project today to celebrate the New Year. 

This measures 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" 

I used silver beads ti make the illuminated numbers.



I invite you all to join me in this annual project.  Pick your own theme.  Use it as an opportunity to grow and try new techniques, but most of all to have fun.

Wonderful Wonderfil

Wonderfil.  - That's not a typo. Did it make you think of Lawrence Welk?   Wonderfil is a thread company.  I was thrilled when they asked me to make some samples for their booth to showcase their threads when they exhibit at sewing/quilt shows. They have a huge collection of threads.  The thing that caught my eye immediately was the vibrancy of the colors.  There is also quite a wide variety in fiber content and thread weights. 

I stitch with thread both by machine and by hand.  I use it to quilt, both by machine and by hand.  I use thread both for utility and also as a design element.  I also use it for embellishing.  If I can thread a needle with it, I will sew with it.  Needles are the key to making a thread "work".  Many problems can solved by changing needles. 

My first sample for Wonderfil is called "I Love Paris", just like the song. 

The Eiffel Tower is the centerpiece and it is fused and machine blanket stitched with D-Twist.
The background is quilted by hand with the big stitch and a 12 wt variegated cotton. 

 Metallic thread was used to blanket stitch the fused letters. The polka dots are accented with clear seed beads. And a small black button dots the i.

I handstitched the vine design on black silk dupioni with hot pink Accent, 12 wt rayon and then added flower like beads.

The three fleur de lisles in the border on the right side are cotton fabric fused to a white silk background, blanket stitched  by machine with a 40 wt rayon thread .

These little pieces are so much fun to do. I love adding the embellished top and bottom edges. 

 Final measurement:  11" h x 12" w

You can check out the huge variety of Wonderfil thread at their website:

http://www.wonderfilonline.com/

Design Dilemma Solved

Thank you for all of your opinions about my scrappy quilt.

I have to tell you that my overwhelming desire to see what the orange peel blocks looked like butted together outweighed everything.

 I really do love the circular pattern that is formed.

But I couldn't let the 9 patches go to waste. 

I am not crazy about how the 9 patches worked out.  It looks a bit old fashioned.  I think when the quilt is on a bed and the 9 patches are the drop, it will look fine. 

 

Scrappy Quilt Decisions

You all may think I am just playing in the Key West sunshine and my sewing machine is still packed.  I have been doing a lot of biking and walking and eating out, but I have also been sewing.

This is my set-up.  My sewing machine is on a 4ft pretty stable folding table.  It is placed right in front of a window facing the courtyard.                                  

Of course Bailey gets as close to me as she she possibly can.  If only I could teach her how to sew.

Sometimes she naps, but sometimes we both enjoy the view outside of the window.

My project has been a bit time consuming. I'm making a scrappy quilt for one of the beds in our mountain house. My goal is to make a quilt for each of the beds. 

 I cut out, fused and blanket stitched 288 leaves for half of the blocks for the quilt.

But I am getting ahead of myself. I brought a bunch of light and dark fabrics from home.  First I cut up my light fabrics.  I needed 72 - 6 1/2" squares and a bunch of 2 1/2" strips.  So I ended up with 4 piles:

6 1/2" Squares

2 1/2" strips

Leftover scraps for another project

Trash

In addition to all of the off white pieces, I also cut 2 1/2" strips from lots of colored scraps.  I then made 9 patch blocks - 70 of them.

This was the intended layout, alternating the 9 patches and the orange peel block.  I thought I would see a diagonal movement throughout the quilt. 

I like it but I couldn't help but wonder what if I put all of the orange peel blocks together. 

 I really like the way the blocks interact.  The petals will touch once the blocks are sewn together and give a circular look.  But what would I do with all of the 9 patch blocks? And I would have to spend days making more of the orange peel blocks.  But I could combine them - someyhing along these lines.

I think I need to sleep on this.  Any thoughts?  I would appreciate your comments.