Glimpses

Between working on Love Entwined, I have been working on yet another freebie BOM.  This one is called "The Enchanted Garden" by Shabby Home.  The model is shown in some very pretty pastel pinks and greens.  I did start to make it in very similar colors.  However, since these are not my 'usual' choices, I was not too happy with the results.  So...instead I chose to use some of my Lynette Anderson blue fabrics, as well as an assorted selection of fabrics, including some Japanese ones.

As the title above indicates, for now, a few glimpses...

I'm still working on adding all the smaller patchwork pieces to the first four blocks, but once complete, a few full-size pictures of the blocks.

LE Update

Bad picture aside...here is an update on my Love Entwined progress. 

Lots of wrinkles, too...but still have a lot more work to do before I want to press it again.  The corners need doing, two more six-pointed flowers at the top and another heart motif. It's getting there, little by little.

Polka Dot Flowers

48 teeny circles..no, no, not again!!  There were 32 teeny circles in Part 1 of Love Entwined (Esther Aliu's freebie BOM).  I tried the first time around...I hated my circles.  I decided to make them out of felt and attach with a black bead for Part 1.  Phew!  Done...but no...Part 3 has 48 more of the little (buggers...oops!) circles. ;)  I knew I was not going to be a happy camper if I had to keep making all these tiny circles.

Thing is, if the circles were the same size as the flower centers in Part 2, I would be fine...grumbling, but fine.  For some reason, I cannot get the tiny ones to turn out nice and smooth.  I have tried washers, the tiniest of the Perfect Circles and hand basting them in place.  Still not happy.  :(

I finally found a solution.  And it is something Esther has done on previous quilts....stenciling those little ___, guys!  I tried it on one of the leaf shapes that had not been attached yet.  Perfect!

So how do you get 48 little circles in an hour?  Stencil them!  Yeah!!

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I still need to attach two more of the green leaves  for this one.  The next four polka-dotted flowers are ready to be appliqued!

Zig Zags and Lightbox

Yeah!  My birthday present came today!  I'm so excited and can't wait to try it out!  A brand new Artograph LightPad.  I wanted the 11" x 17" size.  I immediately unpacked it as soon as it was dropped off on my doorstep.  It is great!  It lies flat!  The lighting is all uniform across the surface!  

 There is only one down side to it...it is a bit expensive.  But...I have been using my current light box forever.  It never seems to give me the light where I need it most.  I am always squinting and lifting the pattern to see underneath. To me, this is well worth the money...well...not that I spent it.  A very nice birthday present indeed from my husband, Dave.  Thank you lots!

It has a nice protective sleeve to store it it, as well.  Doing the Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy Dance...(any body remember that....Ren and Stimpy?)

Here's one with a look at the last zig-zag border for my Love Entwined, Part 2.

Chateau Hexagons & Love Entwined

Two cute little birdies with a pretty pink flower pot for the second block of Chateau Hexagons by Lynette Anderson:

I have done a bit more on the next portion of Love Entwined by Esther Aliu, as well.  There are still the remaining diamond borders to attach.  You can also see the six-pointed flowers.  I intend to add a bit more color in the coming parts, more reds, greens and golds.