Oooohh!! Gettin' Excited!!

Now that we have received the final layout for the entire quilt, I worked on the little leaves, the embroidered stems and circles for my central block.  I decided to add the flange to the perimiter of this block as well as the other two flanges recommended by Esther.   I like how it gives my central block a more finished feel.  Of course, there are still two sides missing.  I have also stitched together the three blocks in the center row.  Now I am really starting to get excited to be able to actually see something that looks a little more complete!

Take a peek!

(sorry about all those stray threads...I told you I was getting excited to see how things were starting to work together. )  :^}

Another Wednesday!

Shhhh!  my little mouse is sleeping! 

A bit of a change of pace...this is the bottom portion of Block 5 of Night Before Christmas by Bunny Hill Designs.  There are a few very tiny pieces in tis one...that little mouse head is probably about the size of a quarter. 

I needed a little break from Heart's Desire, as I have been going pretty strong on that one for a while.  The last portion will be released on the 15th!  Can't wait to see what's in store for us!

WOW!

WIP's on Wednesday....or in this case, WOW!   I am actually stunned!

I finished  (phew!) all four of my Block 4's for Heart's Desire.  The last little circle was attached last night.  So....since I have the majority of the pieces, I decided to do a quick layout of how I thought everything might go together. 

Oh..My...Goodness!!  I have impressed myself.  Although this is an extremely rough layout (with none of the border actually stitched yet...I am very happy with how things are looking at this point.  Don't get me wrong....still lots more to do...but seeing it all together like this actually makes me want to hurry up and get all those little leaves ready for the border.  My baskets still need all their flowers and leaves, too.

I do have to say that I have actually inspired myself to keep going on this.  (Oh, and I did add the little leaves to my center block (ala Esther's "oops" picture), although not attached permanently yet, since I wanted to see how everything worked together first.  I have all the tiny circles ready to go for the center block, too. Here's another look:

It is upside down in this angle (you can tell by the bird on the left)...but this was the best angle I could get, as it was on the floor.  Speaking of which, as soon as I was done with the pictures...someone came up the street, which caused Rusty to get all excited and dash across the center..messing up the layout.  I guess he wants me to get to work on it right away, too. :)

Once again my thanks go out to Esther for a wonderful design!

Leaves, Leaves and More Leaves!

Phew!!  The leaves for the inner portion of all four of my Block 4's are done!  Two blocks stitched down - two to go!  And...I started on those leaves on the stems that hang into the border and the bordering block (which I think may be Block Two).  Two blocks of those done...one stitched and one (this one) glue basted in place.

That large flower you see  at the top of the picture is not part of the block.  I was laying it out on the background fabric next to Block 4 along with a portion of my scalloped border to see how I liked it.

Here's a better look....remember, glue basted together and laid out on the background fabric with the scalloped border.  There will be four of these in the outer border with the scalloped edges.

(*** so sorry about the poor quality of the pictures...my camera batteries were on their last legs! ***(

Coming Together

Slowly, very slowly, it seems, my Block 4's are coming together.  I finally have a second one with some of the leaves...Notice, I said "some."  There are still leaves to be attached to the curved stems extending over the borders.  Still needs the little bit of embroidery as well as the three tiny circles above each flower.  When you first see the block, you think, "How pretty...not too much work."   Well, think again!  Did you see the little tiny thorns on the stems?  (only 20 on each of these blocks!)

 The paper pieced borders have found their home, as well as those squares with the circles.  I am considering a button for the center of those large circles.

Now ~ to work on the remaining two!

Have I Told You Lately That I Love....

ahhh...you thought I was gonna say "You!" (you know, like the song....)But what I was going to say was Have I told you lately that I love Kansas Troubles fabrics?  I got hooked on them when I started using them for my Patriots in Patchwork blocks.  When Esther came out with Heart's Desire...I decided to use them again.  I just received an order of fat halves of their Wrapped in Paisley line (from last year) this afternoon. 

Most of their fabrics are quite dark in tone, so I ordered some of the "lighter" colors that were available in this line.  I have decided to use the one with the little swirl for the background on my outside borders for Heart's Desire.  I cut out a few of the scalloped borders in the black floral (another Kansas Troubles fabric) I intend to use.  These borders will have those baskets I mentioned previously in the corners.  Here's a peek...again not stitched together yet, just laid out to see how I like it.

A Tisket, A Tasket

I love my little basket! :))

Not stitched down yet, just starched and pressed, ready to go.  There will be a vine with some flowers wrapped around the handle. Each basket will occupy a corner of the outer border of my Heart's Desire Block 5.  Once again, a lot  of pieces and work for this part.  I haven't finished all four of the Block 4's yet...but I'm workin' on it!  I couldn't resist starting at least a small portion of Block 5.  Lots of scalloped borders and little flowers to come for this one.

Thanks for stopping by!  I really do appreciate everyone's visit. :^)

~ Bits and Pieces ~

It seems like all I have been doing lately is working on "pieces" for my four Block 4 of Heart's Desire.
Lots are ready, but there are still many more to do...all the leaves and flowers.  I am trying to take
Esther's suggestion and have an "assembly line" type production of all my pieces.  As of today, all flowers baskets - done.  Corner circles - done.  Sawtooth (eight of those paper-pieced buggers) - done!

And I have all my other blocks complete with the exception of the eight scalloped borders (which I am working on now.)  Now to tackle some flowers, stems, thorns and leaves!

Where did it go?

It seems like it was the beginning of May yesterday, doesn't it?  Where did the past two weeks go?  Well, for me, the time has been spent working on my three blocks that consisted of Part 3 for the Heart's Desire quilt by Esther Aliu. (no pictures, just yet)

  On the fifteenth, Esther released the next part.....FOUR blocks for Part 4.  Yikes!!
And we cannot assemble any of the parts yet.  Esther tells the group that all will be revealed next month....I have my doubts as to whether I am going to be able to complete all four blocks for this part by next month.  B u t.....I did make a start. Finally.  I was so overwhelmed by the amount of work for each block...I think I got quilter's block....is there such a thing?  You know, like a writer gets writer's block and cannot write?  Well, when I saw the new block (which is beautiful, by the way), I froze.  Literally, my brain could not come up with anything.  It (my brain, that is) finally relaxed.  I chose some fabrics from my choices for this quilt for the corner flower pots.  Here are all the pieces, not assembled yet, but ready.

I have used the black/gold checkered fabric only in the center and here, as it does tend to really draw your eyes to it.

Now!  Time to work on some bias stems. :)

Heart's Desire

This portion of Heart's Desire has the  same block repeated three times.  Here's my first one:

And a little bit closer:

Heart's Desire

Block 2:

: 

Finally...lot more work here, than I originally thought.  The bird is supposed to be "similar" (and I stress - similar) to a Baltimore oriole.  I am working within a specific range of colors, so the colors of the bird are a bit more subdued .

Now to work on Block 3, which is really three blocks of the same thing.  Those blocks will go with Block 2 without a bird, but with some added flowers.

a little birdie

This is a bit of my bird for the Heart's Desire free BOM by Esther Aliu.  I was trying to make him look like an oriole, but within the confines of the fabrics I had chosen for this project.  Why an oriole?..Our state bird is the oriole, as well as the baseball team.  He's not as bright as the real thing, but his colors will work well with the other portions of the quilt.

This is a test...only a test....:)) my little tryout for the first border in the same quilt.  There are four of the half circles in a set of four borders. 

Heart's Desire

A free Block of the Month, here: http://www.estheraliu.com/.  Lots of beautiful quilts with gorgeous machine quilting!

Here's my first block...

I really like the blocks that have been released, so far.  Lots of bias binding, however in the second and third blocks...

Can you tell he doesn' like getting his picture taken?  Look at those ears...pulled way back...normally they stand up all cute and perky....Rusty just got a new haircut and I was trying to get a picture of how cute he looks and this is the face he kept giving me.:))