revealing.... all anew!

the original idea for "all anew" came about in september of last year.  and once i figured out what i wanted, it sat for a while.  i had lots of other things happening.  but then the new year came and i knew i had to start working on it.

but that even had a few snags to the plan.

once she was officially started, piecing went well.

magritte cat approved!

then quilting became the problem with tension issues with the old machine.  and finally.... she was finished, but i couldn't show you.  until today!!!

the 10th triennial for the women of the ELCA started earlier this week with the convention and the gathering portion began yesterday in minnesota.  they posed a challenge, open to women of the ELCA churches only, to create quilts using black & white plus one color only to represent the theme "all anew."

handquilted clouds detail

from the beginning, i knew i wanted an aqua or turquoise blue.  and i knew i wanted my quilt to be represented by water.  water and the sea renews our spirit.  brings life to the world.  sustains plants, animals and humans.  as this is a challenge for our lutheran church synod, water can also symbolize God's help, salvation and eternal life, and spiritual cleansing.

i quilted each wave section completely different than the next.  portions are handquilted, purposefully left imperfect as we are all unique and imperfect beings, yet together we make up something beautiful and perfect in God's eyes.

it's been out of my house a few months now, but i am still quite taken with it.  i've made a couple wallhanging quilts over the years - one sent off to navy safe harbor (originally hung in their office in the pentagon and now in the navy yard) and one never fully quilted but should be.  i want to hang this somewhere in my home.  now to figure out where.

swedish success and happy pill progress

after my trusty brother sewing machine lost tension capabilities for the second time in less than a month after returning from the repair shop, DH decided it was time for an upgrade.  he got me a lovely computerized fancy-schmancy husqvarna that i am still learning to use.  the most frustrating part it seemed was the lack of INCHES on my throat plate.  

i searched the book with all the feet attachment and they had one with inches and metric, but only a single hole for straight line stitching.  sigh.  but on tuesday, i had the decorative stitching class and lo and behold!  a zig zag throat plate with inch markings!  this was not at the store the last 4 times i had looked... 

i instantly bought that little sucker.  and it was the only one in the store.  mine!  all mine!  i still wish the 1/4 inch mark was more obvious, but i'll suffer with the foot instead.

new plate installed and i got back to work on "happy pill" piecing.

the colors are so bright and happy.  i cannot wait to see it together.  i've got this batch pressed, but not trimmed yet into neat 6 1/2 in blocks.  i pressed while i took A/C breaks from doing this:

my beloved red door is red no more.  :(  

first coat finished, strange wasp sprayed (and hopefully dead) and it's curing in the south texas heat.  i'll try to get the second coat on tonight if the weather cooperates after dinner.  the redhead mentioned as the contractors left that the red needed to be brighter because it was now too dark with the beige walls.  sadly, i agreed.  from the sidewalk, it got lost.  so, it was either find a brighter red or surprise DH with a blue door, which was wanting.  not sure he wanted this particular shade of blue, but redhead and i picked it out to do while DH was out of town working again.

that's all for now.  lots happening slowly in the house, but nothing in stages for pics.  

happy pill!!

my DH thinks we need a new quilt for our bed.  in ways, i agree.  i love and adore the one i made 5 years ago during a time i needed the calm.  but now, i need something a little different that i can have for the main quilt, yet alternate with my peaceful low volume every so often.

meet "happy pill."

what you're looking at above is 208 pieces of brightly colored curved sections, plus 208 light and dark grey curved outer curved sections.  join these with solid squares of happy colors and you'll have my new bed quilt.  and yes, it's going to take a while. 

as of last night, i had 35 grey/color curved blocks pieced and pressed.  i need to trim them down to 6 1/2 inches still.  and then pin the rest.  the blocks had to move aside for a couple welding cap orders that i need to fulfill first.  then comes an army motif quilt for a friend and some curtains for another friend.  maybe i'll finally get my extension table for my new sewing machine that i'm attempting to learn all of it's quirks so i can practice FMQ too.