Outrageous work deadlines kept me from finishing my circle of flying geese this week, but I finished enough to make me smile.
I *could" have snuck in perhaps an hour of sewing last night, but it snowed.
And I took pictures.
Then spent an hour processing photos.
I'd say it was a worthy endeavor!
Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
We've got about eight inches of snow on the ground right now with another storm expected tomorrow and more on Sunday. So I've been stuck at home, which isn't a bad thing and isn't all that abnormal for us anymore, with a tiny bit of time in the evenings to polish off that final Hawaiian Punch block.
Yippee!!!!!!!!!! 19 years in the making!
As I was tying off the final knot, I noticed, perhaps for the first time, how pretty the back of the block turned out. And that got me wondering how the backs of the other blocks look. All blocks are white on white floral on the back, and all hand-stitching matches the pastel on the front.
I'm now beginning to play with my very first ever curved flying geese. If my test piece turns out okay, I will try to ring around the compass, then fill in the gaps with more of the white background fabric.
If my curvy geese don't look so good, I'll just do straightforward geese as a square frame around the compass, and if that's what I end up having to do, I'm just fine with it. Curves would be awesome because they are still new to me, but I love geese, so I don't care if my geese fly straight or fly in circles.
Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
Eight years in the making, Lizard Toes at last is done!!!
I finished the binding at 11:36 pm Tuesday. The plan had been to stick it in the washer before using it to replace Dancing Lizards on our bed. Oh, the memories in that first Lizard quilt!!!
Dancing Lizards is as big as Lizard Toes, nearly 7 feet by 7 feet. I quilted Dancing Lizards by hand on a wood frame I inherited from my grandmother (and used to enjoy using with her while she was still alive). I was so proud of the design when I finished, I took a chance on entering it into the 2008 Denver National Quilt Festival, and unbelievably, it was juried into the show! We were living in a tiny apartnment then and had no place big enough to hang the quilt for an entry photo, so a couple of my friends helped me snap a shot on the stage at church.
My most memorable comment from the judges was, "This could benefit from more quilting." At the time, I was determined to do better on my next entry attempt, but deep down inside, I was devastated. I've since learned my quilts don't have to please the quilt police. They have to please their recipients. And the recipients of both these Lizard quilts was us, me and my sweetheart. I think we literally loved it to death!!!
The only place Dancing Lizards has hung since the Denver National Quilt Festival has been on our bed, and it really took a beating over the years! Definitely ready for retirement!!!
By the time I finished binding Lizard Toes, Lizard had fallen asleep in the zero-gravity recliner (which is normal for him these days). I had to work in the office a full nine hours yesterday, the first time I've left Lizard alone for more than five hours since returning to work full time following his total knee replacement in 2019 and the first time I've been in the office more than five hours since March 19, 2020. As a result, a photograph of my entire quilt on the driveway was out of the question yet again, and now, Wednesday night, as I type this, it's snowing again. It may be a while before I get the full quilt in a shot.
The only place this stiff, heavy giant is going to hang (other than for that photo of the front and the back) is the bed. Lizard Toes has about 365 mistakes. No, I didn't count them. I've done a few block-a-day and motif-a-day projects in my life. I think Lizard Toes was at least a mistake a day. But guess what??? I love it all the same!
I decided to sleep under Lizard Toes to celebrate finally finishing it. I'll wash it and get more photos after I've given it a good workout. All that dense quilting makes it stiffer than other quilts I've cuddled in, but hopefully it will soften up with use and washings. And hopefully, those 564 toes won't unravel too fast!
Linking up with Alycia Quilts.
Trying to come up with a creative quilt back for the final half of Lizard Toes was difficult, given all the medical challenges we've endured the last six or seven weeks. We finally got health resolution last week, got some sleep for the first time in six weeks, then over the weekend, following a wonderful nap, I came up with an idea! I decided to use a piece of leftover sheet (which had backed a couple of other small quilts) for the smallest unfinished quarter of Lizard Toes (because that's the only quarter the sheet leftovers would fit).
I also decided to do some applique on that quarter of the quilt back, again calling upon leftovers from all the green batik projects I've finished over the years, including the green batik stripes in the already completed Lizard Toes backing.
I couldn't bear to do any more lizard toes, so I appliquéd hearts. The appliqué work was completed in about four hours, and the longarming was finished about four hours later. The second quarter of the quilt has quite a few skipped stitches, and I feared I'd have to take the longarm in for servicing. I watched a YouTube video that suggested trying a new box of needles if several needles have been skipping stitches. So I did. And there's not a single skipped stitch in the third quarter!!! Hallelujah!
One 12-lizard quarter left to go!
I feel as if my creativity has been electrified once again, and I can't wait to craft the final quarter quilt backing. It will be so nice to finally get this quilt on the bed!
Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
The bottom half of Lizard Toes is done, and the finished quilt is going to fit our bed! I'm pretty excited about that!
I'm sad about getting the entire second quarter quilted before noticing I'd put the backing on sideways. I had this design all worked out in my head. Now I have to come up with a different idea for the back. I hope whatever brews is as good as what I envisioned when I first began putting the back panels together.
As I began laying out the finished Lizard Toes blocks (on the guest bed because I have no floor surface big enough except our driveway, and can't quite leave a flimsy outside overnight!!!), I realized my original plan of 6 blocks by 8 blocks didn't need to be quite as long and really needed at least one more row in width to fit our master bed. Good thing I had to lay this baby out on a bed before I began putting the blocks together! I do not need another large quilt that doesn't fit a bed!
I decided I could add one more block and make the quilt 7 blocks by 7 blocks, effectively 7 feet by 7 feet. It was difficult to select which color to use for the 49th block background because I have SO many amazing green batiks. I opted to use a piece from the (smaller pieces) stash box instead of the folded fabric stash in an effort to use up scraps. I actually had a piece big enough and had to trim off only a couple of inches on one side and a very small slice on a second side.
The first few appliqué blocks back in 2014 were done with YLI thread in the Alaskan Twilight and Seamist colorways I'd bought at my first Denver National Quilt Festival. I'd never seen fancy quilting thread before then! The zigzag stitch I'm using, of course, made quick work of the first actual quilting thread I'd ever owned, and my starting colors didn't necessarily look as perfect on every block anyway. My thread stash grew over the years, and I used King Tut De Nile and Arabian Nights and Signature Spring Grass and Aqua Waters on the blocks I finished this month. Now I'm going to have to restock at least a couple of shades because I've nearly finished off a few of my favorites!
All 48 original Lizard Toes blocks are made from leftovers. I wanted my 49th block to be from scraps, too, even though it will be different than any of the 48 paired blocks. Each original block pair includes one solid and one batik, making 24 opposites. (Although I discovered as I began putting the blocks together I'd made a mistake, but I'll get to that in a minute.) The 49th block will be unique because both the background fabric and the solid fabric do not appear in any of the other 48 blocks.
The color for the 49th lizard was difficult to choose because I have many purple, blue and green solid scraps that work well with the batik background I selected. I must strongly favor the cool rainbow color spectrum because that's what composes most of my scraps!!! I narrowed my choices down to three favorites, one each from the cool hues, and asked Lizard which he likes best. He should have a say, since the finished quilt will be covering him, too.
After having me audition the three samples three times each, he picked the same blue I was leaning toward. Made the choice so much simpler! Great minds think alike!
I'd been trying to complete a quilt block a day every day since the beginning of April. The lizards helped me stay ahead both times I took a break – once to use up my mountain of selvedges for a crocheted rug and once for taxes (gag!!!!!!!!!!) – because I had so much fun with the appliqué process, I could do four in one sitting! I did not feel that way at all, however, years ago when I was cutting out the individual lizards.
When I first began this project back in 2014, my intent was to put the paired blocks together. It was exciting to arrange finished blocks on the floor each time I finished a new pair.
When I picked this project back up as my hopefully April WIP finish, I decided I want the blocks to be random instead of paired. I wish I'd used a more diverse assortment of solids when I chopped up these blocks and lizards, but I was using leftovers I had back then. There were fewer colors in my leftovers to pick from then. That means some of the solids bump up to each other now, but they were doing that when I was doing the paired layout, too, so I tried really, really hard not to stress about it.
I wanted to make sure I didn't have to rip out any blocks accidentally sewn together in the wrong orientation this time (a mistake I make almost every single block quilt I make), so I marked the bottom left corner of each block with a pin to make sure the lizards weren't dancing in the wrong direction when I began sewing. Nevertheless, the final layout took a long time because I kept moving blocks around (and therefore pins, too...) so they wouldn't touch similar blocks, and even as I assembled the final quadrant of the flimsy, I was still moving blocks and wishing I hadn't already finished sewing the first three block segments together.
I also wish now I had placed a layer of batting beneath each lizard. But perhaps I can simulate that when I begin the quilting.
When I first made the decision to add one more block, I planned to put it smack dab in the center because the colors would stand out. By the time I finished the appliqué, though, I decided I would like it better off-center. It's funny how I've become totally anti-center over the years. Too much art class back in the '70s, I guess! So now the unique block is right next to the very center block, and that's one block I did not move around at all!
Words cannot describe the joy that washed over me as I finished the final block!!! (Yes, I finished the 49th block before I finished six other blocks... because I liked the colors of the 49th block SO much!) A total of 588 toes!!! Finished!!! It may be a while before I ever cut out another lizard for appliqué!
As I was laying out all the finished blocks, I was stunned to discover I'd made a mistake with one of the block pairs. I apparently liked the batik so much, I made both blocks identical. Had I noticed this before making the 49th block, I could have made that extra block with a solid background, and if I kept the twins far enough apart, no one would ever know I'd screwed up. Which got me thinking... Who is going to see this quilt??? Lizard, and me. It will be on our bed. It is not going on display anywhere except my blog. Who cares if I have ocean spray and periwinkle too close to each other in a couple of places?!? Who cares if I have three batiks pieced together without a solid in between? We both love this design, we both love the colors, and that's all that matters! If I don't point out the mistake when I finish the quilt, I bet no one will ever notice, even if they study the photo.
Even though I might have done things differently if I was just starting this quilt today, I am pleased with the final layout. I was excited but so intimidated to finally be ready to quilt! I thought I'd have to have to layer the quilt sandwich on the driveway, and that would require a good weather day. No wind, no rain, no snow. Not an easy order to fill in the Rocky Mountain foothills spring!
Upon finishing the fourth quadrant, I was being snarky and commented, out loud and to myself, that this project is equivalent to two baby quilts and two lap quilts, all joined together. I suddenly realized I could quilt them as quadrants, and then sew the quadrants together by hand! I actually enjoy quilt-as-you-go and love the hand-sewing. For the first time since I began this quilt in 2014, I wasn't intimidated by the size anymore!!! I don't have to procrastinate anymore! Each segment will fit perfectly on the longarm, and I might even be able to do something creative with the backing this way!
I'd purchased a huge chunk of wide Tahiti Dreams for the backing before discovering I could convert my old, ugly, skinny metal blinds that came with the house into state-of-the-art, modern and gorgeous Roman shades. I wasn't sure I'd have enough Tahiti Dreams left over after finishing this quilt to make matching shades for our large bedroom window. If I cut the wide backing into quarters and maybe even throw in a few off-center coordinating scraps (which would provide visual interest as well as use up even more scraps... YAY!!!), I might have enough of the wide backing for both the quilt back AND the Roman shades!!! Holy cow! This is brilliant! I'll never be afraid of a large quilt again!!! Unless it's already assembled... I have two large assembled WIPs, darn it!
Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
Greg and Susan long for a child. Abused and abandoned five-year-old Gene needs a new family, The match of family to child seems perfect, but the past refuses to let go. Find out what it takes to rebuild a broken family and to heal damaged trust.
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