Wildflower Fields

The one good thing about the poison ivy rash that I picked up was that it gave me more time to sew.  Once I got past the first week of intense itching and sitting with an ice pack on my arm constantly, things weren't too bad.  The only issue was that when I tried to put sunblock on, it felt like my arm was on fire.  So sunblock was out...  Since I burn easily anyway, there was no way I was going to get sunburn on top of the poison ivy!

Since I was "stuck" inside, I decided to buckle down and finish the quilting on Wildflower Fields and just get it done.  This quilt is a pattern called Orca Bay from Bonnie Hunter.  I made this while Bonnie had this is a mystery quilt, but now you can purchase that pattern through one of her books.

Here's the quilt about 3/4 done through quilting:



And a close-up of some of the stitching.  I used Superior Threads bottom line in the bobbin and king tut in the top.  The King Tut was a variegated purple-ish colored thread.


Somehow the purple/pink colors of the thread mixed well with all the colors on the quilt.




I also decided to use wool batting on this quilt.  Its my first time using wool and I think I may use it more often for some of the quilts when I want the quilting to stand out a bit more.


You can see the texture from the quilting and wool batting in the next few photos.




It took a longer than I expected to quilt this quilt, but its done now....which means I'll be able to count the backing as stash used this coming weekend.  :-)


I still have to trim the quilt and add the binding to it (a solid green), but I really like how this quilt turned out.  I'm in the process of getting caught up with my quilting and turning out some finishes.  This will only be my 2nd finish this year as the Lone Star quilt took up most of my quilting time earlier this year. 

It feels good to get some more finishes done.  :-)


Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

Not Much Quilting this Week

Not a whole lot went on this week in terms of quilting or sewing of any kind.  Last week we were on vacation and decided to do some yard work.  While spreading some wood chips along our driveway, we noticed a vine climbing up a nice cherry tree.  So we decided to take said vine down.... like we've done 100 times before.

Just our luck... this particular vine was a mix of just standard vine and poison ivy vine!  :-(  My husband was only slightly affected by the poison ivy and only got a few red spots from it.  I on the other hand... full blown allergic reaction.

It took a few days for the rash to develop, but after about 4-5 days of exposure, my entire right arm from halfway between by wrist and elbow to halfway between my elbow and shoulder was completely covered with a red rash and hives.  I also had the rash on my left arm, side and chest, but at least it wasn't as bad in those areas.  The right arm was definitely "ground zero".

I ended up going to the doctor for a script for prednisone to stop the reaction my skin was having.  Its now more than a week after exposure and the reaction is finally starting to slow down.  I still have a very yucky and sensitive red rash on my arm, but the hives are definitely smaller. 

So unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of sewing or quilting in this week.  I spent most of my time reading with an ice pack on my arm to help calm down the reaction and make the itching stop.

Note to others...make sure you check those vines before you start ripping them out to make sure there's no poison ivy or other yucky plants in there!  :-)

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

Stash Busting 2013 - Week 33

Another week and I'm able to actually bust some stash again.  I had some quick finishes this week as I finished up these placemats that I've been playing around week as a leader-ender project.



All four are done and I have one more item in the works as a sort of center piece.


I was also playing around with a die that I have for my GO! Cutter.  I won't count it as stash used yet since I don't have the pieces sewn into blocks yet.


But all those pieces will eventually end up like this:


The GO! cutter die for the Winding Ways pattern is definitely worth the expense.  It took me about 10-15 minutes total to cut out pieces for 24 blocks.

So here are my stash numbers:

Added This Week:       0.00 yards
Added Year to Date:    5.86 yards
Used This Week:          2.38 yards
Used Year to Date:       8.37 yards
Net Year to Date:         2.51 yards


I'm 2.5 yards in the black this week!  Maybe I can keep it up.  :-)

Check out how everyone else is doing over on Judy's blog.


Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

Stash Busting 2013 - Week 32

It's been a long time since I last posted for a Stash Report.  However, I have recently gotten a finish done, so I can actually count some fabric!  :-)

I finally finished my Lone Star wall hanging.  It ended up being about 62 x 62.  There was a bit of shrinkage to it due to the heavy amount of quilting in the open spaces.

Here's a close-up of one of the sides showing the quilting I did in the open squares and triangles.


I don't have a better picture of the finished feathers with the binding on it, but here's what it looked like before the binding was put on.  Lots of micro stippling all over the quilt to give the more open areas some dimension.


So now that the Lone Star quilt is done, I was able to count the fabric I used for the binding and hanging sleeves for the back.  The quilt will be hung in our foyer.  I also want to put a quilt on the opposite wall to fill out the space.  Here's the design for the next wall hanging:


I've never done a Mariner's compass before and this one will definitely be a bit of a challenge due to its sheer size.  The center block is 36" square and the entire quilt will be approximately 65" square.  Lots of pieces that all have to line up in the end, so it will be a challenge, but in a good way.  :-)

So here's my stash numbers right now... I definitely wanted to post before I add the 20+ yards I'll need for the mariner's compass quilt. ;-)

Added This Week:       0.00 yards
Added Year to Date:    5.86 yards
Used This Week:          1.09 yards
Used Year to Date:       5.98 yards
Net Year to Date:         0.13 yards

Yay!  I'm back in the black!   I have a few smaller projects (placemats) that will be counted towards the stash busting, but nothing huge in the works right now.  I do have a quilt on the frame, too and that will use up about 3 yards of fabric just for the backing.  Once its done being quilted, I'll be able to count that, too.

Check out Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

Quiet Lately...

I've been pretty quiet on the blog front the past few weeks.  The usual culprits are to blame... work, home, work, work.... ;-)

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic and we were trying to get ready for a vacation trip... which now is cancelled.  We were originally going to be going to Hawaii for a week (two weeks for my husband due to a business conference), but unfortunately we've had to cancel the trip.

We are still going to be taking vacation next week, since we both need it, but we'll just be staying home instead.  I hope to be able to get some quilting done next week.  I've been doing a good amount of hand sewing lately, but nothing to really show for it. 

I've been sewing hanging sleeve #1 onto the Lone Star quilt and also doing the final touches of embroidery on a small appliqued wall hanging.  I need to rinse off the wall hanging a bit before I take any pictures, but I'll get some pictures of it soon.

The other notable thing going on was that we had a kitten playing around our driveway and hunting the little birds.  I didn't mind it too much, but I didn't really want him sticking around either.  I was hoping he'd find another home in someone else's barn with a bunch of other kitties.  After a few days of seeing him around, we noticed he wasn't playing on the driveway anymore.  We didn't think much of it and just figured he found somewhere else. 

Yesterday while driving up the driveway on the tractor to plant some things, my husband pointed out the kitten hunkered down by the culvert near the driveway.  I stopped the tractor to get a better look, and unfortunately, we noticed a bunch of flies flying around the kitten.  We don't know what did it, but the kitten was dead. :-(  We don't know if he just couldn't catch any food or if he was sick to begin with.  We did the right thing though and buried him near the driveway at a base of a tree.  We felt badly for the kitten and really had hoped he was going to be OK and just find a better barn to live in.

We'll keep our eyes out in the future for the little kittens if they show up and we'll contact animal control to have them come trap the cat before something happens to them.  We haven't seen any others, but we'll definitely keep our eyes open for them.

Anyway - I hope to post some pictures later this week of the garden and the quilting I'm working on.  Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations