Looking Glass...the one the only...the original

Looking Glass, the sixth (6th) pattern down was the first true quilt...at least quilt as the word I think of ....meaning a blanket...that I made. It is available for purchase on Craftsy by the way!!!

This is a wonderfully simple pattern created by Meadow Mist Designs one and only Cheryl Brickey.

I had completed my first two quilts/wall hangings and felt up for a challenge.  I found this wonderful design and not only did the colors speak to me, but the symmetry did also. So asked Tish if this would be a pattern that would work for me. She quickly said yes. So being the "batik freak" that I am I quickly picked out two sets of batiks. I was thinking that these would look really good together, but upon receiving them I started thinking....."What did I do?"

These are Timeless Treasures Batiks in Citrus and Painter.
Andover fabrics made the Dimples pattern fabric that I chose to use for the background.  Neither Tish nor my sister....whom I count on for bouncing ideas off of were sold on my color choice. But confident in my decision I rolled on.

I laid out my fabrics for a more proper photo shoot......

 Caroline got in her spot which is clearly a quilty kitty of the most selfish nature.

So, being a novice quilter, I "picked" my color palette.  Not understanding how to read a pattern with multiple sizing. I went through this process and even made a comment to my trusted resident expert " I have alot of fabric left over".  Well, during the piecing process I figured out why. .....I began running short on fabric...not realizing that all of the charm pack pieces were required.

I had a plan of light dark large squares alternating...until I realized I needed all the fabric and I had a disproportionate amount of dark squares left over...I had a bit of panic moment, but Tish assured me it would turn out alright.  I did everything I could to make sure that no colors in the blocks were similar or adjoining to each other both in width and length...it became quite time consuming. (sorry about the feet shot....Tish got onto me about "framing" or staging my pics and then cropping if necessary)

Caroline often took my seat....Move your feet, loose your seat.

Piecing Piecing Piecing.....or as I would say building building building....

Sashing Sashing Sashing......Caroline approved of this process

Sew it all together....

And viola....you have a chassis...I mean a flimsy....I mean a quilt top. The wind even help make for a pretty picture.

And a quick improv attempt at Bargello

So it was around this time I made contact with my mother whom I unfortunately, rarely speak with.  I let her know I wanted to get up to Ohio to visit her and she gladly agreed. We went up and I took my two completed quilts and this chassis.  She liked it, but did not appear to be all that excited. I went with the intent to tell her it was hers..knowing that yellow was her favorite color.  So we talked and I found her sitting on the floor looking more closely at the laid out quilt. So, I asked her if she liked it and she said this is a very pretty quilt and that she liked the colors...to which I quickly stated good, because it is yours.

It came back home with me and quickly went to Country Roads Quilt Shop 
for professional quilting.

I was excited to get the binding on, but the schedule was just way too hectic. So it had to wait several weeks.  We have an outdoor quilt show coming up and I think I will put on display and then return it to its owner.

Notice the flange binding that matches the quilting! The blue really pops! I bobble a few times, but not bad for my first attempt.

And check out those labels!!!!

I really love the finished product and I think the two skeptics that didn't care for the yellow would agree it is a beautiful quilt...My sister really loves it...

Well stand by...hopefully before the end of the year we will have Looking Glass 2.0

As of now I plan to keep this one for myself, but I am hoping my daughter falls in love with it and it can be a late Sweet 16 B-Day present for her to cherish....that Daddy made for her.

Thanks for stopping by....Looking Glass....TishNWonderland.....it all comes together!

One Lovely Blog

How does this happen?  How is it that I got the honor of being nominated this early in my blogging "career"? Well it was pretty easy I guess... Lisa J. at SunlightinWinterQuilts nominated me.  Not that I completely understand what all this means, but still it is really "neat" to still a word from the 80's generation that I grew up in.

 

So I guess I can say I humbly  and graciously accept this award. That being said I guess I need to post some things that I stole from Lisa's post. Thanks Lisa for the Nomination and maybe we will get lucky and meet at Quiltcon. My wife wants to go and I told her to look into it.

The Rules:

*Thank the person who nominated you, and give a link to his/her blog.

*List the rules.

*Display the image of the award on your post.

*List seven facts about yourself.

*Nominate (up to) 15 bloggers for this award, and notify them to let them know you have nominated them.

     So here are 7 facts about me.

 

1.  I am a runner....  though I haven't done anywhere near as much as I did last year (1000+ miles over the entire year). I do it to relieve stress as well as experience the runner's high....yes that is a real thing.  I do my best thinking running (and mowing and sometimes while indisposed ...TMI)

2.  I am 1 belt test away from being a black belt in Taekwondo. I have never really had the desire to complete it either....alot of responsibility that I am not willing to commit to or be responsible for comes with being a Black Belt.  I have to many other Irons in the fire, so to speak

3.  I have been in law enforcement in some capacity for over 15 years now.

This one being the one I am most proud of.  

4.  I am a bit of hermit....or should I say Jedi???? I don't do well at places like Walmart.  My wife has all but accepted this and avoids taking me when possible.  I get "road rage" in the isles when people block them.  

5.  I FEEL (and it is just my personal feeling) that society has a whole has went down the tubes and people have lost the ability to be kind, respectful, and considerate of others (and more importantly their time).  I have to say though... the quilting Bloggousphere has restored my faith to some degree.

6.  I have an addiction to cinnamon.  My wife even buys me the LorAnn Oils and i actually turn them up onto my tongue and work my way through a bottle a little at a time. Sometimes even to point of causing an upset tummy from burning due to using to much of it.

7.  I'm Batman, I just don't have the money to go with it.

I know some of this was in my first post but there is a little more info with this one.

 

Nominations...I am really not sure who to nominate.  I won't pretend to be a dedicated follower of blogs because my time to work on this or even read is very limited between work, duty, and only having 2 days off to accomplish anything...most of which is ate up right now with mowing.  

I guess I will nominate Cheryl Brickey and Sandra

Cheryl because of her awesome patterns that are extremely easy even for a beginner and Sandra because she let me "field test" as guys call it a pattern....that would be "pattern testing" for the quilter that isn't trying to come up with new lingo for quilt processes. LOL

Hope you enjoyed!

Sunday Stash (Looking Glass 2.0)

Well.................

It's been a while.....hey that's a song.  Don't ask me who it is by, but I can sing the beginning of it to you.  And you know what?  I'm going to admit that I haven't had much time to read other blogs either.

I have made some strides in a few quilts I have been working on

In Order I have Mom's Quilt Meadow Mist Designs which is known as Looking Glass, The next is Snowflake Shimmer pieces, and last Check Plus also by Meadow Mist Designs. I promise I'm not a stalker Cheryl.  I just love your quilt designs.

Interestingly enough, I have a student in class that is a quilter and after announcing to my students that I quilt, she approached me about it in a healthy discussion. She brought pictures for me to see and she has some really awesome and funny/cute applique.  I encouraged her to enter them into a quilt show.

Times are a little tough at work and leave me with very little time.  I have to do a quick shout out, and I promise there is a "One Lovely Blog" post coming soon Lisa at Sunlight in Winter Quilts nominated me.  Better late than never I guess...though that is not like me.

Last but not least my Sunday Stash pic......yep again Looking Glass 2.0

The line is called Peacock and I found this background fabric local.  I loved how my mother's quilt turned out, so I am making one for me. I am hoping actually that my daughter loves it and I plan to give it to her.

That's it...out of time and out of lines.  Short Sweet and to the Point.

Today I am linking up with  Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash
And Beth at Main Crush Monday

Sunday Stash and then SOME

Yes...I have been away for a while. However, that does not mean I have not been following along with everyone's posts.  I have not had much time to comment either. I was in the second week of training with a new Basic class and we were in Communication Skills class which is not only labor intensive, but also mentally taxing.  To a degree, I am a recluse and my co-worker also talked me into getting out of our area for the evening to get a break. It was needed, but put me behind a bit on other things. If I have not said it, I am also a runner and have been getting back to business to on that. Gotta control that weight and stress and I have found it to be a great outlet. Sad to say, what has been catching my eye lately is posts about new fabric lines. I also have been lurking heavily on Instagram follow new fabric posts.

Tish has been working diligently on a pattern I designed a short while back, and we have settle on two fabric sets (I think). We were suppose to discuss a few different variations of the color pallets but have not done so.  We did make it out to see the movie "Nine Lives" which was a cute little movie.

So our two color sets are Desert Bloom by Riley Blake and Dixie by Windham Fabrics.  We have not yet made the purchase because we are still finagling with the color set up.

Anyways on too Sunday Stash.

The above is my stash for Cheryl's quilt along from Meadow Mystery Designs. We have received the instructions on cutting but wifey requested that I hold off on cutting till she could take my samples to the Quilt Guild meeting on Monday.  I think she was a little disappointed that I could not go with her this week. I went to the last one and it was an adventure.

These two are samples of stash we picked up from a Craftsy sale.
Wifey, or Tish, gets a portion of proceeds from some sales on Craftsy so hop over and check out her blog where you can find more about that.

Here is my selection and cuts for Yvonne's quilt along at Quilting JetGirl! I ended up not having the exact amount of fabric I wanted, but after a short discussion with Tish, we came up with what would be a good compromise to the color concern and I feel happy with it. Plus, it saves me from having to get out amongst the crazies on the roadways of WV. As you can see, the white is not cut. I ran out of time last weekend, but I took care of it first thing this Friday.  I will take care of the cuts on the aforementioned Meadow Mist quilt this coming weekend. I do have to say about this Snowflake Shimmer of Yvonne's, it was tough ironing and lining up the fabric to cut those large pieces. Tish thought she was going to have to step in, but I summoned my inner Snickers Bar and got the job done. I wasn't completely sold on the pattern but once I wrapped my head around a color pallet I am excited to get along and see how mine turns out.....All that white...gonna be tough to keep clean. However, I am betting once it is done I am going to have several people wanting to get their hands on it or a duplicate copy of it.

Again, I have been relishing over new fabric lines coming out, but alas it is not time for a purchase.  I have talked my sister into doing some picking out, of a pattern and colors, to make her a quilt.  She really likes what I call "wonky" plus designs in which none are the same, and all if not most appear out of shape.  I recommended she keep looking, as I think if she is using it for decoration (and I determined she would be) that she might feel it look dated over a few years.  Her color pallet though is either Navy and other darker blues or NC State colors. I am excited to work on that.

I really have figured out that I do love quilting and that relates to a meme I found indicating quilting to be a series of small goals.

 This is a sample of what lies in our future. Tish will talk about it. We went to pick up my mom's quilt and we also met up with Beth Sellers at cookingupquilts and she is a sweetheart, a wealth of information and insight, and an excellent designer. Her pattern in the red and blue. Yes, I am in the picture....kinda as I took the picture. They offered to let me in, but it was their day.

Ouch!!!!!

 This is what happens when you work on a quilt a little too late into the night, and you fail to notice the large square ruler is just a little to close to the edge. Who would have thought that I would be in perfect balance with the Space/Time continuum to be in the right place for the ruler to fall corner down.  The good news...I learned especially this time, that taking Flaxseed Oil works as a natural blood thinner. Getting this baby to stop bleeding was a real chore.

This is the WIP that is Cheryl's design from Meadow Mist Designs. This was her first ever published design and I found it in a Quilting Magazine of my wife's. I will do another post on it later. I am going to put a brown border (like the brown plus) around the outside...probably a 1-1.5 inch and find a dark yellow/orange to bind it.  I also want to include a couple photos of the Quilt "Looking Glass" that I did for my mother. It is still a WIP also, as I need to bind it once my labels come in. Tish ordered them and they should be here this week. I will also do a post on this one once I get it bound. This will be my first try at binding with a little guidance from Tish. I LOVE how this one turned out.  I wasn't sold on my color choices (except the yellow), but it turned out awesome.

 I am very very pleased with both designs. I highly highly recommend Meadow Mist Design patterns. Again, I will do a separate post when this one is complete.

Today I am linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash #188- Hodge Podge

See you soon when I get a few of these knocked out.  Now, I have to figure out which ones that I have completed.....that I will put in competition at the local festival next year LOL.