Filigree Quilt Blocks

Have you ever had a project that sat around for years, then one day you finally decided to finish it? That's what happened with these Quilt Blocks. I originally bought the kit because I liked it, Mom liked it, and there were enough supplies to make 2 sets, in two different color schemes. For years I've been telling myself "I'll finish it for Mom's birthday" then "I'll finish it for Christmas" then "Maybe I can get it done for Mother's Day?" Last year I got tired of seeing it in my WIP list, and managed to finish Mom's set for her birthday. That still leaves my set, which I am not planning to start any time soon!

I can't remember where I bought the kit, and the only place I can find it online is directly from the manufacturer. The kit is titled "Filigree Quilt Blocks Kit #201" and is made by the Lake City Craft Company. It was simple to make and put together. The only difficulty was that not all my pieces came out the same size, nor were they perfectly symmetrical making it rather difficult to fit and glue all the pieces together.

Wedding Gift: Quilled Coasters

Having become slightly paranoid about privacy lately, and wanting to protect the privacy of others, I will be referring to my sister and brother-in-law by their initials; G and A.

  The wedding is over! I'm still recovering, but everything went smoothly. Upon seeing the quilled coasters that I finally finished last year, G and A requested a monogrammed set of coasters. They chose the letter style and coaster shape; the rest was up to me! They decided on square coasters, which I ordered from the Quilling Superstore. I have to say, I was not overly impressed with the quality, compared with my original coasters. Although they were clearer, you could see little bubbles and swirls in the plastic. Once the quilling is in, you don't really notice. The other snag I ran into was that the sticky background was just a plain sort of cardboard. The original coasters had a white background, enabling me to rearrange pieces a bit. This was one chance only since I had to glue everything to the background paper I chose. Deciding on a background color was fairly simple - I originally wanted to use cream, but Mom didn't have the perfect cream paper in her stash. She did have a perfect brown, though.

 To vary the designs, two were made square, and four go diagonally. I also wanted to keep them somewhat monochromatic, in keeping with the happy couple's decorating style. This worked for the first two designs, but the third needed something to make it pop. This was where my little Altoids box of extra pieces came in handy. I've saved every shape that didn't get used in a project; playing with the different shapes makes it much easier to visualize and plan a design. I had some blue S Scrolls, and kept coming back to the color. It ended up being perfect!

Has anyone ever made coasters before? Where did you get the coasters from? My original coasters came from Michaels, but they only come in a six-sided shape, and are almost always nearly out of them. If I can find a coaster/paperweight at a decent price, that looks nice, I plan to design a few for my Etsy shop.

Quilled Coasters

I finally finished these quilled coasters. The pattern is from The Book of Paper Quilling: Techniques & Projects for Paper Filigree by Malinda Johnston.

 

For some reason I had bought 4 of the coaster 'blanks', so I decided to design my own coaster:

I'm not entirely happy with it, but for the first time designing a quilled piece, it's pretty good. I also challenged myself to use up the short strips and random shapes that seem to be accumulating at an alarming rate. 

~Sarah

Quilled Woven Heart Border

I was going to post this Saturday night, but was too tired. The silver didn't work, so I made white pieces, and have a lot of silver pieces leftover. The design is from The Book of Paper Quilling by Malinda Johnston, page 104.

~Sarah

Will I Ever Learn??

...Not to work on projects when I'm tired? Last night I thought I'd get the paper strips torn to the right sizes for the bunny ear flowers. For some reason there were 2 sections of white paper. I (wrongly) assumed they were both the same. Today I made the larger flowers and realized that it wasn't white, but silver. I glued them together anyway, and once they dry I'll see how they look with the frame.
Does anyone else out there do things like that? Or is it just me?
Sarah

Pictures of Quilling & Knitting

A rather unimaginative title, but I'm tired and can't think of anything better. I finished the Mary Jane socks for my cousin - they are so cute!! ~And so is my cousin!I finally finished a square for Warm Up America. I used one of the patterns from the website. In order to get my gauge sort of right I had to drop down to a size 7 needle. I ended up with a 9" x 7" square, instead of 7" x 9" but that shouldn't be to much of a problem since there's no right or wrong side to it. I used seed stitch. For the next one, I think I'll drop down 2 sizes.
Last but not least, the quilling. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is for some friends who are getting married. If you think the bunny ear flowers are different colors, you are correct. Two were from the previous one I did, and two were recently made. I'm planning on using white for the rest of them, since the ivory doesn't contrast as nicely. The heart will have cord glued around it to hide the cardboard. Mom helped me choose some when we were at JoAnns the other day, and we noticed that although silver is supposedly 'in', there was at least twice as much gold cord as silver. The picture on the right is of the one I made a while back for some friends who got married.









My current crafting 'to do' list will probably keep me busy through the end of June.
For a wedding shower on the 7'th, I'm making a set of padded hangers. They will be his and hers themed: one will look like a tux, and the other a wedding gown.
For a shower on the 21'st (I'm not entirely sure I'll go, so this project will be semi-optional) I'm thinking another set of hangers, or maybe some coasters.
For the wedding on the 28'th, the quilled picture above.

Altered Notebook

I've been intending to write a post for a while, but good intentions don't get you anywhere unless you act on them. I made the 'altered notebook' (as opposed to an altered book) below for a friend who's leaving the area. I covered the notebook with postcard scrapbook paper, and added some definition stickers, and some 'stamps'. The stamps are from a sheet of paper and are embossed a little. The top pictures are front and back and the bottom ones are inside front and back.

























I tatted this bookmark for another friend who has left the area. The pattern is from 'The Big Book of Tatting'. Unfortunately, it is out of print.
I'm currently focusing on two projects; a quilled picture for some friends who are getting married, and the Mary Jane Socks from the May issue of Creative Knitting. Pictures coming soon. :)
~Sarah

Weekly Goals

Last weeks goals & progress :

1. Join LovePurl ~~I sent the e-mail, and am waiting for a response.
   
2. Finish the tatted medallion ~~I finished another corner. I'm going to have to start taking it to Church - I always get there early, so it will be some Enforced Tatting Time.
3. Knit: shawl or Warm Up America Squares ~~I finished two more pattern repeats. That leaves 4 to go. However, I have too many stitches on my needles. I'm going to buy some circular needles tomorrow.
4. Mending - my mending pile is expanding rapidly, and taking up too much space. ~~3 items were mended.
5. Cross Stitch: Pick a project, any project! ~~I worked on Appomattox Courthouse. Here's a picture to prove it. (Compare to picture here)

Some other things I did this week:

• Made a second attempt at the door slammer stopper thing. (First attempt here.) Pictures coming soon. Can anyone come up with a better name??
  
• Continuing in the I'm-tired-of-it-sitting-around-so-I'm-gonna-finish-it mood, I pulled out this quilled coaster tonight. It didn't quite have space for the pearls, so I used some leftover half-pearls from this project. It sort of works, but not really. As you can see, I'm holding the bottom piece on with my basketry clamps. Any suggestions for how to make it stay stuck to the coaster??

Goals for the week of February 19:

• Knitting~At least two more repeats on shawl, or better yet, finish it.
  
• Sewing~Make another door slammer stopper thing. (And clean up the mess I made in the sewing room.)
• Tatting~Finish the medallion.
• Misc.~Cross stitch or quilled coasters.

Have a happy crafty week!
~Sarah

Quilling

I'd thought I was done posting my 2007 projects when I found a folder on my computer of quilling projects. I did the quilled Herb Sampler (#204) from Lake City Craft Co. for my Mom for Mother's Day. I was up 'til midnight the night before finishing it, and the next morning I was still adding leaves here and there. I had trouble with this kit - the directions for the chive leaves weren't as clear as they could have been, and all the paper was 1/8" instead of the normal 1/4".


This was for some friends who got married this year. The design is from Malinda Johnston's The Book of Paper Quilling, page 104. Their favorite colors are red and black, so I changed the fringed flowers from blue to red and picked a greener color for the leaves. I got to use my (then) brand new quilling fringer on the fringed flowers - a wonderful little gadget. I didn't like the way gold quill trim looked around the heart, and some friends suggested using gold braid. I'm very happy with the way it came out, and unlike the herbs, the directions were very easy to follow.

Happy Quilling!
~Sarah