Winding Ways/Wheel of Mystery.....Basting

It was great to get the basting completed on the

Winding Ways/Wheel of Mystery Quilt

This has been my take-a-long quilt for several years...

It is all hand pieced.....I love those curves:

It is time to think about the quilting design...

 I printed out a few blocks:

I can draw out different designs on paper 

to see what works

Feathers are always a favorite.....#1

I like the geometric feel of this one.....#2

One big feather covers the entire block......#3

I also printed out several blocks on a paper:

This will help me see 

how the designs look as a whole...

#1 and #2 accentuate those hand pieced curves

#3 obliterates and covers up the curves

I am leaning toward #1

I will share more images 

after I get this under the needle

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CLICK HERE: ALL Winding Ways posts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn Kessi

From the Hen House

Winding Ways Wheel of Mystery....Borders

The last time you saw this quilt it was in pieces

spread across the Thread Shed

Click Images to Enlarge:

Winding Ways aka Wheel of Mystery

Last week I completed piecing all of the rows into a top.

I planned on a black border......so dramatic.

However.....I just couldn't resist these juicy border fabrics:

Orange inner border

Bright Green outer border

A perfect compliment to this yummy FUN quilt !

Now to get the borders cut and sewn to the quilt top...

I will keep you posted!

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CLICK HERE to view Rust Dyeing Fabric

CLICK HERE to view Adventures in Art Quilting Classes

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

Winding Ways........Piecing the Rows

Winding Ways aka Wheel of Mystery

This was up on the design wall all summer.

I took it down so I could get to work designing my

2011 Challenge Quilt:

I pieced 4 rows together this morning.

They are all pressed on the ironing board.

There are 4 more rows to piece.

They are on the back table by my sewing machine.

All 56 of the 10 inch blocks

were sewn by hand while I traveled.

This was one of my take-along-quilts.

The blocks are simple to piece...

but tricky when it comes to which way you press the seams!

I developed this pressing technique to allow the blocks

to lay perfectly flat after pressing...

I snipped the seams half way through the curve,

which allows the seam to press either way.

This pressing technique allows the quilt to

lay flat as a sheet of paper, like you see in the image above.

Here are the last 4 rows to piece together...

My work for the afternoon.

Piecing the rows is not for the faint of heart...

especially if you don't like to pin.

Intensive pinning every 4 inches to keep all of the

points and seams aligned.

I will post more images when I begin the design work

on the borders.......stay tuned!

Suzy the Quilting Doggie

You haven't seen little Suzy on this blog for quite awhile...

She spent the day with me piecing this quilt.

She napped under the sewing machine in her bed.

Suzy is 16+ years old.

In this last year she has become blind, deaf and suffers from dementia.

She no longer knows who I am and is scared from my touch.

It has been months since she would stay out in the Thread Shed with me.

Today she gave me the gift of her company while I sewed.

It was a good day.....for both of us.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view Suzy's Portrait Quilt

CLICK HERE to view Gunnr's Portrait Quilt

CLICK HERE to view my Challenge Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

Thread Shed........Making Progress

I am making some progress on the re-organization

of the Thread Shed...

I repurposed a hand-me-down TV cupboard

into a media center.

While I am creating I enjoy listening to audio books.

I also enjoy watching instructional DVDs.

Listening to relaxing music is the only way to go for free motion quilting.

Click Images to Enlarge:

I piled all of the video and audio equipment into this

big cupboard and it works!

The best part is, the doors close and hide all the clutter.

Brad built a shelf to hold the TV and speakers.

Underneath that is the stereo.

This light green cupboard was moved across the room to

its new location here as the Surface Design Cupboard.

(in its former life, it held all of the music and movies)

It holds textile paint, dyes, inks, screen printing supplies,

brayers, brushes, sponges, gels & mediums,

waxes, tools.....and lots more!

Again, the best part is, the doors close and hide the clutter !

Plus, everything inside is protected from the light and dust.

With the Design Wall all cleaned off,

I just had to put the Winding Ways/Wheel of Mystery

blocks up for a look see:

56 Blocks so far...

Sewn by hand.

This is one of my take-a-long quilts

I am realizing, as I work on the Thread Shed re-do,

that this is not a quickie, overnight project...

I have barely scratched the surface

with what I have accomplished so far...

I plan to get into all of my work areas

and tear them apart...

decide what will stay, what will go,

and then re-organize them so I can work more efficiently.

In the middle of this project...

we will begin mowing hay tomorrow.

I am also curating a quilt show that will go on exhibit August 1st,

so the Thread Shed is piled high with quilts this month.

I am gathering my own personal quilts and

finalizing my lecture notes

for a trunk show July 28th at the

Mary's River Quilt Guild

Philomath, Oregon

July 30th I am hosting a Fabric Painting workshop

here at our home for the quilt guild members.

I will continue with the Thread Shed project as time allows

and share my progress with you as I go.

As always, if you are inspired by any of my photography,

feel free to use it in your personal art work.

The dogs travel everywhere with us, even if it is just

to town shopping for groceries.

When we open up the back door of the pick up,

this is the view inside the back seat:

How is this for relaxed...

Gunnr and Suzy

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

CLICK HERE to view: more Cupboards in the Thread Shed

CLICK HERE for the 2009 Thread Shed Tour

CLICK HERE to view: Organizing, a Fresh Start

CLICK HERE to view: Big Board Ironing Board

CLICK HERE to view: Life Through a Quilter's eyes

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

Design Wall...Winding Ways or Wheel of Mystery

Something New is Up on the Design Wall

Click Images to Enlarge:

Wheel of Mystery or Winding Ways

I quickly put these blocks up on the design wall yesterday....mostly so I could have something new to look at while I was sitting at the machine doing some binding work on the clam shell quilt.

This is my current Take-A-Long Quilt. I started it in 2005. It goes everywhere I go. This pattern is known by two names: Wheel of Mystery or Winding Ways. I think both names suit it well. Brad thinks it looks like a kaleidoscope.......I see that too!

These curves are so gentle compared to the clam shell quilt I hand pieced before this.

This is a John Flynn lazer cut kit. I purchased one kit, which makes a lap size quilt. I used batiks from my own stash, cut more pieces and doubled the size of the quilt.

Right now it is 70 x 80 inches without borders. I have enough pieces cut to make more blocks, but I think I am ready to begin designing a border treatment.

I will leave this up on the design wall for a few days......move blocks around.......and see what border ideas I can come up with. I am thinking borders that read solid, so the machine quilting will show up in the borders....because it definitely won't show up on these blocks as busy as they are!

I will post my progress as I continue with this quilt.

Something new in the Thread Shed

I spend so many hours on my feet while working out in the Thread Shed. I am a bare feet girl.......I only put on shoes to go into town!

I decided to be kind to my feet and purchased this mat. It is 3 x 5 feet in size. Just perfect in front of the cutting station or the ironing board.

I found it at Sears this week $40.

I have seen mats like this elsewhere but they were nearly $100 or more.

I am trying to figure out how to change the name on the mat?

It should read..........CRAFTSGIRL

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

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To see Tutorials CLICK HERE