well that only took 21 months!

If you've been with me from the beginning of this blogging adventure (or if you've paged back through old posts to numbers 2 and 3) you might remember this quilt.

Finally after 19 months of stopping and starting, the Italian Tiles quilt is hanging in my foyer!

I finished quilting all but the outer border in September of this year, and then I was just stumped on how to quilt that last bit. I settled on a simple diamond pattern that was easily marked by dividing the border into 3" segments. Then it was just a matter of zig-zagging from point to point, once starting at an inside point and another go-around starting at an outside point.

The binding's been ready for months, and I machine finished it on the back (rather than hand-stitching - too time consuming) so that was a pretty speedy step.

And just in time for the end of fall decorations, we were able to replace the fall-themed quilt that was hanging there for not one, not two, but three fall seasons (and everyday in between), with this new lovely that is much more holiday neutral :)

I'm not really hung up on this "completion thing" when it comes to quilting (obviously), but it does feel oh so good to have this one finished and hanging where we can all see it each day!

Italian Tiles and French dessert

Today I finally started quilting my Italian Tiles batik quilt that's been in progress since February, 2010. It has another couple of borders added to what you see here, but you get the basic idea.

It's taken quite a bit of trial and error to discover the best way to mark the quilting lines. Let's just say that Pounce chalk is not all it's cracked up to be. I had the entire thing marked 2-3 times (with hairspray to set the lines and without) only to have the chalk lines rub out once I got the quilt over to the machine to start stitching. Arrgghhh! The solution appears to be tracing the quilting motifs on Sulky Solvy and pinning it to the quilt top to follow the marked lines with the stitching. Thank you, Vicki, for this solution!

After you have stitched all around the motif, you can simply tear away the Solvy leaving no residue but lovely quilting :) Or you can wait and dunk the entire quilt in water after quilting - the Solvy just dissolves. But don't get it wet on the counter when tracing your pattern! (Ask me how I know this.)

Our first session of baking along with Martha Stewart was a huge success! Thing 2 and I made Pate Sucree for the first time, and it was so easy with exceptional results!

The custard filling was so smooth, rich and creamy that we really didn't even need to dress it up with a tart shell and berries, but we did! For your viewing and salivating pleasure, here are our four custom-topped Summer Fruit Tarts...

This one with the avalanche of confectioner's sugar is mine. All mine.

And lastly, this little fruit tart "Chihuahua" was staring up at me as I decided if stuffing myself with the last bit of tart was a good idea. I did. And it was.

We only made a half-batch of pastry dough, which made 6 tart shells. No sharing this round. Your chances are probably better next time, friends, with the Tiramisu Cupcakes.

My New Yellow Sewing Room

I recently moved my sewing room from the basement to a spare bedroom upstairs. I had a lovely room in the basement, also yellow, but it was so far removed from every other place in the house that I felt like I was quarantined. So I asked my wonderful husband about the switch, and since he always "buys my chairs"... he agreed!

He first had to reduce the size of my cutting/pressing table so that it would fit the new room's smaller dimensions. He made this table for me many years ago, and it is modeled after one that my grandmother used in her basement sewing room. She made lots of draperies, so her table was wide enough to accommodate a 54" bolt of decorator fabric and was 8 feet long! My table was also originally that big, but now it is about 4' x 5'... the perfect size to cut on one side and press on the other. The plywood top is covered with batting and then a layer of canvas "duck" cloth. I sprayed the canvas with water after stretching it over the top, and let it air dry to make sure the top surface was taut. It is so sturdy and practical!

He also made this great design wall (that is currently resting on the floor) for me. The base is some blue insulation boards (3/4" thick) from Lowe's, covered with a layer of polyester batting from who-knows-how-long-ago and then a final layer of Warm and White batting. The blue does not show through, and everything sticks right to it - no pins needed!

And this is my new sewing table from Regal (ordered from Quilt in Joy). I'm not sure how I ever lived without it! The top is big enough to hold a large quilt for quilting, and the rest of the time my daughters can have their machine set up on the opposite side. I'd like to show you my fabric stash, but it is the one part of the room still in need of organization. I have several plastic bins on some great shelving that my dad installed for me, but the stash has exceeded the bin capacity, so things are a little messy in the closet.

Now I just need to get some pretty things on the wall (and a decent pair of window shades!) and it will be a real studio! Needless to say, I am spending FAR more time in this new room than I ever did in the basement! It's so much more accessible, and I can still feel like I know what is going on in the rest of the house while I'm sewing.

Thank goodness for my wonderful husband!

Italian Tiles progress

Yesterday I got all four side triangle units sew on the center, so now it is on point! But now I can't decide about the border... the pattern calls for a 3" border of more light tiles and grout, but that seems kinda boring to me. I was thinking of a 2" border of light tiles and grout and then maybe another border of 3" square-in-a-square alternating with solid 3" blocks. But that means math and fussing, and I'm not sure I'm up for that today. Any thoughts?

(Elsie would do whatever fussing and math necessary to get it the way she wanted it... guess that's my answer.) Did I mention that I am cursed with a wicked case of perfectionism?

All things Italian

My husband has an affinity... okay let's call it an addiction... to all things Italian. The food, the wine, the art, the language, you name it. We've been lucky enough to travel to Florence, Rome, and Venice, and he loved them all (me too!) He wants to be an Italian when he grows up.

So last fall I made this wall hanging for our 2-story foyer and he willingly hung it for me. But now it is February and it is STILL hanging there. Long story short he wants a new one hanging there before he takes this one down. He helped pick a pattern and chose... drumroll here... Stoneworks - a pattern based on actual floor tiles from the Basilico di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica to us English-speakers) in Venice. He really likes batik fabrics, so I've been working on it and the top is almost done! This center will be on point with four more large triangle units on each side.



Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Shelley