Old wooden cross ~~ finished

Our church fair is coming up in just a few weeks. Richard and I try to do something extra to donate. This year we decided that he would make a cross from some cypress wood that he has in the shed and I would add a short Bible quote. First, the cross. 

I asked him to include as much of the character of the wood as possible. I love this piece. After he made the cross, sanded, and painted a clear-coat of varnish, he delivered it to me. 

I decided on the quote from Psalm 86:11, "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth." 

It took several attempts, but eventually I got the foil adhesive cut and "weeded." Then came the difficult part: deciding on a layout for the quote. 

It's possible to choose a layout, put all the letters in, then realize that there's a problem. Thank goodness for cameras. I find more errors looking through the viewfinder than any other way. So back to the letters. I gently, carefully, slowly removed all five, keeping them in line and spaced correctly with a strip of tape that wanted to stick to everything. 

in the sun

in the shade

Then I took it outside to take pictures both in the sun and in the shade in the hopes that I might see any additional problems. I will go back and add "Psalm 86:11" in small letters. I just can't decide where it should go. Any suggestions?

Edited to note: I've added the quote text and decided it would go just below the end of the quote all the way to the right. And I like the finished product. Plus, thanks Anonymous for the tip: I've fixed the photo-loading problem. (I hope.) Every now and then Google just won't cooperate.

A new old ladder ~~ finished

Years ago, after my dad died, Richard was piddling around at their house and ran across this old ladder. He recognized it as being Daddy's so he decided to bring it home to (one day) make a quilt ladder from the side with the rungs. The balance side was missing several pieces. It got put in a corner of Richard's shed and forgotten. Until... 

I had gone out to ask Richard something. I rarely go out to his shed because it is just too hot! But Richard was doing something near that corner where the ladder was and I happened to see it. Oh yes! Of course, at the time life had us by the ear and there was no way either of us could take on another thing. So there it stayed. There in the corner of the shed and in the back of my mind.

Last week I climbed on a milk crate, so I could reach the top of an old crawfish burner and onto the top of a stack of wood piled on a
 
barrel (maybe?) It's much heavier than it looks, so moving it from the corner past the mountain required more muscle than I have. So I climbed farther into the corner which, admitted was a bit precarious and scary. How many snakes, rats, or opossums might I be disturbing anyway? At this point I was able to get enough leverage to move the ladder, tilt it sideways and slide it over the mountain peak and onto the dirt floor where the snakes would surely be lying in wait. 

Once the ladder was situated in the snake pit, I started the downward climb. You know how people say, "Don't look down"? How do you know where your feet are if you follow that sage advice? As I contemplated that universal question, I maneuvered contortion-like to the ladder and dragged it to the front of the shed where Richard and Adam were discussing some mundane subject. 

And that's where my story ends because, you see dear reader, Richard took over the project as I knew he would. Sure he'd have done all the climbing and whatever, but I needed to be able to claim reward for something, so I had to do something. Apparently I'm only afraid of heights when I am perfectly safe, such as in a stadium, on a real mountain, or on a balcony. 

Richard hosed off the dusty cobwebs and the following day asked me what I wanted done. I had a couple of changes: cut the top rung in half to make two quilt ladders, remove the paint shelf and use the wood to replace the missing rungs, and reinforce whatever needed reinforcing. 

Voila! Check out my quilt ladders made from my daddy's old wooden ladder with authentic scratches and paint drips and split rungs. The pictures here are of the ladder in our bedroom. The other one is in the dining room, waiting for me to put a table in storage and open a corner of the living room. It will display quilts that I'll occasionally change out.

Pin It Weekly #292

Some of my most recent pins, omitting the quilt pins, that I thought I'd share. These first ones are from my "forsaken, heritage" board. The last group is just a random collection that have gone onto several different boards.

Furniture and a finish

We finally purchased new furniture several weeks ago. I thought it would motivate me to "decorate" the living room. I can't seem to pull it together to accomplish that, but I did finish two pillows. And took pictures of them. In place. On the sofa. Amazing, right?

These are small Norman Rockwell panels that I bought ages ago. I always intended to make pillows but that just didn't happen. They sing on the new deep gray leather. Because the pictures are of boys doing boy things, I just couldn't resist. I also love Rockwell's work thanks to my mom who appreciated his work so much that she had a book of his prints. We would look at the pictures and talk about the joy and simplicity of American life during her youth.


This one of the boys fishing on the river is sweet. Boys are at their best when they are sleeping, after all.  I quilted around the bodies, on the planks of the raft, and around the umbrella. Then I ghost quilted in some clouds and rippling water. It was helpful that there are a few little lines indicating the water. I was on my own for the clouds though. 

The second one has four boys tumbling after a football. I had only three boys, but this scene could have been in my yard any day of the week from the time they were about nine until about age 30--when knees and ankles and backs and other body parts fight the unnecessary rough stuff. It was easy enough to quilt the boys' bodies but the ghost quilting stumped me for a minute. Finally I quilted in some weedy grass and sky. 

The fabric has the look of a fine burlap (oxymoron, if anything is) and I wanted the pillows to coordinate with the quilt that I made for Richard a while ago. It's a favorite because it's large enough to cover up with but not so big that it's too heavy for TV watching. To that end, I added this navy/beige plaid that matches fairly well. 

I like them, but just as importantly, Richard really likes them. I figure they won't last long with all the little ones around, but then the panels were only about 50 cents when I bought them on clearance. I'm guessing the entire cost was a couple of dollars and my time. Not a bad investment for something that brings back fond memories and nostalgia of our boys in their younger years, don't you think? What about you? Do you have quick projects languishing in your sewing room, waiting to get done?

Back to LINK UPS!

Alycia Quilts - Quiltygirl blog for Finished Or Not Fridays 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Crosses

I think I've used crosses for SQI before, but there's a reason for a repeat: I have made the cross. Well, Richard made the cross, I just put my two cents in. First off, I chose the wood from some of the scraps in his shed. He figured out the woodworking and built it, sanded it, clear coated it, buffed it and turned it over to me.

I designed and cut some foil adhesive paper in gunmetal to decorate it with a Bible verse from Psalm 86:11. "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth." 

\After several attempts I was finally able to get the foil cut deeply enough to weed out the negative space in and around the letters. Then I tried to figure out how I wanted to set them on the cross. There was much anguish over that. 

Firstly, I'm not a graphic designer so I have no idea what I'm doing. Secondly, I could see the finished project. Thirdly, the wood is cypress with natural peckers or holes in the grain. I wanted to keep the natural formation of the wood but had to avoid those holes.


Finally, I worked up the nerve to finish the piece. The moment I looked at it in the viewfinder of the camera, I knew that I'd have to fix those letters that I had so carefully stuck to the wood.

"O Lord" is definitely too much on the left. An hour later--picking up each letter without damaging it is tedious work--I had moved the letters over to the left. 

Better, not thrilling, but I couldn't chance moving them again. Once was harrowing enough.

So a quick trip outside to try to take decent pictures turned up this. One against a tree and one against the green wall of the closed in back porch. I like the natural color of the cross against that green. Richard may have to make another. 

This one will go to the church fair in a couple of week to be auctioned at our silent auction. I plan to add a quilt, and a well-known local artist is donating one of her beautiful paintings. One of my duties is to set up and "run" the auction on Saturday and Sunday then announce and contact the winners.

So now a couple of cross quilts to help inspire you: 

This last one is my cross quilt made in 2015 and sold at our local quilt show. You can see on my "Trunk Show" board.

Red is a Neutral becomes... finish

Another Red Feather. So named because, though there were other titles in the running, this quilt wanted red feather quilting. And more red feathers. And more red feathers. In fact, every inch of red is quilted in feathers, with a few scrolls to break up the monotony. 

Detail of the back...just enough
pattern to make the worst of
the quilting less noticeable.

This one serves in all manner of challenges: the Cotton Quilters' Guild block-of-the-month, in which different quilters presented a block or two from January through July, and as the AHIQ "Red Is a Neutral" challenge. 


With encouragement from Kaja and Ann at Ad Hoc Improv Quilts, I decided to combine the two. So here we are with, finally, a red quilt made from guild blocks.

Detail of some of the feathers in the red sections.

Like everyone else I started in January and worked to keep up, especially since I set the parameters for the BOM. This setting just seemed to want to be this. I tried other ideas: putting the center medallion on point and surrounding it in red, kicking it off center and adding red there, considering making other blocks to work it all out. It was not having one bit of my ideas. Then flying geese flew in and saved the day. 

Detail of some scrolls

When I say finished, I mean quilted, bound, labeled. Ready to go straight to the quilt show if it were due tomorrow! Which is good because I have tons of things to remember and to do between now and the show.

The quilt has an off-center medallion surrounded by 12 inch blocks. I decided to keep the quilting in the blocks simple since there's so much fancy stuff outside of them. I used an improv style and decided things as I drove the long-arm. 

That is the best way for me to be really happy at the machine. Just play, figure it out as I trip along, change my mind. I often just stop somewhere along the way and search my phone, or cards, or books for new motifs. I've even walked to the bedroom to look at the quilt on my bed. That's my kind of improv!

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	Another Red Feather
	Size:	54" X 54"
	Fabrics:	Fabric yardage from stash
	Pattern:	Guild BOM block patterns
	Backing:	Linens from mom's stash
	Batting:	100% Cotton
	Binding:	Red yardage to match background
	Quilting:	Feathers and straight lines
	Notes:	Made to meet AHIQ “red is a neutral” and Cotton Quilters’ BOM challenges

Getting back to LINK UPS!

I've been missing out on link ups for a while but 

decided to remedy that. At the same time 

Alycia of the Alycia Quilts - Quiltygirl blog 

is taking over Finished Or Not Fridays 

from Myra at Busy Hands Quilts. 

Best of luck, Alycia!

Pin It Weekly #291

Say hello to the three newest followers to Fleur de Lis Quilts on Pinterest! First up, Fiona Smith has 150 quilt pins, but her "Christmas stuff" board is just too cute. 

Kristin Watson is our second pinner. I really like her "Sunday School Crafts" board.

And thirdly, Becky Harkey's "Half Baked" is basically a liquor-infused board. I'm not a drinker, but I'd be willing to taste these. Just look how pretty!

Happy pinning, all.