Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Mini Retreat Weekend

Bruce went camping and fishing on Lanai with the guys - left Sunday morning and comes back Tuesday. Since I worked on Saturday, I took Monday off in exchange and ended up with a nice two-day mini retreat weekend.

My big plan was to get a huge chunk of my agapanthus quilt done, which I've had set aside for a couple of months while I worked on quilts with closer deadlines. And I have to report that it was a success! this is a picture of the background I've completed so far.

As I worked on this quilt I fell in love with it all over again. And it's a good thing, too, since it requires very painstaking work. I'm piecing the entire background using Ruth McDowell's technique. Once it's done I'll move on to the hand applique of the flower blossoms. Here's a closeup of the lower left: I'm especially happy with the "dirt".

One "find" I have to report. I recently purchased the Clover glass head pins and they are wonderful! Super fine, long and SHARP! They are my new favorite. Pricey, but I found that I didn't really need more than one box, even for the longest seams.

Look how nice and flat the piece lays when pinned. Watch out for your finger tips, though, because these babies are super sharp (but isn't that what you want in a pin?).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Omigosh Dianna! Your work leaves me speechless. Thank you for sharing your progess, it is very inspiring.

Anonymous said...

hehe...i really like the dirt too...and the rest of course. brave you to do curves.

Anonymous said...

Your dirt is exactly the right touch!!
It gets more beautiful each time I see it. A show winner for sure!!

Shel

Hedgehog said...

This looks gorgeous. Thanks for the pin tip, too!

Anonymous said...

Are those the Clover Patchwork pins? They are my favorite piecing pin. 0.4mm thick. I bought different ones by accident recently that are good for other things, but these fine patchwork pins are the best for piecing a quilt.
I love what you're doing. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Do you draw something up and make pattern pieces from your drawing? I'm really impressed! I'm logged in under my guild name. this is Teri

Shelina said...

This is such a gorgeous quilt! I don't remember seeing earlier progress pictures before and don't know what agapanthus is - although it may be what we call spider plant. I really like the colors you chose for the background, and all the different pieces you are using to make it. That is intricate work, and will be well worth the effort.