Oksana's Wedding Quilt April 2018

Mr. & Mrs. Artem Kurudimov, married April 15, 2018

Oh my gosh, this year is flying by and I cannot believe that I have not stitched or quilted yet! I know! Hard to believe! December I had carpal tunnel surgery, January we started packing for a move in February, February I came down with the croup which lasted way into March, March our kitty Sophie had to have her left eye removed...and I am STILL unpacking boxes! Yes, it's exhausting just reading it. But here we are, it's April and I'm back!

One of the gals that I work with has been planning her dream wedding for the past year. Oksana and Artem were married last Sunday in the most beautiful wedding. It took place at Catta Verdera in Lincoln, California and the venue was lovely. The whole day was perfect, incredible weather, happy people in attendance to witness the joining of this couple. The reception was filled with music and fun antics and of course great food and a beautiful cake. 

Oksana is a "modern" girl and not much into the quilting scene, so I asked her to pick out a quilt that she would like me to make for her wedding. It did not take her long to let me know that her "color" was gray. Gray! And she would like a very modern quilt with clean lines...we looked at several on Pinterest and she decided that she liked The Modern Gray and White quilt by Amy Smart shown below which you can see more of on Amy's Blog here: Diary of a Quilter

Modern Gray and White Quilt by Amy Smart

Oh, thank goodness she picked an easy quilt. This year has already presented enough challenges to go around! Now, which box is my rotary cutter and mat packed in??? Yes, it's like that, quit laughing!
We have moved temporarily to a tiny house less than half the size of our previous home and will be here for two more years until I retire and then we are off to Idaho! Half our belongings are in storage and the rest of what we kept is slowly getting sorted out and put away here. Meantime, I'm going next door to my friend Noell's house to use her sewing room and get this quilt cut. (I was able to locate the rotary cutter and mat about a week later) The Bride wanted all solids so I chose a bundle of Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Grays and got to cutting. I cut my squares 6".

After cutting all the squares of the gray Kona Cotton, I cut an equal number of 6" squares of Kona Cotton White. Then I sat down with my fine tip permanent marking pen and drew a diagonal line on each of the white squares. Then I paired those white squares up with one of the gray squares and started machine piecing them through, stitching 1/4" away from the diagonal line, and turning the piece and stitching down the otherside of the diagonal line again 1/4" away.  Now there are a gazillion ways to make HST units and I won't go into that here, we will save that for another blog post. Once all my Half Square Triangle units were stitched, I cut them on the diagonal line and then proceeded to trim them up.

One of the most important things to remember when you are quilting is that you must make sure that each unit that you make is the same size, exactly. You can make hundreds of units for a quilt and think that you are making them all the same size, but if you measure them, they may be off just a bit...well, that "just a bit" translates into a whole lotta "off" when you get them altogether. Take your time, measure and trim up as you go along and you will have much less aggravation when you are quilting. Just think if you built a house and you didn't measure carefully and you were off on every board that you cut and nailed together, just imagine how that would look and how long that house would stand. Same with a quilt. And that old carpenter's adage "measure twice, cut once" applies to quilting as well. Take your time, don't be in a hurry, it's a process, enjoy the process.

So, all my little HST units are put together and I'm thinking...hmmm...I know where my design wall is but where am I going to put this thing up so that I can see it...there really isn't a space in this house. The only place is the hallway...so, there is it. I cannot really get the perspective that I would like, looking at it straight on but I think we are in the ballpark here. Make do!  All the little HST's are stitched together now and I am waiting for the backing fabric to arrive this week. I should have this completed by the time the newly weds return from their honeymoon!

We love our little temporary home on 10 acres in the forest and it came complete with 3 little miniature donkeys and a creek in the front pasture area. Coupled with all the Canadian geese that have flown in to have their little babies, it's really a grand place. The view from my sewing room is so pretty. It feels like we are on vacation everyday here.

Our 14 year old kitty Sophie is recovering nicely after having her surgery. 

Her eye had a malignant tumor it turns out so we are not sure how much longer we will have her with us, the vet said it was pretty advanced and it could have already spread to other parts of her body, but for now she is feeling great and seems back to her old self. She just looks like a dolly that had one of her button eyes come off. Her stitches are out now and she and her sister are back to their old antics running and chases each other up and down the hallway.

I have a fun giveaway to announce this coming weekend...so be sure to check back, you won't want to miss out! Thanks to all who have been following on Facebook and have expressed your kind thoughts and have offered up your prayers for us. They are felt and they are so appreciated. All is well on the Divide! Now let's get quilting!!!