Wednesday, June 10, 2009

howl shriek gurgle

I know ya'all haven't been seeing a lot from me lately. Having my husband here has put me into vacation mode. It's been so good just to spend time with him, watching him play (or, far more often, attempt to play) fetch with Pokey and follow her around the house with a glass of water to convince her to drink more.

More fun blocks are here for Slither Eek Boo. First off an amazing Howl from Dionne of Sew Many Quilts. Look at those lovely curves in the bottom of the w and l. And those little pointy bits - marvelous. Erin of A Prairie Home Quilts did an amazing job with Shriek - I love seeing how she drew it out first and then worked to get it just right. Look at the curl at the end of the r and the "dot" of the i.
 
Master of Patience Lynda made such a fun font for gurgle.  Look at the g - it looks an awful lot like the one in this typeface. All these rounded edges really took work, which is easier when you're working on a larger scale. This g is 5.75" finished. 

Plus, woohoo, more blocks for Hope is a 4-Letter Word quilt. Erin sent me home and kiss. I love reading her thoughts on the process, I encourage you to follow the links. Plus check out her practice quilt which came out wonderfully and really antique looking - I think the freehand fans really help out with that.

Rondi L. sent me the hugs and some fun fabric. I feel like I got hugs in the mail, thank you. Thank yous to every one of these fun quilters - I really appreciate you all.

Erin wrote about wanting to play wonky and yet not being able to do it. I'll give you the same advice I gave her. There's the always reliable "practice, practice, practice." The more you make these letters, the more comfortable you get doing it and the easier it will be to experiment. Also, cut some - or all - of your strips with slants; you can hardly help but be wonky that way. Not quite happy with your word, do it again. Practice.

I think I may just start putting Slither Eek Boo together - or at least the first quilt in the series. All the fun image quilting I want to do is going to take time, so I need to get with it. Clare wants to quilt along with me, working on her halloween houses quilt. 

Want to play along with us? You'll need a top. Doesn't have to be anything elaborate - you could do something small and fun like my Boo with Skeletons quilt. Baste it - thread basting would work best, but I use pins because it's faster to baste. Get some thread. And some needles. I finally have a packet I can highly recommend: John James has a set of size 3 to 9 quilting needles. They are wonderful - you can find the right size to use with both perle cotton #8 and all 6 strands of embroidery floss. Marking tool, esp one that's easy to erase and do-over. I've used chalk, disappearing ink, soap, and am currently enamored of Sewline ceramic pencils.

Okay, I've got work to do now. Chores, chores, chores. Take care.

17 comments:

Brenda said...

They're all great. I'm amazed at the variety of fonts you're getting. I haven't tried lots of curved letters, but maybe because it seems I work smaller than most -- my letters are 2 to 3 inches generally and that means the corner triangles get small and the seam allowances build up.

Beena said...

I'm really glad you are relaxing with your hubby (and Pokey!) You sure needed a break from all that stress! I was hoping that's why you hadn't posted for a bit, that things were going well and you were able to catch your breathe.

All the latest words look wonderful. I especially admire that "howl", and that one with the delightful lower case "g"! Can't wait to see how they progress into quilts.

Helen said...

How nice that your hubby is home with you.

Love the howl, shriek and gurgle, they are great!

Hugs

Magpie Sue said...

Wow, shriek is really impressive! Looks like fun to make too.

Twisted Quilts said...

I am amazed at the words you are getting. The shriek is wonderful. Have a good time with your husband.

jovaliquilts said...

It's so much fun to see the variety in these words!
Hmmm...handquilt just one word? Maybe I could do that.

Lynda said...

Glad the gurgle arrived safely and sorry it's so big! The rest of the words are so fabulous - so much variation!

YankeeQuilter said...

I so want to do a halloween word...do you think I could get one done tonight while I am packing and cleaning to fly out tomorrow...not!

Janet said...

I went back to your tutorial and am making a "powder Room" sign for my daughter-in-law. thank you again.

Millie said...

Those are awesome. I am working on a name panel for my to-be godchild, due in September. And naturally, I am experimenting with "fonts."

Clare said...

Like Lynda's Gurgle. Love the g's. Hugs is sweet.

laura said...

I haven't handquilted in maybe 15 years. I could try to do something, a little something. Will you be sharing some of your spook-tacular designs?
So excited about the words- gurgle since I'm size-challenged, shriek with all it's points and of course that magnificent HOWL!

jacquie said...

i've learned so much just being able to see all the variations that you're getting. these are some talented folks. thanks for sharing them.

Rosalyn Manesse said...

My word! The free-pieced letter people are advancing into using fonts! That's showing amazing skill. I'm still struggling with my "a"'s.

Sharon said...

These words/fonts just keep on being amazing! Very inspiring and some are downright awesome!

Glad that you and your hubby are relaxing and having a good time. Sounded like you needed some R & R! I'll bet the kitties were glad to see him too!

Cher said...

wow- amazing words and such fun fonts being done. can't wait to see what you hand quilt and thanks for all the fun links and suggestions on thread etc. so glad you are enjoying having your dh home.

Nat Palaskas said...

What great blocks you have received. They gave me lot of ideas for mine happy quilt. I made 6 words now and they are up on my blog if you want to have a peek! Glad you having quality time with DH. He sounds lovely - Enjoy