M.I.A.

Yes, I've been Missing In Action this month.  I've had such a busy month! 

My quilt studio looks like a disaster happened in there.  There's stacks of fabrics everywhere, and there's stacks of plastic bins (with more fabric in them) stacked in the way too.  My design wall fell down.  I had a piece of flannel pinned to the wall over the closet and when I was looking for a book, I pulled the pins out.  Rats.  The problem was that, when I moved in 4 years ago, I just unpacked the books and shoved them on the shelves in the closet with no organization.  I was going to get back to it one of these days and never did.  So I took the opportunity and organized my large quilt book collection. Much better!  Now the design wall is hanging from a curtain rod and can be pulled back out of the way to get into the closet.  However, I just need to find a stronger curtain rod, because this one is cheap and is bowing badly. 

But in spite of the fact that I've accomplished very little this month, I do have a few finishes and other things to show you.

Back in September, I started playing around with a Halloween version of the Scrappy Trip pattern by Quiltville.  I cut my strips at 3 inches, instead of 2.5 inches, just to show off the fabrics better and have the quilt go faster.  So these blocks will finish at 15 inches. 

I was making myself a kit of something to sew for after I have surgery on my former broken arm, but that surgery hasn't happened yet.  I wanted needed something to sew one day, and finally hauled this out.  So far I have 5 blocks made (I did one after I took this picture).  It's taken me 3 weeks to get this far, as I've had so little time in the quilt studio.  I have to make 20 blocks total, so I don't know if it will be done for this year!

I finished my applique from the class with Gwen.  But then I wondered: does this need some leaves on it?  What do you think?

I finished my wool basket project.  Now I just need to decide what I'm going to do with it.  Initially I was going to frame it, but I can't find a needlework frame of the right size.  So, the way I see it, I have 2 options.  1. wrap it around a stretched canvas and staple

OR

2. make this the center of a wallhanging.

I can't decide what I want to do right now, so this will be percolating for a bit.

I finished the June Block Lotto blocks and posted them just barely in time!  Wow, the whole month has just flown by.  I'm not quite sure where it went.  But I almost missed this!  I'm hoping to do better for July.  I love the way these blocks turned out.  I love the colors, and the block is easy, fun and has some interesting possiblities for setting. 

Here are some of the potholders that I've made for my guild's quilt show this fall.  The red one in the back is my first attempt at chenille.  I think it came out pretty good.  The black and white was a practice Disappearing 4-Patch and the cow fabric is on the back of those.  And then 2 selvage potholders, with some selvages that my friend K in Calif sent me.  I think they're so cute! 

I have 2 more potholder in process, and will probably be making some more too.  The ladies in the guild had never heard of using selvages before, and I think they thought I was a little nuts.  Now they're giving me selvages!  Yay!

Last September, I started this Disappearing 9-Patch I Spy project.  It was supposed to be for a guild challenge, but I didn't get it finished in time.  Now, I've finally got all my 9-patch blocks for my GD's quilt made and sliced up.  They're ready to be trimmed to the same size and put up on the newly-functional design wall.

I'm still stalling on my guild's "Element of Nature" challenge and it's due mid-July.  I know I'm not the only one that hasn't started yet.  But I mostly know what I'm doing and am all ready to start.  I just need a few days with no other commitments.  I've had jury duty this week, so that has pretty much kept me either busy or too distracted to do anything.  I'm hopeful for next week!

This is a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly that DH found in the front yard on the rhododenron.  At least I think that's what it is, based on what I saw on Google images.  If you know better, please let me know.  Isn't it beautiful? 

Gettin' Wooly Around Here

Here's my first blooming Rhododendron of the season.  We've had the coldest spring on record, and things are slow to get going.  Except, of course, for the pollen, which is about to kill me.  It's pouring tonight, and still cold enough to need a sweatshirt, with the heat running.  June???  Hard to tell!  But by Saturday, we're actually supposed to be in the mid-70s for the 1st time!!  Maybe DH can get his poor tomato plant in the ground soon, instead of on top of the china cabinet!  (otherwise the cat will chew it.  Dumb cat.)  And I really don't mean to complain.  At least we're not having floods, tornados, snow or any number of ugly weather events that other places are experiencing.  Not to mention way-too-hot temps!  Guess I'd better not complain, huh?  Sorry 'bout that, chief. 

Here's where the Wooly comes in. . . .

My sister sent me this table mat - just because!  I love it!  It's perfect for the table where we eat all the time.

Look at all the fun she had!

Now I just have to keep the cats off of it.  Apparently, her cat Zoe was on it and it smells like her, which the boys find very interesting.  Lots of sniffing going on, and some sitting/laying on.  So far it's only on the coffee table.  Maybe when the good smell wears off, I can actually put it on the table.  *grin*

Here is some wool applique I've been working on.  I've really been searching for the pattern,  because I'm ready for the next step.  I just could not find it!  After searching through everything twice, I finally found it "hiding" on the cutting table.  Egads, I hate when I do that.  But now I can get this done!  The pattern is from the book "Farmhouse Quilts: Baskets & Patches" by Liberty Homestead. 

My friend K~ did the embroidery for me in exchange for some pottery.  I used some hand-dyed wool (grape!) I bought in January, and the base fabric is a light blue linen that I was originally going to make into a top.  I'd rather do quilting with it!  It's really nice to work on. . . I love the way it feels.  I can't decide if I'm going to frame this or make it into a little wallhanging.  The pattern is for a pillow, but I don't want to make it a pillow.  And it's not very big, so a pillow that small will get lost at my house.  Soon it will be . . . something!

Here is the state of my applique from my class with Gwen Marston.  I decided to go with fusible (Misty Fuse), and I'm doing a running stitch around the appliques.  Very folk art-y and fun.  I don't do much hand work, and haven't done it for quite awhile.  So, this is something different, and I'm enjoying it.

Now I'm trying to decide which stitch to use on the outside edges of the flowers.  Can you see the stitches?  I'm tired of the blanket stitch, and think I'll go with more of the running stitch.  But I think I'll increase the number of threads I'm using so the stitches will show up better.  This is getting closer to done, and I'm starting to consider border options.  I haven't quite decided what size I'm going for here.  So, I'll be thinking of all the options for my projects while I finish up all this stitching.

And really, all of this handwork is "busy" work while I avoid working on my challenge quilt.  Ahem. . . .cough, cough.  Just a little stalling, eh??

Hello Again!

Happy Memorial Day to those celebrating it.  It's good to remember and reflect on the sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made for our country.  I come from a military family, so I understand what some of those sacrifices are. 

Stars for the 4th - 1989

Here's an oldie that I don't think I've shown before. 

I loved my class with Gwen, way back on May 13 & 14, and my visit with Grass Roots Sharon, who very generously had me as a guest in her home.  It was Quilt Heaven!  We ate, slept and talked quilts for 3 days!  And Sharon has quilts all over her house - all of them finished!  It was so much fun - thanks again, Sharon!

We had a blast with Gwen.  There is nothing like a room full of quilters having a good time to really get you going.  And a huge Thank You to Lee of Two Thimbles Quilt Shop of Bellingham, who got Gwen to come give the class.  Lee did a bang-up job of making everything perfect for this class.

Here are a few of the inspiration samples Gwen brought for Friday's Liberated Log Cabin class:

This was her latest one - a "summer spread" (no batting).

Of course, I loved the plaid one!

Here is what I got accomplished in class that day.  I can't wait to get back to this and do more on it.

Saturday's class was 19th Century Folk Art Applique.  Now, if you know me, you know I'm not really "into" applique.  I do a little, but it really doesn't excite me much.  But I just couldn't pass up this class!  I've always loved Gwen's approach to applique and I've always loved Folk Art.

This is Gwen's latest Folk Art applique piece.  All of her pieces are about this size, about 18" by 24" or so.  I can't remember what she called this - it's some tree that grows in the Midwest, that I had never heard of before.  I love the quilting she added to the fruit.  I guess this tree has very textured fruit on it and she wanted to capture that.

Gwen taught us how to fold and cut paper free-hand for our "templates". Lots of fun and very freeing.  Here's what I've come up with so far.

view 1



view 2

At the time, I couldn't decide which way I liked it better, but I've decided to do a combination of both views.  I may add something to the middle of the flowers, but that's it.  It's not too "purty" at the moment, but the possiblility is exciting me.

I also got to meet "in person" with Nifty Quilts, who was also in Saturday's class.  Check out the piece she made in the Folk Art class - it's super!

Next up for me is my guild's challenge.  We're supposed to do "an element of nature" - an art quilt.  I've got some ideas floating around in my head, and just have to get them transferred into fabric.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

More hand-me-downs and a Naughty Cat

Here's more of the goodies I got from my sister.  This top is all put together and ready to go.  I think it's small enough that I can quilt it myself.  She washed it before she gave it to me, so some of the fabrics shrank more than others.  Which means, it's a little bumpy and I don't think it's gonna quilt out.  But so what?  Finished is better than perfect, right? *grin* 

Oh, and that light spot on the quilt top near the bottom left?  That's actually sunlight! Yay!  It hasn't happened too much in this neck of the woods lately.  We've had a very wet, late spring this year and all of us are more than ready for spring to show up.

Here's a closeup of the two blocks in the quilt.  I love that stripe!

Here's an odd collection of patriotic blocks.  This is just wallhanging size right now.  I need to add more blocks to it, obviously.  I made the Ohio Star in the upper left corner, and the three tiny blocks.  I don't remember when, but I remember the blocks.  Isn't that funny?

Sunday was a glorious spring day here, and my azalea just burst into bloom.  I love the color of this one, and it's where I can see it when I'm sitting at the dining table.  I actually got out and did some yard work.  That felt good.  I have more plants to get in the ground still.  Soon. . . .

Here is the naughty cat.  DH got in the cupboard where we keep the pipe cleaners and apparently didn't close the door securely.  Dunkel just helped himself! He loves pipe cleaners.  You can see the bag on the step below his tail.  Somehow he got it out and across the room and up the stairs.  Smart kitty.

And here's the rest of the pipe cleaners!  I think Dunkel had a good time with them.  (Please ignore the fir needles . . . they're everywhere all the time.  A constant battle.)

I haven't done any sewing lately.  My quilt studio is a total disaster, and I'm supposed to be cleaning it up, but I'm kind of in the mood to ignore it.  No inspiration, somehow.  I have made some pot holders (no photos yet), as my guild is making pot holders to sell at our quilt show this fall.  They're fun and pretty easy to make. 

However, I'm taking a 2 day workshop with Gwen Marston next week (Woo hoo!!!), and I need to get in there and get some stuff together to take with me.  I'm having a terrible time deciding what fabrics I want to take with me.  I've wanted to take a class from Gwen for about 25 years now, and I'm so excited to be able to do this.  So, I guess that's some motivation, huh?  'Cuz I know when I get home from the workshop, I'm gonna be all inspired and will need a place to work.  Time to get to it. 

What do you do when you need to get inspired?  Please share what works for you.  I could use some inspiration! 

I know I'm pretty late but . . . Happy Star Wars Day!  'May the 4th' be with you! (get it??)

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.  We're going to have dinner with the rest of the family tomorrow.  Should be a grand time!

My sister came to visit last weekend.  She was cleaning out her quilt stuff when I told her I'd like any bright plaids she might have.  So she brought me 2 bags full of fabric - and they weren't all bright plaids! - plus another bag with unfinished projects.  This was just one of the projects.  There's 50 blocks here, and they just need putting together!  Woo hoo!  I'll be sharing the other projects with you a little later, as I don't have photos of them yet. 

Shade is wondering why the Easter Bunny doesn't bring kitty treats?   

Charmed, I'm Sure

I finally got my issues resolved and can now post.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I think it was more "operator headspace" than anything else.  Another "Duh!" moment.

Anyway, I can finally share what I was working on last week.  My two granddaughters were coming for their first sleepover here on Saturday, so I decided it was time to finish the quilt tops I started for them a couple of years ago.  You can see that post here. 


Strawberry Lemonade
40 in by 49 in

I used two different charm packs from Moda, using two matching charm packs per quilt top, and putting the squares together randomly.  And then some yardage for the borders.  I also made matching pillowcases.  Very easy, and no stress.  The quilts aren't very big, and the girls have grown since I sewed the tops!  But they still fit, so far. 

Dunkel always has to "help" with the photo shoot.

Much better, now he's all covered up in the quilt.  He actually stayed there for about 3 hours.

A better closeup to see the quilting design in both the middle of the quilt and the border. I did all of this quilting with the walking foot.

Blue flannel on the back . . . nice and cuddly!



Spring Meadow
40 in by 48 in

 I actually had 2 pieces of  "leftover" pieces of batting in my stash that were pretty darn close to the right size, and didn't have to cut into big pieces of batting, or buy anything new.  That made me happy.

I decided to just do the same design on this one too.  Easy-peasy.

But I did free-motion on this border.  It's not very good, but it's finished, and that's the best thing.  I'm not real happy with how I did, but I'm not going to rip it out either.  Maybe someday I'll get better at this.

This one has purple flannel on the back . . . more cuddles.

Both girls loved their quilts, and the sleepover was a great success. 

What was fun (and funny) was that both girls wanted to do some sewing while they were here.  The oldest one even brought her own sparkly purple fabric!  We made a pillowcase for her small travel pillow on Saturday afternoon.  Sunday morning they both wanted to do more sewing, so we made pillows for their stuffed toys.  More of the sparkly purple got used, and some pink fabric (of course!) for the youngest girl.  I forgot to get any pictures, unfortunately.  They were both pleased with their projects, which made me happy!  I'm hoping next time to have them do some of the sewing themselves.  I think they're old enough to (carefully) use the machine.

Being a grandma can sure be a lot of fun! 

A Fresh New Font!

Something is up with Blogger this morning and I can't seem to use the new post editor or upload photos, so what I was going to post will have to wait until later.

However, there's a new look around here today. When Blogger added new fonts to their options (in the Template Designer), I HAD to test it out! I'm a confessed Font Junkie, and this was a no-brainer. I think I like it!

So, back to work for me, and I'll try to post the photos later.

Quilt Show Part Deux

I'm finally getting back to the rest of the quilt show photos.  Real Life sometimes takes priority over blogging, for some strange reason.  Had to get some things attended to, like doing taxes and taking care of some "house" problems.  But, we're all squared away now, so back to the quilt show!

My apologies for the less-than-ideal photos.  And don't forget, all the photos can be clicked on to "biggify" them, and some of them can be further enlarged by another click. 

This post is the art quilts and the liberated quilts.  First up, the art quilts:

Woven Wishes by Maurine Roy

 Maurine was the featured quilter at the show, and all of her quilts were outstanding.  These two are just my personal favorites.

August Heat by Maurine Roy



August Heat detail




Tipitapa by Tamara Nelson

  This quilt depicts three homes made of scrap materials in a dump community outside of Managua, Nicaragua.



Palouse by Cindy Gilbrough


And now, my favorites of all, the more liberated quilts:

Balance . . . Unbalance by Donna DeShazo



Lavender Fields on Whidbey Island by Dorothy LeBoeuf

 This quilt was started in a workshop on intuitive landscape quilting with Jean Wells.

Sunlight and Shadow by Cindy Gilbrough



Sunlight and Shadow detail

Cat by Dorothy LeBoeuf

 This quilt was started in a workshop on piecing with solids taught by Gwen Marston.

Cat detail



City Lights by Cindy Gilbrough

 This quilt is from a class with Gwen Marston.  I love the addition of the wonky star . . . a nice touch of whimsy!

X's and O's by Dorothy LeBoeuf

This quilt was started in a workshop with Freddie Moran.

Now, back to Real Life again.  Hopefully I'll something to show by the end of the week.