Quiltifications

Quilter's Technical Jargon

2012-02-09T13:07:00.001-06:00

As I un-scrunched over Terpsichore to come up for a breath of fresh air and to uncross my eyes a few minutes ago I heard myself chanting under my breath, "this is NOT easy!"

It made me realize that there is a pretty long list of classifications for the degree of difficulty for machine quilting. It can get really complicated if you're using a wooly thread or a metallic (most classifications start with four letter words in those categories), but for reasonably straightforward quilting, here are a few of the categories:

IN MY SLEEP

NO PROBLEM

NOT HARD

and the one that provoked this blog post, NOT EASY

I'm quite sure you all feel terribly well educated now. My pleasure.

Clan MacPurple Quilt

2012-02-03T20:24:00.001-06:00

These blocks have been in a bag for years. I finally sashed them with bits of purple or white as the mood suited me and squared them all to the same size. Meh. It's a nice enough top. Nothing to write home about. I wanted to find some nice white fabric with purple flowers on it for the back. No can do. Apparently they don't make fabrics like that anymore. Anywhere. Really.

So I decided I'd go with a plaid. A hand made plaid. This was the most fun I've had piecing in months. Wait! It's the ONLY piecing I've done in months! Strangely enough, Beth was thinking plaids lately too. I wonder what she's cooking up?

Collaboration With a Stranger

2012-01-22T19:45:00.000-06:00

I purchased several boxes of lovely yardage two years ago along with a vintage sewing machine all at an estate sale. Mixed in with the yardage were a few ziplock baggies with cut fabric, some already pieced into blocks, some just kitted up and waiting. Exactly the sort of thing you might expect to see in anyone's quilting collection.

One bag of cuts particularly grabbed my attention. Many different floral fabrics each with one 6 1/2"x 3 1/2" rectangle and one 3 1/2" square. I puzzled over them for a while, wondering what the quilter who cut them had planned for them. I wanted to do her work justice, but I had no idea who she was or what she was like except that she had very good taste in fabric and she cared for it well.

Eventually I decided to make the simplest blocks I could with these cuts. I added my own neutral fabric and then layed them out on my bed and scooted them around until i got the closest I could to a color wheel.

I kept the quilting simple with apple cores, too.

Dear Unmet Friend, thank you for letting me collaborate with you on this quilt! I'll do my best with your other leftovers, too.

Boring Sashing Conversion

2012-01-20T12:57:00.000-06:00

Beth whipped this up at the retreat we went to recently. Nine blocks don't really make a whole quilt I told her. So she added some area with very wide sashing (I practically FORCED her to make it really wide. She has way more sense about color and proportion than I do and realized that sashing half as wide as the blocks was going to overwhelm the quilt.) She snorted at it, tossed it across the table to me and said, "There's no way to make this pretty." (Yes, it can be argued that it is very pretty even before quilting, but we're talking about the sensitivities of a color PRO, remember.)

"Heh. Sure there is!"

First you stitch in the ditch around all the block elements. No problem. :)

Then you quilt a bunch of scribble roses all over the sashings. Ok, make two passes. One with a darkish pink, the other with a lighter shade. There. That wasn't so hard.

Still using the focus fabric as your guide, insert buttercups along the same path with the scribble roses. Wow. Those buttercups have tiny petals. But there. It's done.

Finally, go through the entire quilt again with a green thread. Make wee tiny calyxes (calices?), leaves, and stems along the floral path. Do it in 30 minute increments because your eyes are getting wierd. Phasing in and out of the universe as we know it wierd.

After just over a week of quilting on a small, donation quilt, there! It's quite pretty.

I do go a long way to win an argument, eh Beth?

Black TATW Finished

2012-01-16T20:44:00.000-06:00

The circle in the left border is just a lens flare. I had to dump so much light into the room to get a good picture of a black quilt - well. You don't want to hear it and I don't want to tell it.

This is one of my 24 Quilts. I made the top while on retreat a few months ago and it came off Terpsichore two days ago. I managed to get it bound today.

I love black fabrics. There is only one drawback to making a black quilt. Quilting it. Unless you use something like lime green thread, you won't be able to see the quilting when it's over. In fact, it's pretty hard to see the quilting while you're quilting it! I've made a few black quilts in my day, so I didn't obsess over high detail in the quilting on this one. It was a fun quilt from start to finish, and the season is still young, so I'll probably get to use it on my bed this winter.

They Grow So Fast!

2012-01-11T16:31:00.000-06:00

Farrah Welch Photography

Have you ever wished everyone else could see what you see instead of what you're able to photograph? Go see Farrah. She's not just a really good photographer, she's also very creative and sensitive to the beauty of each subject.

She has been in the graphic arts for several years so she brings an amazing talent to the table, turning out very professional finished photos.

Huge Purple Flowers

2011-12-22T23:11:00.000-06:00

It's finished! This is the first of the 24 Quilts to be completely finished and it's already at its new home! I gave it to a friend in need the day after I finished the binding. I have no clue why this quilt appealed to me so much. The simplicity of the block patterns maybe, the simple quilting maybe, possibly just the fact that I used grey for the background. Anyway, it was fun to make and just the right quilt to give away at the time.

Using bright yellow thread for some of the quilting on the flowers was fun too. Felt a little like using those big crayons with a flat side that they give you in kindergarten.

There will be another longish pause while I pay attention to my family during the holidays. I hope you are all surrounded by those you love and that you get to participate in activities you enjoy during this holiday season. I'll be back with more from 24 Quilts after the new year!

And Now For Something Completely...

2011-12-09T16:38:00.000-06:00

...Pachyderm. I love faux fur. : D

The Feather Dance

2011-12-05T21:44:00.000-06:00

The Feather Dance is easily our favorite dance (Terpsichore and me). Sometimes the fabric just won't let us quilt anything else. :) Try it - just put your favorite music on with the volume at the same level you yell at your kids for using, and QUILT!

Hazardous Weather Outlook

2011-12-05T18:27:00.000-06:00

I do believe we got a quarter inch of leaves today!

50 Years Ago Today

2011-11-29T22:22:00.000-06:00

I was born on 30 November 1961.

On my birthday the Soviet Union vetoed Kuwait's application for United Nations membership and President Kennedy authorized project Mongoose.

The Fantastic Four were born the same month I was.

Nadia Comaneci is two weeks older than me, and a much better gymnast than I ever was although I did have big ideas for a while.

Also in 1961, East Germany built the (now long destroyed!) Berlin Wall, Stephen Smale proved the Poincare Conjecture for dimensions greater than 4, Erwin Schrodinger died – no one knows what happened to his cat, Ian Fleming's Thunderball, Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat, Alexander Lenard's translation of Milne's work, Winnie Ille Pu, Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, and Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land were all published.

The first female in the Great State of Texas to be licensed as an asbestos abatement worker was born, but she wasn't licensed until 28 years later.

1961 is rotationally symmetric. The most recent time that happened was 1881. The next time it will happen will be 6009.

It was a very good year.

Half a Century

2011-11-29T11:10:00.000-06:00

An early and completely unexpected birthday present! I'm not sure what these will become, but I am sure it will be adorable.

Tomorrow, dear readers, I will mark the passing of Half a Century. No one is more amazed than I.

24 Quilts Reloaded

2011-11-22T13:32:00.000-06:00

My computer went KABLOOEEE! all my photos of darling wonderful super cuddly granddaughter, all my browser bookmarks, all my eq6 work and every picture of every quilt i've made or am working on.

G O N E

Sorry. I'm trying not to snivel about this, but it is SO unfair!

A few weeks ago, basically right after this crash, I went on retreat. Just me and Beth, a very tiny retreat in Tyler, Texas at a place called Memory Lane Inn. It's really a scrapbooker's retreat house, but since the tools and space requirements for both crafts are so similar and because the place was SPECTACULARLY gorgeous, we went anyway.

Indicative of the thought that went into all the interior design in the house (which is about 100 years old), this collection of frame within a frame miniatures hangs at the staircase landing.

This is a closeup of the moulding detail in the dining room!

Four beds in Miss America's Boudoir suite - you can see two in this picture. This is the room we stayed in.

Just look at that fireplace surround, will ya? :)

There were only five scrappers there and us. It was so relaxing! Beth has already posted about all the great stuff she got done there. The scrappers were all very nice people and the synergy of taking breaks and looking at eachother's work was inspiring.

One of my 24 Quilts is this black TATW. I pieced this one over the first day and a half. Came out well, and I can hardly wait to quilt it since it'll be going on my bed.

It is covering the entryway for one of the gorgeous gazebos in the back yard. There are two or three different areas outdoors with tables, chairs and electricity! You could sit OUTSIDE and quilt/scrap if you wanted to! It was just a little too cool for my tastes that weekend, or I'd have been out there the whole time!

Another of the 24 Quilts, I have no idea what to call this one, I just refer to it as Huge Purple Flowers for now. Easy to piece. Fun to lay out. Got everything but one edge of the border pieced on days two and three (only because I didn't bring enough fabric for that inner plain grey border. doh!).

This is all the blocks lined up like Rockettes on the ironing board preparatory to assembly.

Here it is hanging in my backyard completely assembled.

Day four was just a half day, so I finished preparing circles for this quilt, packed up, and headed home.

This retreat wasn't just a chance to unwind and quilt. The serenity of the surroundings, even the ambiance of the town, all contributed to a rejuvenating and creative long weekend. I'm definitely going back in the spring!

A Little Quilting

2011-11-11T07:13:00.001-06:00

Small projects can be so much fun! This quilt was inspired by one i did several years ago for a friend. It was oriented to be tall instead of wide and the border was fancier, but the block patterns were the same. Paper piecing is wonderful for this kind of block. I designed them back before I even knew what EQ was, with *gasp* paper and pencil and a straight edge!

Thanks, Amy, for coming up with this idea, it was inspiring. I hope everyone has as much fun as I am cruising through all the cute little quilts in the tour!

You can navigate back to the link list on Amy's blog by clicking HERE.

Mini Mania Motivation

2011-11-06T08:22:00.000-06:00

I'm going to, are you?

Fall Bloggers Quilt Festival

2011-11-04T15:56:00.000-05:00

It is that time of year again! I'm late entering this year thanks to a retreat followed by a computer glitch, but better late than never, right? This quilt is called leftovers because I made it from the leftovers of another quilt. It was the first time I tried to really quilt the heck out of one of my own, and I love the way the back turned out, so you get to see that first.

The front is pretty too, so here it is.

The best part? I still have MORE LEFTOVERS! :)

Go see all the really gorgeous quilts people are showing at the bloggers quilt festival this fall. here's a link to the list. don't forget to comment when you see something you fall in love with. quilters have an infinite capacity to absorb praise!

Natural Inspiration

2011-10-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

Go ahead and click it to get the high resolution picture on your screen. Who could fail to be inspired by that amazing color combination and wonderful texture?

2011-10-05T21:09:00.000-05:00

2011-10-04T20:33:00.000-05:00

Had a little spare time over the past few days so I kitted up the pink-n-purple 16 patch and pieced it yesterday. Over the next week or so all these dots will get appliqued to the border.

Embarrassingly Easy

2011-10-01T14:26:00.000-05:00

Meh. It's bland alright. Maybe a 2" neutral border? I'm looking forward to quilting this one.

Weekend Quilting Projects

2011-10-01T08:49:00.000-05:00

The easy rainbow stripe top and back went together super smoothly. Today I'll be piecing my all neutrals quilt which I'm sure you'll all agree is appropriately named Bland. So I will be turning this

into this

which should be another very easy top.

Another Collaboration!

2011-09-27T09:55:00.000-05:00

While visiting the 2010 Houston International Quilt Festival, Beth and I worked on a charity quilt together in our spare time. Due to an oversight by the kit maker (me :/ ), we didn't have enough purple sashing fabric to complete the top. It came back in my suitcase in piecese and sat under the quilting machine for nearly a year. Here it is, all finished up and ready for Terpsichore. Beth gets to do the binding. (nyah nyah!)

A Tough Quilt to Make

2011-09-24T17:14:00.000-05:00

Beth and I collaborated on this one. We each made a version of Jacob's Ladder blocks. She assembled the blocks, I quilted it, and she did the binding.

Nothing hard about the blocks, nothing hard about the quilting.

I guess I can speak for Beth when I say the binding wasn't hard either.

But this quilt went to a dear friend who lost her husband recently so it was incredibly hard to make.

Floating in Blue Sky

2011-09-12T18:36:00.000-05:00

Sometimes simple works very, very well.

Bright Stripes Starts

2011-09-11T09:52:00.000-05:00

Oh yah, lots of easy sewing for me today! Gonna whip out a top AND a back today!

One Down 23 To Go!

2011-09-07T09:24:00.001-05:00

Here's Americana laid out on my Design Floor. There are a few last minute reorganizations to perform right before sewing it all together, but nothing major. I'll shuffle through my leftover neutrals and find something good for a two inch border and then it'll be ready for Terpsichore. Anyone else working on this one?

I'd love to see pictures of any of these quilts as you make them up. It is always fun to see someone else's interpretation of a quilt.

Simple stripes are next. After all those triangles something easy will be most welcome.

It's Orthogonal to be Square

2011-09-04T14:30:00.000-05:00

but it takes forever!

Fortunately I have one more day this weekend!

The Only Problem...

2011-09-02T17:00:00.000-05:00

...with designing lots of HSTs into a quilt is that Someone Has to Sew Them! There are at least 260 HSTs and about 40 QSTs in my Americana quilt. Squaring up is next. Guess what my next complainy post is going to be about? :)

Instructions are Up

2011-08-31T10:40:00.000-05:00

You can see the instructions HERE or by clicking the picture of the quilt in my original post HERE. Remember, I only have instructions posted for the four quilts for which I pulled fabric recently. More as I can get them uploaded. I've already received a few questions about these quilts. I'm happy to answer any questions you have to the best of my ability. If you spot an error in my instructions please oh please let me know! I try really hard to keep it simple and accurate, and appreciate any constructive criticism.

In an unrelated note, I recently finished Leftover Butterflies. It was fun to quilt. I made a whimsical butterfly in each block and tight loops in the sashing.

Pulling Some Fabrics

2011-08-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

My sleeves are rolled up and I am ready to start churning out these quilts. I've had a look at my stash and a look at the list of quilts. This morning I'll be pulling fabrics for half a dozen quilts just to get ready.

First the Americana quilt I think.

I think that will work out pretty well. I'm trying for an antique look to the quilt and so will be using neutrals instead of whites. IF YOU WANT TO PLAY ALONG choose 8 to 10 each of red, white and blue prints in a variety of saturations, but only one hue. As long as you have about a 6" strip worth of fabric, it will be useable. There won't be any hard and fast rule about which blue to use for which block for instance, so just aim for hauling out about 2 yards total on each color.

Next I want to select fabrics for the Easy Color Strip quilt.

My brights stash isn't beefy. This was hard work for me! IF YOU WANT TO PLAY ALONG choose a light, medium, and dark fabric from each of the following colors: magenta, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and a black and a white. I'm using kona black and kona white. As long as you have at least 7" strips of your colors you'll have enough. Remember too that if you want to use a random color scheme, or if you'd like to use a monochromatic scheme (or an all 40's feedsacks theme or whatever) all you have to do is substitute the 24 fabrics of your choice in place of the rainbow I've selected.

Onward... to Bland quilt!

Wow. It sure seems faster in a blogpost than it does in person. I agonized over this selection for quite some while. The only way I know to do this is pull a bunch of things from your stash that you KNOW are neutrals. Then start adding colorful things to the group that you suspect might be neutrals. Step back once in a while and look at them all together. Yank out the ones that really stand out. I had one fabric in there for a while that ended up looking like bright teal when i stepped back. 0.o IF YOU WANT TO PLAY ALONG choose as many neutrals as you can find in your stash. If it is at least 3" x 4" you'll be able to use it. Shoot for collecting at least ten fabrics and at least 6 yards for a queen sized quilt.

I'm all tired now, so the last quilt I want to choose fabrics for today is my TATW. mmmmmm! Blacks.

Clearly not everyone will want to make this quilt in blacks. Regardless of what the color is you choose, if you choose12 to 15 colors you'll do fine. The only tricky part for me was getting the gradations right in all those black and white fabrics. Sometimes when you stand too close you end up getting some of them in the wrong place. IF YOU WANT TO PLAY ALONG choose at least 12 fabrics for your gradation. For the fabrics that appear in the darkest band on my quilt you will need at least five 4 1/2" strips of each color. For the fabrics on the corners you will only need about 16" x 4 1/2". Guesstimate for the ones in between for now.

Ok. It will take me a day or so to work up all the cutting requirements for these four quilts. I'll show pictures of my kitted up quilts with links to cutting charts on the next post. Good luck!

24 Quilts

2011-08-24T19:14:00.001-05:00

Welcome back! My summer has had very little to do with quilting so my blog has been really boring. Thank you all for checking back in from time to time anyway. Please spread the word that we're up and running again.

I'm starting a new series of posts. I have chosen 24 quilts from my eq6 stash of quilts - these are quilts I've seen elsewhere and ginned up my own version, or things I've just dreamed up myself, or things friends have suggested. All of them have gone into the "really want to make this one" stack. While paging through these quilts (there are really more than 300 quilts in the stack) I realized that if I was going to get any of them made I would need to start immediately. So I whittled the stack down to just 24 MUST MAKE quilts. Today I will post only the eq6 pictures of each quilt with a brief description where appropriate. Over the course of the next year I will step through the entire quilting process from fabric selection to piecing to quilting and binding for each quilt. Each time a new quilt is introduced I will make the pattern available online for anyone who wants to quilt along with me or just use it later, and I'll make fabric choices and yardage requirements available too.

I've never made an americana quilt before. Gotta do it sometime.

The block above is called simple spider web. I really like the secondary patterns that result from colorplay. This one might get tweaked a little before I start building.

My buddy Babs started the quilt above. This is her fault. :D

I can't for the life of me remember where I first saw this one. Maybe at a quilt show? It'll have a black background on one side and white on the other, but the color strips will be the same on each side.

The quilt above is made up of blocks modified from trading cards I first saw on Mary's blog a few years ago. Here's her post and here's my original block design.

Yes! Trip around the world! My very first gift quilt was a TATW that I made from real scraps (and believe me, it looked REAL scrappy!). This time it will be in my favorite colors, black and grey.

I've been considering neutrals alot lately. What makes a color neutral? Gonna spend a lot of time contemplating that very idea when I choose fabrics for this one.

Chinese butterfly prints have always really grabbed my attention. This quilt will mostly be an excuse for elaborate "scribble" quilting.

This quilt will be made from scraps and leftovers of these fabrics, which makes it a leftovers leftover quilt. Maybe I should call it my leftoverture.

My own designs on hex blocks above. The real quilt will probably be made in two families of coordinating fabrics rather than this hodge-podge of random brights.

Both above and below are my own cube designs.

Yup, classic double wedding ring, gotta make it in black and grey!

Going to use up some scraps on this one. The eq6 version isn't as cool as the real one will be. More on the story when I get to it. But if you plan to do this one with me, start saving your dryer sheets now. :)

Above in miniature and colors, below in a larger format. I have loved the circle of geese idea since I first saw it.

Saw this one in a fairly recent magazine and of COURSE I can't remember which one now. If any of you recognize it, let me know so I can credit the 'zine. EDIT: found it! January/February Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting Magazine. It was on the cover. The picture above however, is my own eq6 adaptation.

Not even sure why I want to make the quilt above. This is the only one that might get cut from the list.

Who hasn't wanted to make a New York Beauty? This one will be in batiks.

The basic idea here came straight off someone else's blog. She's a fellow long armer I think and this pattern was from a customer's quilt. I'd like to credit it if I can find the post.

This is a variation on a single wedding ring quilt. I'm going for a spinning centers look and think I'll need to do a little bit of playing around with this to achieve the dizzying effect I want.

This block has been around for a while. It first caught my eye at the Dallas Quilt Show a few years back. I'm still collecting red and white fabrics for it as red has never been my strong suit in the stash. Good thing it's pretty low on the list. I have found out that this pattern is published in a book called Livin' Large by Heather Mulder Peterson. You can purchase it HERE, but I just eyeballed the pattern at the show and sketched it when I got home, so who knows whether my construction technique matches hers.

This one is my own version of a pattern I saw on a blog - everyone's work was just at the block or top stage in the post's pictures. Anyone remember where it was? The one I liked best from the post was in browns.

Colorful corn and beans blocks. :) I want to go with scrappy neutrals in the background, but the contrast on them is pretty high in eq6. I'll be trying for a more uniform range in the actual quilt.

Ok, there it is. A pretty darned ambitious list, but I believe it's doable. My goal is to get them all done in twelve months, but if it takes a little longer than that I'm not going to kick myself over it. The real point is that life is short. Make quilts while you can!

Leftovers!

2011-08-23T18:25:00.004-05:00

Front and back of the same quilt. The fabrics were just leftovers from another quilt which is still in piecing mode. Not sure really how that happened, this quilt is already in use the other is still waiting on...oh right. That's how it happened. The other quilt is still waiting on some applique!

This was my first attempt to quilt the heck out of a quilt just for the doodling fun. It worked better than I'd expected. The pictures were taken right after the quilting was finished. I bound it in plain black by rolling the back over to the front.

Julianna's Quilt

2011-05-06T23:54:00.000-05:00

Look what one of my other daughters made for my granddaughter! Isn't it gorgeous? I quilted a few different alphas and numbers on it but she did all the design and piecing.

Found Its Way

2011-05-03T11:55:00.000-05:00

Dylan is four months old. He's the son of DD#1's best childhood friend (who became an honorary daughter-o-mine many years ago!) This kid has so much personality packed into such a tiny body - and his folks are really good with cameras.

Oh wait! The point of the post was to demonstrate that the last line of THIS post was entirely true. Every quilt finds its way home eventually!

Julianna Is Here!

2011-04-17T09:12:00.000-05:00

She was a little early and had a little trouble breathing for the first day. She gets to stay in the hospital for a few more days still, but she's doing very well now. Mama is tired but well.

I'm a grandma! I think my heart might explode. :)

April Blog Train

2011-04-01T10:21:00.004-05:00

There's a new blog train at Stuff To Scrap and I've made a mini kit to go along with it. Click on the preview to collect my portion and follow the links below for the rest of the train! (My mini includes three printable bookmarks to celebrate the anniversary of the first public library) EDIT: it's a public file now everyone. sorry about the glitch!

Shel Belle Scraps
Scrapalicious Cereal
Longs' Life & Loki
quiltifications you are HERE
Pixiepics and Scraps
Queen Bee Scraps
Just For Fun Designs
Scraps N Pieces - Lori
Christin's Creations
Sweet Maple
Sweet Creations
Memories by Digital Design
The Scrappy Kat
Mommy and Wife
Lindsey's Digital Scrapbook
Saphira's Scrapdesign
Brenian Designs
Flower Pot Designs
MDK Scraps
The Queen of All Wild Things
3 Li'l Monsters Designs
Sprouting Seeds Studio
Let Me Scrapbook!
Designs By Snowlady
Scrappin Ninnie
Adriana's Cafe
A Fish Design
The Scrapping Sisters
Flower Scraps
AmyDane Designs
Scrappin Serenity

Outstanding in Her Field

2011-03-23T10:15:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Emmy Noether!

She was the mother of abstract algebra as we know it today and one of my personal heroes. You can read more about her exemplary work as a research mathematician and professor by clicking her photo above.

Happy National Quilting Day

2011-03-19T07:43:00.000-05:00

I'll be playing with friends today. I hope you get to do a little quilting along with whatever else you have planned. (Big NQD parties, etc.!) Once the smoke clears I'll post pictures of our adventure.

2011-03-16T09:18:00.001-05:00

Diem Chau at The Pleasure of Tiny Things is raffling a crayon family. Help her raise $2000 for the Japanese Red Cross by buying a $10 chance to win three of her amazing pieces. Keep those links coming in and I'll edit this post with them.

Mary has a quilt up for grabs on her blog. So go help japan and win that quilt!

Japan Disaster Relief

2011-03-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

world watching in fear
resilient people's peril
give to them my quilts*

It doesn't matter how you donate,or how much you donate,but if you and your family are safe, warm and well-fed tonight you can afford to send some kind of help to the people of Japan. Donate unwanted but useable items to your local salvation army store - believe me, the help will make it through to Japan eventually. Donate $10 to the red cross or doctors without borders or save the children by phone and the aid will get to Japan right away.

I'm going to donate blood tomorrow and send five quilts to the salvation army (they've been in japan for twenty years and are working like crazy right now). I wish I could do more. Quilters are the most generous, thoughtful people I know. Tell me what you're going to do or what you've already done to help japanese quilters, their families, their friends, and their neighbors. Share links (if you have them) to any kind of quilt-related donation program, raffle quilt, or whatever that's in the works out there and I'll repost with them. If you have friends or family in Japan right now, feel free to mention them in your comments so we can all keep them in our thoughts. Speaking of which, I'll start - Tatsu I hope you and all your family are safe.

*I'm not much of a poet, but this was my attempt at haiku.

Dallas Quilt Show

2011-03-13T08:51:00.004-05:00

Not everyone gets to go to the Dallas Quilt Show, but you can see some of it from the comfort of your computer. Here are a few pictures I took from the show this year. They aren't properly credited, they're just snapshots I took of some of the interesting bits of the show. I'll go back later today and try to get more pictures that include credits and set up a new slideshow from those. For now, just gawk. :)

EDIT: aparently picassa doesn't like it when you embed their slideshows in blog posts. fine. click HERE to go to my album and see the pictures if you're interested.

Group Project Donations

2011-03-11T19:28:00.000-06:00

My little band of quilting buddies got together a few years back and split up a bunch of donation fabrics. We chose a grouping once every couple of months and made some blocks with them. This quilt is made up of the blocks Babs made. I added a border and back and quilted it with a really simple meander with loops. Binding is ready for the hand sewing part, so it's going into The Stack. Group projects like this are always so much fun! I hope whoever gets this quilt can feel the love from our whole group. :)

I used a variegated thread by Coats and Clark in pastel colors on the back (#865 baby pastels). It matches the floral very nicely so I used it on the border as well.

Mug Rug Winner

2011-03-10T08:35:00.000-06:00

Congratulations Katie M! Email me a physical address and I'll send it off today.

Thank you everyone for sharing what you drink from a mug. I raise my cuppa joe to you all!

Sweat-Free Masonry

2011-03-08T16:31:00.000-06:00

I'm not really sure why I even made this quilt except that the idea for it came to me one day and then it was like standing in a fire ant bed. I had to make it just so I could quit thinking about it. Well, at least it's done.

It seems like this quilt has been on my machine forever. I've had it on and back off a couple of times. The border work nearly killed me - not because it was hard quilting, but because I stared at the quilt for days trying to decide how to quilt it! OUCH! Quilter's block! (hehehehehe)

I like the texture of this quilting alot. The back shows it off better than the front does.

Fold it up, put it in the To Be Bound stack (why is that always the biggest stack?) and move on.

Don't forget to tell me what you drink from a mug at THIS post for a chance to win my mug rug. (Drawing on the 10th of this month)

Work is Play; Play is Work

2011-02-25T20:55:00.000-06:00

Maybe the title is clear enough. Maybe not.

I love my work.

Tilting Ice Cubes

2011-02-24T15:52:00.000-06:00

I finallly got the borders on THIS quilt.

And the shot below is a picture of the only "perfect" match on the whole quilt; sigh, but it was really fun to put together a big block quilt. It's a little like knitting on size 17 needles. :)

Rug Mug Giveaway

2011-02-20T15:44:00.000-06:00

My buddies came over on Saturday to quilt, press, cut, and chat. It's always fun. This time Beth talked me into making a mug rug. She'll probably show you hers if you go look on her blog. I tried my hand at some machine zigzagged raw edge applique and also tried a new metallic thread on Terpsichore when it came time to quilt it. The tension wasn't quite right, but there are only very limited pokies on the back.

This is only one of the patterns that Fat Cat Patterns has on their site for mug rugs. I believe it is called Fiesta Bloom. They have heaps of cute patterns on their site. Be prepared to browse if you follow the link.

It was fun to make this - it only took about an hour from picking out fabrics to satin stitching the edge.

BUT...

I'm a complete space cadet! I set my coffee cup down on any flat surface I see, never considering what I'm about to ruin. I'd be more inclined to set a coffee cup down BESIDE a coaster or mug rug than on one, thinking absently that "Oh. That's something nice. I better not put my coffee on it." So I'd like to give it away to someone who can use it.

I won't choose based on your answers, but I'd really like to know what you drink from a mug. Coffee? Tea? Dark German Beer? Add a comment to this post and tell me what you drink in a mug. I'll choose a winner on 10 March. Be sure to include some way to get in touch with you so that if you win I can get your physical address to ship.

This contest is open to ANYONE! I'll ship anywhere in the world that they will let me. :)

Marcy's Leftovers

2011-02-17T00:54:00.000-06:00

Whew! That was plenty of stars. The top looks a little plain, but there will be extensive quilting and I'll probably bind it in one of the greens for a little flourish.

Silly Panel Quilt

2011-02-14T08:35:00.000-06:00

Flannel on the back to keep baby soft...

silly panel on the front to please mamma...

and the made by grandma seal at the bottom. :)

Saturday Progress

2011-02-12T09:48:00.001-06:00

Some assembly (still) required...

EDIT: as of noon all i need to do is add borders, but this is it for me today.

Up to the Minute Report

2011-02-04T00:35:00.000-06:00

As it's happening folks, right now, in my back yard. Two years ago I drove nearly 700 miles to find some of this! Gonna get a flashlight and build me a snowman before this stuff melts...y'all go on back to sleep.

Snow Day Sewing

2011-02-03T08:44:00.000-06:00

Yessirree Bob, just a few hundred more seams like these and I'll have all 72 blocks made! Fortunately, today is a snow day too :)

And A Little More

2011-01-30T00:55:00.000-06:00

...eleven... :) and liking them more and more.

A Little Paper Piecing

2011-01-29T10:06:00.000-06:00

...One... :)

Four Generation Quilt

2011-01-22T01:00:00.000-06:00

This oddball wall hanging is the lemonade from a recent post. The binding is all finished and buttons added to corners. It's a pretty silly piece because it's so haphazard, but I still love it because it is my step mother's first try using Terpsichore and I went back and filled in empty spaces with little background feathers and such. The colors are right for my soon to be grandbaby's nursery, so Great Grandma and Grandma signed the corner and dated it and it will hang in the nursery until my poor daughter can't stand it any more!

Sunset Strip FINISHED

2011-01-19T09:13:00.000-06:00

Mighty loose freehand quilting on this one. Experimentation isn't always pretty. I chose a backing fabric that wasn't an exact match but had most of the same colors in it. The binding was accomplished during an animated philosophical/theological debate with my OFG last night. Great way to pass the time.

This quilt is just too noisy for me. Mary makes strip blocks look good on her quilts, but this one is just too busy. Maybe she'd be willing to accept it as a donation...

I do like the back of the quilt though and it was fun quilting. Therapy. :)

My Crafty Kids

2011-01-14T15:57:00.003-06:00

How many times have YOU wished you had a mowhawk hat? DD#2 just made her own! (recipe for hat taken from Pretty in Punk by Alyce Benevides)

Kitschy Kitchen Kwilt

2011-01-13T11:10:00.000-06:00

Should I apologize for the post title? I'm never sure...

I'll add a white border the same size as the four patch squares (3" finsihed) and scallop it. Bind in the periwinkle polkadots. The plain white squares are good excuses for quilting colorful paisleys. Don't really know how I'll quilt the rest of it though.

Mom's Sunset Strip

2011-01-11T10:40:00.001-06:00

It looks better than the eq6 drawing. The colors look like a pretty brilliant sunset - a little warmer than fall leaves. I enjoyed making the asymetrical sashing and corner stones.

At any rate, it's another top finished due to all the work that went on at retreat over the weekend.

Quilting Retreat Report

2011-01-10T14:30:00.000-06:00

Craft-away Cottage is lovely! Lots of room, perfect amenities, you should see all the quilts on the beds on the walls, everywhere! I met a dozen or so wonderful people and as always with a quilting event, made instant friends. There was plenty of inspiration in the projects at the tables near me - everyone had brilliant quilts in progress. Our hostess, Nelda, was working on a black and white that just took my breath away. There was a table full of people at the far end of the main room who were each working on a Judy Niemeyer quilt of some sort.

Beth and I giggled and snacked our way through Saturday, but the weather folk got all up in arms about some huge winter weather front that was on its way, so we headed on home late that night. The front never made it through. We got some drizzle, a little rain, and late Sunday night about 1/8" of snow flakes. We should have stayed!

My piecing progress was different than I thought it would be. I started on the blue chunky block quilt and found that I hadn't cut enough triangles, so I had to cut some more on my return. Here's the finished top:

Still trying to figure out borders on this one - maybe a skinny blue on white inner border followed by a focus print (the wild geometric) outer border about half the size of a color block so 3.5". that would give me a finished quilt of about 80" square. Alternatively I could just bind in the focus and not put any borders on it at all, but that would leave me with a 72" square finished quilt which doesn't seem right with as big as those blocks are. Suggestions welcome as always.

All the blocks are together for the kitchen print quilt but I have to lay it out to get the "random" feel to it while still keeping the colors a little balanced. On this one I got some good input from other quilters when I had it up on the wall. This top will probably appear in a post soon.

Putting the border on mom's sunset strip quilt tonight. That'll be tomorrow's post.

Overdoing It

2011-01-06T12:49:00.003-06:00

I'm going on a quilting retreat this weekend with a friend. Just an hour or so from my home, not a major trip, and just for an overnighter. But starting last week I collected several projects-to-be at the sewing table and started kitting them up to take along. I wanted a variety of things to do - some hand sewing, some piecing, some pressing, no quilting though because I do all that on Terpsichore and she HATES to travel. Anyway, I guess I got a little carried away because now I have maybe ten different projects each in their own little zipper bags ready to go. Wanna see?

Two pictures of the first one so you can see what the quilt will look like and see the focus fabric.

The second project is a pine cone purse from Kumiko Sudo's Omiyage. I just love her stuff. :) The picture has one finished pinecone and one partially assembled one.

Haha! This next picture just looks silly. It is a border for a quilt. I'm going to fill this border with all manner of vines, leaves and flowers, but it is so early in the game that all I have is about 20" of the base vine appliqued in. I work on this project about 20 minutes a month I think. Don't hold your breath on it coming back from retreat finished!

I'm really looking forward to working on this one. The first picture is just a shot of everything in the bag along with the basic quilt pattern. The bottom picture is the reason I'm making the quilt. A friend had worked these fabrics as much as she cared to (she made a quilt and several pillowcases and maybe even a second quilt but now I don't remember) and still had some paired up 2 x 6.5 strips left over. She asked if I wanted to do something with them. :) Friends. :) I'll probably get all the pointy paper piecing done on this one during retreat and bring the rest home to fiddle with.

This one for sure will come back a finished top. Queen sized, it only has 16 blocks. Muah hahahahaha! (that was my evil laugh) This top will take about an hour to sew together not including maybe an hour of squaring up blocks. The second image is an EQ6 sketch of the quilt to be.

The picture below doesn't say much for my color matching ability and the EQ6 sketch below that shows the layout but not the exact fabrics. So maybe just take my word for it that all this will look ok when it comes home. Mostly 40's looking kitchen prints. Another super easy top. I like super easy for retreats. More brain power reserved for chatting and snacking that way!

This is a salvage operation. My mom stopped quilting in the middle of this one. Decided her eyes weren't really good enough anymore. It was challenging to me to figure out how to turn her 12 blocks into a quilt. I made up 12 more blocks and layed it out as per the EQ6 sketch below the photo. I really like her color choices.

This is a lemonade. I was showing my stepmother how to use Terpsichore and we were chatting about how she is going to be a great-grandma and I am about to be a grandma and we decided to turn the scrap into a wall hanging for the nursery. Kinda cool not because of the spectacular talent involved or anything but because it is a 4 generation quilt. Anyway, I'm bringing this one along so I'll have opportunities to tell everyone how I'm just about INVENTING grandmotherhood oh and of course, to get the binding sewn down.

This last one is still in the works. I'm in the middle of pressing the fabrics. In the same family as my Random Boxes quilt, this one is called Splotchy. The blocks will look pretty random but are fairly easy to assemble. You can get something of a preview of the block assembly in the first shot and the second is an EQ6 rendering. Look for this pattern to be on my quilting tutorials site soon.

So wish me luck! Honestly, I figure if I can come home with any two of these projects completed I'll be right happy about my progress.

Year of the Cat

2010-12-31T22:24:00.000-06:00

I wish you all a productive and happy 2011!

FINALLY!

2010-12-30T20:37:00.000-06:00

Yes, I do realize six of the half-QSTs on the short ends are backwards, and maybe I'll do something about that someday, but probably not. I also think adding the navy inner border around the corner stones would improve the effect. But even still, it's finished. This quilt has been my problem child for years. I'm going to make these smallish changes and then hang it in the quilting queue and get it finished.

Thanks Tim for keeping me company while I got the borders on it today.

2010-12-20T23:46:00.000-06:00

Stocking stuffers. :)

And the Winner IS...

2010-12-15T09:29:00.000-06:00

Rosemaryschild!

Congratulations on winning the candle mat. As soon as I've received your snail mail address I'll send it off to you.

A hearty thank you to everyone who commented and entered the drawing. This kind of thing always makes me wish I had enough to give one to everyone who enters!

Now off to make up more baby things...:)

Oh the Weather Outside is Pleasant...

2010-12-06T09:52:00.000-06:00

...ok, the song lyrics just can't be modified to fit a Texas winter. I miss snow in the winter (until I actually find myself in it!) So when I ran across this idea I grabbed it with both hands.

Bugs and Fishes's lovely snowflake curtain has been passed around the blogosphere alot this week. I couldn't resist making one of my own. I only used one size of basic snowflake though. Looks to me like mine could be much improved by adding a smattering of smaller flakes. That's going to have to wait until my hand recovers from all that cutting. Other family members did help with some of these of course. It's tough to walk past a table with 30 uncut but folded snowflakes when someone is busy snipping away. Especially if a few pairs of scissors are glimmering in an expectant and friendly way.

I highly recommend this as a conversation starter for holiday parties. Set a BUNCH of prefolded flakes in a wide mouth vase and scatter a few pair of competent scissors. Maybe leave one cut out snowflake on the table too. By the end of the party you'll have dozens of finished flakes and of course tons of little scraps of paper to sweep up off the floor!

Happy Holidays Giveaway

2010-12-01T19:47:00.001-06:00

Holiday season is always fun even though it's terribly busy. Thanksgiving weekend saw at least three very large sit-down dinners at my house (and my kitchen is still being renovated)! I haven't had a lot of time to quilt or post lately, but for the next week or two I'll be working like a demon on gifts.

For now I'd like to give away this candlemat. (Made from 100% cotton fabrics, cotton batting. Machine quilted, binding fabric is the same as back fabric) It was the test block for a swap I was recently in. If you'd like it, just comment on this post and make sure that there's a way to get in touch with you. I'll put all the names in a hat and have my youngest draw one on the 15th of December. Open to anyone.

Quilting For Me

2010-11-15T06:59:00.001-06:00

Did I ever even post when this top was finished? Here's an eq6 sketch of it:

and this is quilting in progress. I'm making this one for me. Not so much because I want the quilt, but because it was stuck in my head and this was the only way to get it out. I love the way the quilt feels right now with just the neutral blocks quilted - very much like the tiles that inspired it.

I Promise Not To Be Tedious About It

2010-11-13T16:14:00.000-06:00

...because I know many of you are nowhere near being interested in grandchildren, but I just got the first picture of my grandchild and it's just adorable so I thought I would share.

Looks just like mamma, doesn't he/she! I got the report a few days back that she's felt the first kicking around already too.

Ok, I need to get back to the sewing machine!

Who's Gonna Be...

2010-11-08T11:28:00.000-06:00

...a grandma?

i've got til april or so to knit, sew, quilt, and work in wood an entire nursery. should be fun :)

Off to Houston

2010-11-04T10:41:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. I've seen some pretty exciting pictures of Quilt Market and I'm sure the show will be just as lively. Meet me Saturday or Sunday at lunchtime in the cafeteria if you're going too. Otherwise, I'll bring you back a bunch of pictures of the quilts!

It's Your Responsibility

2010-11-02T09:46:00.002-05:00

Get on out there and vote today. Make the time. This is important.

Cute Chick

2010-10-30T20:39:00.000-05:00

The Quilting Gallery's candlemat swap is in full swing. All their eggs are in one basket on their flickr page where you can see all the interesting variations on this block pattern being made. Many of them are quite unique and all of them are pretty. This one will be winging it's way to my swap partner Monday morning. If she doesn't like it I'll sure feel like a dumb cluck. Of course if she does, I'll have something to crow about. :)

Pencil Shavings

2010-10-22T09:20:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, this is the best thing you make all day.

Online Quilting Swap

2010-10-18T20:33:00.000-05:00

I don't swap much anymore. For several years I was perpetually in block swaps. Loved the heck out of 'em, too. But after a while I realized I wasn't getting the creative outlet I wanted, so I stopped. Once in a great while I'll still join one. Right now I'm participating in the Candlemat Swap on Quilting Gallery. The block pattern looked interesting and versatile. I made this test block in traditional christmas colors just to make sure I really wanted in, then I joined up.

Our swap partners are blind - that is, we don't know who has our name, but we get someone's name and color/style preferences.

One of the things I enjoy about swapping is trying to work with someone else's color preferences. You're pretty much guaranteed that it'll be different than your own, but that's a good thing to me.

Here's a shot of some of the colors going into my partner's mat. Now I just have to quit being such a chicken and turn them into something!

Freezer Paper Circles

2010-10-14T10:07:00.006-05:00

Not everyone appliques, I know this. Not all applique-ers make their own patterns, I realize this too.

But circles? Come on! Even some non-quilting seamstresses (seamsters?) have need for the ocassional circle template.

I've found a reliable way to make them. We all know about freezer paper. You can draw whatever shape you want on it, cut out the shape, iron it (shiny side TOWARDS the fabric, not towards the iron. Don't ask me how I know this, it's too humiliating) onto the fabric, cut around the shape, adding a seam allowance, and press. Voila!

The problem with circles is they really need to be just about perfect in order to keep your finished applique from looking sadly lopsided.

The problem with circles is they are really hard to freehand draw.

The problem with circles is they are really hard to even trace.

So enter the printer. I have this really cool program called Graph Paper Printer (remember, my mild mannered alter-ego is that of a mathmatician) which you can find HERE or HERE if you don't already have it. The user friendly menu driven software creates circles quite simply in any size you want. It is SUPER accurate. (it also makes hexagons, equilateral triangles, and the more traditional rectangles. music tabs too!)

But alas, I got too clever for my own good. YOU try running a piece of freezer paper through a printer. Go on, I'll stand way over here (pointing) and I'll try not to laugh too loud.

There is a solution (or I wouldn't be blogging about it, duh!). If you stack a piece of plain paper on top of the shiny side of a piece of freezer paper, load it into the printer, hit print, and as soon as the printer starts to take up the paper, PULL THE PLAIN PAPER OUT OF THE PRINTER, the printer will pull up your freezer paper smoothly and print your circle crisp and clean.

Not for the faint hearted, but it does work and you don't have to spend a fortune on fancy templates or cutters.

Now, go forth and applique circles!

Modified Maple Rails

2010-06-03T15:03:00.002-05:00

Several people suggested deleting the half leaves from around the center medallion, so I gave that a whirl....

...but my (re)take on it was to give the inner border more of a pop. So I went with purple after Teresa suggested the same idea...

They both have promise, but I really like the look of the leaves partially under the medallion in the center. Of course, Babs is the one who makes the final decision - by now she's probably thought up something else entirely!

Laying It Out

2010-05-31T08:50:00.000-05:00

Yah Babs, I got your back! Here are the two centers that Babs was going "Hmmmmmmm" about at the meeting a few days back. I know Edna will speak up if she thinks of anything, but ALL comments and suggestions are welcome here.

First, the pink/purple 20 patch center:

...and now the layout I came up with:

This layout reminds me of a child's birthday party.

Ok, next up is her fall colors rail fence center - beautifully done, but too small for a useable quilt (just right for a wall hanging maybe):

This one immediately made me think of the baggie full of maple leaf blocks Babs left over here (I'm ashamed to say nearly two years ago!) for me to think up something for. So here's how I think we can combine them:

Now especially on the maple rails I'd like some input from blogland. I think the idea is a good one, but somehow the implementation looks a little weak. Do we need another color border around the center medallion to seperate it some? Something pieced perhaps? Am I the only one who think the center washes into the background a little too much?

Any thoughts are welcome of course.

What do you think, Babs?

Cheating The Customer

2010-05-31T08:30:00.000-05:00

Some quilts are so much fun to quilt I feel a little guilty about charging the customer for them. Only a little though :)

Bloggers Quilt Festival

2010-05-21T07:31:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Spring 2010 Bloggers Quilt Festival! The quilt pictured below is not my most recent finish, but it came out well. I first saw this pattern on Mary's blog and it was the first thing I thought of when my friend said she wanted a teal colored quilt for her new baby.

I quilted it in an allover feathered pattern which was fun and easy and balanced the strongly geometric piecing.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the quilt show - remember - no food or drink near the quilts, and don't touch them without your little white gloves!

Thanks Amy for hosting another great festival!

Pressed and Finished Lemonade

2010-05-15T23:37:00.001-05:00

Ok Edna, I agree. Purple border, green binding. How's it look?

Thanks to everyone who offered advice. Edna I'm putting you on the payroll.

Lemonade in the Making

2010-05-13T22:08:00.001-05:00

Babs wanted swappers to use her focus and any fabric that was just the colors from the focus to build any block they wanted. She got back a few like that but mostly they were blocks with lots of neutral background and not much color. At least they all used her focus!

She brought them over (was it more than a year ago now Babs?) one day when our group was meeting. She fiddled around with them and just got less and less happy with them until eventually she pitched them towards the trash (at least figuratively). I rescued them; she gave me the "you can't make anything out of that mess!" look. They sat on a shelf gathering dust and feeling sorry for themselves until 3 days ago when I rediscovered them.

I laid them out on the kitchen floor, my "design wall" (That's why I never play along with design wall monday - I NEVER leave things on the design wall. People might step on them!). I did lots of leaning over and shuffling blocks. Babs was right, these were really difficult blocks to balance.

Evenutally I hit upon the idea of framing each block in a color that wasn't in the block which upped the odds that I'd be able to lay them out without having blobs of color coagulating in different corners. Here's the top nearly finished.

I don't have any of her focus fabric, but I do have a very similar green with tiny white polka dots. I'm thinking green border as wide as the frames (one inch) followed by one inch of the neutral followed by a 2 inch color block border made from the framing fabrics and the green and then bind it all in the too dark purple that is seen in a couple of the blocks (hopefully fooling the eye into believing that the dark purple is there on purpose).

Suggestions?

Work Plus Play

2010-05-08T16:27:00.000-05:00

...equals jewelry boxes. This is what happens when quilting meets construction. Pattern and how to were featured in a recent edition of Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts magazine, and there were these scraps laying around the shop and well, it just kinda happened.

I know this isn't a woodworking blog, but sometimes it's hard for me to seperate woodwork from quilting.

Quilter's Genesis

2010-05-05T17:26:00.000-05:00

In the beginning there were dressmaking scraps;
and the dressmaking scraps were small and varied and without cohesive purpose;
and the quilter saw the scraps and recognized the possibility of a pattern;
and the quilter called forth the pattern from the scraps;
and the quilter saw the pattern; that it was good, and the quilter divided the pattern from the remnants.
and the top and the backing were the first quilt.

and the quilter thought of all she owed her parents and the quilter thought, "I could make another".
and the quilter rummaged through the remnants and the scraps and divided them into color groups;
and the quilter made a top from the color groups and the first TATW was made and the quilter saw that it was good.
and the top and the backing were the second quilt.

and the quilter's college friend announced his marriage;
and the quilter thought, "I could do it again".
and the quilter purchased fabrics and sorted through the remnants and read a book and chose a pattern.
and the quilter imitated the attic window patterned quilt, altering it slightly to fit the recipient.
and the quilter used a bedsheet for the back;
and the top and the backing were the third quilt.

and the quilter's brother announced his wedding;
and the quilter purchased more fabric and without even glancing at the remnants chose a pattern and created a strip quilt.
and the quilter quilted this one elaborately by hand and it took thirteen years to complete;
and the quilter used a different bedsheet for the back.
and the top and the backing were the fourth quilt.

and the quilter made her daughters bunkbeds and realized that matching quilts would be darling;
and the quilter went to the store and bought the same home dec fabric that was used for the kids' curtains and two mint green bedsheets;
and the quilter saw that the mint green and the jungle print together were good,
and she made quickie whole cloth quilts for their beds.
and the tops and the backs were the fifth and sixth quilts.

and the quilter realized she could make a quilt for each wedding her friends committed and each baby her many friends bore thenceforward without ever having to consult a wedding or baby registry;
and she brought forth quilts abundantly in blacks, whites, brights, pastels and neutrals.
she created quilts with traditional and paper piecing, even with applique; she created quilts for utility and quilts for show; she created quilts from her own fertile imagination and from purchased patterns; she created quilts for profit and quilts for charity.
and the quilts did quickly multiply and fill her house to overflowing.
and the quilter saw every thing that she had created, the perfect and imperfect, the pretty and the ugly, the large and the small, the cotton and the cotton/poly blends,
and finally one day realized that it was all good.

2010-04-22T08:52:00.000-05:00

I know that zillions of you follow Rita at Red Pepper Quilts already, but you have to look at the binding on one of her quilts HERE (about five pictures down on the post). I've never seen a blanket stitch used this way before and it's just super cool. I think I'm going to have to compile a pictoral exploration of different binding techniques now. If you have a favorite and can either send me a picture (with credits) or point me to one via internet link, I'd be much obliged and it will probably end up in the public viewing collection.

Sewing Truths

2010-04-20T07:29:00.000-05:00

Academama has some remarkably funny (and true!) things to say about sewing HERE. Made me spew coffee all over my monitor this morning. Just thought I'd share.

Stash Freshening Purchase

2010-04-19T09:12:00.002-05:00

Unfashionable though it might be these days, I still enjoy going out for a stash freshening purchase once in a while. My favorite shop had a very nice sale this weekend so I (over)indulged. A buddy went along with me and egged me on - she is VERY good at enabling me to believe that I NEED another kaleidoscop-able print.

I went with the intention of picking up just a few batiks...

...and a few of the newer black and white prints...

...which went rather well. Sadly, I left my blinders at home so when I started walking towards the cutting table I accidentally saw everything else in the store. I felt obliged to pick up a few color blenders...

...they all fill in gaps in my stash very nicely. Then of course I tripped over several bolts of eye-grabbing novelties and in an effort to keep others from tripping on them as well I put them into my basket (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

One or two are actually for non-quilting projects, but I'll accept the blame for all of them. And finally, there was this one black, grey, white, and blue print that really caught my fancy. I want to make it the focus of a simply pieced quilt (think turning 20 or other similarly simple pattern). I picked up a little of the same shade of blue in tone on tones, but I'm sure I have enough black, grey and white to round it out.

I'll need to start whipping out the tops pretty darned fast though, otherwise it'll be out to the shop to build another cabinet.

Bias Tape Tutorial

2010-04-13T08:19:00.001-05:00

Making your own Bias Tape isn't as hard as a lot of people might think. I've set up a picture driven tutorial for you which you can find by clicking the link above or going to the sidebar where it says "Quilting Tutorials".

Quilt Dog's End

2010-04-10T08:34:00.000-05:00

Oreo Puppy Faust, the world's best quilt dog and my best friend for 14 years died a few weeks ago. It has been devastatingly hard for me to do anything since. Quilts aren't interesting, the backyard isn't pretty, I don't want to garden or work with wood. I don't want another dog. I don't want a cat, antelope, snake or bunny instead. He was a happy dog all his life (right up until the very end when he became very sick) and I know I honor his memory best by trying to be happy as well, but I'm just not very good at it without him.

It took me this long just to be able to write this post. Keep being patient with me. I'll get my act together. Now that I'm upstairs, maybe I'll try to piece something.

Five Dinner Guests

2010-03-30T00:02:00.000-05:00

This idea came from somewhere else but it sure made me think, so...

I've been conspicuously absent lately from most of life in addition to this blog. I'll shape up directly. Thanks for being patient.

Snowball Update

2010-02-15T08:11:00.002-06:00

Babs thinks I should use some of the HSTs I've generated from this project in the quilt borders. The first thing I thought of was pinwheels. What do you think?

Witty Eye-Grabbing Title

2010-02-14T09:51:00.002-06:00

09:40 Sunday

Good morning one and all! I have several things to do today in the studio. First up is showing you the layout ideas from yesterday's work.

Especially for babies, I like the idea of leaving some holes in the layout by using solid wow squares instead of some of the snowballs. The other layout seems a bit too busy to me. Plus the extra white space will give me an opportunity to exercise Terpsichore a little more. I like the color block border, but I'm not married to it. If any other good border treatment ideas occur to you, please leave me a note. I'm feeling experimental and have enough blocks for two or three quilts.

Next up will be some organizational items for me. I need to get some fabrics put away so the table will be clean enough to work on, and the Hunter's Star quilt is still just an idea, so I should get things cut for that. Later in the day I'll start assembly on the snowballs.

I'll post updates from time to time today unless the electricity gets moody again.

Go forth and quilt things! or at least enjoy other quiltathoners' blog posts. :)

February Quiltathon

2010-02-13T08:44:00.003-06:00

08:30 Saturday

Got my steaming hot cup of coffee in hand (ok, I put it down to type) and I'm looking at 100 finished snowball blocks. 100 more to go this morning...

...fortunately that won't be a problem because they're almost finished. I can't congratulate myself too much though because...

...there are still 800 triangle pairs lurking on the corner of my table waiting for me to press and square them up. That miiiiiigght be a long wait for a train don't come. At least, probably not this weekend. And some sad news...

...the very last licorice gummy bear is sitting on my computer table. I'm not big on chocolate, but I do like licorice.

Check out what other Quiltathoners will be doing this weekend HERE, stop back by this post later in the day to see my updates, and enjoy your own Quiltathon Weekend!

12:00 Saturday

Finished the last 100 snowballs! Gonna eat some lunch and press those blocks. See you back here after lunch with a couple of layout variations.

20:00 Saturday

Power outage for the bulk of the afternoon put quite a damper on my quilting efforts today. I think it's over now. I'll start sewing again in the morning.

February in Texas

2010-02-11T09:26:00.002-06:00

It always feels like a bizarre episode of the Twilight Zone when I wake up to snow around here. Sure changes the perspective on my back yard though!

I'll be piecing today - and turning the heater up from time to time - and drinking lots of coffee. :)

Working At It

2010-02-05T14:16:00.000-06:00

Finished quilts can be really glamorous. Chain piecing the zillions of little bits to make the top really isn't. My reward for all this hard work? I will get to cut off all those corners (they've been double seamed already), press them, square them, and use them in a border. Yep, 800 of them.

Recent Quiltifications

2010-02-04T23:00:00.001-06:00

Beth's Double Delight

Babs' Pink Random Boxes

Two donated panels turned into donation quilts

A Quilts For Kids donation quilt

A delightful drunkard's path variation pieced by Michelle

...and the Attic Windows donation quilt our monthly group made last time.

Sometimes I don't have much to say about what I'm quilting, but I always enjoy it. Thought I'd share. :)

February Blog Train

2010-01-31T17:51:00.003-06:00

I'm hoping for an early spring - so far the winter has been far wintrier than what we generally see around here, so my contribution to this month's Stuff To Scrap blogtrain is all about early signs of spring. You can pick up the other pieces of this really interesting train at the links below. Don't forget to leave some love behind as you stop at the various points. Everyone has put lots of thought and effort into giving you a beautiful kit absolutely FREE. :)

Click on the preview below to be taken to the download site for my portion of the February blogtrain.

Becky aka SAHM Scrapper
Night Light Scrapper
Digi-Scrapz by Christi
Scraps N Pieces
¡nyi + a digit·lis scrapbooking
Nibbles Skribbles
Little Red Scraps
jensenmotleycrewdesigns
JIC Creations
Scrapalicious Cereal
Just For Fun
Saphira's Scrapdesign
Lots of PrettyThings
Let Me Scrapbook!
Rainamoon Scraps
Adriana's Cafe
Quiltifications YOU ARE HERE
Always Be Neighbors Designs
Scrappin' Serenity
The Scrappy Kat
Craft With Me
Shel Belle Scraps
Tonisha's Playground
Where The Heart Is
Altered Sea
Kerry's Scraps
GB DESIGNS
This Little Missy
Seal Scraps
Samantha Scraps
Milly Dee Designs

eine kleine helles Nähen

2010-01-23T15:23:00.002-06:00

It isn't quilting really, but it did use up a bit of my stash. :) I just need to do something ELSE once in a while so I made one of these wallets. I've had the pattern so long I can't remember who made it. A cursory search of the internet ~~didn't yield anything. If any of you remember who made the original pattern let me know so I can apply proper credit.~~

FOUND IT! Lazy Girls Designs Wonder Wallet!

Seems like it was referred to as having a magic coin pocket. Yah, bad memory. The whole thing goes together in less than 30 minutes from fabric selection to adding credit cards and coin.

January Quiltathon Day 2

2010-01-17T09:30:00.002-06:00

09:24 Sunday

Woke up in my own time instead by the alarm (slept until 8, can you imagine?!), took way too long in a very steamy shower, fixed myself a big mug of strong black coffee and came straight up here to see how everyone is doing on their Quiltathon weekend. I really enjoy reading the reports everyone makes along the way.

This morning Terpsichore and I will be working on Beth's quilt and I'll post a picture in an hour or two.

FINAL EDIT Monday 21:00

You'd think I could get a simple picture to upload. It isn't even a spectacular picture. Just some leaves. Lots of leaves to quilt on this one. At any rate, here's the promised picture.

January Quiltathon Begins

2010-01-16T07:37:00.007-06:00

07:40 Saturday

YES! Everything is organized for the quiltathon this morning and I've started on my first project which is binding a donation quilt. From there I'll move on to getting a friend's quilt on Terpsichore and starting the quilting,

but I'll be moving back and forth as my attention span wears out between that and some piecing for two other charity quilts (only one is pictured).

If all goes well I'll be piecing the Hunter's Star quilt Beth and I worked up in EQ6 recently tomorrow.

Pour yourself a cuppa and get out your own quilting project and sew along with me! Check out the progress of other quiltathoners HERE.

I'll be back periodically with updates throughout the day.

12:10 pm

Finished the binding on my donation quilt!
A few friends are over helping me enjoy the saturday morning quilting. Babs is working on some snowball blocks, Beth is squaring up, and my mom is catching up on the latest quilting magazines.

I'll start working with Terpsichore on this quilt soon.

15:50

Attic window blocks are assembled but awaiting borders. It's time for me to go play in the greenhouse for a few minutes to rest my eyes and relax. Back soon with more quilting!

21:30 Saturday

I have made some progress on Beth's Double Delight, but nothing photo worthy as yet, so I'll just leave you with this composite picture of some of the things that are being happy in my greenhouse right now. Yes, that bottom right photo is of a bowl full of moss. Perhaps it grows everywhere in your part of the world, but around here greenhouses are about the only place it grows!

Terpsichore and I will be dancing through our Sunday and we'll check in with you right here from time to time with our progress.