Happy Thanksgiving!

It has been a slow week in the studio though I did manage to make a little something for a special someone who is turning 10 tomorrow!

Bitty Bag

 Above is the "Bitty Bag" (pattern by the same company as the Mondo Bag) made with Moda's new line of fabrics called Soho Chic. 

Charm and Mini-Charm packs.

 I wish I could afford to buy a few yards of each of the 40 fabrics in the line but alas I had to settle for Charm and Mini-Charm packs and yardage for lining. I love this new line from Moda.

Mondo Bag and Bitty Bag

I posted a picture of the Mondo bag a while back. Here are the two side by side so you could see the size difference. There is a mid-size bag pattern also.

Pumpkin Dessert, Pecan pie and Triple Berry Pie

My mother-in-law wanted to roast the turkey this year so I was put in charge of pies. There will be six of us for dinner so I made a Pecan pie, Chocolate Silk pie, Triple Berry pie and a Pennsylvania Dutch Sour Cream Apple pie plus a Pumpkin Dessert. Hmmmm. Overkill? We'll be eating pie for a week! And as you can tell from the Triple Berry Pie, I have an oven to clean.

Just in the oven!

Two of the things I love to do in life is quilt and make pie. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. You are treasured.

Saturday

The view from my front door.

It appears winter is trying to invade the valley so it is a good morning to get stuff done around the house.

There were a bunch of chicken/turkey bones in the freezer so I started the stock pot. I had some crimini mushrooms in the fridge so I made mushrooms in marinara for my breakfast.

Stock and breakfast

But most importantly...

Feather design

I'm in the studio quilting on Dave and Christy's quilt. I drew up a feather design to incorporate into their quilt. I don't do feathers very much but admire the feather work I see on other quilts, especially from two of my favorite local professional quilters, Selena Beckwith and Vicki Ibison. (One of the reasons I don't do very many feathers is because I'm not that good at them.) 

Sample of Salena's feather work. 

So inspiring!

Salena's award winning quilt.

So, as it has been said, "Practice makes perfect!" 
So I practice and maybe someday I will quilt like a pro! 

It has been a slow week in the studio but I  have been trying to be diligent because I have a lot of quilts to get quilted. I want to get a lot accomplished today because I'm hoping this quilt will be done by next weekend or at least ready for the binding.

Dave and Christy's quilt at the machine.

It is time to go to the studio, switch laundry loads around and get back to quilting. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Border Dilemma

Here is a quilt I've been working on for quite some time, well actually it has been sitting on the shelf for quite some time, and tonight it called out to me because it's feeling naked and really wants a final border. 

So I began "auditioning" my extremely limited stash of black and white fabrics and nothing seemed to work due to the strong visual elements already in place.

After much consideration, I decided to go with a simple pieced border, either black with thin white strips, (Yes, I know there is only one white strip in the photo, but in my head there are two!)

or white with thin black strips.





If you take a second look at the first picture, you can get the idea. I think I'm going with the white border with two thin black strips. I like the "floating" effect of the two black lines and believe it will make a nice frame for the central design. The top is currently 78" square so I'm making the final border 9" so the quilt will finish at 96" square. 

I'd really like a couple of days off from driving bus to work in the studio. I usually spend time in my studio after work but the time change really seems to be affecting me this week. It is bothering me to look outside at 5:30/6:00 p.m. and have it be dark.

Thanks for checking in folks!

Mondo Bag

My daughter Sophie was bored yesterday so I decided to take a break from quilting quilts and make this bag with her. The Mondo Bag, designed by M.P. 'Mattie' Rhoades, is made using printed interfacing by Quiltsmart. It is Mondo fun and easy to make. We started it yesterday and finished it tonight!

There are twenty-one different fabrics in this Mondo Bag...

and it's a Christmas present for a beloved teacher. We had a lot of fun making this project together.

Dahlia's

Strips of fabric becomes...

a Strata. 

 A Strata becomes...

 a series of wedges. The wedges become...

a circular design unit. 

This particular technique will yield two circular design units.

I was inspired by Dahlia's.

A close-up.

As of this writing, I have four more Strata to make then cut the wedges and sew everything back together again. It is a bit tedious but I was so excited to see the results I couldn't wait to get all the strata sewn. I'm really pleased with the results so far. I'll post as the quilts progress. I have a great background picked out for one of the circles if the fabric is still in the quilt shop!

Orange and Green

I made this log cabin quilt (above) for my friend Barb for Christmas last year. 

A few years ago, my quilt friend Carl showed me many quilts he had made using the Radiant Suns Templates by Doodle Press. Being inspired, I bought a set of templates for myself. After completing Barb's quilt, I took the leftover fabric and the templates that had been sitting in a drawer for a couple years and made this quilt. The top was completed sans borders months ago and has just been lying around. 

This quilt top is now finished and waiting to be quilted. Do you see a theme here? You guessed it. I have a lot of quilting to do!

Newest Art Quilt

Reconciliation (working title)

Here is the latest art quilt I've been working on. I finished the top last week. I'm thinking of entering it in Paducah but haven't decided yet. This quilt is also waiting to be quilted.

Blooming Nine Patch

The two halves are complete but not sewn together in the photo above.

The quilt is sewn together, ironed and folded and is now resting on the shelf waiting for me to get it quilted. (The owners are also waiting patiently for me to get it quilted.)

Back in the studio!

I'm back from my summer of driving shuttle buses in Glacier National Park and ready to work in the studio. And what better way to begin than by doing a commissioned quilt for my friend Sherry. 

A couple of hours in the fabric store resulted in these beautiful batiks.

 The fabric has been cut and is ready to sew. 

Strip sets have been made and are ready to cut for nine-patches.

The nine patches are done and the blocks are ready to sew together.

The first four rows are sewn together for the upper left corner of the quilt. (Notice the rows are sewn together on the diagonal so the blocks are all on point.)
Stay tuned for more progress pictures in the coming days. 

The pattern Sherry chose is from the book Tradition with a Twist by Blanche Young and her daughter Dalene Young Stone. I told myself that I was never going to make the same quilt twice. However this will be my third Blooming Nine-Patch quilt. I love this pattern for the effects one can achieve with color. I did change the pattern by adding an extra row of nine-patch blocks therefore using nine fabrics instead of eight as called for in the pattern.

Inspiration

I haven't posted anything in awhile. I have been busy quilting quilts for other people. I do want to share some inspiration with you though.

There is an art quilt here somewhere just waiting to get made.

The roses were at my friend Cynthia's house. There are truly stunning. Right light, right moment, I really enjoyed photographing them.

Quilt Progress

I just got back from The UPS Store. My entries for the 2013 AQS show are on their way to Paducah! I believe awards are going to be announced Tuesday, April 23. It would be nice to win a little prize but I consider it an honor just to have 2 quilts accepted in this years' AQS show.

Currently on my design wall is Dave and Christy's wedding quilt. (I think they've been married for five or six years already!) 

It has over 5300 pieces and is taking some time to sew together. The pattern is from Judy Martin's "Log Cabin Quilt Book", an excellent resource for Log Cabin Quilts.

Here are samples of the two main blocks. The four blocks on the top are complete. The six on the bottom were unfinished when this picture was taken.

Below you can see the pattern coming together. I have three rows completed with the fourth in progress. There is a pieced border to add yet as well.

This project has not been without challenges. I have to trim one set of the blocks for some reason and I sewed the sashing pieces together on a different machine than the blocks so the seam allowances were off just a bit. I have to go back and tweak 84 sashing pieces to fit the blocks. I'm not a perfect quilter after all. Even without having to correct mistakes, I've got a few quilt friends who let me know how imperfect I am!

Bold Vision

There is a nice article in our local paper about me this morning. Here is the link.

Daily Interlake


I thought I'd include in this post a photo of one of my hand-dyed fabrics. This is from a couple years ago. Seeing this really makes me want to dye some more fabric...Maybe during Spring Break!

Hand-dyed fabric

Paducah, Kentucky!

Way back in January, I prepared a couple of entry forms for the American Quilter's Society annual quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky. I have never entered this show before so I thought I'd give it chance. According to the entry rules, notifications were going to be sent out the first week of March.

Yesterday in the mail, I received two large manila envelopes (which were actually white, not manila)  from the American Quilter's Society. I was quite pleased with the size of the envelopes as rejection letters usually come in your standard business size. These being large white manila envelopes got me to thinking that I wasn't going to be despised and rejected (subtle Handel reference) by a jury of my peers.

But you never know until you read the fine print!

 As you can see by the fine print, (Thank the good Lord above)  I have two quilts accepted to the American Quilter's Society annual quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky.

So first things first, I had to make myself a celebratory Martini. You'll noticed that one of the accepted quilts serves as a nice background!

Unfortunately, as of this writing , I have no plans to go to Paducah to enjoy the show myself so I will just have to interrogate the quilts upon their return.

Now for the accepted entries:

Composition in Black and White 

And

Twist and Turns

I hope some of you will have the chance to see the quilt show in Paducah.

I love kickin' it with you!

At the beginning of February I was in Glacier Quilts getting some supplies when I happened upon these guys.

By Alexander Henry Fabrics

Consequently I brought these boys home and put them in this mess and forgot about them until last weekend.








I bought enough to make three pillowcases for some very lucky friends! Sweet Dreams.