The Tapestry Tree

Moving

2011-09-25T20:26:00.000-05:00

Well, a decision has been made and it is now official......after trying to maintain two blogs (and not succeeding), I have decided to combine them into one. About a year ago, two fellow quilters and myself opened an Etsy shop called Urban Spools. We had big plans, but life came along and while we had steady progress it wasn't earth shattering. It was also a little challenging trying to run an online shop with the three of us in different parts of the city. One of the gals had a baby last fall and the other is about to deliver her first child in a few weeks. So, Urban Spools is now just....me. The Etsy shop is still open and I plan to offer quilting services too. But, I am moving the blog to the Urban Spools blog and that is where you will find me from now on. If you follow this blog through and RSS feed, you will need to update your reader to the new address.

I hope to see you over there....it will be lonely with out all my bloggy friends. And it's no fun talking to myself. (even though I do it a lot!)

Playing

2011-05-19T22:47:00.001-05:00

I have been playing a lot on my new HandiQuilter. Have I mentioned that I love her???? All that room, there are no words....Here is just a bit of what I have been trying out.

I'm hooked, I tell you....HOOKED. I could sit and do this all day every day. So many patterns to try.

It is a very busy season at my day job and I am working long hours under high stress. I think I would need medication to cope if I weren't able to come home and cut fabric up and sew it back together and then stitch pretty patterns on top of it. It truly is like therapy. Or Valium. Or a bottle of wine. But way better. No hangover. Wish I could say it was cheaper than therapy, but with the fabric addiction I think therapy might be cheaper. But not nearly as fun!

I have also been doing some major work on a new website and blog. There are going to be some changes coming up, but I'm not ready to reveal them yet...stay tuned.

I have been invited to do a Modern Quilting demonstration at CityArts on Saturday, May 28th at Fair Park! I am so excited and so honored. The festival goes on all weekend and has over 200 artists displaying their work. Check it out here:

A Road Trip

2011-05-05T21:45:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, G and decided to take a little road trip. The Quilt Mercantile was having a "book signing" party because they were featured in the Quilt Sampler Spring/Summer Issue. We decided to drive out for the celebration. They are located in Celeste, TX and they are the lovely shop that I purchased my HQ Sweet Sixteen from. I was able to pick up a copy of the magazine before it hits the shelves and Vickey and Jennifer even signed my copy! And,they carry Finca Perle Cotton! My favorite! I had to stock up on a few skeins.

G asked me to drive so he could get some work done and as we are driving along, I look over and see this:

Yep, he's got his iPad sitting on top of his laptop! and I think his cell phone is probably in the other hand! I guess you can never have too many Apple devices in use at one time......I don't want to hear a word about my sewing machines....

We had such a fun day exploring little towns in east Texas. (This is the only state I have ever lived that divides itself into quadrants...when you meet someone here they tell you which quadrant of the state they are from. You just don't get that in other states...I'm just sayin') I had thrown a couple of my finished quilts in the car so I could get some good shots of them while we were out and about. G. took all of the photos, and he is amazing with his camera!

A Class, A Finish and a Little Something Different

2011-05-03T22:34:00.000-05:00

I have been gone awhile, but I have been quite busy creating. What have I been working on, you ask? Well, a lot of things! I have a dear friend whose brother was diagnosed with cancer (he's very young and they have two children, last year his wife battled breast cancer!) So, I put a call for blocks out to my Modern Quilt Guild members and they were all so generous with their time and stash! In a very short time, I had more than enough blocks to create the quilt! (Thanks Dallas Modern Quilt Guild!) I quilted it on my new HQ Sweet Sixteen! I love that machine!!!!

A couple of months ago, G bought something for himself and now it has become a little obsession.....It is a 1957 Lambretta Scooter! It is SO cute. Her name is Lola and you can take a look at her here. So, then he buys a tool kit so he can keep her all tuned up. But, he doesn't like the bag the tools came in. He asked if I could help him out and I cannot say no to the man. So, I came up with this little number

He's really happy with it and I had a blast designing it.

I'm teaching a new class at Bernina of Dallas next Monday evening. It is this pincushion from Sew Take a Hike. I am so excited to be teaching this class. I had so much fun making mine and when I took it to Bernina for show and tell, they loved it too. I contacted Penny about the possibility of teaching it as a class and she was great to work with. I can't wait to see how everyone's turns out!

Sweet Sixteen

2011-03-23T22:20:00.001-05:00

I went to the Quilters Guild of Dallas annual show about ten days ago. I went with a group of friends from the DMQG. We picked up Melanie who had come over from Fort Worth on the TRE line and headed off to Mama's Daughters Diner for breakfast....I had eggs over easy, biscuits and gravy and grits....YUM! I mean really, YUM!!! It was so good, but I didn't get hungry again until 3:00 that afternoon! We saw lots of goodies at the show and I picked up a few fat quarters and another market basket. I have three of these baskets now and I really adore them. They are so versatile and I am always finding a another use for them. I like that by buying them, I am helping a woman in Ghana be self sufficient and independent. I saw some quilts that really got my creative ideas flowing. They were not my color choices, but I loved the design or sometimes the concept of a design.

I love the graphic feel of this quilt.

And this one is just stunning! All those triangles!

But, the most exciting thing that happened for me at the show was I got one of these! And it arrived at my house today. O.M.G.

I have been researching this little baby for months now. I absolutely love my Bernina (Stella) and her BSR, but her "throat space" always leaves me frustrated. So, I started looking at options. I knew I did not want a long arm machine. I don't have the space for one and I have spent the last ten years doing free-motion on my domestic machine. What that means is that I have totally trained my brain to move the quilt in order to draw quilting designs on it. I don't think my brain could make a switch at this stage to moving the machine over the quilt to create the designs. Plus, I really like sitting down to do my quilting. So, I read and read and watched videos and joined Yahoo groups and after all of that research, I had not seen any negative reviews of this little baby. Handi Quilter had a great "show special" going on, so I pulled the trigger. I took G back to the show with me on Sunday and he liked her almost as much as I did. (I cannot tell you how lucky and blessed I feel to have a husband that supports me so fully in my craft!) Here she is in all her glory sitting in my studio.

Truth be told, I love quilting the quilts more than any other part of the process. I enjoy the other steps, selecting the fabric, selecting a design, cutting (maybe not so much) and piecing. But, I adore the actual quilting process. It is soothing and relaxing to me. I feel I am truly creating something at that stage. I got her all set up in the sewing studio and played a little while this evening, but I can't wait to actually get started quilting something!

Happy, Happy, Happy over here at the Kitto home.

Workshop in Progress - 3/9

2011-03-09T08:32:00.000-06:00

I went on retreat a couple of weeks ago with seven of my closest friends. And it was....amazing, awesome, productive, refreshing, renewing and so much more. I grew up as a bit of a tomboy and as a result had always had very few women friends. As a kid and young adult, I related to more traditionally male interests than female. I don't care a lot about makeup, fashion, jewelry, things like that. I love cars, power tools, sports. But somehow, over the last few years (coinciding with my quilting interest....)I began to develop friendships with women. Amazing women, caring women, funny (okay hilarious) women. And it's a wonderful thing. The four days I spent with these seven women were just what I needed. I laughed until I was crying several times over the long weekend. And I got a lot of sewing done. A lot! We stayed at a very cute little place we have gone to several times now. It's called The 1890's House and it's very close to DFW, making it a perfect getaway. Everything you might need is very close by, but yet you feel as if you are way out in the country.

I spent most of the weekend working on my Mariners Compass Quilt. Its a Kaffe Fasset quilt from his book Museum Quilts. The quilt went from this stage to this:

It's already huge and I still need to put one more border on it. All in all, I think I got a lot done in four days. I posted about this quilt a few weeks ago on the Workshop in Progress and was debating whether or not to try and quilt it myself. Well, I'm about 99% sure that I am going to quilt it here on my Bernina. I have put so much work into this, that I just want to see it through to the end and I want it to be all my work. I have some ideas in my head about a pattern to quilt it with, but am very undecided on that aspect of it right now. Thoughts? It's pretty busy, so I think the quilting will be secondary and won't really need anything very elaborate.

Workshop in Progress -2/16

2011-02-16T14:34:00.000-06:00

I'm sad to say I missed a couple of Workshop's in Progress. I didn't mean to, I just got so busy that I didn't have time to post. And I was actually working on some things. I do have a question this week, though. I have been hand quilting my Nicey Jane Quilt and I love the way it's coming along. (wish I could be working on it, but see yesterday's post for why I can't). I outlined each pinwheel 1/4" from the edge with Pearl Cotton #8

and then I came back in to each square and did a series of four circles, each 1" larger than the previous.

My question is this: What should I do in the borders? I'm thinking of doing a fan or maybe some feathers. But I'm just not sure. I'm totally open to suggestions. This border is four inches wide and I had cut the strips too short and had to come up with that funny little wedge in the corner since I didn't have enough of the blue fabric to cut new borders. It doesn't show up too much in this picture.

So, what would you guys do?

Too Much

2011-02-15T22:43:00.000-06:00

Well, I admit it...I can occasionally become obsessed with things. And I've done it recently with my Nicey Jane Quilt I told you about here. I have had the top layered up for awhile, but became obsessed with that crewel pillow I bought on Ebay. A few weeks ago, I got the quilt back out and started hand quilting it with Pearl Cotton #8 in white. It's fun to do and I had forgotten how much I enjoy hand quilting. It gives me a project to work on while G and I watch TV at night. But....I think I may have gone overboard, cause this is what my finger looks like right now.

See how red and swollen that knuckle is? The finger won't even bend very far. It's been like that for days and I still keep coming home and quilting every night. What is wrong with me? I have decided to let the finger rest for a few days (sob) and see if it gets better. I'm thinking I can still work on my hexagon project while I waiting, right?

G and I had a quiet Valentines day at home. I picked up a wonderful salad with fresh grilled flank steak on the way home and we watched the latest Masterpiece Theater. It was really good. It's called Any Human Heart. We just finished watching the last Masterpiece Theater series; Downton Abbey. Also really good and they say they are in production for a second season of that one. It was so beautifully shot, gorgeous scenery, beautiful costumes. And then this is what I made for desert. Tahitian Vanilla Bean Gelato with my homemade hot fudge sauce and chopped walnuts. YUM!

Workshop in Progress - 2/2

2011-02-02T21:33:00.000-06:00

Okay, week two of the commitment and here I am posting again! I am SO impressed with myself....well, we will see how I am doing three months from now! I started the next border on the quilt I posted last week. This border has curved seams and when I first started on the quilt a couple of years ago, I thought I would hand piece this one because of the curved seams. But, I found these cool templates. Then I treated myself to that rotary cutting mat that spins. I waited for the 50% off sale at JoAnn's and bought it then. I LOVE it. It really makes the job easy when you are cutting all the way around a template. Usually, I just try and contort my arms around the whole thing and then I end up with the piece way out of kilter.

So, check out my first attempt at this tiny curved seam....

I only have to make 109 more of these for Border No 5 in this quilt. I don't really have a question for this week's workshop, just posting progress on a quilt I started on five years ago!

I also signed up for the Create! A Project a Day that Scrap Studio is hosting. She issued a challenge to do something creative every day in February. I signed up because I thought it might "unblock" me. I certainly could use a jumpstart these days. So, on Day 1 I sewed up the completed crewel into a pillow. I didn't have the correct sized pillow insert but I wanted to shoot a pic for the blog so I put the next size down into it.

As soon as the ice melts, I'll run out and get a bigger pillow form.

A little crewel

2011-01-31T21:19:00.000-06:00

Sometime last year I was over at some quilter friend's hanging out and she was working on this beautiful crewel pillow. When I questioned her about it, she told me she got it off of Ebay and that it was from the 70's. Guess what I did the minute I got home? Yep, did an Ebay search and bought myself a couple of crewel pillow kits! I love these older kits from the 60's & 70's. And I really am amazed at the quality of materials in them. Unfortunately, that is not the case with most kits you find today. The linen on this pillow kit is thick and soft and a nice weave. The yarn is pure wool and the zipper has a heavy cotton twill tape and metal teeth! It came with some lovely velvet piping for the edge of the pillow. I gave you all a brief glimpse of this kit in this post. I had only done a few of the flowers on the pillow top. Here is what it looks like now

I love how it came out! I can't wait to see this pillow on my sofa. I hope to be able to get it finished this week. The colors make me feel all happy inside.

And considering that we are supposed to drop to 25 degrees over the next 24 hours and have ice on the roads tomorrow, I think this pillow will really brighten up the winter days. Now, on to the next project......

Workshop In Progress - 1/26

2011-01-26T18:00:00.000-06:00

I signed up for the Workshop in Progress over at Naptime Quilter's blog. I did this a couple of weeks ago in an effort to spur myself back into blogging. And then, I didn't post anything the past two weeks! Typical me....what can I say? I have put this on my list of things to work on for 2011. Follow through, doing what you say you will do. So, I am throwing it out there to you all. Now, you know a deep dark secret about me. I start a lot of things and don't finish them. I sign up for stuff and then don't do it. Eck, I don't like that about myself. So, I'm going to think long and hard before I sign up for stuff or say yes to a request for my time. And when I do sign up or say yes, I'm going to do it.

So even though I missed the first couple of weeks, I'm jumping in now to Workshop in Progress Wednesdays. This is a project I started almost two years ago. It was a kit I bought at the Houston International Quilt Show in 2005! It's on my list of quilts to complete this year. G. absolutely loves this quilt and I am going to finish it this year and put it on our bed.

It's a medallion quilt that starts with a center block and then borders are added around and around. It will be an extremely large quilt when it's done. And it is extremely detailed! That last border took hours and hours. First, cutting all of those pieces and then they are sewn together using y-seams. Very tedious....
The center was paper pieced.

There are three more borders and then I have to decide how I'm going to quilt it. And if I will attempt to quilt it myself or send it off to a long arm quilter. I have always thought that if I bothered to piece a top, I needed to quilt it myself or else it wasn't truly my quilt. But, queen sized quilts are quite challenging to quilt on a domestic sewing machine. What do you guys think?

M.

Unplanned Break

2011-01-23T23:54:00.001-06:00

Without really meaning to, I seem to have taken an almost 6 week break from blogging. Not sure what happened, life I guess.....I sort of lost my creative vibe for several weeks and with it went any desire to blog. Go figure. Tonight, I was hand quilting the Nicey Jane quilt and watching Julie & Julia and G asked me what my challenge was going to be for this year. And a few of you have written asking what happened to me. So, here I am, back in the saddle again. I've actually been thinking quite a bit about what I wanted to set as goals for this year. Still haven't come to a concrete decision yet, but I'm working on it. I'll be posting about that soon.

For now, I thought I'd tell you a little more about my New York trip. It truly was such a magical trip. G & I had an absolute blast the entire trip. So, where did I leave off? Oh yeah, the World Trade Center site. From there, we headed back into Soho. We found ourselves at Purl Soho (okay, I planned to whole thing, no WAY was I going to be in NY and not go to Purl Soho.) Can you tell how excited I was?

I bought a cool little coin purse frame and G bought me that gorgeous stack of Liberty of London that Purl put together for the Color Wheel Quilt. I swear, I think that has to be my next project. After I soaked up all of PS, it was off to Shoegasm. (Best name for a shoe store I ever hear of!!!!)

Those adorable little boots on my feet? Got them at Shoegasm! We another fantastic meal, this time at Asia De Cuba. The food was amazing and it was such a cool space. If you are in New York, I highly recommend this place. We started off with a crispy duck appetiser and for the entree we had a seared ahi tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes. YUM! I was so excited about the food, I forgot to get a pic of our plate, but it was gorgeous.

And that was the end of day two of my Christmas in New York trip. I'll wrap up the trip next post.

Can I just say, it's really good to be back in blogland. I missed you guys!

M.

Magical

2010-12-19T19:01:00.001-06:00

I'm sitting on a plane on the way back from New York. They now have planes with Wi-Fi right on board....HOW COOL IS THAT??? My fantastic, wonderful, too-good-to-be-true husband took me to New York so I could see what she looks like all dressed up for Christmas. He needed to visit a property for business and took me along for the ride. It was truly a magical sight. We arrived Thursday afternoon and after depositing the bags at the hotel, we headed off to Rockefeller Center to see the tree. It was gorgeous! I don't have photos of it, (they are on G's phone, I'll try to post those later). We watched the skaters, went in a GIANT Lego store, saw where the Today Show is broadcast and then headed off to a wonderful Italian meal at Il Vagabondo. All I have to say is..... Yum! I had a chicken dish in a white wine butter sauce with sautéed spinach and G had Osso Bucco. It is the tiniest little restaurant with a Bocce Ball dirt court right down the middle of the place. The crowning glory of the meal was the Bocce Ball desert! O.M.G. Chocolate and vanilla gelato around a cherry and nuts, formed into a ball and then the whole thing dipped in dark chocolate. I want another one right now! If you are in New York, I would highly recommend checking this little place out.

The next morning it was off to the subway so we could go see Wall Street. Riding the subway is surprisingly easy and the people watching is fantastic!

It was really, really cold! I mean really cold! We walked down to the NY Stock Exchange and G. took some awesome pictures. (By the way, all of the pics in this post were taken by G.)

Next stop was Battery Park and after that we debated whether or not to ride the ferry out to see The Statue of Liberty. We finally decided to wait since it was so bitterly cold and the tickets to go inside her were sold out. Next trip....

This sculpture was in Battery Park. It used to be at the World Trade Center and was damaged in the explosion. It's been moved to the park and in front of the statue is an "eternal flame" as a tribute to all who lost their lives that day. They moved the statue and lit the flame on the one year anniversary of the attack. It's really hard to believe that it has been ten years since 9/11.

We went by to see "Ground Zero" and it's a buzz of activity these days. There were some pretty cool drawings of what they plan to do. G made the comment that it felt to him as if they were saying, "we will never forget what happened here, but it's time to stop being sad and show that we are moving on to new and exciting things". He had been before, not long after it happened and told me it was a somber and eerie sight. I had been to the city one other time and the towers were still there. I could not help but notice the huge amount of empty space in the skyline since the last time I was there. It was quite odd.

Well, there is much more to tell. But lest I bore you with too long a post, I'll follow in a day or so with more of the adventure. I SO enjoyed myself and NY in the winter is amazing. But, I have to say it will be very good to be back home and to be in my own bed tonight. And to see and hug Rex the Wonderdog and Max the kitty!

Drawing a Blank

2010-12-15T21:09:00.000-06:00

I sat down at my computer several times over the last few days to write a new blog post and every time, I came up blank on what to say. It's kind of like when you have been exercising consistently and then you stop....and can't find it in you to get started again. That happened to me with my blogging. I was cooking along fairly consistently and then I missed about 10 days and then I couldn't get started again. I just felt like I had nothing to say. Two weeks ago, I woke up with vertigo and had to spend three days in bed. The vertigo is gone, but I still am not feeling 100%. Between that and trying to get ready for the holidays, I have had little time at my sewing machine and you have heard me whine about that! I am almost ready for Christmas (a bit more shopping to do and probably a marathon wrapping day). The house is decorated (as much as it's going to be this year) and it's been relatively cold here this week so I'm finally in the Holiday Spirit. And I finally felt like I had something to write about.

The officers of DMQG had a little get together last weekend and we all brought one handmade gift. The challenge was to try and devote an hour or less to this creation. I think I went a little over, but I sure had fun making this little mug rug, or potholder, or mini quilt. I guess it could be used for just about anything. I neglected to photograph the finished product, but here's a shot of it in progress. I stipple quilted it and bound it in green. We had a really great time and I ended up with the cutest tomato pincushion made by Lisa.

And I got my Winter Wonderland Quilt back from The Sometimes Crafter! She did an amazing job and I took it to the DMQG meeting to show it off. It's hanging in my house right now! So cute. I am so happy with the results on this quilt. It was a TON of work, but loads of fun.

I am really happy that I sent this one out to be quilted. It's fairly large to quilt on my Bernina and Christina did such a creative job with the quilting. I'm getting more confident in my free motion quilting, but I could never have done this good a job. I'll post more closeups on my Flickr page once I take some more shots. I need to take it outside and get some really good shots with decent light so you can see the awesome quilting.

Off to wrap some gifts so I can have something under the tree.....

Gratitude

2010-11-28T20:33:00.000-06:00

I'm filled up with it....gratitude that is. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I had five days off work, I spent time with family at my cousins house in Oklahoma, I sewed a LOT, I relaxed. Ahh......what an amazing life I have. I am a very lucky woman with many blessings. I have a husband who loves me dearly, a home I love, family close by, loads of wonderful friends and time to sew. What more could a girl ask for?

On Thanksgiving Day, I got to see my 94 year old grandmother and her younger sister. They are such fun women and a joy to be around. Their mother lived to be 103. I come from a family of women that live long, healthy lives. My great grandmother died in her sleep at 103 and was still incredibly alert.

My son drove down for the day and it was good to see him and spend time with him.

And, on top of all of these blessings, I won a giveaway from Daisy Janie. I won Giveaway #5! I won these two eight foot panels. What shall I make with these? The fabric has a wonderful hand to it. It is from her Geo Grand line and I won the Ogee and Caravan panels. The colors are fabulous!

What a box of loveliness! It was a happy mail day on Saturday.

Thanks to all of you who show up here to read my blog and leave your much appreciated comments. It's been almost a year since I started blogging and I am continually amazed at the worlds it has opened up in my life.

You complete me

2010-11-23T18:25:00.000-06:00

I have been in a mode of finishing up loose ends lately. I have just not felt "right" about starting new projects with so many lonely little WIP looking down on me from the shelves of my studio. It has felt very cathartic to be wrapping up all the little loose ends. Don't get me wrong, I have a TON of new projects in my head that I am dying to dive into! And all those new lines of fabric about to come out in a month or so.....DON'T get me started! (Like Central Park, Parisville, Sherbet Pips, Shades of Grey, to name a few!) So, I thought I would take the next few weeks to complete a few WIP's. I was really tired of my normal puzzle piece type of stippling, so I used a completed baby quilt top that I finished um......7 years ago (gulp)and this is what I came up with:

It was initially for a charity quilt drive for a guild I used to belong too. Their requirements were polyester batting (yuk, but it is safer for kids?) Anyway that is why it is such a poofy look, but I kind of like the quilting design. I just love the way my new machine does free motion. No pulling of the stitches on the back! Yeah! This quilt is on the machine right now and about 1/3 finished.

I'm liking this design as well. It's really fun to just start playing. I find free motion quilting very soothing. Very. Soothing....

It's funny, my tasted have changed dramatically over the last couple of years, but I still am really having fun working on these old projects. I am totally excited about the Winter Wonderland Quilt I blogged about here. After much debate in my head, I decided to have that one professionally quilted. It's a pretty good size and it took me over a year to do all of the redwork. I did not want to take a chance that I wouldn't be happy with the quilting I did on it. So, I sent it on over to Christina to work her magic on it. I am excited beyond words to get it back and see what's she's done with it. She gave us all a little preview of it yesterday. It looks awesome! And I felt a little famous having my quilt on her blog!

As a little tease, there will be one new quilt coming in the next couple of weeks that is a new pattern that my business partner Lisa designed. Remember this lovely stack of fabrics I purchased at the Trinity Valley Quilt Show? Well, I'm going to use it to sew up Lisa's pattern. She sketched it out and I used Electric Quilt to make it into a working pattern. I hope to start work on that over this long Thanksgiving weekend. My bosses decided to close the office tomorrow so I have five whole days off work! We will be with family in Oklahoma on Thursday, but otherwise, I hope to be at my machine. How about you? What are your plans for this long holiday weekend?

Problem Solved

2010-11-14T20:39:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week I was telling you about the Nicey Jane quilt I worked on at the retreat. I wanted so badly to have the top completed when I left the retreat and in my singleminded-rush to get it finished at the last minute I cut the borders about 6 inches too short. And I did not have any more fabric to cut new ones. So, after I got home and unloaded everything from the retreat, I laid it out to assess the damage and find a solution. I love to solve a problem. As far back as I can remember, I view them as a puzzle and always believe there is a solution in there somewhere. Don't you just love that feeling when you figure something out that's been nagging at the back of your mind. Okay, I digress....this wasn't nagging at the back of my mind, it was screaming at me in the face. I waited so long to find the perfect project for the Nicey Jane fabric. I love every piece of this fabric. I don't often like the entire line of any fabric, but this one is an exception. It's evokes a happy, carefree feeling every time I look at it. So, I was quite distressed when I messed up the borders. Here's what I was left with as my problem to solve:

See, too short! And I SO wanted to miter the border on this one. I am planning a scalloped edge for this border and I thought using a miter instead of a "log cabin" type border would look so much better. And, with the way I cut these borders, I didn't even have room to do the log cabin type. So, I sat and thought and looked at it and walked away and came back and looked at it again......

Voila! Problem solved! And I think I like it just as much as a mitered border. I went ahead and serged the edges of this since I am planning on hand quilting this one. The fabric was already starting to fray pretty badly, especially with all of the messing around with it trying to fix the borders. Then, I pinned the whole thing to my bedroom floor and sat down to baste it. Since I am going to hand quilt, I wanted to thread baste instead of pin basting, and I thought "no big deal, can't take that much longer than pin basting, right?" WRONG! It took a total of 4 hours to get this sucker thread basted. It felt like I should have it quilted in that amount of time! And don't even get me started on how sore my butt is from crawling around on all fours for that amount of time. I cannot wait to see this one complete! I am SO excited!!!

I also finally finished my October bee block on the retreat and got it in the mail this week. I came home from retreat with a great case of bronchitis, so it's been a slow quilting week at Tapestry Tree! The NKOTB Bee is talking the month of November off and then it's my month. I am still a tad bit undecided about what I'm going to send out.....better decide soon and get the fabric cut and packaged up!

Retreat

2010-11-07T21:19:00.000-06:00

I just spent four whole days on retreat and it was awesome! The DMQG hosted their first annual retreat at the Compass Centre. If you haven't been there, it's really a great retreat center. Melissa is an amazing host that has thought of everything. The meals were great (not to mention it was so nice to just sit and sew and have no meals to worry about or dishes to wash), the beds were comfortable, the sewing area fully equipped and a shop right on site! It is down in Mt. Calm (just east of West as a friend of mine delights in saying!) And look what sits right out front:

He looks like he is saying...."What??" or maybe "Hey, what was that?" I love him and wish he sat in my front yard! The weather was perfect all weekend, but I never poked my nose outside! I sewed and sewed and sewed some more. I worked on a quilt that was a kit I bought over five years ago. And I spent almost a full day on this little item:

Long story, but this was a little kit that I also bought about five years ago had never taken out of the package. I pulled it out to bring on this retreat and worked most of Thursday evening on the little log cabins. But, they were not these little log cabins. The fabric in the kit was awful! It was some thirty repros, which I usually adore, but these were terrible choices. They were ugly, but even worse, they were all medium value and the wrong scale for such little pieces. But still, I pushed on making each of the four miniature log cabins. When I was finished, they didn't even look like log cabins! I just couldn't bring myself to spend any more time on them, but now I was obsessed with completing this kit! I have a challenge to win! Like any good retreater (word?), I had packed plenty of fabric to take with me. So, I used a little tiny "baby" charm pack of It's a Hoot. I just love how this came out. It made me happy every time I looked over at it sitting there so cute on my sewing table.

Several months ago, I bought a fat quarter bundle of the entire line of Nicey Jane because I loved it so much. LOVED it. And then I spend all of those months trying to find the perfect project to use the fabric. Every time I would think I had found the ideal quilt, I just couldn't bring myself to cut into the fabrics. Ever do that? I was at a Saturday Sew with Lisa and she was hand quilting a quilt that I suddenly knew would be perfect done in Nicey Jane. It is an American Jane pattern called Popsicle Posies. It calls for three charm packs, so I pre-cut my charms before retreat. I laid out the blocks on the fabulous design wall on Friday night and they looked like this:

I worked on this quilt most of the day Saturday and it looked like this:

I love the way it's turning out! I am probably more excited about this quilt than any I have worked on in the last year. Today, I added borders and then it was time to pack up and go home. In my rush, I cut the borders too short and had to come up with a work around. More about that in the days to come.

As I sat there last night feeling a little sad that the weekend was almost over, I looked around the room at the groups of women clustered together chatting, sewing, sharing ideas and snacking on foods they normally don't allow themselves to eat, I was overwhelmed with gratitude at the new friends I have made over the last nine months or so. I love the sound of women's voices laughing, and sharing their passions. I got to know all of these women a little more over the last three days and let them know a little more about me. We shared ideas and inspiration, we cried on one another shoulders, we laughed til we cried. It's a wonderful thing......

Well, I did it!

2010-11-01T17:37:00.000-05:00

I attended my first Quilt Market! And it was SO cool to be there. I saw some amazing things, got great ideas was generally awe-inspired. But, my feet are tired! Wow! That's a really big show. I have been to the International Quilt Festival many times, but it has been several years since I went. I had forgotten how large that place is.

Look! I made a photo collage! Some scenes from Market. I was pretty proud that I figured out how to do this little collage. Okay, I can admit it to you guys.....Photoshop intimidates me. I always have to ask G how to do anything in it. So, today I sat down and worked on it until I figured it out. Yeah!

See that cute teapot/cup fabric up there? It's from the Echino booth. Isn't it cute?? And I really want to make that Amy Butler raincoat out of some laminated cotton. Here are a couple of other shots from Market. There were a lot of new lines that we are interested in adding to the shop.

I am busy the rest of this week packing projects for the quilt retreat! The Dallas Modern Quilt Guild is hosting their first annual retreat at the Compass Centre. It's going to be three whole days of sewing, sewing, sewing! I hope to bring a few WIP's and maybe one new project. I really want to bring all new projects, but I've got a challenge from G to get WIP's done!

Look where you're going

2010-10-29T21:28:00.000-05:00

I have been very busy quilting this week. I really love doing free motion quilting. I find it terribly relaxing. I finished up the Matchbox quilt and immediately moved on to a quilt that has been waiting patiently in the wings for (I'm so embarrassed to admit this) gulp....almost three years. I am embarrassed because when G and I first started dating, he was so amazed that I quilted and at the things I created. One day when I was out picking out fabric for a new project, he said he would like to give it a try in order to understand my passion a little better. So, he picked a pattern and the fabric and came home and went to work. I gave him a little guidance and instruction in rotary cutting and piecing, matching points, etc. Within two days he had a completed quilt top!

Pretty amazing, huh? (He's a pretty amazing guy and I'm lucky he picked me to be married to!) I think he did an outstanding job. He was not quite ready to tackle the quilting on this big boy, so I kept telling him I would be happy to do it. He got busy and designed the pattern of quilting he would like on it and bought a stencil for the blocks. He even bought me the John Flynn Frame and loaded up a cheater panel and quilted that himself! So, this week I finally started quilting it for him. I did not use the Flynn Frame he bought, it intimidates me. I have been doing free motion on my home machine for many years. And it is always hard to learn something new. I usually do plain old stippling, drop the feed dogs and meander away. So, when I tried to follow the stencil that G bought, I could not follow those chalk lines to save my life! I kept going all over the place. Everything was all wobbly.

Well, what I finally realized was that it's just like driving! You know how when you are driving, if you start looking at something by the side of the road your car just starts going right toward what you are looking at? Well, that was the secret! I just started looking a little bit ahead at the line where I wanted the needle to stitch on and voila! stayed right on the line every time! Brilliant!

This one looks much better, I think.

As I write this, I am sitting in my hotel room in Houston. Tomorrow is Quilt Market. I have never been before (never qualified to get in before this year, you have to be a retailer or in the industry) and I'm a bit nervous about what to expect. But, my business partner Lisa is going with me and it always feels better to go with someone you know! Hopefully, we will find lots of great fabric for the shop and some great ideas for kits and projects as well. I'll take lots of pictures and post our progress.

Back in the Saddle Again

2010-10-22T22:39:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned that I love my new machine? Well, she's not quite so new anymore but I love her more every day. And especially every time I free motion quilt (or straight line quilt, or piece a quilt......). The stitch regulator that came with my machine does such a beautiful job of keeping the stitch even on the front and the back. I heart it so much! And I really love doing free motion quilting. I find it so soothing and rhythmic. And I love to watch the layers of pieced fabric, batting and backing slowly become a quilt. So, here is the project I'm currently working on (which is one of my favorite ones so far)

I'm so excited to see this one complete. I'm hoping it can become a class at the Bernina store where I teach. I'm going to submit it for consideration, anyway. It's made from a pattern by Abbey Lane Quilts called Matchbox. The majority of the fabrics in this quilt are from "Breath of Avignon" by American Jane Patterns by Sandy Klop. It is such a happy quilt, I think. I tried a new product for this quilt called Heat Press Batting Together (odd name, I think) It is a fine mesh fusible product that is about two inches wide. What you do is lay your batting scraps together, butted right up to one another but not overlapping at all. Then, you press this product over the seam. It's super thin and light weight and once I had the quilt layered up, you couldn't even tell that I had used four different pieces of batting. Pretty cool! In order to make sure I had the seams completely smooth, I laid the whole thing out on the floor. Then, I didn't want to try and pick those pieces up and move them to the ironing board so I plugged the iron into a long extension cord and crawled around on the floor ironing the seams! Oh well, whatever works, right?

G was out of town for this past week and when he was packing last Sunday night, this is where Max ended up:

He sort of looks like he's saying "Um, you're not leaving without.....Me!" I kind of felt the same way. But, he's back home so I'm happy. When he has a trip planned I always think "yeah, I can sew, sew, sew" but then I miss him so bad! Then again, I really appreciate him all the more when he gets back home. All is well in my world tonight. Tomorrow I'm headed to a craft fair with a friend and then a baby shower for one of my business partners in the afternoon.

Bee Blocks and Busy-ness

2010-10-20T21:12:00.000-05:00

Oh my....I mailed my September block for the New Kid on the Block bee. Yep, it was really late. Yep, I'm not happy about that. I am trying to do way too many things right now and it's stressful, but I am having a blast! This block was a lot of fun. My assignment was to make a block that was 5" by 48". Yes, you read that right....5 x 48. We each got a color (YEAH! I got orange!) with instructions to do whatever we wanted within the size boundaries. She is going to put them all together with charcoal sashing strips. I cannot wait to see her finished quilt. You can see the progress on the Flickr group. I used EQ7 to work on my ideas. I started with this

which became this

and finally, the block looks like this,

I finished a quilt top last weekend and even have it layered up and ready to baste. I love this quilt so far. I am so excited to get this one quilted and show you the completed project. I really thought I would have it finished by now, I was so excited to start on it after I got it basted. Here are the strip sets for the sashing.

I have super busy this week listing items in the Etsy shop for Urban Spools. Well, at least at night after I get home from my full time job. I really, really want this to find a way to do what I really love full time. I keep thinking about how short life really is and I don't want to spend my days watching the clock so I can go home and do what I really love. I try very hard to focus on the fact that it's not a bad job, it's a pretty nice work environment and the people are very nice. I think I am closer now than I ever have to been. I believe when you have a passion, you should follow it. It took me many years of my life to really discover my passion. I think there are probably a lot of people that don't know what their passion is. I feel blessed to have discovered mine. So, I'm going to sign off and go get busy doing what I love! Are you doing what you love?

A Hint of Fall + An Announcement

2010-10-11T22:54:00.000-05:00

I love, love, love this time of year! We have cool mornings and bearable afternoons, and there is that promise of cooler days ahead. And turning leaves and family getting together for holidays. It's a great time of year. I had a booth at the Urban Street Bazaar along with Lisa. The weather was lovely (perfect, really) I was a little sad because it was the last one:(. But, in it's place is something equally as exciting! More about that later....

(photos courtesy of Vintage Modern Quilts) Not only did we have a lot of fun, we sold quite of bit of our wares. I sold a quilt! And Lisa sold 4! Isn't that the cutest chair in the entryway of the booth? Lisa upcycled that. And it was the official launch of a new business venture for me. I have two wonderful partners: Lisa and Amanda. Together, we have formed Urban Spools!!!! I know! Can you believe it?? This has been a dream of mine for over a decade. I met these two great women this past spring when we all got together to form the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild. It has been such an amazing journey and everything has fallen into place so quickly that it's hard for me to believe. Right now, we are starting small with an online store for fabric. What makes us different than all of the other online fabric stores you ask? Well, we are specializing in fabric with a modern twist for one thing. We will also have a strong focus on custom pre-cuts and we will be carrying quilt kits as well. Check out our cool logo banner that my fantastic husband got for us as a "business warming" gift!

Lisa designed our logo and I LOVE IT! It's so cute!!! The three of us are having so much fun with this. It's been challenging at times since we all have full time jobs and Amanda is expecting a new addition to her family next month, but it sure is an exciting adventure. We have more announcements coming in the very near future, so stay tuned.

And, I have been finding time to sew. There will be quilts coming up to discuss very soon as well. And....last but not least, we still need to name my new Bernina......ideas, anyone? I have a name I have been bouncing around in my head, but I want to see what you all have to say first...

What I'm up to

2010-09-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

About 5'2"....hahahhahahahha! Okay, it's late and I have been SO busy this week that I am getting a little goofy. It seems that things all end up in the same week so often, dontcha think? I think I have been running non stop since last weekend. I taught another class at Bernina of Dallas, (another one coming up next Saturday), spent last Sunday preparing for the Urban Street Bazaar with Lisa over at Vintage Modern Quilts. We have a booth at the Bazaar!!!! I'm so excited and I hope you will stop by and see us. It's going to be a beautiful weekend and there are over 60 vendors scheduled to participate.

I have spent the last two days attending a conference for my day job so I can get the continuing ed hours I need to keep my license. Wow! It's a very dry subject and anytime I have to sit still in one place, it just about kills me! I like to be moving around during my day, not sitting in the same chair for hours on end. I'm just sayin......and it's really bad timing cause I need to be busy getting ready for the bazaar.

Next weekend, I am teaching the Disappearing Nine Patch technique at Bernina of Dallas. If you want to brush up on your skills, or just come hang out with some quilty buddies, I hope you will call and sign up.

I sure do love that the weather has cooled off. I had had just about enough of that stinkin 90 degree, humid as all get out, make me want to hurt something weather! This weather reminds me of that joyous week I spent in San Francisco this summer. And speaking of, I thought I would share a few more images of that trip(since I have no new crafty pics to share with you...)

This is the base of the coolest statue I saw as I was walking through the city one day. Wouldn't that make a really cool quilting pattern? Kind of like pebble quilting....

Here is the rest of her, isn't she just amazing??

There will be more crafty posts coming soon, I do have a quilt or two in the works and hope to be posting progress on those after the bazaar is over this weekend.

Progress and a Class

2010-09-22T23:45:00.001-05:00

I have been busy working on the Match Box quilt this week. I actually got a great start on it at the Saturday Sew for the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild. If you are in the Dallas area, we would love to have you come join us some weekend. You can check the schedule for the next one here. So, here is what it looked like on Saturday:

I got quite a bit more done on it today and I hope to be able to show you a completed quilt top in the next few days.

Sunday I went to the Trinity Valley Quilt Show with some quilty friends from DMQG and we had the best day! It is so fun to hang out with women that share my interests and passions. It's such a nice feeling to know I am not the only one always designing a quilt in my head or dreaming about the next line of fabric coming out soon.....and look at my goodies from the show

It's a lovely stack of Kaffe Fasset Shot Cottons that I purchased from Cabbage Rose Quilting. They had a booth at the show, but they are located over in Fort Worth. Isn't that the most gorgeous stack you have ever seen? I am thinking of doing a quilt just using those fabrics, no prints. They are so soft and drapey, almost like a voile. The little gray stack are reproduction prints from the Civil War era, but I think they look very modern. I have been designing an orange and gray quilt in my head for awhile and slowly collecting the fabrics for it. These will add some nice texture to my current stash.

I have a very busy week ahead. I'm teaching a couple of classes at Bernina of Dallas this week. Saturday is part two of the "I Never Thought I'd be a Quilter" class and next Saturday I will be teaching the Disappearing Nine Patch class again. Back by popular demand! Okay, maybe not, but I like saying that phrase. I did have a couple of requests to offer it again and it felt really nice to know that people enjoyed it enough to tell their friends about it. Here's a sneak peak at that quilt.

If you aren't doing anything on Saturday, October 9th at 9:30, come join us for some quilty fun. We would love to see you!

New Projects

2010-09-18T22:49:00.001-05:00

I love starting new projects! It's so exciting! A fresh beginning, such endless possibilities, anticipation. I have been working on a couple of projects over the last couple of weeks. For the first one, I started with this:

My favorite is the bird fabric in the middle, it's Bird Seed by Alexander Henry. And I ended up with this:

It was way too dark to be trying to take this picture, but you get the general idea. I'll take better shots after I get it quilted. I know I should have gone ahead and done that step next, but I was so excited about this fabric I picked up a couple of weeks ago that I couldn't wait to start in on that project...do you ever do that?

This is fabric from several lines, but the bulk of it is from American Jane's Breath of Avignon. It is not my normal palette or style, but I just love this fabric. The pattern I am using calls for a layer cake, a charm pack and a jelly roll. The quilt shop I found this at did not have any of the precuts, so I calculated what I would need in yardage and cut my own. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, maybe a couple of hours...so now it looks like this:

I'll be posting more shots as I go, but I'm working on MatchBox by Abbey Lane Quilts. It's an adorable quilt that is sewing up pretty quickly, but I found a pretty big error in the pattern. It has you cut the strips 1/2" too big. When you look at the large number of strips in this quilt, that's a lot of fabric waste. I didn't figure this out until after I had done all of the cutting and started sewing the blocks. A little frustrating. I would think that a pattern designer would have someone test these patterns out before publishing? I do plan to write them and let them know. I read through the pattern twice to make sure I hadn't missed anything or miscalculated.....Oh well, it's going to be really cute and I have enough fabric to finish the quilt so no great harm. Stay tuned to see the completed quilt.

A bazillion things

2010-09-12T22:03:00.001-05:00

So, I took so long between posts that I am about to burst with things to write about. I am amazed at how therapeutic blogging is. It's been several days since I posted and I am feeling all pent up with things to say! I also have been really busy working on projects....the first one I want to tell you about is a quilt I just finished for a very dear friend. She moved away recently and I miss her dearly! This is the kind of friend who know all your deepest, darkest secrets (and loves you anyway). So, to tell her how very much I love her...I did the only thing I know how to do - I made her a quilt. It's not a total surprise, I wanted her to love it so I asked for her input on fabric selection. I think she has been anxiously waiting for a posting about her quilt, so.....S, this is for you!

This is the front of the quilt and this is the back; I can't decide which is my favorite. Sometimes I like the back better than the front!

As I was working on this quilt, I had the front of the quilt on the design wall and started to play around with the layout of the backing. This is what I noticed as I stepped back to see how the layout looked. I think I have a new quilt design in the making...

Today, I decided to start on another project I have had in my mind for awhile. I wanted a little more pizzaz in the dining room, so the chair started out like this:

Well, it was actually an intact chair but I forgot to take a picture before I tore it all apart. And now, it looks like this:

There were over 150 staples in the chair holding the old fabric on and by the time I pulled all of those out and stapled the new fabric back on, my fingers were very sore! So, I'm thinking about one chair every few days.....we should be done in a month. Okay, there are only four chairs so maybe in a couple of weeks I'll have the rest done.

I taught a beginning quilt class at Bernina of Dallas on Saturday and I have another class tomorrow night. I will be teaching School House Tunic from Sew Liberated. I have made this tunic twice now and I just love it. It's really easy to make and looks so cute. The possibilities are just endless for personalization. It looks great with leggings or over jeans. But above all, I just really love teaching. It doesn't matter what I'm teaching, it's the act of sharing knowledge and watching the excitement as the project comes together, that I love. I'm so happy to have found such a great shop that lets me do something I love so much. The gals at the Bernina store are so helpful and have a wealth of knowledge between them. And we all know how much I love my new machine! I am truly grateful to own such an amazing tool. I have been thinking lately that she really needs a name.....I'm thinking maybe we need to have a name Michelle's Bernina contest. With a prize for the winner? Hmm.....I'll come up with the specifics and post the rules in the next couple of days and we'll see if she can't end up with a name finally.

Tools of the Trade

2010-08-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

I have most of my sewing/crafting tools in a little white thingy with all of these divided compartments and the whole thing spins. I have it from back in the days when I sold kitchen tools at home parties. It's perfect for all of the tools of my trade. When I look over at the cutting table from my desk that's nearby, it makes me very happy to see all of those wonderful gadgets. As is so true with any job, the right tool can make everything a little easier. I have a small addiction to gadgets. I can't help myself, I just love them! Don't they all look so happy in their little spinning holder?

I have been busy lately working on a project that may become another class. I used an Amy Butler pattern, The Domestic Goddess Apron. There are three different aprons in this pattern and I decided to do the Pleated Bodice Full Apron. I had never used an Amy Butler pattern before and I was very impressed. The directions were super easy to understand, very clear and concise. I'm already planning to make the Half Apron from the same pattern.

There are several pleats in the skirt and the bodice of this apron and I needed to transfer the lines for the pleats from the pattern to the fabric so I could be sure they were evenly spaced and the proper size. So, I dug out my trusty Tracing Wheel. I have had this little tool since I began sewing a very long time ago. (as in almost 40 years ago!!!) What a handy, dandy tool. It still works like a charm and I even had the same package of tracing paper and it worked beautifully.

I don't even know if there are still TG&Y stores around. Are there? Is there one where you live? See my pretty little orange lines that show me right where each pleat should go? I love having the right tool for the job. This apron came out pretty cute. Those pleats are really slimming.

G was out of town this past week and couldn't take my picture when I got done. Rex the Wonder Dog refused to take it because he said he never can figure out the Canon camera, so I took myself up to the Bernina Store where I bought the pattern and fabric and Julie took my picture for me. I think she took a great picture.

I love being able to sew, really, really love it. I love the different things I can make, and the freedom it gives me. I love picking out the materials for a project and then following it through to a finished product. It is a valuable skill and I am grateful to my mother and grandmother for teaching me. If you haven't heard about it, head over to Handmade by Alissa and read about Action Kivu. It's an amazing organization that is teaching women in eastern Congo to sew. These women have to overcome mind blowing obstacles and this organization is giving them a skill set that will empower them to take control of their lives and to feed themselves and their children. It makes me very grateful to live in the country that I do and to have had the advantages that I do. I am so blessed....

Gratitude

2010-08-22T22:42:00.000-05:00

Last night I was getting ready to go to bed and as I washed my face, I thought "wow, my cheeks sure are rosy" and then I thought..."man! it's hot in here". So, I wondered out to the bedroom and asked G if he was hot (I know he's hot, but that wasn't the kind of hot I was thinking of). I took a gander at the thermostat and it was 85 degrees in the bedroom! So, at 11:45 on a Saturday night we were up in the attic investigating. Another 45 minutes later we came to the conclusion that the air conditioner was not working and there was not a damn thing we could do about it at 12:30 at night. I was very grateful for the ceiling fan and the two oscillating fans we own. It was a little warm, but we made it through the night. We were able to locate a repairman and by 1:30 this afternoon we had air conditioning again. It was not a fun 12 hours, but it made me think about all the people here in Texas that can't afford air conditioning and are having to endure this horrendous heat we're experiencing. I sometimes forget how very blessed I am and I certainly am guilty of taking all these conveniences for granted. This is an exceptionally hot August and I am so ready for it to be over.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had finished a pillow for a friend. I used this tutorial from Sew4Home to create this for her from fabric left over from the shower curtain I made for her a few months ago. I can post this picture now, since I gave her the pillow today. We met for breakfast and while I was extremely pleased to catch up with her, I was ever so grateful for the air conditioned restaurant! Here's a pic of the pillow (I know it's a bit blurry, but G took the photo for me right before I ran out of the house this morning.)

It was so fun to make. The back is a Bella Solid green with a covered button that matches the front. The fabric is Andalucia by Patty Young. It love how all the little birds form such a cute circle!

I have been very busy lately working on a fun crewel pillow kit that I purchased off eBay recently. I can occasionally be a little ADD in my crafting. It's funny though, I always come back to fabric. It truly is my first love. (in a crafty sort of love)

I can't wait to get it finished and on the sofa! The kit even came with a lovely green velvet piping and a real metal zipper with cotton twill tape! The pillow front is a nice heavy natural linen and the yarn is pure wool. The kits I buy today just don't have that same quality. Sigh.......

What are you working on? Are you finding fun ways to stay cool? I hope so...

A Productive Weekend

2010-08-09T22:46:00.001-05:00

Well, I just returned yesterday evening from a four day weekend at a quilt retreat with seven wonderful women! I have sore cheeks and amazing tight abs from all the laughing we did. There were many times during the four days that I had tears streaming down my face because I was laughing so hard. I am not sure there is a drug that can make you feel as good as you do after a good long belly laugh. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. It makes my muscles relax all over and I always end with a very deep satisfying sigh. I love the feeling and it seems as if it has been quite some time since I laughed that much and that often. That alone was worth the price of admission, not to mention I got a ton of sewing done. Funny thing though, my jeans were a little tighter this morning? Must have shrunk in the wash.....or maybe it was all of the amazing food we ate all weekend. Gina, one of the gals on the retreat, did all of the menu planning, shopping and cooking! We will be forever indebted to her. So will the Gap when I have to go buy new jeans! Okay, I'm only kidding, I don't think I gained that much.

I quilted a baby quilt, finished a pillow for a dear friend, and got the top and backing pieced for a quilt for another dear friend that recently moved away:(. I'll post pictures of those projects soon, but I'm waiting until I gift the items before posting those. In order to not be photo-less( is that a word?), I'm posting a couple of shots of some recent fabric acquisitions. The first is some fabric I picked up on that recent trip to San Francisco,

One is a feed sack reproduction by Darlene Zimmerman for Robert Kaufman. The other is also a Robert Kaufman print - Monaluna Mingle. I bought these at a very cool little shop called Urban Burp. It is great shop specializing in vintage fabrics. The owner, Electra Skilandat, was there that day and she was a joy to visit with. If you are ever in the city, stop by and say hi to her. Tell her I sent you!

These lovelies are my winnings from Quilt Home that I won for being their Blog of the Week awhile back.
Aren't they gorgeous? I can't wait to make these into something fun. Not sure yet what I'm going to make with them, but it will be something fun and it will be soon!

What are you all working on these "dog days of summer"? Cause I know you are all outside enjoying the 107 degree heat! Man, I don't like this weather, it just wilts me into a puddle. I am ever so grateful for air conditioning, aren't you?

Back to Real Life....why do I live here again?

2010-08-03T22:54:00.000-05:00

Every time I take a vacation, I spend the whole time there thinking "I could live here, lets get jobs and never go home". Well, this trip was no exception, in fact I think it was the most intense dose of "lets live here" ever! What a gorgeous city and so exciting!! The weather was absolutely perfect the entire week we were there. Sunny every day and about 60 degrees. And the food.....divine! I did not have a bad meal the entire time I was there.

This meal was from The Slanted Door and I think it might win the prize as the best meal of the week. The restaurant was really cool and modern, but we ate outside on the glassed in patio. You could see across the bay to Annabel Island and we watched the ferries coming into the harbor. I can't remember the cool name that my dish had, but G's dish was called Shaking Beef! YUM.

I had the best latte there at a little shop called Blue Bottle Coffee Company. And look how cute they made it!

I went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and had a great time looking around! They had an exhibit there called Calder to Warhol that was fantastic. And take a look at this display. It's all picture frames, but I see a quilt in there, do you? I don't know about having a big hump in the middle of my quilt, but I was definitely inspired.

And I see a quilt in this picture as well. It would take some definite planning, but I am sketching it out in my head already. This is actually a chair. They had a big round circle in the middle of the room all made up of different chairs, very cool.

There is much more to tell you about the trip, but I'll save the rest for another day. We got off the plane to 107 degrees at 9:00 at night and that's when I asked the question "why do I live here?" Of course, I ask that question every year in August and then in December I remember why I live here.

Escape

2010-07-29T12:55:00.000-05:00

So, I have been in San Francisco since Sunday and I think G is going to have a hard time getting me on the plane in four days. This is one of the most beautiful cities I have been in. And the weather....PLEASE! To all my friends sitting in the Texas heat, I do NOT envy you. It has not been over 70 degrees since I have been here. I am wearing sweaters in July!

G is in a class all day every day, so I am on my own to entertain myself. I have walked everywhere and this enables me to really take it all in. I did catch a ride on a city bus yesterday, but still managed to walk several miles (uphill)! But, this was my reward at the top of the hill

YUM!! It is "Chicago Thin" from Paxtis Chicago Pizza and OMG if you are ever in San Fran, you must give this place a try. The above photo is the lunch special. That's a Veggie Slice. It has a corn meal crust that is light and fluffy and very crispy on the bottom. It has artichoke hearts, red peppers, onions, olives, cheese and wonderful tomato sauce. The Greek Salad that came with was to die for as well. Last night we ate at the Cliff House and I had a delicious Fruitti De Marre. Mmmmm.....it was so yummy. It was filled with scallops, rock shrimp, mussels, clams, and crab meat. All in a wonderful broth with penne pasta. And sourdough bread that was so fresh and soft with a crusty outside. Good thing I am walking all those miles. The view from the table was breathtaking.

And the sunset, well I can't find words. This is G's photo (I know he is WAY better than I am at photography, but I'm learning!)

I've so much more to tell you about this trip, but that will come later. I must go head out for more adventures in this fantastic city. I have seen many sites that are inspiring more quilts. I'll tell you all about it in the next few days. (and show you!)

Gathering of Quilters

2010-07-20T22:47:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday was another "sew-in" for the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild. I joined in on the fun for the fourth or fifth time. I have trouble finding the words to describe how much fun this group of women has turned out to be. It had been a long dry spell since I had a group of friends that shared my ~~obsession~~ passion for all things fabric. Don't get me wrong, I have a wonderful "tribe" of women that enrich my life on a daily basis. But, they just can't relate to my craft. They tolerate it, they enjoy the fruits of it, but it's kind of like a foreign language to them. We have many other things we share and I am glad for that. The women I have met in the DMQG have filled a need. I hope you will consider joining us for the next Saturday Sew.

It is a fantastic facility, it just has everything we need. We generally order lunch in and just keep on sewing. There is much sharing of information, tips, ideas

I attended a friend's birthday party Saturday night and then got up and sewed again all day on Sunday. Now that's my kind of weekend! I finished up sample quilt for a class I'm teaching at Bernina of Dallas next month. (Pictures to be posted soon). Tomorrow I teach the quilted pillow class there. I'm very excited to be teaching at such a fantastic shop! They have a great set up, and what a great bunch of women that work there!

I also finished my July block for the New Kid on the Block Bee. This may be my favorite block yet for this bee. I am seriously considering making a quilt like this for myself. LOVE it!

She got the tutorial from The Sometimes Crafter. I cannot wait to see her completed quilt. She sent such fun fabrics it was a blast to work on. And the tutorial is super easy. I still haven't decided what block I will use when it's my month. So many choices, I'm having trouble choosing. Suggestions, anyone?

Photography Lesson

2010-07-16T23:05:00.000-05:00

I just got a lesson in photography from my uber talented husband. I'm so excited to think my photos might be a little more interesting on my blog! And I'm so lucky to be married to someone so willing to share his talent with me.

Woo! I just made it through the "busy season" at my office and I can't tell you how happy I am that it is over for another year. I had the day off today, which was a welcome relief after two weeks of long days and working seven days a week. I spent the day running some errands in preparation for a new adventure I'm getting ready to embark on! More on that later.....

I finished a new sample for the "I Never Thought I'd be a Quilter" class that I am going to be teaching next Wednesday at Bernina of Dallas. If you have ever thought you might like to learn to quilt, there's still a couple of spots in the class. This is a sneak peak of the pillow that I'll teach the students to make.

Like what I learned in my photography lesson? I think that I really like that focus in the foreground, out of focus in the background look. A lot more interesting than the straight on shot I usually do.

I also finished the other Disappearing Nine Patch baby quilt I started. So, another item complete on the challenge list. Yeah! Woo Hoo!

I just love that pattern. It's so fun to do, quick and easy and looks different every time. I have started another one that will be used as a sample at the Bernina Store for the class I will be teaching. I'm going to be working on it tomorrow at the Saturday Sew. It's being hosted by the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild, you have heard me talking about it before. I am really ready for a day at my sewing machine, surrounded by friends with similar interests, chatting about our lives. It is really amazing to me that I did not know any of these women six months ago and now I speak with them several times a week and hang out with them regularly. I love that quilters are like that.

Off to bed so I'm rested for the sewing, talking, eating tomorrow....hopefully, now that things are not so busy at work, I'll be blogging a little more often. I keep saying that, don't I? Well, if I keep talking about it, eventually it will happen.

Two More Down

2010-07-07T22:51:00.000-05:00

Well, almost two. I have finished the little boys quilt that I made using the Disappearing Nine Patch pattern. I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. And that pattern is my new favorite. I love the transformation that occurs when I make those two cuts and flip the quadrants around! And the finished quilt looks WAY more complicated than it is.

I backed it with the cutest black fabric with mulit-colored stars! And.....drumroll.......I already owned each and every piece of fabric I used in this. And you know what that means! It qualifies as a challenge completion! Yeah!

Would you love it if you were a little two year old boy?

The little girl quilt is almost done. Here it is in process....

Well, I have two pieces of fun news....First, I won the Quilt Home blog of the week giveaway! Can you BELIEVE it? They picked me? I get a $20 gift certificate to spend on their site. I love the selection they have and their customer service is stellar. You can check them out here. Second piece of news, I am going to be teaching several classes coming up at Bernina of Dallas. I am SO excited. I met with them yesterday and will be teaching a class called "I Never Thought I'd Be a Quilter", a Sew Cute Clothing-Tunic, and the Disappearing Nine Patch as a baby quilt. Check their site for the dates and class descriptions. If you haven't been there, the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild will be hosting their monthly meeting there tomorrow night. Hope to see you there if you are in the Dallas area. They have lots of fun classes covering all areas of sewing. Their website has the class schedules.

Sewing Satisfaction

2010-06-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

It feels like it has been a very productive weekend! And I was SO ready for some uninterrupted time at my machine. It's been a loonnnggg tough week. Ever feel like life is throwing a lot of fast balls at you at once? This has been one of those weeks....very busy at work, my kids are both going through tough times right now, it's HOT (too hot for June if you ask me!) Whew, I just feel "wrung out" as my grandma says. Like a wash rag, you know? So, Friday afternoon I told my husband that I had plans to sew all weekend. Cause I knew that some time at the sewing machine creating things would help the world make sense to me again. And just as I suspected, it worked. And I got a LOT done. Ready to face the world again, and ever so grateful for a kind and loving husband who supports me each and every day no matter what is going on in his life. Not sure how I got so lucky, but I'm taking it!

Friday night I came home and finished this block for my virtual quilt bee,

It's off in the mail to my bee partner tomorrow. I had to email and ask her for more fabric last week, because I got confused which fabric went where when I was cutting late one night and cut the last piece of pink fabric into two 3.5" squares....oops. She graciously sent me more and I finished it just in the nick of time.

Saturday morning, I headed off to the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild's Saturday Sew. I have been to several of these and have so much fun and always get a lot done. Friday night after finishing the bee block, I cut out the squares for the pink and yellow quilt in the picture below. Saturday, I got the blocks all sewn together and finished the quilt top this afternoon. Tonight, I got them both layered up for quilting. They are for a friend's grandchildren, I can't wait to give them to her.

And are you ready for this???? I had all of these fabrics in my stash, so they will qualify for the countdown on the challenge. Two more down, Yeah! (well, as soon as they are quilted and bound anyway). I also finished this tote (pattern by Anna Maria Horner called The Multi Tasker Tote)

The embroidery on the front is by Anna Maria too. She has a whole design disk of patterns and projects. Too cool! Not a bad weekend, if you ask me. Lots of time sewing, hanging out with friends, and realizing that life may have it's ups and downs, but there is good in every day.

Friday Night Sewing

2010-06-17T21:32:00.000-05:00

I am looking forward to the Friday Night Sew-In tomorrow night. I am trying to decide what I feel like working on. I have so many projects I want to be working on! The list is so long and I am paralyzed with indecision. Crippled by it. Do you ever get like that? I come up to my sewing room to work a little and end up sitting in the chair just looking at all the projects I have going at one time! Sometimes I even turn in little circles picking up one project, putting it down and grabbing another one. I'm so weird sometimes! So, tomorrow night I think I will start a whole new project.......I want to join in on the Crazy Mom Quilts Quilt-A-Long #5 so I think I will cut my fabrics for that and sew the strips for week #2. (yep, I'm a week behind already!) I think I'll use this lovely stack of Nicey Jane for the quilt. I just love the soft colors in this line of fabric. And doesn't it match my cool retro phone????

My other option would be to start a new project with these cool orange charms.....

My friend Lisa (over at Vintage Modern Quilts) gave these to me and I have been dying to sew something up with them. I have a few more orange and white fabrics to mix in with these, but I am still undecided on the pattern I want to use. Oh, well.....I guess I'll decide tomorrow night what to start on.

If you are interested in joining me on the virtual sew-in, head on over to Crafty Vegas Mom and sign up! It's going to be a lot of fun and she's doing a cool give away to boot. See you tomorrow night.

Creative Juices are Flowing

2010-06-10T22:52:00.000-05:00

I am getting so much inspiration and information from the eCourse I am taking over at Kelly Rae Roberts site. I have never done an eCourse before, but I have to say I'm really enjoying this. She has put together some amazing information on how to nurture a creative side to your life. There are some wonderful business tips in there as well. But the really amazing thing is the sense of community that is forming between all of the participants in the course. I am really in awe when I think about the people I have met since beginning to blog back in December. And it seems that everywhere I turn I meet more people with similar goals and interests. And they are all so friendly and so open to share knowledge and ideas. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside!

I signed up today for a Friday Night Sew In - its virtual! How cool is that? If you're interested in joining in on the fun, you can check it out here. It's next Friday (June 18).

Okay, I have stayed up WAY too late every night this week, so I am bound and determined to get to bed before midnight tonight. So, I'm signing off for now. Busy, very creative activities planned for the weekend, so more posting to follow soon. I'll leave you with my completed embroidery project....so fun and I think it's going to be very cute with a little cotton skirt for summer, what do you think? I think I'll make a skirt out of Nicey Jane-Picnic Bouquet..I picked the colors for the embroidery from a cut of that fabric.....

Summer

2010-06-08T23:01:00.001-05:00

I have been holding off posting because I didn't really have any new pictures to post about. I can get hung up on the idea that I need to have pictures of projects I am working in order to write on my blog. I think I sometimes forget that I started my blog for me. As a place to document the journey that is my life. And I love my life! It is the "busy" season at my office and we are working long hours and it is stressful and chaotic. We have a very short number of weeks to get a lot of work done. There are deadlines and missing a deadline can be extremely costly so everyone is worried and snippy and occasionally there are blow-ups. It is bearable to us all because it is short-lived and the rest of the year is a very slow and relaxed pace. Shorter hours, no chaos, no blow-ups. I have had jobs in the past that were like the summer is with this job, only all 365 days of the year. This is better than that.

Soon, before I can blink, it will be the end of summer and the craziness will be gone and I'll have much more time to sew and create again. That makes me happy. Don't get me wrong, I am finding (making) time to sew even in this busy time. I played more with my embroidery machine this past weekend. (Anna Maria Horner has some new machine embroidery designs available from Westminster Fabrics.) And helped a friend go "test drive" some sewing machines. She wants to learn to sew and this makes me very happy. And I gave a private sewing lesson on Sunday to a very new quilter. It was nice and very rewarding and I think we both had a lot of fun......

Here's a shot of one of the designs I did on a simple white t-shirt....

I want to leave you with a very "summery" pic of my granddaughter taken several years ago on the 4th of July. She had a new puppy and was giving him some lovin...she's 8 now and SO grown up!

Another project

2010-06-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

A quick post tonight, because I finished another project in the Spring to Finish Challenge over at Tallgrass Prairie Studio. I had listed three items in that challenge and was only able to complete two of them. I just finished the Schoolhouse Tunic by Sew Liberated. It was a lot of fun and it even FITS! I have to admit I'm a little surprised. I haven't sewn clothes for myself in many years (maybe 15 or 20). I have sewn clothes for kids a few times lately, but nothing for me. I am fairly short and us short girls don't pull off tunics over jeans very well, so I lengthened the tunic and made it into a little short dress. I have worn it twice since I finished it on Friday. Yeah!

My other project I finished for the challenge was the quilt for my friends wedding that I blogged about
here. I had also listed that I wanted to quilt a top that my husband had pieced. I didn't get to that project, but I did get another top pieced on the quilt retreat I recently took. Maybe I can still count that as a finished item.....and that quilt will definitely count towards the challenge that my husband issued earlier this year. You remember, the challenge that started with my blog? I hope to have that one quilted in the next couple of weeks and it will go on the completed list. Cooking along on those UFO's.......right now I'm off to do my homework for the eCourse I mentioned last night. Happy dreams, everyone.

Lessons

2010-05-31T23:16:00.000-05:00

I spent Sunday afternoon at a friends house teaching her to sew. She got a sewing machine for Christmas a couple of years ago and has played around with it a little. She wanted to make curtains for her guest room and she wants to make some throw pillows and whatnot for around the house. She had tried another teacher that she found online and it didn't work out well. The person that was teaching her before had never done piping, and seemed a little overwhelmed with the pattern my friend was using. Finally after a few lessons, they agreed it was best if they both moved on! So, off I went on Sunday totally looking forward to afternoon with her. She has three of the most adorable dogs, and they were a huge help. Here's McTavish being a little pouty because we wouldn't let him sew on the machine (okay, he really just wanted on Susan's lap)

We accomplished quite a bit, and she made me the most WONDERFUL goat cheese quiche with hash brown crust for lunch. YUM!

Alfie, well he just slept in the other room escaping the camera and Muttley got really bored with the whole process.

I got an email from her this afternoon that she had finished both panels today and had discovered another oops from the previous teacher. She had cut out the wrong pattern pieces for the valance so Susan has to head back to the store for more fabric.

It was such a fun afternoon and it was another sign that I am moving in a positive direction towards teaching. I find it extremely rewarding and exciting. I am scheduled to teach again at City Craft next Sunday, but we are waiting to see if the class fills. So far there are two people signed up and that won't be enough to justify the class. I really hope it fills. I'm sending positive vibes out and picturing it full. I really believe in that universal law of attraction.

Speaking of, I started a new eCourse yesterday. It's called Flying Lessons by Kelly Rae Roberts. We are two days into the course and I'm pretty impressed so far. It is a five week course and you can still sign up for it. It is geared toward starting a creative business and being successful. Kelly Rae has a very successful art business. I love her collages and paintings. A friend of mine had told me about her last year and she also was the one that told me about this eCourse. I was a little hesitant at first, but I'm really glad I signed up for it. This year has really been amazing so far. I started this blog right at the end of 2009 and began to journal about a more creative life. Many doors have opened up in a short time and most important of all, I have met some really amazing people in the last five months. People I would not have know about if I hadn't started blogging. I have learned a ton of new techniques and really spread my creative wings in my quilts since then as well. I think I have completed more projects in the last five months than I did in the last several years combined! Time to head off to bed, tomorrow it's back to the ol' nine to five......

Ahhhhh.......

2010-05-24T22:48:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling very relaxed and happy tonight. I went to the 1890's House in Cedar Hill this weekend with my fellow officers of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild. What an amazing group of women! We had an absolute blast. It always amazes me how many wonderful people I have met through quilting. The type of person that is drawn to quilting seems to have a big heart and a joy for life. I have found this to be true in almost every quilt guild or group I have belonged to. And I have been quilting for over 10 years, so I have meant a significant number of quilters over the years. This particular group of women have become dear friends in an amazingly short amount of time. We come from all walks of life and range in age from 26 to 51 and we just spent three straight days together talking non-stop, laughing til we cried, eating and sewing. None of us wanted to leave on Sunday. I got a lot done over the weekend too! I finished the May block for my virtual quilt bee New Kids on the Block. And I finished this quilt top. It was a kit I purchased several years ago and promptly put up on the shelf. I think it needs a border and then I just need to layer it up and quilt it! A very productive weekend.

I finished this quilt a couple of weeks ago and it has gone off to it's new home. The recipient seemed to be very happy with it. It was a wedding gift for a very dear friend. I had a lot of fun making this one. I love how the channel quilting turned out. I pieced the back with leftovers. Too fun! I think it's a very happy quilt, what do you think?

Note To Self.....

2010-05-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

Do NOT store your fusible batting in your Texas attic! I'm just saying......when you pull it out of the attic and try and remove it from the plastic bag it came in.....it's pretty much fused into that sausage roll it came in. And there will be no unrolling it into a nice flat queen sized batting. ....and you will have to madly rush to the store to buy another one so you can finish the quilt that you want to give to your friend by next Friday. So, the next time you stock up on batting because the store had them all 20% off....find room under the bed to store it in the nice air conditioned part of your house.....IF you live in a state where your attic becomes hotter than your self cleaning oven.

I know I should have taken photos of the whole comical process....and the mess I ended up with because I was just sure if I was slow and careful I could get the sucker unrolled. Maybe next time.....oh wait! There better not BE a next time.

But, I do have pictures of my hexagons. I started this little project about 4 years ago and then it got placed in a nice little box on a nice little shelf. I started reading a blog recently Texas Freckles and remembered how very fun they are to do and got them out again. I have been dragging around a little pencil case with me filled with the papers, fabric, needle and thread and have completed quite a few more.

I have had this "thing" for many years for the 30's reproduction fabrics, and saw a kit at a quilt show one day. It had all of the fabrics already cut into little hexagon shapes and the paper pieces. So, it quickly became mine! It is being done in a "flower pattern". When I was a little girl my grandmother had one in original feedsack fabrics and I loved the pattern even then. I have always known this pattern as Grandmothers Flower Garden. I think this quilt has around 1100 pieces in it making up around 80 "flowers" I have 8 flowers done, but in the last couple of weeks I have completed the hexagons for 2 more flowers and the surrounding cream hexies for several more. It truly is addicting. Texas Freckles has some great tutorials on her site and has started a Flickr Group "quilt along". I've jumped on the bandwagon. And, this project will qualify for the little challenge my husband issued at the first of the year. If I can get it done that is.

I finished the quilt I posted about last week(yes, this is the one I had the batting emergency over!) I'll post pictures of it in the next couple of days. And....I am signed up to teach another class at City Craft. I'll be teaching the Quilted Pillow class again and we are working on a "Little Quilt" class that I'll be teaching there very soon. I'm SO excited!

Starting a New Quilt

2010-05-04T19:00:00.000-05:00

What a weekend! I found time to start on a new quilt. It is a surprise for someone I know, so I can't say much about it yet. I'm using some charm packs of Amy Butler Love,

and putting them together in strips like this

I got the idea from a posting by Oh Fransson on Sew Mama Sew found here. Her pattern is a baby quilt and I need a throw size for this gift. So, I did not have enough charm packs to do it exactly like Elizabeth did, so I am modifying the pattern to make the size I need. More to follow as it develops. This is a GREAT pattern to use your charm squares! It would make a quick, but VERY cute baby quilt. I have all of the rows stitched for my bigger quilt after just a couple of hours at the machine. I think it's going to be very cute.

The next very exciting thing about this past weekend was that I taught the second class in my two class series on Beginning Quilting at City Craft. We had so much fun! There were six ladies in the class and everyone got their pillows done. With their permission, I have posted pictures of everyone's pillows. Isn't it cool how different they all look, even though they all used the same pattern? Just goes to show, fabric selection is key. I think they all did an amazing job in picking out their fabrics. None of these ladies had ever quilted before and a couple of them were very new to sewing. I'm so impressed with their results.

What do you guys think? Pretty impressive for a first quilt project, huh? I had so much fun teaching this class. I would just love to find a way to teach full time. It made it very hard to return to my office on Monday morning and sit and crunch numbers all day long. I am a firm believer in the philosophy that if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen. So, I'm going to busy building a plan to make that very thing happen. I have the beginnings of an idea bubbling around in my head and I just need to put pen to paper...Don't know when or how, but I think if I throw it out there to the universe and do the legwork, it will return to me in the way it was meant to be.......we'll see.......

My First Virtual Quilt Bee Block

2010-04-25T22:55:00.000-05:00

Yeah! I finished my first block for the NKOTB virtual quilt bee. All of the members are new to the virtual quilt bee world (quilt bee "virgins"?) So, it will be off in the mail tomorrow to Amy of Did I Say That Out Loud?

When I first saw the design of this block, I thought it would be so easy, peasy! Nope! It was pretty challenging to try and calculate the sizes of the blocks adding in the charcoal border and getting the whole thing to come out to 15". It took me a lot longer than I thought it would. I spent a good portion of the Saturday Sew (the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild event) that I went to yesterday. I had a blast though, I love a good challenge, don't you? And speaking of a blast, we had so much fun at the Saturday Sew. There were 10 of us this month and I would say we all got quite a bit accomplished. I hope if you are a member of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild, you'll come join us at the next one. We don't have it scheduled yet, but discussed some possible dates in May. I'll post a date here and on the guild blog as soon as we have it firmed up.

I never told you all about finishing the Black and White quilt. It's done and off to it's new owner. She seemed to be really pleased with it. It was going to be a gift for her daughter.

I had a lot of fun making it and I got to use the new machine to do the quilting and it did a fabulous job! I love that new sewing machine. We are already getting to be quite good friends.

A Break in Sunny Florida

2010-04-20T09:53:00.000-05:00

I have been in Lady Lake, Florida since Thursday and having a blast. It was a much needed break before I hit a very busy season at work. I am feeling very rested and relaxed and so, so grateful for my husband's family. We came down here to celebrate my father-in-laws birthday. The siblings all got together and signed him up for a flight in a TX-6 WWII plane. We held the surprise in tact until we arrived at the hanger! The "surprise" gods were with us, there was an ad for an air show in the paper the night before the flight for that very day! So, we had rented a big 10 passenger van and off we headed. He was so surprised when we arrived and told him that he was the star of this air show. I'll be posting more photos of this great day on my Flickr Account. We did go on to the air show mentioned in the paper and the Thunderbirds were flying. It was quite exciting to see that as well. All in all, one of those days you will never forget. The weather was just gorgeous!

I believe GK's dad had the time of his life. As we were pulling up at the hanger, he commented "oh, flying in one of those is on my bucket list" Little did he know he was about to cross it off the list!

GK's family is so fun and they have welcomed me into the fold like I was always here. I love each and every one of them. In the midst of all the celebration of the flight, they had planned a cake and special dinner to celebrate my birthday! Check out my cake!

What a great trip it has been. We laughed, we cried, we bonded......we played bocce ball, did a little archery, watched a polo match, and ate tons of great food. This afternoon, it is back to the airport and back to real life. I'm ready, it's been a wonderful break but I am so blessed to have such a dream life that I'm ready to get back home. I am teaching a beginning quilt class on Sunday at City Craft and I'm so excited about it. And the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild is having a Saturday Sew this Saturday. You can read about it on their webpage. I'm such a lucky girl.....

So much to tell you

2010-04-10T18:54:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe it has been so long since I posted. I have TONS to tell you. But, I will not cram it all into this one post. So first off, the Babylock found a new home. I posted her up on Craigslist on Sunday night and she was off on new adventures on Tuesday morning! I wonder how she's doing? I hope she's happy. Here's the weird thing.....the girl that bought her had the same name as a dear friend of mine. When she responded to the ad, I thought "now why is Lizzie being so formal, and I didn't even know she sewed!" And then when she showed up at my house to take her on a test drive, she had a friend with her named......MICHELLE! Parallel Universe and all that crazy stuff!

So, last week I took this class from Karen K Stone. I love her work and have been dying to take a class from her for a long time. She does New York Beauties, and some really cool paper piecing techniques. Here is what I learned while I was there. It's not the whole thing, it's about half of a spiral (I have more to sew)

More will follow after I finish it. I don't think I'm going to make a whole quilt out this one, but I do think it will make an awesome pillow for my sofa. Here is another students work. And I really want those scissors! I have this "thing" for scissors. I just love them and have quite a collection. But I always want more.....

So, enough for now. But I have to tell you it feels SO good to be back in blogland! I have missed you all so much. I have been keeping up with you on your blogs, though.

Leaving the Nest

2010-03-28T18:52:00.000-05:00

I have a little tear on my cheek......I have officially listed my BabyLock on craigslist...:(. I would love to keep both machines, but do not have the space so I have listed her for sale. You can see all about her here. You all know how much I am enjoying my new baby, but this is kinda sad for me. Maybe you can help me find her a good home where someone will love her as much as I do. She is a great little machine, has a beautiful stitch and even does lovely embroidery.

On a happier note, the board for the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild met today and we did some more planning for the guild meeting. The next meeting is April 8th at City Craft. I'm excited to see everyone again. And we have some really fun things coming up. I hope everyone comes to join us at the next Weekend Sew on April 24th. The last one was SO much fun and we all got a lot accomplished that day. You can go to the Ning group for the guild and sign up.

I Won!

2010-03-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

Another amazing day! I won a giveaway over at Did l Say That Out Loud? I'm SO excited, I can't stand it! And it was absolutely gorgeous here in Dallas today. Rex (The Wonder Dog) and I went for a nice little walk this afternoon when I got home. And I did my first free motion quilting on the new Bernina. LOVE IT! I have done quite a bit of free motion quilting over the years, but my new machine came with Bernina's new Stitch Regulator. I am without words.....so smooth, no skipped stitches, so FUN......okay, maybe I have words...I am so happy I made the purchase.

It's hard to see on the black and white fabric, but it's such a beautiful quilting stitch. I'm in love with her, my new baby. I feel a little sad for my Babylock, she is still a great machine. I think I am going to try and find her a new home. She does embroidery and also has a beautiful stitch and I'm sure she will make the next owner very happy.

I'm off to bed now, my mom is taking me shopping for my birthday tomorrow! Yeah! She lives in Denton and I love heading down to the square downtown. It's lovely and has so many neat shops and eateries. Looking forward to spending time with Mom! It's been awhile since we got together. I have to call weeks in advance to get on her schedule! She's retired and I think she is busier than I am!

Thanks again to Amy over at "Did I Say That Out Loud" for the great giveaway. I'll be picking up my prize from her at the next meeting of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild.

Basted

2010-03-24T23:19:00.000-05:00

I have my Black & White commission quilt basted, finally! I was feeling very overwhelmed about the process and just kept putting it off and starting new projects in front of it. Then, one day last week, I read this post by Red Pepper Quilts Aligning The Quilt Sandwich. It was like the proverbial "light bulb"! So, I came home from work tonight and ........drumroll.......done in about 2 hours! Thanks, Rita! I am so grateful for all of the tutorials I find in blogland! What did we all do without the internet?

It's been such a lovely day, today. I got the quilt basted, this wonderful package was in the mail from Fat Quarter Shop. I just ordered this fabric three days ago and it's in my hot little hands tonight. I saw this fantastic orange and white quilt over at The Sometimes Crafter and I knew that with orange being my favorite color and all.....I have to make and orange and white quilt. And I am thinking I may just use her "Orange Sherbet" pattern.

So, my next really exciting news.....and I have saved the biggest news for last! It's official, I'm teaching a class over at City Craft!!!!!! It's a beginning quilt class and it will be a two session class. The first class is scheduled for April 25 and the second session will be on May 2. You can sign up online at City Craft or better yet, go by and see the shop!

Whew! What a day. I am not sure I can take any more excitement today. I'm thinking it's time to crawl in bed and start a new book. I finished "The Help" last night. It's by Kathryn Stockett. It's SO good. I stayed up many a night the past couple of weeks unable to put the book down. I am going to miss all of the characters a lot. I feel as if I know each and every one of them. To me, that is a sign of a great book. When I miss the characters and keep thinking about them long after the book is done. Not sure what I am going to read next. Any thoughts? Suggestions? What are you reading these days?

New Baby

2010-03-20T23:02:00.000-05:00

Oh man! I bet I scared you with that title, huh? No, I did NOT just give birth. But I did get to go pick up my new machine at the Bernina dealer on Thursday night after work. Yep, she's home. And I heart her already! So far everything about her is perfect. 10 little fingers, 10 little toes.....no just kidding. But she does has some really cool feet (hahahahah) (I know, I crack myself UP) Right out of the box, it was so easy to set her up, she fits perfectly in my sewing cabinet. Ah, love.....

I finished the dress for my niece and the matching dress for her doll. It was lots of fun to sew that little dress, but the really little one for the doll? It was HARD! Those itty bitty sleeves were killer. But, it's done.

I know, the picture is blurry, I never said I was a good photographer. But, I'm learning. These shots turned out a little better. Max the Cat wants the dress out of the way, so he can look outside. Not happy with me, at all.

The Dallas Modern Quilt Guild held their first "Sew Day" today. It was lots of fun, even if it was freezing cold and raining. Great day to be inside sewing. Yesterday was 70 and sunny. Gotta love Texas in the spring!

Dallas Quilt Show

2010-03-14T20:47:00.001-05:00

So, I took the day off on Friday so I could go to the Quilters Guild of Dallas show. My wonderful, fantastic husband came with me and I think he enjoyed the quilts as much as I did. He's just amazing to me, he spent the whole day there with me and never once asked me if I was ready to go. We saw some amazing quilts! The "Best of Show" was a breath taking applique. It was a rendition of the "Little Brown Bird" quilt. This is one of those quilts that has been on my wish list of quilts to do before I die since I first saw it several years ago. It is an amazing amount of very detailed applique. Time will tell if I ever get to it. Umm.....this next photo gives a hint of the highlight of the show for me......

Yep, I bought a new sewing machine!!!! OMG! I am SO excited, I can barely stand it. I have looked at this machine for several years. GK was entertaining all of the women in the booth, and pushing me into the decision (I was hesitant about the cost!) I currently own a Babylock Esante that has an embroidery unit. It's been a really great machine, but I just don't use the embroidery portion anymore. It does a much better job at free motion quilting than the machine I had before, but my new machine (Bernina 440 EQ) is AMAZING at free motion quilting. I cannot WAIT until it comes in. The dealer was set up at the quilt show and had a really good show special going on. I'm going to sell my Babylock and let it go to a home that will utilize the embroidery features. I'll be a little sad to see her go, she's been really good to me. But this new machine will ease that pain, I'm sure!

I spent the weekend working on the dress for my niece, it's coming out so cute. I'll post pictures as soon as I am done with it. I just hope it fits her and that she likes it. I need to finish it up so I can get it in the mail before her birthday on the 23rd.

Next Project & Another Patchwork Pillow

2010-03-07T21:37:00.000-06:00

This is the next project I'll be working on. It's for my niece's birthday that is coming up in just a couple of weeks. She has two American Girl Dolls, so she and one of her dolls are getting matching dresses. It's the Kyoko and Mini Kyoko by ModKid. The fabrics are "Good Folks" by Anna Maria Horner, "Midwest Modern" by Amy Butler, "Hope Valley" by Denyse Schmidt. I'm so excited to see them done. I'll definitely post my progress and pics of the finished dresses. I see more of these little dresses in my future. One for each of my granddaughters. They are just too cute.

And I finished another pillow using the Star Puzzle block mentioned here. This one is created out of fabrics I already owned........do you know what that means???? Remember "The Challenge" my husband issued at the first of the year? Well, this pillow qualifies for item number two in the category of "other fabric projects". Yeah! I know, I know I better get busy if I'm going to meet that deadline. And let me say this, it will be no fun at my house if I fail to meet the deadline. He will rub it in forever if I don't get these projects done. Not, in a mean way, but he will tease me ruthlessly. So, I must stay on track.

We had a meeting this afternoon of the Board of Directors for the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild. It was a fun productive meeting and I am really excited about this guild. If you haven't heard about it yet, you can read all about it here. I think we are all going to have so much fun.

A Patchwork Pillow

2010-03-02T23:38:00.000-06:00

I was inspired to make this pillow after seeing this entry by Red Pepper Quilts Star Puzzle Block. She used such fun fabric, and I loved the design. It was so much fun to select the fabric and sew it up. I just LOVE working with half-square triangles. There are so many possibilities and it's all in the way you look at them and the fabrics you use. Love that! It's kind of like life, don't you think? I think my life is all about the way I look at it and the fabrics that make it up. I have this really neat quote that I keep in my office that says "Be Happy for this moment, for this moment is your life." When I think things aren't going my way, or the day seems overwhelming and I start wanting to be somewhere else, I look at that quote and realize that all any of us really have is this very moment. I have watched several of my friends this past year as their lives changed in an instant. So, I have been trying to get the most I can out of every day. So far, so good!

A Bowl of Oranges

2010-02-28T23:23:00.000-06:00

Yum! GK (my husband) brought these home from the grocery on Friday. They are SO good. I have been snacking on them all weekend while sewing. The nice bowl they are sitting in was handmade by GK. Yep, he throws pottery. Really cool pottery. I especially love this bowl. I have been working on a couple of quilted throw pillows that I should have finished later this week. I'll post pics as soon as they are done. We had such nice weather this weekend in Dallas. I really meant to get outside and get a nice long walk in. Rex The Wonder Dog could use some exercise! But, I got so excited to get my new quilted pillows finished that I never got that checked off the list! Does anyone else make impossibly long lists of "to do's" every day? I make these lists of things I want to do each day and if I looked at them honestly, I would KNOW I could never get all of that done in one day! The progress in my life is that I no longer feel guilty if I don't get to check everything off the list. There is always tomorrow, right?

I decided that the Black and White quilt needed something so I added the narrow pink border and a wider black and white border. What do you think? Should it stay? I need to get this one layered up and quilted so I can get it to the gal that ordered it. She has already ordered another one, so it would be nice to get this one delivered.

The Black & White Quilt

2010-02-21T22:40:00.000-06:00

With hubby and his daughter off camping, and the Olympics on the television, I got the top pieced to my commission quilt this weekend. I left work on Friday night and stopped to pick up a little sushi to bring home for dinner. After seeing them off, I settled in for a little "me" time. It is always nice to have the house to myself for a little while. No one else to worry about, I can leave the bed unmade if I want and eat when and what I want. I can stay up late and sleep in. Of course, I was really ready to see them roll back in this afternoon. The operative word here is.....a "little" alone time. I lived alone for a couple of years before remarrying in 2008. I was happy during that time and had a busy, full life. But, I have to say I love being married to my husband.

We had a joint birthday celebration tonight for my husband and his daughter. Their birthdays are about ten days apart. I made a birthday cake from a recipe that has been in Glen's family for a long time. It was his "Grandma Mac's" recipe that she entered into a contest. It's his favorite cake and he wants it for his birthday every year. Here's a picture of it. That's not purple icing, it was a shiny purple streamer I hung from the light fixture for the celebration!

Anyway, I'm so happy to get the quilt top pieced. I am thinking that I will do straight line quilting for this. I like the contemporary look of that type of quilting and I think anything else would get lost in the patterns of the fabric. This quilt pattern calls for random placing of the squares and that is very difficult for me. I find myself wanting to "arrange" the squares so that each fabric is evenly placed. This time I made myself just grab the next square in the stack and sew it down. I'm undecided about the end result. It does look better in person, the picture doesn't quite do it justice. I'm open to comments, let me know what you think.

Teaching

2010-02-18T22:57:00.000-06:00

I used to teach sewing and quilting at a shop out in Hurst, Texas and I really loved it. It was so much fun and extremely rewarding. Things changed in my life and I went back to work full time and then shortly after that I moved into Dallas. So, I haven't been teaching in about 4 years. And I have missed it. Recently, I have really felt like it might be time to put myself back out there as a teacher. It really amazes me that when I listen to that "inner voice" and start to put one foot in front of the other, things start to happen. There are still details to work out, but it looks like I might be teaching again soon. I am putting together supply lists and creating patterns to teach a beginning quilting class. I would be teaching the placemats that I posted about here. I can't tell you how excited I am at the prospect. I hope we are able to work out all the details on this. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as things are final.

I have been busy sewing a tote bag for a gift. The recipient requested an oil cloth tote for her birthday and here is what I came up with. I had great fun coming up with the design and putting it all together. I hope she likes it! What do you think? I think I'll make her a small makeup bag with the leftover oil cloth.

Snow! Glorious Snow!

2010-02-14T12:45:00.001-06:00

Wow! We had the most amazing snow storm here in Dallas on Thursday! It was so beautiful and it lasted all day long. I believe it was a record amount of snow for the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. I have an extremely talented husband and he took these amazing shots Friday morning and there's a great one of Rex the Wonder Dog on Thursday afternoon. Take a look at what we got in Dallas! It will likely be a long, long time till we see shots like this again here! I'm grateful he had the idea to get up early and go get these shots! It was amazing to see! Love the shot he took at Cafe Lago (a great neighborhood bistro!)

My First Commission Quilt

2010-02-10T23:14:00.000-06:00

So, someone has asked me to make a quilt for them! These are the fabrics I'll be using in the quilt. It's for my hairdresser's daughter. I was so excited that she asked for a black and white quilt. I have been dying to make a Black & White for years. The fabrics are all prewashed and ready to be ironed and then let the cutting begin. I hope to be well into having the top pieced by the end of the weekend. We are supposed to get cold and yucky weather tomorrow and I am praying for a "snow day" on Friday! Then, I would know that I could get the top done!

I finished another placemat to go with the other two, I'll post a pic of it tomorrow. I like it better than the first two! I think I might make some more just like it. I want to end up with a set of 6 of the placemats, but I'm afraid I'm going to run out of the main background fabric. It's called "Quilter's Tweed" by Robert Kaufman. I bought the last of the bolt, so I'm really hoping that City Craft gets another bolt of it in the store! It's just really cool stuff. It looks like tweed. I mean, REALLY looks like tweed.

Okay, I'm off to bed. I promised myself I would be asleep before midnight tonight.

Torn Between Two Loves

2010-02-05T20:24:00.005-06:00

Well as you might have figured out, I love, love working with fabric. I have since I was a little girl. I can't walk by a bolt of fabric or even clothing without reaching and touching the fabric to see how it feels. I love the colors and the textures and the way it drapes and falls. I like to sew clothing, curtains, pillows, purses, quilts, you name it. It is my "first love" of crafting.....and then.....about a year ago, I discovered fused glass.......and now I am often torn between the two loves. I like the sound glass makes when you cut it and I love how it looks one way when I place it in the kiln and I never know exactly how it will look when it comes out. I don't own all of the equipment necessary to create in glass, but I take classes at a local art center once a week. So, I go to class and make my creation. Then, when I come back a week later.......surprise! Here are couple of examples of what I have done in class. It is loads of fun and I am having a blast playing with it, but in the end my heart will always belong to the fabric! And like a true best friend, the fabric is always there patiently waiting for me.

Rex The Wonder Dog

2010-02-01T22:19:00.004-06:00

So, I thought maybe I would introduce a beloved member of my family.....Rex the Wonder Dog. I found Rex outside a Pets Mart in 2000. He was up for adoption and it was "love at first sight". He has been a faithful companion since that day and I believe he is a wise old soul. He was rescued in Rhome, Texas from under a house with an entire litter that had been abandoned by the mother (shh.....don't tell him) He is so smart and eager to please and sometimes when he is sitting looking at me whilst I am speaking to him...I swear he's going to open his mouth and say something to me! He is a "hybrid" of what appears to be a Border Collie and maybe some Corgi. You can't see it very well in this picture, but he has the shortest legs with nobby knees! So cute! Just look at those eyes!

New Placemats

2010-01-27T22:26:00.006-06:00

These are my new place mats.

I designed the patterns and made them on Sunday.

And we had dinner on them on Monday night!

I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. I'm going to make two more in two different designs and then I'm going to take them for show and tell next week when I go to the first ever meeting of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild! Check them out by clicking on the button on my sidebar. I'm so excited to meet everyone.

It's turned cold again here in Dallas and I have to admit, I kind of like it. Last week the temperature was in the 60's and I know I shouldn't complain about 60's in January, but I like to have distinct seasons and we really don't get much distinction here in Big D. Ask me tomorrow if I like the cold, I'm meeting a friend at 8:30 for coffee before the Saturday morning yoga class. I have a feeling I'm going to want to snuggle in the bed with hubby and not be out in the cold! Oh well, yoga will be worth it! I LOVE the way I feel after an hour or so of doing yoga.

So, when I started this blog I really thought I would be posting more often that it's turned out. I'm going to try and increase the number of posts, because I always have such fun with each of them. And I love getting every one's comments!

The Tapestry Bag

2010-01-21T17:43:00.007-06:00

I finished my new purse! I am so happy with how it turned out. I spent the better part of Sunday working on it, but finished it up right before dinner. Here's a pic of the finished product. It is so funny to me how I can be so hard on myself and doubt my abilities. I was about 2/3 of the way through the purse project and caught myself thinking "who do you think you are? This isn't going to work or even look like a purse when you are done." Does anyone else ever feel like this? I have learned over the years to trudge through those thoughts and keep moving and in this case, I am so glad I did. I love my new purse. It sits just right on my shoulder, it's not overly heavy and it holds all my stuff.

Here's a sneak peak of my next project. I'm making new placemats for the dining room table. I love these colors together! I can't wait to see them finished and on the table.

I'm going to design my own pattern and stitch them up tomorrow. Then, it will be onto the next project.

Lovely Saturday

2010-01-16T21:14:00.005-06:00

I started the day out with a yoga class. I love doing yoga, it just calms me down and "centers" me every time I do it.
This is the second Saturday in a row that I gone to this class. It's offered at a local yoga clothing store every Saturday. I've been meeting a friend there and then we did a bit of shopping after class. I have been on a two year quest for a pair of cordoroys that fit me. I have difficulty finding pants to fit my body and I really wanted some corduroy jeans. It really doesn't get all that cold here in Texas, but I wanted them anyway. I guess the stars were finally lined up. They were the color I wanted, they fit, and they were on SALE! I skipped home on a cloud and finally had an uninterrupted afternoon to sew. I have had an idea for a new purse in my head for weeks and I finally got started on it today. I have sketched out the pattern and decided I had better sew a quick "mock up" before I cut into my gorgeous fabric. The mock up was a success, so I have cut out all of the pieces and interfaced everything. The main body of the purse is velvet and I found the cutest Robert Kaufman for the lining. Don't you just love it??? I can hardly wait to get it finished. I have some really fun trim to pipe the edges with and some fun hardware for the handles.

I'm really excited about a new quilt guild that's forming here in Dallas. It's a local chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild. So far, I think we have about 14 members signed up. I found out about this chapter over at Lisa's blog http://sophiaaster.com/blog/. Check it out, she has link to join the guild. We are going to have our first meeting soon over at City Craft. GREAT Store by the way! http://www.citycraftonline.com. I am so excited that she is open and right down the street from my office. Woo Hoo!

Whew!

2010-01-08T20:31:00.004-06:00

I just finished a huge project at work at 5:30 tonight. And I can't TELL you how glad I am that it's done! I have had no time to sew since last weekend and I plan to spend most of the weekend making up for that. The last thing I worked on was a makeup bag that I made for a friend of mine. I even made the little zipper pull out of polymer clay! This was really fun to make. It will qualify as one of my 10 fabric art items because it was made entirely out of items I already owned. I think I'll start a list of completed items so we can count them down and see if I reach my goal. I think my husband should award a prize if he is going to issue the challenge, what do you think?

I went the Quilters Guild of Dallas http://quiltersguildofdallas.org last night (where I am a member) and the speaker was Becky Goldsmith. I had heard her speak several years ago and was really excited about last night's meeting. The topic was the use of color in our quilts. I really learned a lot and came away very inspired. I have several ideas for new quilts based on what I saw last night. Becky's blog is really fun and full of great stories. You can find it here http://pieceocake.typepad.com/piece-o-cake-blog/.

A Shining Example

2010-01-03T18:56:00.004-06:00

I think I have mentioned that we recently moved and I was able to get all of my studio contents out of storage? Well, I found this project in one of the boxes. Looks finished, right? No.......it's not. I left this one wing undone and folded it up and started another project. Typical.

So, I'll do the handwork on this and put it in the pile to be quilted. This was a class I took (I'm so embarrassed to say this..) about four years ago. It's a really cool technique and I will definitely use this method again. You trace the design onto the top fabric and then layer it onto another fabric. You baste along your traced lines and then you cut the top fabric only on the traced lines. Then, you needle turn applique, cutting about an inch or two ahead of where you are stitching.

I went yesterday and picked up some more fabric so I can piece the back for the Winter Wonderland quilt. I also did a little looking around for ideas for a free motion quilt pattern for it. It's a good size quilt so it will take a little while to quilt, but I am so excited to see it finished. I am going to bind it in the red dot fabric used in the inner border. Plus, I have to complete The Challenge! This will be one down and one to go!

2010 Fabric "Throwdown"

2010-01-01T17:30:00.005-06:00

So, I have decided to accept the challenge issued by my husband a few days ago. In the next 364 days, I am going to complete two quilts and 10 other fabric art projects. All done using my existing stash.....this part could be the biggest challenge. Have I mentioned how much I love fabric? How I love to go and buy fabric? Complete all these projects using my existing fabric? We'll see how successful I am! I pulled out a project yesterday that I

started about 18 months ago. It involved a massive amount of embroidery and pieced blocks. This was a block of the month from a quilt store in Waxahachie, TX. http://www.commonthreadsquilting.com/ (one of my favorites) It was another challenge from my husband. We were still dating then and he told me he would pay for the blocks each month, but I had to finish each before the next one arrived or I had to pay him twice the cost of the block. And the amount due would continue to accumulate for every month I fell behind. Now, when I agreed to this I truly believed it would be a piece of cake. Um.....needless to say, I had to marry him or else take out a loan to settle my debt with him! So, two days ago I started with the embroidery completed and sewn together and all but four of the pieced blocks done.

And, now I have the entire top completed! Amazing what can be done when one sits down at the machine! Now, I just have to find fabrics in my current stash to use for the back. Then, layer up and quilt.

So, I begin 2010 freshly motivated to do that which I love and also to rise to the challenge issued. I have a good feeling about the coming year. I love the sensation of having the whole year ahead of you and the possibilities are endless. There is much I would like to accomplish in the next twelve months. And I must say I feel so blessed with the life I have....a loving and supportive husband, great friends and family, a wonderful home and the list goes on.

The Challenge

2009-12-27T15:41:00.005-06:00

Okay, last night my husband and I were watching Julie & Julia and he grabs the remote and pauses the movie. "That's what you need!" he yells. "A deadline! I challenge you to complete two quilts and 10 other fabric art projects in the next year!" "And you have to only use what you already have in your stash"! Well, we have only been married a little over a year and he already knows this fact about me.......I procrastinate. So, I have spent today pondering whether or not I want to accept this challenge. Sort of like a fabric "throw down"? I am asking myself....can I do it? What do you think? Can I? Will I rise to the challenge, or feel the agony of defeat?

While I ponder that question, I had to post post photos of these cute little notebooks that I made for gifts this holiday season. I was dying to post them before Christmas, but didn't want the recipients to see them. My husband bought an embosser to make our Christmas cards and I decided to play with it one evening. So much fun! Now, I am running around the house looking for things to emboss. Maybe the cat? I am definitely going to try some of these cool rubber stamps I bought on fabric.

We had such a great holiday, I was able to spend a few hours with one of my granddaughters and due to the blizzard in Oklahoma City, my son was stranded with us for 3 extra days. We had a great time with him. He rarely stays in one place that long! I also was able to spend time with my parents, my sister and her family. Ahhh.....that's what the holiday's are all about to me.

Fourteen Days

2009-12-11T21:00:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it is only fourteen days until Christmas. We have had some lovely cold and cloudy weather that has helped get me in the mood. When it's 80 degrees outside, it's tough to get in the Christmas mood! The house is decorated inside and out, but no presents under the tree yet. I best get busy on that. I will certainly get to experience the shoppers in the stores since I waited so long to start shopping. I fear there will be no time for sewing over the next couple of weeks. I'll be busy shopping, wrapping and baking. Ah, but then there will be the fresh new year to get me motivated to create.

The Works in Progress

2009-12-09T18:11:00.003-06:00

Well, the blog design is done for now. Knowing me, I'll change it frequently. I took a picture of my storage room for my studio. And another of some additional works in progress that I keep in my studio. And there are more in a drawer.....might have a problem. My goal for 2010 is to complete many of these projects. I don't want to say I will complete X number of projects, because I will rebel against that! But, I want to make steady progress over the next year to completing many of them. My tastes have changed a lot since I started most of these projects, so I will likely put them in an Etsy store once they are completed. But, I feel the need to not abandon any of them. It's a much needed exercise in follow through.

First Post - Ever!

2009-12-07T22:30:00.002-06:00

Well, the blog is in progress (and by the way, this is going to be a little tough, because the "b" key on my keyboard is broken and I have to coax each and every little b by "wiggling" the key until it decides to cooperate!) So anyway, it's still under construction but I wanted to get a post up because every time I tried to preview the site while I was building it there was that nagging little message that there were no posts. So, here we go. I have made things since I was a little girl and have wanted to make things for a living for as long as I can remember. What do I do right now, you might ask? I crunch numbers and research with a little IT support thrown in. About as far from a creative outlet as you can get. So, I create at night and on the weekends and it soothes my soul on a daily basis. Nothing calms me down after a stressful day at the office like sitting down with my current project (or starting a new one)!

I have this one little problem, though. I seem to be addicted to starting new projects, but have no addiction to finishing them! So, while busy reading other's blogs I became inspired to start one of my own and share my journey. Tomorrow I hope to post a photo of all of my "works in progress" so you can see just how bad my addiction is. Then, I hope to systematically share my journey through each one as I complete them. We just moved to a new house and I have my studio all set up and ready to begin. I hope you will join me.