New Placemats

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

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

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!

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

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"

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.