Category Archives: quilts 2010

The Countdown Begins

     I have three weeks until I go away for a week to my class. I have quite a few things I would like to accomplish before then. Every time I go away for a week, I make myself crazy trying to get all those unfinished projects done-house things, family things and sewing tasks. I am asking myself whether or not my list is reasonable. If I wasn’t going away, would I be as productive? Maybe it’s just the end of the school year looming overhead as well. Or the mounds of weeds growing higher than the plants….

Anyway, here’s my list. And I am joining one of those challenges again. It just seems to motivate me.
1. Commission quilt-sew together and approved
2.Vermont Sunshine-quilted
3. Loving Lucy-quilted
4. 2 more class motifs done
5.Dye lighter neutrals-20 yards

That seems kind of reasonable. I could add some other things but then I would drive both you and  I crazy.

I did finish one thing this morning. A small quilt that I tried fusing last week. I just don’t think I like the fusible with the type of machine quilting I am capable of right now. It all started popping up or fraying along the pieces as the machine went over it. But I finished it.

I think I like the flowering tree in the background better than the little quilt!

Happy Sewing, my friends!

If You Have Known Me Long Enough….

        ………..it’s not hard to believe this story. After a very busy day unrelated to any kind of sewing, I finally sat down to fix my piece from yesterday. I had three different pieces sewn on to the bottom of the quilt and after much fussing and picture taking, I decided on the simplest one and was very happy to just have to press it up. I even had grand delusions about basting it and being ready to actually quilt this tonight. Well, I needed to go pick up my son from school and left it on the ironing board to press it up.

     I went to press it when I had a few minutes before dinner. This is what my quilt looked like prior to me leaving for school.

And this is what it looked like after the dog ate the corner of it off.

And there is no more of this hand-dyed purple left. She eats things when she has a sick stomach to make herself sick. And I guess the quilt was the next best thing when I was gone.

 No wonder she wouldn’t look at me. Some things are more amazing than others in my life….Guess I will have to find out another solution to the borders on the quilt.

Hope you have fun sewing.

Something Simple

     Life is picking up speed. My oldest came home from college on Thursday night for spring break. My husband took my eleven year old to Florida for Tigers spring training-baseball for those of you not eleven years old! It was his birthday present and the they had a great time in sunshine. I stayed home with the two girls and we had a great time too. Despite three soccer games in 30 degrees and snow (just a bad dream of winter returning for a short time), we had fun just not doing much.. Spring and  sports will make me very busy soon and I am just enjoying the peace before the craziness begins.

     I decided to pick up some scraps yesterday and just go backwards a bit. It felt good to just let what was there in my box of scraps come to life.I  I just worked at my machine and didn’t even use a design wall. Simpler-one piece at a time determining the next with no big picture in mind. The scraps you will probably recognize. Old familiar friends they felt like. And I finished it. Even better despite the size.

 I think it’s about 12 by 14 and has no name yet. And it’s very happy to be outside-my first outdoor picture without snow. Spring is coming.

Happy Sewing, my friends!

A Walk in the Woods

     I am enjoying seeing the patches of grass that are starting to peek through the melting snow. The sunshine,  brighter blue skies and longer days definitely  made my weekend! I was at a soccer tournament this weekend and realized I better stock up my bag that I bring for the long car rides with some hand stitching. The soccer season is just beginning.

     When I visit Vermont, one of my favorite things to do is to take a walk in our neighbors woods. It is actually cross country ski trails but you can walk for miles and always find your way back home. I especially like to go right after the snow has fallen.

The texture of the trees and snow always intrigues me.

Peaceful….I just don’t know what I would do if I ran into a large animal…

So after being inspired by the greens and blues of this walk, I created this piece.

 A Winter Walk in the Woods- 36×32

I haven’t done the binding yet. I must dye the deep navy blue again and am waiting for some pfd  fabric I ordered.  Maybe I will put a visible binding on it. What do you think? I heavily quilted it with the lines being less than 1/4 inch. And I quilted each block separately which added some time to it. Heavy quilting also added some wave so I wet blocked it. It did help. I think I need to flat bind it because it is not a perfect square!

I like this piece because it captured what I wanted to represent visually from my walk.  I know from an art perspective it isn’t a great composition but I do like it. And I will take that today.

Now I must move on to spring colors. Happy sewing, my friends.

Missing the Olympics

     I really missed watching the Olympics last night. I would sit down with the kids and just do a little hand sewing each night. Just loved snuggling on the couch with the two kids and it was amazing how we all scattered so quickly last night finding other things to do. Have to think of something else.

     I have been trying to play catch up to my online class I have been taking with Melanie Testa at Joggles. We are making a small book which is filled with different techniques and stitches. Time-consuming but she is a great teacher and has plenty of notes to explain things. I need to figure out how to post these on their forum.

      Different from what I have been doing but fun to play.

This was a piece of fabric I had stamped last month. Glad to use it for something fun like this.

     I  also purchased this amazing resource that Robin Ferrier from Simply Robin suggested recently. (She’s published this month in Art Quilting Studio magazine. Don’t forget to get your copy!) I, too, have been thinking of trying dyeing with natural products. But the processing with mordants seemed not worth the hassle. This book, EcoColour by Indie Flint does a great job of explaining natural dyes and is an great resource. I was so inspired that I rolled up a bit of onion skins, silk and sprayed it with vinegar and put it away in a bag for a month. I know, that’s a long time.

Then, I froze some flowers-only had a bunch of light colored tulip leaves- squeezed them into warm water and placed them in another vinegar solution. (Daffodils are toxic-good list of toxic plants, too.) I didn’t used cotton but silk. I chopped up a silk scarf blank that was put away.

 I’ll see what happens. I am sure, just as in using Procion Dyes, there is going to be a huge learning curve. I am all over the place this month , aren’t I? Sure did cure the winter blahs though. Now I have so many ideas in my little head that I can’t stop!

Working away on some machine quilting today. Happy sewing, my friends.

West Michigan Fiber Arts Group

     I belong to a group that meets on a monthly basis called the West Michigan Fiber Arts Group. It meets ly at a local sewing store and consists of about thirty people.  We have been working through the book by Jane Davila and Elin Waterson called Artists at Play this past year. Lots of fun show and tell each month and also we have been working through all the techniques in the book. The group is led by our own artist Beth Williams, a very talented fiber artist.

    We are having a small show during the month of March at the the Lakeshore Sewing Center in Wyoming. The theme is Artists at Play. It has been a good experience to prepare for a formal gallery show or other type show as we have had to develop an artist’s statement and work within a specific size-18×18. With that being said-you have to know there is some strange happening with my piece:).

I wanted to mount mine on a canvas. (Why do I try all these new things when there is some risk involved with the outcome?  Gotta love a challenge!) So I painted  my canvas before vacation. And of course, going on vacation I thought it would be dry by the time I got back. Plenty of time. It wasn’t dry on Friday night-and it was due on Mon. What’s a girl to do? I got out the hair dryer! Voila-it’s dry. I don’t know it that I should have done that. I used oil paints on the canvas because I wanted the texture but should have factored in a long dry time in the winter.

                                                        Missing the Mark
                                                            14×18

Lots of fun things to play with but just couldn’t make it work- thus missing the mark. Had fun though.  That sometimes happens,doesn’t it?  I had plenty of time to do this but should have stuck with a method I was more comfortable with for this piece. Ah-the joy of learning!

Sorry about the pictures. It is snowing so hard here and I don’t feeling like dragging out my lights. Off to try again.

Happy Sewing, my friends!

Back Home Again


     Well I certainly shouldn’t have said anything about how easy our trip was to VT. The trip back home was a bad dream. No, a nightmare. When we got to the ticket counter in Burlington after waiting in line for 30 minutes, the agent said our plane would be delayed. My husband asked why it show on the board that it was delayed. Listen to this ANSWER:

The departure board is only updated on a monthly basis.

So why is the board up there and why are we-all hundreds of passengers -looking at this board-like morons-every time we enter the airport? To this minute, I can’t believe the answer. And then they wanted to re-book us-three days later.No other flights available until three days later.  Airline travel is just the pits. And the only way it will change is if we all stop for awhile in protest of the bad customer service you get these days. I understand why some things are done for safety’s sake but the rest is just stupidity of employees and airline companies. We missed our connecting flight and ended up renting a car and driving the last leg of the journey home. Very late.

Ok that was a big complaint. I am now ready to move on. A few more barn pictures for you which downloaded in record time.
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Blue skies.

I did finish this small piece while I was there. It is made from bits of recycled silks and hand dyed linen.I don’t particularly like it but sometimes you just need to finish the project!

Falling Leaves- approx 18×24.

That’s Pesto and she is one of the cows my daughter chose to show for 4-H this summer. And my daughter is so happy when she is working at the barn. I guess that makes all the travel problems worth it to see that great smile!
Happy Sewing, my friends!

Loose Ends

     I always hate the last day of vacation. I start to orient myself back to a list of what needs to be done before I leave. But I saved today to keep sewing. The weather has been relatively mild for Februrary in VT-and not much snow on the ground. I took about a two hour walk in the woods with my neighbor and her three dogs. One was a pup of four months and it was his first walk. I don’t know who had more fun-me watching him or him just running and then flopping when he was tired. Too bad I forgot my camera but my friend is hard enough to keep up with!

Lots of different things which are on my list today:

Working on beading-very pretty
Working on black and white -ugh
Missing the right color but have the right idea
Loving the beauty of the mountains and my scattered thoughts today!
Happy Sewing, my friends! Probably back on Friday as we travel home tomorrow.

Hearts, Pink Things and Things of Long Ago

     I had  fun rounding up this little Valentine’s day treat for you. Enjoy all the pretty things that remind me of the day.

Pink mittens and handmade hearts on linen
A heart bowl filled with bits from my Vermont Sunshine quilt
Handblown glass heart
Old thread spindles from the New England Mill
Vermont Sunshine and Wildflowers
Unquilted top-18×20   
Hope you enjoyed your day and were able to sow or sew a little love with your hands. It makes you feel better. Happy Sewing and Happy Valentine’s Day, my friends. Hugs!

Barns and Quilts

     I had so much fun yesterday and the day flew by. The kids and my husband went skiing and I stayed behind. Such a hardship it is having the whole day to sew! I had brought along a few new things. In January, I ordered  25$ of fabric from Frieda Anderson and then got a package of  48 5 inch squares for free. One of the fabrics was a beautiful one yard piece of hand dyed fabric which was multi colored. And  the 5 inch squares were bright.
     I wanted just to do a simple and bright quilt. I pieced for a long time and then the sun called me outside. I took pictures of the barns on my walk. My favorites from yesterday’s walk:

     A local horse farm. Love the sunshine and blue skies.

Mrs. Smith’s barn-my 87 year old neighbor who still mowes her own yard.
Typical Vermont barn -weathered
You have been very patient waiting for a quilt. After my walk, I just kept sewing. And this is my first project from this batch of fabric.
Unquilted top-Vermont Sunshine-20×39
A typical little ribbon quilt, isn’t it? A very happy little guy for a day in February. I needed just carefree and easy for the first day of vacation.
Ok-now dial up internet service has made me crazy uploading pictures. I must go to the library to do this. It takes about five minutes per picture! And weird things happen like pictures are getting all grainy.
Happy Sewing, my friends!