comequiltwithme

cranes

2011-07-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

OK, think maybe I can get this to work properly. spent the last hour on help. wish me luck as now I can share some of the stuff I've been doing.

Fancy Lady silhouette

2011-07-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hey, I think maybe I have finally resolved the how to get a picture to load.
Have been busy stitching, but not able to make the picture program work. Maybe after another session with HELP!! It
will finally transfer.
Stay tuned. grin

tyvek rocks

2011-01-30T16:57:00.000-08:00

Seta color paint background, tyvek painged rocks, thread painted small trees and yarn couched down for the large tree. What fun to finally be able to share some of my work again.

Whoopie

2011-01-30T16:49:00.000-08:00

I FINALLY have a solution on how to get my pictures onto the blog. Took over a year to finally find someone who could help me.
These are the fabrics that I dyed in a class last week. Already have used some in a project.
Look for more pictures in the near future as I can finally get them to download.

Survived the winter

2010-03-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

I survived the winter, but now if I could only get the photo program to work I could show what I accomplished this winter. Oh well, will keep trying.

still kicking

2009-10-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

Wow can't believe I haven't posted in so long, however have just been to busy to even sit down at the computer. Bathroom was totally gutted and remodeled and am moving all my studio into storage to have ceiling fixed. What a fun time this is. Anyway haven't gotten a lot of sewing done lately.
tried to load a photo, but something must be whacky as it will not load. Will try again later.

finally something to show

2009-06-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

The table runner is a combination of log cabin type blocks. Fun to do but kind of a no brainer.
The remaining small pieces are experiments with circles and squares and re cutting units after a block is made.
This was lots of fun and I can see many possibilities for this technique.
Enjoy--

top done

2009-05-04T10:47:00.001-07:00

Yea, the top is done. I used a cut and slice 9 patch block to start this. I stacked 12" squares. Cut the squares into 3 equal divisions. (4") in both directions. (9 squares) then using alternating squares formed 2- 9 patch blocks, one with lights for 5 squares and one with dark for 5 squares, opposite 4 dark squares with the lights and 4 light squares with the dark. Sewed the 9 patches together. Then cut to the right and the left of the center square at 2". (full length of the block) moved those strips aside then cut 2" from the center square to the top and bottom, next mixed up the pieces and re-assembled blocks by sewing to top and bottom first then to sides. Next squared blocks up. for this one added a 1 and 1/2" strip between blocks. try this its like eating "chocolate". Have a great day. sun is shining and I need to go out and plant tomato plants. Lovely fresh BLT's in a couple months.

New top

2009-05-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

Just finished the top for my machine applique class. This will start sometime in June at the Quilt Shop. I used buttonhole/blanket stitch to do the applique, plus a straight stitch (gone over several times) for the antenna. I need to get it basted now and get it quilted so it can hang up at the shop. Felt good to actually get something done for a change. Have a couple things that will be put together as soon as I get this quilted. So be watching. Think I will quilt a circular feather or something like that in the center. Haven't decided that yet.

First two BOM patterns

2009-04-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

These are the first two BOM blocks. The colored fabric is mostly from my hand painted fabrics using the air brush paint. Really like the results when I use that paint. Working on another piecing idea. Will post a picture when I get it far enough along to really show it. A bit nicer today, but still colder than normal.

blocks together

2009-04-19T05:20:00.000-07:00

I finished putting the blocks together and think I like the results, now to get it basted and quilted.
Stinker is also approving of my block for the quilt clubs block of the month quilt. you can see the kind of help I get when trying to photograph anything. Note the wrinkles on the top of the quilt picture, I had to chase her off to get the photo.
Another cold and cloudy day here in the middle of the USA -spring flowers over a month behind. Crocus just blooming and they should have bloomed in early March. Tulips and daffodils are only about 4" high and no buds in sight. Lilac are just budding. In a normal year they should be blooming in another week I don't think it will ever warm up this year.

possible mystery?

2009-03-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

I think this might make a mystery quilt sometime. Would be done with fat quarters. Will run it past the shop and see what they think.
Cold and windy today. Snow this morning. brrrr Wonder if this winter will EVER end. Anyone else notice how we do NOT hear the words "global warming" anymore? Now its "climate change". Climate change is right, we froze our backsides off since late October. Haven't seen it this cold since the 5o's.

fun trip

2009-03-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Had a fun trip down to KC area over the weekend. grandson was to run a marathon but it ended up getting canceled because of ice and snow. I stayed with my friend Sue and she showed me how to do some screen printing. This is the result of my drawings. It was really fun and I appreciate her teaching me how to do this. Had always been curious about screen print, but just didn't have the incentive to do it.
I think there will be a screen in my future very soon. Thanks Sue.
Have a few other ideas to pursue and will post as I do them. Last weekend was guild retreat, what fun. I have a top done, but want to add more to it before I post it.

Retreat top done

2009-03-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

Have the top done from the retreat last weekend. What a fun project. Its amazing to see how each put their blocks together. We had units that were 1/4 th of the block, everyone is putting them together in different ways. what fun.
Guild retreat this weekend. I will be stitched out.

Wonky Squares

2009-03-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Finally something to post. This little piece is called Wonky Squares. Starting piece is an odd shape center with 4 unequal sides. Then strips added to all sides following the line of the center unit.
This was like eating popcorn (caramel corn-that is) grin. You can't leave it alone. Used up a couple pieces of scrap fabric to try it out. I can see more of this in the near future.
Went to Hancock Fabric Retreat last weekend. Have the blocks for a quilt almost put together, hope to have that to show in the next days. Norfolk Guild retreat this weekend, then next weekend a road trip down to Kansas.
Weather finally broke a bit. Was 80 degrees yesterday, today a bit chilly, but sure better than the sub zero weather we have had all winter.

Top is Done

2009-02-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

Finished the top today, I added a 1" strip of background between the blocks. Not what the pattern stated, but hey, not the first time I didn't do what a pattern said to do. grin. Couldn't get back quite far enough to get all the borders in, there is a 4 1/2" border all around.
I think I will bind it in either the orange or the batik from the points. Not sure yet which.
Another 5-6 inches of snow last night. I don't think Mother Nature knows there is global warming going on. Also was -2 degrees this morning. VERY COLD for this time of year. Has been super cold since early December. I'm ready for spring.

New block

2009-02-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

We had a workshop at club this week and this is the pattern. I wasn't able to do the stitching at the workshop as I had sprained my left arm. Its Ok now so stitched up the block and have the rest of the units pieced, just have to square up and sew the blocks.
Its always so amazing to see what everyone chooses for colors etc. There will be some wonderful wall pieces from this class. Everyone else used a light background, but of course, I had to be different and use a dark. I am pleased with it though.

P.I.G.S. project

2009-02-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

Yea, the top is done for my P.I.G.S. project (projects in grocery sacks) this is an annual challenge in our quilt guild. To join in you have an unfinished project, pay 1 fat quarter to enter, then finish it by a certain date. If you do not get it done your fined 3 fat quarters, if you do you get your name into a drawing for the fat quarters.
this was a jelly roll that I won at the Hancock Fabric Retreat last fall. Wanted to have it done for the spring retreat, for show and tell. Now to layer and quilt. spring retreat is the middle of March, so it needs to get done.NOW!!
Its always lots of fun doing the pigs projects, gets something finished.
I think I will bind with the leftover bright fabrics, stitched together. We will see what happens by then.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day to one and all. Here is "Stinker" sharing my Valentine quilt top. This is the wall quilt, there will eventually be a full size quilt to match. Was fun going through all the red scrap to make the hearts.
We have about 8" of new snow yesterday. The cardinals look really "red" against the snow, so I guess thats natures valentine gift to us. OK at least its RED!!
Hope everyone has a great day.

log cabin

2009-02-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

Finished this small log cabin, now if I had only put the top center block in the right orientation, it would have been fine. BUT--- now will make another with the top middle block turned the same direction as the bottom middle block. this will make it into a star. Oh well best laid plans.
Guess that's why I ended up with about twice as many 1" strips cut, than I needed.

Finally quilted

2009-02-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

The two batik wall pieces are finally quilted. They have been ready to finish for over a month. Hate it when life gets in the way of stitching. I've had these small batik squares for over 10 years, had forgotten that they were in an envelope in the file. What a happy surprise to find them again. Will have show and tell for quilt meeting tomorrow.
Rainy and windy day here in the middle of the country. 40mph wind out there. good thing I do not have to go out today.

Pretty Kitty!!!

2009-02-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken by a game camera by Tim Wilke on Jan 29th. This is about 4 miles South of where I am. I guess this cat has been in the area for about three weeks. He has seen the tracks and set up his camera and captured the photo.
Mountain Lions are not native here, this one probably migrated from the Rocky Mountains. A long walk as we are in eastern Nebraska. They follow the waterways away from their natural habitat when there is overpopulation in an area.
They feed on deer. There is a huge deer population in the area so at least it will have lots of natural food and not start taking farm animals.
Just thought I would share the picture .

I'm back finally

2009-01-24T15:59:00.001-08:00

In my last post I showed you a photo of the kitty that came to our house. Well no one has claimed her so I guess she is ours. When she is sleeping, at first glance, you think there is a skunk laying there. You can see her lovely colors from the top down. She hasn't earned a name as of yet, but "stinker" is beginning to rise to the top of the list. grin
I found the kitty screen prints in a pile of quilt "stuff"-- I had forgotten I had them. so now they are in a small wall quilt. The second is the progressive with the border added and quilting completed. This was done with a friend from Las Vegas. Her group was doing the individual progressives, so I did it with her.
Will actually try to get more up on here in the next days. Its snowing outdoors and supposed to do so until Monday, so doubt I will be outside a lot. Enjoy the photos.

pretty kitty

2009-01-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

Anyone want a pretty kitty, this little sweetie showed up on our porch a couple weeks ago, I hope she has a home and will go back to it!!! I don't need another kitty, but we will put out food and water so it eats and she can sleep in the shelter we have set up for strays.
She is tame though and tries to come inside, so we figure she was originally someones pet. Have a picture up in the post office asking if she belongs to anyone. Sure hope she does as she is a beautiful cat.

New painted pieces

2009-01-01T11:15:00.000-08:00

These are the new pieces I painted the last few days. I used the air brush paint to do these. I love the colors that came out and added some pearl to some of the pieces for glitz. I did find out that the pearl pieces need to be heat set from the back side first, then turned over and using a teflon sheet, iron on the front side.
I stacked some in the same curing cups also, it caused a bit of bleeding onto the fabrics below, but I rather like the results.
The pieces with black in turned out kind of neat too (my opinion here--grin) Now to figure out something to make using the fabrics. Next time more yellow/oranges.

Christmas

2009-01-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

I got this small quilt from my friend in Las Vegas for Christmas. I love it, such a neat idea to use the ribbon crossing over the pieces and then adding bling to it. Thank you so much Shirley, its hanging in the living room.

I've been busy!!

2008-12-29T05:11:00.000-08:00

The little angel will become a pin as soon as I make a trip to the craft store. She needs a halo and some flowers for her hands. I want to use a multi thread to make this, with maybe, gold running through it.
The silhouette is of a fairy sitting on the moon, I couldn't figure out what to use for wings that didn't completely obscure the figure. I finally used metallic gel pens and drew it over the figure. It worked, but-am not totally happy with it. Background is hand painted with air brush paint.
The last is for our art quilt challenge for February (yes, I actually have it done ahead of time!!!) Usually am working on things at the last minute. The flowers and leaves were first stenciled on with stencil paint, then when it was cured, I thread painted over them. The center is gold glitter. Background is painted fabric using the air brush paint. I am loving the air brush paint for fabrics. Its far less problem than most methods of putting color on fabric. Will be doing a workshop for our guild in April. We will use a friends garage so no one gets any stray paint in their home. Although this paint did come up off my kitchen counter when I accidentally dripped. Wiped away quickly it didn't cause a problem. Not sure what would happen if left to dry on a surface.

argh

2008-12-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Didn't catch the typo before I hit send. its OF Course!! of course!! Merry Christmas to all and hope you have a safe journey if you travel over the holiday. Happy New Year to all too.

Finally something made

2008-12-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

I finished the top for this batik quilt in the last couple days. I had this piece of orange batik in my stash for years (and years) Finally decided something had to be done with it, so found a piece of brown batik to go with it. The nine patch and snowball quilt is what is the result. The small piece is the leftovers from the snowball blocks, I double sewed the corners and have a bonus piece. OF COURCE, I ran out of the brown and had to send a quick SOS to Lea to send me another yard. Thank goodness I got right to it, or would not have had enough fabric. The large quilt will be bound with the brown as well as the small piece.
Now to get a few more pieces completed. Yeah right, thats going to happen soon. grin.
anyway enjoy the new pieces.
By the way the orange in the small piece is the same, just was closer to the flash.
ice,sleet and snow last night. A bit of ice, a couple inches of sleet and then about 5 - 6 inches of snow on top. Thank goodness there was not a lot of wind.

Finally

2008-12-13T06:23:00.000-08:00

Finally something to post. No whoopie biggie, but at least something.
I'm on the abstract Challenge list at Yahoo and rarely get anything done. Thought I had best participate or they would kick me off. grin. The theme was beginning and end. This is a piece of my hand painted fabric and I thought it reminded me of the beginning and end of a stream cutting a path through hills.
Ok so its a stretch---now back to some real stitching.

no news

2008-12-11T05:48:00.000-08:00

They say no news is good news, but---I am working on a throw size piece and hope to get a photo up in the next few days.
First snow/ice event--yuck I hate winter.

project done

2008-11-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

This is the finished leaves block from a couple weeks ago. I added thread painting to the crayon/inked leaves, then free form quilting in the center and on the border. I think it turned out OK, although I lost my path a few times while quilting. Hopefully am getting a bit better at it though. Now on to the next project, I'm on a roll!!

full block

2008-11-21T11:41:00.000-08:00

This is the completed star candle mat. 4 hours of quilting in this. UGH, but I love it.

blocks

2008-11-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

This is the red and cream version of the previous block. I have it completely quilted (12" and took 4 hours.) I forgot to add the complete quilted block so will make another post to include that one. The closeup shows the quilting on the 6" center of the block. What fun. Used the feather technique from Patsy Thompson DVD. If you are interested in seeing the DVD ad go to her web site. www.patsythompsondesigns.com No affiliation just a happy customer.

2008-11-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

I've actually been stitching a bit again. finally-- the heart block is for quilt guild --Each year the retiring president gets blocks. This is the official block. The green red and cream is for the Christmas block drawing. Was fun figuring out how to get a 12" block, also made another that will be posted later.

This is our rescued kitty, she was an outdoor kitty and wild as could be. When she was heavy with kittens I finally tamed her a bit. Then a few years ago we let her become an indoor kitty. I love her green eyes.

3rd set

2008-11-09T09:57:00.000-08:00

I really like the dimension in these two pieces too. What fun to play.
I used pfd fabric and air brush paint Createx brand. Squished into plastic containers from Dollar Store (15 for $1)

two more

2008-11-09T09:55:00.001-08:00

Two more photo's, I love the blue/red/white one looks like mountain peaks to me.

new dyed pieces

2008-11-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

Looks like blogspot will only add 2 pictures at a time this morning. Here are two of the new pieces. Love them. will try to upload more in different messages.

first batch

2008-11-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

Here is the first try using the air brush paints to dye fabric. I learned a bit and hope the ones "cooking" in the containers comes out as well. This time I tried for just mottled fabrics. the ones I am drying now are all mixed colors. They look like they will be good too, but we will see tomorrow.
this is lots easier than the dye powders and also is non toxic. Even some metallic paints, you can see the over lay in the pink fabric on the left.
Still cold and windy here, but at least the snow missed us this time.

Patches

2008-11-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

Forgot to add this with the new block picture. This is patches, so named because her patterning reminds me of patches on a quilt. She is finally becoming a "lap cat". For the 3 years she has lived here she was very aloof. Now suddenly she has turned into a lap cat. When either of us sit down, she is immediately ready for some attention.
Ah these four legged friends--ha. She loves to sit on my sewing rocker on the "quilt afghan".

new experiment

2008-11-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here is the first of experiments with crayon, color pencil, ink designs. After the leaves were completed, I then mixed some pigment ink and spritzed the background of the block plus the leaves.
I kind of like effect, however the next time I do this I will put paper over the designs and only spritz the background fabric. I think it was OK because the design was leaves so just looks like leaf spots, wouldn't work on anything else though.

Long time since last post

2008-10-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Whew, what can I say, the last month has been a blur. It started out with the Hancock Fabric retreat in September. Was a very fun weekend with lots accomplished. This was at Ashland at Camp Carol Joy Holling.

Accommodations have been remodeled so the rooms are a lot nicer than before, new beds too, which was good. We worked on a kaleidoscope quilt (which I do not have all the blocks done yet) Will show it when I get them done.
The first week of Oct was Threads across Nebraska in Grand Island. Spent two days helping at that. It was a good show with previous state fair winners being featured. Visited with lots of old friends.
The next week was DesMoines AQS show. We spent 4 days at the show. Plus hit some shops on the way to the show. Not sure that was a good thing, as there were lots of really neat "stuff" in the shops. I wasn't to bad though as I was hoping to find lots of new things at the vendors. The convention center in Des Moines was really nice. Plus it was only a block from our motel, so we didn't have to drive to the events. weather was great too.
This last week was our Calico Quilt Club retreat at Camp Moses Merrill by Linwood, NE. Its a beautiful spot. Way up on the bluffs overlooding the Platte River valley. WOW what a view. Lots of wild life around. Deer and turkeys are thick. We also took in the Fremont Quilt Guild show and stopped by Sarah Dillows estate sale. All in all a very fun weekend.
Now for a few pictures. Thought those would come up after the printing--oh well. The first picture is of the throw size quilt (no border yet) that I made from the jelly roll batik strips I won at the Hancock retreat. The on point is a block that I worked on while selling tickets at Threads. Did that as a demo while selling tickets. The third is the progressive I am doing with Shriley from Vegas. The last two are taken from our 7th floor window, across the Des Moines river into Des Moines. The domed building is the court house (capital building?) not sure which. One was in the morning and the other at night. Thought the lights were neat.
Between all that I was peeling pears!!!!! The tree had around 30 bushel on this year, so between putting them in the freezer and trying to give them away, it took a lot of my time. Hope to get back to more regular posts now. Enjoy

Lists

2008-09-13T10:37:00.001-07:00

This is my September Take it Further quiltlet. I happened to have lots of lists getting ready for a retreat this coming week. So there is to do lists, grocery lists packing lists, kitty lists etc.
I have the names of the lists quilted in the borders. Was a fun little project, I laid the lists on the scanner bed then laid a piece of batik behind them. Printed them onto fabric, bordered and then quilted.
Now to actually go and DO some of these lists.

new weaving

2008-09-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hey how about that? Actually did another of the small weavings. This time I cut 1" strips instead of the inch and a half. Left the edges wider and trimmed after I did the weaving. I think I like this better. Or maybe its just because this is only 12" square that I like it better. I used silver glitter pen on the veins in the leaf. Its a sycamore leaf I begged from a neighbor. Leaves are just gorgeous, I picked and dried them. Next I want to try printing with the dried leaf. May or may not work. grin.
PS Do not do as I did--grabbed the wrong fusible and cut the strips with the "non sewable" fusible web. So this will not get any more quilting. Had planned to do the veins in silver metallic, but had to go to plan B when I realized I used the no sew fusible. grrrrr!

Balance

2008-09-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

My newest challenge piece. Theme was "balance". I thought of the balance beam in gymnastics. The background is done by weaving two fabrics together. the strips were cut at random in a wavy pattern. then woven into the background piece.
Plan to do more pieces using the woven background technique. I like the way it worked out.
Now on to the Sept challenge --lists--now there is a concept I should be able to come up with as I do have lists of things to do, grocery lists, bills lists, book lists, etc. stay tuned!

Finally

2008-09-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

Whew, hadn't realized it was so long since my last post. Life got in the way last month, but hopefully I am back on track again. The last two blocks on the personal progressive are here, bees and birdhouse. only problem is on Wed the new theme comes out. Sigh, may never catch up.
Its getting really chilly in the mornings now, down to about 45 degrees. Really early for this chilly. birds are flocking and monarch butterflies migrated through really early.
Garden is done and just pear tree is left for preserving. Hope it doesn't freeze before they finish ripening. Will try to be back sooner this time.

Calla Lilies

2008-07-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

The lily block is my "half way mark" I just realized I am about half way through this project. These are painted lilies and I need to thread paint them to finish. So half way through the project. this was my class at state. It was taught by Annette Kennedy from Colorado. Thanks Annette for a wonderful class. I enjoyed every minute of it and it gave me a new skill to use on applique quilts.
The basket of flowers was my auction piece for the state guild meeting this last week. It sold for $60 to the lady who was my class assistant. Thanks Gaye for purchasing my quilt.

Done

2008-07-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Another thing off my list. My drawing block for state meeting. as you can see it has been inspected and approved by my four legged "quilt inspector" Patches approves. ha.

New piece

2008-07-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

I bought the fabrics for this piece at Vivians sale. I made dimensional petals, glued them onto the heart wreath then added a dab of jewel glue to the centers of the flowers and poured beads into the glue. Let it dry and now I have a cute dimensional piece. The background was quilted in tiny heart shapes before the flowers were glued on. what fun!

Another purchase

2008-07-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

bought this at Vivians "quilters garage sale" also. I have always thought this was really a neat piece too. Besides I now have two things for keepsakes now.

Its working!!

2008-07-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

I bought this small quilt from my dear friend Vivian. She is moving to Minnesota and was downsizing her "stash" and "stuff". I always thought this was the cutest little quilt. with the sunbonnet girls in "stripes".

Checked

2008-07-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

Looks like blogger is having a problem with photos so will try again later.

Painted Batting

2008-07-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

I just finished this little fun piece. It is done with painted cotton batting. I cut some squares of batting, painted them with diluted setacolor paint. Let it dry overnight, then cut into smaller squares. Stitched the center squares over the larger squares, then did some zig zag stitches to join the batting squares together.
I then quilted the circles on top of the joinings and around the edges. Added beads to the center block.
Layered with a backing and a batting and stitched around the outside edges, turned and it was done.
I can see some possibilities of adding the painted batting into landscapes and putting dimension on some pieces in the future.

Play day

2008-07-05T14:25:00.001-07:00

I spent the afternoon playing. This mornings mail brought the season 2 of Quilting Arts programs. WOW. I have so many new things to try I can't believe it. This is a small piece I did using some of the techniques on the programs. I quilted a free form feather on a deep green fabric. Light green on back. First photo is the back and pretty well shows the feather design. Photo 2 shows the front where I did the quilting, then took copper metallic paint and with a brayer, rolled the metallic over the quilted surface. The photo really doesn't show the effect very well but the close up kind of shows what happened when the copper was rolled over the quilting.
For the edge I did zig zag over the raw edge. Then stitched a fuzzy yarn over the zig zag. I really like the effect that has.
The free form feathers was my first attempt at using a new method of making feathers.
There are several other techniques I want to try sometime soon.

4th!!

2008-07-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July!!! Lots of firecrackers going off around here today. Poor kitties just go and hide all day. They will come out once all the kids go to bed. ha.
Didn't get to stitch anything fun today. Did sew a pair of curtains for DS#2 's garage window today. Doesn't that sound exciting? But he wanted something to cover the window so no one could look in. Less temptation that way.
Quilt show registrations are due on Tuesday so will have to get that done. may get some more stitching done this next week as it is to get hot. Hasn't been hot yet this year, only ran the air about 3 times so far. Usually we turn it on in May and do not turn it off until fall.
Pictures when I get something accomplished.

Personal progressive

2008-06-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

Yea I am caught up. PP for May was "bird" so did a thread painted bird. PP for June was tree. The tree is fused trunk and leaves, then leaves are thread painted over the top of the fused greenery.
I do believe this catches me up with my challenges etc. And even some days to spare before the next challenges come out.

TIF June

2008-06-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

Finding fabric to match the color bar was the hardest thing about this month's challenge. Three road trips to find the colors.

Word Challenges

2008-06-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

The first word was "signs" so I found a Burma Shave sign and printed it onto fabric and framed it.
The second is "invisible" so it is called invisible ancestors. The foreground heads are under one layer of net with thread painting for the lace around the necks of the ladies. The "ancestors " are tone on tone in the background and have 3 layers of net over them. Now only one more challenge to go this month and it is in progress. Was fun projects though.

Fund raising quilt block

2008-06-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

Finished the stitching on the last fund raiser quilt block that I have. I think we have them all stitched now. Only border left before we assemble the quilt top and get it quilted. Whew, will make the December deadline for having it completed.
Now to finish last months chooseday challenge. Its ready to stitch, but just haven't had time to do it. Next months word is invisible, have an idea, will see how to get the time to complete it.

July August Quiltmaker 08

2008-06-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

Yea, my Stars In, Stars Out pattern is in this issue. Its always such fun to see one of my designs actually done in fabrics.
I have around 50 graph paper notebooks with designs sketched in them. At approximately 50 pages to each book, thats a LOT of designs.
I love to sit and just draw lines on the graph paper to see what I can come up with. On this pattern it was exciting to see what happened when I made the diagonal seams so that it make a double outline around the stars. then the alternate stars appeared when the blocks went together. I just love it when something good happens in a sketch. There are 4 different sizes given for the quilt, so if you like it, get the magazine and make one. AND send me a picture if you do the pattern.

May take it further

2008-05-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

For my May take it further challenge I resorted to the color bar. The star points are made from the one seam flying geese technique and the center is a dimensional cathedral window block. I found I am NOT a pastel person.
This is a last minute piece as we had a flash flood Thursday night (in fact two--first at 10:30PM and again at 2:30 AM Friday morning.) A second cloud burst sent the little creek a block behind us into a roaring river twice in one night. We had ground water seepage into the basement and lost our fence, but at least we didn't get water in the house.
Anyway I finished on time.

Blocks

2008-05-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the blocks for our guilds fund raiser quilt for next year. The background is 4 squares of different blacks then the appliqué added on top of the backgrounds. Two more are complete but I do not have pictures of those. 5 blocks and the border to finish. Whoo hoo!! Can't wait to see these all completed and into a top.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day. Services were earlier in our park. Lets all remember our service men and women today.

trunk show

2008-05-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

Traveled this past weekend. Presented trunk show and did a class for the Panhandle Guild. What a fun day that was. I so enjoy going out there as there are so many talented quilters in the group. the show and tell was wonderful. Hope they thought the trunk show was Ok too and that the class learned to do the ironworks technique. Had a minor glitch when some of the fusible web was to narrow, but thats life. It all worked out in the end. some beautiful pieces were started and lots were ready to layer and quilt by the end of the day.
Stayed with a friend (wonderful quilter and member of the guild) and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise at her home. She lives on a hill with a beautiful view of the valley. The birds were singing while the sun came up. So peaceful. Thanks Jan
Saw several other of the members that I know from previous state guild meetings and met others who I hope I will see again in July at State meeting.
Sorry no photo's as I forgot my camera. Oh well.
Hope to have some photos to post soon, so don't give up on me.

Aprils challenge

2008-05-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah my April chooseday challenge piece is done. The word was "bird", so finally found a use for the chicken wire fabric background fabric. That has been in my stash for "years". ha.
Mays word is "signs" so will have to do some thinking on that one.
The Take it Further challenge for May is pretty challenging so may go with the color theme this month. Will see how that goes.
Have been pulling quilts for my trunk show and class next week. I think I have about 50 pieces pulled, so should be a good trunk show. Maybe I should take pictures and post them before I put them away again.

change

2008-04-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

finally something to put up here. Finished my "change" for April. Made a small 4 x 6 to add to a personal progressive I am doing with a friend. Kill two birds with one block sort of deal. The "change" is the three stages of a butterfly. cleaver or what? grin

windy day

2008-04-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Small quilt made for the CPQG mini quilt auction that will be next Monday night. Hope someone likes all the little character buttons I put on it.
Its been a very windy day here. Gusts of wind to 50 mph. yikes. Wasn't fun driving in it this morning,but at least coming home it was with the wind.

Hancock retreat quilt

2008-03-31T17:21:00.001-07:00

Finished the star top from the Hancock retreat. I changed the placement of some of the colors in the strips and changed fabrics for the stars. I used two different golds and alternated the center colors on the stars. I like the effect, even DH said he liked it a lot. So suspect I will finish it and he will be the proud owner of the quilt. Now to decide what to do with the quilting.
The new Take it Further challenge came out, the subject is change. Now what to do with that? The moderator mentioned "circle" and I thought life is a circle, so may think up something using circles. The color scheme for this time is kind of neat too, so may have to play with that a bit also. should be a fun challenge though.

progressive center

2008-03-28T10:15:00.001-07:00

Finished this little 6" block for the center of a progressive that I am doing with my friend from Las Vegas. Their guild is doing a personal progressive, where each person works their own quilt. Each month new directions will come out as to the next step. Should be fun. I decided to go really small as I don't need another large project right now. Machine appliqué with invisible thread. Can't wait to see what the next step will be.

2008-03-27T11:35:00.001-07:00

A photo of the crazy 9 patch class we did at quilt club on Tuesday. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Used leftover black/white plus some green squares to start.
To do this you cut 9 squares of fabric, all different if possible, Stack them and cut through vertically at an angle through all the layers. Keep the edge of the cut at least 1 1/2 inches from any edge. Take the top piece from the smallest section and put it on the bottom of the pile. Sew them all together. Keeping them in order, press the seam open and restack in the exact order you sewed them in the first time. Make a second vertical cut through all the piles, move two of the pieces from the smallest section, to the bottom of the stack. Sew again. Press, restack, cut across horizontally, move 3 layers to the bottom of the smallest section. Sew them all together, keep them in order. Press, make the 4th cut horizontally, this time move 6 pieces of the smaller section to the bottom of the stack. Sew again. Press then square up all the blocks to your smallest block. Repeat this with 3 more stacks of 9 fabrics. This will give you 36 blocks, This is set 6 x 6 blocks with a 3" border around. Really good way to use up fabrics. I started with a 9 1/2" square to start and ended up with 8" blocks. You can use any size starting square. One in the class used 18" squares to start, one did 12 1/2" squares to start. So you can figure about 1 1/2" to 2" smaller square in the finished block that the square you started with. If you want larger quilt, keep making stacks of 9 until you have enough to make a quilt the size you want.Have fun with this.

challenges

2008-03-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

Finally getting something posted. The flower is for February Take it further challenge. I remember the beautiful peony's that my Mom always had blooming in the summers. Had to locate a photo and get it on the computer, then printed the actual photo on the fabric. What fun.
March is little things. There have been many little things this month, but mostly they have been not so good, so will not bore people with them. My piece for March is of my former neighbors kitty. I put it in a kaleidoscope program and then quilted it. Angel kitty was rescued last winter while almost frozen solid. She did earn a place in the house though, so maybe being frozen was worth it.
The last piece is of my poppies, also put into the kaleidoscope program.

progress

2008-03-07T15:28:00.001-08:00

Stitching on block #9, then 3 more to stitch down and I am ready to trim and put together.
Was -2 degrees this morning with a wind that made the wind chill minus 22 degrees. brrrr. Good day to stay indoors and sew.
TIF--small thing today was watching the temperature get all the way to the teens. Ah for some of that global warming they are always preaching about!!!!!

Geese flying

2008-03-04T07:42:00.001-08:00

Went out early this morning and the geese are flying North. Beautiful.

still stitching

2008-03-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

Still stitching the appliques down on the blocks. Working on #5. decided to do colors for the applique instead of invisible thread, so its taking longer to switch colors all the time.
New take it further challenge is "small things". My first small thing observed was the crocus poking up through the snow bank. Also saw the first string of Canadian geese migrating. The first morning I heard the cardinals singing too. Lots of small things in the spring of the year. Now to figure out something for a small quilt.

Block 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

2008-02-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

Ok --would you believe they are all up on the wall? They all have seams turned and now are liquid stitched to the backgrounds and ready for the actual machine applique to be done. I couldn't stop until I had them all in place and ready to stitch.
Next step the stitching, then deciding how to put the blocks together and if they need border. I am thinking they will need borders, but will see once all the stitching is done. Now off to bed. I deserve a good nights sleep.

Las Vegas challenge

2008-02-20T09:30:00.001-08:00

Hi Shirley, here it is the fabric challenge. I just love the through the window look and thought this fabric was ideal for that. Anyway, looking forward to the challenge for next year.
FYI Shirley and I have done a challenge every year since she moved to Vegas. One year I buy fabric and send to her and the next she buys fabric and sends to me. Then we each make a wall piece using the fabric. What fun way to keep in touch with a dear friend.

block7

2008-02-20T09:27:00.001-08:00

Block 7 is up on the wall. All those little pieces!!! Kept me working lots longer than I anticipated. But its up on the wall and Block 8 is ready to work on.

block 5 and 6

2008-02-16T05:51:00.001-08:00

Block 5 and 6 are on the wall. Sorry the 6 block is a little off, but it was late when I completed it. Will work on 7 later today. What fun seeing it come together on the wall.

block #4

2008-02-14T09:38:00.001-08:00

Yea, block 4 is up. Now to work on Block 5 while the weather is so crumby. 16 degrees and dropping plus strong wind and snow flurries. Where the heck is all that global warming the news media is always hollering about? Humm don't hear much about it these days when we are freezing our tails off--wonder why? Anyway off to work on block 5

block #3

2008-02-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

Block #3 is up on the wall --I think I am liking this quilt already. 9 more blocks to go. The flower pot is one of my hand dyes. I really need to make some more hand dyes as my supply is running low, however I do not like mixing dyes in the house, so will have to do that when the weather warms and I can do it out on the porch.
Stay tuned for block #4 coming soon.

home again

2008-02-10T13:52:00.001-08:00

Block #1 and #2 are done. Yea. Started an applique quilt a few days ago, Have all 12 blocks cut out and the pieces ready to glue to fabric. I'm using Stable Stuff for the inside of the blocks and liquid stitch to position the pieces onto the backgrounds. Its working great so now hope to get the rest done in the next month or so. Some blocks have 70 plus small pieces to work, so will take a while. I'm working on #3 and will put it up when I have it finished. This is really fun.
Norfolk retreat was this weekend. What fun. We had to have it at a different venue this year as the place we usually go was being remodeled. So it goes. We were at Divots Golf Course. Nice place but not quite as handy as before. Completely spaced off taking my camera so I didn't get any pictures of the neat stuff people were doing. We had two working on Dear Jane blocks. Oh my goodness, I am glad I didn't start that one. Would take me a lifetime to do all those tiny blocks. The blocks were really neat though and I give them credit for having the nerve to do this quilt. Lots of bright colors this year. and lots of projects completed.
Had best go start unpacking. Will post pictures as I get blocks done.

door decoration

2008-02-06T16:26:00.001-08:00

Yea, door decoration for retreat is done. The theme is "
Wine, Women and Song. So, I found this fabric that has ladies going in all directions. Made a wine glass from two layers of fine net and some red fabric for the wine, fused it in place. Wrote Wine women and Song and my name in purple letters, fused in place then added a CD which I painted bronze, then wrote the theme on it with permanent marker and fastened it to the bottom corner of the piece. So am ready for retreat.
Still have to pack my suitcase, but have all my project stuff ready to go. Plan to work on an applique piece at retreat. We will be at the golf course this year, so will be different venue. Usually we are at a Monastery . Will be quite a change. ha. They probably have the wine and song!!
Turned nice today after yesterdays blizzard. Will take the blizzard though as the other side of the front had devastating tornado's. Scary . Heard from the people I know in the storm area and they were ok.

February challenge

2008-02-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

The Feb challenge is up. color swatches are a deep colonial blue/ gold/ cream and two shades of egg carton blue. (OK a light and med light blue-but to me its egg carton blue) The theme is What do you remember? A light bulb went off when I read that and now have to figure a way to use the idea in a small piece. I'm thinking maybe trying to do something with photo transfer, but we will see if I can come up with anything.
Next week will be quilt retreat, so will not get anything worked out beyond a sketch or two. Have some more stable stuff appliqué planned for retreat. Wish me luck and that we do not get a snow storm and have to stay home. (That happened last year)

New piece

2008-01-26T15:28:00.001-08:00

This is the new piece using the stable stuff inside the pattern pieces. I do not have this quilted yet, but haven't decided if I will do thread work over some of the pieces, or just quilt around each piece. The flower is done with the reverse side of the border fabric. I really liked the subtle coloration on the back of this fabric. The gold running through the front side, I thought, detracted from the fabric when used as flower pieces, so used it as border. Now I need to decide what to do to quilt it. What fun playing with fabric.

The rose pattern came from a class by Kandi Paige Gallup.

new project

2008-01-24T08:25:00.000-08:00

Yea, it works great. I tried the stable stuff by Ricky Tims in this applique. It really works great. Keeps the applique pieces fairly stiff while doing the applique and dissolves when washed. I can see many uses for this --You can see some of the quilting in the closeup. Finishes about 24" square.
It was -15F this morning. brrrr Its now 10:30 AM and is still -8F. Unbelievable that they are saying 45F+ in a few days. But its Nebraska, wait 5 minutes and the weather will change.

Take it Further January

2008-01-13T16:30:00.001-08:00

Spent the day finishing the January "Take it Further" challenge". Looked at my calendar and decided if it were to get done, I had best do it this weekend. The closeup shows the thread painting I put over the paint/ink in the design. (see yesterdays post) Decided the paint/ink just didn't do what I wanted, so thread painted it all. Added the "lightning" border fabric because it matched the dark purple color in the flowers. Quilted with a pale yellow thread in the body of the piece and purple in the borders. Am pleased with the experiment using the threads on top of the paint/ink ----

Take it Further

2008-01-12T14:38:00.001-08:00

OK, worked a bit with the color swatch for the challenge. Sketched out some little fantasy flowers and colored them in with color pencil and some inks.

I did take the print out to the local hardware/paint store and picked up some paint swatches that were close to the color bar given.

So they aren't exact,but close enough. Added some yellow paint wash behind them (doesn't show to good on the picture) Now I think I will try to quilt it and see what happens.
This is really a fun challenge.

2008-01-05T10:45:00.001-08:00

Finished my demo cards this morning. The first shows the steps needed to make the flying geese.

The rest shows the different sizes from 1" to 6" at 1/2" increments.

Fun project.

Small quilt

2008-01-04T12:52:00.001-08:00

Did this small quilt top yesterday afternoon. Heard about a one seam flying geese, so had to try it out. This is done with two 3" squares of background and 1 -3" x 5- 1/2" rectangle. Fold the rectangle (right side out) and press. Lay the first square (right side up) line raw edge of folded rectangle with raw edge of square. Lay second square (right side down) on top of the folded rectangle. There should be about a 1/4" space between the fold and the edge of the block. Sew down one side of the stack Be sure it is on a side that the fold will be stitched into the seam.
Unfold and take the folded piece and pull the edges down to make the flying geese. The corners should pull down to the edge of the squares. Press in place. You should now have a dimensional flying geese block. Hope that made sense. Just be sure to sew along one edge of the folded rectangle so that it catches the fold and one long edge in that seam.

Now want to figure out if I can make other sizes.

2008

2008-01-02T15:33:00.001-08:00

2008--oh my goodness how did it get to be 2008 already. Seems like a couple months ago we were worrying about Y2K.

I did get the sunset fabric picture finished. Shirley H sent me the fabric from Nevada. For Christmas--and along with this some out of this world chocolates. They have the factory near them, so always look hopefully forward to getting a box from her. grin. Love the sunset on the desert fabric. Knew when I opened the box thats what I wanted to do with it. thank you Shirley!!!!

The mask quilt is for the Chooseday Challenge List on Yahoo. Each month we will get a word to make something that represents that word to us. When I read Mask, I immediately thought of Mardi Gras. DS#2 had gone a few years ago and was telling me about some of the masks that people wore in the parades. So I knew thats what I wanted to do. May still add a few more beads, but didn't have the right size on hand so will have to wait for that till I go shopping again.

More frost pictures

2007-12-28T16:16:00.001-08:00

The large evergreen is across the street.
The wire roll is across our back lot line.

Looking up into the trees in our front yard.

Tree in our front yard. The thickness of the frost was just amazing. Looked like it was snowing when it came off later in the day.

frosty morining

2007-12-28T16:08:00.001-08:00

This is the frost on the small tree by the post office across the street. The frost is at least an inch thick on all the branches. The whole town looked like this. You can see the tree in the background is totally frost covered too.
Sure was a frosty, picture postcard scene. Went out to take some pictures and about froze. It was still quite foggy, cold and penetrated. My fingers were numb when I came in. Will try to put some more pictures up later.

Frosty Morning

2007-12-27T15:33:00.000-08:00

A beautiful frosty morning outdoors. All the trees and bushes were about an inch thick with frost. It was foggy all night so the buildup on the trees was spectacular. Took some pictures but can't seem to get them to transfer over to the blog. Will have to work on that some.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T15:54:00.000-08:00

Its snowing!!! I think there was some icing before it started to snow so will probably be very slick tomorrow morning.
Had dinner with Cindy and family, a nice visit and then home again. Ham, potato casserole, sweet potatoes, fruit plate, and of course Christmas cookies and cherry cheesecake. Oh my, how good. Of course there was a plate sent home, so will have leftovers tomorrow.
Yumm yummm

Christmas Eve

2007-12-24T10:36:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve, ah yes, Christmas. Tomorrow we will go to DD's for gathering. Looking forward to a nice day. Weather people are saying maybe snow flurries, but not to be a lot of snow. YEA. We were lucky and missed the last weekends snow storm. Not by much, but it missed us. Not crying as we must have around 6" of the white stuff on the ground already.

My chooseday challenge is done for December. We were to make something with the theme "opposite". I had a lot of ideas, but ended up going with black/white. Mainly because the one I was trying out didn't work. that was clear/fog. Oh well will work on that a bit more in the new year and see if I can make it work out. some other themes I thought about were, thick/thin, visible/invisible, in/out, back/forth, wet/dry, dark/light, expand/contract, hot/cold, big/little, happy/sad, laugh/cry, sunshine/shadow/ winter/summer, spring/fall. All seemed like viable subjects and I will keep them all on file for future projects.
this piece was done by free cutting the shapes for the pieces. Hand appliqueing the black fabric onto the print, then hand putting the beads in place. The quilting is on the black and approximately 1/4" apart. I finished by sitching around, making a slit in the backing and turning, then fusing a piece of fabric over the slit. Quilted 1/4" from edge to make it look like a binding. I really like that way of finishing small pieces.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Holiday

2007-12-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas is getting closer. Finished the cookies yesterday and today need to make fudge, then all is ready. Well as ready as it will ever get. Haven't had time to stitch as its been to busy. However have several things that will be done by the new year. The chooseday challenge is on the drawing board and fabric is pulled. Will not take overly long to complete, but just need to do it.
New computer came to live at my house. Now it is getting used to it. Will take a bit to accomplish that. Large flat screen isn't hard to get used to.
Merry Christmas to any and all who read this.

thinking

2007-12-13T16:24:00.000-08:00

Now there is something new. ME thinking???? oh well, have been trying to come up with something for the new word of the month. "opposite" now how am I going to portray that one? black/white, thick/thin, visible/invisible, male/female, in/out, up/down, back/forth, dry/wet, dark/light, oh my so many ideas.
Have a couple preliminary sketches made up, and now will have to really think about trying to do one. Stay tuned to see what happens.

We missed the ice this weekend. Did add a bit of snow again, but all in all not bad. Melted a little today, off the streets that is. Supposed to get colder again tomorrow, but hey, we all cannot have the "global warming" ----Actually its been colder here this year than in probably 10 + years.
So it goes.
More on this later.

let it snow

2007-12-08T15:18:00.001-08:00

Its snowing again today. supposed to do the same tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday. yuck. Oh well, good to be able to stay in the house.

This is a small kokopelli I did for a challenge list. the word we had to work with was "connected", so I "connected" the segments of this small hanging with thread. The outline of kokopelli was done with glue and gloss powder, I think it makes him look like he is floating above the landscape.

This months word is "opposite" so I have several sketches and now have to decide what to do with it.

Ice Storm

2007-12-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

We had a nice little ice storm over the weekend. The picture is the tree by our back door. The ice was Saturday and I took the picture on Monday morning. Brrrrr. The scene is made from a kit that I bought at Curtis last spring while we were there for the spring fling. Was fun to do and now wish I had done it sooner. I painted the windows and street lights with glue and then put gold powder over it so the windows really look like they have lights in them.

still alive and kickin"

2007-10-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

The last 6 weeks have been the pits. In a good way and a bad way. In August went to the Ricky Tims seminar in Omaha, now that was really a fun couple days. Lots of new ideas to play with, but not the time to actually do it.
Next was CQC retreat, this year it was at Camp Moses Merrill by Schuyler. Way out in the country on the bluffs, what a great place that is to have a retreat. Motel type rooms and a huge work area that was well lit and food, oh my, the food was great. We even got a few of the recipes for some of the dishes served.
Next was Threads across Nebraska. What a wonderful 2 days that was. Helped at the silent auction table all day on Saturday and helped sell tickets on our opportunity quilt on Friday. Sara Dillow had a showing of some of her antique quilts. Past presidents quilts were shown and lots of vendors. Ah yes, the vendors, good place to leave your $$$. Although I was good only buying some fat quarters.
Now am rounding up supplies for the Hancock Fabrics retreat at Ashland on Thursday.

H finally is finished with the physical therapy that has been going on since last March, has new glasses to correct the double vision caused by the fall in July. Got the new water heater installed, fixed the hoses on the Mercury, brake line on the Chrysler and I don't know what else that has fallen apart the last while. grin. But now think most is repaired and do not forsee much else going wrong for a while.

Have made a couple purses using the rope technique and will try to get some pictures up soon.
So if anyone does read this, I am still alive and kickin' and will try to get some photos taken soon.

another week gone by

2007-09-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

Another week gone. Went to a class on Tuesday for the fabric bowls. Wrap a bias strip around a cord and then sew into a bowl. I didn't get to far, but did learn the technique, so that is a plus. Thursday went to state fair all day. White gloved the show from 2 - 6, then went out and found something to eat. Peach on a stick---Actually was good. A peach is skewered with a wooden skewer, then rolled in a batter and deep fried. Cinnamon and sugar or powder sugar or both sprinkled on when done. It was sort of like peach cobbler. Then went and looked through some of the booths. Even passed up the cookbooks from the Morris Press Booth. $1, $2, $3, and$4, which really is a bargain, but didn't buy any.
Got home around 11 so was tired on Friday. Today is first Nebraska football game. It's on but I am doing laundry. Will watch the last 5 minutes and watch the clips this evening. that way see the whole game in a few minutes.
Hope to have something to post soon. Haven't had time to sew. Its actually been cool and less humid, so should get some energy back soon.