(1982 scanned slide. I guess I was trying to be artsy way back when.)
While I was Away...
While I was at Quilt Market, P and M built a newspaper geodome in the yard. It had gotten soggy and collapsed before I got home so I was glad they had taken a few pictures.
It looks like they had fun making it AND with the photoshoot.
Flashback Friday
1967 - at the Virginia Tech greenhouses
Pixie Hat
During our drive to Kansas City for Quilt Market, I did a bit of knitting.
I finished this super cute pixie style hat. It's really a pretty quick knit.
Miss Petunia loves it. I like that it comes down and covers her neck. I think that will be great to keep the wind off her neck next winter and will also make getting ready for recess a little quicker - no fussing with a scarf. This one is a wee bit small for her so I plan to make a bigger one and make the neck/scarf part a little longer. She has chosen a pretty pink yarn. She said I could give it to her for Christmas. Isn't that sweet?
The pattern is sized from baby to adult. I kinda want to make one for myself. M thinks that would be a little weird. I offered to make him one but he declined. Well, he didn't want the elf shoes either so what fun is he?
The pattern for the hat is Lyalya Hoodie by Natalia Schaffer.The yarn is Artyarns supermerino.
International Quilt Market in Kansas City
Whew. I'm home from my trip to Quilt Market in Kansas City with Brenda, Anna, and Debbie. It was exhausting but lots of fun. I learned a lot and have many ideas in my head that I need to process and write out before I forget. Right now things are swimming around in my head in a blur.
We took classes, attended school house presentations, experienced the madness that is sample spree, went to the Moda customer appreciation dinner, visited ALL of the booths, and went to the Modern Quilt guild meet up. (line for sample spree - This is the front of the line. We were in the way back where you can hardly see. The line went on and on after us too. Crazy.
Alex at the aurifil table. A table piled high with Aurifil. Heaven.
And here's Tia. I wish Tia were my neighbor. I think we would have lots of fun sewing together.
It was a great few days - everyone was really nice and I learned tons. I hope I can go again! Next time I'll have to take an extra suitcase for the return trip. I brought home twice the amount of what I took on this trip. Crazy.
Flashback Friday
1974 - Mt Rushmore
Wordless Wednesday - the small thrills edition
Family
Last week I told P that all I wanted for Mother's Day was a picture of all three of my children. She drew a great picture of the whole family and gave it to me at breakfast yesterday.
Later in the day they snuck my camera and the remote and had a little photo shoot. They surprised me with a bunch of pictures on my camera. Some of the out takes are quite fun. They really are great kids.
Flashback Friday - campsite fun
1975 - Somewhere in the Colorado Rockies. It seems the camera had a timer...We were so easily entertained.This campsite was right next to a beautiful lake and there was no one else anywhere around. We stayed here several days and hiked around the area.I remember making this little town in the snow.
Paris on a Shoe String
I finished putting this quilt top together yesterday. I call it "Paris on a Shoe String".
The guys here thought that the name of the quilt was a bit obtuse but I told them that quilters would "get it". I hope I'm right. If not, it doesn't really matter because I like it and I'm stickin' with it.
I mentioned earlier that I was making some more string pieced triangles. I had the idea to try some different settings with them and this big star design is one that I came up with. I had this great Paris map print on my sewing table and it was begging to be used for the background. I didn't want seams running across the map print so D helped me make a cutting diagram to get the pieces cut from the fabric I had. We also made sure that the print is right side up everywhere and continuous in the star centers. Not that anyone would notice but us...
I love that when the four large stars are set together you get another star in the center.
Bluebirds of Happiness
I am happy to share with you the finished Bluebirds of Happiness quilt for Cloud 9 fabrics. This quilt is made from fabrics in the Alegria line. That bluebird fabric is so popular that it is already sold out!!! Miss P fell in love with the little bluebirds and I am glad I snatched up an extra few yards for some roman shades for her room before it was all gone. Michelle has informed me that they will probably be running another print run of that fabric.
M was kind enough to help with the photo shoot today and also suggested the barn backdrop. I think he secretly wanted to hang out of the barn window.
I am thrilled that I will get to personally deliver this quilt to Michele next week. I will be going to spring quilt market and this quilt will be on display in the Cloud 9 booth. Woo hoo!! I'll be going to market with Brenda, Anna, and Debbie from the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild. I am so excited about going and meeting many people like Tia and Katy who I have known on the web and will finally get to meet in person.
The Happy Drawing tops and Crazy Love quilt will also be on display at quilt market.
Happy Sewing
Last week my neighbor gave me an old three drawer dresser that fit perfectly in the corner of my sewing room. I reorganized and tidied a bit and have now eliminated all of the plastic bins from my sewing room. Yay! This has been a goal of mine for quite a while.
I can ALMOST get everything put away. I also love that I now have a surface where I can set the iron when I adjust larger pieces of fabric and quilts on the ironing board. No fancy ironing set up here - an old wooden ironing board and a presteam iron- so a dresser top works great for a temporary resting spot for the iron.
I'm making more string pieced triangles like I used in Nancy but I plan to set these differently. I am hoping that by using up more scraps things will really get whipped into shape around here. Since I am building a triangle base I am easily able to use the triangle cut away scraps that have piled up from some recent quilts like this, this, and this.
I'm having so much fun piecing these that I may try a few different setting ideas. Maybe I'll make some smaller quilts. I haven't really dicided yet.
I just love the "parts" that you get when you work with small bits of fabric. Look at those little feet.
Flashback Friday
1972 Wading in the Gulf of Mexico.This was AFTER visiting the St. Louis Zoo and the incident with the door to the aviary. My sister was kind enough to help me "wade" in the gulf with one foot.I think this was our first visit to the Gulf of Mexico. I remember that there were blobs of sticky black oil goo on the beach. We wanted to get our feet wet so we walked/hopped through it. Again, I was wearing my FAVORITE outfit ever.
Meet Nancy
I'd like you to meet Nancy. (named by M)
D helped me with the photo shoot yesterday while M was fixing dinner. Since M will be living in an apartment next year he wants to learn how to make his favorite meals. One of his summer projects will be to copy the recipies and practice making them. I also told him that if he helps in the garden and with canning that he can take some of our yeild to stock his pantry next year. Yay for tall people being home. I can get double help!
!I just can't say enough how much I love scrap quilts. Really. They make my heart sing.
So many memories stitched into this quilt. In the photo above I see a bit of P's backpack, and some pink pajama fabric, bug fabric that I used for a baby sunhat for D....I also LOVE the backing fabric. That is such a pretty color of brown with the pink flowers. I also love the way it looks with the green. It has a sort of electrical "does it really go?" vibe going on.
I've had some questions about the quilting on this so I'll tell you how I approached that.
1. I stitched in the ditch on all of the vertical block seams.
2. I stitched in the ditch on all of the horizontal lines.
3. I stitched in the ditch on the diagonal half square triangle lines.
4. I stitched a serpentine line across the diagonals in the string pieced areas.
5. I stitched the feathers in diagonal passes in the green triangles.
Nancy is 64.5 inches by 87.5 inches.
Here are other posts about the making of Nancy:
quilting
chartreuse as a neutral
auditioning fabrics for the ground
half square triangles
When it Rains it Pours
Just popping in to let you know I'm still here.
I finished this chartreuse triangle scrap quilt almost two weeks ago and it is still waiting for a real photo shoot. I need a tall person to hold it for me. Luckily, two tall people have moved home from school. Soon there will be pictures. I promise. It just needs to stop raining while a tall person is at home.
I've also been working on the Alegria quilt for Michelle. I am ALMOST finished with it.
Has the spring cleaning bug hit your house? We had a fit of spring cleaning fever this weekend when M came home and was allergic to his room. Lots of wiping, washing, rearranging.... now I kinda want to clean and rearrange the whole house. Have you ever wanted to take everything out of your house and just put back the things you really want and use? I used to do that to my room and closet every year when I was growing up. It would probably be a good thing to do but I don't think it will happen. We have accumulated a lot of stuff in the twenty three years since we moved to this house. It's a little frightening to think about, really.
Flashback Friday
1972 at the St Louis Zoo. I'm wearing my FAVORITE summer outfit, a reversible sun dress with matching panties. It can also be seen here at the Grand Canyon. My oldest sister had some cool shorts on that trip. They must have gotten worn out before they were passed on to me because I don't remember wearing them. 1972 was also the year of the fluffy yarn pony ties.
These photos must have been taken early in the day - before the incident with the door to the aviary in which I lost a toenail.
Flashback Friday - the handmade clothes edition
1975 Modeling handmade clothes - don't you love the school shoes and knee socks?My oldest sister is wearing a dress she made of wool plaid. I remember thinking she worked really hard to get the plaids matched at the seams. She entered it in the Make it Yourself with Wool competition as well as the 4-H dress revue. I am wearing a pinafore and dress made by her as well. I LOVED that outfit and could hardly wait for her to outgrow it. My middle sister is wearing a lovely dress she made out of a mushroom print fabric.Fabrics from the two outfits on the left can be seen in my first quilt. Go have a look; it's a riot of 70's prints. I finished that quilt in 1976 just in time for the bicentennial celebrations. It even won a big rosette ribbon at one of the local fairs that summer!
Wordless Wednesday - The mushroom edition
Thoughtful Sunday
(Photo taken at sunrise on Wind Rock - near Blacksburg, Virginia)
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
Quilting Feathers
I've been quilting on this quilt the last few days. I thought I'd share a little of my method while I'm taking a wee break.
First I made a cardboard template for the center spine of the feather that goes in each block.
The sewing plan for these is to work on one row of triangles at a time completing one triangle before progressing to the next.
First, I sew the center spine towards me. Next, I free stitch the right side feather lobes working away from me. When I get to the far point of the feather I start sewing the lobes on the left side of the spine. The lobes are shaped so that they fill the triangle space. I have gotten a lot of practice with this the last few days. I suggest that you get out a pencil and paper and practice a bit before trying it with the sewing machine; that will help you get the feather shapes that you want.
edit: When stitching the spine, sew with the fabric moving away as you would sew a seam. For the first side of feather lobes the fabric will move toward you as the feather lobes are stitched going away.
