Progress

Here is my fun needle turn applique project. It is coming along nicely, I think. I am enjoying working on it and I have about 4 more inches to the right to go. Now that I am getting closer to the finishing point I am contemplating how I am going to quilt and finish this piece. There will be approximatly 9x15 of applique area. So I have many ideas swimming around in my head. I do not want to get to fussy since it is a loose piece.

I would love any suggestions any of you have.

I have had a busy week and I am not sure why it has to fly by so quickly. I want more time to sew but I am just stealing moments as I can.

9 patch

Here is the 9 patch complete and in the guest room. I have to apologize for the paint color. This room has not been painted since we moved into our home and it is in need of another color.

I completed pillowcases yesterday to coordinate with the quilt but I am unsure if I like them. I was so sure this would look good but I am disappointed. I may have to make some dark purple pillowcases or shams. What do you think?

Slow Progress

The progress is slow on this piece but Oh, am I ever enjoying putting it together. I have yet to get a photo with the colors exact but this is close.

It is really fun to be putting something together with a very loose plan. I think this is my favorite way of working. I am still contemplating how it will be quilted but for now it is just a nice thing to pick up and play with. I am about half finished, the piece is being dictated by the size of the black fabric I am using for my backing.

I hope all of you are enjoying your week.

New Exciting Direction

Several months ago I look a needle turn applique class and it has sent me in an interesting direction. I really love handwork and especially work that I don't have to think about. I found doing needle turn very meditative. That said I am not a very traditional quilter so following a pattern was not really one of my favorite things to do.

I got a new, old book a few weeks ago of the paintings and drawings by Paul Klee. He is an artist from the early 1900's and was very innovative. I have loved and admired his work for a long time. However since I started quilting I started looking at things in a different way.

I decided to take one of his paintings and use it for inspiration on fabric. These photos are the beginning of this process. I am not sure where it will take me but for now I am feeling very satisfied and having fun putting this together.

Happy Birthday Mom

I am sending Birthday Wishes to My Mom. She is celebrating her day today!

Now don't you just love that dress in this photo!! I think it is sooooo cool. This photo is of my parents before I came into the picture, I am not sure if it is before or after they were married.

Mom, I hope you had a wonderful day and I wish were were there to Celebrate with you and eat that yummy cake....

My Baby is 20 today!

I find it so hard to believe that my Baby is 20 years old today. I just can not believe where the time has gone. Time fly's when you are having fun....

Rick is in school and spending the day with friends snowboarding and having a great day. I really do not like not spending birthdays without my kids but I guess that is what happens when they grow up.

However I keep reminding myself that I did not raise them to live at home and not become the incredible adults they are becoming... I am not a proud parent at all. :-)

I hope all of you are having a great weekend.

More playing with free motion quilting

I have continued to work on my free motion quilting. This is some of the quilting I have done on a wall hanging I posted several months ago. I have had fun with this project and I am hand quilting the photo of the aspen tree you can see in the right corner.
Now I am not sure what this will become yet. I think it will be a bag or I-pod case or something of the sort. It was very fun to quilt this one. I just used the lines from the patterned fabric for my inspiration. The fabrics are fused on and then stitched for some added security.
I am heading off to a quilt guild meeting today. I enjoy these meetings and it is fun to see what everyone has been up to with their work. The group is very traditional and I am not but I am learning so much from them. Sometimes I think they look at me and shake their heads but I guess most people do that with me anyway, so it is nothing new.

I hope all of you have had a great week....

Lots of free motion quilting going on here

I have been practicing and playing with my free motion quilting. I am also trying to make a few small things to possibly try and sell, I am not sure if I will but I thought it would be kind of fun to try and see what I can come up with. This is kind of a funky round pin cushion.
Now this is the mystery project I did with Mrs. Moen from Norway. I love the rosters. Now I did not follow the instructions very well so I have a few of the pieces in the wrong places but I liked the way it turned out so I assembled the squares and made this table runner. I also did some stippling on this. It was a great thing to practice on.
Now last but not least I had a request to show my binding on the 9 patch. It is nothing special but I do like the way it turned out. I used scraps for this so it would blend with the rest of the quilt. I have also ordered a new dust ruffle for the bed it will be on so I will take photos of the completed room when I finish. However, it may be a while because now that I have made a new quilt I think the room needs to be painted and I need to make some pillow shams.... The ideas never end. I just need more time, on second thought I am so fortunate to do what I want to do I will not complain. :-) I hope all of you are having a great week.

Oh, I love binding a quilt. I think it is my favorite part of quilting...

9 Patch almost complete

Here is the 9 patch quilted and partially bound. I sat and did the hand stitching on my binding last night and I am amazed and how much there is to sew down. But It will be on the bed in the next couple of days!
I had it long arm quilted since it was a queen size and I just did not think I could handle machine quilting something this large.

This is the first bed size Quilt I have ever made and I just am so very excited about having something on the guest room bed that I made!!!

Ramblings

Well, I can hardly wait until tomorrow. This 9 patch has been quilted and I pick it up tomorrow. I made the decision to have it quilted since it is queen size and I decided I was not experienced enough to do it. I spent quite a bit of time making the binding for this. I cut strips and pieced them so I would also have a scrappy looking binding. I will take photos tomorrow if the light is good and share the results.

One very nice thing about being excited to pick up this quilt and add the binding gave me some motivation to clean my house so I can spend the afternoon in my studio working on the binding.

I also got some very exciting news today. My youngest applied to the study abroad program at the university he is attending and had his interview today. He has been accepted!!! He is so very excited and will be spending next year studying at Uppsala University in Sweden. I am going to have a hard time with him being so far away for an entire year but what an opportunity. I am also thinking I will just have to go and visit.

Snow in Austin

When I flew into Austin last week it was snowing and the flight after mine from Dallas had been canceled. I had not seen snow since Christmas in Colorado and did not think I would have to deal with snow in Texas... It was quite a surprise to see so much snow.
After I arrived at my parents house my dad came out and made a snowman. He was a cute little guy. However something was missing. In their yard was a prickly pear cactus which made for perfect ears. I think he is a very cute little guy. It was so strange to be in Texas in late February and have the weather be so cold and strange.

I have returned home

I have returned from an incredible adventure to Portland, Oregon, Dallas and Austin, Texas. Mark and I spent a few days in Portland and after I flew to Texas. I delivered Bronx(the dog) to my brother and his wife and then off to Austin to visit my parents. It was such a nice week with family. I just love being able to spend time with them. I do have one complaint though. The weather was not perfect. It was very cold in Dallas and then the day I flew to Austin it snowed and it snowed quite a bit... It was so strange to see snow in Texas!

I took so many photos while I was gone. I hope to post more photos as the week goes along. The photo in this post I took out the window of the plane as we were approaching the Portland Airport. It was an incredible view of Mt. Hood. I could not believe my good fortune of being on the right side of the plane to see this site.

I hope to catch up on what all of you have been up to for the last couple of weeks.