Circles

I have been playing with Circles these days. In a Quilting Arts Magazine from a couple of months ago I tried a process where you have several squares of fabric stacked and you machine stitch a free form spiral. After you have sewn the spiral you cut the circle in quarters and then you trim away some of the layers.
This is the results of my experimentation. It has been fun. I have stitched tole over the top of these and quilted them in place. I now have a fun and very colorful table runner. It was fun to do and very freeing. I did not have to think much or plan. At this point in things I am needing to be creative but I just don't have much concentration. This was a great way to spend a stress free day in the studio and create something fun and new. Beryl Taylor is the author of the article and I have to apologize because I can not find which month the article was in the magazine.

Life has mellowed a bit but things are still a bit up in the air. I hope someday to be able to tell you all about what has been going on in our lives. It is a character building experience and my husband and I. We have decided we are going to live our lives and be good people and send out good thoughts.

My first quilt run

I spent 3 days this last week participating in my first "Quilt Run" Two of my quilt friends and I traveled the entire Oregon Coast and visited 14 quilt shops. We had a great time. I had imagined we would visit the quilt shops and have lots of time to visit and do hand work and beach walking while we were at our hotel. I was so surprised. I think I sewed for about an hour in three days. We drove, ate, shopped, laughed and talked for 3 days. It was such fun to do this with some incredible quilters and I feel I learned so much from them in many ways especially when it comes to choosing fabric... I have a new outlook on the whole process.

We decided to create our own challenge. We would each purchase a fat quarter in each shop to coordinate with a focus fabric we had. We will then cut the fabric in half and give each person our fabric and in turn we will make something with their fabric and we will exchange our quilts on the Winter Solstice this year. So I will have adequate time to create something but I hope my work can measure up and that my friends will like what I create. It will truly be a challenge for me. A welcome one though.

I think it is so inspiring to spend time with people who are so creative and FUN!

I am still working on sending out good and positive thoughts in a challenging time. I figure if I send out good thoughts the same will return. :-)

Confusion

I live in a beautiful part of the world. It is a small and wonderful place most of the time.

I am spending much of my time lately wondering about choices people make. I would like to live in a world where people are kind to one another and respect each other. Our small world has been shaken up. When you are faced with individuals who chose to do everything in their power to make life difficult for those around them, what do you do. Why try and manipulate things and lie. I just have such a hard time understanding what would make people so unhappy or angry that they need to make everyone around them unhappy.

I like to think the best of people and my faith in people is being tested...

I really didn't fall off the face of the earth!!!
I received a comment this morning from a wonderful blog friend, Karen. Karen has a wonderful blog about Embroidery. It is a beautiful and inspirational place to visit. Now back to her comment. She wondered if things were OK. I spend much of my time online wondering if anyone pays any attention to what I am doing. Now I know I have one faithful follower. If I know someone is visiting it is enough to keep me going. So, Karen I want to thank you for caring... :-)
I have been practicing my machine quilting and making portholes. Here is a small wall hanging which I used both processes. I love the way the shot cotton looks with the stitching. It was fun to do too. I was inspired to practice my machine quilting after reading an article by Teri Lucas in the newest Quilting Arts Magazine (February-March). One of her suggestions was to practice Doodling with pen or pencil. So I have been doing that and much to my surprise it has helped me immensely! I now have a sketch book I hope to doodle in every day.

So If I am not here reading or writing my blog I will be doodling with pencil or machine.

Thanks again to Karen for bring me back...

Journal Square #3

Here it is. Finally I completed my third journal square. Our one rule for our square this last month was use any embellishment we chose. I have a role of these hooks and eyes a friend gave me and I have been trying to figure out how to use them. Well I tried this...
This project took a bit more planning than I thought it would. I tried several different approaches and this was the most successful. I do like the way it turned out. It is not perfect but it does have some good points. The purpose of making these squares is to learn and I feel I learned quite a bit. At times I learned more than I intended but it was a good learning process. Oh, the tape the hooks and eyes were attached to was very white so I tea dyed. Now it is not so harsh with the shot cottons.

New Etsy Shop

I have to apologize for my absence but I have been busy, I now have an Etsy Shop... I have not figured out how to put the shop on my side bar yet. If any of you have any advice on that one I would appreciate any assistance or advice you can give me.
While my lovely daughter was home for Christmas she got me motivated and helped me build a light box, she photographed my work and did the initial set up of the shop. I am so happy she got me going. I don't know if I would have done it on my own. I needed the push and a lot of assistance.
Those of you who have had an Etsy Shop and have any advice or suggestions I would love to hear from you.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and are enjoying the New Year...

Merry Christmas

I wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope your holiday is going wonderfully and you are spending quality with family and friends. Our daughter is home for Christmas and our son is in Sweden. This was the first Christmas I have not had both of our children with us. It is a strange thing. My family is changing right before my eyes! I am not sure I am ready but I guess I better hurry and get there. Our son did have a great day too and we were able to Skype with him and see his smiling face!!! I am a very fortunate MOM!

My husband smoked salmon for us yesterday and we had a lovely dinner, the three of us! Now today will be spent hanging around and putting together a jigsaw puzzle. I love days like this! However next year we will all be together, I hope. :-)

Oh, our daughter got some very exciting news the day before Christmas. She has been offered a job 4 hours from here!!!! We are so very excited! She has been a 10+ hour drive from us and now will be close enough for weekends!!!!! I think this is one of my favorite Christmas Presents!

Sorry for the long absence but there has not been much sewing going on! Sending good thoughts for a wonderful Holiday!!!!!