A try with "Paper-Piecing"...

I picked up these paper-piecing patterns when I was at my last Quilt Camp. I finally tackled three of the blocks. I'm thinking it is not my kind of quilting. Seemed to be extra steps I didn't feel I needed. Maybe it is more worth while when there is a lot of different pieces involved. This was just a log cabin pattern that was a bit fancier. Oh well, live and learn. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh?

It looks quite nice on this long skinny spot of wall and it will do til I find a design I like better.

This winter's "Obsession"...socks

Yup, I finally got brave enough after all these years, to try using four needles instead of two. I had visited other quilter's blogs, and found they had a thing for the crazy new yarns available to make 'designer' socks without all the yarns being changed for each color. Whooohoo, now we're talkin'!

Here's what I have made so far, minus one pair I gave to my daughter in Texas. She was visiting home and watched me making them, and couldn't resist asking if I would make some for her, especially in the cool green/beige colors I was using at that moment. Well, of course, I finished them in time to offer her that pair, instead of making her wait for the next ones. She was tickled pink to wear them right away. It was quite cold here compared to when she left home.



These blue ones were my first try, and they came out almost the same size!!! The toe on one got finished a bit sooner than the other, and slightly different in manner. But they both fit, and that is the important point. I love how warm they are and want to show them off more with some kind of winter sandle. A berkenstock???


This pair of soft browns and oranges were my first attempt on circular needles that were long enough to do both socks at the same time. This avoided my first problem in the blue socks. And I love this yarn, as it has some aloe and jojoba in it that make them sooooo soft. There was enough yarn left to make a pair of fingerless gloves, too. They are not quite finished.



These green ones came out real purty, but were of a thicker yarn that said wool/ machine washable, so I gave it a try. I may consider putting on those noslip soles and make them slipper socks. I like the look and the texture of this yarn, but they are a bit tight in my shoes. They sure did wash great, though.



Now that spring is just around the corner, and actually started as far as the calendar says, I will be out in the garden more and save the sock making for next winter.

My first keeper in twin size quilting

This was my first attempt on a larger than lap-size quilt to keep for my own use in our guest bedroom. I love putting the pieces together and seeing a design emerge. But I really dislike the trying to keep three layers together and long days of hand stitching.
In doing the hurricane relief quilts, I was shown the machine tacking idea for getting them made quickly. I love it. Now I can get those bigger ones put together fairly fast. And the batting has changed since I last tried a big one. So now I am being brave.

Purple is PERFECT

No wonder I love purple... this little test says I have a purple brain. And I think I can agree with the description. Fun!

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

New blogger, eh???

As you can guess, I've been busy otherwise and just noticed the change in Blogger. Hope the pic uploads are better, as that was my only beef with the old Blogger.
To test, here is a new pic of my cat, Chauncy, waiting patiently for us to let him in this morning.
I can't believe he is sitting in SNOW in the middle of March. I just ordered a birdfeeder, and a pretty new bird bath, and was considering a visit to the local garden center for perennials that could handle it a bit chilly. BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!! The mildest winter in Ct. history, and then we get dumped on in March. YUUUUUKKKKK.
So here goes with the pic, and I'll see if I can get some shots of my winter quilting work.

One more pic added...

This is a close-up of the simple cat-square lap quilt I did for my GD Tabitha.

Aha, it worked!

What is it with uploading pics? Here is the I Spy Pillowcase.

summer has flown by.....I'm back

I've been very bad and totally ignored my poor blog. But spring and summer call me out the door. Working on quilts just goes to the wayside in opposition to playing in the dirt of my gardens. We had so much damage to the garden nearest and prettiest, when we had a new septic system put in last year. They tore up and re-shaped almost that whole yard area. The grass was gone, and many flower bulbs where scattered all over the ground area just below the dirt. I had to wait for them to start their growing to be able to find them.

Needless to say, the yard is looking much better now, and there are many new touches. So now I can get my head around the possibility of quilting. In the very hot days, I started slowly to put together an "I Spy" quilt for my granddaughter. She loved the little pillowcase with 3" squares I made for my youngest GD and wanted a bigger version for her bed. She is 10, and I didn't think that design would appeal, but she insisted she would just love it forever!!!

I started going through all the 6" squares I could find and then proceded to cut a whole bunch more to make enough to get a twin-size out of the design. (I had used many of my squares for the Katrina Survivors Quilts already made.) It came up a bit smaller than standard, but it will work. I put a dark purple print between each so that I could get a little more size without coming up with more squares. I didn't want to repeat any squares if I could help it. Then I was expecting to use the rest of the dark purp for the backing. But low- I was a bit short. I asked my GD if she would mind big wide stripes on the back. I had a white sheet that I could make stripes with. It came out just right. I'm trying to get a couple pics up of the little pillowcase and her lap quilt of cats. Let's see how blogger handles it today.

A "Fishy" quilt story...

When I was at that great quilt show in Sommers, I got a nice little fat-quarter pack with the brightest fish patterns I had ever seen. And I thought instantly of a great quilt for my son's wall. He is into aquariam fish, as well as liking to spend his vacation at the shore in Rhode Island.

So I put my thinking cap on and came up with a kinda porthole peeking pattern. I love the idea of 'stained glass' in quilting and I had gotten this roll of bias tape in black that has the fusing already on it. Super cool and easy to work with. So I incorporated that with the fish idea. Then I had a lot of other deep blues to go with the three in the FQ pack. Because water isn't smooth and still at sea, I cut the pieces without the ruler involved. So the blue squares are off tilt on purpose, til they were the right size to match the porthole squares.


Here is the finished wall hanging. It was and interesting one to work on with color combos that are unusual for me.

















Here is a close up to show more of the detail on the porthole with gold blanket stitch, and the grasses coming up from the bottom are reverse bobbin stitching along with regular free motion stitching.


One more shot of a different part to show the beautiful materials.

It's raining, so I can blog!

Been playin' in the dirt since it finally got warm and sunny here in New England. We had a new ceptic system put in last year that completely re-designed our yard. So I have been digging and adding and subtracting and moving plants, etc. But today and yesterday it finally rained soft and steady for all those plants to get a good drink and settle in their new spots.

But I did manage to finish this little wall hanging. It is using my own dyed background material and a whole bunch of fancy stitches from my machine, and some angelina fibers and beads for embellishments.
It was fun doing the 'swirls' for a first try. And the angelina stuff is soooooo pretty, that I was delighted to get it attached enough to show it off. I never knew what that fiber was til I read about it here on someone else's blog. She was sorry she couldn't seem to get any more locally. So I went to my favorite shopping mall -EBAY- and now I have five different colors to have fun with.

A couple more from Seymour...

...as blogger finally was willing to take my uploads!

Always loved this pattern.











A jacket after my own heart...jungle cats and friends.


I have been trying to get more pics up, and have a very hard time trying in the daytime. Seems to work after at least nine pm. Does anyone else find this to be true with blogger picture uploads???

Recent postcard art...

...that I tried uploading a few days ago. Today blogger seems to be cooperating again so I'm grabbing the chance to catch up.This lacy goody is for a friend who loves victorian.
And one for a fellow tea-drinker who now lives way up in Stowe, Vt.
This was a fun project for our real estate agent who has worked extra hard on trying to sell our complicated piece of property and houses. She had a bad time with a bacteria infection and I hope this will brighten her day a bit.






Now back to the drawing board. I have an idea cooking for a wall quilt. My son that is into fishy stuff hasn't received a recent quilt from me. I got some gorgeous material in a 'sweet treats' packet at that show in Seymour. It is a jumping off point for getting going. I want to incorperate the stained-glass method, and the cut-it-any-way without measuring method I have found on other blogs. The colors are really bright and 'out-of-the-box' for me. It also will include using the fancy bobbin threads and sewing upside-down for the first time. Should be fun.

Time out from Seymour for my own work...

...that I have been trying to upload for three days. Used this photo from a Vermont trip to guide the wall quilt below.
Used beads and stones to embellish and some fusible very gently touched on one edge to make the 'foam' on the water.
Longer bugle beads enhance the fall leaves
Hope you can see the crystal beads on the foam, here. And, of course there is lots of free motion quilting going on.









The difference with this quilt is that I used stiff Timtex as the base. Figured if it worked so well on postcards that a piece would make it easier to do the machine work. And the fabric pieces are just glued in place(Avery purple glue, acid-free) for the machine work, and it held the fabric just fine. I liked working on the firm surface, but found I should have included the edging in my measurements for cutting the Timtex. I put in triangle corners and used dowels on the top and bottom to hold it straight, but when you hold it in your hands the edging kinda flops and the picture is firm. Live and Learn...

A large Japanese garden quilt...

...that blogger finally let me upload. What is their problem? Can't I post more than one time a day? Can't I upload more than 3 pics?

This was really detailed, and made by a group of women. The pink blossoming tree was individual branches with tiny blossoms coming out of the quilt in 3-D
Hope you can see the detail here, but it doesn't compare with the real thing.

Now I just took a chance and got two more pics uploaded. Gotta hang in there while it's working!!!!







This was a fascinating wall hanging. Certainly fabric art, not a quilt.


A little bit of everything was in this.

Seymour show had a 'Window' quilt challenge.

The challenge was to depict something seen out a window. Any type of window, and any size. There were many more but I kinda liked these...

This was a flannel material so it had a very rich warm color scheme. The pic didn't pick up the warmth of the colors. I have always like this block that looks so three dimensional.
Another kitty one. It was a simple quilt, but favored my cats theme.
The lace in the window was three-dimensional and made to look like it was blowing in a breeze.

Here we have a Tuscany feel to the scene. Can imagine warm sunshine and soft breezes and a nice glass of wine in the afternoon.

Lotsa Pics!

But I was only able to upload three so far. Blogger seems to be struggling again.
These are from the quilt show in Seymour, Ct.

This was just amazing, in that it is loads of little bits and pieces all sewn down to make the beautiful garden. Of course, there is a kitty, and the lady certainly has earned her peaceful resting spot.







As I favor cats, they are often in the quilts I favor. This is no exception. He looks so comfy here.





And I do love the ocean- therefore this one is especially appealing. Love the simplicity of line and fresh open feeling. Just like being there.










I will try to upload more tomorrow, as I took 37 shots. I won't try to get them all posted, but certainly as many as I can. I love all the different methods used and am so glad to have the pics to remind me and inspire me.

Goin' to a quilt show...Whohooo!

No pics for today, but maybe a whole bunch in a couple more days. I and two of my sisters are going down to Seymour, Ct to a big show and I am looking very much forward to it.

I have learned so many techniques since a couple years ago when I first visited this large show. Therefore, I am itching to see more fabric-art types of quilts, maybe some postcards, and to buy all kinds of threads, embellishments, and the obvious great fabrics that I usually find at a show that never seem to be at my local stores. Hopefully, they might even have some demos with the new stuff that is out there and I have held off from trying because I don't quite know what to do with it.

A Quilt Window...

...in my small bath that has no window.
I got this idea and inspiration from a quilt made for the alzheimers cause. I added my own touch with shelves, bottles and a plant. The Window also has sheer curtains and the edging is a color that looks like the wall color in the bath.












This gives you a closer look at the detail.

Fiery Sunset...

...another photo turned quilt.This was great fun, as I used a lot more free motion machine quilting than ever before. Just got these great variegated threads that seem a tiny bit thicker than ordinary sewing thread. Show up much better when you 'draw' with them.
Here is the pic I used to guide me. We took this going at least 65 mph(probably more...lol) It wasn't convenient to stop on the highway, so I just shot from the open window. Hence the soft blur of all details!
A closer shot of the sky painting, and the tree silouettes. This quilt also incorporates the wavy edging idea. I thought it made a good contrast frame against the reds and oranges and yellow brightness and picks up that small dark cloud coming in at the left.

Using real photos helps make the quilts look real...

I found the pic I used as a guide for the last blog entry. I put the barn on the opposite side in the quilt, but I only intended for the picture to be a guide, so it worked out well.