Some eye candy

Hi!  I'm still here and the sewing machine has been humming along.

I've been working on lots of little projects and a couple of bigger ones. A couple of projects are secrets... and will remain so for a while. Most of the small projects were class samples.  I've been teaching beginning basic quilting and also beginning paper piecing at the local shop. The shop is small and chock full of fabric and a lot of art supplies. Available space limits class size to 4 at a time. Actually, that is an ideal number, as I can give lots of individual attention. It is fun to help someone discover and enjoy the process that is involved in quilting. I allow my students to select any project or pattern with squares, rectangles and triangles, and I help them make it, providing technique information as they need it. This is a casual approach, but it works and the students set the pace!

Here is a flimsy that was created since I last posted.

The center was inspired by a pattern called Eye Candy, from !Caliente Quilts! by Priscilla Bianchi. As fun as it was making the striped squares and the background pieces, I found myself wanting more. The quilt needed action and surprises. Hence, it evolved into a liberated medallion (Gwen Marston style).  Sorry I couldn't get a better photo.  I was backed against a huge snow bank and had maybe 4 feet between myself and the quilt.

When I piece I do leader and ender experiments at the same time.  I never know just what I'll end up with when I start these.  One such experiment was to piece nine-patches that would finish at 1.5 inches.  It didn't take me long to decide this wasn't something I wanted to continue.  It demands precision piecing which is NOT one of my strong points. But, I wasn't about to waste the little blocksso I pieced them into four patches using 2 inch squares from my stash of scrap squares.  This is destined to become a pillow.

I am still working with my scrap squares and expect to have another posting in a couple of days.

See you then.

Plugging away, getting things done slowly

I have been back in the quilting saddle, but my horse keeps turning me away from the blogging station.  (Gotta blame something!)  I've been busy with several projects, among them some finishes!

Finishes: 

Crumbs and Behind Bars were quilted just before I left Michigan. I finally got the bindings done.
I backed the crumb quilt with a piece of red seersucker and narrow strips of floral fabric. I brought the backing around to the front as binding.  

Crumbs.  queen futon.

detail of Crumbs.  Note: six inch ruler for scale.

Crumbs backing

Behind Bars has a rather plain creamy backing and striped binding.

Behind Bars

detail - Behind Bars 

Marilyn Lange did all the quilting. I am happy with both of these quilts.

Off the wall and waiting for further action...

You gotta listen to your quilt.  I made this red /green liberated medallion before I moved and planned on adding to it. This fall I put another border on it.  I thought I'd be adding more borders, but everything I tried just didn't work.  The quilt said, "STOP".  So I did.

this quilt said STOP!

Nine-patch rejects revived

Last month I was going through one of my boxes and found a lot of nine-patches that were from an exchange I participated in many years ago.  I decided on a whim to use them up (now or never).  Of course, this was supposed to be a quick project.  Not so fast! More than a few of these blocks were cut smaller than the needed 3.5 inch dimensions, or were sewn crookedly.  At first I un-sewed a few and put them back together. That was a chore.  Then I remembered Gwen Marston's mantra,"If it is too small, add on; if it is too big, cut it off".  Bingo!

9-patch detail. Note strips added to the red/green square

 3 inch 9-patch 

I am so happy to have an empty design wall.  I get to play again!

Wishing all of you a pleasant holiday and a Happy New Year!

Play time keeps me sane

Sorry I have been absent for so long. Since October I've been cleaning, polishing, packing.  We are in the process of selling our home for a move to Maine.  That is a long time dream and for us it is move now or never.  We know where we want to live, but won't own a house to go to until after we get there. This makes for some challenging packing decisions...what to bring... what to pass along to others, etc.

Anyway, we are finally at a point where we haven't too much to do and we can now breathe a little.  Breathing a little means time to play with fabric!  I've packed a lot of my larger stash, but scraps are still accessible.  I've challenged myself to play with solid scraps.  I have a library of Gwen Marston's books and look through them regularly.  I'm sure you'll see the influence of her work on mine.

A Small Study   10" x 10"

Liberated Square in a Square  9"x9"

Another liberated square in a square that morphed into a "stripe in a square".  12" x 12"

Liberated Log Cabin   I didn't like this very much, so I kept one block and cut up the others

Log Cabin Medallion.  The cut up blocks made one border

Log Cabin Medallion as it is now.  22" x 22" .
 Ran out of fabric!  I'll add to it when I get to Maine and unpack my stash.