Progress report

The baby quilt is coming together nicely.  I just need some TIME!!  Here are some squares:

:o)

Sewing again!

I am finally back in my sewing room.  Hooray!  I have started work on the much talked about baby quilt for my new granddaughter who is scheduled to arrive in ONE month. 

I found one more fabric (the check in the center) to go with the assortment I had already collected.  The fabric for this quilt came from Charm, Ohio; Bellevue, Washington; and Mankato, Minnesota!  I am really happy with it.  Pink and yellow were the colors I chose for our wedding forty plus years ago.  I still love the combo.

I had an idea but wasn't quite sure how it would look so I played on my design board.  I had originally planned to use the 'plain' white fabric (white stars on white)  in the same fashion as I used the 'solid' pink (Moda Marble)and 'solid' yellow (Moda Marble).  But it didn't suit me. So I did some more cutting and trimming and arranging.

 I relegated the white to be the binding.  (I like to make the binding and, if possible, the backing, before I start piecing the quilt.  I hate to finish a top and have to stop to prepare the binding and back.  This way I can just keep rolling.)

This is my current arrangement.  I took pictures of it and have been rotating the pictures to help me decide if I need to tweak some things.  I need to sleep on it.

:o)

Taking over a WIP

About six years ago, my daughter decided she wanted to make a quilt for her brother and sister-in-law.  My daughter, my daughter-in-law, and I went to one of the local quilt shops to look at  fabric.  My daughter-in-law chose the fabric.  I bought the fabric.  My daughter designed the quilt on the computer in Word, if I remember correctly.  She printed the design that looks like colored graph paper...

and pieced it into four quarters.  Then she took it to NY, went to college and grad school, got a job, and got married.

During the holidays this year, the WIP traveled back to Ohio from NY.  I was presented with the four quarters, the binding, the backing, and the thread, and was asked to finish the quilt.  My daughter now lives in a teeny Manhattan apartment and completing the quilt would really be a challenge.

I agreed to finish the quilt.  It's in line now with my other WIP's.  It's going to be a quilty year!

:o)

More Australian Aboriginals

Yes, I am amassing fabric at an alarming rate.  I love these Australian Aboriginals which I ordered from Canton Village Quilt Works.  I noticed today that City Quilter in NYC now has some of this fabric, too, but the cost per yard is higher than Canton Village.  There are a couple different choices at City Quilter that might justify paying more if you 'have to have it'.  The quality of this fabric is amazing.  The colors are bright and the designs are really interesting.  Here are some more of my recent acquisitions.  Hopefully, I'll get to cut into these lovelies soon!

:o)

Shopping on the East Side

I learned Rule # 1 if you are out for a stroll (and on a mission for fabric) in the Seattle area, it will rain before you get back home, and a puny, malfunctioning umbrella will not keep you dry.  I ventured out today to walk to Quiltworks Northwest, a great local quilt shop in Bellevue which is situated on the east side of the Seattle area.  (BTW, they are having a nice storewide sale until Sunday if you live in the Bellevue area.)  I wanted to take a picture of the store, but the rain spoiled my plan.  Here is my bag front as proof I was there and I did make some purchases.  Yes, those are rain drops.  I came home a little soggy but my fabric was dry!

First up, I found some more Henry Glass, oops, Alexander Henry fabric in the Matisse line in a different colorway that I thought I had to have.

I also found this other Alexander Henry piece called Ghastly Forest.  I love it!

I like them together too.

And I also found a really cute fabric in the colors of the baby quilt fabric...remember this?

Now I have this:

And a couple of things to go with it.

Sorry about the quality of these pictures.  A motel room and the rainy weather are making it tough to get a good picture. 

Oh, they had Aurifil Thread!  Have you used it?  I think it is wonderful thread.  It is very fine, strong, and practically lint-free.  Only I cannot find it in Ohio.  So I bought a couple of basic colors. 

I am all set for sewing when I get home!  First up will be the baby quilt because she is coming soon!

:o)

More additions to my latest fabric obsession

I am currently in the Seattle area.  This is my first trip to the great Northwest.  I think it is amazingly beautiful, and I haven't even seen that much yet.  I hope to get to a couple of fabric stores while I am here, too.

While I am away from my sewing room, I wanted to show you some of the new Australian Aboriginals by M and S Textiles that I have acquired.  These fabrics are gorgeous.  The colors, the feel of the fabric...really supreme.  I am coming closer to some ideas on how I want to use this fabric.  Here are some of my latest acquisitions.

:o)

Not Sewing Today/Looking Back/Looking Ahead

I confess.  I haven't really used my sewing machine since before Christmas.  I think about it A LOT.  However, today I am fortunate to be here in Palm Springs.  Here is the view from our room.

Seriously.  Please don't think I am a braggy sew and sew.  You would laugh if you had seen us yesterday sliding to the airport on snowy, unplowed Amish country roads, dodging the road apples (aka horse poo) along the way.  That is the normal mode for me.  Palms Spring is a once in a lifetime adventure that fell my way.

Something else to share...here is our fireplace mantel on December 26th after Santa had come and before the whole family arrived.  I was very happy with the way the stockings looked. See the little one center left?  It makes note of our new little one who will arrive in February.   We had such a great time together.  I am so blessed.

And since this is a quilting blog, I will include a picture of additional Matisse fabric that I found to add to my surprise quilt for my hubby.  I took the picture along side the stripe fabric that goes with the collection.

I love this addition.  It adds some variation to the size of the prints and is so very Matisse.  I am thinking of sticking with a quilt of simple squares to showcase the fabrics.

Thanks for stopping by, my blog friends!  I am blessed to have you, too!!

:o)



Matisse

Happy New Year, my blog friends!!  The season has gotten in the way of my sewing.  I had 13 people at my house for 5 days over the holidays (my family...it was WONDERFUL!) and I have been putting the house back together.  Give me one more day (okay, two) and I should be back in order.  Right now my cutting table is piled high with empty boxes and gift wrap, etc.   I haven't been too busy to buy fabric though.  So many quilt visions are swirling through my head for 2011.

Roscoe's Pa loves Matisse.  Our first framed picture for our home was a Matisse museum poster and many more have since followed.  So I must make him a throw from this collection I bought at Hawthorne Threads.  It will be a surprise!  And I will be surprised when I finally get to the machine to sew.  Lots going on here right now.  But a girl can dream, can't she?

Here are some of the fabrics:

:o)