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)

Merry Christmas!

To all my wonderful blog friends, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Pink Love

Here we go again!  With Granddaughter #3 scheduled to arrive on February 23rd, I have been thinking about her quilt.  I found the first piece at Miller's Dry Goods.  Her mama loves daisies and simple.

The next piece, Frosted Dots, came from the Fat Quarter Shop.  I've used this before.  It adds a little fun to a quilt and is really great for binding.

I am thinking pinwheels of some sort but can't seem to move beyond that.  It will be back to Miller's after Christmas for me for some more inspiration.  My head's on overload with the holidays approaching.

:o)

A Double Finish...and a Little Disappointment

I am very happy to report a couple of finishes.  Remember this...

and this...

and this...

And this...

 Well, I am finally finished.  I love these quilts and the little guys who will receive them.  Each printed square represents some event or time we've spent together.

Here is the older grandson's quilt...

 and the back...

 Here is the younger grandson's quilt...

 and the back...

One more...a little closer...

The disappointment?  I used Dream Wool batting.  I love Dream Wool and how it looks and feels after it has been quilted...so snuggly and warm.  After I gently washed and dried these two quilts, there seemed to be a lot of fuzz on the black Kona cotton squares.  So I got out my 3M lint roller and thoroughly went over the quilts.  The fuzz was not really fuzz but bearding by the wool batting through the black Kona cotton squares.  Of course, I couldn't get all the bearding off.  I have never had this happen before with other quilts but guess this is the only one (or two!) that I ever used this combination of a dark solid with Dream Wool.  Anyone else ever had this trouble?

Birthday Pillowcase #9

This is the final in the series of the 2011 pillowcase birthday gifts for the Amish children who live next door.  This pillowcase is for Sam who turned 13 this week.  Sam is the neatest kid...very quiet, sweet, and smart.  He is an amazing artist...can illustrate a family gathering with pencils and white paper...and the result is almost like a photograph.  You seldom see formal drawings or paintings by Amish artists.  They are a community of people who like sameness and blending in with the others.  An Amish person really doesn't want to stand out as an individual artist.  That being said 'art' appears anyway...in quilts, for example...or a simple house design...or in a flower garden.  At least this is what I have observed since moving here almost 7 years ago. 

Here is Sam's pillowcase.  He likes blue.

I took a chance and used a small plaid in his gift.  I think it was okay with his parents. 

:o)

William's Birthday Pillowcase

My neighbor's youngest child, William, just turned four this year.  It is hard to believe he is that old as Roscoe's Pa and I took Mom to the midwife for check ups for several months before William is born.  It seems like it was just yesterday.

My hubby actually was the one who took Mom to the hospital the night William was born, after they helped the mid-wife load a trailer of household possessions as the mid-wife was in the process of moving.  After the trailer was loaded, the three of them went to the Amish 'care center' where William was born.  Imagine being ready to deliver child #9 and stopping to help someone move out of their house.  Whew.  The Amish dad stayed home to care for the other 8 children.

Here is William's birthday pillowcase...grey which is a color he likes and a combination of many of the fabrics I used in his siblings' pillowcases.  See previous posts for the whole story!

Oh, did I mention Roscoe's Pa's first name is William!?!

:o)

Sewing Fun!

Sewing is a stressbuster, therapy, life balancer, and a blessing for me.  I got some stressful news last week.  It's not terrible news but it is life changing and I needed to wrap my arms around it.  After spinning my wheels for a couple of days...feeling bad that I couldn't concentrate on my 'to do' list (which gets a whole lot longer this time of year for most of us)...I abandoned all attempt at trying to accomplish anything that I 'needed' to do and retreated to my sewing room.  I grabbed the pink haired dolly that we are giving our granddaughter for Christmas and the sewing began!  Here are some pictures of this therapy session!

A Pink Dolly!



A Totebag with a Sleeping Bag Pocket and Pillow!



Dolly Daydreaming in the Sleeping Bag!



Dolly in Tutu!



A Happy Skirt and Vest

 

A Sun Dress!



And add a school skirt and a nightgown to the ensemble!

 

  Life goes on and my head is in a better place!

  :o)