There's a Lot Going On!

Have you been following along with Pink Chalk Studio's Where I Sew? Kathy Mack has been highlighting sewing spaces all month. I'm the last stop on the tour this Saturday. It's so great to be a part of this group! You can add where you sew here. Take a cruise around and check out all these unique sewing spaces.  I love that everyone's is different and I've gotten some ideas from all these great spaces too!

The Modern Quilt guild has put out a call for submissions for the 100 Days of Modern Quilting. I'm so excited about it. Read all about it and send in your submission ASAP!  The MQG has also composed a new 'About Us' statement defining the mission of the guild and clarifying the definition of modern quilting. I'd love to know what you think.

My friend Alissa, of Handmade by Alissa and Block Party fame, will be hosting her yearly fundraiser for Action Kivu the week of August 8th.  Mark your calendars.  This is such a wonderful cause and dear to my heart.  Sewing, women, children, empowerment...all right up my alley. You can read more about it here.  I'm trying to put together another complete set of fat eighths of Denyse Schmidt's hard to get your hands on, Flea Market Fancy for the fundraising effort.  I have 40 prints out of 46.  Ashley, my friend at Film in the Fridge is sending 3 more, so only 3 left to find.  If you happen to have a fat eighth of the acid green or gold bubble dots or the brown posies that you'd be willing to share, drop me an email.  It would be great to have a whole set to give.  This will be the last time I could come close to putting together a whole set....many of these are my last large pieces.

Gee, that's probably enough for one post. Sorry to say not much sewing going on here. I'll be able to tell you more in a few days. I will say, big things are happening on the home front. Now, see if you can guess. Those of you who know...your lips are sealed!

Working Away...

A quick update...almost done with this. A few hand stitches and it can be the centerpiece of the table. I love how bright and happy it is.

Last week I attended the wedding of one of my dearest friends.  It was the most joyful event I've attended in a long time.  You know how some weddings are sort of hushed and tense and everyone whispers in the pews.  This one was filled with joy, and song and well wishes.  The very best part was the processional.  Her dad walked her down the aisle as he sang "You Are So Beautiful" and at the same time her future husband stood at the top of the aisle playing his guitar, serenading her as she walked.  There wasn't a dry eye in the church.  It was such a wonderful experience to be a part of her joy and be enveloped by the happiness of her family.

That's a long story, but it is the story of this quilt.  Her favorite color is brown and the wedding was done in this warm chocolate brown, creams and just a tiny touch of orange. (a girl after my own heart!) I make a quilt for all of my friends who get married.  None of them receive them on time, but they do get them eventually.  I had every intention of finishing hers on time, but at least it is back on the design wall.  It's going to be Windows of Joy someday.  I'm still tweaking the blocks and the layout, but at least it's in process.

Hope you're staying cool and having a great week.

Some Like It Hot!

It's going to be a scorcher again today...temps over 100 and humidity which sends the heat index soaring. Such oppressive heat saps energy and motivation. I've been dealing with no electricity, dead internet and a wilting spirit.  Today, I told myself to look on the bright side. Weather aside, there are some things where hot is a good thing....
men (you knew I had to say that)
peppers (i need spice in my life)
and of course hot colors.
I have gotten a few things done...made a back for the mid century house quilt from some leftovers and one of my fav orange prints....i'm in the middle of quilting that.

Finished these awhile ago...

It's fun to change up the look of a room with pillows.  Simple and easy to make.

Finishing up a table topper made from my scrap buckets, well, it's more the size of a quilt.  It'll be a class sample, but get some use on my dining room table too.

I was going to post last week about my new internet and brag about how I was going to be able to visit blogs again and fly through cyberspaces...and then it slowed, crawled and finally came to a dead stop.  Am I an internet jinx?  Does the cybergod not like me?  When my hubby came home he brought his sprint card with him, so at least I can connect for a bit.
I'm looking for a hot internet guy with a sizzling connection?  This heat is really getting to me.

Mid Century House Quilt

Thanks so much for all the great comments, suggestions, and feedback on the Toddler Time quilt. I have so much to think about and experiment with. I appreciate you taking the time to help me.
Next on the list is my house quilt. Shea brought me another block on Sunday and I made one more so it's been expanded with these two houses.

I had to think a bit on how I wanted to quilt this.  I decided to stick with the mid-century theme and free motion an atomic shape throughout the negative space of the quilt.

I don't usually mark my quilts, but for this one I decided that I might get lost as I was quilting, so marking would be a good thing.  Marking takes some time!

I have about half the quilt left to mark, and then on to the quilting.  I'm still thinking about what to do with the quilting of the houses, but it will come to me.

With this heat (over 100 degrees here today) it's great to be inside. I'm still fighting this silly summer cold, but hopefully the drugs will work and I can work today!

Toddler Time

This is my "Toddler Time" quilt. It's an idea I've been playing around with for a long time. It's sort of my modern and minimalist version of a child's I Spy quilt.

I've been a teacher and principal for many years and dealt with a lot of overstimulated, hyper children. It seems today that children are introduced to technology earlier and earlier and television, videos, and video games have become the substitute for interaction with friends and parents. Children learn best not from fancy computery things, but one on one with us. This quilt is my way of providing an opportunity for some of that one on one, parent child quiet time. I would use this quilt to spark conversation, for telling stories and for learning together.

There are 12 pictures hidden under the letter flaps. The purpose of the letters isn't really to learn the alphabet; they are simply a way to open the conversation. There is something in the picture that starts with the letter on the flap....maybe multiple things. It may not be so obvious in the beginning.

For example: P is for...
...painter, painting, paint brush or even pink! Think of all the things you and your child could talk about from this one simple picture. Places to visit, things to do tomorrow, what happened in art class in preschool...the possibilities are endless. We could talk about artists, easels, palettes, canvases, museums...I could go on!

W is for...
...wheelbarrow! What do you think this little man is doing? Where is he going? What is he carrying in his little wheelbarrow? Do you think you and your little one could make up a story together about his adventures?
The back has a few more pictures, but not too many to be overwhelming.

I'm still working on the design and concept. I'd appreciate some help if you have some feedback for me. Does the quilt need more color, or are the flaps enough? I do like the solid background to keep the quilt visually simple, but the white might not be practical. I'm also wondering how big would be the best size for the quilt. Would you make it in a twin size? I'm also wondering if I should have quilted over the pictures? It obscures them a bit. Lastly, do you think it even needs the letters? I have this great fabric with these letters which made the flaps easy, but that's not available for everyone. There are lots of options for the letters, printing, piecing, embroidery...but are they necessary? I'm trying to work this into a pattern, but I'm not sure which way to go. Any help would be so appreciated.

I have to thank Kerri of Sew Deerly Loved. Kerri helped me with prints for the pictures and she's your online source for lots of great fabric that would work in a quilt like this. This was one of the ideas we threw around for the book, but it really didn't fit. I'm glad I'm finally back to playing with the idea. On to version #2!

In the meantime, I have a new grand niece or nephew on the way and this quilt already has a home.

Minimalist Exploration Continues

I'm continuing to explore the concept of minimalism. I'm working on a series of black and white quilts. I think removing all color and print is challenging me. It's now all about how the shapes work together.
The second one I'm working has a more "organic" feel with sweeping curves. It's an interesting experiment for me. So far....I'm in to it.Every time I post a picture like this, I get a slew of emails asking about the quilt rack. The rack was designed and built by my dad. I have three of them. They're so great. He even started to write a pattern for them since so many folks asked about them, but it never got in final shape. Let me know if you want me to talk with him about it again. If you're in the area I'm sure he'd love to make one for you....for a price.
Have a great weekend everyone!

What Do You Do on Vacation?

Read books, walk on the beach, lounge at the pool? Sounds fabulous doesn't it. Unless we get in the car, on a train or plane, that's not what vacation looks like at our house. For us, it's a chance to tackle that every growing list of things to do that never seem to get done. Sometimes, they're optional things, you know, like that hole in the bathroom ceiling that's been adorning the bathroom for a year or so. And then there are those not so optional things like the flood that happened a few days after we decide to install the new dishwasher. We added "fix the water damaged studio ceiling" to the list of things to do. I was lucky, the water avoided my stash and sewing machine....the house god was smiling on me, for a minute or two. I wouldn't even have known about the flood if I wouldn't have gone down to the studio to grab some painter's tape. Thank goodness, as I walked into the studio, a waterfall was pouring through one of the can lights on the ceiling. I knew choosing to install the dishwasher ourselves was a bad move. Such is the life in a DIY household.

Do those kinds of things happen at your house, or are you one of those people who call those angels, the home maintenance and repair guys? Maybe I could be that kind of person? Wishful thinking!

A year or so ago I saw some stains on the ceiling in the bathroom. I grabbed my my trusty drywall saw and cut a hole to see what was up. Turns out the shower above was leaking. The neat thing is, when I cut the hole the shower leaked into the tub in the bathroom below. That's my kind of solution. The hole remained for over a year since there was no urgency to actually fix the leak. We finally did figure it out and fix it, but we had gotten sort of fond of the hole and again, no urgency to make that repair. It was time to fix the ceiling. I had to rip a bit more out to make it fixable.
I patched the hole and now I'm in the dusty, mud, sand, mud some more and try to make the ceiling look like one piece. Maybe in a week or so I'll be able to show you a finished room. It could happen.
We got out the chainsaw and cut up and hauled away the giant tree that fell in the storm a few months ago, replaced all the screens in the front windows, powerwashed most of the deck, and tackled a few other miscellaneous things that have been on the list for way too long. We even put in the new shower door that has been sitting in a box in our bedroom for a month or two.

I even took some time to put quilts back where they belong. I've been traveling and hauling quilts all over the place they've been in boxes and in stacks in the studio.

I put this one on the dining room table just for fun.
There's always a quilt or two on a chair for when someone gets chilly.
The guest room always has a quilt on the bed.
This one hangs in my room.
This one is hanging in a closet...yes, in a closet, but I can see it from my desk in my office.
Some quilts hang on racks waiting for their turn on a bed.
It's been a nice break, a busy, but productive time. Remember that house god who smiled on me during the flood? Must not be too happy today...I went to change the wash and the dryer isn't heating. I'll add it to the list.

Glad to be back. Time to get back to the real work.