Sunday, April 21, 2019

Happy Easter

The bunnies hopped in to help me wish you a Happy Easter!

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Lunch And Show & Tell ART With Girlfriends


It is always so much fun to get together for lunch and show and tell with my talented friends.

Beth has challenged herself to do a project with 5 different ideas. I really wish you could see this in person as there are so many special ways she has used her materials and the way she has created the picture. She has experimented with so many different techniques and materials and this shows how she has mastered them.
The elephant used a batik method.

Robbie has been taking a color and design class on line from a lady in the UK. They work with paper. The class sounds excellent and a lot of fun. This is one of her pieces.

This was an exercise where they learn to use tints, tones, shades, etc.

They are doing layering of paints and dyes. They also are using finishes on them.
Another part of the class is learning to design, cut up and make your own compositions.
The class is a year long and from what I have seen of Robbie's work and what she has told us, I would consider it a master class.

Unfortunately this was our last get together as Robbie and her DH will not be returning to Florida next season. I treasure getting to know her and spend time together. We still will have email, Facebook and our blogs.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Five Forever Continued


This is the story of the quilt I shared yesterday on my blog. 



CREATING “FIVE FOREVER”

My inspiration for creating this quilt began with the “Fujiwara” group of fabrics created by Susan B. Faeder.

Upon reading “The Five Champions, A Japanese Tale” by Susan I realized I wanted to create a quilt beginning with the story.

I wanted each of the men to have equal importance so I created a medallion giving them all the same impact.

The star that was created in the center was serendipitous, and was significant since the roads formed a star at the crossroads.

Each man is looking at his mirror image created with the wrong sides of the fabric.

The mirror images symbolize the men remaining together forever in another dimension in time and space, as will the 5 siblings in my family.

The two hawks at the top of the quilt are “Life Mates”, intent on the activities of the five men.

The Five continue on their journey.

The End/The Beginning

I am currently finishing another quilt in this series and hope I will be able to show it to you soon.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Five Forever


Five Forever is the quilt I designed for the Quilters Express To Japan Hawks and Heroes Quilt Challenge.  It uses a specific group of fabrics designed by Susan Faeder. 
It won 1st Place and was exhibited at the prestigious Yokohama Quilt Festival. 
It was a challenging quilt to create. 
It is a piece of art that stands the test of time and is at home in any décor.
It is 54 inches wide and 67 inches long. It is available for purchase for $3900.

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Oh, What A Beautiful Morning!

The sun in shining, it's 75 degrees and the clouds are gorgeous.
It should be in the mid 80's today.
Wish you were here!

Friday, April 12, 2019

Puzzles Are Back

If you are one of the people who have followed my blog for a long  time you may remember that I used to create puzzles from things I shared on my blog.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to make that work for a long time.
I think I have figured out a work around so you can enjoy the puzzles from past posts.

If you copy and paste this link posts will come up that shared puzzles.
https://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/search?q=puzzles

Click to Mix and Solve

This is just one example of the puzzles you can chose from.
I hope you enjoy them.


Not only can you work the puzzles but you can change the cut to make them easier or harder.

I do one of the puzzles every day, changing the cut and usually choosing one of the harder ones.
I hope you will enjoy being able to do these again if you did them in the past.
If you never have done them before I think you will find this good for your brain power.




Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Big Bodacious Potholders

Who says potholders aren't fun, personal and so great to use?
I started making these potholders as hostess gifts. I try to select a novelty print that the recipients can relate to.
Usually I am making them at the last minute.  I had set aside these fabrics as ones that work. I decided to get ahead of myself and I have just finished these 9.
I make them to be USED, so there is no hanging loop to hang and display them. They also wash and dry beautifully and get better with time. I have 2 I have been using for at least 6 years and they are as good of better than when they were new.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Prom Time!

This is the dress I wore to my high school prom many years ago.
It is being modeled here by my oldest granddaughter and it fit her perfectly. I made it from this gorgeous printed cotton sateen and wore it over a crinoline that made the skirt stand out.

The picture in the background is my maternal grandmother.

I was fortunate to have attended The World's Best Prom. Our cities proms were the subject of a movie/video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=penrLf12m0w
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0772132/

What a fun video for anyone who is anticipating attending their first prom, or for anyone who has ever been to a prom, especially if their prom was in Racine, Wisconsin.

Our Post Prom was amazing with anything and everything one could have dreamed of.
At the time I didn't realize that everyone didn't get an experience like we did.
I hope you will take time to view the videos I've linked to in this post for a delightful experience.





Friday, April 5, 2019

Free Form Curve Piecing Quilts

I am currently finishing a free form curve piecing quilt. It will be a while before it is ready to share.
While I am waiting to share it I thought I'd like to share some of the quilts I created with this technique.
No descriptions, no titles, just enjoy the ART!







These are just a few of the quilts I have made using free form curved piecing.
There are so many ways you can use the technique.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

An Enjoyable Visit

I had briefly met Muriel Lynch and knew she was someone I'd like to know better. It took time for us to find a date we could get together.
One thing we had in common was that we had both gone to University of Wisconsin - Stout, although not at the same  time. I also know someone else who was in her class at Stout. It was a surprise that both of them mentioned knowing the one same person without me even saying the persons name.
We both enjoy working with fabric. 
We didn't begin to run out of things to talk about and time passes too quickly. I hope I'll be seeing more of her in the near future.