Happy Valentines Day

Today I am going to show you the rest of the Valentines I received in our fiber art exchange up close and personal.

This one is by Chris Fitzreiter. She used a lot of gorgeous sparkly metallic fabrics. Her background is also significant as it features a musical theme and music is something near and dear to Chris.

Judy Devaney attached a little message on a separate tag to each of the Valentines she sent. Her Valentines were a crazy quilt style, one of my favorite kinds of quilts.

It is obvious she knows how to use her sewing machine and it’s various stitches to advantage and she knows how to make a person feel good about themselves.

Carolyn Eaton did a masterful job of combining many different sewing techniques and trims.

Did you notice the see thru ribbon she used? The “dream” message? The fleur de leis she stitched? The flower with the pear center? and of course the strip pieced background. It’s hard to integrate so many varying things and she sure knew how to do it.

Gloria Meacham is one of the members of our group who is a master at using all the features on her sewing machine.

She even used her machine to sign the back of each valentine.

Carol Walker made each Valentine different. Her theme was using texture on them. She showed us all of them and then sealed them in envelopes and had someone shuffle and cut the envelopes and passed them around and we each got a beautiful card. The one I received features metallic fabrics woven like a Swedish heart.

Of all the Valentines I received this one reminds me the most of the type of Valentine we used to exchange in grade school. It also is a perfect quilters Valentine featuring sun bonnet Sue.

Elaine Scully is another member of our group who is so talented when it comes to using her computerized sewing machine. In addition to that what creativity this shows. Of course I ate the sucker right after I photographed it!

One of the guidelines for this project was they had to be in an envelope. Elaine made her own envelopes with a heart print fleece type fabric. No one else thought to do that.

This was such a fun project and really allowed every one to play to their strengths. We do something like this about once a year and it just keeps getting better and better. Can’t wait for our next project.

There is not puzzle cut that is a heart so I used a star symbolizing the fact that each and every Valentine our group made was "STAR" quality!

Creative Fiber Art Valentines

Our Art Quilt group decided to have a original Fiber Art Valentine exchange.

It took place yesterday.

These are the 9 Valentines I made for the other 9 participants. I had them finished on January 15th. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever had something finished more than an hour before it was due!

This is a close up of one of my Valentines and the envelope. Each Valentine has a pin on the center than can be removed and worn. When I was making these it brought back memories of exchanging Valentines in grade school and how special the ones with a sucker or a piece of candy were.

This picture shows all 10 of the Valentines. Each was so creative and drew on the strengths of the maker. They are something I really treasure having and will enjoy looking at them for years to come and remembering who made them.

 

This was made by Gladys Tice. She used hand dyed fabric for the background If you look closely you will see she did hand beading near both edges. I can’t imagine doing this on 10 cards!

Beth Shutty chose to make her Valentines with a pin back so we could wear them. I’m sure I’ll see a lot of people wearing them at our meeting today.

Although she used the same shape and sparkly background fabric for each pin, all of hers were different.

We each received a little fabric “container” from Beth Sherman.

When we opened them up there were 3 “kisses” inside. Guess what I had for breakfast today!

A lot of work went into each and every one of these.

Stay tuned as I’ll feature the remaining individual Valentines tomorrow.

I am wishing you a Happy Velentine's Day with this puzzle.

Abstract Blue Fish Heart Shirt

One of my favorite brands of clothing is Blue Fish.

I was lucky enough to be one of the few that purchased this limited addition Valentine shirt several years ago.

I smile each time I take it out of the closet to wear it.

It even has a large design on the back. I think one of the things I love about this shirt is it doesn’t shout Valentine, heart, cupid!

It’s subtle and tasteful.

Boundary Waters Quilt

I made this quilt with fabrics I received from Virginia Spiegel as a bonus in one of the past Fiber Art For A Cause Fund Raisers.

She does not sell her fabrics, but put together a few bundles as incentives for the people who made donations..

Although Virginia has made many Boundary Waters quilts my goal was to make one that did not look like a Virginia Spiegel quilt.

I think I succeeded, and yet still evoked the feeling of the Boundary Waters.

I thought you might enjoy a close up of the quilting.

It was one of those quilts that said “Make me right now” and also said “If you do that I’ll let you finish me in record time”.

And that is exactly what happened!

I have not faced it yet as I am scheduled to give a demonstrations for our Art Quilters group on facing quilts February 27th so it will wait until then.

In case you are one of the 3 people in the universe that hasn’t heard the news, the 2013 Fiber Art For A Cause fundraiser takes place this Tuesday and Wednesday.

It is a great opportunity to acquire some amazing fiber art and support the American Cancer Society.

I don’t think I know anyone who’s life hasn’t been touched by this horrible disease. Lets all contribute so that we can conquer this dreaded disease.

Here is a link so you can get the details:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/archives/8304

You can enjoy this quilt while putting together this puzzle.

Color In The Gardens

I was so surprised to see my azaleas blooming. This is the earliest they have ever bloomed.
Last year they were at their peak on March 7th. I am guessing these will peak in about a week.

This is my neighbors poinsettia on February 8, 2013. You can see how large the blossoms are in comparison to my hand. Most years we have had a freeze that kills them by now. You can enjoy this pointsettia even more as you put the puzzle together.

My Colorful Mystery Project

This may not look quite as colorful to you as the last time you saw part of this!

Looking even less colorful!

Ah ha – seeing more bright colors!

I can’t tell you what is happening…………….

But I can tell you I am on the homestretch.

I can’t wait to finish this and show you the completed project.

Studio Closet Reorganization Is Finished

I’m happy to share my neat and clean studio closet with you.

This is the right side of the closet. I have a 7 runner and a 4 runner Elfa drawer frame stacked on top of each other with a solid surface top.

I used a variety of drawer sizes to best suit my storage needs.

In these drawers I have the quilting fabrics I want most accessible.

It holds solid color cottons, batiks, hand dyed fabrics, 1/4 yards of prints, and some of my favorite  larger pieces of cotton prints.

On the left side of the closet I have recessed two 7 drawer units into that 26 inches of dead space to the right of the closet doors.

Again I have used a variety of sizes of drawers.

This shows the open drawers on the left.

These drawers contain bulky fabrics, supplies, projects and miscellaneous fabrics.

One of the things I have had the hardest time figuring out how to store is my collection of cheapy sleazy slippery sheer nylon and polyester fabrics, etc. Most of them are only 1/4 yard or less. I figured out that if I folded them so they were 6 inches high and rolled them around my 3 inch ruler they fit perfectly in a 2 runner drawer and I could see them all. I arranged them in color flow order so I could find what I wanted. I was surprised that I could fit them all in one drawer along with some of the other fabrics and trims I use for machine needle felting. I found fabrics I forgot I had when I arranged this drawer since before they were not at all organized.

I am really enjoying being able to find what I have. I am working on my second project since the closet reorganization. It is a BIG project. I hope I’ll have it finished and be able to share it with you soon.

The Ultimate Design Wall Flannel Fabric

When I posted about my latest design for a design wall using gray flannel and PVC pipe I got a message from Liza Lucy about something even better!
I now own one of the first pieces of this wonderful gray gridded design wall flannel.
It is everything a design wall should be.

It is being produced by Westminster fabrics.
The 2 inch grid is cream and the gray is an almost perfect photographic gray.
I was impressed with how perfectly straight it is printed – not an easy feat for this type of design.
I have mine pinned to my larger design wall right now. It can be taped to any blank wall.
You can use it to cover many surfaces.
It is 45 inches wide and can be purchased by the yard.

It will also be available in this special bag made from Kafe Fassett fabric that is convenient to take to workshops.
Even if you don’t work in a block format the grid will help you keep your work lined up and straight.

Because it is flannel fabric sticks to it without pins, unless it is very big. Then you may want to add a few pins to hold it in place.
As of now it is scheduled to be shipped to quilt shops April 7, 2013. You may want to ask your local quilt shop if they have ordered it.

Mystery Work In Progress

This is a small section of a very large project I am currently working on.

Stay tuned and the outcome will be made clear – hopefully sooner rather than later!

I thought you might like another puzzle.

 

As I was editing this post I found out this is post 1100 to my blog.

The Villages Quilt Show - Part 3

This Baltimore Album style quilt by Gretchen Nonnemacher was my favorite quilt in the show.
She calls it “My Personal Album”.
I would guess it was between 50 and 60 inches square.
Everything about it was just magnificent: the blocks with their detail, the borders, the layout, the colors, and the quilting.
It is hand appliqued and hand quilted.
In addition to a First Place Blue Ribbon it also received the Peoples Choice Award.
The blocks are adapted from an Elly Sienkiwicz book “More Baltimore Albums”.
The blocks are 8 inches.

The center block is much larger than the surrounding blocks. It is so well done and no matter how long you look at it you will continue to find something new.

I love Eagle blocks in Baltimore Album Quilts. so many of the blocks were significant for her family.

No Baltimore album quilt is complete without a woven basket of flowers.

This silhouette block represents one of her granddaughters. You can see her fine quilting stitches clearly in this block.
I hope you have enjoyed these posts sharing some of the quilts from The Villages Quilt Show 2013.
It is a show that happens only every 2 years so I’ll be back with another report in 2015!
I am using the classic puzzle cut for this favorite quilt classic design.

Simply Delicious Super Simple Dip For The Super Bowl

I received an email from my son this morning asking for this recipe.

It has been a hit every time I serve it and it is one my friends request I make.

Ingredients:

1 – 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach

1 – 10 ounce can Rotel ORIGINAL Tomatoes

1 – 16 ounce package Velveeta

One bag Scoops chips – to dip

Put unwrapped package of frozen spinach on a plate and microware 5 minutes to cook.

Unwrap and place in strainer. Squeeze out all the water. (I use my clean hands to do a good job of this)

Drain Rotel tomatoes.

Cut Velveeta in approximately 1 inch cubes.

Put these 3 ingredients in fondue pot (or other similar vessel) and cook until cheese melts.

Watch and stir so it doesn’t burn.

When cheese is melted it is ready to serve.

Decrease heat to a warm setting to keep it at serving temperature.

I find the easiest way to serve it is to put a spoon in the pot and let people take out as much as they want and put in on their plate.

Each person can then scoop up as much as they want from their plate with Scoops chips.

ENJOY!

It All Started With The Dining Room Chair Fabric

In case you are one of those people who are wondering how anyone could have 3 yards of lime green Ultrasuede in their closet, I will explain!

I took my granddaughters to Club Libby Lu and out for lunch about 8 years ago.

I was acquiring things to decorate this house at that time. After lunch we stopped at Manhattan Textiles to look for fabric for my dining room chairs.

My granddaughter Dana found this fabric. At first I wasn’t sure, but I decided it would be a good choice. I bought enough to cover the seats of the 6 dining room chairs.

My next trip to Manhattan Textiles was about 6 months later to find an area rug and fabric to make window treatments.

I found the fabric with the triangles on it which was the companion fabric for the dining room chair fabric. I bought this for the window treatments.

I also purchased the iridescent pink silk and the lime green Ultrasuede. In addition to that I bought many yards of a pink fringe.

My plan was to use the triangle print for the panels on the sides of the windows.

I planned on creating large triangles above the windows alternating the three fabrics and finishing the edges with the fringe.

It took me several months to figure this all out so that the triangles overlapped correctly and did not show the top edge of the window frames.

AND THEN……………I realized that with all this detail on the windows/sliding glass doors I would detract from the view we have. It is one of the best views of any house in the area.

So even though I had spent more than I ever had before on these fabrics I have left the windows unadorned and the fabric in the closet. I am so glad I made that decision.

I did use some of the triangle fabric to cover the table I use for a small Christmas tree.

Now I have used almost all the Ultrasuede for the pillows.

Who knows? I may find someplace to use the rest of the fabric someday!

Creative Recycling - My Great Room Pillows

 

Pretty, aren’t they?

I made these Mola pillows from silk dupioni when we moved into the house.

We have a leather sofa and loveseat.

As soon as I put the pillows up in position on the furniture they slid right down.

I loved the pillows, but was not happy with that.

I finally came up with a solution that involved recycling the Molas with a different fabric for the pillows.

I used a lime green Ultrasuede that I found in the closet when I was reorganizing it.

The Ultrasuede has enough “tack” to allow the pillows to remain in an upright position.

It took me a while to take them all apart and then create the “new” pillows.

I am so pleased with them.

This is all the dupioni I salvaged from the pillows. I have an idea for something I will be creating with it soon.

This puzzle is NOT what I meant when I said I was going to be creating something with them soon!