Two Quilts In One–My Masterpiece

If you look at this quilt from the left this is what you will see.

When you look from the right this is what you will see. The view changes and blends as you look and walk from one side to the other.

When you are at the center this is what you see.

It was a very challenging piece to create.
I spent several YEARS trying to figure out how to assemble it so it would allow each side to stand on it’s own.
I felt like I had to climb inside the quilt to sew the sections together.
The last part had me stumped. I could not make the armatures myself fill the sections.
Off to my favorite gallery . Seebecks in Kenosha, WI….where John did a fantastic job creating them and the quilt was then ready for prime time!
NOTE: Although I shared the same quilt a few days ago I found much better photos so I am sharing it again.

IT’S HERE! My Latest Blog Book

It arrived 4 days early!

I make a book of all my blog posts periodically. This one details the longest period of time. It  was fun to look through and see the last 14 months.
I keep it on the coffee table so friends can look through it and see my blog in fast time!

This view of the opened book shares some photos from my show “Ice Tapestries and Shibori Quilts” in early 2017. I enjoyed seeing all these pictures at once.

Another view of the book opened. On the left prints from some of the stamps I carved and printed and more show photos on the right.
It is a great way to see where I have been in the very recent past. This has been a whirlwind year and this is a good reminder to me of all the parts of my life.
If you visit take time to browse through the book.

Another Secret Project Is Finished

I have been using a purse I dearly love but I wished it was bigger. I have just spent 3 days making my own version of it. The construction journey was filled with a lot of ripping out of seams that were wrong. Then I spent the better part of almost 2 days trying to figure out how to do the bottom corners. I tried it on the purse, tried it with paper, tried it with sample fabric pieces, tried it with graph paper. When I finally figured it out I felt pretty stupid. It was so simple.
It was a major project and if you offered me $500 to make one for you I would refuse. Once is enough.


I am sharing this close-up so you can see some of the linings. The entire purse is made from decorator fabric. The strap is a soft leather belt I no longer wore. The zippers were something I had. The cost of the purse: $0 or if you want to look at it another way: 3 full days of designing, planning, sewing, ripping and redoing, being confused and finally figuring it out.
I know I will get a lot of use from it as it is basic black with pizazz!

Grand Finale Masterpiece

As a grand finale I created a 3 dimensional quilt in my Colors Of My Life Series.
I found the pictures of it after only searching for 3 days on my new computer!
I think you will like it.

If you start at the left of the quilt this is what you will see.

The view changes as you walk past the quilt. This is what you will see as you get to the center.

This is what you see as you get to the right side.
It is much more impressive in person.
I designed each side differently so you see a totally different quilt as you walk around it..
The biggest challenge was putting it all together neatly. I felt like I had to climb inside the quilt to sew.
Once it was all put together I realized I didn’t have the skills to create an armature to hold it in position.
I took it to Seebeck’s in Kenosha and John constructed the sections to make it work. He did a fantastic job.
I wish you all could see this in person.

Thanksgiving 2017

A lot of workers getting dinner ready to serve. And some hungry onlookers!

Lauren with her grands, Ryder and Laney. They are both always smiling. My 8th year having Thanksgiving with my FL family.

After dinner it’s time for the game!

After dinner it’s time to clean up before desserts.
As usual I missed a few people. Hard to keep up when everyone is moving around. 
It was another wonderful Thanksgiving. I hadn’t seen most of them for 6 months.

Pincushions…Love Them

I never thought I’d make a pin cushion that was this much work. These appealed to me and I happened to have some scraps of these border prints I cut off the ends of some quilt borders.
The symmetry and design of the finished pieces were worth the time.
I am burned out from working on larger more involved projects after the last few years completing around 100 works for my show in early 2017.

I also had enough scraps of a border print to make this larger one. The larger size was easier to construct. I was afraid I would run out of wool batting scrap which is what I stuff them with. I made it with batting to spare. I love using wool batting to stuff. It holds the shape well and is so easy to stick pins in.

You can see the difference in size of the two of them. The pieces for the red one were cut on the bias. The green ones used pieces cut on the straight of grain.
The buttons came from a friends late Mom’s button box and are very old.
Sometimes we just need a little therapy sewing and this stint turned up two pincushions I am in love with.

Bulls Eye Quilt

This was a popular raw edge quilt idea several years ago.
Of course I had to add my own twist to it and used my magic circle stitcher to made the circles.
After they were made each one was cut in quarters and connected with 3 different ones. I think the Jinny Beyer border added a lot to this one.
Like so many other of my pieces it sat for years waiting to be quilted. When Eileen Mirr said she could long arm some quilts for me I had her do this one right away. Of course she used her famous spiral design.

The backing fabric has cows on it which is simply a coincidence. I looked in my fabric supply and found this piece that was wide enough and just a few inches longer than I needed.
The quilting added so much to this.

Changing Up What I am Finishing Again

I just finished these pieces from a collection of beads I made some time ago.

A close-up of the necklace and bracelet.
The collection of beads is made from the same colors of polymer clay. Some of the beads were similar and many were one of a kind.
I made the necklace first trying to balance similar beads on each side.

I finished the back with small black glass beads.

It was a challenge figuring out how to photograph the bracelet but my whisk worked great. The bracelet used the leftover odd beads as well as black and red glass beads.
I always feel great when I finish a project.

Half Log Cabin Miniature

This log cabin quilt is made with 1/4 inch finished strips. It is 8 inches square finished.
The binding is 1/8 inch wide. I pieced it about 20 years ago but got too busy to finish it. At one time I had quilted all my own miniatures.
It was hand quilted by  Robin Koehler. She is a fantastic hand quilter. 
You may have noticed I am getting help finishing some of my work.
I realized that if I want to finish so many of my pieces I need to have help doing that.
I was fortunate to find Robin as her quilting is up to my standards.
This is a serious work of art and not to be confused with a potholder.

Another 8 Pointed Star For One Arm Quilter

I finished several quilts in the recent past.
I have not posted them for various reasons: gifts, no time, etc
 
I have been fortunate to have Eileen Mirr do long arm quilting on some of my quilts for me. She is an expert at quilting spirals. I think they might just be her trademark because when my granddaughter Dana saw the work she did she knew immediately who quilted them.
A little on the history of this quilt design. About 20 years ago I had a frozen shoulder. It was so bad I could only move my hand about an inch from my side. The Doctor said it was the worst one he had every seen. He wanted to operate right away. I said NO and he recommended a physical therapist who was excellent. It woke me up at night with the pain. I was sitting at the table looking at quilt pictures and I say a star quilt made with diamonds.
My mind began to race and I though why couldn’t that be done with fabric strips. I rushed up to the computer and drew it up.
I had a lot of strips cut and make the first one in rainbow colors. I could sew the strips together with just my right arm. There is nothing like doing something to love to help one’s recovery. When it was time to cut the slices from the strata of sewn together strips I had healed enough to do that.
And the rest is history. I taught this as a class, but students were allowed to use both arms.

Finished Chair Seats

I bought these 100 year old walnut chairs at an auction about 40 years ago.
13 years ago we put a clear coat finish on them and upholstered the seats.
We didn’t replace the original bases for the seats and recently 2 of them broke through the bottoms. We removed the fabric and had new bases made about a year ago.
I just finished putting them back together with the same gorgeous fabric.

I had replaced the fabric on two of them but ran out of staples.
Yesterday I finished replacing the covers on the remaining 4 of them.
Happy to be able to check off one more item on my TO DO list.

It’s A Brigadoon Day Today

I knew there was fog today but could hardly believe how thick it was when I opened the blinds. It's much thicker than the photo shows. It also is playing with the perspective. The palm that looks closest is really quite a distance away.

The fog was so thick it is raining fog on the screens…something I’ve never seen before.
It should burn off soon and we will have a mid 80’s high today.