Sunday, March 30, 2014

Whirl Wind Week

This week and a half has been an absolute whirl wind!

It started out last Thursday (the 20th) with a trip to Texas with my daughter
she has accepted a graduate assistant position at Texas A&M Corpus Christi
with the women's soccer team! Work and Grad school all at once! So we made a
quick trip down to meet everyone and look for a place for her to live!


When they say things are big in Texas they are right!
Just look at the size of the campus sign!!
HUGE!

And the view of the ocean when leaving the campus!!
Yes that's right across the street!


She will be able to  work, go to school and
 take a dip in the ocean
all at once!


A tired Mom and Daughter on the plane home

I did manage to finish the hand stitching of my label for the
"Winter Days in Shades of Taupe" Quilt
 since I had so much time on the plane 
all the wording was embroidered too!


And here is a walkway on the campus
Looks like a quilt maybe coming out of this!


Tuesday was a Sashiko Lecture for the Rising Stars Quilt Guild in Lexington
followed by a Sashiko workshop on Saturday, where 10 fabulous ladies 
took part in the workshop!
Everyone was so very busy with their stitching!




Great Bunch of Ladies! Thank you!

YUP! A fun filled Whirl Wind of a Week!!
          

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Sewing Room Re-organization ….Again!

Maybe I'm just procrastinating!
but my sewing space arraignment has not worked for me
so … YUP... it's time to reorganize!


 Here it is as you enter from the hallway
it seems to have a less crowded feeling


 This is the desk and sewing corner - with my Bernina 440.
Great for all the piecing projects I have on my to do list.



My main quilting area
features my Janome 6600 and my Horn sewing table
with storage cubes purchased at Michael's
and plastic project storage boxes from Joann's
Luckily the cubes and bins fit perfectly under the leaf of my sewing table!

The extra room the leaf provides can be used for cutting and pressing
or cleared for machine quilting the stack of projects behind the iron!


View from the desk  corner of the room - 
Yes … way too many books!

This set up features a nice view out to my deck and backyard…
which will be lovely once Spring and Summer arrive.
They are coming …. soon I hope!

Hoping this arraignment will provide me with a better workable space!
Okay back to Quilty Work!!

Ladies of the Sea Block 3 Completed!

Just finished block 3 of
Ladies of the Sea !!!


for the grapes I used the circle templates
felt they were time consuming
but most of my grapes came out nice and round
only a few looked like a bird ate them!



the challenging part was the fleur-de-lis
especially the inner curve !


for the applique I'm using the freezer paper on the back method
the boat riggings are done with a grey 50wt  Aurifil thread
and the embroidery with a variegated 12 wt Sulky thread

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Thimble Pleasures Quilt Show


Yesterday My mom and I went to the
Thimble Pleasures Quilt Show in Upton Ma

Very nice show!

Here are five of my absolute favorites
in no particular order!
All the photos were taken with my iPhone
first time for doing this1
and I'm pretty pleased with the results.
AND this time I remembered to take a photo
of the quilt tag with all the quilt info!


"It's Raining Circles"
by Debbie Wendt

Love the way the circles of fabric and stitching 
bounce around between the fabric strips!



"Shadows of a Rainbow"
by Michelle Coppolino

Really like how Michelle used 5" charms from a charm swap
surrounding them in shades of grey and created
a color gradation.
(Think I'll have to put this on my Quilty Bucket list!)




"2013 Row Robin"
by Sherri Noel

Love the funky images,
and really love the grey!
Favorite part is the orange dandelion!



"Doodle Sea Turtle"
by Linda Ramrath

Linda started with the outline and then 
started doodling her favorite doodle patterns.
The coral was made from an old necklace!
the pattern is available at:
www.inspiredlayers.com



"Scrap Happy Sampler - Block of the Month"
by Sherri Noel

This quilt just made me smile!
Love the funky blocks and bright colors!

unfortunately my camera wasn't focused so sadly 
can't say where the BOM pattern came from.

After browsing through all the quilts
mom and I had a quick sandwich..

snapped a pic of mom laughing!

and then we visited

Distinctively Sweden
in North Attleboro

and picked up a couple of Ekelund Linens
made in Sweden!

A nice Ocean Sea Scape linen,
a way cute ocean theme wash cloth,
and a black and orange linen that will look great
on the dining room table at Halloween time!

Just love these linens!
The gals at the shop are so nice and helpful,
a pleasure to shop there!


Then, onto one of my mom's favorite places…

Briggs Home and Garden Center
it is a wonderful place to go year round for
houseplants, out side plants, gardening inspiration
and they have a nice little area for tea and desserts!
we each picked up cute little plants


Mine has found a home in my sewing room…
which has been under another
reorganization!
But that's for another time!

It was a fun filled jam packed day!

Inchie Quilts and Folded Flowers workshop for RNQG

Last weekend I had the privilege of teach
a workshop for RNQG
for this Inchie Folded Flower Wallhanging



Started out with Inchie Quilts
based on Inchies from
“Inchie Quilts” by Nadine Ruggles


They are CUTE little "quilts"
With focus fabric for the front,
fabric in the back and Tem-Tex in-between,
bead embellished on top,
thread zip-zag binding!!
AND they measure 
1inch x 1 inch!!

Terry working on her Inchies

Diana and Sarah busy, busy, busy!

Venora sewing, sewing, sewing


Then we worked on the folded flowers
called The Inside Out Flower
from
“Fantastic Fabric Folding” by Rebecca Wat



Diana folding her yellow flowers

And Ta-Da! Venora had a folded flower!

A Great time was had by all!!