Elephants and a quilt show!!

 The "Elephant Family" baby quilt is all pinned

and ready for quilting...

hoping to start that this week!

The elephants are done using the needle turn applique method.

Don't you just love the backing!

It's flannel!

"Little Safari" by Patricia Zapata for Robert Kaufman

Thought it would be nice and snuggly for a little baby!!

Then since I just love elephants 

and could not decide on one specific idea for this baby quilt...

here is the start of elephant quilt #2

"Elephant Splash"

I started with a few sketches, 

Once the perfect elephant sketch and fabrics were selected ...

The pieces were cut and glued onto the backing 

(using Fon's and Porter's glue pen)

and button hole stitched.

Totally not my thing (machine applique) - but gave it the "old college try"!

Stitching went slow but came out pretty good!

Now to make the splashes of water, using a longarm ruler!!

Judy Allen's 'Baby Judalator' rule is perfect to make the splashes.

Once traced onto paper, I zipped them thru my copier and decreased the size

of the shape to 90, 75, 50, 40 and 25 percent.

The shapes will be traced onto my splash fabric

(to be determined from my stash!)

and then buttonhole stitched on!

The backing for this quilt is a cotton

"Animals Allover ~ Oh Boy" by David Walker for Free Spirit.

The Ninigret Quilt guild held their show this past weekend 

and it is always a pleasure - such a talented group.

My favorite was made by my Quilty Gal Pal

Tina Craig of Seaside Stitches 

 an flying geese double wedding ring for her daughter!

the paper piecing was just incredible,

and she quilted this beauty on her domestic machine!

Just love the double piping and the quilting in the boarder,

she did a fabulous job!

Plus her paper pieced 'Patchwork of the Crosses' won

Best of Show!! Wha-hoo!

a triple winner!!

The cleaned out sewing space has definitely made a difference~

feeling much more creative!!

                             Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                              Janet

Cleaning increases Creativity!

Now that my guild's show is over 

I'm left with a bit of chaos in my sewing room...

Can you tell I'm a pilot (not the kind you think)....

when things are crazy busy I

 Pile It here ... Pile It there ... Pile It Everywhere!

Yup ...

I'm a "Pile It"
and soon the piles get out of control and collapse!

This really puts a crimp in my creativity...

it causes stress, anxiety and inactivity...

It was time ... time to Clean!

Using my husbands method of cleaning and reorganizing...

everything (except the big stuff) was removed

that took me all day

(You should see the living room ... and dining room!)

Once everything was out the reorganizing began...

Creating work stations for the different style of quilting

than I frequently do...

The big sewing table is from Horn and the sewing machine

can drop down to create a smooth surface to work - if needed!

Under the flap are (4) three drawer cubes purchased from Michael's

and plastic project boxes purchased at JoAnn's

these keep all of my tools and projects in order!

This is the designated "Appliqué" area! (My Favorite!)

so excited to be able to set up and leave up all my appliqué supplies

and have space to use my light board to do tracing of patterns.
Chair and rolling cart from Ikea.

The Janomee 6600 is my quilting machine!

This will be set for all of the domestic machine quilting 

that is lined up for the future 

(there are 5 quilts just waiting to be quilted!)

Just purchased a Quilt Suspension System from
Patsy Thompson Designs....
can't wait to set it up and start using it!

The Bernina 440 QE is all set for Ruler work

with Westalee rulers....

I'll be attending my second ruler workshop this month,

looking forward to seeing all kinds of Quilty ruler magic 

that's going to happen in this spot!

Now that the space is clean and organized

 I feel my creativity juices flowing again!

Next up - a baby quilt featuring elephants...

below is a sketch and fabric selection for Option One...

and here is Option Two

daddy, mummy and baby elephants

taking a stroll!

There are more ideas floating around in my head,

but for now I'll focus on these two!

                                                        Have a great Quilty Day and enjoy the process!

                                     Janet

Summer wrap up and Fall Quilting!

So it's October...

WHEN did THAT Happen??!??

Seems like yesterday the sweet smell of 

Lilies filled the hot summer air

and my Hydrangea's were in beautiful full bloom,

with the Rose of Sharon starting to pop!

there were lots of visitors to the yard

especially these three turkeys that I have watched grow

since the spring!

and a beautiful deer that just could not resist my husband's peach tree!

Disclaimer: we only plant a garden to feed the wildlife!!!

It's their own personal buffet!

In August I attended the New England Quilt Museum's

Summer Celebration

with one of my Quilty gal pals ~ Diana

she is standing in front of a quilt that she Quilted!!

This quilt also happened to win the popular vote for the entire

Summer Celebration!! Congrat's to the quilt maker and Diana!

While at NEQM Diana and I had the privilege of viewing

"Threads of Resistance"

~WOW~

Very Impactful...

Continuing to receive and LOVE my monthly

Blue Quilty Box from

the Fat Quarter shop!

SO many fabulous goodies 

with lots of projects to keep me busy all winter!

This summer hubby and I were able to get away for a few days

first was our trip up into New Hampshire

so he could ... Gold Pan!

NO ~ he hasn't found any gold...

but he has had fun!

While he dug in the dirt I spent my time

sipping an ice coffee, reading the latest edition of Quiltfolk

(Loved the Hawaiian quilts in this edition)

and focused on my favorite style of quilting ~ Appliqué!

 The next few days were spent sitting on the edge of the canal

watching him fish ... and fish... and fish!

getting more appliqué done....

 and a little English paper piecing! 

and he caught a fish...

too small to keep

so back into the canal it went!

The end of August was time to put things in high gear

to get my quilt done for the guild's quilt shop in September...

There was one section that just baffled me as to how to quilt it...

so that's when the beads came out!

Love the combination of sashiko, appliqué and beading!

Here you can see the beaded areas.

all the quilting was done on a domestic Janomee 6600!

With every quilt I try and do something new...

this time is was a scalloped boarder...

or rather a piped scallop boarder!

It came out ok...

a bit bumpy - but it was the best I could do

on my first attempt! with just 24 hrs left

before the show judging!!!

Nothing like squeaking it in!!

The Silver City Quilt Guild had two special displays,

the first was our Comfort quilts...

Most of the quilts were donated to a local shelter for women and children

and some were sent to "Quilts of Compassion" for those in need in Houston

The second special exhibit was our "Quilts of Valor"

my guild works with the Ma chapter creating quilts for veterans ...

no all the quilts pictured below were made by SCQG members,

some were made by other quilters.

and here we are ready for the opening of SCQG's

sixth biennial quilt show

All of my hard work paid off...

"Tropical Sashiko Sampler" 

received 

Best of Show!! 

from Pat Harrison

a certified quilt judge!

Plus 

Exemplary Domestic Machine Quilting!!

Posing with my quilt and ribbons!!

My little landscape

"The Lonely Pine"

received a Viewers Choice first place in the

"Look what I did in Class" category!

My Quilty BFF ~ Joan

entered her "Gravity" quilt

(first time she has ever had a quilt judged!)

she received a Judge's Third Place in the Large Bed Category

and a Viewer's Choice Third Place!!

So proud of her!!

My mom doesn't usually feel up to getting out and about

but we had one really good day in mid September

when I was able to take her to her favorite place

"Briggs's Nursery"

She loves looking at all the plants and they have a nice place to

sit and have tea and dessert!!

Both of my children had their share of bad weather....

my daughter survived Hurricane Harvey in Texas

and my son was hit with Hurricane Irma and a Tornado!!

 Both of them have requested Hurricane Quilts!!!

For the fall I have restarted my Ladies of the Sea Quilt

It will be scaled back from Sue Garman's 16 ships to 9 ships

as it will need to fit on a certain wall!!

The cent ship is "Massachusetts" from another pattern line ~ 

but it called (yelled!) to me so it just had to be made!!

The decision of the moment...

choosing the last three ships!!

There you have it ~ all caught up!!