Another fully-hand-dyed Finished!

I previously posted about the drama of un-sewing the initial free-motion stiches on this quilt. Once I listened to the quilt, the stitching was smooth as silk! It is now complete!

Front

Detail

Back (sorry for the blur, but it is drab and rainy here today.)

Back detail

I love the layered look of it, the first/bottom layer is the crazy mottled star-burst fabric, then the layer of pieceing that looks like window panes, finally the layer of block stitching. And I used 2 bronw that I dyed on the back!

This measures 36" x 51". The hand-dyed fabrics started life as bleached muslin, I used a spaced-dyed YLI thread and thin cotton batting. 

going in the wrong direction

I started quilting a new piece on Sunday. The design I was trying to achieve just wasn't working out. I had seen a neat "filler" pattern and was trying to do it all over the quilt. My thread kept breaking, I couldn't get the tension right, the bobbin threads kept "nesting". All signs pointed to "uh-oh". I believe this was the universe telling me to find my quilt path and do not try to force the wrong design on this quilt. So, I unsewed. I unsewed the free-motion stitches Sunday night, Monday night and last night. Tedious, yes, but it just wasn't right. I had only worked on about 20% of the quilt, but that was still a lot of stitches. I sat down tonight and let the quilt toop tell me which way to go. I have almost 50% complete in only 2 hours. My thread isn't breaking, the tension is good and the bobbin is bobbin along! 

Sneak preview:

Should be able to finish the quilting tomorrow night, and the binding Friday night.

I took this sunset pic on Saturday night after spending the morning in a cool "Digital Marketing Bootcamp" seminar, then the afternoon with my parents. This is in the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County NC.

 

 

THIS is the inspiration for my grey and orange fabrics and quilt-to-come!

Let me do or Dye!

Took today as a DWOP (day without pay). Since we received a 5%pay cut we get a day a month off. I have a couple in the bank incase the house sells, but I really needed to be home today. So what did I do?

Fabric? Check (even some gorgeous mercerized cotton, thanks Mm!), Rubber gloves? Check. Dye? Check.

New book, Color by Accident? Check. Time? Check.

Tada!

All I can say is: wow. My next quilt is going to be orange and grey. Can't wait to cut into this!

More lovely quilts.....

I really wish these pix could show the details. These quilts are gorgeous!

No, I am not slacking off! I have a work-in-progress made from hand-dyes, and I am spending much needed time practicing my free-motion. I see improvement with every quilt, and I am trying to develop some stitches that I feel really comfortable with. Happy Wednesday!

More lovelies from the "Quilts in the Valley show

As promised, more quiltin' eye candy! Enjoy, then go and create!

Yummy!

Honest Scrap Award

My friend Dobbygirl, has awarded me the Honest Scrap Award! Be sure to check out her blog here.

Here is how it works:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award (see above and on the sidebar - she posts awe some stuff from the world of commercial and residential interiors and fashion. Someone should hire her to do color and trend forecasting 'cause she is really great at it!) Thanks Dobbygirl!

2) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.

3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.

4) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

So, here goes!

10 things about me:

1. I love to quilt and sew. Really, when I am not doing it, I am thinking about it, planning it, reading about it or shopping for it.

2. I hate meatloaf, tuna salad, pinto beans and cooked cabbage. Yes, I am a southern girl and no, I will not like your pintos or cabbage!

3. I really believe things turn out for the best in the long run. That comes from my faith in God. I truely believe He is in charge.

4. I get really impatient waiting for things to happen/change/evolve (see #3).

5. I love my coffee and comics in the morning.

6. I hate being around a lot of people. It makes me really anxious.

7. I read a lot. Right now I am into novels about Stalinist Russia (try Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith great read!) I also like the science/adventure books of James Rollins.

8. I am pretty much a push-over for my hubby and son. But they really don't take advantage of it. And they are really good to me too!

9. I do enjoy my parents, brother and in-laws. And I adore my nephews and nieces. Every one of them is beautiful and special!

10. I love the advances in communication via the internet. I love keeping up with friends and family via Facebook, email and blogs. I love the immediacy of it, and realize it is up to me to put limits on it. I also understand how to use the "off" switch!

Here's my 7 award winners:

1. Donna at Southern Campaign in NC. She is a friend and former co-worker who is sweet, beautiful, smart and passionate! And she knows a LOT about the Revolutionary War!

2. AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts. We have never met, but she did respond when I emailed a quilting question. She makes beautiful quilts and has inspired me a lot!

3. Rachel at RachelCoxDesigns. She is a very talented single mom of 3 who is living her life and sharing it with us.  It is through her I learned about the Mountain Baby Blankets Project. I have already donated 1 quilt to them and have another almost ready to go. If you are a quilter, visit Rachel's blog and learn how to donate a quilt to keep kids in the Appalachian Mountains warm!

4. Shawn at Luna Cycles. It was his blog that inspired me to get in the intertubes and write about, whatever! I love reading about the local cycling culture and I really am proud of how these guys have brought the culture into our little mountain town!

5. Anya at Hills Creek Quilter. She does such beautiful stuff! And I just know if we lived close to each other we would be great quilting buddies!

6. Nicole at Sisters Choice Quilts. Talk about a quilting Rock Star! She makes quilts for the top quilt rock stars! Love to see the goregous quilts she makes and read about the adventures of her dogs, Ozzie and Sophie. she occasionaly posts about food and makes me very hungry! I also wish I could attend some the quilt retreats she goes to!

7. Michele at the Quilting Gallery. This is a great resource for quilters, she has a huge list of quilters blogs (thanks for listing me!) as well as quilt shops and happenings. If you are a quilter, visit her site!

Thanks again to all these bloggers for your inspiration, and thanks to all who read this blog!  I'll be back to the quilt stuff in my next post!

Quilt Show

I attended the "Quilts of the Valley" show presented by the Catawba Valley Quilters Guild today. It was held at the Hickory Metro Convention Center and ran from Friday until today. I was wowed, impressed and very inspired!

all the guild members wore badges and were available throughout for questions. I Also attend the Thread Painting demonstration given by Eve Agee. This lady knows her stuff! I wish I could have stayed longer as she gave another talk later in the day.

I will post photos throughout this week of some of my favorite quilts on display.

 

Love the contrast of black with the bright colors.

 

This wallhanging was approximately 30" x 30" and featured 1" yoyos. It took the quilter 25 years to complete!

Please support your local guilds and attend their shows. They have so much knowledge to share and you will be inspired!

Feeling loopy

I am quilting this top. And, feeling brave, I decided to branch out some more from my stipple. I played around with some doodles and here is how I am quilting the center:

Here is a shot of the stitching on the back:

Love it! And love using my hand-dyed fabrics with it!

I Dye* (hee hee like Rachel Zoe -not!)

Okay, the fabric dyeing is so much fun! I am just now out of muslin!

I dyed 7 yards on Saturday, I do them in 1 yd pieces. So far, this is my favorite piece:

I started it a week ago, I was aiming for a deep reddish brown. I love the way the red stayed in spots, but it had too much white. So this time, I overdyed it darker. I love the tobacco-brown with the red. This will be beautiful in a quilt.

My stash of hand-dyes is getting large. So, I am going to start using them.

Actually I used 2 - 1 yd pieces and a half-yard in a quilt top and back:

 

This shows it on my design wall as I was working with the borders. I used a beautiful olive on the front (the blocks are from the "Authentic" charm packs) and I used 2 chartreuse pieces on the back. This is now ready to quilt. I will post it when I get it quilted!

It is dark and rainy here. A good night to curl up under a quilt!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I just found out about the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Parkcitygirl. Simple enough to participate, I need to write/blog about my favorite quilt. I have many! Not only the quilts I have made, but the ones given to me as gifts and the ones I have bought and in some cases, rescued from the trash heap! To narrow it down, I am featuring my favorite that I have made (so far).

This is my Crazy Quilt. I made it last year (2008). I started piecing the squares in between projects. I just needed something to do, and I had a ton of scraps. I foundation pieced it, randomly cutting shapes as I pulled them out of my scrap bin. I used a dark brown with black dimple pattern for the sashing. And this was the first quilt my Mom quilted on her longarm! She was quite intimidated by the machine, so I told told her to use this as practice. She did a great job! I love this quilt because she and I both worked on it, and I love the bright colors of the fabrics I used. It is fun to see the pieces and remember the original quilt the fabric was purchased for. My hubby and I keep this on the foot of our bed and used it often!

Be sure to visit Parkcitygirl and see all the quilts in the festival!

New Charms

While visiting Windy Moon Fabrics in Reno, I was enchanted by these new collections from Moda:

Authentic by Sweetwater-Love the soft chartreuse and love typography!

AND

Rouenneries by French General-I saw this on the web and thought-eh- but when I picked up the charm pack, I was "charmed" (ahem) by the sophisticated soft grey and rose palette.

I bought 2 of each!

Reno Quilt Shop

We got home @11:45 last night. Great flights, great trip, and FAB LQS!

This is the colorful street front of Windy Moon Quilts in Reno, NV. I hiked from our hotel for a visit and I was "WOW-ED". A bright, colorful shop, stocked with an enormous array of fabric. And I mean, a lot of fabric. I just wandered around for about an hour, looking at all the selection. Not only was there a great variety of fabric, there was a huge amount of books and patterns, and a phenomenal number of sample quilts to inspire. And cap all this off with a warm, friendly and knowledgeable staff! While I was there, they were running a sale, where if you brought in your completed quilt top to show, you received a discount on your batting, and I was fortunate to see some incredible quilt tops. Make me wish I could spend more time there to soak up some of the quilt-know-how in Reno! I bought 2 books, and 2 sets of 2 different new Moda charm packs. I will put those up here later. Now to unpack and do laundry!

works in process

No, I didn't fall off the face of the Earth! I have just heard the siren's call of my quilt studio!

I have quilted this cutie:

Recognize the fabrics Jenny R?

I free-motioned a daisy-mum flower and filled in with stipple.

It is a small baby-size or wall-hanging quilt.

I have also been working on a new table runner.

This thing is 66" long!

Love the fall-inspired colors.

Okay, I am off till next Wednesday, for a fun long-weekend in Reno, Nevada with my husband. 

I am planning on visiting at least 1 of their local quilt shops while I am there. Till then!