Cyber-Monday

Tomorrow is "Cyber Monday" the busiest web shopping day of the year! I am participating in the "U create Holiday Boutique." Kari is featuring crafters from all over and I am one of them! Please bounce over and support us artists and crafts people! As part of this promotion, all my items are 10% off PLUS I pay the shipping!

Another completed!

I've been focused on sewing instead of shopping this long weekend. Remember these hand-dyes? And this photo? Well, I have been working on this idea for a while. I cut pieces and auditioned them on my design wall, moved them around, and lived with them for a while before stitching. I really took my time on this since I had the colors and the general idea, but wanted it to be just right.

I also wanted to make sure the quilting and thread complemented the idea.

This piece is going in the show my Mom and I are in that starts in January. I want it to really speak about me, my vision and my ideas.

This piece is 55" by 54", all cotton hand dyes, cotton batting and YLI "Sticks and Stones" cotton thread. I free-motion quilted it over 2 weeks.

I am very proud of it.

I photographed it outside yesterday, and I love that even at this distance, under these light conditions, you can still see the quilting!

 

Completed!

I got busy yesterday and completed a wall quilt:

42.5" x 44.5"

I am so happy with this, it turned out exactly as I had visualized! The white accents are Kona cotton, all the rest are my hand-dyed cottons. It went together like a dream. The free-motion quilting was easy and the overall effect is exactly perfect to my idea!

My Mom and I are exhibiting out quilts in a joint show in late January, so I am pushing to get a few pieces completed for that. This is one, I will be working on another today, finishing the free-motion quilting.

To change the subject, please check out my etsy shop for quilts, table runners and pillow covers for your holiday gift giving!

Happy Thanksgiving! and a WIP

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all! I am so thankful for all the blessing in my life: family, friends, pets, a home and a job. I am also thankful to have finally found my medium of expression. While I will not sew much today (heading over the river and through the woods to Mom's for dinner), I hope all of you celebrate a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving.

And now a confession: I am up to 2 WIPs (works in progress). Once again, I ran out of thread while quilting, so I can not finish 1 until my order arrives. I normally have 2 WIPs: 1 I am quilting and 1 I am piecing, but since I am out of thread I now have 1 being quilted, 1 waiting to baste and quilt and 1 being pieced. Hopefully my thread order will arrive tomorrow or Saturday! But, here is a sneak preview of 1 of the WIPs:

Link to excellent quilt info!

2 older pieces I made from fabric from work:

An early free-motion try:

I think I did a good job!

I found this excellent FREE chart for making half- and quarter square triangles. It is on the site Sentimental Stitches. Lots of great free info!

sK8 Finished!

This quilt is for my 13 year old nephew. He loves riding (?) his skateboard. I wanted to make a quilt for him, but 13 is a tough age to please. I found this cool skateboarding fabric at eQuilter (ON SALE!) Perfect! Then I gathered complementary patterns along with a hand dye. And put it together. It is a simple piecing, 10" squared sewn together, then free-motioned. I f-m'ed in a zig/zag pattern. I wanted it to be rough and appropriate for him. I ran out of the thread Thursday night and bought some yesterday so now it is finished!

Front of quilt

 

Detail of sk8 fabric and quilting

Detail of back

What do ya think?

Eye Candy - November 21 edition

I have been quilting, BUT, I ran out of thread in the correct color! So I am filling in today's post with some eye candy, then I will drive 30 minutes to the closest LQS that carries YLI thread, buy more and then come back home to quilt the rest of my nephews quilt. I ran out with just a 10" by 20" section left to go. Bummer. I had purchased a different thread due to the location of the store. But I am hugely disappointed in that brand and will not buy it anymore. Its YLI, Sulky or Mettler to quilt for me! I also like Gutterman for piecing.

In related news, my mom and I are going to be exhibiting our quilts in our own show in late January! I am so excited! And I need to finish a couple of more quilts!

Watauga County Barn Quilt

On my way to my son's cabin, I spied this lovely Barn Quilt square in Watauga County, 5 miles south of Boone, NC, just off US Highway 421:

He is in a good neighborhood!

Nana's Quiltin' Place - Shop Review

I was so happy to find Nana's Quiltin' Place! This delightful shop just opened in Hudson, NC on Friday, Nov. 13. I went by yesterday and they graciously allowed me to take photos to share with you.

 

 

This quaint shop has a ton of fabrics, lots of fat quarters and scads of patterns. There are also many beautiful samples on display to inspire.

The proprietress, Dixie Stoltz, has operated an internet quilt shop and is a fabulous quilter, so she knows what we want and need. I wish her the best and anticipate spending time (& money) there often. She is located at 155 - B Hickman and hours are Tu & Th 10am to 7 pm, Wed 9am to 4 pm, Fr & Sat 9am to 3 pm, closed Sunday and Monday.

 

New quilter friend

What a whirlwind week, and a great Friday to cap it off!

Some backstory: my son is a student at Appalachian State University, just up the mountain from here, in Boone, NC. He transferred in this semester and as a transfer student was required to take a seminar class. His professor, Dr. Layne McDaniels based her curriculum on the changes in the textile industry and has used the book "Travels of a T-shirt" as a text for this class. This is a great book and follows a t-shirt from the cotton grower in Texas to the manufacturer in Asia back to the retailer in the US. My son told Dr. McDaniels that I am a textile designer, so she asked me to come share my experiences with her class.

Needless to say, I was excited to talk about my job. And quite intimidated by a PhD.

But boy, was I so very pleasantly surprised! Not only is Layne a very intelligent woman, she is also a fantastic QUILTER! (and a new friend) Makes me feel really good about the quality of the educators at this institute of higher learning!

We played show and tell with our quilts and she graciously allowed me to photograph and share some of her quilts:

What an incredible collection of work! I had the best time getting to know Layne and sharing our love for quilting. I feel like I have discovered a hidden treasure!

Veteran's Day

I finished this table runner Monday night.

The fabrics are from Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley line.

The colors are luscious!

I put it in the etsy shop this morning. Then my sweet hubby took me fabric shopping! I went to Mary Jo's and to a great shop called Sew Much Fun!
I will post a review on it soon. Now, I am going to fondle my new fabrics!

Today is Veteran's Day. And I am so very grateful to all who have served our wonderful country.It is also my baby brother's birthday. He is very handsome and smart, and I am very proud of him.

Happy Birthday Kent!!!

Shameless Self-promotion

Look at me here.

What do expect? It is my birthday!  :o)

Early Works

I haven't finished anything this week. I have 1 large top ready to quilt, and I am still piecing another. So, I am showing some of my earlier Art Quilts today!

Daisy - 6.25" x 8.75"

Felt, embroidery floss, glass beads, backed with a scrap of sheeting

 

Detail (wow, look at the color shift!)

 

Le Chat - 8.5" x 12.25"

Felt, embroidery floss, quilting thread, glass beads

This was inspired one of those cool vintage French advertising posters

Poppy - 13.75" x 19.5"

This is all cotton fabrics with polyester thread. The green background is made of strips of fabric that I wove together before stitching down.

This is based on a photo I took:

Now, off to ship an etsy order and a quilt to Mountain Baby Blankets.

Enjoy a happy Saturday!

Quicky Linkys

My fellow esty chick ImperfectionsUnique has a great shop of truely afforable earrings, necklaces and hadbags. Please visit her shop!

She is also on an etsy team which is sponsoring a HUGE giva-away of handmade goodies. Visit this link to find out how you can get your name in.

Learning to free-motion stipple (tutorial)

I previously posted how I make and print my quilt labels. Well, I have decided to apply that process to another use: practice stitching for free-motion!

For this how-to, I am using a stipple pattern, but you can substitute an pattern you want.

Supplies needed:

Freezer paper, light colored fabric, rotary cutter or scissors

Cut your fabric and freezer paper to 8.5" x 11"

Lay fabric right side down on ironing board. Lay freezer paper, shiny side down, on top of fabric. Line up edges to be even. Iron paper to fabric with hot dry iron. This adheres the paper to the fabric.

Drawn a stipple (or other continuous line pattern) on a separate piece of paper. For this example, I am using a black marker so it will show up in the photos.

Scan your line drawing, just like you would any document. Then print on the paper-backed fabric you have made.

Peel, make your quilt sandwich, and follow your lines to practice!

If you try this, I would love to hear from you!

Production continues....

I made this table runner on Sunday:

I made it reversible. Here is the other side:

And here is a close up to show the quilting:

My free-motion skills (and comfort level) are realing improving! It gets more fun every time. I quilted this in about 30 minutes. 

I also start piecing a quilt top for my nephew. I plan on giving it to him for Christmas. The piecing is going very quickly. I am heading back to sew more now!

Saturday's production

It was so dark and rainy here yesterday, I spent most of the day in my studio catching up on some sewing for my etsy shop. I made these 2 table runners:

They sew together so easily. The part of the process that takes the most time is selecting the fabrics and cutting the strips. I had forgotton how fun these are to make. I had decided earlier in the year to use up my stash and I really have! I need to do some serious fabric shopping to refill :o)


I am going back to the studio, I am going to try to finish one more today. But, the sun is out and my dogs need a walk......