Scraps at work #1

Remember back in November when I organized my scraps? I have put them to use! Here is quilt #1 that I put together:

 Scrappy Triangles

47" x 41"

The scrappy parts used a bunch of my red and orange scraps with a touch of the yellow. The solid areas are made of some osnaburg cotton I had in my meager stash. The binding is beige dots from my scraps as well. The batting was a scrap from another project as well. I love using up my scraps!

FMQ-ed with a loose meander.

I have an equilateral triangle that I wanted to get comfortable using, and scraps are great for learning new skills. The osnaburg is quite inexpensive and I love the texture contrast. I was amazed at the ease with which this came together. This quilt is destined for donation.

a stolen/borrowed picture

In our ornament/decor swap last night, I got this cutie:

Made, and photographed, by Sarah. Isn't he the cutest? She also makes amazing cupcakes and candies. It is all her fault I fell off my low-carb wagon last night and ate 4 of her chocolate/caramel goodies! I hang my head in shame, but they were delicious! And yes, my husband got the 2 I brought home!

Roxanne picked the item I brought, this table runner:

A detail shot:

I hope she enjoys it!

I made a pouch for Janet, but do not have a picture. I made it using the QuiltCon colors and a recessed zipper. This was a great swap and I stepped outside my zone and learned how to sew a recessed zipper!

busy as a one-legged man in a room full of long tailed cats

Mixing metaphors is a fun little thing I do, but the past few weeks have been crazy.

My husband is 4 1/2 weeks post hip-replacement and doing well. My new boss is settling quite nicely into her mad travel schedule, but is making a welcome difference at work. My new co-worker is into her second week and is also a welcome addition in the office! Amazing what a change in personnel can do for the morale of an office.

Anyway, the whirlwind of December is upon me, and I am just going with it. Tonight was our Christmas party in the Triad Modern Quilt Guild. We enjoyed a Secret Santa gift-exchange and a zipper pouch swap. We also ate delightful treats and enjoyed each others company.

me with my pouch goodies!

The delightful, amazing and talented Lee, had my name in our pouch swap. I adore my pouch!!!! Check out her blog, she is a great designer and shares fantastic tutorials!

In my limited spare time, I have been working on a new quilt, using a 2 1/2" strip roll of Chicopee by Denyse Schmidt. This collection wormed its way into my brain, the cool color combos really sparkle and it inspired me to really stretch myself. Thus, I am working on this:

Can't wait for my winter vacation to be able to finish!

Anyway, as the Christmas season arrives, I feel very blessed with my guild and quilty friends. They add such a delight to my life!

My "Monolith" class

I taught my "Monolith" quilt this past Saturday at Sewingly Yours. I had 3 amazing students who made three beautiful, very different quilt tops. We laughed, talked, and sewed. We put the blocks on the design wall to move around and set the layout for best color distribution. Then I had them take a picture and look at their picture to see if they liked the layout. (That is a good way to see if you like the color layout.)

Here are their tops on the wall:

Katie's

Katie chose a modern color palette using 2 shades of berry/purple as her background color. These shades really complemented the variety of prints she also used. I think it is a fun, fresh, contemporary quilt top!

 

 Theresa's

Theresa is up next. She chose a group of mottled prints, Stonehenge, I believe. And when they came together, they reminded me of the 4 elements: earth, wind, fire and water.The effect of the colored blocks floating on the background was really striking once she got it up on the design wall.

April's

April was inspired by my original quilt and chose the "Curious Nature" collection for her quilt. She also went with a gray blender, and made extra blocks to make her quilt larger for her son. I really love the way the gray made this quilt so elegant!

Thanks, Ladies, for such a fun Saturday!

....I have done a bit of quilting!

So I went back into the office this week. I had worked from home last week as my sweet husband is recovering from surgery.

Fortunately, the atmosphere at work is improving. And the work load is increasing, but the work is fun and creatively challenging.

The problem? My husband is rehabbing from hip replacement so most home things fall to me. And that eats into my quality sewing time! (I know it is temporary, and he is so much better with his new hip! He is also a very good patient, he just can not carry things with his walker or walking stick.)

I did start, and finish this wall hanging last week. Not having a commute gave me an extra hour and half every day, I used it wisely!

Here is my Swirled Tree:

29 1/2" by 34"

I found the pattern during my studio cleaning binge.

I used scraps for the swirls, fused them on, zigzagged the edges.

Then the FMQ! I wanted it to look like a winter storm, with the wind swirling snow around. I layered wool batting over cotton. The wool gives a lovely loft, with cotton to add body which helps it hang nicely.

It quilted like a dream!