Fabric Garland . . . .

So here is another little project . . . . a string of 50 White lights with fabric strips tied between them .
Strips are 6 inch long bu 1 inch wide and there are 7 strips between each 2 lights.  It was an easy mindless task, I did not give great thought to what strips went where.  It is looking great in our kitchen window.

Working on it Wednesday . . .

So here we are working on 2 things . . . . the half square triangles are for a dresser top small quilt to keep the dust off.  Then I am also making a twin bed quilt-for my youngest son.   We recently redid an upstairs room, this was a major undertaking. we painted a few walls in the colors of Syracuse University.  Roasted Squash and midnight blue were the Valspar colors. It is a small room  that was made out of crawl space in this old farmhouse.  ( c.1822)  The family that lived here in the 60/ 70's had 5 boys and at one point they were all in one room but then 2 wanting room alone started to clean out this area to make it into living space.  The next family put dry wall up etc.. and made an upper bunk in this room and lower bunk in the room next to it.  It is hard to explain. Right now both my boys are back there.  They share a toilet between the rooms and each have their own sink. Generally works out good.  

For the dresser top I have not quite decided what arrangement the half-square triangles will take on.  The twin bed quilt will be a mix of 4-patch squares and large blocks.  IT goes together fast and is easy to quilt.  Right now Syracuse Basket Ball is 20-0 so they are having a good year.  Tonight is is SU vs Wakeforest.  Go Cuse!!! 

We'll share progress on this project as it starts to pull together.

The Moments #5

America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. 

  A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.

Marco Rubio

Always interesting to know what parts our ancestors played.  I have a Great Grandfather who helped make the bridges and roads as part of the CCC  for Letchworth State Park.  This is a large NYS Park often referred to the Grand Canyon of the East.

The Moments:  Part of Daisy Yellow's October Challenge found here.

My fabric will become a table runner or small wall hanging. Stay tuned.

America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.

Marco Rubio

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marcorubio449266.html#XHTbtoWSBlOWE2GE.99

America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.

Marco Rubio

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marcorubio449266.html#XHTbtoWSBlOWE2GE.99

America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.

Marco Rubio

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marcorubio449266.html#XHTbtoWSBlOWE2GE.99

America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.
Marco Rubio
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/fabric.html#Jcf0gMlfA3UTJ1ge.99

America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.
Marco Rubio
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/fabric.html#Jcf0gMlfA3UTJ1ge.99

Sand Lake 2013

Blood Orange Margarita

 

  About 2 weeks ago I snuck away amidst the March Madness that fully engulfs our house- Birthdays, Robotics, scouting, Maple sap to syrup season, March is a crazy month for us.  Another wonderful  weekend away with the Girlfriends, to relax, reflect and restore.  A Weekend to sew, read, be creative in any way one wants, fabulous food and beverages, late nights, movies, laughing, eating way to many goodies, sleeping in , walking in the woods, always leaving at home the one thing that you need. Marvelous views of the still frozen lake. Sunday AM we saw a big bushy Red Tail Fox traveling across the frozen Ice.  Also saw Hooded Mergansers in the open water near the dock.  Lots of dreaming of what it might be like in the summer.  We have always only seen the lake Frozen.

 Time well spent.

works in progress . . . . .

Some of the things that i worked on while away sewing/quilting and being creative.  I really look forward to this weekend away as while at home there is little time to sew these days. Kid care, laundry, housekeeping and cooking seem to fill the days.   While this is fine , it is often not very well balanced .   I would love to say that I have the balance thing all worked out but sadly I do not.  I try to grab minutes to be ever so simply creative but  they often are far and few between. Only the top one of these 4 is complete.  The middle 2 are I am thinking going to be part of something bigger, and the last one is of the Falls in town and will have a brown frame around it. It may well be a year before they are what they are meant to be but they are a great reminder to a fun time and inspire me to keep grabbing those moments. Hope everyone can find a little creative everyday.

Yo-Yo's for Mom's

This is a simple project that I am working on . First I embroidered the stem and leaves on a Piece of Muslin. Then I cut out Circles for the Yo-Yo's I did this with my Big Shot Die Cut Machine. Next I did a running stitch around the circles and pull the stitches to gather the yo-yo. Then I add the yo -yo to the stem by way of stitching the button to the yo-yo to the backing. Putting right sides together and machine stitching around 3 sides. Turn it inside out so right sides are not facing out. Next I added dried Lavender about 1/2 full and stitched the remaining side. Lastly is using Embroidery Floss to do the Blanket stitch around the Perimeter of the small sachet. The very top photo I added the Flower yo- yo to a 6x6 painted panel that I had. These are quick although I made about 15 so it has taken me some time. I did each stage all at one time. This is an easy project for Teens. Self Threading needles are a help if threading is an issue.

At the machine . . .

This is for a new nephew. Simple block and sewed up quick. The brown fabric has animals on it and is just the softest! I moved my second machine into the living room to catch bits here and there to sew. My days of going to my sewing room are few and far between right now.
The pattern is from Quilts for the Modern Home.
Besides the brown, the rest is from my stash - now for a backing and onto the quilting!!

Quilt Away

It is that time again . . . . rest, reflect, rejuvenate
Time away with friends to sew, hike, read, write, sleep, paint, journal, take pictures, eat, watch movies, whatever we want to do. Time for us away from the wonderful everyday. Time that we can build up energy stores to face the every-days. Time together, time alone, time .. . .
Hope to quilt this quilt that is hanging on the line and whatever else moves me. The anticipation is the best part!

Here Comes the Sun . . .

Printmaking using the Sun to create one of a kind cloth.
This is my first attempt at this type of printmaking. I wet the fabric first, painted it with Setacolor paints mixing as I wanted special colors. I only had Yellow , Fuchsia, Turquoise that I mixed all color from. It was an experiment to know how much I wanted to dilute the colors or not.
So wet, the cloth, paint it with color, arrange objects to be printed and then let the cloth sit in the sun for an hour or until dry. I hope to try again tomorrow as all week it has been a lovely shade of rainy gray. I will post the finished pieces next.

New Bag

Well I see that now I posted these photos the bottom one is not as clear as it appeared. This is a Frenchy bag from an Amy Butler pattern. I used this cool Hand fabric that I found for the main portion. Inside it is lined, has 2 pockets and a magnetic closure. Although my time from starting it to finishing it was long, it was because I could not get back to it, not because it was difficult to do. you do need sew in interfacing to give it body. The sewing construction is pretty straight forward and the pattern easy to read.

Mystery Flannel Quilt

This was a Mystery Quilt that i participated in longer ago than I care to Admit. I initially was able to get the Top all pieced in the prescribed amount of time but then took a loong time to put the borders on. Eventually due to its large size- Queen plus was able to have it machine quilted and it has spent a year waiting for the binding but I got it sewed on by machine 2 weeks ago and now am working on the final hand sewing of the binding. it goes pretty quickly when i work on it every day. Of course I am sure you know that getting to it daily is not really in the picture. Weekly might be a bit more realistic. It just seems that the days go by and I am so consumed with food, laundry, cleaning driving that I do not get to the fun important things. I mean I could really let all the rest go but eventually we would run out of clothes, food and live in squalor. The happy medium means I get less time to do the fun stuff but that we live a reasonable life in all other categories. It also means I take time to read to kids, pick flowers, feed birds and bake cookies which are all also little but important things. This is flannel front and back so it is heavy and warm. Since we do not start our furnace until the last possible moment in the fall, lots of quilts can be a good thing.

Butterfly Quilt

This Quilt is finally finished. Quilts go in stages:

• Collect fabrics
• Cut fabrics
• Stitch blocks
• Decide you need more blocks
• Cut and sew more
• let them rest for awhile - kinda like letting bread rise.
• Sew them into rows and into a top.
• let it rest again
• Decide on borders
• Sew borders on
• let it rest
• Get backing
• Stitch backing together
• Press backing
• Press top
• Layer the 3 and baste
• Let rest
• Quilt it
• let rest
• Cut and sew binding
• Press binding
• Stitch binding to top
• Hand sew binding

It is always fun in any stage but especially when it is DONE! This is s simple 4-patch with smaller squares sewed to the corners to make the triangles.

In color Quilt

This is my "In Color" quilt featuring my renditions of the Stampin Up In colors
Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Soft Suede, Rich Razzelberry, Bermuda Bay
I choose Soft Suede for my Neutral.
My friend and I exchanged all the other colors.
The flower Petals were cut with the Big Shot from Stampin UP
The original Idea for this is from Jill Olson a Demonstrator in Utah via my friend.
It is not finished as all the Flowers need centers still plus quilting, binding etc..
For the flowers I used a simple glu stick to hold them in place- just a touch is all that was needed. I sewed about 1/4 inch in form the edge which will give it when washed a rough edge, hence raw edge applique it is called as a technique.

Weekend Fun

Here is where my weekend found me.
More pictures of finished fun to follow.
The best was the fellowship of kindred spirits
that was included in the weekend fun and frolic!

Fall Quilts

"God Bless You" Heading to Chicago, Ill.

Polar Fleece Throw headed to Children's Hospital for a friend

Airing everyday Bed Quilts on sunny fall day!!

Breaking Traditions Quilts

These 2 12x12 quilts were made for a Quilt exhibition in Michigan in Spetember.

Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit

it is to benefit A place to Bark

Sorry our mouse is not working so highlighting things is a very difficult thing to do.

The theme is "Home"
The top quilt is titled
"Cabin Home" in dedication to those Pioneer women that worked so hard in their log cabins.

The bottom one is;
"Home . . . in the garden"
with design help by 13 y/o Slugger.
Yes, those are my hands, I had wanted to put a spider web on it but ran out of time.

This is a fun exhibit to participate in and it is my second year.

Have a good Wednesday!!

May Nature Quilt

This is May Nature Quilt. This is the colors seen in May not what I think but what I see. Lots of shades of green color just starting to come and not much tan/gold as everything is fresh.

June Nature Quilt

This is June's Nature Quilt of what I have seen in my travels outdoors. There is much more color now everywhere. Still greens that are quite bright. Berries have arrived on the seen.They add lots of subtle beauty. Birds are active in song and flight, frogs are still busy singing as well.

Baby Quilt

This is the fabric I started with, my favorite color green infused with Old Mother Goose, then I selected others form the "stash" to fill it out.

Created simple 9-patches

Finished pieced top, next is layering and quilting.
This is for a new mom who had a really cute long awaited for boy. I could not decide whether to make it long and narrow or square.