Crazy Stitcher

Cancer Update

2011-11-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

We got a bit of good news. The mass in Bruce's lung has shrunk form 9 cm to 4 cm so the chemo is working! Now for the brain MRI to see if the radiation has worked on the tumors there.

Cancer

2011-10-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. I have not posted anything for a long time as you can see. I have been working a lot of hours and haven't really done much CQing in the past year. I have a lot of UFO's!

Life has a way of dealing us hands that we don't expect. My wonderful Husband of 34 years has stage 4 lung cancer. Our life has taken a turn that we never expected. He and I have been together since I was 17 and he was 19. We went to the same High School. Shawnee Mission North in Overland Park, Kansas.

I Love this picture. He is laughing and we are sitting on our patio enjoying the company of each other. I miss these times!

Anyway, I wanted to update everyone to what is going on. I may keep posting about our life. ;)

Another Beautiful Antique Crazy Quilt

2010-11-21T12:22:00.000-08:00

This is an amazing CQ that I wish I could see close up. The embroidery reminds me of a CQ that was at the Crazy Quilt Conference in Omaha years ago in a display that Cindy Brick curated. It was all farm animals, geese, ducks, etc. It may also be in Penny McMorris's Crazy Quilt book too. I will have to check that out. I wonder if the same person did this CQ.

Anyway, this is beautiful and I love the fabrics in it too. Enjoy!

I have 3 Old Cats so you know I love this block! I love the way the kittens are embroidered over the Momma cat.

Ah, fans! Isn't this a cool way to set them?

This takes outline embroidery to a new level!

Speechless!

Close-up.

This CQ appears to be unfinished, I think. Why didn't it get done? Don't you wish that you could talk to the maker?

I will continue to look through my pictures and post more. Check back.

More Antique Crazy Quilts

2010-11-20T11:24:00.000-08:00

I was looking through some of my EBay Antique Crazy Quilt pictures that I had saved over the years and thought I would post some more of them. I am especially attracted to the artistic graphic nature or beautiful stitching on these.

These panels were probably going to be a border or they could have been part of a row quilt. They could have also been turned into a tile quilt. I want to make a tile quilt someday.

Here is a close up of one of the fans. It looked to be quite dimensional.

I love the use of the border on this. I only have this one picture. It looks like it has some great stitching and motifs. I would love to see it close up. Very nice!

This unfinished CQ is interesting in it's randomness. I like all the fans. What would it have ended up like?

So many CQ's ended up being unfinished. I love the center medallion. What would the border have been like? Like the center? I only have this one picture. This has a folk art feel to it.

This picture is not really that great but the quilt has a very interesting design.

I have many more pictures and will post some more later.

It is a rainy, dreary day here in Southern California. Either a good Saturday to go up to my sewing room or go to the grocery store and come home and cook some nice warm soup. Maybe do both!

My Favorite Antique CQ's

2010-10-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

I regularly search on Ebay for antique CQ's and send the links to a few Internet Crazy Quilt mail lists that I belong to. Over the years, I have saved many photos of my favorites. I thought that I would post some of them for your enjoyment!

This fan quilt is one that I would like to do myself. I have started it several times but each time, I have been unhappy with my pattern and fabric selection. I will hopefully do it one day. Isn't it fabulous?

This is the inspiration for my 2012 CQ that I am currently working on. It really doesn't look much like mine except that it is on point and my border is designed like this. I also am thinking of doing my initials in the middle.

I do love the simplicity and graphic look of this CQ.

This, on the other hand, is not simple but I love the graphic nature of it.

The stitching is quite primitive but the design of the quilt makes up for it.

Isn't this amazing. It was on Ebay very recently. I never did see if it sold. I could see it selling for several thousand dollars. I don't know if it did.

Wow!

I will post more of my favorite CQ's later. Now I am off to my sewing room. I just got re-inspired!

Bowers Museum Trip

2010-09-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

I went to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA yesterday with 3 friends. They had a quilt exhibit called "Quilts. Two Centuries of American Tradition & Technique", that we wanted to check out.

It wasn't a very big display but it was well done. All the quilts were antique.

This was a lace throw that had some very pretty embroidery on it. I couldn't get very close to it or I would have taken a better picture. I also couldn't use a flash so the pictures are a little dark. The lace was also beautiful and ornate.

They had one traditional Crazy Quilt but I didn't think it was a very good example of workmanship. The stitching was very mediocre. With all the amazing CQ's out there you would have thought they would have chosen better.

There were 2 other quilts that were in the tradition of Crazy Quilts, in that they had stitching on them like this pineapple foundation pieced quilt.

The quilt that was the most striking to me was this quilt. I don't know what the pattern is called but it was pieced like a hexagon quilt with paper templates. It was unfinished but I think that adds to how fantastic it was. You could see how it was being made. This was worth the trip to see!

It had some fantastic stitching on it. It really showcased the stitching because the fabrics were mostly solid. We can learn from this in our own CQ's by keeping the fabrics less busy. Even though you wouldn't know it from my 2012 CQ! LOL!

The paper templates were interesting, too, because they were snippets of the times with printing on them.

We checked out the whole museum. They had many fascinating displays. One of which was titled "Weird and Wonderful". I thought this was interesting because for the last 30 some years, my day job is as a Dental Technician. I can relate to this lady making things that had nothing to do with dentistry, using dental tools.

She made this skeleton out of ceramic materials. Very complex and detailed. It was only about 10 inches long. Wow!

They had these Chinese Corbels that were awe inspiring!

So intricately carved from wood.

This is the Fair Damsel, Jeanne Bird. She is so fun!

If you live in the Southern California area, I think the museum is worth the trip. The quilt display runs through January 16th so there is plenty of time.

2012 Crazy Quilt and LA Fair

2010-09-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

I have been stitching on my 2012 CQ. I work a very full time job. Many times 10 hours, or more, a day so the stitching has been going slow. I wish I was a housewife that could stay home and clean house and cook and work on my quilts. I never would have said that when I was Young. I was stupid! I know better now but.....

I decided that because my fabrics are so bold and modern that I needed to start with some heavier threads. I used size #8. I will layer them with other size threads as I work. Probably a lot of #12 which is my favorite size to use.

I am also working on all the blocks at the same time, and spreading the stitching out. My past experience taught me to do this. It will keep the blocks looking evenly embellished. If I work on one block until done and then start on the next, I don't know that it will look even and equal when I put it together.

These are basic stitches and will be added on to, to layer them. They need to be bold in order to show up with these fabrics and colors. I may even use some metallics with them. I am not sure yet. I am going to let it talk to me as I work on it. This is definitely the boldest quilt I have ever done.

These are my threads that I am using. That is a gallon bag full of Art Fabrik hand dyed variegated threads! Love them!!!! They are my absolute favorite threads. They come in 5, 8, 12, and floss. A little pricey but there is a lot in a skein. I also love the Presentia Finca solid color threads. The colors are very nice. Stay away from the variegated. They don't work well for embroidery because the variegation's are too far apart.

This is Bruce. I Love these photos. He hates them. He will be horrified that I put them on my blog. LOL! Too bad! He didn't want me to take his picture.

Tough guy! "Ok, put the camera down!" Priceless!

I went to the LA County Fair with Jeanne, Dorene, and Jan a couple of weeks ago. I have never been to a fair. It was hot and crowded. I am not sure I would do it again. They had a few CQ's. I took some pictures. I do not know who made them. The display was not done very well. Most of the quilts were folded and the lighting was terrible. They were in glass cases so you could not get close to them.

This doll had a nice little CQ jacket.

2012 Quilt Frustration

2010-08-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am struggling. My Husband doesn't like my colors of this quilt. It is not his thing. He likes pastels. I like jewels. He told me it looks dark. Dark???? I don't see that. What are you going to do?

I have put these strips in between the fans. Is it ok? I am totally second guessing myself with this. Do you do this too. I may take the green center out and put a regular block in there. I am not sure yet.

I am most worried about the fans. I don't know what else to do there. I am tired of re-doing blocks with this quilt. Can you tell I am getting frustrated? Let me know what you think about the fans and strips in between.

Vintage Linens Quilt and "My Fair Ladies" Round Robin

2010-08-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

I finished the border of my Vintage Linens quilt in time to put it at The Fabric Patch Quilt Shop where I will be teaching how to make it in September. I strip pieced the border and used vintage linen hankies at the corners. They have a multi-colored, crocheted edge. If you are in Southern California, you can see it in Montclair at the shop.

I sent the "My Fair Ladies" Round Robin quilt to Marci yesterday to hang in the Northland Needlers quilt show on September 18 & 19, 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri. There will be a large Crazy Quilt display from the "Just a Little Crazy Stitcher's Club.

I took some additional pictures showing the border. The pictures are not the best but I didn't realize it until I started the blog post today.

Here is the border embroidery with crystals. It gives it a little glisten and pop. Very simple.

2012 CQ Redo Update

2010-08-15T21:28:00.001-07:00

A lot of people seemed like they couldn't get around the green silk in the middle so I put the fabric piece behind the blocks to show what I envision with the half squares around the outside. The green looks bright in the picture because it is silk and it gets shiny with the flash. I promise that it doesn't look so bright with the blocks. It fits with the colors. The brown African fabric will be the border around the green silk.

I have put the strip blocks in between the fans at the corners. There will be purple silk on the outside edge. I am liking where this is going more than before.

2012 CQ - Plan redo

2010-08-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

I have been reworking my plan. I tried re-arranging the blocks, moving the fans around, and came back to the original plan.

I am thinking that I will expand on the fans and add strip blocks in between the fans. There will be a small strip of purple on the outside edges of them like the fans.

I will have to see how I like the little outside fans once I try the strip blocks to see if they still look good where they are.

I took a picture again and the white areas will be where the strip blocks will go.

Try and not get focused on the green in the middle as the half square blocks around the outside of the quilt will also be that green so I hope this will tie it all together. In person it is not as stark as it looks in the picture. It is because the flash makes the silk look shiny. Also, remember the brown African fabric that will be the border. You can see it here.

2012 CQ, Re-Do

2010-08-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, this was my original plan. I thought I would have the 4 blocks around the center as something different. As I worked, I changed my mind and did basic CQ blocks. This just go's to show that what you think at first is best.

I look at the blocks as they are and don't like the center area. I think I need to do fans there in the 4 blocks that I changed. What do you think? Please let me know what your ideas are. I am going to change it. Just not sure how yet.

I want this to be a very graphic CQ. Something that has a visual impact. This isn't it.

2012 Crazy Quilt Challenge

2010-08-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here is my plan again for the 2012 CQ Challenge. I have selected fabrics for the borders and outside the fans.

The purple fabric will be around the fans. The emerald green will be the half squares on the outside and this fantastic hand dyed African fabric from Ba Ba Blankets will be the border. I am going to cut it so it appears as stripes. Just like in the photo.

I have the fans pieced.

Piecing the CQ blocks.

All the blocks pieced.

The emerald fabric in the middle is the same as the outside fabric. I think I will do embroidery in the center although things could change.

Huge Beetle!!!

2010-08-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

We were in our family room the other night and heard something hit the slider door. During the day sometimes a bird will hit a window and this was how it sounded, only it was night. Did a bat hit the glass?

This big guy was laying upside down on the patio so I flipped him over and put a quarter by him to show his size. We figured he was about 3 inches long.

We never have figured out what type of beetle he is. Just a Big Ass bug!

2006 Round Robin Quilt Done!

2010-08-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

I finally got my Round Robin done that the "Just a Little Crazy Stitcher's Club" did back in 2006. Moving to California got in the way of finishing it. I wanted to get it finished so that it could go into the Nitetime Needlers Quilt show in September.

The group is going to have a fairly large display of CQ's in the show so if you are in the area, go by and check it out. The dates are Sept. 17, 18, 2010. Their opportunity quilt is also a Crazy Quilt. Here is a picture.

This is me on the patio, stitching the binding on the quilt. I love my back patio. It is so quiet. Our old house in Parkville, MO was next to a highway and was not peaceful. It's funny how you can get used to anything. The quiet seemed so loud when we moved here! LOL

Here is the finished quilt. It is titled "My Fair Ladies" and is a tribute to the friends that stitched it. It hangs in my stairwell to the upstairs. This is becoming my CQ gallery.

This is my block. When I put the packets together for the blocks, I included a silk lady, 2 fabrics, and a hanky. Everyone was required to cut the hanky into fourths and use it in the block. They also had to use the 2 fabrics and add at least 2 more. I asked that they use the colors in the silk for the color theme of the blocks.

This is Victoria's block.

Janell's block.

Marci's block.

Pam's block.

Patty's block.

Susan's block.

Anne's block.

Cindy's block.

Debra's block.

Grace's block.

Gwen's block.

The Club is getting ready to start another Round Robin. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. If you are interested in seeing past blocks from our Round Robins you can see them here.

2012 CQ Quilt Started

2010-08-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

I have been a very bad blogger. I started back to work and work way too much. A lot of things have gone by the wayside. I am back working in a Dental Lab. I wish I could make money doing my hobby of CQ! I still teach CQ sometimes. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people doing CQ in Southern CA. My classes seem to fill up pretty good but I don't make enough to support the bills.

I have been wanting to start on a CQ for the 2012 CQ Challenge. I had a false start but my idea was a little to complex and I couldn't seem to get going. I have changed my plan and have actually made some progress.

This is the antique CQ that is my inspiration. I love that the blocks are set on point and I love the embroidery in the middle. It really is a simple CQ but it has a great visual graphic look.

This is my plan. I have fans all around and the blocks are still on point. It is an evolving plan as I have changed it a bit as I have been working on it.

These are the foundation blocks on my design wall. The blocks are 8 1/2 inches unfinished. I was going to do some embroidery on the 5 blocks in the center but have since decided to do CQ on the 4 around the center. I think I will do my initials on the very center block. This may change though!

I selected fabrics and decided to do jewel tone fabrics. I wanted to use natural fibers so most of them are cotton and silk. I also wanted to use modern fabrics so there are a lot of batiks and hand dyes. I have a nice collection of beautiful hand dyed African fabrics that I am using too. I love these. I found a fantastic booth at the Long Beach quilt show in July called Ba Ba Blankets that I found several wonderful, unique fabrics. One of them will be the border fabric of the quilt.

This is my sewing room with the fabrics I have pulled out. What a mess! Isn't my sewing room great! I love it! That is my cutting table that all the fabric is piled on. My Husband bought me a great little TV that fits perfect! All the little quilts around the ceiling are done by friends. It keeps them close to me. Marci and I have a sheep thing going.

I am going to try and post my progress so check back. I will probably not post every day but I will try to be more regular.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope that you are safe and warm and with your Loved Ones today.

I pulled out the Christmas Round Robin that my Kansas City "Just a Little Crazy Stitcher's Club" did a few years ago. This was my quilt. I pieced it and then the club members helped to embellish it.

My quilt guild, "the Nite Owls", had a Christmas party on December 3rd and part of the fun was that people made things for raffle drawings. I won two quilts. One was this great table runner that I put on my dining room table. I will have to make something like this next year. I made 2 CQ stockings for the raffle. You can see them here.

December in California. Hummingbirds! They must stay year round. We are still getting 20 to 30 of them at times. A lot have moved on but a lot more must have moved in because a couple of the species are not coming right now. It will be interesting to see how many we have next Spring.

By the way, Kansas City had a major snow storm today with 7 to 10 inches of blowing snow and 10 degrees. Burrrrr! I so don't miss that!

Christmas at our New House

2009-12-15T17:42:00.000-08:00

I bought this panel at the Corbin Mill Quilt Shop in Liberty, Missouri a couple of years ago. It is flannel and very sweet.

I decided to finally make the stockings from it. There is a fourth one that is not on the table but it is up on my fireplace. It has a teddy bear on it.

Here they are on our fireplace and our Christmas Tree. I really Love our house! It is so exciting to have a house that I want to decorate! No presents yet, though.

By the way, it will be in the 70's tomorrow. Winter in California!

San Diego Trip

2009-12-13T09:25:00.001-08:00

My Husband Bruce and I went to San Diego for our 31st Anniversary, the weekend after Thanksgiving. On Saturday, we were going to go to the San Diego Zoo but it rained most of the day so we went right to the hotel. We are only about an hour and a half away so we will go back to the zoo later.

Bruce got us this great room with a balcony, on the 9th floor, overlooking the Bay.

We spent the whole day out there watching the boats and people. It was a little cool but very fun.

A glass (plastic cup) of wine helped keep me warm! The view was amazing!

A ship sailed around the harbor and near sundown, shot off his cannon. It was so cool!

The Holland America cruise ship Oosterdam was docked right below us. It sailed Saturday night.

The whole process of leaving was pretty interesting. It blew it's horn as it left. Very impressive! Just like in the movies.

It backed out and then...

...it was gone!

Sunday, we went to see the San Diego Chargers kick the Kansas City Chiefs butts! It was pretty sad. Bruce wouldn't let me wear red so I wore some red earrings. It was probably a good thing because some of the drunker San Diego fans gave the Chiefs fans a lot of trouble! It was quite hostile.

We took the train to the stadium so we left at half time to beat the rush and go back to the hotel to get our car. The train system makes it quite easy to get around town. A Great Weekend!!!

Football is on today and Bruce gets the TV for the day so I think I am off to my sewing room. Maybe I will actually get something done in there. At least no football will be on my TV!

Xmas Stockings and November in California

2009-11-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I posted to my blog. I have gotten a new job at a Dental Lab so I have less time to sew but my Husband likes football so on Sunday I escape to my sewing room and get stuff done.

I finished these Xmas Stockings for the raffle at my quilt guild for the December Christmas meeting. My Friend Jeanne is in charge of setting it up. She has gotten a ton of quilts for it. I am really interested in how they set it up. I will post back when I know. Maybe I will buy something! There are a lot of really talented people in my new guild!

I made 11 mini art quilts before I went back to work. I will probably use them for gifts. They are all raw edge pieced. Even the bindings.

This is the amazing thing about California. It is November and we still have Hummingbirds coming to our feeders! It was 75 degrees today and it will be 80 degrees on Thanksgiving. That is just not right! I still have tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini in my garden.

2009-11-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

I found this blog by Karen Griska that has this beautiful selvage quilt on it made by Karen. It reminds me of the antique Cigar Silk Ribbon quilts from 100 years ago. I think in 5o years these selvage quilts with be in their own category like Crazy Quilts are. Check out her blog.

2009-11-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

I have been working on Christmases Stockings for my guild, the Nite Owls, for their December party. I have found fabrics for the cuff and the backings. I will be glad to have these done.

I have been making mini quilts for sale. I need the money and I thought this would be a good way to make some. These are not done yet. I need to quilt them to a background fabric. I have been doing color studies with the selections of fabrics.

On another note, they are building houses so fast in our neighborhood. I have been watching them outside my sewing room. These houses have gone up in less than a week! Amazing! There are 6 up there.

Xmas Stockings

2009-10-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

My quilt guild, The Nite Owls in Upland, CA, does a Christmas item auction at their annual Christmas party in December. They ask that members make a Xmas Quilty item for it. I am making a couple of Xmas Stockings for it.

I started with my Husbands over sized wool socks as a pattern and increased the size.

I have crazy quilt pieced them and will do some stitching on the seams. I will post pictures later after I finish them.

I have purchased some new gadgets in the last couple of months. This first one is my Friend Jeanne's fault because she talked about how cool this item was and she sucked me in. I bought it too. Why didn't I just borrow hers? It is a cord maker. As you can see, I have done nothing with it so far and totally have buyers remorse but I will try it out and it will probably be very cool but what the heck am I going to use it for????

This second one is my own fault and it is because Sandy Turner came to our guild and I thought her quilt using these templates was pretty cool so I bought them. Again, I have buyers remorse but I will try them out. Checkout her web site. http://www.sandyturner.com/ I will use this with Batiks which I love.

The Linen's Quilt (aka Retreat Quilt)

2009-10-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

This is the "Linen's Quilt". This is just the working title but it is also known as (aka) the Retreat Quilt. It is the quilt I drag to every retreat with the intention that maybe I will finally get it done. I usually take it out, look at it, and put it away. Well, I thought if I hung it on my design wall, maybe I would finally get it done. It has been there for a week now.

The blocks are basically done, it just needs to be put together. All the blocks are different sizes so it takes some effort to figure it out. I took this class from Jo Crabb in Liberty, MO at the Liberty Quilt Shop. Unfortunately they are no longer in business. It was a great shop. Julie Kiffen was the owner and what a nice person she is. Jo Crabb is the best too. I miss them.

This block with the embroidered Belle was on a very worn out pillow case. The embroidery thread had rotted and the fabric was very thin. The crochet was in great shape so I carefully removed the old embroidery thread and fused some very fine inner facing to the back of the fabric. You could still see the holes where the embroidery thread was so I re-embroidered it and now it is as good as new!

There are dresser scarves, doilies, pillowcases and a table cloth in it. I have 2 Friends that did finish theirs and put them in 2 different quilt shows and both of them won "Best of Show". It is a great way to show off your old Linens that otherwise would be sitting in some drawer somewhere and then when you are gone from this world, a relative will give them to Good Will or use them as rags!

Wildlife - Inside and Out

2009-10-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

October in California means we still have Hummingbirds. Not as many. Some of them have left like the Black Chins and Allen's but we still have plenty. I think we are going to take one of the three feeders down for the winter. We may even go down to one if more quit coming. I am not sure if some stay around all year or not. When we moved here in February, we had Anna's at the apartment we stayed at. Each of these feeders has 10 feeding ports.

We have a lot of Finches too. We so seldom see them taking a bath but this day must have been bath day! It's funny, the Hummingbirds will take a bath on the leaves of our plants after the sprinklers have been on in the morning. They flit from one leaf to another for about 15 minutes.

This Dove decided the water on the patio was better.

This is our Flicker that comes to visit for a drink every day. He is quite loud when he arrives. He always does a little dance on the fence.

Speaking of Wildlife. This is our indoor variety. This is Fergie. She is the Queen of the house and keeps the boy cats in line. She has been known to growl and slap them. She is the smallest but she is not to be messed with. She is a horrible beggar for food and she was probably doing that in this picture.

This is Buster. One of two male black cats we have. He is the lover of the household. He follows me everywhere and wants to be touched all the time. He is quite a pest! We shaved him about a month ago because he is a beast with very long hair and he is like velvet when shaved.

My First Earthquake

2009-10-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

I felt my first Earthquake this morning. At first, I thought my fat cat had jumped off the bed. Then my jewelry box started rattling. It lasted only a second. The epicenter was literally right under my home. It was a 3.4 magnitude which is not that big but I felt it. I am no longer a quake virgin! There was a 1.9 afterwards at 5 AM in the same spot. This is looking from in front of my house to the South.
This is looking to the North which is where the San Andres fault is. It is very close to my home.

Birthday Quilts for Friends

2009-10-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

Two of my Friends have Birthdays this week. I made each of them a small wall hanging quilt. This first one is for my pal Marci. She loves these colors and is always trying to get me to steal quilts at shows that are these colors. I always tell her to do her own dirty work! Hopefully giving her this quilt will stop her from trying to start me in a life of crime.

This quilt is for my Friend Gretchen. She works with my Husband. She is a pal. She comes over and sits on the patio with me and has a glass of wine and she makes the best artichoke dip that she brings too! Yum!

Today we had some rain. It is the first time I have seen the ground that wet since we moved here. It is supposed to rain more tomorrow. I love the view off our front porch. It is still a little overcast. It reminds me that Fall is here in Brown Land.

Xmas quilt blocks and Nite Owls Retreat

2009-10-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

I went to the retreat for the Nite Owls quilt guild and I finished piecing the blocks for my Noel Village Christmas quilt. It is fused with Steam a Seam 2. I think I am going to stitch around the pieces with mono filament, invisible thread. Isn't it the cutest thing? Now the challenge will be to get it done before Christmas so I can hang it in my new home for the Holiday!

This is the sewing area at our retreat. It was a packed room with a lot of Great New Friends.

Xmas Quilt and Visit From Marci

2009-09-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

My Friend Marci, from Kansas City, came to visit me for 10 days. We shopped and shopped. We attended the San Diego quilt show, too. It was a nice show but not that big. It had some really nice vendors.

This is a picture of Marci as she is packing up her stuff to leave. She gave me that fat quarter that is in her hand. I am going to do a pink and green quilt some day.

Before she came here, she called and said we needed to make a quilt while she was here. We decided on an applique Christmas quilt by Piece of Cake Designs called the North Pole Village.

Hand applique was out of the question because of time, and we don't do the "A" word. We decided to use Steam a Seam 2 and fuse them. This is my quilt at this point. I have 3 blocks left to do. There will be a block that goes the width of the top that has Santa flying by in his sled and reindeer.

Marci's quilt is more like a Dr Seuss village. I should have taken a picture but didn't before she left. I am getting ready to go on a retreat with some friends so I am going to try and finish mine up then.

Road Runner in My Back Yard

2009-09-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

I had the back slider open because it was nice this morning and the cats like to look out. All the sudden, I heard a weird noise. The cats looked a little freaked out so I looked outside and found this guy hanging out.

He was very interested in our hummingbird feeder and was watching them and they were watching him. I carefully got my camera and snapped a few pictures. I also got a short film of him but it was of him leaving.

They are fairly large birds and quite the character!

Nitetime Needlers Crazy Quilt Blocks

2009-09-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

I think I have finished my blocks for the Nitetime Needlers Opportunity Quilt. An Opportunity Quilt is used by a quilt guild to raise money for programs for the guild. Tickets are sold for a raffle of the quilt.

I made 3 total for it. Here are the last two.

Here are some details of this first block.

I was worried a little bit about how much to add to them as I don't know what the other block makers will do on their blocks. So, I left it up to Marci and Pam to decide if they want to add more after they get them all back. They will have a challenge with this quilt but I am sure that it will be fabulous because they are both so talented.

A detail of the little silk ribbon flowers. Silk Ribbon is not my forte, but I try.

I will be buying several tickets for this quilt for myself. I would really like to win it!

Baby Deer

2009-09-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have a sad story to tell. It is a long story but please bear with me and read all the way through to the end. You will be glad you did.

It happened back when I lived in Parkville, Missouri. I guess it was Spring or early Summer. I think 2007. It broke my heart because I am such an animal lover. I can’t stand to see anything suffer, especially an animal.

My Husband and I were driving home after a visit to my Father-in-Law’s home. There is a 2 lane highway that leads to our street. It is very hilly and the road winds back and forth, up and down. It was early evening and the sun was low in the West.

As we came up and around a turn in the highway, I saw a large female deer lying next to the road, dead. I glanced off to the right; down the hill about 100 yards and I saw a baby deer lying next to the tree line, looking directly back up the hill at his Mama, lying dead on the road. I gasped and cried out, “There’s a baby deer by the trees” It was intently watching his Mama, waiting for her to get up and come back to him. Well, you and I know that wasn’t going to happen.

It was very young. I knew it couldn’t possibly take care of itself. I didn’t sleep hardly at all that night. When I did, it was fitful. My Husband was getting up early the next morning to catch a flight to California for a business trip.

When I got up, I had some coffee and watched the morning news. I kept thinking about the baby deer. I finally broke down, got in my car and drove back by the site. The Doe was still by the road and the baby had not moved an inch from where he was the night before. I wondered how long he had been laying there and when the Doe had been killed. How long will he lay there before suffering from dehydration and hunger?

I drove back home. I started obsessing about the baby deer. I called my Husband in California, crying my eyes out. I sobbed about what I had seen, that the baby was still there. Was there something I could do?

I called a local wildlife rehabilitator for the Kansas City area in Jackson County, Missouri. A very nice lady said that there was nothing they could do but that I should call a local animal rescue group in my county of Platte. She had a name and number so I called them. I got an answering machine and left a short message and could they please call me back. A couple of hours went by and no one called. I was getting more upset.

I decided to call the Missouri Department of Conservation in Platte County. I talked to an agent and he gave me the number for my local agent. I called him and he didn’t answer so I left a message, could he please call me back? A few more hours went by.

I decided to try another route. I called the local ABC News affiliate and talked to someone about the story and wondered if they would be interested in helping me. She said she would talk to a reporter and if they were interested, they would call back.

I called the nice lady back at the wildlife rehab center in Jackson County. Did she have any other ideas? Is there someone else I could call? She said she would ask around and call me back. I hung up. I was very upset by this time, thinking about the baby deer. Should I drive back by? I got in my car and went back up there. It was the same as before. My eyes hurt from crying so much. What was I going to do? My Husband was out of town. If he had been home, I might have tried to get him to go with me and see if we could do something, give it water……?

When I got back home, I called the wildlife rescue place in Platte County again. I left another message. I called the Missouri Conservation agent again. I left another message. My whole day had been consumed with the baby deer.

Finally, my local Missouri Conservation agent called me back. I told him the story. He was very kind and said that unfortunately, the law states that deer cannot be transported across county lines because of Wasting Disease and there was no one in Platte County that could take in the baby. He said the most humane thing to do was go and put the baby out of his misery. If he was that young, he probably wouldn’t survive anyway. I thanked him as I sobbed and hung up.

I called my Husband and sobbed that they were going to kill it! There was nothing else to do. He listened and said all the right things. He’s a good Man. I hung up. This whole ordeal had been going on for 24 hours by this time.

A couple of hours went by and the original agent that I had talked to with the Conservation Department called me back. He said that the other agent had gone by and checked out the baby deer.

He said” Ma'am, where you aware that the baby deer was a statue?” I said “What???? Excuse me? A statue? Oh my God, I am so sorry! Really? A statue?” I was very confused and extremely embarrassed. Oh! The shame!

I got back in my car and drove back up there. The Doe was gone but the baby deer was still there. Only now he was looking off in another direction. Not at the road! You know, I kept thinking all along that the baby deer did seem a little pale. I just thought he was sick.

So, as you are aware by my Blog, I love looking at wild life and have gone on trips with my Husband to Yellowstone, Custer State Park, the Grand Canyon, the Ozarks and many other places over the years to watch animals. We have had bird feeders and been bird watchers our whole marriage and I thought I was pretty observant.

Now you know why my friends gave me trouble about the Rattlesnake being a statue! My friend Wendy gave me this little statue to forever memorialize the Baby Deer. He stays in my sewing room and watches ME sew! I’m just glad the news people didn’t call me back!

Kestrel on the Hill and the Crazy Quilt by 2012 Challenge

2009-09-05T11:48:00.001-07:00

I love my back patio. It is really special in the morning when it is shaded. I like to sit out there and drink my morning coffee and watch the birds. This morning I took a book by Michael Connelly called The Brass Verdict. It is the follow up book to The Lincoln Lawyer that I thought was great. It is starting off really good so I have high hopes for it.

This morning, there was also a Kestrel hanging out looking for a meal, so I took a couple of pictures of him in a dead tree on the hill.

They are those birds that you see hovering in the air by the roadside looking for prey. I love my hill view!

On a Crazy Quilt email list that I belong to, we have put out a challenge to get a major Crazy Quilt done by 2012.

I love this antique CQ and have wanted to do my take on it for years. I started it once before but decided I didn't like what I had done. There is a previous post about it on my blog here. I think the fan blades are too wide. They need to be narrower like the original, plus, I don't like the colors of my first attempt.

Allie of Allie's in Stitches is doing a take on an antique CQ and has inspired me to start mine again. I have started planning it out on a muslin foundation.

Rattlesnake! Not a Statue!

2009-09-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is for my friends. It is one of those "You had to be there, jokes" so please bear with me if you don't understand. This snake is not a statue! It may be dead and a little stiff but it is not a statue!

Bruce took this picture after he put the snake on the hill.

Forest Fires By My House

2009-09-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

There were 2 fires that started near my home. They were both across the highway.

The first fire was the Oak Glen Fire. It started on 8/30/09. The second fire, The Pendleton Fire, started on 8/31/09. They were right next to each other.

The smoke was bad at our house the first day but the wind changed and it moved away. We could see the plume from our front door. My Husband and I parked by the highway and I took this video of an airplane dumping retardant on a ridge. It goes on to show the flames as it is getting dark outside.

On another note, and the fun keeps on happening, someone or something killed a very large rattlesnake and left or drug it in back by our fence. The rattle was over 2 inches long and the snake was over 3 feet long. I made my Husband take it up and chunk it on the hill. He took a picture with his phone camera and emailed it to our friend Gretchen. She called very soon after and said "Oh, Hell No!". LOL!

Zelda Gets a Bath

2009-08-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

We have two Power Towers on the hill behind our home.

I always name everything eventually so I had to name our towers. I thought the one on the Left looked like a Transformer, kind of a macho male type. I thought the tower on the right had a feminine look, like she has on a skirt. So, they became Megatron, Tron for short, and Zelda. Zelda is actually taller than Tron and I think younger. They look the same height from this viewpoint.

Anyway, back in June, the Power Company had guys come out and climb the towers and clean the coils. (I am not sure what they are called.) I guess this was to remove debris and bird nests. I grabbed my camera and took a short movie of them giving Zelda a bath. Here is my little video on Utube.

I've Been Away

2009-08-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while. Life has gotten in the way a bit. My Mom had a very bad stroke and passed away a couple of days later. We had to fly back to Kansas City. She had moderate Alzheimer's before the stroke and her quality of life after was non-existent. She could have suffered for several days or weeks after the stroke. We were talking about a feeding tube but she took a big turn overnight so we decided just to make her more comfortable. I never thought I would be in a place where I would have to make those decisions. Make sure you tell someone you love what you would want them to do for you and talk to them about what they would want for themselves. This is very important and not something you should be shy about.

When we got home, we had some friends come and visit us from Kansas. It was really nice to have them. We went to the Temecula wine country and had some wonderful wine and lunch overlooking a vineyard.

This morning, I awoke to an Acorn Woodpecker standing on our fence. He was so beautiful. He looked like a little clown. I didn't get a picture because I knew if I moved, he would fly so I just enjoyed looking at him. We have scrub oaks on the hill behind us that are just full of Acorns. They live in groups of several males and females and share the raising of their young and the collection of food. A real community. It is known as a "Bushel" of Woodpeckers.

Check out this site for a picture and click on the button to hear their call. My Cat's went nuts when I did! http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/175/_/Acorn_Woodpecker.aspx

Nitetime Needlers Guild - Quilt block one done!

2009-08-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

I think I have finished the embellishment of my first block for the Nitetime Needlers Quilt Guild opportunity quilt. Do you think it is done? Does it need more? I don't quite know how much to do because there will be many others doing blocks and I don't know how much they will do. Marci and Pam will probably want to keep the blocks somewhat even in embellishment. I can always add more but it would be hard to remove embellishment.

The colors don't show up as nice as they should in this picture. I haven't figured out how to fix that yet. I can't wait for it to be a finished quilt! I will be buying tickets to win it. Maybe this will be my year to win!

Nitetime Needlers Opportunity Quilt and New Fabric Quilt

2009-08-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

My quilt guild before I moved to California, Nitetime Needlers, is in the process of making their guild opportunity quilt. My friends Marci and Pam decided to do a Crazy Quilt. This is so cool!

I was asked to do a couple of blocks for it and I am very proud to do them. Marci sent me two block packets for it.

The colors are very much a dusty mauve/brown/green. I see Pam with these colors. Here are the blocks I pieced. The colors are not really blue. They are more in the purple range. For some reason, my camera didn't really show the correct colors.

While I was looking through my fabric, I found another fabric that I thought would be a good center so I pieced an additional block with it.

On another note, I decided to add an additional row to my current "sane quilt" project. I think it looks better as 3 by 5 blocks. It is going to go on the wall in my stairway.

New Fabric- New Quilt

2009-08-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, on the Southern California Quilt Run, I bought some new fabric and this is what I have done with it. I think I am going to add another row to the top so there will be 2 big blocks and 1 small added to the quilt. This is a wall hanging that I want to put in my stairwell. I have a lot of space to decorate in my house. I am in no way a "Sane Quilter" so this kind of stuff is out of my comfort zone! I haven't quite figured out the best way to do things but I do the best that I can.

Beetles and Blossom

2009-07-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

I went out this morning to check my garden and I found this pretty beetle on the wall. He was pretty big. You can compare his size to my finger. He would be pretty cool as a stumpwork beetle on a Crazy Quilt!

We have seen a lot of these black beetles too. They are pretty big too.

There is a big beautiful blossom on my zucchini plant this morning. I still don't have any zucchini on there but with all the blossoms I am hoping I will soon.

Spider at the Door

2009-07-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

This is for Gretchen!

Yesterday, a Tarantula was sleeping above our front door during the day. Earlier in the day I chased a lizard out of our garage that had been in there for more than a week. I think he was dying for lack of food. So anyway, when he ran out, he ran up the wall by the front door. As I looked up, I saw the spider. I think the lizard had a death wish or something. I went back in to get my camera and the lizard had made his escape.

By the way, Spiders are considered good luck on a Crazy Quilt so I see him as good luck for our home.

In the evening, he headed out to get dinner. You can tell how big he is compared to the door handle.

Here is another close up shot for Gretchen. I tend to name things so he will, from now on, be called Harry!

Night Harry! Happy hunting!

Hummingbirds

2009-07-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

We now have a 4th type of Hummingbird coming to our feeders. I thought I had seen one in the Spring but it was just once. Now we have confirmed that we also have Allen's coming to the feeder too. You can really tell the difference because they are very brown. My Husband calls them crawdad color. The photos are not the best but they are so quick!

We now have Anna's, Costa's, Black Chins, and Allen's Hummingbirds. I counted over 30 of them out there the other morning. It is so amazing!

Saturday at Kate's House

2009-07-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

I meant to post these before now. My friend Jeanne invited me to go to a quilt group that meets at a Friend of hers, house. The house was Kate's Mother in Law's house. She died a few years ago and Kate's Husband could not bring himself to sell it so Kate decided to turn it into her Quilt House. She has moved everything there. All her stash, etc. It is really cute. She has all kinds of quilting and sewing items decorating it.

I took these pictures. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself very much. Thanks Kate for letting me come. Here is Kathleen, Pattie, Doreen, and Kate.

Pat and Laura.

Jeanne.

And Jan, who just wanted to know if she could change the needle position on her sewing machine.

Fireplace Quilt Finished!

2009-07-19T15:05:00.001-07:00

I finished the Fireplace Quilt! My Husband and I hung it up today. We do not work well together. He wants to be the Boss and I want to be the Boss, so....... But anyway, we got the job done. We will have to do a little touch up on the wall because it wasn't right the first time we did it and we had to start over again. It's Sunday, it wore him out, and he is taking a nap now. Poor Baby!
It was really sunny outside when I took these pictures so it looks darker than it really is. It really looks good up there. I like it and after all, that is what really matters!

That little Nurse under the quilt is our Niece and we are so proud of Her. She just graduated from Nursing School as an RN. Way To Go Rachel!

New Fabric. What to do with it?

2009-07-19T10:46:00.001-07:00

I went on the Southern California Quilt Run this last week. I made it to 29 of 42 shops! Whew!!! It was really Hot yesterday. I decided that I was done. It is still going on today and is the last day. I think it takes 1000 miles or more to drive it.

I brought home this fabric. It started with the floral brown fabric on the end. I then found the blue floral linen textured fabric in the middle. Stupidly, I only bought fat quarters. After I got home, I called the shop and had them cut a yard of each and because it is an hour and a half away from my house, I had them send it to me. It is really beautiful fabric. Classically Home "Laurel Cottage" by Benartex. Well, I kept adding to the grouping and now I will have to make a quilt or 3. I think wall hangings. Maybe a group of 3 for the stairway. A few of these fabrics will be taken out because they don't all play well together. I think I would like to do stars but I am not sure.

If you can't handle spiders, then just look past the next picture. I am not particularly squeamish around bugs and snakes so I kind of think these big guy is cool. He is a Tarantula and was about 5 inches across. He was hanging out under the patio light for the good food.

My Vintage Crazy Quilt Project

2009-07-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Allie from Allies in Stitches inspires me daily. Her Blog is my very favorite. She is doing a modern take on an Antique CQ as posted on her blog. Go check it out. She is amazing!

A couple of years ago I started a CQ based upon an Antique CQ that I saw on EBay. This is it. I had hand dyed some silk dupioni in several colors and also some cotton. I used the antique CQ as inspiration to start the construction of a crazy quilt. I Love this quilt! It is so very graphic!

Anyway, I decided to try a Crazy Quilt based upon it. I had put it away for a few years but after watching Allie and her reproduction CQ, I found it and put it on my design wall. This is what I had done. Not much. It is all my hand dyed fabric and the fans are much wider than the original antique CQ. It is probably 2 1/2' wide by 3' tall. The strips are quite wide. I am going to put fans in the corners and Black silk in the center and on the edges of the fans and in the corners of the fans. I tried to dye black silk but it didn't come out black so I will probably have to buy commercial fabric for that part. I am not sure if I will continue with the outside piecing or not. I think I will look at it for a while and see what it says to me. I think that it will need layered stitches on each side of each fan.

Quilting Blogs

2009-07-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

I found a couple of sites that list Quilters Blogs.

Check out QuilterBlogs. com. I can spend hours looking through the list. Go check it out and expect to spend some time there, also.

The next site is Quilting Bloggers. This is a great resources to make it easier to find new creative people.

Found!!! Ott Light Bulb

2009-07-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

I found my Ott Light bulb! Yeah!!!! I had a package of batting that I wanted to use for my fireplace quilt and I unrolled it and out poped my missing Ott Light bulb! I was almost ready to go and buy a new one. I swear, I looked in every box of fabric and clothing I had since the move with no luck. I had all but given up on finding it when I found it. I knew I had put it in a safe place!

Big A** Bug

2009-07-05T21:14:00.001-07:00

Ok, this is creepy. What the Hell is this? We were on our patio and it was getting dark and my Husband looked down and said "Is that a Bug?" Oh My God, Yes! What is it? It was almost 2 inches long and looked like a really bad ass ant! Sorry for the language but they don't have things like this in Missouri! If you know what this is, please let me know. I think we have moved too close to Los Angeles and it is a Transformer. It is going to turn into an Automobile or Bus or something! Decepticon!

Update: It is called a Dark Jerusalem Cricket. I have 2 web sites below that describe it. It is also called a "Potato Bug". We had "Potato Bugs" in Missouri but they were a quarter inch long and were also known as "Rolly Polly's". Big difference! I think I will keep these insect guides handy!

http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Dark-Jerusalem-Cricket

http://bugguide.net/node/view/39450

Fireplace Quilt and New Design Wall

2009-07-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

I added a small border with a brown batik fabric and I like this better. Now is when I need to decide how to quilt it. My friend Marci thinks I need to do straight lines. I think so too but they need to be tilted a little and not be stitched straight up and down. I will finish this and then try it out over the fireplace. My Husband is dubious about it. We will see......
I needed a design wall and I have gone around and around about what to do. I thought about covering a board with some fleece and hanging it on the wall but this would take up space that I could hang my quilts. I have been taping my Fireplace Quilt onto the closet doors in my sewing room in order to look at it. It dawned on me that this would be the perfect place for my design wall as it is an unusable space for anything else but a closet door.

I had some left over 3M Command Strip hooks and I stuck them to the little border above the closet door and bought some curtain clip rings to hang off the hooks. I then attached the fleece to the rings.

I now have a design wall that I can remove and store or pull aside in order to get in the closet! No more wasted space! I bought some little curtain weights in case I needed to weight it to hold it straight but I don't think I will need them. Problem solved!

Art From Waste!

2009-07-02T13:10:00.001-07:00

I have been looking at my "Fireplace Quilt" for several days now. I don't know why I don't just finish it. I bought this brown fabric to make a small border thinking it might help get the look I want. Hmmm.

Anyway, yesterday I sewed together some of the scraps from when I trimmed the blocks for the quilt. I kind of like this. It is very small but I can see framing this piece and not doing anything else to it, leaving the raw edges. Art from waste!

Crazy Quilt Class

2009-06-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

I pieced this block for my Crazy Quilt class using a fairy fabric I found. I used the fairy fabric for the colors and fabric that I used in the block. I have my last embellishment class next Tuesday. I signed up to teach the same classes again in the fall. I need to embellish this block.

I pieced this block in class. I have not sewn the trims down yet. I usually just tack them because I will embellish them with embroidery. I think I will piece a third block in the class in the fall and then I will have a wall hanging with three blocks. Maybe I will start another project for the Fall class. I just don't know yet.

On another note, my new friend Dorene gave my friend Jeanne and me several boxes of vintage ties. I haven't gone through them yet but it was very nice of Dorene. Exciting!!

Fireplace Quilt, Maybe?

2009-06-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

I pieced the blocks for the fireplace quilt and hung it on the closet door in my sewing room. I like it but I am unsure if this is really what I wanted. I also taped it above the fireplace to see what it looked like and I just don't know if the colors are right. I may start over but I will finish this one anyway.

Fireplace Quilt

2009-06-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

I needed some Art for over my Fireplace in the Family Room so I thought what better to put there than a quilt? I love really rich jewel type fabrics so I have put together some that are golden brown, purple, blue, green, etc. I have used the "Stack and Slash" method for these blocks. At this point, I am not sure that this is what I want but I will finish it anyway because I like the colors and fabric. This is after I cut the pieces and re-arranged the fabrics.

This is the stack of blocks.

This is them spread out to see all the colors. Love them! These started out as 10" squares of fabric and ended up being about 9" wide after sewing them back together.

We finally finished our back yard landscaping. Our yard is very small but we back up to a foothill and no one can build back there so it is very private and quiet! This is looking to the right.

This is looking to the left. That hill over there means no one can build on that side either. I love to cook with fresh herbs so there are my herbs in pots. We have 3 hummingbird feeders and they are very busy. I have been able to count 10 birds at one time on them. They are so fast.

This is the side yard. I have a vegetable plot there for tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. The soil is pretty poor here so I have tried to amend it a little but it will probably take some time to get it where I want it. I have a dwarf Lemon tree, too. Doesn't this look like a stream bed? I might put some of my Ozark Rocks, that I brought from Kansas City with me, in there. Kind of like a Japanese Rock Garden. That is decomposing Granite in the stream bed area. It glistens in the sun.

This is the other side. They built this little retaining wall at the bottom of the hill and put decomposing granite in the path. They did a really nice job. Jose was very much a perfectionist and a very nice man. I would recommend MNR Landscaping to anyone in the Southern California area. They like it when you make them toast for breakfast!

I taught my Crazy Quilt Embellishment class last night. This is the stuff I was putting together to take to show them. Threads, Beads, Ribbons, Sequins, Oh My!!!!

Babies are Gone!

2009-06-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday they were standing at the door of the nest, and this morning they flew the coop! My baby finches are gone. I hope they do well and grow into fine adults. Just like teenagers, they left their room messy! Poop! I don't know whether I should leave it in case they want to raise another brood or clean it up. What do you think?

Baby Finch Coming Out

2009-06-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

I had to post this. One of the Baby Finches is testing coming out of the nest. He let me come pretty close. I didn't test him too much. I think he is getting used to me because I look in on them every day. Check here for the whole story.

This afternoon, we also had a family of Hawks calling to their baby. The baby was on the corner of our roof for a while. I tried to get a picture of him up there but he flew off. I don't know if this is the baby or not. He kept calling for several hours. Quite noisy. The picture is not the best. I had to zoom in on him.

I am getting ready to go to teach my Crazy Quilt class tonight at the Fabric Patch. http://www.thefabricpatch.com/ I have eleven students. I will be teaching 2 more embellishing classes in the next two weeks.

A Little Help From My Buddy

2009-06-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

Today, I was preparing for the CQ class I am teaching on Tuesday and had some help from my Buddy. He is the best boy. They don't come any sweeter. His name is Buster but I have always called him Buddy.

Back Yard Landscaping

2009-06-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

As part of buying our house, the HOA required that we had to landscape the backyard within eight months of moving in. We have had a company working on it all week and they will be back next week to finish up. It will be really nice to have it done. I am so tired of all the dust that comes in the house every time we walk in and out of the back door!

This is a view to the right. Where the table is will be a nice big patio. Grass will be next to it on the other side. A little enclosure will be around the air conditioning units to hide them. We are thinking of planting a Dwarf Date Palm or 2 at the bottom of the hill in the corner by the fence.

This is a view to the left. Grass will be over there on the other side. We are thinking of planting a Queen Palm and/or a Sago Palm or 2 in the corner by the wall.

This is the larger side yard. I think it kind of looks like a stream bed going down the center. The soil on the left will be my vegetable and herb garden. I have tomatoes all ready to plant. The center area will have decomposing granite in it. It will supposedly be about the same color as the wall.

We may put another patio in here at a later date. Maybe a hot tub with a pergola? That will be a long way down the road.

I can't wait for it to be done so we can set our bird feeders back up and sit outside and watch them. It will be a place of peace and serenity. I can't wait! Did I say that already?

Baby House Finches Update

2009-06-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

I took a photo of my Spider Plant baby House Finches today. There are 3 of them in there but you can only see 2 of them in this picture. They are so cute and fuzzy. They look at me very warily every time I look in on them. Mama flies out of the nest whenever we go out the front door.

I have been kind of worried about them lately because we have had men doing the landscaping in our back yard for a week and the Parents have stayed away a lot because of all the activity.

It has been kind of cold and gloomy here in California. They call it June Gloom.

I think that they have enough feathers now that they can keep themselves fairly warm.

There is a lot of bird poop all around them on the plant. I am going to have to do some srious plant cleaning after they fledge.

Check here for the background on the birds.

How I Designed and Made My Stitches for "Sarsaparilla"

2009-06-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

I have been asked if I used templates or waste canvas to do the stitches on my "Sarsaparilla" CQ. No, I did not, although if I had some templates, I would probably try them.

First, I carried a notepad with me and when I had free time, I sketched out seam treatments. For example, I would start with a basic stitch like a herringbone, add some detached chain stitches, some straight stitches, maybe a French knot or a seed bead and then I had my design.

Next, when stitching, I used a small ruler (6") and a chalk pencil, not a wax pencil! This is very important. The chalk will rub off. The wax may not. I like Clover Brand. You can get them in a package with 3 colors and a sharpener.

With the ruler and pencil, I would draw little even lines and I would use this as my guide to stitch and keep them even. My Friend Marci likes Tiger Tape to do her precise stitches. It works well too. Sometimes, I would draw a light line parallel to the seam so that I could stay on a straight line.

For designing special stitches like an animal, I would draw a little picture and try to figure out how to convert it into stitches. For example, with the little birds, it is mostly just a series of straight stitches and a French knot for the eye.

The little spider is also mostly a series of straight stitches. The body has straight stitches and beads.

I use a lot of cotton thread because I have rough hands and silk and rayon frustrate me because I get it snagged on my hands. I use a lot of perle cotton. I also am not afraid of using one strand of cotton floss to accent.

For my favorite threads, I love bright colors. I feel that if I am going to spend the time stitching, I want them to show.

I have a new favorite variegated hand-dyed thread but it can be expensive. The secret is finding a friend or two to share it with. The perle cotton hanks are large. I like sizes # 12 and # 8. It is made by Artfabrik, sold only online or at larger quilt shows like Houston and Chicago. She now has a really nice floss, too. The variegations are great so it shows up after stitching, which gives more texture to the stitching.

I also like Wildflowers by Caron. It is a perle cotton size #8. Below is Wildflowers thread and Artfabrik sizes #8, # 12, and cotton floss.

I discovered Presencia Finca Perle Cotton Thread a few years ago and really liked it. It comes in a lot of great colors and sizes. My favorite sizes are #12 and #16, which is fairly fine but this allows for the complexity of the stitches. It is also reasonably priced and I have found several quilt shops that carry it. I would not recommend their variegated perle cotton because the variegations are too far apart so when you use it, it doesn't change variegation quickly enough so it doesn't look variegated.

DMC has some newer cotton floss that I like really well called Color Variations.

Anchor has a few colors of variegated floss and perle cotton.

Below is DMC perle cotton size #5 and Color Variations cotton floss, Presencia Finca perle cotton size #16, and Anchor variegated floss.

You can see that you don't have to have silk thread to get really great thread so if you have rough hands like I do, there are options.

Last of the "Sarsaparilla" quilt stitches

2009-06-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

Here are the last of the stitches from my "Sarsaparilla" crazy Quilt.

I used seed beads in many of the stitch combinations. Mostly size # 11 and #14.

Here are some more comet stitches and another variation of the wheat sheaves.

Many of the stitches are taken from antique CQ's that I have seen on Ebay over the years.

This is one of my pieces of hand-dyed Indian silk dupioni.

The images were antique advertising trade cards that I bought from Ebay and I scanned them and printed them to silk fabric.

Here is some of my hand-dyed silk/rayon velvet.

This is a cast on flower arrangement that I embroidered in the corners and sides of the border. I used Caron Wildflowers thread. I love variegated thread.

The judges for the Houston Quilt Show thought it needed quilting in the border, too.

I have been asked if I used templates to do the stitches. No.

What I did with this quilt is I carried a notepad with me and when I had free time, I sketched out seam treatments. For example, I would start with a basic stitch like a herringbone, add some detached chain stitches, some straight stitches, maybe a french knot or a seed bead and then I had my design.

When stitching, I used a small ruler (6") and a chalk pencil, not a wax pencil! This is very important. The chalk will rub off. The wax may not. With the ruler and pencil, I would draw little even lines and I would use this as my guide to stitch and keep them even. My Friend Marci likes Tiger Tape to do her precise stitches. It works well too.

Other times, I would draw a little picture and try to figure out how to convert it into stitches. For example, with the little birds, it is mostly just a series of straight stitches and a french knot for the eye.

The little spider is also mostly a series of straight stitches. The body could be made with beads or detached chain stitches.

More "Sarsaparilla" CQ Stitches

2009-06-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some more of the seam stitches from my "Sarsaparilla" Crazy Quilt. On the left I have some tulips.

A lot of the stitches were taken from antique CQ's. The wheat sheaves on the upper right are a traditional motif seen on many old quilts. I have an old wool CQ that has this on it several times.

More wheat in the corner. A heart with an arrow through it on the right.

Of course, I have 3 cats so I had to put them in it. I have 2 male black cats and a 16 year old female calico. She rules the house.

More stitches from antique CQ's. Over the years, Ebay has been a wealth of ideas for stitches.

I will post some more stitches from this quilt. Please check back.

Sarsaparilla Stitches

2009-06-07T09:04:00.000-07:00

I worked a little with my camera yesterday and took some photos of my "Sarsaparilla" Crazy Quilt.

I tried to make up stitch combinations that were nature inspired. Of course, here are some birds. On the left side is a cast on stitch flower. These were done using one strand of embroidery floss.

Here are some fish in sea weed and the stitch combination at the bottom was taken from a photo of an antique CQ that I saw on Ebay.

Of course, there must be a spider and web. I used a couple of very tiny crystal seed beads on the web to make it look like dew drops.

Got to have some butterflies. These were inspired by the old patchwork quilts from the 30's.

The purple ribbon at the top of this photo was the ribbon that I talked about in an earlier post that snagged all the time and I had to keep clipping the threads.

Hale-Bop comet was visiting during the time I was working on this so I put it in the quilt. I remember, the day that it was the closest to the earth, and at it's brightest, was on my birthday, and my Husband and I went out and watched it.

For a little whimsy, I played Tic-Tac-toe.

There is that ribbon again. It looks good there but I wouldn't use it again.

Flower pots with daisies.

Bird houses on fence posts.

Houses and trees.

I love these little fans stitches. I believe I got them from Carole Samples, Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches book.

More Work in Progress

2009-06-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

I've worked a little more on my quilt from Melinda Bula's class. This is layers of fabric with Steam a Seam 2 holding it together. It has not been fused yet. I still have a ways to go.

"Spider Plant" Baby House Finches

2009-06-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

I checked on the baby finches this morning and you can tell that there are 3 of them. They are starting to grow in the quills that will be their feathers. I wonder how long it will be before they open their eyes. I think today, they are a week old.

Work in Progress

2009-06-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my project from Melinda Bula's class. I am trying not to have another UFO. This is what I came home with from her class.

I worked on it some more today. It is looking better. I still have a long way to go.

Storm Clouds

2009-06-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

We had thunderstorms today in the desert. This is the first time we have had any real rain since we moved here. I took this picture of the hill in our back yard. The clouds were folding over themselves. Really cool!

Finches

2009-06-02T17:34:00.001-07:00

I think I will try to post a picture of my baby House Finches every day if possible. I know they grow very fast. I took this picture this afternoon. They seem to be kind of sitting up already. You can see a face! They are so cute and fuzzy!

We have Baby Birds!

2009-06-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

On our front porch, we have a plant. This plant was given to me 30 years ago, the day after I married my Husband, by my Mom. We were leaving to move to a little town in Northern Iowa. Charles City, Iowa.

When we moved to California in February, we were worried that they wouldn't let us bring it into the state because they have road check points to make sure you don't bring in any fresh fruit or vegetables. I have had this plant as long as I have been Married so it is a part of our family.

A couple of weeks ago, every time we would walk out the front door, a bird would fly off of the porch. It took a few days to realize that a bird had built a nest in the plant. I think it had 3 pretty little blue eggs in it. I tried not to disturb them too much.

They hatched sometime late Saturday or early Sunday morning. They are so cute and fuzzy. It is cold here in the morning so she has her work cut out for her. I believe they are either House Finches or Purple Finches. It is really hard to see how many are in there because you can't tell where one ends and the other one begins.

I will keep you posted on our babies and I will take some pictures as they grow. I am so excited to have them nest in such an important plant, as my 30 year old Spider Plant!

Melinda Bula Class

2009-05-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

Quilt Maker Melinda Bula http://www.melindabula.com/ came and spoke to my new quilt guild, The Nite Owls http://www.niteowls.org/, on Thursday evening. Today I attended a workshop with her. I enjoyed it very much. She is a very good teacher and is very generous with her knowledge. She is very funny too.

If you have a chance to take a class with her, I highly recommend it!

This is the quilt that the pattern for the class was based on. It is raw edge fused and highly quilted with thread painting.

This is my Friend Jeanne who took the class with me. We had a very good time. She has been a great Friend and introduced me to my new quilt guild. Next Saturday, she is coming to my house for a play day in my new studio. I am going to teach her about Crazy Quilting. Part of my recruiting to Crazy Quilting plan!

"Cat's and Geisha" Crazy Quilt

2009-05-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Since my move to California, I have been unpacking some of my older pieces. I decided to post some pictures of them on my blog. The pictures are not the best as I haven't figured out the best way to photograph them yet but hopefully you can see them well enough.

This is my "Cat's and Geisha" beaded Crazy Quilt that I finished in 2001.

I sat on my sofa each night after my day job and worked on it. I would usually do one seam each evening. I got a kink in my back from sitting sideways and had to go to the Doctor. That is when I decided that I needed a recliner and an Ott Light! By the way, I still can't find where I packed that bulb so it wouldn't get broken in the move. It is in that safe place that I lost!

After I finished this, I posted it on a picture site on the Internet. Pokey Bolton had just started Quilting Arts Magazine and she contacted me after seeing the photos. She asked if I could send some close up scans to put into an upcoming Bead issue she was working on. Of course I was overjoyed to do that. They are in Volume One, Issue Three of Quilting Arts magazine in an article by Robin Atkins. If you have that issue, check it out.

All my embellishment is done with Seed, Bugle, and Delica Beads plus a couple of larger beads.

I hand pieced this quilt and used many pieces of vintage Kimono. I also used hand-dyed silk and velvet. The Geisha pictures came from antique trade cards that I scanned and printed on silk. The cats were computer clip-art printed on silk.

Sarsaparilla Crazy Quilt - A Learning Experience

2009-05-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I took some photos of some of my past projects and thought I would post some of them. Keep coming back in the next few days and I will have other photos posted.

This is a whole cloth CQ that I finished back in 2004. I submitted it to the 2004 Houston Quilt Show and it was accepted. I was very excited! It was a learning experience in many ways. If I ever submit another CQ, I will use another color of border fabric than black as they hang the quilts on black fabric and the border kind of disappeared into it.

It is hand pieced and I tried to use different stitch combination on each seam so that there were no two alike. That was quite a challenge.

I used several things as inspiration for the stitches. Some were taken from antique quilts, pamphlets and books, some are from Dorothy Bond's book, some are from Carole Samples CQ Stitches book, and several I designed. Many of my designs were inspired from Nature. Fish, birds, flowers, bugs, etc.

I had a note pad that I kept with me and I would sketch out stitch combinations. I used a chalk pencil (not wax - very important!) and a small ruler to temporaroily draw the stitches on the seams as I worked them. The chalk will brush or wear off. A wax pencil may not come off.

The pictures were scans of antique trade cards that I printed onto silk. Some of the fabrics were hand dyed by my Friend Sue Miller and some by me.

I wish the photos were better. I would have scanned the quilt but MS Vista in it's great upgrade (Sarcastic), doesn't support my legal size, perfectly good, HP flatbed scanner.

This is what I learned from the experience of making this CQ.

I started my embroidery on one side and moved across the quilt. I noticed that over time, my stitching got a little better. I went back and re-did some of the areas from the beginning as they were not as good as the stitches at the end. If I were to do this again, I would spread the stitches out as I worked so that wouldn't show. If you want to improve your stitching, try a stitch challenge quilt like this!

As far as fabric choice goes, I would not use polyester again. I found that the constant handling of the quilt while stitching would snag and wear the polyester. Some areas I had to, kind of, shave the fabric. I now prefer cotton, silk, rayon and other natural fabrics.

I had trouble with some ribbons not wearing well either. The ribbons that had the long threads on the back side snagged sometimes and I would have to clip the threads. I found that if you want to have a CQ that will stand the test of time, use the best quality materials that you can or just think about how well the materials will wear over time and with handling.

I have trouble with rough hands so I got to the point that I used mostly pearl cotton thread and cotton floss. I used some silk and I snagged some of it and had to redo it in cotton.

Along with not using black border fabric, the judge's comments from the Houston Quilt Show said that I needed to put some quilting in the border. I have gotten that comment on a couple different pieces. Ah, those sane quilt judges! I think of those antique CQ's that have velvet border fabric. No quilting there!

Yard Birds

2009-05-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I took of some of our hummingbirds. This is a Costa's.

The bird on the right is a Black Chin and I think the one on the left is an Anna's but I am not sure. I could have types of hummingbirds that I haven't recognized yet.

This is definitely a Anna's. They have such a pretty red head.

These are 3 baby "Say's Phoebes" that sat on our chair and squawked for food and the Mother would fly up and while hovering in front of them, give them bugs. That is her flying away.

I am such a bird nut. Moving to California has given me more new bird sightings.

Orioles

2009-05-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

I think this is a family of Hooded Orioles. The hummingbirds get upset with them but they don't seem to care much. Here is the female.

Here is the male.

And I think this is their male youngster.

I have seen an Oriole feeder that attaches to a jelly jar that I want to get. They really love grape jelly.

Our First Month in California

2009-05-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

The first month we were in California, we stayed in corporate housing in an apartment. We were on the second floor and had a great view off our balcony that overlooked a PGA golf course. This was in February. We had a hummingbird feeder and had Anna's Hummingbirds coming right away. Back in Missouri, Ruby Throat Hummingbirds don't arrive until the middle of May so this was a real treat for us.

We had a pair of Hawks that patrolled the golf course everyday. There was quite a lot of wildlife. One night, a coyote barked under our window and woke us up.

One day, I was looking out the door on our deck and saw that one of the Hawks had taken a full grown rabbit and was standing next to the cart path on the golf course happily eating his kill. The rabbit was as big as he was!

Later in the day, a Turkey Vulture showed up and finished off the remains.

At our new house, we have 3 hummingbird feeders and sometimes, that doesn't seem to be enough. We have several Hooded Orioles that compete with the Hummingbirds. We also have a thistle feeder that the Finches empty in 2 days. It might be an understatement to say that we love watching birds.

Pictures

2009-05-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some of my pictures and found some things I thought I would post.

This is a group round robin that the "Just a Little Crazy Stitcher's Club" from Kansas City did back in 2006. I made the first block and then everyone in the group made a block for me following the theme and colors of my block. I put this in the Nite Owls quilt show this year and we won the "Best Use of Embellishment" ribbon. www.niteowls.org

This was a box that I made for my Friend DeAnn from the "Crazy Stitcher's Club". We did a challenge where we made something for them from items that they had given to us to use for the project. I made the quilt and covered the top of a box with it.

This is one of two hanky quilts that I made for my Husband's Aunts with their Mother in the center. I don't know why it is turned sideways. It isn't in my picture and Blogger doesn't give the option to rotate that I could find.

I'm Back

2009-05-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have blogged. Life kind of got in the way. I have moved to California in the last few months and had to leave behind so many great Friends. I hope that in time I will find another great group of California Friends.

I have noticed that there are not a lot of people that Crazy Quilt here. I am now on a mission to recruit as many new CQer's as I can. I am going to be teaching some CQ classes at The Fabric Patch in Montclair, CA. http://www.thefabricpatch.com/ It is really a great shop. They have a huge selection of fabrics.

I have been working on setting up my sewing room. I have a great space. It is the second biggest bedroom in our new house and has a walk-in linen closet across the hall and the laundry room next door. The perfect triangle of creativity! I hope to get back into dying fabric, trims, and thread. The laundry room has a large sink in it so that will be very convenient. The linen closet is just for my fabric and things.

I have 2 six foot tables in the corner and two people can sew at once here.

I have an old drafting table that I have set up as a cutting table. Now if I can only figure out where I packed that bulb for my Ott Light!

LeDuc House block

2008-03-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Cindy Thury Smith asked if anyone from an email list I belong to would be interested in embellishing some blocks that she pieced, to make a reproduction Crazy Quilt. She wants to put the quilt together and have it hung in the Dakota County, LeDuc house in Hastings, Minnesota. You can read more about it at http://www.dakotahistory.org/LeDuc/home.asp. Check in the LeDuc Events for more information about when it will be hung. Cindy has told me that she will be posting pitures of all the blocks sometime down the road.

Here is the block that I embellished. Cindy did a great job piecing it and with the color selection. She limited us to using solid threads, no variegated and no beads or silk ribbon embroidery. I used Finca 16 and size 12 DMC and size 12 Anchor pearl cottons. I really enjoyed doing this and it has inspired me.

Here are some closer views of the stitches I used. I really enjoy doing layered stitches. I like the way she pieced the fan and I may use that in something someday. She requested that we do the corner stitches to simulate the corner of the fan.

Paula's Hearts

2007-03-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

Here is an update on my Paula's Hearts Crazy Quilt. I have been working very slow on this as I seem to be stuck. I did the ribbbon embroidery in the middle and struggled with it as I haven't done a lot of it. I want to get this done for my quilt guilds' quilt show in May. I also want to get it done so I can give it to Paula.

Susan's Round Robin Block

2007-03-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

This is the block I did for Susan from my "Just A Little Crazy Stitcher's Club" Friendship Round Robin. Her theme was Life in the Lily Pond. The blue wavy color fabric in the middle was her theme fabric and she dyed it using shaving cream. Everything she does, she does very well. This is her first time doing Crazy Quilting and she has impressed us all very much.

The splotchy blue and green fabric was the very first piece of fabric that I dyed years ago with my friend Sue Miller of Miller Dye Works. She also taught Susan to dye fabric.

This is the last block I had to do for this Round Robin. I am ready for a break.

TAST Feather Stitch

2007-03-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind in my TAST stitching. Here is my feather stitch. This is my favorite stitch to do. You can do so many things with it.

Marci's Round Robin Block

2007-02-13T18:25:00.000-08:00

I was looking at the work I had done on Marci's Round Robin block for my "Just A Little Crazy Stitcher's" Crazy Quilt club, and I decided that my block for her needed some more work. I wanted to do a Raggedy Ann embroidery with a punch needle.

I spent two days looking for my punch needle. I just knew that I had put it in "that safe place". I tore my sewing room apart, three times, and no punch needle. Argh!

I finally decided that I would go out and buy another one but wouldn't you know it, the place that once had had them, no longer did, so.... back home to look again. Well, the third time I looked in that box, there it was!

I made this little embroidery today. I think punch needle can be fun and has so many possible uses. It really is easy to do. I used a single strand punch needle for Ann.

TAST Chevron Stitch

2007-01-30T22:45:00.000-08:00

This is my TAST Chevron stitch. I think it looks like I did a Herringbone stitch but I didn't. I added a lazy daisy and 2 straight stitches. This is one of my favorite stitches as I think it can be layered upon in many ways. This seam is from my "Paula's Hearts" quilt.

The Tast (Take a Stitch Tuesday) Challenge is hosted by Sharon B at http://inaminuteago.com

"Paula's Hearts" quilt

2007-01-30T22:37:00.000-08:00

I have been working on my "Paula's Hearts" quilt again and have just about finished stitching the seams. I will be adding buttons and charms. See my blog posts from November, 2006 to see both blocks before I started stitching.

"Just A Little Crazy Stitcher's" Round Robin

2007-01-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

My Crazy Quilt club, "Just A Little Crazy Stitcher's", regularly does Round Robins and we are about finished with our current one.

How this one works is everyone selects a theme for their quilt and some even include a theme fabric that must be used in the blocks along with other guidelines. We make our own prototype block. This will be used as a guide for the other blocks.

Every month, we each make and embellish a complete block for one of the members of the round robin. When we meet for our club, we swap the packet with the round robin blocks to another member of the group and they have a month to make a block to add to the packet.

We have 12 people in this current round robin, so at the end of the year of working on these, we will each have 12 blocks to make a complete crazy quilt.

This block is the prototype block for my quilt. I chose to have vintage hankies and prints of women in vintage dresses for my theme and fabrics.

For Pam's block, she had prints of Cats and Kittens and some vintage hankies that we had to use in our blocks. The print I chose had some purple and green in it so I added fabrics with these colors.

For Grace's block, she had the bird fabric for her theme. I made the block with a Spring look to it with flowers.

For Patty's block, she had an oriental theme and chose Japanese fabrics. I have a collection of Japanese fabrics myself so I was able to add a few of my own.

For Cindy's block, she chose the pretty aqua fabric with the ladies for her theme fabric. I really loved this fabric and put a silk ribbon embroidery sash across the front of one of the ladies.

For Marci's block, she chose Raggedy Ann and Andy for her theme. She included the fabric that had the motifs of the characters and a couple of other fabrics that we could use.

For Debra's block, she chose the center medallion fabric that had an oriental tone to it so I used vintage kimono fabrics to make the block.

For Anne's block, she chose a peacock theme. I got the idea for this block from the Bernina tote bag that was given out in Houston at the Quilt Festival this year.

For Gwen's block, she chose a Halloween theme. This was a very fun block to do. On one of the seams, I tried to made the stitches look like little brooms.

For Janell's block, she wanted an underwater theme and her theme fabric had fish in it. My husband plays golf and I thought it would be fun to make it look like someone had thrown their golf clubs in the water.

For Victoria's block, she chose the theme of Buttons and Bows and Kiddos. She always likes to challenge us with her colors. She chose the lacy blue and brown fabric that is in the center of the block for her fabric and I will say that it was the hardest blue color to match!

I have one more block to do yet and it is for Susan. I will post it next month when I have finished it. I think her theme is life in the pond but I am not sure.

TAST Cretan Stitch

2007-01-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

This is my Cretan Stitch for the TAST Challenge. This was done on a Round Robin block for my "Just A Little Crazy Stitcher's" group. This is Victoria's block. I feel like this needs something else but am not sure what to do. I think that this is not one of my favorite stitches and so I guess I need to challenge myself more to try and make it something I like. I think this may be because I am not sure what to do with it to make it more of a layered stitch, which I like to do.

The TAST Challenge is a weekly stitch challenge by Sharon B. at http://inaminuteago.com/blog/index.php/take-a-stitch-tuesday-challenge/

TAST

2007-01-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

Here is my take on the "Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge" started by Sharon B. at http://inaminuteago.com/blog/index.php/archives/category/take-a-stitch-tuesday/ for the Buttonhole Stitch and the Detached Chain Stitch. I put them together into one combination stitch. I used French Knots in the flower centers and at the end of the Buttonhole Stitches.

They ended up looking somewhat primitive. This is on Victoria's block that is part of a Round Robin I am in. The theme of her blocks is "Buttons and Bows and Kiddo's".

What We Did For Thankgiving

2006-11-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day, my Husband and I packed a picnic lunch and drove one and a half hours to Squaw Creek Wildlife Refuge in Mound City, Missouri, to spend the day looking at wildlife. We have visited here many times over the years and have seen some amazing things. This year, we had a beautiful day. It got to about 65 degrees, was sunny and had a little breeze. The breeze caused it to be a little dusty. I didn't like that part but it really was a nice day.We saw many birds.

There were some Bald Eagles present. Mostly juveniles. This means that they are definitely reproducing! We only saw a couple of adult Bald eagles. My Husband got a picture, of an Eagle, out of the window of our car. That Eagle sat in that tree all day. I think he was posing! A few years ago, they counted over 450 Eagles!

We estimated that there were around 250,000 Snow Geese. It was an amazing sight to see them come in from the West and land on the marsh. They seemed to arrive all at once! We were too far away at the time for a good picture or I would have taken one. It will be a memory that I don't soon forget, though!

There were also a lot of Ducks. Many, many Mallards. We also saw Pintails, Ring necks, Buffleheads, Teals, Shovelers, Gadwalls and Coots. We also had a couple of special sightings of around 20 Tundra Swans and 30 American White Pelicans.

Here are some of the pictures of the Snow Geese. In the first picture, the geese are at rest. In the second picture, there is a flair-up. That's what we called it. There is probably a special term for this. I think this happens when the geese are startled. For example, we would see Eagles fly through the geese, which scared them, and caused a flair-up. As the geese arose from the water, there would be a roar of honks and flapping wings, which would grow in intensity, as more geese joined in the flair-up. They would settle back to the water in a little bit of time but it was an awe inspiring sight and sound! ! If you are interested in learning more about Squaw Creek Wildlife Refuge, here is a link. http://www.fws.gov/midwest/squawcreek/index.htm

We had a very nice day. My Husband and I love watching wildlife. We choose many of our vacation destinations around wildlife and nature. We hope you had a very nice Thanksgiving Day, also.

Seams on "Paula's Hearts"

2006-11-20T18:11:00.000-08:00

I worked on two of the seams on the pink heart from the "Paula's Heart" quilt last night. I also added a blue lace heart on the pink side and a pink lace heart on the blue side.

I have been using the threads I bought at Quilt Festival in Houston from Artfabrik. I love how colorful they are!

I decided to go with bluish threads on the pink side and pinkish/reds on the blue side. I had thought of keeping each side in the block colors. Pink on pink and blue on blue. There is no use putting a lot of work into something that you can't see the work on. I didn't know how this would look but after doing these two seams, I think I like the look.

After looking at Sharon Boggan's blogs, (see the link on the right side of this page) I am going to try to not be as restrained as I usually am in my embellishments. A little silk ribbon here, buttons there. I wish I could have taken one of her classes at Joggles but I recently quit my job, so I have to restrain myself where money is concerned. Plus going to the Houston Quilt Festival didn't help much!

Links, Blogs, and Web Pages

2006-11-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

I have added some links on the right side of my blog to other people's sites and some of my favorite merchants. I will update the list from time to time so check it out.

Paula's Hearts

2006-11-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

This is a Crazy Quilt in progress. It is called "Paula's Hearts". It has trims sewn to the seams at this point and I am going to embellish them with stitching and other things like buttons and beads, etc. The fabric the Hearts are laying on will be the background fabric and the Hearts will be appliqued to it and the background will be machine quilted. I will post more pictures as I work on it. I think I will make it as a wall hanging. I thought of making a pillow but I decided not to.

My husband's Uncle Paul died from the treatment for stomach cancer in October, in Denver, CO. He was 71. He was an amazing man and he was married to his Soul-Mate, Paula, for almost 36 years. I married my Soul-Mate so I can relate to what her loss must feel like. I am making this quilt for Aunt Paula.

Uncle Paul was a Methodist Minister and knew that he wanted to be a minister, right out of high school. He marched and was arrested in the 1960's in Mississippi for supporting civil rights for African-Americans. I am sure that this was a very difficult thing for a Caucasian man to do in those days. Many folks that fought for equal rights in the 1960's didn't live through the experience.

Together with his wife Paula, they reached out to person's with AIDS, over 20 years ago and he served as Vice-President of the Board for the Center for the Church and Global AIDS. They traveled to India to provide seminars for education and prevention of the disease. More recently, he was arrested in Colorado for demanding equal rights for same sex couples and has been secretly marrying gay couples for over 30 years as the church did not support this.

Uncle Paul never wavered in his belief for equal rights for all and was committed to justice and inclusiveness for all, no matter race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or geography.

My memory of him is as a gentle, loving man who listened when you talked, had a great sense of humor, and loved his family. The world will be poorer without him. God must need another Angel.

Paula is a loving, sensitive and very special woman. I hope she feels the love that I am sewing into this quilt!

Other Journal Quilts

2006-11-14T08:33:00.000-08:00

This is the February Journal Quilt that didn't make the cut to go to Houston with the other five I sent. It was close, though. It almost got to go instead of one of the others. I really like blue and purple together.

Of the other three I did, (I did 9 total) I didn't get all of them done because I didn't like two of them that much and I ran out of time on the other. The colors on two of them seemed boring to me. Maybe if I had embellished them more, I would have liked them better. The three were April, May and June.

I will probably finish the June quilt as I like the color of it a lot. It reminds me of underwater. It is not totally embellished. I put trims on the seams but I still need to stitch and put beads on it.

I got some new threads at Houston from the Artfabrik booth that will look great on it. Her hand-dyed threads are bright and very nice to work with. They are expensive, but you get a lot of yardage with the Pearl Cotton and it lasts a long time. She also has a new Six-Strand Cotton Floss that is very beautiful.

If you want to buy her Pearl Cotton, I would suggest that you go in with a friend and select the colors you want, and split the skeins between you. You will still have a ton of thread left! You could even split it between three people and you would have plenty. I like the sizes #12 and #8. The Six-Strand Cotton Floss comes in 10 yard skeins so you wouldn't need to split them. Her website is: http://artfabrik.com/

Houston Quilt Festival

2006-11-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

When I was at the Quilt Festival, I spent the first 2 days going through the vendors.

At the end of the second day, I called my friend on my cell phone, (that is how we kept in contact at the show because we had different cruising speeds while shopping) and told her that I was going to swing by the Journal Quilts display and see if I could find my quilts.

I was walking down the last row of vendors, and as I am talking on the phone to her, I look up, and there are my quilts on the end, behind the man sitting down!

This is how they are hung, with the artists statements first in line. They are also hung in order of the months I selected.

The orange one is January, the pink and green is March, the red and black is July, the Purple and green is August, and the orange and green is September.

I tend to be a purple and green quilter but the August quilt was my least favorite in this group. I guess this really did open my eyes to other color possibilities!

This is me looking very proud that even if I didn't have a Juried quilt in the show, I had my Journal Quilts!

Journal Quilts Project

2006-11-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

These are five of my Journal Quilts that I did for the Journal Quilts Project. They were at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas in November, 2006. My challenge to myself while making these was to "get out of my box" where color was concerned. I tend to pick the same colors over and over again so I tried to make myself try other color combinations. The funny thing was, I had to make one JQ that used my typical colors and I found that this was probably my least favorite JQ of the 5 that were in my final selection.

The Journal Quilt Project was started on the QuiltArt email list on the Internet and has been an ongoing project for several years now. This was my first submission to it. The rules were that you had to make a Journal Quilt every month for nine months and then you selected your favorite five and they were mounted on a sleeve to be hung at the Quilt Festival in Houston. Each quilt had to measure 8 1/2" by 11". They will also go to the Chicago Quilt Festival in April, 2007.