Saturday, May 25, 2013

Happy Long Weekend

I would like to take a  moment to whine about the weather.  When we were in Southern Oregon for Mother's day it was 92, the kind of summer weather I grew up on.  At mid-morning today, we're enjoying a chilly 54.  Not exactly great for Memorial Day weekend.  However, given the tornado weather in Oklahoma this week, and the fact that my house is in one piece makes it impossible to be anything but grateful.  Mission of Love and eQuilter are collecting funds and quilts for tornado victims. For more information, go to the eQuilter website.

Once in a while, I find that I need to let new ideas bubble around in my imagination for a while.  I want to sew, but don't want to figure anything out.  I didn't want to invest time or brain power in choosing a pattern or figuring out what fabric to use where.  What I did was make a quilt from a kit.

My first kit quilt was made in the late 70's.  My mother-in-law sent away for a baby quilt kit.  After it arrived, she had a "what was I thinking" moment and gave it to me.  The fabric was sort of marginal and looked like it had been cut with a chain saw.  Coming from a clothing and textiles background, I found the lack of attention to grain line pretty unimpressive.  I finished the quilt and have no memory of what happened to it.  The whole experience really put me off kits.

In the last few years, kits have come back into fashion and are offered in many quilt shops.  They're so much better than 35 years ago (I guess that shouldn't be a big surprise).  The fabrics are actual cotton and cut and assembled with care.  I love the process of creating my own designs and choosing colors and fabrics myself.  There are times, however, when a kit meets certain needs and just feels right.

I finished the top of my kit quilt and it will be perfect for a summer nap.  Or to wrap up in on the 4th of July if the weather doesn't shape up.



Years ago I bought a poppy with the most delightful coral flowers.  When my husband built raised beds in the front last year, we divided it and replanted.  The main plant and two of the smaller ones survived and it's poppy time again.  



This coral is probably my favorite color.  I'd love for my mother to do a watercolor of them.  I'll have to work on that.  In the meantime, I'm wondering if I can create a quilt from one of these pictures.  They just speak to me.  The only thing I don't like is that they last such a short time.  I want them to be there all summer.  Actually, winter would be good too.  Guess I'll have to get busy on that quilt.

Enjoy the holiday weekend and stay safe.  

Candy

Monday, May 6, 2013

MPS Show +

We are enjoying the most totally gorgeous spring weather I can imagine.  It's warm, sunny, breezy and the door can stay open so the dogs can go in and out at will.  And believe me, they have a lot of will to go out and sniff the breeze about every ten minutes.

We sold patterns at the Metropolitan Patchwork Society Quilt show last weekend.  This was our booth.


We have patterns for all of these.  I'll be teaching the  red, white and blue quilt, above (In Honor of Blue Star Mothers) and Scrappy Flag (below) on June 8 at Let's Quilt in West Linn, OR.

Scrappy Flag looks better now that it's quilt and bound.  This isn't my pattern, but after making the red stars the old-fashioned way, I decided that my sanity would be better served if they were paper-pieced, which I did with the little stars.  For the class, we'll paper piece the whole thing.

On July 12, I'll be teaching Singing Tulips and In Full Bloom at Let's Quilt.



These are both mostly fused with some painted shadows and highlights.  

The website is currently having some sort of issue.  I'm putting others to work on it.  If anyone wants to buy a pattern, please email me.  Hoping to have it fixed soon.  

I'm currently working on a pattern for Gone Fishing.


I don't actually fish as I have trouble sitting still long enough to outsmart a fish.  This actually works for any theme fabric.  Since these days there is fabric for about any hobby or sport, it's pretty easy to please the hobbyist or sportsman in your life. 

I have a little project I'm working on that sounds pretty boring, but struck me as a good idea.  I'm creating a list of my quilts on a spreadsheet program with just a few details about each including size, color and year completed.  There are lots more that have been given away over the years that won't be on this list (but future give-aways will have a list of their own).  The list will be in the cloud and eventually linked to pictures.  A paper list could get lost, but some little remnant of what I did will live on.  Also, if I ever need proof, it will be someplace in the cloud.  I do wish I'd kept better records starting with the first quilt, but live & learn.  If I'd known in my 20's what I know now, I'd be brilliant by now.  Or at least a bit more organized.  

Enjoy!
Candy