Thursday, January 24, 2013

Catchng up....

So earlier this month I promised I'd share some of the things I have been working on.

Well the first project I can only share a corner as it is a challenge piece for one of my guilds.  It is another piece done with my mother as my inspiration.  This time it is a salute to her strength and fortitude.  I can't share what just yet, as it will give away my piece, but here is a quick peek at some of the quilting.  I love the piping, as the black polka dots on the fabric are random, so the sliver that shows in the piping is truly sporadic.

This piece is quilted with Aurifil 50 weight cotton.





Once that piece was done and ready to be turned in to the challenge team, I picked up another UFO from last fall (yeah, shamelessly I have more UFO's than I care to admit.  I remember when I made sure I never had more than one other piece in process.  Oh well!)....  It is a piece that was started during my semi-annual Friday Night Fun at the CQ Getaway.  Yes, this piece took more than just the Friday evening.  I didn't actually finish the top until mid-day on Saturday.  But I finally took it out of the bag and finished it.   At the retreat everyone kept coming up to the piece to see the chickens running loose in the yard (by the base of the tree).



I did a bit of thread play on the top before quilting this piece.  More than half of the sun rays, as well as the little patches of grass on the hills and all the stitching on the leaves were done on the top only.  (disregard the little bit of lint...  it is amazing where these lint balls try to call home)
I enjoyed adding dimension to the piece as well.  The beige tablecloth in the laundry basket is sticking out and just hanging over the edge, as well as the purple one behind it.  The quilt the ladies are hanging on the line is a full quilt (all 3 layers). I still have to add the handwork to represent the 'clothes pins'.

I should have took a close up of the boulders I quilted in the boarders.  I love the texture it gives the piece.


"Laundry Day" as I have named it, is a true testament as to why as a quilter you probably need more thread than fabric :-)..  This small 24" x 26" has 10 different threads in it.  Sulky solids and variegated, Aurifil 50 wt cotton, Superior Masterpiece/Sew Fine/Rainbows, Mettler Twists, Gutterman and Isacord.

 I used Quilters Dream batting in both pieces.

Cross one off the list, but I have about 8 other UFO's sitting there waiting to be finished!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Pelham Quilters Round Robin 2013 - Round 1

So we once again started a Round Robin as part of this years guild programs for Pelham Quilters.  This year we are following a slightly different format.  Since there are only four of us participating, we decided to do four tops, where after the round robin we all get our own tops back.

I don't have photos of all four centers only two.  The one I made and the one I work on first.  We each get a top to add a round to every two months.  Cheryl has Doris's center and Donna has Cheryl's.  I'll share pictures of those when it is my turn to work on them.

Here is the center for my top.  I have adapted my dancing ladies to make a group celebration.  Doris Green is working on it now.  I wonder what will happen to it next?


Here is the center I am working on.  It was done by Donna Chambers:

Donna used both her mosaic technique as well as texture magic for the female dancers skirt. Which means I have to make sure I live up to her artistic level...  ouch, not easy to do :-).   I have already ripped out my first attempt.  It didn't measure up.  But my next idea is really working out well.  It has advanced from the paper and pencil phase to the first level of execution.  Hopefully I will get the chance to work on it this weekend.  Wish me luck :-).

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Sew Inspired Road trip

So, I have been running like crazy the last few months, so when the year-end madness was over and I found myself with a few days off, DH and I decided it was time to get away for a few days.  I will update you on some of my quilting over the last 2 months later, but for now I want to share with you my time today.

I have had a couple of folks tell me about Sew Inspired in Simsbury, Ct and the cute little town, so we decided to book a room for a night and take a drive. Of course, our first stop was Sew Inspired. It is situated in a small indoor mall called Fiddler's Green, so we had lunch first at Joe's Wood Oven Pizza.  It is an old building that houses a couple of restaurants and shops. The pizza was great, nice thin, crunchy crust, although none of the locals were eating pizza.  Instead they had sandwiches and huge salads.

I really like Sew Inspired. It is a large, bright shop with fabric to fit all tastes.  Lots of batiks, Kona solids, a children's fabric section, an Amy Butler section and on and on.....4,000 bolts to be exact.   They carry Quilter's Dream batting in all types, including wool, as well as Superior Sew Fine, Rainbows and Razzle Dazzle thread. They also carry some Aurifil thread in neutrals for piecing. But Mettler is their primary thread.  They carry a good selection of notions and tons of patterns for bags with some really cute coordinated fabric bag samples. They even have a clearance section with 30 and 50% off fabrics. 

Downstairs they have a studio with their long-arm business as well as a Studio version of Go! that is used when they have BoM and classes requiring tons a cutting. 

The staff is extremely pleasant. They offered help when I first arrived, but backed off and allowed me to browse until I needed assistance. Once we engaged in conversation, they were very helpful helping DH and I plan our 2 days in town. 

Yep, definitely a place I will return. In fact DH overheard them mentioning Fat Tuesday Madness, where FQ's are on sales. Buy 10, get 10 free...buy 20, get 20 free, etc...  This is an annual event in which one year a woman brought 100 FQ's, getting 100 free!  Anyway DH wants to come back then, hoping to see the area without the snow. Oh yeah, Fat Tuesday Madness is on Fat Tuesday every year...the day before Ash Wednesday. 

We'll see.....