Look What I Won!

I went to my mailbox this morning, and look what I found...

Laura Wasilowski picked me as the winner of a drawing on her blog. (Thanks Laura!!! Check out her site by clicking on her name.) I'm SO excited! I'm in love with the second fabric you can see in the stack. I love all the different layers of color on that fabric. Now, just what will I do with these beautiful fabrics...hmmm...

While I'm contemplating the beautiful little quilts I could make from this fabric, I'm still working on my extreme embroidery piece. I'm making MORE French knots on the face of the character. I'm going to have to make a thread run later today, though, because I'm out of orange thread. (Those of you who follow my blog know that I'm an orange lover, so you won't be surprised I ran out of that thread first!) I'll post a picture of my progress soon. Stay tuned.

 

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Gifts Given

I posted earlier about a couple of rag quilts I made for gifts. This weekend I had the opportunity to give the gifts to two of my grandchildren.

Sebastian's quilt is a gift for his 11th birthday. He is a fan of the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals. I gathered Braves t-shirts from my husband and daughter (who are really big Braves fans) and Cardinals t-shirts from a former co-worker and Facebook friends. Sebastian used his quilt the first night he had it and wrapped up in it the next evening (after a big day at the amusement park). It warmed my heart.

Lula's quilt is a gift for her 6th birthday. She is the "fashionista" in the family and loves bright colors and wild fabrics. I chose pink and white zebra flannel and some bright Laurel Burch flannel fabrics for her flower-shaped quilt. She took it to bed with her the first night she had it; I think she likes it!

Isn't it fun to give truly heart-felt gifts you've made? Have you made a special gift for a special person?

 

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Extreme Embroidery (Tail Detail)

Yesterday I mentioned that I'm working on some "extreme embroidery." Well, I worked on it again last night. Here is my update. This is a detail picture of the "tail" of the project. I finished the green French knots last night. (Be sure to click in the picture to get a close look at the work.)

This is a really good project for me. I'm out of the house/studio a lot, and this is a great take-along project.

It was SO nice here today. Our temperature flirted with 60 degrees! Now that is a nice change from the nasty winter we have had. Look what I found in my landscaping.

It was SO nice outside that I took a walk this evening with my husband (not something I do often--don't tell my doctor). I took pictures of some of the repairs that have been made on the streets near my house. I'm really liking the lines. Maybe they will be inspiration for a future piece. Hmmmm.

Extreme Embroidery

I haven't posted much lately, because I have been working on one of those projects that takes "forever!" I tell people I'm working on an "extreme embroidery" piece. If you have ever read my blog, you know that I LOVE handwork. The piece I'm working on will be totally covered with HAND embroidery when it is finished. I thought I'd share just a small piece of that project with you so you'd know I haven't dropped off the face of the earth.

I'm showing you a closeup of the French Knot section in this picture (although there are other types of embroidery visible). I think you can click on the picture and zoom in a bit if you'd like. I'll point out some of the other types of embroidery at a later date. (Hopefully, I'll have a little more done by then; I'm working on it every day.)

I just purchased an embroidery app by Judith Baker Montano. (I had previously downloaded the free version.) I'll let you know what I think about this app too.

 

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Patoka Valley Quilt Guild 2014 Winter Retreat

The guild retreat was last weekend at the Spring Mill State Park Inn. We always have such a good time. Of course, I pack more projects than I'd ever be able to get done. I always like to have a variety of projects, because I never know what I'll be in the mood to do. I did finish a couple of projects I needed to get finished for gifts. That was my primary goal for the weekend.

This is my quilt for Holland. She will be getting this sweet little flannel rag quilt for her 4th birthday.

This quilt is for Sebastian; he will be turning 11. As you can see, he has divided loyalties when it comes to favorite baseball teams. For this t-shirt quilt, I had to scavenge for Cardinals shirts. My daughter and my husband are Braves fans, so I collected some "old school" Braves shirts from them. I had to turn to Facebook for most of the Cardinals shirts--my friends came through for me. Thanks Kim and Greg!

For this quilt, I used a lightweight fusible interfacing on the t-shirts before I cut into them. I cut them each into 18 1/2" squares. I backed them with fleece and quilted an "X" in each block. I didn't use any batting in the blocks; the quilt is PLENTY heavy the way it is. I made half-blocks for the top and bottom of the quilt. I needed it to be a bit longer and thought this would be a good way to finish it off.

I also worked on some more blocks for my scrap quilt. I hate to say that I don't have nearly enough blocks finished--I don't even have HALF of them finished for the size I need! I'll be working on this one for quite some time.

There was a wide variety of projects at this retreat. I have a few to share with you.

First, for the overachiever of the group...Mary Lou finished these three quilt tops. They are all the same pattern, but she finished them in different colorways. She did get some other things done, but I didn't get pictures of everything.

Yellow version

Red version

Green version

Vicky finished a couple of tops and spent a lot of time on blocks for a foundation-pieced Pickle Dish quilt.

Gerri finished her foundation-pieced string star. Wow, there are a lot of different fabrics and tiny pieces in this one!

Jane finished these two projects. You can find this bib pattern at the Stubbornlycrafty.com blog.

A different Jane finished these two. This quilt is from a pattern called "Trees Up, Lights On" from Pieces from My Heart.

Rosemary was determined to get this Southwestern quilt top finished for her son.

Ann finished this I Spy quilt.

Gwen's quilt is finished except for the binding.

A quilt retreat is different things to different people. Some people work on projects of all kinds large and small. Some people spend most of their time socializing and helping other people. Some people only bring hand work to do. I find I can't work on anything that takes a lot of concentration, I can't do a lot of cutting, and I can't work on my art quilts--these are all things I need to do alone. I also don't like to work on anything very large because of the limited space at our quilt retreat (and I'm spoiled with all the space I have in my studio at home). I usually work on small projects that I already have cut out, and I work on blocks for larger quilts that I'll put together at home.

If you get the chance, go to a quilt retreat. It gives you some uninterrupted sewing time and the opportunity to get to know some of your fellow quilt guild members a bit better--and no matter what, a quilt retreat is a whole lot of fun!

 

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Sochi Patchwork

If you are curious about the patchwork you are seeing on the outfits of the Olympic participants, check out this website. Sochi Olympic Patchwork

You will see some beautiful patchwork and find out where the idea of the patchwork came from. I found it very enlightening to find out that the patchwork represents something from each of the 89 Russian regions. Let me know what you think.

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