Nash's Quilt

I've laid it on a black towel to show detail. This is prior to quilting; but with sashing & prairie points. You can see the bottom where I will turn it under and finish it. You know; I never even measured the sashing to make sure it would come out even; it just worked. The printed panel is actually lopsided but I did my best to even it up. I didn't lop off one of my points! Should have it done tomorrow night so I can ship it out to Nash who lives in Memphis!

Pillow Case binding?

Ok; I'll admit it... I'm not a good traditional quilter. I would like to be. I know many women who are and I should take better notes. But here's the deal; why piece and get all fancy when you can fuse??? (smirk~chortle)

But every now and again I like to try my hand at the more traditional quilts to hone my skills. I do love all the seams and finished edges. They always look so clean.

The proposal: A dear friend's son & daughter in law just had a new baby boy. His name is Nash (how cool is that!) My friend the grandpa, asked me to make something. He even pays me! Whoot!

The contract: So; I'm making this adorable baby quilt out of an Alexander Henry's "peacable kingdom" panel, a series now discontinued so no room for screw-ups.

The preparation: After thinking about it and planning to put a pieced sashing around the panel to set it off, I figure I'll do a pillow case binding rather than a traditional one so the edges would be softer.

The work: I used my 'triangles on a roll' to create the sashing of gold & red that create 'points' of color. I love using those & simply forgot that you don't need much of the basting spray to hold the paper down on the fabric. Something I should have remembered because later in sewing the right angles together the fabric that had the spray on it would stick like crazy to the bottom of my presser foot giving me fits. It wasn't till I was nearly finished (and had tried many tricks to stop this sticking with no luck) that I tried the 'sewers aid' on the presser foot, and that worked like a dream. But i digress... I sewed the lines perfectly; cut them all apart & spent an evening watching 'Narnia' with Ellen while I peeled off all the paper.

After I sewed enough together for the sashing, I realize I had made way more than I would ever need! *remember; not a traditional quilter; math skills of an over caffinated monkey... not perfect* After pondering on this surplus for a minute or two it dawns on me---I'd always wanted to do prairie points on a quilt. I decide to put them around the top right and lower left corners of the blanket!

Sounds so cute doesn't it??? I put them on pinning carefully. I then stitch the layers together leaving one end open to turn the thing right side out. *fingers crossed* Ta~da! I am astounded that they came out absolutely perfect and adorable! Now I wish I had done them all the way around!!! There's just one teensy, eensie, weensie, problem... I've sewn the batting to the wrong side. I now have to take the entire thing apart & redo it.

I should have known;

it's me

and it's a traditional piece

and I can hear the math gods laughing hysterically

I'll post photos when it's done. oy-vey!

Sunday morning with Ellen

I started the background & put the fibers on; Ellen came in and tossed her primary colored buttons on it along with a dark purple thread strand then I spotted the plastic flamingoes i've had forever; here's the result before sewing:

We've titled it "The Flamingo Walk"

Round Robin Journals

First theme was "Keys to an Artful Life?" My the page on the left has a piece of paper that I used my flat edged calligrahpic nib to enscribe the single word "Leap" as in: taking a leap of faith in your art. Just go for it and trust it will happen the way it should. The page on the right is about "Giving birth to yourself" so I used my silk cocoons & painted them & then added beads & various materials & sequins for glitz.


This theme explored the "Gypsy theory" So I created a page on the right to depict the Gypsy in your soul using a musical motif. The script on the left page was done on vellum with a simple round point calligrahpic pen. I'm not fond of that nib but it worked well here. The flowers were from my garden years ago that I had pressed & long forgot in some waxed paper. The beauty of these little books is rediscovering all the little 'treasures' you've found or kept along the way of your journey. Giving them new meaning and a new life by giving them to someone else.


These theme was about 'play' or finding your inner child. The first phrase that came to my mind was "Say Say oh playmate" . The pictures are of me as a child. I don't have many of those and these are quite fun. The page on the right is me singing the rhyme with my dress spread out calling for my friends to come play with me. I like the image reversal of the dress shape to the butterfly shape. The button flowers were fun to do. The page at left is about riding fast to catch your dreams. The dream catcher was a found item that needed a little tlc of glue but worked beautifully with the colors. The little 'medicine bag' I made out of the end of a silk tie from Italy. I left the tag that say's 'hand made' and added the saying I made up and wrote on the vellum sheet. The washer on the bottom of the bag say's 'dream'.


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I'll post more shots as the months go on. There are eight of us participating. I have had the pleasure of seeing my own journal as each of my friends create something in it using my theme and it's simply gorgeous! What a treasure itself will be that I shall keep always and forever!

Taking Flight!

My quilt entitled "Flights of Fancy" will be travelling with the Noble Elements collection. Here are the dates & places! Gentlepersons, start your engines!

February 15 – 17
PCM Expo – The Original Creative Festival
San Mateo County Event Center, San Mateo, CA
www.pcmexpo.com

February 28 – March 2
The Quilt Fest of New Jersey
Garden State Exhibit Center, Somerset, NJ
www.quiltfest.com

March 26 – 30
Dawson, AL

April 17 – 19
PCM Expo – The Original Creative Festival
Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, AZ
www.pcmexpo.com

May 1 – 4
Denver National Quilt Festival
451 E. 58th Ave, Denver, CO
www.quiltfest.com

May 29 – 31
PCM Expo – The Original Creative Festival
Mid-America Center, Council Bluffs, IA
www.pcmexpo.com

June 26 – 28
PCM Expo – The Original Creative Festival
Sharonville Convention Center, Cincinnati, OH
www.pcmexpo.com

July 10 – 12
PCM Expo – The Original Creative Festival
Saratoga City Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
www.pcmexpo.com

August 14 – 16
PCM Expo – The Original Creative Festival
Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV
www.pcmexpo.com

September 12 – 14
PCM Expo – The Original Creative Expo
San Mateo County Event Center, San Mateo, CA
www.pcmexpo.com

October 16 - 19
Pacific International Quilt Festival
Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA
www.quiltfest.com

November 15 – January 1, 2009
Soft Expressions
1230 North Jefferson St., Suite M, Anaheim, CA
www.softexpressions.com