What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Remember my rant about reducing my WIPs? Huh – guess I lied! How weak am I when I begin to look through my fabrics. Maybe I can justify this one, though – it’s a leader ender to have on hand at upcoming retreats.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! This also puts me as a member in good standing in the Squirrel Club!

I was going through my scrap bin of Kaffe fabrics which was filled to the brim with beautiful, colorful prints. I saw a quilt online recently that’s done with all half square triangles ...

Hi all!  Popping in for a quick post:  An interview with yours truly about my work and my submission for this year, Pink Oyster Mushrooms, is now live on the Dinner@8 blog, here.

Here’s what I wrote on my entry: Beneath the Surface of the Edges of the pink oyster mushrooms, the Space Between the gills forms rhythmic Patterns of shadow and light. My Affinity for fungi and lichen extends to the inspiration I find in the world around me in Maine, even at at the Belfast Farmer’s Market. Dyeing and painting white cloth is part of ...

The Trousseau Charles Webster Hawthorne (1872-1930) American Read more HERE and HERE  

The community of quilters is just so awesome! Jo Kramer, of Jo’s Country Junction, receives amazing mailings from her readers which include fabric, blocks, patterns and quilt tops. She recently shared some of her bounty with me, knowing these quilts go to a great cause – Hospice. It was a thrill to receive not only this beautiful quilt top, but the backing and prepared binding too! The colors are so rich. We’ve had a lot of rain, so the pic was taken indoors and really does not do the colors justice.

It was such a quick finish – one of ...

An Island Batik Adventure

Paper Piecing – I have done quite a bit of it, enjoy it, but was not up for a big project for the Island Batik October project.  My answer? A pin cushion! The pattern: Turning Points by Hunter’s Design Studio. I chose to do the mug rug size rather than the actual pin cushion size. That was just a little too teenie for me!

A deep green was chosen for the base and picking out pretty colors for the little flying geese was fun! See them colorfully flying in a circle?!

I would sew a couple ...

Seamstress, Whitsunday Wenzel Tornoe (1844-1907) Danish See more HERE Find the definition of Whitsunday HERE

My goal for 2018 has been to reduce my Works in Progress (projects that have been started.)  These do not include Hospice quilts.  I had about 25 in January and now I have exactly 11 in project boxes.  In addition, there are  2 quilt tops that need a border, another that needs stitching around the appliques and one quilt top that I will quilt. One quilt top is on the way to the longarm this week and another that I am hand stitching the binding.

Then there are the projects – yummy fabrics and a pattern or sketch in a box ...

An Island Batik Adventure

This September the Island Batik Ambassadors were Starstruck! No clue at all what I was going to do for this one. Sometimes the creative ideas run a bit flat. I thought of a Christmas theme or maybe Christmas ornaments. I was leaning towards something small and not too involved.

Then…I got the call…My great niece was pregnant! Yes, a great, great niece is on the way! The next day I was sent pics of quilts she fancied for her “constellation” themed nursery. Of course I was going to make her a quilt but was ...

Laueano Barrau Bunol  (1863-1957) Spanish Read more HERE Read more about  Impressionism HERE

You know you’re tetched in the head (old phrase from my mother and aunts, meaning a few bricks short of a full load a.k.a. crazy) when you like your paper towel swipes LOL!   I’ve signed up and am actually doing the lessons in a couple of online classes:  Journey Through the Natural Year with Val Webb and SketchbookSkool’s Watercolor Rules (are made to be broken).  So I’ve been playing.

Wiping my brush off may be one of my best watercolors to date LOL!

I’ll share some of my exercises as the classes go ...

Lots of scraps, cut into strips and squares, put together as quarter log cabins and set on point. I put many of the finished blocks on the design wall and quickly determined that they did indeed need to go on point. After playing and playing with them, I also determined that I wanted a sashing to help really bring out all the pretty prints. I tried lots of solids but it was a no-go.

Then I tried Grunge.  Yes! But what color? I went to my fave quilt shop and layed out about 8 different Grunge bolts on a table ...

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Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the new readers!

Please click on the title to read the full post.

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the new readers!

Stolen Banner

A special banner made for DragonCon in Atlanta has been reported stolen from the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the early morning hours of Sunday, September 2, 2018,  This art quilt banner was made as a gift for the DragonCon event being held in Atlanta, by a friend who has recently passed away, making it irreplaceable.  This is a one of a kind item, an original creation of Dinah Tackett.  If you know anything about this unique art quilt, please return it to the Hyatt Regency Hotel 265 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA or contact Patricia deVarennese at ptross ...

An Island Batik Adventure

“The Great Outdoors” – what a broad subject! Hubby and I do love the great outdoors. we walk, hike, bike ride, and kayak.  The heat of the summer, however, doesn’t agree with us for such activities and we do spend a great deal of time on our screened porch enjoying the great outdoors of our yard. We have lots of plantings, live among the trees and have a LOT of birdhouses.  Several bird couples have moved in at different times this season, had babies and have now relocated.  Several bird feeders and a bird bath keep ...

If a picture paints a thousand words, sometimes a title can write a story.  Here is another mini Dream Collection of six artworks from the upcoming  SAQA / Studio Art Quilt Associates annual fundraising auction:  bidding begins September 15th.  To learn more about the auction, go here.

I love it when things come full circle.  I was reading a Studio Art Quilt Associates Friday e-Blast newsletter, which had a link to an article in the NYT about the 20 best books on business for artists. Let’s face it:  as an artist, we’d rather make art and not think about business.  But if you don’t, you may not be able to afford to stay an artist.  Book number 6 on the list is Art Inc.: The Essential Guide for Building Your Career as an Artist by Lisa Congdon, whom I first came to know about ...

We travelled all the way to Malta and one of our waiters was from Liverpool!

Our family hasn't been abroad together since Lois was born so this holiday was a big deal. We went with my mum, step dad, sister and her family, it was a big group holiday. It worked so well, we all did our own thing, came together for certain activities and had built in babysitters for an evening out! The following post is my diary of our trip and so feel free to skip it if you aren't into that. I will say though ...

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Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the new readers!