Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Pay It Forward!




Joining in the fun is so easy!! Leave a comment for me, I will select three at random to receive goodie from me. It will be handmade, and definitely quiltilicious. All you have to do in return is offer the same to those who comment on your blog. This will be interesting! Let's see if three people read this.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Let's Review.

I made a zippered pouch from this tutorial. OMG, how much fun is that! Thanks to Lisa for directing me there!


Hey, who is that peeking out?? Little Miss Thang!

Speaking of which, my friend Carol and I had a quilt-a-palooza last Friday, stayed out till 2 am. WOO HOO!! I know how to party, my friend! Here are our funky Janomes:

My lilliputian Lulu is working on SWELL:
She sews a fine seam, but she is LOUD.
While Miss Carol's HK machine (no name??) was hard at work making Carol's very first quilt!!
Wow, chicas, this girl is FAST. one day, one quilt. You go girl. (I haven't told her about borders, basting, walking feet, darning feet and binding yet . . . hee hee.)
Carol loves Fourth of July (well, all Holidays!) and this is going to be a mighty fine table topper.

I also finished the quilt top for Hella Pink. I like it. I confess that I don't love it like I thought I would. I do love that it is done, and it is cool that there are no fabric repeats in the interior of the quilt, and that I got the fabric at quilt stores all over the state whenever we would travel, but it is just not as wow as I thought it would be. I dunno. Plenty of other projects to love.


Anyhoo, now I just need to yup, baste it, quilt it, bind it. Thanks to Amanda Jean who gave me the inspiration to finish it!






Speaking of Amanda Jean, I started her quilt-a-long. Go check it out. Looks like fun. Can't wait to see everyone's results. Here is my block number one:

ok, I am trying another pink quilt. This one is softer, though. Maybe I will like it more.
Gotsta getta sewin,
Kristin

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Too Much of a Good Thing can be Wonderful!

(mae west)


I tend to get mad at myself for not being content with finishing existing projects. I am always planning the next one, and looking at new fabrics and new patterns and new ideas. BUT THEN, I met this delightful woman who gave me permission to want more!

This is Marilyn Doheny with one of her stunning pieces of art.



In fact, one of her sayings is something along the lines of, if you are not wanting more, you are not reaching the limits of your creativity, and if you are not creating, you're really not living to the fullest. (She said it all poetry-like, but all I heard was it's ok to want more!)


I took a great class with Marilyn last Sunday, and as I told my husband when I returned, it was life-changing. Well, quilt-life changing, but still and all. She is amazing and her techniques are so freeing, you cannot help but become an artiste! You need to get her to your local quilt store or guild. You will be amazed at her quilts and her art, and even more amazed with her spirit. She is so inspiring.


ok, so, do ya wanna see some stuff I made? well, let me start by saying that the idea of this class or workshop was to make fun "critters" and flowers out of strip sets (strata) that are cut with a special angled wedge ruler, which are then appliqued on a background. the magic is in the fabric selection and the whimsy of it all.
My quilt is going to be loosely based on Alice in Wonderland. It is mostly going to feature the quiltilicious fabric from Tula Pink called Flutterby, (see earlier post) although there are more non-flutterby in this picture than others.
Here are some butterfly wings. Trust me. Imagine the body at the bottom of the arc. Then, I made some flowers, some caterpillars, some bees. BUT I can't show you those cuz they are supah top secret. (naw, I just forgot to take pictures and I am too lazy to do it now.)
Work has been way too hectic this week, so I am anxious to get back to this funnery.
But I am going to sidetrack from this project (Marilyn says it's ok, ha ha) because I am going to introduce LuLu (my Hello Kitty sewing machine -- see earlier post) to quilting tomorrow. Lulu and I are going to work on a Swell jellyroll and see what happens. I don't really have a pattern in mind. I am sewing with my friend who has the other Hello Kitty machine now. She is working on her first quilt, a red, white and blue rail fence. She and I picked out the fabric when I picked up my fun, sunshiny sunflower quilt from the long arm quilter last Saturday. I can't wait to show you that one, but first I have to bind it and wash it - it has raw edge applique that needs to get all raggedy.
Here is a bonus quote from Mae West:
when choosing between two evils, I like to choose the one I have never tried before.
I guess that's why I keep trying new patterns. good justification, eh?
oh, and here is a fun blog. It's super cute. trust me. although I read the title of it, and thought it would be something different. see if you agree.
oh, and go here to enter for a chance to win a beautiful quilt!!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

can a girl have too much?

There is a lot of talk about being good and not buying too much fabric, using one's stash rather than buying more. . . well, I fell off of the wagon (oh wait, I was never on the wagon!) and bought a gawgeous bunch o' fabric for a class I signed up for at my LQS2 that was added at the last minute. Here is what I hope to make. My fabrics are yummy flutterby by tula pink for moda and a selection of randoms to mix and match. I did my own litle shop hop on my way back from Fair Oaks yesterday, where my job had taken me. No picture cuz I am running late and my camera is in the car, where I should be. BUT I did want to share the following with you:


A little craft humor sent by my sis-in-law. Pass it on to those you know who crochet. Now you know why the crochet:

The Dolls A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.For al l of these years , he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside.She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $ 95,000.00 He asked her about the contents. "When we were to be married," she said, " my grandmother told me, the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll." The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness."Honey," he said, "that explains the doll, but what about all of t h is money? Where did i t come from?""Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling all the rest of the dolls."A Prayer.......Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;Love to forgive him;And Patience for his moods; Because Lord, if I pray for Strength,I'll beat him to death, because I don't know how to crochet.

Happy Wednesday