sunset & shadows

Check out my latest wall quilt with applique and some elements of Ricky Tims convergence quilts.  I really enjoyed trying some different designs in free motion quilting on this little quilt.  I couldn't get out to get more fabrics so I used some black moleskin for the applique and really like the way it turned out. 

First Leader Ender Project

The idea of Leader Ender projects intrigued me so I tried it.  I was too impatient to wait for a whole quilt and have been wanting to try out this bag idea so this is what I made fom the patches I sewed while working on the Monkey quilt.  More about Leaders/Enders projects here leaders/enders

Monkeys coming together

The Monkeys are coming together.  There was a mid-stream change in the layout.  The original plan didn't look good to me.  Back to the drawing board for borders to get a good bed size quilt. 

Monkey-ing around

Simple fabric and a simple design will highlight the cheerful monkeys.  The monkeys came with a suggested layout, but it is for a crib size quilt and our little guy is outgrowing that size quickly.  Off to the drawing board.

Quilt Collaboration

My mother has been very busy.  When we visited her at Christmas she gave me these 12 monkeys she had embroidered and asked me to make a quilt.  Before we left Q-town I picked out some fabrics to use with these monkeys.  So I will be "monkey-ing around" in the studio to turn these into a quilt for my grandson, her great grandson. 

Felted Rocks Tutorial

Felted Rocks Tutorial  Here is a tutorial for felting rocks.  This is not the one I used, but I can't find the one I first saw.  I think it has been deleted.  This one is very similar.

This is the third kind of felting that I have done.  In my first knitting class we knitted and felted a bag.  In the second class, a hat.  Since then I have felted some old wool sweaters and blazers to use for other projects.  The baby shoes, HERE were made from wool from one of the blazers.  If you have accidentally shrunk/felted a wool/cashmere item, I have another project in mind.  Don't throw them away, I need them. 

Felted Rocks

I saw this post about felted rocks for checkers and decided to try it myself
Homespun Checkers

I did not want to hand sew and these squares turned out kinda wonky, not sure I like that.  I had a couple of issues with the assembly and think I might try it again sometime.  Making the felted rocks was a ton of fun.  I thought this might be fun for the grandchildren to try, but it was a bit more challenging than I anticipated. 

Yellow Coneflowers

Yellow Coneflowers is a hand appliqued wall quilt inspired by Kumiko Sudo's quilts.  It was the first time I used bamboo batting for hand quilting.  I like the silky feel of the bamboo and the softly quilted quality it achieved.  I tried using a hoop for the quilting but the dimension of the flower petals kept getting in the way so most of the quilting was done without a hoop.  I liked the way that felt with all the fabric and batting soft and bunched up in my hands.  Here is a shout out to all the "liberated quilters" and the freedom to do what feels good and works for you.  This quilt is currently on display at the Appalachian Art Center retail gallery. 

Beep Beep!

Beep Beep is the name my grandson gave his quilt.  It is appliqued in the center square and then a "quilt as you go" technique I saw on HGTV was used for the borders.  It has a soft flannel back in a "Hot Wheels" print.  He has a fleece baby blanket too with cars on it and he calls it "baby cars"  When he is ready for bed he asks for "Beep beep, baby cars"  such a cutie.

Monogramed Coasters

Here is a pile of monogramed coaster sets I made on commission this year.  Fun project.  When I can't come up with anything new to add to my blog, I'm going to go through my photos and add something from there.  Now if I could just find a way to organize my photos (and the time, because I think it just might take years to do that) and remember to take photos of the things I've made.  All too often they leave here before I remember to document them, sigh.