Hi all! Wow it has been a long time since I've blogged! We have had a really crazy summer so far which hasn't left me much time for fun things like sewing. I finally started unpacking my sewing room today, after being in our new apartment for over 3 weeks, and am wishing I had time to sew too! All in due time I suppose... Before my little packing/moving/unpacking hiatus, I was working on a new project that I want to share. This is a mockup using a smaller section I pieced ~ I wanted to brainstorm a little and see what could be created out of it. The first picture is 4 sections rotated together ~ love it! This second picture is 4 of the above, so 16 of the original sections, pieced together. A little dizzying, but I really like the effect the waves of color make over a bigger space. I would love to make one of these into a larger quilt but just one section used 36 drunkard's path blocks - So 144 would be needed for the first option, and that would only end up being about 30 x 30 when finished. Insane ~ I know! 576 drunkard's path blocks would be needed to make the bottom version, and that would only be 60 x 60 ... not quite worth all that cutting and curved sewing for a throw that isn't even long enough for my giraffe legs! If I had the larger Go! cutter and could cut the larger drunkard's path blocks, I might consider it... but for now, I'll enjoy the images and brainstorm for the future. Maybe I'll get snowed in for a month and those 576 blocks won't seem so crazy then hahaha. Once I get sewing and blogging again, expect to hear from me a lot! I have a lot of projects underway as well as the "Mayhem in Paradise" quilt retreat coming up in September! Lots of good things on the horizon, just need to get organized and get going again first! Happy sewing everyone!

Mature content! Bitches be crazy - with a cutesy fox! When using 14ct fabric the finished pattern is 7.86" x 2.71" (110 x 38 stitches). All our patterns are in color and are delivered instantly via Etsy's digital download service. Each pattern has a list of the needed DMC floss colors, cross-stitching tips, and a link to a great counted cross stitch tutorial so EVERYONE CAN STITCH! Even the beginner! ٭٭ You will not receive a physical item in the mail when you purchase this item. You will be able to print up the PDF pattern or use it via your computer monitor. ** Do not resell this pattern. We welcome the selling of any finished product that uses this pattern as long as the following requirements are met: 1) you link back directly to this listing and 2) you do not post a photograph that allows anyone to steal the pattern (ie; don't take a photo so close that you can clearly see how to recreate the pattern)** You should totally visit my Facebook page, give it a like, then search for the 20% off code! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grannie-Panties-Kitsch-vintage-for-you-your-home/249903268381861?ref=ts

A few days ago I was trying to get some sewing done and my girls were playing on the floor behind me, rummaging around in my rubbish bin and my scraps drawer. They wanted me to sew this and pin that and I wanted them to be a bit more self sufficient. Then I had a brain wave! Last year at a craft night at Jodie's house, she gave me a packet of this stuff called Solvy. I vaguely remember her talking about it being some sort of water soluble stabiliser, but couldn't remember the exact details. After a bit of googling around they (we) got to work. We laid out a strip of Solvy on the carpet and then they rummaged around and covered it with scraps of all shapes and sizes. They tried to make sure that each bit was touching another bit, and that there weren't many gaps. Then they laid another bit of Solvy on top and made a sandwich. At this stage we pinned and pinned and pinned the layers together. And then I lowered the feed dogs on Nina Bernina and sewed and stitched and doodled and drew all over every bit of the length. They stood behind me telling me what to draw...a spiral...a flower...my name... Then they took the stitched length to the sink where they washed it. At this stage the Solvy became jelly like and then dissolved like magic. They helped it along a bit in the beginning with a paint brush but soon realised they didn't have to be so gentle. Then they squished and wrung the water onto every bit. And then we hung it on the line to dry. And admired their art work. This gorgeous scarf was made entirely from scraps! It has been worn non stop since it was dry. We have two more in various stages of completion and a couple of orders from teachers. This is such a great kiddy craft activity. I highly recommend it. What's going on in your space today? I hope your day is a happy, scrappy one!

Animal sculpture carved in stone by Jennifer Tetlow - contemporary animal sculpture capturing the essence of her wildlife subjects

Explore Royal School of Needlework @ Hampton Court Palace’s 82 photos on Flickr!

Pieced by Judy Opperman. Freehand Quilted by Jessica's Quilting Studio

People often ask me where I get my inspiration. The answer is that I have lots and lots of scrapbooks. Over Christmas I have been updating my floral scrapbook which is one of the most useful as it gives me ideas for colours and shapes for both printmaking and textiles. My imagery is stuck into an old "News Cuttings" ledger which I think I got originally from one of the Lit and Phil's legendary book sales ( www.litandphil.org.uk).

With a keen eye for detail, Amanda Cobbett embroiders hyperrealistic fungi, mosses, and lichen with painstaking precision.

Voici le Bloc 11

Hi all! Wow it has been a long time since I've blogged! We have had a really crazy summer so far which hasn't left me much time for fun things like sewing. I finally started unpacking my sewing room today, after being in our new apartment for over 3 weeks, and am wishing I had time to sew too! All in due time I suppose... Before my little packing/moving/unpacking hiatus, I was working on a new project that I want to share. This is a mockup using a smaller section I pieced ~ I wanted to brainstorm a little and see what could be created out of it. The first picture is 4 sections rotated together ~ love it! This second picture is 4 of the above, so 16 of the original sections, pieced together. A little dizzying, but I really like the effect the waves of color make over a bigger space. I would love to make one of these into a larger quilt but just one section used 36 drunkard's path blocks - So 144 would be needed for the first option, and that would only end up being about 30 x 30 when finished. Insane ~ I know! 576 drunkard's path blocks would be needed to make the bottom version, and that would only be 60 x 60 ... not quite worth all that cutting and curved sewing for a throw that isn't even long enough for my giraffe legs! If I had the larger Go! cutter and could cut the larger drunkard's path blocks, I might consider it... but for now, I'll enjoy the images and brainstorm for the future. Maybe I'll get snowed in for a month and those 576 blocks won't seem so crazy then hahaha. Once I get sewing and blogging again, expect to hear from me a lot! I have a lot of projects underway as well as the "Mayhem in Paradise" quilt retreat coming up in September! Lots of good things on the horizon, just need to get organized and get going again first! Happy sewing everyone!

Explore Jo in NZ's 1357 photos on Flickr!

This month, I almost tossed in the towel and thought I would just post a note saying, "I'm sorry, but I'm in total overload and I don't have time to blog this month and probably not next month, either" ...but I didn't. I enjoy sharing my passion too much to abandon this blog. It's just that... I haven't had time to work on my Target Practice quilt; it only needs a final set of borders. I haven't had time to finish all the Baltimore applique blocks that I've already prepped (and these are simple blocks!). I haven't had time to design some new "complex" Baltimore blocks and I need to work on those soon. I run from task to task to task, hoping that nothing falls between the cracks... and sometimes I wonder why I'm so crazy and why I don't just back out of some things. But that's just not "me." So you're stuck with me for a while... and I hope you enjoy this blog today! This month, I thought I'd show you a few of the quilts that were in my guild's quilt show. I am lucky to be a member of an awesome guild - with Cynthia England, Georgann Wrinkle, Cynthia WIlliford, Cynthia Collier, and many more talented quilt makers. I'll also give you a peak at some hexagons and star blocks that a friend of mine made, and show you an interesting redwork quilt. Then, you'll see some quilts that others have made, using my patterns... and finally, I'll show you what I've been working on. Well... I'll show you part of what I've been working on; I can't show you all of it because I haven't even had time to take pictures! So now... let's just roll! The Lakeview Quilters Guild has a quilt show every even-numbered year. We hang about 200 quilts for two and a half days. This year's Best of Show was Une Belle Amitie by Cynthia Williford. Cynthia is an exquisite quilt maker and designer. Harold, one of her six sons, draws the blocks - but it is Cynthia's handiwork that turns them into masterpieces. The photo below simply cannot do justice to Cynthia's quilt. Even a detail photo can hardly show the marvelous work in Une Belle Amitie. Take a look at this cornucopia. Cynthia puts an enormous amount of detail into her blocks - and finishes each with flawless embellishment. She adds lace and beads and ribbon - exactly where it needs to be to accent the design. Her choice of colors is amazing. This particular quilt was judged in the Houston quilt show and the judges at the show slammed it - they had not one kind word to say about it. Really? What did they not see? To each his or her own... but Cynthia was mortified and put the quilt away for months before her friends convinced her that her quilt had great value - artistically and historically (it is based on an antique Baltimore album quilt). Look closely at how she quietly incorporates silk ribbon and embroidery and beads in this block. Look at the ribbons on this block... check out how much work is put into each flowing band. Here's another close-up of the ribbon. Look at all of the flowers in the ribbon, made of embroidered knots. Amazing, simply amazing. This is a quilt you can stare at for an hour and never stop finding new things to examine more closely. Here's more - look at all of those knots! Here is the whole ribbon; it's gorgeous. Part of one block has a basket full of flowers. The basket is made of couched ribbon... but in the basket are little "scenes." Below, you can see a river flowing out of the blue mountains. But that's not all -- look at the geisha woman to the right of the blue flowers. And look at the bridge across the river in the middle of the photo. And downstream from the bridge, you can spot a pair of tiny little egrets in the water. Can you believe the amount of work Cynthia puts into her quilts? Is it any wonder that it took her eight years to complete this quilt? I think not! Cynthia doesn't leave all of her handiwork to the front of her quilt. Below is the label on the back of her quilt. It is "enveloped" in her grandmother's handkerchief. When you open the envelope, you see the label... full of a ton of detail. I am in love with this quilt. Here is another quilt that was in the Lakeview Quilters Guild show. Are the Stars Out Tonight was also made by Cynthia Williford and quilted by Xing Tinsley. Okay - I'm going to depart from my mantra that this blog is only about quilts, quilts, quilts and not about what I ate last night, where I traveled this summer, what I grew in my garden, or how wonderful my grandchildren are. Below is Daisy, my youngest grand daughter (7 years old), and her first quilt. She calls it her "helicopter quilt" because she designed all the applique - from the sun to the stars and moon to the heart and flying pig, to the helicopter. It's nice to see children excited about quilting. And below is Daisy's second quilt in the show - a simple checkerboard of polka dot fabrics. She spent the best part of two hours laying out the squares "just so" and then she learned how to use the sewing machine. Lastly, she learned how to use my longarm with "groovy boards" guiding her in making big circles. With the right tools, kids learn to succeed. For the rest of the quilt entries, I'll simply supply the name of the maker of the quilt, and its title - unless there is a story to be told. Lollypop Trees by Liza Harrison Detail, Lollypop Trees by Liza Harrison Almost Amish by Renee Eudaley; quilted by Renee Eudaley You'll see some fabulous quilting on this quilt in the detail photos. Almost Amish, detail Almost Amish, detail Almost Amish, detail Cottage Garden by Lee Ann Ferring; quilted by Lee Ann Ferring Scuba Girls by Peggy Baldwin-Clayton (designer and maker); quilted by Denise Green This is a fun quilt - fish, frogs, a diner, dogs... and more! Santa's Vacation Snapshots #1 by Peggy Baldwin-Clayton; quilted by Marcia Henry This is an unbelievably FUN quilt: Santa is relaxing on the beach after a busy Christmas; Peggy lives on Galveston Island, so this quilt is quite appropriate. Check out the detail shots, below... Santa's Vacation Snapshots #1, detail What you may not notice in the photo is that the palm tree is covered in twinkling little battery-operated Christmas lights. They rest between all of the beribboned ornaments. Peggy outdid herself in creating this original quilt; it's pure delight to look at all of the detail she put into the quilt. Santa's Vacation Snapshots #1, detail Notice that Santa is surrounded by "post cards" in the border around him. Santa's Vacation Snapshots #1, detail Surrounding the entire quilt are flip flops. And each pair of flip flops uses different fabric... and has a different embellishment on the strap. Here are yo yos with Santa skiing. Santa's Vacation Snapshots #1, detail Here are buttons. Santa's Vacation Snapshots #1, detail And more buttons - with some wild polka dot fabric! Santa's Vacation Snapshots #1, detail Here are some little yo yos of a sort - they look like island flowers to me. Millenium by Priscilla (Pat) Koester; quilted by Diane Helmer Fire and Ice by Peggy Richards; quilted by Rosann Gilbert Circus Tent by Elaine Haycraft; quilted by Denise Green Circus Tent, detail It Makes Me Happy by Lecia Majewski; quilted by Cindy Gravely This quilt, along with the one above, were made by a group of guild members who exchanged blocks with each block to be made of 1930s "Aunt Grace"reproduction fabric. Compare the different border fabrics these gals used. It's fun to see two such interesting quilts! It Makes Me Happy, detail I always find it interesting to see how different people quilt the same quilt. Compare this one to the quilt above, made by Elaine Haycraft. The quilting is quite different, but both quilts look great. Intertwined by Lecia Majewski This quilt won the "President's Award." At each show, the current guild president is asked to choose her favorite quilt. Georgann Wrinkle chose this one. Lecia, the maker, asked why she chose it, since Georgann doesn't really make geometric or modern-looking quilts. Her answer: because it was so pretty! Intertwined, detail Part of what made this quilt so pretty was the quilting. Cindy Gravely quilted this quilt and she tends to break quilts up into geometric spaces that she then fills. Her quilting is always unique. Intertwined, detail Momma's Closet by Lecia Majewski; quilted by Cindy Gravely This quilt stole my heart -- it brought back memories of what moms and gradnmothers wore when I was a child. The pattern is so simple and the blocks are all identical - but the quilting made each dress very unique. Momma's Closet; detail Momma's Closet; detail Momma's Closet; detail Momma's Closet; detail Dutch Baskets by Georgann Wrinkle; quilted by Denise Green Beginners by Sue Green Bugs and Blooms by Marsha Fuller; quilted by Denise Green Legacy of Love - Happy 40th Anniversary by Marcia Henry; quilted by Marcia Henry This quilt was made for Marcia's parents on the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary. Legacy of Love, detail Burgoyne with a Flair by Marcia Henry; quilted by Marcia Henry  Burgoyne with a Flair, detail Spring Flowers 2014 by Marcia Henry; quilted by Marcia Henry Cranberry Chutney by Merridy Pyer; quilted by Xing Tinsley Glory Bound by Patty Dillon America by Patty Lang; quilted by Denise Green Civil War Spikes by Tanya Smith; quilted by Laurie Stone The certified NQA judge for this show, Marcia Kaylakie, awarded this quilt a special ribbon: an Award of Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Quiltmaking. This allows the quilt to be automatically juried into the next NQA show that Tanya enters this quilt in. Bubblegum on the Sidewalk by Tanya Smith and unknown maker (the blocks are antique blocks); quilted by Tanya Smith I absolutely LOVE the name that Tanya gave this quilt. Nine Patch Path by Marsha Fuller and several members of the Gulf Coast Quilters Guild; quilted by Betty Findley. This quilt was made from blocks given in an exchange group. Here's Looking at You by Sara Norris; quilted by Sara Norris Poppy in Bloom by Sara Norris Dancing in the Rain by Sandra Greve Thompson; quilted by Kris Bryson Waxahachie Fields by Trudy Davis; quilted by Denise Green Sew Tweet by Tonda Helm; quilted by Kris Bryson Sew Tweet, detail Alpha Omega Mariner's Compass by Vernell Fesperman; quilted by Quilt Divas, Hemphill, Texas My Happy Daze by Vernell Fesperman; quilted by Quilt Divas, Hemphill, TX Pattern by Sue Garman! My Happy Daze, detail Winter Wonderland by Connie Martaindale; quilted by Connie Martaindale Over the River and Through the Woods by Virginia Spiers (piecing) and Marilyn Cheak (embroidery); quilted by Denise Green Over the River and Through the Woods, detail Lincoln's Ruby Watch by Ronda Stockton; quilted by Denise Green Lincoln's Ruby Watch, detail Words to Love By by Ronda Stockton; quilted by Ronda Stockton Purple Stars by Jan Just Pinwheels R Us by Saro Draviam; quilted by Saro Draviam The Quilt I Made for my Ungrateful Sister and Kept! by Pauline Stavrakis There is a story here, obviously... let's just say I think the quilt name is priceless! Little Houses 2 by Lee Ann Ferring Little Houses on a Hillside by Renee Eudaley One of the bees that I belong to has a biannual challenge; we decide on a theme... and each person makes a quilt and we enter them in the quilt show. This year's theme was "footsies." Each quilt had to be one square foot in size. We chose this theme because none of us had time to make a larger quilt when we chose the theme. It was a fun challenge! Hawaiian Footsie by Fran Gentry; quilted by Fran Gentry Pets to Love by Jean Cloyd; quilted by Jean Cloyd My Mother's Influence by Marsha Fuller Tic Tac OH NO! by Sharon Meyer; quilted by Sharon Meyer Tootsie Footsie by Sue Garman; quilted by Sue Garman Our quilt show has a lot of offer, so we regularly have people drive long distances to see the show. These gals drove all the way over from Beaumont, Texas. It was nice for me to meet them and talk to them for a little while. The next set of pictures show an assortment of quilts made by Rebecca Yarbrough. She has some challenges right now, but I'm sure she'll soon be back quilting in style. This lone star quilt is wonderful. Check it out... Here's a close-up of the star. Notice that each large diamond is made up of nine smaller diamonds. And four of the diamonds within the diamond are actually string-pieced. For newer quilters, that means that they are made up of irregularly cut strips of fabric. It's a wonderful way to use up scraps! Even the border is string pieced. This particular quilt is made up of English-Paper-Pieced (EPP) stars. That means that each of the diamonds in the star were made by wrapping fabric around a diamond template, stitching or gluing the fabric in place, then stitching the diamonds together and then removing the template. English paper piecing is quite popular right now. Here's even a more detailed shot. Rebecca was quite careful in building the inset diamond out of the striped fabric, and then mitering the intersections of the strips. Personally, I like secondary patterns, so one of my favorite things in this quilt is the large indigo-blue "star" around the diamond star. Check this one out -- plaids! And here is an entire quilt made of EPP stars -- but notice that some of the hexagon shapes are not stars; they are just fussy-cut hexagons. Lots of us were looking this quilt over -- the border is quite a treat to see. Here are twoof the fussy-cut hexagons, below. The stars, themselves, were very interesting. With fussy-cutting, you can end up with some interesting patterns. Here are more stars.... And now here is some more eye candy. I bought this quilt top several years ago on eBay. I thought it was an interesting redwork quilt and the price was relatively low. I'm ready to give this quilt away now, so it will be in my guild's annual auction (August 18 - check out the guild website for details). It's a big quilt and has been washed, so there are several stains that I could not get out. Nonetheless, it's a keeper, for historical purposes. Once it is quilted, my guess is that nobody will notice the stains and it will serve as a nice utility quilt.  Here are some close-ups of the redwork blocks. It is interesting to me that the blocks are all of things that were common to daily life (farm animals, pets, children, flowers) or were scenes that had an emotional appeal (sailing, etc.) at the time the quilt was made.  The next two blocks are a clue to the date of this quilt. The first one is President McKinley, who died in office in 1901. The second one is his wife. My guess is that the impact of a president who was killed in office was a very unsettling event in 1901 and became the genesis for including these blocks. No other authority figure is included in this quilt. Between the redwork blocks are nine-patch blocks. Some of them were quilt well made, such as this one - the squares are pretty... well, square! All of the squares were not quite so well-made. You can see that this one is not one you would want to receive in a block exchange with the uneven sizes of the squares within the nine-patch! But here is something you may not have noticed. If you scroll back up to the original quilt, you can find TWO blocks that are nine-patches with the colors flipped; they have five red squares and four white ones, instead of the dominant four red squares and five white squares. What do you think caused this problem?!! The next sets of quilts are always a delight to show -- quilts made by other people. In this case, many of them are made, based on my patterns. I love seeing all of these quilts because I always learn something interesting or I'm inspired by others' choices. Here is my own Ancient Stars quilt. There's a lot of piecing in it, but it's worth it; it's a beautiful quilt. Lisa Smith Green made Ancient Stars -- here it is. It's wonderful! The red border makes it sing! Here is a close-up of the quilt as it was being made... And you can see by the dime, here, that the pieces are about an inch in size! So... are one-inch squares too small for you? How about half-inch squares? I love them -- it's how I taught myself to precision piece. I say that anyone can make a 12-inch nine-patch and fudge it to fit in a quilt. It's a lot tougher to make a bunch of 1-1/2 inch nine-patches fit together nicely. But in my Omigosh, I finally overcame my fear of the "P" word (Piecing). Those half-inch squares are a challenge, but plenty of people have taken that challenge. This is a quilt by Glenna Denman and when I saw it, I was amazed! She took the Omigosh pattern, added sashing strips around the Shoo Fly blocks, and thus made them float amid the chains of nine-patches. In addition, she increased the size of the squares in the nine-patch from 1/2-inch to 5/8-inch. As she said to me, "It just told me to do that rather than set it as you set your fabulous quilt. But you understand how quilts do tell you what they want!" Yes, I do! When I was over in Georgetown, Texas, doing a workshop on feathered stars, she showed me her quilt. In person, it is stunning! She used browns and reds on off-white background. Sheesh, she makes me want to make another Omigosh with these color combinations! Here's another quilt that I made several years ago for The Quilt Show. I called it Stars for a New Day.  I got an email this week from Ron Bedard. He had made his own version of Stars for a New Day -- and he used exclusively Ricky Tims' hand-dyed fabrics. He's now thinking about making Friends of Baltimore. Yay - an applique fan! I love this quilt and asked Ron if I could post this picture. The fabrics are reminiscent of the American Southwest, so Ron named his quilt It Waits for Dawn which he says is the name of a Navajo constellation. This quilt is so appealing to me - I think it's the combination of colors that Ron used - and how he placed them. It may have been accidental or it may have been planned - but in either case, it worked! The next quilt is one that I made for my youngest grand daughter a number of years ago. When my daughter Jenny (not Daisy's Mom) came to me and said she wanted to make a baby quilt for someone in her office, I pulled out the pattern for this quilt. It's kind of large for a baby quilt, so we discussed how to "downsize" the quilt. We decided that if she just sashed the 16-inch blocks, the quilt would be a nice baby-sized quilt. Please note that the picture below does not show the final quilt with a dark blue binding on it - the blue frames it nicely. Jenny's piecing is perfect. Somehow she must have gotten that gene from my engineering-physics husband, as it took me 30 years of quilting to learn precision piecing. Quilting a well-pieced quilt top makes it soooo much easier for the quilter! And so I quilted her quilt in only about 6 hours. Yee haw! The gender of the baby is known but not the name -- but Jenny decided to just put "Baby Schell" on the quilt instead of a name - so the quilt will serve its purpose for any of the Schell children, if there are more. When she finished appliqueing the letters, she did not like that the edges showed the markings on the white fabric (she had marked the outline with pencil), so I told her to use some darker blue embroidery floss and outline the letters with a stem stich. It was the perfect answer; it made the letters stand out nicely against the lighter blue. Jenny has become quite an accomplished quilter in a short time. This was her first applique quilt -- she made it this Spring based on one of my patterns. Of course, she has an easy pass to get her quilts quilted by me! I couldn't figure out how to quilt this quilt until I remembered a quilt I'd seen on a recent lecture trip I'd taken - I pulled out my old pictures and was able to quilt this quilt in no time at all. Here's a closeup of the border and sashing. Easy-peasy! I also got an email from Charlene Morrison a week or so ago. She had been in a workshop of mine a while back and made the center block in this quilt. This is quite a quilt -- the purple sawtooth border and the green borders are made of Dupione silk. How luscious can you get with that?! Whee!!! Here's a close-up of the center block. This is the Rose Fans block from my Bed of Roses quilt. Next, I saw on the internet that Barbara Black's quilt Red and White - By the Numbers was selected as the 40th Anniversary Commemorative Quilt to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the International Quilt Festival and all of their Ruby Jubilee activities this year. You may have seen this quilt in all of the publicity for the upcoming big Houston quilt show; it's awesome! Barbara also said she'd received notice that two of her quilts will be in the Special Exhibit: 500 Traditional Treasures. That is the title of a book due out in September - I have several quilts in that book, also. So... first, here is my Washington Medallion quilt. But look what Barbara has done with the pattern! Her quilt, Joyful Journey, is a real treasure with its jewel-tone fabrics. Congrats to Barb -- I love your rendition. You can all read about her journey on her blog post: http://bbquiltmaker.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-quilts-going-to-houston.html. Another surprise for me came from Jacque at Adel Quilting and Dry Goods Company (http://www.adelquilting.com/). Her shop in Adel, Iowa, is featuring my Afternoon Delight pattern and will be starting it as a block-of-the-month series on August 1. Here's their rendition. They have selected a wonderful set of fabrics for this quilt; you can order yours today! Here is a close-up of their quilt. And some of the blocks.... Okay - so what have I been working on? Actually... I have not had time to take many photos so you'll have to wait until next month and hope I can invent more hours in the day or I'm going to be in deep mud! One of the things I've been doing, though, is organizing two 3-day workshops for our guild on prepared-edge applique, led by Nancy Amidon of Amidon Quiltworks. Here's the project Nancy will be teaching; it's called Nesting Goose and is based on a Pearl Pereira pattern. I've spent an enormous amount of time getting things ready for my trip to Baltimore on the Prairie in September. Here was an early draft of one of the blocks that I'm going to be teaching. And here is the finished block (yes, it's appliqued; it almost looks like a digital rendition). It's a 15-inch on-point block, as I'm designing an on-point Baltimore album quilt. I've been having great fun with it, but need a lot more time to get it further down the road toward the finish line. And silly me... I'm simultaneously doing a straight-set version of each block; I'm going to be making a smaller straight-set album quilt at the same time. Somebody needs to invent more hours in each day (without us getting older), or else I need to learn how to apply the brakes when I have these super ideas! So here is the stack of fabric for the Baltimore on the Prairie workshop. No, I'm not making kits - everyone is on their own with a list of supplies and fabric to bring. Yes, when I teach, I make samples of each step, so I need five separate sets of fabric for my samples. Hence... the piles you see below. And here is a "sort of" look at what I have to make before September: four samples! I've marked my fabric so I know how many stems to make for each of five blocks, and four different greens... And I've prepared the stems for each of those workshop samples... I just need to press and trim them all. At the same time, I have to have my follow-up block made. Eek - slow down the clock!!! Here's my rough-cut of the next block... And the beginnings of that block, sitting on my light box.... And finally, finally... the finished block. Okay, there's just one little problem (well, actually, there are probably a ton more, but I'm only thinking about one of them right now). I cannot say NO. My daughter and I have had a wonderful time making a quilt together (meaning that we're each making a quilt, not both of us making the same quilt) and have decided that we want to sew together more often. We have chosen this quilt: It's from Civil War Legacies II by Carol Hopkins. Here's a close-up of the quilt; it seems simple enough and will be even simpler for us as I'm going to make paper foundations for the blocks. So what was the quilt that Jenny and I were both making, that we've enjoyed so much? It is one called Summer Medallion that the Temecula Quilt Company offered as an 11-week, one border a week, quilt. The borders have been so easy and simple. The picture below shows only a 36-inch square quilt; there will be three more borders added to this quilt before we're done, so we have another three weeks ahead of us. I love the design; it's based on an antique "frame quilt." I have tons more to show you, but I'm going to wait until September... and shower you in photos! Until then... happy quilting! Sue www.comequilt.com (c)2014 Susan H. Garman

you have to check out these fun leaf activities for kids. Leaf themed games, art and craft ideas, poems, and much more. Kids love leaves especially jumping

You may have realized I love history and cemeteries. As my sister and I were visiting family in Forest Hills Cemetery (Utica, NY) we were drawn to this tree. When I saw this panel I couldn’t …

This is one of the first crafts I'd ever posted online. I used to belong to a community called Craftster.org (waaaay back in the day). It's still around but I rarely remember to visit. However, it pops up on my radar about this time of year. One of my crafts was featured in their Valentine's Day collection on the forum. And now that Pinterest is here, my old post keeps resurfacing. My problem is I took the pics and posted them in a bit of a rush. And seeing those photos back in circulation kinda makes me cringe. So I decided to re-take the photos and create a new post. I am able to do it because 1) the boypiece still proudly displays my project and 2) he lives under the same roof. Which makes it simple to steal it back and retake the pics! So here it is, back again, my "52 Reasons Valentine Deck of Cards" (ps. If you want to check out the original post from 2008, you can find it HERE) At the time when I made this, there were a few other versions out there. I decided to use the full deck of cards instead of just using cards as the "book cover" with cardstock pages. I also used ribbon instead of jump rings to bind the pages. There are still a few other versions out there, but this is just how I did it :) Oh and one other HUGE difference, mine says "like" instead of "love". And it's still relevant today, since we prefer not to use that other word (strange, I know). Supply list: 1 full deck of playing cards 1 foot of red ribbon paper hole punch glue stick scissors personal photos and clip art from the internet computer Quite possibly the most difficult part of this entire project was coming up with the 52 reasons! It probably wouldn't be so hard these days. But at the time I made this, we had only been dating a year and a half. Although, all the reasons are still true to this day :) Step 1) Open up any word processing program on your computer and start typing out your reasons. They can be silly or sentimental...mix it up! Step 2) Once you've got your reasons, it's time to figure out what pictures best compliment your words. I used a lot of clip art (yay, Google!) and a few personal photos from my computer Step 3) Print everything out and cut down to size Step 4) Spread out your deck and arrange your pics/text on the cards. Don't forget to leave the Joker cards for your front and back cover! Step 5) Use your paper punch to add two holes to each card. I suggest punching the holes prior to gluing down your pages! Step 6) Using your glue stick, secure each text/photo combo to their playing card Step 7) Once the glue has dried, arrange the pages in the order you prefer Step 8) Tie your ribbon through the holes and finish it off with a bow! I also added a special Happy Valentine's Day message on the joker used as the back cover :) The most time consuming part is finding the pics to use and coming up with the 52 reasons. If you can do that fairly quickly, you could throw this together as a last-minute gift! It's also great for birthdays or anniversaries if you don't really celebrate Valentine's ;) Pin It Have fun creating! And Happy Valentines Day!

The challenge this week from Laura at I am the Diva was to use the new official tangle IX. I decided to make mine (almost) a monotangle. The only tricky bit was knowing where to stop with the auras so it didn't look too overdone. I added some Fescu type curls and some Crescent Moon on at the end to make it look less lonely on the page.

This is charm quilt #2..........a Tumbler.....not sure why it is hung sideways but it sure contains many interesting fabrics!! Look for the block with the Date! Every type of fabric imaginable from paisleys to checks to blues....and a little "Centennial Green" peeking on the left side and with the circles also. First time we saw this color show up in a 4th quarter 19th century quilt, we were astonished. After viewing charm quilts for several years in our state documentation project, we began to look for it and usually found it.......sometimes in more than one fabric.....and oftentimes in various width stripes. Wish I could have photographed every fabric in this quilt! Wouldn't it be great if Pat published a book of her collection! And even better, created a reproduction line of fabric!! Greek Key is an often-seen design, both above and below. Love the shaded blue leaves...........have seen a similar reproduction of it. And what about the wheat in the lower left! Centennial fabrics.................and I love that shade of blue in the little floral on white. Second sighting of a red/black check but this one appears to be smaller checks! Circles and/or dots and stripes were popular! We call this center fabric "printed lace". Shaded blue ombre is an earlier fabric.......... Love this blue on brown! Both the print and the colors! Will be back with more next time! Thanks so much for all the comments for the scrap box drawing! Forgot to set a date for the drawing.....so I will say that I will do it by the weekend!!

My two friends came over yesterday and we worked on our OBW quilts. I decided a photo with the original fabric was best.. The camera is reading the gold as orange and it is lighter than it looks here. I still have a few vertical seams to press and I will trim off the points on the top and bottom. I didn't measure it yet but it is somewhere near 40" x 50". Today I'll get the last 2 seams sewn in the Double 4 Patch and show it tomorrow.

Hi guys! Last Friday I started out my holiday gift guides for 2013 with a bunch of fun Etsy finds that would be great gifts for guys. This Friday, or actually Sunday now, I am going to share with you … Continued

Making a quilt or wall hanging? Begin by seeing what others have created and shared on social media! Recently, I noticed a question on the Secrets of Embroidery Facebook Group page about crazy quilt blocks. One of our followers was going to stitch up Crazy Baby Series 1 blocks from Molly Mine and wanted to … Continue reading "Going Crazy: Arranging Crazy Quilt Blocks"

An essential Craft Fair Checklist, with top craft fair tips from Crafty Fox Market and Bust Craftacular for anyone thinking about selling their handmade work at art markets or fairs.

embroidery artwork approx 9 x 8.5cm

I can’t believe we’re already on Block #6 of the Virtual Quilting Bee! New to the Virtual Quilting Bee? You can find all the information and earlier tutorials here. This week our block is called Spin Wheel and was created by Amanda Woodruff of the blog, A Crafty Fox. This tutorial will teach helpful information about Inset Seams. POST EDIT: Since there has been some confusion with this block, I posted an alternative simplified version for assembling this block here using inset seams. I also made one change in the piece measurements cutting a 3 1/4″ block for the center instead of 3 1/2″. For the rest of the measurements I used Amanda’s. Hi, I’m Amanda from A Crafty Fox! Today I want to show you how to make the ‘Tilt A Whirl’ block for the amazing Virtual Quilting bee here on Diary of a Quilter.To start, we need to cut our fabrics as follows. You will need three fabrics, light, medium, and dark. This block looks great with high contrast fabrics. (fat eighths or smaller will work just fine) (EDIT: Use a 3.25″ light center square instead of a 3.5″ square) I find the easiest […]

Last of my week 5 work. So much for wanting to read a book today. I kept being tempted back to the needle and threads. Once again I have used Wordpress to describe my stitches. :-( crazyqstitcher.wordpress.com/

Knit pumpkin heads stuffed with polyfil and lined with fleece, slipped onto statues in Seven Hills Park, Davis Square. Somerville, MA. Full instructions for making the pumpkin heads, complete with step-by-step photo tutorial, are posted at Tangle Was Here. Free pattern! Fun Fact: We have it on good authority that the local Somerville Police love this piece! By tangle.