Baby steps, people....

Day two.  Still here...  Attempting to break a record by blogging more than two or three times a year.

Remember last night when I shared the touching story of when we moved and my stash was "outed".  Here's my "WALL O'FABRIC" all nicely colorized and somewhat organized.  The shelving in my other house held the fabric better but these big metal racks work. 

And to think my husband doesn't understand why I need to buy more fabric- ever.  Look at that stash... it cries out for more companions. 

Recently I visited a store selling Annie Sloan paint.   Here's their wall of color samples...

I see a quilt inspiration...

Can you really call posting once a year blogging?

And I'm starting  O V E R...... NOW!  Stay tuned folks...  I promise to start blogging seriously.

Please enjoy one of more recent finishes.  I made the design created by CrazyMomQuilts.  She's such a talented quilter with great ideas and designs.  I love her work. 

I took 18 inch squares of yummy Kona cotton and asked the VQB (virtual quilting bee on flickr) I was in to grab whatever scraps they had on their floor and sew them into strips.  Let's face it - don't we all have little scraps laying all over the floor of our sewing areas...? 

I got them back and about a year ago I put the top together.  Then...the whirl wind hit - we decided to sell our house and move.  That's a long story for another time.  Anyway, let's just say that when you move - you have to box up your sewing room... 

And then your husband might notice how many boxes there are.  Especially when the mover says things like: "OH MY GOD - How much fabric is there in that closet???", or "you mean there's more---we're going to need more boxes."   So that was a lot of fun.

We're finally settled in now.  After reorganizing and reorganizing, and ...reorganizing - I think I finally have my sewing room in some sort of agreeable order.  So out came this top and I quilted it. 

So when someone asks me the usual question (how long did that take to make?) - I'll get to say about 2 years.

So this one tiny thing made me do it....

A very dear set of friends gave me this little pin. But don't be fooled. This pin has huge powers. It made me cut up perfectly luscious Kona cotton. Then it made me sew it all back together again...

All the pins I'd collected over the years were crowding a very small wallhanging. So when The Queen and The Princess in Training gave me that sweet pin....I knew I had to make it a special home.

 

 

I've got lots of open spaces- based on this....I'm going to need to attend a lot more quilt shows!

 

 

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Hoping April is a lamb.....

If March goes out like a lion- isn't April supposed to come in like a lamb? Boy, I hope so. This was what we woke to in my area of VA. I should mention....I'm not a snow person. Especially when I have to drive in it. But it rained later in the day so by the time I got home it had almost all melted. Yeah.

But in more interesting topics, here are photos of part of the evolution of a challenge I was a in last year. It started with a block. The block went to two other people and we all made two passes. While in their hands, they could make any changes they wanted to (except take your sewing apart). I'll photo graph my personal one in a day or so. The photos below belong to one of my group members (which means me and the other two got to work on it twice).

It started with this:

And morphed into this:

Which later became this:

This last morphing was a result of my slicing up the rectangle into 9 chunks. It was incredibly nerve wracking. I may have been sweating as I made the cuts. This isn't the final version. I thought I photographed it while at our groups' retreat over the weekend but alas - I must have been too busy swilling good wine or eating some delicious food ( or more likely....talking, laughing, and just generally having the time of my life with good friends). I'll see if I can get a copy of it and post it at a later date.

I loved this challenge. It was hard to come up with something when I got it each time... You know....you don't want to mess it up but you want to do something unique and interesting. My block got turned into a bag. It's squeal worthy. I loved it. Again...photos soon.

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Let's just ignore that awkward silence in between posts, shall we?

Oh good grief. I stink at blogging. But I was so excited to be a part of the Pantone Color of the Year: Emerald challenge .....that I returned to my blog.

Here's my "topper category" entry. Lets just say that I'm an obsessive type of person, and despite extreme effort....I just couldn't make it to the quilting stage on this one. I'm ok with that as I am still able to enter it.

Here's a little closer shot. I think I may name this one Six String Music. I loved making the string hexies and the border was made out if the same strips. Plus I love Jimmy Buffet and that's an excellent song. Seems very fitting.

I used a Northcott solid green ( I'm sorry- I didn't see what the color name or number was). The string fabrics and the fuchsia colored flower fabric were primarily Kaffe Fasset's and the nuetral is Kona Ash (my all time favorite!). The size is 27 x 29 inches.

And now for something really big....Drum roll please, here's the finale .......

 

The quilt is 58 x 62 inches. I used the same emerald shade of Northcott fabric and the same Kaffe print in the wheel and the center of that little 9 patch. The rest is glorious Kona white. I loved this design as it gave me lots of room to quilt. The design was my own.....and I was pleased with all of the neutral space. Green is my favorite color- so I was extra pumped for this challenge.

For those of you that follow fabulous quilting blogs.... The person holding that magnificent quilt is none other than Fairly Merry! I think just having her hands on it added a little "mo "to its "jo"... Her entry is AMAZING!

Check the whole group out here:

http://www.asquaredw.com/2013/03/march-lets-see-those-pantone-quilts.html?m=1

Wish me luck! Although, I am heavy on the Irish side and it is St. Patrick's day....maybe I've got enough on my side already!

Here are some detail shots:

And my favorite way to bind......BY machine!

 

 

 

 

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Best gadget for 2012

How did I live without these?

They are pricey but worth every penny. Holy cow- they work

great!

 

 

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Maybe 3 times is a charm?

I did it again. I thought I'd posted two times the other day. But no. I suspect it was that pesky plus button again. It was a fairly long post with lots of pictures.... Lets see if we can recreate the moment now....shall we?

 

I'm in the Design Camp 2 VQS on Flickr. Great, talented bunch of quilters. After waiting patiently all year.... It's my turn at the block!

There's my fabric selection for the background of my blocks. I was inspired by the GORGEOUS quilt by CrazyMomQuilts, otherwise known as AmandaJean. Here's her blog:

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/?m=1

You should stalk it like I do. She's got such a great sense of design and color.

Here's my rendition of the quilt she posted on 12/17/12.

 

Check back in February to see the top. The blocks will start returning to me by the end of january. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas.....

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