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I have a new finish and I am so excited to show it to you!

Meet Pesto Mushrooms :-)

Pesto Mushrooms

When I was asked to make a Birthday Quilt for a 6-year old boy who loves the color Green and is fascinated with Mushrooms, I said Yes, please :-D

The Pesto (Green Fabrics) was the easy part.  I wasn't sure how to incorporate mushrooms.

Pieced or Appliqued? Small or Large? A mix of large portabellas and tiny enokis?

I turned to EQ8 and found a template for mushroom applique.  BINGO!!!! In EQ8, the dots are applique as well. I ...

We are a month into 2024. I don’t usually make resolutions. I don’t pick a word for the year.

But I have done something quilty each year. The majority of the things listed below are very predictable for me but I did concentrate an entire year on each. This all started several years ago with my self proclaimed, Year of the DOT, polka dot. I put a polka dot fabric on the back of every quilt I made that year. I am still a huge fan of using dots wherever I can.

The ...

Creative Passions Retreat Center in Chesaning, Michigan offers crafters solace from the everyday and adequate space to work on their craft. They cater to crop and quilt retreaters. I traveled to Chesaning for a solo retreat in early December, but spent the days with a group of four quilters from Toledo, Ohio. Another group of […]

The September Island Batik Challenge and Blog Hop is called Pieced to Perfection. We were required to make a paper-pieced project at least lap sized, using as many different fabrics as possible from our assigned collection.

I received Chromatic. It is an original collection designed by Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Designs.

Chromatic Bundle

Chromatic Fabrics

Bromeliad Garden

I chose "The Palm" block from EQ8 Block Library (under Old favorites). 

The on-point layout uses 24 blocks. I used 21 (out of the 22) fabrics from the Chromatic collection. I used three fabrics ...

     There is a children's book that is one of my favorites over the years. It is called "If you give a mouse a cookie". The story follows a mouse's one simple request and all the ensuing rabbit trails and requests that follow. The author made more in that vein like "If you give a moose a muffin". I admit I have many moments like that.
     I have a closet in my guest room with a top and bottom bar. The top holds backing fabrics (over 72") and the bottom has sewn tops. It is a disaster packed zone ...

In anticipation of the second shipment of Island Batik Ambassador boxes, I had to clean house, get rid of some scraps and make room for the new supplies. 

In doing so, I came across some star blocks, that date back to 2015, I think. Who knows? It was so long ago ...

Marrying someone from halfway across the globe has its perks.  There is always something new to learn. Recently Paul introduced me to the Addams Family.  I fell in love with Wednesday and she is the inspiration for my May project! 

Wednesday Mock-Up in EQ8

 I finished a new crop of quilts for donation.

Four Donation Quilts (3@ 60' x '72" and 1 @ 60" x 78")

I make these using 3.5" squares as Leaders and Enders. When I get a bunch (usually a couple of times each year), I put them together, and voila!--I have quilts that I sewed between the pieces of other projects.

Here are four I put together recently. As I assembled them, it was fun to see squares from scraps of fabric I used in other quilts in the past year. The squares are arranged randomly, and I used ...

If I could be doing anything quilty, it would be improv piecing.  It is like taking a journey. "Come hither ye fabric scraps; together we will travel and see where we end up." 

Here is the Island Batik Challenge for March. It reads 

"March brings a free month for you to determine your own project of any size, using any theme and any technique!! This is an opportunity for you to express your creativity without guidelines. Have fun!"

And I did have fun. See how the bits and pieces grew.

Starting Point

And then there were two

Growing

Coming Together ...

 I have another pieced backing for you and I'm excited to share it!

I don't like to have a lot of leftover fabric hanging around my studio so pieced backings are a great way for me to use the leftovers, but sometimes there is just a chunk or two left. That's when the fun begins!

I first lay down my top, no matter what size it is, so I can make sure I'm going to give myself enough fabric around the edges. I start with one piece and decide if I'm going to use the ...

      Normally, squirrels race through here and get new quilts started off tangent. However, in cleaning off a counter, trying to get my new granddaugher's quilt moving along after a long stall, I found fabric from the Nine Patch Kit I made. I do not like the colors of the fabric and can't see saving and cutting scraps from it, so I thought maybe I could use it in a backing. Much later down the road, I found I made the whole back from leftovers from the Nine patch and left over strips trimming quilts off the longarm. It ...

When Via (not her real name) a dear friend/co-worker shared that she was ...

One week before Christmas

Nine Lives finished at 46" by 56"

Paul the model

Nine Lives - 46" by 56"

Of course I have Jonesie (he passed away last month) on my mind and this quilt has become of a reflection of my emotions.

A Sloth and a Cat with Fiery Red Eyes

An Owl and Smiley Cats

Black & White Cats from Bernie

A Llama, a Turtle and Purple Cats too

There are at least nine different cat fabrics and hence the name.

Can you find them all?

There is more than one here

Cattily Yours

Purrfectly Poised

Peeking Panda and Cats Packed Tight

My ...

This quilt came off the longarm about a week ago.  It is a Quilt of Valor, and was a bit more of a challenge at the beginning, as the backing had several problems.

This is what I call Frankenbacking.  There are four vertical seams and two horizontal ones.  The friend that gave it to me to quilt was so proud of herself, telling me she left the selvedge edges on for me to load it, and that she was able to use a pretty piece of floral fabric.  I was not expecting this though.  First, the print is directional.  Normally ...