Happy Thanksgiving.

Making changes, and doing the Hudson Mohawk Weavers' Guild show has kept us pretty busy.




 Here's a mohair warp going on the Schacht.

I perused Craigslist, and found myself a great new sewing table.
$50.00

I also bought a brand new Rowenta iron and ironing board, both for $20.00.

I took 10 of these towels to the show, and they are gone.
I have a few more on the loom, and then it's time for yet another warp.

I am working on weaving to sew.
Not sure I like this at all, but it was good practice.

Tomorrow I'll be making pies for Thanksgiving dinner with my kids, and we're expecting 9" of snow.

What's wrong with that picture???

Read More

Modern Appliqué Illusions Blog Tour and Giveaway

Today I'm excited to share a new book written by my friend, Casey York, called Modern Appliqué Illusions. I met Casey through the St Louis Modern Quilt Guild several years ago. As a lover of appliqué, I was immediately drawn to what she was creating at our sew-ins and sharing during the Show-and-Tell portions of our meetings. Casey has a unique style that is very modern and not seen elsewhere in the modern quilting community. So the fact that she's written a beautiful appliqué book is no surprise!

All of the quilts in the book play on the illusion of perspective and depth. It's quite amazing how the projectss create dimension on the quilt surface, through both the appliqué design and the quilting. If you haven't given appliqué a try yet, this may be the perfect place to get started. Casey includes lots of basic instructions for fusible appliqué and includes her unique method of using embroidery to finish the raw edge.

I was drawn to this project called "Perspective" because I love letters and words on quilts. See the illusion of depth? You're actually creating the letters by appliquéing the shadows.

I decided to try it in a small project and made a pillow for my grandson...

Some of the illusion is also created by the quilting. There are quilting lines provided in the pattern for the letters and I quilted the background with closely spaced straight lines to flatten it a bit.

I used my go-to machine appliqué technique of a small button hole stitch around all of the appliqué pieces. Here's a close-up... I take the width and length of the stitch down a bit from the default settings to create a less-noticable stitching line.

It was a fun project!

Would you like a chance to win this new book? Casey has kindly offered a copy to giveaway here! Just leave a comment below - if you're in the US, you will receive a hard copy of the book. If you happen to win and you're international, you will receive an electronic copy. I'll choose a winner on Wednesday November 26th. Good luck!

Be sure to visit Casey's blog as she is showing and discussing in-depth all the projects in the book. And if you don't win you can buy a copy here.

For more chances to win and see more of the book, be sure to visit all the stops on the tour!

11/10: C&T Publishing                                               www.ctpub.com/blog

11/11: Jenifer Dick/42 Quilts                                      www.42quilts.com

11/12: Debbie Grifka/Esch House Quilts                   www.eschhousequilts.com

11/13: Pink Chalk Studio                                            www.pinkchalkstudio.com/blog

11/14: Shannon Brinkley/Bottle Tree                         www.thebottletree.net

11/15: Pellon                                                               www.blog.pellonprojects.com

11/16: Kevin Kosbab/Feed Dog Designs                   www.feeddog.blogspot.com

11/17: Generation Q Magazine                                   www.generationqmagazine.com

11/18: Krista Robbins/Sew What's Cooking?            www.sewwhatscooking.com

11/19: Violet Craft                                                      www.violetcraft.com

11/20: Fat Quarter Shop/Jolly Jabber                        www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com

11/21: Kristy Daum/St. Louis Folk Victorian             www.stlouisfolkvictorian.blogspot.com

11/22: Cindy Lammon/Hyacinth Quilt Designs        www.hyacinthquiltdesigns.blogspot.com

11/23: Modern Quilts Unlimited                               www.modernquilts.mqumag.com/category/blog

Read More

Changes

This old house that is my studio has undergone a lot of changes since I made the purchase almost 10 years ago.  
One project that was on my list was replacing the old front door in the oldest part of the house, built in 1790, by all accounts.
It was very drafty, and I wanted some more light in the room.  I splurged a bit, and bought a beautiful fiberglass door with a lot of glass.  I also bought a full length glass storm door.

Yesterday, they were installed.  It is never uneventful, making changes in an old house.  What I love is imagining it, then seeing it happen.
I love it.

 The windows are also going to be replaced, but they are on order.  It will be the dead of winter before they get put in.

Today I was there early, cleaning up the mess, and moving things around the way I want them.
You can see how much light the new door lets in.

This wall is going to be my new computer/check out station.  I may leave the wall cupboard there.   I haven't quite figured it all out yet, but this is all part of planning the move to actually live there.  And we need a living room.

It's all coming together quite nicely.

 The room seems more open, it's going to be a lovely place to weave.
And this was on a stormy, gray day.

This front room used to be my retail space.  What I realized is that since my business is mostly online, I am wasting this great room, when I could be enjoying it.
So the retail is now being reworked in the rather large, center hallway, a space not very useful for much else.

Today was snowy, rainy, gray,  and cold.   
And by 2pm, it was a 10 on the headache scale.

But I am determined not to hate winter.
There must be something about it that I can love.
I'll let you know when I locate it.

Read More

Peppermint Float Variation

I've had this variation of my Peppermint Float pattern {from Simply Modern Christmas} in the back of my mind for a while. I finally created it in EQ7, liked the idea and decided it was time to cut into my precious Cotton+Steel fabric!

The change starts by substituting an alternate 6" square or block for the center star...

A slight change in the sashing creates a background grid for the blocks. I think that has lots of possibilities! The sashing strips are cut 2 1/2" x 10 1/2" with a 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" framing fabric piece on each end.

It's actually a simpler version and went together in a snap!

I decided not to add a border to this one {except for a white background border to float the design}, so this one's ready for quilting! I'm thinking of a simple diagonal grid.

Here's the original quilt from the book...

What do you think of the variation?

Read More

Pow Wow quilt

I've had the pattern, Pow Wow by Cluck Cluck Sew for a while now. When I was looking for inspiration for a quilt for my nephew and his wife, it immediately came to mind after seeing this item on their wedding registry. They asked for blues, purples and red only - so this is what I came up with...

They live in NYC and got engaged on the Brooklyn Bridge. This Gramercy fabric by Leah Duncan is her depiction of the bridge. It became the perfect backing for the quilt.

It was fun to include some NYC themed fabrics purchased at the City Quilter!

And the straight line quilting added some great texture...

Hope they like it!!!

Read More

A girl and her staple gun.

Oops, I did it again.

I couldn't resist, but then I never can.

It's a Schacht 46", 4 H, maple loom in excellent condition.   One day after I saw the ad, it was home in the studio.  It will be my designated "throw" loom. 

Today I had some outside work to do.  I have been worried about the wind coming in the opening to
the chicken coop.  And I want them to have a place that gets warmed by the sun a bit, but out of the wind.
So I went out with my staple gun, and a long lead cord, and a roll of plastic.

 
The little extension area with the roof is now protected from the wind a bit.

And then I dragged in two fifty pound bags of sand for the girls to "bathe" in.

Then I put some plastic boot trays under the roosts, since that is where all the poop lands.  We'll see if they stay put, or if I have to come up with some plan to keep them where I want them.

And it's getting cold in the north country, so it was time to put the water heater under the water.

I was concerned about them pecking at the cord, so I wrapped it in chicken wire to make it more difficult, but if anyone has a better idea, I'd love to hear it.

I guess it's not necessary to insulate the coop, although it seems like I should.

Then I spent a little time weaving on my new towel pattern on the AVL.  The studio was quiet and I was loving it.

I like having the AVL in the front room.  When I get cool, I just flick the switch, and the gas fireplace comes on.
And I thought I wanted a wood stove.  What was I thinking???

This has to be my favorite pattern to date.  I just love it.

My rearranging the studio has begun to take shape, and it feels good.  It feels right.

Read More

Orange Peel Quilt

I started this quilt over a year ago. I seem to have a thing for petals and leaf shapes. There's something about those petal shapes connecting up to create a pattern that gets me every time. A few years ago I did the Joseph's Coat quilt which has a similar shape and vibe.

Do you think it has a Fall feel? I'm not one that goes for the typical Fall colors {notice the purple Mums}, so this says Fall to me...

The petals were hand appliquéd - one of the reasons it took me a year. I shared my method of freezer paper and starch here. I decided not to let the petals touch. I was sure that if I tried to do that, some of them wouldn't. So there is purposely a slight gap at the corners.

If I had to do it again, I think I might have added a background border to float the design a bit. Of course I realized this after it was quilted.

The backing is a Sandi Henderson print I found on sale!

And my quilting design was quite simple. I outlined the petals and repeated petal shapes in the background. The petals are quilted with loops.

I loved making this! You may see more "petal" quilts in my future!

Read More