ITCHING TO SEW AND SEW

I'm still working on this quilt

that I am going to use for a future class.

In the beginning of the process, my youngest son

was bothered 

by the proportion of the sail boat to the fishes.

He said the fishes looked like whales

and he suggested the boat might be a toy sail boat in a fountain.

That got me thinking...

and playing...

with a hint

of a "real" size sail boat on the far right...

I am really enjoying the process of this one!

I am inspired by Jan Mullen's patterns.

I LOVE her! 

I think she was one of the many
pre-improv ladies.

Another pre-improv lady was

my first quilter crush  

Mary Lou Weidman!

http://www.marylouquiltdesigns.com/

I was a beginner quilter

desperately seeking

a fun way to quilt

when I discovered her book

Everyday Angels in Extraordinary Quilts.

Ahhhhhhhhh!

(I was so nervous/excited 

in my first class with her 

that I got hives!)

I sent this card to Mary Lou.

It's her birthday!

For the outside border

I used all the slivers 

that get cut off when I slice a 1/2 yard into fat quarters!

If I get a choice in what I get to do...

I sew!

Some days I am a substitute teacher

longing for time to sew...

SO...

I started working one day a week at a fabulous quilt shop

called Calico Creations.

I know what you are thinking...

it could be dangerous 

to be surrounded by all that luscious fabric...

Well....

it wasn't...

for the first five days...

and then...

POW!

A very cute and funny customer 

came in and bought some of this

and I thought, 

"hmmm....

I want  need some of that too!"

Then I ruminated on these two

that I had been eyeing...

wanting...

needing...

And then...

I just had to have this pattern!

Not my usual choice, 

but maybe it's time

to try a pattern with lots of parts

and take my time?!

Here's some from my stash...

and some more from the Calico Creations...

and more stash...

and more from Calico Creations!!

I made my first block today!

I am having some issues,

but I've emailed the designer

and I show you how

the next blocks go.

So exciting to be inspired 

and itching to sew and sew and sew!

SCRAPPY CLASS FUN!

Here's the creative scrappy fun, 

inspired by the book The Scrap Republic,

that was happening this past Saturday

with a most lovely group of creative ladies!

(Whoohoo! This lady was leaping out of the box!)

Wonderful!

Here's a complete finish...

Those "hexawannabees" 

were quilted and bound

as separate pieces.

Then I played with arrangement

and they were sewed down.

And here's 

a new beginning

using some old Jan Mullen ideas.

I am thinking a sail boat up top in the stormy sky

and more leaves 

in the middle for some seaweed.

WHOOP WHOOP !

 This weekend I had my 

Liberated Love class!

I love to watch ladies break out of their box

and try piecing without a pattern!

And... 

love love 

when ladies come back 

to try some more!

Often scary

sometimes 

even causing minor heart palpitations(true story!)

but...

always worth the struggle!

It's literally liberating!

(often times on more than just  the quilting level)

This past week

three creative gals

shared their finished quilts

from previous classes!

Here's a Summer Solstice

from Karla Alexander's book Stack the Deck  Revisited.

Isn't that a wild and yummy back?!

Here's some chilliscious snowflakes!

And here's a cheerful scraptastic quilt

from the book the Scrap Republic.

What have I been doing?

More pincushions!

I like to give a little present 

to the wonderful quilters that come to my classes.

It gives me an opportunity to try out all the little ideas

I have been collecting hoarding.

This is the present for the Scraptastic class

this Saturday at Calico Creations. 

  

Must...

make...

more!

(If I cover the whole porch with

pincushions

will it distract from the moss and leaves?!)

ANOTHER WIP WEDNESDAY

 How can it already be Wednesday again?

This week I looked 

through some of my way-too-many binders.

I have kept binders 

of ripped out magazine pages for years

(sort of an old school pinterest hobby?!)

I love everything about magazines -

deciding which ones to bring home, 

fantasizing about the break from reality

I will get when I sit on the couch (or hammock)

and read my magazine,

reading through them, 

marking potential pages to rip out, 

ripping out, 

putting in the sleeve,

admiring all my stuffed binders...

full of projects 

I will 

most definitely 

do one day. 

This week I pulled out this clever idea

and declared that it was time to try it.

Here are my 

very easy and fun to make 

addictive

fickle flowers!

I was also attracted to this idea...

Voila!

A place for a fickle flower to live!

I was also compelled to try another

 Mary Lou Weidman cow!

http://www.marylouquiltdesigns.com/

The thing is,

I am not sure who she is,

what she is supposed to do,

or what the cute punny saying will be.

Somehow I was thinking that...

perhaps,

this cow

had learned to dance (with her tutu) in the rain...

like that saying, 

it's not how you weather the storm,

it's how you dance in the rain.

Not sure...

any ideas?

linking up again!

http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP WEDNESDAY

Ahhhh...

a "real" beach on the Pacific Ocean, 

not a Puget Sound Beach.

Puget Sound beaches are fine, 

but they don't

make my soul sing the same way.

I used to joke that I ended up living here,

 in the Pacific Northwest,

 because I had been wishing for islands and beaches.

Now I've clarified the wish

 to include

 tropical weather,

palm trees,

and shell encrusted soft sand beaches! 

All that said,

Seaside and

Cannon Beach

on the Oregon Coast

are wonderful

wide and flat stretches

of clean sand

and beauty!

Cannon Beach has a superb quilt shop 

called Center Diamond

right next to a fabulous

glass blowing studio/gallery.

I used to take the kids here when they were little

and often wonder if that is why

my oldest is now glass blowing.

We lucked out with

very low tides

warmish 50 degree weather

and,

unbelievably,

not much sun but also

NO RAIN!

Ooohhh....

a dream house!

Seaside Brewing

had fine burgers

great service

and this most delightful philosophy!

I've been taking some art classes 

at our local community college.

In the last class,

we had a section on 

surreal art

and I found Magritte's works

to be 

fun, light hearted, and curious.

This particular work

references the idea

that the goal of painting realistically

was no longer a goal 

because the artist is not recreating a realistic pipe

the artist is creating a painting of a pipe!

So....

since I am only creating 

a quilt of a cow...

This idea brings me to my WIP.

A Mary Lou Weidman cow

from her book Out of the Box with Easy Blocks.

(a great relaxed easy to follow pattern)

I need to add some face

with big eye lashes?!

and the words 

"This is not a cow".

So much fun,

I feel another cow in my future.

Moovelous!

I am linking up with

http://www.freshlypieced.com/

for WIP Wednesdays!

Check out what other creativity is out there!