Friday, January 31, 2014

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!


Sunday, January 26, 2014

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.




Tuesday, January 21, 2014

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?!)


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

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 at Freshly Pieced

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

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!