Graphic in Design:

Please be forewarned:  This image is graphic and may offend those graphic design purists! 

   

 Photoshop play on a rainy afternoon: 

Thank goodness there was no money wasted on art ed!

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An early (false) Spring:

Mexican Petunia in herb garden: 

flowers in tin can wrapped in swatch of fabric:  for the table top.....better in clusters of three

It may be false....but it's still beautiful weather.  I'll take each day as it comes. 

 I've met all my sewing obligations so am temporarily free to willy nilly my time and blog about anything and everything.  Today I relished in opening my door to the warmth of Spring. 

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On The Cheap ~

A fabric panel I picked up at the quilt show....on the cheep.....!  Here it is all quilted up, washed and ready to donate.  It had some stains which came out beautifully.  Oh, and I found the back for this quilt on the cheep also.  Thanks a bunch to whoever donated this panel and backing fabric to Cotton Corner 2012....you served your guild well by donating. 

And more.....

About 20 pieces of homespun, shot cloth....and otherwise useful fabric for me to work on for an upcoming demo.   Yards and more yards I found for $10 at Cotton Corner 2012...washed and ready to cut! 

Perhaps my head isn't on straight, but I told someone last week.....on the subject of volunteering.....that when I'm asked to do a demonstration, I usually say yes!  then figure out what to demo!   (If behoove is still a word)  I think it behooves every one of us to search for ways to inspire others.   Yes, it takes a lot of preparation.  Yes, I have my doubts. Yes, I kick myself.  Yes, I get nervous.   But after all is said and done, I enjoy what I'm doing and hope others enjoy and benefit. 

and here's a thank you note.....

Marty,

Thank you so much for giving the demonstration on Half-Square Triangles.  It was so interesting, and I am anxious to try them.  Your work is just beautiful.  I am learning so much from all of you talented ladies, and you are one of the best!

 

I appreciate your time and sharing your knowledge to help us become better quilters.

 

 

Success:

The past couple of days were a blur.....the 2012 Cotton Corner Quilt Show filled with quilts and visitors, buyers and sellers....what a success it was!

and

my handmade that didn't sell....only because the right person didn't see it! 

And a couple of quotes I found fitting.....

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

 

"Keep your dreams alive.  Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication.  Remember all things are possible for those who believe" - Gail Devers

Sometime you just need to look a little bit closer.....

at the fine print before you make that decision and sign on the line....but I've already made my decision....I need

this book so I can make this quilt. I just can't make it work from a picture of a picture!   A pattern from Edyta Sitar's book Friendship Strips & Scraps.

Zippered Pouches: The 2012 Quilt Show opens Friday at 9 a.m

Five quilted/zippered pouches are finished and ready to be added to the Cotton Corner Quilt Show Handmade Treasures Booth. 

Each year our dedicated guild members make little treasures to add to the booth as a fund-raiser to  help us afford  a national quilt teacher. 

Two more zippered pouches on the sewing table.  Could have finished today......but!!!

I'm using a few of those 50 zippers I found at Zipit on Etsy last week.  I've had a fun afternoon coordinating the different zipper colors with my fabrics to come up with just the right whimsical flair for each pouch.

That's My Window To The World.....

All in a days work:

I've been lethargic about blogging....sorry!

I've been busy.  I just need to remember to keep my mouth shut at times.  You see, I love to make quilts and don't always have the funds for community service, sooooooo I've told my quilting friends that if they will donate their excess fabric, I'll  make quilts to donate.  And they took me at my word. 

Here are some six inch squares that were donated:

I thought the yellow, blue and green had a nice feel when laid out, so I put them together for a 32" x 38" quilt top.  Now, if I could get my hands on some fabric for the back of this toddler size quilt! 

 and this one just came off the sewing table....all quilted, ready for binding.  

 Made from 2 1/2" strips of various lengths....a variation from the Moda 1600 jelly roll quilt pattern.
I just sewed all those donated strips together and voila....a quilt to give warmth to someone in need.

Same thing here.....limited color palette (so not me) with all the blues and touches of white, it turned out quite nicely.  Get a peak at that backing fabric....and someone gave it away! 

Here they are:  it didn't rain today so I got  all eight completed quilts washed, dried, folded, stacked, stored in clean, safe place,  ready to be donated.   

No, there is no way I could do this alone.  I am only one....and this is just a few that will come together for the needy.   I am so blessed to belong to a great group of caring folks who contribute and give back so much to our community.    Together, we take all that donated fabric and make it count.  

lunger girl's favorites

lunger girl's favorites on Flickr.

I love it when people play favorites! Especially when a favorite is my Kaffe Fassett and shot cloth quilt.....

I usually finish what I start

the block bender is pieced,  borders auditioned and sewn on, quilted, bound and ready to hang! 

Audition Me:

Experience has taught me not to get to hasty in making fabric decisions for the quilt blocks, the borders, the backing and binding all at one time.  That may work for some, but not for me.  Only after I finish making my blocks do I have a better idea about the direction the quilt should go.  Some quilts don't need borders....some do.  Some need only one border, some need two or even three!  And border sizes are best determined as the quilt construction progresses.  Some quilts need the binding to be the same fabric as the outer border, some need a totally different binding to help frame the quilt.  

I do not like to make a large purchase of fabric for the backing because:  

1.  I never know what size my quilts will finish.

2.  I like the quilting thread to flow from front to back and can't make that thread decision before I get the quilt top completed!  

3.  I like to use the left-over fabric from the quilt top on the back of the quilt. 

  

There is a method to my madness so I've been auditioning fabric for borders for my Margaret Miller block bender look-alike quilt (the one I worked on last week at quilt retreat) and have finally decided on the orange and frenzied circles.  The orange should be about 1/2" finished and the circles probably 3 inches. I hope I have enough of the frenzied circles fabric to miter the corners.   I thought these guys auditioned quite well to complete this little play! 

Love is having Sew, Mama, Sew! at your fingertips ~

I've been looking locally for an assortment of whimsical zippers to put in my handmade pouches....and I needed 11" or longer zippers and I needed affordable!  But they just weren't to be found around my town. 

BUT, I did find  them this morning at zipit.etsy.com on the Sew, Mama, Sew! sidebar.  Moral of this post is 'don't overlook what is right at your fingertips.'  My keyboard purchase has been  made and I'm sure all 50 of those bright and wonderful zippers are in the mail to me as I type!