2017 ~ Have I Told You Lately That I Loved You?

This was a most wonderful year, filled with folks I love....filled with good times....filled with good health. 

In the good ole summertime, I can always find him in the back garden ~

It was a year filled with fun travels - quilting retreats and quilt shows.

 

A year filled with finishing quilts for myself and for others.

Circles.....ready to be quilted for guild program July, 2017

 

Improv half-rectangle triangles:  Hand quilted by Moi

It was a year filled with workshops and challenges ~

Loved, loved, loved the Sue Welton thrift store shirts quilting workshop.  Sue was a guest at Quilters' Guild Acadienne.  What a delight!

Oh, what a trip it was to the beach with Karen Echmeier ~

And probably the challenge of the year was perfecting this image using confetti fabric crumbs as taught by Nadine Cain in her most enlightening workshop.  Who knew crumbs could be so good.  The Vase for The Cherrywood Fabric VanGogh fabric challenge did not get juried in, but that certainly didn't diminish the fun in the making.  Thank you Nadine for the pleasure of your company while we all made confetti. 

And then there was the Sarah Fielke "Down the Rabbit Hole" block of the month challenge.  The 8th month is complete and the 9th - 12th month continues to be a work-in-progress for 2018. 

It was a year for finishing bags and zippered pouches for gifts and guild fund raisers.
No guts boxie pouch.....one of many made for gifts and give-aways. 

 

and a Noodlehead design zippered pouch

I'm continuing to enjoy making the sew together bag.  When filled, it truly is a bag with all my sew together stuff all together in one place. 

And it was a year to continue to expand my love for book making in Bari Zaki's Buttonhole Stitch Bookbinding workshop......

Oh, yes, 2017 I loved you. Thanks for the memories. 

 

Marty

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to you from our house ~

Yes, the house is filled with improvisationally pieced house quilts.....getting ready for a workshop that I've aptly named "Improv To The Houses." 

From our house to yours, have yourself a very Merry Christmas.

 

 

Marty and The HuMan

 

Still celebrating The Quilt Festival.....Houston 2017

I make all the kids in my family Christmas gifts each year.  2017 began with pillowcase love, so that's what each will receive.   My original idea was to pin each child's pillowcase with a "sweet dreams" card which may or may not include money.....depending on the amount of naughty or nice they've been the past year!

Change of plans:  As I was shifting paper into recycle yesterday morning, I ran into The Festival program and had a voila moment.....why not use my time and talent to make each child a cute little origami box to slip the cash into! 

Not only will they each get a handmade pillowcase, but also  a handmade gift box to hold their money gift.  You see, I'm still celebrating Quilt Festival - I took glossy pages from the Festival program and made 16 little origami boxes yesterday. 

 

I folded that glossy paper, refolded, then folded again to the finished number

 

 

Let the holiday season begin....it sure has here at my house

and I'm loving it!

 

 

 

Diamonds can be a quilters' best friend !

I mentioned to another quilt maker the other day that I was prone to depression.  In retrospect, that's not really true.  You see, when the blues start touching my spirit, then we head over to the scrap bins and within minutes the oppressive and depressive feelings are gone. 

 

 

In there stead were diamonds - about 60 foundation paper pieced from scraps and strings completed over the past several days.  Oh, yes, I have a plan for every one. 










And, if that's not enough to cure the blues, the scrap bins were further downsized with these pouches now ready to donate to Bayou Creations booth, NELA Quilt Show, 2018. 

 
 

 

Sewing away the blues.......I'm feeling giddy!





 

What's going on?

Shhhhh.....I'm thinking!

About how I can put all of this Lonni Rossi created fabric into a minimalist-style quilt.

Well, perhaps not too minimalist.  Perhaps one that is rockin' hot, out of the box minimal. 

It was a few months ago that I was invited to attend the Red River Quilt Guild auction, garage sale and dinner party where I ran into a bag filled with all this fab fabric for only $10. You bet I grabbed it and very quickly put my money in the collection box.  Now that I've been looking at it, fondling just a bit, looking at it even more, it's time to do some serious thinking about how to put it into a modern, minimal, rockin' hot, out of the box, off the top, quilt. 

Shhhhhh.....I'm still thinking.









 

Just another typical morning ~

Whether there are clouds in morning sky or stars are in the night sky....there is always sunshine in my place.

I've made several decisions this morning to make my day even brighter.  Right off, I

• Registered for a Bookbinding Buttonhole Stitch Journal Class being taught by Bari Zaki
• Ordered Bring Me Flowers...a quilt pattern booklet by Jen Kingwell Designs
• Pre-ordered the newest line of Marcia Derse fabric:  Treasure Hunt

And earlier in the week, one improvisational style quilt top came off  the design wall and is now ready to be quilted.  It's folded so you get only snippets as a tease. 

 

What's on the design wall?  In my zeal to use up scraps in the pile, I decided that a rag quilt made with whatever size scraps were there would work just fine for me.  Now, I'm second guessing my exuberance while sewing all those mis-matched size blocks together.  What should have been a couple of hours from start to quilt finish is now languishing in its third day.  Oh, well! 

It's October 5 and the Down The Rabbit Hole border of the month is well on it's way. One tulip almost finished. Another tulip and  four big leaping rabbits to go.   Yea!

Fabric shopping yesterday found four nice pieces of combed cotton batiste in my sewing room at the end of the day.   Yes, batiste in a quilt works beautifully.  (she says)



wheat, white, corn and blue

How diverse are these activities?  Smiling, as the sun continues to shine ~




 

End of August First of September

Catching up with myself today ~ 

Goal No. 1 accomplished - use as many scraps and otherwise unwanted fabrics of any size as possible before making any more fabric purchases.  Let's face it.....that's easier said than done!   But by the end of August two quilt-as-you-go quilts for the children in the CASA program were completed.  Washed, dried, stacked and ready to deliver.   Made very simple by sewing 5" x 10" rectangles together and adding each row to the quilt batting and backing in the sew and flip and press and sew and flip and press method to the last row. 

And started another scrap/string quilt project.  Five foundation paper pieced blocks are done for this project.....only 10 more to make. 

And excitement is in the air....here it is only September 7 and Down The Rabbit Hole Month 8 addition is complete.  While this last border caused me some initial angst , this irregular hexagon border was a breeze to stitch up.   Now it's sit and anxiously wait until the end of September and beyond to get this year-long project finished.

 

So, it's TTFN.   Trust me, this shadow was edited to take off a little bit of weight! 

 

 

 

 

Houses for Houston

A group effort could get lots of houses, i.e. refrigerator magnets,  made and then sold and then money donated to  "Houses for Houston" or for any worthwhile fundraiser. 




I'm posting as a reminder that giving back, no matter how done, is a blessing. 

Praying for all who are in harms way today. 



 

And....just where have you been?

The days just get away from me.  The intentions are always great...the intentions to get a blog post completed, along with completing another community service quilt.  And it seems the need to make quilts for wee ones in need  has taken precedence these past few days. 

Taking a moment this morning to show some pictures of several of the fourteen quilts that will distributed to the Children of CASA headquarters today. 

First is a charming leftover from some quilter's "I don't want this anymore" box and all it needed was quilting.  Done and delivered to  a child in need. 

Well, well, well...............three "RAG" quilts all clipped, washed and dried for that special ragged edge appeal.    Rag quilts come together so quickly with totally unrelated 8" or 10" or even 12" inch blocks and scraps of left over quilt batting. 

 

 

 

 

As much as I enjoyed making this quilt with all kaffe fassett fabrics, it just needed to move on.  A good size for community service.  Hoping a child in need enjoys the exuberant colors of kaffe fassett fabric. 

 

No strip of fabric goes to waste around here.   The old saying, "Waste Not, Want Not" is worthy of remembering. 

 

 

 

 The red, white and blue log cabin quilt top was someone's leftover grabbed up by moi, knowing it would make a delightful quilt for some baby girl in need. 

Yes, I'm a happy quilter today....not the least bit anxious or depressed or feeling needy....Hopeful that there will be more in the days ahead..... Smiling as these quilts move on to work magic and ease the pain of someone who is hurting.