It was music to my ears ~






It was music to my ears when he walked through the house with hands filled with quilts telling me that my laundry was done.  I had totally forgotten that they were in the washer and lol, now they are out of the dryer, all waffled and cuddly and warm.....the last three quilts I quilted and put the binding on are now ready to move on.













One will go to community service.  Strips sewn and block twisted and turned to make a simple design.



One is a sampler for an upcoming workshop - Improv To the Nines.  It all starts with a simply traditional nine patch and then we take it to another level.


and this one is just a quilt made from Kaffe Fassett scraps. 


Finished quilts puts a smile on my face and a song in my ears.  Have a restful weekend.



More than one blog to post ~

I've been concentrating on getting the Quilters' Guild Acadienne blog up and running and gaining visitors and have neglected my primary day-in-and-day-out blog.    So here's just a bit of catch up on what I've been rambling around the home place doing. 


Noodlehead pencil pouch pattern - stitched up by Marty Mason




Yesterday I posted over there about the newest Anna Graham aka Noodlehead pattern I made.  I rushed around yesterday to get one made for a picture and this afternoon in no time flat, got another one made. 


Noodlehead pencil pouch pattern - stitched up by Marty Mason


One for me and another one for me! 


Noodlehead pencil pouch pattern - stitched up by Marty Mason




I'm in love with my pencil pouch ~ Thanks Anna for this fab free pencil pouch pattern. 







Finders Keepers





My, My!  Look what I found this morning while rummaging around for some small pieces of batting.   Whatever was this little treasure doing buried out of sight?  Funny thing when you haven't seen something in several years, how it takes on a different perspective. 




Once upon a time, I had the mistaken notion that I wanted to make quilts in miniature.  That was once upon a time long, long ago. 

15" x 19"




Perhaps now that I've found this mini red and green, I'll get it quilted and display during the Christmas Holiday Season. 





Beautiful Chaos

It's a post from a few years back....July, 2011, but I just found it and so enjoyed reading about - you guessed it - the beauty of quilts pieced in the improvisational style. 


CW Collectors Weekly.  The Beautiful Chaos of Improvisational Quilts ~


I have no support group locally so therefore seldom show anyone my quilts.  I often feel that something must be really mixed up in my brain for me to enjoy the chaos in improv quilts and to say unapologetically that I think many I've seen are amazing works of art made by true artisans. 


My favorite quilt pictured in the Collectors Weekly article is the red and yellow designed by Arlonzia Pettway in 1982 based on the  'housetop' pattern.  If you know anything about the Quilters of Gee's Bend, then you know the Pettway name.  I found the Pettway quilt pictured on Linda Allen's Pinterest Board  Quilts I like and followed the picture back to the original article.  News travels fast with just a tap of the finger.  Yes, Linda Allen, I like this one a lot. 


Lisa Hix begins her article by asking "what might jazz look like if it had a physical presence?"  Now I know why I like jazz and I like my quilts.   Here's just one example of what I've made that makes me toe-tapping happy. 






Improv Quilt work-in-progress on the design wall of Marty Mason







A Fabric Purchase ~ How Fun





Alice by Angela Pingel, in her Curious Dream collection....a Windham Fabric.  Jump down the rabbit hole with Angela.....




I started reading the quotes and stories on Angela's fabric and smiled at the whimsy and imagination and began to appreciate all over again how wonderful life is.   Here's one excerpt about Alice's trip down the rabbit hole.  



"Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.

There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, ("which certainly was not here before," said Alice), and tied round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words "DRINK ME" beautifully printed on it in large letters. It was all very well to say "Drink me," but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. "No, I'll look first," she said, "and see whether it's marked 'poison' or not"; for she had read several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked "poison," it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later." 


and the story continued







Update - Progress -Let's go Down the Rabbit Hole





Am I speaking too fast?  Do I sound out of breath?  Am I excited?  There's a probable YES to all three questions.  You see,


Progress on Down the Rabbit Hole BOM - Marty Mason


I finished Month #3 of Sarah Fielke's BOM, Down the Rabbit Hole!  Never mind that the other 2,400 participants are finished with month 5!   Much progress from my last blog post here


Progress on Down the Rabbit Hole BOM - Marty Mason

It took a bit of coaxing, but the HUman finally saw roof tops - 20 paper-pieced roof tops completed yesterday with only 20 more to go.  Thank goodness I enjoy paper piecing because with these small sizes, paper-piecing is the only way to complete construction.  I'm loving my chosen background for this little neighborhood -  a Victoria Findlay Wolfe manor stripe.  And the Kaffe Fassette shot cotton roof tops provided the perfect contrast to make it all pop. 


Progress on Down the Rabbit Hole BOM - Marty Mason


Updates will follow......no doubt!