Fish On !!

Steelhead season has begun here on the main Salmon River. The excited news of a fish on the hook (barb-less, of course) can be heard on the shore and on jetboats, such as ours, which is really named after yours truly, Current Girlfriend. Even happier news is that one of my very favorite people, Taylor Hunt, got married on February 15th to his sweetheart, Amanda Morgan. Taylor is a die hard steelhead fisherman. So, for a wedding gift I made Taylor and Amanda an art quilt. It has the catchy title, "Steelhead Rising."
I wanted it to look modern, and so I made it out of taupe solid with some triangles from Habitat, a collection by Michele D'Amore for Benartex. The steelhead is from a piece of batik, grey-blue with pine branches printed on the fabric. The wavy quilting is with metallic thread to represent the water. Beads embellish some of the triangles to show movement.
Funny how I always get anxious when I give a quilt. Will they like it, or will it end up as a dog blanket (sans hook.) Maybe it will adorn the walls of the Tiny House, the vacation home for the Hunt family near Sun Valley. In any case, blessings on the marriage of Taylor and Amanda.

Windy February day here in the canyon.

Little buttons represent caddisfly cases on the rocks, which are a wonderful Alexander Hoffman fabric.

Quilting detail of de tail.

Moda batik border, followed by some wonderful Japanese nubby cotton. 

Mr. Thimblepie provided a real steelhead lure. It is not attached to a line, because this one got away.

   It was my February goal for ALOF.

They love it! (Needs a little steam, looks like they are working on that.)

Resistance is Futile

Starting a new month and setting new goals is such fun. Starting new projects is super fun. Finishing what I'm working on before I start that new and beckoning project is as tough as ignoring that craving for chocolate. Especially when the new project AND the chocolate are both within arm's reach! This month, February, has a wonderful, sweet event: Valentine's Day. I am making a whole bunch of heart shaped potholders from this tutorial. I made an addition that was a tactical error, discovered after finishing 12 of the potholders. The hanging loop can't be on the fat part of the heart or it will hang into the hot dish. Oh well. I may decide to remove those loops and redo them. Dang it. In the upper left of the photo you can see some finished potholders with brown ribbon hangers in the wrong place.

Here's the assembly process. Cute Hello Kitty fabric.

I am making some little ones for young granddaughters to pretend with, and even made a few sets for their American Girl dolls. Totally Adorable.

They will probably fit the kitties, too.

My other goal for the month is a super duper fun one that I am aching to start: a wedding wall hanging art quilt for two wonderful people who are getting married this month. Taylor Hunt and Amanda Morgan are going to Hawaii to tie the knot. He is a fisherman who loves steelhead fishing, so I am making them a quilt with an arching steelhead swimming up the rapids of the Salmon River. I have the packet of fabrics, and here it is:

 I'll make the fish out of batik, color to be determined. There will be beads, a quilted VW van (part of their deal) and fabric rocks at the bottom from some Alexander Henry textile. The other fun part of this quilt will be the addition of some pieced double wedding ring arcs for symbolism and my trademark adding of funky old fabric.

Here is my prototype steelhead quilt, the one I made for Mr. Thimblepie: