A Lovely Year of Finishes And, one more project added in under the wire. Since my first project, Ainsley's minky top, is up to her to finish, I am adding another project that I planned for December and made yesterday. It is from a pattern by my blog pal, Stephanie Dunfy.

The bag is for my daughter, Diane. She picked the bright tomato red coleus fabric for a hand bag. I put longer handles and an extra pleated inner pocket for her knitting. It turned out smashing!

And, here is the finished minky top:

A Lovely Year of Finishes

This challenge was too fun to pass up! A lovely year of finishes, getting linked to other better known blogs, the chance to have my work seen, and even the chance to win goodies! And, learning more about blogging and getting fancy. Today I am working on a UFO of my daughter Ainsley. She got the fabric a year ago with a Christmas gift card. The back is gold and purple minky. The front will be pieced from fabrics she chose. My challenge is to make something that pleases both of us. I had a moment of resonance this morning when I found the right sashing fabric from my stash.

Happy New Year Sewing!

This little cutie is called, "Little Yappy Dog." It is a wall hanging for my sister, Pam.  She has a couple of little squirrel chasers and says this one is Kermit. I used civil war solids from Moda, and a paper pieced pattern from Quilter's Newsletter from 2003. The outer areas are a tribute to Gwen Marsden's liberated style. It is heavily hand quilted. 

 This sweet table runner was my own design, with influence of Gwen Marsden for the twisted 9-patch blocks. They are vintage, with flour sack muslin. My challenge to myself was to use some gifted fabrics that are not my style, and to create something that is pure Jane. It is titled, "Donny and Marie'" because it is a little bit country (the fabrics) and a little bit rock n roll (the twisted 9-patches.) I love it!





And this wall hanging is titled, "Steelhead Rising."  It is a mix of strips from a friend who only makes Trip Around the World quilts. I added beads at the top, a batik steelhead, life size, center, and rocks ala the Salmon River on the bottom. I machine quilted this quilt and it is currently hanging in our living room.

Happy Thanksgiving

   This lovely table runner was hand pieced by my daughter Ainsley's mother-in-law, Nancy Miller. Actually by her sewing friends. Many years ago. The fabrics are very cute 70's calicoes. The blocks languished at Nancy's for many years in a sewing room full of fabric and yarn. Then, she gave them to Ainsley to finish when Ainsley started quilting. I took them last spring year and added little border strips of muslin to highlight each block. Then I pieced them together with sashing from TJ, Nancy's son and Ainsley's sweetheart. I hand quilted and bound the table runner. It made the perfect Thanksgiving table setting for Nancy and Bill's table.

Feeding Frenzy

   So, the usual overload in shopping carts has already begun in town. Buying lots of food for a meal, buying lots of stuff for holiday gifting. I am grateful to be at home, truck not running (Mike got the parts in the mail and is working on it), and no shopping spree in site unless I get on line with my credit card. I got into the Black Friday through Cyber Monday sale on Etsy. Some of my kits and supplies are 25% off for the long weekend. I set myself up to go photograph a bunch of my fabric and get it on the shop site, to add to the offerings. Hopefully I will clean out my Qi.  Now I have to sit back and relax for a minute. I was getting crazy.
   While the world is getting ready for a feeding frenzy, I am preparing to sneak up to my sewing loft and play with my fabric. My biggest creative dilemma at the moment: what to make for my 6 yr old grandson for Christmas? He has so may toys. I want to give him the gift of imagination. I am thinking about a little treasure box with an arrowhead, an elk's tooth, flicker tail feathers, and other treasures from the Salmon river.

Creative Juice

   Scraps from Ainsley in a modern, simple setting. Backing more feminine since it is made for a little girl. Kid Comfort is a program sponsored by the YMCA and the armed forces to give quilts to kids whose parents are on active duty. They provide the photos printed on fabric, and the postage. I provide the fabric, batting, and back. And the time and creative juice.

    I have been looking at a blog by Sue Spargo  and feeling inspired to push my own blog limits. And, to push and define my own style. It seems confusing today, is my style recognizable? Some of the big names in quilting can be spotted across a crowded auditorium. My summer work has been in such a different colorway, block size, and type of quilting. It happened by saying yes, and then being pushed beyond my comfort zone. That is what my creative juices need!

Under Adverse Conditions

I finished this big project last month, and even impressed myself with how well it turned out, considering the adverse conditions. I need to write them down lest I forget. It was 105 degrees all month, and at least 5 degrees hotter in the sewing loft. Then add quilting gloves. (At least I didn't notice hot flashes, I was already sweating.) The house is still under construction so the floors are USB flooring planks that don't sweep well and can't be mopped. The ceiling fans are in, but between them and the open windows it was so windy everything had to be held down in the loft. No design wall, so I used a giant flannel sheet on the floor as a design surface. Dirty and dusty! And I had to keep reminding myself, keep it simple, no fancy stuff. The solid strips look pretty good, although at the time I had my doubts. The backing wasn't big enough for this king sized quilt, so I tea dyed a piece of similar fabric and pieced it. Close enough. I hand sewed the binding in one day. This photo was after I washed the quilt to get the dirt and dog hair off, and it is drying on the garden fence. (No drier, yet.) You can see the side clothes pins holding it so it doesn't blow away! Just as it dried, a freak thunder/lightening storm hit and the only rain for the whole summer started! I had to hurry it inside so it would be dry to mail. By the way, it didn't rain enough to water the garden. That was another difficulty, climbing up and down the 24 ft ladder to the sewing loft every half hour to move the garden sprinkler each day. It is so dry and windy here that I had to water daily to keep my veggies and flowers hydrated. I almost fell off the ladder once, which was a good reminder to be careful. Whacked my shin.  Even if I love heights, gravity still exists.

As tough as it was wrestling that giant quilt on my lap under my sewing machine in the heat, it turned out so pretty.  I quilted it in wavy lines every half inch all over. No wrinkles, smooth and soft, highest quality cottons with a bamboo batting. The patron LOVES it. Interesting, her name, Danna, means patron in Japanese.

The best part for me (more than getting paid to make it,) was the giant learning experience. I feel so much more confident in my ability to machine quilt. I broadened my style by sewing with soft pastels. I designed the pattern myself, and created a work of art.