Join for FREE! Pet Project Show #11

                                                                            

What do you think when you see a sign

with "Free" on it?

I have a tendency to think there's got to be

a catch, or in the case above, 

it's going to cost me a lot. 

'Cuz nothing is free! 

Really?

What Would Happen If....?

Today is purely play. I think I've said before that

while I enjoy books and demos to learn how to

do things, my favorite way is to just play with 

fabric and blocks to see what happens.

Modern Improv Top Assembled

There's that defining moment when you sew the very last seam, and flip that top open to see what you hope is a beautiful piece of work. Your heart almost stops, and your breath is shallow. I looked. It was good. I hurried upstairs to show my husband, and he said, "That's nice. Is it supposed to look like that?" No, there was no ball game on, and I had woken him up. He was just tired from working on the barn, and I forgave him. But, what was really spectacular was the way the afternoon sun was shining through the quilt, and I said, "Yes! Isn't that neat?"

Brights, Camera, Action!

Do you have a good friend who will give you honest feedback? (If you ask her if your derriere looks big in something, will she tell you the truth?) My mother-in-law is not a good liar, and she is very nice--so she tries hard to pad the truth. Sometimes she'll fudge it a little, but with enough coffee and chocolate I usually get a pretty good read--even with my wild stuff. She'll hem and haw, but I'll keep rearranging until she says it's better than the last one, and I take that as good.

Meet Up at Jo-Ann's. New Towne Mall, Nov. 4th from 6-8:30 p.m.

Currently serving as a storage room, but ready in a flash.

Several local people have expressed to me their desire to have a meet-up. They want to meet other quilters, knitters, etc., and desire something without 'strings attached'--pun intended. In other words, they don't want the commitment of formally joining a guild just now, or taking a class. They just want to do their thing in the company of others, trade ideas, and share some time. Friends, let me announce, we have a Meet Up location and date planned. Woo-hoo!

Weekend Recap and Wonky Blocks

I woke up this morning, and took a look at the house. Whoa.
What happened here, and where did the weekend go?

Improvements and Refinements: Daydream

One of the most valuable tools I've been introduced to so far has been a design wall. It's a novel perspective, (and just really exciting!), to see a work progress from across the room, or to have the luxury of leaving it up, and then popping into the room later to see if I 'm still happy with things. The Daydream quilt has been up since Monday, and I was sure enough of the arrangement that I sewed together the border blocks one morning. Then I worked on something else, and even slept on it. When I'd pop in to peek at it, something just didn't feel right. I dreaded ripping out those 1.5 mm seams.

The Process: From Chaos into Order

We were home just long enough to unpack our few things Sunday afternoon, and I hit the ground running. The end of the week was gearing up to be a busy one, and I saw my window of opportunity to sew. Oh,... it felt good to be back in my space! I had my assortment of what my friend called 'my bits', and still no perfectly clear plan of what I was doing with them. That's where the design wall did its job. 

Sweet Sunday Daydream

I'd say this large block is very Florida-ish. 
Wouldn't you?

The zig-zag is actually a fussy cut chevron, and while I didn't try to match the lines themselves, I did try to balance them opposite each other. It only takes one time of not doing this to see how wonky your block can look--or maybe that's what you're after. Either way, look closely at your patterned fabrics to see if there's an interesting 'fussy cut' hiding inside.

Saturday Daydream

Today let me introduce two large blocks with bold color--one rectangular, the other square.  Both have simple designs, but they play well with others.

Paper Stars-Making Your Own Templates

Come on. 

Look closely at this with me. 

If we look critically at this first star of mine, we'll find a few points that aren't "just so". The horizontal lines in the fabric are all a few degrees off being horizontal. Hmmmm....What-ever! Those little things will not deter me from being pleased as pie with it!

I drew this star out on paper with a pencil compass and ruler, and made a pattern from it.

Thursday's Plan & Daydream

This is Away for a few days. 

We walked to the beach this morning, and it 
was nearly empty at 8 a.m. 

FIrst Adventures in Paper Piecing--One Shooting Star

I started out yesterday like a Good Little Quilter sticking to my project at hand. Then out of the blue, I had the feeling I had been eating the same food every meal for a week. I needed some variety. 

I had been itching to try some paper piecing, and Lucy and I had spent the early morning reading about color combinations in "Quilt Colour Workshop". It sounded like a good recipe to play hooky.