Busy Busy

I've been really busy lately; I've had a hard time keeping up with reading and writing the blogs. I did want to take the time to post about my friend Kathleen Murphy going to Houston this week. She entered her really cool Round Robin into the show and won a prize for group entry! She won't know until the awards ceremony what she actually won, but it is such a nice honor that frankly I don't think it matters to her. Her Round Robin was different than most Round Robins as it was of her house. She also makes really great bags and sells them at the Etsy shop (you can link to her blog to see her winning quilt and go to her shop from my blog list.)

I wanted to send her off with a little something, but because she makes her own bags, I didn't want to make her another bag. So.....I made her a quilted cell phone bag, cosmetic bag, and threw in some little stuff for good measure. It was fun, like filling a Christmas stocking!

Update: I just got off the phone with Kathleen and she won 2nd place in group entry! Exciting news!

More Post Cards

I took strands of silk roving and placed them between layers of thin water soluble stabilizer. I spritzed the sandwich with water and using Teflon pressing sheets I pressed the sandwich. It pretty much stuck to the Teflon, but dried and peeled off when I left it outside on the porch. The fibers melded together and looked cool, yet I could still see the stabilizer and it was not that attractive. I, then, took a piece of orange organza and pressed ( using the Teflon sheet) it to one side of the silk roving sandwich. I liked the look from the organza side. This new fabric was used for some of the leaf shapes. The tree was fun and reminded me of the construction paper scrap trees I used to make with the kids when they were little.

The Difference of a Day

Some of the roads in and around our town are considered side roads or back roads. They are more narrow than not and are lined with trees that are hundreds of years old. Part of the original Post Road traveled through our town and it is said that George Washington visited the Inn at the corner of town.

Yesterday, while traveling the back road up to the high school, I noticed the leaves had changed from the day before. They had begun their metamorphosis of color from the summer shades of green to fall shades of vibrant red, orange and yellow -in just a day's time?

I had a funny flash back of traveling the same road with the same child to Gymboree class. We were pointing out the brightly colored trees and saying how different the trees were today, than yesterday..... gosh.

Enjoy the day!
(Go Sox)

QOV and Hotdog Pillowcase

Using triangle paper, the kids made a few more triangle squares for the QOV Friendship Star quilt. By next week I'm pretty sure we will have the top finished and ready for me to quilt.

After finishing our QOV work the kids each made a "hotdog pillowcase." A fellow guild member showed me how to make the pillowcases. And she claims "Like hot dogs at a (Red Sox) ball game.... you can't stop with just one!" I think she might be right.
Great job kids!

Go Sox!

Diamond Dilemma

What I was doing while listening to (the Sox loose ) the game......

Well, first, I dyed some additional fabrics during the day. I came up with some ugly unusable colors and some pretty shades of pink, bluish/purple, purplish blue and green to add to my collection. After some thought; I committed to using a diamond shape for the background, I began to cut the diamonds out and place them on the "design floor." Then, I played around with the colors. I first oriented the diamond points from right to left. I liked it, but thought I might like it better going from top to bottom and so I tried it that way.... I still don't know. I am looking to get a lighter section in the center area. I think the shading is a little harsh at the top and botom corner. Some of it is due to the light and camera angle, but really it needs some more fussing around with.

Here's to another (long) night of wondering how the diamond dilemma will play out.

Soxtober

In April the Guild I belong to, Thimble Pleasures Quilt Guild, hosted our bi-annual show. It was a huge success for the Guild and one of the reasons was our special exhibit. For the past 3 shows we have had a special exhibit in order to raise funds for various causes. A Quiltmaker's Gift project and an embellished bra exhibit were themes of the previous two shows. Quilts and funds were donated to local children's groups and breast cancer research respectively. This year we sponsored an embellished boxers exhibit; donating the raised funds to prostate cancer research. All exhibits were overwhelming successes and gratifying for the members of the Guild. Currently, we are planning for our exhibit in 2010.

The boxer exhibit was really cute as the boxers were displayed on the ropes of a boxing ring. Members created men's boxer shorts with different themed fabrics. Some were embellished some were not, but all were awesome, original, tasteful and G rated! Seeing the show occurred close to the Red Sox opening day (and I'm surrounded by Sox fans), I made "Box Seats for Opening Day" boxers. Opening day in New England can prove to be cold and blustery, so I opted to fully line and quilt my boxers as well as add pockets for the snacks and memorabilia a true Sox guy appreciates. I dedicated my boxers to all guys who are Sox fans.

Shortly after our show my own dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Although, he does live in NY he is a true Sox guy (and never was one of the other guys). After being treated with a drug therapy he began his radiation treatment last week. I know he is going to do fine and my boxers are now dedicated to my dad. The boxers hang in my sewing room.

We, in New England, are full into Soxtober. (okay, I really dislike that name, but it's one of those things... it is what it is... ) Soxtober is when the days become shorter and the nights become longer..... and the games just go on and on. That's okay though, because when the games stop it means the season is over and that's sad. The Sox come back to town for a Sunday night game. In the meantime, most New Englanders will wander through the 'day off' planning their naps and coffee intake in order to make it to the start and finish of the next game. There is nothing worse than waking up and realizing you've missed a great catch or a home run..... Go Sox, Go Dad.

Making More With What I Have

I began to cut into my luscious stack of batiks and quickly realized I did not have enough of a variety of tone or tint (?) between my selection of fabrics. Recently, I read on the Painted Thread that she used old fashioned RIT dye to dye some fabrics. I gave it a go with some white Egyptian cotton fabric I had leftover from another project. I was pleasantly surprised with the results, although, I still felt I needed more of a range. Initially, I was worried I was not using enough of the dye, so I put more in for good measure and ended up with darker shades than I was looking for. I quickly learnt that I could trust the dye and didn't need to add more. The second set I did use less dye and also tried mixing some of the dyes to create new colors. Again, the pieces were very close in hue to each other, but will work overall with what I need them to do. My next attempt will be to over dye some of my batiks as well as try to get a wider range of color intensity within one color.

Proud Stitchers

Yesterday was QOV sewing day. We are more than half-way finished! The kids have really felt a sense of pride in their work. They experienced the magic a quilter feels when sewing the blocks into rows and rows into the quilt top. "We did all of that?" they asked. Yes, in fact they had. I helped a little with the long seams of the rows, but they had done the rest. Maybe, there were a few chopped points and a seam or two did not line up perfectly, but only an experienced eye would ever notice. We talked about mistakes and how they happen. And, as we went we checked our work fixing only the mistakes that really mattered; skipped stitches, puckers or very scant seams. Over time we get better with our skills and the kids are surely on their way. With out a doubt this quilt will make someone feel very special. It is made with smiles, laughter and most of all loving hearts.