From the Heart

~A book of quiltlets~

The pages or quiltlets are painted 4 x 6 pieces of ivory, tone on tone fabric. Using scraps of fabric, fusible, ribbons, charms and beads I decorated the pages.

As you open the book, on the left of each page is a phrase about the heart. The book is held together with ribbons which are threaded through small eyelets.

YES!

What I can say when asked
"Didyaeverendupgettingthatsewingroompainted?"
It used to be a red/mauve faux treatment.

Now, a standard issue beige.

~Looking in the front door.~

Fabric, projects, patterns and stuff. The wicker thing is filled with (way too many) scraps. The top of the shelf is my ironing surface.

~Where I sew. And that IS organized.~

Under the table- more projects, fabrics and stuff.

~The view from my sewing desk.~
The little TV is a new edition, the antique portrait had to be raised up above it. It's my husband's grandparents wedding portrait. She was a seamstress, I can't part with it.

~Looking left from my sewing desk.~

The treadle is my husband's grandmother's, again I can't part with it. And my beloved Featherweight, a gift from my dear friend Susan. I love it and it always sits out as a source of inspiration to me. At night, sometimes I turn it on and enjoy the glow of it's little light.

Gone are the hideous valances. I don't think I will put anything back up on the windows. I love the openness, there is enough clutter below.... I put postcards above the windows, I will enjoy them there.

A few years ago the Guild I belong to hosted a sewing room tour. Members could sign up to show their space and other members traveled from place to place (kind of like the progressive dinner idea). A little snack or beverage was provided at each location and some members gave out favors. It was a fun day and inspiring to see how and where others create.

I hope you get to enjoy some time in your sewing space today!

Plugging The Finest

A friend and local business owner Karen Wheet, of The Finest Gourmet in Mendon, MA.

The Finest is known for it's ready-to-go home cooked meals. Such a nice alternative to the brightly colored take out eateries we see everywhere..... The Finest offers delicious 'take out' restaurant quality meals you get to eat in the comfort of your own home. Lunches, salads, dinners, desserts and more.... Karen was recently featured in the local paper and the above picture was taken by Melissa Ostrow.

Behind Karen is a quilt I made for her to hang in the shop. Our boys played on a summer baseball team together and we got to talking about what type of art she wanted to hang in the shop. She asked if I would make a quilt for the shop. Below is the quilt as it hung in our guild show last spring. (Do you believe I don't have a better picture of it?... (note to self--- always photograph quilts before they leave the house and next show- we need to do a better job of hanging the description tags.)

I loved making this quilt, a combination of hand and machine applique. The bottles are fabrics with a shear organza overlay to make them look like glass. The basket- a wool suiting fabric with a leather strap and the fruits/vegetables are all fabrics with paint to add highlights. Each of the objects is a three dimensional applique technique I like to use. The circle design you can see on the left is Karen's logo which she wanted displayed somewhere on the quilt. I duplicated it in paint and appliqued it on as the other items.

On the back of the quilt is baseball fabric as a tribute to the boys who won their summer championship!

The Future.....

I can't post what I'm working on.... Either it's unfinished customer work, unfinished challenges or unfinished secret valentine work. So, I posted the boys-how they look today; this historic day. They are also unfinished and are great works in progress.

~The Little Finish~

The little treasure book is finished.

On the cover are some of my vintage buttons and the silk ribbons I dyed a few weeks ago.

In the pockets are the items I like to use to tie off and bury my threads.

On the back is a dragonfly, just because I like them.

~Little Things~

~A notecard~
Using little leftover pieces of Timtex or even little batting scraps, I like to make mini quilts and stick them to the cover of a notecard. This is a nice alternative to the fabric postcard, when a little more space is required for writing a note. When mailing -you may need a little added postage to cover the weight, but when you think of what store bought cards cost the few cents extra postage on the envelope is a little trade off.

Plus, homemade is good.

~Tying and burrying supplies~

I like a little, pointy, short, large-eyed needle, a little needle threader and little scissors.

~A little treasure kit~

This will be used specifically for my tying off supplies. Of course the kit had to have a little embellishment.

I found the idea in the January/February 2009 issue of Cloth/Paper/Scissors, page 72. It is just the cutest little thing, I had to make it. I will post a finished picture, when it IS finished, in a little bit.

Finally, today was a gorgeous, sunny, winter day where the sky was the best shade of blue and the snow on the ground sparkled like little diamonds.

Winter Giveaway Winner!

The Winter Giveaway winner is-

Daisy Jayne!

She posted on January 1st, her favorite color is blue and she posts to Massachusetts, USA all the way from Australia. Congratulations Daisy Jane!

I enjoyed reading all of the favorites. It was fun to learn about what people like and why they like it. Thanks for participating! All the Giveaway entrants were written on a separate paper slip, folded and placed into a container. The winner was a random pick, bingo style. I made the choice this morning after reading the last posts.

{BTW- Did you guess my favorite color is pink! with green being a close second!}

A Work in Progress

A colored sketch of a little piece I'm working on.

The picture is not the greatest, I was having trouble with Picasa and once I posted the picture I noticed the right corner had a bad glare. Oh well... soon I'll post the real thing and by then I'll have figured out the editing. (maybe). The sketch is just a rough idea. I always start from a sketch and then add and subtract as I go. The folds in the paper are used for measurement and help me place my applique pieces onto the fabric. This is for the MQX charity challenge, so I'm working within the color palate of the fabrics provided. They are subtle and calming and I'm enjoying the process of hand and machine applique.

I was poking around on line looking for some embroidery stitches and came across "How Color Affects Us" by Nora Creeach (2004) posted on the CQ MagOnline. I thought it was interesting, seeing I have been thinking about color lately. See below or click the CQ link and find out what your favorite color is telling about you!

• Red-Passion, aggression, excitement, attention, power, anger and war.


• Pink-Softness, warmth (with some characteristics of red), romance, sweet and feminine.


• Orange-Exotic and wild (also some characteristics of red).


• Yellow-Sunny, happy, active and encourages creativity.


• Green-Nature, trees, grass, restful, quality,solidity, greed, illness and jealousy.


• Blue-Water, sky, serenity, relaxed calm, loyal and depressing.


• Purple-Royalty, expensive, grandeur, power and anger.


• Black-Serene, elegant, quality, power, stealth, strength, sinister, darkness, bad and death.


• White-Cold, plain, elegant, purity and diets.

*And don't forget to leave your favorite color in the comment section. You will be entered into the giveaway posted on 12/31/08. The winning name will be drawn and posted on the evening of 1/15/09.*

Time Marches On....

So the baby turned 11 yesterday. Where does the time go? This is one of my favorite photos of the boys when they were younger. I want to make a quilt of it, someday. I wish the shadowing was different, but I can change that with my fabrics.

He wanted an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen... then it fell out of the freezer. He didn't care, he said it was an 'upside down cake'. I love his spirit.

Working with these again, which is a nice change of pace from the bright colors I had been working with.

Dyed Silk Ribbon

A pile of silk ribbon I dyed using shaving cream as the dye bath. It was fun and I will do it again - only next time, I will use an unscented shaving cream. The scented stuff smells good at first, but after 24hours of it- it gets to be sickening. I was going to use the ribbons to make silk flowers, the silk is very flimsy and the edges are unfinished, therefore they look messy. I will fuse two layers together and see how that works. If that doesn't work, into the scrap bin the ribbons will go for post cards or whatever else might come up.

Some Cone flower appliques for the diamond pieced quilt.

Yellow Sundrops or Evening Primrose I'm calling these. I added orange for dimension and don't like it.... And, yes, someone accused me of angsting over color. I am.

- A book about color I just ordered and can't wait to get-



-Last night's moon-



-Today's sun on the freshly fallen snow-



-A bobbin wind gone bad.-

-Turbo the summer frog-

-Check the 12/31/08 post to be entered into the winter giveaway-

So Many Colors

Admittedly, I'm a self proclaimed thread slob...... They look so much nicer when they are

nicely wound back up.

• New Year's Resolution- To deal with the thread situation better.

Above are a few lilies which I've been working on to go on the diamond pieced quilt. The stabilizer needs to be removed and leaves and stems will be added.

^Here is one with the stabilizer removed. ^

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~What is your favorite color?~

You will be entered to win the Winter Giveaway shown below if you tell me. (see details on my 12/31/08 blog post, also click the snowflake to the right to find other participants.)

So, what is your favorite color?

Feeling In The Pink!

Happy New Year!

Hope you're feeling in the pink! Today is the first day of the Winter Giveaway. Please check yesterday's post (December 31st, 2008) for the complete giveaway guidelines. Basically, all you have to do is leave your answer to~ What is your favorite color?~ on any blog post by 1/15/09 and you will be entered into the drawing.

The giveaway is a cell phone purse, cell phone or scissor fob (cell phone not included!) and a quilted post card, all shown below.

Good luck and have fun viewing some new blogs. You may find a list of participants here.

What is your favorite color?