mending on the go

A travel sewing kit because

nobody should be sidelined because of loose threads or a missing button.

Made from fabric recycled from another project that didn't work out.

Inside

-a thread card

-a pocket

with pins and buttons

 -straight pins, a needle case

and scissors.

Given as a gift, this was fun to make.

surface tension . . .

Today is the Fiberactions reveal day.

We created pieces using the word stretch as our challenge theme.

Click the link to see the interpretations revealed throughout the day and to learn more about our group.

Seemingly like magic, the water strider skates across the pond as if on a length of stretched plastic wrap.  Magic, it is not. In addition to his hairy legs which trap tiny air bubbles and act like life preservers; it is surface tension which allows him to stay afloat and stride so gracefully. 

planting seeds. . .

. . .  an inch at a time.

In the beginning of the summer 13 friends swapped inchies. 

We sent them off to eachother and it was great fun when one would randomly arrive in the mail.

We all made a little something with our collection and yesterday I was able to see some of the girl's work.  What a riot of color! 

Later in the week I'll show you some pictures of the little gems.

Planting Seeds is what I call my little piece.

I loved making it.

The fabrics I used were mostly from the Cherrywood collection and some from my own hand dyes.  Working with super bright palette was a treat.

Each inchie has it's own square . . .

. . . and is attached with a small piece of velcro so the inchies can be viewed from the back. Notice the baseball on the back of this one. 

Perfect.

Each is different, but all work together.

Because I exercised some bad inchie swap behavior, and was the last to send mine out -

I included a small inchie envelope.

Mine is attached to the back of my quilt and I'll make a small inchie label with our names to put inside.

My plan is to make tabs and hang the quilt from a little wooden ruler I have in my collection.

I would do this again it was fun.

Caribelle Batik Bag

Using the Caribelle batik fabric I finally finished the string back packs.

The batik is Sea Island Cotton and has a beautiful hand meant for lightweight clothing.  Because of the lightness and silk-like feeling, the batik required quilting in order to be used in a bag.

The blue bag has straps made from webbing and the green bag's straps are fabric covered clothesline.

(and, to those friends who know i have a collection of clothesline waiting to be turned into a bag...

i think you will have to keep waiting-

i had my fill of covering just two lengths for the straps.  i do not like that process and it shows....

 it will continue to sit in the pile and mock me, or i guess could string it between two trees and actually hang laundry?)

But, anyway, on with the post. . .

All the string back packs have plastic grommets rather than the traditional metal.  The plastic is easy to use and I think they look okay for this type of bag.

The batik fabric was purchased at Caribelle Batik, Romney Manor on St. Kitts.

The manor sits right aside the rain forest and is a beautiful hidden treasure.

Everything about this place was a feast of color and texture.   The heat of the day was intoxicating but with a gentle breeze that smelled waxy from the ongoing batik process.

I loved every minute of it . . .

vintage charm

Yesterday we lost power for a little while. 

-No power- is not conducive to a quilter's livelihood

... so ...

I finished some wire work which was patiently waiting attention.

Using a vintage key, glass chandelier parts, vintage buttons, crystals, wire and beaders hemp...

I made a funky necklace.

... my favorite part is the crystal clear, glass button I used for the closure...

... or is it the brass key tag I burnished and found it to say

'NORTH OUTSIDE DOOR'

-enjoy your holiday weekend!-

the flower quilt

A reader asked if I would share information about the flower quilt in the side bar.  The picture above is the completed quilt as it hangs.

Funy thing about this quilt is- it is a combination of other projects that didn't work out.

The background was the beginnings of a hand bag which I did not like, so using all kinds of paints and foils I covered the fabric.

The flowers and leaves were from another project that was also heading no where. .... I pirated them for this.

They were made using fabric scraps and stitched over water soluable stabilizer.  Once the stabilizer was removed, paint was added.

Stems were added to the background and I placed the flowers and leaves as I liked.

Everything is stitched down using a variety of threads. But, you can see the flower petals are left loose and that is what gives it dimension.

Thanks for reading and I can't believe I have been keeping this blog for two years!

Orange . . .

. . .  my new best color; officially starting - today.

-sooooexciting-

melissa's quilt times 2

Last year, together with Sharon and Sue, we made this for our friend Melissa. Since then, Sue has developed patterns and tools for making Melissa's Quilt and other designs. 

Sue travels to quilt shows and guilds demonstrating her methods and techniques.  She recently finished a duplicate of Melissa's Quilt for her trunk shows and I quilted it for her.

The above picture is the original when it hung in our Thimble Pleasures 2010 quilt show and below is the duplicate.  yikes, that is blurry.

Sue will be vending at the World Quilt Show-New England this week.  If you are attending the show, I hope you plan to visit Sue in her booth.

- - - - - -

I'm sure many of you can appreciate the quilt below.

I made it about 10 years (?) ago when I started quilting.  Strangely, my husband and maybe yours could be any one of those guys. . . although, mine doesn't wear plaid pants (yet).

enjoy!

[pattern:  Male Bonding by Jukebox]

sketchbook fun. . .

A few thread sketches to add to my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project.

I came up with a better solution to the wash out stabilizer.

I layered lightweight, tear-away stabilizer and a piece of Misty Fuse together. On the top, I layered the  fabric.

Before pressing the fabric to the stabilizer I finished the thread sketch and let the air erase marker disappear. 

When pressed together the stabilzer gave the fabric a great weight that will hold up to being stuck on the page and flipped through.

On darker fabrics I will use the BOHIN chalk pencil, which is my favorite white chalk pencil. 

(if you don't have one, you need one)

You can see the air erase marker on the pencil sharpener sketch.  I could wet it, but I'd rather not.  Eventually, it disappears.

So far, the thread sketches I'm putting in the sketchbook are taken right from my sketchbook. 

Although, it would be easier to just stitch out a sketch I like that I'm using my actual little sketches.  In some cases I will have to resize them, but that's okay.

It's fun picking which sketch to do next. . .

. . . will it be the Evening Grossbeak?

(he looks more like a hawk doesn't he?)

. . .the wren who set up home in the birdhouse I used for my first one?

. . . the laundry basket?

. . . or Terrance? who is right outside as I type.

thanks for posing, Terrance

The great thing about this project is you don't have to be an artist to play along.  And the end result, is this great little book that you've made!

Now, go get your pencils, markers, crayons, paints or whatever and get sketching.

It's fun!

the geese are flying. . .

. . .well, not quite yet.

And I'm not one to rush summer. Ever. 

But this quilt surely makes me think of fall.

(I lowered the lights a little for the picture, the dark cream colored fabric is more of a creamy white)

It's my friend LindaB's and she has been making some really great quilts, lately.

This one she will be gifting soon.

It's for a guy.

What a special gift and on the back she used this rich, chocolate brown flannel.

It's the best brown colored fabric I've seen.

Some might call it delicious.

The whole while I worked on it and advanced the quilt on the rollers -  

                                                 I couldn't help but think of this. . .

Cheers!

Happy Quilting!