Welcome back!

A great way to get back into blogging after a long hiatus is to participate in a blog hop 

with a great give-away... 

Check out Sue Bleiweiss' new book shown below.  It's jam packed with information from concept, to  fabric dyeing, fusing, quilting and contemporary finishing techniques.  And if thats not enough there are really great photos with several start to finish projects.  If you've ever wanted to try out something different other than traditional quilting techniques, this is the book for you.

Sue is offerring the give-away prize package shown below.  You may comment on this blog post to take a chance at winning.  To increase your chances, go over to Sue's blog, enter a comment there, then head to all the participants in the hop and make sure to comment along the way.  Sue will combine all the comments and pick one winner.

In addition to Sues work, she included pieces from several artists and styles in her book. Purple Reeds is shown below and is included in Sue's book. A fun project to make as I limited myself to use only non traditional materials.  The fabric used is not really fabric but cut pieces of Shout Color Catcher sheets that were used in the wash cycle of dyed fabric.  The dragonfly is a craft straw covered with dyed silk ribbon with cheese cloth wings.  After fusing the blue strips to muslin, I cut it apart then stitched in the reeds.  This fun project makes me hopeful of warm summer days soon to come

Remember to go to the sites and leave your comment to be eligible for the giveaway.  Check back on Sue's page May 18th when she will announce the winner.

May 4: Sue Bleiweiss: http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog/

May 4: Jamie Fingal :http://www.jamiefingaldesigns.com/
May 5: Leslie Tucker Jenison: http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/
May 6: Terri Stegmiller : http://stegart.blogspot.com/
May 7: Deborah Boschert : http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/
May 8: Desiree Habicht : http://myclothesline.blogspot.com/
May 9: Kathy Sperino : http://finishinglinesbyksperino.blogspot.com/
May 10: Barb Forrister : http://www.barbforrister.com/blog/
May 11 Kathy York : http://www.aquamoonartquilts.blogspot.com/
May 12: Lyric Kinard : http://lyrickinard.com/lyric-kinard-blog/

Novelty Heirloom

 July is our Guild's yearly challenge reveal.  The challenge was a "novel idea" and could be interpreted as desired.  There were awesome challenge quilts this year. The projects are hung anonymously and its fun to try and guess who did what. 

It was a great meeting.

 I used a novelty fabric which was a vintage linen napkin that was dyed.  It had a pretty edge treatment of tiny flowerlike shapes and an eyelet in between each.  Not liking that the batting showed through the eyelet, I stitched a sequin and bead to cover it and a complimentary bead on the flower. 

The finishing treatment was tricky in that I didn't want to turn any of the napkin edge over for a binding or facing. I decided to stitch up to about a little less than a 1/4" from the edge, trim my batting back to the stitching then trim and fold in the backing to meet the edge.  A button hole stitch went around the edge making a seamless finish on the front and back.  Initially, I started to hand quilt this project which would have really been a novel idea.  It looked awful, so I promptly pulled it out and machined it.

Yesterday was our Art Squared Quilt group's reveal and our challenge word was heirloom.  I will post my novelty heirloom quilt over there.  I had started a different vintage napkin quilt for that challenge, but unfortunately, I marked it with an air erasable marker (and I know better than to leave it for too long).  When I went back to finish my project, the marker had erased itself. Eventually, I'll go back remark it and finish it.

Oh, hey summer ...

. . .  yesterday was your day.

and while patiently waiting your late flowering arrival

... I made some fun, colorful garden banners.

This is my favorite so far,  I'll put it out for the summer birthdays. 

The first is this week- the pup turns 3 already!

 This really is the best time of year when things slow down and friends come visiting.

and I'm certainly not wishing you away, Summer; but when Fall comes a calling - 

we'll be ready for you too.

Happy Stitching!

take your lunch

to work a day in May

Hurry up, May only has a few days left but you can do it. 

Whip up a smart new lunch pail, pack it full of delicious, gluten-free goodies and 

show support for

  Celiac Awareness Month.

While there are gluten free food options available,

 I still like to bring along my own foods when I'm out and about.

  I've been using a tacky brown lunch pail for awhile and decided it was high time for an upgrade.

So I made and few-

And this is my favorite.

It's not insulated so it's good for dry snacks kept at room temperature.  

 It's wrinkly and crinkly like the old fashioned brown paper lunch bags, 

but it's really made of the kraft-tex kraft paper fabric. I love this stuff!

It's washable, so I'll use it for awhile, then wash it.  I'm interested to see how my paint will hold up. 

 I sealed it before sewing so hopefully it will stand the test of time.

It's simple, with a zipper on the top and lined interior but no handles, pockets or anything fancy.

This bag is the biggest bag and has two layers of Insul-Brite (The Warm Company) on the interior, with a vinyl lining. The vinyl lining doesn't thrill me and I don't think I will use it again.  Fabric lining is better and makes it easier for machine washing. 

 Both fabric bags have a double pocket for napkins, silver ware etc.  

The double layer of Insul-Brite in addition to a lunch sized ice pack is perfect for 

keeping cold items cold.  

So hurry up, make some lunch pails and bring your lunch to work a day in May (and after.)

May is Celiac Awareness Month but that's really not the only time for awareness.  

Approximately1out of every 150 persons is diagnosed with Celiac Disease and the only way to manage Celiac Disease is with a 100% gluten-free diet.  If you think you might have CD or have a gluten intolerance or sensitivity see your doctor first, then a nutritionist for help. 

It's not about what you can't eat, it's what you can eat to feel better!

Happy Sewing! 

Healthy Eating!

happy mother's day weekend

Make up some quilted notecards to give as a gift

or keep for yourself.

Either way they are super fun and easy to make.

Draw some basic shapes on paper and cut out.

Gather up some pretty scraps and batting.

Trace your shapes onto your scraps with air erasable marker or removable chalk.

Sandwich your fabric and batting like you would a large quilt.

Quilt as desired staying inside the shape's line.

Using pinking sheers, cut just outside the lines then glue to a blank notecard.  

Aleene's Tacky Glue works really well when gluing fabric to paper.  It's tacky but not too watery so the card won't wilt and curl and it dries pretty quick.  

Use a bamboo skewer to spread the glue, then place the notecard under something weighty till it dries.

Pair your cards with envelopes and tie with a bow.

Happy Weekend!

springtime memories

One of my favorite things to do when the boys were young was to have an egg hunt. 

 It was fun. 

We'd wait for them to go to sleep, then take out the (tacky) plastic eggs- fill them with coins and treats, then hide them.

 The trickiest part was remembering where they were hidden.  A few always showed up months later with a petrified jelly bean inside or better yet a few coins.  

We don't do egg hunts anymore, but I seem to always put the colored eggs out around this time.  

This year, though - I decided to change them up a little.  

I painted the eggs and wrapped them with twine, decorative paper, vintage fabrics and buttons . . . 

 . . . then put them in a few spring baskets.

And, Mom, you'll recognize this basket!

I'm guessing I got this for my first Easter... I would have been just shy of 5 months.  

We can officially say it's 'vintage' (and then some).

The bunnies, I made out of fabric from a vintage Christening gown.  The shape is perfect, they remind me of the solid chocolate bunnies we used to get in our basket.

First order of business was always to bite off the ears, then the tail...

. . . then it would be taken away and cut into small bite sized pieces because,

"we wouldn't want to wreck our teeth."

 Mom do you remember all those fancy eggs we used to make? We made Bill blow them out, then we used those minuscule scissors, cut them open and decorated the insides.  

Dad and Kelly ate the eggs.  

We made so many, I think Dad even drank some raw eggs

 and that was even before Rocky was doing it.  gag.

So for ole times sake I cut apart some plastic eggs and decorated the insides.  The others were much better, but this was fun nonetheless. 

  More eggs covered with scraps, these not so tedious.

  I'm pretty sure I'm done covering eggs for awhile.  

It's time to just enjoy their bright colors

while we wait for the spring flowers to come up.

Happy Spring!

paper krafting

Have you heard of kraft-tex kraft paper fabric?

It's cool stuff.

It sort of feels like leather but it's paper.

You can decorate it anyway you want

and it's washable.

It comes in Natural and I think black and white now.  Mine is natural.

I doodle painted a piece of it with acrylic inks and textile medium.

Then made a bag.

It is like leather as it will perforate with a needle so the inside was quilted instead of the outside.

Another piece was decorated with water pastels,

then cut and glued to the cover of my new sketch journal.  

I sprayed this piece with a sealer because I didn't want to wait for the pastels to cure.

 Awhile ago I needed a folder for some quilting designs so I made one with the kraft paper.  

Water pastels were used here too and they held up fine and the folder has too.  

It's stitched together with stitched in pockets as well.

I'm always looking for cool stuff to use with my art.  

This kraft - tex kraft paper fabric by C&T Publishing didn't disappoint.  

jelly belly

There is no secret about it: 

I- Love-Nature.  

Today is the online ArtSquared group reveal and the theme is nature.

The hardest part of this challenge was to decide what part of nature to create.

 I picked the 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

 Or affectionally called - Jelly Belly.

The Grosbeak come around in the thick of summer 

when the days are

 hot 

and long.

Put out a cup of jelly and soon you will notice him visit.

He will bring his wife 

and kids too.

He lovingly shares his jelly with his family, 

but eats most of it himself.

And if you look closely at him when he is finished, you will notice jelly stains on his beak.

No time to clean as he has to get right to his music. 

The best part of the Grosbeak's visit is his sweet song.

He will sing for you well into the evening.

Happy Nature Watching!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 And if you've been sleeping all winter, it's time to wake up sleepy head

BASEBALL SEASON IS BACK!