And...She Liked Her Quilt!

Layla approved of her new quilt!  Makes my heart melt!

"Layla's Garden" Quilt: Done!

Layla's Garden quilt is now quilted and bound...and ready to give to our little grand baby when we get back to Raleigh!

I really had fun custom-quilting this one.  A flower meander in the center block, lots of feathers...

I added quilt art to the back with some leftover blocks.

Sweet Sue #2

I got a new car while we were in the mountains last week...a 2017 Subaru Outback to replace my 2004 model.  There was nothing wrong with it, but I wanted the new feature like back-up camera, blind spot indicators, HID headlights, and of course the navigation system and blue-tooth capacity.  I drove it home down our snowy mountain driveway, and it did great.  In fact, I love it!  The color is Crystal Black Silica, and it has little sparkles in the sunshine that look blue or green.

                                

I did get the binding applied to the charity quilt.  It was fun sewing these tropical fabrics while it was snowing outside.  I used the bright turquoise floral print for both backing and binding.  My friend Mary gave me a humongous piece of it while we were making our charity quilt tops in January.  So, this one is ready to turn into the Capital Quilters Guild.  They make charity quilts for premature babies in NICU, and also wheelchair quilts and quilts for families participating in child abuse education programs.

I felt like painting on Sunday, and looked through some Pinterest inspiration pieces to see what I could do.  This one came out nicely, I think!

I am still painting lots of angels, and I made this one for our mountain neighbor's daughter who requested one with this scripture verse.

That's about it for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Flamingo Baby Quilt...Quilted!

Today I finished the quilting on the Flamingo fabric Yellow Brick Road baby quilt that I began a few weeks ago.

These are some of my favorite colors, and the flamingo print is really cute.  I decided to do an all-over feather design, with a few flowery swirls.

Next is the binding.  I will try to get that sewn on while we are here at our mountain cabin.

Amelie's Quilt-Finished!

Those snow days last week were very productive for me.

Amelie's Quilt has been mailed to California for my little great-niece.

I started this one a year ago at the Charity Sew-In day with the Whacky Ladies Bee.  Donna Sontag lets us meet in her shop, Whatever's Quilted, where she taught me to use her Accu-Quilt to make scads of 5-inch squares.  I used fabrics in lots of different widths to make rows, which I alternated with white sashing strips.  

The backing is a coordinating print, and I made a label from a novelty fabric with hummingbird hearts.

I still have to put the binding on the other quilt I made that day, which will be donated to charity.  It looks almost the same.

And for your daily dose of cute...here is my little granddaughter, Layla.  She is happy, even though her quilt is not finished yet!

Sewing and Painting Fun

Happy New Year from snowy North Carolina!  It snowed once over the holidays while we were at the mountain cabin, and again today here in Raleigh.  


On Thursday, my Wake Forest quilt bee met for our annual charity quilt sew-in day at Whatever's Quilted, Donna Sontag's shop.  It was so good to be with these good friends again and get caught up.  We all brought our machines and some fat quarters to make some baby quilts for Capital Quilters Guild's Quilts for Kids projects.

Here is what I finished today, using the Yellow Brick Road pattern from Atkinson Designs.

I used a fun flamingo print with coordinating fabrics.  I think it is large enough for a baby quilt without any borders.

I will get it quilted some day, but my long arm machine is up in the mountains.  We worked hard on the basement over Christmas.  It is now painted a neutral  beige.  Next:  putting in the suspended ceiling.

We had our older son's family with us the week between Christmas and New Year's.  Once again, we donned our Clemson orange in honor of our daughter-in-law's favorite team being in the playoffs for the collegiate national football championship.  They won!

They are from South Carolina where it hardly ever snows, so they had a great time playing in it and going for Gator rides over the mountain.

I have been trying to learn how to do negative paintings like artist Linda Kemp.  I started with one in just one shade of green, then one in greens and blues.

For the last one, I started with bright yellows, then switched to more golden tones with each layer.

There are some good You-Tube videos on this technique, which I used for these practice projects.  Here is a good one to start with.  

And here is a journal page in watercolors.  I used liquid mask to draw the snowflakes, painted over them with washes of blue and violet, then removed the mask.

If you are experiencing winter weather where you live, stay safe out there!

Garden Quilt Progress

I have been working off and on to get a quilt done for my newest grand baby, Layla Grace. 

 I made a block with a pot of tulips.

I used the freezer paper appliqué method, and machine-stitched with invisible thread and a size 8 needle.  It went together pretty easily.

Then I remembered the problem with stitching through freezer paper.  You have to cut away the backing fabric and pick all the paper out of the seams when you are finished.

My team's football game was not very exciting today, so I picked with tweezers while halfway watching on TV.

I think I got most of the little dribs and drabs of paper out.

I also embroidered antennae on the butterflies and eyes on the birds.

Layla is getting excited about it...hurry up, Gigi!

Handwork is a little difficult for me because I have a dislocated arthritic thumb on my left hand.  I have been getting by with steroid injections, but I think it may be getting bad enough to have the surgery to fix it.  It is not an easy process, and will require a big cast and weeks of rehab. 

We are in the North Carolina mountains this weekend, and are blessed with beautiful sunny weather to show off the autumn foliage.

We are also celebrating my husband's retirement from work.  His official last day is November 1.  He is going to go by on Monday and say goodbye, but his office is cleared out and his work is done!  We are so blessed that his cancer is in remission, and now we have some time to enjoy his retirement together.  I am looking forward to this new phase of our lives.

Not a Leg to Stand On

July is nearly over- unbelievable!  I do not have much to show for this summer as far as sewing or art projects.  I've had some medical issues, the worst of which is a broken bone in my right leg.  I did not fall or anything, but both of my legs started bothering me at the beach when we were walking on the long boardwalk.  I finally got to see my orthopedic foot specialist, who diagnosed a displaced fracture of the fibula.  I was walking around on it for a month, so he thinks it may heal on its own with just a lace-up ankle brace.  The other ankle is the one that has bothered me most for years, so I guess I am falling apart.

I have been looking at ideas for a baby quilt for my new granddaughter, due in September.  The nursery theme is going to be garden...think flowers, birds, butterflies, and topiary.  Here is one I made a few years ago for a Capital Quilters Guild challenge.

The color scheme is not too far off from Layla's nursery palette, with pastels mixed with a few brights.

Baby's mama Emily liked this pattern that I found on Pinterest, so I have been making drawings for something along that line.  I'll probably use the light green for the border.

I also have done a few more Bible art journaling pages.

Joshua 15:16-19

Matthew 2:9-11

John 10:11-14

This weekend we are going back to Carolina Beach for a special family wedding.  My daughter-in-law's mother is marrying a wonderful man.  They live near Raleigh, but have been renovating a house on the Intercoastal Waterway where we stayed with the family last April.  Our little granddaughter will be a flower girl.  I can't wait to get back down there!  I need to get a pedicure...or should I bother  when my toes will be peeking out from this black lace-up brace?

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Whacky Ladies Quilt Bee

I actually made it to a monthly meeting of my quilt bee on Thursday at Whatever's Quilted in Wake Forest.  They have started meeting in the afternoons instead of evenings since so many of us are now retired and don't like to drive at night.

I just have to show this wonderful quilt top made from baby garments and accessories.  Marie assembled it for one of Donna's customers.  She stabilized all the knit outfits and shirts to keep them from stretching.  I think it turned out great!

Next up is a Yellow Brick Road pattern quilt in luscious pink and navy fabrics made by Mary.

Mary also showed us a series of table runners featuring fabric strips and a leafy applique on the side.

We switched gears and tried our hands at crocheting a V-stitch pattern under Lori's instruction.  I used to know how to crochet back in the 70's, but have sadly forgotten both the procedures and the feeling.  Arthritis in my hands has made them a little awkward.  But it was fun to try with help from Donna and Lori.

Today I went out to the Voices art quilt exhibit at the Page-Walker House in Cary, NC, and was able to take a few photos, which I will share next time.

Baby Quilt- Finished!

I finally finished applying the binding to a baby quilt, and it is ready to go to little Carter over the holidays!

I made a label and colored it with Tsukineko inks.  I like to add fabric strips to the cotton label to coordinate with the quilt fabrics.

It is from a book of quilt label designs that I have had since the mid-90's.

This quilt was last seen in my post of July 16, before we left for Canada and later Florida.  It was all quilted, but needed some kind of binding.  The quilt top is a whole-cloth "cheater" quilt that looks like patchwork.  It is soft as a cloud!  To make it even more cuddly, I used Minky dot fabric on the back.  

How to bind it became an issue.  I wanted the edges to be just as soft as the rest of the quilt, so I used leftover strips from trimming the backing.  

Oh, my!  It looked like a fluff war had taken place in my sewing room!  The fabric shredded like crazy when I cut the backing strips.  Can you see all the little dots on the cutting mat?  My clothes were covered with even more!

My usual procedure of making a double-fold French binding would not work with the thick Minky fabric, and mitered corners were out of the question.  I decided to sew strips to each side and turn them over to the back.

After sewing each strip to the front, I zigzag-stitched the seam allowance.  Then I turned under the unseen edge of the strip and zigzagged it as well.

Finally, I turned the strip to the back and straight-stitched it down.

The edging is rather thick, but I don't think it will unravel or shred.  That little boy is going to have one soft blankie when he gets this quilt!  I ordered both the top and backing fabric from Hancock Fabrics several years ago.