One Dozen

One apron x 12 =

One dozen.

:/

It's been a sweatshop over here!

I was asked to make these for

my son's high school art class.

Lessons learned:

Webbing is a great time saver.

Large pieces of

Hand-me-down fabric just MIGHT come in handy...

even when it's not "quilting" fabric!

:)

You NEVER know when you're going to make

a dozen aprons!!!

I'm done.

I can now MOVE on to more creative pursuits.

I don't think you'll be seeing

any more aprons

in this corner of blogland for a little while.

LOL

;)

Getting somewhere

Here's my new beauty!

This one's going pretty fast only because...

I'm using 10" squares!

I laid two 10" squares together.

Right sides UP.

Made four diagonal cuts.

I imagined rays from the sun as I cut.

I DID NOT mark....

That makes it so much more FUN!!!

;)

I tried not to get too close to any of the corners!

That way I won't have too many seams in ONE place.

I lay them out like this.

Sew them together.

Beware!

They do not turn into SQUARE blocks at this point.

You have to trim them!

In a perfect world they should be 9"...

but mine are 8 3/4".

Am I concerned?

NO.

Hey!

They look kind of nice on point too....huh?

Is there a name for this block?

I'd kind of like to name mine

"SUNSHINE"

 :)

fabric swap

Getting quilters together for a swap is a

WONDERFUL THING!!!

It means a pile of twenty 10" squares coupled with

a coordinating fabric.....

Turns into THIS!!!!

Which in turn......

Turns into blocks like this.....

Making one....

SPECTACULAR, COLORFUL,

KAFFE FASSETT QUILT!!!

Let the CUTTING and SEWING begin!

shabby chic

Remember this one?

I love the soft colors.

I made a bunch of these....

but the quilt is not yet large enough!!!

:(

So........

While these two hike in the Sierras....

And I avoid cooking and cleaning as much as I can!!!.....

I'll try to catch up on some quilting!

I've made a few more.....

but need 88!!!!

UGH!!!!!

You know I hate those BIG numbers!!!

I shouldn't have counted!

Another beginning

Bullseye.....

(log cabin variation)

times FOUR.

Stripes sure give this simple block some movement!!!

Think I'll be looking around here for some more

 STRIPES!!!

Book Bag

I really WAS going to make a book bag with

WHAT I HAVE!!!

But then I went into Target for a couple of things...

and came out with two kitchen towels!!!

(They were on clearance!)

Perfect fabric to wrap my gift in!!!

It's a baby shower......

and we were asked to bring BOOKS!

Isn't that a great theme???

NEXT TIME....I'll use the fabric in  my stash!!!

I promise!

This was just TOO cute to pass up!!!

Company!

Quite FREQUENTLY....

I make a quilt....

JUST because!

Well....

that little pile of quilt tops

came in HANDY today!!!

;)

These two are engaged

and I WANT to give them a quilt!

I realized I have quite a few quilt tops to choose from...

so....

 I might not have to start from SCRATCH!

I invited them over to do some looking!

This is the one they like!

I'll make it bigger before the BIG DAY!

And......

Here are three that ALMOST got chosen.

I'll have to fold these up for the next "occassion"!

This gives me encouragement to....

KEEP MAKING quilt tops JUST BECAUSE!

They will find GOOD homes before you know it!

kitchen stuff

I wear aprons.

A lot!

Here's a new one!

I used this sweet cherry fabric that someone gave away!!!

I know!

I wondered WHY they would do that too!

It wasn't quite wide enough for an apron....

But I FIXED THAT!

;)

Then I made a favorite

Easy.

Chicken.

Dinner.

Sour cream on the boneless chicken pieces.

Bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese

on the chicken pieces.

Put it all in a greased casserole dish.

Bake. 350 degress.

40 minutes??

Sorry if my directions are BIT sketchy!

That's the way I cook.

:/

Serve with mashed potatoes and grilled veggies.

Mmmmmm.....Good.....

little things mean a lot

It's the little things.

Like a NEW piece of fabric on the plastic "wicker like" shade.

This is my inexpensive window covering

in the bathroom.

I love it.

All I did was finish the edges of a rectangle of fabric

and tacked it on to a plastic roll up shade.

I made about 5 little stitches in the top to hold it on.

simple.

Then....

 after NOT finding a bath mat that I liked.....

I went digging in my stash of

upholstery samples and found this one!

Oh Good!

It's nice and LONG.

I pillow cased an old towel on the back.

The back doesn't look to hot...

but no one will be looking there.

;)

Viola!

Look!

I even had enough of that shade fabric to

add to the bottom of a shower curtain in the other bathroom!!!

See?

Little things DO mean a LOT!

At least at MY house they do!

Total cost of this home re-do:

$6 for shade fabric.

$3 for white shower curtain at the thrift store.

;)

Exhiliration!

When a hand quilted quilt is finished there is

EXHILIRATION!

When you're done piecing a quilt there is Happiness!

When a quilt is machine quilted by YOU....

there is a definite sense of SATISFACTION!

BUT!!!

When you're done HAND QUILTING....

THERE IS A great FEELING!!!

YEP!

Exhiliration!!!!

PLUS the fact that you've spent so much

QUALITY time with this one....

You're now BEST friends!

Some facts:

*I did some machine quilting on this one before adding the

hand quilting.

*I appliqued that big blossom with a blanket stitch

after using "steam-a-seam 2".

*I used big hand quilted stitches using embroidery floss.

*I STILL need to hand stitch the binding....

but the way my week looks...

I'll be spending plenty of time in Dr. offices and will finish in no time!

*This one needs to be WASHED!

It's gone everywhere with me this summer.

The faint "camping trip scent" is a reminder of some good times! ;)

*I made this all because of a challenge!

Requirements included using the 15 charms of print,

2 solids and a modern feel.

See where challenges can lead you?

Whimsy

You know me.

I like to make quilts.

Usually practical quilts that friends will use.....

Or practical little quilted gifts that say

I care about you!

But...

I also like to DREAM.....

and CREATE.

Quilts like this that have no

PRACTICAL purpose at all.

JUST. BECAUSE.

I'm in an art quilt group now that

is giving me the opportunity to do that!

I used a lot of little leftovers in this piece.

Leftover pieces of fabric.

I didn't BUY a THING!

I love that.

This quilt is now part of an exhibit called "GATES".

It will travel to various quilt shows in the next two years.

I had a lot of FUN with this one!

Isn't whimsy one of the things we LOVE about quilting?

Sewing BUG!

ONCE in a while .....

The SEWING bug HITS someone at my house!!

I NEVER know WHEN it's going to happen.

It doesn't happen too often....

But when it does....

I'M READY!!!!

:)

I'm ready with supplies.......

You can bet I've got a little bit of THAT!......

LOL!

And ready with lots of ENCOURAGEMENT!