Gifts of Our Hands

Just the prettiest carrot wall pocket ever!!

Michele and I both gave one another a very special Christmas gift made from our hearts and our hands. Michele's gift to me was extra, extra special because she's never actually made me anything before. She worked with our very sweet friend and brilliant potter, Sabra, to make me a ceramic carrot - that's right, I said "ceramic carrot!!" It's so very gorgeous and wonderful and beautiful and perfect!! Plus, it adds to my collection - I didn't have a ceramic carrot yet! This gift touched my heart like none other could! It's actually a wall pocket, which could hold flowers, but I think that would detract from the carrot. I think I may make little beaded carrots to live in the pocket, but we'll see. I still need to find the very perfect place to hang it.

I cannot wait to have this on the wall, but I MUST find the
perfectest most perfect place!

Now, I make Michele gifts quite often - in fact, it's rare that I give her a gift that isn't handmade. But I am particularly proud of this one. It's a simple design - nine patch squares - but I designed the kitty myself. I call it Kitty on My Quilt since it's a good bet one of our three cats will be cuddling with Michele on this quilt at any given moment. And I accidentally made it a bit too big - in my head I thought lap quilt, but it's actually twin-sized, so it's "accidentally" big enough for two! 

Isn't that an adorable kitty?

Definitely big enough to share!



A New Year

Ahh, I adore the freshness of a new year. I hope it's starting out great for all of you. I feel so hopeful that I'll:

1. Be more organized
2. Be nicer
3. Complete more
4. Have a better memory
5. Find more time 
6. And so on and so forth

I never really change year to year, but I always feel hopeful that it's possible - at least through January. By February, I've realized that I'm pretty much the same, but that's still pretty great.

I did actually complete quite a few things in December, so maybe I was most of those things already? Anyhow, I finished that baby quilt I mentioned last month. Oh, so pleased with it! But how could anyone do a bad job with such a fun feature fabric and such a great pattern. Star sashing is one of my favorite piecing patterns and it's just perfect when you want to feature a fun juvenile print like this monkey one. Plus, I was lucky enough to find the exact same print in a flannel for the backing. So cozy! I feel pretty confident that mama and baby are loving it right now!



I loved the pairing of the monkey and the polka dot fabrics.
Inspired, if I do say so myself!



A finished project is always a treat. One this cute is especially wonderful.

There's nothing cozier than a flannel-backed quilt! Ahhhh!





And Winter Begins

I had fun with pockets and
playing around
with fabrics for a guy!

I hope this the beginning of winter finds you all well (weather issues aside!). The end of fall and beginning of winter heading into the holidays has found me pleasantly swamped with work - both my day job and my quilting shop! It's been great fun at both jobs!

I've been doing alot of new things and creating lots of new patterns for things. It's been so fun! Probably the coolest thing so far was a very custom iPod Touch pouch for my friend, John. I love all the little pockets!



These dog collars kinda
make me want to get a
dog! But not quite!



I also had a ball making quilted dog collars - never thought I'd find myself making dog collars, but they are really very fun to make and look so cool when they're done!





Little squares ready and waiting to become star sashing!




I think my favorite thing over the past few weeks is the baby quilt I'm making for a friend of a friend. I don't make many baby quilts - in fact this is only my third - so it's a special treat. This baby's colors are lavendar and sage, but I went a little more intense with a brighter purple and green. I just had to once I found the adorable monkey fabric! It called to me and begged to be used for this quilt. I'm almost done and will share the finished product as soon as I am! I hope you've all had as much fun getting ready for the holidays!

Four patch squares ready to be added to the quilt!



A pile of monkeys! Giggling and having fun! Who could resist?

Menorah, Thanksgiving, and Insanity

I'm finally taking some much-needed time out to 1. show you the completed Menorah quilt, 2. tell you about my fabulous Thanksgiving, and 3. explain about the insanely awesome happening that has been keeping me so very busy.

1. I've kept you waiting far too long to see the completed Menorah quilt! It took a bit longer than I'd planned, but that was all my fault. I decided to make the Menorah two layers and it took quite a while to cut each piece . . . twice!

Layer 1

And then layer two

Plus the candles and flames. The menorah, candles, and flames
are made by layering a top fabric, batting, and backing and then
satin stitching the edges before stitching the to pieced quilt top.
So, technically, each piece of the menorah, candles, and flames are quilts!

Finished! Hanging in my hallway for picture taking before
packing and sending to its new home!

Close-up #1

Close-up #2

 I truly loved making this special gift and hope the recipients love it as well!

2. Thanksgiving was a delight - I hope yours was as well. Michele decided that she wanted to make dinner to give me a little extra time to prepare for #3 below. I tried to insist on helping, but she would have none of it! It was just the two of us for the first time in a long time, so that was a nice treat - and it made it so that we could have whatever we want (when we have company we try to introduce folks to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, vegetarian-style). This year we had vegetarian meatloaf topped with barbecue sauce we made and canned over the summer, whipped potatoes, corn, cider glazed carrots, dinner rolls from Michele's grandmother's recipe, and pumpkin pie with real freshly whipped cream. I cannot tell you how delicious it was! WOW! Michele will be cooking a lot more often - this is a skill that she has been hiding under a bushel for the 13 years we've been together!

Dinner was SO yummy! And I enjoyed the leftover "meat"loaf
on dinner rolls for the rest of the week - little meatloaf sliders! YUM!

Pumpkin is Michele's favorite pie, but I am not usually a fan.
Boy howdy, I really loved it this year! I'm now a fan!

3. The insanity that has been keeping me so busy is that I have what Michele is calling my "one woman show" coming up on Friday! I was chosen as the featured artist at a local gallery for First Friday festivities! First Friday here in Rochester is when all the participating galleries open late and have wine and nibbles while folks browse all the gorgeous treasures. My show is called Quilted, Quaint, and Quirky: Stocking Stuffers and Fashionable Finishing Touches. I am over-the-moon excited! It's really an amazing accomplishment and I keep pinching myself that it is actually happening! You can check out my and many other artists' shows here. I'm at the Crocus Clay Works, which is the seventh gallery on the list on the left of that website. So, needless to say, I have been working like crazy to be ready for what I am referring to this amazing opportunity!

This is the bookmark that I made and handed out at the MayDay Underground show.
I think it's adorable!

Stained Glass

I love how this background turned out and
would like to make another, but some of
the squares are so tiny (1x1.5) and the
"leading" is so thin (.25") that it takes
a LONG time to piece! The effect is worth
it though, don't you think?

I've been overwhelmingly busy getting ready for the biggest show of my career so far: a solo gallery exhibit and sale! I'm very excited and will tell you more about it in the next few weeks. Suffice it to say that all my energy and concentration has been directed towards that event, but I took a break this week to work on a very special commission from a lovely family who wished to bless their neighbors with a special Hanukkah gift: a quilted menorah. I designed a quilt that I hope my client and the recipients love. I haven't been doing a lot of intricate piecing lately, so working on the background of the quilt over the last two evenings has been really fun and challenging. I felt like I cut pieces for days last night and sewed and sewed and pieced and pieced tonight. I was getting really tired by the time I was cutting the pieces for the last two rows, but surprised myself by only making two cutting mistakes - and both pieces were cut too large, which is easily fixable! I wanted the background to look like a stained glass window. I used batik for the "panes." I love how you can get many different colors and shades out of a single piece of batik - I thought that would add to the stained glass effect. The "leading" is done in a solid bluish grey. I really love the way it turned out - so much so that I plan to use this pattern to make another wall hanging using a brighter, jewel-toned batik, and maybe black "leading." Tomorrow, I start work on the elaborate menorah applique I designed. I'll use that dimensional applique technique I used on the shoe and dolphin quilts over the summer. I'll give you another sneak peek tomorrow.

Accidental Hiatus

Well, I've accidentally taken a five-week hiatus from my blog. Life has been so good, but so busy! Well, to make it up to you, over the next five days, I'll share five things I've been doing over the last five weeks.

1. Picking peaches - OH SO FUN! I picked two baskets of peaches and had a ball doing it!

A tisket, a tasket, lovely peaches in a basket . . .or two



The trees were full of beautiful fruit

2. Canning peaches and making peach butter. I brought home a lot of peaches and was very excited to try my hand at canning them. Well, peeling that many peaches took FOREVER - I tried dipping them in boiling water and then slipping off the peels, but that didn't work for me. But I canned bunches the day I picked them and the next day I made the rest into peach butter. YUM!


freshly washed peaches



Pretty cans of peaches lined up like soldiers

3. Auctioned off two quilted wallhangings at my church fundraiser - fun and a great cause!

I really loved making these and watching the ladies go ga-ga over them at the auction!

4. Took some "before" pictures of my bathroom. You may recall that when Michele went out on the road I ripped up the floor. . . and then never touched it again. Well, I've been working with my beloved handy lady Lisa Golden to renovate the room.

The bathtub doubled as a landing pad for the paint and supplies



Bathroom sans vanity and toilet - can you really call it a bathroom?

5. Began the weeks-long effort of painting the "bricks" on the embossed wallboard on the lower half of the bathroom walls. I think by color #2 I was cursing myself for thinking of doing this. By color #9, I was no longer on speaking terms with whoever's bright idea THIS was.

First pass with colors 1-6

More on the past five weeks tomorrow! Thanks and it's great to be back!

Church Fundraising

This little beauty goes on the auction block on Sunday. I wish
I could keep it, but it's for a good cause. (And I COULD make
myself one.)

I'm on the fundraising committee at church and it is surprisingly fun! We get together and plan wonderful events that will 1. raise money, 2. attract new members, and 3. increase community within the church. I love being so involved and brainstorming with the three other folks on the committee. This Sunday we're having a silent auction and I am coordinating it - a first for me! It's fun collecting things from the congregation to auction off. I planned to contribute two items myself: a mini quilt and a prayer journal. I've been so busy with everything that I just started making them yesterday, though! I got the quilt done, but have yet to start on the journal. Hopefully I can get that done tonight (because tomorrow I need to get all the auction sheets done and Saturday I plan to make more pickles (yes, more pickles) and can some peaches (yum!)) I actually had so much fun designing and making the quilt that I am really tempted to make another one instead of the journal. Hmmm. We'll see. So, what do you think? Will it do well at auction?

Mama's Got a Brand New Bag. . .and Wallet

All my favorite colors - and of course they
coordinate with my carrot bag charms!

About a year ago, just after I opened my shop, I designed a tote bag that I wanted to offer for sale. Before selling most items I make, I give them a trial run to make sure I like the design and that they hold up well and function as expected. So, I dutifully made myself one of my Perfect Big Sis totes and have been carrying it day in and day out for a year (I've never been the type to switch bags often or coordinate my bag with anything, like my clothes. I just use one bag until I'm forced to retire it.) My bag has held up so well and its use has provided me hoards of information so that I can continuously work to perfect the design. And now I've decided that it's time for me to make a new bag for myself. And so I did - I made my dream bag (I have indeed actually been dreaming and thinking about it for months!)

I simply love just taking this out of my
bag and opening it - simple pleasures!

Making a new bag also provided me with the opportunity to make a matching wallet in a new design I have been working on for a few weeks. It is a billfold-type wallet with space for six credit cards, business cards, or IDs and space for money. I'm very pleased with the design, but I want to use it for a few weeks before I introduce any to my shop. It's such a fun process to design and make and test and redesign and make and . . . ahhhh!

The card slots in this wallets are SO fun to make!

Fun in the Sun

It's funny how something so simple
can be SO fun!

My local Etsy team, RNEST, has a ball monthly participating in team challenges. This month we are having fun in the sun with summertime or picnic themed crafts. I had a great time over the weekend making a summertime version of my tic tac toe sets and then Michele and I had a ball "testing" it out! I swear we played tic tac toe for about two hours! Check out all the talent and vote for your favorite here.

Bumblebee "Os" and Blossom "Xs"

My Fourth of July Weekend, Part 2

I also spent part of the weekend working on another mini quilt. This one is for a very dear friend who loves dolphins. I named it "Dolphin Frolic" and I used the same technique that I badly described in my last post about quilting. The water and the dolphins are individual "quilts" that are partially attached to the main quilt. To give the sky a bit more dimension, I did the same with some of the clouds.

I'm off this week - my company closes for a week for 4th of July every year - and it is very hot outside, so I think I will be spending a lot of time quilting. I'm excited to get started on the next idea that's in my head!

Quilting in the Rain

OK, I wasn't really quilting in the rain, but it was gray and rainy outside this past Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, so I decided to spend some time making a couple mini quilts for two wonderful friends of mine. This first one is for a friend who is very fond of bright colors. I thought it would be fun to pair a bright, bold pieced tumbler block background with a white flower applique. I named this one "SummerSault" as a little play on the tumbler block and summer flower and colors. This one will is in the mail on the way to its new home!

This second one was so fun to make. It is for a very fun friend who loves Converse All Stars / Chuck Taylors. I've had this quilt in my mind for quite a while now - about a year! - and I've finally got it down on fabric. I wanted to try something a bit three-dimensional and I think it turned out really great! It's definitely a technique I'll use often. The way I did it was to make some parts of the shoe little quilts in and of themselves: pieced front, batting, and

backing - and then instead of sewing the whole piece down, I only sewed parts of it, so that the rest would stick up a bit and give the piece dimension. Then, once I had the whole shoe pieced together, I backed it again with batting and backing before sewing the whole thing to the main quilt. I'm probably not explaining it well, but in my mind it was a very easy process - though I'm sure there are lots of other ways to do it, too! This little baby is called "You're an All-Star" because, well, it just makes sense, plus the recipient really is an all-star in my book! Wish I could see her face when she receives it!

I had fun this weekend and kept myself busy. You know what they say about idle hands, right?

I'm In!

I got the official "you've been approved" message from the coordinators of my first ever juried craft show! I am so excited! As I mentioned, it's the MayDay Underground Arts and Crafts, featuring live music from local bands. If you're in the Rochester area, please mark your calendars for May 1st! You can find more information here.

Also, I completed my contribution to my Etsy team's monthly challenge. I'm sure you remember that the theme is Alice in Wonderland and throughout the entire movie, I thought, "Oooo, what if I took a crack at making The Red Queen's hot pads?" And so that is just what I did! I actually had a ball at it and learned a new technique in the process. I wanted to make sure that the hearts were extra secure so that I could advise a customer that the hot pads will wash and dry nicely, but I'm always a little leery of the security of applique on items people will use. So, I did a little research and found Dale Fleming's pinless piecing method for curves and other shapes. It worked like a charm, is as secure as piecing because it IS pieced, and the hot pads turned out great, if I do say so myself!

I Produce While the Garden Lays Dormant

Though, as I mentioned yesterday, my garden did not produce many zucchini or green peppers and now lays dormant, I have been very productive lately. I made these beautiful bookmarks for a very nice lady to give to the ladies and gentleman in her church prayer group. When I was taking pictures of them for my records, I thought that I should write about them and share the pic with you. I think they came out really well! Each one has a cross and the recipient's initial on front and a scripture written on the back. I hope they're a hit! They were so fun to make I think I will whip some up for the my fellow choir members at church!

Thanks Everyone!!

Thanks everybody for your opinions on the free gift with purchase. I went with the majority and made it for $10 or greater. And, Kym, my thought was to give away the bags until the items from the featured artist are gone and them change the listing to feature the next artist (so hurry up and send me something lovely!)

And, as you can see in the comments, Audrey found her way back to me to claim her quilt. It was probably my fault - I guess for most giveaways the host emails the winner when they've won - oops! Oh well, we live and learn, right?

Well, I am suddenly overwhelmed with custom orders, PIFs, stocking the store for the holidays, and getting ready for my next giveaway and my team's upcoming giveaways - and I just got a new Star Trek Voyager DVD for season 6 - season 5 ended with a cliffhanger, so I CANNOT wait to watch it!! Now, though I'm sure you can tell by the fact that I am suddenly incredibly busy, but I'll still tell you: Michele leaves today. She's starting her new job that will bring her home weekly, but with orientation and time with a driver mentor, she will likely be gone for a month this first time. So, it's back to the busy bee for me!

FAME!

I'm gonna live forever! We just got home from seeing Fame! What fun. I loved the show as a kid. Remember rushing home on Saturdays to a house full of crockpot cooking beans and watching Fame with the family. The movie was great and like all great movies left me feeling on top of the world. I left the theater cavorting wildly and singing loudly, while Michele tried to walk enough of a distance away so that people would think she didn't know me. I don't think she fooled anyone.

Well, from my post-theater antics, it is pretty obvious that singing and dancing will never be my claim to fame. Though I am pretty decent at both, I'm a lot better at quilting. And, thankfully, I just found out that the lovely little mini quilt, Lily Garden: Year One, arrived safely to my new friend Anne in Norway. Enjoy it in good health, Anne.

Is Today My Birthday?

I must be the luckiest girl in the world. I came home today and, after seeing what had come in the mail, had to ask Michele if somehow my birthday had moved from May to September! I was overwhelmed with goodies from two lovely ladies from the west. First of all, Teresa, of Sewing Trials, paid it forward in a big and wonderful way. She sent bags galore: shopping bags, a corduroy tote, a small bright orange tote (filled with chocolate that is already half gone), and the cutest friendship bag ever (that I saw her making on her blog, but had no idea it would be for me!!). She also sent a fat quarter of a fabric I fell in love with on her blog, two winter scarves, two fabric scarves, and two of the very loveliest cloth wallets I've ever seen. And she made it all herself!! Oh, Teresa, I love it all - thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Now, my "birthday" didn't end there! Oh, no, indeed. Also from the west, Kymberly (whose name is spelled identical to my big sis's), of The Cotton Patch, sent me an absolutely beautiful mini quilt from the Summertime Mini Quilt Swap. The beautiful sun-bleached colors of the whimsical pinwheels made me smile the moment I opened the package! This quilt, I believe, will grace the walls of my new "office" at work (by the way, I got a new job. I'm sure I will mention that again later). Thank you, Kymberly, for such a wonderful gift!!

Wow, all this love from two whom I have never met in person. It just makes me want to spread some love, too. Tomorrow is the first day of fall. Hmm, perhaps I have something planned to show some love. Should I hint around? Should I lead you all on a merry chase? No! I will not equivocate! There will be some excitement on this blog tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Cheerful Ironing

This may seem odd, but I love, love, love ironing fabric - it's one of the many sacrosanct joys in my life (right up there with Star Trek!!). I'm not very keen on ironing clothes or anything else, though. So, yesterday, after that excellent movie and my heartfelt blogging, I decided that the most appropriate capstone to the lovely evening would be to finish my ironing. I've been slowly, but surely, working my way through that large suitcase of fabric that Kym, my sister, sent me home with from Pittsburgh. I love to bring new fabric into my room and dream over it while ironing, folding, and color-coordinated sorting. I keep my journal nearby and jot down all my ideas and then pin little notes to the fabric to remind me. Oh, what fun!!

On a fabric-related note, sort of, I entered Lily Garden, Year One into that contest I mentioned. Voting starts at the end of the month, but I'll remind you. There are so many lovely entries already submitted, so it's bound to be a great competition. It's my first, so I'd love to win, but mostly I'm just really excited that I had the courage to enter!

Julie & Julia

My friend, Sara, and I went to see Julie & Julia tonight. Amazing!! It was so very good. I read the book when it first came out and, although I really enjoyed it, had a bit of a hard time getting through it. The writing was wonderful, but I read it during my lunch breaks and, being a vegetarian who had never cooked meat, fish, poultry, etc., found it hard to stomach (pun intended). Anyway, the movie really resonated with me. Julie saved herself from herself by cooking her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but more than just that. She saved her sanity by blogging about it. Although I started this blog as a way to keep Michele apprised of my many projects (and to let my parents know I was surviving), it's metamorphosed into something more for me. There's something special about connecting with people this way and being responsible to a sometimes mysterious and unknown other. For the first few months, just knowing that someone out there might be expecting to read something from me helped me not to acquiesce to the desire to sleep all day - I actually had to get up and do something so that I would have something to blog about! I just really appreciate that you all read this because I really enjoy writing it. It kept me sane in the first few months and now really brings me joy!

OK, in a completely unrelated note: after tallying the votes from here and Facebook, Lily Garden, Year One edged out Dragonfly Dance by one vote. I didn't vote myself, or it would have been a tie! Lily Garden, Year One it is, I think. I should hurry up and enter before I change my mind!! Thanks, everyone, for helping me decide!!

The Battle of the Nature-Themed Quilts

Hello all! I have just completed the quilt for my swap partner. I will be sending it off to her on Tuesday when the post office opens again. The site that hosted the swap, Quilting Gallery, is also hosting a contest for the best nature-themed quilt. I would like to enter, but I can't decide which quilt to enter, so I thought I'd ask for your help.

The first contestant is the quilt I made for the swap. It's titled Lily Garden, Year One and commemorates my first year as a gardener and features three lilies, similar to the ones in my little lily bed, and 42 individually cut and appliqued blades of grass (yes, that's correct, 42 - not 41, not 43, but 42).

The second contestant is the quilt I made for Michele for our anniversary. It is titled Dragonfly Dance and features a dragonfly centerpiece and lots of little bugs and flowers, each on its own pieced background.

I, of course, love both and would love to enter both, but can only enter one. Michele's already voted for her quilt, but she might be just a bit biased. What do you think?

On a related note, once I enter one of these lovelies and voting starts, I'll let you know. The prizes wouldn't satisfy a voluptuary, but I think they are pretty great and I would love to win one of them. But, first, of course, I need your help to decide which one to enter!

Just a Little Note to Say 'Hi'

OK, now I don't want to sound full of myself, but at times I just feel so very creative and clever! This is one of those times. Everytime I make something I think that it's my favorite, but this one really is! I thought that I wanted to make some cards people could send just to say 'hello' and low and behold, I created the Big Fat Hi card! I am so in love with these, it's not even funny - but they are - they just make me giggle uproariously!!