Pillows, glorious pillows!

I did it! I finished Molly’s throw pillows to go with her quilt! And just in time, because she moves back to the dorms today! Sniff. Sniff. But don’t feel too sorry for me, because her college is only 25 miles away, and I often get to see her weekly. These are the first pillows I’ve ever made! My mother would be so proud of me! Hopefully sometime this weekend I’ll get a picture of her new dorm suite all set up!

With wishes, true and kind,

joan

A finished quilt -- at last!

So, apparently it has been just over a month since my last post. I think the first couple of weeks of my "mini-break", I didn’t do any sewing at all, but the last couple of weeks I have actually gotten quite a bit done. If you don’t believe me, you should see my house! Fabric, thread, and other quilting paraphernalia seem to have overtaken the entire first floor. Which – I might add – I should be cleaning up right now as my daughter has a friend coming to visit from Arkansas tomorrow afternoon. But, at least with this post I have a chance to show my August needlepoint teapot mini before August is long gone.

I finished the half hexagon quilt for my daughter and within a week, my friend, Karen Walker, completed the quilting on her long arm. Binding was completed by hand over two days, and the quilt has been washed and dried to crinkly, quilty goodness.

And I would like to thank Aneela (comfortstitching) for inspiration and encouragement and Rita (Red Pepper Quilts) for expert binding advice.

For the backing, we managed to find this yummy Kaffe Fassett print (before finding this gem, we didn't seem to be able to agree on anything), which looks like it was made for this quilt!

I also whipped out two pillowcases. They are my first – so never mind that they are slightly different lengths. Okay – a little more than slightly. But it’s a good start.

I’ve also been playing around with pillow tops for four throw pillows, but I’ll leave those for another day, so I’ll still have something to post this month. And I stilll have three more quilt tops (including the two quilt tops in my banner above) finished that need backs, so I can get them to Karen for quilting! I just love finishing projects. But, then again, starting new projects is pretty exciting too!

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Not your grandmother's sawtooth star....

Here are some pictures of my first project for my Color Play group which met this evening. To explain the process behind this project, my thinking, my second guessing, my changing my mind…well, it would be extremely scary. I don’t know how Kaffe Fassett does it! I laughed out loud when I read Aneela’s blog this morning (comfortstitching), because she said she doesn’t like batiks. Well, they are not my favorite either, but I had so much trouble finding true violet colors (part of my assignment) and then lighter versions (need those value changes), that I grabbed two batiks up without thinking twice. Ah, desperation!

And I got a fun package the other day from Rusty Crow Quilt Shop.com in Elfin Forest, California (I only mention the location because the name, Elfin Forest, struck my fancy). It was this lovely sampler fabric (by Moda) that I saw on Gwendie’s blog. I love samplers and have a long history of counted thread embroidery, so I just had to have it. I photographed it next to an antique sampler that my husband bought me for a wedding gift. Twenty-four years later, and he’s still a keeper!

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show - Part One

Welcome to Sisters, Oregon, home of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, the annual quilt show that completely takes over the town the second Saturday of July! Remember to click on a picture for a closer look.










One of my favorite parts of the quilt show was getting to meet and talk with some of the Gee's Bend quilters. Lucy Mingo, who made the quilt in the background, is the one in the orange jacket. I bought one of their books, and all six signed in the front of the book, and also by pictures of quilts that they or their mothers had made:
It was fun to see so many quilts featuring Kaffe Fassett fabric and/or patterns:

I loved finding this quilt, which features flowers fussy cut from a gorgeous piece of Amy Butler fabric. I have approximately 3 yards of the same fabric in a slightly different colorway, but have been hesitating about cutting into it. This is a wonderful way to showcase the beautiful, large flowers:

Don't forget to look at Part Two below.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show - Part Two

More quilts. Lots more quilts....

Don't forget to click on an image if you want to see a close-up.

Just for fun, I'll leave you with these images of cars in quilts. "Why quilted cars?" you ask. I don't know. Perhaps they are the answer to the question, "What do I do with all my leftover blocks?" At any rate, they seemed to be a big hit with children.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan