Distractions

Mother Nature has created so many distractions. It is impossible to stay in the house and sew.

The nun's orchids are starting to bloom. They are so dramatic.

Even the cactus is blooming. Who knew?!!

 This is on the flapjack kalanchoe. Is is a bloom or seed? It is reaching for the sun. It's telling me to move to a more sunny location.

The plumeria are starting to leaf out. This year I tried to propogate. I'll record the victory or fail here.

 Bougenvilla is finally blooming. I still have one that isn't....but I'm not giving up.

 The oleander has gotten better with age. It isn't in the best location but I need something tall and bushy there. It has found a way to be happy.

 Clerodenrum something. Love this plant.

 Amaryllis. This is one that the dogs haven't trampled.

 The gardenia makes sitting outside heavenly.

 I would sit outside and work on my block-a-day challenge. Except for this. He literally comes running and lands in my lap with one leap. He's lots of fun but I can't really stitch with an incoming dog.

 I've made some Jacob's Ladder blocks. I love the Indigo Crossings fabric.

 I've begun to commit to the background fabrics on my stars.

Slooooow progress but I really like these stars.

One from Blueberry Crumbcake fabric. Love it.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Block a Day Challenge

Well, maybe it's half a block a day. I figured out that I need to have a choice of blocks. I thrive on novelty so I'll consider another block to add to my block a day. That way I will have a choice. As the weather gets nicer I will be outside until late so I need to have a half-a-star goal as well. Progress is being made and I've enjoyed visiting the blogs of the others in the challenge. 

These are all the stars so far. Seems I like red. I'll need to add a little variety. Certainly greens.  I think I'm ready to add some cream as the connecting fabric.

Happy Sewing,

Indigo Crossing

I've had a curious reaction to one of the recent national tragedies. I was starting to branch out to art quilting but have a sudden compulsion to work on things that require far less thinking. Safe. Easy. Completion. Go figure, but it is what it is.  A jelly roll and some charm packs mean little thinking about cutting. I guess there are things in life I don't really want to think about either. As I've gotten older I think that is healthy. So much I can't control so I'll focus on sewing together squares and triangles.

Thus, my Indigo Crossing precuts and inspiration from a Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial. I love the blues and beiges in this line.  I'm working on a Jacob's Ladder. The final layout will be scrappier than this. I laid these out to get an idea of what a block will look like.



Peaceful Sewing,

Block a Day

I've been away from this blog for a very long time. What I missed was the chronicle of my projects, blooms in the garden, and what I've been learning. My ongoing goal is to spend some time each day doing the things I love doing. I still struggle with that. Often I spend time reading blogs about others doing the things I love doing.

Hence, the Block a Day challenge. I made that goal for myself and lasted about 5 days. Joining a group will hopefully help me meet that goal.

I've recently been inspired by Dutch blogs. The SuperGoof blog, supergoof-quilts.blogspot.com, by Petris Prin was the launching place.  The magazine Quiltmania has much inspiration also. I'm drawn to the colors and the quilt patterns. They have a mix of maching and hand piecing. For Christmas my husband bought me A History of Dutch Quilts by An Moonen.

 My block a day will begin with paper pieced astericks or stars. I'm not sure what I'll do with them but I'm sure something will come to me. I bought a fat quarter bundle of French General La Belle Fluer. I need to figure out what the background fabric will be. I find I don't buy enough creams or shirtings.  

Off to make today's block and watch an episode of Downtown Abbey.

Stars in Hell

If there are stars in hell, they will be feathered stars. Like many, a feathered star quilt is on my bucket list. My LQS had a class on Square in a Square feathered star, so I signed up. I'm not very good with gadget rulers. I need the big picture rather than a series of details. I really didn't get it. This combined with some all time bad sewing led me to reconstruct just about every step of this piece. I don't love it. It doesn't really look like a traditional feathered star to me. But, I will add some borders and call it a quilt. I bought lots of Edyta Sitar's fabric for it so I have to use it. I don't hate it. Just not all that I thought it would be when I conquered feathered star.

I hope all those other things on my bucket list are more fun. Surely Yosemite will be breathtaking, leaves on the east coast in fall will be gorgeous, my red/white pineapple quilt of the future will be rewarding, etc. Sure would be a bummer to start checking things off that list only to realize the list never was very good to begin with.

The air outside has promise of fall. Hope you Sunday was peaceful.

It's an understatement that I haven't blogged in a while. I was never satisfied with my posts. I felt that if I enjoyed reading others' blogs, I should also contribute with my own blog. But...I guess self-imposed pressure was too much. So I let myself off the hook for coming up with clever posts. What I have found is that the blog is a chronicle of my projects. A timeline of conquering (or avoiding) techniques. I missed having a history of my quilting and gardening adventures. So, I've decided this is my journal and it is not intended to be clever or to be read by anyone. It's the chronicle of whatever fun is going on.

We went to the Sisters Quilt Show. We were there for 6 days. It was a little piece of heaven. The town has a little over 2,000 people. They say it grows into 15,000 the day of the show.

There were beautiful traditional quilts. Many with modern fabric. Love this feathered star.

I want this for a wall in my kitchen. Bright and cheery.

The influence of JeanWells is easy to see. There were lots of art quilts. This one is part of the Quilt for Two Rivers. I particularly like it because I walked by it and thought, " I can do that." It is beautiful.

Beautiful butterfly.

Next to a striking fish. Both these quilts are on a white background. The colors draw you in and are really stand out on the white.
All of this with the Cascade Mountains in the backdrop.

Quilt Show, Museum, and Gallery Visit

Yesterday I went to the Colorado Valley Quilt Guild Show. It was a coordination of events including a new exhibit at the Texas Quilt Museum and a fiber art exhibit at the Copper Shade Tree gallery.

There were too many people flocked around this quilt to get the big picture. It is a fascinating quilt made up of people the quilter felt were significant to America. Louisa May Alcott...

Davy Crockett...he's important to us here in Texas. The quilter also included people like Lucille Ball. It's a fascinating concept to me. She had to research all these people and gather pictures that would work.

Red and white. Simply put, I'm obsessed. Each star has a variety of reds in them.

Prairie points to finish the edge. I need to attempt that sometime.

One of the few contemparary quilts. The label said that her husband wanted "one of those Gees Bend type quilts." She used shot cottons. Great colors.

A lovely traditional quilt. The picture doesn't do it justice. The quilter did a great job of picking colors with some surprises in the background. You probably notice some squares that stand out. I wonder if that was intentional.


Lovely applique.

More lovely applique on another quilt. Birds and pears...love them. A friend tells me that my attraction to pears in art is some Freudian issue with my mother. Wow, that's deep!

More red and white. This one was striking. Another one that the pictures don't do justice.

Then I headed off to the Texas Quilt Museum. I wish I could have taken pictures there. I highly recommend a visit. They are showing quilts from Lone Star Quilts III.

It was a fun and inspiring day.