12.30.11

Two meetings on one day at the same time in two different churches. Next Thursday, my OASIS classes resume. I will be taking chair caning as well as Intermediate II basketry. Unfortunately, that is when Fiber Active (through the Misty Mountain Quilt Guild) meets, as well. I at first RSVPed that I would attend F. A. but since I looked at my calender, I realize I can not do both. It is important not to miss the first meeting of ANY class, even if you expect to miss some of the others. I have asked F.A. to reschedule  for another day of the week. There were five of us last time, and at least two of us are OASIS students.

I also take a Crazy Quilt class through the guild, and even though my Quilty Friend does not take that class, she knew this pattern was for me! It is from Canada Goose Designs and it is called CRAZY WEDDING RING. It is so unusual! It combines crazy quilting with TURNED EDGE applique! The pattern says to use all your machine stitches and make lots of rectangles, then using a petal shaped cutting template, cut them out. After that, use a finishing template, turn the edges. When a  background is selected and marked, baste the petals on to it, then applique. The pattern has it all done by machine which might be a great idea for the crib quilt size. I might start there. Since I am also in the machine quilting challenge--check my blog badge to the right--this will be a great excuse to learn some of my machine's stitches.

                                                

Can you see a tiny cardinal in a gilded cage? My Florida brother's family sent that along with this lovely vanilla shower gel and lotion. I sure smell good right now!

11.19.11

 The leaves are mostly brown with a few reds left. The yellows are just about all gone.

Here is my name badge that I did for Misty Mountain Quilt Guild. The name part is on little beads in a semi circle in the upper left. The pin in that semi circle is the official guild pin.  The red ribbon in the lower left signifies that I helped at the 2011 Quilt Fest. The dangles are from my first shop hop. I got a charm for every shop I hopped. I was supposed to make a Moon-Over-The-Mountain square but I, of course, did it my way. This picture really does not do justice to the fabric and the hand quilting I did. I will try to get another photo of it later.

11.9.11

My favorite BLOTTO block was the butterflies.  The background fabric was a deep turquoise which appears batik-like in the photograph but it is not. I found little bits of the print that looked like mirror images and cut butterfly wings to appliqué. I prepared the pieces and did lots of research on Sashiko patterns and found an interesting cloud treatment in a Sylvia Pippen book. I drafted it out unscientifically (I eyeballed it), embroidered, and then scattered the butterflies on to flit happily.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience but I hope I do not win the blocks. I don't have anything in my house that goes with those colors and my house is not Asian in style. I submitted them without my name on them and a couple of meetings later, someone tracked me down and made me put my name on them. Oh, well, I will worry about that tomorrow.

11.8.11

What I learned in Sashiko class I also applied to BLOTTO block raffle. The guild offered a free day of Sashiko lessons with Beverly Gibson and Scottie Blumke who are VERY good at Sashiko. That decided me. I would have to buy more BLOTTO solids. I chose a sky blue and copied some of the branching maple section of the print fabric, enlarged it unscientifically (I eyeballed it) and prepared to do the Sashiko embroidery.

When I finished, the branches didn't look right, so I couched tan floss outlines with brown quadrupled sewing thread. Then I wove my own fabric for the stems with the sewing thread. That is not cheating, right? Technically it is embroidery or surface embellishment, not a new fabric. See the close-up? I chose to weave unevenly, sort of higgledy-piggledy to give the branch more of a bark quality.

11.7.11

On my last visit as a guest and my first visit as a member at the Misty Mountain Quilt Guild, I was curious about the BLOTTO block raffle. For blotto, they have a print fabric and several coordinating solids. No other fabric may be used. A participant buys fat quarters at $2 each and returns a 12.5 inch (unfinished) block and receives her $2 back and gets her name put in the drawing to win everyone's blocks.

Here is the first one I made. It is a fan with black background and pieces of the print fabric. I enjoyed this since I was able to use some of the skills I am learning in the Appliqué classes I take with Connie Tackett.