Indulge Your Shelf

At it again.  This time, I started with another little quilt/sampler I pieced back in May; I blogged about it here .  It was a collage-like mix of similar-toned fabrics.  It only took a couple of hours to go from this: to this; now, it's finished! I love that it's kind of curvy and wonky--not all straight lines and corners. I loved the print of the cars, but not the words so much, so I covered one line up with a strip of ribbon trim... laced through an old, early plastic buckle. Do you see the painted wooden button in the upper right corner? The detail of the orange bordered doily is with the millinery flower sewn on it is probably my favorite detail. I also really like the rectangular crocheted doily insert topped with the blue and orange buttons.  Isn't it surprising how well the orange and blue go together? I had fun layering this part: the fabric under the doily, the fabric point over the doily, and the leaf-shaped embellishment ...

This project  began last year, when I had an urge to create something for winter in whites and non-traditional Christmas colors.  I was inspired by the cool tones of blue and pink, plus some wonderful textile pieces I'd received from friends.  I chose some printed muslin scenes of old fashioned winter moments and laid them out this white barkcloth decorated with roses that I've been hoarding for years now. Last year I created the four "squares", sewed them to the fabric and began to embellish it.  But at some point I became tired of it, and then put it away.  It looked like this at that point: So, the other day I was restless after work and I pulled it out and got re-inspired.  I went through my newly organized embellishments -- fabric, lace, millinery flowers, trims and buttons -- and made a pile.  It was so much fun!   And, can I gush again about how much easier it is to be creative when your things are all in their proper place?   F...

Kudos to Kathy Shaw for offering a free online basic crazy quilting class!  It was fun and informative -- and very, very well organized!  Kathy's a great teacher.  The format of the class was for us to do one task at a time (there were 12) which Kathy emailed directly to us.  Then as we finished each task we photographed our progress and posted it on the class blog, which was private/available only to students.  Kathy then emailed the next task to us -- often within hours! Here's my finished block -- it took me about seven weeks to complete. As you can see, I am going to use the finished block as a journal cover.  I thought I'd show you my start-to-finish; first, Kathy recommended the use of this square snap frame.  I had never used one before and although I found the size cumbersome, I thought overall it was a great tool to facilitate the fancy stitches we had to do on the block. It's lightweight and easy to hold in one hand while...