Frances is doing handwork????

Say it isn’t so!!!!!

Yes, I have finally become tired of not having anything to do with my hands while Michael and I are watching TV at night. Many times I sit with my computer in my lap but it is so easy to get so completely engrossed in what I am doing that I lose the time with my husband, not to mention that it is almost impossible to concentrate on whatever we are watching.

I was sitting at my local quilt shop and saw this cute pattern….

……and simply couldn’t resist it!!!

I know the basics of doing applique but it is obvious that I need to refine my technique.

For the first block, I cut the pieces out of freezer paper, used starch to fold the raw edges under and then hand-stitched them to the background. So far this has worked fairly well, and hopefully I will get better at rounding the corners smoothly!!!!

Here is the first block……

I am thinking about making 4 or 9 of these, piecing them into a small wall hanging and then using my new found beading skill to add interest (and maybe hide a few flaws).

More to come!!!!!!

Dye day with Deb

Back in January when there were inches of snow on the ground, my friend Deb H. and I got together to do some fabric dyeing. We had a need for a certain type of background fabric and our goal for the day was to make this fabric.

We originally thought of snow dyeing, but decided that 1)….it would take too long, 2)…..we didn’t have the best paints for it, and 3)….there was such a heavy crust of ice on top of the snow that it would take us forever to gather what we needed.

So….on to the next possibility…..

We taped the PFD fabric down to the plastic covered space and sprayed it with a good bit of water…..

We then went to the paints and started mixing colors, using mostly Setacolor and Dynaflow paints…..

Next step was to apply the paints to the fabrics…..

We rolled the fabric…..

And then unrolled it to reveal the final surface…..

We put them outside to dry (or rather freeze), sprinkling some of them with salt to enhance the texture…..

I forgot to take a photo of the fabric after it had been washed and ironed, but suffice it to say that they will be perfect for our intended project……if we ever get around to it!!!!

Finished Charity Quilts

At our last guild meeting, the Charity Bee presented two quilts that are being donated to the local Relay For Life programs.

As I mentioned in this post, these started out as a way for me to use some scraps and fondle some fabric back during the Christmas rush.

I finished the inside parts and handed them off to the bee. They chose and added the borders and then two of our wonderful members completed the quilting.

They were handed off to the American Cancer Society last Wednesday and I am looking forward to hearing how much money was raised from them…..

I’m in the Garden of Beading!!!

A couple of months ago I wrote about hearing a talk by Mary Stori and how I was encouraged by her use of beads.

Well, the very next day, I hit Hobby Lobby and Michael’s and found that their beads were on sale!!!! I picked up a few small tubes at HL…….

but hit the Mother-Lode in Michaels…..

This wonderful caddy held THIRTY different colors of seed beads as well as other larger beads.

I could just see me opening these caddies and dumping all of the beads out so I moved them into individual small bags. Pretty cool, huh…….

So the next questions was “what was I going to bead”?……

Well, it’s a surprise so I cant tell you!!!!

But, here is a sneak preview of my current project………………..

I am SO excited about how it is looking……stay tuned!!!!

Great Trunk Show from Regina Carter

At my local guild meeting we heard from a local quilter by the name of Regina Carter. I knew of Regina from the Lake Oconee Guild and knew that she was a wonderful long-arm quilter, but I had NO idea just how deep her pool of talents ran!!!!

As she presented her trunk show, I was especially drawn to the way that she chooses her fabric and then allows the fabric to do a lot of the work!!! Here are a few of my favorites….

This was the first quilt that she showed….I love the simple applique and the FANTASTIC quilting!!!!!….. _2091584

This one was quilted first and then painted with Shiva Paintsticks….how cool!!!….

This one shows an excellent use of fabric. Be sure to click on it to see it larger and look at the black and white inner border……

This one was a simple log cabin block paired with a WILD Kaffe fabric….. This was by and large my favorite quilt. Once again the block is simple, but the layout makes it fantastic…….

Believe it or not, this is a Double Wedding Ring!!!! The gradations were absolutely perfect!!!!

This piece reminded me of the little quilts that I have been making (click here to see those), but I really like the setting here…..

Regina’s sense of color is wonderful……

This is a shadow trapunto piece that really needs to be seen in person!!! The final quilt that she showed is a beautifully pieced and quilted work of art…..

Thank you Regina for sharing your quilting life with us!!!!!!