Mug Rug Swap with the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild

Ebony of the guild organized the swap. I thought 4 was a good number but they’re pretty addicting because you want to keep trying new designs. Since they’re small, there is no fear in making mistakes. You just make another one if you don’t like it. Although, when it’s the deadline, you swap what you made & hope they like it!

Father’s Day Picnic & Dinner

A sunny & muggy day. Breakfast in the screen house, lunch at the Forest Preserve, & dinner at Andrew’s Open Pit. A very filling day.  Jeff was here for 2 out of 3 meals, had to go on the road. A really good day! I wanted to touch some fabric by the end of the day but time ran out. Maybe tomorrow.

Progress on my WISP (work in slow progress)

Started a year ago with the Moosequilts Online Jellyroll Sampler Quilt Along, I'm finally happy with the finished top. The pieced border was made out of the leftover strips that I somehow squeezed and stretched them to fit perfectly. We'll see how that works for me when is time to quilt it! Puckers, I'm sure! I really want to get the back done so this can be finished & used this summer, I love the colors! Its just that I want to make the back pretty with some leftover pieces but I'm not sure how to put it together. And because I need a big empty space to lay it all out, I'm not finding the time to make this happen. I know... I just need to

"Just Do It"

Mother’s Day on the Fox River

       

Every year since bro Billy bought his house near the Fox River, we have gathered for Mother’s Day & his birthday. This year it was minus my sister & Jeff.( Terry-Michigan, Jeff-on the road). A beautiful day as usual! I remembered to take a picture of B’s gift in progress but not of the finished project. It’s a picture of B&V on a glass jar with a citronella candle for outside topped with beaded copper wire. He loved it!

Having Fun with the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild

I'm so glad I found them! I look forward to the monthly meetings & became the self appointed photographer of the monthly Show & Tells. My friend Donna (met her thru an Art Quilt class @ quiltfabric.com) joined & is thrilled more than I am about what being part of this group has done with our art/craft. These are from the first challenge I took part in. We made a quilt block & placed the block with the remaider of the 4 fat quarters we used in a bag to be blind swapped at the meeting. We then had to finish into a quilt the block & fabric, adding from our own stash as needed & return to gift the owner at the July meeting. It was a BIG challenge for me, since I've never created anything as I went along. It was really fun though & everyone LOVED theirs when it was returned to them at the meeting. The most recent event at the guild was "Iron Quilter". Here's the results at the guilds blog. http://thechicagomodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/2011/03/iron-quilter-huge-success.html We were divided into random teams, my team ROCKED! Donna, Sarah, & Erika. I'd say we worked really well together & won the judges choice award for creative use of embelishments. It seemed like all our supplies given were really ugly, but it came together in the end. We all had a blast & can't wait to work as a team again. Next months meeting is a "sew-in" & a strip swap. I'm not sure what that is, I'm sure it'll be fun & interesting!

Another Beautiful Mother’s Day!

About 5 years ago we started going to my brother’s house on Mother’s Day & his birthday. He’s a block from the Fox River & the bike trails. It feels so good to walk down the trails of Spring greenery to the Dam so Bill, Jeff & the girls can drop a pole into the water. This year we walked a little further so Bill could show us a beautiful view.

Two casts later & Bill caught his 1st Northern Pike of the year & on the Fox River! It was at least 2 feet long! What a great birthday present to himself!

And of course, I had to make my bro a giant cupcake birthday cake!

The craftiness that I unfortunately didn't take a picture of was the 2 button pins I made for my mother & sister based on an idea from the book Button ware. Of course I was making them the night before and trying to solder the pin onto them in the morning. I think they are pretty but of course as usual I didn't make one for myself. The buttons were the flowers & the coiling of the wire at the base looked like a vase. I need to get a picture of them at some point to personally document what I do with all my time!

I finally finished block 4 & 5 for the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. Now I’m waiting to be inspired to create block 6.

Block 4 makes me smile! Block 5 doesn’t belong to the same family!

I’m new the world of Jelly Roll quilting & I’m trying to use all the colors of the roll. Maybe you’re not supposed to when making a sampler quilt or maybe I’m just not combining them very well!

This Sunday is my first meeting at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild. I’m excited to meet some really creative people. I’d like to take part in their Inspiration Challenge Event (ICE), but my creative process to create a block with 4 fat quarters isn’t really happening too fast. Plus, I’m afraid to commit to messing up someone else’s block. It’s a swap challenge to create a wall hanging size quilt with someone else’s block & fabric pieces. I’m afraid I won’t make time to complete it on time because I’ll be digging out my house room by room for Mick’s graduation party in June. I’ve been sketching ideas this week but just can’t narrow down a design. I want to include CMQG-2010 on it so it will inspire me to keep creating. Let’s see what happens! Until next time…

Moving Along on the Quilt Along & other March & April Things

Blocks 2 & 3 from the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along from moosequilts.blogspot.com. I love my Frolic jelly roll from Moda.I want to mix up the colors but hope it will all come together in the end.I am currently behind by 2 blocks. How can that be?!! The new blocks come out every other Monday which I thought would be so manageable, but my procrastination & sidetrackedness did it to me once again! I think maybe the disaster zone of my work area has something to do with it!

The beginning of March was Dad’s & Aunt Adeline’s birthdays. Dad got a Giant Cupcake Cake from the pan I got for Christmas. Aunt Adeline got a Kanzashi flower corsage that I also made, based on Sister Diane’s Kanzashi in Bloom book. It was easy & fun, so why don’t I ever make more than one item when I try something new & of course, its always for a gift!

My friend’s birthday was also in March. She appreciates all things handmade, so I made her this zip pouch based on the one in Amy Karol’s Bend the Rules Sewing. I loved it, my family loved it & Maureen loved it! All made with supplies on hand with a beautiful pink shiny lining!

Easter was during the girls Spring Break. Eggs were colored on Good Friday as always. I had to get out the green checked vinyl tablecloth for tradition sake. Very bright, very fun!

Also during Spring break, we went downtown with my Mom & sister to Macy’s Annual Flower Show. Of course shopping was included to get the girls excited about going. The weather was PERFECT! Warm & a little windy. We each took the train & met up downtown.

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The first 2 weeks of April were very sunny & warm. This made my daffodils start opening earlier than I wanted them to. They are always in bloom for my birthday so I wanted them to last, which they did. They are my favorite flower probably because they are the first pop of color in my yard after our long grey winters.

My first time to the International Quilt Festival in Chicago & then I hear it will probably be my last because they are moving the Spring festival to Cincinnati, Ohio. That’s me & Pokey Bolton, Editor in Chief of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, as well is all of the Interweave things she’s in charge of. She was running Make It University at the festival, a series of 1 hour workshops by various mixed media artists. I was lucky enough to do 2 of them. Names were pulled & you had to be present. I made a fabric ATC & a collage on canvas. Also pictured are the mini pieces of art I brought to their trading post to swap with others on a wall. Once again, they were fun & east to make but they’re all gone. Below are the mini art things I swapped for.

These are the Thank You cards I made for my sister, cousin & friend, all who are very thoughtful people in my life & all appreciate creative work!

Now, on to my mess to clean up so I can catch up on the quilt along! The mess is stifling my ability & need to create. I hate when I let it take over my space. I wish I had an assistant!

On to the next month!

New Month, New Projects to Do!

At the end of February was my main project, finished slowly, piece by piece. If I could just follow a pattern, instead of having to make it up as I went along it could have been done a lot more quickly. Loosely based on a bag in Designer Style Handbags by Sherri Haab, I LOVE the way it turned out and is my main bag right now. Although with it getting warmer out, I'm now thinking I need a Springy looking one. All the fabric was found at my local thrift shop. Some nice quilter is donating bags of scraps & some yardage. For $3, I got lots to play with now & for later!
New project for March, the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along from moosequilts.blogspot.com. I've always wanted to buy a jelly roll, never had a reason too. It was fun looking for just the right one. I decided on Frolic by Moda. I love the bright retro colors!
Block 1. Why do I have such a problem with straight stitching?!

Well Into the New Year & Going Strong!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44958656@N02/4283377323/in/photostream

Continuing with last year's theme, "use what you have" projects, I made a January wall hanging with re purposed, thrifted, leftover supplies. January is the darkest longest month for me & I wanted to think Springy thoughts. Titled, Snowflakes on Daisies, I took 2 different components from quilt magazines. The daisy came from a floor quilt project in International Quilt Festival Quilt Scene, the snowflakes came from a table runner project from another magazine. I like how the toile and novelty fabric go together. The light blue is flannel scraps I got along with the red snowflake fabric in a bag full from my local thrift store. Some nice quilter is donating her leftovers & they are selling them for pennies! The toile is Waverly, but from a shower curtain I got from Goodwill a long time ago to make accessories to match the Waverly valances I used to have in my kitchen. I think I paid $4 for all that fabric that I knew I'd use someday for something. I love toile but it doesn't really go with anything in my house. (I really don't have any kind of style, anywhere!) It was fun & quick to make and good practice for free motion & echo quilting and my binding skills without making something huge.

Next on the January projects is trying to transfer a photo to muslin using gel medium, to be made into a tote. I printed it in reverse on glossy photo paper, covered it with 3 separate layers of gel medium. Then when each layer was dried overnight, I added one more thick layer to the photo and pressed it onto the muslin and used a brayer to smooth it out to get out any air bubbles and once again let it dry overnight. When it was then basically glued face down to the muslin, I wet the back with water & it released, leaving the thickened image on the fabric. It has a matte finish and feels like flexible leather.

I am now trying to piece it together in a pleasing matter to be finished into a tote from the book Designer Style Handbags by Sherri Haab. I'm doing foundation piecing onto some white felt I have from my collection of remnants. The reds are from that great bag of quilt scraps from some nice quilter. I wish I had more of the red geranium one!

The first February project was another quickie to practice my free motion skills. Made with some nylon lining fabric from who knows when (it's so old, it still smells after washing & drying it) and stiffened with a few fused plastic bags (I always wanted to try that) they are now hanging on the front of the house on the garland that is still up from Christmas. Now I just need to find some green fabric & ribbon so I can keep the garland up til St. Patrick's Day!

To think I was thinking about doing my own "52 Projects" this year! I'll be happy if I can keep the pace of at least one completed project a month and finish some of the lingering ones that are still waiting to be completed, like the Knifty Knitter shrug that I started possibly in 2007 or 08. I was working on it yesterday & it only needs the cuffs and to be connected on the sleeves. Not sure if I'll ever wear it, its made with the eyelash yarn that was popular a few years ago! We'll see.

Christmas Things Around Chicago

Mini graham cracker "gingerbread" houses. An annual event with friends at our house.

The girls at our village's Holiday celebration. They hated posing for this! Just a few years ago, you couldn't keep them away from these!

A trip to the Art Institute of Chicago with my sister & friend to see the Victorian "Playing with Paper" exhibit. A very cold but extremely enjoyable day!

In front of the Art Inst, the lions are dressed for the holidays & very politically correct! No red, green, or blue to signify any ethnic celebration. Very Sad! They used to have big green wreaths with red ribbons on them every Christmas.

Another trip downtown with 2 friends to the Kriskindle Market at Daley Plaza. We took an early train & had time to pass thru Macy's (formerly Marshall Fields as it will be forever remembered). This is the tree in the Walnut Room where I have only lunched once in my life. People wait for tables to be sat next to the tree. Its decorated different every year & always beautiful. We viewed it from one floor up.

Without our kids with us, we got to roam the 1st floor aisles at Macy's and look at jewelry, purses & other accessories without anyone asking, "Can we go now?" It was very pleasurable and very beautifully decorated.

Here's Chicago's tree at Daley Plaza. To save $, this is the first year that the tree is just one large one, rather than many smaller ones pieced together to be a huge full tree. I think it looks fine because it actually looks real, like it should!

On to 2010!

Wishes for Health, Happiness & Craftiness to the Max!

Projects completed, Birthdays & Holidays passed!

November & December 2009 done, but not without being packed with good times. I'm happy with completing a few crafty projects, but of course,never as many as I would've liked to. For K's ice skating b-day party, I made monogrammed gloves for the girls, they loved them. Easy w/ pearl dimensional fabric paint w/ the help of foam stamps for placement of the dotted initial for each girl. Posted a pic on Michael's to win a trip to see Martha Stewart if I get enough ratings. It's worth a try!

Finished the Hope Squared quilt in time & shipped it out before Nov 15. I'm so proud that I started & finished something of that magnitude (for me, that is) for such a great cause! Started & finished in a week & a half and made with repurposed fabric from a favorite shirt! For details of my beginner free motion quilting, see link for flickr.http://www.flickr.com/photos/44958656@N02/4132099353/in/photostream/

For Mom's birthday, I wanted to make something for her with an applique silhoette of her lovebird, "Sunny" . I made this zippered pouch based on the one in Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing but a little larger & quilted. Luckily, I had the afternoon free to start & finish in time for meeting her & my sister for dinner & a movie that evening. I love the way it turned out, just wish I could plan ahead a little better & make things before the day I need it!

What Happened To August September & October?!

The coolest summer ever & now we're into fall! Halloween & the day before were very busy but fun! Both girls had plans with their friends, M volunteered to bring cupcakes to a party, K had friends coming over after Trick or Treating. These were the masterpieces! Thanks to Betty Crocker & Martha Stewart! Between the school party & Halloween Day it seemed like one continuous day. We helped to decorate & also undecorate.

This sidetracked me away from 2 other projects going on. The drive to finish my 22 year old quilt & finish a smaller one for http://www.margaretshopechest.com/ project "Hope Squared", also at http://www.margaretshopechest.blogspot.com/ Christmas present quilts for children in shelters in the Grand Rapids, MI public schools. I heard about it from the Craftsanity podcast I listen to & it has a deadline of November 15. Nothing like a deadline to light a fire under me! I surprised myself by putting the top together in less than a week. Made with printed fabric from a shirt of mine & my husbands that was in the give away pile but thought the print was too good to get rid of and black fabric thats been sitting around WAY too long! The project is for quilts made with any kind of squares. The size of my squares (rectangles) were determined by the pieces I got out of the mens short sleeve shirt and I took it from there. Since most people make girly quilts, they asked to keep in mind the recipient when making yours, I'm thinking mine would be appropiate for a teen boy. They even said if all you could afford to make was a quilt top, that was fine, they would finish it up. I'm determined to finish it. I bought batting w/ a JoAnn's 40%off coupon & have some other fabric for the back. So total cost of the project is $6 + tax & shipping to MI. Here it is so far.