Stitching Away the Time (Patagonia, AZ)

Gorgeous butterfly!  Wouldn't the colors be perfect for a quilt?  Deep dark chocolate brown with lavender blue framed in black...I can see it now.  Actually, it sounds good enough to eat.  Hmm, I wonder if I have any fabric in those shades...Yea, I better not go shopping until after I finish the others and I better go eat.  Suddenly, I am very hungry for some chocolate.

I did finish my first snowman block in color.  I have decided not to do the "Snowman Collector" in Redwork.  I like using different colors.  Plus I have a lot of plaid sitting in storage.  A perfect combination of colorful snowmen in plaid frames.  Doesn't that sound like a very warm and cuddly quilt.

I think on the next one I am going to use more bright and bold colors so they will stand out more.  I like using the back stitch, but I am still a little uneven with the stitch lengths.  I'll have to work on that.

I hopped over my Valentine's Day Angels to work on my Rabbit Mug Rugs instead.  I like the way this one looks already!  I hope to have two done just before April.  Nancy Halvorsen has such cute patterns!

A couple of new wildlife photos~

Just hanging around

Peek-a-boo!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Today, I have entered my quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  Thanks Amy for hosting this festival.  I am often the viewer, but this time I want to share my favorite quilt..If you have a little time, please click on the link below.  There are some fantastic quilters and beautiful quilts participating in this virtual quilt show!

I picked this quilt because it had a very unusual start.  Most of my quilts start with the fabric or a pattern, but this one started with a photo and became the most fun quilt I have ever made.

We were staying in Camp Lejuene's campground near the beach.  There were "Seashells" marked on a map as squares on the beach.  Curious, we took a walk and found these lovely pastel picnic shelters.  I love the colors so much that I had to dig through my stash to see if I could match them.

Camp Lejeune's Seashells

I'm attracted to bold and primary colors so I was amazed to find these sitting in my stash.  Surprised to see them and actually liking them, I decided to make a quilt.

Using a simple pattern, the top started looking more like a cluster of flowers instead of reminding me of the beach.

Now I am not very talented when it comes to drawing so I like to use books or clipart.  I have a book with some amazing Art Nouveau free clipart.

  I love doing turn-under appliqué, so I picked out a butterfly and a flower patterns.  I find using batiks are very forgiving and easy to manipulate.  I picked colors that would blend into the background and yet I wanted it to look like one flower standing out from the rest.

Close-up of hand-stitching

I challenged myself by making this the largest appliqué project I have done.  I had so much fun with this one that I want to do another.  I'm on the lookout for another photo to inspire me and I'm keeping a few appliqué projects in mind.

 Thanks for stopping by! Happy Quilting!

Size: 49.75 x 40 (126.36 x 101.6 cm)

Quilting: Free form meandering on sewing machine
 
Butterfly and flower from "The Complete Book of ART NOUVEAU DESIGNS"

Two New Quilts Listed (Bridgeport, TX)

Yesterday, I listed the two quilts I have been working on for the last couple of months on Etsy.com.  I have listed both as "One Of A Kind" since I don't plan to duplicate either one of them.

 I love both quilts, but I have to admit my favorite is the Art Nouveau Garden Quilt. I had a lot of fun sewing this one together.  I am already looking back through the Art Nouveau clipart book for more ideas.  Yep, I got a few, I just got to see what is in my stash.  Oh! My fingers are already itching to get back to some more appliqué work.  More photos are in Quiltincats Fan Page.

Size: 49.75 x 40 (126.36 x 101.6 cm)

Batik Butterfly

Flower upclose

Backing and binding

Binding - doubled and cut on bias for better durability

A collage of work in progress

Southwestern Kokopeli Lap Quilt

Size: 62 x 46 (157.48 x 116.84 cm)

Smaller Kokopeli

Larger Kokopeli

Close up of the larger Kokopeli

There are a few more photos of the Southwestern Kokopeli quilt in Quiltincats Fan Page.

A collage of work in progress

Travel Day!

Today, is another travel day for us. We will be in Fredericksburg tonight and plan to stay for a few days before heading to Hondo, TX. 

Albuquerque!

For my Albuquerque friends: it looks like we will only be spending the last week of October at the base.  Depending on the weather, we might stay longer.