Mike, the sequel

Did any of you know that I am married to a rock star? My husband plays drum in a rock band and he's the cutest drummer that I know!

The band members pop in and out as life happens to them (job changes, back to school, new babies, coaching soccer, etc.)

The band always practices at my house and I love it! I even love it when the noise from the basement makes the glassware in the dining room rattle.

The original singer in the band, Mike, has had many life changes in the last few years and is not with the band any more. He has, however, changed the way I hear many songs. When I hear a song from an original artist and I am used to the way Mike sings it, it just sounds wrong on the radio somehow.

Not so many years ago, Mike got married. Then he had a little baby boy who received a little blue quilt. He recently had another little baby boy and that little boy will received this little green quilt:

With a scrappy green back:



I resumed work on this quilt last fall while living in a hotel room for a week and recently quilted and bound it.

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

I'll think about that tomorrow

Last night I was playing with my sweet Sweet Sixteen and wanted to make some progress on this quilt (scroll down to see the square quilt). I last posted when I was quilting the center, but I had no idea what to quilt in the border.

I do most of my thinking when I drive, and I have done a lot of driving in the last few weeks (New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey...). During those long drives, I finally figured out how I wanted to quilt the border.

Using my Handi Quilter Circle Templates, I stitched the spine for the feathers and then stitched the feathers. I used InvisiFil thread from WonderFil. It is a 100-weight polyester and quilts so beautifully!

I finished the border after 10pm last night and took a photo:

I wasn't sure if the quilt was done or not. There were a million questions running through my head:

• Was there enough visual interest in the border?
• Should I have used a contrasting thread?
• Should I restitch the spines and circles using a thicker contrasting thread?

My head was spinning with questions and I decided to imitate Scarlett O'Hara and think about it tomorrow.

Tomorrow is today.

This morning I woke up and hung the quilt outside on the laundry line to get a look at in in proper daylight.

Here is what the quilt looks like this morning:

Sometimes the proper light can make a world of difference.

I think the border is done. I am so glad I waited a day to make this decision. If I had added contrasting thread and didn't like it, it would have been a bear to un-stitch.

Now for the binding. Maybe I should add some piping? I'll think about that tomorrow.

Personal Challenge

In the last four months, I have visited the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg Florida, MOMA in New York City (sigh), the Sackler and Freer Galleries in Washington D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a separate visit to Van Gogh Up Close at the Philadelphia Museum. During that time I have also walked along beautiful beaches in The Bahamas, visited NASA in Florida, been a tourist in New York City (sigh), and visited Washington D.C. while the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. I have taken nearly 1,000 photos and each one holds the promise of a quilt.

Tonight I decided that I needed to start working on a photo-to-quilt translation. Which photo did I choose? Kandinsky? Dali? Warhol? An exquisite Islamic tile pattern? Palm trees? Cherry blossoms?

No.

I chose a photo of a daffodil in my front yard.

Isn't that a sweet photo? It is a very lonely daffodil under the rock wall along my front steps. I obviously did not stage this photo; I just snapped a shot with my phone as I was walking up the driveway a few weeks ago.

If you want to see some gorgeous photographs by an amazing photographer, check out Nora Scarlett. I was introduced to her work a few months ago and had the pleasure of meeting her last week. Her work is so light and happy; I am enthralled by it. Her show of photographs from the Shawangunk Mountains is opening this weekend and I hope to attend.

Back to my lousy snapshot:

I spent an hour tonight listening to the end of a Lee Child novel and trying to make a fabric and thread photograph. My art skills are not smarter than a fifth grader. Do not expect great things. Seriously, lower your expectations before you scroll down to see the quilt.

Using supplies on hand, I grabbed some brown fabric, green fabric, cotton batting, and four colors of threads (black, multi-green, multi-yellow and multi-orange). I cozied up to my Sweet Sixteen made this 6x8-inch mini quilt:

If I remade this (which I most likely will not), I would use an additional layer of batting and do something different with the grass. And maybe hand-dye the fabrics for the rocks and grass.

It still has to be bound. Any volunteers?

When I showed my husband this little quilt, he gave a one-word comment: "small."

I would love to hear your one-word comment about my little quilt. "Small" has already been taken so choose another word.

_____

If some of you stopped short at my list of travels in the last few months, please know that I spent more time at home in the last four months than in the eight months before that. The next eight months are looking quite busy as well. The Florida/Bahamas trip was a true vacation. New York City and Washington DC were work related. So were New Jersey, Utah, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey (again). I travel A LOT and sometimes I get to see cool stuff. I am a very blessed woman, indeed.

Design Wall Monday

Dear April, I am glad to see you!

In March, I spent:

• 18 nights in
• 6 hotels in
• 5 states. I spent
• 6 more days traveling to and from
• 2 quilt shows,
• 1 training event and
• 3 events at quilt shops. I visited
• 3 more quilt shops while I was on the road. I quilted
• 3 customer quilts, including
• 1 for a magazine (more on this later). I ended my month wishing my son a happy
• 25 year-old birthday. This fact confuses me, since I am only
• 29 years old myself. That is my story; I am not changing it.

If you add all of those numbers together, they equal

• 1 very tired Debby!

One of the quilt shops I visited was Bits 'N Pieces in Pelham, NH. I love that shop! Liz is a wonderful shop owner and the students there are out-of-this-world fabulous! Since my last visit there was marked by a hurricane, followed by tornadoes, flooded roads, and three days stranded in a hotel waiting for the airport to reopen, this visit was 100% pleasure!

I picked up some fabric for my red and white memory quilt and just now had time to make my blocks (see explanation above):

It's gonna be a great quilt!

Check out Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

For my gal's pal

I give a lot of quilts away -- a LOT of quilts. What else are quilts for?

My daughter has made a very good friend at college and such a friend deserves a quilt!

I used Bonnie Hunter's scrappy trip around the world pattern for the front:

I used a bunch of 10 1/2-inch squares and 2 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch rectangles to make the back of the quilt:

By all accounts, my gal's pal loved the quilt!

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

Weekend Fun!

This weekend I am teaching at Cottonseed Glory in Annapolis, Maryland. On my drive down, I stopped by Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms. They were beautiful!

Here I am, rocking the wind-blown look, right across from the Jefferson Memorial.

I visited the Freer and Sackler Galleries, and my head blew up from all of the loveliness. So much inspiration! I really need a month at home to just quilt.

So now that you know what I'm doing this weekend, I have a suggestion for your weekend:

If you've ever wanted to check out QNNtv.com, it's free this weekend. (Hint: my episode of Quilt It! aired in January). I have subscribed to QNNtv.com for two years and find it a great value. They have so many quilt shows available, all for the cost of a single quilt book!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday!

If you read my blog regularly, you already know that my mom likes tablerunners.*

I pieced a runner for her last fall while living in a hotel room and I finished the quilting and binding in time for Mom's birthday:

Her table is larger than mine so it shouldn't cover her entire tabletop!

_____

* That post was from 2 1/2 years ago and she had 15 tablerunners then. She probably has nearly 30 now. I'll ask her to count again sometime.

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

Rethinking my furniture

My house has no lack of places for my cat Kermit to rest. I have a (very hairy) cat bed in the living room:

We have another bed that usually stays in my office:

Where does Kermit prefer to rest? On a (brand new and clean) pizza box that used to hold a quilt project:

So, if you walk into my house and wonder why there is a crumply pizza box on the floor, it is because my cat has claimed it as his own.

He's been using this box as his bed for over a month and it's getting that shabby chic look. Kermit weighs over 17 pounds and the box isn't meant for that type of abuse. Should I just throw it away?

Design Wall Monday

Last week I drove through Massachusetts and stopped at a cute new quilting shop: Sturbridge Quilting and Sewing Center.

The owner, Gina Zeleznok, is a talented quilter and teacher (she's also a good friend of mine):

I bought some red and white fabrics to make my memory blocks:

Check out Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Hotel Room Sewing

I am having so much fun teaching some wonderful quilters in Pelham, NH this weekend and got to spend some quilting time in my hotel room.

I finished piecing and putting borders on this scrappy four-patch quilt:

It is not too exciting to look at, but I also finished piecing a king-sized quilt back:

What are you working on this weekend?

A quilt in need of a home

Last fall I was in New Hampshire teaching longarm quilting by day but by night, my humble hotel room became my most divine sewing studio. I pieced the center of my latest quilt in that hotel room.

I added the border when I got home and threw the top in the "to be quilted" pile.

I basted this sweet thing on my longarm with a large loose meander, and then quilted it on my Sweet Sixteen.

The basting worked beautifully. Not a single pucker on the quilt. I felt so smart!

Then, I had to remove the basting. Hours days weeks later, I pulled out the last of the basting. I felt much less smart then, and my fingers hurt!

What is your favorite basting method?

Finally, though, this quilt is finished:

It currently has no home, but I do have a few people in mind.

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

New (to me) Quilting Products

If you know me in person, you know that I am a bit of an applique nut. I found the perfect thread (InvisiFil) and the perfect needle (a straw needle) and thought I would applique with these for the rest of my life. But nay nay! My friend John gave me some new needles to try:

I never thought that I would give up my straw needles, but these are now my favorites! Look for these needles, and look for my friend John's latest quilt design in the Summer Fons & Porter, coming to newsstands next week!

Last night I met Jill Finley from Jillily Studio. I got to see a trunk show of her quilts. So inspiring!!! I am already a fan of her Appli-Glue, but now I am a fan of her Poke-A-Dots:

They solve my thimble problem. Yes, I have had a thimble problem.

If you see me at a quilt show (AQS Lancaster, MQX, MQS) with a little red dot on my finger, you will know that I have been appliqueing and forgot to take my "thimble" off!

If you need a challenge this morning, take a photo of your right hand with a traditional camera. No, really, try it. It is not easy at all!

Do you have a favorite product that I need to try?

Design Wall Monday

Or should I say Design Sofa Monday? I am traveling and took this photo on the sofa in my hotel room.

I decided that I liked the 4-patch center and stitched it down. These blocks make great hand-sewing for travel, so expect more finished blocks in future posts. They are all made from scraps, so each block will be slightly different.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

My morning view

Every morning (well, most mornings), this is what I see:

It's the shirt I wear to the gym. It makes me laugh (the sayings on the shirt, not going to the gym).

I can't believe that MQX is in about 4 weeks! I will be teaching four classes there, including my new class, Quilting By Heart.

I'm ready and excited to meet my students, and that is why I am at the gym every day -- just so I can keep up with them!

See you at MQX!!!

It was my honor

Last week I had the honor of quilting a new sample for my friends at the Quilt Basket. This was an update of their wedding quilt with contemporary fabrics.

It is challenging to finish quilts that are this lovely. I found myself continually patting and petting this quilt, crooning "my precious" when I should have been quilting it.

The real danger of quilting shop samples is that it is a kind of "shop at home" experience. I quilt the quilt, I love the quilt, I buy the kit. It is as simple as 1-2-3.

If you need to buy this kit (and you do!), it is available here.

A gift and a finish!

In January, I went away for a quilting weekend with my girls. As always, we ate, quilted, and laughed a lot. I love spending time with my quilting girls!

One of my friends, Isobel, made me a yummy quilted bag:

Tiffany blue!

Isobel probably has the highest level of technical sewing skills of anyone I know. The fact that she used those skills to bless me with this bag humbles me.

As I was looking at the bag, I kept thinking it looked familiar. She showed me the pattern and I realized that I own that one (Amanda's Purse).

After the retreat, I went to my box of patterns and it was not there. So I looked on my shelf of patterns and it was not there. Then I looked on my cutting table. And my bookcase. And every other surface in my sewing room. Nothing. Days later I was in a box checking out some half-done project and I found the pattern. Why it was there I do not know, but it is so exciting to find something that is lost!

I pulled out some lovely limey scraps from my stash and pieced up this purse. I decided to show my Sweet Sixteen some love, so I quilted the purse on my baby.

If you quilt your quilts by pushing fabric through a machine, you need Machingers Quilting Gloves. Yes, you really do!

I decided that lime green fabrics deserved some whacky quilting:

After installing a zipper, discovering that the zipper was broken, and then un-installing the zipper, I finally finished the purse (serious amounts of time elapsed):

I have different applique projects in my two lovely bags. I will think of my darling Isobel every time I touch either one.

Design Wall Monday

A bug is running through the internet quilting community. Have you caught it? I have.

It is the Dresden Plate bug. I caught it from The Old Red Barn Flickr group. Deb from Works in Progress has a great tutorial on how to make these blocks. If you check the date of the tutorial, you will see that this bug took several months to incubate. Now that it has caught me, though, I have a very serious case and may never recover:

Is that cute or what? I am just auditioning the 4-patch center; it may be replaced with a solid circle eventually.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

BASICs

In February, I took a trip to New York City (PVSD -- sigh) to visit the NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild. Victoria, the hostess, was as lovely as ever and I met a bunch of other incredible quilters. I could practically taste the joy of quilting when I entered the meeting. Such a different guild experience for me.

Check out what they had to say about the meeting here. Read a few posts before and after, too, because there was too much wonderful quiltiness to be contained in a single blog post!

Victoria has a charity called Bumblebeans Basics. Consider making a quilt for this incredible cause. I made a quilt for them at my quilt retreat in January. It is based on a Moda Bake Shop pattern, but slightly different because I cut the first block wrong and decided I liked it that way.

A scrappy front:

And a scrappy back:

Victoria posted about this quilt and others here. (her photos of my quilt are much better than mine)

I machine bound this one at the recommendation of my real-life, in-person BFF Kim. She sent me a link to this tutorial and it worked!

Do you machine bind?

Design Wall Monday

Did you see the red and white quilt exhibit in New York City last year? I did not and I am still very sad about that.

I have one of the greatest jobs ever: I get to travel to different quilt shops and quilt shows all over North America. My travel season is from March until November, so I am packing my bags. Every year I tell myself I am going to make a memory quilt with fabric from each place I visit and each year I neglect to get organized and actually do it.

Not so this year! I am making a red and white quilt with fabric from each place I visit. I have already visited Sew Inspired in Simsbury, CT. If you have not yet been to their store, you must plan a trip soon!

I bought a lot of things at the shop, but I bought a fat quarter of red fabric and a fat quarter of white fabric. I made these two blocks:

Each block is labeled with the shop name and location:

I always remember to buy fabric wherever I go, but I hope I remember to specifically buy red and white fabrics at each shop and show so I have a great 2012 memory quilt!

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Some days I really love my job

When I am not working at quilt shows or quilt shops, I am home quilting for customers. Some of my favorite customers/friends are the folks at Pinwheels. Have you seen them? You probably have. I am blown away by the number of quilt shows they vend at every year! They import Daiwabo fabrics and I get to touch them all. Be jealous! (I also own a bunch of them, but don't tell my husband.)

I just finished quilting a sample for them to take to the quilt show in Hampton, VA next week. Look for them there.

Just so I won't be accused of being a tease, here is a photo (used with permission) of the latest sample. The fabrics are so gorgeous you won't be able to resist when you see them in person:

For those of you who use Daiwabo fabrics or quilt for customers who do, consider using Quilter's Choice thread. They make so many different colors and some of them blend perfectly with taupe fabrics. I used 3025 Polished Pewter and 3019 Wicker Basket in this quilt.

I just put another customer quilt on the frame. The style is completely different and it's gorgeous too. I love my job!

My Design Wall

I am proud and excited to announce that I am current on my local quilt shop's block of the month!

This will probably be the last month I can announce my "up-to-date" status. I leave for the first quilt show of the season in fourteen days.

The quilt designer asked me to quilt the samples, but I think she only asked me because she knew I would fall in love and then have to make both quilts:

If you fell in love, too, check with the Quilt Basket to see if they have any kits left.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

My sweet Sweet Sixteen

I declared Sunday a work-free day. That is rare for me.

What did I do on my day of non-work? I quilted, of course.

I found an old applique block made from the leftovers of my Hidden Star Sampler:

I showed this quilt when I appeared on Quilt It! Did you see that episode? I had so much fun filming with them and I love how the show turned out. They made me sound much smarter than I really am!

Back to my Sunday sewing: I pieced the appliqued block into a small quilt (approx. 20"x 20"). I layered it with cotton batting and wool batting. I went to my lovely Sweet Sixteen and fitted it with a super-fine needle to accommodate my 100-weight thread.

I did a little bit of this:

and a little bit of that:

Question: do those gloves make my hands look fat?

Answer: I do not really mind if they do since I would not quilt without them.

I did not finish the quilt, but here is the progress so far:

Can today be a non-work day, too, so I can keep working on this little quilt?

'fraid not.

A gift keeps on giving

Quite a long time ago, I made a quilt for my friend Marla. (She liked it.) I took all of the leftover fabric and put it in a box. In the spirit of finishing things this year, I pulled out the scraps and made a tablerunner:

Please do not tell Mom about this tablerunner, though, because it is not for her. It is for my friend Karen. I made a pink tablerunner for her before she moved away. Every time I visit her, the ladies at her church say, "Oh, you are the one who made that tablerunner. She puts that on the table for every coffee hour!" It sure sounds like Karen needed a second tablerunner, right?

So, I finished the tablerunner yet I still had scraps. I turned those scraps into a Potato Chip Bag and a Wonder Wallet just in time for my trip to New York City (PVSD -- sigh).

It was a great hands-free bag for vacation, and who doesn't love those colors?

The fabric is finally gone! What old project shall I dig out next?

PVSD explained

I just spent a weekend in New York City and had a fantastic time. That is good, but it is also bad because it has been known to cause PVSD, especially on a Monday. PVSD (Post Vacation Sadness Disorder) typically presents in patients on their first days at work after a fun holiday experience. Working at my desk was challenging this morning since only a few short hours ago I was doing fun(!) and exciting(!) things in Manhattan. Oh, the sadness that is today.

My trip highlights (short version):

• MOMA
• Korean BBQ
• NY Metro Mod Quilt Guild
• Jane
• Rockefeller Center
• Times Square
• Rent
• Ramen
• Dim Sum

Our trip motto could have been Veni. Vidi. Vittles. (translation: We came. We saw. We ate.)

I'll share more in future posts as I work my way through this dreaded PVSD.