I am so tired of not feeling good. It is taking it's toll on my sewing!! I have so much I want/need to get done and I just don't feel like it. Above is my 12 x 12 challenge for March, yeah it's done. I love the starkness of it and also the straight line quilting, it feels so zen like.

This is also done, no name yet. It is going to go into the basket for our guild auction. I really want to make this in a bigger size.

You can kind of see the quilting a little better from the back.

Here is a close up of the front. Just a leaf pattern with some meandering in the background.

Here is a shot of my diary quilt with the first 2 rows put together. I am planning on working on my block today so it will be ready for tomorrow. No more late blocks.....

One more whine....I am not a fan of the time change. What's the difference if is stays darker in the morning? I think it would be better if they go back to changing it in April, I still feel like it's not warm enough yet. Also doesn't it feel like the day flies by? I need every second I can get! Okay, can you tell I have been in the house for a while and might need to talk to people other than my family???

Enjoy this beautiful spring day if you live on the East coast, the rest of the week is supposed to be pretty good too.
Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

Ok so this is a little predictable and not too exciting. I have been so busy trying to finish this quilt I am working on, plus this week is Penn Oak's annual getaway. I want to get back to being a little creative with these blocks but it is hard when you have a deadline to meet. All my energies are going to the deadline.

I will stop whining now.

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday - On Wednesday

I promised that I would post these every Tuesday but yesterday I was sick, so here it is today.
This is what I felt like doing all week last week.....screaming. The very intense quilt I have been working on is nearing the end. I am anxious to move on to other projects but won't until I get this one done.

 

I sewed three pieces on to all 48 sections only to find out I had the wrong measurements. This represented hours of work, I could not believe I read them wrong. Or so I thought......after ripping out all 144 pieces I realized they were sewn correctly and I had just ripped them all out, and would have to do them again. Now I also wanted to cry long with scream. People in the house are tiptoeing around me, my sewing room looks like hazardous waste area and I am dreaming about sewing on this quilt! I don't know how much longer this is going to take but I am thinking of power sewing Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

On a nicer note my husband Bob gave me some herbs to grow for Valentine's day. I made him oatmeal cookies with raisins. We go for a more low key day, plus I looked lovely after I slept most of the day and never got out of my pajamas, so very romantic!

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

We have been having a very warm winter this year. Daffodils peeking out from the soil and not covered in snow. The other day I saw an entire garden already filled with snowdrops.
Yesterday it was 57 degrees! On the one hand you can't complain but then it makes you think what is spring and summer going to be like? Freezing cold or broiling hot?

I did stretch it a bit with the hummingbird looking at the thermometer. No hummingbird sightings! yet!

I also pieced the thermometer. Most of what I have done on the project so far has been fused applique so I thought I would change it up a bit.

Another warm day forcasted today and snow tomorrow!!

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

This  has been a very stressful sewing week. Three times I had to rip out pieces on a quilt I am making for a book because I sewed them in the wrong place...3xxxx!!! My seam ripper and I have become very good enemies.

This is not the real fabric I am using but this is what most of the pieces looked like, being unsewn. Yes they are small too! I thought it would be fun to use it in the block. After I stitched it I put a dab of Stitch Witch at the critical points to keep it from coming out. A little bit of Elmer's glue on the thread keeps it attached to the background Some beads were added to the pin heads and I called it a day.
Back to the other quilt.
Again the pictures are not very good. I am trying to figure out how to get my pictures from Picasa to my blog.....

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

I love this block!!! It represents our day at Sujata's last week. From left to right....Jane, Christine, Sujata, Barb and Terry. Of course you all recognize yourselves????

I took some artistic license.....Barb's hair is not that exact color, but that was as good as I could get. Terry's glasses are a little wonky, the hazzards of drawing them on after you make the block!

Sujata I don't know what happened to your shoulder!!!......

Jane I bet you never knew that your hair could look this good!! and Christine your hair looks so much better than this but it is the "essence" of  you! I did put you in a red top! (Her favorite color).

You all do look a little like Stepford wives, especially Jane in the "helmet" hair! Terry your legs look a little scary too!
I never claimed I could draw but I really, really love this one! Cheryl don't worry there will be plenty more blocks for you to make an appearance in at a later date. Thank you again ladies for allowing me to make you my focus for the week!

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

This past week my life was dictated by the moon!!!! It was so incredibly bright I woke up every single night unable to fall right back to sleep.

This is the inspiration picture outside my bedroom window that I used. I did wait until morning to take the picture! Even though in the picture the moon is small if felt much bigger at 2 AM.

All the fabrics are my own hand dyes. I dug deep in my box of fabrics to find the moon, which turned out exactly the way I wanted it to, it sort of glows. It is a little hard to see in the picture but the blue fabric is lighter at the top and darker at the bottom which feels like a moonlit night. This block only took 15 minutes to make. I searched for the moon fabric longer than I did to make the block. The trees are stitched in a dark gray and I ended up filling in some gaps with my black Sharpie to make it stand out a little better.

I am still plugging away on the quilt I can't show you. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

I loved making this block! It was so fun and it totally reflected my entire week. I spent a lot of time working on a quilt I won't be able to show you for a while.

I have decided that I am going to change some of my "rules". Instead of it being my entire week in 1 block (that is only 6 inches), I am going to pick out 1 thing in my week to highlight. I don't want them all cluttered looking. I think I am not going to hand embroider on them, it feels too heavy to me, now that I have a few made I can see that, but will occassionally use some machine embroidery.

The cutting mat was a fun touch that I had not thought of until the very end. I found a piece of fabric that was very similar in color, stitched some lines on it, covered it with Fray Check, let it dry and then cut out my mat. I know my perspective is not totally right but that is not something I am very good at doing. Just look at the size of my pincushion compared to tthe mat!


Here is some Show and Tell from my guild, Penn Oaks last night.



Suzanne's Quilt



Helen's quilt



Stephanie's quilt




 

Nancy's quilt top

My friend, Suzanne and I taught an applique class last night at guild. I think everyone had a good time. All the ladies there are such a nice bunch!

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

I am really looking forward to making a block that is not dictated in some way by the holidays. I may rue those words in the coming weeks....!
Obviously it is the New Year and then my grandson Griffin turned 7 on New Year's Eve. I asked him to draw a picture of himself so I could include it. He was busy playing with his new toys and did a quick sketch of himself.

Pretty cute!

My friend Cheryl of Cheryl Lynch Quilts is also doing a year long block of places she is visiting.

Here is her first one. It is going to be fun to have a friend do this also!

On a very sad note. Some people that we know lost their house in a fire the day after Christmas. Luckily no one was home, so physically they are ok. The children are only 3 and 8 and lost all their toys, books etc that they got for Christmas not to mention the disruption in their lives.
If you would like to donate something or just follow along on their progress, one of the family members started a blog and  you can check it out here Carobine Fire Recovery . I can't imagine leaving my house in the morning and coming home to find everything gone. They are from a wonderful family and I know their love and support will get them through this loss.

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

Diary Block #3

I cannot tell a lie. I started this today. It is not my best work but hey it will do. Not every one is going to be a winner!

Christmas Eve was at our house this year......

All these people are my husband's immediate side of the family.......

With a couple of boyfriends thrown in.......

It was over 40 people.......

And I did not feel well.......




John, Ellen and Bob

 But everyone had a great time.......

I am just thankful it is over......and I can go back to sewing!


Elliot and Maddy

The kids had fun as they always do on Christmas.



 Fallon and Maddy



Griffin



David

David is sporting a tie I made for him out of some vintage fabric. I also have a quilt promised to him that will get made in the very near future.

I gave my husband Bob an iPad. He didn't even know he wanted one, but he does now!

Okay the home movies are over!! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Diary Quilt Tuesday

I have to say this block was a lot of fun to make. This past week I have been busy finishing up my shopping, wrapping presents with some other fun events. My mother in law arrives in about 45 minutes so I am posting this now as I am not sure what the rest of the week will be like and if I will have time to blog.

When my credit cards expired for some reason I just threw them in a drawer. They worked out perfect for this block and this time of year. I appliqued the Target bag to the background and used a tiny hole punch to sew the credit cards on.

I get to live vicariously through my quilting. I love her red boots and would love to be able to shop in them, and run in them as well!
Okay I have a question I will throw out to you all. What do you think about putting the date of each week on the block? There is a part of me that wants to but then another part that does not....feedback?
I am also not sure if I like the embroidery. I certainly don't like doing it at all. Writing with a pigma pen? something else....??? Give me your thoughts.

Maddy was a little crafty this weekend too. Making gifts for her teachers.

She was working on the design wall...check out all the pins. Some have as many as 4 pins in each square!

She got her Hello Kitty sewing machine out and sewed away. It really is enough to make some one not want to sew. I can't wait until she is older to get her a real machine.

Finally she gave up and asked if I would help her make this quilt for her teddy bear. I let her pick out the stitches and we just slapped on the squares and sewed over them...she loves it and slept with it last night!
Kelly