My Denyse Schmidt Quilts book arrived in the mail yesterday and I found this on page 172:
What do you do on a 90 degree day? I make quilts, of course. I didn’t know I could work up such a sweat using my sewing machine. Today is better though; it’s much cooler and the breeze is nice. (I’m no longer trying to cool the entire house with one wee window air conditioner.) I’ve been working on this for the last few days:
I’ve started another new quilt (this is in addition to my Modern Quilt-Along Quilt). I have my reasons though. I’m planning on machine piecing the Eclipse quilt, and most (like 99%) of the piecing I do is by hand. And since the Eclipse quilt has curved piecing (which I don’t mind doing by hand) I felt like I needed to at least get the sewing machine out and practice. So this new project is a practice quilt. I got the idea from Hillary’s awsome coin quilt, and so far, this is what I have put together:
Say Hi To Eddie!
There’s been a lot of inspiring talk about modern quilting going on lately! I’m longing for a copy of The Modern Quilt Workshop: Patterns, Techniques, and Designs From the FunQuilts Studio by Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle. It just seems that with this book and the soon to be released book by Denyse Schmidt, that there will finally be some better reference for people who are interested in more than just traditional quilt design.
I’m so inspired by many of these contemporary quilters. Of course I love to look at Denyse Schmidt’s and the Fun Quilt’s designs for possible new ideas. I also love the simplicity of Lori Mason’s quilts, and the idea of using textiles like linen and wool to replace ordinary cotton.
Lori Mason’s–Signal, linen
I have to show off the goodies I got today in the mail! Brit (from Running Stitch) sent me this package today:
Okay, here’s a question. Last Thursday was my birthday, and my in-laws gave me a new quilting book. Unfortunatly, I already own it, and it’s not returnable. Here’s what I’m thinking though: If anyone is interested in trading me either a book, fabric, or just goodies of any kind, I’d be willing to give away my book. It’s the Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns. If you’re interested, let me know and maybe we can work out a trade.
I wish I had some new, exciting work to show you all about, but recently I’ve just been out of it. Between feeling lousy from allergies, having crappy weather bum me out, and realizing today is my 2 year anniversary of graduating from college and still not doing what I had planned on doing, I’ve not gotten much of anything done. I’m hoping to have the rest of the Wedding Quilt done by the end of May (mainly so I don’t have to work on it during the summer months in a house with no air conditioning!) and I had thought that I’d have no problem with that timeline, but everytime I sit down to quilt lately, I’m just not able to get much done. It’s making me feel so lazy–I hate it!
We have started a major project in the house though. We began working on our kitchen renovation, and it already looks different. The previous owners of the house loved wood panneling, even in the kitchen. Two of the four walls were panneled, along with the cabinets. We took down all of the panneling on the walls (not on the cabinets, since those are all just going to come down in one big piece) and Ben took down the drywall on one wall. We’re replacing drywall on both of the walls that will have cabinets on them in the final project. It’s been a huge mess though–our stove is sitting in the middle of the kitchen, there’s dust everywhere, wires haning out of an unfinished wall, and scummy, dirty walls that they hung panneling over without cleaning first–yuck!
I just realized it’s Hip To Piece Square’s birthday today! I’ve somehow made it a year talking about not much more than just quilts and quilting. Are you guys still really still interested in reading about this stuff?? Anyway, here’s to another year of quilt talk! I can’t tell you how much fun it’s been for me to keep this up–I’ve loved getting to know quilters and crafters from all across the country. You all make writing this blog a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who’s read for the past year, and I look forward to talking to all of you who haven’t posted yet–I love hearing what people think of what I’m doing and what people are doing in their own art.
A quick post otherwise: this past week I took a little break from quilting one day to make my friend, Kate, a little gift. I used wool felt (which I think is just the most fun stuff ever) and put together a little pouch.
It seems like everyone is making these pouches lately, and I thought I try one for myself. I have to say, that little zipper is kinda tricky! I hand stiched it in, and it seemed alright to do. Hopefully it won’t fall apart on her once she gets it though.
And if you aren’t on the receiving end of a wedding quilt by me, click on to see the quilting in progress!
I decided to wear my quilter geek flag proudly this weekend and went to a quilt show. I have to admit, I really had a lot of fun. Most of the quilts were really traditional with the traditional quilting colors, but there were a few unique ones in the mix too. Overall, I think my favorite though was this one though:
So the computer fix wasn’t a big deal, but unfortunatly, I’ve been really sick since Sunday, and today is my first day back up and around. I tried to go back to work yesterday but I only made it through half the day before giving up and coming back home to go to bed. Today, though, was my day. So stop yelling at me people! I have quilts to tell you about now….sheesh!
After I was finally feeling well enough to do more than sip on Vernors and watch more than 15 minutes of tv at a time without falling asleep, I finished up my bright square quilt top.
