Yes I am still here....

Just doing what I can and trying to keep up. 

I have had a little bit of interest in this quilting motif.
I do quilt it freehand and I do not mark my quilts.  I sometimes mark the center to keep the design symmetrical.
thanks for looking - star

Life is Good...

Just a quick peek...

This is a pattern I call "Garden Bliss" the perfect spring quilt.  I almost have the pattern finished, it just needs a few  illustrations. This is a pattern I have taught at the LQS. I had a large class and the ladies were so nice. This is Marla's quilt from my class. I just love the colors that she used. I will show more of the quilt when I get the pattern printed.  The quilt is just beautiful.  I finished quilting it last month, but things have been unusually challenging...pattern to follow...

The latest on the T-Shirt quilt...

Just the finishing touches on the t-shirt quit. I am onto the binding now. I just quilted this with a quick swirl. The binding is all I have left! :) then I hand it off the happy owner. 

 

BOM time...

Here is my BOM that I am updating to use solids! I totally love it!

I also have a couple other quilts that I had finished last month. I am saving them, I may need them for a post or two next month depending on my recovery time.

so...where have I been hiding lately?

Learing to relax!

This was my 2013 Scion TC, I really liked that car! It was only 6 months old, it still had the new car smell!  I didn't eat in it, I babied the crap out of that car!  Wow... How quickly our life can change. One minute I am driving home from a day at the office job, and then.... I am rear ended on the freeway. She had to be going 60 MPH.  I am very grateful I had the car I did, it took the hit for me. I am much better than I would have been in many other cars. You should have seen their 2001 Passat, no question there, their car was totaled, they had to be extricated from their car.  I was blessed to have the Easter holiday with my family, the dogs and the weather. I found a new appreciation for life! definitely....

So...After 2 trips to the ER, and a week and a half later, I am just getting things back together in my head, the first week is a total blur. I had no business trying to do business as usual. 

I haven't been able to quilt since the accident?  Not sure how the healing will go. I just want to quilt, but I am not the young quilter I used to be. It is amazing how bad my body hurts. If I try quilting, I am in severe pain shortly after. I have tried taking it easy, and it doesn't really make a difference! I just hurt!!! So I just have to let it go for a few days?

If you think the car is bad, you should see what this has done to my waiting list. I don't even know where to start. I am guessing slowly is the best way for now. This is a new concept to me. I usually quilt to relax! so...I am going to have to learn how to actually relax? Is their a website I could read on that, one that will not inspire me to get up and go?

Taking it one day at a time.
star

A Picture is Worth...

A thousand words... 

The plan for this post is, post a bunch of photos and type a few words. I have to get back to the quilting frame. I soo need to get a few quilts done. 

...Here is a quick couple photos of Donna's quilt. 

This is my favorite photo of the quilt. She did a great job with color and tone. I love the way she uses plaid in her quilts, and this one is no different.

This was a quilt without a lot of intricate piecing, and I did not have a lot of detail to quilt, but I did what I could. I quilted all the dark gray frames different and put a wreath inside. I just featherdoodled the background and let it go back to the happy owner.

This is the charity quilt I made for my daughters bike charity auction.  I used the Suburbs Quilt pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew, I found on Pinetrest. I purchased some bike fabric and a solid fat quarter tower by Riley Blake, it turned out kind of cute. It ended up being a quick and fun lap quilt that took very little effort, it stitched up so quickly. To finish it off I just gave it a quick swirl and I am in the process of finishing the binding. 

Thanks for checking in - Star

For now...

A quick little post.

I have several quilts that I have finished, maybe not as many as I should, but I do have a few that I can check off my list. 

I  am only going to post the pictures of the Hawaiian stack and whack for now. My customers haven't picked up the others and I hate to ruin the surprise. Besides I only have a few minutes and I want to get these posted.

So here I go...

This quilt is one that I have my doubts about. I should have done a couple things different, but I will keep that for me, and just share the photos with you. 

I am going to start with a few of the back, because you can see some of the detail that I fell in love with as I was quilting. (The quilting is a little hard to see, but we only had so much sun today.)

The colors on this quit are so bright, I was concerned that I might have a few thread issues. But I managed to keep the bobbin under control, and I matched the back thread to the fabric :). I even managed to get the Black Magnifico thread from Superior Thread to play nice with the bobbin thread. 

Sometimes I wonder if matching the thread is worth it. There are times when I feel like throwing in the towel, and then there are times when I have to throw in the towel, because no matter what thread I use, I can't get the bobbin to play nice no matter what thread or batting I am using.

Quilting in progress on the frame.

Another in progress before I did the wreaths and the white stars.

 

With the feathered wreaths quilted.

A little closer view.

Another photo with the stars quilted.

 

The lighting makes all the difference.

And now I have to go and make a bike quilt for my daughter's charity. She always gives me about 2-3 weeks notice. Now she needs a quilt bound and ready to go by the 24th of March. Like I have nothing to do?

Getting things done!

Seems like I have been trying to get this post up for weeks... 

Here is what’s on my sewing table…

This has been a fun quilt. I am loving it. I had bought a bolt of fabric I thought I wanted to use on this quilt, and then… I saw the pattern from Windham Fabrics for the Good Vibrations fabric line, and then it was all over. I am changing the plan and making the borders look like a piano keyboard.  The piano works great with the theme of this quilt. The recipient has been playing the piano for years, many years (and he is only 18), he is very accomplished and his mother is very proud of him. The piano border is perfect. This quick quilt just got a little less quick. But I love it.

And, Here is what is off the sewing table.

A year later the Redwork Revival BOM that Lisa and I designed and taught at the Parish Quilt shop is OVER. As soon as Glamping yardage is available, I will put the final borders on this, and then I need to make time for the quilting.

Now for the American Beauty photos I promised.

I ran into a problem with them. As you can see, many of them are blurry. Our weather is so dreary here in the Pacific North West, and we have a serious lack of sunshine. I kind of blew it, I didn’t look at the photos before I delivered the quilt. Now I have out of focus photos, but…just for the record, Julie loved her quilt. These are what I have for photos of this quilt.

Here are the finishes for the last couple weeks.

I have had a couple quilts that were quick and fun. I quilted a couple quilts with fabric from Afric. This is not the first time I have quilted fabric from Africa, I have a pretty hard time keeping things square. I finished them, but they were just quick quilts that I had to pin and pin to keep square. My customer loved them. The quilts were made from clothes her children had when they lived in Africa. She wanted to remember them and use them in a quilt. How great is that.

These photos are not a great quality, but you get the idea. 

I then got busy on the Fabulous Felines Quilt.

It is so hard to see the detail of the quilting on this dark fabric, sorry these photos are the best I have. This was a fun quilt from one of my regular quilters. Marla seems to keep a quilt or two running through me. I appreciate your patients and thank you! Now I had better get back to quilting.

It has been a very busy couple weeks.

...sneak peak at the quilt that I am just finishing up.

Thanks for checking - Star