Finished Quilts

Although it's been incredibly busy around here lately, I had to finish these quilts for the Stray Threads Quilt Show that is later this month. [Well, I still have a little sewing to do, but it's only stitching the labels on, and since I usually sign them in ink, they are already labeled, so the fabric label will be sewn on top.]

First up is my Self Portrait. This quit was mostly designed while I was taking Pam Allen's "Think like an Artist" online class, which was a fun filled learning experience. It took me a while to decide how I wanted to finish it, whether it should have binding or a facing (I decided on the facing), and other little details, but it's finally finished!


Second is My Little Chickadee, which was inspired by the little Chickadees that come to visit the bird feeder outside my kitchen window. They're such cute little birds, and I love the way they can hang upside down, as well as other silly angles. (The stamps on this quilt and those below are some of the ones that I carved last year.)



This unnamed floral has really been finished for a while, but soon it will have a label stitched to the back.





The last one is another floral, and I must admit that if I have enough time, I'm thinking that I would like to stitch little seed beads between the center panel and border, in a similar way that I added beads around the leaves in the quilt above.

UFOs, and time in the studio

The Stray Threads Quilt Guild is having a quilt show, and with the deadline coming up soon, I decided I had better look at some of my UFOs, and finish at least one to enter. I had started this project amost a year ago, when I was taking Pam Allen's online class, called "Think Like and Artist". When the class ended, this first picture is how the quilt looked, and although I liked the color and partial face in the upper right, it didn't seem to be working with the rest of the quilt.

As I was going through the layers on my design wall (it's small, and I tend to "store" things there so I don't loose them), I found this black bird and pinned it to the portrait. I think I like it, but should it be black? I think it's a bit too dark for the rest of the quilt, but am thinking on it for now, and will need to make a decision soon, so that I can start quilting.

Another thing taking up space in my studio are some clothesline and in-project bags. I had made one a while ago, that I had loaned to the local quilt shop, and decided to make another, so I'd have one to use. I should have called the shop and asked them to measure the starter strip in the bottom, but did I? Of course not, I remembered 12 or 13" from somewhere, and began from that, but before long I had sewn all the covered clothesline into it, but it had a huge base, and I didn't have another Bali Pops package with more strips, and no more clothesline, so it was set aside until I could purchase more - which I did, but by then I was working on another project, so it waited. Finally, more covered cord was prepared, and also two more bags started for a demonstration, but when I came home, the secret project took over and they were set aside again. Well, finally I'm back working in the studio, and trying to finish up some of the things that have piled up there, so here's the jumbo bag, with the cording all sewn on, and paired up with fabric that I think I'll use for handles and a flap closure (maybe some interior pockets too).

I thought a picture with my machine for a size comparision would help you get an idea just how large it really is....

I also pin basted a few smaller art quilts, but of course, my camera battery decided it would not cooperate, and ran out of power before I had finished taking the pictures, so more will follow.

Self Portrait

Here's the self portrait that I'm working on in Pamela Allen's "Think Like an Artist" class. A few months ago I decided to stop fighting with my curly hair and trying to make it straight, so my hair is now shorter, and much curlier than I remember it (of course, I've spent most of my life trying to get rid of those curls, and now I've decided to just "deal with it"). Some of the fabrics are from another project that I'll post later, and others are from my stash. The face in the sun (instead of moon), is one of the faces that I cut and decided wouldn't work, but I like it up there. Along with quilting, I've had house plants, on and off, depending on where we've lived, and of course how busy our lives were at the time, and also garden off and on as well, so the hanging plant is a reminder of the plants I've grown, as well as the ones that are sprouting around the house in anticipation of being planted outside.