Tree or no Tree? That is the Question!

This is the landscape I showed in my last post. Now I'm trying to decide if I like it better with the trees or without them.
I put the mat board on top to give some perspective to the size of everything. I really wanted to put birch trees in but am not sure what to use for fabric and how to get the birch bark effect. Then the other question is, if I keep the trees, do I put leaves on or keep them bare. I sort of like them bare but am not sure.
Maybe now that the Olympics are over, I'll get more quilting in!

This and That

I didn't realize it had been so long since I had last posted. Last week I ended up with whatever bug is going around. I'm finally getting some energy back. This is what I have done for the miniature landscape class I'm taking at Quilt University with Susan Brittingham. I don't have any of the pieces fused down yet. I'm trying to decide if there is too much of a contrast between the middle green mountain and the bluish gray one. In this picture, they seem to blend better than in the real piece. Being me, I didn't do one of the patterns provided in the class. This one is from a drawing I've had in my idea notebook for a couple of years. I drew it from a photo my dad took. The drawing has trees on the left hand side, which I still need to add. This quilt is a bullseye quilt that I started a long long time ago. I had all the block made and cut into quarters then it just layed around. Every once in a while I would look at the pieces and think about finishing it. Well last fall I pulled them out once again and actually started sewing them together. I put it away over the holidays and finished it up in January. This may not be an original idea but I love the colors and motion in it. These were some of the first fabrics that I dyed.

Fiber Art Friends met last friday. It was a fun afternoon. It's been a while since we've been able to meet. Between weather, sickness and travel, we havent' met since November and I wasn't able to make that meeting.

Well the ladies figure skating long program has started so I MUST go watch. I had to leave the room earlier, so I didn't hear the results on the news.

The Calico Cupboard

Well, I made my last trip to the local quilt shop, The Calico Cupboard. The owners are closing up the shop and retiring. They have been open for 28 years. It is sad to see the shop close but I can understand their wanting to spend time doing other things and seeing more of their family. It was a little depressing today seeing how empty the store was. I wandered around and visited for a while. I did find some things I couldn't do without.

I found out that there will be a new quilt shop opening but I don't know if they will carry what I need or just cater to traditional quilters. Have to wait until May to find out. I do live 30 minutes from Keepsake Quilting but hardly ever get over there and it's not like I can just drop by when I need something. Lately whenever I have gone to Keepsake, I haven't found much that said "BUY ME".

Maybe this will force me to get back into painting and dyeing my own fabric. I keep wanting to do some but never seem to find the time.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day! I hope everyone had a special day.

I thought I was going to be able to spend extra time getting some quilting done since this is the slow time of year at work, but it hasn't worked out that way.

I have managed to make this background piece. Now I just need to figure out what I want to do with it. These were all scraps from my scrap bag. I fused all these pieces onto a piece of muslin to make "new" fabric. This is about 25" x 16". I'm not sure what I will put on it yet. I'm thinking leaves would look nice but I always think leaves look nice. I seem to keep coming back to leaves as a subject in my work. I don't know why. This is the same technique I used to make the landscape postcards in my second post.

I'm taking Miniature Landscapes by Susan Brittingham at Quilt University http://quiltuniversity.com. This week we are going over the concepts behind realistic landscapes and putting together fabric combinations that would work in a landscape.

Kara & Alex

I thought I'd never get these pictures loaded. Having a hard time with our internet connection. Thought I'd start with a picture of Alex and Kara since this post is about them.

I finished rebacking Alex's quilt. It's not my neatest backing and binding but Alex is happy. The quilt is 10 1/2 years old and been patched and patched so the edges are all curvy and wavy.

Kara doesn't have my fascination with quilting but whenever she needs to make a project for school, she tends to turn to quilts. She has also picked out a few patterns at the quilt store and made those.

This quilt is one Kara designed and made after hearing about Africa. In 6th grade the daughter of one of the teachers came and talked to them about Africa after being there with the Peace Corps.
As you can see Kara likes my hand dyed fabrics and batiks as much as I do. She used raw edge applique to put the quilt together and used raffia for the hut. There are also some beads and charms on it that are hard to see.








This one was a pattern that we picked up at the quilt store.
She sewed it together and I did the free motion quilting







This quilt was made for a class along with one like it in cool colors. She had to do some sort of project that showed warm and cool colors. She designed it and fused the swirls on. The cool colored one she gave to her Aunt Debbie for Christmas.

Currently she is working on one she designed of her rabbit. She hasn't worked on it in a while but she will start again eventually. She is also designing one for a project in her English class.

Kara may not be obsessed with quilting like I am but she does like to quilt in her own way.

Labor of Love

My next project will be a labor of love. I need to put more patches on Alex's quilt. At one time it was a rail fence quilt that my mom made for him. I also need to sew on the new backing that Alex picked out. I will also use it for a new binding.

I'm hoping that tomorrow I will have time to take some pictures of the quilt I made to enter into the Quilting Arts Calendar contest. Then it is just a matter of figuring out how to burn the pictures onto a disk to send in. Entering a quilt into the contest was one of my goals for this year.

Each year I set some goals to work towards. Some years I do better than others at reaching these goals. So far this year I finished quilting and binding a quilt I started 3 or 4 years ago. Starting this blog and learning how to blog was also one of my goals. At the end of the year I look back and see how things have gone. I don't stick strictly to these goals but they give me some direction for the year. If I finish them all thats great if I don't then I re-evaluate and either add them to next years goals or forget about them.

Trying Again

Thought I'd try posting again. Tried last night, had everything all set, hit publish post and Blogger was down! So there went that!!

I want to thank everyone who has visited my blog. I wanted to answer everyone who e-mailed me or left comments but all the sudden I find myself with no time. I work in the bakery at our local grocery and this is the slow season for us so I have been picking up extra hours cashiering. They are really short on cashiers right now.

I haven't had a chance to take pictures of any of my new work. This picture was already in the computer. I made it last summer. Each little piece is 4 1/2" x 6 1/2". They are hung together with fabric beads that I made. To hang it, I covered a piece of dowel with fabric to go with the beads. I don't have any close-ups but each petal has free motion embroidery on it and the black centers all have french knots in them. A lot of french knots!

This has been one of those weeks where I thought I would have a lot of time to quilt, figure out more blogging stuff and get things done around the house. Wrong!! With picking up those extra hours, there went my time. Someday maybe I won't need to work so much! Wishful thinking?!
I have managed to squeeze in some time to finish up the leaf postcards for the exchange I'm doing. I have also been reading "The Quilter's Book of Design" by Ann Johnston. I splurged and ordered it for myself for my birthday (last week). I haven't gotten very far but it looks like it has a lot of good info. It's been on my wish list for a while.

Now to venture out to get errands done. It's been a mix of rain, sleet and snow this morning!