Threadscape Studio

2012-02-13T14:39:00.000-08:00

Hey All
Still busy stitching away. I am hoping to be finished with my quilt tomorrow. but one never knows what will come up it is my hope though to be finished. The last thing I need to do is put on my label. I made a large Swamp Rose Mallow to use for the label.
Good news today I just got an email from a man who does an online magazine and he has ask me to be in his spring issue. I will post more on that later. Today i wanted to post the latest picture of my progress on the quilt.
I finished sewing down my Wisteria flowers and vines and I just finished pinning on my leaves and tendrils. I am getting ready to stitch them down then I will add just a little embroidery and then the border. Once that is done I will add my binding and label.

Here is a picture of the leaves I just finished pinning . I use tiny applique pins to pin my fabric pieces in place
Back to work.

2012-02-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

Hey All
Well I didn't get to post yesterday because i got caught up in some daily doing you know how it goes. I did get all my flowers attached and that took most of the day, but any way after I got the flowers attached I started to pin on some of the vines. I was going to do them in two colors of fabric but when I started to put them on I just didn't like the look. SO --- I had to remove one of the colors. I think I am going to paint my green mottled fabric, I'm using for the vines ,and paint them with some fabric water color pencils. I use Prismacolor Water -color pencils. They work great for me.
I was also able to get my Wisteria's pinned in place i don't know if I will be putting more on or not . The next thing I want to get started today is pinning on my leaves and tendrils. The tendrils I made from embroidery thread . I wrapped it around a pencil and twisted it to make it curl on itself.

I want to get busy so I won't write to much right now. Here is a picture of my progress.

2012-02-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

Hey I thought I would post before I got busy today. It seems I am going to be able to sew most of the day and I thought I would make Tandoori Chicken tonight along with some Indian coconut rice. I love to cook if I have the time but here recently I sew most of the time so I haven't been able to do to much cooking. I made yogurt yesterday so I could make my chicken today.
Tandoori chicken is one of my favorite dishes because once you put your spices and yogurt together you add your chicken and let it sit for several hours the I bake it on a high temp till cooked through. It comes out juicy and spicy . It is a delicious chicken dish.
Making your own yogurt is pretty simple. I use two large bowls and a heating pad to incubate the yogurt.
You mix together 2 Tablespoons of yogurt ,1/2 Cup of dry milk powder and 1 quart of milk ( that you have heated and cooled to lukewarm). I then pour this into a quart size yogurt container. Next I put the heating pad inside a large bowl and place a salad plate on the heating pad. I put my container of yogurt mix on the plate and then I cover the bowl with a bowl of the same size and put a large towel on top the bowls aand turn the heating pad onto medium and let the yogurt incubate for 4 to 5 hrs. During that time I do NOT move the containers or bump them in any way. After the 5 hours I check the yogurt to see if it is congealed. If is is ready I put the yogurt in the Refrigerator overnight or at least 8 hours. I usually make a quart of yogurt a week because I use allot of yogurt . I use it in breads, salad dressings,sauces, and savory dishes like the Indian food I am making tonight.
I also found a wonderful music site I thought I would share . If you like the music of India go to MusicIndiaOnline.com . They have a wonderful selection of Indian music.
Well back to the quilt. I was able to finish sewing one side yesterday. It took longer than I expected ( Usually does) but that is ok I would rather do a good job and make everything neat than rush through things and know I haven't done my best.

Here is a pic of yesterdays work. I was going to leave some of the leaves a little loser but decided to sew around all the flowers and leaves so they were attached well since the quilt may be going to Ireland.
I will post what I am going to do today tomorrow .
Ciao

2012-02-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

Sunday is a long day for me lots to do and little time to do it . I was able to get two more of my flowers and the accompanying leaves pinned down yesterday though and I was so happy to get that done.. After I get these sewn in place today I am going to start pinning my Wisteria flowers and vines later today. One of the things I was able to get done yesterday along with pinning the flowers down was to get my vines made for the Wisteria. I had a green mottled fabric which was nice but I wanted to have a dark contrasting fabric to go with the green fabric so I found a beautiful dark chocolate and maroon batik that I liked and I cut vines from that to use along with the mottled green. I will post picture tomorrow of the fabric and the vines I have cut , finished and pinned in place.

This is a picture of the flowers pinned in place on the quilt. It will probably take me a few hours to get these flowers sewn in place. I need to go slowly so that I can catch the edge of each flower and leaf. I have an ironing board set up next to my sewing machine so I can set the the quilt on it while I am sewing and I put a foam core board underneath the quilt which helps me to be able to turn the quilt while I am sewing.

2012-02-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

I finished making my new leaves for my quilt. i had to stay up until one:o'clock this morning to get them finished but I am happy with the results. I cut the leaves out of a blue-green batik I had and then after I stitched them and turned them right side out I ironed them to a sheet of iron-on tear away stabilizer. After that I was able to stitch all the veins on each individual leaf. Today I will remove the stabilizer and and start applying the leaves and flowers for the Swamp Rose Mallow to my quilt. I am hoping I will also be able to get the Trillium flowers added also.
Another piece of good news I would like to share is I wrote the owner of Sew Many Quilts who puts out a wonderful magazine Called Quiltposium and he wrote me back and told me I could still enter my quilt YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can find Jim West on Facebook . Look under SewManyQuilts. So I am going to work double time and get my quilt finished as quick as possible .Wish me luck.
Here are a couple of pictures of the news leaves on the right. The third picture on the left is a picture of the other leaves I was going to use. I can always use them for another quilt nothing will go to waste.

2012-02-02T10:44:00.000-08:00

I have been stitching away for the past few days and I am pleased with the way things are going. I was able to get the Wind Poppies done and the Wild Iris's . I machine stitched around each leaf and flowers. I also did a little free- motion stitching on the Poppies and Iris. While I was working yesterday I decided to change leaves I want to use for the Swamp Mallow. I love the flowers and I found a fabric that I like for the stems but the leaves I have already made just kept not feeling right ,so yesterday I took a look through my fabric stash and I found some fabric that I like better for the Swamp Mallow leaves. I made a few leaves from the new fabric last night and I am making some more this morning. If I can get them all made this morning I will post pictures of the new leaves tonight.
Well I didn't get the quilt done in time for the show in Ireland but I will be able to enter next year and I will be able to enter this quilt in a show once it is done.
I don't like to rush on making a quilt I feel it is better to have some your proud of and know you did your best on than to have something to show that you know is not your best effort.
My having decided to change the leaves is one reason I didn't finish but when I am making a quilt I need to be willing to make a big change, in what I am doing, at any point of the process. The leaves just kept telling me they were not going to work.

   Here are a couple of pictures of what I have done for the past few days. The first picture is a frontal view showing both sides of the quilt after I finished sewing the flowers on. The second picture is a close up of the flowers I put on the right side of the quilt. The last picture are the flowers on the left side of the quilt.
   Well I'm off the work on the Swamp Mallows . Sure hope I can post tonight but if not I will be posting in the morning

2012-01-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

I am going to start pinning all the components on the quilt tonight and tomorrow . Then I will start all the surface stitching in the morning and tomorrow afternoon.. One of the last things I will do is a little bit of embroidery on the truck of the large tree in the front and I may do some embroidery work on the leaves of the same large tree . I am hoping to get all the surface stitching done tomorrow and once I am finished with that I will trim the quilt and add the border and binding.. If I can get all that done tomorrow I will hopefully be able to enter this quilt in a quilt show in Ireland. The grand prize (if you win) in this show is 1,000 dollars . It would be wonderful to win the grand prize but having the quilt shown would be wonderful also as it would be the first tie I have shown outside the United States.
The curators of the show , I'm trying to get in, are going to choose twenty five quilts for the show . I hope my quilt will be one of the quilts chosen for the show. If not my mentor has told me she has other shows she I could enter this quilt in.

2012-01-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of one of the Trillium flowers after I finished sewing around the edge and on the inside of the flower . After the fray check is dry I cut the flower from the base fabric.I have done all the flowers the same way.

The second picture I took a few minutes ago and it is a picture of the the finished components that I have made to go on the quilt. That includes all the flowers,vines, leaves and and roots that I made for each handmade flower.
The last picture is a photo of the fabric I used for the Wisteria that I am going to place at the top of the quilt. I want it to hang over the edge of the Moon Gate. I will stitch the Wisteria fabric in place using free-motion stitching.

2012-01-28T21:18:00.000-08:00

Well I have been busy busy busy the last few days. I wanted to get all of my flowers finished and get my Wisteria cut out. I was able to get all that done and I am going to start pinning all the applique pieces on tonight. I took a few picture of the Trillium flowers as I made them.

Here are the pictures of the Trillium's I made. The first picture is of the Trillium after I had glued the petals onto the base fabric and then I painted each of the flowers. After all the flowers were glued and painted I put some fray check around the edge of each petal so that when I stitched each flower the fabric would not un -ravel.

2012-01-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the Wind Poppies I finished last night . They were done using two light orange cotton fabrics and a dark purple batik for the centers which I hand embroidered with french knots . The leaves were done with fused cotton fabrics one light green and the other a two toned fabric and I machine embroidered the veins with a light green thread. I also used Fray Check to seal the edges of the leave so that when I apply them to the quilt they won't unravel. After I finish making all the leaves I will remove my fabric pencil markings and then the flowers will be ready to apply to the quilt.
The next flowers I will be working on and finishing up today will be the Trillium's.
All the flowers take quit a bit of time to do because there are several pieces to put together for each flower. I am hoping to get my Trillium's done today but since there are so many pieces I don't think that will be the case.
I will post pictures hopefully tomorrow.

2012-01-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

Well I have been working on my flowers and I have two done. I finished making the Swamp Mallow and the Wind Poppies.
The first picture is of the swamp mallow. I found the beautiful fabric at my local craft store. When I first started looking at the fabric I wasn't going to buy any but when this beautiful batik caught my eye I just couldn't resist. It was the perfect color I was looking for. I fused the fabric to a hot pink fabric I had on hand and I used yellow DMC embroidery thread for the stamens of the flower. The leaves were done with a dark cotton and a batik I had.

   All the leaves were made by fusing two fabrics together then after I cut them out and trimmed them I used Fray Check by Dritz to seal the edges so that when I sew them onto the quilt they won't unravel .
   I made the roots of the plant from another batik . It was beautiful shades of brown ,light yellow and greens and it was perfect for the roots of the plant. I used a dark pink for the veins in the leaves and machine embroidered them on each leaf. I also used fabric water colored pencils to shade the buds.
     I have finished working on the Wind Poppies and I will post pictures of them in the next post.

2012-01-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the Trillium I have been working on.
This is a picture of the flower pattern, pattern pieces that have been cut apart and placement of petals,leaves and flower.
This is what Mrs Oglesby says about the Trillium flower.
She says it is sometimes called Wake-Robin or Trinity Lily. It is a woodland flower and has three,petals,three,leaves and three sepals. There are many species and variations and they come in assorted colors including white,pink,red,yellowish green, maroon and dark purple.
The visably veined leaves are green, sometimes mottled. Some are round and some pointed according to the species.
The three leaves are the only source of nourishment the tuber gets. If the leaves are removed with the flower in the early spring the root will not produce a flower the following year and the plant could die.
The flower grows in woods and thickets and they need filtered sunlight.
I chose this flower because of the religious significance and Ifelt it would fit in with the feeling of my quilt.

The picture at the left and above is a picture of the fabric I am using for the root of this plant.The next two pictures are a first palcement of the flowers on my quilt. I will not pick final placement of all the flowers until they are all finished I am hoping to have them done this coming week.
I will be working on finishing assembling all the flowers and stems etc. today. Hopefully I will be able to place them on the quilt and start stitching them down tomorrow or the next day.

2012-01-15T13:24:00.000-08:00

Hey I thought I better post as early as possible today be fore the game starts. My friends are asking me if I will let them watch the game and the are fans of Greenbay. So I wanted to post the progress I have made on my quilt. and while they watch the game i can keep working on my quilt. I am not a football fan so I need to find other things to do . Luckily I have a quilt to work on.
Well for the last few days I have been making flowers to put in front of the brick on the quilt . I have decided to make Wild Irises , Trillium, and Wind Poppy's . I am using patterns from Bea Oglesby's book Wildflower Album Applique & Embroidery Patterns. Her work is beautiful and the selection of flower patterns is very good.
I have drawn my patterns on parchment paper and numbered the different pattern pieces. I also cut out plain cotton fabric to build each flower on. I use parchment paper to draw my pattern on because it makes it easy for me to place the flowers pieces together once I cut them from the fabric I am using for each flower. Once I get my flowers drawn and numbered I put a piece of freezer paper under the parchment and place both parchment and freezer paper on a light table and draw the flower pattern on the freezer paper so I can cut the pattern pieces apart.The pattern on the parchment is my master pattern and never cut apart.

After I cut the pattern pieces apart that I have drawn on the freezer paper I place the pattern pieces on the fabric i have chosen for each flower and iron them down. I draw around each pattern piece ,remove the freezer paper pattern and cut out each flower pattern piece. I them glue the fabric pieces to my base of cotton fabric . Now I can apply the fabric flower to my quilt. I can stitch on the flower before it is applied to the quilt or I can wait and stitch on it after I pin it on the quilt or sometimes I do both stitch before and after.The photo is a picture of the Trillium flower I am doing and in the photo on the right you can see some of the fabric I chose for the Trillium flower. I finished making all the parts to this flower yesterday . I am almost done with the Wind Poppy I am doing . I cut the pieces for it last night.
I will post a couple of pictures of the Trillium I have been able to get done so far in the next post

2012-01-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Today I will be working on more flowers to go in the front of the quilt I will be attaching along side the Wild Iris. I will also spend some time on attaching the stairs to the front of the quilt.This will take me two or three days and once I"m finished ..I will also be posting pictures of the Trillium I am going to make in a couple of days.

2012-01-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the garden gate border showing the stitching. The other picture is a close up of the flower I made along with the pattern of the Wild Iris.

2012-01-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

I have been working hard on my quilt hoping that I would be able to post today. Since I last wrote I have sewn the border gate around the garden area in the center of the quilt. I have also been able to get the brick area done . I used free motion stitching on both areas. The brick have a good texture feel. I did a regular stitch to attach the gate around the garden.I have a wonderful book by Bea Ogelsby which features appliqued American wildflowers and I decided to use her pattern idea to make a couple of flowers to go in the front of the quilt on the brick wall brick wall. I finished making the patterns which I used for the leaves and flower. i am going to make a Wild Iris and some Trillium to go in the front of the quilt and i have leaves and vines done to go on the sides of the quilt . My next item to make will be to free motion stitch the top leaves, vines ,and flowers that will be placed on the top of the quilt.
I bought some Wash and Gone to use to make the machine embroidered flower I am planning for the top of the quilt. Wash and Gone in a new product I haven't tried before but it is similar to solvy.

Here are a few pictures of the work I have been doing. I am hoping to get this quilt done before February first. I want to enter it in a competition in Ireland. It will be the first quilt I have entered in a competition overseas. The first picture is a picture of the fabric I used to make my Wild Iris, , the pattern,the leaves and stems. I also plan on making an couple of buds to go with the open flower.I found some very pretty batik fabrics to use for the flower. The stems are made from fabric I hand painted . I used batik fabric for the leaves. I will be stitching on the surface of the leaves before I attach them to the quilt then I will attach the leaves with a straight stitch. Once I got my flowers pieces made, I ironed the pieces to a piece of tulle which I had placed on top of a piece of parchment paper I had folded and placed my pattern inside of. I will use a stencil tool that is heated to burn the tulle from around the edge of the flower I made. This will seal the edge and help me later when I am attaching my flower to the quilt.
The next picture is a picture of the steps leading into the garden . I made the steps from two cotton fabrics. I placed batting behind the steps so that when I attached them to the quilt and sew on top of them they will have more texture.

2012-01-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting around to posting for the day and a long day it was. I was able to get my brick pattern marked on the fabric and I made a few vines using a zig zag stitch. Tomorrow I will start stitching in the lines around the bricks I marked off today. I painted the brick lines using colored pencils. I will be using a free -motion stitch to fill in the lines between the brick shapes.
When I make the vines I wrap yarn in sewing threads using my sewing machine. I thread the machine with shades of green thread and I put a piece of yarn under the presser foot. I hold the yarn in place to feed it under the pressure foot and using a zig zag stitch large enough to cover the yarn. I will use the vines on the largest tree and also on the bricks face to hold flowers.

2012-01-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope the new year brings all of you health,wealth and joy.

Well I have been busy these last few days making bracelets for my granddaughters and nephew. I used assorted glass , blown glass , silver beads, and hematite to make theses bracelets. I also made my daughter in law and sister a bracelet.Here are some pics.
I was able to get started back to work on the quilt I am making . I finished making some leaves for the vines that I am putting on the quilt and I have the cardboard patterns for the brick design that will go on the red fabric that surrounds the garden scene in the center of the quilt.
   I will post some pictures of what I get done today ,on the quilt ,a little later . I wanted to get these photos posted right away so I can get busy on my quilt. I am anxious to get started. I had to spend part of the morning reading some of my email that i haven't been able to get to for the past few days .
   Now that the Holidays are finished for a while I can spend all my free time working on my quilt. I shouldn't take me much longer to get it finished so I can move on to the next quilt. I have a couple of new quilts in my mind ready to go. I saw a PBS special the other day that had some wonderful pictures of the Amazon and the Great Barrier Reef which gave me some wonderful ideas. I love doing ocean scenes and since I haven't done an ocean scene in a while I think it is time for a new one.:) I would also like to make a black and white quilt for the upcoming year.
   Time to get busy so I can post tonight

2011-12-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays
This year I made fabric bags for gifts . My granddaughter just sent me a couple of photos of the bags I made. These are a new design i am trying out. I used hand dyed Batiks , that a friend gave me , for the bags . They are quick to make and although the instructions didn't include pockets they are easy to add to the inside of the bag.
Well the new year is fast approaching and I am looking forward to the new year and hoping it will bring lots of wonderful opportunities and joy for all I love.
I am still working on my quilt and I will be posting new pictures of it's progress this week.
Here are the pictures of the bags my granddaughters sent me today in my email.
I know these pictures are small she told me she took them with a cell phone . If I get the time today I will post a picture of one of the bags I just finished so I have a larger photo , other wise I will post a picture when I post new pictures of the quilt.

2011-12-06T21:31:00.001-08:00

Well it is getting close to Christmas and I have been thinking about what to do for gifts this year and I have finally decided to make truffles for adults and hand made gifts for the grandchildren. I love making gifts because I can give something special that can't be bought from a store. it is my way of showing my love for my family.
We have been having some windy weather where I live and my yard looks pretty bad right now but once the winds die down i will get it in shape again. I am not really fond of the wind because when the pine trees sway I get a little nervous. I do like winter time because i can do the baking i have missed doing that I can't do in the summer. Nothing like fresh bread or hot cinnamon rolls filling up my home with a delicious fragrants.
Here are a few pics of my progress.

   Well I have been able to put a good amount of hours in on my quilt and I am happy with the progress I have made. Tomorrow i need to stitch down the embellishments I made. I have started adding the butterflies,dragonflies. Buddha , and stone lantern.. The butterflies were made from beads and tulle.I will be able to start the embroidery work in another day or so.
I love to do embroidery work it is so relaxing. I am going to do most of the embroidery work on the large tree on the left. I have also been able to use water color pencils to add light coloring to the fabric above the Buddha.
With time and patience I was able to get the leaves on the tree stitched down . It is slow going because the leaves were messy cut and there are allot of edges on the leaves . The waterfall on the left side of the quilt was machine embroidered. I made the flowers on the lilies from tiny silk flowers which i painted with fabric paint.
The opening to the garden has not been stitched in place I have it pinned until I can get to that section of quilt . I will save that part of the work until the center of the quilt is completely done.
   Here are a few pictures of the progress I have made. I am also posting a few pictures of the embellishment I have already attached and you can see where I have the lantern and the Buddha pinned in place.
Once the center is done I will start sewing the bricks in place then the vines and flowers that will go on the wall surrounding the outside of the moon-gate
I am feeling good today I was able to get a haircut from my favorite hair stylist. She is worth her weight in gold because she always gives me a wonderful cut. It is so nice when you find someone who can cut your hair the way you want. and a person who is so pleasant to be around.
I have been reading a book a friend gave me about Buddha and I am enjoying it very much. She also gave me a copy of the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam . It makes wonderful reading on a cold winter evening,
     I will be posting more in a day or two .

2011-11-21T12:53:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone I hope you have a good thanksgiving . I am going to post then I am off to see if I can make Challah today I have never made this bread but I heard that is is good to use for stuffing because it keeps the stuffing from getting mushy when cooked . It is a delicious Jewish egg bread.
   I am just having a plain old fashioned Thanksgiving. Turkey/stuffing ,rolls,potatoes,green beans,gravy, cranberries,pumpkin pie with whip cream. I like a simple dinner and if I try to change things no body likes it as well
    Well I got the leaves on my trees and was able to get my Buddha in. I printed the Buddha on some fabric that I had that looked like granite then cut it out and applied it to my quilt. Worked out fine. Now that this set of leaves have been applied I can layer my quilt top ,batting and backing fabric. After I pin them together I will do some surface stitching on the waterfalls on the left and I will start adding the embellishments.
    My brother is coming tomorrow and I ask him to entertain himself for a few hours so I can work on my quilt. My family is very understanding and if they know I have a deadline to meet they give me space.
   Well here are the pics of my progress so far.

2011-11-16T10:05:00.001-08:00

Well Hello All
I see it has been almost a month since I have posted. I wish I could post more often but sometimes when I am working I just loose track of time. Right now i am in the ( what I call flow) and when I am in the flow I just work . I have been cutting fabric for days and have finally got the middle part of the quilt done pretty much .
    I finished pinning the pieces of fabric down that I have been cutting. I will sew these down and start adding my surface embellishments. I have quit a few things to add. As you will see in the pictures I am posting today.
    I have made vines,butterflies, dragon flies and flowers using the burned fabric technique. I have also cut fabric for leaves that with be attached to the vines. I will also be using some silk flowers. I like to get white silk flowers when I can so I can dye them the color I want to use on my quilts. I made small water lily pads that will be attached to the quilt by the waterfall.
    Needless to say one of my arms is a little tight but I am thrilled to know most of the embellishments done.
    The dragon flies I made took a couple of days to do but I am really pleased how the turned out. I found the perfect beads and I had a wonderful fabric to use for the wings.
   Now that I have got my fabric pieces pinned down I will spend the day sewing them down. I use a free motion stitching and invisible thread to sew the pieces down.
   If I am lucky i will be able to start adding my embellishments today. I also am making a small Buddha to add to this garden quilt and I may add a Japanese Lantern Statue . I prepared the fabric to make them with last night and i need to print the photos on fabric. I found some fabric that resembles granite and I am using it for the Buddha and lantern .
    I am luck to get as much time as I have to work on this piece but i am not going out much ti is cold and raining off and on I would rather stay inside and work and have some hot coffee or tea and listen to music and work. I is a great stress reliever and I would recommend getting a creative space for yourself.
In today world it is needed now more than ever. Well I better get busy. I will hopefully be posting sooner . I have a deadline on this quilt so I am working over time on this quilt. i want to enter it in a competition that is coming up overseas. If my quilt is chosen it will be my first time showing outside of the US.

Here are pics one is of the progress i have made and the other is a pic of the embellishments I will be adding.

2011-10-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share a couple of pics of the Goji plants I am growing. I love the tiny flowers . I am hoping to get berries this year. I am going to try to grow at least eight plants. They are easy to grow and I have been able to take some cuttings from my plants and give them to friends. It is a beautiful plant and i can't wait to get some fruit. I want to make some cookies and other baked items from the berries. Goji berries are one of the most nutritious berries in the world. I first heard about them on Dr Oz's show.

2011-10-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

Petals from Fire
I decided to try a new way to make some flowers for my quilt. I want to put some vines on later and I decided to try this method of making the flowers. I took some fabric that I had gotten during Halloween and using a candle I heated the fabric and let it curl on itself, I like the look of the flowers and I think they will work fine for the vines. The background fabric is what I am thinking of using for some of the leaves on the vines.

2011-10-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Decisions Decisions

I am finally getting time to post today. I have been working on the tree that I want to put on the left side of the quilt ,. It will be a large tree and I decided to make it using layers of batik fabric. I apply the pieces of fabric using glue sticks,Aleen's fabric glue . I use tweezers to apply the fabric to the fabric tree base . I know this doesn't look like much of a tree now but it will look more realistic once it is sewn on the quilt and i do free motion stitching on the surface. This process is time consuming but well worth the effort. I will apply the leaves in the same manner once I get them cut out. Here are a couple of pics of what I have done so far.

2011-10-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

I will be posting the latest pics of my quilt work in the morning. I just had my brother leave . He was visiting for a few days and I don't know about you but I need to get a little extra rest after my visitors leave.
I had enough energy to take photos this evening of some of the work I have been able to do on my quilt.
I am hoping to get a good amount of work done tomorrow after a good nights rest.

2011-10-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

New Birthday Gift
I have been able to put a few hours a day in on my quilt in between having company and those daily duties that all of us have. Wish I had more hours in the day but alas it is not to be. I had a little detour and had to stop my quilt work for a couple of days.

Since I hand make most of the birthday gifts I make for my family this months time is taken up by several gift making projects. I just finished a bracelet for my daughter in Law . She asked for the colors black,white and Red. This is a pic of her new bracelet. I used carved bone,silver beads and blown glass. One of my friends gave me a tiny magnet and it was the perfect clasp for this bracelet. I also added pearls and moonstone beads along with red glass beads. i think she will like it . Just sent it off to her.

On The Way

2011-10-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

I have been able to get back to work on my quilt and I am so happy about it. I spent part of the past few days drawing and cutting out trees. I wanted to have red trees for this quit. Since the color red is opposite of green on the color wheel I decided that I would cut out my fabric and give it a try. I like the look and now I can begin applying different shades of red fabric on the trees. I choose a nice red for the base and I have around 10 shades of fabric that eventually will be added to the base trees. Eventually I will be doing bead work on the surface of the trees. I am also going to be adding some green fabric to the surface along with the red fabrics . I wanted to post tonight since I will not be able to post tomorrow because I want to spend the day doing some surface work on my trees. I did have to remove some stitches from the bridge that I put in so I could place one of the large trees behind the fabric I used for the bridge.
   I made the bridge from some beautiful hand dyed fabric I had . It was dyed to look just like a beautiful weathered wood. It was perfect for this bridge. The bridge was made using small strips of fabric folded, cut and sewn together. I had to lift one section of the strips in order to put the trunk of one of the trees in place.
Once I finish the tree I will sewn the strips in place. I cut some smaller trees to go on the right side of the quilt and I will add assorted fabric pieces to these trees also. I will probably need to add the pieces of fabric for the small trees using tweezers.
   I can feel winter coming. It was colder today than it has been in a long time. I 'm not looking forward to the cold weather. Now that I am getting older I can't handle the cold weather like I used to when I was young. Funny how things change when you get older. The one thing I do love about winter though is the baking. I love to bake bread and winter is the time for cinnamon rolls. Not only do I love to eat them it keeps the house cozy.
     I just had a friend help me get my yard trimmed and cleaned to get ready for the winter winds and I have also been able to plant a few things in the garden. My kale has already started to come up . I am looking forward to eating some delicious greens.
    My neighbor gave me tons of green beans which I have processed and put in my freezer and they will be wonderful in some winter soup. One of my favorites is Minestrone. Can't wait for hot soup and warm buttered bread UMMMM.
I will post some of my favorite winter recipes this year. I am also going to be posting some poems this year.I have been reading Rumi and some of his poems are so beautiful. Oh that is another thing that"s good about winter time Hot Chocolate , a good book on a cold evening and a snuggley warm sweater . I wish I had a fire place but I don't so oh well. I have been looking into getting one of those electric heaters that look like a fire place just so I can sit and look at the simulated fire. I think I will ask around and see what prices are like and maybe ask around to see what others think about them and see if the work well.
    Well it is getting late lots to do tomorrow. Not only do I want to get some quilt time in I also want to call my friend who just had knee replacement surgery and see how things are going.

I have a little trouble putting my pictures in I think I need to work on my blog skills more. Hope the pics are clear and easy to see:)

Hello

2011-09-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally finished all the small projects I was working on and today I am working on my quilt and I will be posting some pictures soon. I got good news that my friend made it through knee surgery and is home recuperating and will be up and around and back to work on several projects. I am very happy for her and glad she is doing well.
I am happy to be able to get back to work on my quilt and I don't think I will be doing any small projects for now. I have been toying with the idea of making my own blouses . I have a pattern cut out and once I get some extra time I will baste the pieces together and get a sample shirt done to check the fit then make a shirt. I am very fond of Kurti's which are the name given to women's shirts from India. They are simple and comfortable to wear. I have also found a web page that has nose rings and I am going to buy a couple of new ones to wear with my shirts. I want to have something to wear that is easy care and easy to make hence the Kurti pattern.
Here is a pic of the small quilt I made for a friend. It has a favorite poem of hers on it and she is coming over tomorrow to pic it up along with some cupcakes I made her for her birthday.She like flowers and the color purple so I used these fabrics from my stash. I fussy cut the small flowers in each of the corners from the fabric I used in the borders.

Pic of wolf quilt

2011-09-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

Well I just tried to post my picture and the program is letting me post so here is the picture.the top is an overall view and the bottom is a photo of the top right corner of the quilt. You can see the fabric is pretty wild think my granddaughter will like it. I did allot of bead work on the top side of the quilt. I also put a half flower in the lower left corner of the quilt ( not shown) and I put three flower buds on the quilt . I made the vines from homemade piping and I chose colors for this quilt from a list of colors my granddaughter gave me.
The colors are blue,black,purple and white, . Not much of a variety but luckily I had just the right fabric on hand.Hope she likes it I think she will.

Better late than Never

2011-09-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I agree with that sentiment or not. I was working on my quilt and the next thing I know here comes a couple of friends who wanted me to fix some jewelry and that turned into five pieces. I finally got those finished yesterday . I also took some time and made my granddaughter a small quilt for the wall in her room. She likes wolves so I made her a quilt with a wolf. She is also into Anime and I had some fabric on hand that I thought would work perfectly. I was going to add a photo today but my photo gadget isn't working today for some reason . I will try to upload a pic tonight or tomorrow . Whew I am happy to be done so I can get back to my quilt.
I am also going to be working on a medium size purse for some one in trade for grooming my dog. I think that is a pretty good deal for a little of my time.
   I wish i could post more often than I do I really need to try harder I guess but I want to do so many things sometimes that I just don't post as often as I would like to.
   Another thing I have been doing is putting some vegetables in my freezer. I have a neighbor who grows a pretty good variety of vegetables and he has been bring me allot of veges lately. As soon as I get them i put some away for myself and then I give the rest to friends. I am sure glad his garden is doing good this year because mine didn't produce any thing. The weather was not good for gardens this year. Don't know if it is the climate change people talk about or if it is just the weather this years. Even my herbs didn't produce this year. I usually get 5 or 6 jars of Pesto but this year I didn't get any because my plants just kept dying. The one plant that did do well this year is My Goji, When i first got it it had nice strong branches and tons of leaves then it got a powdery substance on the leaves and almost all the leaves fell off so I sprayed them with a milk and water solution and in about three weeks all the leaves came back plus more. I cut some of the branches off and put them in potting soil and they all rooted so I am going to be able to give plants to friends. I have become interested in the Goji berry plant because of all it's nutritive value . I want to have at lest 6 trees for my own use. There is allot of information about the Goji online.
     I was asked to do a small quilt for a friend yesterday so I will be working on that in the next few weeks . I don't have to rush on the quilt and since that is the case I will work on my garden quilt for a few days so I can post to this blog. I have decided that i am going to make the bridge smaller than I had originally planned. I think it will make my trees look bigger. I don't think I will make bigger and more defined parts of the quilt until I get almost to the front edge of the quilt.
   It is a beautiful day today although a little warm. I have ceiling fans and that helps keep things cooler and just about right.
I am going to get a glass of ice tea and get to work.
Hope your summer is going well

Photos

2011-08-15T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well here are the photos I mentioned earlier. I wanted to get them up before I went to bed. I will start working on the middle ground of the quilt tomorrow. As you can see in one of the photos I have my placement sheet on top of the quilt to help me with placing my fabric pieces. This next step, of cutting fabric, will take several days to complete. I also think I will start working on the bridge. Don't know how I am going to do the bridge but once I get to work the idea will come to me. I may make a natural vine bridge but again I may make a wooden bridge. I will also have to cut more tree trunks . They will have to be larger and more defined. The same with the plants in the middle area.

I have been working

2011-08-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my quilt in between doing a BBQ, corndog fry and keeping my ear to the news to find out what is going on in the Gov.

I finished most of the stitching for the trees in the top half of my quilt. I had to take frequent breaks because stitching around the fabric pieces I cut takes a long time.This is a pic of some of the pieces of fabric I cut for the tree leaves and bushes.
     I am taking a photo of my quilt in s few minutes and I will post it in a little while.
   The next thing I will be doing is cutting more fabric for the mid portions of the quilt.
I copied the important areas of the quilt onto cellophane to help my place my cut fabric pieces in the right place.
     Free motion stitching on the surface of the quilt is relaxing and fun even though it does take allot longer on the stitching.
   I just recently learned how to make a sponge cake and have make several for my self and friends.
   I am working a a recipe to make corn dogs. The ones I tried the other day were not cakey enough for me. So back to the drawing board.

Background Almost Done

2011-07-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

        Well I am very happy that I got the computer viruses under control for the time being. Now that I can finally post again I can start putting up photos of my quilts progress. For the past few days ,while I was waiting for my son to fix my computer, I cut about 200 or so pieces of fabric to make the back ground section of my quilt. I finished gluing the pieces down this morning . I thought I would post these two pics before I started doing some free motion stitching on the trees and bushes. I want to put in some limbs / branches on the trees etc. Once that is done then I will start applying the leaves to the tree tops.
   I am not a fast quilter . I like to take my time and try not to rush. I quilt in between doing my garden and interacting with my family and friends.
      When I do a quilt I get a general idea about what I want the quilt to look like but so far it turns out somewhat different than I thought it would.The quilt helps me make it and it ends up a surprise.
    I take months making a quilt. I dye my fabric because some times I can't get the fabric color I need. Also while I am working I may not know what I need to do to get an area of the quilt to look like the idea I have in my head. For example : How do I get an area to look like the light is coming from a certain direction or how do I get a reflection in the water or a shadow under or over something.
I need to ask myself what stitch will I use or what technique to get a say 3D.effect.
I have been thinking about adding a small water fall to this quilt and a bridge and wind chime . I also want to add a rock bench. All those things are going to take time to do once I figure out how I want to do them .
I am glad to have so many visitors to my blog I know i am slow but I do get my quilts finished.
I hope some of my ideas are helpful to any of you who make landscapes quilts.
   Here are the photos of the work I just finished doing today.
Now that I can post again I will be able to post more often.
I am so happy to be able to post on my blog .
This first photo is an overall shot of the quilt. I cut all the fabric pieces from hand dyed,hand painted and store bought cotton fabric.Some of the trees were paint with fabric paint and some were painted with water colors and colored pencils. The pieces of fabric are glued on one at a time which takes a few hours a day sometimes. I have done a little stitching on the tree trunks just to hold them in place . I want to do the stitching for the rest of the plants today. Don't know if I will post pictures of the work I do later today but i will try to post them sometime tomorrow

Hope all of you are having a good summer. My garden is doing ok . Not as good as I hoped it would be. The weather hasn't been kind to the plants in my area. I may get some tomatoes this year and if I am lucky I will get enough basil to make pesto. I had to get plants from my local nursery because even though my seeds germinated and started growing the plants are very tiny and puny .
This is a close up of the right hand side of the quilt. You can see the different colors of fabric I used for the bushes and trees. I will be stitching over the surface of these next before adding the leaves to the trees. I am going to have the light come into the garden from the left top of the quilt in a diagonal direction.

UPDATE

2011-07-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile but my computer got a really bad virus and I am having to get the problem taken care of.
I will post more on Monday Sorry for the inconvenience. I just hate it when someone puts theses viruses out it just makes things hard for everyone. My son is helping me install more protection for my computer.

Second pic

2011-06-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

This second piece I first made a necklace then after I finished it I decided to take it apart and make the focal bead, I had made, into a brooch. I didn't like the necklace because I didn't think it hung right and I wasn't happy with the polymer leaves and flowers that separated the first and second section of beaded areas.
A brooch can be used in several ways where a necklace can't . You can put a brooch on a hat or belt for example.
The necklace was made using glass beads,polymer clay and wood beads. This necklace was also pretty heavy once it was put together.

jewelry

2011-06-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

I have taken some time to make a few pieces of jewelry to see if I was able to make enough to sale. I found out that it is just to time consuming for me. I need to work on something that keeps my mind engaged and for me making quilts is the thing I like doing best. I can make jewelry but I don't want to do it for a living, so I am back to work on my quilt am much happier. I am posting pics of some of the things I have made.
   The first piece I made from polymer clay and wooden and brass beads.
   I used a rock I found in my yard as a form to build the amulet around. After the amulet with the dragonfly
was baked and sanded I antiqued it with burnt umber acrylic paint and coated the piece with floor wax.
   Even though I won't sale this I can wear it with a nice blouse and jeans.

First Trees

2011-06-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

Well I spent the last couple of days working on my quilt in between doing some of the daily livings stuff.

I was happy to be able to get my quilt submission off in the mail for the Sacred Threads Exhibition in VA.

I am always a little on edge when I am shipping a quilt. I relax once I know it has been delivered then I usually worry about it once I know it is on its way back to me. I am trying not to get so tense this time but it is not easy.

I was able to get my brick entrance fabric sewn together and pinned on the edge of the gardens moon gate opening. I also got the courage to paint my first trees on the sky fabric . I get a little apprehensive when I first start painting on some back ground fabric I have made and I think it is because it takes me several tries when painting to get a sky that I can use on a piece I am working on. Fortunately the trees I did yesterday and today I feel good about. After I stitch these trees down I will need to stitch in some smaller branches tomorrow . I will also have to do some more painting on top of the trees I just finished. Tonight I thought I would work on another necklace. I am trying to set up a system to manage my time so i can get more done. If I work 4 to 6 hrs a day on my quilt I can spend a couple of hours a day making jewelry . The weather is so nice and since it stays light longer I can spend more time working on my projects. Here 's a couple of pics .

Another project

2011-06-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

I have recently decided to try my hand at making jewelery. Here are a couple of necklaces I just finished.

While I have been working on these I have been gathering my inner strenghth to paint the background trees on my new quilt. I have been deciding how I want to paint them and where I want to place them. I have also been deciding what colors I want the leaves on the trees to be. Since the trees will be in the background I will have to use light colors of paint. I have also been cutting fabric for the tree trunks and limbs. Some of the trees trunks will be a pale green and brown. I have a wonderful fabric that some one gave me to use for this part of the project. I have also learned a new technique that will keep the fabric firm while I paint.

I am going to use at least 8 different colors of paint to make the leaves for the background trees and I read about some one using gauze , that is painted, to make leaves for trees so I will think I will try the technique for my trees that will be placed in the forground once I get to that part of the quilt.

I also wanted to post a poem by Rumi that I was reading last night. I think it is very pretty .

191

Last night I vowed anew, I swore an oath by your life,

That I would never remove my eyesfrom your face; if

you smite with the sword, I will not turn from You

I will not seek the cure from any other, because my pain is of

seperation from You

If you should cast me into the fire, I am no true man if I utter

a sigh

I rose from your path like dust; now I return from the dust of your path.

I love to read Rumi's poems so many of them speak of love.

Well today is a beautiful day. I am so happy the sun is out. It has been raining off and on for weeks and last night on the news the weather man said we will be getting sunshine for several days. I hope so . i may be able to have my garden recover. Because of all the rain it has not been doing so well. and on top of that the deer came through the other day and ate my cucumber,eggplant,squash and bell pepper plants. Whew. I will have to go to the nursery and get some more plants because there is now way I will be able to start the plants from seed and have them product this late. The deer were beautiful though.

I am going to work on my quilt the rest of the day and I am going to post pics tomorrow.

Since the sun has come out I am feeling full of energy and eager to work.

I am looking forward to a wonderful summer and getting my quilt done.

I was listening to the news today( depressing) and after awhile I rolled over and turned it off and gather up my paint. I FEEL BETTER ALREADY!!!

I hope all of you who follow my blog have a wonderful day today and a wonderful summer.

2011-05-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here you can see the area where I have removed the section of fabric behind the sky fabric. Now I have essentially one piece of fabric to work with. I will flip this piece of fabric over and be able to start working on the front of the quilt.
The next thing I need to do is paint some fabric that I will use to make small brick shapes from that will be used to go around the outside edge of this moongate opening. I want to have lighter colored fabric for the brick shapes around the opening.

2011-05-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

You can see here that the thread I used is easy to see on the dark brick colored fabric. I will leave these stitches in to hold the two pieces of fabric together and then I will start cutting the fabric out from underneath the sky fabric . Before I start cutting I made sure I wouldn't cut into the red fabric. I just pulled the two pieces of fabric apart and made a small incision. Duck billed scissors are good to use for something like this.

Here you can see where I have started cutting out the fabric behind the sky fabric. I will keep cutting until the whole section is removed.

Next step

2011-05-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

After my fabric was painted and heat set I put my sky fabric , right side up, on top and pinned the two pieces together. These two pieces of fabric will be flipped over and then I will stitch around the outside edge of the sky fabric. I had to re-paint my sky fabric because I didn't like the light areas that was on the other piece of sky fabric I painted. When I painted the first piece of sky fabric I didn't have a firm ,smooth surface to paint on and some of the areas were uneven. I am much happier with the new piece of fabric and I think it will work much better for this quilt.

I am using white thread because I will be able to see the stitches when I turn these two pieces of fabric over so I can cut out the fabric that is under the sky fabric.

Painted Fabric

2011-05-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have been busy going to see my doctor and trying to get some fabric painted for the quilt I am working on. I had a friend ,who works in construction, get me some used bricks and used them to get an idea on how I would paint my fabric to resemble the color and texture of brick. Since I am making a wall for my moongate to fit into I pulled out the colors I thought would be good to use to paint my wall. I used eight to ten colors and over painted a large piece of hand dyed fabric I had on hand. I really loved the colors of the fabric I had but I needed to over paint the fabric to get it to look like used brick. After I painted the fabric I heat set the paint. Here is a pic of the fabric I painted. I will put my sky fabric in the center of this fabric and eventually do thread painting on the surface to resemble used brick. Some of the areas of the fabric have glops of paint that help it have the feel of real bricks. I should be able to sew over these areas using free motion stitching.

Sky Fabric

2011-05-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

I finally got a piece of fabric painted that I think will work for my sky on the quilt I am making. I painted four pieces of fabric that that wouldn't have worked for this piece. The fabric I finished today I had to paint over five times before I felt it would work for this quilt.
I used pepeo fabric paint to paint my sky. I mixed 10 different combinations of paint starting with yellows and working up to the blues. After the fabric was dry I cut out the portion I wanted to use for the sky. The leftover pieces of fabric can be used on other projects.
I drew my quilt design on cello wrap and attached it to the foam core board then placed the section of fabric I cut out underneath the drawing . I still need to heat set the paint fabric before I use it in the quilt.
Here is the hand painted fabric I just finished.

The second picture is the drawing of my idea on cello wrap with the fabric underneath. It is a jumping off point and the finished quilt will end up being very different from this drawing.

I think I will work on my back ground trees tomorrow. I haven't decided how I will make them but I think one of the things I will do is paint some gauze to use for the leaves. Another artist i was reading about used the same technique in one of her quilt so I decided I would try it on this quilt.

It was raining and hailing today where I where I live and I was wishing the sun would come out. It seems like this winter is lasting longer than usual this year. I sure hope my plants in the garden make it. I just got all my vegetables up and going. I made Swiss steak tonight with some garlic mashed potatoes . Swiss steak is one of my favorite comfort foods and on a cold evening it is warm and wonderful:)

Lemon poppy seed pound cake

2011-05-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a recipe for a cake I really like. I just sent the recipe to two of my friends. I have been able to paint a couple of sky fabrics for the new quilt I am working on and I will post photos a little later after they dry. I don't know if the sky fabric with work for this particular quilt but if not I can use the fabric for other quilts. Sometimes I need to paint several pieces of fabric to get a piece I want to use . You never know how the fabric will be until it is dry. I am using Pebeo fabric paint to paint my sky fabric.
    This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks THE NEW BASIC COOKBOOK by
                                                                                          Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins
                     Cake:
   3 Tabelspoons milk    11/2 teaspoons vanilla
   3 large eggs            11/2 cups sifted cake flour (** see below for homemade cake flour)
    3/4 cups sugar       3/4 teaspoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon salt    1 Tabelspoon ( loosly packed) grated lemon peel
   3 Tabelspoons poppy seeds      13 Tabelspoons unsalted butter, at room temp.

            LEMON SYRUP:
1/4 plus 2 Tabelspoons suger
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
         Preheat oven to 350
   1.Grease a 4 cup (8x4-inch) or 6 cup loaf pan line the bottom with parchment or wax paper and grease and flour the paper.
      or grease and flour a fluted tube pan.
2. Lightly combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla in a medium size bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl , combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the lemon peel and poppy seeds.
    mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Then add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the
    dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium ( high if you are using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 minute.
   4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the remaing egg mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after
   each addition, abnd scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
   5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. ( the batter will be almost 1/2 inch from
      the top of a 4-cup loaf pan. If your pan is slightly smaller use any excess batter for cup cakes.
    6.Bake, covering the pan lightly with buttered aluminum foil after 30 minutes to prevent over browning, until a toothpick inserted    in the center comes out clean.55 to 65 minutes ( 35 to 45 minutes in a fluted tube pan.)
     To get an attractive split down the middle of the crust wait until the natural split is about to develope ( when the cake has cooked
     for about 20 minutes), and then use a lightly greased sharp knife to make a shallow mark about 6 inches long down
     the middle of the cake.(This must be done very quickly so that the oven door does not remain open very long or the cake will fall.
    When the cake splits it will open along the mark.
    7. Shortly before the cake is done prepare the Lemon Syrup In a small pan over medium heat. Stir the sugar and lemon juice together until the sugar has dissolved.
    8. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, place the pan on a wire rack, poke the cake all over with a wire tester or
      a wooden skewer and brush it with half the syrup. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes.
    9. Loosen the sides of the cake with a spatula and invert it onto a greased wire rack. Poke the bottom of the cake with a wire tester or wooden skewer brush it with some syrup and reinvert the cake onto a greased wire rack . Brush the sides of the cake
with the remaining lemon syrup and allow the cake to cool completely.
    10. Store the cake for 24 hours tightly wrapped in plastic wrap ( to give the syrup time to distribute evenly) Serve at room temp.
         Makes 8 portions
** homemade cake flour ( remove 2 Tabelspoons of flour from a cup of flour and add 11/2 Tabelspoons
                                            cornstarch then mix and use)

My little garden

2011-05-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of my little garden. My friend made me raised beds so I could reach my plants in my wheelchair. Some of my plants are just beginning to come up and some of the plants have been growing for awhile. I love to grow herbs to cook with and I grow a few edible flowers. This year I am trying my hand at growing a few vegetables. I am growing beets,bell peppers, cucumbers, squash , eggplant and tomatoes.

Beginning a new quilt.

2011-05-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a roll around my neighborhood and took a few photos of some of the trees that are beginning to bloom . The shrubs and other plants were putting out new leaves so it was a perfect day for taking photos.
   When I start a quilt I like to gather tons of photos . Some I take myself and some I get on the net.
    Having the photos helps me decided what kind of plants I will use in my quilt. The photos also help me decided color and shape of the plants I will use.
    I am making a garden quilt.
   I am very lucky to have a neighbor who is a master gardener and has some unbelievably beautiful flowers and trees. I asked if I could take pictures of some of his garden and he kindly gave me permission. It was wonderful to be able to spend some time in his garden taking photos. Not only does he grow beautiful trees and flowers he grow wonderful vegetables which he generously shares with me during the summer.
   I want to have dogwood trees in the quilt I am making and my neighbor has some fabulous dogwood trees.
   After I get pictures and decide which features I want to put in the quilt I make a black line drawing and start choosing fabric.
It takes me awhile to start a quilt , preparation takes allot of work.

Polymer Beads

2011-05-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

I have been playing with polymer and teaching myself how to make beads . Here are a few pictures of some of the beads I have made. I also made a rack to put my beads on so I could paint them with a clear coating and let them dry and I put a hole in the beads so I could use them to make necklaces.

Beautiful Day

2011-05-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

Well I have been under the weather but after getting some medicine I feel pretty good today. I was able to get up early and get busy.

One of the first things I did was to go out to my garden and see how everything is doing and I discovered a plant that I didn't know I had. It was a wild Iris. Very pretty and delicate.

I have also been experimenting with polymer clay so I could have some beads etc for necklaces I want to make. I am making my first necklace today and I will post the results.
The other thing I have been doing is to make some rosemary bread from some rosemary a friend gave me.

My friend has a hugh plant in her yard the has the largest branches I have ever seen on a rosemary bush. The plant looks like a small tree and it is pretty amazing. Another thing about the plant is the fragrance. I don't think I have ever smelled a rosemary bush with such a wonderful scent. I just had to make some bread.

The recipe I use is enough dough to make one loaf. Here is the recipe I use for my rosemary bread.
3 Cups unbleached flour

11/2 teaspoon sea salt

                                                      1/4 teaspoon dry yeast
                                                      11/2 Cups water
                                                     2 to 3 Tablespoons fresh rosemary minced
                                         I mix everything together and place it in a container with a lid and let it sit 18 to 20 hours. Next I turn it out onto a floured board and spread it out into a rectangle and fold it over on itself like an envelope.Then I shape it into a ball and place it in a medium size wicker basket  that I have lined with white cotton cloth that I have dusted with flour. I let the dough rise for a couple of hours and when it is finished I prepare my oven and baking pot. The pot I use is a heavy enamel cast iron roasting pot with a tight fitting lid. I heat the oven to 500 degrees with the pot in the oven. Then i turn my dough into the pot put on the lid and bake the bread for 30 minutes. The I lower the temp remove the lid and bake the bread for another 15 minutes or till the bread is a golden brown and sound hollow when taped on the bottom. I remove the bread from the pot and let it cool on a cooling rack.
                                  This is one of my favorite breads . Some times I add garlic to the bread or thyme.
Here is a pic of the loaf I made. The other picture is a photo of the fermented poolish that has set for 20 hours.

Good News

2011-04-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

     My quilt "Royal Seshen Garden " was accepted in the 2011 Sacred Threads Exhibit . The exhibit will be in June I believe. I am so surprised and thrilled.
     I have been working on some new polymer beads and I will be posting pictures later today.
     I am also getting ready to start a new quilt. I have decided to post pictures of the quilts progress as I am making it.
     I have been so busy that I haven't had time to post but I will be posting more often soon.
     I can't wait till summer arrives. I am tired of the cold weather and ready for summer. I have been working on my garden and my plants are starting to come up. I am trying my hand at growing some vegetables this year. I will post pictures soon.

Welcome Home Quilt

2011-03-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

This is the " Welcome Home" I just finished for the House Quilt Project.
It is for a Marine in the Freedom Station Project.

The sky is hand painted and the body of the quilt was heavily stitched.
I will be making more small quilts in the future . I love making them; they are easy, quick and use lots of small pieces of fabric that I can't use otherwise
I have been spending allot of time inside my home for the last thirteen days . Boy, have we been having storms in my area. It is very cold but it also gives me time to work on many fun projects.
   I was able to go out the other day during a break in the weather and take a look at my garden and I have a lot of plants coming up. I have everything covered with plastic which is suspended on wood poles and as soon as the weather settles down I will pull the plastic so my plants can get some sun.
   Getting the rain is good, but I am looking forward to spring and summer. Once I get a chance to get some photos of my garden I will post them.
   A dear friend gave me some books using polymer clay and I think I will try my hand at making a few pieces of jewelery. I tried to make matchbox necklaces which was a lot of fun.
Another new thing I want to try is wrapped beads. I saw some today that were really pretty and seeing them got me inspired.
   I think I will make soup today because it feels like a great day for hot soup and warm bread. I love making my own bread. I find it very relaxing and when it comes out of the oven I am ready with butter and knife.

Moon Gate Garden Quilt

2011-03-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

I have been working on this little quilt for a few days. I made it to donate to SAQA ( Studio Art Quilt Associates). I love gardens and while I was looking at some garden photos online I ran across gardens that had moon gates for the entrance. I think they are so beautiful.
I used reverse appliqué to make this moon gate. I had several beautiful floral fabrics on hand so I decided to cut out my garden plants from them.After I cut them out, I used a tiny bit of fabric glue to attach them to the surface then I stitched everything down by machine. I think it makes a beautiful small quilt and it is not at all hard to do.
This quilt is 12" x 12" and I was able to complete it in a couple of days. I am very pleased how it turned out. I love SAQA. You can learn more about them on www.SAQA.com. For any artist who yearns to be more professional or to have better exhibit potentials, this is definitely the right organization. I am very grateful to them for helping me to continue to be a member, and this auction of these little quilts will help raise money to help SAQA help artists like me and many others with many things to make help us get good exposure for our artwork, and to become known for the art we do make.

Snowbound

2011-03-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

We were snowbound for a couple of days and could not get out because we didn't have 4-wheel drive on the truck. I sure glad we had candles and batteries because our electricity was out for a couple of days. My neighbor told me he was looking out his kitchen window and saw a tree fall that knocked out our entire neighborhood's electricity.
My friend and I played board games and had to eat by candlelight which was something different. I really appreciated having the electricity back on.
The snow was beautiful but I will be glad it is all gone. I was reminded of this poem about the snow, for sometimes it seems like that up here in the woods.
Stopping by Woods
on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost (1923)
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Not All My Art is Fabric

2011-02-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

I enjoy doing a variety of artistic things. I particularly like working with Polymer clay and beading. Here are a couple of Goddess pendents I made some time ago; they served as gifts for good friends.

A Little Bling

2010-12-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

I made this necklace for a friend for Christmas. She loves the color red. She bought some beads a few weeks ago and ask me to put them together for her. Here is the result..

A Quilt for the New Baby

2010-12-28T16:18:00.001-08:00

My nephew's wife just had her baby and this the quilt I made for the little one. I really had fun. A friend of mine had given me the pretty little Grandma's Flower Garden Blocks, so it went together pretty quickly.

A Love of Lighthouses

2010-12-17T17:48:00.000-08:00

This is the quilt I just finished for my son. He loves lighthouses . A friend gave me the two kinds of fabric and I used both of them.

I have finally gotten the fabric I needed for the garden quilt I will be making so I can finally start painting the sky fabric tomorrow.

I have been very sick for a few days but I am better now and I am looking forward to working on my next project.

Veterans First Patriotic Quilt

2010-12-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the Veteran's First quilt I made for one of our wounded soldiers who is coming home and will be living in a Veterans First group home in Garden Grove that is being redecorated by Furnishing Hope. Each room will have one of these 12" x 16" house quilts. I made the quilt and my friend, Jamie Fingal of Cut-Loose Quilters added the American flag which is on each quilt.

My Process for Starting One of My Quilts

2010-12-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a couple of days. I wanted to start posting about the new quilt but couldn't because I am still waiting on a friend to bring some fabric for me. I should be getting it today. As soon as it arrives I will get started on the quilt. In the meantime I am making some bags from some fabric a friend gave me. The fabric is very colorful and it has wonderful geometric designs . I will post photos tonight of a couple of the bags I am doing now.

Here is the first black line drawing of the quilt I will be working on. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend.

This black and white drawing was done on clear gift wrap. I use it because it is not expensive. I have attached it to a foam core board so I can lift it up and down to help me place the quilt pieces in the right places. I will put a piece of cotton fabric underneath ( once I get it) and I will draw another black and white drawing on the cotton and begin preparing the pieces of the quilt to be put in place.

After Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

Well I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope all of you did to. I had a wonderful visit with family and friends. Now it is time to get to work . I am going to start a new quilt so I am doing my black line drawing today and will post it tonight if I can get the drawing done today; if not I will post in the morning. I will be doing the garden quilt that I talked about in an earlier post.

New Smilebox Slideshow

2010-11-29T13:17:00.000-08:00

Free slideshow made with Smilebox

Community Project News

2010-10-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

I got a card today notifying me that the scarf I made for Fiberarts Connection's "Enduring Earth" challenge to raise money for The Nature Conservancy was purchased by the Wilson Community Collage, the site of the venue in North Carolina for their collection. It was an honor and I was happy to help.

Since I really don't have extra money for fund raisers, I have decided to use my sewing skills, among other things, to help worthwhile causes and organizations raise funds for good causes.

Customize Your Own Slide Show

2010-10-19T22:03:00.001-07:00

Customize your own free slideshow

This is something I never thought I would be able to do, but in fact, I am able to quickly and easily able to put together various slideshows with my art or photos of me doing community projects, teaching, etc. I like the idea of this and like the different backgrounds, animation and even music I could select.

Finally, a Return to My Newest Quilt

2010-10-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

I have finally been able to get back to the quilt I am working on. I had to re size it. A friend had to help me because my first attempt was just to small. Now that the grid squares are bigger the black line drawing came out the size I need it to be. I will re-draw it again so the everything is drawn properly . I will make any last minute additions or deletions then I will get my fabric ready and get started on the quilt.

I am getting a message from blogger that I won't be able to post tomorrow because they will be doing maintenance. I will post as soon as I can.

I Love Making Necklaces

2010-10-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

The next project was for a friend who wanted a necklace made from beads( in her favorite colors) and copper.Here are a couple of pictures of the necklace.

I found out a way of cleaning copper that is quick and works . Mix lemon juice and salt, then dip the copper in it and it will look just like a new penny. A friend gave me two bags of copper charms that were black and in the picture you can see how bright the copper piece came out.

Ahoy, Maties!

2010-10-19T21:13:00.001-07:00

I haven't been able to post for the last few days because several new quick projects came up fir gifts.

The first was a sail a friend of mine wanted me to make him. Not only did he want the sail made but he wanted me to make him a Jolly Rogers flag for his boat.

I have never made a sail but I thought I would give it a try. My friend called yesterday and told me he LOVED the sail and the flag. Here is a picture of the skeleton for the flag.

It's All Black and White

2010-10-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well I have spent the last couple of days resizing my drawing for the quilt I am making. After making the grid I started drawing in the picture from my original drawing and I was having a difficult time transferring all the lines. I got a little frustrated because it was starting to be a little too much work, but while I was sitting there trying to figure out what I was going to do to make the process easier for myself I noticed that if I just folded back and did one line at a time it was much easier for me. Whew!

The first picture is a picture of me laying my two drawings side by side.
The next picture is a picture of the folds I made on the pictures.

The next picture shows the creases I made in the picture I drew on the largest grid I made.I had to fold each line back on itself, and then just drew in whatever was on the line. I had 24 lines to draw.
The top picture is a picture of the enlarged black line drawing.
After I finished and put the drawing on my foamcore board to see how it looked from a distance I realized I will have to make another drawing.
This would work better if I had an overhead projector OH Well Another drawing it is.
Looking at it from a distance, I see that I have to make the drawing wider and a little longer. The drawing is too small for the end size I want the quilt to be.
I will work on the sketch today and hopefully I will have it finished by this evening.
I think I will make every 3/4 inch square on my original drawing to equal 2 inches on my grid pattern and that should increase the picture it to the size I would like it to be on the finished design.
I may get to start picking out fabric today.There is a picture above of some of the fabric I have that I use to make my quilts. A friend gave me several boxes of fabric which I have sorted through and another friend told me she is going to send me some more in a few days.
I am hoping that I will get a chance to cut a few strips of fabric tonight so I can start making another new bag.
I also have to pull out some beads to make a necklace for a friend for her birthday.
Whew again! Hope I can get it all done today.

2nd Black and White Drawing for New Quilt

2010-10-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

I got the second black line drawing for the quilt I am making done today.
I was able to get most of the elements I wanted drawn in. There is a small waterfall;
a stone bench; a wind chime; a bridge; stone steps; a small pool into which I will put koi and water lilies; large boulders; a staircase leading down to the garden and a round arch for the entrance to the garden.
The other picture is the grid I made so that I can enlarge the picture. I sure could use an overhead projector to enlarge the drawing.
It will take me a couple of days to transfer the picture I drew on to the grid.
For me this is the tedious part of making a quilt but the rest of the steps I don't mind.
I had to spend a couple of hours sorting my fabric today as well. When I am picking my fabric, I pick fabric for the back ground, middle and front sections of the quilt. I also pick a variety of sizes of plants, flowers etc. I will post pictures of the different fabrics I use once I make my choices. I also pick light, medium and dark fabrics and fabrics with various degrees of clarity in the design. The fabrics that are in the background don't have to be as sharp and clear as the ones for the front.
Once I pick the fabrics for the plants, trees etc., I will decide if I want to paint the fabric for the sky. I pick a 200 thread count white cotton to paint on for the sky.
I am going to work on enlarging my picture tonight and I hope I can finish it by Monday. If I do I will post it.
For this quilt I want to post each step and I would like to make a video to put on this blog ,for some of the steps of the work I do. I am still learning how to do that right, so it might be something I end up doing for one of my next quilts.
This quilt will take at least a few months to make because I will paint fabric, make beads if needed, make appliqués, embroider and make 3-d flowers etc. Each of these things is time-consuming. Unlike some fiber artists, I get tired very easily because of my physical challenge, and I can only work straight for so many hours a day. A friend helped me to create my work space and table for my machine, etc. to fit my wheelchair.
My process of making my quilts take a lot of time but I love it because I get to use so many techniques. i have taught my self from watching other artists on TV and also on some of the online tutorials. I love to watch other artists so that I can learn new skills to help me make my quilts better.

First Sketch for My New Quilt

2010-09-30T18:33:00.001-07:00

This is the first drawing for one of the new quilts I am making. I will refine this drawing in the next couple of days. I usually do three or four drawing before I get the final one I will use. I need to decide on which elements I want to put in or leave out.
I want a small waterfall, a stone bench, wind chime and lots of plants. I also want some small birds in several places. I want to have a round archway for the front of the garden. I also would like to add some spiritual symbols somewhere in the piece.
I sorted through my fabric today and that took me quite awhile to do.
The light source will come from the right side of the quilt. The time will be early morning. I like to pick the time of day for the quilt at the beginning because this helps me decide which fabrics to use.

Starting a New Quilt

2010-09-27T11:52:00.001-07:00

Good Morning.
Well another week is at hand and I am very excited. This weekend I finally decided what I want to do with the new quilt I am thinking of starting. Today I will be working on the first drawing of my ideas and I will post the drawing tomorrow then I will spend the day picking out some fabrics.
I think I will start on the spirit/meditation quilt first. I spent a few hours yesterday gathering ideas from sites I found in the net. There are so many beautiful gardens around the world but my focus was on spiritual and meditation gardens.
I wanted to find out what elements were most popular to have in those types of gardens.
I am toying with the idea of doing several of these types of quilts and I think I will make them with a round shape. It is my favorite shape and the circle brings good energy.

Finished Scarf

2010-08-22T19:26:00.001-07:00

I finished the scarf for Fiberarts Connection challenge, "Enduring Earth." The challenge is a fund raiser to benefit The Nature Conservancy and the scarves will be sold at Wilsonville Community College, Wilsonville, NC. Some of the fabric I hand-dyed myself and some a friend gave me. The surface was finished with free motion stitching.
I will be starting two new projects tomorrow. One will be a shopping bag that folds up to wallet size and the other will be a small bag for a friend to use for carrying her tarot cards.
I will be working on the designs in the morning and will post pictures the day after tomorrow.

A Scarf to Dye For

2010-08-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my scarf project for the last few days. Using my pattern I cut out all of the fabric pieces.I used my printer to make the world fabric in the center bottom of the scarf.Some of the fabric I used was given to me by a friend and it was just right for this piece.I cut the whales out of a sea fabric. The yellow fabric in the center I dyed using Pebeo Setacolor fabric paint. I also used the yellow fabric I made for the rays. The tiny goddesses I made from another fabric. The birds and butterflies were cut from store-bought fabric.The sky fabric under the butterflies I made last night . It was also made using Pebeo Setacolor fabric paint. I mixed ultramarine and cobalt blue in two separate containers. In one I mixed two parts ultramarine and one part cobalt blue. In the other container I mixed two parts cobalt blue and one part ultramarine.In a third container I mixed some ultramarine and violet.I added water to the paint in the containers before applying it to the fabric with foam brushes. I lightly misted the fabric before applying the paint and once it was dry I ironed the fabric to heat set the paint.
Everything is pinned in place and today I will be using fabric glue to glue the birds, butterflies and sea weed in place. Once I finish gluing all the elements in place I will be ready to do surface stitching.

My Egyptian Garden Quilt

2010-08-06T10:07:00.001-07:00

The right photo is a picture of the quilt I just finished. The hanging sleeve that I put on is working and the top part of the quilt is not falling forward. The method I used to keep it up is working YAY!!!!!!!

The left picture is the pattern of the scarf I am making for a Fiberarts Connection fund raiser scarf challenge to raise money for The Nature Conservancy. The scarves will be sold at Wilsonville Community College in Wilsonville, NC. We have children participating in this one. The scarf is going to be a quick project.

Putting a Sleeve on a Round Quilt - Part 7

2010-07-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is the tube put in place where it will be stitched down.Once the tube is stitched down a dowel, to hang the quilt, can be inserted . I am using a ruler as an example in this photo. Using my method the top edge of my round quilt will not flop forward.I will post pictures of the quilt sleeve once I am finished with these last few steps.

Putting a Sleeve on a Round Quilt - Part 6

2010-07-27T13:31:00.001-07:00

I will remove the stitches from the binding I have sewn in place. Then I will insert the edge of the fabric I am using to cover the hardboard. I will re-stitch the binding in this area. After that I will insert the hardboard and stitch the bottom of the pocket closed. The next step will be to attach the tube to the bottom part of this pocket containing the hardboard.

Putting a Sleeve on a Round Quilt - Part 5

2010-07-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the hardboard placed on the back top edge of the quilt. On top of that is the piece of fabric I am using to cover the hardboard. I will attach the semi-circle of fabric to the upper edge of the quilt under the binding.

Putting a Sleeve on a Round Quilt - Part 4

2010-07-26T19:06:00.001-07:00

From the other end I cut a 8-1/2 in. wide piece of fabric. I measured the edge of my quilt and cut the strip so it was 1 inch from the edge of the quilt. Then I made a 1/4 inch seam on each end of the strip.. Next I folded the strip in half and stitched the strip along the edges. I turned it inside out and made a tube. I ironed the tube and set it aside.
I had a friend cut me a semi-circle of a piece of hardboard. I will take the semi-circle of fabric and hem it and sew it to the edge of the quilt. To do this I am going to have to remove the binding stitches from the top edge of the quilt . Then put the semi-circle of fabric on the edge fold over the binding and resew the binding to the quilt . I will leave the bottom unstitched and place the hardboard inside. Then I will hand sew the bottom edge of the semi-circle down.

Putting a Sleeve on a Round Quilt - Part 3

2010-07-26T19:04:00.001-07:00

I hemmed the semi circle with a 1/4 in.seam.

Putting a Sleeve on a Round Quilt - Part 2

2010-07-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

I took the fabric that I had cut for the sleeve and cut a semi circle from the end.

Putting a Sleeve on a Round Quilt - Part 1

2010-07-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well I tried to make a sleeve using instructions from a book that I have and I just could not figure it out. After pinning it to the quilt I realized that the top would flop over to the front when the quilt was hung. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, back to the drawing board I went and I came up with a new idea for a sleeve that would work for my round quilt.
I am working on it right now and I will post some pictures of the new sleeve today once I am finished. I will delete the old pictures once I finish the new sleeve.
Not all ideas work and when that happens I look for another way to accomplish the task at hand.

My Bee Balm is Blooming and It Smells so good

2010-07-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

My Bee Balm is blooming and it smells wonderful. I think it is a beautiful plant. I hear it is used to make Earl Gray tea. I love growing herbs and special plants that can be used for medicinal and other purposes.

The Flute Player

2010-07-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is my flute player. Here she sits playing a beautiful tune in a summer spiritual garden. The beads in her hair are glass beads . She is wearing a wig as was the custom in Egypt. Her face is hand-painted and stitched. Her wig was made from a very thick braided thread.
Her necklace and earrings. were made using free motion stitching and rayon thread layered between sheets of Solvy.

Flower Parts on My Flute Player Quilt

2010-07-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

Here are five flowers pots, each with a different plant. Also a close up shot of the mosaic on the back wall. The jars are sitting on the staircase on the right.

Detail Shot 3 - Egyptian Quilt

2010-07-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Here is another detail shot. You can see the basket that is holding figs.

Detail Shot 2 - Egyptian Quilt

2010-07-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

This is a detail shot of the pond. I added koi, reeds and lily pads with flowers next to the pond. The pond water is hand-painted and layered with bridal tulle.
In this shot you can also see the seed pod with seeds still inside the pod and you can see the dry and dead seed pod as well. I wanted to have a representation of the Blue Lotus flower in each stage of it's life cycle.

Detail Shot of Fnished Egyptian Quilt - 1

2010-07-12T21:51:00.001-07:00

This is a detail shot of the flute player. I think I will name the piece " Garden of the Blue Lotus".
I had a picture of a tomb painting that I kept for years and it was from the inspiration from that photo I made this quilt.

My Egyptian Quilt is Finished

2010-07-12T21:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of the finished quilt. I will post some detail shots in another post. The quilt is about 30 inches across. It is a simpler quilt than I usually make but I am pleased with the result. I am thinking of donating this quilt to help raise money for an organization that I want to help.
The next piece I am going to work on is a scarf for Fiberarts Connection fund raising challenge, "Enduring Earth." The money from the sale of the quilt will help The Nature Conservancy .
I haven't decided how I will make the scarf but I want to put animals and plants etc on it. I am also going to make two bags for friends. One a spirit bag for someone who is ill and the other is a book/cell phone bag for another friend.
I have also found a pattern for a shopping bag that folds up to a wallet size.
A friend gave me several boxes of pre-cut fabric that I can use for these projects.
The new projects will be fast and easy and it will give me time to think about the next quilt I want to make.

Egyptian Quilt Progress

2010-06-27T12:59:00.001-07:00

I have been working on the quilt and have been able to get a good amount of surface stitching done. I finished the jars holding the plants on the back wall, and stitched them into place. I have also stitched to pool in place but I need to put a edge on it to finish it out. I finished attaching the date palm on the left and I left a little of the fronds loose so it can overlap the border when I sew it on later. I free motion stitched the the flowers that are in pots on the left by the date palm yesterday. I used some plants that I cut out of fabric for the plants that are in pots and placed the cutouts between two layers of solvy and free motioned stitched over the surface to give the plants texture.I was also able to finish the pomegranate tree on the right. I'm going to start working on the blue lotus plants today. I can only sew a little bit of the lotus plants on the machine because they come so far out of the quilt. I will have to do hand stitching on the parts that I can't get under the machine. I was also able to get the stairs attached. While doing the potted plants by the stairs I found out I needed to back the plants with a thick piece of felt so that the plants wouldn't have a hump in the middle when placed in front of the stairs.

Starting My Spring Garden

2010-06-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

I was able to get out this week and go the the local garden center. WOW! They had some beautiful basil plants. They had several varieties so I bought about eight different plants. I also bought a yellow pear tomato plant and a cherry tomato plant. I love to make pesto in the summer and I think I will try making different kinds of pesto using the different varieties of Basil. I also got several cilantro plants to make homemade salsa and the ladies at the garden center gave me a free summer savory plant. They said it might live and it looks pretty sad but now that I gave it some plant food and fresh potting soil I think it will live. I like to use savory in beans and meatloaf etc. I spent the next day getting the plants in my garden and the took some of these photos.

Egyptian Quilt Progress

2010-06-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

I made sure everything was pinned down on the quilt in the places I need each piece to stay. I set up my ironing board next to my sewing machine and made sure they were the same height.
I put the quilt on a foam core board so that I could move it to my sewing machine.
I leave my quilts on the foam core board so I am able to move the quilt around while stitching little areas I am able to slide off.
On this quilt I will have to do some hand stitching because the appliqué pieces I made are sticking out of the quilt by about 3 to 4 inches. So it will be impossible for me to sew them on the machine.
This is the stage of making the quilt that takes slow steady stitching. It isn't as complicated as some of my quilts have been but there is still a great deal of stitching to do.
I made the appliqués so they show the life cycle of the Blue Lotus.
It is a very interesting plant with an ancient history.

Another Day in My Egyptian Garden

2010-06-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of some pretty green striped fabric that I think I will use for the border. I will cut a bias strip and put it on the quilt edge to see how it looks.
I made the other seed pod and sepals for the lotuses today and after sewing them I pinned them to the quilt. I also moved the vines. The vines will be thinner once they are stitched in place.
One of the next things I will add is water reeds to the pond. I cut a couple today to see how they look and to make sure the size is right. I also decided to resize the pond and move it. Decisions, decisions . . .

Blue Lotus Seed Pods and Other Parts in Place

2010-06-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have started arranging and pinning all the elements I made for the quilt. I was also able to finish the blue lotus seed pods yesterday and get them pinned to the quilt.

Making Lotus Leaves

2010-05-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

I am making the leaves for the Blue Lotus today. After dyeing my fabric and heat setting the dye I drew my design for the leaves on tracing paper so I could move it across the surface of the fabric to choose the color I wanted for each leaf. After sewing my leaves together I free motioned stitched the surface of each leaf. Now I will add them to the quilt sewing only on the vein lines to give the leaf dimension.

Welcome to My Yard

2010-05-30T14:00:00.001-07:00

It is beautiful today. Warm for the first time in awhile. My Jasmine is in bloom and it smells wonderful. I have it planted by my front door and when the door is open my whole house smells like Jasmine.

My Hand-dyed Lotus Leaf Fabric, Pattern and Vines

2010-05-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of my hand-dyed fabric for the lotus leaves, the patterns I made for the leaves, and a picture of the stems I made for the flowers and a couple of pictures of lotus pods.I sketched.
Next I want to make blue lotus pods to go on the quilt. I have been working on the design and construction technique today. It will take a few days to figure out how I want to make the pod. I am aiming for a 3-d look with these flowers.

Painting Stamens of Lotus Flowers

2010-05-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here I am painting the stamens for the center of the flowers. As you can see, it is quite tedious to get everything just right.

Blue Lotuses Looking Good

2010-05-28T17:38:00.001-07:00

Here are the finished flowers, buds, and flowers pods that I made to use on the quilt. I will appliqué them on to the surface of the quilt.

Rain Goes Well With Blue Lotuses

2010-05-28T17:32:00.001-07:00

It has been raining and cold for the past few days so I have been able to get a few pieces made to go on my quilt. Here is a picture of one of the finished flowers. I made the stamens in the center using a punch needle, variegated thread and a water color pencil. I made the fabric for the flower, then appli-bonded the fabric to make the petals.

What Would We Do Without Tools?

2010-05-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is the tool I will use to put the yarn in the fabric tubes. Can you imagine trying to do this job without the tool? I don't think so!

Blue Lotuses Fabric

2010-05-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

This is the fabric for the lotuses I made using Pebeo Setacolor Fabric Paint. I will cut petal from this fabric and appli- bond it.