Swirls of Color #2

 

I am hooked!

Making these Swirls of Color

really makes me smile.

There's no pattern and

it's best to not have a plan.

Just sew a strip,

pick the next one,

sew that one on,

pick the next one.

Do this until it's finished

and then embellish.

 

 

 

Swirls of Color #2

Made with papers, fabrics, sari silk remnants, yarns, trims, ribbons, threads, beads and sequins.

It will join Swirls of Color #1

I'll wait a bit to begin #3.

There will be a #3!

And then they will hang together somewhere in my home.

Happy Creating!

Fall Table Runners

 Last week, Sara, at My Sewing Room

posted a couple of 60 degree table runners she had made from

border fabric.  She has made a number of these

over the years and they all look so nice.

After reading this latest table runner post,

I pulled out some fall border fabric I had purchased last year

and decided I was going to make a 60 degree table runner myself. 

These table runners go together so quickly!

Out of 1 1/2 yards of fabric I was able to make

two long runners and two table toppers.

I bought this fabric at a quilt shop in upstate NY last summer

when I was there for quilt camp.

The colors and the fall design caught my eye.

These are the two table toppers.

I was able to cut the ends  so two pieces sewn together

made one wedge.

I had the backing and binding fabric in my stash

and love this side, too.

One is on my dining room table, ready for Thanksgiving.

Thanks for the inspiration, Sara!

Happy Quilting!

Three Dudes Quilt

 A while ago I watched a you-tube video from

Missouri Star with Jennie and Rob Appell.

They made this beautiful quilt using a

jelly roll and the 1 1/2" jelly roll.

 

I loved that quilt and knew I would be making it soon.

 

A jelly roll has been hanging in my cabinet for a bit

and I thought this would work well with this design.

 Out it came and the sewing began.

 

All was going so well until I began cutting the blocks.

From one strip set, I should have been able to cut 3-15" blocks.

I was only able to cut two!

It had nothing to do with my sewing or cutting,

my strip sets were just not long enough.

 

Thankfully, I was able to order another jelly roll

and made the rest of the blocks.

 

 

 

 

This quilt is much darker feeling than the quilt

made in the you-tube video,

but I love the colors.

 

 

It went together so quickly since the strips were cut already.

The black strips really make the colors pop.

 

 

 

 

My original plan was for this to be a baby quilt

for my niece's baby, due in December.

After getting all of the blocks finished,

it's too dark (and big!) for a baby quilt.

I'll finish it and will have it here when I need

a quilt for a man.

 

 

 

I just love how the middle glows.

The design has a Celtic feel to it, I think.

 

 

 My sewing machine is in for a cleaning and servicing.

Once it's back home, I'll sew these blocks together into a top.

I may have to try this design again with some brighter fabrics!

Happy Quilting!

Escher In Shadows Finished!

 When two of my favorite things come together,

life is Wonderful!

 

As those who follow me know,

I love, love, love Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

(As my goddaughter said the other day while shopping for 

fabric with me, why would anyone use any other fabrics?

I have her brainwashed, too! :D)

 

In addition, I really like MC Escher's art.

It fascinates me.

 

So, when I found a kit with an Escher design,

made with Kaffe fabrics, it was a no-brainer.

This is the second Escher design I've made and I love them both.

 

As I said, this was a kit, but I did switch out some of the fabrics

to ones I liked better. 

 

 

 

 

This Escher quilt was actually very easy to make.

The largest challenge was staying organized.

The parts had to be placed in a specific order,

in a specific direction to make the design work.

I used labels to mark each part and kept them in order

on my cutting table as I sewed them together.

 

 

 

It looks like you could climb right into this quilt

and have a seat on one of the cubes.

 

 

 

 

The quilting design is called "Alex" and gives the quilt just

enough without taking away from the design.

 

 

 

 

I backed it with the turquoise grunge fabric that I also used for the binding.

 

 

 

 

There is one more Escher design in a kit with Kaffe.

Should I go for it? 

 

 

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

 

 

Happy Quilting!
 

WAY Out of My Comfort Zone

 As a number of us have mentioned on our blogs

over the past few months,

the quilting mojo has disappeared

or at least faded quite a bit.

In trying to find out where mine has gone,

I've been reading different blogs and things on line.

One blog post I found talked about an on line course

this blogger took, taught by Isobel Moore.

The course is called "Swirls of Colour"

and I was hooked.

As soon as I could, I signed up for the course

and started collecting supplies.

 

I have never really done any mix media art before

and knew this was going to be a real challenge for me.

 

No precise seams,

no precise patterns, 

no precise plans. 

We just start and see where we are lead.

Well, I've finished my first piece.

This has not been trimmed yet

and will be placed behind a piece of mat... maybe!

 

 

I am not a painter and never have been,

so preparing the background was actually a bit of a challenge.

It's canvas with paper and then it's painted.

The paper can be anything and Isobel recommends scrap papers.

I used the papers from my Sunday church service.

 

Once the background is dry,

the sewing begins.

The most time consuming part was changing threads with

just about every strip of fabric.

 

 

I found some sari silk remnants,

cut thin strips of batiks,

used trims of various kinds,

pulled out some fun threads

and just played with everything.

My first mistake was having something planned in my head.

This looks nothing like what I had planned and,

at first, I was disappointed.

Then I looked at what I liked and what

I would do differently next time.

 

There will be a next time!

 

After making this 9" square piece,

I decided to make some smaller pieces that

could be Christmas ornaments.

 

 

I prepared some backgrounds with music

and painted it with reds and greens.

 

This is what I have so far.

Beads and sequins need to be added and then

these will be backed.

 

We shall see where this goes,

but I'm having fun!

 

Happy Creating!!

A New Knitting Skill

 This past week saw a little sewing in my Hidey Hole.

For some reason, the desire isn't as strong as it usually is to sew.

I know it will come back, so I'm enjoying doing other things with my time.

I did get the borders sewn onto this scrappy quilt that's been

hanging on my design wall for weeks.

I just love the border fabric!

 

 

Except for the sashing fabric,

this quilt was made with just Kaffe fabrics.

It didn't put a dent in my scraps,

but we all know they multiply while we sleep!

I need to find or piece the backing for this one

and may quilt it myself.

 

 

What I'm really excited about this week is a new

knitting skill I taught myself.

I found this pattern a while ago on Ravelry (Chevron Love),

but put off knitting it for months

because I have never done color change

with knitting.

I had in my head that it would be a 

tangled mess of yarn while knitting,

and, while the yarns did get twisted,

it really was pretty easy.

This week I'll be going to my local yarn shop to find

a furry pompom for the top.

 

 

The hat is finished (including weaving in ALL of the tails!)

and the first mitten has been cast onto my needles.

Happy Creating!!

Roy G Biv is Finished

Not a lot has been happening in my Hidey Hole,

but I did get the binding sewn onto this fun quilt I put together at

quilt camp this past summer.

 I can't remember the name of the pattern and can't put my 

hands on it right now, but I'll call it Roy G. Biv.  

As I was gathering the fabrics for this quilt I added two colors

to make it a real rainbow quilt.

 

This was made with all solids and trying to choose

the fabrics on line was a challenge.

I bought some duds, but was able to use most of what I purchased.

 

 

This quilt design is called "Honeycomb" and I love it.

It gives such good texture to the quilt and gives it a

more modern feel.

The binding fabric is a Kaffe and has all of the colors in the quilt.

I had purchased this fabric for something else,

but realized it's perfect binding for this one.

This still needs to be washed and then will be put

on the shelf, waiting to see where it will live.

 

Okay... I finally had to go to the new blogger, which I'm not thrilled with,

and cannot figure out how to get rid of the space between the lines of type. 

Any suggestions?

Happy Quilting!

Secret Sewing

 It's been a while since I've written a blog post.

Part of the reason is I've been doing some secret sewing

and the other part is I haven't felt like sewing much

beyond the secret sewing.

The secret sewing was gifted yesterday, so I can show it now.

 

We had a baby shower for my daughter yesterday

and, of course,  I had to make some baby girl things.

Before quilting I made clothes for my daughters

and their dolls and my nieces and their dolls

and my goddaughter and her doll.

Now I can make clothes for my granddaughter

and her dolls. (Someday!)

 

I found this green fabric in a quilt shop in

Hilton Head and knew I needed to make a little

outfit for Baby Girl.

This pattern is so quick and easy to make.

The back is so cute with it's crisscross.

I had these fabrics in my stash.

The bloomers are pink flamingos, too.

I had these fabrics in my stash, too.

 

Because of the times we are in,

masks and distancing were necessary for the baby shower.

The nursery is being done in a Snoopy/Charlie Brown theme

because my daughter LOVES Charlie Brown.

  

 

I was able to order Charlie Brown fabric and made masks

for everyone!

 

 Yes, they did have elastic before they were given!

It was a wonderful shower.

 

I picked up two quilts from my LAQ,

so should have those to show soon. The binding is almost

done on one.

 

Happy Quilting!

Back From the Beach

For many of us, vacation plans have been canceled for this year.

We had a couple of trips planned that went by the wayside,

saving us a lot of money!

One place we could go and be safe was the beach.

We were able to reserve a condo right on the ocean,

I prepared and froze a lot of meals before we left,

and we were able to safely distance ourselves from others.

Two weeks on Hilton Head Island was heavenly!

This was our view while we were away.

 

And this is what we did a lot of while we were there!

One afternoon we took a drive through a wild life preserve and 

saw so many birds in the sea grasses.  Just beautiful.

We did arrange to have some family photo's taken on the beach.

Over the years I have been so bad about having photos taken of my family

and am so glad we could do it this time.

 

While looking at this gorgeous view,

I worked on a stocking for baby girl.

 

 

It was hard to not look at the ocean the whole time,

but Santa's face did get finished.

We have been home for 3 days and I haven't done one thing in my Hidey Hole yet.

I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do, 

but will get into the groove soon.

Happy Quilting!

Kaffe Scrappy Blocks

With Covid things are taking longer to arrive when shipped.

It's a good thing I have lots of things to work with in my hidey hole!

The white with yellow polka dot fabric arrived

and I cut the sashing strips for the Kaffe Scrappy blocks.

This is exactly what I had in mind for these blocks.

I used 2" squares for the corner stones and have the blocks all sewn together.

The sashing strips really help calm the chaos.

The pattern did not have sashing,

but these blocks were way too busy for me without them.

 

So many fun fabrics!

 

Now I need to find some fabric for the border.

I'm thinking larger polka dots.

You know me and Kaffe with polka dots!!

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Knits

I like to order my sock yarn from

Simply Socks Yarn Company.

(No affiliation)

Last month they had Christmas in July

and I had to buy some of the yarn.

Such pretty stripes and colors!

With one of the yarns I made a Christmas gift

for a dear friend. (She doesn't read my blog.)

I started with the mittens, then made the hat

and had enough yarn left for the socks!

I matched the stripes intentionally for the mittens and really

like the outcome.  The pattern was for fingerless mitts,

but I found out this friend doesn't like fingerless mitts.

Good thing I asked!

I just kept knitting and made them into mittens.

This hat is a slouchy hat... her favorite style.

I like the red band on this and wish I had done this with the mittens.

 

 

As you can see, I didn't bother matching the stripes on the socks.

In fact, the stripes are going in opposite directions!

I'm not sure how that happened, but it did.

One Christmas gift finished!

Happy Quilting!