Seeing Red!

Here's what's up on my wall today, with many thanks to Victoria and the wonderful gals over at 15 minutes play. Every few days, I receive a few of these lovely red blocks in the mail, as part of the 15 minutes quilting bee. The quilt is inspired by one in the book, Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again, by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran.



Meanwhile, I've been painting the kitchen. It's been several years since I got out my painting overalls. I was looking at them today, thinking they might make a good inspiration for a quilt.



Before I started making quilts, I used to think a lot about paint colors. It's amazing how you can change a room with a gallon of paint.



These overalls have been with me for 40 years! See the lazy daisies at the top? I embroidered those one night in 1970, when I was waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up. There are more on the legs, but they're covered with paint.

Back to painting. It's almost finished!

Gone Dotty!

Barbara Brackman recently posted about how polka dots have been used over the years. Modern, stylish women were using polka dots way back in the late 19th century. There was even a Polka Dot Club!

It got me thinking about the quilts I've made with polka dots, and some of the teachers who've shared my love of the nifty little shape.



I made this quilt in a workshop with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably a few years ago.
They taught me how to focus on the colors and combine them in a pleasing way.



Dots come in more than one shape!



Last fall, I got to take a workshop with Freddy Moran. She taught me that any colors go together, the more the better. This is the Liberated Wedding Ring pattern in her book with Gwen Marston, Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again.



Anything goes!


I made this one with the Gee's Bend gals in 2009. They taught me how to choose fabrics by using my intuition. And put away that rotary cutter!



They all loved this black and white dot, cut from an old dress.




Last summer, I made this quilt in a class with Denyse Schmidt. I chose the red dot as my focus fabric. She taught me how to use scraps in an improvisational way.



Dots go with everything!

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Look who appeared amongst my scraps this weekend! I think she'll make a good companion for my sewing room.

Big Oops!

I just received a very nice email from Kathy, the owner of Material Obsession. She said this quilt is called "Fractured," and they sell the pattern for it on their website! They also have a pattern called "Stash Eater," which is another great quilt. I wish I'd known about the pattern at the time I was making this. It would have made things a lot easier. I hope everyone will go straight to MO's wonderful website and buy this pattern right now!

Stash Quilt

I made this quilt last year, with fabrics I wanted to eliminate from my stash. It's inspired by one I saw on the Material Obsession blog. I love that blog. Those Aussies always amaze me with their creativity!



The back used up the leftovers. It's on our bed now, and one of my husband's favorites.

New Curtains

Just made these curtains for my sewing studio from fabric I found at Goodwill. It's 2005 Ikea, and looks like fried eggs to me. I think I'll get some good inspiration from the color combinations in each little egg.



The panel idea is from Jacquie, over at Tall Grass Prairie Studio. The wires and clips are from Ikea. I put in two wires so they could open like this. Just a little bit of color to help with the coming darker days!

Crumb quilt

The date today, 10-10-10, is just too good to go without a post. So here's the quilt I've been throwing on my lap lately. All scraps and some leftover 9 patches.

I chain-pieced scraps together, 2 + 2, then 4 + 4, then 8 + 8, until I got to about 18". Then cut strips in 1.5, 2.5, and 4.5 widths by 18" long. When I got tired of making the strips, they magically all fit together! The border is cut from an old shirt.

Anna Williams inspired

Someone asked for a larger photo of the quilt top I recently started hand-quilting. It's inspired by one made by Anna Williams. I saw the photo in a Nancy Crow book, can't remember which one. I counted something like 80 different fabrics in Anna's. I don't know how many are in mine. My rule in choosing the fabrics was that they had to be scraps. It's 42 x 55".

Ode to Matisse

I just finished hand-quilting this piece. It's a rendition of "Ivy in Flower," made by Henri Matisse in 1953. His was 112" square. Mine is 38." It's one of the many wonderful collages he made late in his life. It's my first attempt at hand-applique.



The stitching isn't perfect, but I don't mind. I would never make anything if I was striving for perfection!




This is the first time I've used a facing, instead of binding. It's really just a binding, turned all the way to the back.



After a year of working on the Matisse piece, I've become addicted to hand-work. I get fidgety if I don't have something to stitch in the evenings. Do you? This weekend, I started hand-quilting this. It should take me up through the end of the year at least. Phew!



Meanwhile, look what came in the mail from Tonya over at Lazy Gal! We'd been talking about thrift store finds, and I'd been drooling over her sunny, Florida plaids. These bright, clear colors are almost impossible to find here, in the moist Northwest. So I sent her some of my "b__uglies," in trade for some of her plaids. And she threw in the labels too! I tell you, I got the good end of this deal! If you haven't already, make sure and visit her to see the happy stars she's making with these.