A Loose Thread

Weekend Wall

2012-02-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

Just a few things new I've tried along the way.

Thanks to a sick husband and no interest what so ever in the Super Bowl, my design wall looks like this on a Sunday evening. The blocks on the left were done a while ago. I'm just waiting for inspiration on what to do with them.

7 Years ago today...

2012-02-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

...........this little baby was born.

7 years later and my how she has grown.

I only have two grand-daughters. This one will always have the distinction of being the first. I'm so very very proud to be her grand-mother. Happy Birthday Makayla! May the sun always shine upon you and may God's blessings reign upon you. Know that you are loved.

I couldn't resist making a card to go along with her birthday present. She is only getting a "little something" from us because in two weeks, her BIG birthday present from the grand-parents will be a trip to Disneyland.

Snippet Fun

2012-02-01T21:58:00.000-08:00

I was so excited about the snippets technique that I introduced my DGDs to it. Once again I am reminded of how differently they approach projects. First is the project of the oldest. She likes to work fast but she has a very definite sense of order and design. She was intent on making something similar to mine. She didn't have the manual dexterity to cut the shapes she wanted so I helped out some and she place them where she wanted them.

Fabrics selected and placed by DGD

As a good artist (and quilter), she signed her work.

Then there is DGD #2. She is 5 and her approach to art tends to be one of abandon and fun. No precise pictures for her. She just cut and pasted fused pieces of fabric and then spent a great deal of time embellishing with marker.

She also signed her work.

I have both pieces at my house. They have given me permission to add thread art embellishments and then quilt them to make small wall-hangings for their room. They are quite thrilled and proud of themselves. It is so much fun to sew and create with the DGDs.

Back to my own project, I finally auditioned and came up with a border idea. I have made some red piping that I'm going to add to the black border. I still want to add thread embellishment before quilting. I might donate this to my DGDs school for their auction.

Tried green, blue, yellow, orange but red won out for the accent.

This is just a thin scrap because the piping wasn't made yet.

A Road To California Trip

2012-01-25T21:27:00.000-08:00

Last week I got to go to R2CA. Not just attend but also take a class, sew in my room, attend the show preview, go to the party and shop, shop, shop at the vendors. I had a great time visiting with my friend Linda and her friend, Jonnette.

Linda and Jonnette

Linda and I took a Snippet Sensation class with Cindy Walter. Poor girl......she endures living in Hawaii. She is very talented and she has branched out from her snippets technique to painting on fabric to make backgrounds. I was just there for the snippet technique.

Take one picture. Add fabrics for a color palette.

Fuse and snip and you get this

Trade out the vase for something bigger, then iron down

I also worked on a scrap quilt using some jelly roll strips from Moda. I only had 26 2 1/2" strips but I was trying out the technique for a 1600" quilt top. The pattern calls for 40 strips. It definitely needs more so I am going to have to think through what to do with it. Probably some type of border.

Start with a pile of 2 1/2" strips

And you sew and you sew and you sew

Not quite big enough but I'll figure something out

This was my third year to attend R2CA. It is definitely becoming a tradition that I look forward to in January. And.........Ta Da! Our table group won a game at the Thursday evening party. All 10 of us received 6 items from Clover.......including snips, piping, needles, rotary cutter case. Of course, I forgot to take my camera for a picture. It was well worth the price of admission.

A Chance to Win

2012-01-25T13:50:00.001-08:00

Just in case someone is wandering through the blogs and happens upon mine, here is a blog giveaway at

My Sister Made Me Do It? Hurry over. It ends next week. Someone has to win. Might as well be you or ME!

When The Organizing Bug Bites

2012-01-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

In the middle of the afternoon a few days ago, I all of a sudden began hauling fabric to the dining room table. It looked like this:

Then it began to look like this:

Now it was time to move it back to it's home on the shelves in my sewing/office room:

Truly this is all the fabric I have. And if you believe that, there is a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. This is actually only the fabric that folds somewhat easily for the shelves. I also have a drawer full of fabrics for specific projects, more scraps than I care to think of and a basket full of specialty fabrics such as hand-dyes. I'm not complaining. I've seen pictures of way more stash than this. But I do think that this amount qualifies me as a dedicated quilter/sewist.

Replenishing The Stash

2012-01-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

It doesn't seem like too much fabric buying if I call it replenishing. I think solids always need replenishing. Did anyone else take advantage of the sale on Kona Fabrics at Janesfabrics.com ? These will play nicely with some Jelly Rolls that I have from Moda. Question is "Do I begin a project now or take it all with me to Road To California?" We'll have to see what next week looks like.

I've posted twice in one day. I don't think I've ever done that before. In between the posts, I was putting away the Christmas decor. It is all safely snug in boxes in the garage. One goal for the day done.

Winter Change Out

2012-01-07T14:20:00.000-08:00

Putting away the Christmas decor is always bittersweet. It seems like more work than putting it all out. This year I decided to leave out anything that was somewhat snowman themed. I think I'll wait until the first week of February to deal with that stuff. I even saved a box with those things in mind. Good-bye Santas. Hello Snowmen.

Now to deal with all the other empty spaces left behind. Put up the same things or try something different. I certainly have lots of "stuff" to choose from. Forty-two years of marriage accumulation provides many creative solutions. But for the moment (or next few days), I'm just going to enjoy the vacant spaces.