Friday, November 30, 2012

Side Clasp Purse

 When Gina (Threaded Pear)
went to Quilt Market in Houston
she purchased the pattern and
hardware
for this darling
During our sew day, she whipped up
this little project in just a few hours.
With all of her quilting experience,
Gina said this is the first time she
has made a purse.
 Fun little bag with such 
unique hardware.
 Love the owl motif
on the side clasp.
Pattern and hardware can be found at
out of Australia.
I spent a little time perusing
their web site.
They specialize in handbag supplies
and accessories.
Cool stuff.
For more information
you can also contact
Gina at Threaded Pear.


Thursday, November 29, 2012

Gina of Threaded Pear

 Yesterday as I walked into the room
of our little quilt group in Mesa,
I saw all of these lovelies sitting on
a table.
Gina Halladay (The Threaded Pear)
has recently returned from
 Quilt Market in Houston
and brought some
newly released items
for us to see.
I'm always looking for new ways to use up scraps and
went right on top of my to-do list.
At first glance, the name didn't seem to
match this beautiful pattern.
As I looked the word steam punk up on Wikipedia,
it actually matches very well:
Steam Punk is a sub-genre of science fiction
that features (among other things)
 steam powered machinery.
I get it now :)
 Gina also brought the latest edition of McCall's Quilting magazine
 Where she wrote an article
highlighting the new trends
emerging forth in the quilting world.
 A very interesting article.
It's always so fun to see what new and exciting
things will be coming next.
Gina is a lot of fun to sit next to
and to hear her spin on
all things quilty.
Tomorrow I will show you
the cute little purse she made
during our sew day.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Starting the Lone Starburst Block

 Back  in January 2012
when I saw Anna Politzer's (Six White Horses)
I knew this was a MUST
on my to-do list.
A great way to use up scraps and I love 
the geometric design.
But then, life got busy,
and the project got moved to my
someday pile.
Fast forward to today:
I'm a member of the
Bee's Knees
Quilting Bee
with 11 of the most
wonderful and talented ladies.
Each month one of the members sends us a pattern and
fabric for a block they would like us to make.

 Last month,
 April Rosenthal
 asked that we make her a
Lone Starburst block.
With mixed feelings, I was excited and intimidated all in the same moment.
 My paper piecing skills are somewhat elementary,
so for a month I have
stewed
and procrastinated
starting the block.
This is, after all, THE April R.
and I did not want to be the Bee Member
to ruin her beautiful fabrics.
 A fellow bee member, Trish (Notes of Sincerity) came up with a solution to ease my fears.
She suggested making a
PRACTICE
block
as a trial run.
So, I pulled out my scraps and have started putting together
my version of the block.
 Kind of like riding a bike,
paper piecing has come back to me.
 And I love how
this technique
makes all of the sections
line up 
exact
and
even.
My only complaint with paper piecing
is the waste of fabric.
I am now feeling much more confident
to get a start on April's block.
And I'm having so much fun,
I just may make a few more for myself :)

Monday, November 26, 2012

Row Along 7/ Leaves

 I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.
This year we felt an
extra amount
of gratitude.
Not only have we enjoyed the company of our son here
for the last few weeks,
we were also very fortunate to have 
 our daughter and Son-In-Law
drive in from Salt Lake City
for the holiday.
How grateful we were to view
4 of our 5 children together
at the Thanksgiving table :)
Our son flies back to New York early tomorrow morning,
and I'm not ready to let him go :(
Amidst the holiday festivities,
and while the fam watched a movie,
 I was able to sneak
over to my machine
 and work on
from Bee In My Bonnet's
Row Along
 16 leaves are now all falling together
in one little row.
 Lori always comes up with the most wonderful designs.
I love the split formation for these leaves.
 The background fabric is once again varied from the other rows,
as I pulled from my stash basket.
And I found a perfect brown scrap for the stems.
 The leaves fit right in
 as they lay next to the
previous 6 rows.
The only real challenge I have found
in doing this
Row Along
is in trying to be patient
for the next 2 weeks
 in between
the big reveal for the next row.
What fun design will Lori
have us do next?

Thursday, November 22, 2012

 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
to the which also ye are called in one body;
and be ye thankful.
(Colossians 3:15)
Happy Thanksgiving
from
our family
to Yours!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Pat's Vintage Table Runner

 One of the things I love about
interacting with
Pat Roche
is seeing her vision
of mixing vintage
with modern
in quilting.
Pat's latest creation incorporates
three 
embroidered vintage hankies
that have been beautifully quilted
to the top of a
linen table runner.
 There is not a lot of contrast
between the white hankies and
white background,
but if you look closely
you can see three separate sections.
 In the center of each hankie there
is a beautiful motif of a bird
in flight
surrounded by flowers.
 Upclose
you can see the beautiful detailing
of stitches
that attach the
hankies to the base.
For my small part, I sewed the binding
around the outer edge.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

B.J.'s Quilt

 During Show and Tell
of the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild
November meeting
B.J. shared her
bright and happy quilt.
The blocks are large.
I'm guessing
around 12-inches.
Loved the border, too.
A good way to use up scraps :)

Monday, November 19, 2012

Alissa Goes Modern Quilts

 Alissa brought a few of her
Modern quilts
for Show and Tell
on Saturday.
I love her use of solids
and color placement
on this
Triangle Quilt
 Alissa is one quilter
I watch very closely,
because I
seriously would
like to make
every quilt she makes.
 And she brought an example
for machine quilting
your own quilts
that I had never seen before.
She uses
like a road map
for her quilting lines.
Great idea!!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Scarlet Serenade Quilt

 Yesterday was our
Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild
meeting.
One of the wonderful parts of this guild is the
vast amount of talent
within the membership.
Cristy Fincher brought her amazing
Scarlet Serenade
quilt that
she has been working on.
This technique combines
Quilting
With Your
Embroidery Machine
Stunning!

 Christy is the daughter of
award winning quilter
 Can you imagine all of the things
you would learn
growing up
while sitting at the feet of
Sharon Schamber?
 The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Christy is a teacher and designer
and has runs her own company
 The pattern for
can be found at
 And here in Phoenix
we get to sit
well, not at the feet,
but next to
the ladies
who are leading the
quilting industry
towards
new and very exciting
places.
And gather
from their
vast knowledge and experience.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Scissor's Dance

 It's been a wonderful week.
Our oldest son just graduated from
Sound Engineering School in
Manhatten, New York,
and is visiting for 2 weeks.
I'm a happy mama :)
Knowing his love of music,
one of the first things I wanted to take him to
was The "MIM"
in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Absolutely AMAZING place
that I wrote about
and
The museum is state of the art and
 HUGE.
We spent 6 1/2 hours viewing displays from over 200 countries,
and even then only briefly saw many of the areas.
One that particularly caught my eye
was the
Scissor's Dance
from Peru 
 The Scissor's Dance is an enduring tradition practiced in Southeast Peru.
With origins from the 16th Century, the dance began as a form of insurrection against the Europeans bringing Christianity to the area. 
 "The dance takes the form of a Ritual Battle of endurance
between 2 specialists who perform
acrobatic feats"
while violin and harp
improvise a tune.
If that seems a little intense,
a more friendly version of
Scissors
was introduced this morning
by my friend Lori Holt
Make sure to run over and see
her latest pattern 
Sewing Scissors
and I'm going to be here,
taking a little time
with my boy
before he heads back to
New York
(and doing my best to subtlety influence him to
job hunt
here in Arizona :)