You Are Iris

You are an interesting blend of fun and wisdom. You definitely make people think about themselves and their place in the world. But they'll have fun doing it. You definitely epitomize laughter therapy. You are a very enriching and entertaining friend!

What Color Purple Are You?

Quilt university class

September. The true beginning of the year. back to school after all these years. I'm taking another course through Quilt University. Linda Schmidt is a wonderful artist and teacher and will be guiding us in creating pieces to represent the elements.
The first element we are doing is water.wonderful waves crashing over rocks- memories of Ireland come flooding back.

pins in the mail

since joining Fabric-olics I have gotten some terrific stuff in the mail. I was in a pin swap and these are the pins I got. The one on the left is from Sandi, metal mesh and copper wire and little glass bulbs very modern and cool. the middle on is from the host of the swap, Jessica and has a gorgeous clay face, the corset came all the way from Australia from Marg and will finally give me some cleavage on my chest!
Thanks ladies.

Canna?

how do you waste time?

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

Memories of Italy

We had many wonderful homemade icecreams when we stayed in Varenna, Italy.
I made a journal quilt to remember those sweet times. The ice cream cone pattern was one I had saved from Quiltmaker's for over 10 years. I just knew I would need it someday.
Someday arrived and I knew the lace from the Fabric-olics swap would make wonderful ice cream scoops. I used acrylic paints with a little fabric medium to get these lovely sherbert colours. As I put the scoops together I thought some beads would make wonderful sprinkles.
'I don't like sprinkles'
pardon?
'I, you, WE DON'T LIKE SPRINKLES' said my inner child
' ya but they would look good'
'I DON'T WANT SPRINKLES'
right, no problem, no sprinkles - saves a lot of work anyway!
so smarty pants if you are in charge here what kind of cone do YOU want?
not one of those tasteless plain ones I WANT a waffle cone.
right lets go see what we can find
ah here we can use a piece of this paper stuff from Sammy - I love using the same materials in consecutive pieces - a sense of continuity yet totally different use
YA WHAT EVER she sighed
oh no can't use this there's a hole in it
COOL, WE CAN HAVE THE ICE CREAM OOZING OUT THE HOLE .......my inner imp piped up
we'll see......
the tissue wrapping the cone is a piece of stabalizer embroidered with 'Italia' then inked to highlight the words.
and a FQ of a Kaffe Fassett fabric was perfect for the binding .....sprinkles on the side!!
and I STILL bite the bottom of the cone!

ArtChix quiltie

I received my quilt from the ArtChix quilt exchange hosted by Lenna.
I was made by Donna in California. I love the great humour in this little piece. The red checker tablecloth is perfect for a picnic. The ants look so sweet in their ArtChix hats and the cupcake looks good enough to eat. The balloon says Ant Party!!

more from Quilter's playtime

this is from the game tiddly winks in Quilter's playtime by Dianne S. Hire. This one is broken so there are 16 pieces per block allowing for a lot of playing. I love the whole mix. the circles were covered with couched yarn and the straight breaks are ribbon.
Now just to decide on how to finish it. Borders? how wide, what colour?

ArtChix quiltie

This is a little quilt I made for a swap being held by Lenna. It uses supplies from Artchix and the theme is summer. The butterflies and one pear are from the garden collage collection. Paper sewn on to the quilt. Obviously not washable!! There is also a little brass tag on the basket that says 'grow'. It is not really in the Artchix style so I hope who ever receives it likes it.

Marquee Quilt #2

My first series!!
I have another marquee quilt in various stages to use as demo pieces for the guild. We will spend a whole Saturday in September making these tops.
For any guild members who bought fabric at Joyce's recently this is for you.
After washing and before storing those lovely new fabrics consider cutting a few strips for the charity quilts. Cut them selvage to selvage and a variety of widths from 1" to 2 & 1/2". Remember yours don't have to go together we will be sorting the colours at the meeting. The more variety the better!
I like to sort them on a hanger with a cardboard roll it has just enough tack to keep the strips from sliding.
These strips are sewn together to make a strata about 12" wide.

I have 2 rows of the top together. The background blocks are quite a stretch from the solid type I used last time but I like the texture. I have just been careful making sure the pattern runs the same way. My inspiration for the colour scheme was a small photo of a pillow in a magazine that I have misplaced. But it will surface eventually!

I will post additional pictures of putting the block together using chain piecing soon.

Joyce's tent sale

I bought a few fabrics at Joyce's this week. I don't usually go for cutsey stuff but I like the rooster prints. I think I will use them for a wandering-style book for a round robin in Sept. I have 2 cross-stitched roosters that will never be the pillows they were intended to be!!



The other 2 fabrics are pots of flowers that have a very French feel to them. No idea what to do with them!!

Great Mail Day

I received the prize for my rooster piece I did for the Fabric-olic group. How exciting to get such a great parcel. The owner of our group is very generous. She send me all these wonderful yarns & beads and goodies. I was very suprised to also see 2 copies of ARTitude zine because I have always wanted them.
Thanks Sammy

another challenge piece

I made another piece from the 12 swap challenge from the Fabric-olics group. Fancy, shiny sequined fabrics are not something I usually use so it was fun playing with these types of fabric. There was a nice little collection of organzas & chiffons from the packages which were perfect to try a new technique. I bought this book last summer when I was on holiday with Lisa. Lots of techniques to fuel the imagination.
Irregular shapes of sheers & metallics are sewn onto a background - i used felt here but any fabric would do - straight stitch first to tack everything down then cover with fancy stitches. I alternated sewing on the blue then the pink background to minimize thread changes. These are the new fabrics created before cutting into diamonds.
I wanted to create an argyle pattern with the diamonds but they didn't fit within the fancy lines I stitched on the background.

These diamonds can be rearranged endlessly. I know I played for what seemed like hours and finally settled on this pattern which I like better than the original plan.

challenge piece

This is a small piece I made for yahoo group called Fabric-olics. We were sent a piece of fabric/paper, 3 buttons & some yarn & had to use all in any project.
I started by separating the material into 3 layers then folding & stitching it with no great plans. It eventually became the roof & door of a chicken coop. When we on holidays in France there was a gorgeous rooster roaming the grounds. He had the most gorgeous colours- oranges & blue. He became my inspiration. I used a small free embroidery design from needlepassion embroidery. The wire for the fence is the threads from the window on a bag of potatoes. The yarn is couched on the building & under the buttons. It was fun to work on this piece.

Long weekend

Ah! the first long weekend. Are there any sweeter words for Canadians? It's here. Victoria Day or better know as May 2-4!
For many people this is also opening weekend at the cottage. What do we do?-it starts early in the week- the chat 'are you going to the cottage?' then - the lists- things to pack, things to buy, food to make, toys to entertain children on the drive up. The drive-Oh yes a million of us will be leaving the GTA to head 'up north'. And all trying to beat their all time best for getting there-Hours of traffic, rising prices of gas, hundreds of OPP officers pulling over the stupidest of us- Thank you to those who have to work the 'long weekend'.
to find what? -that's the suprise element - large and small. From trees that have fallen to droppings mice have left.
how do we spend this wonderful time? raking leaves,cleaning, putting in docks, fighting to get the water running, entertaining restless children when it pours, cleaning up the mud those kids trapse in after the rain stops. hunting mosquitos, applying sunscreen. Convincing those men in our lives that yes they do need more sunscreen on their heads than last year!! counting blackfly bites. estimating the costs of long overdue repairs.
why? you ask why? for this-
Photo from Patti's entry in my Circle Journal - a Day in the Country -permission granted!!

Artwords

This is my entry for a new collaborative art journal called artwords.
The topic of a Circle Journal I'm participating in from Scraptivity is Indulge Me. Since that is the opening artword I've used my recent entry for the CJ.

Magnolia tree

Spring brings such fleeting changes. The colours change daily as the trees and plants grow & stretch from a long winter. I love the magnolia tree in our front yard. The blossoms this year just seemed to pop open overnight. They have been out for over a week and won't last too much longer. The lovely waxy green leaves will fill out the tree like an umbrella and shade the front of the house.

mesh tote

I had such fun yesterday helping 4 terrific ladies start & finish their embroidered totes at Joyce's Studio. Each bag is as unique & different as the creator. Ann was the first to finish as usual - so I'm told - she has a very free & colourful style. Bright random flowers and colourful stripes.

Barb's beach is lovely & fresh with the white mesh, simple outline embroidery to match the seashells on the fabric. A hat, sunscreen, sandals & she is ready for the sun.
Sue's butterfly fabric is complimented by the swirl of embroidery done in varigated thread. It looks so much different than on the spool. She did a terrific job and made a gorgeous bag.

Rose made a beautiful bag with blue and pink flowers and a lovely striped accent. It is so nice to see everyone comfortable mixing different patterns of fabric. A variety of scale and textures makes everything so much more interesting. I hope you enjoy your totes ladies. I enjoyed our time together.

driftwood art

Nature provides an endless source of wonder & fascination. I love watching the earth come to life in spring. The thick spears of hosta piercing their way to the light. The beautiful shades of pink in a magnolia blossom. The endless shades of green.
The earth also provides all our raw material for art. The gleaner in me really appreciates the variety of driftwood sculpted by water & time. I have resisted starting another collection. There is a book that is new to me on creating with driftwood. but the most amazing think are these sculptures created by Heather Jansch. gorgeous animals including life size horses.

My bad

We have a winner.
The song I have always had in mind while working on this piece was Blackbird singing on the edge of night take this GOLDEN wing & learn to fly. By Sarah Mclaughlin
Apparently this is a song written by Paul McCartney of Beatles fame. I feel like such a young 'un!! I don't even know if I've ever heard the Beatles version!!
So ...drum roll.......the winner is Nadine- the very talented & funny secretary & grand poo-bah of twisted stitchers quilting guild. 6 fat quarters of fabric are headed her way.
Thanks to all for playing along.

Sing me a song

This is fun.....
So far the guesses for the name of the song for my quilt have included:
bye, bye blackbird
24 blackbirds backed in a pie
ribbon in the sky
blackbird singing by the Beatles
If I was a blackbird
Mocking Bird Song

The blackbird part is right.
I had to give her a haircut. You can see why I don't cut my own or anyone else's!!