Fabric Junkie

Apparently it has been too long since I've bought any new fabric. I found myself with an overwhelming urge this week. I drove downtown, parked the car, walked into my local quilt shop, and announced to the proprietress, "I need a fix!"

She stared at me a moment and then burst out laughing. Could have been worse I guess.

I see now that I've got the pictures out of order. These pieces are from my second stop that day, the shop where I meant to buy only thread. They are batiks and they were all on sale. Couldn't pass that up!


So were the little embroidery scissors. I have embroidery scissors, even a pair of storks, but these were so cheap ($3.99!) and so cute that I bought them anyway.


And here are the cuts I bought from my LQS.

The black and white prints are fat quarters. The other two are half yard cuts. See, I didn't need a lot of new fabric, just a hit.

Since then I've been sewing scraps into blocks again. It was some precut triangles from an old project that got me started.

I guess I should take a picture of the quilt these were leftover from. I'm not sure I've ever shown it here and it's one I actually still own.

When those were all used up I moved on to the miscellaneous patches I've cut up over time.

I've come to the conclusion that sewing these simple blocks gives my brain the opportunity to recruit the necessary energy for more creative projects. That's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it!

Weekend Play

I meant to get back online over the weekend to wish everyone a beautiful Easter...

But I confess to getting distracted. ;- )

I played around a bit with some bright prints that will eventually end up in QuiltDiva's hands.


Then I found myself sewing scraps and a couple of new pieces of fabric into simple blocks.


My friend D~ spent some time in the big city south of us recently. She brought back this fun skull print to share with me.


The first block I made with it was this liberated star. Then I went on to make a couple of Shoo Fly blocks. With the completion of the puzzle quilt that went to Japan I need to build up my stash of available blocks for the next quilt like that one. I think I finally get that I most enjoy working block by block rather than with strips or by some other "production" method. Which is not to say that I will never use one of those other methods for building a quilt, just that my instinct is to work a block at a time. So why not go with what you know?!

In closing, let this doting grandmother share with you her favorite picture from Easter Sunday.


I remember straw hats, white gloves, and shiny patent leather shoes from the Easters of my youth. This one is more likely to remember those sparkly pink sunglasses!

Three Happy Things

1. It's very challenging to get a good picture of a nervous bird...

But I so wanted to share his lovely color with you! It's a little ridiculous how happy this bird makes me. Simple pleasures for the simple minded I guess. ;- )

2. I've needed a new purse for months now. The one I've been carrying has become raggedy around the edges. And since the addition of the Nook to my daily life my purse is no longer big enough. I've been carrying around my handbag and a tote bag with my travel sketchbook and Nook and whatever else I've felt the need to have with me. (Frequently I end up sitting in the car while someone else actually goes into the store to do whatever shopping is required. So while I need my wallet and other things, I also need something to pass the time.) Since I won't go into most department stores anymore it's a bit of a challenge to find just the right replacement handbag.

You'd think since I sew I could just make a bag for myself. Unfortunately that's not the sort of project I enjoy. I ordered one bag online that I thought was going to work but it turned out to be much bigger than I wanted or needed. I regularly get reminders to click through the donation sites over here, and I've ordered products from their shop before too. Recently they had bags and totes on sale. I took a chance on one and, hallelujah! It's perfect!

Not only is the bag big enough for my essentials and my extras, it's made entirely of fabric (and not quite as washed out as it looks in this photo). That means no vinyl or plastics off-gassing. It's padded too. My Nook and camera and cell phone should all be safe and sound. The label on the front there is sewn to an outside pocket that is perfect for my camera, which I often would forget to take with me on outings. Inside there are six pockets lining the side walls. I love this bag.

A couple of years ago my sister in law sent me what was intended to be a scissor or rotary cutter fob. I've personalized my lovely new bag by adding it to the zipper pull (which is the only thing I would change about this bag; I'd have the zipper bigger/stouter).

3. My sewing table looked like this last week:


A little of the QuiltDiva's mojo rubbed off on me and now it looks like this!

Now I'm going to take all this happiness and stitch it into some new blocks for new projects and good friends. :- )

Finished Swap Quilt

When I finished embellishing the lower half of my swap quilt I had to figure out how to balance that out on the upper half. I decided to go with star sequins. I think it worked. ;- )

I found two leftover pieces of binding in my stash that couldn't have been more suited to this quilt. I only eyeballed the placement of the joining of the pink and the green. Look how perfectly it turned out! Talk about serendipity! (Hmm, that might be a good name for this little quilt!)

Here's a close up of the heart:


And here on the back you can see the quliting a bit better. I used Fast Finish Triangles to make it easier for the recipient to hang the quilt. I love that technique for little quilts. I first learned of it in the AAQI Priority Quilt pages.


I purposefully used two different fabrics for the triangles. I wanted the upper ones to stand out from the background and I wanted the lower ones to be pale enough for me use as labels.

That's all that's left to do and then I can pack this gem up and send it off. :- )

Playing in the Sunshine

We had a couple of days of gray skies - nothing unusual there - and heavy rain, which is unusual. Saturday was an improvment, with cloudy skies but no rain. Yesterday was spectacular!


The sunshine on the leaves of the rose bush outside my studio window inspired me to do the quilting on my swap quilt.


Mostly I just stitched loosely flowing lines in a sparkly yellow thread. But in a "grassy" area I went so far as to attempt lines that could indicate grass or bushes.


Of course I couldn't stop at just quilting. I had to add a few embellishments. I think this is where real playtime happens for me: embellishment!


I had to gussy up the house too:


Having done that, the upper half of the quilt looked pretty barren. I'll show you how I dealt with that in the next post. ;- )