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Sit right down in this comfy Tropical Dream Chair. It’s pretty inviting, isn’t it? And it’s not even finished yet. But I was bitten by the Dream Chair bug and had to plow through my novelty print scraps to “design” not just one, but several dream chairs. The pattern is from Alethea Ballard, and I’ve had it for quite awhile. I’d take it out of the pattern file, dream about making it, and then put it back because other projects were pending. But when I saw this palm tree print at JoAnn Fabrics on their “regional collection” shelf, I knew I needed to upholster a Dream Chair with it and got right to work. The chair still needs the right fabrics for its room setting, and borders, but I decided to show it now just because.
And why make one Dream Chair when there were other prints in the stash from which to make the Rodeo Dream Chair? Both chairs still need some shading in the chair creases to add dimension, and they have a way to go before completion. I’m thinking there are two or three more chairs in the fabric closet. And I’m pretty sure one of them is a Christmas Dream Chair! These were great fun to work on. Both are raw-edge fusible projects.
Here’s another chair I worked on recently. Our daughter kept this old chair from her grandmother’s furnishings. It was pretty disreputable looking, but the wood was good and the carving very pretty. So I turned it into a pink-with-patchwork project to give it an extended life. I’m happiest when I’m working on some kind of sewing or crafting project. Big quilts take me quite some time to complete, so I like to fill in with smaller projects like these. I’ll keep you posted on that Christmas Dream Chair. I think I better get started on it soon!
In a twist of serendipity, when I'd almost finished writing this post, a box of scrap fabrics arrived in the mail. They were from Quilt Diva Julie at Me and My Quilts blog. She was divesting of some fabric scraps and yarns, and for the cost of shipping, I received a lovely collection. Including, for heaven's sake, this print of... what else... chairs and sofas! What fun. I've sorted through the scraps and also found the ones seen behind the chair print. I think they'll look good with the Rodeo Dream Chair so I've put those aside. I've been wanting to make a Ragged String quilt, and that's where most of the remaining strips will go. Why are other people's scraps so much more interesting than our own??
Well, August sure flew by in an eye-blink it seems! I felt as if I was racing to keep up with it. We traveled to Maine, and I don't think I showed you any photos of that yet. But I will. We really enjoyed a visit to the Maine Quilts annual show in Augusta. On a previous visit I bought the pattern for this quilt from the designer. A melange (since we’re using French references here) of neutral fabrics went into Glimpse of Paris. It began as the McKenzie Log Jam pattern, which is a modified Log Cabin design. But I have a hard time leaving things alone, so kept adding bits and pieces until it turned into this quirky project. It’s just a glimpse of Paris because one of the fabrics is a theme print with can-can girls, images of the Eiffel Tower, and French words. But you have to look closely to see them.
Here’s a close-up of one of the lovelies kicking up her heels. A scrappy quilter at heart, I like when assorted fabrics come together in a project like this. Only a few of these were part of a coordinated collection of fabrics. The rest were pulled from here and there. Our quilt guild keeps a large tote of 2 1/2” strips for members to use in making donation quilts. While pawing through them, I spotted strips of the light Stonehenge fabric that were just right of the inner border. And just enough of them, too. Can’t recall how I negotiated getting them for this project- I think I traded some others for them. And maybe agree to make a donation quilt. Anyhow, it was a fair bargain.
I love vintage images and think this is one pretty lady. She looks kind of dreamy. And she looks pretty close to a wardrobe malfunction, too. At some point I’m planning to make a vintage image and lace journal. I have one started, but it’s a ways from done yet. All in good time.
Kathy, a quilting friend, has a new longarm business and she came up with the way to quilt this. I like the circles and swirls, and have given her a couple more quilt tops to complete. So it’s September, and here's a new project to show for it. Many others are in the works- as always!
These cute cats, pups, and elephant are just some of the hand-crafted items made by the women inmates in a prison program where I volunteer. All of the items they make go to charitable organizations in a number of nearby communities, and are sewn using materials donated by local quilters and crafters. I'm able to photograph these because I'm on the delivery team for this group.
In addition to stuffed critters, they also make puppets and other dolls for children’s service agencies. I love the Grampa puppet with his tufts of gray hair.
The women make use of the smallest fabric leftovers from their quilts to come up with snappy outfits for the puppets and dolls. And they add extra touches like yarn hair and expressive painted faces.
The program is a job assignment, so the 14 women report each day for a morning and an afternoon session, four days a week. Their quilts go to veteran’s agencies, and they make crochet hats for Salvation Army, cancer recovery programs, and children’s services. Their large fabric tote bags made from decorator weight fabrics are popular with family agencies for clients who need to carry belongings to new locations. The women like knowing that the work of their hands is going to help people in need, especially women and children in difficult circumstances. I’m always amazed to see what they come up with- they’re a very creative group! I hope you enjoy seeing what they’ve made.
The challenge was out to make a cupcake-themed fiber project in honor of Quilter's of Alachua County Day Guild’s anniversary. The intent was to make a small pincushion or hot pad for a swap. However, with a tendency toward overkill, I answered the challenge by making two small pin cushions, and then kept going with this small journal quilt. When it comes to a journal quilt (those that measure about the size of a sheet of paper at 8 1/2” x 11”), I don’t hold back and pretty much throw everything at it. So in this little sweetie I used selvages, thread sketching, recycled lace for the frosting, beads for the sprinkles, and a felt ball for the cherry on top. And the edging is some of the fabric twine I showed here. My daughter claimed this project for her home, so it went to guild as a show-and-tell, while the pincushions went into the swap. I forgot to photograph them and they’re gone now.
I even like how the thread sketching looks on the back of the quilt. I always stop to admire quilt backs and the look the stitching gives to them. Oops- I see I missed a couple of threads. Will have to get after them.
Names were drawn, and I won this cupcake hot pad made by another guild member. I love the fabric print, and the candle on top is a loop for hanging. Very cute. It’s been awhile since I posted because we took what’s become pretty much an annual trip to Maine for a week. We're of the mind that we need to travel while we still can! The weather was beautiful for the most part. The one rainy day is the one we spent inside at the “Maine Quilts” show in Augusta. Very inspiring to say the least! Here’s a little photo tour of our trip.
The peaceful shore.
Red sails in the sunset near Kennebunkport.
Perkins Cove in the early morning.
Our home-away-from-home. This cozy cottage was right on the edge of a sea marsh. Very quiet and peaceful there, with all the conveniences of home.
The breathtaking views from The Marginal Way- a mile or so walk along the heights in Ogunquit.
Shopping in Kennebunkport. I was drawn to the vintage bathing beauties in this lovely display.
And the Blue Moon over the ocean at Goose Rocks Beach where we stayed. How refreshing is time by the ocean? So beautiful.
Another month, another journal quilt theme. This time we made a small 8” x 11” piece on the theme “Beach”. I love shells and the Nautilus was the thought that first came to mind. I really enjoy making these small projects just to try out some unfamiliar techniques or materials. The main technique I practiced in this one was bobbin drawing or bobbin quilting using metallic thread. I chose a heavy thread to give lots of shine and create a strong outline. The thread would not have been suitable to go through the tension and thread guides as a top thread. But by winding it on a bobbin, I was able to stitch the shape from the back side of the quilt with regular thread in the top, and have the metallic bobbin stitches form the shell on the right side. There was no thread breakage, and the “reveal” of turning the quilt right side up and seeing all that shine was exciting. I purchased an extra bobbin case for my machine to dedicate to this stitching method so that I’m free to adjust the bobbin tension as needed for various weight thread.
Some simple free-motion quilting and white paint carefully sponged into parts of the design for accent completed the quilt. Except, of course, for the embellishments. We’d spent a lovely day at Anastasia Island State Park in St. Augustine, and I found some shells that needed to be part of this quilt. My husband drilled small holes in some of them, I stitched them on the surface, and added a few to the edge finish. They almost sound like wind chimes! Two colors of eye-lash yarn are twisted together and overcast to form the edging. Our next theme is “Secrets” and so far I’m drawing a blank. But something is sure to come to me. Any suggestions?
We heard motivational speaker Doug Bench, “The Brain Training Guy,” speak over the weekend. He had lots of good information and research on brain power. His topic was "Bring Your Brain to Church" and tied science and Scripture together. Very enlightening. But the one piece of research he noted that snapped me to attention was when he said that 90% of people have lost most of their creative brain cells by their 40s. Egad!! It made me more determined than ever to keep mine firing. He spoke about neurogenics which establishes that new brain cells can be generated no matter our age. Well that's good news.
So now I feel like the Grandma Moses of Doodle Art. Never knew I could make pretty doodles, never knew I wanted to. Not, that is, until I signed up for artist Joanne Sharpe’s online class called Bloomin’ Doodles. Our twelve lessons go right from finding inspiration by making a Bloomin’ Book, to drawing, painting, and coloring the flowers with various tools and techniques. Each lesson demonstrates a project designed to develop and master the skills, and Joanne encourages students to develop their own signature doodle flower and style. What great and colorful fun. These need polishing up, but no doodle is really ever done, is it? So I can go back and add color and pattern as needed.
Here are a couple of my little sketches in the Bloomin’ Book, along with a mandala-style doodle I tried from another tutorial source. That will become a page tab in a journal at some point. One piece of advice Doug gives is to "learn something new every day." I'm pretty happy that investing in online classes like Joanne's gives me the opportunity to build new brain cells while enjoying the process immensely! Wait times in airports or doctor's office will never be the same as I plan to keep a doodle book in my purse.
More sketchy flower doodles and some inspiration pictures. One of our lessons is going to be Bloomin’ Doodles on fabric. I’m not up to that project just yet, but did try my hand at some fabric surface design, applying some of Joanne's instruction.
Armed with markers, paints, and some doodle ideas and stamps, I decided to create a few pieces of colorful fabrics. Always a plus to add to my fabric stash! I’m especially happy with the feather stamp I made using craft foam cut, mounted on cardboard for stability, and incised with a skewer. The image came out nice and clean.
Do you have a feline helper like I do? I know lots of quilters and crafters who do. While photographing these fabrics, apparently the siren went off that summons Lily to plunk herself in the middle of whatever it is that I’m trying to work on. When it comes to showing up at the least opportune (for me) moment, she’s a never-fail. Do you also notice the expression on her face? We joke that she glares. She’s pretty haughty for a girl plucked from humble beginnings in the wooded wilds. Til next time, keep those creative brain cells firing! I know you will.
A fiber arts group I belong to has a monthly challenge to make a small journal quilt (8 1/2” x 11” or so) designed around a theme. I like to participate and use the small project as an opportunity to try new techniques, or to incorporate small bits of things I’ve accumulated in the sewing room. This time our theme was “Memories”. I was a great fan of paper dolls when growing up, and have fond memories of cutting them out and playing with them for hours upon hours. So when I found some cute images of Dolly Dingle, a character designed by artist Grace Drayton in the 1930s, I wanted to include one in my journal quilt. The characters she designed became the iconic Campbell Soup Kids, but were also a series of paper dolls, and even a series of embroidery patterns for redwork blocks. I never had the Dolly Dingle paper dolls, but did make a few of the embroidered blocks. I printed this Dolly Dingle image on fabric and placed it on a background made from selvages. Isn’t it funny how we have memories of our fabrics? So often when looking at someones scrappy quilt, I’ll hear quilters say, “Oh I had that fabric!” Often I say it myself, and may even remember where I bought it! So these memorable selvages got included in the piece. I also added a vintage hankie- remember when your great-aunts had all those lovely hankies in their purses? I used to select hankies for “grandmother gifts” from beautiful stacks in department stores. One challenge for me was to practice “writing” with my sewing machine, and using the twisted fabric “rope” (shown in my previous post) for the binding. A little button trim, and I called it done. We haven’t discussed what to do with all these journal quilts yet, but we’re sure having fun making them. I think I’d like to bind mine into a book at the end of the year. Next up- July and “The Beach”. Ideas are percolating already.
