Calendar Quilt Block

While visiting with my children, I worked on this block for my calendar quilt. It is hand appliqued and the eyes are buttons that I will sew on after the entire quilt is quilted. I think that if I sew the buttons on now, they will get in the way while the quilting is being done. This block was enjoyable to work on because most of the pieces have rounded edges. The star presented the only challenge.

Empty Spools Seminar

On Thursday I returned home totally inspired by my time in Rosemary Eichorn's fabric collage classes. The project I chose to work on was a vest. While sewing, I learned about different threads, needles and materials that were totally new to me. Free motion sewing, the method used to attach the motifs and background to the muslin pattern, was fairly new to me. All of the practice that I got during class certainly showed when I used my own machine yesterday. Now I truly believe that with free motion sewing, you must practice.
It was fantastic to be in a place where everyone was working on their own projects and very willing to discuss and show you what they were doing.
On Tuesday afternoon, all of the studios were open for a walk through so that you could see what was going on in the other classes. I can't wait for the new catalog to come out so that I can choose my class for next year. As soon as I have more stitching completed on my vest, I'll share what I've done. For now, I've included photos of the building where my class was and shots of several other places at Asilomar, the name of the facility.

Just One Star

I made this block because my quilting group is participating in the Just One Star quilt project. The fabric is from Moda fabrics and the kit was purchased from my quilting group for $3.11. I have no idea how the price of the kit was determined. The finished block is to be sent to Dallas, Texas where it will be trimmed and added to others to make quilts that will hopefully comfort wounded soldiers.

Fabric Collage

On April 15th I will be off to an Empty Spools Seminar in California. The title is Fabric Collage and the instructor is Rosemary Eichorn. My plan is to use the fabrics in these pictures and make a fabric collage vest. I've made pieced vests but nothing like what Rosemary is teaching. There are over twenty pieces of fabric in this collection that coordinate with the large piece of black flowered fabric in these photos. I have some green velveteen that I might also take with me to add some more texture. If you can think of a color that will add some zing to these colors, please let me know. I'll be very appreciative.

A Baby Shower Gift

One of my daughter's friends is going to have a little girl and I just happened to have pink fleece in my stash. I've used this pattern before and it is very easy to sew. I added the ears and the applique. The applique is from an old Sew Beautiful magazine and it is by Kari Mecca. It is supposed to be a cat but most people who look at it think that it's a rabbit. I'm not quite sure why it's confusing. One of my larger dolls is the model. She's crying but not because I put the hoodie on her.

A Fix It Job

Several years ago, I made this bag for my daughter inlaw as a birthday gift. She loves anything to do with fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately the fabric that I used for the straps frayed. After thinking about the easiest way to fix this problem, I decided to buy "D" rings and attach the new straps that way. What you see are the new straps. On Wednesday I returned the bag to Erlisa. She was very pleased with my choice of the repair fabric. I also sewed squares of fabric on the lower corners of the bag where there was some fraying. These repairs should give the bag a few more years of service. The pictures are of the front and back of the bag.

Flying the Coop

The name of this block is Flying the Coop. I enjoyed the challenges that this block presented and used the knowledge that I gained from doing the last pieced block. Again, I drew the stitching lines on the wrong side of the fabric and matched them when sewing the pieces together. The seam allowances were cut free hand. This pattern had many "y" seams which caused me to frog stitch quite often. I am pleased with the final results and am looking forward to doing the last pieced block until I get to the finishing point. To complete the quilt, the blocks are joined by more than 500 two and a half inch squares. The rest of the quilt blocks are applique which I love to do.