Art exhibit

I wish I was in NY right now. Look what I saw in The New Yorker:

This painting is called Fat Quarters! What a great idea. I never saw anything merging painting with quilting!

If you're in NY, head over to Kathryn Markel Fine Arts and let me know how it is!

Doll quilt swap

My friend Lori at humblequilts recently organized another doll quilt swap in which we were swapping quilts smaller than 24". I did it last year and loved what I received. This year I was not disappointed!!

I received an adorable doll quilt made by Lorraine Hoffman. She used small blocks from a Temecula Quilts idea and I just love it!!

Look at how cute these blocks are! She even did some hand quilting!!

Thanks to Lorraine for such a treasure!

I've been busy trying to put bindings on quilts to deliver to Sisters for the show in July, although I'm not going to be there this year, unfortunately.

What would you use for binding for this quilt??

I think bindings are my least favorite part of the process, even if I sew them down by machine!! Ugh! I'd rather be playing with fabric and piecing!! Anybody else feel like that??

Cheddar delight finished

Finishing something is always such a great feeling, although deciding on the next project is challenging for me. I'm excited that I finished this top which was made through a swap of quarter square triangles with my great friends in Wisconsin. The pattern is from a Fons and Porter magazine article last September/October. Very easy and fun quilt to make. 

I thought it could use a border and found a great navy from Moda on my last trip to Bend last week. I loved that the print was on the diagonal, consistent with the design of the quilt. I had hoped that the diagonal would be repeated in my mitered corners but quickly realized I would have had to cut the strips differently. Instead I got a look I hadn't planned on. Oh well!

Here are the blocks. They consist of quarter square triangles that are 3" fin. The "solid" squares are 6" fin. 

So. Now. What next??? So many choices!!

Rotary cutter over use??

I've got several rotary cutters, as I'm sure you all do. My favorite has become the small one, after taking a class and I became a convert from the larger 45 mm one. I did still use the larger one, when my smaller one wasn't handy. 

Imagine my surprise recently when the larger one broke or fell apart!! The washer snapped in two!! Ever heard of that?

I'd been trying to decide whether to replace the whole thing or not. Enter my friend Anne, who sent me an email about a new (to me) online company called MassDrop! You get a discount on items when the masses buy the same item. So when I saw they were selling a new 45 mm rotary cutter, I couldn't  resist. So look what just came!!

It's not the same design but I think it'll do. Any ideas on whether I can buy a replacement washer for the old one? Mind you, they are curved so I can't just go to the hardware store. 

On another note, I ran into Sew Many Quilts in Bend this week to pick up a border fabric for my cheddar delight and happened to start chatting with a woman working there about a new appliqué product. It's called Apliquick. Of course I had to try it out. I bought the paper and special glue. I'll let you know if it's better than the other ways I know. 

It has lots of Japanese writing so I'm guessing that's where it's from. I'm going to go online and see how it works maybe it'll inspire me to do more applique!!

The best scissors??

My son's fiancée asked me to go with her to her wedding dress fitting today! What a treat!! The salon had a fitter who went around the hem to trim the length. I couldn't resist looking at his scissors!!

They are Kai scissors, which are my favorite!! What better endorsement??!!

Here is Julia, radiant as always!

Now I can't wait to get home and use my Kai's!!

Finally sewing again

It's been a while since my Bernina and I got to spend time together! Lots of babysitting going on the past month.

 First task was to recover my pressing table. I bought this fabric recently and have wanted to recover my table.

Isn't that fun??

My first project was to try to catch up the Stars in a Time Warp that's going on. 

Here is my paisley block. I had trouble finding the right fabric as I guess I don't have much paisley fabric. 

The conversation print block was fun and I wound up making two!

Then the California gold was fun. I have lots of gold but opted for this one.

I still need to do 3 more. 

I'm participating in Lori's doll quilt swap and recently mailed off my little quilt to a woman in Wisconsin. I hope she likes it!

I was also recently on a quick trip to Hawaii and of course had to stop in at the local quilt store for a few pieces. This store has wonderful fabrics and I love shopping there. 

These are large pieces for a baby quilt I'm going to do. 

Here are a couple of fat quarters:

They also sell these wonderful "trash collectors ". I put it on my sewing table surface. 

Hope to keep sewing although we have the kids next weekend. 

Have a super duper day

I wanted to be sure to wish everyone a fabulous Mother's Day today, whether you're a mom or not.

Women in general do so much to keep lives running and I applaud each and every one of you.

Hope you get to do something special for yourself today.