Secret quilt update, 02

I have been working more on this bright floral quilt, it's time for an update. I know you have been waiting and agonizing over what is coming next.

I finished making all the nine patches and cut them into fourths. Here they are.

I had to lay them out on the floor and move them around for a while until I found a layout that I like for each block. Sometimes this process can take several days, I have to rest my eyes, take a break from looking at it and the next time I walk by and look it over I will see something that isn't working and move it somewhere else.

Once I got tired of walking around this huge area of quilt blocks on my floor, I stacked them up and sewed the disappearing nine patches together into twelve blocks.












Next time I will show you the sashing and border fabrics coming together. This is starting to look like a real quilt. I kind of wish I were making it for myself!

Pillowcases from the scraps

If you refer to my quilt for a rock star post, you'll see some great Alexander Henry fabric on the back of a quilt for my brother. Depending on who I show it to, the fabric is either very popular or not appreciated at all.

I showed it to a friend of mine and he said he wanted me to make him something using some of this fabric. We decided on pillowcases and this is how they turned out.

They were a hit, and I still have some of the fabric leftover to add to my stash. I don't know what I will do with the rest of it, but it is very fun to work with.

A secret quilt, 01

I am working on a new quilt, I am very excited about this one. It took me a while to decide which direction to take this quilt and I finally figured it out. Thank you to my cousin Robin and to Bill, from The Quilt Store, for staring at a huge stack of bolts with me for close to an hour. Here are the twelve fabrics that will be featured. Many of them are from the collections of Kaffe Fassett, Philip Jacobs, and Brandon Mably.

Here is an example of the nine patch that completes the first step of these blocks.
I cut the nine patch block down the middle horizontally and vertically.
This is an example of the disappearing nine patch block that will be created. But I will be using a more random approach in my piecing. The four pieces that come together to create the finished block will not all come from the same nine patch block that is cut apart.
Stay tuned for an update on this quilt. It is not technically at the top of my to do list when I consider deadlines, but it is so much fun to work on that it is hard to leave it alone. I have a feeling it will be finished soon.

How Long Have You Been Purple Like This?

I finished this painting at least a year ago, but I am not very happy with it, so I am just now posting it here. I think it may be the proportions of the flowers and the stems. I plan to sew some more beads on to make the stems more substantial and see if that helps it.
I have been taking it to shows, but so far it hasn't gotten too much attention. I need to move it up on my list of projects and try to improve it some.
I bought 16 canvases during the "buy one, get one for one cent" sale at Aaron Brothers last weekend. I have some more ideas for new canvases, now I just need to designate some time to paint!

These photos were taken by Joe at Treaty Oak Photography. Thank you, Joe!

Rock Star quilt

I made this quilt for my wonderful brother. He graduated from high school this May and will be attending Texas A&M in the fall. He is a wonderful singer and performer, he participated in the Texas All-State Choir show two years in a row. In trying to decide what to make for his graduation gift I thought about his piano lessons as a kid, his amazing performances as a member of the high school choir, his many hours spent playing Rock Band with friends, and his wardrobe that is inundated with skulls. I designed this original quilt pattern that I feel really speaks to his passions and talents in life. I am so proud of him, and can't wait to see what he will accomplish this fall in College Station. That reminds me that he recently auditioned for and was accepted into The Texas A&M Singing Cadets.
I used several batiks for the quilt top, appliqued each black piano key and found this great Alexander Henry fabric for the back. It was beautifully machine quilted by Kim Peterson of Austin, Texas.

These photos were taken by Joe at Treaty Oak Photography. Thank you, Joe!

Oh, my stars, it's a boy! blanket

Quilt for the new addition

I made this quilt for my newest cousin (the 22nd first cousin in my mom's family), her baptism was on Sunday and this was my gift to her. Lately, I have been including famous quotes on my quilt labels, this one is by Thomas Jefferson. I also was fortunate enough to borrow my aunt's embroidery machine to embroider her name and birth date onto the quilt top.
Oh, I almost forgot! This is the first quilt that I quilted myself on the long arm machine at Scrap Happy Quilting. I was very nervous to quilt it, but it helped that the fabric is busy with flowers and the thread is a cream color, so any mistakes that I did make are very difficult to notice.

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.
-Thomas Jefferson