Sunday, May 30, 2010

Strawberry Fields

Happy Sunday - Here is my Strawberry Fields quilts, which I'm calling Strawberry Wine because I spilled an entire glass of white wine on it while I was machine quilting it. Yes, you can quilt on a slightly damp quilt.


Thanks Lori! Her blog, Humble Quilts is always a great place to visit for inspiration. After much deliberation and trials, I decided on this red dot fabric, which reminded me of a strawberry.


I was too engrossed in the Masterpiece episode I was watching and didn't line up the third vertical row correctly, thus losing a little of it forever. I was quilting when I noticed it....how do I get so distracted? And no, I wasn't drinking wine at that time :)

My doll, Annie, seems to like it fine.


I chose this pretty green fabric with the butterflies for the backing.


This week I heard back from the Special Exhibits coordinator and my quilt "Lunar Pineapple" has been accepted to be in the special exhibit "Trash to Treasure" at the Long Beach and Houston Quilt Festivals. I'm very excited to be included and I look forward to seeing all 30 quilts.

After cutting out a white batting, I soon realized that black batting was the only way to go. So I arranged an emergency lunch meeting with Jill on Friday who had a black batting to give me. It was great because it was also her Birthday and we had a lovely time.

I'm quilting it in all over tea-cup pattern. It is difficult to see, but I'm hoping it will give it a nice texture.


Sneak peak at the backing.


This one is for Mary, who asked for a coco fix. All she's missing here is a glass of wine and a little applique'.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Mansion in May

Good Morning Everyone

I hope you are all enjoying Amy's Quilt Festival. Mary and I plan to post our quilts this week.

I'll take it!

On Saturday Jill and I met up at the 2010 Mansion in May, which is a fundraiser for the Morristown hospital. The home, Fawn Hill, and property is currently for sale, a bargain at $5.9 million on 11 acres. With the total acreage of 30, the price is 13 million. As Jill said "depends on how close you want the neighbors".

Each room, hallway, bath and garden area is decorated or designed by different area designers. It is so fun to see the way each interprets there space. No photos are allowed in the house, but here are photos of the gardens.

enjoy~










Aaahhhh.....home sweet home

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Spring Quilt Festival

We participated in a "Portrait Challenge" a few years ago.

Here's Mary's -
I had a couple of ideas for this challenge. I got a large charge out of this supersize badge. It still makes me laugh.

This top is machine quilted with all the "roles" I play in life. It includes the usual, wife, mother, quilter, chef, etc. in the yellow squares I put my less appreciated "roles" in the black borders - procrastinator, 50+er, wine drinker, partier and then made the little top into a pillow for my reading chair.


Here is Barb's-
I had fun making this. I used bias tape for my hair, a real barrette, snaps for eyebrows, and a wine bottle for my nose. I used baby beads in the background describing all the things that are important to me.

I made the hanger using a pant hanger and embellished it with Scrabble tiles and buttons.

Enjoy all the quilts in Amy's Quilt Festival.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Stars in the Valley Part II

Hello!

Before I share the second round of quilts from the Warwick, NY quilt show, I thought I'd show my fabric (new project) purchase.

This is a luscious Alexander Henry print called "siva nataraia". Which refers to the statue, natarai, having it's left foot raised and Lord Siva - salvation. The colors are so beautiful and I love the purple elephants.

I intend to use it to make another 4-patch posie quilt. Here is one that I made summer of 2008 and used as a baby gift. These are similar to the one block wonders, but only use 4 squares for the blocks. You can see the fabric on the border that was used to make the blocks.

I also purchased this beautiful Kaffe print - delicious!


And my best purchase of the day was this vintage (ha) ceramic Christmas tree. Now, I know this isn't for everyone, but I have a collection of them that started with my Grandmother's, aka Nana, aka Gertrude.
I'm thinking of giving the Dickens' Village a break and displaying all my trees on the piano this year - They actually are quite charming when grouped.

and it was $3.00, yes that's right - priceless.


Okay on with the rest of the quilts -

Isn't this remarkable?

I think I'd rather like to try this one day -


I loved the dancing lanterns -
Great use of border prints here.


I'm studying pineapple quilts after making mine - they are an interesting subject.



This was in interesting strippy quilt -


Tomorrow is clothesline tote day again and I'm hoping to finish it.

Have a great day and I hope you find time to do some sewing.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Stars in the Valley Part I

Happy Monday Morning!


Wow, another local guild quilt show with amazing quilts!
Saturday was a beautiful day for a drive up north for a quilt show. There were many wonderful vendors, a local tea room catering lunch and a sweet table - quilt heaven.

The above quilt won best in show and it is spectacular. It was displayed at our show last fall and it was wonderful to see it again!

What a lovely applique quilt - blue ribbon winner!





The blueberries on this quilt looked really real. They are stuffed and embroidered and they were amazing.


Pretty and vibrant pineapple!


I thought this was very pretty.


The next quilt was also at our show. I have a really strong reaction to this quilt. I just love the vibrant colors on that chocolate background. I find myself looking at it many times and from different distances. I think its because I like strong contrast in quilts.

This one is for Jill -


A wonderful Nine-patch. That one vertical and horizontal row is a real game changer in the setting of this one.

Pretty border, elevates this quilt


Okay, here are a few words regarding credits. I know that I should be giving credit to quilt makers. However, in the real world, I'm not taking notes or keeping a running list as I enjoy and take these photos. I know some of the women who have made these quilts, but I don't think its quite fair to name some and not others. I endeavor to do better in the future. In the meantime, I think that most blog browsers are looking for inspiration and to enjoy the beauty of quilting. That is my intention when I post on a local quilt show.

I hope you enjoyed these, I will post on the rest of show soon.