Another Part of Autumn Inspiration

As I was thinking about the fabrics I've been piecing, I was reflecting on the autumn quilt I made a couple of years ago for my childhood friend Pat Orr's husband as he awaited a transplant.  It contained a variation of the Maddie-and-Isabella-inspired colors, but I never posted about the finished quilt.

I had just gotten my Nolting longarm when I quilted it--and the quilting reflects that.  It speaks fall to me since it reflects my youth on the farm near El Paso, Illinois.  I realized I had purchased the fabric in 2010 and not used it until Pat's husband needed a prayer quilt.  He went home to be with the Lord before he was able to receive the transplant but not before he had some time with the quilt. In fact, it was the urgency of getting it to him that prevented me from taking more pictures and posting about it.

I have enough fabric panels to make another quilt, and hope to make it soon.  Ahhh, so much inspiration, so many fabrics, so many quilt designs in my head and in EQ7....and so little sewing and quilting time!  At least I'm in good company!

Happy creating,.....

Autumn's Song

I'm still squeezing in time for quiltmaking, knitting, tatting, etc. between therapies for my knee and teaching full time, although that would be difficult to discern from my blog posts.

Yesterday, in addition to physical therapy, I made a quick run to Busy Bee Quiltshop at Edgewood, NM to add some oranges to my supply for autumn quilt blocks. This may be somewhat shocking since I absolutely do not like orange (except in my juice glass and a few other things).

Over the last several weeks my sweet students Maddie and Isabella have worn a some very distinctive clothing in these colors to school. (Isabella even has a pair of amazing heliotrope shoes.)

So, I had to come home and piece some blocks in honor of autumn.  The little quilt below was made mostly from stash.  Some of you may recognize one of Jinny Beyer's Palette  fuchsia blenders, from the late 1980s, I believe.  It's one of those fabrics I treasure and occasionally add to a quilt.

 I have a good friend with a birthday later this month, so I need to get the binding on this so she can use it to celebrate autumn.

 This was so much fun to piece and quilt!  However, since my happy heart has not yet had enough of these blocks, I've revised it as shown above in the second photo. I'm thinking of making another revision as well.

 The border is adorned with happy feathers and vines, and the next little quilts are expected to receive the same kind of border treatment.

I'm still carrying my tatting with me for when I get stuck in other people's time warps, and since I started a sweater, via Myra Wood's Craftsy class, The Perfect Fit Seamless Crazy Lace Cardigan,
 I usually have some knitting with me.  I seem to get caught in those other-people's-time-warps whenever I leave my knitting or tatting at home!

My daughter has decided to pursue her master's degree in materials science and engineering with an emphasis in metallurgy.  Nineteen years ago today I was in China, frustrated by the things my agency had decided I must see and do before I could actually meet her and hold her in my arms.  She has come far in countless ways.  I admire her determination, her intelligence, and, most of all, her fine character and inner beauty.  In many ways she is a Phoenix. She's beautiful on the outside, but it's the inner beauty that is the blessing she brings to the world.

Happy quilting, knitting, and creating,..

Quilting Inspiration

The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is a little over 100 miles from where I live.
Allen W. Sanders took this amazing and inspiring photograph in the pre-dawn light.


I think these colors would be wonderful in a quilt!

There are plenty of other awe-inspiring photos on the Bosque del Apache's Facebook Site. The site features the works of many gifted nature photographers.
Just something to consider whether looking for quilting inspiration or an escape to nature

I did quilt a prayer quilt this weekend, but haven't yet taken a photo.  I'd like to get the binding on first--and binding is the part of a quilt that I struggle with.  The binding and quilt are both ready for me to get with it!

Edit: This photo of predawn in the bosque can be purchased in a variety of forms at the following link:
http://fineartamerica.com/products/predawn-at-the-bosque-allen-w-sanders-art-print.html


Happy quiltmaking and knitting,.....

ABQ Quilt, Craft, & Sewing Festival

As I mentioned in a previous post, from May 22-24, Albuquerque was blessed by a Quilt, Craft, & Sewing Festival. Even the  times I've gone to really big, national shows, I've come away with negligible purchases, so I'd like to encourage people to attend this show if it's within driving difference.  Their next show will be in Castle Rock, CO July 10-11, 2014, and the vendors do vary with the event. (One of my friends lives near their Puyallup show, and I've wanted to attend for a long time.)

Here are some photos of what followed me home:

Sweet Teen was shocked because she knows I love choosing fabrics for quilts, but I loved these and thought they would make a very cheery prayer quilt without my having to dig around in my stash.  (Karen does not have an online store; she just enjoys gathering fabrics and marketing at shows--and getting to travel to them.)

These batiks are from Rabbit Hole Quilt Shop from Chico, CA.  I dyed one almost like the pink a few years ago when I was still dyeing fabrics every few months.  I do not know if I'll manage to find any time to dye this summer.

These are from Desert Stitchin; Chris and John are from Goodyear, AZ and vend at shows in the Southwest. I purchased these for a "watery" baby quilt for one of my colleagues. The Bali charm pack at the bottom is the door prize I won from their shop at the show.  That has never happened to me before!  Well, at least not since I won my Charlotte doll at Mrs. Beatty's gift shop on December 18--somewhere around 60 years ago.  I guess this could mean that if I live another 60 years, I might win again? I was pretty amazed when my name was called.

I was near the Busy Bee booth when my name was called.  One of the owners exclaimed, "Dora Scheer?  And I don't hear any clapping or cheering?  We'll cheer for you!"

These are for a three year old girl who loves pink and purple and needs a quilt because she's soon going to be a big sister, so I've been pulling pink and purple batiks from my stash. Actually, I picked these up at the shop, not at the show.  The show gave the owners a chance to discover that a lot of people in our area didn't yet realize their shop was nearby.  It's a great little shop with the best service I've experienced in my 40+ years of quilt shops.  They have many ongoing block of the month quilts from some of the best designers.  I most often pop into their shop for a few fat quarters or for yardage to make a special prayer quilt.  The owners and their employees are unfailingly helpful and friendly.

As much as I love the fabrics, these are my favorite purchases from the show.  The stylus is also a set of screw drivers perfect for my sewing machines, and the other is a seam ripper (a belated Mother's Day gift from Sweet Teen).  Sweet Teen had a lovely conversation about engineering with the engineer who was acting as cashier.  Lumenaris also sells 100% wool felt.

Hopefully, this show will return to Albuquerque next year.  It would be lovely if they could piggyback onto the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta.

Happy quiltmaking...and knitting....

What is this?....

Here are some hints:

A few months ago, I made this.

 Today I made this:

Here's the exterior:

 As usual, quilting was a lot more fun than choosing fabrics and piecing.  It's pieced from more leftovers, mostly from Sweet Teen's college quilt.

Here it is with a couple of the Velcro dots in use:

Here's a side view:

Now you know, don't you?  It's a keyboard cover and stand so Sweet Teen can use her Kindle and Keyboard instead of hauling her laptop to class.  (She's also in the market for a new, smaller laptop. She says she has never once used her laptop for spread sheets--and that's why the "experts" she consulted suggested she buy the larger laptop in the first place.)

She did figure out that if she could take Chem II this summer, she could save a semester of college.
Unfortunately, the only class she could get into is 50 miles from home; so two days a week we are arising at 5:00 a.m., and I'm constantly reminding myself that saving the expense of a semester of college is definitely worth it.  (Secretly, I'm also praying she stays in materials engineering so that we don't end up with that extra semester anyway.--She's still hoping to do research in the field of nano-medicine.)

Second question:  What are these?

These are several pieces I'm likely to use in the American Made Brand 50 States American Blog Tour that began May 19 with a visit to two states each day.  My entry will appear here June 19 since New Mexico was one of the last four states to become part of the United States.  You'll find links to all the blogs here: http://americanmadebrand.com/blogtour/

Please let me share why I am so happy to be part of this tour.  These fabrics are made from cotton grown in the United States, processed in the United States, and milled and woven in the United States.  (We do grow cotton here in my state, but I don't think that's where AMB cotton is grown.)

I love the hand of this cotton, and I think all users will feel that way.  My secret hope is that one of these days they will weave some "shot-cottons" too.

I'm shocked that it's been so long since I've posted.  Life has been busy (but good), and today, Memorial Day, is my first official non-work day.  Since my next school year starts August 6, I'm going to try to be very productive this summer.  I love having time to sew, quilt, and have choices about my time, but of course, I love being a special ed teacher too, so I do have to make trade offs.  One of the trade-offs for the last two or three months is that there has been no time to read blogs.  So I'm sneaking some peaks at some today--how I've missed my blogging friends!!--and am hoping my own readers haven't forgotten that I exist! (There will be some prizes when my day on the American Made Brand blog tour happens!)

Oh, we've had 1.17 inches of rain!  That makes me very happy too!

I'm linking to Judy Laquidara's Design Wall so you can easily access her blog and that of other wonderful quilters.

Happy quiltmaking and knitting,...

Time to Try Something New

Sweet Teen and I went back to the county fair after school today--because I had wanted to see the quilts, and the exhibit was closed when I got there last night.
Here are the ribbon winners:

 Great piecing.

 Quilted with a pantograph.

 1930's era fabrics in a Lone Star.

 Interesting star treatment in the corners.    Star was pieced and lined with muslin. Star was tacked down in some places and held in the rest with the lines of quilting.

 I thought I had a photo of the quilting in the triangle, but I guess I didn't get one.  Looked like the design had been traced on and then quilted.

 This red and black Lone Star had one of the other first place ribbons.  Looked long arm quilted but with some hand-guided quilting.

 The following quilt did not earn a ribbon, if I recall correctly.  Has an all over hand-guided wiggle.

 It's being raffled for $1 per ticket to benefit an area civic organization.

 There were a few wallhangings...all but this one just quilted in the ditch or following the lines in the piecing.  This one was made by the same lady who made the 1930's looking quilt.

 This last one was in the 4-H exhibit, made by one of Sweet Teen's fellow FFA officers. It too was quilted with a panto, so I'm guessing it was quilted by someone else.  There were machine embroidered crosses in a couple of places in the big center panel.

 Okay, I need to check out the county fair booklet and start planning to enter next year. I think it would be interesting to try to do something outstanding that will be seen by others.  (That's my new thing for this week--even if it is just a new plan and not a new finish.)

We were able to vote for one favorite thing in the exhibit, and I voted for a delicate embroidered and appliqued table cloth of white lawn.  It looked like it could have been made by my paternal grandmother 100 years ago, but the guy manning the exhibits said everything had to have been made within the last year.

I did sew the first set of borders on the Little Miss Gardener quilt today....

 and I quilted borders on a prayer quilt for Victory Quilts.    But other than that, the important thing that happened here today was:

 I purchased this sink and hardware some time ago.  The husband of one of my friends is a plumber and was going to install it, but it never happened, so I asked one of the retired guys at church if I could hire him to do it.  We've talked only casually before, and I so enjoyed having the chance to get to know him better.  He and his wife have been at our church only a couple of years.
We have frighteningly hard water in our town--so I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to keep this sink shiny.  I'm so glad to have it.  It's the same outer dimensions as the two basin sinks, but I intensely dislike little sinks into which I can't fit a large casserole or roasting pan. We also pulled out the dishwasher that I haven't used in ages because it just doesn't do its job--which means I finally get to make a pretty curtain for that area with some wonderful toile type fabric that I purchased last year.  It's a great place to keep the waste basket out of the way--and you know how much I'll love seeing that yellow and blue fabric there.

And the other news?  I hear raindrops hitting the skylight.  We're on the southeastern edge of the storms.  I heard the train tracks have been flooded between Santa Fe and Albuquerque (other side of the mountains from where we live).  In a desert, flash floods can happen so very quickly!

I am going to link to Melissa's Try New Things Thursday.

I plan to work on Little Miss Gardener some more tomorrow.

Happy quiltmaking.....

Robin's Song Quilting - Evolving

This is not what I had planned to do.  I had planned some more or less all-over feathery stuff.

 As soon as the bobbins were loaded and the quilt was on the sewing machine, I changed the plan.

 I decided that each block should be different so that it will be a compendium of quilting ideas.

 I know doing it this way is going to slow down the quilting process.

 However, since it sat here a while waiting for me to come up with the idea of writing positive attributes in each block,..

 and then it sat waiting for me to piece a backing,..

 and then sat longer waiting to be layered, I'm thinking it doesn't matter if it takes longer to be quilted.

 Of course, I wonder how long it will take her to discover the little happy face in the Optimistic block!

 So far it's a lovely day except for the smoke hanging in the air from the huge forest fire in the Gila, but the smoke is not as bad as what we experienced last year, so that's one more little blessing to be appreciated.

I've already been to Albuquerque and back to pick up Sweet Teen from a sleepover, I've done some laundry, and will do a few other jobs, but I'm looking forward to a big block of quilting time on my treadles.

Happy quiltmaking.....

Linking up with....

Karen at Sew Many Ways for Find a Friend Friday

Sarah's Whoop Whoop 

Amy's Show and Tell Friday

Lots of great blogs for you to visit or re-visit...lots of wonderful quiltmakers, crafters, and other bloggers.