Delighted to be Invited

I want to thank Andrea and Alice for the opportunity to be part of a new creative experience!! Andrea and I have been friends for many years as we are members of the same quilt guild and we are currently co-chairing a 12 X 12 challege for our group. It has been a great experience for me, pushing me out of my safe box of fairly traditional quilting. I welcome the opportunity to be a member of a group eager to try new things!!!

I have been quilting about 25 years and started off with traditional designs. I enjoyed piecing and applique, but spent the first 5-10 years working on patterns and kits. Once I became more skilled and comfortable, I tried original designs, but they were frequently inspired by things I had seen in magazines or shows; I "copied" very well. I have gotten increasingly interested in doing more original work. I have experimented with embellishments, fusing, stenciling and a little painting and dying, although I still usually work with commercial fabrics. My long-range goal is to create my own fabric, utilizing some of these techniques, as I want to develop a personal style. I also enjoy the quilting process and enjoy hand and machine quilting. Bright colors appeal to me and my most recent quilts have incorporated Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The picture above is my most recently completed quilt. The best way to describe my quilting style and work is to say it is always evolving and I am willing to try almost anything.

On a personal note, I am a retired dietitian, originally from Louisiana. LSU is my college alma mater and I completed a dietetic internship in Virginia. Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts have been my homes for the past 30 years. John is my husband and we have two children and two dogs. My other interests include travel, tennis, skiing, gardening, boating and volunteer work. That's probably enough about me.

Again, I'm so happy to be a member and have an idea for the Surprise theme!!

Now We're a Baker's Dozen!

Nedra Weaver is our 13th member.  Andrea suggested her as a possible member of our group.  I hope that she will soon write a post to tell us a bit about herself.  So now we have three from the East Coast of the United States:  Andrea, Linda, and Nedra.

Note that I have added her name to our list at the right.

Here's our schedule with Nedra added at the bottom.  You might print off this schedule and keep it handy, just so you'll know when your turn is coming up.  Of course, I'll also remind you!

(3) Jane chooses theme #3 on Nov. 15, 2011, for Jan. 15, 2012's quilt.
(4)  Judy : theme #4 on Jan. 15, 2012, for Mar. 15, 2012's quilt.
(5) Rita:  theme $5 on Mar. 15, 2012, for May 15, 2012's quilt.
(6)  Patti:  theme #6 on May 15, 2012, for Jul. 15, 2012's quilt.
(7) Andrea: theme #7 on July 15, 2012, for Sept. 15, 2012's quilt.
(8)  Alice: theme #8 on Sept. 15, 2012, for Nov. 15, 2012's quilt.
(9)  Barbara: theme #9 on Nov. 15, 2012, for Jan. 15, 2013's quilt.
(10) Judy W:  theme #10 on Jan. 15, 2013, for Mar. 15, 2013's quilt.
(11)  Kathy: theme #11 on Mar. 15, 2013, for May 15, 2013's quilt.
(12)  Sara: theme #12 on May 15, 2013, for Jul. 15, 2013's quilt.
(13)  Nedra:  theme #12 on July 15, 2013, for Sept. 2013's quilt.
(14) Wendy:  theme #13 on Sept. 2013, for Nov. 2013's quilt

Looking at my calendar just now, I noticed that our next "due date" is just three weeks away!  Where does the time go?  I hope you're at least thinking about your Surprise quilt by now.  No doubt some have finished theirs.  Not me, however!  Jane, I hope you've come up with an exciting theme #3 for us--if not already, then soon.  It might be well for me to remind everyone that themes can be abstract (harmony, surprise, identity) or concrete (dandelion, chair, window).  Choose whatever captures your fancy!

Looking forward to seeing all your quilts and hearing from all of you in about three weeks!

Harmony? The full picture...

Supplementary.... sorry folks - something happened to the photo of the whole quilt.

Here it is now!

At last! Harmony?

Hi all

I'm very happy to post my little quilt - Harmony? at last, with sincere apologies for the delay. The fabric is tea-dyed calico (I think in the US you call it muslin) with lines of quilting in the form of the five line staves of music. It's bound with a lovely black cotton covered in white musical instruments. I'm pleased with its simplicity in design.

Shades of Autumn for Norma

Norma in CA. was so thrilled with the little fabric birthday card that I sent for her 92nd birthday ( posted August 16, 2011 ), that I thought I would make her a little autumn themed piece. I silk screened the chrysanthemum's and then fused them on the background. Some are completely fused but 4 are only attached in the middle so that the petals could be lifted up.

This was a new technique which I will use again sometime. I also tried a little free motion stitching for the first time, which was inspired by the new book Sew Wild by Alisa Burke.

Post-Dated Surprise Quilts!

Now that I've learned how to do these mosaics, I've put together the Surprise quilts.  I've also learned that I can post-date posts so that this will appear on the blog where it ought to be.

Now to identify the quilters:

Row one: Barbara, Kathy, Linda
Two:  Alice, Nedra, Rita
Three:  Andrea, Carolyn, Patti
Four:  Judy S., Petra, Jane
Five:  Sara

Linda's Harmony block process: a little child shall lead

       As I reported earlier, Joe and I kept the grandchildren as their parents went to ready the new house in another state. My accuquilt cutter arrived about the same time, and I had no more cut out the pieces from a batik stash than the children started playing with the fabrics.
       I preferred their design to mine; but the size, for some reason, did not fit within our 12 x 12 goal. So I incorporated their own house design, honored it, in the center of my quilt. Homes and houses were definitely on their minds! Quiet time with three youngsters is a harmonious time!

Andrea's WHOOPS!

YUP...I DO have more "learnin" to do! I could only upload 5 photo's and they are in the opposite order from what I thought ( and explained)! Sorry.

Harmony thought "process"

With Alice's help ( again, thank you SO much Alice ) I have managed to put a few photo's into a folder on my desktop and will now attempt to get them from there to the MM blog. If you see photo's you will know that I was successful, if not, clearly I have more "learnin" to do!

The photo's are more my thought process than technique. The first 2 are dyeing lengths of fabric & the wash-out, and the next are different visual ideas or directions that I experimented with, of a more traditional nature.