Margaret Atwood: In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination
Daniel: Stray Sock Sewing: Making One of a Kind Creatures from Socks
Diana Taylor: Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Ficklesticks: Art Sticks to Bend, Wrap, Weave & Wear
Kim Schaefer: Cozy Modern Quilts: 23 Easy Pieced Projects to Bust Your Stash
Karen Seiger: Markets of New York City: A Guide to the Best Artisan, Farmer, Food, and Flea Markets
I saw an interview with Jimmy Connors last night that mentioned he now plays tennis on two new hips. He seemed to be able to run around the court like the old days...which is encouraging to me as I limp along with my cane, babying my single new hip. Not that I could play tennis before, but I did manage to walk without support in the old days. Here is just about all I have accomplished lately:
An infinity scarf done in a fairly simple double crochet stitch.
How about some bad photos of a quilt I made for a friend/client? This quilt features fabrics with pictures of dogs:
And here is the final product:
I try to make at least one quilt a year that could be considered bed-sized. Usually this results in a quilt that is too big for the wall and too small for any bed we have around here. But since most days I make quilts for the joy of sewing and the dent it might make in the fabric hoard, I just go ahead and crank these out. Here is the latest, which I call "Cutting Corners":
It was inspired by this 1960s quilt made by Marjorie Childress:
The prairie points on my quilt were made by sewing around two face to face 2.5 inch squares, cutting the result in half diagonally and then turning those two pieces right side out. There are about 900 points on my quilt. I think Marjorie has me beat by quite a bit. The fabric I used for the sashing is a misprinted version of the border fabric. It has white spaces where the printing process failed to get enough ink or paint on the fabric. I think it gives the center of the quilt a little bit of light. (The white blob on the right is a label-this picture was taken at a quilt show.)
Still doing boutique items... Here are decorated hair bands:
No,not Easter chicks. They are catnip stuffed cat toys to be sold at my guild's Boutique at our quilt show next weekend. (More info here.)
I think they turned out pretty cute.
One of the items donated to the general cause was a very textured wool weaving done in 70's colors. It had been folded and sewn into a bag shape. Probably because I had the catnip out... I filled it with batting scraps and catnip, added some eyes and sewed the final side shut. It is an extra large cat toy for a multiple cat household that looks like a cross between the Wichita State Shocker mascot and Oscar the Grouch.
Truly one of a kind items!
We are celebrating Pi day at my house with a delicious chocolate pie that arrived on our front porch last night as a delayed birthday present for my husband. It is great to extend these events this way...we ran out of birthday cake a couple of days ago. I'm still sewing even though I don't seem to be blogging. Here is another mini quilt that will be auctioned off at my guild's quilt show:
Here are a couple of valentines just for you:
A while back I saw this great quilt on the internet:
The label called it Marjorie Childress's 1960s quilt. I don't know if Marjorie made the quilt or just owns it, but I decided to make one like it. Instead of the traditional method of making prairie points, I used 2.5 inch square "quilter's candy" squares that I had acquired over the years. I placed one square right side together with a second randomly-sized (but bigger than 2.5" square) piece of fabric and stitched all the way around the square. I then cut the result once diagonally from corner to corner. Turned the triangles right side out and pressed. So you get two "prairie points" for each 2.5 inch square that you cut...which seemed like a time saver until I was doing the right side out turning and pressing...that took a while. I'm 900 or so points along now and I am beginning to have trouble remembering what I liked about this quilt. But the top is finished, so lets get it quilted in time to be in my guild's show. Stay tuned.
One last sock monkey quilt to use up the last of the monkey fabric:
Included in the items donated for the upcoming "Boutique" at my guild's quilt show was a small quilt top. I finished it up with some machine quilting and button embellishment. If I had pieced the top, the buttons would be hiding missed intersections in the piecing.
Sadly, these buttons hide perfectly matched seams but they also do a good job of highlighting the quilting, I think.
This quilt will be in the guild's mini-quilt silent auction to raise funds for local, very worthy, non-profits.
Here is a picture of a robot quilt I did for someone wanting to welcome a new baby grandson. The baby lives in Manhattan so the quilt will too, and that is a nice thought... my work residing in the Big Apple. It reminds me of a kimono I was given on a trip to Tokoyo. The owner of the garment said that even though she would never travel to the U.S., it was nice her kimono would be there. A moment of Zen via fabric.
I started this quilt about a year ago with the hopes of reducing the boxes of scraps in the sewing room. Funny how little effect one quilt has on a room full of fabric. Blue is my husband's favorite color so this quilt seemed perfect for him. I thought I would have it done for Father's Day but did not quite meet the deadline. At least it is done in time for cold weather. Here is a quick picture of the finished product held by the unknown husband:
Over the festive holiday weekend I was reluctant to descend into the sewing dungeon while we had company visiting (or I didn't want to watch football on a non-HD tv...you can choose which sounds more likely). So I did some crocheting. Here is a picture of a cat hut I made for my grand-kitty using 1 inch strips of an old flannel sheet:
And here is a photo of it in use.
What a table full of people and food we had today! Just enough time to sleep it off and head out to Bizarre Bazaar tomorrow. Our table will have monster bags...made from real monsters:
Next to the distainful cats at Bizarre Bazaar will be some Happy Horses:
Just look at those grins! If you'd like to make your own horse, the pattern I worked from is in the book Stray Sock Sewing by Daniel.
If Halloween is over, then it is time to start talking about Bizarre Bazaar. Held at the Lawrence (KS) Arts Center every year on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, Bizarre Bazaar offers one of a kind art and gift items. Last year the Bazzar started being open the Friday night before as well. My daughter and I have been participating in this event for several years and it is always big fun. Here is an example of what we offer:
Distainful Cats made from an upcycled embroidered sweater....
Nearly every day I give my birds a treat of corn bread that I bake for them using Jiffy cornbread mix, sunflower seeds and chopped dried fruits. On the rare occasion where I haven't had time to bake a batch, it seems to me that the birds sit and look at their food bowl in disbelief when breakfast is served. One bird gives a "do tah doo" sound when the food arrives but on bread-less days there is no fanfare. So, I am motivated to not disappoint them. This time of year my hoarder instincts take over and I save up the empty Jiffy boxes along with other various containers. Then I paint them, add labels from Ten Two Studio and stuff them full of Halloween candy.
Do Tah Doo!
Here is a baby quilt I made using the pattern "Charmin' the Monkey" by Crackerjack Quilts. A simple quilt, but the fabric is so fun!
Our quilt guild president issued a challenge to the membership to stay in from the summer heat and make a small quilt top that makes us think of winter. Then she offered to quilt these quilts for us. Since she is a very talented machine quilter, I was more than interested in taking on this challenge. Here is what I came up with:
A Christmas tree...just in case you were wondering. It started out as a "primitive" style tree, but when I got out the jewel-toned fabrics and shiny threads, it went a little off track.
