For Those (Like Me) Who Can't Get Enough

More Pretty Fiber

I'm still busy trying to edit and organize my photos from the red and white quilt exhibit in NYC that I've been gushing about, so in the meantime, here's something else to feast your eyes upon.

This is recycled silk sari ribbon that I bought from Leilani Arts at the Empire Quilters' Guild show while I was in NYC.

Here are a couple of samples of things made with the sari ribbon --

     a freeform wallhanging...

and a cool scarf...



Still More...

For those who can't make it in person, here is some more...

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing

My pictures are still in my camera (the battery is being recharged), but if you want to see even more of the red and white quilt display that I've mentioned in the last couple of posts, check out Martha Stewart's blog.

I'll tell you more about my trip at a later date...right now I'm just recuperating...and I need to get a certain college student back to campus after spring break...

Here's More

I found these Flickr photos of tomorrow's exhibit in NYC...Amazing...

I'm Soooo Excited!

Tomorrow I get to see this in person!

You can read more about it here...

Inspiring Surprise

When I got home from my recent vacation last week, this was waiting for me in my mail. It was a winning from a recent giveaway. I wish I could remember which site I won it from, but the only info I had on it was from the publisher, not the original blogger.

What a wonderful book! It will keep me busy for hours. Thank you to whoever!

To find out more about the Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge, check out their website and their blog.

These Don't Count

No, I have not fallen off the wagon.

I have been on a fabric-buying diet since December 28th. At that time, I pledged only to use my stash and not to buy any fabric except for backings and maybe bindings. This weekend I bought the fabric below for a backing (it's a much prettier celery green than in the photo) for the project I blogged about earlier this month.

And the fabric in the top photo is a kit that I bought as a souvenir in Key West, so it's not a fabric purchase, it's a souvenir purchase. The kit is for the quilt on the right in the bottom photo.

 
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Serendipity (I love that word)

My husband and I spent our day in Key West exploring all over the place (at least 6 miles worth!) and luckily for me, our exploration took us down the road where this shop was located. I had made no plans to visit fabric shops while on our trip (I am on a fabric diet, remember), so this was just serendipitous for me.

 By the time we had reached this shop, we had been walking for hours in the heat and at the time were mostly focused on getting back to the ship to sit down and have something to eat. However, my eyes did manage to spot the words "quilting" and "fabrics" on the outside, so of course, I had to go in to take a peek.

Cute shop (The Seam Shoppe) with very nice tropical fabrics. Not very big, but bright and cheery. And of course, it comes with a very patient husband waiting outside...

Good Excuse

Apologies to those who have commented on my blog in the last couple of weeks and who have not received any acknowledgement from me. But I think I have a good excuse...

Freebie

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about a wonderful trip to a local winery that I made with several friends for an open house featuring some of the 2010 Hoffman Challenge winning entries. You can read about that trip here.

Everyone who attended received a pin similar to the one in the photo. I'm not sure how much I like the pieces of yarn and beads hanging off of the bottom, so I may remove them, but otherwise, it's a lovely pin.

Decisions, Decisions

Now that the blocks are made and trimmed, I need to decide on a layout. I first thought of making a very planned design like this....

 ...but then the wild side of me thought it was too planned, so I moved the blocks around randomly to look like this....

I thought I would like the random layout better, but right now I'm leaning toward the more planned look in the first photo.

We'll see what I decide to go with once I get it to my machine....

Groomed

The dog ears in the previous post came from these...

I guess you can say that they've been groomed... : )

Dog-gone Tired

I've started the "country color project" (see previous post)... and spent some time cutting off dog ears...

I just want to say to the new quilters out there -- this is a necessary step. Don't skip it...Dog ears just make for unnecessary bulk that can mess things up when you're sewing blocks together or quilting the quilt.

Do What You Like

I need another project like I need a hole in the head, but I can't help it. My husband's sister and one of his brothers/sister-in law have received quilts from me in the past for various reasons and it's time now to make one for his other brother/sister-in-law.

But I have a big problem...They (well, really she) prefer to decorate using country colors, but as most of my friends will tell you, there is barely a square inch of country-colored fabric in my stash. Maybe a few strips from my LQS (they use it to tie fabric purchases), but nowhere near enough for a quilt. And I'm still determined to stay on my fabric-buying diet (I've made it more than two months already!), so I had to come up with something.

Well, I stretched the definition of "country colors" (and I really mean "stretch") and decided on these hand-dyed pieces that I've had for a while. I was originally just going to use the green/gold/rust pieces, but it just screamed "boring" to me. So I added the reddish ones, too. That will make me much happier when I work on the quilt. And that's important, because I think all quilters will agree that we prefer to work on quilts using fabrics and colors that we like.

Anyway, this is my plan and we'll see what happens.

For a Dear Friend

My friend Dori is having a birthday soon, so that was a great excuse for me to make a mug rug. Those seem to be the in thing on quilting blogs recently, so I thought I'd give it a try.

It was quick and easy and I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I may make some more. The only problem is that they don't use up a whole lot of my stash!

Dori doesn't have a blog, but I know she reads mine regularly (and the comments, too, I believe), so go ahead and wish her a happy birthday in the comments of this post. She'll get a kick out it (or else be embarrassed to death and will never speak to me again...).

Happy Birthday, Dori!