Monday, July 13, 2009

Tatting




I've taken up my tatting shuttle again. It's been awhile since I've done any, so thought I should so I wouldn't lose my touch. I had taken some to a Rug Hooking Party where we were asked to bring something for show and tell that wasn't hooking. One of the ladies expressed a desire for a pincushion, so that was all I needed to get started. She hasn't seen the pincushion yet, and I hope she likes it. I taught myself to tat many years ago after I had not been able to find anyone to teach me. My technique has improved since then, thanks in part to the computer, and all the available resources on the Internet. I wish it had been around when I was trying to maneuver the shuttle in the beginning. The pincushion is sitting on one of my quilts in case you noticed the feathers in the background of that picture. I love quilting feathers.
I'm frustrated because I can't figure out why the pictures rotate in the uploading process. They aren't situated like that on my computer.
Cheers for now.

Time to Blog


I can't believe I haven't posted anything to my blog since April! My excuse is my picture taking habit needs to be developed...I know, punny, punny. I don't remember to take pictures, and pictures make the entries more interesting. I have been busy stitching, though. I finished putting together the BOM quilt top offered at Guild this year, and it is immense...89x106. Now I need to put it in the quilt frame and quilt it! I'll take a picture of it when it's done. It is promised to my grandaughter, Lauren. I also finished quilting a crib sized quilt started at Guild by members who wanted to learn to hand quilt. Funny thing was, I donated the top to the Guild so I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. Go figure! You'll see the picture. Actually, some child will probably love it. I'm not sure what the pattern is called. It was a mystery quilt, and I'm not very good at picking fabrics for something that is obscure.

Now the picture is added, I'm not sure why it rotates when I upload it, but you get the idea. I'll add the tatting pictures later.

Cheers for now.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Our Covered Bridge


This is a picture of the Covered Bridge that spans the Kennebecasis River, not far from our house. We walk to it almost every day with our dog. Earlier in the month, the river spilled over its banks and the road you see in the picture was about a foot under water, enough that I wouldn't drive through it with my car.
When my children were young we used to take them to the bridge to swim on hot days. We have a picture of our little grandaughter at the water's edge fishing for the first time.
I'm still thinking about using a picture of this bridge and doing the 4 Season Challenge that Shirley has encouraged us to do. It's such a large part of our daily life.
Cheers,
Judy

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Charity Quilt


Where does the time go? It's almost a month since I've posted anything. I must try to be more faithful. I just got back from our quilt guild's annual retreat, and we all had a wonderful time. I took some applique and some handpiecing to do, and made some progress. Mostly I had fun visiting with the other ladies. It was just such a treat to have no meals to plan, no cooking to do, and no cleaning up afterwards!
I haven't done any thread painting for awhile, or landscapes. I've missed it! I have been getting caught up with our guild's BOM. Also, our guild makes cuddle quilts for the local women's shelter every year, so I finished one of those. The pattern is Attic Windows, and it is pieced with scraps, and machine quilted.
Hopefully I will be able to play with some projects from the Learningfa group this week.
Cheers for now,
Judy










Sunday, March 22, 2009

Regan's Book
















My grandaughter Regan had her second birthday on March 19th. She loves books, and since I had signed up for a Small Book class offered by Janet on Learningfa, I thought I would make her one for her birthday. It took longer than I thought! I had never worked with Peltex before, but I like the way it made the pages so sturdy, but not too stiff. I did the picture on the front from a photo of her. My rendition makes her look older than she is. It is free motion stitched on my trusty Bernina. I outlined with black thread and used coloured pencils, then free motion stitched on top with threads to coordinate. I think it makes it look like a coloring book picture. I put a plastic pocket on the back cover so she could slip in a real photo. Isn't she a cutie?

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Getting Caught Up




I took a needle felting workshop on Tuesday. It was great fun. We made needle sculpted teddy bears. There's something about making something from scratch that gives me joy, and I guess that's reason enough to indulge in life's little pleasures.


Today I finished piecing the Mystery Quilt from the class offered by Noell at Shirley's Learningfa Yahoo Group. I made it from fabrics that I had in my stash. I know if I had seen the pattern before I started I would have chosen different fabrics, but then it wouldn't be a mystery, would it.
I still haven't started the Simple Landscape Class. I wonder what it would look like with Prairie Points...then I could kill two birds with one stone! And I have to make Regan's book before next week. Anyone know how to add hours to the day?
Cheers for now,
Judy

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Rock Challenge



Last evening, while chatting on Chatroll, I was telling the girls about a "Rock Challenge" I participated in at my Quilt Guild a few years ago. We chose a rock from a brown paper bag, and were to make something, using the colours that we saw in our rock. I decided to do a landscape, inspired by methods taught by Valerie Hearder from her book, "Beyond the Horizon, Small Landscape Applique". It was a fun project. My grandaughters love the rock, and it disappears from it's usual spot with the picture quite often when they are visiting. I'm not sure what it is about rocks and sea shells that compels us to pick them up and put them in our pocket, but I confess to a fascination with them. I wonder what their story would be if they could talk.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Still Snowing










I thought you might like to see how much snow we have. This is a picture of our house taken this morning. I love it when the snow is nice & clean & white. Winter is not over yet. Can you tell I live in the country?

Snowed In

We had another winter storm today. Schools were closed, my Tai Chi class was cancelled and many offices closed down early. I made a big pot of soup. We haven't cleaned out the yard yet, so that is what will be first on the docket for tomorrow.

Someone on LearningFA Yahoo group mentioned Nancy Prince had lots of information about thread painting on her web page, so I spent some enjoyable time exploring her site. Maybe tomorrow I will spend time in my Studio practising. (I'm not sure "Studio" will ever roll off my tongue easily.) She makes it look so easy.

Cheers for now,
Judy

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Thread Painting











Progress in my Studio! I have finished the samples for the Thread Painting Class that Shirley is teaching at LearningFA Yahoo Group. I have been enjoying it immensely but have a long way to go. I experimented with the water color pencils to make the pussywillows stand out in the background of the robin. They got lost on the muslin. Not pretty, but I'm learning. My photography also needs lots of practice!
The BOM that our Guild is doing is also up to date. I'm on a roll!
Cheers for now,
Judy

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Widget Success

Last night I decided to try once more to add the Widget from Michele's blog. It still wouldn't work. I decided to try saving the jpeg to my computer, & use the option to use an image from my computer instead of from the Web. Low & behold, it worked! I don't know what the problem was with the "Image from the Web", but I guess the old saying is true..."There's more than one way to skin a cat". Thanks, Michele. What a lot of time you must have spent gathering all those Links!

Cheers,
Judy

Friday, February 13, 2009

Blogging Frustration

I am frustrated! I have been trying to add a Widget from a lovely blog, With Heart and Hand, for two days now. I THINK I followed the instructions correctly, but who would know. Maybe it is just Google playing tricks. In any case, if you follow the link in this entry, it will get you there, and you will have many happy hours of entertainment at your fingertips with these Links to Free Quilt Patterns. And if you decide you want to add the Widget, let me know if you are successful. I want to know how you did it!



Cheers,

Judy

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dogs Tails





I finished Cohen's quilt last night, so thought I would share a picture. His mother decorated his room in a frog theme, so I went with "Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dogs Tails". The back is flanelette, and is printed with paw prints. I hope he likes it. I made a label with all the info and sewed it to the back. I have a difficult time with creativity. In the end, I fell in love with a pattern that is on the cover of the latest "Quiltmaker All Time Favorites" magazine. I had to customize it to make it crib size, so it is wider and longer than the pattern in the magazine, and has a few animals added.
Cheers for now,
Judy

Sunday, February 8, 2009

An Artist

" He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands, and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands, and his head, and his heart, is An Artist. "

- St. Francis of Assisi



Well, sometimes I'm a laborer, sometimes a craftsman. With all the challenges from Shirley at LearningFA, I hope sometimes I'm an artist. I know my heart is in many of the projects I have started. Off to the "Studio"! I think an artist needs a "Studio", not a sewing room. A sewing room brings images of hemming pants to me. (Mind you, I have done my share of hemming pants!) So today, my space is now my Studio. That brings a smile to my face. I should post a picture of my Studio, then it would bring a smile to your face too...maybe you would laugh out loud!

Cheers,
Judy

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Kingston Creek, the Stories

The picture I used for my 2009 Landscape Challenge was taken from high on a hill where the Adair family have constructed log cabins and a lodge which look down on Kingston Creek, on the Kingston Peninsula in southern New Brunswick, and part of the Saint John River system. For about 10 years, our local quilt guild rented the cabins and went on yearly retreats, usually in April. We had so much fun! No food to prepare, no dishes to do, just sew, eat, & have a glass of wine before supper if we wanted. I still miss it. In all the years we went, the Creek never looked the same from one year to the next. One year it was covered with ice, another, there were peepers already in the pond. No matter, we loved it. The only drawback was that the cabins were heated with wood stoves, and it was too much for some of the ladies as we got older, as well as mobility problems, climbing the hill to the various cabins. We would come home on Sunday, smelling like wood smoke! We still go on a yearly quilt retreat, but now we go to the Villa Madonna Retreat House, still have our meals prepared for us, sew our little hearts out, and laugh a lot, but there isn't Kingston Creek with all its many faces to look at from our windows.

This year, Kingston Creek came back into my life in a far different way. On July 21, we got a phone call from Ambulance New Brunswick at 8 AM that our daughter in law was being transported to the Regional Hospital...no more info. We were frantic. Our son, (her husband,) was on a sailing excursion, you guessed it, to Kingston Creek. We tried to contact him but mobile phone service is not reliable in that area. Finally, his phone rang...no answer! I left a message for him to call. They were expecting their first baby, but it was far too early. We made contact, and managed to pick him up on the side of a road, near the river, and made the mad drive to the hospital. Her water had broken, & she was only 24 weeks pregnant! They were airlifted to Halifax, N.S. and one week later, our first grandson was born, by C-Section. His name is Cohen, & he weighed 2 lbs. He was 15 weeks early! It was touch and go for many weeks, but he is a little fighter. He's had 3 airlifts since he was born, and double hernia surgery. It was very painful to see him, with tubes everywhere. His father put his wedding ring in his hand, and it would go right up his arm.
After 128 days in hospital, they brought him home on Dec. 1/08. Today he weighs nearly 14 lbs. and is a happy baby. We are praying he doesn't have any major problems as he develops, especially Cerebal Palsy which is more prevalent in preemies. In any case, we are very thankful.

Every time I look at the Challenge Landscape, it brings back all these memories.

Cheers for now.
Judy

Chatting with Chatroll

Tonite was chat nite on Chatroll, & it was fun to get to know some of the members of LearningFA.
The internet has certainly opened doors for me. I have learned so much since I've joined the LearningFA Yahoo group, thanks to people like Shirley Paterson, Cheryl Petreman, & Chris Dahl who are so generous in sharing their time and talents with us. I'm looking forward to the upcoming classes too.
The weather has been frightful this past month...cold, snow, rain & freezing rain, resulting in lots of ice underfoot. It is a great time to indulge in favourite indoor pursuits, though, like quilting, reading, and playing on the computer.
Cheers, Judy

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Shirley Nilsson

I thought I would tell you a bit about the name of my blog. I have long been a fan of Shirley Nilsson, who wrote a book titled Stitching Free, Easy Machine Pictures. It was published in 1993 by C&T Publishing. If you have a chance, check out her book. The ISBN is 0-914881-68-x. As of 2008, she was living in B. C. Do any of you know of her? That book is the reason I have this interest in fabric pictures. I think it is out of print, but you may be able to find a used copy from Amazon or one of the used book dealers on the web.
Cheers,
Judy

Adding Photos to My Blog


This is a picture of my 2009 Landscape Challenge for Learning FA group on Yahoo. I not only learned how to interpret a photo in fabric in colours of my choice, paying attention to value, but now I've learned how to put a picture of it on my blog, thanks to Chris.
Cheers, Judy

Great Quilting Blogs 2

Here are a couple of great quilting blogs I want to share with you.

Blog 1: Quilting Lessons Online
Blog 2: Online Quilting

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A New Beginning

This is exciting. A new year, a new beginning. I wonder how many blogs have been created? I'm up for the challenge. It is always great to learn something new to keep ones mind young and active.

Have you checked out Barbara Brackman's web site? She has a free file on her site that can be downloaded to print your own Obama Fabric and an Obama Biden Bandana. It's part way down the page.
I've saved it to try after I've installed new ink cartridges in my printer.

Cheers for now.
Judy