Things don't go as planned. . . .

Yep, I ended up getting the dreaded sore throat! So I was down for the count for the rest of the week and beginning of the next. . . Life just gets all dis-comboobled when mom gets sick and then getting back in to the routine is another dilema.

But I finally got downstairs and back to quilting today. Woo Hoo! All the feathered borders and sashing are done, now I need to go back and quilt the applique areas. Don't be thinking it's done yet, cuz that is the most tedious part of the whole quilt, but hopefully it will be done next week. I'm sure Susan thinks I've fallen off the planet by now.

A cool thing that happened this week. I was checking up on The Quilt Show's Daily Blog yesterday, and was scrolliing down the page to see what I had missed over the weekend. And I found ME! Actually my name. A customer entered her quilt in the Road 2 California Quilt show, and pictures of it ended up on the Daily Blog. Go here and you can see it! Purty Cool! We didn't win a ribbon at the show, but this makes up for that.

Happy Quilting!

Kaboom

My bum is big. It levels cities. This is me now:



Photo by Alicia Zamarro

... and I hope to become this:



I think I have it in me.

Creative Drain-O

I hit a creative road block last week. It happens more often then I like, and despite lots of ideas popping around in my head, everything I make feels off. I start to feel like a drain with a clog in it. No flow.

So, I decided it would be a good time to empty my scrap bin. It's a lovely old red and white enamel pail that I keep by my sewing machine, and at the time it was filled with lots of bright colors, oranges and blues, purples and yellows, all from my last few sewing projects.

Using my scraps often helps to break up the creative clog. It acts sort of like a creative Drain-O! I definitely think that there is some kind of energy moving correlation between freeing up our outer space and freeing up our inner space, thus helping the creative flow to return.


I pulled out the strips of fabric, sorting them by size and just began to sew. After I had made a few sections I started to move them around listening to my gut, along with the fabric, until I had arrangements that looked pleasing and right.


The results were two new art quilts...


The first is called "Dialogue" and is available "here.




And the second, titled "Conversation", (my personal favorite of the two) is available here.


It looks like a busy week awaits me. Taxes need to be done, (ugh!) a couple of appointments to keep, and oldest daughter is coming home for spring break, (Yay!) and for her 20th birthday, (Yikes!) So, if I don't get around to another post this week, I hope you all have a great one! Also, very best wishes to Rachel of Fog and Thistle. Rachel will be appearing on the Martha Stewart Show this Friday! She will be showing off and demonstrating how she makes her fabulous nightlights. I will definitely be watching and cheering Rachel on!!

PS. Mo's had a couple of really great days, with amazing bursts of puppy like energy! I think she has spring fever, and it does my heart good to see her so happy!

Green Acres is the Place to Be

I took these first four photos right after we moved to the farm. It was my first day of working from home back in 2002. I woke up to a beautiful scene at sunrise and took a long walk to start my day. Living in in nature is such an honor. Hardly a day goes by that I don't count my blessing for the beauty in my life.

When I was young one of my favorite TV shows was "Green Acres" starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor. If you are not familiar with the show it was about a couple from Park Avenue in New York that move to a small town. Mr. Douglas, the high powered, attorney had a dream of owning a farm and watching his crops grow. They end up buying the old Haney place from Mr. Haney the town's snake oil salesman along with many other items that don't work very well.

One of the Douglas' purchases was their Hoyt Clagwell tractor. It was always breaking down. Here is the "Hoyt Clagwell" we purchased with our farm. This 1964 Ford never did run quite right. Everytime we went to use it something else would break. It literally cost $200.00 everytime we would turn the ingition. Our Hoyt Clagwell didn't last through the first season. It went to live with other tractors of similar vintage. Tractor collecting and tractor shows are very popular in this state.

Back to the old Haney place... When Lisa Douglas needed to use her kitchen appliances she had to use a numbering system. You could plug a #1 in with a #6 but if you added a #7 the fuses would blow. My kitchen has six outlets along the counter but only 3 worked properly. In the summer of 2002 I purchased replacement outlets and misplaced them. I knew I had them somewhere so I could never bring myself to buy more. Well last weekend I cleaned the carpets in my son's old bedroom. Would you believe I found the replacement outlets in his closet? He and I remodeled his bedroom the first summer on the farm and the outlets were mixed in with all the other wiring supplies from that project. I installed them immediately fearing I might lose them again. Now I can plug in my toaster and mixer at the same time!

We have snow here today but I'm dreaming of summer days.

Opinions?

Ahoy hoy - I need opinions! Which photo should I choose for the BDD website and bout program?




Please think about how awesome I look, and not just how cute my dog is. ;) I think I look kind of pretty in the pug one, and kind of monster-y in the other one. Argh! Decisions!

Quilt Art Raven Postcard Challenge

"Happy Bird-day, Mr. Poe" -- 4" x 6" 2009
Donated to the ACS fundraiser FFAC collage mania

This party bird card was made for the QuiltArt list challenge commemorating the 200th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe and also as a fundraiser for Fiberart for a Cause (FFAC) collage mania raising money for the fight against cancer. Click here to see all the great postcards and then buy one or two at FFAC collage mania or at Alzheimers Quilt Art Initiative. My card will be available to purchase through the collage mania sale May 5-7, 2009, I hope it finds its way to a good home.

I decided to try a new technique: painting with caran d'ache neocolor II wax pastel watercolor crayons directly onto the fusible fast2fuse postcard material. After the painting/coloring I then used a wet paintbrush to spread the color. Then I outlined with marking pen and machine stitching. Click here to see my journal quilt of my godtwins also painted with caran d'ache crayons.

Husband excited over ten days off of work

This weekend we are going to start Denny’s ten days off of work. He is extremely happy of being home. I am excited too, that we will have more time together. I am looking forward to that. As having company again,it is something I will just get use to while they are here. Who knows…I just might love them, and would feel bad later that I almost meeting them. It is funny to read different things during the day, and what you read somehow has a situation so similar to you situation, except they have something to say, that is good, and it makes you think about it all, and I find I do feel better now about the company coming. I am going to spoil my hubby too. He deserves a good vacation. We do have plenty planned, and we are going to hang out, and cook on the grill…and relax and enjoy the calm too.
We have an airboat ride to do. I love that. I went last summer for the first time and it was so much fun. Then we have a trip to Ft.Lauderdale to go on the Jungle Queen that is also fun. I know our company will enjoy this. I know my husband enjoyed it a lot and he is excited over it.
I am almost done fixing up the house, and before I know it, they will be here. I had better go to sleep now, so I can get up early and finish anything left to do. Have a nice night. Morgan

Laughing with Mo

Sorry I haven't been posting this week, or visiting everyones blogs much, but I have been deliberately trying to slow down, and smell the proverbial flowers a bit. I think I need to do this more often. It feels good. It clears my head, and believe me when I say, my head needs clearing. It's all cluttered with too much thought. Mo had a bit of a rough week. Lots of congestion and some bad breathing problems. We spent a lot of time this week just being with each other. Appreciating each day. Way more then we ever thought we'd be blessed with. Lots of gratitude. We also made time each day for a good laugh. As you can see, Mo loves a good laugh.

I have some new work that I will be showing next week. Until then, have a happy weekend with the ones you love and the ones that make you laugh. xo

New Web Design

A New Web Design for my Website!!!

My brother, Mark is a web designer. He has created a NEW LOOK for my website. He is currently working on giving it a new look, including easier navigating around, quick search with a Google Site Search and all the menu bar items on the left side on each page for ease of moving from page to page.

In addition, I want my website to be visually pleasing ... like a Quilt Show or art gallery. This year I am taking MORE digital pictures of ALL the quilts I am quilting. Over the past 5 years and over 1000 quilts, I have taken digital pictures of many of the quilts I quilted --- but not all the quilts. I will be displaying the photos on my website and on my blog.

With my brother's creative visions, I foresee outstanding changes, thus' resulting in a delightful experience when visiting my website! http://www.craftysewing.com

KoolKat APQ article

I don’t know whether you have seen the latest APQ (March 2009). There is an ad for my quilting service in the quilters basket section. (p7) It features the winning quilt made by Queensland Quilters Inc members. However the article seems to suggest that KoolKat designed this quilt. My information to the editorial people was that I quilted the quilt in conjunction with 2Q members, but I was not involved in design. I am very happy to have been associated with this wonderful prize-winning quilt and shared in the award ceremony, but I cannot take the credit for its superb design and execution, only the quilting!

Color Choices and a Little Sewing

Do you ever have a hard time choosing colors? Over the next few weeks I am taking a class from my friend Suzanne. The pattern is one of her own designs and requires lots of different fabric to give it interest. I dove into my scrap bin for this class looking for a neutral or light colored background and some medium and dark fabrics. All of the colors I put together were earth tones and I was not happy with the brightness of the pallet. Last year I purchased a few batiks while I was traveling and added a few more from Jeanne's fabric sale. I have been itching to put something together with these vibrant fabrics. For the background fabric I dyed some of the print cloth I just received with a light red and golden yellow mixture with a hint of blue to get this lovely butterscotch color. I can't wait to see how the pattern turns out. More on this project next week.

Today I am putting the finishing touches on some quilt block jewelry. I have been out of stock of some of these colorways for a bit. It will be nice to have some on hand again. I also took some time out to play Frisbee with Jack on this warmish ( 23 deg F)and sunny winter day. The snow has been gone for almost a week on the south facing slope however we still have up to 12" inches of snow on the north facing slope. The sky has been a beautiful blue all weekend and it makes me long for springtime.

Happy Valentine’s Day ………………… Feburary 14 2009

Today I am alone as my hubby is working until Monday. Therefore, he and I did the Valentine’s Day stuff last Monday and Tuesday when he was home. I did have a very nice time. Today we have talked on the phone… and after getting, me all straightened out with house projects… I now can sew for a while. I hope everyone has a great day! Morgan Here is my grandson Alan he is 2 years old.

New patterns

I've just purchased another three machine quilting patterns. This one is called Belladonna from Hermione Agee, the others can be seen at my website http://www.koolkatquilting.com.au/ - just go to the section on all-over quilting and download the quilting patterns catalogue.

Drive by Inspiration

Inspiration is everywhere, and happily quilt ideas pop into my head like Jiffy Pop popcorn over a campfire.


This modern studio art quilt was inspired by the colors of yellow taxis cabs, school buses, roads and road signs, thus the name, "Drive".


I love the minimalist modern design and bright colors of this quilt. Makes me happy!


Drive measures 20" x 24" and is available in my Silly BooDilly Etsy shop.

I also would like to thank everyone who left a comment on my Wonky Star Tutorial, for the Bushfire Quilt Project. I am delighted that it was of help! I've put a link up to access it over on the side.

Have a delightful weekend everyone! xo

I need help thinking of an intro line!

When skaters are announced at bouts, they often have an intro line before their name. For example:

"She puts the lotion in the basket, it's Jodie Faster!"
"Try as you might, you can't keep her down, it's Bully Mia!"

I need one by tonight for a bout I'm guest-skating in down in CT, and I have no ideas. Does anyone have any suggestions? My derby name is "Dreadnought", which is the first all-big-gun battleship. It's also a "heavy support" troops choice for Warhammer 40K - a Dreadnought is basically a giant robot-bodied warrior. I'm looking for something that explains that I'm a giant war machine. I hit hard, I'm big, I'm strong.... etc. etc.

PLEASE HELP!

Kinda nervous about my dad

Yesterday my dad went to see his heart doctor, and I guess my dad's blood pressure was still high, even with taking two different type blood pressure pills,so the doctor added another pill. Then told my dad he wants to check the veins in his neck for blockage. That is what is making me a bit scared, no a lot scared. He goes next Monday for the test, and then we will know. I asked my dad if it is blocked, what then? They have to operate. That is scary. As I know someone who had that and died right afterwards. I have been working on my dad's surprise b-day party. I got the club house arranged, and my one son will cook, and other son Jeff is going to do the pictures, and Denny and I are buying all the food, cake and drinks. I worked on green blocks for a group I have been in for awhile. 12inch blocks, any style we want. This is a group in Australia. That is sad too, on all who have died in these fires. I feel really sad over this. Well I am off to do more quilting, and get my mind on good positive thoughts. Morgan

Wonky Star Tutorial

Here's a simply tutorial on how to make a 12.5" wonky star block for the Bushfire Quilt Project, which I blogged about in the previous post. (My apologies for the variations in the lighting of these photos, the clouds kept rolling in and out during this shoot.

UPDATED NOTE: I wrote this tutorial, in an attempt to make the process as straight forward and simple to follow as I possibly could. However, please know that if you use triangle shapes cut a bit larger, ( by an inch or two) you will have more leeway in how you position them and more possibilities in getting your star to be EXTRA wonky!

You will need to start with 13 squares of fabric each cut 4.5"
Out of these 13 squares you should have:
~ 8 white or cream, (these will be for the background)
~ 4 any color/pattern you choose, (these will be for the star points)
~ 1 any color/pattern you choose, (this will be the center of the star)


Stack the 4 star point squares and slice in half so you have 8 triangles...


Select 4 of the background squares and 4 of the star point triangles. Stitch one triangle to the right side of each background square. Changing the angle of the triangles will help create the wonky-ness of the star. (Make sure that when the triangle is flipped and ironed to the correct side, it extends past the edges of the background square.)


Cut the excess background fabric off...


Flip the star point triangle to the right side and press with a hot iron...


Sew the remaining 4 triangles to the left side of these 4 background blocks. You can overlap the triangles slightly at the bottom, or leave a space. Each variation just adds to the wonky-ness...


Again, cut off the excess fabric as shown...


and flip the star point triangle to the left side and press with a hot iron...


Cut off all excess fabric, making the squares 4.5" again...


Take your center square and using a scant, (just under) 1/4" seam allowance, stitch a completed star point square to both the left and right side as shown...


Take one of the remaining star point squares and again using a scant 1/4" seam allowance, sew a plain background square to both the left and right sides. Repeat with the 3 remaining squares...


Press and iron all 3 rows. (Because the background is light in color it's best to iron the seams towards the star points. Do this with the center row as well, thus helping to reduce bulk when all three rows are joined together)...


Line up the seams, pin and using a scant 1/4" seam allowance, stitch the top row to the middle row. Repeat with the bottom row...


Iron the seams towards the top and bottom rows. Flip to right side and smile at your completed wonky star!...


I would like to note that this technique was first devised by Gwen Marston and shown in her wonderful book Liberated Quiltmaking.

And once again, hats off to Tia for starting this heartfelt project!

Bushfire Quilt Project

Tia of Camp Follower Bags and Quilts has started the BushFire Quilt Project. She is asking for donations of one or two 12.5" quilt blocks constructed in the "wonky" star pattern, first made famous by Gwen Marston in her "Liberated Quiltmaking" book. Tia will be assembling the blocks, (God bless her) into quilts to be donated to victims and survivors of the Australian Bushfires in a sincere desire to give tangible comfort. I think it's a fabulous idea and will definitely be participating. The stars can be any color and the background fabric should be a white, light or cream color.


Tia has also started a Bushfire Quilt Project flickr group to go along with this project. More information can be found there including tutorial links and mailing information, (Tia is currently living on a US military base in Australia.)

Don't be intimidated by making these star blocks! They may look fancy but are really very fun and easy to make. When put all together they create striking quilts. I think Tia picked a perfect block to help lift weary spirits. When I first started quilting it was one of my favorite blocks to make. Below is an old blurry photo of an art quilt I made about 12 years ago using the stars.


Hope you sewers will consider participating in this project, and many thanks to Tia. Her generosity of spirit is amazing and once again I am blown away by the goodness of people.

Also thanks to Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio for spreading the word about this project. I wouldn't have known about it had I not read about it on her blog.

Yea! Quilting

So I'm finally quilting on Susan's quilt. However, I had to take the 14 year old to the Dr to get a strep test. It was negative. Bummer No anti-biotics to solve our sore-throat problems.

This ate up some of my precious "pre-school" time for quilting. We dropped off the pre-schooler and headed to the Dr's and thankfully we didn't have to sit there forever. So it only burned up an hour of quilting time. And I've been feathering the beejeebers out of this wonderful needle-turned applique quilt. I can't wait to get it finished and delivered to Susan. She's been waiting a while for this to be done.

Pillowcases and Wonderful Things in the Mailbox

Look what came in the mail for me this weekend. Pat at Bell Creek Quilts had a blog birthday give away and I as one of the lucky winners. This kit for a Piece-O-Pie pin cushion was my prize. I collect pin cushions and was very pleased to be the winner. Pat also surprised me with a lovely fat quarter filled with Dove chocolates. Oh joy. I have been chocolate deprived for a few weeks. There were a few more chocolates wrapped in there but DH & I dug into to them before I was able to snap a picture. And I love the quilt angel card she included. Thanks so much Pat!

















This treasure came from Gwen at Desideratum. I fell in love with these beautiful earrings when Gwen had a give away back in the late fall. (Here is a link to better photos of these Robin's Egg Blue Earrings) Unfortunately I was not a winner so I sent her a note a week ago and asked if she was still making these and would she please sell me a pair. Gwen and her husband are amazing artists and I do believe Gwen is a master of all. Take a stop by her blog and explore. You can find a link to her husband John's blog there too. John has some wonderful paintings on display there.

A few readers asked about pillowcase construction after one of my recent posts. I have learned a few methods over time and my favorite is one that I've heard referred to as the "hot dog bun" method. This is a photo of my first quilt. I made matching pillowcases with some of the remaining fabrics. These pillowcases were sewn with a few construction techniques that leave no exposed seams inside or out. Click here for a tutorial.