More close out?

Well, this is the second chapter of the close out sale.  I had to go back because the price went down and I knew there was more to be bought.  Lets back up a bit here.  After Blizz 2011 and two days of staring out the window at the same beautiful blowing snow I had to get out of the house.  So I grabbed another "fabric hound" and we went BACK to the "close out sale"  It seemed to progress into a "fabric buying frenzy".  It was even better now because if you bought the whole bolt you would get another 10% off.  Who would not do THAT? Right? Right.  When it was all said and done I had bought a whopping 145 yards of fabric with a big smile on my face and a nervous feeling in my stomach. You cannot pass  up a sale like this. (I'm still repeating this over and over and over)  I have enough fabric to play with for a long time.  I can't wait to share it with you.

Close out sale! :)

I had the luxury of finding a close out sale at a Hancock Fabrics.  I LOVE Hancock fabrics but they seem to be harder and harder to find!  The quality of fabric is much better and the fabric is much "hipper" than  "other" fabric stores.  So, I had to buy some because when fabric is on sale that is the time to buy it and if it is far away then you really need to buy as much as you can.  Right? Right.  So 

I did.

Nancy's 50th

This quilt was made a few  years ago for a friend.  I noticed I never showed you the final product.  Well ....here it is!

Blizz Afghan 2011

I've noticed every winter I seem to grab a hook and start to crochet.  This is my third afghan in three years.  I think after this one I need to start gving them a way or donating them to my favorite fundrasing group .."Boobs on the Move"  My friend Terri is a member of this group and they are the fundrasing females.  They do the two day breast cancer walk to raise money for our "bubbies"!So  they are on my mind for a donation for one of their raffles.

I finally finished the afghan and DID take out the white and I love, love, love it.The colors definitely speak to me.  It is long and warm and will always remind me of the Blizz of 2011.

Scrap Yarn?

On a cold, dreary, winter night I found some left over yarn and started making an afghan.  Then, I found more and kept adding it in.  I am using a larger hook and doubling my yarn.  It goes really fast until your friend comes over and STOMPS on it!  Yes I was told to tear some of it out because the color did not work.  Well I have made three trips to the sewing store to get MORE yarn.  This is not what I wanted this project to be.  Now I am "hooked" on it and can't stop.  In the mean time I am supposed to be finishing  a teen age quilt and and two pillows and two T shirt quilts a long with another queen size quilt.  Does someone out there think I know what I'm doing?

MMM What color?

This was supposed to be an easy, non thinking project. I guess like anything else projects don't always work out the way you want them to.  I wish I could let go of the color thing. :(  Help.

Tear this out?

  Well I did.  I tore one of these rows down to the pink because my friend did not like the PINK! So this has taken me longer and I don't want my friend to ever come over in the beginning of a project AGAIN! . PINK IS my favorite color.  This IS a scrap afghan...let the color thing go..repeat..let the color thing go...etc. etc

I like it! :(

I am going to make five stips of this and sew them together.  It is double crocheted with a large hook. This should go fast and clean up some of my yarn.  But I have a feeling this could turn into another project trying to clean up the yarn I just purchased. (So what else is new)  Maybe a gift for a special friend.

Merry Beatles

It seemed to be a Beatle Christmas this year. In my family we pick names and I had my brother's name who is a "music head" So I thought I would make him a Beatles quilt. His basement is filled with all types of music memorabilia. I found the fabric first and of course fell in love with it so I bought it all.  Yes, nobody was making anything out of this fabric but moi! I tried to find pictures from all eras which wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.  This whole process made me sad as to I used to dance to the Beatles and pretend I could jump through the TV onto the  stage and be with them.  I was also at Shea Stadium in 1964 begging my father to let me go see them when they played there and nobody could hear a thing.  I was only six at the time and we were in New York at the Worlds Fair. But I WANTED to see the Beatles.  Back to the story. There were so many pictures I couldn't believe it! So I put the pictures on photo fabric and found one color I had in my stash to frame them in.  It was fun and I liked how it turned out.  I am going to post a some close ups so you can see them better.

Love Love Me Do

After completing the Beatles quilt, I made a pillow out of some of the scraps.  I stuffed it with the stuffing you have to tear a part that reminds me of cotton candy (mmmm yoummy) but it always seems  to clump on me no matter how much I gently rip it a part. Any ideas out there??

Love Love Love

Let Us Be

We Can Work it Out

HELP

Abby Road

Country Orange

This is the finished project that I thought had too much orange in it.  It really complimented the other quilt because it was the same size of squares.  Of course I have WAY too much fabric left that will be used for another quilt.

The Fairway

This blanket was made for my dear old dad.  This will keep him close to the golf course and that will make him happy.  I know this for sure. Trust me. Merry Christmas.

Hannah's sewing!

I had the pleasure of teaching Hannah (Hannica) how to sew. Who is this girl? She is my Cousin Ricky's daughter and is a true peace loving, hippy girl in the making.  You know I like that.   She had the neatest "Hello Kitty" sewing machine and I'll tell you this machine puurrrrrrrrdddd.  By the end of the week end she was sewing like a pro and her hippy quilt was finished and ready to go to off to "quilt land" (Of course she had a great teacher.)  :)

Ready for quilt land!

Quilted

Hannah pillows.

A little closer now!

Baby Madeline

We have an additon to my family and her name is Madeline Lena.   So of course I had to welcome her with a groovy pink blanket.  It did not quite match the decor of her bedroom but it did brighten up my day.  I figure at this point she does not have a whole lot to say.(literally)  I have a feeling this will be one of many that flow into her life.  Lucky her...or is it me? Great Aunt says alot!

Happy Halloween Madeline

 I always wanted to make a quilt for each holiday.  So I am starting with Madeline.  (poor thing) This is her Halloween quilt.  Since she is an October birthday (a great time of the year to be born)  She was blessed with this blanket. Amen to that. 
I

Scraps

Now that I have my fabric organized I am taking all of my scraps and putting them into long strips by their color and value. My plan is  to make one big-ass quilt by making small  squares and  placing  them together in an order that will look like a burst of something.  I'm not so sure if that makes sense but it is just the beginning. I believe this will be a winter project.

Anxiety



Every year before I begin a new school year I start to "freak out" and organize and clean anything I can get my hands on.  This year I took my fabric and folded it by color instead of it being rolled up. I just love the way it looks and I feel better already.  I guess... I thougth... I would share this with you.

"Char" Pillows

My dear childhood friend Charlene cross stitched the birds and put them into frames. I'm guessing 20 years ago. (I have always had a fetish for birds)  Over the years my tastes have changed and I did not know what to do with the birdies.  Knowing that Charlene made them I knew they would be with me for life as anything home made and heart felt should.  Right? So I made them the center piece of each pillow and they seem to be very happy with their new home. The blue gray quilt seems to be happy too.  I know I am. Thanks Char!

Father's Day

Sometimes we spend days looking for those special colors to make a quilt. Maybe we need to take a look at our surroundings and we will find those special colors. Along with those colors we may find that one special person.  A father.

Blue / Gray

I had ordered some fabric from Denyse Schmidt and found it to be so different than the batik I normally use I needed to think out of the box and make a new plan of attach. I thought I'd use it and make a new quilt for our bed making it look more like an old quilt. So I took a ride up to my favorite Hancock's near Midway Airport and found some other fabric to compliment it. The weather has been in the 90's and humid and it has given my one big massive headache. Away we go into fabric land.

Pillows

I began to look around my house and everything seemed so blah blah blah for summer. So I found some old pillows covered in dull colors and recovered them in these cooler prints which changed the whole look of the room. They seemed to "happy up" our living space. I feel like summer has arrived and I love looking at them. My girlfriend just painted her living room and she is ready to cover her pillows to give them a happy change! It makes me feel good that someone follows my design change. I know pretty hard to believe!

Oh and not to "dog" anyone out. The measurements I received for Hannah's quilt were given to me by the father. He measured the mattress and not the over hang which is what I wanted. Therefore the cool, hip quilt I made ended up only fitting over the top of the bed. A word to the wise do not let your hubby's measure the bed. (Sorry cousin Ricky just had to say it) Back to the drawing board. Whatever...

Turquiose

I have been telling my Cousin Ricky and his wonderful wife Lisa that I wanted to make a quilt for their wild, fun, energetic, heart felt daughter Hannah. So I had in my mind pink. I think I always do because that is my favorite color and I like to work with it. When Lisa told me she is into turquoise I thought, "What is THAT? Is it Arizona turquoise and if so that will suck to work with because I just spent a day in Santa Fe and I am over THAT turquoise. Or is it ocean turquoise? Mmmm.... Water I LOVE that. So I gathered some colors I thought might go together then I went on the hunt for "turquoise". I new I needed a little something to pull it together and the lady at Joann's found just what I needed. So I bought it and you can see it showing through and how it made the rest of the blanket look "turquoise". I decided the pattern I would use would be stripes then cut them into shorter ones and sew together. It is a Denysee Schmidt classic. When I finished I had just enough to make four big squares then I would cut from there. After looking up the size of a full bed I knew I did not have enough. So I called Lisa and had her measure. AAHH This morning Lisa sent me the measurements 53X72! Perfect. I knew I had just enough to make into a "Happy Hip Hannah Quilt".

Bob the Builder

I could not find a table to put my big-ass new sewing machine on in my plant room. It seems as thought my dining room was always getting eaten up by the sewing machine and fabric. Ugh. We wanted something simple and that is hard to find. So after moping around on a rainy day Bob decided to tackle the project himself. I know that is very scary to some of you but I had complete confidence in "Bob the Builder". He went to Home Depot and bought the top and four legs. It was a little wobbly at first but our neighborhood inspector came over and suggested braces. So when Andy the inspector speaks we listen. He put the supports on today and the wobble is gone. In the background is Kylie's second scrap quilt to be put on her top bunk bed. This will pull the room together and make her happy. That is a good thing. I love my new room with my work table. I am going to stain it a mauve color or weird green. I need something that draws me in to be creative. If only it was that easy. :)

Table Runner

I am starting to use my new sewing machine and it rocks! I decided to finish a table runner and just let it rip. It is fun to try new stitches and it is almost liberating because you don't have don't have to think so much. After a day in the jungle it is really relaxing. Just let the machine do its thing. Kind of like rock n roll! We all know you can never have too much of that!

New Needles

I just purchased a new sewing machine. It is a Huskavarna 835. It has all kinds of new features that I am having a hard time to get used to. Oh well it is time for a new challenge and maybe this will inspire me to try new things. It is so much bigger than my other one and seems like a I am driving a bigger car. As I read the directions a new project will emerge I can feel it in my bones!

Doggies Everywhere

This quilt was made for a man from Texas named Ken. He found me on my website and from there we made a plan. He emailed me the pictures and I printed them on fabric photo paper. Then we decided on a background color and away we went. When it was time to find another color for it I would email him options then he would pick them out. It was quite a fun process and I learned a lot about myself. Hope it is making the dog lover happy!

Winter Blues

I took a knitting class at a really neat place called Loopy Yarns on the south side of Chicago. After a few weeks and a little drama I finished my scarf and hat. It was very stressful for me because I had to pay attention. Knit five pearl five over and over and over and over. Ugh So I felt like I needed to have some needle success and ended making a granny afghan. I just could not stop once I started! So there it is. I made the squares larger which gave it a bit of a modern twist but it really is drab. That's OK it pulled me through January and February. Amen to that!

Hannah's quilt

Hannah's quilt was started awhile back. She is three going on 13. Her mother is planing on giving this to her for Christmas. This quilt was my first scrap quilt and more of my pinks were used.

Kylie's quilt

Kylie's quilt was made ofof scraps. We seemed to be able to find many shapes and sizes and animals that were brought together for this occasion. Kylie had a blast looking for these shapes and sizes. This will make her bedroom much more grown up. You know she is in kindergarten now!

A little closer now.

CoCo's 50th Quilt

I have been on a 50th birthday quilt run lately. I am trying to make them for my friends for their 50th..we won't say that word again. I give myself a year to make them their piece of art. She wanted mauve and this is what I came up with. After I finished it I was in Joann's and another lady was making a quilt using some of the same colors. Far out! This lovely quilt resides in Bloomington, IN with all the other groovy people!

Scraps

I was feeling uninspired so I decided to clean out my scraps and just start sewing. I took my light scraps and created this quilt. It seemed to go in a child's room but I wasn't sure who would want this beautiful piece of art! I approached a free spirited co worker who has a daughter just like her. This will be "Hannah's" quilt. It is in quilt land being quilted. I can't wait to see it finished. Stay tuned for more.

Bella! Welcome to the world!

This blanket has a wild ass story behind it! My friend Cindy has a friend who has a husband who
has testicular cancer so they could not have children.  Shew! So, a friend of this couple was getting her nails done and began talking to the pregnant woman next to her. She confided in her and told how she could not afford this baby and wanted to find it a home. So this woman told of her of this couple and VOILA..Bella now has a happy home. I thought this was such a heart felt happy story I wanted to be a part of it. The theme of the room is "modern monkey" So this is what I came up with. I found the monkey material on E-quilter and had the rest. I quilted it by had hand and voila Bella (great name) is now a hip baby!

h

Nancy's 50th

This quilt originally started as one big plain quilt using the material that is now being used for the strips. I thought that was boring and my good friend deserved more. So I decided to start making squares and this is how it is transpiring. One of the things I learned at Denyse Schmidt's quilt workshop was to look at things straight forward and farther back. I am used to putting them on the floor but this time I found a chunk of white flannel and tucked it under the rafter of my old basement and pretended I was in an old warehouse and I knew what I was doing. I bought some more greens to go with this quilt to give it some new dimension. I had just a little of the lighter green you can see on the bottom left. At first I did not like it but I think it will get lost when more squares are completed. Later today I am going to try and sneak into the taping of Oprah on Michigan avenue. Maybe she'll be giving away bolts of cool fabric! Wish me luck.

Aja

Monday night I had the pleasure of seeing Steely Dan perform Aja at the magnificent Chicago theater. This album was released in 1977. Wow that was a long time ago and sewing was never on my mind. My how I have evolved! After the concert I was having a hard time coming down from the concert. (I hate when that happens) So I began to read up and refresh my memory of their lives. Walter Becker and Donald Fagan were perfectionists and at one time did not listen to the final production of an Album/ CD because it was not recorded exactly the way they wanted it recorded. I thought how wound up can you be? I too was the same with my balanced creativity then I realized you can have unbalanced creativity and it is OK. It is hard to believe how the word "artist" can define so many people. When you are on your next creative adventure, cut lose, get wild and see if you wake up the next day. I did. Thanks Walter and Donald for a great night.

Patty's 50th

This quilt was started at Densye Schmidt's Bridgeportt

Conn. Studio.  It has since turned into Patty's 50th