Sublime Perfection

I am actually really excited to announce that after dozens of patterns, sixteen boots and some that I can't count because they are really just awful (the McDonalds one for example) I have finally found perfection. It came in the form of the interior lining, once folded over creates the perfect fuzzy furry top. I have found perfection and I have spent the evening admiring my own work. Not very humble I admit, but to be fair, i've spent weeks on this project and attaching the fur at the top has given me trouble from the start. Aaaaaaah perfection. Now I can create a finished pattern, one that i'm happy with.
So with a finished pattern, I made my boot. Isn't it pretty.

A Snow Day

For once it looks like Christmas in Las Vegas. It snowed and snowed. Then they cancelled school, so here are the pictures of Wednesday night, and the Thursday morning that school was cancelled. This would never have happened in Salt Lake, only in the desert. So for once, you won't find me behind my sewing machine, i'm going out to snowball fight.

Christmas Boots

So I have now completed 14 boots. It seems that demand for them has been ever increasing. So I put them all under the little tree and took a photo. They are so merry and bright.

Christmas Trees

This wall hanging had no pattern, I wanted to make trees so first I cut triangles, and then created a background that would make a rectangle. I added the bottom to the tree and then a final piece of fabric to separate the tree from the sashing. It was a pretty fun project, not too difficult but creating the pattern was half the fun. For the quilting I did stippling around the tree and on the sashing, quilting the fabric like that around the trees, which I left unquilted, really makes them pop out of the quilt. A great project.

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas!

This great wall hanging is for Jamie. It was supposed to have retro colors to go with it, but when the time came to sew it up I looked at the fabric and thought - green with stars. So that's what it turned out to be. Neil says it's the coolest wall hanging i've ever made, probably because there is Charlie Brown on it. Subject matter counts after all.

A Christmas Boot - Hooray!

After extensive reverse engineering and six prototypes I proudly present The Boot. Now modifications have been made to create a more durable, more pleasing boot. The original boot was made from felt with heavy batting glued around the outside. Something that could be made in an hour or less, a quick craft, then the empty can was dropped inside. I created a liner for the boot to conceal the can. The boot laces and has fake fur around the outside, only messy while you are sewing with it, and true to the original has a cardboard cut out from a cereal box as the base of the boot. The toe is stuffed with batting until firm. So for my Steve, Merry Christmas, it only took 11 years.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!
I feel like I need to put this up before it's too late. I'm buried under Christmas projects right now, so i'll start posting those soon. This is one of the wall hangings fron the wall hanging of the month club. The Thanks part is tricky, you can fold it back and not have it showing if you wish. Clever - I know. Still, I have much to be thankful for so here's a great big THANKS to everyone.

A #10 Can in A Christmas Boot

Steve has been asking for a boot for Christmas for years. Apparently in his family they all had them growing up. This year I decided to tackle the project. So having never seen one, and with only a few things to go on - like it's red, has a toe, and a big can is inside I set out to create one. I stared with the green boot and Steve said it had more of a toe. Then I made the red one, which certainly has more toe, but again, not quite right, He said the toe wraps around. So, after some searching I came across a pattern that I hope is closer, although it eliminates the nifty lining for the can that I created. If the look is right, i'll rework the pattern so that it satisfies me and Steve's memories. Let me know what you think, does anyone (other than the great MT) have one of these Christmas boots? Also, i've stopped using Christmas fabric for my prototypes, i'm saving it for when I get this right.

Happy Halloween!

Dick and Jane Go To School

Okay maybe not the best title, but it's not too late if you have a better suggestion. I can easily change the tag. Neil suggested, Fun Bubbles for a title. I really need something that works here.

This is the quilt I made for the Harvest Hoedown at Marcus' school. Each of his classmates wrote their name on a block, and some drew pictures. I themed this around Dick and Jane because I wanted to do something different than the Cat in the Hat quilt I made for Mrs. T two years ago. It's a little smaller than that quilt was but I really love all the bright colors, and the kids did a really great job with their names and spelling different words and trying to follow instructions. I did much better this time around by taping up 1/2 inch around the edges of the blocks so they wouldn't write in the seam allowance. That was a huge success, i'm patting myself on the back for that one.

So my thanks to Mrs. T, Marcus (and his Jedi Starfighter), Cole (and his dog), Toby, Taylor, Mckenna (who drew the cutest girl on a bike), Jasmin (who makes cute hearts and rainbows), Isabella, Daniel, Rachel (and her tree), Alexia, Talon (and his great alphabet), Jessica, Shyanne, David (in the nick of time), and Brody (awesome car Brody).

If you wish to see it, it will be at the school in the silent auction during the Harvest Hoedown on Thursday night. Hope for high bids- it's for Marcus' class.

My favorite Foot #5

This is my new favorite foot. It stitches in the ditch like a dream. How could my last machine not have had this - I think it's an essential. It gives perfectly straight lines and total satisfaction. A must have. I would put it on my Christmas list if I didn't have one.

Not too Scary, Not too Cute

When I went to make this one I wanted to be sure that it wasn't too cute. This went to a family of boys and I didn't want it to be girly, but then it also wasn't supposed to be scary.

Way too many restrictions if you ask me. So I got this great fabric, used in the center, made by Alexander Henry, one of my favorite designers. It's called "house of the haunts." Then the rest are scraps, the whole this is very busy but I love the effect. You just can't stop looking at it.

3 Quarter Moons

Neil and I were at Phil Larsen's office yesterday getting Neil's feet molded for his inserts. On the wall there was a small quilt made by one of the other doctors patients. It had four cowboy boots and the words "All I do is feet" across the top. So the first thing I do as soon as the door is closed and we are alone is go and examine this quilt. I had to look at the piecing, the stitching and the quilting and you know I turned it over. There was a nice label on the back which gave the name of the lady who sewed it and who it was for and when, and then of course the best part which was the title " A Direct Quote". So I thought about it for a minute and realized that the quote must be the "All I do is feet" part. But still, what a clever title. Some of my titles have been odd, and some don't seem to fit, but mostly they come from inspiration like the title floats out of the air and makes it's mark. So here is "3 Quarter Moons" - really it's 3 3/4 moons and I know that, but I thought the other way was more interresting. What's in the title? It really is just the name, but it does give you an opportunity to get a look into the mind of the person who made the quilt. So next time, turn it over, and see what it says.

Trunk or Treat on the 10th! I'm not ready!

So the ward had the trunk or treat on the 10th of October. I was sewing up until the moment we walked out the door. Dahlia had to have all her pleats or the skirt wouldn't have the right effect. Sorry the pictures aren't so great, I could not get the kids to hold still no matter how I tried.

Neil is a character from the Lego Star Wars game - an Ewok, Clone trooper, Jedi combination.

Marcus is Mario.

Dahlia is a princess (she wanted to be Belle but I put blue in the dress which made her super mad and then she refused to wear it - at least until she changed her mind.)

At least i'm ready for the 31st!

It's October! Halloween fabric here I come!

Hooray! I can break out the Halloween fabric. I wait all year for this. Hold on! I'm just getting started.

Believe begins with a C

I got the title off a Cubs shirt. It's how I feel right now. A full size quilt in such a short time. If I can do it, surely the Cubs can. It's been 100 years!

Still 3 days, but now it's 2, or is it 1 ?

Quilting is done. I put some cubs logos in, two sizes, 8 inch in the center and 5 inch on the outside. There is also a goat. Have to have the goat. No mayo though - thanks for the comment Nat, but you wouldn't have wanted that anyway. I absolutely abandoned making bats, they looked like blobby long things and I had to take them out. Tomorrow i'll start the binding. I'm still trying to decide between red and blue. Neil voted for white, but that's a bad color choice in a binding. I probably won't decide on that until ten seconds before I cut the fabric.

3 Days Left

The sandwich is made. I have spent this morning getting some images of Cubs logos and of course looking for the perfect goat. There has to be a goat.

4 Days left

So I was going along very well until I realized this was getting much bigger than I imagined, I think because it's on point I had the dimensions turned in my mind. I am working on setting the corner blocks and the outer border this morning, and later today. Hoping to get the whole top finished today and get the sandwich made. That may be a problem though, I picked up eggshell muslin because it reminded me of the fabric old baseball uniforms were made out of, unfortunately it's just so sheer and cheap looking. So probably one more shopping trip is in order, two if you include returning the backing I already bought. So, here I go.

Chronicle of a Quilt Foretold

If I were Gabriel Garcia Marquez I would show the quilt first and then reveal slowly how it was created. Instead I have six days to create a Cubs quilt. Yesterday I made sketches of the design and got the center block (the Cubs t-shirt). Today I went fabric shopping and decided on baseballs, with a nice blue back ground, bat fabric, and a selection of red, eggshell and royal blue. I know the blue is too dark, my plan is to use it in the binding. Those corner pieces I still don't have a plan for, but perhaps the baseball bats. I can't "see" it yet. Tonight I hope to get all the pieces cut. Right now the plan is for 12" blocks, with a 17" inch width given that i'm setting them on point. This should work out over 80 inches in width so I haven't yet sketched in a border, I'm not sure I need one yet. So.......6 days and counting.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

I've been putting a wall hanging together for Halloween. I can't decide how to lay it out. Please vote for your favorite.

Flowers Sing Refrain

Grand Finale

Alice Morrey Bailey

Last night the sky was filled with lyric sound.

Arpeggioed mountain scenes backdropped the stage.

Profundo claps electrified the ground

While ballerina flowers of tender age

Swayed upper left. A chorus line of trees

Swept in from right as silver-costumed rain

Danced in and out to Gypsy fiddle breeze.

One snowy peak, spot-lighted sang refrain.

Duets of rainbows arched from wing to wing

As rapier lightning dueled upstage and down.

A choir of rivers burst their throats to sing.

West-facing windows spangled all the town.

The prima donna sun took bows of light

Before the lowered curtain of the night.

This fabulous poem was my inspiration for the quilting. It feels like a dance to me and so I tried to make the quilted flowers dance. There is a lot of movement in the quilting and the poem. The fabric is all 1930's reproduction feed-sack prints. This one is for Kelli's gorgeous girl.

Happy Birthday Jamie

Here is the fabulous cake I made for Jamie's birthday. It's a cherry chip cake with cherry frosting (even though it's black). I made it to match the sticker on her truck. She is the self proclaimed president of the i.b.t.c. and don't ask my why that's lowercase. It's made with the barbie cake skirt mold. I tell you, that's the most useful cake pan i've ever had. It even makes Death Star's with just a little trimming. Fabulous.

Ariel the Mermaid

This is the second of four. Yippee. Here is the great thing about this Ariel quilt. It's actually for one of my children. Dahlia, as is commonly known, is a huge Ariel fan, so I made this Ariel quilt. I fussy cut those ariels and made the blocks, Jeanette helped decide on the orange to tie the navy and the lighter blue fabrics together by using the color of Ariel's hair. But here is the kicker, Dahlia likes the back better than the front. Of course. It's like giving the child a toy, and they play with the box. Still though, I really think it's fun and I like it and that's all that matters.