Designing Monday

I got one leaf pinned on and ready to appliqué.  That's as far as I got this week as I was gone to PADUCAH!!!!

Check Judy's blog for more beautiful designs.

Home from Paducah

I had a great time in Paducah and saw so much.  Our first stop was at the studio and home of Carol Bryar Fallert.  She has a beautiful airy shop and studio for students that was filled with bright beautiful fabrics.  They are all her designs of gradated fabrics and hand dyes.  Her lovely quilts are on display in the shop and studio plus quilts of others with patterns as well.  Then she leads tours of her personal studio which is upstairs, the bedrooms for students who come for workshops, and her personal living space which included her bedroom, her living room and her dining room/ kitchen.  It is all so beautifully decorated and she graciously shows all her quilts and artwork and treated each person as if they were first guest ever.  Such a nice lady!

Then we took in the AQS Quilt Show and the many vendors.  So much to see and such gorgeous quilts.  The AQS website states that although photography is allowed, the photos are not to be shared on blogs, etc. without permission of the quilters, so I am sorry to say I cannot post much.

We spent day two at Hancock's of Paducah and took in the Rotary Quilt show which was a collection of antique quilts.

This Statue of Liberty quilt lady was in front of a restaurant posing.

Our final stop was to see the Eleanor Burns program on the First Ladies.  She is so entertaining and everyone was laughing and enjoying the show that the time really flew.

 Some audience participation.

 Here is the haul that I made.  I enjoyed every minute and now I need to get busy using all my great purchases.

A metal quilt hanging.

 Lots of batiks.

Some nice neutrals from Primitive Gatherings.

Designing Monday

I have only made a little progress on my Jillily designed table quilt.  I have finished appliquéing all the vines and now am starting on the leaves.  The leaves have a base that looks like a leaf and then two pieces that sit on top to give it more dimension.  I will have to see how well this goes by hand and then decide whether to continue, possibly fuse, or just go with a single piece and forget the top pieces.  Stay tuned.

This is a close up of the border fabric.  The original quilt that was featured in AP&Q magazine had a very simple floral that was sort of country-ish.  I could not find anything like it, of course, so this was the only fabric I could find with the right colors that still had the floral effect.  It is much more formal looking and has gold paint added.  It is really a beautiful fabric and I am happy with the result.  

Stop over at Judy's blog to see some other Monday designs.

I am headed out to Paducah tomorrow for the big show.  Can't wait.

Wacky Word on Wednesday

I love words and word games, like Boggle and doing the crossword puzzle -- Scrabble not so much. I have heard some fun words lately and thought I would share them.

Frequently when someone is in the spotlight or for one reason or another become the center of attention, they are said to be in a fishbowl. I recently read a story on the Internet about someone famous who was being targeted by the press and the article said they were in the ...

Celebriquarium

What a perfectly descriptive word! I wish I could find a way to work it into some sentences once in awhile.

You can tell I have been spending way too much time on the Internet. Recently I've been trying to track down my old classmates from high school for an upcoming reunion. It is amazing how much info is out there. And yet, some of them are totally elusive. Thank goodness for Facebook and White Pages.

Designing Monday

I have been working on hand appliqué this week - putting vines on this cherry quilt. At least I think they are cherries. They might be cherry blossoms. This is a Jillily quilt design from a past AP&Q magazine. Hand appliqué is my favorite sewing method. I grew up with hand embroidery and helping my mother cross stitch pre-printed quilt tops. When I found hand appliqué, I felt right at home.

This quilt requires that the entire top be sewn together first and then the appliqué added. This makes a lot of bulk to hold onto when sewing on the appliqué. Sometimes I use a hoop and sometimes not. Once in awhile I accidentally catch the folded under fabric in one of my stitches and have a little backtracking to do. The vines are sewn on in quadrants and each is identical. I have finished two quadrants so far.

Check out Judy's blog to see what others are working on.

Monday Designs

After seeing the setting for the Temecula Quilt Co.'s Blessing Baskets quilt, I have decided to go with a 4 block layout. So now am figuring out what fabrics to use for sashing and borders.

I also finished this little quilt that was a Quilt of the Month sew along from The Sentimental Quilter. I actually finished it twice as my borders were wavy, so I had to take them off and do them over. Measure twice and cut once is such good advice. I should take it sometime.

Check out the other designs on Judy's blog.