Finished Folk Art Quilt

To tell you the truth; I was not a big
fan of Folk Art until I tried Dawn's
BOM - "Folk Art Tribute". I hesitated
at first then thought that I should try
something different. And I'm so happy
that I did.

This took me about one year to finish.
All hand applique and pieced and quilted - whew!

Dawn encouraged us to use only what we had
in our stash. Yes! I could do that - I can't wait
to use what I have so that I can buy more (-:

I wanted to use some printed background fabric
just like Dawn did but I didn't have anything that
would blend well. So I took my white fabric and tea-
dyed it.

I also did this as a quilt-as-you-go - I echo quilted
around the images twice and then hand sewed the
blocks together.


When all of the blocks were sewn together - I then
crossed hatched using Big Stitch stitches. I love this
method and it's not as hard as I thought it would be.
I used crochet cotton yarn and an embroidery needle.


The applique is needle turned and I used two
techniques; back stitching and freezer paper
for the smaller parts, such as the leaves. My
preferred method is the back stitching technique -
I feel like I'm sculpturing the fabric as I go along.
I did however, machine sew the binding - no way
was I going to hand stitch that but the back of the
binding is hand stitched. I enjoyed this project and
the photo of the quilt doesn't do it justice!

Thank you Dawn!

Vicksburg was another BOM that Dawn designed:


I love this quilt! It's waiting patiently to be quilted.

Not only is Dawn a great Quilt Designer but she
is designing a new fabric line for Henry Glass
Fabrics! Good luck Dawn! Please visit her web site
at Linen Closet Quilts


Something I borrowed from one of my Facebook
Friends.



Happy Quilting!

Wordless Wednesday

(Wantagh, Long Island)

Wordless Wednesday

Quilts > what else?

I found this great pattern tutorial over at
Oh Fransson

I fell in love with the pattern and just had

to make one.

This quilt is for sale at my Etsy SHOP(click here)
I hope that you will visit.

Crazy nine patch

Because the name is "Crazy" - I thought that

I would use the left over scraps to make a

"Crazy" border.

It was quilted by a member of my Guild - The

Red Rose Quilters Guild - Kim Loar (long armer)

I just love the clam shell pattern and love the way

that the quilt came together.

********************************************

My Wild and Crazy Amish Quilts

One day while going through a

book about Amish Quilts; the thought

came to me "What if" I made traditional

Amish Patterns but used Wild and Crazy -

Bold fabrics???

So, I went through my stash looking for

the Wildest pattern I could find.

Once I found the fabrics; I had to decide

which Amish pattern to use. This is what

I choose:

Wild and Crazy Amish #1

Amish Bars - my version

I love black and white with red! And I really like the

way it came out - even though it may make your eyes cross.

I mitered the corners so that the pattern just flowed.

Wild and Crazy Amish #2

This is the Square in a Square Amish Pattern.

For the center square I used the The Stack and

Whack 4 patch technique.

I think that the colorful printed fabric is

Robert Kaufman's? and also the border?

But the light pink border is Lonni Rossi's -

I just love her fabric!

Again, I mitered the borders so that the pattern

just flowed. I really like the way this one came out!

These are just tops and have not been quilted yet.

Rest assured that I will probably do a Wild and Crazy

kind of quilt design for them.

I am planning to make a series of these.

I just love doing them and they're

so much fun!

Busy as a bee.....

I've been as busy as a bee------




Just took a little vacation time from blogging.

I have been------

Dyeing and over dyeing

Making a quilt for my son-in-law's niece

and

Making slow progress on Dawn's BOM
Folk Art Tribute.
I echo quilted around the applique -
now I think I'm going to do crosshatch
on the rest of it. s-l-ow- but I love it!

By the way, Dawn has a new BOM!

And

of course, I've been riding through this
beautiful countryside taking photos!




Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

L'Chaim!

L'Chaim is Hebrew - used to toast a person
or to a couples health - or just something in general.


The literal meaning "To Life"!

Today was one of those days where I felt..
... I really don't know what word to use..
maybe "spiritual" or "in sync" with the
universe? Wow that sounds so 60's!
Or how about "oneness" or "in perfect
harmony" .. whatever. Ever feel that way?

While shopping in a store - did you ever
make eye contact with someone and then
at the same exact moment you both smile
and say "hello" to each other. And you don't
even know them and have never seen them before!

I asked a friend about this once and she said
that it happens to her. Her explanation was
that your inner spirits recognize one another..?
Kindred spirits maybe.
All I know that when it happens it makes
me very happy ... don't know why that is but
it does.
And this is how my day progressed.

There's a robin red-breast that has taken
residence in a small tree by my front door.
Every time I come out or go in she goes
crazy twittering away. Kind of like yelling
at me. So when I came home from shopping;
she wasn't there. I suspected that she was
guarding her nest and sure enough I found
a nest with 4 little baby birds! I took advantage
of her absence and grabbed for my camera before
her return. I gently pushed aside the branches
(I didn't want to scare the little ones to death!)
and I proceeded to take several shots.

Here's the nest.
I have to come in a little closer without
scaring them.

Oh wow! I was never this close to
a bird's nest before this!

I guess they're waiting for some
juicy worms.

I had my camera set on Macro.
You can see the little hairs... future
feathers on his head! Aren't they
adorable!

L'Chaim

Onward to the Garden!

"Almost there"
Iris

Such glorious colors!

Doesn't it seem like everything turned
green so fast!

And finally

Folk Art Tribute

Dawn just published the last block.
The basket block on the bottom.
The pieces are cut out and backed with
freezer paper, the binding is pressed.
Now I just need to applique everything
down.
The middle block is hand quilted.
This will probably take me all summer
to hand quilt! I love it!
Thank you Dawn!

Psalm 92
For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work:
I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

L'Chaim!