Video: England's Festival of Quilts

I am deep into quilting my current quilt or being kept from quilting by demands of  life. Sometimes I am very busy avoiding quilting.....

Thought you might enjoy seeing the latest Bonnie McCaffery's latest video, taken at England's Festival of Quilts. My favorite quilts are towards the end when some spectacularly quilted quilts are shown.

The picture from the video is from the fashion show of the festival and this is not only a creative and fun loving woman pictured, but she's also brave and in great shape!

Bonnie's got some great videos on her blog and Youtube of great quilts and quilters, you might want to check them out too.

My Quilty Getaway

 I had an absolutely fabulous time at my personal quilt retreat and real-life meet up with my online friend Robin. She is a total sweet heart and such an encouragement. She is a homeschooling veteran as well as a quilter and since I am fairly new to homeschooling she imparted a lot of wisdom. Never did she tell me what to do or give a lot of "you shoulds", rather, she'd tell me what she did in certain situations and let me draw my own conclusions.

I was able to get quite a bit of quilting done on my newest Poured Out quilt, though there's still a ton left to do. Robin  was working on planning and cutting out a new quilt and I'm sure my presence wasn't all too helpful. She tells me she has finished the top except the borders on Wednesday!
 I happened to think that this rug in the guest room is quilt worthy, so I snapped a pic.
 As a hostess gift, I painted this water jug copy from the Poured Out quilt for Robin. The words show up much better in the painted version of course. These words came serendipitously as I wasn't sure what to use for the jug quilting at first. Then it just all clicked and I got that part done quickly.
 The background of this quilt is not 'pretty'. Ugly words that matched my ugly, fearful, and tired heart during my husband's bout with cancer. Thorny vines that tried to drag me down during that time. Some of the same feelings still threaten to drag me down even now. Every once in a while, I get fleeting glimpses of the person I am becoming, blossoming into. (I am a late bloomer!)

Here's a pic to balance the anger above: My daughter Leah playing in the snow. She's lost her first tooth!
OK, time to wind up this post and actually quilt! I hope you are all snug and warm in your homes and getting some quilting done as it pleases you.

A Quilting Homeschooler

You know you're a quilting homeschooler when this is the ruler you hand your second grader for his math assignment!

A Rainy Day Post

Working on this quilt. Sometimes, maybe, or just thinking of working on it. It really needs to get done, but I don't want to mess it up. Apparently in my mind, if I don't work on it, I can't possibly mess it up.

It's been a very damp and dreary week here and my air-erasable marking pen is disappearing much too quickly.

I'm going this weekend to meet an online friend in person! Exciting and slightly scarey. What if she doesn't like me? What if this trip turns out to be a great plot for some TV show? Hey it could be Law and Order or America's Funniest Videos! Actually, there's been enough contact to rule out the really scarey stuff (Hi Robin, we're talking about ya!), but I do want her to like me and of course I don't want to have a break down or anything on the trip.

I really need the time away from the family so I remember my name isn't Mom. And I'm taking this quilt down there to work on. I really hope I can make some progress on it, though I suspect we'll be doing a LOT of talking and laughing and I'm not sure I can quilt and laugh at the same time!

When I get back I hope to be posting more frequently.

Happy New Year and Quilting on a Tablet

My feather needs a little work.
I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas and New Year's. I seem to have gotten lost in my To-Do list and it's had very little to do with blogging and sewing. My hubby went way overboard and surprised me with a tablet computer. He really surprised me! As in, I almost snapped at him on Christmas Eve as I was certain he hadn't bothered to get me anything, not even the $6 paperback I had specifically asked for.


Trying some spikey shapes for my new art quilt.


I now have a new favorite way of drawing out my quilting designs for practice. The program makes the 'sketch' look so artistic. It's a free Android based app called "Draw Something". I have totally wasted too much time on this tablet, trying to figure it out, loading it with free books for myself and the kiddos. It feels great to just doodle with my finger on this thing! I can save the drawings, but I usually don't. Simple to start anew, just like the new year, and try, try again!
Clamshells 

We've also spent much time rearranging the bedrooms and who sleeps in which room. My husband and I now have a bedroom/sewing room downstairs while my daughter is in our old room upstairs. We've done away with the playroom as such, and now my daughter has a better sized room upstairs. I think the arrangement will work nicely.

I had a special quilt project due to finish today. Not happening. The top's done, but I have yet to start the quilting. Not a good quilty start to the new year, but it will get done soon. I have grand plans for this year and I think it's going to be wonderful, even if it doesn't turn out as I plan it.

I hate to stipple and it shows, but on the tablet it's fun!
Gotta go.....