What I've been working on

I finished my sister's birthday quilt, but didn't get a pic. She said she loved it! My mother's Oodle of Doodles quilt? Done and definitely not appreciated. (no pic) I guess if you are a nurse turning sixty, the gift of a lap quilt is translated into a lap robe--which means you are getting ready for the nursing home. Sigh....




A quilted pillow for a friend of mine with a recent loss of her husband. Done but not mailed. I love this one. I told my hubby that this one makes me want to acknowledge maybe I have a gift or talent for this or something.



Another pillow top or wall hanging (below)I'm working on. Just a few more details in black then I'll fill in the background with white quilting. Forgive the stray black threads.

I love doing these! It's mostly about the quilting. Fun! Both were done with nearly no marking, just a few stem lines to keep things smooth. I did mark the word 'peace' and the outline of the heart on the cream pillow. I like the freedom of making it up as I go.

I also did a few quick little wall hangings for Valentine's, but again, no pics. Just some pink hearts appliqued on white and then a loopy heart meander around.

Quilt Scandal

The Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival was held out near Virginia Beach and I had planned to combine it with a trip to the beach and aquarium, but the plans fell through.

Imagine my surprise to see a news story about scandal at the show! Apparently on of the Art quilts depicted a somewhat abstract naked pregnant woman who was sitting cross-legged with her girly parts showing (that's the term we use here in this house of preschoolers). Bet that's the first time a censor bubble was used on a quilt on TV.

Here's a link to a story on the quilt. (With the censor bubble) The comments on the story are pretty interesting. Since I might have taken my kids to the show, I have an opinion I'll share here. It's supposedly art and I wouldn't call it pornographic, though it's not to my taste and I don't think the girly parts add anything to the artist's 'message' about homelessness, nor are they necessary. It certainly got the quilt more...umm... exposure! I would have hoped that a quilt that might be considered too graphic might have been hung with a pedestal or something to keep the parts out of the direct line of sight, giving a moment to take in the quilt before your eyes are smacked with a va...girly part. Not an outright cover up, just a way to be warned and a moment to turn away if it is something one would be offended by---especially a moment to guide one's children out of sight. Who would think a quilt show would expose kids to something too adult?

Then again, I'd like a warning before girls in hip hugger pants bend over.

Thready Issues

Go to the end for my Works for me Wednesday tip.

Wow! There is so much to learn about machine quilting besides the super fun part of the free motion movement. I bought a length of Ricky Tim's Oodles of Doodles to make a simple lap quilt for my mother who has.... a love for what she calls 'contrasting colors'. We definitely have differences in color preference, though I'm getting more fond of brighter colors as I age. I made a poor choice of backing once you figure in thread color. I was trying to give her a choice of something more subtle for the back and am quilting the doodles (tracing in essence) in white thread. That showed every mistake! I switched to a dark blue, which was impossible to get the tensions perfect enough. Below is a test swatch on the edge of my project; you can see the dark blue on the right. The direction in which I move the fabric seems to affect the tensions. Anyone else have this problem? So I switched to a light blue color for the bobbin. You can just barely make it out on the left echoing the attempt at a feather.

See the doodles? I thought they'd make great practice work. And they do, but I miss the freedom of doing my own thing. And that pink floral at the bottom? Don't worry, it's part of my test swatch.

And there's another tip from me, this one is my original thought: Using a loop of painter's tape to hold all my loose thready bits! It really works for me! Especially since my dry rough hands like to hang onto the threads.

Child's Sewing Machine

This is my little daughter, age 4, on Christmas day with her favorite gift: a Singer chainstitch machine for kids. It was $14.99 at Michael's and it sews like it. Basically, it doesn't interlock all the stitches- skips stitches. But we took the thread out and she 'sews' by guiding the fabric under the needle, getting used to putting the presser foot down, using a foot pedal and moving the fabric.

If it weren't for the finger guard at the needle, I think she'd be better of with my sewing machine. But then we'd have to take turns with my machine and wouldn't be able to sew together, which she loves. I'm keeping my eye out for a thrift store machine!

See that pin basted quilt in the background? That's Leah's quilt that I was supposed to have finished before Christmas! But I boxed it up so she could unwrap it. It still needed some quilting and the binding but she was thrilled anyway.

If you're wondering about the bandaid on her finger, it wasn't from the needle. Chances are there's not even an actual break in the skin. She just loves bandaids for every boo-boo. Hello Kitty bandaids are her favorite, so maybe a Hello Kitty Janome is in her future. Maybe I could one day upgrade to the Horizon and she could have my current machine? HA!