Painted shoes

You know what a shoe hound I am. Guess what? I went to a Wearable Art Connection lecture by Margot Silk Forrest, and learned that you can PAINT your shoes. Oh my, I am in heaven!
I started with a pair of pale lilac Tevas. Comfy, but blah. Got hold of [...]

Leapin’ Lizards!

It’s a slow news day…
look what I saw as I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair:

yup– a lizard somehow crawled into the ceiling light in my bathroom.  I quickly turned off the light so the bulb didn’t burn him, and DH came and removed the lizard to the outside.  Alive and well, he [...]

Preparations for teaching quilting classes

I recently returned from Quilting with Machines, a quilting conference in Ohio. I taught 5 art technique classes (well, 4, plus one fashion show featuring my Wild Onion Jackets). This was the first time I taught nationally, and the first time I had to fly all my “stuff” to the location.
Most of the [...]

Fibervision Art show at the Elverhoj Museum

I was juried into the current fiber art show at the Elverhoj Museum in Solvang, CA called “Redefining a Material World”.  It runs from now through January 24, 2010, and it’s gorgeous!  The Fibervision artists have really outdone themselves, and with all the beautiful and inspiring work to choose from, I am honored to have [...]

Memory Quilt revealed

It’s time to reveal the finished memory quilt!  It took me months of standing and staring, calculations, deep breaths, and actual sewing time to create this special quilt.  This isn’t a show-stopper, or a ribbon winner. Initially, I rolled my eyes in despair at the mix of fabric prints I had to work with.  I [...]

Memory quilt tutorial part 7

Thanks for sticking with me!  The quilt parts are all finished, and now it’s time to put it all up on the design wall and start sewing it all together.  Cross your fingers that all the blocks play together nicely!
See how adding the floating dark green corners helped create an easier-to-use sized block?  The on-point [...]

Memory Quilt tutorial part 6

I have most of the components finished for the quilt, but I need one more:  sashing to separate the Basket blocks.  I decide on  flying geese blocks, to tie in with the points from the baskets.
Flying Geese blocks call for a special Flying Geese ruler in the Wild Onion Studio!  I love this ruler because [...]

Home again

I am home from teaching at Quilting with Machines, tired but exilerated! What a terrific experience; the show is packed with wonderful classes, terrific teachers (ahem!) and lots of interesting vendors. I overheard that next year, there will be quilts on exhibit, too.
I did not even take my camera out, I was so [...]

Memory quilt tutorial part 5

Put on your big girl panties, ’cause it’s time to make some basket blocks!  I chose a fairly simple basket to make, as basket blocks go.
My original background fabric was a cream colored floral that the customer had pulled from my stash.  She loved that fabric, and I made  all 4 basket blocks using it [...]

Memory quilt tutorial part 4

Now that the Irish Chain blocks are ready to go, I turn my attention to the alternate block for the Irish Chain blocks, which would be a Square in a Square block (SNS).
For these blocks, I used the lighter colored dresses, and in case you were wondering, the gauze dresses with the fusible stabilizer worked [...]