Using a card label, the value blocks were assembledThe 5 inch blocs were divided into piles by value and moved around to match my mapThe 4 square blocks were assembled one at a time to keep values in place ..read more

One of my favorite things to make are stumpwork needlelace slips using buttonhole stitches.  You can make stumpwork slips other ways (satin stitches, French knots, long and short stitches are some examples), but I like working with a simple buttonhole stitch.  I have used these slips to make insect wings, branches of trees and other plants, flower petals, and animals.  I have created several patterns for animals using buttonhole-based needlelace.  I have developed my own shortcuts for this technique.  First of all, let me answer the question, “what is a slip”?  A ..read more

When I answered the call for quilts for Donna DeSoto’s plan for the book, Inspired by Endangered Species: Animals and Plants in Fabric Prespectives. I finished my first quilt, “An African Prince: A Black Rhinoceros” early in the working window we were given. I let Donna know it was finished and she suggested I pick another species. The list of animals was narrowed down to a few by then, but when I asked for the Chinese Alligator I was relieved to hear it was available. “Jewel of the Beautiful Yangtze River”, by Vanessa McCallum 2017 Surprisingly, it is one of only two types of alligators. It i ..read more

Just loaded the WordPress app on my phone and thought I would give it a try. ideas: name tag with thimbles cascade quilt making panel wall hangings making embellished wall hangings with panels (hedgehog etc) artist panels abc quilts from panels fix kaffe-esk quilt post daddy’s shirts blue grizzly work on cork book planning stumpwork cicada quilt batik fish panels paducah show for danny amazonas small wall quilt self-challenge 1x in 2 weeks period for 2 months (4 quilt series) 12 x 12 — animal medium wall quilt self-challenge 1x month for 4 months  (4 quilt series) 24 x 24 — flower large w ..read more

I have a hard time using embroidery hoops because I tend to get cramps in my hands.  I try to keep the hoop size small; large hoops are especially hard on my hands.  I also like to work with both hands; one hand moves the needle while the other hand loops the floss, allowing me to work much more quickly than with a hoop.  I thought of using pillows for my patterns instead of an embroidery hoop.  My first pillow patterns were on small pillows, stuffed tightly like large pincushions.  The worked well, but I still wanted something that would completely free my second hand ..read more

Since I am not getting out of the house much – and I am definitely avoiding anywhere there are crowds – I decided to make some Christmas presents. I want to give my husband a portrait of our family members. There are 6 of us, so I started already. The first one I did was my grandson, then I did his father (my oldest). I have already done patterns for his girlfriend and my youngest son and am ready to start those. I wanted to show how I do the steps and – because I don’t like to highlight the family with their real images and names – I will use my youngest son’s image but keep it “off-screen” a ..read more

I haven’t been posting for quite some time, but I am back now! Originally, I took time off to work on a quilt I wanted to submit for the competition at Houston’s International Quilt Festival. That didn’t work out. I knew that the virus would make it impossible for me to feel safe in crowds of 50,000 plus at the show and vendor market because I have an immunity deficiency. I decided that I would wait a year to complete that quilt and submit it next year. So, I started sewing masks and focusing on other – more important – life issues. I have been back to my art for the past couple months and am ..read more

I have a love of Kaffe Fassett fabrics! I have a small collection of his designs and fabrics that look similar to his – all together, I call these my kaffe-esk collection. This allows me to bend the Kaffe Fassett fabric rule in my head and buy what I like if they look good together. I have plenty left after making a couple different quilts will them. One, described in a former post, is ready for the quilting. It will be one of my next 10 things I do. I had already started a kaffe-est quilt. I thought was quite vibrant and has good flow, using a diamond pattern that makes a “spiderweb”. I like ..read more

I have a large collection of panel fabrics. For a while, they were my “go to” for a quick wedding or housewarming gift. I have several that are “round” in nature and set about thinking of a quick way to use them. My quilt guild had an upcoming quilt show and need donations to sell in the vendor booth we sponsor. I decided to make small sewing kits. oops, I could have ironed the fabric… Moda’s Essence fabrics have beautiful fall colors. I have a nice fabric to use for the kits for the guild’s shop: it is called Essence by Moda fabrics. I made four of these to donate. I apparently didn’t take ..read more

This is my second post using my Gelli Plates (see Fun With Gelli Plates, 1.0). I had so much fun working on that surface design post. I developed a method using clear contact paper to transfer a design to the plate for the pattern. I had a thought of how to do an overall design on a whole-cloth quilt. I will work on both of these ideas to improve my method of “overall” printing on a quilt top. It doesn’t have to be a whole-cloth style quilt. It could be a prepared quilt top or sections to be pieced afterwards, like I did in my first Fun with Gelli Plates. I had this idea… What if I make an int ..read more