Sew Sunshine

"Mountain High, Valley Low"  48" x 38" improv from scraps line quilting in diamond pattern The improv triangle QAL with Nicholas Ball on IG was so much fun. It was just the most glorious distraction for me. I was able to sit down and make a few blocks at a time and didn't have to worry about measurements and sizes. It was just what I needed during my waiting game with my health issues.  The back piece was something I hand dyed a while back. I think it worked pretty great for this back with a few leftover blocks. I had several versions going and of course didn't think it was going to end up so big but it was just so fun to work on.  Luckily I had just the right aurifil thread. I ended up using most of the lighter ones which were a mix of 50 and 40 weight.  It took a long time to figure out what I wanted to quilt across all those colors. I asked my husband what he saw when he looked at this piece and he said points

Project Quilting 11.4 theme is Birds in the Air This is my " From Dusk till Dawn" 20" x 20"  Improv scrap quilt Organic matchstick quilting in various shades.  So excited that I can jump in this challenge.  I wanted to play with my scrap bits jar and see what I could come up with. I used 10 background colors to go with the 10 colors of birds. The gradient fabrics helps to give it the feel of dusk till dawn.  Linking up with Persimon Dreams and  P.Q. 11.4  pop over and see all the entries this week! I just started sewing bits and soon I had all these rows. It was getting dark so I had to quit until I could see what I was doing.  In other news I am am really enjoying #quiltconfromhome. So many people are posting and sharing all the quilts plus the app has been great to see things up close and get the names of all the awesome quilters. Here is a quick snap of my Third place winner in the Bee Group class.  Bee Mates that helped to make &

"Strength and Beauty" is my MQG remake from the September 2014 "Chess on the Steps" quilt made by Krista Hennebury of  Poppyprints Blog .  50"x 50"  organic crosshatch quilting in capri blue on the front Her version: So as I mentioned in my previous post that I have been having an issue with my eye/brain connection causing me to have vertigo 24/7 some weeks.  So little or nothing in the way of creativity has been happening. When I had a moment that I could stand I wanted to jump into something good. Krista has a fun method for making improv units she calls improv under the influence piecing technique. Her quilt was on my bucket list to make one day and then suddenly the MQG came up with a challenge to remake some of the free quilt patterns they have featured over the years.  Believe it or not but I had most of the colors already in my stash and ready to go. I had to locate two of the blues but the rest were ready to go. I took t

My lovely niece Lisa made this fabulous scene. The tall white tree was cut with her Cricut machine. So were the framed picture and the tiny bits that make up those cool balls. These are all so wonderful. Like a wonderland!  I like to think I am creative with my quilting but this was all another level that i just had to share.  Also recently my last post was on the test quilt "Eternal Moment' That I did for Simone Quilts. Read about it  HERE   Her pattern is in the last issue of Make Modern Magazine. I thought I would post that the magazine used my test quilt in their newsletter! Here is my screen shot: Then recently my friend Sheila used one of my quilts for her Mid Century Modern Doll class teaching her young students about the 50's in her Doll and me classes. (American Doll series she does at the International Quilt Museum her in Lincoln ) Seriously cute stuff. My quilt is the upper Left. It is Mod Olive pattern by Sew Kind of Wonderful. Love the qui

Here is my test quilt of "Eternal Moment" pattern by Simone of  Simone Quilts . This pattern is currently in  Make Modern  Magazine issue 32.  I wanted a rainbow theme for the orange peels and used up some scrappy low volume pieces for the background.   Lots of orange petals. I didn't want to raw edge them so I used freezer paper templates and starch to turn each petal.  Laying out some of the petals to see how they look behind the giant orange peel was so much fun.  I kept stopping to take more pictures of the progress because once all the little work was done this quilt top came together really quickly.  I love the texture of the mix of background fabrics.  I wish I would have gotten this quilted before Simone's pattern was released but I have done very little sewing with my current eye issues. I look forward to getting to it though hopefully this year.  Recently my black and white mini  There's A kind of Hush  was ac

I decided to link up with Cheryl at  Meadow Mist Designs  for the Best of 2019 party. I had a small progress year as far as quantity but feel I did pretty good in the quality end.  Several of my quilts won ribbons at the fair and my first quilt got accepted into QuiltCon.  Here are some of the top viewed quilts: I admit that I love them all and for different reasons.  Sunset Strip was another favorite. I really liked how this one turned out.  and lastly "Path Interrupted". This one has been in my mind as part of a series so maybe in 2020 I can bring that to life.  Lots of ups and down health-wise this year and continuing so right now into 2020 but I hope that none of it stops me. I am very grateful for all the opportunities and successes I had this year.  I currently am part of a wonderful group that sews for Quilts for Kids and I was included in an extra video clip for the recent PBS program Craft in America: Quilts. You can see the QFKs clip a

I have been doing a few quilts in a QAL hosted by  Homemade Emily Jane . It has been really fun to dig into my stash and see what I can come up with.  My first one was inspired by this great rainbow gradation fabric.  You can see some of the fabric here.  and here!!! so fun. I used a very light celery green thread for most of the straight line quilting.  Next up I was trying to think more baby boyish.   Okay ...pretty cool if you see that beam of light slanting down right to my quilt!!! Here is my brown version. I found all the fabrics in my stash again. I managed to cut this a tiny bit small when I cut them out and had to improvise and add an extra arrow point to each row to get it to a bigger size. Of course I ran out of brown and had to sub white. Pretty dramatic still so I am okay with it.  Organic wavy line quilting for this one.  Used up more fabric on the back.  It was cold out and windy and suddenly very sunny but you get the id