For Annabelle Grace…

Both of my nieces, sisters Alea and Rachel, had babies in July. I don't always promise a baby quilt because I can't always get one made but this time I did promise. To both of them. And I finished both quilts before the babies were much more than 1 month old! Here is the quilt made for Annabelle Grace:


Annabelle-04 copy

Rachel requested color combined with black and white. I decided to play with progressions of color and size to give Annabelle something to think about. Small strips lead to larger strips, light yellow blends to darker blue. The dark blue strips are centered and act as an axis in the design.


Annabelle-07 copy

I wrote her name in my best longhand and enlarged it to make a template. I used the cutaway applique technique and appliqued it in place with perle cotton.

The quilting is fun! I quilted lines in the strips but switched to flowers in the prints. (Note: you can click on any of these photos to see it larger.)


Annabelle-06 copy

I made this quilt to hold up to wear and washing. The more it is washed the softer it will be. I mostly used prints so that stains won't show so much. If it gets dragged around on the floor – that's just fine. I hope Annabelle uses it for a very long time.

Tomorrow I'll show Addyson's quilt…


How to separate an egg…

I found this video via Valerie Hearder's facebook page. As she says, you really don't need to understand the language to see how this works. I can't wait to try it!

UPDATE: I tried it and it works! I had a very fresh egg – I think a regular one from the store might work even better. I used a really short plastic bottle – I think one more the size shown would work better. But, as I said, it works and it's better than using my egg separator. Who knew?!

 

Now I need to get back to doing something that is actually on the to-do list for today.

Magen’s Flower Garden…

Look what Linda made for her neice, Magen!


MagensFlowerGarden

Linda rediscovered the joy of English paper piecing and has been going to town with hexagons. She made the flowers and then appliqued them to the quilt. I've just put the pattern up on the web site. Click here for more information about the quilt and the pattern.

It's always interesting to write instructions for a technique that I haven't written about before. Linda gave me the tips that she had come up with as she worked on this quilt. I combined that with what I know from my own English paper piecing. Steve took the photos to illustrate the techniques… all of that went into this new pattern. Here's one of the how-to photos:


HexPrep-09

I really love digital technology! Imagine, 10 years ago it would have taken a lot more time and money (and printing, warehousing, and shipping) to get this pattern from us to you. It's amazing when you think about it. (FYI – I'll probably upload a movie showing how to English paper piece in the near-ish future.)

I'll send a newsletter soon announcing this pattern, and new fabric that isn't online yet, and there is one more pattern to get up… but before then I thought I'd share Magen's Flower Garden with you.


Star Wars lives on…

I am a fan of Star Wars. Our sons played the first 3 movies (that are actually the last 3 movies) so much in their youth that I know the dialog by heart. Now grandson Jack, at 4 1/2, is a fan of Star Wars AND the Clone Wars animated series (which is actually pretty good).

Jack's favorite toys are Legos, especially Star Wars Legos. He's growing his hair out to look more like the guys he sees in Star Wars. (Really!? The mens' hair was bad in the movies and it's still bad – but kids don't see it that way. Sigh. My grandson sports Star Wars hair and I love him so I suppose I can learn to love the hair.)

Today I ran across these travel posters by Steve Thomas that feature famous Star Wars locales. What a great idea to combine the Art Deco style with these imagined places… like Alderon:


Alderaan_by_Moonlightweb

Gotta love the Death Star moon.

I am so tempted to buy one of these (not this one, it's sold out – but there are others). I'm not sure who should get it. Jack? Chris? Jeff? Maybe Steve needs one in the Dean's office… If I could afford it I'd get one for each of them. (Birthday and Christmas season is coming – you guys should let me know if you want one.)

OK – enough of this. Now I must get back to work. I'm quilting baby quilts. I'll have more to show on that very soon!




Star Wars lives on…

I am a fan of Star Wars. Our sons played the first 3 movies (that are actually the last 3 movies) so much in their youth that I know the dialog by heart. Now grandson Jack, at 4 1/2, is a fan of Star Wars AND the Clone Wars animated series (which is actually pretty good).

Jack's favorite toys are Legos, especially Star Wars Legos. He's growing his hair out to look more like the guys he sees in Star Wars. (Really!? The mens' hair was bad in the movies and it's still bad – but kids don't see it that way. Sigh. My grandson sports Star Wars hair and I love him so I suppose I can learn to love the hair.)

Today I ran across these travel posters by Steve Thomas that feature famous Star Wars locales. What a great idea to combine the Art Deco style with these imagined places… like Alderon:


Alderaan_by_Moonlightweb

Gotta love the Death Star moon.

I am so tempted to buy one of these, but then I'm not sure who should get it. Jack? Chris? Jeff? Maybe Steve needs one in the Dean's office… If I could afford it I'd get one for each of them. (Birthday and Christmas season is coming – you guys should let me know if you want one.)

OK – enough of this. Now I must get back to work. I'm quilting baby quilts. I'll have more to show on that very soon!




The Modern…

I visited the Trinity Valley Quilt Guild and the Denton Quilt Guild this week. Such nice people! I taught and lectured and didn't have time to snap a photo of any of it. You know, I ought to give my camera to someone in the room and ask them to be the photographer! If I end up visiting your guild and you want to volunteer, just ask!

LucienFreudAfter the lecture on Friday, I had time to visit The Modern Art Musem in Ft. Worth. I had been wanting to see the exhibit of portraits by Lucien Freud and it was worth seeing. He spent his life painting people and he did it well. That said, I'm not sure he was a happy man.

Many, if not most, of the figures in this exhibit were painted with downcast eyes. It made me realize how much I like a portrait that looks me in the eye.

I had time to eat lunch in the cafe. Great food, lovely setting.

I visited some of the works from the permanent collection. I don't know why but I have always loved this painting (Elegy to the Spanish Republic, 1960, by Robert Motherwell)…

TheModern-02

I have no idea how it relates to the Spanish Republic and I don't care. I like it. And I like this:

TheModern-01

I didn't make note of the artist's name but the placement of this piece is perfect. It is in a passageway, opposite a huge window and outside of that is the very large reflecting pool. Nice. It made me spend some moments thinking about reflections, and reflecting.

I like modern art in general but I don't love it all. (Refer back to the post on what is or isn't art). For instance, the works in this room…

TheModern-03

Really, if you saw any of these in a yard sale, would you take them home? 

TheModern-04

I sort of like the box/cube but I know I wouldn't pay for it what the museum paid for it. And the words in boxes on the wall… I wonder if the artist was grinning all the way to the bank after installing that one.

I feel completely certain that there is deeply thought out idea and lengthy artist's statement to go with each of these works. I didn't stop to read them this time. Even when text helps to place a piece in context, I like the work to stand on its own without explanation. I suppose I'm a philistine (one uninformed in a special area of knowledge). I can live with that.

One more thing about The Modern – the building and grounds are lovely. Worth visiting. And if you go, touch the walls. The feel of the concrete is amazing – smooth, velvety. Lovely to look at.