The hurrier I go the behinder I get! This sums up my life in the last few weeks...time is flying by and I'm holding on by the seat of my pants trying to get everything done on my ever growing TO-DO List! I just need to make it till March and then I can take a break...or April, definitely by then I'll be able to sit back, kick my feet up and relax or else I will deliberately throw myself down a rabbit hole and call it good! I do feel a little bit like Alice in Wonderland these days - never having the right key, or the right hat/purse/shoes/etc., etc., never being in the right place at the right time, that sort of thing...maybe it's karma or maybe it's early on-set dementia...or maybe, just maybe, I'm normal and everyone else is nuts?! That's probably it!! I still know a great quilt though when I see one, so that should be proof that I'm normal (enough)! I've got some wonderful quilts to show you but before we get to them, take a gander at this beautiful little basket...
Stephanie has been taking basket-weaving classes and this one is made out of pine needles. I don't remember how long she said it took her to make, maybe a couple of hours. I'd say that was a great use of time!
This one has been shown here before, when it was just a top but now it has been quilted and bound and it's definitely worth a second look! Helen made this - a simple pattern made extraordinary by her use of color. For Helen it's all about the color!
That would be Helen's arm holding up her quilt...love that I was able to capture that! As you can tell, I've been working on my photography skills! Hahahaha...I'm just lucky to remember my camera and all I know it "point and shoot!" Okay, this quilt - another simple pattern, the rail fence - but the fabrics give this quilt movement and really set it apart from any other rail-fence I've seen! Helen just recently finished this one and even though our meeting was at the end of January, Christmas was still "up" and it was SO FUN! Everyone should leave Christmas up until Valentine's Day...if I ran the world that would be my first decree!
This is Barbara's Winter Wonderland quilt. This is such cute fabric, I love the animals and how Barbara has set them inside and outside her blocks. Notice the saw-tooth border - wow, that's a lot of work! Way to go Barbara! Diane made a quilt very similar to this, and she brought her quilt in a few months back - it would be fun to see them side by side...hint, hint!
This was our group project last year - to make house blocks for each other. Barbara already has her blocks sewn together - she's been busy! I like her newsprint background fabric and especially like how you can see the word LOVE. This turned out really nice - I wonder what I did with my house blocks???
This quilt should be called Jenny's Jealous Quilt. Jenny bought it at a thrift shop for $40. Did you read that right??? FORTY BUCKS!!! And this is a NEW quilt! It is beautifully pieced with Aunt Gracie fabrics and the quilting is wonderful. Someone definitely fell down the rabbit hole and hit her head, because they could not have been thinking clearly when they gave this beauty away! I'm definitely jealous of Jenny, her timing, good fortune and luck to be at the right place at the right time to snag this amazing quilt!
This year our quilt group project is to teach something new each month. Stephanie brought in her felted wool dogs and talked about making them but what she really wanted to show us was how to connect wool to wool with an amazing little tool...
It's called a Needle Felting Base and Tool and it's made by Clover. There is a foam-type base under the tan fabric and the little green tool (being held in someone's hand) has 4 "needles" that are pushed into the wool tweed fabric, into the tan wool, into the base, and that makes the wool stick to the other wool...and it doesn't leave a mark! Just think of the fun you and I can have making wool "pictures" to either quilt or frame - without taking a stitch!!! Of course, you are still supposed to stitch things in place, I mean if you intend to use it in a quilt or another project that will be worn or used in any way...but for a picture that will be framed under glass...no stitching is required! I can feel the purists rolling their eyes... those who care about detailed hand-work, will still stitch around every piece of wool with their precision stitches...alas, no short cuts for them! But for me, this is life-changing!!! Thanks Stephanie!
I'll leave you with Helen's sweet Valentine's quilt, hand-stitched with love. Not a lot of quilts this time but as usual it was a great meeting with great friends. I hope you all have a very happy Valentine's Day...I'm looking forward to my plastic rose with fake water droplets that the mister always buys for me from the finest gas station in Seattle...I'm a lucky gal!
