Tuesday, May 31, 2011

New additions

Ooooo!  I have a new addition to my quilting toolkit.  Isn't it cool?

It comes with a frame too, but I can't put it up just yet.  In the meantime I used the small extension table that came with it.  I couldn't wait to give it a try, so I did some practicing on a small quilt sandwich.  See...

and here is a close up...
Sorry about the poor photo quality...need a bit more practice with both the camera and the MegaQuilter.

I also received this delightful addition to my collection of totes from my Quilted Basket swap partner, Lise from Ontario. 


Then, today, another new addition arrived in the mail quite unexpectedly from Evelina in Italy. She was my secret swap partner in an earlier Mug Rug swap.



Mmmmm, looks like I might just have to take a trip to Tuscany to get the right ingredients.

Till the next time, sew piecefully!!! (excuse the pun)

Sunday, May 22, 2011

A Trip for Two

Last weekend I took "A Trip for "2" to Boston".  Actually it involved delving into a pattern from Prairie Pieces, Council Grove.  And I took a friend along for the ride.  Before we left we had a stopover at a local quilt shop and purchased things to pack for the trip.




Of course we also had to bring along other essentials. 

Then we were off!   The cutter was rolling along, our machines were humming with our "pedals to the metal" and voila! we were cruising.  We rounded the corners and soon had Boston Commons in our sights. 

After a bit of a rest stop and a delicious lunch we were on our way again.  Some of our fellow travellers were also enjoying the trip.


I was enjoying the trip so much that before I knew it, it had come to an end. 




Now I just have to add a couple of extra borders and I will have a nice lap quilt to snuggle up under.  Might make that trip again!
Till the next time, happy creating.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Back on track

I have been in a bit of a funk lately, but the creative juices have started to flow again.  I finished a quilted basket for the swap that I joined on Michelle's site, the Quilting Gallery.  It's is off in the mail on Tuesday.  It's a secret swap, so I don't think the person I'm sending it to will see a picture of it, but just in case, here is just a hint. 



Cute, don't you think?

I also finished some "utensil holders"  for my sister to sell at her local market.  It took four trips to the local fabric store to get all the materials together.  These holders went together quite quickly once I finally had all the pieces that I needed.  It's a Simplicity pattern.  I'll finish a few more next week and send them off in the mail too!

Gee! Everything is off somewhere, so maybe I should take a little trip too.

Monday, May 2, 2011

I digress

On my way to our Guild's retreat I came across this odd contraption driving down the side of the road.  Here is a clue of what I saw...

 
 Can't figure it out?  Here is another clue... 
Nope it's not a locomotive.  Here are the last pictures that I took before it trundled down the street and I headed off to the retreat.


But I digress.  I really need to get back to the sewing.  I have a challenge to complete for the Tangled Textiles group that I belong to; theme is "Games".  I got that narrowed down, but still trying to figure out how to portray my vision.  Think I'll take a look in the book Art + Quilt Design Principles and Creative Exercises by Lyric Kinard to see if there are any suggestions in there.

I also need to get caught up on my FMQ Challenge.  I have not made as much headway as I had hoped.  I still need to post about that and will do so in a day or two.  Need to get the pictures taken, but still trying to figure out the settings on this fool camera.  Where does the time go? 

Quote for the day:  "Do or do not, there is no try!"  --Yoda

Happy creating everyone!