But wait! There’s more! Hawaiian quilt block explosion!

Published on by car2ole1 Comment

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I hope you’re not tired of looking at colorful Hawaiian quilt blocks!  Anita Goodesign and I have been busy in the studio.  The colors are popping!

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For some reason, parts of this turquoise block remind me of whale tails.  The ones in the ocean.  This blue batik actually has a fish design in it, disguised by the appliqué process.

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This color is difficult to photograph, just can’t seem to capture the beautiful periwinkle coloring.  I love the way the sawtooth leaves come together at the seams and look like the teeth on a man-eating plant!

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This orangish-red was screaming out to become what looks like anthuriums in this block.  Or maybe it’s clubs and hearts from a deck of cards?

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Both of the green blocks I’ve made so far just blow me away.  The batiks are more beautiful as appliqués than they are as yardage.  I didn’t think that was possible!

What’s your favorite block so far?  Any opinions?  Here, I’ll let you review the others…

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Coming up next, orange.  And purple.  Cathy loves purple.

Hey, all you former Girl Scouts! Here’s a grown-up sit-upon for your grown-up bum!

Published on by car2ole2 Comments

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Does anyone else remember making a sit-upon in Girl Scouts?  I can’t really remember what fabric I used.  I’m sure it was groovy.  The one thing about which I am sure, you could feel the floor through those sit-upons.

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My butt does not touch the ground on this cushion.  It’s got four and 1/2 bags of fiber fill in it!  I don’t think Andre the Giant could get his butt to touch the ground on this one.

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I bought the pattern through Hawthorne Threads, one of my favorite online retailers.  It is called the Hexagon Situpon by Bonnie Christine.  The fabric is vintage Indonesian ikat, and I’ve been carrying it around in my collection for >20 years.

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The construction of this cushion is pretty straight forward – the six sides are squares, the top and bottom are each six triangles. One brilliant detail is that the “show” fabric is quilted to canvas.  This means you can use anything – including quilting cotton- for this pattern.  That gives us the whole world of possibilities.

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And here is the Hexagon Situpon in action.  None of the other humans were home at the time.  The cat wagged his fat-ass tail and gave me that “not on your life” look.  So Ricky Ricardo Montalban Rich Corinthian Leather patiently posed for two photos.

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This shot is just gratuitous look-at-how-nice-our-weather-is photography.

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And this one is just here to see if you get dizzy.

Pineapples and hibiscus join the Hawaiian quilt party!

Published on by car2ole4 Comments

The pineapple block is ready for it’s debut! DSCN5748 Doesn’t it look juicy?  And look at the little smiles at the bottom of each fruit!  Also making an entrance today… DSCN5747 The lovely pink hibiscus!  I also managed to stitch together the blocks for the red and blue designs, whatever the heck they are. DSCN5746 DSCN5749 I was tempted to just sit around on my laurels, basking in the glow of my ribbon from the quilt show.  With it comes great fame and glory, you know.  Talk show offers, world summits, ringing the closing bell at the stock exchange.  All that good stuff.  But no, I just got right back to work on my projects. DSCN5745 I have hired a security detail, however, and put my Hawaiian quilt blocks under the watchful eye of this Chinese soldier.  Not that my success is going to my head or anything…

Yippy skippy, look what I got!

Published on by car2ole10 Comments

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I went to the Kauai Quilt Show today and found this wonderful surprise.  I’m pleased, and really proud to get a ribbon for my first entry into a quilt show.

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I’ve actually never been to a quilt show before today.  What a treat to look at all the entries.  The winner in the machine embroidery category was breathtaking – a geisha panel made by a friend.

I have to admit the handwork category really blew me away.  The first place in this category was my favorite quilt of the whole show.  Well, besides mine!

This is the quilt version of lipstick

Published on by car2ole2 Comments

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My mom taught me a couple of things that have stuck with me over the years.  One is never leave the house without lipstick.  Another is that every quilt should have a label.  So it follows that no quilt should leave the house without a label.

I decided to embroider the label for my quilt.  I entered all the words on my sweet Destiny, but it looked so boring.  Plain and boring, two things I aspire to NOT be.

I think I solved that problem quite well by adding this design by Urban Threads.  Really jazzed up the label, don’t you think?

Be gentle, it’s my first: Mark Twain and all his little friends are ready to go public!

Published on by car2ole8 Comments

I am entering a quilt in the Kauai Quilt show!

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I’ve never entered a quilt in a show.  I’ve only been quilting for a couple of years, so I guess that’s not surprising.

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I call my quilt “How Did I Get Here?”  It’s like a pictorial representation of the places in the US where I have lived and learned.  How cute is little Mark Twain in the corner of Missouri?  I hope I haven’t seen the end of Mark Twain’s head on my quilts.  That one is going to take a lot of thought.

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I’m pretty sure that embroidering the state of Minnesota is the only opportunity I will have to make a gopher.  Unliess I decide to do a Caddyshack quilt some day.  What the heck would that look like?

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Hawaii is actually the first one I did of the states.  When I started this one, I didn’t have a plan for a quilt, and certainly not a thought of making a quilt for a show.  Everything just snowballed from here.  Or erupted from here.

The designs are all from the 50 States collection by Anita Goodesign.  I love using their designs; so detailed and perfect.  Each state took me a full day to embroider.  And I have half of a Missouri sitting around somewhere.

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These small state outlines are from Urban Threads, another awesome source for machine embroidery designs.

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I listed all the most important places in my life using the lettering in my Destiny.  It’s hard to tell in this photo, the thread is a variegated blue/white.

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I like my little appliqué cornerstones.  There are two Hawaii’s on the bottom.

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The gorgeous stars and stripes are from another Anita Goodesign set called Free Motion Frenzy.  Gotta love anything with the name Frenzy.

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I just had to use this red and white Hawaiian print on the back.  And look at that adorable blue and white check I found for the binding!

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I have to finish sewing the hanger thingie on the back, and I want to make a quilt label for it.  No pressure, it’s due tomorrow at 10am.

What do you think of my first show quilt?  I don’t have any expectations.  I am just thrilled to have put together something that means so much to me.  And I think it’s cute.

This really is just sewing porn.

Published on by car2ole3 Comments

At our house the studio and the office are trading places.  And all shall be right with the world.DSCN5700

Taking the time out to make those mini bolts is going to pay off.

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I just love this picture, with the mix of Tula Pink’s new Elizabeth line of fabric and my Minnesota Twins logo action.  A Hawaiian print and some reproduction fabrics.  Doesn’t it just make your fabric craving heart sing?

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I have lucked out and ended up with a sitting room.  I think I shall call it my parlor.

And this little bit is for all the animal lovers out there.

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It’s our little friend Ricky Ricardo Montalban Rich Corinthian Leather.  Wearing his double-aught Vikings jersey.  Manly.

Lonely no more, the Hawaiian quilt block gets some new friends!

Published on by car2ole5 Comments

I was busy this weekend.

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Destiny was embroidering like a maniac!  The sections still need to be sewn together, but I managed to stitch out all four parts for each of the red and blue quilt blocks.  The vibrant colors are making me so happy!

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I continue to be amazed at the stitch quality of my Destiny.  It is so consistent and lovely.

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The designs in this Hawaiian Quilt pack by Anita Goodesign are amazing.  That company provides such consistent high-quality projects!  I’m going to need a big pile of blocks for a king-size quilt.

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Notice my solo pineapple square?  I ran out of embroidery thread  after this one.  Oops.  Well, that and I screwed up another two of them.  So we’ll call this one a work-in-progress.

I was working on organizational items in my studio between thread changes on my machine.  This week I will be moving my sewing studio upstairs to a much bigger space.  Unfortunately, this will involve a bunch of dudes with big muscles.  So that’s a wild card.  I’ll be spending my days prepping, unloading bookcases, carrying supplies, and generally wearing myself out without a lot of creativity to show for it.

My small space always looks like a bomb has exploded in it, so I’m looking forward to my bigger spot.  My issue is sure to be the one facing all of us with large fabric collections…storage.  I’ll keep you posted.

Does anyone else see a Hawaiian quilt in my future? I think it’s my Destiny.

Published on by car2ole3 Comments

Look what happened at my house on Friday!

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The first block of my Hawaiian quilt is in the bag, and I am thrilled.  I’m using an Anita Goodesign embroidery collection called…wait for it…Hawaiian Quilt.  My plan is to use a variety of fun batik fabrics and make it really colorful.

I had three of these four sections completed when my sewing machine decided to have a spa visit.  The good news here is that I had actually saved my design in the machine memory!  I was able to complete the partially stitched section without a hitch.

Wondering what was up with my Babylock Destiny?  Just a big hairball – well, a thread tangle.  A spool of thread I had used previously kept shredding and breaking.  Some of that thread got caught up inside and built a nest in the machine.  Thanks to the clever and talented repair department at my dealer for solving that issue!

Destiny and I are resuming our love affair right where we left off.

Adorable distractions, plant and mammal. And my new blog schedule!

Published on by car2ole2 Comments

My Destiny is still at the spa.  Here are some of the charming things that have been capturing my attention.

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Say hello to my little friend, Ricky Ricardo Montalban Rich Corinthian Leather Carr.   Rrricardo or Cardo for short.  He’s a boy.  Like Bruiser in Legally Blonde, he does not  feel bound by society’s expectations.  He loves his polo shirts, so you can imagine his excitement when I brought home this beauty yesterday.

Eight pounds of sheer terror, Cardo has the quiet confidence to lunge at the largest pit bull and chase the massive German shepard.  Then he slides into my chair and becomes my little burrito, all in the blink of an eye.  What a chameleon.

Check out this little spring surprise in my garden…

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It’s a pineapple!  This little beauty is a miniature pink pineapple.  I call them Barbie pineapples.  They are precious, never getting larger than a couple inches tall.  I am tickled that the plant is blooming again!  I think we are going to need a photo shoot soon, with one of our 11-1/2″ friends next to this pineapple…

We all know that children do much better when kept to a schedule.  Most of us adults also do better with a schedule.  I will be posting blog entries on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.  I hope it will be a more pleasant read for my friends out there.  And you will know when to expect to hear from me.  Comment away if you have anything to say about this!