Pumkin Quilt

I made this quilt a few years ago. I think I had planned to make a quilt for every season?? (I must have been feeling very optimistic!) The basic design, scarecrow w/ moon and sign, came from a Microsoft clipart. Mom quilted it for me. I like the effect of the orange thread on the navy blue background. It gives the quilt an eerie quality.



I used needle-turn applique. This was probably my second or third needle-turn project. The hands and feet look a little too much like flippers--I was going for the bunched straw look--and the proportions are all off because I didn't make the pattern ahead of time. Getting the points in needle turn just right and not too bulky is so difficult. Right now I'm working on a Hawiian-style applique block, and I'm just having so much trouble with the inside of the corners and tightening the points.



I love this fabric! The picture came out kind of blurry, so in case you don't understand what you're seeing, the fabric is comprised of yellow-orange flowers on long green stems with pale blue dragonflies circling around and red ladybugs climbing towards the flowers.

Even though I've already put it in more than one quilt, I would love to have more of this dragonfly fabric. I just can't get enough of the fabrics I really love. I could easily have bought a bolt of this one, and used it for years to come. When I'm at the quilt shop, telling the difference between love and infatuation can be so difficult. The only real test is time and use, but once I eventually figure out which fabrics I love the most, the fabric is already long gone from the store.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a Fabric Love Meter that could measure your emotional reaction to a given fabric, and then tell you how much to buy?

"Infatuation: 1.2, this is a fabric that you only sort of like because it reminds you of a friend. You'll use it once, as a gift for your friend, and then wonder what to do with the scraps, get 1.2 yards."

"Budding Love: 8.24, this fabric incorportates your favorite colors with a design that will blend well with many other fabrics. You'll want this for several projects, buy 8.2 yards."

Then, all I would need is a bank account to match!

Bags for Halloween

When I visited mom's this weekend, I managed to wander off with a bolt of Halloween fabric. Gee, I wonder how that happened? So, I made my nieces Trick-or-Treat bags for Halloween.



Here's a close up shot of the fabric. I think it's pretty cute.



My nieces seem to like them.

Without thinking, I sewed a 1/4 inch seam. I don't often sew for anything other than quilting. Still, I don't feel too badly about that. I didn't really make the bags expecting that they would hold up to much abuse (and won't they make cute patches in a memory quilt later!) If I had more time, I might have put in a lining and been more careful about sewing the handles on in perfect squares. As it is, I made both bags in little more than an hour, which is good since I only had an hour.

A little note on this blog--this blog is intended mostly for mom (she's been telling me for awhile now that she wants a website). However her time is short and technical difficulties seem to be abundant, so we will take this slowly. In the mean time, I hope to post a few times. I don't have a lot of time for sewing now since I'm working full time and taking graduate classes at night, but I do have a few projects I hope to finish. (Ooops, sorry about that! Here I am, only barely writing the first real entry and already I'm using the "F" word, Finish. Sends chills down the spine, doesn't it!) I have a Halloween/Autumn quilt that I'll be putting up on Monday.

First Post

Just getting things going.