Raw Edge Applique'

I wanted to do something fun, fast and easy. So I grabbed a little raw edge applique' pattern that I found and made signs for my studio and Cosmo's room (aka the laundry room). These were really easy to put together. I wanted the lettering to really stand on its own, so I used a solid black background. On "Cosmo's Condo" I recycled batik fabric from my bin of leftovers (I hate to through away fabric, so I save the leftovers in a bin). "The Quilt Studio" letters are out of my handpainted leftovers. I was going to quilt these today, but didn't get to it. They are first on my list for Monday (after Pilates). Time to go get dinner started...Mr. Wonderful is on his way home.

What's in my Stash?

I saw this question on another blog and thought it was a good one! I have tons of fabric, maybe not as much as some fabricaholics, but I have a great deal! I also collect buttons, thread, and mixed media objects. I hit a jackpot earlier this month when we were cleaning out the house that belonged to our eccentric Aunt Marie. She was a business woman that several men learned not to cross. In her later years she was a real estate agent in the Texas Hill Country and the jackpot that I found was a vast aray of keys! My plan is to paint fabric this spring and summer and one of the processes I am going to use sun painting. I think using these keys will make a great piece! When I paint this spring/summer I'm going to let my granddaughters paint too. Art from a 1 year old and a three year old will be very interesting don't you think?
Here are a couple of pictures showing my studio. I'll blog one day showing more pictures of my studio, right now it isn't in a decent picture taking mode. This may not look like a lot of fabric, but this isn't all of it. I have several bins in the attic (which is easy access to my studio) and under my worktable. I have one bin in the attic that is fabric from Aunt Marie's house. She had a lot of beautiful gowns and dresses that were made for her and I was able to collect the fake fur, reptile skin (some real skin too!), sequin, crepe silk and other great fabrics. There were even some great feather hats!

Baby Shower Quilts!

Well, my Step-Son and his wife are expecting our first boy. He will have two big sisters to keep up with! Their baby shower was yesterday and I just have to share the quilts that I made for him. The first one is a 45"x45" quilt out of my father-in-laws pajama's. Grandpa died 17 years ago and I have kept his PJ's to make a boy quilt out of them. I loved my father-in-law. He was one of those men who could fix anything and make anything. The kids are going to use his middle name as one of the names for the baby, so that was the main reason I wanted to make this quilt for our little Boy Rushing. Oh, half of the fabric is from Grandpa's PJ's and the other half is from my stash.



Amanda E (D-I-L) is going to decorate the nursey Sock Monkey style. I knew Moda had a Sock Monkey fabric and when I was in my favorite little quilt shop in Montrose, CA, I found the Sock Monkey fabric! I was able to keep this quilt under wraps to surprise AE with it, hard to do since they live with us. Lucky for me I had a day when I was the only one home and was able to start and finish this one in a day! I'm so thankful for quilt kits and the quilt shop in Montrose!

The back is flannel, and AE loves flannel! By the way, incase I haven't said it before, I adore my D-I-L!
The last quilt I made a couple of years ago when a construction panel came out. I call it "Building on Tradition" since it is a combination of construction vehicles and traditional blocks. My husband is a partner in a commercial HVAC company, so I thought our first grandson should start off right with a construction quilt. Glad we finally got that boy!

Old Alton Bridge Quilt - Dallas Quilt Celebration 2009

What a week! This weekend is the Dallas Quilt Celebration. I entered the Old Alton Bridge Quilt, just to get a showing of it. Well, to my surprise I won second in the Art Quilt (One Person) Division! On top of that, John Flynn was one of the judges and chose the Old Alton Bridge as his ribbon choice. I am very humbled by the honor. There are so many beautiful quilts at the show this year. The detail in some of the quilts and the quilting! Wow, amazing what some people can do with fabric, thread and paint.
Off to the next project!

Sadie and Shelby - First Trip to the Quilt Store

There is a darling quilt store near my daughter in CA. I try to make a trip there everytime I go to CA. Now that the twins are a month old I decided it was time to take them on their first shopping trip with Grammy to the quilt store! They were angels and slept through Grammy picking out lots of fabric. They will soon learn that Grammy is a fabricaholic and they will become two of my four material girls!