BIRTHDAY CARD

Birthday card for my friend, Jeanne, who turns 77 on August 13 2012. wasn't sure if I had time to make a card, but did it late at night while going thru my pics. Jeanne had one request: She wanted a pic of the ocean and a sun hat. Well, the only pic I could find was one of me when I was about 6 or 7, at Sooke. So used that.  I had that hat for years, till it just disintegrated from the sun.
    Over the years, Jeanne became  such a part of me, I figured that using that picture was really a good idea. I met Jeanne when I was at UVIC. She came a year after me, was studying to be a music therapist. She was probably the coolest  violin student in the entire place, having come back to school with all of us 20-somethings.......
                  happy birthday, Jeanne.

Table top quilts

 I love small quilts. They are easy to mail, for one thing. easy to sew up and  less bulky to complete. Top one is in yellows with blue -yellow batik fabric and pearls sewn down the centre. made for my friend, Sharon, who also quilts and gardens and is a ballerina as well. I loved the brightness of the fabric. So sunny.

This table top is made in simple squares with hints of the civil war style of fabric. I added buttons to make it more rustic. Did this up for my friend, Margie, who has a wonderful decorating style. Birthdays seem to be the perfect time to grab some fabric and sew and sew and sew.....

Table Top Quilt for karen's May birthday, 2012. Fabric has been dyed with tea to give it an antique look. The pattern is one of my favourites...very simple pattern, but love it..."trip around the world" with the cross as the central figure. I was able to fit it into a large brown envelope for mailing......sent expresspost, took one day to get to White Rock. Amazing!

Robin's Quilt

This is called Boston Common. I made this in 1995 for Robin Brown when her 2nd son, Taylor, ws born. It is made of small squares, angled in rows to look as if it is a mosaic floor. Since I just reconnected with Robin, after a long while ( over 12 years), I looked up the quilt in my Photo card, and found that there was still a picture of the quilt. Amazing to look back at a quilt you made so long ago......

Vintage Messenger bag

 Vintage messenger bag, 1/2 the size of the regular bag. Not too big, not too small. Used vintage fabric with fringe. Used beaded cording from an old top I had to rim the edge of the flap.

 On front flap sewed beads in haphazard design, took apart earrings to sew in random placement. Used needle nosed pliers to bend the backs of earrings that I shoved through all thicknesses.....works great.

 Side view...bag is light weight..fairly thin.

Detail of fringe and flap. will have to make some more with vintage style fabric...

Antiqued Amish Rail Fence

 When babies come along, everyone seems to make pink and blue and yellow or white or something klike that. I've been reading a lot about the Amish and their quilts and thought it would be neat to make a destressed rail fence in traditional colours. Easy pattern that you can twist and turn, any which way, into desired patterns. Then I took the back fabric and the finished quilt top and stuffed them into a vat of scalding hot tea, let it soak for an hour or so, rinsed ,  dried, ironed, put it with the filler, pinned it up , and was ready to sew up. I used a swag stitch to do the stitching, mimicing the rail fence idea as it made a pattern of fence bars on the border. Easy. Then added a binding in green to offset the antiqued fabrci. Took about a week to do. It's too big to be a baby quilt, and just right to be a lap quilt. 

Decided to add a nice "label" to the back. I have packages of stamped squares that you can embroider , in whatever colours you choose....so used this wedding ring square and added  the year and their names. I hope Christine and her husband like it. I know I love the Amish quilts....

Gothic Diaper Bag

Diaper bags. Usually they are in blue, or pink , or yellow, with little bears, stars or assorted barnyard critters.  Why not a diaper bag that is more gothic? Why not have fringes, beads, coins, leather, assorted velvets, with filled and lined pockets inside and out........Finally found the right person to give this to. She was delighted with it, and loved the coins dingling away on the front. and it was not too big and not too small, she said.....just right. Hurray! Every bag has its home....

Sept 1995

Found this tucked away on the computer....a baby quilt made for Rachel Van Heteren in Sept 1995. Didn't think I had this, so glad to have found it again.Log cabin and piano keys pattern.

Sunburst....

Tired of all that grey. Grey skies. Grey clouds. Grey days. Wanted something really bright, really hot and so put together oranges, pinks, hot pinks, blues, all swaddled with green borders and jewels here and there.  A queen size quilt that sizzles............no more grey.

Janice's Quilt

Janice's quilt. Civil War Stylized lap quilt.  I knew she was coming, so finished it off just before she arrived. It will have a good home with her......quilts always need a good place to live their years.  Quilts find their owners......not the other way round, which is   a good thing. And this one wanted to go home with Janice.......

Birthday Presents

 Tea cozies ( Bodem covers) for Armande. This is the front of each. One in Leopard print/music, and one in light spring colours.Hung  with fringe and pearls, beading.

 Civil War stylized table runner for Shirley, in California. All squares are different.....one is  a cross...

Reverse side of tea cozies. Just let imagination go wild.....

Teal Nights

Finally, a new quilt. Have had this panel sitting around since last summer. Was always going to hand quilt it, but have finally come to the conclusion that hand quilting is next to impossible these days. So, found a neato stitch on my machine, and had way more fun doing that. And my fingers were not screaming by the end of  it.
     I will miss hand quilting. It is by  far the best way to finish off a quilt. But, it's either give up quilting all together, or enjoy the piecing and do it by machine and still get to quilt. I think I'd rather still make up some things by hand, but the smaller stuff. Nothing too overwhelming. Anything with Godzilla like tendencies will feel the wrath of the machine needle.Giving it all up would be so defeatest. How silly would that be? Especially since I have a wall of fabric staring at me, downstairs, in the dungeon. And all of that fabric is  saying: "Piece me, piece me"........who am I to deny that?