Design Wall Monday - Sweet Garden

Here it is....my "Sweet Garden" top.   There are just two more seams to join sections, that gray sashing strip all the way around the outside, and I'll be done.   Can't believe I actually got it done this fast.   Totally not my normal speed.   I'm gonna use leftover layer cake squares to piece the back.....should be cute.

See other design walls here.

Mr. Liam turns 6

 

Today is Liam’s 6th birthday.   Hard to believe it was 6 years ago that hubby and I became grandparents…..didn’t we just have our own kids?   LOL!  

We aren’t able to be with him today but did have him over here last weekend for a small “party”.

 

He is loving his new cd player.  It has a cassette player too.  So we gave him our kids old cassettes of radio shows like Gunsmoke (Liam says he loves it) and The Lone Ranger (he says those are too scary).   We even had a tape of Papa telling stories to the kids when they were 4 & 2!   Liam loved asking “is that Mommy talking or Uncle Daniel”?  

Happy birthday, Liam!     Have a super duper fun day.                Nana loves you.

Design Wall Monday - Sweet Garden

I randomly post Design Wall Monday entries.  Mostly because I don’t change what’s up there very often…….you’d think cuz I was so darn slow but really it’s cuz I’m so easily distracted by other projects!  
Anyhoo.  I’m currently working on a quilt pattern called “Sweet Garden” by Carolina Patchworks.  I’m using fabric by Aneela Hoey…its her line called “Sherbet Pips”.  So cute.
This quilt is done in big sections.  I’ve sewn one section together and am working on the second one.  There are nine of them.   

See what others have up on their design walls here.

McKenna Ryan

Last month I got to take a fun trip (as part of my work day, no less!) to McKenna Ryan's new showroom on Bainbridge Island.   Mckenna is a quilt artist/designer who has been in the quilting world for 10 years.  I love her designs.

Here we are at the showroom in front of two of McKenna's Christmas quilts.  

This was how one of the rooms was set up:

This is one of my favorite set of designs...in a fabric color way that I hadn't seen before:

Another view of the showroom:

  If you're ever coming to Bainbridge Island, be sure to give yourself plenty of time and include McKenna's showroom in your visit. 

Knitted Fingerless gloves

I tried knitting some fingerless gloves in the round this fall.  It was slow work…all those double pointed needles were tricky.  I got the hang of it and managed to get one glove done.  But decided I didn’t like the pattern so took it all out    I was determined to have fingerless gloves this year, though!  So I dug out a pattern called “Waffle Stitch Fingerless Gloves” by Jill Toporkiewicz that I got on this site.   They are done flat and seamed up the side.  Wow!  So fast.   This is the way to get it done.  

Here they are:

And here is a close up:

Beach Projects

I just had 3 fabulous days of fun at the beach with my Yaya's.  This was our tenth time to go to the Washington coast for a girls get-away.   We spend our time creating, eating, laughing, walking on the beach (though, this year the weather didn't cooperate much), hot tubbing, dancing,  talking....and talking....and talking.  :)

I was more productive than usual.  Here are pictures of two of my favorite finishes.

LOVE this bag!  This is a pattern by Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk called "Mail Sack".  Isn't that fabric gorgeous?

We all made fabric wrapped clothesline bowls this year.  Mine is the bright long skinny one in the foreground.   I added a fun circular embellishment on the side....and may add some beads, not sure yet.  I made one of these bowls before....super easy.

Every time I finish projects I'm always motivated to finish more.   It's time to start digging in my unfinished project bins.   :)

Machine Lace

I joined the Machine Embroiderers of Oregon and Washington (MEOW for short) group this year.  I have a wonderful Viking sewing machine that can do amazing things besides sew a straight seam.......except I don't know how!   I figured years of ignorance was enough and it was time to learn new skills.   This group is all about machine artistry. The ladies do incredible work and I am excited to see what the year holds.  

The project this month was machine lace.  Cynthia Keim was our teacher.   She is truly an inspiring woman who makes spectacular quilts despite major physical limitations.  

Below are some pictures of Cynthia's lace work in quilts.  Some times she cuts holes (yes, I said holes!) in her quilts and then creates lace work in the opening....and some times the shapes are created separately and tacked on the quilt afterwards.

I only worked on creating shapes in a hoop.....no holes in quilts for me.  :)     The thread work is done on water soluble stabilizer that is put in a embroidery hoop and free motion stitched.  As you can see by the picture below I have a long way to go in learning this technique!   :)     Fun class!