Cover Lovers Askew is Finished

Finally!

It probably doesn’t look much different to you than earlier, but now it’s quilted and bound. Quilting the border took forever. It sat under the sewing machine for a couple of weeks. I was gone for a few days, busy with other things and by the time I finished it, the border on each side of the quilt didn’t match.

I started with the one on the top and ended with the one on the right . Moral of the story is: one should not spend two weeks free hand quilting a border. I seem to have forgotten how I started!!! Oh well, this is my very own cuddle quilt. It will be nice to have my friends’ blocks wrapped around me.

Cover Lovers Askew

You may remember that one of my New Year’s resolutions is to make a quilt out of these blocks given to me by my old Florida friends, The Cover Lovers, about 15 years ago.

While looking for something to use as a background, I put this fabric on the design wall and slapped some of the block up, helter-skelter, just to see how they look on the fabric.

Oh, wow. I just don’t have enough fabric and will have to find something else that is in the same vein. I  like it that some of the blocks are askew and hang off the edge and could go on over into the border. My light bulb is lighting up!!

One resolution is finished but I can’t show it yet, ’cause it’s a surprise.

Happy New Year 2012-Resolutions and Scrap Quilts

Happy New Year to everyone. May it be happy, healthy, and prosperous.

I’m terrible at keeping New Year’s resolutions but I can think I can do it this year. I’m trying to clean up my fabric stash and throw out what I’m sure I’ll never use. When I see some pieces I say to myself, “What was I thinking?” What you see here is only about 1/2 of the stash. The resolution is to make three large to large-ish scrap quilts.

 One  quilt will be from blocks given to me by my old quilt group in Florida, The Cover Lovers. One year we gave each other quilt blocks for Christmas. At the time none of them seemed to go together. Maybe they still don’t but my challenge is to make it happen. I have a couple of ideas but I’m open to any suggestions. Seeing the blocks in a photograph I can already see that some rearranging needs to be done.

The other two quilts will also be scrap quilts. One for a blue person and the other for a hot pink person. The blue has begun.

Talk About Serendipity!

I’ve just returned from attending the wonderful wedding of my son, Jamie and his new wife, Natascha, in Florida. While there I visited an old quilting friend, Ellen White, who told me about the following events that occurred to her.

About a year and a half ago, she took the Fantasy Flower Workshop from me (actually she arranged the workshop) and made this small wall quilt inspired by a photograph of an amaryllis.

Ellen took the quilt to the Bead Chick bead shop in St. Augustine to look for beads to add as embellishment and became friends with the owner who asked her to join Ancient City Artisans Guild. She did. The Guild had a booth at RAM, Riverside Arts Market in Jacksonville in which she sold large, beautiful quilted purses. Along came the shop buyer from the Cummer Museum, who saw the purses and Ellen now sells her art, purses, and small quilts, at the museum shop.

Ellen says that just by taking my workshop she owes it all to me. I say it’s serendipity. But Ellen, your work is great and your rewards are well deserved. Keep up the good work. (I should have photographed one of the purses. Phooey!)

UPDATE: Ellen sent some pictures of her purses. So cool.

California

I spent a week in California with a dear, dear friend. We did little except talk, read, talk, knit, and talk some more. There was a lot of catching up to do. Besides, we were sitting in front of an incredible view. Our one big excursion was to the Getty Villa Malibu, a museum of art and culture from ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. Here are a few pictures.

California Coast Line

Bucket Full of Guava Fruit

Recycling Plastic On The Beach

The End

Neomi Wilson

Please, bear with me.  My dear, dear friend, Neomi, was killed this afternoon when a tree fell on her. She was helping her son cut down a dead tree that they planned to split up for fire wood. I am distraught. She was one of the kindest, if not THE kindest, woman I have ever known. She always had a kind word for everyone and was always near with a helping hand. We gardened together, baked bread together, walked together every morning, and took day trips together. The universe has played a cruel joke on us and I grieve for a beloved friend. She will be missed by all who knew her. I thank my Greater Power for the time that I knew her and grew to love her.