Dandelions!

Irritating as they are in one's yard, they are pretty. I have umpteen small scraps lying around I just can't throw away. I started to piece them together and ended up with what I titled 'Dandelion Spring'. Those already going to seed, and it doesn't take long, I constructed with holes in the center. They always seem to be battling with whatever is around them for space so bloom at all heights. I purposefully did not make any of the corners 90 degrees to show the irregular growth patterns of dandelions.

The Contribution of Q50 in Technicolor

I began this quilt in a rectangular shape and found I didn't like it much. So I cut it into 5 pieces, slid them up or down and fused them to a solid piece of backing. I then cut the backing to fit the shape of the top pieces, satin-stitched around the edges and between the pieces and produced something I've never tried before. It was hard cutting into a piece but I think I like the finished product much better. I'm also planning to enter it into a juried, mixed-media art exhibit. This will be my first attempt at anything like this and it will be interesting to see if they feel that fiberart fits their mixed media selections. If accepted I will be quite anxious to read the judges' comments. What do you all think? This is to represent bridges connecting DNA molecules, thus the title.

Bridge Attempt

I decided to try cutting old fabric scraps into small strips and see what I could do. I found my biggest mistake was attempting to make the quilt art piece too big to handle well. Although I pinned everything well under the tulle it still wanted to move around. If I try this method again I'll cut smaller pieces and make a smaller quilt than 20" x 24 " as 'Fishing Bridge' now is.

It's been awhile since I've posted

I guess that means I don't lead a very exciting life. Rather than doing many art quilts I've been working on trying to use up some of those many scraps that I can't seem to throw away. I've been making child-sized quilts to donate to my guild's Sunshine Quilt project for children. I'm now working on #7 and still have enough scraps for probably two more.
























It's also the time of the year when I make a throw size quilt with my second grade class. This is the tenth year I've done this. In all but 2 years the quilts have been given to a resident of our local care center. Folded in half it can be used as a lap quilt and open it's large enough to cover them when they lay on their beds. Two years the quilts were raffled for local fund raisers. The first raised $1800 for our new playground equipment and the second raised $450 for a project to purchase snack food items and cards, etc. to send to the soldiers in Iraq from our school. This year's quilt will again go to a care center resident.



















After initially complaining about it being a 'girl's project', the boys love doing the machine sewing and hand sewing as much if not more than the girls. You can tell by the photo that they all seem pleased with their product. Here they're shown with a handprint that they hand quilted around. I then mounted them in embroidery hoops and sent them home.

Happy New Year!

I haven't been doing much creatively as of late. Too many other things and not enough time to do a good job or think about what I'm doing. I spent much of Christmas vacation from my elementary teaching job trying to use up some of the many scraps I can't seem to toss and using some of the old fabric I have stashed away. I used them to make 3 small, child-size quilts to give to my local quilt guild's project where the quilts go to children who have been in an accident or removed from a dangerous home situation. I still have LOTS of fabric to use for something along this line.
I am working on a couple of small, more artistic projects of which I'll post pictures later.
I am also an avid bird-watcher so my husband and I have taken some time to search for the few winter birds around this winter. I did add two new life birds (both gulls) in two days time, but had to drive 2 1/2 hrs. for one and 5 1/2 hrs. for the other but well worth it and if you watch birds you'll understand this. If not, wellllll... Today I'm trying to see how many I can tally for the new year of 2007. Thus far I'm up to 14 seen from my warm kitchen window. I'd hoped the snow yesterday would have brought in more species than it has. Maybe it's time for a short walk outside and some very fresh air as a bonus.