Another picture test

This quilt was machine quilted with variegated thread. Does it show in this picture? I made this wall hanging last summer to fit my dining room wall that has a 36-inch hanger. The name in the magazine was Josie's Star but it's also known as Carpenter's Star, Carpenter's Wheel, Double Star among others. I think I'll go with Double Star. I want to make more color schemes of this pattern for the different seasons. Just have to get back in the farmhouse with warmer temperatures and running water :/

Going "Live"

This is a "live" webcam picture of the quilt in the photo in a previous post. I think it's a little better look but not great. REMINDER: If you want hand quilting to show, don't stitch on a little print.

Let's try another angle

This wall hanging was made for the 2011 Jabez Quilt Seminar Challenge "What is Black & Red and Stitched All Over?" Participants received a fat quarter each of black music print and red solid in January. My entry was completed on November 23, 2011. It was machine pieced and machine quilted on my domestic machine - a Janome Jem Platinum760. I titled it "Dancing with the Stars" for the fabrics in it and the TV show of this era even though I don't watch it. The design is based on 60 degree angles as written by Sara Nephew - Quilts from a Different Angle or something like that. The pieces were cut from stripped panels so I made another wall hanging from the "leftovers".

This one is titled "Clover in the Snow" like Sara's. I think the red triangles remind me of radiation warnings. Would "Nuclear Winter" for a title be too depressing? It was also machine quilted, following a stencil design in the border in "free motion". Don't look at it too closely, please.

I did make another potential entry but it is missing at the moment. I displayed it at the LWC Gallery last June and can't remember if I sold it or packed it. That's why I need to do this blog. I did have a list of the quilts displayed but it was on the other computer that croaked. Stay tuned - if I find it, I'll take another picture.

Lets try this again

This time I clicked upload, then from web cam, then take snapshot, then add selected. This wall hanging is a good spring wish. Quilt shows are coming and I need to get out!

Testing,testing

This is a test of the computer web camera taking a "live" shot. This wall hanging was made this century but before I got my digital camera so it's not on the SD card. It's a Little Quilts pattern, machine pieced, hand embroidered and hand quilted. What am I bid?

Birds of a feather

Birds of a feather flock together, it is said. Do quilters meet to sew together, or talk? I've been to two meetings this week and got very little personal stitching done. I do feel better for attending -it's too easy to stay home and isolate myself from human contact. So the talking is more important than doing for myself. We actually worked on a group project today - making curtains for the 4H camp. With three machines, two irons and one rotary cutter going, and many hands working, we did complete eight pairs of curtains in four hours. I'm pretty tired but happy for having contributed my time to the guild's community project. I hope the next meeting will allow some time for me to try out the Guild's new Accuquilt dies and see if they make piecing quilts that much easier.

Another test

How does this look? I used the webcam on the computer to take a picture of a photo. Until I can figure out  a better way, this might be the only way I get pictures on the blog.

This quilt "Classic Quintet" came from a magazine and features a fabric line by Judie Rothemel called "Indigo, Pewter and Honey". I did have to substitute a couple fabrics but otherwise it looks exactly like the one in the magazine :/ I did intend to hand piece it at first but chose to use my Featherweight machine instead. I did the border using the English-paper-piecing method by hand over the Thanksgiving holidays in 2011. It was hand quilted while watching the 2012 Olympics (Women's Gymnastics to be precise). The number Five kept coming up during this time so I kept the name.I completed it in time for the 2012 Quilt Show of the Little Mountains in Monticello, KY. It got third place in Small Quilts, Hand Quilted category. It was also displayed at the LWC Gallery in Columbia this past winter. It's about 40 inches square, made with cotton fabrics, thread and batting.

According to BlockBase, the blocks are (top row) Bird of Paradise, Crown of Thorns, (center) Tree of Paradise, (bottom row) Best of All and Dove in the Window. Anyone impressed?

More Snow

Only a half inch but enough to make for a gloomy Tuesday. I NEED to sew today!! I have some pre-cut squares from the Mount Saint Joseph Quilter Friends Work Days I attended last month (seven shoe-boxes full:) I'll plan some baby quilts this morning and sew this afternoon, and evening, and tomorrow,... until this weather warms up! Looking for 60 degrees on Saturday and Sunday - I can get back in my quilt studio - cross your fingers :)

A picture!

My knitting-in-process! From the webcam - success!?

It's snowing!

Today's date: March 25, 2013 - where's Spring? It's snowing and blowing - I'm not going anywhere :( My Homespun lap robe is almost done. I've started one sock but I'm not sure if I will stick with the pattern. It is a lace spiral design that goes all through to the toes. I'm afraid the foot part will be uncomfortable. I've done one repeat and I'm concerned it will be hard to multi-task while knitting. Can I watch videos while following a lace pattern? I'll call it cross-training for the brain and adjust the pattern to make a smooth sole after the heel is done. Still working on getting pictures on the blog.

The First Day of Spring, and other things

The first day of spring began with frost everywhere and 24 degrees F. I will not be going out until the outside temperature gets above freezing (like 40 at least). I do most of my sewing in an unheated 200+ year old farmhouse which takes one hour to heat 10 degrees with a propane gas heater. Because of the open flame, I don't like to leave it on in a wooden structure unattended overnight. This means by the time the interior temp gets to 70 degrees so I can sew, it's lunchtime. My brain shuts down about 4pm -three hours maybe, hardly worth dealing with cold fabric. I'm going to have to wait until there are a couple nights over 40 degrees. BTW there is NO running water during the winter for fear of frozen pipes :(

In the meantime, I have been knitting while watching quilt videos on my new computer. The old one choked while trying to download the pdf for KY tax forms. We bought it in 2003 and it had a 256MB memory. The Internet was just too much for it to handle. I gave up trying to do anything with it like getting on the Web after I got my Kindle connected with the Wifi last summer. I did not like using the touchscreen for "writing" so that's why it's taken so long for me to get into blogging. I have downloaded all the pictures from my digital camera since January 2009. Now to sort and post them - TO THE WORLD!

I can see (barely) my first post on my blog. Gotta figure out how to fix the layout and add pictures. I would prefer to use Word to compose also but I couldn't figure the connection. I need a tutor!  I think I will search for tutorials on blog writing today. I hope my future postings will show my good progress. 

Starting somewhere

This is my first post. A new computer, new OS - Windows 8, thunderstorms overhead - what can go wrong? I want to blog about what I am stitching at the moment. I might be sewing, quilting, knitting, cross-stitching, who knows? If I can make this work, I hope it will be a source for support and encouragement to readers who stitch. Wish me luck.