Our 2011 year is drawing to a close....

Here we are, on December 31 already.  Can you believe it?  Another calendar year has passed us by, and I hope you've had more joys than sorrows in it.  I'm sitting in my quilt studio as I write this, and looking around at the fruits of my labors for the year.  Obviously, I bought WAY too much fabric this year.  One of my new years resolutions is to not buy any fabric next year ("HA!  Fat Chance!"  Yes, I hear you), but rather use more of what I have.  I may need to seek a waiver of that resolution during late April, though, when I travel to Paducah, KY.  :)  

For myself, I'm pleased with what I got done this year, I will call it productive.  There are so many things I learned from watching and observing others, things that have planted seeds of ideas in my mind for things I want to try in the future, and new directions that I want to go with my quilting art.  I'm excited about those, and I hope you, too, have been observing and thinking in similar ways.  It's how we grow as quilt artisans, forever looking for new avenues to explore.  

I'm wishing you all the best for 2012, and thanks for following my adventures through this year.  I'm looking forward to discovering new things and hope you are, too. 

Currently on the longarm....

What I'm working on at the moment is finishing a UFO (unfinished object) that I started many months ago.  At the time I shelved it I had completed all of 1 blocks.  :(  So, after finishing up all of the quilting that I needed to get done for others before Christmas, I decided to pull this project back out and get after it over my Christmas break.  The block pattern is called "Devil's Claw" and there are 16 of them laid out in a 4 x 4 layout.  I added the sashing and cornerstones, along with a triple border to make it a 100" x 100" king size quilt.  I'm quilting it now with an all over pantograph pattern called "Damask Feathers" that I really like.  I also really like the black fabric in the border - black is a dramatic color that really kicks it up a notch in a quilt.  When done quilting, I plan to also add a scalloped border on the edges and bind it in red.  Will be glad to have this UFO done!  We plan to use it on our bed to have another king quilt to be able to swap out.

A Christmas gift for myself

A couple of weeks ago I received a $100 American Express gift card.  I've been trying to decide what to splurge on and last week I came to a decision.  Connecting Threads had collections of their thread spools on sale for 40% off.  I love CT thread, it's 100% cotton and my Brother QC-1000 sewing machine and my Gammill longarm both respond well to it as well.  A couple of years ago I bought one of every color that CT makes in thread, so I decided to get these sets to replenish my supply and fill in any colors that I'm getting low in.  Merry Christmas to me!  :)

Thread bag

The president of our statewide quilt guild (Arkansas Quilters Guild) presented all the board members of the guild with kits to make a thread bag.  Below is the one that I made today from my kit.  She knows how much I really like Blackbird Designs, so she included some fabric from them in my kit.  Ain't she nice?  :)  She included everything in the kit needed to make it, even the interfacing and crushed walnut shells for the pin cushion filling.  It was a lot of fun making and I was needing another one for the studio to put on my longarm table.

Paper ornament from an old hymnal

Here's a pic of a paper ornament that I made from pages from an old hymnal using instructions that I found on Pinterest. I altered the directions slightly, using hot glue to hold it all together and an ivory button in the center where the pieces all come together.  I love Christmas!

A quilt for our guild's president

Below are a couple of pics of a quilt that I made for the president of our statewide guild, Leah Sample, as her end-of-year thank you gift from members of the guild.  The light colored thin border is actually a bunch of signature blocks that were signed by member of the guild that I then assembled into a border.  My wife, Melissa, appliqued the leaves on the blocks, and did the hand-stitching of the binding as well.  Leah is a very good friend and I was very happy to make this quilt for her.  She was quite surprised, too, and loved it!

(the above pic taken by Tiffanee Noack, our guild photographer.)

(the above pic taken by me.)

Girly Quilt

I'm working on quilting a couple of baby quilts for a member of one of the guilds that I belong to.  Below is a pic of one (they're both identical).   Isn't that just pretty???  Really like the fabrics in this and with the quilting, it definitely has that "girly" look to it!  I think they'll like it!