Sweet

Prompt word #60 is...... Sweet.

Apparently, I am a Beautiful Blogger!

Diane at DEsigned art quilts by Diane Evans has bestowed this award on me.
The rules are as follows:
Thank the person who gave you this award
Share 7 things about yourself
Pass the award along to 5 bloggers who you have recently discovered and you think are fantastic
Contact the bloggers you have chosen and let them know about the award

So I will begin by sending my thanks to Diane for believing that I am a Beautiful Blogger.
share 7 things? .............well..............lets see

1) I have 2 grown sons

2) I think Black and White are colours

3) I have 4 pet rats









4) My bicycle is built for 2









5) My favourite season is summer

6) I have a twin brother.......his name is Jack........oh.. and......we don't do ruffles anymore!













7) I think home perm kits should be banned













Now, as for passing this on to 5 beautiful bloggers?.......well that is a little tougher.
I am aware that there are a few of you who would rather not be "tagged" but I do think everyone who visits deserves the award, so if you'd like to play along then grab the award.
It is yours! Have some fun with it
Just to let me know so that I can be sure to come by and learn 7 things about you.

Simple ideas

Lately I have been working on a project involving lots and lots of 2" squares being sewn into 9 patch blocks. Even though I want a scrappy look, I do want to sew each one exactly as I put them together on the design wall.....( large piece of fabric covered Styrofoam)
The problem is that I really could not find a comfortable way to use my "design wall" at the sewing machine. Here is my solution. I simply transferred each set of squares onto regular 8 1/2 x 11 printer paper. Now I can easily bring the stack next to my machine to stitch, keeping everything in it's intended order. There are 40 blocks ready to sew just in the stack you see here.

Another idea I had this week was to create a card to have on hand for those times when I am asked "where can I see more of your work?" This way, I will have something to give out rather than searching for a scrap of paper to scribble on. I decided that I my recently doodled mouse could be mistaken for a rat...........A Quilt Rat, that is. So using my computer and a package of perforated business card blanks I created a stack of these. Now I am all set for a few of those meet the artist evenings I hope to attend this spring.

Steam

The CCP word prompt #59 for this week is ......... Steam

Just Doodles Today

If you are a regular visitor, you know that I participate in the Creative Prompt Project, where Jaye at ArtQuiltmaker provides us with a new word prompt each week. In response, participants share whatever they like........short stories, drawings, poetry, photographs.....me?..... I doodle.

Prompt #57 is Pear


Prompt# 58 is Quiet........as in quiet as a
mouse.

If you would like to join in and become part of the group you can learn more by clicking on Clara the Cow, you will find her lurking on my sidebar

Spring is here!

Well the spring issue of several magazines anyway. The spring issue of Quilter's Connection arrived in my mailbox on Friday.

In November, Editor/Publisher, Heather McArthur asked readers to share tips on "going green" in the sewing room for an article she was preparing.
I sent a couple of tips along and to my delight, not only were they used in the article but they are accompanied by a couple of photos as well.

Doesn't this rubber-stamped/beaded inchie look terrific adorning the corner of the page? There is a photo showing a leaf I created using painted dryer sheets as well as a collection of inchies at the bottom of the page.

It is such an enormous kick to see a photo of something you have created in print, especially in one of these slick, glossy magazines.

I gathered up the publications that have shown my work.........since the summer 2008, something of mine has appeared in each of these.
I can hardly believe it!
So don't be afraid to put your work "out there" you just never know where it may end up.

Practice week

Mostly just practice this past week. A couple of postcards.....appliqued of course and some free motion quilting on a comfort quilt from our guild's outreach program.
Another member had pieced it, and yet others batted and basted, I just brought it home to quilt and bind. What a great way to practice your free motion skills..........no judges to worry about.
No marking involved here, my approach was to simply fill one square at a time