Where the shapes take me!

I have been taking time this week to:

• Get the word out about my on-line workshop opening its cyber doors on Friday
• Starting a quilt that has been buzzing around my head -- seemingly forever
• and putting the final stitched & beads onto a couple of almost finished quilts

So, I thought I might share one of these now finished pieces.

Last summer when I shared my five minute warm up drawing exercise. The word 'boardwalk' produced one of my favorite resulting pencil drawings.

I loved it so much I took it further until I came up with a quilt design that celebrated my time in and the color of the Caribbean. Some of my fabric was actually purchased on my 2013 Quilt Cruise and some popped up in the new colors that were being offered by Cherrywood Fabrics.

The quilttop was stitched together lickity-split using my Fast-Piece Applique, but note it did not stop me from piecing my boardwalk directly. The quilting & decorative stitching though took longer to complete..... more so as right around this time I started making this quilt my mind turned to book projects.

Feels wonderful now that the piece is done, and loved working all the stitching.

Hope you like the final results!

Summertime Checklist

Doing both...BLISS!

This summer my personal checklist is a bit longer than most...
OK, maybe not.
I admit that I create an ongoing list of things I want to do and things that need to be done that gets kind of long at times. BUT, this summer I filled my list with fun projects, BIG and small and happily things seem to be clicking along.

One of these projects is getting my 1st on-line workshop up and ready for students.
And, I can hardly wait for the students to arrive.

I chose the workshop that has been a long time favorite at guilds and conferences for a while and revamped, reworked, reinvented into an on-line version which:

• lets you learn my favorite way to design a  quilt
• use this process to create your own design
  (with me guiding the way)
• then learning Fast-Piece Applique to stitch it all together

So, if learning tools and methods to create your own designs...
Or, adding the perfect construction technique to stitch together any shape, any curve:
ANY IDEA...

then add my
SHAPING UP WITH FAST-PIECE APPLIQUE
August 1st - On-line Workshop
through Academy of Quilting

to your checklist;
follow your heart,
and be a blissfully happy quilter!

Flower Power

Long about noon yesterday I started to pull all the stuff together that have been planned & prepped for a Tea & Paint party I was throwing at my place.

I had invited friends & family for a bit of painting fun --
easy, colorful flowers were needed on my shed...

Then to dive into cold, cold tea & sangria -
to help cool down,
along with a star line-up of sweet & savory treats
that I made to show how much I appreciate them all.

I put out a table full of primary color paints and we all had at it!
From the plain unpainted shed at the beginning of summer...
to the wild view of the NEW shed from my studio window!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the rain held off for the painting spree!
Big thanks to all the painters & the backup crew.

p.s. an unbiased review of the day was posted by my friend Chris on her blog-Crafting from the Underground. .

The Complete Tale of 2 Planters

From the time David & I found our house on Clay St. in Paducah I knew these two giant planters had to have red mosaic tile.

Not to mention the awful grasses that were planted there -
HAD TO GO....

Finally, taking time off from travels this summer I have been able to finish them.

In my mind they took no time at all, but in reality they were a ton of work,
and managing the project while competing with the weather made it much further drawn out. Here you can see where they started and where they are today and some things I learned along the way.

the start-cleaning out the plants was quite the job

ordered my tiles from Home Depot!

cracking tools

cracking time takes time -- don't forget protective glasses &
bundling the tile in a towel when cracking

laying out the tile takes tons of time
lesson learned - glue as you go
clean glue as you go, too
-- for it does not come off as it claims once dry
(used outdoor Liquid Nails - 5 tubes)

grouting --
also another lesson in clean as you go

plant shopping -
always the best part

an amazing difference - woo hoo it's done!!!!!!!

There were other things I planned to use this red tile mosaic on -- but that it just gonna have to wait....

What's on your summer to do list?

What's in that envelope?

What a wild summer...
I have been home for the summer -- purposefully filling the time with outdoor and indoor projects that couldn't wait. Slowly but surely things are coming together on a multitude of fronts.

BUT, everything kind of pulled to a stop last Friday with the unexpected yet greatly longed for arrival of a big fat UPS envelope!

Inside is the full manuscript copy for my latest book!!!


Ever wonder what is like to dive into a book writing project?

When writing a book you labor lovingly over words, patterns, fabrics and stitching. Organizing it all—keeping track of it all, and in my case having a plan that will help me muddle through the knee deep chaos to pull everything together.

Then, it is amazingly pulled together and shipped off to the publisher.

From this point there are many various people that take hold of your
words and quilts give them a shake...

Shake, shake, and the technical editor works their magic.

Shake, shake and the photographer makes all your little bits of ideas come alive visually.

Shake, shake and marketing folks get ahold of the planned chaos and come up with the next plan.

Then all of sudden the envelope arrives with the final review manuscript.

So much has happened since that package was sent off to the publisher that opening the envelope is indeed a little nerve racking; BUT,

My words – the ones I so lovingly typed are there for me to read once again.
This time on designed pages along with the quilts, patterns and stitching.

Breathing resumes.

Editing should commence.....
But, Edgar has other ideas,

and the planters keep calling my name.

So, if you wonder where I am this week --
somewhere between filling the planters with plants / finally...
and battling with Edgar to get the editing done.

And the winner is...

It has been a fun week..checking in and reading all of your comments about which workshop I should bring on-line next.

The winner was hard to choose, for it was running neck & neck between:

Dreamin' Up a Landscape
Embellishments
3-Panel Quilts
& Color Magic

but, in the end Embellishments
pulled it out by 1 vote!

Thank you -- to each of you!
I can't wait to get started pulling a very special
embellishments workshop together to share with everyone online,


and, I am happy to have such a wonderful package of Hoffman batiks for
THE LUCKY... Winner

DEBBIE KLEVE BERKEBILE