Grey Day Stitching

Hi All,

This winter the weather has been a bit different than the years previously. Since it is only my 5th winter here in Paducah I can barely call it strange but the temps have been up and down, and down and up since November. No snow...for it seems these have been our dry days. But there has been weeks of rain.

Today the day is gray. It has been gray, wet and cool for quite a week and we are looking at another week of the same. With the gloom settling in I decided it was time to finish up some projects that have been put aside for quite awhile for one reason or another.

I was totally surprised when I opened this first one. I was just hours away from completion.

This second one was another story. I loved using these amazing Cherrywood fabric to stitched together this HOME piece. The rich solids begging for thread play - and playful mark making. I pulled the stitching kit out and soon had a big pile of thread bits. The piece is still underway, but there are a few more gloomy days ahead -- time to get it done and enjoy the process. I do love hand stitching!

Then the projects swimming around in my head  will have a clear go ahead. Til then....

hope you are finding a bit of time to be creative.
Would love to hear what you are up to!

The Christmas Surprise-DONE!

Hi All,
Happy New Year!
2016 certainly was a busy year, and 2017 holds lots of promise.

Back in October I began working with a friend (Marie) - one who never even learned to sew at all - to help her create a dragon & phoenix quilt for her husband. The plan was to have it completed by Christmas and it was to be secret.

In November I showed a bit of the progress Marie was making, and I wanted to share a bit more. The piece was completed on time and is no longer a secret -- and I'm sure you'll agree that Marie did an amazing job.

Once Marie finished the background quilt, and Fast-Piece Applique stitching each of the big players (the phoenix & dragon) together; Marie had her first lessons on couching. She took to selecting the yarns like a pro and after some sample stitching, couched the background. With all that done Marie was ready to place and stitch the big players in place. Ralphie also was on hand to make sure everything was ready to go.

The phoenix went on without a hitch and was trimmed before Marie set the dragon in place and had him stitched.

From there the big players were couched, then the whole piece was pressed, trimmed and binding added.

In the week leading up to Christmas Marie could be found watching Star Wars in my living room and adding hand stitching and even a bunch of beads to finish it all off.

It wouldn't surprise me if there was a sewing machine on Marie's wish list. She did a great job, learned a ton of new stitching skills and now has an art quilt under her belt. Fast-Piece Applique made it SEW!