Lake Art Demo

On Saturday I'm demonstrating how the lake quilts in my series of the goal to 100 are created. I'll be at Good Good's gallery in Saugatuck, Michigan from noon until 5:00 with all my scraps, yarns, netting, and sewing machine.
I stopped in the gallery this afternoon to see how the hanging of my pieces is going. A lot of them are up.
Included in this show that will be hanging through September are some of my "regular" quilts. I love how "Regeneration" is paired with this particular Sticks chair and ottoman.
To read complete details about my being Good Good's featured artist go here.

Sewing with Grandsons

His brother, Jackson, had created a sleeping bag for one of his stuffed animals so Jennings had to have a sewing project, too. He had lain claim to his uncle's childhood "Gizmo" (it's difficult for me to throw anything away) and decided to make a quilt for him.
One side is pieced 8" blocks and the other represents a German flag. It was up to him to figure out how many blocks were needed and then to choose twelve fabrics for the quilt. I cut them out and he designed the quilt and pinned ...
and sewed them all together on the Pfaff 360. This machine is set up on a low side table in my studio exclusively for children to operate.
The quilting was done on the much newer Pfaff Creative 7530. Jennings found it easier to control the quilt by standing rather than sitting at this machine.
His cousin, Winston, didn't have a project in mind but he really wanted to sew and was most willing to help me out on another project. I have a stack of blocks that need binding for Caron's "and still counting" project.
Winston bound several blocks including one he had stitched Colonial knots onto last summer.
I sure wish he, or someone else, would stick around long enough to bind them all so they could be mailed off to Caron. I like the stitching knots in a spiral pattern on the blocks, but not the binding part.

Fun Sewing With Tessa

Tessa's 7th birthday present from me was an antique doll bed AND the fun of our "dressing it" together. Five days later it was finished.
The mattress and pillows were made before it was given to her. She and I took a trip to the fabric store to select the fabrics and trims. All the choices were made by Tessa with a bit of input in the the form of questions from me. She had not realized there were so many different pinks and that the one she liked best has a bit of orange in it.
She chose coordinating flannel prints for the sheets and pillow cases. They were made first so she could put her doll to bed the first night. It was too warm for a top sheet and quilt anyway. In the photo above Tessa is arranging the 5" cut blocks for the quilt.
Tessa sewed most of the seams on all the bedding while I stitched a few complex ones. However, most of the long seams and quilting lines were stitched by both of us. The chair was deep enough for the two of us to sit in while I guided the fabric and she operated the levers and foot pedal.
The backing of the quilt is "Minki" fabric. Because it is thick and has a bit of loft there is no batting inside the quilt.

Needles to say, Tessa is pleased with the resulting present and her accomplishments ... especially that she got to operate the sewing machine all by herself (even threading the machine with no help). I'm pleased that she was willing and capable and persisted to the conclusion of this beautifully dressed bed. It's fun sewing with Tessa.

Pay It Forward Art Gift

This PIF art gift is in its new home in Italy.

"Hot Stuff" - 16"x16" (2008)

Linda Teodo who's a big fan of my shoe quilt, "Imelda's Dream" is the recipient. When I created this small quilt for the Smoky Mountain Quilt guild's "hot stuff" challenge this spring I used the same patterns for the shoes and boxes in that huge quilt. While I was making this one thoughts of Linda kept popping into my mind ... I knew it was destined for her. To read about its contruction, go here.