Lady Sun

I don't know that this quilt will get done in time to bring to DC in March, but at least I am back to making some progress. Having decided to quilt zodiac symbols around the sun, I went in search of a series that I liked. The ones I chose are from an old children's book. Here is a practice piece, trying out different threads and getting the hang of quilting the motifs. My process is to print the motif on tracing paper, glue the paper to the quilt sandwich with a spritz of spray glue, then free motion stitch over the lines. The worst part is getting all the bits of tracing paper out of the stitching. Here is a shot of the quilt center with Khorshid Khanoom in the center. She is very nearly done--painted and beaded. She will be the final addition to the quilt--along with a scatter of glittery crystals.


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Wedding Tree

What a difference a border makes! The tree quilt got a beautiful batik border of flying geese, chosen because geese mate for life, followed by a bright red border which brought great warmth to the piece. I spent the weekend quilting the center panel and am ready to pass it on to Linda to quilt the borders, then someone will add binding and a label, and voila! Ready to gift! Today's photos show the quilt with center quilting done, and a close up of some of the fill-in quilting--borrowed from Leah Day's 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs Thanks, Leah!

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Accepted for Show!

Woo Hoo! Today's mail brought a letter of congratulations from the jury at the American Quilting Society's Quilt Show and Contest in Lancaster, PA March 24-27, stating that I am a semi-finalist! They even included a press release, which reads in part: "Bali Bloom was chosed from a large field of entries and will compete against others within its category. . .all semifinalists' quilts will be displayed at the show, which is expected to draw nearly 20,000 people. . .Quilts were entered in this international contest from 38 states and 7 other countries." How cool is that! Off to a guild meeting this evening--maybe I will bring it for show and tell.

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Feathered Star

OK, back to quilts. I have been working on the piecing for the feathered star blocks. Next time I decide to do a quilt with lots of piecing, remind me that I don't really love matching points, sewing lots of tiny seams or trying to make everything match up beautifully. That said, here are some photos of this quilt in progress. Still rough, but coming along.

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Trust Women

Today, a diversion. I am a firm believer that abortion has no place in politics and should rest in the hands of a woman, her family, and her health care provider. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Roe vs Wade. How private decisions ever became politicized is beyond me, but here we are, 37 years later, still fighting. The murder of Dr. Tiller last year, simply because he provided legal, safe abortions was dispicable. Would those who wish to ban abortion choose a return to coat hanger, back alley butchers? Is that a better solution? Dr. Tiller wore a button that read: Trust Women. Couldn't be simpler. Trust Women.

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Feathered Star

I am excited to be starting a new quilt. I will post a few photos of the "background" in process, which hopefully will feature a face in the center. If all goes well, I plan to give it to a friend who has talked about this idea for quite some time. It has been a long time since I have made a quilt from a pattern, with piecing. And this is fairly precise piecing--feathered stars are all points! The stars are cut using a 'stack and whack' system, stacking repeats of the fabric so they line up perfectly before slicing into diamonds. The final effect is of a kaleidoscope. When I get to the face, I plan to print it on fabric, paint, then thread paint and finally, embellish with tiny beads. Fingers crossed for a happy outcome! Should the top come out well, it will be on to quilting, and I want to do rather more structured quilting than usual--the blue spaces lend themselves to specific designs--I am thinking about something to do with zodiac signs, but we'll see. Long way from that decision yet. Here are the 1.5" half-square triangles, chain-stitched, then surrounding the star. Love that Hoffman garden fabric.

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Goodbye 2009

End of the year, and no projects in the works! I had thought I might start a new piece over the holidays, but there were just too many happy distractions. The tree quilt our group is working on (see below) is at another quilter's home awaiting borders. I do have plans for two new pieces--even have the main fabric for one, and a pattern (!) Don't do many quilts from patterns anymore, but I fell in love with a feathered star and really want to try it. The second is another based on a photo--so far all I have done is get the photo enlarged to size. More on that later. Perhaps January will provide some snowy weekends to motivate me!

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