improvisationally pieced yo-yo's

Yes, the yo yo on the small quilt in the previous post was pieced. As you can see, the small sections of pieced fabric that I used were rather roughly shaped. In fact, they were not even round. After I used a running stitch around the edges, I was able to manipulate the fnished yo yo into somewhat of a rounded shape. For my purposes, embellishment on an art quilt, the exact shape doesn't necessarily matter.

more dimensional

Beads, heavy quilting and an experiment using a mulit-fabric yo-yo.

ready to go

Lace, beads, and a pinback have been added and this one is ready to go to be delivered as a gift this weekend.

wip: wild and crazy

This is about one and 1/2 inches of colorful fabric and crazy quilt stitching. I may add some beads.

much improved

My worktable is mostly cleared off. I'm still experimenting with different storage containers. Currently my thread is in a basket on a shelf in a cupboard but I'm thinking of storing at least some of it in this wooden box I found several years ago in an antiques mart. The painted box was painted by my husband's grandmother.

joy

A small experiment with beads and paint.

away and overwhelmed

The organization of my studio has totally gotten away from me and now I'm overwhelmed. This dreary rainy day would be a good time to try to get things put back together . . . if I can just get motivated.

watching

Tucked behind a large vase on the fireplace mantel, Dalla watched while I was working on more inchies.

one of these

Here are a couple of the slightly larger than an inch inchies. One of these will be further embellished with beads, a little bit of lace, have a pinback added, and will be given as a small gift to a friend this coming weekend.

Charlottesville

I used to live in Charlottesville. It's the one place of anywhere I've ever lived that I'm sorry that I left. It has been 29 years but finally I was able to return for a brief visit, accompanying my husband on a business trip. Some of the photos were taken yesterday, after I had finished exploring and while I was waiting for the hotel room to be ready. Given my fondness for spirals, I had to take photos of the carpet in the lobby. While there I made some slightly larger than inchies, using a technique I was experimenting with. The third photo was from today's drive out to Crozet, where we used to ride on his motorcycle thirty years ago.

beads and wiggles

This one is a little more atc size, although the beads are maybe a bit too big.

another smaller than atc

This one is smaller than an atc, also. It is embellished with beads and small buttons.

Judy Gelzinis Donovan

Last night's Main Line Bead Society meeting featured a program by Judy Gelzinis Donovan, a textile artist, beader and teacher. Born in Philadelphia but raised on the tiny island of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, she became fascinated with beads and textiles using vibrantly colored tropical fabrics, raffia, cowrie shells and beads. Her work, primarily garments and woven beadwork, has been shown nationally and internationally in juried shows, galleries, as well as in invitation-only fashion shows.

A highly entertaining speaker, she provided information on her techniques, ideas and inspiration. Attendees were encouraged to model her garments, and everyone had an opportunity to touch and look at them closely. It was almost enough to make me want to consider buying a sewing machine!

autumn celebrations

After being inspired by some of the sites I've discovered through Amy's blogger festival, I've been collecting dried materials from the yard to make autumn decorations. This little quilt turned out tinier than an ATC and is embellished with beads and paint.

change in shape

two of twenty

Finally I have identified the source of the pattern I used for a quilt I had posted earlier. Both of these were from Gwen Marston's Twenty Little Triangle Quilts. The original one posted is"String of Triangles" and the red, blue and yellow one is "Triangle Block with Triangle Border" (except that I didn't make a triangle border).

small vintage wip

Here are some vintage 9-patch blocks, approximately 3 inches, from a stash I inherited from a dear family friend. Several years ago I did make a small quilt using some of them which was given as a gift.

wip: to Boston

These small squares, embellished with beads and buttons, were made this past spring on a couple of unexpected trips to Boston and while I was waiting there. I have a small stack of them and haven't yet assembled them into any permanent order.

autumn hearts wip progress

Still working on autumn hearts, which I really think of as pumpkin hearts. It's a slow process since everything is done by hand but it is also enjoyable.

crazy wip

A tiny crazy quilt with partial border. Apparently I stoppped working on it in the middle of attaching the border. At least all the pieces are together. To take the photograph I used a couple of pieces of driftwood as paperweights to try to get it to lie flat. So my collection of rocks and sticks serve a purpose after all.

unexpected happy sale

This is the little quilt that sold unexpectedly on Saturday when it was being used as part of a display.

While I Was Waiting: Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival

While I Was Waiting: Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival

Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival

time and placement

While if I had my choice I would still be employed (preferably as a librarian), one of the advantages of my current situation is that I now have the time to sort through items (wips) tucked away in baskets in my studio and start working on them again. This is a project that I had purposely set aside while I was deciding how to set the blocks and whether or not to use sashing. I have made the decision not to use sashing and am now working on the placement of the blocks.

800 miles and autumn hearts wip

Riding in the car for a round trip total of over 800 miles resulted in quite a bit of progress on the small autumn hearts quilt project. Twelve hearts were appliqued, and eight of them have been outlined in an embroidery stitch.

Saturday morning rainbow

We saw a rainbow early Saturday morning on our way to Newbern. Adrienne sold a few cards and I sold a quilt she was using to decorate her display.

Adrienne Rachel's cards

Tomorrow Adrienne Rachel is selling her handmade cards in Newbern, VA and is hoping it won't rain.

hearts on my mind part four

For the long journey home to the mountains of my past, some pumpkin-colored hearts (although you can't tell from the photograph) to applique and embellish.

hearts on my mind part three

This not yet appliqued and yet to be pieced wip includes hearts and, according to the template, scrappy stars. Dalla is watching me take photographs.

hearts on my mind part two

This one was made a bit later, and combines both old and new fabric.