a few more pics from PIQF

Fall Spendour. I think this quilt was actually machine pieced together. Impressive work.

More pictoral quilts.

This first one was applique and thread play.

Applique



I still have a few more to show next time :-)

west coast quilt show

Pacific International Quilt Show is this weekend in Santa Clara, California. I was able to go yesterday and really enjoyed some beautiful quilts as well as meeting up with some of my favorite quilters! First on my agenda was to see quilts that Nancy Brown had entered. I was thrilled to see a blue ribbon by her quilt with the elephant seals and penguins. I love it when the judges realize what good taste I have and they put the ribbons on my favorites :-)

 I love the expressions on these girls faces (the elephant seals depicted here are the females...I don't know about those cute penguins though...there could be some boys there).

 Here is another quilt of Nancy's that was commissioned by another quilter. Just by looking at this picture, you could tell this was a very sweet grandmother. I know the pigeons liked her :-)

 There were some beautiful quilts with flowers. Iris are my favorite.

 This quilt was gorgeous fall colors and included plaid.

 This quilt really was inspiring to me. I don't know if the picture will show it well but it has the look of wood block art....I think I just made that term up...I don't know what they call it but...the background is black with the scene appliqued onto it (I think?!)  Anyway..it is a breathtaking view of the Sisters Mountains in Oregon. So wonderfully done!

The vendors were as delightful as ever. I didn't do too much 'damage' but found some good hand dyes to use for applique pictures of my labs and some pretty batik layer cakes to make a couple of gift quilts. A sweet, memorable day!

meet Wizard

Here is my completed pup applique. It looks like another dog I used to know rather than my dog, Bridget. So I'm calling this one Wizard. I definitely needed some practice with this (and I need to wash out the pencil markings!). So I'm going to shop for some perfect fabrics..maybe hand dyes and then make a picture with my two labs, Sandy and Bridget. Then if Mosley is sweet and not acting like a criminal, I'll try one with his picture....if!

I really enjoyed stitching this boy. Marianne is posing here while I type this reminding me that she would also look beautiful in a quilt.  She's right, of course.

Note, this is an older post for Pets on Quilts 2017 of a quilt I hadn't shared yet.

In the meantime, the quilt group I meet with monthly has started a BOM. It is a mystery revealed one step each month. If you would like to join along with us, check out Pieces of Rana's Life for the pattern instructions.
This is my effort for the first month.  The edge is just turned over and will hopefully look alot smoother when I stitch it onto the background.

Pumpkins :-) just in time for autumn!

applique class with Nancy Brown

We gathered (opps, Nancy's not in this picture!) last Sunday in Morro Bay and learned applique tips and how to shape cat and dog faces in fabric. We had beautiful samples and a wonderful (and entertaining!) instructor right there to inspire and teach us. I enjoyed the whole day!

This first picture is Nancy's quilt of her friend, Mittens.

And this quilt is of Nancy's cat, Opie. The quilt shows off Opie's beautiful blue eyes.

If we locked ourselves in this room for the next three years, Nancy promised that we could complete this lovely quilt with several of our favorite dogs....might take me six with lots of help!

Nancy also showed us how to trace pictures of our own pets and accent the light and dark to make quilt replicas of them.  This week was busy so I only got as far as a neck and two eyes for the dog applique that will look like my dog, Bridget....completed that in the class, except for having to redo one of the pupils on one dog eye. And then another dog eye for a second dog applique that will look like my other dog, Sandy.

Hopefully someday these parts will look a little like this.

My thoughts and prayers are with those of you on the east coast braving those storms this weekend. Hope it's almost over.

finally some finishes

Mr. Walking Rabbit is quilted and decorating the wall in our family room, warming my primitive heart.  Thank you to Log Cabin Quilter for the inspiration. I loved the plaids and flannel that went into making this guy. It was just a fun project.

Next I have another attempt at dealing with my novelty fabric "problem". When I started quilting back in the 90's, Debbie Mumm's designs thrilled me...to the point of buying an awful lot of Noah and his ark. (I am fighting with Blogger again about where I want to place text)...So here is the quilt top and then the quilt back. I actually still enjoy Noah...fortunately. This quilt was simply designed to showcase the large images.

One initial plan for this fabric was to use a "10 minute block" method that I saw posted on Happy Cottage Quilter's blog but it didn't work so well with these novelties. Zebra would be Zera in all the blocks. I do like the idea of this method though and will look for a chance to use it.

On to newer fabric...but still a few years old...I made a king size quilt for my friend several years ago for her wedding. Recently, I realized I had leftover blocks and lots of fabric I could use to make a smaller version for myself. This quilt is called Buckeye Beauty in Marsha McCloskey's Quick Classic Quilts. Tonya chose the fabric collection from my stash and selected this pattern. It is still a favorite with both of us. For mine, I quilted it with a pattern called Plumage...which seems to be my current favorite.

I have been doing some embroidery and now quilting on a couple of little quilts planned for Christmas presents....no pictures available because of the surprise factor. And today I have gathered up all the Psalms blocks and will start on putting them together with sashing fabric.  I will show a picture next time because if I try to add it now...who knows where it will show up in this post.

Hope you are having a wonderful summer day!

Happy Independence Day!

I have been doing embroidery, piecing and longarm quilting but have no pictures to show for it yet.  What I do have though is a picture of the new baby deer in our neighborhood and some views of where we go to walk the dogs most days.

This sweet little creature will learn which houses have the best salad!

We are blessed to live by a large ranchland that our town purchased and now has open as a park for everyone to enjoy. Along the ocean we have a beautiful circuit to walk and view the ocean and some interesting creatures.

This is looking north to San Simeon.

And here we head back toward the south to check out who is hanging out on the rocks.

We love seeing these sunbathers everyday.

Hope you are having a great day with family and friends.

a couple of finishes

Finished this small floral quilt for a co-worker but I'm not sure if this is her style or not. This was started with some leftover blocks from the quilt I made for my mom. I quilted it using the Plumage panto. I love the feathers but this pattern is kind of narrow which means more passes on the longarm. Perfect for a smaller quilt as I don't run out of interest like I would on a queen size.

So in case she isn't into sweet florals, I pulled from my stash and made up this quick darker quilt...which I sort of prefer for me as well.  I put the feathers on this one too.

Carol of Brown Quilts posted about a friend of hers making pillowcases for servicemen and women. Some help could be useful so several of us are pitching in.  Feel free to join the effort if you are so inclined. It is kind of fun. Here are the two that I am sending off.

I'm currently working with more leftover blocks making a quilt for me :-)  Will show pics of that later but I leave you with improved pics from my new camera of my friends, the billboard cows on 101 north to Salinas. These guys always make me smile.