Friends Quilting

I had a couple of friends over today. Sonya was quilting her quilt, and Helen was working on some bindings for baby quilts. Sonya's 6 yr old daughter Sami helped me color with crayons, watch cartoons...love the penguins, and she held 2 donation quilts for me to photo.

The donation quilts are made from the fabric I dyed with the easter egg tablets.

I then used a stencil and Shiva sticks to do the center burst design. I think they turned out funky and fun.

Plaid it is

After doing a little online poll to choose between a floral or a plaid fabric for chair skirts, plaid won the vote. The chairs look great and brighten my quilting room.

Chairs, Pads, and Fabric Wrapping

I had great intentions for making a chair pad but after starting the wrapping on the roping for the pads, I talked myself out of it. If I'm going to use these for sewing and classes, my bottom gets numb if I don't have good padding on the chair I'm using. So off to the store to by 2 inexpensive cushions. I finished the wrapping and made a trivet with a matching bowl. I'll be putting some beads on the bowl later, and I'm thinking of putting a bottom skirt on the chairs in a coordinating fabric. We'll see what happens after I think about it for a while.

It's a Good Day to Dye

It's another nice day here in Hayward, WI so I felt it would be a great day to mix up a little dye and to make two pieces of mono print cloth. I need the mono print for a painted postcard exchange I need to get out in the next couple of days.

The dye buckets contain Easter egg tablets from 4 little kits that make about 2 cups of intense dye. I picked them up after Easter when everything in the local wally mart was discounted. I think I paid about 25 cents for each kit. When I'm finished when these I will wash them in synthrapol and heat set them by ironing. The colors should stay intense.

The mono printing was done on safety glass with ink fabric dyes meant for stamping. When these are dry I will rinse, heat set and wash them also in synthrapol.

I hope you get to do something fun on this lovely day.

Red is my favorite color

I was spending a little time today painting a couple of chairs that I found next to a free sign at the end of a driveway this spring. They were split, faded white, and in sad shape. My husband reglued the stringers and seats. The stool was also a free item that one of my husbands customers said "throw this out for me". He threw it my way.

I love found objects and most of the time I can see what they could be. I have many tables that I've refinished, and that I love. I've gotten chairs, dressers, a secretary, an oak work bench, etc. I love each and every one of them, and I've spent quality time with them, making them my own. Most of the time, I strip, sand, stain, and varnish. These chairs didn't warrant it. So they are now red, my favorite color. I will be making chair pads for the 2 matching chairs and the stool is going in my studio. I will probably take the chairs for my studio too, but for now the paint needs to cure.

When I make the chair pads, I'll post the finished pictures.

Painted Postcards

I finished some painted postcards yesterday for a challenge with our Wild Threads machine quilting group. I dropped one in the mail for a friend, and the butterfly shapped one will be for a special display. Now I need to finish some painted postcards for an exhange that needs to go out in the mail Monday. Such fun little pieces to try out a new technique and not be commited to a huge project.

Paper Piecing with Claudia

I took a great paper piecing design class last week with Claudia Clark Myers in Duluth MN. This is the result. My husband liked the little table quilt which is a bit unusual since it is a little bright. It's new home is on the dining table.

MQS Audacious Auction 2011

These are a few pictures from the 2011 MQS Audacious Auction which raised a whopping $11,000 that is for grants that go to machine quilters education.