The Crab is Crawling off the Quilt!!!!

See what I mean??? (read the last post if you haven't already...) My friend and long time customer Kris did a fabulous job with her hand-stitched redwork and overall quilt design. I wanted so badly to go skipping down by the seashore after quilting this beauty. Once again my Mermaid Hair background filler added pizazz and movement without stealing the show. This stitch motif has become one of my favorites. It brings things to life. The crab, for example, was an elegant, yet "flat" redwork pattern. After breaking up all that white background with some Mermaid Hair action...Mr. Crab there looks likes he's gonna' crawl right off the quilt. I can't wait to share more snapshots of this one, like the light house and star fish blocks. MORE PHOTOS COMING soon....so stay tuned people as I take you down by the seashore....

Wait til You See What's Next!!!

I'm thinking beach right now.... Yes in the middle of winter! The thought of strolling along the edge of the sea with soft, warm sand cushioning every step, sunshine on my cheeks and that soothing sound of waves rolling in & out is very appealing to me right now. And speaking of the seashore, two of the quilts I have recently done have a thing or 2 to do with the ocean. Wait and see....photos coming very soon. Wait til you see how they turned out...


Photo resource:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/beach%20cartoon%20images/sebastiantantan/bugs_bunny_1.jpg

It's a Doozy!!!

Sharon put together a stunning combination of fabrics. For the quilting she requested feathers in the corners. I decided to try a new kind of feather that curled in on itself. I worked and practiced for a long, looooong time. Several sketches later, I felt ready to tackle the quilt. I couldn't have been more excited about how well the feathers turned out. I always feel like I'm free-falling off a cliff when I begin taking the first stitches of a new design. Even though I've been sewing feathers for a while now, these were tricky because of how tightly they curled in on themselves and because of the fact that they had to fit into the corner squares and set-in triangles.

I also added swirls to the flames this time. This gave them a slightly more elegant look that better complimented the feel of the quilt.

Taking on the challenge of this new feather design was worth it! The quilt turned out even better than I imagined, and Sharon loved it.

Click on photos for larger view.

Smaller curly-q borders...

Set-in triangle feathers and swirling flames...

This photo really shows off Sharon's excellent composition of colors.

Swooshing Feathers

Here's another of Robin's quilts. The artsy, funky feel of her quilt lent itself to a variety of stitch design possibilities. I had lots of fun quilting swooshing feathers in the wide purple sashing and in the borders. Robin not only hand dyed many of her fabrics as in her other quilt here but she also used a variety of corduroys, cottons, linens, satin, and more. The purple feathers shimmered because of their wavy design and the shiny, silky purple fabric. The pumpkin, gold thread was complimentary as well.

Doodlings...

This is a special card that I made for my Aunt Kim. She sent me a big box full of goodies on my birthday in September. A few weeks ago I designed this thank you card and sent it to her. She LOVES, I mean reeeeally loves, cats. I had fun creating this rather round kitty. His personality really shows. He ended up being roughly 7-8 inches long and about 4-5 inches tall. The materials I used were colored pencils and a fine black pen for outlining. You will recognize some of the quilting motifs I used - like the Mermaid Hair on his belly...I am really stuck on Mermaid Hair right now...I love sewing that design. My aunt said she loved it and might even frame it. I think I might have to do some more of these sometime...I had fun creating this kitty!


Upclose: his back feet...I don't know WHY this posted sideways! Oh well...

His happy face and chubby cheeks....

I made sure to stick to ROY - G - BIV for his tail...all the colors of the rainbow side by side really pack a punch! His tail was fun to color in but even more fun to cut out.

A Splash of Color!

Betsy did an amazing job putting these colors together. I loved the bright combinations and the swirling designs in the fabrics. Due to the business of the fabrics, I decided that simple curly q's would be best. They also echoed the motif already in the fabric. The curling quilting added a lot of movement and texture. I have to be honest...I wanted to keep this one! It was my colors!