Confessions of a Completionist

Tipsy

2012-01-21T06:41:00.001-08:00

I will be presenting a fashion show on Friday morning, January 27 to the Citrus Belt Quilters in Redlands, California. Stop by and say hi if you're in the area!

For every fashion show I try to have something new (I never do the same show twice) and this is one of the new jackets I will be showing in Redlands. As you can probably tell, my work lately has been influenced by the Modern Quilt movement: simple minimalist designs, bright multi-colored fabrics paired with solid fabrics.

I call this one Tipsy since it looks like blocks about to topple over. And I think maybe I was a bit tipsy, too, when I took the obviously crooked photo!

Here is the lining. I achieved the multicolored look by stenciling gold first, then stamping, over the stencil, in blue and red.

I went to Road to California on Thursday and was very pleased to see more people than ever wearing fabulous wearable art jackets! I was disappointed that the show did away with the wearable art competition, but there was plenty to see on the backs of people all around me. I hope you get a chance to attend this year as the quilts are out of this world!

Lisa

The Snowmen Project: January

2012-01-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

I am unable to attend the quilting group I used to attend so a few of the ladies were kind enough to join me for a block swap. Each month we each work on a different person's quilt, making a snowman themed for that month. We each made our own January snowmen to set the tone.

Thelma's block, not quite done. She has added mittens and a face since our meeting.

Veronica has also changed her block since the meeting, removing the border.

Pat's snowman is celebrating the new year.

Dorothy's snowman is enjoying a visit from a friendly cardinal. (I'm working on this quilt for February.)

Marlys' snowman with a very appropriate sign.

And my snowman about to crash into a tree while "enjoying" a winter sport. Okay, we can see who has the warped sense of humor in this group!

Lisa

Reindeer Place Mats

2011-12-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

After being late with my Halloween and Thanksgiving wall hangings I decided to make simpler place mats for Christmas. They were finished on December 22. Yay!I made 6, but probably should have made 8. How many place mats do you make? It seems like I generally get as far as 4 before my interest wanes so 6 is an improvement.

Lisa

Thanksgiving Quilt

2011-12-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

After my success with the Halloween quilt I decide to tackle Thanksgiving. If Pierre has to climb way up there to take down the Halloween quilt he might as well put a Thanksgiving quilt in its place, right?I found Thanksgiving more challenging since there are fewer symbols, especially as I didn't want to do Pilgrims, etc. I chose a more humorous approach with turkeys poking their heads in here and there.

All is done using fusible applique and buttonhole stitch. The patterns are clipart and the lettering is a variety of fonts from WORD.

I finished it last week, just a little late for this year, LOL. Hope you like it!

Lisa

For Sale

2011-11-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

Here is another jacket that I would part with. It has seldom been worn, just not my colors. I made it in a class with... I can't remember her name. Argh! Someone will recognize her work and post it in the comments for me. Because it's from a class and not my own design I can't teach it so it seldom ends up in my fashion show.

I call it Streak of Lighting and it was fun to make, playing around with making the orange bounce around the jacket. Again, the size is a 10-12, the sleeves are about an inch longer than usual and it is bound.
Name your price and we can talk. To be sold AS IS.

For Sale

2011-11-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

It's time to admit that I have too many jackets (almost 100!) and clean out the closets for some new ones that I have in process. Therefor I will be posting some jackets that I have for sale. All have been worn at least a few times, and each is a one-of-a-kind work of art.

This jacket, "Meow", is a cardigan style jacket that sits just below the waist. Brown binding finishes all edges. The size is 10, but the sleeves are an inch longer than usual. To make any alterations you would have to remove the binding.

The cats are fused applique with machine buttonhole stitch. The designs on the cats are made with metallic gold Shiva Paintsticks and metallic blue Paintsticks for the eyes and therefor not dry cleanable. There are several cat designs with different doodles on the body.

The lining is a polyester satin and stenciled with trees using Stewart Gill fabric paints.

Jackets all have a flannel interior, in lieu of batting. The flannel has not been pre-washed. Let me know if you're interested by naming a price. All jackets are sold As Is.

Lisa

Dear Lisa

2011-11-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Jane quilts were all the rage a short while ago and while I didn't feel the need to make one, the idea of using small blocks in a jacket definitely made sense. Veronica was kind enough to lend me her book for inspiration.

I chose to make the blocks even smaller: 3 inches. Because of that I limited myself to 9-patch designs. Why drive myself nuts with the math?

When I stipple quilted it I decided to try using black on some portions and metallic gold on other areas. I like the effect of depth it gave the jacket.

In January I'm starting up a mini wearable art quilt group, like a friendship quilt group, but for wearable art. I hope to have lots of new ideas and inspirations, as well as more photos.

Lisa

Botanica

2011-11-09T05:49:00.000-08:00

I need to have handwork available for various times such as meetings, watching television, appointments, etc. This jacket is one of the results.

The stitches are mostly chain stitch variations I learned in Leora Raikin's African Embroidery class and the threads were purchased from her as well.

The designs are from some Dover books.

I embroidered each block individually, then seamed them all together. I covered the seams with a whipped running stitch.

Lisa

Square Dance

2011-11-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

Looking at what I've posted in the past I realized that I forgot to post the finished Square Dance so here it is.

I chose to bind it in the same fabric that I used for the bottom row.

Here is a close up showing the quilting. I used a metallic turquoise thread and stitched the width of my presser foot around the outside of the turquoise pinwheels.

Now that fall has finally arrived her in southern California I can start wearing it!

Lisa

All Hallows' Eve

2011-11-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

The quilt group I belong to recently taught a Halloween row quilt. Needless to say I didn't follow the instructions, but at least I made a quilt!I started with the border fabric and chose colors from that. I had no plan ahead of time, merely making blocks as I learned them and others that I thought of on my own. It was a real trick to put it together, but the flying geese (maybe they're flying bats?) did the trick.

Naturally I finished it November 1, but at least I can put it away with the rest of the Halloween decorations and look forward to enjoying it the whole month of October next year.

Lisa

Discharge + Painting

2011-07-04T07:17:00.001-07:00

I've been learning how to paint fabric with transparent paints. The only problem seems to be that I'm not overly fond of white backgrounds and anything else will show through the paint.

I decided to experiment with discharging some black Kona cotton and here is the result.

This particular black discharges to a lovely soft rust color. Because of this I chose to paint the flower in shades of orange. The discharge process did not result in an even color so the painting looks somewhat mottled, but I think it's interesting. I'd call it a successful experiment :-)

Lisa

Paper Pieced Faces

2011-07-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I decided to experiment with a new name tag design. I have enjoyed seeing all the self-portraits people have made recently, but knew that realistically people wouldn't be able to accomplish that on the small scale of a name tag.

So I drafted these paper pieced wonky faces: short haired, long haired and medium haired. Fun?

Of course you have to add another piece of fabric at the bottom for your name which can be embroidered, printed or written with a permanent pen. And I wasn't able to add the eyes without making it too too complicated. Eyes could be drawn in, created with beads and/or sequins or you could add one of those little sunglasses pins 8-)

This is not a particularly easy pattern since the one on the left is created in 3 parts that are then joined. The other two are "only" two parts. But I saw that at least one class member had made her name tag just a week after I gave out the patterns!

I hope you like them!

Lisa

Sunflowers!

2011-06-30T16:26:00.001-07:00

We planted a few sunflower seeds and look at the giant sunflowers that resulted!

That is my 6 foot tall husband standing next to the largest plant.

And a closeup because they are so cheerful and happy!

For those of you hoping to see next week's pillow project, you'll have to wait until Saturday. I decided that it would be easier for everyone if I post it in the Fabric Floozie Newsie. I plan on sending it out early (Saturday instead of Sunday) because of the holiday.

Lisa

Missing?

2011-05-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't been blogging lately. I was slogging my way through the millions of tiny square dance blocks necessary to make this jacket. Okay, maybe not millions, but that's the way it felt! There's something mind numbing about doing the same thing over and over and over again...The blocks are done and the rough shapes are ready for the next step, quilting. Not all of my jackets are quilted, but this one will be. I haven't decided whether I'll use a metallic copper or a metallic turquoise, but it is definitely time to take a break from this project.

Do you ever find that during a long project you get really sick of it? I do and my solution is to take a break from that project. Otherwise I'm likely to slap it all together and call it done. It doesn't have to be quilted. I could just cut it out and assemble it, but I think quilting will enhance the design, making some of the "pinwheels" pop so I will wait.

Meanwhile I'm working on some quick and fun projects for the summer class at Bits and Pieces. Sorry I can't show them to you yet, but I will post pictures here as I teach them. Or maybe I'll see you in class, it's free!

Lisa

Refracted Rainbows

2011-04-21T06:43:00.001-07:00

I presented a fashion show yesterday to the Los Angeles County Quilt Guild. I try to have at least one new jacket each time I narrate a show and this time it was a bit of a stretch since I had less than 2 weeks. Fortunately this was already in progress.

Using spring colors (yes, I will be wearing this on Easter morning) I made another curves jacket, but this time the curves are set on diagonal lines and there are no accents added. Top-stitching was done using iridescent Sliver thread and while it doesn't show in photos it adds a nice sparkle.

I hope you like it as much as I do!

Lisa

Square Dance in Progress

2011-04-19T14:17:00.001-07:00

The class I'm taking at Bits and Pieces is working on Square Dance quilts. Naturally I had to be different and make a jacket. It seems like most of the others are done and this is all I have: enough for the back of the jacket.

Lisa

New Purse

2011-04-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

One of the things I've been doing lately is working my way through a new list. I called this list my "procrastination list" because it consists of all the things I should be doing, but have been putting off.

I'm almost through the list, only one thing left and I really really wish I could find someone else to grade my pattern for me so I could be done.

Here is the purse I made to complete one of the items on my list. It wasn't that I didn't want to make it, but that I missed the lesson on making the purse. I really don't like reading directions, especially directions without pictures.

But whether I did it right or wrong, it's done!

Lisa

Small Projects?

2011-04-14T09:28:00.001-07:00

I'm looking for ideas for small quilted projects to make over the summer. When it's hot outside most of us don't feel like working on a large quilt or even a jacket, but the urge to sew is still there. I thought this would be a good chance to get some small Christmas presents made. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to post in the comments section or drop me an email. Thanks!

Lisa

Pillow Time

2011-04-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Not much going on around here this week. I am between fashion shows and trying to complete my procrastination list, LOL. So I will reach back into the photo archives and show you some pillows I made a few weeks ago for our library.

Lisa

Visitor

2011-04-12T06:44:00.001-07:00

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of brilliance. I turned and there he was, right outside my back door!

Lisa

Garden Peeks

2011-04-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I'd show you a few little peeks at my gardens. After all, spring has sprung pretty much everywhere by now.

I don't know what this plant is but it worked wonderfully in my gelatin prints. It's quite light and airy. It has been suggested that it's creeping phlox, but it's much taller and airier than that.

Another unknown plant, but one I dearly love.

Our porch with some yellow roses in bloom. My husband is not fond of roses so I hope these survive!
Roses closeup
We also have a number of tiny roses

more tiny roses
Here is the Satsuma in blossom again. I really wish you could smell how heavenly it is!

Iris are one of my favorite flowers. The house came with quite a few and we've been adding new ones also.

Isn't this the perfect rose?
Amaryllis. Last year the snails got them, but this year they really look amazing!

Lisa

April Chickie

2011-04-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

My little April chickie is done! I like this one better than the March chickie, but it took longer to complete. I can't wait until December when I can put all of them together into a quilt for the spare room.Lisa

Saturday Workshop

2011-04-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

I will be teaching a workshop this Saturday for the Fallbrook Quilt Guild. Students have their choice of 4 different projects, all using similar techniques.

You may make a random curves tote or jacket such as Trickles (above)

or an echoing curves tote (above) or jacket such as Forest Echoes (below).
At the fashion show I heard there was a last minute cancellation so there is room for another person if you're interested. I don't teach wearable art locally very often so don't miss out!

Lisa

Fallbrook Fashion Show

2011-04-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight I will be presenting a fashion show of 42 of my favorite jackets to the Fallbrook Quilt Guild. I try to have at least one new jacket for each show, but this time there are 5 new jackets; I think that's a record!

If you're in the area please come! I will be at the Fallbrook Community Center, 341 Heald Lane, Fallbrook, California. Guild meeting starts at 6:30 and I start at approximately 7:30.

Lisa

"Sick" Shoes

2011-04-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

I while ago I bought some black Vans slip-on sneakers. Okay, no jokes about my getting too old to bend over and tie my own shoes. My goal was to embellish them with paint. It took a while for me to get up the nerve, but I finally did it.

I used Stewart Gill paints because they are nicely opaque and I was working on black. The squares were made with a brush using metallic silver paint. Then I used a variety of stamps with red, silver and gold paint. I thought it needed something more so I added the red dots using the blunt end of a wooden skewer.

I'm happy with them, but there are some stamps I'd skip next time. The Chinese characters didn't work well and the silver dots are hit or miss. It's hard to work on a curved fairly inflexible surface!

I was wearing them yesterday when I stopped at the mall after my weekly weigh-in at Weight Watchers. (I've lost 12 pounds so far and it's really starting to show!) One of the store clerks told me I had "sick" shoes and asked where I got them. I explained that I had painted them myself. He kept saying how "sick" they were. I'm hoping that was a good thing!

Lisa

The Sweetest Perfume

2011-04-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

Our Satsuma tree is in blossom right outside the door. It's absolutely covered with blossoms! The smell is absolutely incredible (I wish I could share it with you over the internet) and the fruit will be great, too. We are so lucky to have found this wonderful home.

Lisa

My Design Wall

2011-04-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

I thought you might be interested in seeing what is on my main design wall.I will be the first to admit that I use part of it as a place to put things where I can find them again easily. The paper jacket patterns are embroidery designs I drafted for a loooong term work-in-progress. I expect it to take several years at least. The green jacket parts are slowly being painted. If I paint too many at once I tend to get sloppy so I'm taking my time. By putting them on the wall I'm keeping them somewhat wrinkle free AND, most importantly, cat hair free. The four resident cats seem to feel it's their duty to recline on every new scrap of fabric or garment in the house.
On the other half of the design wall you can see one of the Whisper Quilts at the top. I really like this one and am keeping it out as inspiration. Below that is the start of a Square Dance that is being team taught by Barb and Kathy in our Wednesday class. To the right of that are more drafted jacket designs, left over scratch paper, freezer paper etc. (I can't bear to throw out big pieces of paper!), some leftover curves from a green jacket I made last fall (hey, wouldn't it be cool to save all those leftovers and make a scrappy jacket?) and some commercial sashiko kits I bought for when I have nothing else to do, LOL.

How about your design wall? What is on it today?

Lisa

Gelatin Print Jacket

2011-03-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

The gelatin print jacket is done. I think this will become a class. Let me know if you're interested :-)

Lisa

Progress

2011-03-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

After deciding on a color scheme pattern I started on the back. Since it is the largest canvas to be covered I usually create the back first. In this picture the lower left portion is stitched in place while the upper right portion is just pinned. Progress is good!

Lisa

Digital Books

2011-03-22T09:28:00.001-07:00

In a recent discussion someone suggested that in the future many quilting books would be available for viewing on a computer set up in quilt shops. After perusing the digital books the customer may select the one(s) desired and the shop clerk will print it out for you. Or you may purchase your own digital version.

Personally I prefer to keep a paper copy of my reference books, etc. My computer is not in my studio because the dust, lint etc. inherent from working with fabrics is bad for the computer. And I don't like to purchase books I can't see and touch with my hands. Although I may check out books online I'm not likely to purchase them until they arrive at my local quilt store or show. There's something about being able to hold them in my hands, see the quality of the paper and the photos, the thickness of the cover, etc.

What about you? Would you prefer quilt stores to have computers that show you the books they have for sale (they could certainly carry many more of them!) or are you old fashioned like me?

Lisa

In Process

2011-03-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

I am working on a sample piece for a class I'm teaching in April to the Fallbrook Quilt Guild http://www.fallbrookquiltguild.com/index.html. I've made this several times before, but I thought this time it might be interesting to show you some of the thought process and decision making that goes along with it.

I selected a variety of fabrics in slightly greyed pastels. After cutting them I auditioned them in several different ways.

In this sample I chose to separate the colors from other similar colors. That way the curves show to their best advantage. It looks distinctly choppy, but is that what I want?

Then I repositioned them so that they rainbowed through the color range. See how the curves are no longer the focus? Now color is the focus. But is this what I want? If color was my main focus I could strip piece this more easily. Do the curves still show enough?

In this final photo I limed my color palette further by eliminating the warm colors and using only the cooler colors, blue through yellowish green.

Okay, your turn. If you have an opinion I'd love to hear what you would decide and why. Post a message or drop me an email.

Lisa

A Pillow!

2011-03-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

I don't normally make pillows, but I needed something for the library. This matches the red couch and brings in the colors from the rug. In creating the design I took a 16" square of paper and divided it into eighths by drawing a horizontal line, a vertical line and 2 diagonal lines all passing through the center. Then I drew a design in only one of the eighths. I took it to my lightbox and traced it onto the other 7 areas. This way I got the symmetry I wanted without having to draw each side equally.

I fused the fabric in place and covered the raw edges with a double buttonhole stitch on my sewing machine. So quick and easy I think I'll make a few more!

I'm entering it into the Blogger's Pillow Party because she's the one who inspired me to get this done. Check it out!

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Label and Binding

2011-03-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

Labels are absolutely necessary for your quilts and wearable art. What information should a good label contain? That varies greatly. On my labels I put the name of the piece, my name and the date finished. Other people add where they live, laundering instructions (REALLY good idea if it's a gift), the source and name of the pattern and, if a gift, the intended recipient.

Labels can be made so many ways: cross stitched, machine or hand embroidered, photo transfer, etc., etc. I seem to be in a hurry to finish things so I write mine on the computer, choose a font and size that I like, then print it on paper. Using a light box and a permanent pen (Micron is my favorite for durability and non-bleeding properties) I trace the label onto a rectangle of matching fabric. Quick and easy.

Binding. Yes, you can machine bind your quilts and they will look fine. I just never do it. Call me old fashioned, but all my jackets have double fold bias binding that is machine attached to the front of the jacket then wrapped around to the inside where I hand sew it in place. It takes more time, but to me it's the final step before I send it out into the world for all to see. I can think about what inspired me, compare my initial vision to the result, see what worked and what did not. I cogitate on what I could have done differently, ask "What if?". And when I'm done IT'S FINISHED!

Lisa

Gelatin Prints

2011-03-16T05:23:00.000-07:00

Guess what I've been doing? Playing with gelatin prints. Christina and I had fun playing with them when she visited me, but that was at our old house. The new place has the most fabulous gardens. I barely scratched the surface with these prints.

What are gelatin prints? You seriously have never tried them? They are too much fun! You make extra thick unflavored gelatin in a flat pan, tip it out onto your work surface. slap some fabric paint on it, use a breyer to smooth it out then gently press various things onto it to get monoprints. These are actually the second of several different prints you can get. Want to know more? Here's where I got the info: http://www.amazon.com/Create-Your-Own-Hand-Printed-Cloth/dp/1571204393 and her inspirational blog: http://studio78notes.blogspot.com/ I'm a huge fan of Rayna :-)

Guess what I'm making with these...

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Embellishments

2011-03-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

Whether you embellish before or after quilting depends on what you're using as embellishments.

Paint may be used either before quilting to add highlights, define a face, etc. or after quilting to add color within a quilted area or as a wash over the quilted surface which adds interesting texture (but is really scary to do!).

Beads, charms, buttons and other hard embellishments are obviously much happier when you add them after quilting. I have a vest I call the Seven Needle Vest because that's how many sewing machine needles I broke while finishing the edges of the vest.

When attaching beads, buttons, etc. you may use regular sewing thread, but you will be much happier if you use a heavier thread. I like Nymo thread for my beads. It comes in a variety of colors and you should try to match the color to the background fabric. Buttonhole thread and even dental floss may be used for really heavy embellishments. You can even color unwaxed dental floss using a permanent marker, but don't forget to wait until it has dried and I wouldn't try washing it since it's very difficult to heat set.

Obviously you don't want to look at the back of your quilt and see the thread so I recommend the following technique. Make a knot in the thread and pop it through the top layer only of your quilt as you would when starting hand quilting. Come up where you want the first bead. Take 3 tiny stitches through the top fabric in that location to further secure the thread. * Then add a bead, stitch through the top fabric only, another tiny stitch, go through the bead again (going through each bead twice makes the bead stand up so the color shows nicely), then down into the fabric and travel between the layers to the position of your next bead. Repeat from *. To finish the thread take 3 tiny stitches under the last bead sewn, make a small knot, travel between the layers and pop the knot inside. Trim off the end of the thread. (Again this is the technique used to secure a line of hand quilting stitches.)

Soft embellishments that are meant to hang free such as prairie points, lace, etc. are obviously added during the top assembly, before quilting. The problem comes deciding what to do with them while quilting. If you don't mind having them quilted down in places, but want to make sure they don't flip the wrong way you may stitch them down using wash-away thread or tack them in place using some washable glue. If you want them free and you're quilting it yourself I recommend hand tacking them out of the way. If it's a large piece it can be rolled up tightly and tacked. If someone else is quilting it for you then it's best to ask them how they'd like you to handle it.

Have fun adding embellishments to your quilts and wearables.
Lisa

Whisper Quilt F, The Final Quilt

2011-03-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the final Whisper Quilt in the second group. Karen received Kathy's landscape quilt and immediately recognized it as a landscape. She had never done a diamond landscape (think Jan Krentz style) so she made this little gem. And it looks absolutely nothing like the quilt with which I started the series.

The Whisper Quilt project was great fun and I recommend it to your group. I have a list of the rules our group used if anyone is interested.

I'm off to sew,
Lisa

Whisper Quilt E

2011-03-11T06:50:00.001-08:00

Kathy received Jerre's fall quilt, pondered over it and this is the result. Stunning!

One more Whisper Quilt then back to my latest work.

Lisa

Whisper Quilt D

2011-03-10T06:39:00.001-08:00

When Jerre received Susan's quilt she immediately thought seasons (good job Susan!) and decided to portray fall in her quilt. Jerre couldn't quite remember which way was up (kind of like my original whisper quilt). I think she said this was the correct way... Lisa

Whisper Quilt C

2011-03-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

So Susan looked at Joan's flower quilt and said Oh! It's a quilt about the seasons. I'll make a spring quilt. So she did with flowers and growth and sun and water. Then she passed her quilt along to Jerre.

Lisa

Whisper Quilt B

2011-03-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

So Joan received my abstract whisper quilt. She looked and looked, but couldn't even decide which way was up! Eventually though she decided that she saw flowers (good job Joan!) and so made this floral quilt on a batik background.

Then she returned my quilt to me and passed hers along to Susan.

Lisa

Whisper Quilt A

2011-03-07T06:08:00.001-08:00

The second group of whisper quilts has finished. When I passed around a sign up sheet for those interested there were 10 people on it. That plus me seemed like too many and I was afraid interest would wane or someone would move away before we were finished so I divided them into two groups. I started both groups.

This is the quilt I used to start the second group. I will use letters instead of numbers for this group so no one gets confused. The two groups really had nothing to do with each other except that they signed up at the same time.

This quilt was intentionally abstract although to me it was an abstract picture of flowers. I thought it would be interesting to see where this one would go. Stay tuned to find out.

Lisa

Botanica

2011-03-04T06:24:00.000-08:00

I have been working on other things besides the Whisper Quilts projects. (Yes, there were two sets of Whisper Quilts and I will post the other set starting Monday.)

I find it nearly impossible to watch most television shows without something else to occupy me. I generally have a handwork project (or two or three) ongoing and occasionally I finish one. Botanica is the result of one such project.

I took a class from Leora Raikin http://aflembroidery.com/index.htm and fell in love with the threads she sells. I also rediscovered my love for hand embroidery. I started playing around with the idea of a jacket and here is the result. It doesn't look much like Leora's work because, for one thing, I didn't put it on a black background. While I agree it looks great on black I have enough black jackets already and it is not my best color. So I shopped around for a neutral background and this is what I chose.

Another reason it doesn't look like her work is that I used different designs. I have a large number of Dover copyright free booklets and so I selected some flowers that had a scale appropriate for a jacket.

(Have you noticed that my mannequin looks a bit canted forward? I'm not sure why, perhaps trauma from so many moves, poor dear. Oh well, you get the idea, right?)

Finally a closeup. The whipped running stitch between the flower designs covers the seams since I made each flower type on a separate piece of fabric. I hope you like it!

Lisa

Whisper Quilt 6, The Final Quilt

2011-03-03T05:59:00.000-08:00

So Karen received Anne's Whisper Quilt and, like the rest of them, said "What the heck?"

What she saw and kept coming back to was the road so she finally decided that she should make a topographic map.

I think she did a wonderful job and isn't it fun to see where my Manta Ray went after all the changes? We had a great time with this and stretched a bit out of our comfort zones. I suggest you get a group of friends together and give it a try, too!

Lisa

Whisper Quilt 5

2011-03-02T07:26:00.001-08:00

Anne received Elaine's quilt and was totally puzzled. An octopus? seeds? little kids? She finally decided that the quilt was depicting various places to go in the San Diego area.

Anne took that as her inspiration and created this quilt as an ode to Carlsbad. You can see the flower fields, the ocean and interstate 5. Once she was done she passed it along to Karen, the final person in their group.

Lisa

Whisper Quilt 4

2011-03-01T06:39:00.001-08:00

So Elaine looked at Diane's Yellow Submarine and saw Beatles and underwater and naturally chose to portray Octopus's Garden. She has a cute packet of seeds and flowers, kids swimming, pail and shovels, etc. All very cleverly done.

Elaine returned Diane's quilt to her and passed Her own quilt along to Anne.

Lisa

Whisper Quilt 3

2011-02-28T07:22:00.001-08:00

On to Whisper Quilt number 3. Diane received Marlys' quilt and toyed with the idea of portraying a school since Marlys had schools of fish, but in the end Diane decided on an underwater quilt. She placed fish, a turtle, an octopus, a mermaid ,a sea horse and then... a yellow submarine complete with Beatle pictures in the portholes. How clever!

Once Diane finished she passed it along to Elaine.

And on another note, today is my son, Jake's, birthday. He turns 22 today which he says sounds quite old. He thoroughly enjoyed being 21 and all the privileges that age entails. Happy Birthday Jake!

Lisa

Whisper Quilt 2

2011-02-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

So Marlys received my Whisper Quilt and immediately realized it was a ray. After a trip to the aquarium (I assume she meant the Scripps Aquarium which I'm ashamed to say I've never visited.) she decided it was a bat ray. A combination of my quilt and her aquarium trip inspired her to make an undersea quilt and what stood out the most to her were the schools of brightly colored fish. So here is her Whisper Quilt.
At this point she returned my quilt to me and passed hers along to the next person, Diane.

Lisa

Whisper Quilt

2011-02-24T06:20:00.000-08:00

Finally I can show one of my Whisper quilts! One of the groups finished yesterday. Congrats to all and I hope you enjoy your winner's prizes.

You don't know what a Whisper quilt is? Well here's the idea: one person starts (that would be me in this case), creating a small quilt (our quiltlets all had to be 12" x 12") on whatever theme they want. I chose to make this manta ray, based on a Sylvia Pippin sashiko design. The manta itself is created using the turned-edge freezer paper and starch method and then invisible zigzag appliqued to a background fabric that reminded me of seaweed. Using a home made stencil from freezer paper (goodness I go through a lot of that stuff!) I stenciled the designs on the manta using a Stewart Gill paint called Seafoam. I quilted the entire thing using iridescent Sliver thread.

Then I passed it on to Marlys. I didn't tell her what it was, just handed it to her. She looked at it, pondered and created her quiltlet using mine as inspiration. Then she returned mine to me and passed hers on to the next person.

We also wrote down our thought processes as we went so others could see how we arrived at where we were. Definitely a good idea, LOL.

I will show more of them in the next several blog posts. Wait until you see what happened!

Lisa

P. S. My manta quilt's name is Opel. Anyone know why?

Steps in Quilting: Quilting

2011-02-23T06:06:00.000-08:00

This segment of your quilting adventure involves many choices. Hand quilting vs machine quilting. Long arm vs. domestic home machine. Quilting it yourself vs. hiring someone else to quilt it. I've used or done all of the above and the choice often comes down to time and/or money.

Once these choices are made then you need to choose the quilting pattern(s) to enhance your pieced or appliqued design. The traditional rule of thumb says use curvy designs when you have linear piecing, use linear designs when you have curves. But of course rules are meant to be broken so don't be a slave to fashion. Experiment!

I've read about lots of tricks using a clear substance and markers to simulate various quilting designs. Use whatever works for you, but my favorite method when I'm going to quilt it myself is to make a quick block or segment of the piece and actually quilt it using the thread(s) I've chosen. Yeah, I know that's more work, but maybe you have an extra block that didn't quite work out or some leftover fabric... There's no other way to really see how it's going to look AND to see how your skills interpret those designs.

Is quilting my favorite part of the process? Heck no! But do I quilt my own work? Yes, when it is not too big (lap size and under, jackets are perfect!). We've all heard about the woman who can quilt a king size quilt on her home machine, but it ain't me. My shoulders just can't take that kind of pushing and shoving. As a person who calls herself a quilter I'd feel really lame if I couldn't quilt. Plus I'd go broke hiring someone else all the time!

Lisa

Tea for Three?

2011-02-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest addiction. I bought a teapot and cute little cups. I plan on using it both for decoration and >gasp< to make tea! I've discovered some absolutely fabulous teas and I think drinking them will help my weight loss program.

Without the tea, following the Weight Watchers plan I lost 2.2 lbs the first week. Not earth shattering, but a step in the right direction. I hope to lose 25 lbs. by July.

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Assembly

2011-02-21T05:58:00.000-08:00

Assembling blocks is another of my favorite things to do. Not only am I getting much closer to finishing, but I get to play around with color and value. The juxtaposition of the blocks can make a huge difference in a quilt, and even more in a jacket.

I like to work with many fabrics for a scrappy feel and tend to prefer a subtle blending of lighter values at the top down to darker values at the bottom of a jacket. It just makes sense. For a quilt, I also occasionally put the lighter values diagonally across the quilt shading to darker values in two opposing corners, like a beam of sunlight. I once tried to make a charm quilt with fabrics all willy-nilly and it bothered me so much I couldn't finish it and had to give it away. Guess I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to color and value :-)

Where do you layout your quilt blocks to play with this? I used to lay them out on my bedroom floor, in the room next to my sewing room. This worked, especially if I knew what I was going for to begin with, but was less than ideal, especially with cats or kids in the house. Now I have a nice big studio and a design wall. It only took me 20 years to get them!

I know many people who stack their blocks and take a bunch of them together to the sewing machine to stitch together. Not me! I'm an old-fashioned kind of gal when it comes to the actual assembly; I take one pair at a time to sew, press and return to the design. I figure if I spent that long getting everything laid out exactly how I want it, including the block orientation, I'm not going to take a chance on messing it up. Another thing, putting it back in place each time gives me a chance to see any errors right away. How many of you have put the entire quilt top together before you realized something right in the middle was wrong!

I have one jacket at the assembly stage, just the sleeves left to make, so a new jacket may show up in a week or two!

Lisa

Dear Lisa

2011-02-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

I finished something! That is such a wonderful feeling :-)

This jacket is based on the Dear Jane quilt blocks. I love making miniatures, but haven't really made many since my grandmother passed away. She was in a nursing home and I sent her a new mini wall hanging for her room every Christmas. (Unfortunately when she passed away they all disappeared. A word to the wise.)

The Dear Jane blocks are a larger size (finished at 4-1/2 inches, I think) so I scaled these down to 3 inches finished size. This limited me to nine-patch designs unless I wanted to do a lot of tedious drafting work, but that's okay, there are lots of wonderful nine patch blocks.

I quilted with metallic gold thread around each block, then stippled the background. I played with a new-to-me idea for the quilting; I quilted some areas with black thread and other areas with the metallic gold thread. I think it looks great, but it's subtle. (It doesn't show up at all in most of the pictures.) Next time I will use a tighter quilting design.

Lisa

P.S. Do you think Dear Lisa is a good name for this jacket or can you come up with something better?

Bahrain

2011-02-17T06:52:00.000-08:00

I am NOT political and I rarely read the news, but when I read about what is happening in Bahrain today I had to say something.

We lived in Bahrain for 2 years from 1997-1999 and my husband lived there again for a year recently (2009) so of course I visited him.

Bahrain is a fascinating place full of culture and exotic sights and sounds. Not necessarily all beautiful sights, but I think everyone should get a chance to experience a place like this. It changes your perspective.

I am saddened to see the unrest and most especially to see the government's reaction to it. Pearl Square (or the Pearl Roundabout as we called it) is the largest and best known of the many many traffic circles in Bahrain. (Personally I think they're a really great way of avoiding traffic lights, but they take some getting used to.) The thought of tanks and soldiers in that area makes me so sad.

While we were in Bahrain there were protests against the government and we had to be careful where we, as Americans, went. Small villages were off-limits, but you could still occasionally see the results of a bomb from the previous night on the main roads. But that was nothing compared to the large uprising that is taking place there now.

I only hope that it will get better soon, but I'm afraid that it will not. When we lived there we saw so many people living in extremely poor circumstances and heard of many government injustices and it has not gotten better.

Please keep the Arabic people of Bahrain, whether Sunni or Shi'ite in your thoughts and prayers. I hope they can find a peaceful settlement that both sides can live with.

Lisa

May I Go Too?

2011-02-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

It has been ages since I posted a picture of my quilting. I suppose that by the nature of quilting that's not very surprising, but if I don't finish something soon I may have to retitle my blog!

Fear not, I'm binding a jacket today so there will be pictures soon. I just wanted to finish all that drafting before I lost the flavor of the jackets. Only sleeves left to do now and they are generally quite simple and quick since so much of the sleeve does not show.

In the meantime you will have to put up with another picture of Kestrel. Here she is, the little minx, trying to sneak into Pierre's gym bag. She just wants to get out and see the world!

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Pressing

2011-02-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

Pressing, I'm not sure it's anyone favorite thing to do, but it makes all the difference in the world. I've tried finger pressing and those little wooden seam pressers and nothing takes the place of real pressing.

Notice I did not say ironing. When you iron you drag the iron across the fabric which can distort the weave. Pressing is a simple up and down motion and does not distort. Its function is to make the fabric stay where you put it.

Steam or no steam? Personally I love steam. It takes the place of extra downward pressure and really makes the piece lay flat. However it is a lot easier to distort the weave if any sideways pressure is applied so you must be extra careful. One problem most of us have with steam is the way so many steam irons spit water onto your fabric. I don't have any solutions to that one. I did own a fabulous steam iron that never spat, but it was while I lived in the Middle East and the electricity was different over there so I couldn't bring it back with me.

I guess if I have to use an iron I'd rather use it on something flat rather than a convoluted blouse so quilting is the way to go, but really I'd rather just put the ironing board away for the rest of my life. No such luck!

Lisa

Drafting

2011-02-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

Working title: Feathers (I'm definitely looking for a better name if you have any suggestions)

Whimsy

You can probably tell what I've been doing from the pictures. I have to admit that I am getting quite tired of drafting. I'm ready to sew! Unfortunately nothing is at that point. Oh well, I'm almost done with the drafting (unless I decide to draft the Whimsy sleeves now too, groan...).

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Sewing

2011-02-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, truth time. How many of you remember to change your sewing machine needle and clean and oil your sewing machine regularly? And the yearly tune up?

I am pretty good about cleaning my machine. I always clean it after finishing a project and before free motion quilting. Of course it can be months between project completions, but I remember to clean and oil my work horse other times, as well.

Changing needles not so much. I tend to wait until they break or I hear that popping sound they make when they're getting really dull.

And yes, my machine is overdue for a yearly check up.

What else can I say about sewing a quilt? It can be tedious at times, but it can also be relaxing and soothing. It all depends on your mind set and your schedule. If you find yourself not sewing because it seems monotonous I recommend having sewing days with a friend. You might not work as fast, but the time will pass more quickly and you will work longer.

Another option? Try listening to music you love to sing along with or to a really good book on tape. I listen to books all the time while sewing and I can't break away from the project when it's a really good book!

Lisa

My Shadow

2011-02-10T07:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of Kestrel who has made herself my little shadow. Wherever I go she follows me. This is her favorite perch in my studio: on top of the "unlovely" hand dyeds that are waiting for a second (or third or fourth) chance at the dye pots. Needless to say they will need washing before that happens now.

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Cutting

2011-02-09T11:29:00.000-08:00

Another one of my "not favorite" parts of quilting, but worth it to get to the end results. After I've selected fabric I always need to iron it before cutting. When fabric comes into my home it is washed, dried and ironed, but then it's folded and put away in a box with the appropriate colors. I know that not everyone washes their fabric, but I have enough allergy problems without dealing with whatever they may have put on the fabric so mine is washed.

After pressing I cut one block and do a test block, just to make sure the pattern is correct. Whether it's a commercial pattern or my own design it never hurts to check to make sure the measurements are correct, the fabrics work for what you envisioned and the scale is right.

Then it's just a matter of cutting, cutting cutting. I have a perfect cutting table with a big mat and several rotary cutters. I tend to be naughty about replacing blades and simply switch to a better blade until they all need a new one. Then I very sweetly ask my husband to change them all! Sharp objects are just too scary!

Lisa

Who Me?

2011-02-08T06:49:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to have a picture of my latest jacket, the one using those gold and black fabrics a la Dear Jane, but alas, it is not done yet. Instead I got to spend a fun weekend with my daughter. So I will show you some fun Ninja had with his scratching pad. Fun for him, not so much for the one who had to clean it up...

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Fabric Selection

2011-02-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

I know that for many people fabric selection comes before this, but I like to select my fabric after I've decided on a pattern and drafted it so I have at least an inkling of how much of each fabric I will need. No, I'm not one of those people who figure everything out exactly as far as fabric requirements, but it's nice to have an idea...

Digging through my stash for the perfect fabric is always fun, if exhausting. I mean hauling out all those boxes of fabric to find the perfect one is quite a workout! I am on a kick lately to use what I have, if possible. Perhaps it's a feeling of my own mortality, but I could probably go for the rest of my life without buying more and still not run out. I am a stickler for finding the exactly right colors though so if I don't find what I need in my stash I am willing (eager even!) to run to the quilt store and purchase more.

I adore putting fabrics together. Sometimes I think there would be nothing more fun than to work in a fabric store and help others select fabrics, but then I realize how expensive it would be to be so close to all that yummy fabric and common sense takes over. It would seriously cut down on my sewing time, too.

Yes, fabric selection is another favorite step on my road to creating a new quilt or jacket. How about you? Do you dread fabric selection? Do you prefer to buy kits or jelly rolls to avoid it? Or is it fun, fun, fun to consider all those yummy possibilities?

Lisa

February Chickie!

2011-02-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

I finished my February chickie already! Last month was the hard part: selecting fabrics and threads, etc. Now I wish they were coming faster!

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Drafting

2011-02-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

The step that follows designing, most of the time is drafting. I have to admit this is not one of my favorite parts of quilting. I'm more of a fly-by-the seat-of-your=pants kind of girl. However most of the time it is necessary to draw up a block, or draft an overall layout of what you have in mind. I admit I must be in the correct frame of mind to draft a new project. And honestly there have been plenty of ideas that have not been drafted. I figure that if I'm not interested and excited enough about a new idea to draw it out then it's probably not worth making. Does this step stump you, too?

As a side note, while I was on my computer yesterday there was a flash and the screen went dark. Immediately a high pitched whistle, which sounded eerily like a scream, started. Panicked I called my son in and he pronounced the battery backup/ surge protector dead. Phew! Of course it took another day to procure one and hook it up, but I'm happy to say that all is well.

Look at the link my daughter sent me! http://yfrog.com/hsiugauj

Lisa

Pattern Grading

2011-02-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

If you don't hear from me quite as often here's the reason:
One of my New Year's resolutions last year was to have my jacket pattern available in multiple sizes. It didn't happen. I couldn't find anyone interested in grading the sizes and the class I took in pattern design didn't cover that topic. I am a reasonably intelligent person so I decided to give it a try myself. I purchased the above text book and am wading through it. I plan to give it a try next week.

Lisa

Steps in Quilting: Design

2011-02-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

It's easy to see why so many people enjoy quilting. There are so many different steps involved, many of which require different talents.

The first step is designing. While many people skip this step by buying patterns or taking classes I find this to be one of my favorite steps. It starts with the germ of an idea. It may be something totally new or just a "what if I" tweak to a traditional pattern. Either way the designer gets to mentally page through their own catalogue of techniques, figuring out how to take this idea and make a quilt (or wearable!).

What's your favorite part of quilting?

Lisa

It's a Cat's Life

2011-01-31T08:11:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't it be nice to be a cat and just lounge around all day? Some days I feel like doing just that, but if it was every day? I'd get bored pretty quickly!

Lisa

How Do You Work?

2011-01-28T09:08:00.003-08:00

Some people work on one thing at a time, focusing on that one piece until completion. Other people work on 3 or 4 things, switching between them when they get stuck on one piece. Personally I think this way can lead to many UFOs, but if it works for you...

Me? I'm a combination of both. Sometimes I focus on one piece to the exclusion of all others. The downside of this is that when I finish I need to figure out what to start next. Yes, all my creative energy is going into that one piece and it's likely to be less scattered in its content, but once complete I often find myself not really wanting to start something new. Burnout.

Another problem with this style of working is that there are days (I'll bet you have them, too) when my brain isn't functioning on all cylinders. Creativity, drafting my own designs, etc. just seems like too much work. Those are the days I'm happy to do some grunt sewing or machine quilting, something mindless where I can put on a book-on-tape and go with the flow.

The problem with working on numerous things at once is that I tend to work on the piece I like best. The other projects just get a nod and a little bit of work while the majority of my creativity goes into the favored project. This is the way I'm currently working, but unfortunately I just came off of a single project so all the pieces need designing, drafting, color and fabric selection all at the same time. Today I just want to sew! What's a girl to do?

How do you work? What are the pros and cons for you and your work ethic? Think about it!

Lisa

More Puppy Pictures

2011-01-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

My sister sent more pictures of her adorable pug babies so I thought I'd share them with you (since I have nothing new completed). If you think taking pictures of squirming little adorable balls of playful fur is easy... well I think she did a great job.

The names are just to identify them for weighing, etc. Whoever purchases them gets to name them of course. And before you get too excited, she won't ship them and she lives in Maine!

Red (no identifying marks so she has red toenail polish)

Green (again she's all black so green toenail polish)

Starling (she has a small white bird shaped mark)

Dot (obviously she has a small white dot)

Brian (the oh-so-pampered male) He's already promised to someone.

I hope this gives you a puppy fix for the week :-)

Lisa

Inspiration

2011-01-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

Where do you find inspiration? Of course it's all around you if you know where to look, but I often find mine in unusual places. Naturally I go shopping to see the latest color trends. And I watch what people wear, especially when they're "dressed up" (okay southern California doesn't really dress up, but I look at what passes for it).

And I occasionally surf the web to see what's out there. I have to admit I don't do this as much because I once made a jacket which I thought was an original design, only to see it later online. It was EXACTLY the same, even the colors. Obviously I had seen it and subconsciously copied it. I don't want to do that again!

Thanks to my son I read manga and watch anime where I see many unusual designs in the costuming. Another unusual source of inspiration comes from higher end video games. I play World of Warcraft because I enjoy it, but while I'm there nothing says I can get costume, line and color ideas. And have you ever seen the designs in Glyph? Amazing!

I'd love to hear where you get your ideas, whether they're for colors, quilt blocks, applique or whatever.

Lisa

January Chickie

2011-01-25T07:33:00.000-08:00

I'm following along on an online Block of the Month at this address: http://www.littlemissshabby.com/

Cute? It will be a quilt for Elisia's room here at home. So far I'm keeping up!

Lisa

Road Review

2011-01-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday I spent the day (and the evening) at Road to California. I have to say this show gets better every year! The quilts were absolutely AMAZING! Congrats to all who had quilts accepted in the show. It also seemed to me that there were more wearable art entries this year which is always a good thing.

As far as trends go I noticed a few things. There seemed to be an increase in the number of painted quilts. Whether this was total painting or accents painted around the quilting, quite a few of the quilts that drew me in for a "how did they do that" look involved paint. Crystals are still apparent on some of the quilts. Not as many as a few years ago, but crystals are still hot. Realistic applique quilts at Road to California were of amazing caliber. Wish I could do that!

Shopping was great, as usual. Many of the vendors were in their usual spots, but I saw quite a few new ones as well. I managed to stock up on some great new stencils as well as the newest yummy colors of Shiva paintsticks at Embellishment Village. I bought quite a few regular and variegated embroidery threads on the show floor, my favorites being from that Hawaiian booth that has silk ribbon, too. I also remembered to get prizes for the Whisper Quilt competition and some Sulky basting spray for me. A good days shopping :-)

Another new thing at the show was an ice cream bar in the lobby. I had mine for lunch, and got quite a bit of grief from my tablemates about it. It was yummy! But I got the last laugh. When I went out for a break about 3:00 there was a loooong line for ice cream. I'm sure they would have sold even more if they'd had another server.

My class went really well in the evening, but I was so tired when I drove home after a long day at the show followed by teaching it took me 3 days to get my usual energy back. I'm taking next year off from teaching at Road and plan on just enjoying the show. I hope to see you there!

Lisa

No Two Are Alike

2011-01-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of my latest jacket (number 93 maybe?). I wore it to Road to California yesterday and a nice lady in my class suggested the name "No Two Are Alike". I had been calling it Snowflakes which I felt was too pedestrian. The snowflakes are fused applique and created by folding freezer paper and cutting paper snowflakes a la kindergarten. It was a lot of fun, but somewhat fussy work. I ironed the snowflakes onto the fabric with Wonder Under on the back side and hand cut them out. I tried to fold the fabric but the thickness prevented getting perfect snowflakes. I used two shades of pink, two of lavender and some gold lame with a fusible woven interfacing on the back to prevent fraying.

I'm uncomfortable using a fusible without stitches the edges down so this time I covered each jacket piece with a cream colored sheer and quilted in metallic gold thread around each snowflake, quilting through the sheer, the background fabric and the flannel "batting", but not the lining fabric.

The sleeves only got a couple of snowflakes therefor I was concerned about the sheer flopping away from the sleeve so I quilted "phantom" snowflakes: outlines without any fabric appliques. This was harder than I expected because the freezer paper snowflake templates I was stitching around didn't fuse well and kept lifting!

I own these 6 snowflake charms which I had intended to add to the jacket front. I'm not sure it needs them. What do you think? Do you think they add or take away from the design?

If nothing else I could probably figure out how to make some dangling earring from the charms :-)

Lisa

Road to California

2011-01-19T07:14:00.000-08:00

Today I'm making some more samples for my class tomorrow at Road to California. I will be teaching "All That Glitters" Thursday evening. We will play with foils, glue pens, Shiva paintsticks and, of course, Angelina fibers and film. And I get to shop at the vendors and ogle the gorgeous quilt all day, too. I can't wait!

Lisa

Don't Take My Picture!

2011-01-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

Program Chairs Who Go the Extra Mile

2011-01-17T09:42:00.000-08:00

I've been presenting fashion shows at quilt guilds, women's groups, ASG meeting etc. for a while now and looking back I've had a great time with all the groups. However, a few stand out as exceptional in my mind, so I thought I'd post about what makes things extra special for a teacher coming to present to your group.

Communication is so important! Bookings, contracts, etc. are all necessary, but the groups that go the extra mile with written directions (or at least the address of the meeting), suggestions of what to see in their area (favorite quilt shops!) and quick e-mail to confirm everything one month in advance, these are the ones that really win a smile. And a cell phone contact number is always a good idea.

Thoughtfulness is always appreciated. Watch for the speaker and greet her when she arrives, direct her to a reserved parking space if she has a lot to unload, have water available, let her know where in the program her talk will come, save her a seat. All these things are appreciated.

Show enthusiasm for her program. Yes, she was probably booked by the previous programs chair and the subject might not be quite your thing, but don't assume you're not going to enjoy it or learn anything new. I've never been to a program where I learned nothing!

Being a programs chair is a big job and we appreciate that they are volunteers, but just going a little bit further will make your guild one of the high points.

Lisa

Jacket "Seeds"

2011-01-14T08:13:00.000-08:00

One of the gifts my thoughtful husband gave me this Christmas was a gift certificate to Rosie's. I decided to select some fabrics to stretch myself. We all get into ruts and I was falling into the same trap. I kept thinking of making jackets that were no more than color variations of past jackets. Time for a change.

Challenge #1: More surface design. I had a lot of fun playing with gelatin prints, but hadn't done anything with the resulting pieces since they were not cohesive. This time I'm starting with a gradation of grey fabrics and hope to use warm colored paints. With all the wonderful gardens at my new home I'm bound to find some interesting subjects.
Challenge #2: Using the new large scale bold prints that seem to be all the rage right now. If you look at my work I tend to use prints that read as a solid. Could I make a jacket using big bright and bold modern fabrics? I'm going to give it a shot!

Challenge #3: I bought my first jelly roll! I am a rule maker and tend to make somewhat arbitrary rules such as "only one colorway of a print in a project" or "no purchasing of fabrics meant to go together" so jelly rolls have always been a no-no for me. Well rules are meant to be broken and I aim to see what kind of a jacket I can make from this jelly roll. I hope one jelly roll will be enough :-)

Do you ever challenge yourself? If so, how? Think about it!

Lisa

Pilates

2011-01-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

I've been going to the gym at least 4 times a week for 10 months now. Granted I only stay about 45 minutes at a time, but I do 20 minutes of cardio and 9 weight machines and generally come out all sweaty (ewww!)

Today I took my first pilates class. Argh! I can't do anything! It was so embarrassing! I have no abdominal strength so I guess I'll be working hard on that at the gym from now on. The pilates class is only offered on Thursdays in a time I can attend so on Tuesdays I'll try Bosu Balance. That ought to be pretty embarrassing, too, since I have such poor balance, but it's all for a good purpose, right?

Hey, if I can do this you can too!

Lisa

UFO Finished! Flower Child

2011-01-12T07:30:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a UFO just doesn't want to be what it was intended to be originally. I made the background of this jacket over 10 years ago. It was intended to be a background for some Susan Carlson inspired fish. After making 4 or 5 fish I stalled and new projects came along.

Now being a completionist, this bothered me. Generally I pass it along to someone who will enjoy whatever I've started or just utilize pieces of a project, but I felt this had promise so I kept it. I have a very small number of UFOs and this was one of them. After the move to our new home I felt it was time to finish some things up and this was the first.

I made more fish in a smaller scale because what was missed was a sense of depth with all the fish a similar size. Unfortunately the technique did not lend itself to smaller and they were less than satisfactory. I pondered and pondered then decided to chuck the new unhappy fishes, use the larger ones in small wall quilts and use the background for something I had been thinking about: a woven flower jacket.

So here is Flower Child
front

side

back

and closeup where you can see how the flowers are woven from 2 different batiks. I tried a variety of woven leaves, but nothing really worked so two toned leaves will have to do. I think it's bright and cheerful for a cold winter's day.

Lisa

Whisper Quilts

2011-01-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

A year or more ago Quilting Arts published an article on Whisper Quilts. A group of friends in my quilt class made them and we were all so charmed we decided to start a whisper quilt by interested member of the class.

After passing around a sign up sheet we discovered there were too many people interested for one group so we have 2 whisper quilts in progress. I started both of them and chose to make different starter quilts. A size of 12" x 12" was determined because people felt that it was small enough they could get it done in a month or less. Also the square size removed any orientation questions.

What IS a whisper quilt you ask? Briefly it's like the game of whisper (or telephone as we called it). One person starts by making a quilt and passing it on to the next person without showing it to anyone else or discussing it with the first recipient. They use that first quilt as inspiration to make their own quilt. Once done they return the first quilt to its maker and pass only their own quilt to the next person.

The interest is in how things change along the way. Just like in the game, what you start out with: Grandma is wearing a red hat, may change drastically: Panthers are hearing baby chicks.

Only time will tell. I took pictures of my quilts before they left and they have been returned so things are progressing, but there are still others working on their quilts so I can't show yet. Wish I could!

Lisa

Blocks

2011-01-10T07:57:00.001-08:00

I was hoping to show you pictures from the class I took this weekend on woven lavender sachets. Unfortunately the class seems to have been cancelled, but no one told me. Don't you just hate it when you show up for a class you signed up and paid for only to find no one there?

Elisia has been home for the weekend so we did girlie stuff on Sunday. We shopped for dresses to wear to Pierre's Change of Command this summer (no luck yet, but it's never too early to start looking!), I went book shopping with half and half luck and had a late lunch at Panera.

So instead I will show you the little minis I've been working on. And if you see any not quite perfect points remember they are only 3 inches finished!

paper foundation pieced flying geese, but the rest is traditionally pieced

traditional piecing

square-in-a-square is paper foundation pieced, but the rest is traditionally pieced

ditto

traditional piecing

and more paper foundation piecing.

Lisa

Classes

2011-01-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

I love to take classes. I love to learn new things. I guess I'm just not very patient because when I sign up for a class I want it to start right away. I'm taking a class tomorrow that I signed up for back in September. That's so long ago I wonder what it was about this class I was interested in, LOL. Oh well, it will be fun and I'll learn something totally new. It's not a quilting class, but you can bet I'll be wondering if there's a way I can reinterpret it in a jacket.

I also love teaching classes. It doesn't matter if it's a new class or one I've taught 20 times before. I ALWAYS learn something new from my students.

I will be teaching a class on Angelina fibers, foiling, etc called All That Glitters at Road to California in a few weeks. And I have a workshop called Curves coming up in April in Fallbrook where students choose from 4 projects. It gets a bit hectic, but it's a blast!

Taking classes, teaching classes, life is all about learning!

Lisa

Puppies!

2011-01-06T06:45:00.001-08:00

My sister, Cindi, raises pugs and her Raisin just had a litter. They are sooo cute I just had to share a few pictures.
Here's the mama, Raisin, in her beauty shot :-)

And Raisin enjoying the out-of-doors in Maine

And here are the little puppies just a day old. (They're actually quite black and shiny, but the lighting put the colors off.) Aren't they just adorable?

A closeup of one of the little snugglers

And another closeup

I don't see how Cindi could sell the little sweeties, four girls and one very spoiled boy, but that's the plan. Raisin and the father (do you still call him that when a doctor did the impregnation?), are pedigreed show dogs so these are extra special pups!

Lisa

A Brief Personal Quilting History

2011-01-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

I have been through many stages in my quilting career. In my first quilting class we learned how to draft our own blocks from traditional patterns, cut them out with scissors and hand sew them together. Naturally I hand quilted those first quilts.

Then I moved to California for the first time and took a class in making a school house quilt. We used sewing machines and it was awhile before I learned about that all important 1/4 inch seam allowance! Those first house quilts are pretty shaky, LOL.

We moved to Virginia where my next challenge was miniatures. My favorite quilt shop had a class called miniature madness. It was a kit class and by the end of a days sewing we each had a good start on 3 mini quilts. We also learned some new techniques along the way.

Miniatures naturally led to clothing where the scale is smaller. It was also around this time that Judy Murrah came out with her first Jacket Jazz book. The cool techniques in her books really struck a chord with me and the rest is history.

I currently have over 85 jackets and 5 long coats in my closet. And who's counting all the vests, skirts, dresses, etc. as well as the wearables I have given as gifts to family and friends. I'm very glad to have found my niche and that it allows me to try out almost all of the latest techniques. (Don't tell anyone, but I'm a technique junkie!)

I'm visiting the past right now making mini blocks again. This time I was inspired by the Dear Jane book although many of my blocks are my own creations (not that they haven't been thought of before) and they're smaller. That's right, these are 3" finished blocks, all based on a 9-patch grid. Pictures soon.

Lisa

Pele's Fire

2011-01-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

Last year was a busy year for me with lots of fashion shows, workshops and classes. Consequently I needed more samples to send out. One of my most popular classes is my Curves class. Students get a choice between identical matching curves with flanges or random curves without flanges. Pele's Fire is the same technique as Trickles, random curves without flanges.

But I couldn't resist adding a little flange to the hints of accent color. I just love metallic copper, don't you?

Lisa

The Year of No Excuses

2011-01-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

I tend to make new year's resolutions, some that I've accomplished and others not so much. This year as I pondered what to resolve I decided that I would just make this the year of no excuses.

I'm a great one for having an excuse why I can't do something. "I can't go to the gym today because I have a headache." OR "I can't find anyone to multi-size my jacket pattern so it's not available yet." OR "My hormones are fluctuating madly and I can't do anything but sit here and cry."

Well no more! This year I'm going to push through and accomplish things! Including blogging more :-)

Lisa

P.S. I've made it to the gym every day this year despite headaches and it actually helps my head fell better!

Lisa's Photo Op 2

2010-11-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my simplified interpretation of Kathy's Photo Op.

Kathy's Photo Op

2010-10-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here is Kathy's Photo Op quiltlet. It looks exactly like a picture! She's such an amazing artist :-)

Photo Op Part 2

2010-10-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

The second week we all swapped quiltlets. Temporarily. Using the quilt we received we simplified the design and created a new quiltlet. Colors remained the same, but many small details were omitted. Photos to come...

Art Quilt Challenge Returns

2010-10-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Photo Op: Take a photograph and reproduce it using fabric. You may trace the photo or copy it by eye. Use this to make a small quiltlet, the usual 12" x 12" maximum size. Be prepared for more...

PIQF Pictures

2010-10-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

Karen posted some pictures from PIQF on her blog. There are several of me and quite a few of my jackets as well. Check it out! October 19, 20, 22.

http://delightfuldiva.blogspot.com

Lisa

Happiness

2010-10-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that when you are happy everything you do comes out better? This seems to be especially apparent in creative endeavors. Not only does it seem better to you, hey everything feels better when you are happy, but it actually is better, as evidenced by people who don't even know you or your state of mind.

I'm at an age when hormones fluctuate wildly which has a definite effect on my mood. I do not want to take anything chemical if I can avoid it, but just push through the bad days and enjoy the heck out of the good days. Consequently I have days when I'm ultra creative and everything is terrific, but I also have days when I can't do anything creative. I have stockpiled some "grunt sewing" to do on those days so I can still progress. (You know what grunt sewing is: the tedious over and over work that needs to be done, but isn't a whole lot of fun.)

So here's to another happy day and lots of progress on my latest project.

Lisa

PIQF and Mattress Rant

2010-10-19T09:17:00.001-07:00

I had a terrific time at PIQF last week! I saw lots of inspirational quilts, picked up a few new ideas at vendor demos and I did my part for the economy :-) My favorite purchase was some deColourant, a new product that discharges and adds new color at the same time. Very cool! But it's always good to be home again.

Of course one of the best things about being home is getting to sleep in your own bed. That hasn't been very pleasant lately. We purchased a Sleep Number mattress and it is HORRIBLE! My back, which hasn't given me trouble in years, has been very sore no matter what number the mattress was set at.

We both tried harder and softer for multiple nights, but nothing worked. So we called within the 30 days to return it and THEY WOULDN'T TAKE IT BACK! At least not until we'd tried it the full 30 days. Argh! More torture! Now we finally have a new mattress (we couldn't wait to get rid of the Sleep Number mattress) but we're still waiting for them to come get it. So it sits in the way of everything. And we have to pay to have them pick it up! I can't believe what a rip off this has been.

Oh well, enough of my rant. My back is feeling better already and as soon as I get these workmen out of my studio (we're getting the UV film put on the windows) I can get back to sewing!

Lisa

Basket Case

2010-10-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of my sweet little Kestrel, asleep in a basket. She doesn't look very comfortable, but she stayed there quite some time. This week she had to take an emergency trip to the vets. Her eye was sore and she wouldn't keep it open. I assumed it was an eye infection, but it turns out she had acquired a foxtail when Ninja and she had dismantled a dried arrangement for me. Poor baby. She was a very good girl at the vest though and let them remove it without anesthesia.

Lisa

Forest Echoes Tote

2010-10-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

Up to this point I've made jackets and I've made tote bags using the same techniques as my jackets, but this time I made it out of the same fabrics! Wow! What a concept! LOL Hope you like it!

Lisa

Forest Echoes

2010-10-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Some friends have been giving me grief about me not posting on my blog so here I am again. I have to admit to having been bogged down by UFOs. I really wanted to finish a jacket I started approximately 12 years ago. I thought it still had potential so I'd kept it in my "I'll get to it some day" pile. That's actually a fairly small pile in my case because I do like to finish things :-)

After spending the last month doing anything I could think of to avoid working on it (yes, I made a small amount of progress, but I wasn't happy with the results) I finally admitted to myself that it wasn't working. I stepped back, analyzed it and kept the parts, but to be used in different projects and have started something new with the background. On the positive side, my house is much cleaner due to all the procrastinating I've done.

I have a number of fashion shows and workshops coming up and discovered that I needed multiple jackets and tote bags to be able to send out for workshop samples. Here's my latest rendition of Echoes of the East. I'm calling this one Forest Echoes.

front view

back view

side view

I particularly like the way the design morphs as it climbs the sleeve. A happy accident!

I'm going to count this jacket as a success after the compliments I received when I went shopping for a shirt to wear under it. I had on a boring cream colored turtleneck as I perused the racks at nearby upscale shops. Nevertheless at least 5 different sales ladies (those who have never deigned to notice me before, especially when I needed help) complimented me on my jacket. I'm sure not one of them realized I had made it myself.

Lisa

Penalty Box?

2010-08-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

For my birthday I received a new pair of boots. Somehow the box was left on the floor. The cats quickly decided to make it their own :-) Here's Tchai resting in the box. Is it a penalty box? A place for time out? Or a wonderful new cat bed?

You can tell that Cushy is quite at ease in the box despite the fact that he looks a tad cramped. Silly cats :-)

Lisa

Setting Possibilities

2010-08-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here are 3 setting possibilities. I'd love to hear your opinions and suggestions!

For the first one I simply blended the colors across the quilt top, warm on one side, cool on the other.

For the second one I put the larger beasts towards the bottom and the smaller towards the top. I also had them all facing towards the center of the quilt instead of looking off the edges.

For the final try I have most of them looking towards the center and the colors alternate warm and cool in diagonal bands.

So which do you prefer? Any other ideas on what I could try?

Lisa

Chimaera

2010-08-24T08:58:00.001-07:00

At last they are all stitched! Now to figure out what the order will be. Should I blend the background colors across the quilt? Or have them all facing towards the center of the quilt? Should the larger ones be on the bottom? Should I intersperse the cool and warm colored backgrounds? Check back and I'll show a variety of possibilities. You can help me decide :-)

Lisa

Satyr

2010-08-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here's the satyr playing his flute on a grassy batik :-)

Lisa

Jonathan's Wedding

2010-08-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

I have one sister and she had one child, Jonathan. We went to his wedding in Maine last week and Pierre took a few pictures.

Jake and Elisia clowning around before the wedding.

Jonathan and the pastor who was very funny.

Me, talking to some cousins sitting behind us.

Jake, Elisia and me waiting for the wedding to begin. An outdoor wedding on the coast of Maine is a very chancy thing, but the weather was sunny and perfect if you don't mind a little wind.

The mother of the bride followed by my sister, Cindi and her husband Jim.

The wedding party awaiting the bride. I'm not sure why Pierre didn't get any pictures of Jamie, the bride. Probably because the camera was running low on battery.

The wedding took place at Sebasco Estates, down the peninsula from Bath and quite near Popham if you're familiar with Maine. My great grandfather built the resort including the 9 hole golf course, salt water swimming pool and many of the cottages. It has long since been sold and resold, renovated and re-renovated, but there are parts that still feel like the place I spent so many summers as a girl. It was fun to see it again, especially for such a happy occasion.

Lisa