Too long...sooo much homework...

Sheesh! I apologize for the time gap in postings!

I haven't been able to do much in the way of sewing, quilting or fabric painting/dyeing recently. I have been completely overwhelmed with work and course work for the college classes I am taking. Who would've thought that I would be writing so much for Biology...I kind of figured it with my Psychology class, but Biology?!? Oh well, it's well worth it in the grand scheme of things.

That's it for now. =)

January 12x12x12 Revealed: A Rainbow of Color: A Journey into color and technique

Well, I know some of you have been waiting patiently for this, so here it is. My January 12x12x12 challenge. It may not look like much, but I have a grand plan when all 12 of these are done.

This is the beginning of "The Journey into Red". Doesn't look like much, but boy did it take some time to pick the colors I was looking for.

Here all of the edges are turned under and in their final resting place.

I opted to quilt and embellish at the same time, so these are all machine basted together (back, batting, and top).That is the finished product. I used a Madeira metallic red thread for the embellishment on the seams. I opted to satin stitch the edges with the same metallic thread. I decided not to use a traditional binding to give me more options at the end of the challenge when I put all of my pieces together.This is a closeup of some of the stitching. I know it isn't a very good picture, but hey...I'm no photographer. I used all of those fancy stitches on my sewing machine to embellish the seams. This piece may call to me for further embellishment later on with beads and such...but as of now it hasn't...

A Quick Note

Just wanted to drop by and let everybody know that we had a fantastic time at Great Wolf Lodge this past weekend. Boy was everybody beat when we got home on Sunday.

I hadn't realized how much work it actually is to chase a 3 year old around a very large indoor waterpark. It turns out, Tyler has no fear...NONE...he ran right into the wave pool without even blinking. Water slides, no big deal. We had to have gone down the water slides at least 50 times before the weekend was over.

My 12x12x12 quilt is complete, just have to get some pictures taken....

Something New...

Today I spent the day with Aaron walking around the outlet mall in Williamsburg. I splurged on myself and bought a pair of running shoes to fit my running style. Who would've thought that I would buy myself specialized running shoes. This fitness things is for the birds.

We're spending the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge with the kiddos. I'm sure that they are going to have a blast and we'll all come home exhausted.

This evening, I decided to work on my 12x12x12 challenge. Boy is it neat to work in a manner that I haven't really worked before. I had no idea how exciting all of those stitches on my Bernina are. And, I found that Madeira Metallic thread is an absolute dream to work with. The only time my thread broke was if I was going way too fast. So, I just slowed down and didn't have any more frustrations.

No pictures today. I'll keep all of you in suspense until my quilt is finished.

Sandstones and Seashells

So, as promised, here is my latest batch of hand dyed fabric. These were dyed using a 30 step graduation kit.

This piece has a smattering of all 3 colors used to dye the fabrics above. One thing I learned this time...It is a good idea to place your baggies of fabric and dye (if using baggies to dye in) in a large bowl. Fortunately, I did. Otherwise I would have had blue and purple countertops...

I think they turned out great (at least relative to batch #2). Now, what to do with them...

Jill and Laura's Quilts

Well, Dad sent me the pictures via email yesterday, so I can post the pictures of the quilts that I gave to Jill and Dan and Laura for Christmas this year.

"Star Struck" was given to my sister Laura. Boy did I want to keep that one for myself. It was made with stars from a swap on about.com with alternating Carrie Nation blocks. It is backed in a black with multi-color spot flannel.

"Bluebirds in My Flower Garden" was given to Jill and Dan. It is a pattern by Pat Sloan. The border fabric has bluebirds sitting on a phone line, hence the name.

Joys of Christmas

Everybody got lucky this year with gifts of quilty things. Aaron's prodding to get projects done seemed to have helped.

This quilt was made for Jodi. "Football Fantasy" was a joint quilt made with Aaron. It has all of the NFL team logos and is backed with Washington Redskins fleece.

This quilt was made for Cali. "Trump the Deck" came from a set of blocks that I won at a Peninsula Peice Makers guild meeting early last year.

This quilt was made for Frank and Sonny. "Quilted Pleasures" is a gigantic quilt. It just kept growing and growing...

Now, if my Dad will ever email the pictures of the quilts that I forgot to take before sending them off to my sisters, I'll get those posted too.

A First for Fabric Dyeing

So, I did this a while ago, but who says I can't talk about one of my happiest fabric dyeing moments?

These fabrics turned out absolutely spectacular! And, this was a first try.

Needless to say, I had a second try that didn't turn out so well. Let's just say that all of the fabrics turned out to be a pukey sort of grayish color.

I'll post my third fabric dyeing experience here soon. They turned out pretty well. I did figure out what I did wrong the first time though...I forgot to add the activator after a added the dye solution. OOPS!

A First for Everything

Well, it's time to move up in the world, so here I am. Welcome to my blog. Here you will find my adventures in quilting and fabric dyeing.