A Well Stocked Studio for the New Year

I am always thinking about storage and it recently dawned on me that I should also be thinking about what I use and future needs. So here is my check list for machine sewing.

• Sewing machine - European made - the very best you can afford.
• Thread - I use light/dark gray and light/dark beige for most of my piecing. And a spool or two of black and white.• Machine sewing needles in a variety of sizes for various needs (e.g., piecing, appliqué, quilting, embroidery). Note the film tube - for old needles.
• Pins - silk; glass-head and flower-head.
• An awl.
• Thread cutting scissors.
• A variety of threads to meet any needs for machine quilting. The "essential" collection might include a mix of mercerized cottons, rayon's, solids, variegated, metallic.

New Project?

Hope your Christmas was wonderful!

I'm thinking about my next project. I have a small collection of thirties reproduction fabrics. These quilts were made by Eve Mae, a great Eastern Washington quiltmaker who shared them with me one afternoon.

Merry Christmas to All

Here is wishing you and yours a happy holiday season.

It's Getting to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I'm in the holiday mood. Decorating the house is a good thing. Christmas is happening.

Scraps are Taking Over My World!

I realized that I have a lot of stuff! A feeling I know many of you share. So here is an interesting point of view. The quilt picture here is 64" x 86". It was pieced from a very small part of my scrap fabric collection. I cut nothing. Most of the pieces are straight out of my 2 1/2" strip box.

The finished top weighs 1 1/4 pounds.










The pile of strips next to the box weights the same 1 1/4 pounds.













SO how many quilts do I think I have in my scrap boxes? EEEEEEEK!

Inspiration

Inspiration is ever where, even in the city, downtown LA.

Picasso in Seattle

The Seattle Art Museum is presenting a landmark exhibition of the work of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), arguably the most radical and influential artist of the 20th century. The exhibition presents iconic works from virtually every phase of Picasso’s legendary career, documenting the full range of his unceasing inventiveness and prodigious creative process.

The exhibit will be in Seattle until January 9, 2011. Well worth the trip!

Overnight Visitors

We are now getting overnight visits from the swans. Swans are the largest, and generally considered the most beautiful, of the waterfowl. A male is known as a cob, a female is a pen, and the young are called cygnets. Odd fact: According to the magazine Wildlife Conservation, a swan can have 25,000 feathers.

Think Pink!

I want to make a purse. Love the dimension in these!

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

Celebrity Quilter's have quilt's in the Alzquilts.org auction to raise money for Alzheimer's research. Look at the quilts up for auction and follow the link on that page to check the auction process.

The quilts and their talented creators are:

#5086 • Falling Leaves ... Ricky Tims (CO)
#5464 Totem ... Ann Nottingham Kelsall (MD)
#5490 • Ami's Whacky Portrait ... Lisa Ellis (VA)
#5548 • Dark Ride ... Paula Bell Dennee (CO)
#5564 • Rainy Afternoon ... Susan Pain (TX)
#5579 • Musical Memories ... Judy A. Matlock (GA)
#5621 It is a Baltimore ... Ellen J. Sayers (IN)
#5686 Jewels of Autumn ... Marcia Strong Middents (AZ)
#5687 Descartes Revised ... Marcia Strong Middents (AZ)
#5702 There is Hope 1 ... Judith L. Grant (OH)
#5803 Turtle Shell ... Mary Andrews (MI)

#5834 For Women Who Wear Purple ... Melody Crust (WA)
#5881 Polly's Purple Coneflowers ... Julie Parker (KS)
#5990 • Broken Dreams ... Alex Anderson (CA)
#6000 Purple Cone Flower ... Marge Phillips (IL)
#6013 A Path Less Traveled ... Betyann Shaver (SC)
#6014 Escape ... Ann L. Scott (SA)
#6021 Bejeweled ... Audrey Arno (OK)
#6041 Waiting for Spring ... Abbie Dick (WA)
#6043 Hearts and Lace ... Jeanie Sakrison Velarde (TN)
#6058 Mosquito In My Bed ... Susan Rhudy (MO)
#6075 Under the Sea ... Lisa Ellis (VA)
#6140 • Puppus Doggus Dreams ... Ami Simms (MI)
LT372 Fruit-Flavored Octet ... Susan K Cleveland (MN)
LT373 Beautiful Butterfly ... June Colburn (FL)
#6079 What is She Thinking? ... Bobbie McClure Long (PA)