Winner, quilting, new work

I'll get right to it and announce the winner of the giveaway in the last post. Congratulations to Linda H for winning my giveaway-- a copy of Quilting Arts magazine with my article, a fiber art book mark and a package of Swatch Buddies.

I can hardly believe it. We are in the midst of another winter (in the spring) storm!. At least I decided to take advantage of it, getting a chicken bouillon (my husband may be coming down with something) done this morning, freeing me this afternoon for some quilting. No visiting in laws today. It is snowy and blustery.

It seems I've been taking a lot of handwork lately to our quilting days every second Saturday, and I haven't been able to get my X's and O's baby quilt quilted. Today is a good day for it. The plan was to stipple the whole thing, quick and easy right? Then I sat down to the machine with it and completely changed my mind. I worked out a pattern that I could follow from side to side and vertically with free motion. I didn't trace it; I'm not worried about perfection.

 

 It's hard to make out how the pattern works up. It sort of looks like petals. Here is the back.

You can just make out three petals in the center top area. I haven't finished all the lines yet. It will take a few sessions as I need to rest the shoulders and arms.

The handwork that I mentioned above was to sew back the bindings on my recent fiber art. I finished this piece with an orangey binding to match the rosehips. You've seen it before, minus the binding. Before Christmas, it was purchased by a friend who had to think about whether she wanted it framed or bound. In the end we chose a binding. I think it suits.

And for those of you who like the details:

Now on to my next piece. I really wanted to do something bright and springy, maybe tulips, but this has been calling to me. My son sent me some winter surfing pictures from Lunenburg, NS. Yes, can you believe they surf the Atlantic in the winter?

I've drawn the plan and chosen some fabric. surf and sky with a tiny surfer.

I've never done water with waves before so I've decided to keep it small. I do need to paint fabric for the really pretty soft wintry sky though. That may take a few tries to get what I want.

It just happens to be International Quilt week and to celebrate, The Quilt Show  featuring Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims has opened up the on line shows to watch this weekend. This morning, I watched one with Mickey Lawler demonstrating how she paints her skies. I have her book, but I did get a few more tips.

It's a bit late to let you know this, but try it out if you have time while it's free. It only takes a few minutes to register and the nice thing is that you will get an email to let you know when it's on next year.

Last details-Birches with Rose Hips, Photos as in Inspiration

This afternoon, I was very happy to put the finishing quilting stitches onto the Birches with Rose Hips. I am going to pass it on to the client who is looking into framing options. Usually, I finish my pieces as quilted wall hangings with a binding. This piece is going on a wall over a sofa and since it is approximately 12" by 14", I think a mat and a frame would give it more presence.

I'm thinking that sections of it would make pretty cards- with permission of course.

Caught this little lady hanging on the suet cage on my deck at lunch time. It's a downy woodpecker.

Now the question is what shall I do next? Well, I have a couple of Christmas things in the works, some ideas floating around in my head, and some inspirational photos that I took the other day. These scenes are about 5 minutes from my house by car.

 like the hillside sloping into the water in the next one.

Love the pinkish hue in the background sky.

I have sent a few to be developed in 5 by 7 and 8 by 10 sizes. I like to have them for reference when I am stitching.

I hope you too are having a nice Monday.

Cleaning my studio and quilting

Finally, I awakened to a beautiful sunny day today! I got my sheets on the line and went out to the yard to do a few more clean up chores for the winter. We still have a layer of snow and the air is crispy. I also took my poles and went for a 30 minute walk with no stabs of pain to my hip. Definitely an improvement from the cortisone shot.
In my studio I cleared away the detritus from my present project and got some things ready to take to our guild sewing day on Saturday.
I saved some time to start quilting the Birches with Rose hips. I'm going to keep it simple. The bottom is done and I plan to outline the foreground trees.

I am almost finished this piece. The final binding or zig zag edging will wait as it is SOLD! and I am waiting to see how the buyer wants to hang it.

My usual method is a binding and a hanger on the back. This one may be mounted in a frame atop a mat but with no glass.
Well, the sun has lowered toward the western horizon. I have lost the lovely rays that were shining through the window of my studio. It is time to go make myself a cup of tea and sit for a bit with my knitting.