WIP: {Rainbow is Quilted!}

Well, there I was last night tracing the daisies on the rainbow quilt and I got to the last one!  What a home run moment.  I enjoyed the free motion quilting practice and it was a wonderful opportunity to get to know my newly refurbed sewing table --which worked marvelously! -- but you know when you reach that moment on a quilt where you've had enough?  Yup, I was just getting to that point.  Thank goodness I was in the homestretch.

It's going to get it's first wash today and I am on pins and needles to find out how the scraps on the front fray and get softer with a wash.  And so as not to leave you totally hanging, here is sneaky peak of what those flowers look like on the front.  If you remember, I've been quilting this one upside down and I couldn't be happier with the results.  Oddly enough, the Mister even said how much he liked this quilt.  Cool huh?

With the Bottled Rainbows project wrapping up I can feel myself mentally moving on.  So, let's take a look at the updated project list and talk about where I'm headed next. 

I do have my triangles mostly cut and the beginnings of the arrangement on my design wall for Patchwork Prism, but need some uninterrupted time to get that one to the point of sewing the pieces together.  Need to finish this by June 25th to be considered for the amazing prizes... not sure I'm going to make that deadline. 

You'll notice I also took the idea of hand sewing a separate triangle quilt off my list.  Funny how quickly I've had enough of triangles.

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 9
New Projects: 0

Finished Projects: 1 (bottled rainbows is off to it's first wash!)

Total WiP's: 4

I'm taking liberties to refine my list and really only count what I'm working on, so with the finish, I'm only going to count four active projects (Prisms, Mushrooms, Hawk, and the City/State Landscape).  

Speaking of mushrooms, I wanted a project that I could hand sew and work on slowly throughout the summer.  I was going to do triangles, but since that desire has faded I looked at my list and decided I could do needle turned applique mushrooms.  Sounds so fancy, doesn't it?  I have started making a few mushrooms, but am still working out the design and the sizes.  I will hopefully have more to show next week.

But the quilt that is just begging to get attention is my hawk quilt.  I have had a hawk quilt in my head for nearly three months now and since it's not going away then I guess it's going to come out in fabric.  And it's perfect really because then I can enter it in the Wings and Things show coming up in October.  I did make some brown feather colored fabric over the weekend in my fabric painting adventure.  I have also been collecting photos and sketching.  Here is a page from my sketch book below.  And yes, I'm thinking of making three hawks for this quilt.  I must be out of my mind.

And I've thrown in a picture of the pups for good measure.  I still laugh... all that space on the trail and they have to walk smashed together.  Almost hard to tell if that's one dog or two, right? 

Hope your sewing time is plentiful and your creativity is never ending!

Destination Forest

The sun is shining and I have lots of time today.  I think I'm gonna leash up the dogs and head into the woods.

And if I can finish all the chore type things quickly I might even get to squeeze in a little time behind the sewing machine.  That hawk quilt is calling me!

Happy Friday Loves... hope you are making the best of the moment!

Unplugging Felt Right!

I'm back.  Didn't know I was going to be gone for a week, but it did feel good to unplug a bit. 

I'm looking forward to catching up with you and your blogs... I have over 500 posts in my reader, but will make my way through them shortly.  I'm sure there is some great inspiration in that reading!! 

What have I been up to?  Mostly family stuff.  Lots of getting outside, soaking in sunshine, and training Sammy.  We even ripped out the old floor in our laundry room and are in the process of putting down new tile.  My kind of way to spend a long holiday weekend!  Never a dull moment in the Happy family. 

Did I mention we hiked a bunch over the weekend too?  The long walks are good exercise for us all, but they are especially good for draining all that excess puppy energy!

Our walks are through a preserved woods trail around a lake and there are lots of fallen logs that we simply hop over.  

Watch out Katie... Sammy is coming through!

Want to see Sammy jump one more time?  She is lining up.  Making her approach. 

And whoosh!  She is over it so elegantly.  And just look at those ears flopping as she jumps!

So, where was I?  Ah yes, precious, relaxing family time.  A reminder to take in the small things and linger a little longer than our busy schedules allow most times. 

A a chance to have the biggest belly laughs at puppies with sticks.  The simple things!! 

Hope you had a stellar weekend and look forward to showing you my latest finish later today! (hint... it's the dress challenge!!)

Happy Moment #42: Katie and Sammy Say HI!

A Friday ritual with Soulemama.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary, happy moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments too.

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”

~Omar Khayyam

Dog Path in the Woods {completed}

I am going to say welcome back.. to me.  I've been off squeezing every last fun moment out of life.  And that means that blogging took a back seat.  But, I have a camera full of pictures and so much to tell you about.

Let's start the week with a finish, shall we?

{Part I of Confetti Quilting Dog Path}
{Dog Path quick update!}

Here is Dog Path in the Woods bound and ready for hanging!

When I last left off I had a lot of small details to add.  The piece needed to be squared (I decided on an 8.5 x 11 size) and then bound.

Here are the pups up close.  Katie is leading the way with her golden coat and fluffy tail.   Sammy is close on her heels.  I used a bit of batting to create the dogs and teased it to give it more fur-like texture.

Want to pet them?

I added a tiny bit of dark green wool to the trees in the background.  Love how they create a canopy of leaves!

The forest floor wasn't complete without details of hand cut ferns in several greens.  I free motion sewed them on with a multi-green thread.  I also like how they add a bit of dimension to the piece!

And there you have it.  These woods were made for walking, and walking is what they are gonna do!!

As a side note... I went to my quilting guild this past week and brought this piece for show and tell to the Art Quilt Group and as I was describing the technique and how I found it on YouTube..... the ladies dropped a bomb....

They told me that fiber artist Noriko Endo was actually a member of the guild at one point.  My mouth dropped to the floor.

Mor-ti-fied!!  Seriously, my cheeks flushed, my knees felt like they were going to buckle.   I felt unworthy.  Here I was standing in the very same room where Noriko began to really come into her own style and I'm trying to describe her technique.


But, the group was so beautiful about encouraging me and asking me to continue my description.  And get this.... they asked me.  ME?  To give a demo of the technique at the December meeting.  I'm so lucky to have found such an amazing group of artists/ladies to share my love of fabric with!!  I feel like giving each on of them a huge hug!

And with that... I can see a few more of these in my future.  And, the comment I have gotten over and over?  That I should make a bigger one.  So, yes, the next one is going to be much larger!!

And I think this project is a perfect candidate for Stitched in Color's Celebrate Color celebration!!

Fall is an amazing time to get out into the woods for a hike!

In the early fall, the temperatures are starting to get cooler and the leaves look like this scene.  Still mostly green, but a few start to carpet the ground making that awesome crunching sound as you bound along and take in the adventure!  As the fall progresses the trees start to light up in soft yellows, bright orange and reds.

Yes, I think you should go take a hike!!

edit to add :: This project was featured at Rhinestone Beagle!!  Thank you Anita and Kelly!

I'm linking up with these fun parties!!  See you there!

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