blue and brown sampler

this quilt was a LQS's BOM. i plan on making a quilt similar to this. i've been collecting browns and dusty blues/turquoises for a while now..i'm pretty sure i have enough to make one now...or two...or three....a girl can never have enough fabric...i just love that dusty turq and brown color scheme...

all was well and went good...except that the blocks finish at 15 inches and the railfence sashing is 6" wide (2" finished railfences). so, you ask, what's the big deal?....well, 15 is not evenly divisible by 2, or by 6....so coming up with a motif to quilt in that sashing made me put my thinking cap on (picture Pooh in his thoughtful spot: think,think,think) 15 is evenly divisible by 3!!! wa-lah...i like to think of it as pin ball quilting- just bouce around filling the spaces til you get back to where you need to be....

i also wasn't the first LAer to quilt this quilt...that's why i'm not naming names. it was quilted with a computerized E2E that (IMHO) should not be quilted wider than 10"-12" wide...it was quilted at 18" wide...a bit too big leaving large (like 4"-6") of unquilted areas...but i do tend to be partial to 'dense' quilting...*shrug*

i had fun with this quilt! i really really like quilting samplers!! i don't get bored quilting the same motif over and over. plus i love the challenge of having to come up with a different designs per block, but keeping them all similar...

pretty pretty pretty...

fairy tales do come true....

so the UPS truck stopped in front of my house today....i didn't order anything, wasn't expecting anything...

so this is the very pretty box, and it's kindda heavy..?....i immediately thought that it would make a great quilt...get your mind out of the stash shannon....

so i open the box....ENJOY...enjoy what???  the plot thickens!

oh my holy rusted metal batman! BROWNIES!....my second favorite food! (french fries are first) no cereal for breakfast for me....i see the walnut ones disappearing first...and no, i'm not telling davis....my name was on the box...not his :)

thank you silly dory fish! smoochies....and yes- i'll bet they are much better than fudge rounds...

do you need a laugh?

weiner dog....too cute....it's not my picture....found it on the web... it made me laugh...

inner light from a lanier sunset

joan brought me this wall hanging she made for her son. this is an 'opposite' twin to one she made that i quilted pre-blog.....or did i blog it...i can't remember, so i'm posting it again....(they say the mind is the first to go)

i think she said he's going to hang it in his office. imagine how cool it would be if somehow i ended up in his office...i could freak him out big time...pretend i was psychic or something....is your mother's name joan? etc...sorry, moving on.....(i hope he's not a defense lawyer or a parole officer....)

i like how the green inner border turned out....i didn't ruler measure, i eyeballed measured...i like the organic feel that gives. i choose this design becasue it echoes the triangles in the piecing.

the 'preblog' one won best use of color at a michigian (?) quilt show. it isn't hard to see why...(don't tell anyone, but i like black background one best)

photos of the critters

this weekend was very productive....for photos, not filling the freezer. *sigh*

first this little guy. this is an eastern screech owl. he's only the size on your hand, like if you had you hand up to signal someone to stop- that's how big he was....such a cutie. i wanted to bring him home and call him 'squirt'.

then i saw that doe and her two little ones again. this weekend the deer were much more cooperative and seemed to pose for pictures. (Actually it was windy, so they were all nervous. they'd take a few steps and stop and look around....easy to take pictures)

here's one little one...

and the other...(does this tree make my butt look big?)

then i saw the three point buck...he wasn't as pose-y as the girls were...

then this fox squirrel was running all around behind my blind. he decided that he would pose for me....look at the white on his nose...fox squirrels are HUGE! a regular grey squirrel is about the size of a rat...a fox squirrel is as big as a ferret...turns out- they like to live in areas that have lots of long needled pine trees, so i counted the ones around my blind. i stopped at 25....he's sitting on one that fell over.

i hope you have enjoyed my pictures as much as i did sitting in the woods watching...wish my blind was big enough for everyone to come and sit too....it's so peaceful out in the woods....except when the 'neighbor' decides to mow his yard at 5:00 saturday evening....*grr* til next weekend....

quilting makes the quilt

so my friend Lynn brought me this little tree quilt. it's a popular pattern that pops up this time of year...and i realized that this would be a great quilt to illustrate how quilting can make the quilt.

here's the unquilted top. it's nice- we have a beautiful pine tree. the fabrics are fussy cut to provide shadows which add a nice dimension of depth and perspective.

here it is quilted. notice that the quilting enhances the quilt top design. we still have a tree; but now the sky has wind, the pine tree has needles, and the snow has drifted. the quilting adds to the story of the quilt without becoming the focal point....

that in my opinion is my number one objective when i'm brought a quilt to quilt. i am suppose to enhance the beauty of the piecing without upstaging it, add to the story- not rewrite it....that to me, is a successful finished quilt. i think that's why i'm driven to quilt- the challenge of subtlety of design....choosing designs and motifs, picking the perfect thread color, then the execution of quality stitches....as martha says, "it's a good thing" and i love it!

i'm not the only one....

i was reading gina's blog, and she posted a link to a site that is doing the most beautiful applique and pieced free online BOMs....

see, i'm not the only one...i'm totally doing the southern gentleman one....someday....yeah...moving on...

you'd probaly like the link...it's Fat Cat Patterns by Sindy Rodenmayer.

we all need another project like a hole in the head, huh?....i'm totally playing devil's advocate right now....*shrug* and?.....

finally fixed

so back when the waters were arising- i had to move some of my quilting stuff upstairs. that included customer quilts. i didn't think anything of hanging them in the spare room's closet...then a couple nights later i heard a loud noise. barney heard it to, so i was relieved that i wasn't going crazy....the next morning i went to start moving everything back to the studio and found the source of the 'crash in the night' yup, the closet rod waved the white flag and admitted defeat. but it died doing what it loved best....i hope....moving on....

so davis finally finished 'fixing' it. and it has been dubbed quilt weight friendly...the new shelf is twice as wide as the first one, so i can fold my quilts better and they fit up there...all the way to the ceiling...*bites lip*

and yes, those are all my personal quilt tops....except the 6 to the left....

my name is shannon and
i'm a quilt-a-holic...

binding yardage

i realized i haven't posted an 'easy math' for a while, sorry...so i'll fix that. here are two charts for yardage needed for binding. this chart is based on 40" of usable fabric...

to use the charts measure your quilt. add the width and length together, then multiply by 2. add 20 for miters and tails (and if your like me- ooppies). take that number and find it along the top of the charts. if you want bias binding (cut on a 45 degree angle to the selvage), use the bias cutting chart, if your cutting straight grain (cutting selvage to selvage across the fabric), use that chart.

nice and easy, lemon pleasy...

such smart phones....

so davis got me an itouch for christmas last year. i listen to music when i quilt (it keeps the voices pacified :) )
so i have the ability to download apps for games and such....so just for fun i searched itunes for 'quilt' and was quite surprised! i wasn't expecting to find anything...

there are quilting apps!!! one is a fabric calculator, another will calculate the size of side triangles to cut for on point quilts, and if you have the iphone- they have an app with blocks and what sizes to cut your fabric for different sized blocks....the only bad thing is that the block one- you have to have a iphone, but the two others will go on my itouch and they're FREE!!!

now- those are some very smart phones....everyday i am continually amazed with the technology we have....

living on the 'wild' side

when i tell people i hunt i'm sure it conjures up images of me running through the woods brandishing a weapon shooting all the 'cute' animals....well, i have to tell you that although a few people do hunt like that- i don't!

i get as much enjoyment watching wildlife as i do hunting. like this weekend...me and davis have moved to a different area of our hunting club, and to be honest i'm loving the new area (it's a llloooonnnnnggg walk) the other area i would sit and watch trees grow and squirrels run around....BORING! but in my new spot, i'm overlooking the edge of a swamp and the abundance of animals always makes for a fun weekend hunting...

this is a collage of the view from my stand, affectionately called 'the bottom'. i do hunt from the ground...going up a tree scares me....you can fall out of 'up'....

anyway...i tried to take pictures, but  the animals don't cooperate and wait while i turn my camera on, then pose....but i did get a couple pictures and you'll just have to trust me on the rest...

here's a pic of a raccoon than ran through on sunday morning
and a doe out in the field

i also saw a fox squirrel (haven't seen one in a long time) he is tan colored with a black head, and around his eyes and his nose is white (i tried to get a picture, but it was still early/dark), an owl, and a hawk. i did see lots of deer! it's coming up on our rut (deer mating season) so i saw lots of...um... deer foreplay.....well, the bucks are ready, the does could care less...i have a few deer that are regulars to my area. i have 2 three point bucks, a nice 4pointer (if he makes it through a few more deer seasons he'll be a nice trophy. he has the biggest 4 point rack i've ever seen.), a 8 pointer, and a 10 pointer that i haven't got to get a good look at (shooter or not? from the quick glances i seen- i dont think he's is.) and i have a bunch of does...i spook them out walking in in the mornings and scare them off in the evenings when i leave...i'm loving it! me and davis believe that with the unusally warm weather(it was 70 yesterday afternoon) that the big bucks (what we want) are nocturnal....*darn it* that's okay....full rut hasn't started and with all the does i have seen, big boy will have to chase during daylight hours...and i'll be waiting...

i love it....

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.


the creator of this little video, Jarbas Agnelli, had this to say:

"Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn't the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.


I sent the music to the photographer, Paulo Pinto, who I Googled on the internet. He told his editor, who told a reporter and the story ended up as an interview in the very same newspaper.


Here I've posted a short video made with the photo, the music and the score (composed by the birds)."

enjoy

follower give away winner

congrats to vivian!!
vivian shot me an email with your address....half_square @ hotmail.com (remove the spaces...)

i'll post a picture of what she won when she gets it....

thank you to all my followers!! (and the lurkers)....i always try to post stuff that i think you want to see/read...
i'll be having more giveaways... i'm thinking the next giveaway will be around the time my visitor counter hits 10,000...til then....
happy stitching!

another lamp...

remember at the quilt show how i bought all those wooden spools? (they are getting extremely hard to find...at a decent price)  well, this is what i made....i've had it for a while, just looking for the right shade...i might 'embellish' this one....it looks a little plain...i'm thinking grommets with a fabric strip woven through...

i bought the jar at Hobby Lobby. it's specifically made for crafting. it's a mason jar with nothing on the outside. then i went to HomeDepot (a great walk around place) and bought a lamp kit. i drilled a hole in the top of the jar's lid, and following the directions, put the lighting kit together...

isn't it just too cute...a great addition to my quilting themed decor...these lamps were my first go at homemade bottle lamps...even at the end of that post this idea was emerging...

surprise!

the mail man made it to bonnie's house....see what i made for her....

autumn braid

this quilt got picked up and is on it's way home...it belongs to nadine (whose burfday was yesterday- happy birthday nadine!)

i quilted it with what i call an electric meander....it's just a straight line meander. i used a yellowy thread named straw gold.....

Charity quilting

so these are the two latest quilts i quilted for the stitchin' sallies. they are from a class i taught to them last year (?) from the book 'cutting curves from straight pieces' (what a mouth full book title huh?) the book is no longer in print i believe...(at the time of the class, they were having a hard time finding it)...

i did my cotton candy E2E on both....i used a grey blue thread on this one. it looked like a no match on the cone, but it really did look nice on the quilt...it's called copenhagen....

i like that it shows in places....look how pretty it is in the black inner border....since they are charity quilts i can explore ideas....play with thread colors on different quilts...

this one i used a black and white variegated....and i used a medium grey named 'graphite' in the bobbin...same E2E....

i like the contrast of the thread on this one as well...i like that the quilting shows. the quilt looks quilted, but in a subtle way. it doesn't scream....i'm not feeling very well today- woke up with a migraine today...*grr* wish i knew what triggered them so i could have a little warning it was wanting to visit....

it's my LA burfday!

according to my records, i quilted my first customer quilt on november 1st, 2004! so i am celebrating my fifth LA burfday... it was 40" x 60" and i charged (only) $20!

i look back at the progress i've made. when i started LAing my customers had two design choices: a meander and a loopy meander. then i got 'brave' and added swirls. now i am only limited by my imagination...i also know that i still quilt for customers that made that choice 5 years ago. they still bring me their quilts. (thank you!) i will never take that trust and relationship for granted....

i look forward to the progress i have yet to make. i always day dream about where this adventure will take me next. i do want to develop some classes as well as write a book. i have some show quilts in my head, too...i want to encourage other newbie LAers so they can feel this way one day...

i still feel like a duck to water when i quilt. and as an *gulp* adult, i feel like i'm doing what i'm suppose to be doing...ya know? i still smile every time i walk into my studio and see nemo's smiling face....

so happy stitching- whether you piece or quilt!

ocean coins....

i mailed this quilt and it got there, so it can be a post now....

my friend jess trusted me to quilt it. i put feathers in the coins and i did my cotton candy in the borders. she sent me an email and she really liked it....

the pictures aren't true to color....it's much 'happier' hued...now, let's see if it shows up on her blog....i'll link if it does!


(edit) she posted it to her blog here

embroidery quilt

this little quilt was made by jeanne. i just kept the quilting simple. i echoed the embroidery, ribbon candied the sashing, CCed the cornerstones. i did Ls in the inner border and a loopy meander in the outer border...

monday is the offical start of my blog BOM....come back and check that out....

how to attract the ladies...

you live in southern rural georgia and it's a friday night, how do you attract females?

do you take your puppy for a walk....nope.
do you baby sit your baby niece/nephew....nope...

you go into town with your baby raccoon.....yes, that is a real baby raccoon that a guy had at the gas station we stopped at this weekend...sorry for the weird look on my face....i was making squeaky sounds to get the raccoon to look towards davis for the picture...they are not a soft as you would think and they have a musky smell. her name was bandit. she was very sweet, she kept giving me kisses (like a dog) on my neck.

 i'll have to tell you the story about my bandit one day....

noodle dog...

as a matter of fact, yes, my toes were cold, but now i need to quilt the next block.....

a mini quilt fest!

happy november! did you enjoy your extra hour of sleep....i did! too bad the dogs can't tell time...
okay i promised a post with all the eight minis that pam pieced. here goes! keep in mind, none of these were big. i think they averaged out to around 20 inches on one side...

i have formed the opinion that mini quilts are more intimidating to quilt than their bigger counterparts. here's why: on a bed quilt, it's hard to look at the entire quilt 'at once' your eyes travel across the quilt seeing the different details. that makes it hard to 'see' the mistakes cause they are visually so far apart, not in the same field of view. on a mini- it's right there. you see the entire quilt at once. 'mistakes' are more noticeable. but i don't make mistakes, so i don't have that problem (sic) yeah right!

i like the block in this one...i'll make it bigger though. i could totally see it in pastels for a baby quilt....

here's the back shot. cool how contrasting thread makes it wholecloth-y feeling

this one i did my signature quilting design cotton candy E2E on. i like the border print in the center of the rail fence...i'll have to remember that little trick...

this is cheddar and chocolate. see how simple CCing can spice up a plain setting square? remember in karen's BOM how i broke up those weird rectangles- i did that here. i chalked lines in them and quilted them as tho they were pieced 1/4 squares. remove chalk- wha-la! a more visually interesting design...

the log cabin strips finish at 1/4 inch...i admire the patience..see the houses?

i like the crosses in this one. lots of stops and starts, but totally worth the work...there are feathered wreaths in the setting squares. if you follow my work- i very rarely do feathered wreaths.

here's the back of crosses. the backing isn't wrinkled, it's dyed that way...can you say optical illusion? i pressed it three times before i realized it was the fabric.

a little basket quilt. i did feathers in the green setting squares

four patch chain- the squares are 3/4 inch finished. notice the pink...

this is the border. i chose feathers and changed to a pink thread to pop the pink from the piecing.

little itty bitty blocks. i choose a dense loopy meander in a brassy yellow thread.