Quick

I am leaving for Houston in 2 days and I have been meaning to make a couple of little bags. For things like my computer cord, the iPad cord...

I had made this bag a while ago that I use for my iPad when I want to take it with me.

Cute, huh?

But I hate having the cord all loose and stuff in there. Silly, I know. So yesterday I made the charger and cord a bag.

And then, because I did not want them to feel neglected,  I made a bigger bag for my computer cord and charger. And the silly part is, I have been meaning to make them for forever, and I kept putting it off, and to be honest, it was so quick! They were both done in less than an hour. Of course, normally I would have pieced a cute block for the outside, but I love the plaid fabric.

Now I am in the process of designing a messenger bag to carry stuff in. I know I won't get it done before I leave, but it is still fun to play!

Why Houston? I am going to Quilt Market. This should be so much fun. We are not vending so we do not have a booth which means I am not carrying 2 huge checked bags, one stuffed to the gills carry on and a briefcase that is so heavy it could take out a poor unsuspecting person if I should drop it putting it into the overhead bin! So nice to be unencumbered!
I am taking a checked bag (so I can bring home a little bit of stuff) and a small messenger bag.

Yes, I already have a messenger bag, that doesn't mean I can't design a new one!

So off to get ready for Houston, doing a little packing, sewing, designing...

Whatever you are doing, have a great day.

happy quilting,
Kate

Oh- just FYI- weather in Denver is weird. Two days ago it was almost 80 degrees. Last night it snowed. I am guessing the snow will be gone soon, though we may get more tonight before it melts.

But for today, it looks real pretty on the trees.

Remiss

I have been remiss.

I have not posted.

I am sorry! I was working on a few projects and one was a gift- and I could not post a picture until the gift arrived at it's destination.

Here is the quilt I started at my class with Cynthia England. 

Cute, huh? I called it "Alyssaville; a ghost of a town". I made it for my daughter Alyssa and she has it hanging on her door. Some of the fabrics glow in the dark and I tried to use some glow in the dark thread.

Tried is the operative word. The thread and my machine were not friendly. They fought and just did not get along. I tried all sorts of tricks, playing with the tension, changing the needle, rethreading, talking sweetly....

Nothing helped. I was trying to blanket stitch around the shapes with it- I thought it would be fun. 

Not. 

I finally switched to invisible thread and no problems at all. The areas where I used regular thread, no problem at all. Glow in the dark thread and my machine- mortal enemies.

Oh well. Live an learn!

On to fabric dyeing. My friend Marcia and I have gotten together a few times now to dye fabric. Since she has the house, and therefore the room to do this, we meet at her place. That means she also gets to wash out all the fabric after it has set for a while. Sorry Marcia! Last week we got together not to do dyeing, but to divvy up all the fabric we had dyed so far. (By the way, she mentioned people questioned her reference on her calendar... "dyeing with Kate". Doesn't sound good, does it?)

So we cut fabric, stapled samples to pages and marked them (we are geeks!) so if we every want to dye that color again, we know what it is. Here are some of my cards.

And here is my stash.

Yes! 

Each little pack has 5-6 fabrics in it.

Yum.

More yum.

 Now I will admit, not all the fabrics looked great. There were a few that resembled, well, let's just say Marcia knew the right word because she has grandkids and has changed diapers lately!

But most were terrific. These browns are really nice in person.

Can't wait to play with this stuff!

happy quilting,

Kate

Class

Yesterday I took a great class with Lura Schwartz Smith. Fun stuff.

The class was called Traditionals Transformed where we learned to draft and piece distorted traditional blocks. It was a challenge for some of us who like our rulers and precision piecing because we were drawing lines and blocks- some of us without rulers.

This was the pattern she gave us to work on. Pretty cool, huh?

I got to class late- bad girl. What can I say? So when we started the drawing exercise, my ruler was still in my car. So was my paper. The lady next to me very nicely shared her paper, but not her ruler. The good news is that it forced me to try to draft without using my ruler.

Sometimes it is good for us, who though we like to think of ourselves as right - brained but tend to left -brained stress when piecing, to break free of rigidity and do a little free play. And that is what this was. The morning was drafting and then piecing these distorted blocks. The drafting was done a little free wheeling, though the piecing had to be fairly precise. My block, while it looks off kilter, is pretty good. Top row is a little off, but... hey first try!

The afternoon activity appealed to more of the students. We sewed, then cut, then sewed things back together. Pretty fun stuff. Even those who felt they weren't doing well ended up with some pretty cool pieces.

 This was mine.

And this was another student's. She did really good! She was working on the grass for the barn block. And her distorted block came out really well too!

Others were not working on pieces for the barn block- they were just trying out the technique.

Wish I had gotten more pictures.

Hope you all have a great weekend and check out Lura's website- it is worth the visit! Great lady with fantastic art.

Happy quilting,

Kate

Missing Home

I am in a bit of a funk this week. I miss home.
And it is funny because I am busy everyday this week. It is not like I am sitting around in the apartment feeling sorry for myself!

When I was home in August, I spent a day with my cousin Irene. She and I had reconnected in the last few years and she is a quilting convert! She loves it! Sometimes we get so busy with our day to day lives and responsibilities that we don't set aside the things that make us happy. Like sewing. Family. Knitting. Reading. Taking a walk. I worked with a woman once who loved to read but only had time to read once a year on her vacation. That is sad.

I think it is so important to make time for the things that feed our soul- it makes us better able to handle the day to day stresses. Even if it is only 20 min.

So for part of today, I am going to work on a quilt top that Irene and I started while I was in CT. We had gone shopping for fabric to make a quilt for her husband, and bought this little project to make together for fun.

I didn't get my top done while I was there, and it got shelved once I got home. It is a small wall quilt and I will work on it today and it will feel like I am visiting family.

Don't you just love the little beach chairs?

happy quilting!
Kate

Mid Week Update

Hello friends!
Some weeks progress is slow; others weeks, it is more tangible.

This week is a hybrid.

Itty Bitty Pinwheel quilt is pieced. Finished quilt will be 10" square. Silliness.

Next step- quilting!

Happy quilting,
Kate