Field Study

 I love Anna Maria Horner.  I have said this before, but I will say it again.  When you look at her collections on the shelf or in a pile, you wonder what she was thinking.  Then when you put them together, a whole new magic occurs.  I loved her line, Loulouthi and I was afraid I couldn't love her new line.  And while I am still more enamored with the colors of Loulouthi, I have an appreciation for the organic-ness of Field study.  I made this piece in the style of Turning Twenty.  My friends at Alewives machine quilted it in a pattern that looks like spiders building webs.  It is just gorgeous!  I am also placing this quilt in my Etsy Shop. 

Girls at Play

 This has been a lovely weekend.  We did not get half as much snow as Maine or Massachusetts, but enough to stay in and get some project done and not enough to keep me inside all week-end!  I finished up my patchwork made up of left overs from two baby quilts last winter.  I just love Sarah Jane's Children at Play line!  I also put this quilt in my Etsy shop.

Today I had a lovely hike with Fred and Moxie.  We had tried to climb Camel's Hump, but when we got to the parking lot, we learned that we were not the only ones with that idea.  So we had a new adventure hiking around Gillette Pond in Huntington with Moxie.  Check out Freddy's hat, also fashioned with left over yarn from the stash!

Yesterday, I went to Essex Tech with my dear former student to look at all her options for programs next year.  Looks like Automotive and Graphic Art won out!  We had the best lunch at Martone's with cookies from Mia!  Thank you, Mia and Tony!

Snow Day!

Any Way You Slice It with Chicopee and some Hope Valley

Yeah!  We are having a snow day!  That means catching up on reports and drinking lots of hot tea, thinking about my project I get to work on when I finish this report!  But first, a few updates!  I finished Any Way You Slice It by Denyse Schmidt using DS Chicopee with some coordinating Fats and some old Hope Valley for filler.  I had it in mind for a male.  But the challenge was to find masculine looking fabrics and a cool modern pattern.  I thought maybe this might do the trick, but Aretha was not so sure!  So she consulted Steve, the boyfriend/consultant on all things male and he gave it the thumbs up.  He said that the 'cool' factor made up for some of the flowers and pinks.  He also said that he was impressed by the randomness of the pattern and declared that a computer programmed to randomize could not have done a better job!  So thank you, Steve!  But I still wonder if I should do something in solids for a guy.


Now onto my latest project which is a baby quilt made with Aneela Hoey's Little Apples line.  I have been reading Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Martson which I highly recommend.  She helps rule-following, conventional types like to become brave enough to walk on the wonky side.  So, with her help and inspiration, I made my first wonky log cabin.  And here it is:

Making the squares was so much fun!  I just love the way Aneela Hoey captures the joy of play in childhood!  I am putting this quilt in my Etsy shop for sale.  The back is grey and red-very much unisex!

I am on a mission to use up my scraps inspired by Sunday Morning Quilts by Nyberg and Arkison.  I had lots of left overs from making two Tiny Turning Twenty Quilts with Sarah Jane's line, Children at Play.  And I have enough left overs to make a smaller Any Way You Slice It, baby size quilt.  With the NHL out of their lock out and back on the ice, I barely get to see Fred who is so happy to be watching the Rangers and the Bean Pot and Middlebury and UVM!  So I am happily sewing away! 

Back in the Saddle

All Set Skirt

I have not been blogging since the Summer.  Sigh.  Such a long time.  And I don't have much to say for myself except that I did have 19 students in this Fall's Psychological Assessment course this year and that meant reworking my course and lots of papers to read.  I also had a busy Fall at work.  But now I welcome below zero temperatures and lots of snow because I can convince myself that it is ok to forgo outdoor exercise in favor of fiber arts!  So  I am recommitting to blogging.

My first post was inspired by the awesome art teacher at school, MC Baker.  She redrew a cover for a photo album I ordered from Apple for Ben this Christmas.  This was a real lifesaver after Moxie chewed up the package on the front stoop!  So I to give back, I made a skirt for her daughter from Anna Maria Horner's new pattern.  The skirt is the cutest and I made it from Lizzyhouse fabric, which I purchased at Nido's in Burlington.  Ziva loves it.  MC wants one in adult size and I think I want one, too.  Anna Maria Horner, could you make an adult size pattern?

My second project is a fabric box from Zakko Style.  You know already that I love Melody Miller!  So I fashioned up a fabric box using her fabrics.  Lots of hand stitching which went by quickly at Snack and Sew at Nido's last month.

Any Way You Slice It

And last and certainly not least is my Denyse Schmidt Any Way You Slice It  quilt-in king size!  This quilt was very fun to make and I made it from a huge pile of fat quarters of her Chicopee line with some solid Kaufman Kona cottons I picked up here and there and from my stash.  I also added some old fabrics from her previous line, Hope Valley.  Then it was so huge, I went to Knits and Bolts in New Haven, Vermont and purchased 108 inch wide fabric for the backing.  Then off it went to Alewives for some long arm quilting in a wind pattern with dark red thread.  I have just finished binding it and had to hang it over my upstairs porch in order to photograph it!  I love the results!