Bronchitis Bug Bites

Hi All....gosh, I just lost 2 weeks with the bronchitis and asthma bug.....He got me good! And I hate having to be so down I can't even quilt....and worse, nothing tasted good...by taster was broken! Finally I am back in the saddle, having quilted 2 tops yesterday for about 7 hours total. The picture to the right with the moons was from Barbara Shapel's workshop in Oregon, where I also got bitten by the Bug! I was still ablt to finish my piece, I think it is the one on the right. All the gals had very neat fabrics and different looks to their pieces. I also included a picture of one of Barbara's herons. She is the most fabulous quilter and colorist. I hope you can take her class some time.

I also posted the unfinished piece I have to embellish for our QA quilt show next month. I have a bunch of beads and french knots to make on the piece, and some big stitches to do in the border. We are expecting snow tomorrow, so I cannot get out to get the special pearl cotton thread for some of my stitching.

There are also a couple photos to take of the koi stitched piece for APWQ show and the Quiltfestival at the LaConner Museum. It is hard to get a good photo for jurying, but I will give it a try.

Today I taught one of my patterns, In a Hurry quilt. It takes about 4 hours to make the top. This Friday is another class, machine quilting, freemotion. THat is always a fun class to teach, and I love to get the girls over their fear of freemotion!

We had crazy weather today, hail and snow, rain, sleet, and whatever else came along. Tomorrow there is supposed to be 5" of snow. I can't wait for spring. See the handsome heron there....that is Barb's! Well, I hope you are all getting lots of great things pieced and quilted.....in the meantime, I am catching up with all my projects after the big bug bit me!

Happy quilting....judy

Play Date with Stephie and Opal

Greetings to all our fellow quilters. We...that would be Stephie and Opal, have been trying to get together and play on as many Fridays as possible. It is fun to just let our little creative brains percolate and come up with fun things....not that they even get finished, as that is not the point. Last time we just did some of Stephie's chunkin....just sewing pieces together and squaring up eventually! That is some fun, and a great way to use up those itty bitty pieces all over the place, including the floor and waste basket.

I also have been working on the thread play koi at the right. I think I may try to enter it into a show. I really like to play with thread, so that is what I did with this project. I started with a Barbara Shapel mystery quilt which was pieced, and then added a few raw edge collage, as well as painted water lilies....I think I like it pretty well so far, but have learned some things for next time! The project in progress to the right is one with crazy piecing, and lots of fun.

Then, at the bottom is one I call Kaffe meets Freddy! Freddy Moran inspired the Lone Star, and using Kaffe fabric and lots of scrap strata I had lots of fun putting this one together. The reverse side is another Lone Star with all Kaffe fabric, too. This is about my 13th Lone Star, and I have lots more in mind to do. I guess you could say I was smitten. I am going to try to keep my website more up to date, with the help of my friend Jan...today we worked on it but loading some pix presented a problem. I think the site was having problems...so we will try again tomorrow.

I also should try to be more faithful in posting on my blog.

This weekend will give me something to write about next time, as I am going on a mystery quilt retreat with Barbara Shapel teaching. She is a fabulous quilt artist, check out her website.

Well, the arthritis in the baby fingers is getting aggravating, so guess I will stop for now...thanks for tuning in, and more later about our retreat in Oregon with Barbara Shapel......Judy

Spring Cleaning

Freddy inspired my black and white collection. I am changing out the blue and yellow fabric for some of my Asian fabrics. I have way to much bright and funky fabs, but they are just about my favorites.

Hi all...thought I would post some pix of my studio. Actually some of my stash shelves don't look half bad...the other jumbled up mess with the stuffed animals is on the living room floor....yikes....I need to open a zoo. Most of those bears were made by me, and I hate to give them up. Plus, there are about a zillion quilt magazines all over the place. My newest sorting method is to flip through the magazine really fast...if nothing catches my eye...boom...GONE!! I make copies of what I want to save and hopefully use one day. That seems to work pretty well, but I am getting behind in making the copies...of course I have to live nine lives like my cat to get all this stuff used up and made. But I hate to tear up magazines. Then I give the magazines to my guilds for sale. We use them to raise money.

SOme of the gals actually are surprised at my organizational skills. I only need a warehouse to get it all stored, and a ton of shelves to pile it up. Oh, well, I am making progress...friend Stephie is getting nervous with all my cleaning. I think she is worried I am losing my mind.....like the sign in my studio........I have lost my mind, and nobody cares.!

Well, I will take some pictures of my classroom tables so you can actually see bottom. It is quite nice. I just have to find some more beads to embellish my QA challenge quilt. I never do hand stuff, but feel challenged to make the plunge on this one. I will work till I run out of ambition, time, and/or beads. Gotta go eat some dinner.....till later, Judy

Lunch at the Koi Diner

I finally finished (almost) my latest piece. I took this class from Barbara Shapel...she is great, and you should take any class you can from her.

I knew I wanted to make mine koi circling around the food! I am pleased with it, pretty much. I still have to add water lilies, and do some painting on the fabric. I may get brave and try to enter it in a juried show.
We had some more snow last week, and it is still mostly here. THe temperature has been so cold the rain has not been able to wash it away. I feel bad for all my friends in CT with 2 feet of snow, and more on the way. I am glad to not live there anymore.

Two of my Goofballs just left. They are a small group of gals who come the second Tuesday of the month. Dana was working on an Asian type jacket. We like to try new things and play around with some funky new ideas whenever we can.

I hope your new year is wonderful, filled with lots of great quilting projects and creative new ideas.

There is so much new fabric out there that it makes you head spin! I am definitely trying to NOT buy too much, as the more I clean my studio, the more I know that I don't need one more thing.
I just got a note from my friend Betsy...in KY. She helps birth foals....what a fun job to be around all those beautiful animals, and she is a FABULOUS quilter to boot. I have one of her fabulous leaf quilts.

Check my website, as I have posted this quarter's classes with the help of Jan, my website guru. I am going to post classes for the East coast in a few weeks.

In the meantime, as we try to thaw out, happy quilting.....judy

Four and Twenty Black-birds

Greetings from freezing cold WA....we have had freezing weather the past few days with a dusting of snow....my bird feeders are getting a workout with all those cold little birds looking for some lunch.

We have had hundreds of red-winged blackbirds in the yard...they fly in a cloud, all in unison, and eat bugs on the ground....then fly to the feeders for sunflower seeds for dessert. It is quite a sight, with the red of their wings flashing brightly as they fly around. I have been planning to make a quilt with red-winged black birds and flowers...but they flew so quickly I couldn't get a good picture.

Our Christmas was interrupted with Ken's cold...so we stayed home and I quilted and dug around in the studio. He is all better now, so we leave shortly for my brother's to spend New Year's. The sun is shining brightly even though it is very cold, in the teens.

The fish pond is frozen over, but the critters seem to take it all in stride. They don't even go into their little shelters.

We have much to be thankful for over this season, and hope you all have a wonderful holiday and bright and healthy new year. I hope to have some new quilts to post next week.

The quilt pictured is from my friend Lori. It was huge, but I got to quilt lots of my designs in....it was a fun quilt.

In the meantime...HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. judy

Where's the ARK??

This Saturday was our Longarm meeting and we had the pleasure of going to Jo Ann Blade's beautifully decorated for Christmas home. I posted a few pix including a sideways teddy...I don't know how to flip things....sorry. Where is my guru?? This past weekend was flood zone here in our area. My friend Liz had to call the fire department and get them rescued by boat....they are safe and dry in a motel in Darrington, WA. I didn't even know Darrington had a motel...I think they will get back home today, and thankfully the water just missed getting high enough to get into the house. They did move their cars to higher ground.

The rains finally have stopped, and our pond is way down since Ken had to pump out lots of water. It was just a couple inches from the top, and with the rain and warmer weather the fish were getting a bit active. It will be raining all week off and on I guess. Tomorrow my Goofballs come and we will make a field trip to OVer the Rainbow shop on Camano Island...be sure to check it out on the web...overrainbow.com I don't remember how to link, so you will have to do it the old fashioned way. They have such great fabric. I am following my guru's advice and putting the pictures on first....I need to put more but wonder if everything will get all messed up...so guess I better just send you all this little note for now, and more pix later. IN the meantime, I hope you all have a safe and dry winter, at least for awhile....and minimal snow for those of you who live in the snow belt. I guess it is hard to escape totally in those climes...I remember from MI and CT.....

I am trying to get my schedule ready to post on my website as soon as Jan gets back from her lovely trip down the Danube for a Victorian Christmas. Have fun quilting, and will write more later...judy

It's freeeeezing!!

two more lone stars...one out of some great Christmas fabric and the other from a newer line of grapes in fall colors...pretty neat. I want to make one with oriental koi fabric and some more with Christmas fabric.

The flag was frozen the moring we left Graham, WA at my brother's ....the Saturday after Thanksgiving.....

HI to all you hardy souls out there....seems like all we get here is freezing weather every nite and frosty windows and ground every morning. THe critters are all huddled up against the fence waiting for their breakfast. Poor Brooklyn is as the bottom of the pecking order, and she gets the leftovers!

I am working on my winter teaching schedule which I hope to post on my website in the next couple weeks....with the help of my website guru Jan. She loves to do that stuff...good thing, cuz I hate that stuff and don't know how to do it anyway. I have a beautiful quilt of hers to do soon....it is a raw edge floral, and will be fun to decorate with thread. Watch the blog and I will post it when it is finished.

We are right in the swing with all the guild Christmas parties...2 down and 3 more to go, as well as our museum board lunch and big meeting this month. Otherwise pretty quiet and time to quilt some of my stuff I hope.

Then, I plan to dig out the studio...I guess I should post before and after pix....it just seems like getting to the after is always so hard.

Guess I will post a couple of my latest quilts on today's blog, and then get on to some more lone stars. I am totally taken with that block, and have been collecting any lone star designs that catch my eye, especially if they are a bit more unusual. Just hope I have time to make all the ones that intrigue me. Hope you all have a warm and happy day.....till later...judy