colorful cats galore

So I was reading Beginner's Guide to Art Quilts and took idea of the first project and challenged myself to run with it. 

 

I found 4 inch brightly dyed charm squares in my stash. 

 I picked out 12 different colors creating the 4 by 4 grid. 

Then I found the 3 inch high stack of 2 inch cat squares I bought years ago on ebay. 

BTW in case you did not know ebay is a great pace to buy precut squares. 

I matched up squares by colors and fused the cats to the dyed fabric. 

Then I assembled the cat quilt and practiced some more machine quilting. 

 I think it turned out so cute!

 I need to turn off my brain this weekend so I can finish my quilt along top and baste it at the snack and craft at the church on Tuesday.

keep dreaming...Colleen...aka 'butterflygirl'

charming pumpkin

So I haven't written for a while because I spend too much time reading every one else's blogs.  If you are looking for some good one to follow check out my list on the right hand side.  Warning:  reading blogs is addictive!  I am also working on two large quilts, two three small wall hangings and one table runner with coasters set.  I keep finding more things that I want make!  I wish it was summer already!  So let me post about the one project I made and finished in two days. 

I saw a quilt that had a jack-o-lantern made out of charm squares.  I sorted through my 4" square stash and began cutting green and yellow squares in half and laying out the pumpkin with borders.  I sewed it together and machine appliqued a green stem on top. 

I then decided that it would be a fall quilt so I decided to add a red border.  Mmmm...thinking leaves here.  Then because I had so many orange squares and orange is a fall leaf color too... I halved the squares and sewed a binding.  

I told someone today that I was reteaching myself quilting (see New Directions )and learning new techniques.  So this quilt also became an experiment in machine quilting.  I had recently learned that my old Kenmore has a pressure setting for the presser foot from this great video by Marguerita -Quilting Tutorials CrazyShortcutQuilts's Channel.  Here is a close up of my experiment.

 I quilted ridges in the pumpkin in orange and then echo quilted the borders in matching thread colors.

Well I'm falling asleep at the computer.  I'll share on of my other two 'experiemnts' in a day or two.

Keep dreaming....Colleen aka 'butterflygirl'

All American Dad

Have I told you that I have an All American Dad?  He is the best Dab in the world!  I know I put a 'b' in Dad.  Its an old endearment going back to an error in a 4th grade art project.  So why is Dad an All American Dad?  Partly because he was born on the 5th of July, partly because he throws a huge picnic on the 4th each year, and partly because he loves flags especiall large ones.  He has a great collection that we have to display on the 4th.  Oh yeah he owns a firetruck too.  Wierd huh?


So way back when I was an active quilter in the 90's I spent three years creating a series of quilts for my Dad's almost patriotic birthday.  I called it the All American Dad series of course.

First was a pieced and appliqued wall quilt (have I told you I hate applique?)  I even did decorative stiching around the pieces.  It is supposed to represent my Dad's love of fireworks and his love of creating things for his family.  I embroidered the words "To the Best Dab, his hands create wonders for those he loves."  Of course the appliqued figure was to represent my Dad, salt and pepper hair and all.

I even did fancy handmade labels back then.  As you can see it was 1993 and dad was turning 50!  Love those Pigma pens.








The next year I was thinking about family and the Westinghouse legacy.  My Dad was a third generation Westinghouse employee.  So I made a quilt that reflected that as well as family.  Did I mention the 4th picnic started out as mostly Westinghouse families?

I used some wonderful reproduction fabrics in this from the Smithsonian line.  I also made my first stars which I fell in love with.  I appliques the circle W for Westinghouse. 

Then I quilted my Dad's, Grandfather's and Great Grandfather's names on the border.

A tag of course.

The third in the series is in the previous post.

:o) keep dreaming...Colleen

Remembering 9-11

As a preview for the post I'm working on and as a tribute to the victims of 9-11 and their families, I'd like to share quilt #3 in the All American Dad series.  Quilted are the words :

" Freedom to be free, Life Liberty and the pursuit of happiness, all people are created equal, the great melting pot, we hold these truths to be self evident, and the greatest of these is love."

Keep dreaming...:o)Colleen

the sand box

     Do you remember when you were a kid and nothing was more fun then the sandbox?  The feel of the sand running through your fingers,  pushing that shovel into the sand, throwing the sand at your friend,  filling up a bucket, and then dumping it out.  Life in a sandbox was about exploring and seeing what you could create.  Since I have set up my studio I have been playing in the sandbox.  Alot.  Except fabric is my sand . 

I am inspired to try many new things and one day I started making stuffies.  I saw them everywhere -  in small gift stores, magazines, and online. 

So I suddenly had a great desire to make one or six.  Of course the challenge of thinking about fabric both texture and pattern led me to explore and evaluate my stash.  Don't you love a challenge?  It molds your thinking and allows you to to create in ways you never dreamed of. 

I kept thinking about the cat and dog blocks my grandmother Myers had made.  I like the simple yet graphic design.  They would make great stuffies!

So I started with a combination cat or dog like shape.  I like hand drawing the pattern on ordinary scraps of printer paper.  I save all those extra pages that always print with junk on them.  I pulled this ugly green floral stripe flannel from my stash for the body. 

Then  I found a scrap of floral upholstry fabric for the face. 

I cut out two bodies and faces.  After zig zag stitching the faces on I embellished them with buttons and embroidery floss.

I went back to my stash and found other fabrics of different textures and prints and colors. 

And drew some more patterns - like these bunnies.

And so a gang of stuffies is born from the scraps of my stash. 

Keep dreaming...and playing in your sandboxes...Colleen