It seems lately it’s either I have nothing to say or everything to say. I am truly grateful that my blog readers bear with me. As promised in my October Free Motion Quilting Challenge on the SewCalGal site the December Bonus Tutorial is up. It’s primarily based on the Kaleidoscope Collections Feather Template pack that Jeanie designed “Feather Zone“. As I machine quilted “Feather Zone” I learned how to stitch feathers in several new ways which I show in the tutorial. I’ve struggled with stitching out feathers where I get a thinner spine for quite a while and quilting this quilt and for the tutorial gave me the opportunity to learn how to do that in a variety of ways. I hope you enjoy.
As I mentioned yesterday I met Stephanie of The Fiber Nation. I have long enjoyed Stephanie’s artwork and her thought process as she shares on The Fiber Nation. Stephanie interviewed a number of artists in 2010 – you can read the article here. I remember a couple of my answers being kind of short and flip however I was serious – one of the benefits of working at home as an artist is that I can be flexible it’s also one of the biggest draw backs as sometimes I’ll do other things rather than taking care of my work. This has been something on my mind and I’m working on figuring it out. Stephanie had the opportunity to create art with Melanie Testa, check it out.
So back to the lovely Stephanie…she’s a lot of fun. At the City Quilter we enjoyed the art quilts currently hanging in the gallery, the current artist being Judy Blaydon. Many of Judy’s quilts remind me of looking at farmland viewed from a plane. Stephanie and I talked machines and I enjoyed watching Stephanie choose fabric. There is one I’m going to have to purchase next time I go there. I’m kinda kicking myself for not getting it yesterday because you know it’ll be gone later. I purchased Cherrywood 8-step gray. It’s really pretty and I have a quilt in mind for it that I may actually piece.
We visited Tinsel Trading on 37th street in Manhattan.
Talk about shiny things.
I staged the photo on the right and hope to get back to the City and get these for two reasons. They remind me of my dmil who passed away nearly 2 years ago and I think it’s a good reminder of how to live…with JOY in your heart. I recognize that living with JOY is not always easy I am finding more and more JOY in the new quilts I’m working on and in the fact that I love what I do as a quilter, I love what I’m privileged to participate in as a quilter.
This truly was a cabinet of curiosities. I must have been here for 15 or 20 minutes touching things. I want a cabinet like this, just full of things to touch and feel and enjoy and let others have the same pleasure. I think if I ever have my very own out of the house studio I will work on a cabinet of curiosities for quilters to enjoy.
This “Thread-Keeper” caught my attention for sure. Sewists for years have wanted to keep their thread neat and tidy for generations, it’s an on going chore that many of the thread companies are helping us out with on their end caps.
Happy Quilting!
Teri
How fun! Love a good curiosity now and then! the puppy treat dispenser is so cool!
I had a lovely day, thank you so much! I can’t wait to get back home and do some projects with the fabrics I got!
p.s. interesting….. 😉
A delightful post. Made me want to live near NYC and all the neat places. I want a crio of curiosities
It’s the bobbin threads that make me crazy. I’m pretty disciplined in securing the thread spools! It’s so much fun chasing a bobbin across the studio like a yoyo on a very long string.
Terry, let me know which is the fabric you want. I will be there tomorrow and will set aside for you as much as you want.
The thread keeper thingy looks interesting-how do they work?
They just clip over the thread, simple easy peasy.