Wedding table toppers

 
I've been spending the rainy days working on bright, cheerful reversible placemat/table toppers for my son's wedding, and I'm almost done. I don't want to stop working with these fun prints (tie dye on one side, different print on the other), so I might use the scraps for a small quilt or some scarves.

It's going to be a summer indoor-outdoor wedding on a farm, so I focused on flower and other nature prints, buying a fat quarter of each. I decided to make them round and scalloped so they'd look a little like flowers (I hope).

I didn't have a pattern, so I folded freezer paper into 16 wedges and cut a scallop at the open end, then unfolded it and ironed it onto each quilt sandwich, with Warm and Natural batting between the two prints. I stitched around the outside, then peeled it off and ironed it onto another sandwich. It lasted through all 10 and still ironed on just fine.
 

Then I cut around the stitching and turned it right side out through a little opening that I left. I hand stitched the openings, then machine quilted in a flowery pattern.

Hope this brightened your day! These prints sure brightened the rainy days here.

Have a colorful day

A Colorful Sew Day with the Nuts

A colorful table setting for five on a weekend at my house can only mean one thing: Sew Day with the Twisted Nut Stitchers!

I forgot to get photos of the food, but breakfast was two quiches (spinach-cheddar and artichoke-roasted-pepper-olive-feta), sour cream cinnamon coffee cake and mixed berries. Lunch was turkey-cranberry sandwiches, grapes and freshly baked brownies. I feel about five pounds heavier already, but it sure tasted good.

Then we retired to the living room where everyone pulled out colorful finished and in-progress projects. I'm working on the placemat/table toppers above for my son's wedding this summer. Linda J. brought the very colorful coiled bowl for show-and-tell.

Linda J. is also our official bag lady because she churns out numerous colorful and highly detailed bags. Today she brought two fabulous bags -- one small and one large -- shaped like the old school lunch boxes. Inside were layers of zippered pouches that were velcroed into the bags and could be pulled out. She filled them with everything you could possibly need for a sewing retreat. The pattern was by "Patterns By Annie."

She also was working on a felt fold-over bag with this pattern, "My Favorite Sewing Bag":

It includes wool applique, piecing, quilting and a lot of special compartments for sewing retreat necessities like this little ironing pad.

Carolynn, meanwhile, continued working on her gorgeous crazy quilt for her daughter. She showed us some luscious new thread, below, called Floche by DMC, that she's using for her hand embroidery. It comes in a twisted strand rather than the typical six strands that have to be separated.

I can't remember who made the sashiko pin cushion, but it was really cute.

Linda P. worked on her hand-appliqued Christmas quilt. Here she shows how she places her freezer paper template on the back of her fabric and then paints a thin line of starch around the edges before ironing them over the pattern. After pulling out the paper, she runs a thin line of glue under the edges to hold them down during applique. Her corner of the coffee table was very colorful:

I missed getting a photo of Nancy, but she spent the whole day cutting pieces for a quilt pattern that looks like it's going to be awesome. I'm get photos when it's finished.

It was a truly inspiring day with treasured friends.

Have a colorful day

 

Earth Day at Quilt Revolution

I spent an enjoyable hour at Quilt Revolution today helping with the Comfort Quilt Project and then going on a photo safari looking for bright spring-like colors in honor of Earth Day. Here are two of the quilts that are being made for local cancer patients through Comfort Quilts.

But you can't spend time in a quilt shop without looking for eye candy, and I found some great stuff to show you for spring.

April showers bring May flowers.

You'll have to tilt your head for this picture of the Earth Day Quilt Queen reclining on the bed layered with quilts at Quilt Revolution. Nancy, one of the owners, said she's been dying to do this ever since the shop opened as she dove under the cover for a photo. (I can't get it to go horizontal -- the photo has a mind of its own.)

Hope you had a colorful, happy Earth Day!

 

Hoppy Easter from Bunners

Hoppy, Happy Easter

from a Happy, Hoppy Bunners!

Bunners in sunglasses inspired one of my Bunners quilts a few years ago:

Here she is perched on a cushion on the sofa during a party, in between being held by guests. Wherever she goes, she is snuggled and loved.
 

Have a colorful day

Spring tidbits

 
It's Spring and I'm feeling restless, jumping from one project to another. I finally set together the batik squares that I pieced last year, and I've been slowly adding more embroidery to the yoga quilt that I also started last year.

Outside, I bought some flower baskets for the front porch. I guess that means it's time to take down those icicle lights that have been dangling on the porch since December. I love icicle lights, and we still have them strung around the inside of the living room and kitchen. Those will need to come down soon, as our landlord wants to move back into his house and we have to move to a new one soon.

It's supposed to rain today, but since it hasn't so far I went for a walk and snapped photos of spring flowers. The dandelion was the only one that wasn't blurred, so here it is in all its lone glory. I used to get very upset as a kid when my dad was ready to mow the lawn and murder all the dandelions and violets, so I'd run through the yard and pick as many as I could. I still love them and hate to see them mowed down.

Have a colorful day

Spring blooms

 

The sun shone in the harbor today and the spring flowers were in full bloom. I took a walk with a friend and snapped a few.

I love it when the sun seems to turn flowers and leaves into stained glass.

But the prettiest flower of all this week was Delaine in her festive hat at our STITCH meeting!

Have a colorful day

Postcards from the road home

View from Starbucks on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA.

We took a week to drive back from Sedona via Southern California and up along the Oregon and Washington coasts. It was sunny in SoCal, a mix of sun and rain in Oregon, and mostly rainy in Washington. The desert seems long ago and far away.

Here are some postcards from the road.

No nude sunbathing with rattlers in Southern CA.

Window view of Pacific in Monterey, CA.

Jellies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Back Porch Fabrics, Monterey, CA.

Famous Big Sur in California.

Dave by haystack rocks, Cannon Beach, OR.

 

Me in Oregon -- Was the desert just a dream?

 

Have a colorful day