Benartex Project #2- Peacock Petals

 We round up the first quarter of the year

with my second Benartex project....

Peacock Petals using fabrics

from the Peacock Symphony

line by David Galchutt.

It hit store shelves in January so

keep an eye out for it.

Deep rich colors and 

a spring vibe kept niggling at 

the back of my mind.

I thought about 2 particular 

design workshops that I

adore teaching, Scrapplique'

and Fabric Collaborations.

Both concepts along with these

two fabrics inspired

my work for this challenge.

Thankfully the style of the fabric

goes beautifully with my own 

aesthetic of swirls and dots!

Admittedly, I got a bit carried away

with my design work.

It was only supposed to be

one small wall hanging.

THEN, I got excited about working

in lights vs. darks and so only

one of four blocks is done...

Now you will be intrigued enough to 

come back and see how it goes:)

HOW CUTE IS THIS?!!!?

I cannot wait to finish the 

whole quilt now!

My ambition thought I would

do it all by hand-LOLOLOL!!

SO many little circles.

Then I saw the work of 

Kyra Reps at Daytona...WOW!

So, I tried the prepared edge

applique' method using apliquick

bars that my friend,

Susan Marth, has been prodding 

me to try for years.

I am so resistant to change!

It did make my circles a bit

better but I really do loathe 

all that prep work.

So far this piece has 3 applique' 

methods on it:

Needle turn hand applique'

Prepared edge applique'

and fusible raw edge applique'.

Whatever gets it done right?

So, keep stitching in whatever

way makes your heart happy:)

Twelve Days of Christmas

 I have had this Christmas line 

for a few years now...

The selvages are adorable

and the colors vibrant 

and wonderful!

When quarantine started, I finished 

a couple of work deadlines and then

promised myself that I would do a

project or 2 for myself.

A friend of mine had done a 

a sew along that this fabric

was perfect for!

Suzn Quilts designed an adorable

miniature using her tiny templates.

The 12 Days of Christmas

 The finished size is 12" and since

I have so much of this fabric, I

thought it would be fun to keep 

making bigger blocks to go with 

the miniature....

Friendship Stars

I liked the little house blocks

and trees so much that I made 

another 12" miniature with them.

Here is the template for the trees.

In my mini, I left off the trunks.

Here is what I have so far...

My 2 minis, some Friendship Stars &

some Pinwheel blocks.

The first block is one of Susan's Tiny/Mini

Dresden blocks that can be found in

her Around the Block pattern.

I can't wait to see it finished

and I hope you will go visit Susan's

blog and site for lots of fun

ways to spend our days.

Until next time,

Keep stitchin'.

Houston 2017 (Catching you up:)

Houston brings so much with it....My Autumn Fix (VERY Important!), seeing beautiful quilts, being inspired, meeting with fellow professionals and making connections. 

Most importantly I get to hang with my sweet friend, Susan! We have known each other for quite some time now, work well together, and then get our antique fix together:)

So after my Autumums came out in October (see here), I went to Houston with, Susan, of Suzn Quilts to be a booth helper for the premiere of her book, Dresden Quilt Workshop. This Festival Pin is SOOOO ME!!!

The black circle shows where Susan's booth was on the floor....
so much floor:)

While there we ran into some other professionals that we talk with online but hadn't met face to face before....

Cheryl Lynch and Sue O'Very.

Susan finding her book on the shelf (above) and signing her life away (below).  She is so composed...I may have burst in the same situation:)

Once we got home to Susan's in Illinois, I had 1-1/2 days to antique shop with her!  We even hit a shop or two on the way from Houston to Illinois where she found a FANTASTIC red and green applique quilt for me (that is for another post!)!!

 

Because her book came out, we did Market and Festival back to back which ended up meaning 2 weeks away from home for me once you add in travel time.  Starting to see where I have been...:)

RETREAT Spells.....

Relax, Enjoy Time with friends, Reflect on ideas, and EAT.

L-R: Susan, Beth, Me, Kathy, Susan, Chris, Lorraine

Right after my last post, I flew to St. Louis to meet up with friends in Illinois where I used to live. The year I moved away was the 1st Annual Quilt Retreat and they have had one every year since that I have not been able to attend. There is a wonderful little quilt shop in Highland, Ill. named Rosemary's where you can sew and live amongst the bolts:) and this was my Christmas present from my husband. It is so relaxing and sort of lets you feel like you are getting away with something...
Susan and I kept the secret from the others for over 2 months which is quite the feat when you consider all the ways we could have let it slip...Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc.We all had projects we wanted to work on. Here you can see Kathy and our other Susan and the table is still relatively neat:) There was plenty of fabric and conversation to keep us busy late into the nights.
The table is starting to get a bit more creative looking as more fabric and ideas get tossed about. Now let's talk about the food....Italian, Chinese, and Mexican- ALL OUR FAVORITES and the restaurants are all within a 2 block walking distance when the weather allows.

Above is a sneak peek at one of the 2 designs I started working on while in Ill. This particular one is very abstract and so different from how I normally work. I chose familiar colors though to help me work through this and I find I am enjoying this new piece. Stay tuned for the finished wall quilt.

Retreats don't have to cost a lot of money with a little imagination and what you receive in return is priceless!

Thank you Friends.