GLAMOUR GIRL

Who said pincushions can't be glamorous? I think she needs a tuck at the neck, but that will have to wait for now. The face is an old rubber stamp I have used a lot. Names? Any suggestions?

NEW FRIEND

Hello out there in blog land! This is my newest sewing room companion. She hails from the british HANDMADE Vol 27 Num 8, I picked up from JoAnns yesterday. She is very sturdy with about a cup of walnut shells packed in an old stocking and fiberfill. Quiet! She doesn't know her new home is in Walnut Creek with a very dear friend whose birthday was earlier this month.

OH THOSE FEATHERS

I had really high hopes for this piece, even though it is a "what if?" I fused the feather and unfortunately, you can't always predict fraying. The edges of some plumes frayed more than others. I admit in my rush to do this my fusing probably wasn't as sealed as it could have been. The real joy was the thread. I had purchased a box of Hemingworth poly select last year and never used it. It is incredible thread and the sheen is very soft. I used it in the background. I used a polyester in the plumes and edge stitched the plumes with a 50 weight DMC. I still love cotton for my big quilts, but I think I will be more flexible with my smaller pieces. So that's my Sunday sermon about thread!

SO...WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEKEND?

I've had THE most incredible weekend. I took Bob Adams class at The Quilters Studio. Three days of learning about how thread color can change the color of fabric and therefore change the "tone" of your quilt. We did lots of samples, none of which photographed well, so take my word for it. Another exercise was to take a shape, like a leaf shape and find lots of different ways to add interest with quilting. It works for anything that remotely appears as a shape. This alone opened up worlds for me. He and his wife Natalie are so nice and down to earth, it was really like talking with old friends. Check out his web site http://www.bobadamsart.com/.

A REAL BEAUTY

My Tuesday class really liked the geese class I did. We usually do show and tell before the lesson . One, actually four students from the Tues class attended the machine quilting retreat. The featured leaf was done by Vickie after she went home. She is a fabric painter extraordinaire. This piece was painted after quilting. I love the shadowing and the echo with feathers. It really is spectacular,but best of all it is a gift to me! What a lucky ducky. Thanks Vickie!

GEESE, GEESE, AND MORE GEESE

I love flying geese units. I don't know why. They don't look like any bird I have seen. This is a technique out of Karin Hellaby's book Fast Flying Geese Quilts. It is very fast and simple. I decided to give a mini class at my Tuesday class on this fun project. Check it out.