Quilt Faster, Quilt Faster!

And, it's done.  This was my entry into our guilds "Song Challenge."  Can you guess my song?  It was "Under the Sea."

 I originally made this little portion, with just the pieced blue with green seaweed (no fish).  When I measured it, it was much too small to meet the challenge 80" minimum perimeter rule.

 I thought a border or two might bring it to size, so I pulled out my tropical UFO box.

Do you remember this image from light years ago?  It was taken in 2008.  Notice the turquoise pretties on the wall?

 Here they are again, in 2009.  I never could seem to get them together in a satisfactory arrangement.

The blocks were stuffed back into the box, to percolate.  I know I've taken them out since then.  Surely it hasn't been 5 years?  Where does the time go?  Apparently that box has been generating blocks for close to 16 years.

It started with leftovers from this quilt:

"The Wowie Gazowie Quilt"

Suzanne Kistler 1998?

umm, yeah.  I don't think I'll ever make it to the bottom of the Turquoise Treasure Box, but I am going to cross off  "Turquoise Tropical Medley", #17 of my 2014 UFO List, as "finished."  After all, I did use up the majority of the pieced blocks for my Underwater Adventure quilt.

huh.  That might just be the name for this new little gem.  Whatever.  Quilts in these colors always make me smile!

Bam!

Just like that, another one done.

Not sure why, but this one was an instant favorite of mine.  The baby arrived 2 months early, but lucky for him, his parents had already worked on his nursery.  Can you guess the theme?  His dad said, "I always wanted a man cave - I got it vicariously."

And now, on to the next thing.  Happy Quilting!

Playing For an Hour

Thank you, everyone, for your positive comments regarding the quilt-for-hire. I'm glad to know that my fiddling with the quilt was a desirable action, not one that would offend. I've finished pin-basting, and it looks terrific. I know this quilt will quilt quickly, in that I know exactly how I'm going to quilt it, it's just finding the time to get it done.

This morning was guild, and we enjoyed a trunk show from Peggy Martin. Her work is quite bright and lively, and maybe I should have brought my camera along. I thought about it, and then forgot about it. I seem to be a bit distracted these days. Maybe it's all of my looming deadlines?

When I got home, I had a couple of hours to burn and a huge mess on my sewing table. Rather than start in on the for-hire work, I thought I'd sew up some of the mess.

Remember those scraps I'd trimmed from Fish Dance? They've been repurposed into a new little (very small) quilt.

I bought the large ceramic fish button in Long Beach in 2008. The stick is from Hartland, I believe the raffia was from a package I received for my birthday. Now if I could only find the copper wire that I bought to hang these stick-mounted quilts....It's around here somewhere!!!

Postmark'd Art

About 6 weeks ago, I was invited to join a postcard exchange called Postmark'd Art. I'm not sure if I've blogged about it or not. I know I've been thinking about it a lot. I often read of block exchanges in others' blogs, and think, "Oh! I'd like to do that!" but I never have. Until now.

Using my daughter's birthday card as inspiration, I put together these four postcards. Here they are, before embellishment. Apparently Blogger is jealous, as it has seen fit to tip the picture. grr.

Here they are again, in their final state. I mailed the bulk of them yesterday. They each measure 4" x 6".

This little fishie is leftover from a Lone Star quilt that I made featuring goldfish... He has little beaded bubbles coming out of his mouth that you cannot see.

These little fishies are also blowing bead bubbles, hiding above some fun fringe-y stuff purchased from a yarn dealer. A dolphin jumps above sea level.

This card has some fishy romance, amid lots of bubbles and "sea weed."

And finally, Nemo's family is hiding in more fuzzy stuff. They must think there are sharks nearby. Silly fishies. It's only a sea horse!

All of these cards were mailed without envelopes. The names and addresses were printed on the back, and a stamp was pressed on for postage. I mailed one last week. Once I knew that it arrived at its destination, I mailed the other three. The cost to mail? Sixty-four cents. That's 44 cents for postage, plus a 20 cent fee for being non-machinable.

If you'd like a bigger picture, you can always click on it. It should give you a much larger view. Hope you enjoyed the show!!

A Bit of Busy-ness

My Studio has been a disastrous mess for much too long. Things have piled up as I spent time on my Hoffman and ignored all else. I've been trying to restore some sort of order, but real progress has been slow. Most of the "progress" is due to moving the big things into another room.

I know. That's cheating. But my son got a job and moved to Santa Monica and I couldn't let that lovely space go to waste. :)

Here is the current status of my sewing surface. There's almost room to sew.

That rolled up quilt in the background is my whitewater rafting quilt. It's waiting for me to add beads before I call it Completely Finished.

I sewed together another quilt for Komforters for Kids, our guild philanthropic project. It will end up with a community service officer, to be given to a child in distress.

And finally, I put together some postcards for a Postmark'd Art exchange. I'm new to this sort of thing, and had a bit of a challenge trying to get the post office to actually accept one for mailing.


I've only mailed one of the cards, I'm waiting to hear if it arrives before I mail the others.

These cards measure 4" x 6", which is considerably smaller than the 5" x 7" quilted cards that are my usual MO. It's called moving out of my comfort zone. It's a challenge to pull together an idea in such a small space.

And I think that's it for now. My BOTV bookmarks are ready to pick up. Yes, it's time to remind everyone about our upcoming April 2011 show...Let the publicity begin!

Beautiful Boxes And Such

Oh, come on Blogger! WHY are you upending my photo?!! I think, perhaps, you are jealous. It is MY quilt box, and I'm not going to share.

I've been trying to sort and organize and make things look nice (story of my life) and today's efforts uncovered this beautiful end table. It was used in the living room of our last house, but shortly after we moved here (15 years ago) it was pushed into our bedroom. There, it held STACKS of things that I didn't put away. (I know. I'm not supposed to air my dirty laundry in public. But I just did. I'm a packrat. That's just the way it is. I'm trying to deal with it.)

Anyway, today was the day I pulled the quilt box out to the living room. It is filled primarily with quilts made by my friends. It has 2 or 3 that I made, but for the most part? It's filled with friendship.

Speaking of friendship, I have another beautiful box. This one has not been with me for years on end, this one is new. This one arrived at Christmas. Made by Mel Bell, Carpenter Extraordinaire, I've finally put it on display, right here, on top of my box of friendship quilts. Isn't it beautiful?

Here it is from another angle. ooh, baby, I like your lines!

In the quilting realm, I spent a few hours yesterday working on my pattern for my 2010 Hoffman. I'm going to ENJOY working on this year's quilt. I am NOT going to stress like I have in the past. This is a quilt I want to make, because I love the topic. It won't bother me in the least if no one else loves it. Okay, so maybe it will bother me, but I already love it, so it's fine. I want this year's quiltmaking to be making quilts I WANT to be making. Goals are good and all that.

When I put aside the pattern, I pondered what to work on.

I worked on a quilt back in October, at the Hartland Quilt Retreat, that turned into a warped mess of a mess. arg. I reworked it twice, then shoved it in the closet.

Yesterday I pulled it out of the closet, cut off the offending warpiness, and set to making it right. The top is now perfectly flat. I can't say that I am 100% pleased with the composition - it was better when the pine tree batik traveled the width of the quilt - but I'm 90% pleased. Quilting will improve it tremendously.

"Fish Dance" - unquilted top
Suzanne Kistler 2010

I'm trying to get back into "show mode," and "Fish Dance" will be my submission to the West Coast Wonders Exhibit in Long Beach in July. Goals are good, doncha know?

Finally, I've got a half-way decent image of my 2008 Hoffman to submit to M-AQF. Finally, finally! If you've never tried to photograph a black quilt, you have no idea how difficult it is to get the colors to come out accurately. I took this photo outside. I threw white sheets over the fence and put the quilt on a stand in front of the sheets. The sun had been shining, but just as I was ready to shoot, clouds came in. They actually helped with the color accuracy. Finally. Now I just have to fill out the form and send it in. It isn't really warped at the bottom. A breeze kicked up. of course.

"Window of Tradition"
2008 Hoffman Challenge
Suzanne Kistler

And that's all for today, folks. Next week we are predicted to get a frightening amount of rain. 6-8" is frightening, when 8" is your yearly average. We've also made plans to completely redo our backyard, utilizing the skills of a professional landscaper. If I don't blog much next week, I'm either under water or freaking out about the yard...or blissfully sewing away in the Studio, oblivious to the chaos swirling around me...Goals are good...

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Yes, today is his birthday, and he is one year older. He's taking it a lot better than he did last year. He was fit to be tied about the big 50, but 51 seems to be a piece of cake. Then again, it's only 9:25am. :)

I finished his birthday quilt in the nick of time. I left it for him on the kitchen table, since he gets up at ridiculously early hours (4:30am), and I hadn't planned to join him. He thanked me, and asked if I knew there was fishing line on the quilt. Why yes, indeed I did. I put it there. :)

"Fish Story"
Suzanne Kistler 2009

So how about this story?

When Pete and the boys went camping a few weeks ago, I was thinking about them as I worked in my Studio. (I still LOVE that phrase: "my Studio!") A block I'd made YEARS ago swam into mind, and coalesced with the guild challenge to "include a circle." (Obviously, since I've unveiled the quilt, this is not my guild challenge.)

Anyway, one slice led to another, and the top was finished that Saturday evening. When Pete returned on Sunday, his eyes glowed as he told of catching a 13" trout. "I cast the line, and this huge fish jumped into the air! I got so excited, I yanked the line and he missed the fly. I was hoping he was still there, and I cast again. And I caught him!!"

Definitely a fish story. It was verified by the boys. Yes, indeed, Dad did catch that fish. Oh yes, they'd heard the story. They'd already "heard it at least 20 times." When I showed them the top, they were amazed. I'd captured Dad's story completely, and I hadn't even heard it yet.

Adam said, "All it needs is some line and a fly." Excellent suggestion, Adam! They make the quilt!

And here you have it, a close-up of Pete's "Fish Story."

"Fish Story" - close-up
Suzanne Kistler 2009

Today I'm going to fix the binding, because I know I can do better. And so, it's onward and upward. I am SO excited to have finished a quilt in 2009. It has been MUCH too long!!!

I made ART!!!

This is what I did yesterday afternoon. It wasn't for me, and although it is art, it is not ART. It was freemotion quilting fun on a quilt-for-hire. This particular quilt was delightful to quilt. It was small and cheery, and invited interpretive quilting. Best of all, it was quick. woohoo!

But what I really wanted to be doing was something of my own. It's been a while since I've worked on my own work. I am in the process of beading a quilt, and I've gotten a bit carried away. Okay, so maybe that's an understatement. Maybe I got a LOT carried away. It will be weeks before that quilt is finished. When it is, you can be assured that I will post a picture.

Anyway, my new Quilting Arts magazine just arrived, and yesterday I was paging through it. There was a new challenge issued, called "Go Green!" The challenge specifications were preceded by an article of a "green" quilter. She uses stuff from around the house to make miniature art pieces.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of recycling...if you're talking about aluminum cans, plastics, newspapers, etc. But using dryer lint in my quilts? I just can't bring myself to do that.

But I CAN limit myself to using items that I have on hand, and that 5" x 5" size is actually do-able.

In fact, that's pretty small.

So I tried it. I started with a 6" square, instead of 5", and planned to cut it down, but the piece ended up 5.75" square. But that's fine with me. It's not for their challenge, it's ART. And I am NOT an artist...but I made ART!!
Isn't it cute? Don't you love it? I do. I started with a 6" foundation, then strip-pieced the background with scraps from my scrap box. Then I raw-edge, machine-stitched the seaweed, ala Rosemary Eichorn. I added some couched yarn from Charlotte, some bubble beads from my river, and some tiger eye stones at the bottom, rejects from the river quilt. The fish is where the "go green, recycle" theme comes in. It was an earring, that I'd bought years ago, thinking, "This would be cute on a quilt." But then I never did anything with it.

Just goes to show, that if you're desperately procrastinating on cleaning the bathrooms, you, too, could be making ART!!!