Works in progress

Some pretty terrible pictures here, I apologize, but my camera is definitely on it's last legs.  This is a piece I'm making for the PAQA-South juried exhibition, which has a deadline approaching early next month.  I don't have a lot of experience entering competitive shows, but hey, you have to start somewhere.

The background is a bunch of shibori fabrics I've dyed over the last few months, and I've made around 20 leaves using my hand-dyed fabrics and satin stitching the edges--now I have to decide whether to sew them on by hand or if I should machine sew them on.  The quilt sandwich is done and quilted--maybe I should have sewn the leaves on before quilting it, or maybe I should fuse them on?

I'm not a huge fan of sewing by hand, I find it too tedious and when I sit down on the couch in the evening after work, I tend to fall asleep rather than get anything accomplished.  It's easier to stay awake after a long day at a boring job when I'm at the machine!

Here's a brief look at another piece I'm working on for the same exhibitition.  I need to start the quilting on it, but always seem to find the first stitches difficult to take.  Once I get started, I'm fine.  Do I quilt the orange sky in a wavy pattern, a straight line pattern, or go crazy with swirls and twirls?  I drew some of the various lines on the quilt top with a chalk pencil to see what might work best, but I seem to always change my mind when I actually start sewing.  (This fabric looks REALLY ORANGE here, but it isn't that bright in person).

Another project--a flower petal pillow top that I started with a blue fleece fabric.  Just have to finish the center, maybe with a yellow fleece and it's all ready for a backing fabric and a pillow form. 

Ok, and here's the reason I didn't join the Off-The-Wall Friday link-up last week, a birthday party for my granddaughter in New York that I attended, and got to spend some time with her over the long weekend.  Of course, the onesie with the "1" and the ladybug was done by Grandma.

Tiny Sunset quilt

Last summer my daughter sent me this picture of a sunset on Martha's Vineyard:

I've been thinking of ways to use some of my shibori fabric (and tons of other fabric that I have dyed) and came up with this little picture (about 10" x 15").  It doesn't quite look like the photograph, however...

I got a thread-painting lesson over the weekend (thanks, Jenny!) and added a bit of it to this picture.  She showed me how to use 2 layers of a water-soluble solvy material, with tulle in the middle, and build up lots of layers.   

So, while it really doesn't look anything like the original picture, it was fun, fast, and easy (except for the thread sketching, which took a while to do).   Lots of people make smaller sample pieces before committing to a larger piece, and I think I'll start doing that, too. 

Another topic--totally different.  Jane Sassaman has a new book out, Patchwork Sassman Style, and there have been about 100 giveaways this month on blogs, but I gave up trying to win and actually bought the book last week.  For the past 2 years or so, I've been buying her fabric on clearance on-line and in stores, wherever I saw it.  

Her fabric is kind of unusual, and I think it doesn't appeal to everyone.  Large prints are kind of hard to work with sometimes, so her book is full of patterns and suggestions for using these prints--one is by finding other patterns using the two-mirror technique, as shown in the next two pictures.

Another with the fabric alone:

 And with the mirrors:

I'm not sure I'm up to this, as it looks pretty complicated.  According to Jane, it really isn't, so maybe I'll give it a shot.  I'll just have to decide on one of the patterns in the book and try it out.

Too many projects

This is Leo, a foster dog I got on Saturday--he's available through the Lab Rescue of NC

As far as quilty projects, it seems that lately I'm all over the map.  

Fusing: 

Sewing: 

More sewing:

Quilting: 

And more sewing--

The only thing I forgot to take pictures of is my dyeing efforts--.

I think I have so many things going on at once because I think about making things all day at work and try to get as many started as I can on weekends when I have lots of time.