MY Summer & Catching Up

I have completed my summer quilt. I couldn't be happier. I just love the way it depicts MY Summer. This is what Summer in Maine is all about (minus the black flies and humidity). Oh, and the white beaches too. Our sand is much courser and darker at most beaches. Anyhow, the feeling is here.
Most beaches will have a lighthouse within sight. Our coast line is unforgiving to the boats. It is beautiful and rocky in most places. The light houses save many a lost boat, as going into the main surf is an almost certain death as cold as the water is much of the year.
Half-standing plank fenses litter the beaches. They are truly picturesque additions to what Mother Nature gave us. Lobstering is one of our largest industries, especially in the summer. The fense would be incomplete without some of these. Each lobsterman (or woman) has a registered stripe pattern so that they know whose traps are whose in the ocean.
Here is how I cured my previous problem with the background fabric showing through the white of the chair. I think it works well.
All in all, I am tickled with this summer quilt. It turned into way more than I had anticipated. When I started, I was trying to depict another place (which I cannot say, or my partner will possibly know this is for her). But in the end, it turned out looking like MY home. Consequently, I have dedided that this will stay in MY home. Sigh... So I am back to the drawing board, so to speak. I have decided to make my 4SQS partner a similar quilt with "scenes" from the beach rather than an entire beach landscape. My four scene panels are complete and look good. I will post about this at another time though.
This wild little number arrived this week from Kate. It's her ALQS mini for ME! Wild it is, but I have a secretly kept wild side (hence the Frog in the Blender, which was mailed over an ocean this week). It looks a bit juxtiposed hanging in my very traditional dining room, on this hideously country (he he, country is NOT my thing) hanger I have previously had another quilt on. But my dining room and other downstairs rooms have deep purple and cranberry in the window coverings, furniture and paint, so it does blend in nicely.

The back fabric is radically cool, I must say. This has a metallic printing and is actually one piece of fabric. Many thanks Kate. I do like it. It took a few days to post this as my batteries died and the price of gas here has kept me home until I needed other items.

Next, I mailed this off to my Forum Doll Quilt Partner, organized by Ginger, on Tuesday. It's done with 1930's style happy prints and polka dota. It ought to be received in the mail today, so I will post it this morning.
I hope my partner appreciates it, as I will be seing what she makes in Kate's Forum birthday block swap soon too.
Here's a shot of the back. It's like a flower.

Another Quilt Swap not Intended for Dolls

The fab Kate is hosting a mini-quilt swap. She does absolutely wonderful work. If you are creative and interested, visit this blog for details.

Laboring at the Sewing Machine

Six years ago today I was blissfully sitting on a birthing ball, happily and anxiously awaiting the birth of my first child. He was born late at night on the 29th after what was really a very short 6-7 hour labor. I had planned to take the day off from sewing today and take the little monster out to the sledding hill and to McD's for lunch (get that cheese burger fix), but his father really wanted to take him skiing for the 1st time instead. So, somewhat sadly I allowed him to go. All the while, all I could really do is think how much I worked 6 years ago today, and I ought to be the one taking him off somewhere! But, it has left me with at nice 2 hour window to sew while my other monsters (oops, I mean monkeys) napped.


I did start on the back ground of one of the swap quilts today. I have once again dug into my large blue stash. I'm not much of a blue user, so it feels good to rid the stash of some of this. I ordered a fair bit of fabric this week (I know, shame on ME!!) - it is from Ebay and is largely Kaffe Fasset, which I LOVE!! I also did a little shopping at Borders this morning, picking up one of the Civil War Quilt Diary books. I don't really like Civil War prints much, but I do like the book and the patterns, perhaps done with a more modern approach.

More pictures of Lucky & other projects soon (hubby took the camera skiing!)

Lucky gets a Snack

One of the comments I got yesterday was that a turtle ought to have some water lillies & dragonflies. Now I'm no water lily expert, but I can handle a few dragonflies. I auditioned this perfect dragonfly fabric I had, but decided it did not work in so well. So...I got creative with my permanent fine-tip sharpie pens, which by the way are worth their weight in GOLD. I have bought the $3 a piece fabric pens and they don't write a clean line w/o bleeding. These are 28 pens for $12 at Sams.
Here's the purple turtle, Lucky in his water home (not yet sewn down). There are just a few sea-weeds and fun circular bobbles in some of my favorite batik scraps. I rarely do a satin-stitch applique because it looks so amateurish and tends to buckle and not lay flat. But Lucky needed this to designate the lines on his shell. There was no way I was going to stitch all of those pieces on separately. The other items on the quilt are needle-turn appliqued down.
And here is one of the dragon-flies I drew.

stay tuned...

Another Possible Quilt Swap

For those of you that may be interested in another swap, Toni the Quilting Pirate is contemplating starting one. Go to her blog if you are interested.

http://miniaturebootyswap.wordpress.com/
Here's the sign up blog!

Meet Lucky

Here's Lucky. He's a turtle and he is just dying to be made into a quilt.

Actually, I began by first making some "ocean" from my many blue choices of fabric. My blue stash is enormous because I made this a couple years ago. It was only after the ocean was created that I dreamed up that a turtle would look cute there, so I sat down with my pencil & paper and sketched Lucky. This will likely be a swap quilt. Ocean creatures are sort of personal. Some people like tropical fish, others like dolphins or sea horses. I don't particularly love any all that much, but I thought that the turtle might have wider appeal. He's going to be a purple turtle too...rather whimsical.

Stay tuned...

Fall Quilt

All done except for the label...

The hearts are supposed to look like falling leaves as the title of the quilt is Falling in Love with Autumn.
...and the back sans label.

Fall Quilt nearing Completion

Here's the back...I love the corn fabric, but couldn't find a good place for it on the front.

And the front, in all of it's fuzziness. It needs a little more quilting. I ran out of inspiration. A binding and a label, and voila...it will be ready to mail to somebody.

A Sneak Peek...

Can't reveal who it's for, but here's a quick (and not so clear!..) look at the progress of the Fall quilt thus far. Still needs borders and quilting. It is really prettier than the picture shows. Hopefully the recipient will think so too.

New Blog Page

For those of you interested in participating in the Four Seasons Quilt Swap (FSQS-fall), I have established a separate blog page: http://fourseasonsquiltswap.blogspot.com/

All future updates and information will be posted here.

Four Seasons Quilt Swap - Quilters & Sewers WANTED!!

I have been so intrigued with the blog swaps I have seen lately that I am soliciting sewers and quilters for another. I have canvased other swap lists to formulate an initial list of crafty people to whom this link was sent. I've seen your work and it's awesome. The creativity is beyond my imagination. I hope this project is something you all will consider.

About me...I will coordinate the project. I have sewed since I was a girl (ahhh, dare I say 30+ years), and made quilts for the last 20 years. I have dabbled in many creative endeavors from scrapbooking to embroidery to smocking as well. As an engineer in my pre-momma days, I have the organization to keep a project going and to get it completed. Being a mom hasn't stiffled my sewing & quilting; I just lost the room I used to use due to baby #3. As my hubby says, I don't need a sewing room since the dining room has been converted with cloth. Just this year I have completed 25 quilts for Project Linus, and several quilt tops awaiting quilting.

Here's what I propose for the first swap...
This is the Four Seasons Swap. If all goes smoothly, over the next year we can collectively create a quilted project for each season. With Summer approaching it's end soon, let's begin with Fall.

Create a doll-sized quilt depicting your interpretation of fall. There are no design guidlines; use your imagination and you cannot go wrong. Keep the size between 12" x 12" and 18" x 18", with rectangular or square being OK. It may be for a wall or for a table (as in a runner or centerpiece). Please use prewashed cotton or cotton blend materials if possible. Embellishment with anything that sews on is great (ie., trims, ric-rac, buttons). Please no glue though. Specify to your swap partner how quilt should be washed. The back of your quilt should include a personalized label with the name you selected four your Fall quilt, the date and your name, at a minimum. The quilt top may be pieced, applique, or whatever floats your boat. Consider possibly a pieced quilt in fall colors, or something depicting fall, or a quilt for one of the fall holidays, OR WHATEVER SAYS "FALL" TO YOU!

August 18, 2007 - The deadline to commit to the swap challenge. The quilt must be completed by September 30, 2007 and mailed to your swap partner. Depending on the response, the registration may close.

If you are interested, email me msolomo1@maine.rr.com . Please include your full name, mailing address, blog URL if you have one and whether you are willing to ship internationally. Note: your last name & address will not be given on the internet, only to your swap partner. I encourage you all to indicate some of your preferences to style and color so that you may be matched with an appropriate partner - both in what you like to make & what you like to receive. If you do not have preference and would rather be surprised, that is great too. By August 27, I will email each of you with your swap partner's information & quilt requests. I encourage you to post pictures of your quilts on your blog, as the person that you are making it for will not know who you are until it is mailed/received. I will also set up a group share on a photo site for these pictures to be viewed.

I encourage all of you to please spread the word about this to friends & family you may know that may be interested.

Please note I will be on vacation August 18-25, and will NOT be email accessible.