String Pillows (WIP)

I have been saving scraps and strings, like most of us. I really have tendencies toward hoarding sewwwww, I have to have something really special to inspire me to use my "good" scraps.
I think I came up with the idea from one of Missouri Star Quilt Co. videos. She used a special rules. I just winged it. I did use the 10" Missouri Star foundation paper blocks. These work great and you get LOTS.
I measured down about 2" from the point of the square and cut to a point at the other end. Then. I picked out strings, more or less at random. They are 1-2 inches in width.

Sew, flip, press, repeat.  Made 4 blocks and arranged into a STAR!.
I am quilting this one now. Have another one planned. They have a lot of special fabrics from quilts that I have made in the past that have gone to new homes.
I am posting this on WIP (work in progress) Wednesday at one of my favorite blogs Freshly Pieced. Check it out you will LOVE her work.
Does anyone have suggestions for the back of the pillows? I think it will be blue. My fave. I will probably put in a couple of random strings too.
This has really been a fun project.
www.missouriquiltco.com for the paper

Rustic Shell Art

Rustic Shell Art

Rustic Shell Plaques. Painted (by me) :) wooden frames. These are about 8 x8 inches each. The opening that is covered in burlap is about 3.5 inches. The shells are weathered fighting conch shells.

Hope you like these Rustic Shell Plaques. Some more of my finds from Honeymoon Island State Park, near Dunedin, Florida. Wonderful, peaceful place that is about 12 miles from my home. Great beach. Great Shelling.

Sugar & Spice Bag by Chris W Designs

Sugar & Spice Bag

I have been searching for a bag pattern off and on for about 6 months. I had lots of other projects to finish first. Then the quest began. There are many good ones out there but I decided on the Sugar & Spice Bag by Chris W Designs.

This is her stock picture for the pattern.

 

I made some modifications, of course. Less tall, more wide, east/west rather than north/south. Chose a separating zipper. Decided to quilt the fabric, in a diagonal grid pattern, a la Vera Bradley. Added metal feet. I used 2 layers of plastic canvas and one of peltex in the bottom for stability. These are held in place by the metal feet. 

Here are some "in progress" photos.

 This is the front and back. They are identical. There are 2 slip pockets on each side.

 Lining. The green pocket is divided in half and sized for sunglasses etc. The smaller is divided into 3 sections for lipstick and smaller items. The other side is a mirror image.

 This is the zipper casing. You will see it is different on the finished bag.

The straps are lined with interfacing and fleece. They are about 1.5 inches side and are quilted with 5 lines of straight line quilting. The bottom is also quilted in the diagonal grid. Yes, there is a pocket on the bottom, inside.

Soooo, for the finished product.

 Not bad, Huh.

 Kinda fun, kinda preppy.

Can hold a LOT of stuff!

 I changed the zipper casing so that it would let the separating zipper, well, separate! To open wide like this.

 

 Bottom with feet!

Another view, yep, I'm a proud Mama!

Please check out Chris W Designs 

I am also planning to write a review on patternreview.com

Coastal Art

Some Coastal Art on a Beautiful Day!

Spring is in all her Glory today here in Tampa Bay

The breeze is blowing, the sun is shining. 

Just Perfect. 

I did this very large painting when we moved to Florida almost 3 years ago.

It was hung over the fireplace at our first house here.

Now, it hangs in my foyer and gives us a taste of the beach every day!

Shell Art on a Glorious Day on the Coast

 

These are Clam Shells on a Stacked Frame. The top frame is an old gold salvaged frame that I whitewashed. It is glued on top of a plain wood unfinished frame that I painted then whitewashed. The shells were then glued with an industrial adhesive. It has a plastic hanger on the back. 

Second Finish is the Quilts for Kids Quilt.

http://www.quiltsforkids.org/

In Memory of SDM and JCS

2 special young men.

Check their website for information and guidelines. They will sent you a kit with fabric to make a quilt. I used fabrics from my stash. Some of them left over from The Quilt That Took Forever. My son was pleased that parts of his quilt were used in a quilt for this great cause. 

I used 

https://www.kmisinc.com/ 

as my drop off point. They will get the quilt to Quilts for Kids to be donated to a young person in a hospital. This is a great quilt shop in Tampa, FL. Classes, machines, fabric. All the goodies!! 

I have 2 boys, now men, myself and they need quilts for adolescent and older boys as many of their quilts are very juvenile. This was close to my heart and had felt called to do this for some time. So glad to have been able to accomplish this goal! Let me know if you decide to make a quilt for them.

Two Finishes!!

This is the first

The Overdue Baby Quilt has been delivered. Made it before his first birthday! Hope they LOVE it.

Hope you do too.

Shell Frame:

I have collected a LOT of shells from Honeymoon Island and a quick Christmas week trip to Sanibel Island, world famous for shelling.  Also, a number of frames have been salvaged from clearance aisles, and thrift stores. 

So, I decided to take the plunge. The frame was a 10 x 13 frame with an 8 x 10 opening. It started off with a dark wood finish. I lightly sanded it and gave it a coat of some white paint, to create a whitewash effect. I love using the broken shells to see the beautiful interior architecture of the shells. Amazing.

 

I have since added more shells.

 Detail views:

Will list in my Etsy shop one day when I get better pictures.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/15SeptemberArts?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Quilts for Kids, Project Update

I just could not do it.  I had to do some "reverse sewing" and "resewing" of the quilt top. The random blob at the bottom was just bothering me. I think it is much better. Also, I was able to layer and baste this quilt this weekend as well as the "Overdue Baby" quilt. 

This is the Quilts for Kids, redeaux :)

Quilts For Kids

I had some left overs from The Quilt That Took Forever and had had a project in the back of my mind for quite some time. Quilts For Kids is a national organization that provides quilts to kids in hospitals. Check them out at www.quiltsforkids.org. 
They will actually sent you a kit to make into a quilt if you wish. They have certain size and construction requirements that are pretty basic. Must be new fabric, must be machine pieced and quilted and so forth. 
In my "day job", I am an Oncology Nurse Practitioner and adolescent and young adult patients are a special interest of mine. At one time, on the Quilts For Kids website they were requesting quilts for adolescent boys because many of the quilts they receive are very juvenile or feminine in nature. Sooooo.... I talked with my son, who finally got The Quilt that took Forever, and asked if he thought he would need anything else made from the quilt scraps. He said no and I told him what I had in mind for the scraps. He was very pleased. 
I had to include some other fabric as I could not quite s-t-r-e-t-c-h the fabric quite far enough. So, I added some red strips. I did them in a really random fashion, so there is no real "pattern". Kind of wish I had not made it quite so random. 
This is the completed top. Now I need to, again, "layer, baste and quilt as desired". 

Overdue Baby Quilt (see previous post: Stacked Up Projects)

Well, the top is complete! I did a mixture of slice and rearranged blocks and unaltered blocks.

The top measures about 45 x 45 inches. Now, I must "layer, baste, and quilt as desired". Then comes the fun part. Wash, put it in the dryer, then snuggly, quilty goodness!. 
I am working on a tutorial. Might take a while. I made up the pattern as I went, so will need to go back and recreate the pattern. Check back.

Stacked up Projects

After the "Quilt That Took Forever", several projects had stacked up that needed attention. The first was an overdue baby quilt. The quilt was overdue, not the baby! So, I made a trip to the big box fabric store I came home with some pretty cute fabric. I usually don't do theme quilts but I really liked the baseball fabric.

 

 I was going to do something very simple, like this: 

But, I could not leave it alone. so the next step was to do a "Slice and Rearrange" and here are the first 2 blocks:

Now, I am thinking hmmmm, maybe I should mix the pre and post Sliced blocks. I'll play with it and let you know.

Shell Art

Since being in Florida I have found a passion for seashells. I like all of them. Pristine and perfect. Broken and fossilized. I am fortunate to have one of the top shelling beaches in Florida about 12 miles from my home. Honeymoon Island State Park. http://www.floridastateparks.org/honeymoonisland/default.cfm
Although Sanibel and Captiva are better known, there are abundant shells on Honeymoon Island. I have been trying to go "shelling" at least once a month. Winter is a great time. Low tides are best. Each outing yields at least one bucket full of "treasure". I love bringing them home, cleaning and sorting them. 
I have learned much about shells and shelling from www.iloveshelling.com/blog. The blogger is Pam Rambo and her husband Clark. They live in Sanibel, FL and have a cult following in the shelling world.
 I have started using my shells and sea life in frames, boxes and other art creations. Here is one of the latest.. These are 6" square 1.5" deep commercially prepared burlap stretched over wood, as canvas would be. The shells are natural and handpicked by ME :)
I plan to list them in my Etsy shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/15SeptemberArts
I think they make a great group. 

The Quilt that Took Forever!!

Update 5/14/14 

I am sharing this link on Let's Bee Social

If you found me there I would LOVE for you to comment and "follow me".

Have a great week.

 

12/29/2013:

It started about a year ago. My son moved into a new place. He saw a painting that he liked and asked me to paint something similar for his bedroom. I had recently discovered Pinterest and was exploring quilts. I came upon this one http://www.eschhousequilts.com/2012/03/sedimentary.html and showed it to him. He asked if I could make something similar in greys and blue. Oh yes, in an over sized queen size. Sure I can. Famous last words. Life and work got in the way sometimes but slowly, very slowly progress was made. It was completed 12/24/2013 at 2 pm and presented to him that evening. Tell me what you think.

The paintings in the first photo I did on "commission" from Dear Son!

The Olympics has taken some of my sewing time this weekend.  Oh well, every 4 years.  However I did complete one small (very) project. A sunglasses case.  I have had this fabric for a while, it has been waiting for the right project.  I still plan to make a wallet, change purse, AND purse. Might be a while!! I am not going to wait until they are finished to use it.
A link to the tutorial I used to make it:

 http://amazingmae.blogspot.com/2009/05/glasses-case-tutorial.html

I also finished a fabric bowl or basket.  Pictures to come later.  And made some wonky log cabin blocks for a table runner I have planned.  Searched for and found a pattern for a child's apron I want to make.  Not too bad really????