Tumblers for the turkey

The quilts I've been working on lately are for my great nephews.  Since their mom posted photos on Facebook, I don't feel too guilty about posting one here.  She titled the photos of Carson, "My little turkey growing up."  That's how I got my title.  :-)  


The photo of Carson and Seth on the left is from her Facebook.  Aren't they is just adorable and fun? 


Some of the fabrics on the quilts are from my mom's stash.  Before her death in November she gave me many of the fabrics that she had; later, my dad asked me to help clean the room where she kept her sewing.  He didn't care what happened to some of the stuff just as long as we cleaned.  I couldn't toss all that fabric and the notions, patterns, etc.  Eventually almost all of it found its way to my studio.  

Seth's Quilt 

When my sister, Angie, found out that I have some of mom's fabrics, she asked me to make a quilt for each of her grandchildren.  We decided that we want to save a few yards in case other sisters decide to do the same.  So some of the fabric is still boxed up, but the rest is quite happy blending in with my stash.  Angie decided that the quilts should be twin size since her grandchildren are no longer in baby beds.

Carson's Quilt

I finished Seth's quilt last week and posted a quick note about it here.  Today I finished up Carson's quilt and thought you might like to see photos of the two boys' quilts.  One week on Carson's quilt is a new record for me.  Those tumblers are just so easy and fast!  Cutting them on the Studio cutter really helps to speed things along.  Imagine, ten tumblers in about two minutes, including getting the fabric ready for the die.   Thank you, Accuquilt!   I'll be using it again for the other quilts for Angie's grandchildren.

Back of Seth's Quilt 

Back of Carson's Quilt

On the label I noted that some of the fabrics were in mom's stash and sewed a couple of the fabrics to the label so that they will know which fabrics came from Grandma.

Do you suppose that two little boys who will likely not remember their great-grandmother will grow up to appreciate quilts made with her fabric?  What do you suppose their mom, who was very close to her grandmother, will say?  I just hope she allows them to play and love the quilts the way grandma would have liked?  She can still care for them and have the quilts when they are grown men, don't you think?

Congratulations!!!!

Congratulations to Karen P. who won the 

National Sewing Month Giveaway!  

I sent Karen an email this afternoon 

and am waiting for her reply.

Her prize includes 

this pincushion storage jar, 

a sewing repair kit, 

 and 20 tumbler blocks.   

(These are from a quilt I'm working on that uses the tumbler blocks.  She will choose her colors.)

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, left comments or voted for my blog on Picket Fence!  (You can still vote anytime.)

I appreciate your support and help and hope that you'll come back to Fleur de Lis Quilts to visit and play again!

Please leave comments and congrats to Karen.

Leaf Me Alone

What a sad pun in that title, but yeah, that's what I want....time to get this quilt done!  I did manage to meet my goal of loading it on the longarm.  I spent some time last night trying to figure out how to quilt this one.  

It's the first time I've made a tumbler and also the first time I've used a one-block pattern, so I figured I needed to come up with something that would look good but also not bore me to death.  Remember that I'm ADD in a bad way, so I have to think ahead.

I came up with this design but by this morning I knew it wouldn't make the cut.  First, it would be difficult to travel from one block to the next without eventually having to cross over a line, and second, I just don't think "boy" with this design.  So by the time I was up and showered, I'd decided to redraft a quilting design.  

I was jumping ahead of myself, anyway.  I still had to finish putting strips together. And let's not forget the pressing.  That took some time because the seams didn't want to cooperate.  I think it's because I included some baize, a cotton with a nubby texture and loose weave, and balzarine, which is a thin, almost gauzy cotton.  Those fabrics come from my mom's stash, although I really can't imagine what she would have done with them.  They aren't really meant for clothing and the balzarine is almost too thin for quilting.  I decided to use it anyway, since I'd promised to use some of mom's fabrics and because they happen to be just the right colors for this quilt.

In the end, I managed to get the quilt loaded on the machine and actually made a run or two of quilting.  I finally decided to include leaves, swirls and stippling.  I got pretty creative with the leaves, didn't I?  Check out that leaf right in the middle of this photo.  The one with the points.  I think it may be an oak leaf but I'm not sure.  It just happened.  In fact, my favorite leaves were mostly just happy accidents: while trying to make one leaf, I'd get mixed up and go the wrong way only to discover that it works!  Don't you just love when that happens?  What's your creativity up to today?  

And lastly, it's almost the end of the giveaway.  Midnight is the cut off, so if you haven't entered yet, you'd better click here to enter!

Happy weekend and happy quilting,

Mary

Happy Weekend

TGIF never meant more to me.  I'm really exhausted from working all week.  Actually with two days in Baton Rouge, I thought I'd have an easy week.  No way!  Those two days were harder than a normal day: we put in 12 hours each day, something I never do at work.  Then, of course, I returned to school to find that I'd been sorely missed and had tons of work to catch up with.  Needless to say, it's a good thing it's Friday!


I did get to take a short nap before going into the studio.  My studio time was well spent.  I managed to cut more of those green tumbler blocks yesterday.  These fabrics are different from the ones I'd cut and stitched up earlier in the week.  I stitched the blocks into strips before having to shut it down for the evening.


Today, I trimmed the ends so that when sewn together, the strips would form a straight edge.  Then I started sewing some of the strips together in pairs.  There's not a lot done, but if all goes well tomorrow, I'll have the top completed before we leave to watch our grandson's little league football game.  Since we'll have to leave at about 2:00, I'll miss the biggest part of my sewing day.  That seems to happen every weekend.  But I think I'll still be able to load the quilt on the long arm on Sunday, then do the quilting after work next week.


And so, since I'm one exhausted quilter, I'll make this post a short one and end with a reminder that tomorrow, Saturday, is the last day to enter the National Sewing Week Giveaway that I'm hosting.   Click here for the details and thanks for visiting.
Happy Quilting,
Mary

Etsy Shop Profile: Synergy Art

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to meet Malti, the beautiful girl behind Synergy Art, an Etsy shop that sells handmade jewelry.  I chatted with Malti via email then promptly forgot to follow up on that conversation.

Thank goodness she's such a sweet, patient person.  Rather than give up on me, she graciously held up her end and today we all get to know more about such a creative lady.  Please check out her shop, Synergy Art.

1. Where/when did you learn to make such beautiful jewelry?  I started creating metal jewelry two years ago after I dropped into a bead store and the owner was offering a metal foldform class. I took the class and now all I do is metal and wire work. 


2.  What are some of your favorite designs to make? I don't have a favorite design really. I just love designing, hammering, using a torch and working with metal in general. I love copper. The color is beautiful on black. It is probably my favorite metal although I am happy to work with silver, brass and aluminum also. 

3. How would you describe your creative process?  My creative process is called synergy. Thus the name Synergy Art. Basically, I try and allow my personality to get out of the way and let spirit create. Not having a set idea about how something is to come out, but to allow it to unfold. My website www.Synergyartshop.com explains this in more detail. 

4.  What inspires your art and jewelry making?  I'm inspired by organic, earthy colors and materials. I love metal, wood, stones and all like that. I like contemporary to edgy looks, simple but beautiful. I prefer bigger rather than smaller. 

5. Do you use only your own handmade and found objects or do you incorporate purchased beads and other jewelry items?   I use handmade, found objects and purchased beads and stones. I am open to anything that works so the end result is something nice. 
6. What does "handmade" mean to you?   Handmade is something that isn't necessarily perfect and uniform. Handmade items should reflect that it is handmade and not cut from a perfect pattern or mass produced from a mold. Little imperfections or subtle differences are part of the beauty that it was created from someone's hands. 

7. Is there anything else you'd like others to know about yourself or your shop?  I show my jewelry at art shows throughout Florida and am new to Etsy. I want to improve my photos so they better reflect a piece. I hope for a stronger presence on Etsy one day and am open to any suggestions from your readers.

Isn't her jewelry just stunning?  I had a difficult time choosing just a few pieces to show.  I can barely wait to begin Christmas shopping since my daughters-in-law love jewelry!  Don't you think her shop will be a great place to do some Christmas (or other holiday) shopping?

Don't forget to enter for the National Sewing Month giveaway I'm hosting.  You can find it by clicking here.  All the info you need is there.   

On my design wall

is about half of a twin size quilt for my sister's grandson.  I had worked on an idea for a while last spring, but now that I'm back on her projects, I really don't want to work on that quilt.  It will make a great baby quilt but I'm not so sure about turning it into a twin.

I found a little extra time to play this afternoon and decided to cut lots of green tumblers for Angie's quilt.  I want the quilt to have a bit of a relaxed, scrappy look to it but not be too scrappy.  Deciding on the green theme was easy...Angie's daughter, Stacy, has two boys and the older one likes green.  Since the younger one is too young to choose, we're going with green for both boys.  This way their quilts will match some but not be exactly the same.  


I managed to stitch up the tumblers into rows.  It takes 14 blocks per row and 16 rows to complete the quilt.  That's 224 blocks total. Luckily the tumbler die I have is fairly large--4 1/2 inches wide and 6 1/2 inches tall.  

The photos below are of the quilt that I made for Stacy's older son.  Think the little boy who favors green will like this one?

I've named it "Seth's Quilt (The Green Monster)" because it just wouldn't cooperate with me.  I made a huge mistake that took some time and brain power to fix, but it worked out.

How about the swirls and twists in the quilting?  He's an active little guy with a great imagination, so I think he'll enjoy playing with the lines and finding shapes in the stippling.  


I'm calling the rectangles on the outer edges subway tiles.  Another sister, Sid, was visiting and said they reminded her of the subway tiles in a city in Germany.  Sorry, I can't remember the name of the city, but since it works so well for her, I decided to go with it......subway tiles they are!


And for my final word: don't forget about the great giveaway I'm hosting to celebrate National Sewing Month.  Click here to go to the original post where you can see the ways to enter and the items that are included.  One of the items is a pack of 20 tumbler blocks just like the ones in this post, except you get to choose the color theme. The giveaway ends on Saturday, so only three days left!

National Sewing Month Sites

To help celebrate National Sewing Month, I thought you might like the web addresses of some really interesting, helpful websites.  Here are a few of those that I found.  I hope to add more in a day or two.  There are quite a few more that do look interesting.

Sewing.org has free projects, tutorials to help beginners, and a newsletter.

Fave Crafts Blog  is hosting a special blog series throughout the month that includes projects, videos and tutorials, and guest blogs from designers.

Sew News Magazine also has a website for those who purchase their magazine.  It's one of my favorite magazines and the web extras are great.

National Sewing Month.org is holding a contest (deadline is Sept. 30) in which the sewn article must have a visible heart.  This link goes directly to the contest page.

All Free Sewing.com has a multitude of free project and patterns. 

I know, there are only a few listed here, but believe me it will take you days to get through all of it.  I have a difficult time getting off the computer once I start browsing.  I love looking through the tutorials and projects and often print articles to read later.  I like to put the articles in a file in my work bag.  When I have to be quiet during workshops and meetings, I sometimes pull out the file.   It's much easier to be quiet if I calm the boredom with an interesting article. 

Don't forget about my giveaway!  The rules and information can be found just by clicking here.
Good luck and happy quilting,
Mary