Catching Up

It has been ages since I've posted a blog, but that does not mean that I have been totally ignoring it. I have learned in the past several months that the world of blogs is absolutely immense, and there are blogs for any topic under the sun. So, I have been reading a few (which easily turns into reading a lot!), updating and adding features to my blog, educating myself on various aspects of the crafters/quilters blogging business.

My current interests seem to be focused on further collecting of Kaffe Fassett fabrics (a box of the gorgeous stuff actually came in in the mail today!), making drawstring back packs, finishing off the baby quilts for the twins (one is in the frame, finally - a quilt, not a twin!), and working on my doodling skills for the day down the road when I am working on a Rhapsody quilt. The art of doodling must be perfected, and the non-artist in me needs lots of practicing. Erin has given me lots of tips, and she even recommended an artist whose work is noted for his excessive embellishments. ( Of course, at present, I do not recall his name.)

The summer is winding down, and in just a week and a half I will find myself back in school. Kevin actually started today. Emma will go on Monday. There is a lot going on between now and my first day. Adam will be leaving for the Navy on the 18th, and we will have a send-off here on Saturday with a brunch. Big changes.

Outside the Box

Breaking old habits is tough sometimes.

In the quilting world, I have been a long-time proponent of traditional quilts. I preferred the old-fashioned designs, and the reproduction fabrics, hand quilting, you get the picture. And, whenever I'd see anything remotely resembling "art" quilts, I was usually only interested insofar as I could like ithem, admire them, but definitely not attempt to make them! Not my cup of tea.

Well, some bug must have attacked me, for lately I have been all agog over Kaffe Fassett's fabrics and designs. Grandma thinks I've gone off the deep end. When I recently bought some of this fabric on an outing with her, she turned up her nose, and muttered "what's gotten into her?" Funny. I knew she would not understand, bless her heart. It is from her that I have learned to appreciate fine quilting and traditional designs.

Case in point:

Back in September, four of us went to Knoxville, TN, for a Ricky Tims seminar. His designs are quite artsy, but over the course of the 4-day event, I became a huge fan of several of his techniques and patterns. Of course, any time there are quilters coming together for anything, there will be vendors peddling their wares. This event was no exception. I did my best to buy fabrics that were traditional, patterns, supplies, books, etc. all that fit my "comfort zone." My friend Kay bought a pattern with bright batik colors and the pattern had curves! Circles! Gracious. I took one look at that and just dismissed it entirely. (Actually, I do not even remember looking at it, but surely I must have for we definitely would have checked out each others' stuff as we hauled it out of there.) Anyway, it was not my "thing," so I just did not think about it! There were so many things that did appeal to me that there was no time to consider the stuff that didn't!

Well, a week ago, when we all got together for a fun-filled day of quilting/sewing, Kay brought this pattern and a stack of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. She was going to work on making the squares for this quilt! I still was not impressed - I had my own work to do (borders on the twins' baby quilts!). Kay just zipped right along making these blocks - machine piecing curves! She was having a blast, and no puckering or undoing stitches! Once I had all my borders on, I thought I really ought to learn how to do those curves, for who knows? Might be a necessary skill someday! Well, to make an already long story short, I made a few and before I knew it, I had enought for a full-size quilt!

Totally out of my comfort zone - totally not in any colors that I generally lean to - totally uncharacteristic, yet totally fun and satisfying!

I highly recommend stepping outside the box.

Ta-da!

A blog about one of my favorite things. Quilting. Yesterday Erin showed me some things on the internet about blogging. It looked very interesting, and I can add links to those on this one, so I am going to see how I do with this. It ought to be fun. Since I teach English in my real life, I think I can find plenty to write about. I do a pretty fair amount of that at school every day!

So, recent news for me is my very growing interest in quilts and fabrics by Kaffe Fassett. It all began with an ad in the quilting magazines lately of a gorgeous quilt pictured in front of some landmark in Malta. I paid only marginal attention to it at first, but gradually I began to study it and grow more and more enamored by it. I actually woke one Saturday a month or so ago from dreaming about it!

No stores in my immediate area sell Kaffe Fassett's fabrics, so I did a bit of shopping online and bought about 18 or 20 fat quarters. They arrived very quickly and oh! my gosh! How gorgeous they are! At the same time, I bought 2 of his books - Victoria Museum Quilts and Kaleidescope of Quilts. They certainly are different from the kinds of quilts I am known for liking - traditional.

Then just yesterday I took a little field trip to Waynesville's Fabric Shack. I took Grandma, who likes that store a lot. After I helped her find the fabric she wanted, I made my way to the KF fabrics and bought 1/2 yard cuts of about 8. Then I zipped over to the bins where they keep their fat quarters and found about 6 or so that go with fabrics that I have been collecting.

Happy, happy times! Time with Grandma and time in a quilt shop add up to a really great day. A bonus was that Erin wanted to go along. I really had a great time with her. She's become such a wonderful person. I enjoyed her company.