Will Work for Fabric

M is for ....

MUG---I was taking my kids to camp last week and wandered into a little shop with a kind of odd selection of things.  This mug screamed at me...black, white, red, polka dots and a "m" on it, what could be more perfect?  How could I just leave it?

but wait, there's more.....

need I say more?

M is for:

MEMO:  the one that my family apparently did not get  (see back of mug)

And finally, M is for MISSING---I spent yesterday at a friend's funeral.  Not to sound like a bad country song....she was too young, it was too soon, it's just too sad. 

She cared for my twins for five years while I went off to work.  She would show up to work in her pajamas (she had that long commute from next door) and made my children part of her circle of love.  She loved unconditionally and lived without judgment, she made us laugh and always had words of encouragement when you needed it most. 

So while we are missing her, she is reminding us that life is short, so take a minute today and hug those in your circle of love....the dishes, laundry and vacuum can wait.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Memories....

Somewhere in my travels in and out of my parents house, I came across my grandparents wedding picture. This young couple was married by a Justice of the Peace and then had photos taken at a studio, as was very common for the time. 

So for my first adventure into photo transfer, I used this photo and made a crazy quilt frame for it (also a first).

I used all LakeHouse fabrics in the frame and took advantage of some of those decorative stitches on my sewing machine.

I also tea-stained some cotton lace and used some of my antique buttons.  My mother teared up when she saw it for the first time.....she didn't have to say a word, I knew I got it right. 
Doesn't that feel great??

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Sweet Pea

I love to teach the hand applique classes because you get sit and chat while everyone is stitching, and although some people fight the urge, I think most get great satisfaction from hand-work.  This little quilt is a class sample for my beginner applique class.  It's little,  has no points and demonstrates quite a few of the basics....bias stems, circles, inside and outside curves, etc.

It's also from the Home Sweet Home book---the same one my banner blocks came from.  If you don't already have this book, take a look for it....to me, it's a must-have in the library.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Miss Fanny....

I made a visit to the corporate headquarters of LakeHouse the other day.  This time of year is so nice to look out on the lake, especially before the motors all start.  And true to the corporate meeting mantra (it's all about the food), the first item on the agenda was Holly announcing that "you picked a good day to come, we're having steak for lunch".  Well, first things first, right?  We had a nice lunch on the lake including Holly's yummy salad....did you see her recipe ?

Holly has the most amazing collections of all sorts of interesting things.  When I made the Fan quilt for the booth a few Markets ago, she pulled out of her "magic cottage of collections" tassels that exactly matched the fabrics, so what the heck, let's add tassels to our fans!

they really add some movement and dimension...don't you think?

and as you can guess, I couldn't help myself, I hand appliqued the fan blade ends, and machine quilted it myself.  Sometimes in the madness of pre-market, it's nice to take a few minutes of quiet for hand-work.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Facing the truth.....

Let's face it, not every quilt needs binding on the front of the quilt.   Sometimes the design calls for letting the quilt drift off rather than coming to an a definite end.

This is the case with my most recent quilt for the oldest child.  Needing the queen sized bed, means a new quilt is in order and having been given no color guidance, I went with the universal man color....brown.  I confess, this is a scrappy quilt that did not come from scraps, it came from FQ's as I had not yet found my comfort level with this part of the color wheel....but you know what this means?  now I have scraps in brown!

That's little Miss Sparkles sitting on the quilt....and territorial battles continue with this one.

And for those who may have had their doubts, I do actually know how to piece an entire quilt without one stitch of applique!

So facing the quilt is really very simple.

1.  Cut (or piece) strips more than long enough for each side of the quilt.

2.  Fold and press over one long edge on each piece to create a finished edge.

3.  With right side of the facing strip to the top side of the quilt, so 1/4" from raw edges.  then repeat for other two sides.  Overlap the pieces in the corner....don't worry, they will fold over to the back...it will be fine, trust me.

4.  Press facing piece towards the back.

5.  Stay-stitch 1/8" from sewn edge to help the seam allowance to fold towards the back.  Trim seam allowance as close as possible to the stay stitching line.

6.  Pin finished edge to the back of the quilt and press in place.

7.  Hand sew facing piece down.

Try it, you'll like it...

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

A first for me....

Sometimes it's nice to go back and look at how the journey began....

I was introduced to Holly thru my LQS owner back in 2004 while I was working at a "major financial institution".  I had just had a book published on software testing (I have 50 copies or so if you want one....) and the project at the bank was winding down so I had some time on my hands.

So I met with Holly and showed her some design thoughts.  She guided me thru the basics of design (what did I know, I'd been designing accounting software) and tossed out the idea to use ric-rac in a couple of ways.  Originally, my design for this quilt had pieced flying geese units where the large ric-rac is.  And I can tell you, the ric-rac is WAY easier!

So this was my first quilt for LakeHouse :

I was really pleased with the results and to my surprise it hung in the center of the booth at Market that year!

Here's a little close-up of the flower:

I gathered the ric-rac by sewing a running stitch and then sewed it to the background flower.

Then I appliqued the flower center on top on it.

I appliqued most of the quilt on the Autotrain to Florida.  That was quite the adventure!

And I machine quilted it myself.

I learned so much about design on this quilt....mostly how much I had to learn!

Hope you enjoy this quilt as much as I do.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

What I did on My Summer Vacation

I have really begun to appreciate antique quilts (thanks to my learn-ed friend Kathie) and have looked to them for inspiration.  But I also feel like I need to put my own touch on it.

So during a week-long trip to Cape Cod, I decided to make my version of an antique quilt I had seen in a photo. I'm not sure what the original colors were, but I'm sure it wasn't hot pinks and greens.

Isn't it funny how one little quilt can have a tremendous impact on your inspirational juices.  So in the sunshine and cool bay breezes, I appliqued and here it is.....

You may have seen this quilt, it appeared in American Patchwork and Quilting.  It was quilted by the very talented Diane Weber.  here's a closeup of her work--it's a happy kind of quilting, don't you think?

Ok, so now I'm down to 998 quilts I have to make.....

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Before I go....

You know that book 1000 Places to See Before You Die ?  Well, as a quilter, I have my list of 1000 Quilts to Make Before I Die.  Actually, I'm down to 999, since I have made one on my list.

This is my version of a quilt that appeared on the cover of Quilters Newsletter Magazine about 11 years ago.  I know this because I started it when I was pregnant with my twins.  In that hormonal haze, I thought that I should have a hand project to work on while my babies slept.  Did you see that??? That GIGANTIC leap of faith (or insanity)....2 babies sleeping at the same time, sorry, that did not happen. 

But I forged on during the little years and hand pieced and hand appliqued and then hand quilted it.  The whole time thinking  "I'll be lucky to finish this in the lifetime".  Eventually perseverance paid off and it was finished.  And now if hangs proudly in my kitchen for a good part of the year to remind me....there's 999 more to go!

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

P.S.  I'd love to give credit to the designer, if only I could find the magazine, so if any one has it and let's me know, I would be thrilled to give credit for this beautiful design.

Playing Favorites

Here's the case for not playing favorites....

My little bundles of joy turned 10 this week!  I remember very clearly the doctor asking me, as each of them were being born, what their names were.  That's a hard question for someone mildly sedated and in a wee bit of discomfort, but I went with what I felt at the moment....gee I hope I got it right!

Happy Birthday boys!  Welcome to double digits!

And here's a case where its ok to have a favorite:

I took a class this week on One Block Wonders  where you use one fabric for the whole center of the quilt and by layering it on the repeats you come up with some really interesting blocks.  And this is the fabric it was all cut from.

Ok, so I'm the problem student because I'm still making blocks while everyone else was laying out their quilt top (I guess I should have done the homework), but I'll persevere and finish it, eventually! 9 blocks done...27 more to go.

I definitely have a favorite block....do you?

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

in the company of friends

What fun...we had the Super Saturday Sew this week! 

There's a group of ladies from far and near that meet at a firehouse every 6 weeks or so (this group is way too non-conformist to be held to a once a month event) and sew for the whole day on Saturday.  As you can imagine, there is food, fun and laughter that goes along with the sewing.  A couple of things struck me this week:

    - I think it's really funny that most of us agonize over what project to bring....can the project travel?  do I feel like working a UFO or starting something new?  will I lose pieces along the way?  do I now where all the pieces are????  No agonizing for me, I had to work on a "loomer"----you know those wedding present, baby shower, anniversary quilts that you know have a deadline and it just looms out there until you have no choice but to finish it.  Mine is a surprise, so no picture here....

    - It's wonderful that all of these ladies have come to know each other thru the LQS, and even though that shop is closed (boo hoo!), the community of friends still meets on.  Once again, it reminded me that this thing we love to do is as much about the project as who we meet along the way.

I did a Round Robin with some of these ladies last year and finally got around to quilting and binding it so I could take it for Show and Tell on Saturday. (One UFO down...12 to go)

So a productive, happy day was spent by all and thankfully my loomer is complete and merrily on it's way to Barbie VanWonderful (not her real name-but she is so wonderful!) to machine quilt.

I hope you have a group like this that you have fun sewing with and that you make time to do it.

I couldn't help but include a picture of my little Sparkles today...she and I are having a battle for territory.  Every time I get up from my office chair, she immediately jumps on it.  Could it be that she wants her own post? we'll see.....

 

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan