Sacandaga Solace

Several weeks ago, I got an email from a childhood friend with these pictures attached. She was inspired by a post on my blog (imagine that - LOL) to try something she had never done before. For those of you in Upstate New York, there is a wonderful place in the Adirondack Mountains, northwest of Schnectady, called Great Sacandaga Lake. Growing up, our families were very close and we spent some time there every summer from the time I was 5 years old. We affectionately called it "Camp". This is Becky's artistic interpretation of Camp. These are the fabrics she found, and started cutting them up into small pieces.

She then started separating them according to color and started to "paint" her picture with fabric.

Here's the final picture all laid out before it was sewn together. This is such a great project and is so creative.

The final picture is put in a frame made by Becky's husband. I am glad to have a part in inspiring her to stretch her artistic muscles.

Great job Becky!! By the way, she is looking to improve her quilting skills. She lives in Sykesville, MD (Carroll County) if anyone is close enough to contact her. She would love to start attending guild meetings and meeting other quilters. Let me know if you know anyone in that area.

Until next time, make something beautiful.
-Karen

Weekend Work

Well, all the blocks are under construction- yea!! It will finish at 20 blocks. I've definitely found the groove, just still trying to maintain enough contrast. This has a really different look to me than a lot of pineapple quilts. I may be able to manipulate the look with the border. Still thinking.....
Here are two I Spy quilts I've made that I will be consigning to sell at our upcoming Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival. Our Guild has a booth in the Heritage Arts section and I'll be working a shift. It's always a favorite time for me. It will be the first weekend in November if any of you are in the Pensacola area.

This one is for a little girl. Not sure why the colors didn't really show up very well.

This one is a for a boy. They are so much fun to do. I've done several special orders that include the child's name and birthdate.

I have had so much fun collecting all these fabrics. I still have so much left so hopefully I'll sell both of them.

Hope you've had a restful weekend.

Until next time, make something beautiful.

-Karen

Fall Office Art

Some of you may remember this quilt from a post last March about our Quilt Show. This quilt was made several years ago for our guild challenge called Shades of Nature. We were given 3 paint chip colors and had to make a quilt. I call this Natural Beauty. It ended up being one of an 8 part series.
It looks really pretty hanging in my office and gives it a definite feel of fall.

This was my first major piece where I worked with batiks. And I'm sad to say, I became completely captivated. They are really wonderful to work with. During the time of making 8 of these, I also became completely addicted to NYB blocks. They still draw me in.

The colors in this are so vibrant. I really don't get tired of looking at it.

And tucked away in the upper right hand corner is..... my kitty :).

Hope you all are having a wonderful day. At least if I'm stuck in this office, I can just turn my head and be inspired by these beautiful colors.
Until next time, make something beautiful.
-Karen

By George, I think she's got it!!!

I love all things musical. In the 8th grade (either 1964 or '65), I was in my school musical production of "My Fair Lady". I've seen the movie many times and I can just hear Rex Harrison telling Audrey Hepburn, "By George, I think she's got it"!!! Anyway, I do have it - finally. And I want to say thank you for all the comments and encouragement on the previous post. I almost didn't do that post and have to admit my total inability to get this block right. But I think we all benefit from realizing we all make mistakes - and blogging about it puts it in perspective. After my frustration, I actually found it pretty funny. I think sometimes I do so much just making up my own stuff, I have trouble following directions LOL!!

I'm actually liking the way they're turning out. Still struggling with value - finding enough lights that look right. And here are the blocks in waiting. They had to go up on the design wall, waiting for their turn. Notice My Little Red is still waiting for inspiration...... I'm quilting my granddaughter's owl and bird quilt. It's so cute! Pictures soon. (Don't these two projects look funny next to each other??)

Thanks again for reading my blog and for taking the time to encourage me. It helped. Blogging friends really are wonderful.

Until next time, make something beautiful.
-Karen

Houston, we have a problem.....

I don't know what it is about me and this block!!! :( Now, I'm just getting mad. I have determined I will not let this block get the best of me. Yesterday, Carla asked me what size my block was. I kind of thought that was a strange question, and to be honest, the blocks did look a little big to me. But since I've never made a pineapple block before, what did I know?????

Well, turns out I added one extra row of light - these blocks are 14" instead of 12"! The sad thing is I must have looked at the book 50 times and counted the rows over and over again. I guess maybe Kim is right, I do need to do potholders!! However, these are so huge, they're even too big for potholders!!! Ugh..... I'm going to put them in a corner and think. I'll let you know if I have any inspiration. In the meantime, I'm kind of liking the smaller ones alot :).

Until next time, make something beautiful.

-Karen

Ta-da (at least it's something)

While these are not the greatest pictures - drumroll please..........I have two completed blocks!! These poor things have been trying to get made since April I think :(!! But they are done AND I'm working on two more. I won't say I've found my groove, but the ruler seems to be a little friendlier. (I keep telling myself it's not rocket science)! Can you see in this picture there is a discrepancy in the width of the strips (the green and aqua one)? I think this must have been the problem with the ruler and why I could never line up the little edges. I didn't notice this until this block was finished. I think I must have used a strip cut 1 1/4" (from another project) instead of 1 1/2" which is what these are supposed to be. My "partner in crime" on this project keeps suggesting potholders.... we'll see.

I think this quilt is going to be so crazy wild, you're not going to notice small mistakes. I am having a hard time keeping enough contrast between the light and dark sections. Hopefully, once the pattern starts to emerge, it will be enough. Have you noticed how hard it is to find pretty lights?? Maybe the designers should do something about that :).

Until next time, make something beautiful.

-Karen

My Little Red

Well, I didn't have one taker to make a guess. But here it is, My Little Red! It's all basted and ready to be quilted. Haven't quite decided on a quilting design yet - any suggestions? Has anyone done this pattern? I struggled a little with the border, but in the end - decided on an old homespun I've had forever. Since all these fabrics were from my stash, it made sense not to use a new fabric. Feels good to de-stash even just a little. :) I have a little confession - I have never bought a charm pack or layer cake!! I know - shocking, isn't it? But the cutting directions were so clear, I didn't have any problems using yardage instead of little pre-cut squares. And it's not that I have anything against those things, I just really can't ever decide what to buy! But there is one line that I have my eye on, I just haven't seen it in person yet. So maybe a charm pack is in my future!!

This pattern is so interesting to me. I opted to press open the seams which always takes a little longer. The little pinwheels were kind of fussy - they are little. But that's what makes them so cute!!!

And if you look right in the center.... my kitty angel :). So now I get the whole Schnibbles thing - this quilt was so much fun to make. I'm thinking it will be the first of many! It does kind of look like the picture :).

And since I'm waiting on inspiration for my quilting design, I decided to bring these sweet blocks back to the table.

Only added one row, I'm still waiting for my "groove" with this project!

I think they are going to look fabulous. This is about as far away from Little Red as you can get!!

Until next time, make something beautiful.

-Karen

Can You Guess??

Okay, first clue. Here's the piles of cut pieces. Can you guess what project?
Okay, here's the second clue.... Schnibbles! I've finally picked a pattern - yea!! It was really hard - they are all so cute!!! Can you guess which pattern I've picked?? Well, you'll have to wait :). I'll let you know as soon as I've made the top.

Here's my latest purchase - the one on the right (Spirit by Lila Tueller) is going to be the backing for the owl and bird quilt for my granddaughter. I'm ready to baste - yea! And I'm slowly adding to my Kaffe collection, here are pieces # 2, 3 and 4. Can you believe it - I'm up to 4 whole pieces!!

And here's the start of my next project. This is not a very good picture. When I have all the fabrics pulled, I'll take another. It may not look like much, but it's for our newest guild challenge called "Chasing the Rainbow". I'll tell more about that later.

So until next time, make something beautiful.

-Karen