This Week's Work

It's still Thursday morning and I'm done with this week's customer quilts. Yeah! It's always nice to get work behind me before Friday so that I can have a 3 day weekend! There's a million projects to work on around here (well, okay, maybe not a million, but sometimes it feels like it). Kate informed me before she left for school this morning that this weekend would be a good time to make lots of pillows to go on her bed on top of her new quilt. I told her -- maybe... Here's some photos from the week's work. I especially loved the background quilting that went around the dahlia quilt. The Dresden Plate quilt was small so also fun to do. I have 3 Dresden Plate quilts in my studio to do right now. That's unusual. Is there a trend going on? Or maybe just a class? Well, whatever, it's made me want to make a Dresden Plate quilt. Oh dear, I feel another project coming on!

Loss

The last year has been one of loss. The biggest and most traumatic loss was that of my beautiful granddaughter passing away last June. Leah Grace's life was much too short -- only 99 days. I still find myself missing her soft skin and sweet smell. There's no comparison to the loss of life of a child.
In August my favorite cat disappeared. The neighbor said he had been in a bad cat fight. I didn't even realize he was hurt and one morning he just didn't show up. Then in February, on my birthday, our dog passed away. We had her for 14 years and she was a great dog.
Now today, 'new kitty' passed away. He had been sick for a couple weeks. He had taken the place of my favorite orange cat and was pretty much always close by. He often slept in my studio while I worked. If I was on the computer in the bedroom, next thing I'd know he'd be on the floor next to me. He wasn't much of an outdoor cat. We never knew where he came from or what his history was, he just showed up in the garage one day looking quite starved. For the longest time he was just 'new kitty'. I tried to name him Buster but the rest of the family preferred 'new kitty'. I will really miss him.
I like pets and we still have one cat left, but I'm not the kind of pet owner that puts the same value to an animal that a person has. That may sound strange, but I meet people who do. Maybe it's because they don't have children or grandchildren. Or maybe they are just really really pet lovers. Pets are great companions and the loss of one hurts, but it is not the same kind of grief (at least for me) that is experienced with the loss of a close friend or family member. Still for days to come I will look for 'new kitty' in his usual places and then remember that he is gone.
Here's a couple pictures of our 3 beloved pets.

Quilt is Done!

Kate's quilt is done. Finally! Actually the bind is on but not stitched over to the back. I think I'll let Kate do that part :) It looks wonderful in her room. I put it on her bed after she left for school. She will be surprised. Hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll make some throw pillows, maybe some pillow shams and a couple pillow cases. I really like this quilt.

Kate's Quilt

Working on Kate's quilt. When I put it on, I had no idea what I was going to do. I thought about something really easy. Then it would be done in a day or two and we could get it on her bed this weekend. But the quilt was crying out for some unique quilting. It's very contemporary, so no feathers on this quilt. Since the fabric line is called oxygen it seemed most fitting to put circles in each block. After doing those I knew I needed a different looking line. So the double line going diagonally through the white on each square. So far I really like the look of it. I haven't decided what to put in the white rectangles between the blocks. The only drawback at this point is all the time it will take to do this one. Well, my 13 year old is worth a little extra time on her quilt!

Kate's Quilt

Here's the quilt I finished piecing while away on vacation. It was a very simple patterns so probably took only about 4 - 5 hours to piece. It's for Katie's queen size bed. When it's quilted, I'll post more pictures of it.

View from my bedroom window

There's nothing quite like getting away from home and visiting my sister. She lives in the country and this photo is the view from my bedroom window. I think she has one of the prettiest ponds. Her son made it for her. Laying in bed at night with the window open and hearing the water running has been so rejuvanating. I love being here. My two sisters and I have shopped, watched a great movie (The Young Victoria), quilted, talked, gone out to eat, had coffee at Starbucks, walked in the country, all things that make for a great getaway. I feel relaxed. The first two days here were spent with my aunts and that was a good time. Laughing with them and seeing how they live life in their 80's (3 of them are, one is only late 60's) was encouraging. The oldest doesn't have good health, but she traveled here and was in great spirits.
Now today, the rest of my family arrives. Tomorrow is fun family times, and Sunday a family wedding. Monday I'm back home to my life!

A Week's Vacation

Off to Spokane for a week. It's the visit with the aunts and then next weekend a family wedding. Should be lots of fun, relaxing and good to be away. My family will join me on Friday. My suitcase it almost too heavy to carry, but I must admit that it's filled with more fabric and projects than clothes! Ahh, a true vacation!

The Aunts

I am leaving this weekend for my parent's home to see my aunts. Three of my mother's sisters (she has 4) have flown in from different parts of the country to spend a week with my mom. Most of these aunts and my mother are in their 80's. I am so excited to see them. Not only because it most likely will be the last time on earth that I will have this chance, but also because I have great memories of times with them from my childhood. They are fun. I have had to work hard this week to get everything done so that I can be gone a week. Yesterday I was up and in my studio about 4 am. It's amazing how much one can do at that early hour. Today it's lots of errands to run and meals to plan for my family next week. This photo is really not my aunts -- just a photo of some aunts from the 1800's. Mine are not that old, but I thought it was a cute picture and reminded me of the aunts.

Swirls

Today's quilting was swirls. I did 4 quilts yesterday and today and all 4 were an all-over pattern of swirls. It's probably the most common pattern I put on a quilt. I could probably do them in my sleep! I'm a doodler, so swirls come naturally. They do look nice on most quilts and when someone wants to keep the cost of quilting down, that's probably what they will get -- swirls. (I also love the way they look on the back).

Quilt Racks For Sale

I love the quilt racks that my husband has made. I have 4 in different rooms of the house and recently I asked him to make me another for my quilt studio. When he made it, he also made a few extra racks to sell. What is so great about these racks is that you don't need a sleeve to hang a quilt. The racks are two pieces of wood with a groove routered into one piece for the edge of the quilt to fit into. Then the top piece is screwed down with the knobs and sandwiches the quilt in place. The size of the quilt that fits these type of quilt hangers also can vary quite a bit. The quilt rack in my living room is 6 feet long with the others being smaller. If you are interested in purchasing one of these quilt racks we have two 4 foot racks and two 5 foot racks for $38.00 and $48.00 for each. Email me at artisticmachinequilting@gmail.com.