New Inspiration

I decided to take a small quilting break because I seem to have hit a slump and I can't decide on what kind of quilt I want to do next nor what fabrics to use, that type of thing you know what I mean,so I am trying to create collages along with water color painting. I believe painting and quilting are very much alike since they both deal with color and imagination. The last time I painted was back in high school and Lord knows that was a life time ago. I have to say I'm having a great time shopping for paints and color pencils and just discovering all the new art supplies that are now available. I love them all! I still can't decide what I prefer, water colors or acrylics but I'm leaning more towards water colors. I know I don't want do oils because of the clean up. My oldest son paints but he works with oils. I am going through my scrap booking things which I hadn't done in a long while and just get so excited when I find something I can use for the collages and you can pretty much use anything for that. I plan on having many new quilting ideas after painting for a week. I went to my neighbors(also a quilter) house yesterday and she is just on a quilting roll right now. I believe what really inspires her to do more and more quilts are the 7 grand children she has. Her mother pieces the quilt tops and my neighbor quilts them. I really need to set up a weekly quilting and painting schedule so i can do both on a regular basis instead of doing just one thing.

St.Lucia

Here is a free give away if you're interested and the reason for the give away is very nice. http://ewian.blogspot.com/2008/10/st-lucia-give-away.html

BABY HEART QUILT FINISHED

This is my latest finished quilt. It's a crib size quilt made with heart blocks made with heart fabrics. I'm crazy about the color red and hearts and had been wanting to make one for a while. Luckily I was able to use all my heart fabric scraps. I used flannel for the backing since I have found out most small kids prefer quilts with flannel backing. I machine pieced and hand quilted this one.

Great Mystery Book

Journal,The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason

I don't know if any of you know but I'm a big book junkie. I love books! I checked out this book from my local library and once I opened it and started reading it I didn't put it down till I finished it. I have never read a book like this one. It's an altered journal book so for you who like mixed media you will love it. These characters even have websites and so you can't figure out if it's a nonfiction or fiction book.

HOW SWEET

I just had to post some pictures of my trip to South TX . The little girl is daughter of a my cousin's daughter who I consider my younger sister. I cared for her for so many years when she was little.We are still very close to this day. I love her kids and being around her young daughter fulfills my desire for a granddaughter. She wanted to come home with me. Hopefully she can spend it me with me during school vacation. Seeing her 14 year old who is 6 foot 3 really made me feel old and tiny. Her middle son is my godson and boy does he look like his grandfather,my cousin. I love those kids.

AFTER IKE

Fleeing IKE At the out of town hospital Only the stilts left where houses once were

Boats on street One of my favorite antique places.

I finally have electricity and the internet again, I'm so happy. My husband, son and I left to get away from IKE on Thursday the day before it hit Galveston. There is no way I wanted to stay for that monster hurricane. I went through two when I was a kid and I remember my family taking shelter at a school and just seeing the trees swaying and branching flying by the windows. My family and I headed to south TX and had no problem with the traffic. Everyone in Galveston and Houston were evacuating north. Why, I don't know. My in-laws live in that part of TX so we got to visit with my sweet father-in-law. One of my chihuahuas was so stressed out she got severe bloody runs and I had to put her in the animal hospital. She was terrified and wouldn't eat nor drink so they had to fill her up with fluids. The vet and workers at Border Animal hospital were great. We came back home on Friday a week after the hurricane and it was and still is a mess. Thankfully, nothing happened to our house. All the shingles are on and the arbors and patio are still in tact. We did have a lot of tree limbs and debris in the front and back yard. Oh, but what was totally disgusting was the rotten food in my fridge and freezer. There was a 15 lb. turkey and 3 boxes of ice cream in my freezer so you can imagine the smell. The lady who lives two houses from mine had a tree fall on her roof. Seabrook and Kemah which are about 3 miles from us and where we go to enjoy the sail boats and buy seafood is terrible all of those seafood places are no longer there and there are boats on the street. Oh, my three cats who were left outside to fend for themselves made it through the hurricane. Don't get upset with me but they say animals are safer being free than locked up. I'm pretty sure they spent the hurricane under our shed. They learned how to hunt for their food while we were gone. I have two friends who stayed through the hurricane and they say it was a nightmare and will not ever do it again. Galveston lost four feet of the beach sand and I mean four feet deep.

GREAT BUYS

I have found some really good finds lately and when I think it's something some thing other quilter will like I'll post it in my blog under "Great Finds" The first thing I found at Michael's,well, my husband spotted it and told me about it, is this great lazy Susan letter holder, brush holder, sew gadget holder, etc... it also has little drawers on the bottom right above the black band, i just haven't removed that paper band. I love, it and what was even better is that I got it with a 50% off coupon. I'll be using these two fabrics for a baby boy's quilt. I'll do some free motion quilting on it for practice. I got this for a niece's daughter and I had great fun picking this fabric. Sonia, the little girl is into princess stuff big time. I don't make girl quilts often because I have three sons so any time I shop for little girl stuff I have a blast.

When I saw this iron I just had to buy. It's 4 inches long and it's electric which is what I liked. I think it's great for ironing small pieces of fabric but I bought for spreading melted wax on paintings by ironing it smooth. I already have another small iron for fabric. I'm a big gadget freak and usually buy anything that will make my life easier.

DAY IN GALVESTON

Yesterday my husband and I spend the day in Galveston Island. The weather was just beautiful with a very nice breeze. We walked the Stand which are many blocks of old beautiful buildings that were made into shops many years ago. The buildings are old Victorian style and most of Galveston has old Victorian homes as well. I'm standing in front of a small eating place called The Wall. There is a huge brick wall with a waterfall. You can eat inside or outside and on weekends they have live music. The prices are reasonable and the food is great.

QUILTING ALMOST DONE

I am about to be done with this baby. I am quilting 1/4" around the border. I will probably be done today. I have moved my small pvc frame into my computer room where I can be close to the computer and t.v. I had it in the living room but I'm more comfortable in this room. I swear I don't know why it's taken me so long to finish this little quilt. I'm ashamed to even say how long it's been. I spent most of the day yesterday organizing some drawers in the room that had all my computer/desk supplies. Everything was kind of just thrown into the drawers and it was driving me crazy. I also went to Micheal's to see if I could find a marker that's made by Pentel. You remove the tip and fill the tube with water so you can go over water color drawings. I didn't find it but I did manage to buy $64 worth of stuff and that's because i used a 50% off coupon on a stamp. I bought more acrylic paints, water color paper, oil pastels, and blenders. If my hubby had gone with me we both could've used a coupon but he didn't want to. What a waste of a coupon UGH! Is it any wonder I can't finish my little quilt, I can't seem to sit my booty down long enough.

EYE CANDY

Some one sent me this picture this morning and all I could say was, WOW! If I wasn't married I'd probably put it up on the wall like a teenager. LOL! Enjoy.

I'M DRAWING

I didn't do much quilting today because I was falling asleep all day long. I went to bed at 2a.m last night and woke up at 6:30 this morning. I was falling asleep while on the computer, while trying to quilt, while trying to read, I even think I starting dreaming while dozing off on my chair. Hard as I tried I couldn't keep my eyes open. The small amount of time that I wasn't sleepy I drew this little dog. I have got to practice, I can see I'm pretty rusty. I bought some art supplies at Barnes& Nobel at some really good prices for my son in CA who's into painting big time. I couldn't resist and bought some supplies for me to. I also bought a new chair which I needed badly because the old one was really aggravating my sciatic nerve. New chair, no pain. Don't even get me started on that sciatic pain. There are days when it sticks with me like an old piece of gum on hair. Tonight will probably be another sleepless night since I took at nap at 7p.m. I swear I have got to get my sleeping hours back to normal.

I have to go put some anti itching cream on my little dog because she has a big red bump on her little forehead. A mosquito probably got her.

MY ESSENTIALS, WHAT ARE YOURS

I have always been curious as to what supplies every quilter, painter, or multi media artist uses so I decided to show you all my most essential quilting supplies. I have lot's of rulers and didn't have room for them in the picture so just imagine them somewhere. I use the 4x25 inch clear ruler with the yellow lines every time I cut fabric. I'm a gadget person, I love all kinds of gadgets. 1. neck strap with scissors 2. Roxanne quilting needles (I love these needles) 3. 1/4" quilting tape 4. bees wax to run my thread through when quilting 5. round clamps(this is what I use when I roll the sides of a quilt while quilting on the sewing machine. They make it easier for me to handle.) 6. Wrist pin cushion 7. Thimble (my favorite) 8. Scissors (super sharp, small and large) 9. Multi Viewer (it multiplies one block into many so you can see what a quilt will look like) 10. Mini Iron, I love this thing for ironing small blocks especially applique 11. Safety pin clips you attach to the sides of a pin so they're easier to handle and see. 12. This helps you push needles into hard places but I use it to open safety pins 13. Thimble It, you put these on the tips of your fingers that you use to feel the quilting as it comes under the quilt while hand quilting. 14. Finger Needle Graber, you put them on your finger tips to make it easier to grab a needle. 15. Needle Graber, does the same thing as #14 16. Quilter's FabriCal, a calculator just for fabric. This is wonderful for figuring fabric yardage. It's the best. This was a gift from my cousin. Thanks cuz. 17. Clips to hold the binding in place on a quilt while you're hand quilting it. Use these instead of pins. 18. Finger massagers, you put these on your thumbs and massage away. Have someone do it for you of course. 19. Seam ripper with a light. A must for tired eyes. 20. Marking pencil 21. Mini vacum attachments that you attach to a regular size vacum. These are great to take the dust and thread lint from your machine. 22. Quilt Pounce, it looks like an eraser doesn't it, you remove that red cap and put chalk powder inside them cover it up and pounce over any stencil to trace to quilting design. It's great. 23. Marking pencils and chalk markers 24. Wax, again. 25. Rotary cutter, I don't know how I almost forgot that. It should be at the top of the list. Things that are not listed: 26. Baptist Fan templates that I made myself because it's my favorite hand quilting design. 27. Tiny 1/2" applique pins.I knew I would forget something. Ugh. I didn't list all my stuff of course, these are just the things that I take out every time I machine piece or hand quilt. I'd love to see what supplies you use.

Handi Stippler

I just got the Handi Stippler I ordered a couple of weeks ago. It' suppose to control the speed of your machine to whatever speed feels comfortable for you and whatever speed allows you to make better machine stippling. I have to say I love this thing, it allows you to change your speed from real slow to real high and it has many settings in between. The price was very reasonable compared to others I've seen. Now, I'm not plugging this product I'm just giving my opinion. I'll let you know when I find a gadget I think is great. I'll try anything if it'll make my life easier.

Hurricane My Way

O.K here we go again, playing the guessing game of will the hurricane come our way or not. I can't tell you all how tired I am of this. Having to deal with the possibility of getting a hurricane every summer has really gotten to me and now I'm getting angry. I am ready to relocate but hubby has his job here and we have the Galveston beach, the city of Houston, which is a great city by the way. I guess what really made me seriously think of relocating was the evacuation during hurricane Rita. That was a total nightmare! My son in CA has to deal with earthquakes and my newly transplanted son in Jersey City has to deal with cold and snow. So, what's it's easier to deal with, hurricanes, earth quakes, bitter cold or snow? You may not think snow is a big deal but it is when you've lived in Houston your whole life. We only get snow flurries every couple of years, so where is the best place to live. Hawaii is out of the question, it's too expansive to live there. I shall let you all know what happens. Which all of us luck.

Umbrella Girls

O.K this is the second time I post this the other post got lost in cyber space. I bought this quilt top from a co worker who got it as a wedding present from some ladies a long long time ago and it had been in a drawer for 18 years, since my friend isn't into quilting she asked if I was interested in it. I just fell in love with it when I saw it so I gave her $30 for it. It has the smallest applique stitches I have ever seen and the fabrics are good strong cotton and it looks to be from the 50's, very vintage. All the shoes are embroidered and the blocks are pretty big like 16 inches. It's not perfect, one of the sides is missing the border but I will replace that with no problem. I will probably pick a color that matches one of the dresses middle part. I can't wait to make this into a quilt.

More Stuff

Last night I went to bed at 2a.m and this morning I woke up at 7:30. I knew I shouldn't of taken a two hour nap yesterday afternoon but I just couldn't keep my eyes open no matter how hard I tried. I actually didn't feel sleepy today, maybe I caught up with my sleep with that nap. Anyway, today I cleared up my working area some more at least enough to where I can cut some fabric again. I went to Joann's again (Cha Ching$$$$) and bought some more jewelry supplies. I emailed my sister a picture of some earrings I made and she liked them so I'm going to make her some. I bought another book on wire jewelry making. Maybe I should have a jewelry blog as well, LOL! I tell you I'm a picker, I pick into every art media there is. That's what my mom use to say anyway. She would say, " You pick here and you pick there and you never finish anything." I have bad ADD and get distracted easily that's why I go from project to project. In the evening I went to the bookstore with the hubby and I bought two more books, one for $2, UNICORN"S BLOOD. I also got a stretchy fabric books cover that's suppose to fit any book. I hate for my books to get dirty while I'm reading them and I bought a 5 inch wooden artist model to help me out with drawings. Oh, and I bought a lap top desk, you know, the ones that have the padding on the bottom so you can put it on your lap. I'm using it for my keyboard. I quilted some this morning so I'm doing good. I didn't take my babies out for their evening walk so I feel guilty about that. Jane where are you?

Practicing My Free Motion Quilting

I have continued practicing free motion quilting and it's not as hard as I thought it would be. I just need to practice on making smooth rounder curves and circles. What do you guys think of this? I also went to our local JoAnn's which is closing by the way due to a super JoAnn's opening a little further from me. Anyway, I bought a bunch of stuff that was on sale, a beach chair, three quilting books, jewelry supplies, and some cheap fabric to practice some free motion quilting. After I got the total I was like, "How can that be, everything was on sale." You know how that goes. I still have to finish the border of a crib size baby quilt which I started 9 months ago when I was working. I'm happy to say I'm not going back to work. I just can't with my bad back and I wasn't able to do anything else. I accepted the fact that if I worked any longer I was going to be in big trouble. Good news is I'll be able to post a lot more now. My pups are happy to have me home now and they follow me around with their toys all day long. It's pretty funny. I will probably post again as the day goes on.

Agenda For Today

This morning when I looked out my patio window this is what I saw, our cat Hunter, laying next to our fake cat. I couldn't resist and took a picture. I thought that was just too cute to pass up. I will be quilting some more on my baby heart quilt hopefully I will finish that up this week. I also need to practice my free motion quilting. I know, I'm a late bloomer in that department. I'm also trying to finish the book The Witch Of Cologne,which is a very good book. It's a historical fiction and no it's not a scary witch type book at all which is what a lot of people think when they see the title. It's about a midwife who learned a lot of what she knows from a doctor. She knows how to turn a baby while it's in the womb and she knows how to use forceps, something that was rare for a woman to know during medieval times. Anyway the people think she can do all those things because she's a witch.

My Ebay Find

I am so excited about winning this Brother 1500s sewing machine on ebay a week ago. I had been wanting one for a couple of years but due to other more important financial periorities I kept putting it off. One night I was looking through ebay and saw this machine. I couldn't believe my eyes so I put in a bid right away and kept an eye on it for two days. On the last day of the bidding I sat in front of the computer all day and five minutes this the bid closed I put in my last bid of $400. I was hoping the other bidders wouldn't have time to bid again and sure enough I won the machine. It's brand new except that the only thing it didn't have was the quilting foot which I had to buy for $48. I am happy to finally be doing free motion quilting since I have always been old school and hand quilted all my quilts. I tried it and I love the freedom you have to do anything you want as far as a quilting design is concerned. I know most of you have been doing this for years but hey give me a break at least I have caught up with you guys.

THE FLOUR SACK

FLOUR SACK DRESSES

THE FLOUR SACK BY COLLEEN B. HUBERT

IN THAT LONG AGO TIME WHEN THINGS WERE SAVED,WHEN ROADS WERE GRAVELED AND BARRELS WERE STAVED, WHEN WORN-OUT CLOTHING WAS USED AS RAGS,AND THERE WERE NO PLASTIC WRAP OR BAGS, AND THE WELL AND THE PUMP WERE WAY OUT BACK, A VERSITILE ITEM, WAS THE FLOUR SACK. PILLSBURY'S BEST, MOTHER'S AND GOLD MEDAL, TOOSTAMPED THEIR NAMES PROUDLY IN PURPLE AND BLUE. THE STRING SEWN ON TOP WAS PULLED AND KEPT; THE FLOUR EMPTIED AND SPILLS WERE SWEPT.THE BAG WAS FOLDED AND STORED IN A SACK THAT DURABLE, PRACTICAL FLOUR SACK. THE SACK COULD BE FILLED WITH FEATHERS AND DOWN,FOR A PILLOW, OR T'WOULD MAKE A NICE SLEEPING GOWN. IT COULD CARRY A BOOK AND BE A SCHOOL BAG,OR BECOME A MAIL SACK SLUNG OVER A NAG.IT MADE A VERY CONVENIENT PACK,THAT ADAPTABLE, COTTON FLOUR SACK. BLEACHED AND SEWN, IT WAS DUTIFULLY WORNAS BIBS, DIAPERS, OR KERCHIEF ADORNED. IT WAS MADE INTO SKIRTS, BLOUSES AND SLIPS.AND MOM BRAIDED RUGS FROM ONE HUNDRED STRIPSSHE MADE RUFFLED CURTAINS FOR THE HOUSE OR SHACK,FROM THAT HUMBLE BUT TREASURED FLOUR SACK! AS A STRAINER FOR MILK OR APPLE JUICE, TO WAVE MEN IN, IT WAS A VERY GOOD USE, AS A SLING FOR A SPRAINED WRIST OR A BREAK, TO HELP MOTHER ROLL UP A JELLY CAKE, AS A WINDOW SHADE OR TO STUFF A CRACK,WE USED A STURDY, COMMON FLOUR SACK! AS DISH TOWELS, EMBROIDERED OR NOT, THEY COVERED UP DOUGH, HELPED PASS PANS SO HOT, TIED UP DISHES FOR NEIGHBORS IN NEED, AND FOR MEN OUT IN THE FIELD TO SEED. THEY DRIED DISHES FROM PAN, NOT RACKTHAT ABSORBENT, HANDY FLOUR SACK! WE POLISHED AND CLEANED STOVE AND TABLE, SCOURED AND SCRUBBED FROM CELLAR TO GABLE, WE DUSTED THE BUREAU AND OAK BED POST, MADE COSTUMES FOR OCTOBER (A SCARY GHOST) AND A PARACHUTE FOR A CAT NAMED JACK. FROM THAT LOWLY, USEFUL OLD FLOUR SACK! SO NOW MY FRIENDS, WHEN THEY ASK YOUAS CURIOUS YOUNGSTERS OFTEN DO, "BEFORE PLASTIC WRAP, ELMERS GLUE AND PAPER TOWELS, WHAT DID YOU DO?" TELL THEM LOUDLY AND WITH PRIDE DON'T LACK, "GRANDMOTHER HAD THAT WONDERFUL FLOUR SACK!"