Finished bag for the Quilt Gallery Swap. What fun. I think I'll make ten more...

Toni's Magic Vine Quilt

My older sister, Toni, is a victim of severe cerebral palsy. She has been confined to a wheelchair and has had to rely upon others to care for her since birth. She cannot walk, talk, feed, clothe or bathe herself. She communicates with her eyes.  She is now 61 years old and now lives with my daughter, Mikki. In spite of her condition, she has a remarkable spirit, and a wonderful sense of humor. She has a warm, loving and gentle heart. She absolutely adores Celine Dion and has been to two concerts. She  loves shopping. In her new hi tech wheel chair, with the help of a family member or nurse, she can do what loves: shopping at the nearby Walmart, K-Mart or the Pocatello Mall. She loves the color green.  I made the quilt, "Magic Vines" for her newly decorated and painted bedroom. I wanted expess how deeply entwined our life is entwined with hers.

Reflections on a Pond

Most of my quilts have been made specifically for a loved one. This quilt, Reflections on a Pond was made for my daughter, Emily. Machine pieced and quilted, hand appliquéd. This was my first attempt at a lone star as well as to push myself to express the tradition as part of a thematic and creative expression of my daughter's life phase at that time: She was thinking about her future.

Water Color Quilt Still Working

I'm still working on my water color quilt. I put together the center rows and now I'm preparing the last rows for the left and the right. The upper right hand corner needs some work. My plan is to use a bit of trnasparent paint to even the purple 'rocks' out and a clorox gel pen to give some highlights to the water.

Friendship Bag Swap

What a great idea to swap bags! I've read the instructions and my mind is now racing with ideas.

Rachel has posted a terrific tutorial at p.s. i quilt: friendship bag tutorial. Even if you're not taking part in the swap, her cute bag will make a wonderful gift. Thanks again, Rachel.

That 1/4 inch seam

Still working on my watercolor. The hardest part is keeping to the perfect 1/4 inch seam when putting my 4 x 4 squares together. Continuing on my work in progress...

The Zen of Making Color Wash Quilts

I've been taking a color wash class, Water Color Wizardy at Quilt University with Carol Miller. At first, the idea of putting together 2 inch squares was quite daunting. I'd saved up about ten baggies full of 2 inch squares and when the class came up, I told myself okay, here's challenge.

I found a picture I wanted to do from the internet. I processed it in Photoshop first by reducing the colors and then by adding a grid.

Then, starting from the left, I started from the bottom right organizing in four by four 2 inch squares. This worked okay, but, a big but, the surface was too smooth and things kept shifting. I then took out a table top flannel covered desgin board. Helpful. I then did one row, from top to bottom at a time. Upon finishing a row, I sewed them together VERY carefully to keep that 1/4 seam. During the process, I decided the piece was going to be too big and or I would run out of my 'water' colors soon. I cut the picture down to 6 lengthwise rows thus making the piece a bit more doable. (I have a bad habit of biting off more than I can chew and when this happens, I don't finish and thus end up with another UFO in a box.

During the process, I found laying out squares is a very peaceful process. I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and suffer from alot of pain. However, arranging the two inch squares took my mind away from everything except the work at hand. Very Zen.

When I finish the piece I will post it. Anyone with tips on water color quilts and or sharing them. please do so.