An Old Quilt Revisited - AND A GIVEAWAY!

 
 

While visiting my west coast kids, I photographed a quilt I made for my granddaughter about 8 years ago. I made it in a hotel room during a two month stay in Denver, Colorado. It was snowing outside, I didn't have a car (my husband had it and was gone most of every day). I bought a tiny little Janome sewing machine on sale and I sat in the room and sewed. Quilters will find a way to do what they love!

The large prairie points around the center panel can be unbuttoned to reveal things Little Red Riding Hood might have seen in the forest. Be careful, you might find the wolf! (He looks a lot like a modified dog!)

A few years ago, I "revisited" the idea of Little Red Riding Hood. I used the same pattern I had drafted for the first figure of Little Red, but changed the colors and did not put large prairie points in. The finished quilt looks completely different! One thing I did not change is the "hidden" wolf in the background. Can you see him?

For those of you who have not left during my extremely busy summer, THANK YOU! I am almost back in my old routine now. Because you are important to me, I am having a giveaway of a pattern of your choice from my Craftsy store! (I will email the pdf to you.) This is for my faithful followers as well as any of you who are new here! Just let me know in a comment and your name will go in the drawing. The drawing will be on Tuesday night, 9:30 pm (Central). Again, thank you for being here! 

Adding Words to Your Project

Giveaway!
Did that get your attention? Words can be very powerful things. After all, a single word can make your day, break your heart, scare you half to death, or spur you on to do your best!

I'm going to be the hostess for a blog hop called In Your Words. (Thank you, Mdm. Samm for that great title and idea!) Yes, there will be a fantastic "grand"giveaway and many small ones!What a great start to the new year! To encourage you to join us, I'm going to show you just how easy it is to put words on your projects.

  I have always loved adding words to my quilts and wall hangings. I have entire fairy tales on some, recipes, songs, rhymes, and even Bible verses on others. 

You might be wondering, though, just how to add those words. There are many ways and I will show you a few easy ones here. You can do any of these quickly and have your project finished in time for the blog hop!

Embroidery:

You can choose to embroider your words either by hand or machine. I often hand embroider words on my quilt borders. I write them on with a mechanical pencil very lightly and then embroider over the pencil lines. You can print them out on your computer and use a light box to trace them onto your fabric. Both the sample above and below are done in simple embroidery, stem stitch.

Rubber Stamps and Acrylic Paint

The sample above was stamped using the simple foam stamps below. Quilting around each letter, which is NOT as difficult as it sounds, gives each letter a finished look.

These stamps were from Michael's and were sold as an inexpensive set. I bought them several years ago, so I'm not sure what is available now, but the fact that they are on a clear plastic backing is VERY helpful in placing the letters. 
I simply brush acrylic paint on the letter, stamp it on where I want it, and if there is a void I fill it in carefully with a small artist's paintbrush. (I don't try to realign it and restamp it, but you may be able to do that.) Here are the craft acrylics I use: (Heat setting them with an iron makes them permanent on your fabric.)

If your fabric is dark, paint first in white and then in your color. 

Acrylic Paint and Fabric Paint  

Here is a sample where I have painted the words on. Quilting around them later will make them pop and will "clean" up the lines. Simply use an artist's paintbrush. (Do not use the cheap type sold for kids. You will not be able to get a good point on them. Use one that is small and tapers to a nice point.) I use the paints above. You can also use fabric paints the same way, but they are usually transparent, so keep that in mind.

fabric paint

 Paint Pen

I love using a paint pen and then embroidering or quilting right at the outline of the letter. It looks almost appliqued, but is VERY easy to do. Here are the pens I use:

They come in Fine, Medium, and Thick points. I use the medium. I taught school and can just write with these as if they were chalk, but if you aren't that confident, trace off your words with chalk first. Drawing off a top, middle, and lower line for each letter is helpful in keeping them uniform. Again, heat setting will make this permanent.

Applique
 

The sample above was done in fabric applique. I use my freezer paper method, where I cut out my shapes, iron them to the FRONT of my fabric, cut out the fabric leaving my seam allowance, and then turn the edges to the back using a glue stick. You can go to my tutorials and see a picture by picture tutorial of this method. It makes it EASY!!
(The "on earth" is embroidered and quilted around.)  You can also choose to trace off your words to a fusible product and iron them on. You would then want to sew around the edge to make it truly permanent. 

Felt

The word above has been blanket stitched onto felt. These letters were purchased craft felt. I could only find it in yellow, so I used fabric dye and "painted" them orange. If possible, use the letters that are NOT adhesive. It is very difficult to sew through that adhesive! You could also cut out your own felt letters!

This should be enough to get you started! I will have even more methods, some very untraditional, next week! 
If you would like to join in the "In Your Words" blog hop, just send me an email here.  It is going to be FUN and easy. You have no pattern to buy, no specific fabric, and you can do anything you want with fabric as long as you include at least one word. It will start January 7. I'll be taking names this week until we fill up, so be sure and send me your name, email address, and blog address. ( If you don't have a blog, we have a blog just for that, but there is only room for 15 of you, so let me know quickly!) 
Until next time....
Bee Blessed!   

Fall Inspiration and a New Quilt Project

I'm very often inspired by the colors in nature. I don't think we can improve on what God puts together for us to enjoy!

 I have a lot of zinnias in my flower beds that are in different stages of growth. Some have just come up from seed and some are dying back. The dead ones are gray. The fresh blooms are red-orange (my favorite color!)

I went out this morning to take some photos and this little butterfly landed on the very flower I was about to photograph. Just as I snapped the picture, he opened his wings, as if on cue! 

I happen to be working on some squares that are in red-orange and shades of gray. These are only squares at this point and can be laid out to form a zig-zag.

I am using scraps of different grays  for the small squares. I no longer have a design wall, so I've had to lay these out on the floor to look. 

I have in mind that this might be a good quilt for one of my sons. (Okay, J, B or D! If you ever read my blog this is a chance for you to put your two cents worth in! Is this masculine enough for you?)

Here are some other red-orange and orange flowers in my fall garden:

Chrysanthemums

Ixora

Orange Bougainvillea

Lantana

We don't have beautiful fall leaves here in South Texas, but the flowers are beautiful!

What Inspires You?

From the Dick and Jane book I read in First Grade.

My idea of what the world experienced as "autumn" or "fall" was from the books I read as a child. I grew up in San Antonio, Texas. We don't have colorful falls here. We have gorgeous springs in years with good rains and you wouldn't believe the waves of color from wildflowers you see then in fields and roadsides. Our autumns are not spectacular.
I often saw these glorious colorful scenes and wondered what it would be like to actually experience them. Then when I was grown and married, we lived where the falls were beautiful! Still, my ideas of "fall colors" have been shaped by books. 
Here are a few autumn color schemes I matched up from books I have on my shelves. The fabrics were in my stash.

Anno's Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall

From A Year of Birds by Ashley Wolff

We Look and See, by Scott, Foresman and Company

Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans

From Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

Where do you get most of YOUR inspiration? (You don't really have to answer that, but it is something to think about!)
I'll see you on October 8th -my day to show my Leafs Me Happy blocks!
Until then.....
 

An Apple a Day!

The quilt on the left is one of the  first quilts I ever made. It's a strip quilt and I even hand quilted it! I titled it "An Apple a Day".   It's far from perfect, but it served as a great teacher. I tried out several pieced borders and used them as strips (checkerboard, diamonds, points). Strip quilts are perfect for beginning quilters. They are very forgiving if you want to try new things or use up scraps. You don't even need a pattern for a strip quilt! (And even if it isn't perfect, it makes a comfy, cozy cover!) I used apple prints and colors for the theme of this quilt. Speaking of apples..........

Diane McHaney and Bryan Hutzler

 On Memorial Day we headed off north of San Antonio to the Texas Hill Country. 
Here we have winding roads, steep inclines, lush greenery, rivers,lakes, and cooler weather. Dude ranches and resorts abound in this area. Our first stop on this road trip was  Love Creek Orchards. (Check out their website. You can find great recipes as well as other information.)The Apple Store, (associated with Love Creek Orchards) is owned by Bryan (left) and his wife, Staci (not pictured). It offers dwarf apple trees that you can take home and plant, as well as all kinds of jams, jellies, apple cider syrup, and other goodies.We stopped at their Patio Cafe (voted one of the top 40 best small town cafes in Texas) for some Apple Ice Cream! (Delicious with it's subtle apple flavor and cinnamon taste!) They have been featured on the Food Network as well as  various newspapers and magazines, the latest being Texas Monthly magazine. 
 In the picture above, you see Diane holding one of the HUGE, delicious apple pies that helped make them famous. They use 5 lbs. of apples in one pie! Bryan is holding one of the apple trees they sell. Yes, apples grow in Texas. In the hill country, where the winter days can actually get COLD by Texas standards, they grow at least 11 varieties. Love Creek Orchards pioneered apple growing in the hill country.

Carrie Caruso

Diane Langner

Did I mention that the staff is friendly?

My apple strudel, half eaten. Delicious! The sweetest apples ever!

If you're in the vicinity, be sure to check them out. You won't be sorry!

Frio River (notice that the water is clear and clean!)

A couple of old, retired horses near Concan. This is what it means to be "put out to pasture"!

 Although I didn't get a good photo, the entire hill country was blanketed with little yellow flowers. (Everywhere you looked you saw fields of them! They bloom from late April into June.) A little research tells me they are Greenthread (Thelesperma filiform), and that the Texas hill country is covered with literally billions of them this time of year.

                           Until next time....

My Garden Inspiration

Purple Heart, red begonia, roses

 Here's hoping you all have a wonderful weekend! If you live in the United States, have a great Memorial Day!

I'm sprucing up my garden this weekend. I LOVE Mexican pottery and I put two birdbaths in my yard yesterday. One in the front, and one in the back.
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Sago palms, Cinco de Mayo roses

 This post has nothing to do with quilting, but everything to do with my love of color, which greatly influences my quilting! Here are a few shots of my garden. (It is already in the low 90's here during the day!)

Duranta

Knockout roses, chrysanthemums, and African daisies 

Ixora

Geranium

Cape Plumbago

Bougainvillea

 I will stop there, but I still haven't shown you my red-orange zinnias, my yellow/red/orange lantana, my orange Denver's Dream miniature roses, ......oh, I could go on. I even have orange bougainvillea. Can you tell I love color? Now you know why I avoid quilting with the somber colors like brown. I think we tend to use the colors that make us happy! 
I'll post on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday here) about a tool you can make that will make choosing a background for your applique much easier!
Until then......