Feb23
Author Archives: texasboxerlover
Feb23
CAITLIN in Progress
At a great David Taylor workshop in LaGrange. This is my rendition in progress of my youngest boxer, Caitlin.
Feb16
SANTA’S HEAD IS COOKING!
Had a great time today at our Saturday Coastal Prairie Guild class on sculpting Santa’s head. Pat is a great instructor and, despite my misgivings, she guided me on to making my Santa head..(he is cooking in the oven right now). Pictured here is my head alone and the group pic tags Pats head on your left, my head in the middle, and Candy’s head on the right! They are so cute and so much fun to make. Can’t wait to see them after they get their makeup, hair, etc.
The quilt picture is Jeannie’s House quilt. She designed the quilt and the houses. I love her fun use of color! Great quilt Jeannie!
Last, but not least, is a table topper made of Texas wildflowers and made for me by my friend Joyce from Florida! You go Joyce…it is fantastic!
Hope everyone is enjoying a great weekend. meanwhile…BE HAPPY!
Karen
Feb14
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! and freebie notice
A big Valentine hug to everyone! Hopes for lots of candy, dinner out, and especially quilty stuff! A great pattern for hearts is a free download on Sarah Vedeler Designs site. She is the designer that has designed the BOM for The Quilt Show for 2013. She has made hers out of the Dupioni Silk fabric mix that is available in quilt stores (at least thats what it looks like to me). It is very nice, modern, and very colorful. Take a look at her site. www.sarahvedelerdesigns.danemcoweb.com/ Click on the SHOP tab and scroll down to the Free Downloads pic, click there and you’ll find the heart quilt. I love color!
New tool – to me! Well I finally stopped by the closest Harbor Freight in Sugar Land. Forever I have been wanting to stop by and pick up some 18″ long magnets that help hold the quilt tops I am quilting. I did manage to get several and really like them. BUT, as important, hanging right next to my magnets was a small magnetic wrist band. It has wide elastic with a velcro closure and is advertised to hold screws, etc. that one might be working with. HOWEVER, look how wonderful it is to hold a small pair of thread snipping scissors as well as pins. FANTASTIC…this way I always have my scissors, don’t always need a pin cushion handy, and don’t have a pair of scissors poking me in the “girls”! Whoo Hoo! What a find. I love both things! Probably only longarmers would use the magnets but the wrist band is super! I have researched and find that the claim of a magnet near our computerized machines not being good is a false assumption.
My fantastic new find – the wristband. It is truly comfortable!
Until Later…BE HAPPY ….Karen
Feb11
TESTS STILL MAKE ME NERVOUS
OK, I am way to old to be nervous about taking a test, AN EYE TEST, to boot! Can’t believe how much I am dreading going to the DMV early tomorrow morning to get my license renewed. Hopefully it will go quickly and I’ll be on my way to my quilting group for a morning of chat.
Finished the last of 26 fleece blankets tonight and am delivering them to my daughter for her dance team. Used the wave stitch on my Babylock Evolve to alternate gold and green thread on the gold fleece and embroidered the team name – GOLDDUSTERS – on the corner. Hope they like it. The sew-out took 31 minutes each so I am really glad they are done!
BE HAPPY!
Karen
Feb10
Well I’ve finally recouperated from a fantastic retreat. Got lots done and had a ball. Also had way to much Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla! Check out the crew with the fancy cow – all ready for partying. On Wednesday evening we had to have dinner at Goodson’s Cafe in Tomball – well known for their Chicken Fried Steak – and it was “sew” good.
When I got home I was able to stay on track and quilted Judy’s two quilts. The first is gorgeous and has soft colors in teals and corals. The picture really doesn’t do it justice and is way off in color. I think I need a photography lesson!! The second is a sweet little baby quilt done in blue and yellow with butterflies. Some baby will smile over that one.
A picture of my completed red bird block. I started over and got it right this time. Soaked it and it definitely works..you cannot see the machine stitches at all! Very cool. This is a technique I will continue to use.
Lastly, on the way home Sally and I stopped at the Galleria in Houston for a luncheon for Bo’s Place. Our guild has been working for four years with Bo’s Place. It is a grief counseling facility and part of their counseling is having the participants make quilt squares. We have been putting them together and they hang on every wall in the building. What a great group!
Been making lots of fleece blankets today for my daughter’s dance team. The are gold with the name of the team “Golddusters” embroidered in green. It takes 31 minutes to sew out the name since it is rather large. The edges are finished with a wave stitch in green and gold (from the Babylock Evolve). They look nice but…only 26 of them!.
Until later
BE HAPPY…Karen
Feb5
Day Two at Retreat
It’s happy Tuesday at Retreat today! Bonnie has finished her One Block Wonder Quilt – we named it THE FINGER! She is working on her second quilt top built from the special Creative Grids ruler, the 4 1/2″ quarter square triangle…Looks like it will be really neat!
Carole has been slaving over her blocks for two days now…maybe a glass of wine for dinner. She is one of the happiest quilters I know!
Sally gave up on her workshop project for a while and has resorted to crocheting. Grandbaby coming soon so she has an excuse. Can you tell she doesn’t want her picture taken – she hasn’t “styled” her hair yet!
Sandy finished this great quilt today. Looks really great especially the opposing corners!
Last, but not least, is our esteemed crew Captain – Judy! Her baby quilt is coming right along – a disappearing 4 patch.
The bright project is my finished top from a workshop several years ago. It is a Cara Gullati pattern only I made it with all of my hand dyed fabrics – super happy!
So…busy Retreat -lots of laughs and sewing and fun!
Until later…BE HAPPY
Karen
Feb4
RETREAT BEGINS!
Well, here we are, only about one hour north of Houston, but out in the country. We have admired the Cardinals but haven’t seen the deer yet today. Everyone is hard at work after eating a fantastic lunch at the local Tea Room, and, of course, a visit to the local quilt shop.
Bonnie is working hard on a one block wonder quilt done in blues and neutrals. Sally is also working in blues and neutrals while Sandy, Linda and Elaine are working hard on Easy Street by Bonnie Hunter. Lots of fun and too much to eat. I’ll post more pics tomorrow so you can see more of the projects in process.
Back to having fun….
BE HAPPY…Karen
Feb3
Well, when you soak a block to remove the foundation and find little red dots floating on the top of the water – IT’S NOT THE MEASLES! My machine applique was so invisible that I simply missed the fact that I hadn’t actually sewn the tail of that bird! OK, design opportunity – 3D tail? Guess not, but it was worth a try. Anyway, the invisible sewing method works pretty well. It is very difficult to see the stitching where I did it correctly. It does take a little practice, and slow sewing. Also, it helps to use a fine Microtex sharp needle. For a while I sewed with a hunker that I had put in for costume sequin sewing…forgot to remove it and that area, needless to say, looks a bit rough! Heading out for retreat tomorrow so I plan on really trying it seriously.
Don’t you love the boxer. Valerie, one of my quilting buddies, is really into wool sculpting. She made this with roving as a birthday present to me! How happy I am!!!
BE HAPPY…Karen
Jan31
TESTING A MACHINE APPLIQUE TECHNIQUE
I have been wanting to test this machine applique technique for a long time. I also have wanted to work on this quilt “Red Delicious” by Esther Alieu. It is all done in multiple red prints and I just love the finished product. That being said, however, I just don’t have the time to needle turn applique and have watched Sharon Schamber use this technique of applique on most of her award winning quilts. The pieces are prepared with a specific foundation and edge turned with Elmer’s Glue. Here is the biggy…using monofilament you machine stitch a very small blanket stitch around all edges. As a prep Sharon instructs you to wash all of your applique fabric but NOT the background fabric. After completing the machine stitching you soak the block – this disintegrates the foundation into a soft fibre – and let the block dry. The background fabric, because it has not been prewashed, will shrink just a tad and thereby pull the stitching under so that it is completely invisible. Thats how it’s supposed to work anyway. I will soak my block tonight and let you know tomorrow how it does. I hope the picture of the bird is close enough for you to see the stitching before it is soaked. On this bird I was experimenting with the stitching. I started with a simple zig zag stitch but wasn’t happy with the way the thread pulled to the top no matter what tension adjustments I made. I then changed to a very small blanket (1.0/1.0) and it looks lots better. We will see tomorrow…..
Meanwhile, off to lunch with some good friends and then to the local quilt shop to deliver a couple of quilts.
Until later, BE HAPPY!
Karen
Karen The Quilter 