I am here. Really!

I had thought about writing a blog post last week. But I had nothing to talk about. So rather than spewing nonsense, I kept quiet.  This week I finished another Journal project. I had talked about it last month.  I really did intend to make these weekly. I guess it is not a weekly journal project. But it will be a 52 piece project.

Inspiration photo

I went with this inspiration photo and using one of my hand dyed fabrics I quilted the piece and then added some yarn scraps couched down on top of the quilting. I am happy with the result.

Plaid Sky

My second ever Weekly Journal I titled "So much for out there". I am not sure what exactly I meant by that. At the time this was made (September 2011) I was trying to put myself out there. So something must have glitched.

So much for out there

I had taken a class and failed spiraling.  So this was proof that I could actually spiral!

This is my off the wall post for this week.

Pie Plating in Fountain Green

The ladies of the Pie Plate Pattern company put on an annual Super Spring Retreat. It is held in their small town of Fountain Green, UT. It is about 20 miles Northwest of my home. Always a great time! A very nice, small town retreat.  My friends Lisa and Helen came down to the retreat, so an extra bonus.

It takes 3!

I have never used Mistyfuse and recently there was a special on a hundred yard roll of the stuff. So Lisa and I went in on buying one. Lisa uses it a lot. It took three of us to roll off 50 yards off the roll.

My Mistyfuse

The rolled off bit doesn't look nearly as nice as the factory roll. It will still do its job.

Mistyfuse

So Lisa gave me a quick demo on how to use the fuse.

On the Goddess sheet

You need to use a Goddess sheet because this fusible web doesn't have paper attached.

Action shot

You cover it with the Goddess sheet and press the fusible to melt it.

Ready to cut

Lisa brought her Silhouette machine to cut some leaves for me. I asked for her help with a project and thought her machine would cut out the intricate shapes easily.  Well, it was a good theory anyway.

Beautiful leaves!

Lisa designed a lovely page full of leaves for me! SO excited! Let's see how it works!

failure

Unfortunately, Lisa  forgot to bring the fabric blade for the machine. The paper blade kept picking up the fabric and scrunching it and not cutting through it cleanly.  UGH.  So she will take my fused fabrics home with her and cut them at home with the proper blade. So then I can be impressed with that machine.

Block challenge

Everyone got the fabric to a make a block of their choice. We will vote on our favorite and the winner gets to keep all the blocks.

Lisa in action

Lisa at out table working on her blog post of our adventures.  

This is my off the wall post for this week. Next week I hope to have something to show after having 2 more days to sew like crazy!

Challenge projects.

Bark

I had joined a challenge on the Quiltart list. There were 12 people signed up and only 7 made a piece for the challenge by the due date. Disappointing. The challenge was "Patterns in Nature".  I had taken a photograph of a eucalyptus tree for my inspiration. I cut the sections free hand and then added a layer of tulle to hold it down while I quilted it using my trusty walking foot. You can see the rest of the challenge pieces on Sue Kaufman's blog.

New Canyon Lake

Another online challenge group is the A4 group. The latest challenge was in the woods. I made a tent with a forest print for the background. I added a bit of lake and then I added some dragonfly charms since my quilted trees did not show up.

Trees? I can't see no stinking trees!

This is my off the wall post for this week.