Continuous Line Butterfly, Odd Angle Binding and Scallop Background Fill

Last week I got started with Year 3 of having a Gammill Quilting Machine. My first customer quilt was a custom quilting request on these antique butterfly blocks that the client had set in a very unique configuration for a table runner. I came up with a continuous line to stitch the applique work of the entire butterfly, except the dark spots in the middle of the wings. I've tried to illustrate the path in this photo. I used black thread to match the blanket stitch that had been done by hand originally.

Start on the side of the butterfly and move towards the center on the bottom edge of the top wing  (this photo has the butterfly flying DOWN). Go around the black center, including the antennae (if you forget, you can catch them on a second pass past them later). When you reach the point of the black center where you started going around that section, then back track to the bottom of the butterfly and stitch around the entire external part of the butterfly. When you come back to the black section from the opposite side, back track up the black center to the bottom of the top wing and then stitch to the outer edge of the butterfly.

With a neutral color I then stitched about 1/4" from the edge of the butterfly and then filled the block with a medium size stipple.

Given the inner corners as well as outer corners, I went searching for Marci Baker's tutorials on doing special angled bindings. I've added video links to both on my new 'Resources' page on this blog. Thanks Marci! This year I hope to expand the resources page to include tutorials I find online that deal with specific techniques I have found helpful. I hope they will be helpful to you too.

Here is what the whole quilt looks like --it is intended to be used as a table runner on a rather large table. The client intends to put a piece of glass on top of it. I think the layout even makes the whole piece look like a butterfly.

On the second quilt of the year, I decided to do a scallop design in the center blocks. I've included an illustration to remind us all that you section it with always a HALF space left at the end so that there is no need to run along the ditch to continue with the next row. (DOH!!) ;-) Learned this originally from Pam Clarke in her Designs with Lines class. Should have gotten my notes out before I started and had to re-think it all through. I'll add a link to the 'Resources Page' to Pam Clarke's books.

Glad to have gotten some customer quilt's finished and enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal with dear friends. I hope your Thanksgiving holiday has been one of good memories made with friends and loved ones.

I did enter the Kitchen items contest at the Quilting Gallery this weekend. You'll recognize my Heart Placemats. Thanks for hopping over and giving them consideration for your vote.

WIP

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Progress on 'Oddie's Wild Nature'. The bear block is finished. Added two different fish than I had originally made. One was from a novelty print (far right), the second was just out of another batik (far left) that made it past the bear.

EQ7 BOM - November Novelty (bottom block) was added.

Finished (See blog entry):

• One-Fabric Table Topper
• Two potholders that I forgot were started, so they will count as 'new' and 'completed'!

Trying hard to get this list done by the end of the year. I've already been strategizing for 2012.

2011 Stats - I started off with 12 projects in process and 1 I counted complete that first week:
New since the last posting: Two Potholders (we'll count this as one project)
In Process: 6
Completed: 15 - I'm thinking a year-end post with a photo finish ;-) I've definitely finished the NUMBER I started out with, just a few more got in there and others weren't touched.
In Progress: 6

• Oddie's Wild Nature
• EQ7 2011 BOM- on track

Awaiting Attention:

• Lonestar wall hanging - I'm thinking I might take this with me during the holidays since I want to do some handwork on it too. Maybe I'll get it done before the end of the year. MAYBE :-)

Completed Tops awaiting Quilting -- hmmm, not sure these are going to get done. We'll see!

• 2006 Basket BOM
• Tulip wall hanging --this is a redo of the quilting - target November
• Colorwash Heart Duvet Cover -- this is to salvage an old duvet - target December  

Other WIP's indexed at Freshly Pieced.

Design Wall / BOM's Away Monday

Trying to focus on customer work at the moment, but found a few minutes to get the November Novelty block from EQ7 BOM done last night. So...this is on my design wall and keeps me up to date on my BOM work.

More Design Walls @ Patchwork Times
More BOM's Away linkups @ WhataHoot Quilts

Friday's Foibles

We're still making progress towards 100 followers on this blog. Even though we didn't meet the goal last week with the giveaway promotion, I still want to give stuff away to thank especially those who were voting throughout the McCall's contest, so some of you who participated will be receiving special things in the mail soon, just because. When I hit a 100, I'll also draw a name from my followers and send something your way. How's that?

We got news that my husband's position will be extended at least until January (YEAH!), so a bit more reprieve as we consider the next job options. We'll spend Thanksgiving at home and now can make plans for the Christmas holidays. It's time to get serious about those customer quilts that are needed before Christmas!

I've started my 3rd year now with my long-arm machine and participated in a Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge to make potholders or oven mits this week. Although I've had some consulting work distractions as well, I've been working on customer quilts and had a few distractions that were somewhat entertaining.

There was a local restaurant that went out of business, Lorenzo's. Macon Brothers was brought in to do an auction. Included in this auction was a vegetable and meat slicer, those big Hobart ones! My husband has been wanting one of these for a very long time. Not that we have any room to store it or use it, but wants one none the less. So, he asked if I'd go sit at the auction and bid on it. We set our limits and so I agreed. After scraping the ice off the windshield with a credit card and trying to get the warmth of the vehicle to shed the rest, I arrived a little after 8am for the preview. The item of interest--#529. OH MY. I asked one of the auctioneers how long it typically takes to process through the list. They said approximately 100 items per hour. Wow...ok, this is going to take a while. But, since I'd never sat through a real auction (just seen them on TV, etc.) I thought it would be fun to observe for a while at least and get the feel of various bidders, etc. I also thought I had an idea of who might also be eyeing the slicer. Bummer. The auction started at 9am. I don't think the heat was on in the place, most everyone was very cold or well bundled up. About 12:30p I decided I was too hungry and cold and had to take a break. Drove home, made a sandwich and got gloves and a scarf. Fortunately I didn't miss anything of importance, and it wasn't until about 2:30p that our item of interest was finally up for auction. The whole thing was over in about 2 minutes and I hadn't even placed a bid. It went for well over our limit. That was the 'automatic' slicer. Next came the 'manual' slicer. I had called my DH earlier to see if we should use that as a backup item and he agreed. The whole thing was over in less than 1 minute. And NO, we didn't win the bid, but at least I participated this time. It quickly got bid up beyond our limit by ONE other individual. I'm pretty sure it went to a guy who is starting a 2nd pizzeria in Klamath Falls...so they had a bit more money in their pocket for these types of expenditures. I'm sure my blood pressure was crazy as I left the place. Reminded me of why, when I used to work on the trading floor, I never became a trader. I really didn't like that sense of risk and bidding and not being sure if you would win or not....or how about trying to buy a car? My first car was purchased by my uncle who LOVES this process. I didn't live far from him at the time and asked if he'd come in and negotiate the deal. He was happy to! So glad that amongst the team we can find different traits to handle various situations and make life fun ;-)!

Enjoyed listening in on Margaret Miller's call on Thursday with Morna @ International Association of Professional Quilters. Margaret is going to host a teacher's workshop next February. So far, sounds like something I'd love to do! I've got several ideas of quilts that could use her rectangular triangle template/ruler.

I've received word that my McCall's challenge design rights have been reverted back to me. This means I can now write the patterns and proceed with publication. I'll be writing 'Royal Peacock Jewels', '1892 Rondure' and 'Mi Amore' for sure. If you're interested in testing the patterns for me, let me know. We'll probably be ready to start testing after Christmas, so no panic here if you want to, but don't feel you have the time right now. I'll be taking the first 5 interested, for each pattern. I'll give you in return for testing--which means following the pattern the best you can, making notes, free to ask questions throughout the process, providing me with any notes at the end--1 cent /sq.in discount on getting it quilted by me provided you get the testing done within the allotted time frame. I keep rights to photograph it and use the photo(s) as an example of the pattern. You get the quilt and a finalized pattern. The key for me is to have people who will test it in a timely fashion and I want to reward your timeliness. These three patterns, along with 'Hugs and Kisses' which has already completed testing, I'd like to have ready for Spring Quilt Market.

As I finish writing this, I'm watching the Regis Philbin farewell show on Live! with Regis and Kelly. His ability to make people feel like a million bucks is truly a special gift. May we all be able to make others feel special in all of our interactions together.

Have a blessed weekend!

Design Wall / BOM's Away / {Sew} Modern Monday

On my design wall is the progress on the 'bear' block in my 'Oddie's Wild Nature' quilt. Had a few too many interruptions today to get it done, but progress is happening.

I also finished my one-fabric table topper. Just glad to have it done. This technique is to take a border print, cut it up and re-piece it back together creating the blocks you see in the center and the cornerstones. Some have four triangles, some have 8 triangles to make up the block. Typically you would make a much larger quilt and so the center would be repeated to make a nice effect. These were blocks made to demonstrate the concept at a guild meeting a year or so ago, so just trying to use what I had and make something from it. I think the back side especially will be great for game night and give a little bit of protection to the table. I love the back! :-)

When I saw the Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge, I remembered some unfinished potholders that I could get out and finish! Here are two that I have finished so far. The loop method on these is a new idea that I picked up from Prudent Baby.

I quilted this on my domestic machine and stitched just around each heart. The backing is fabric specially designed for ironing boards or potholders. I used 3 layers of warm & natural cotton batting in the center.

This tree is paper pieced. I created this during a Christmas vacation with my mom and sister to teach them how to paper piece a few years ago. I pulled the block out of my cubbies and all the fabric was with it to finish this up. I stitched in the ditch.

Normally I back potholders with colorful fabric, but I wanted to quilt these in such a way that I thought the silver stuff would highlight the quilting too.

The deadline is Nov. 17--you still have time if you'd like to join in. There is a giveaway drawing. http://www.sewsweetness.com/2011/10/thanksgiving-dinner-challenge.html

Received a couple of boxes of pantographs from another local long-arm quilter today. She does only computerized work now. I haven't even had a chance to look through them yet, but thank you Lynn at Thread & Bolts. She's remodeling the shop and will have a big open house on Thurs. and Fri. this week. If you're in the area, you should stop by and check it out.

More Design Walls indexed at Patchwork Times.
More BOM's Away indexed at What-a-Hoot Quilts.
More {Sew} Modern Monday finishes indexed at Canoe Ridge Creations.

Two Years Already!

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of my Gammill Optimum+ arriving after purchasing it while at Houston Int'l Market and Festival in 2009. Today I'm reflecting on those two years and hosting a giveaway to thank my faithful friends and new followers for supporting me along this journey. I took a process pledge a few months ago and so, here has been my process for growth over the past two years.

Year 1 was full of practice--16 charity projects and creating 19 of my own samples (many have already been given away or are on display in various quilt shops). I did enter the Rose of Sharon contest and got one block published in the book (basket block) and another published on the DVD (bird block), I won 'viewers choice' in the Jackie Robinson Roses Block Contest and was able to make a quilt that I designed the block for and it went on a Maywood Studio trunk show for almost a year. I also created some finished product potholders and table trivets that represent our local Walla Walla Valley as well as the local University and put them up for sale along with some of my original quilt patterns at the University Book Store. A few patterns also made it into local quilt shops. I built enough confidence to quilt 47 quilt tops for customers and design and make two quilts by commission.

Here are the commissioned pieces:

Hugs and Kisses (c) 2009 KISSed Quilts

Royal Peacock Jewels (c)2010 KISSed Quilts

I was most excited to quilt this one for my mother. This is a Pam Bono design 'Remembrance Poppies' with an extra border so it will fit a king size bed.

Detail photo below of the quilting.



I have several albums on Facebook that capture all the details of the various quilts with a variety of styles represented. www.facebook.com/kissedquilts If you're curious, enjoy checking them out.
albums: 1. Customer quilts; 2. Samples; 3. Practice Quilts; 4. Commissioned Quilts

For year two, I set a goal of at least two customer quilts a week, gaining exposure, entering juried shows to improve my reputation as a quilter, adding t-shirt quilts to my services and exploring pattern publication more earnestly. After the Christmas season of rushed quilting jobs, I realized I also needed to create balance in my week or I was going to burn out. So, I established a rough goal of

• Monday--my own time for creative development;
• Tuesday--create patterns, samples, or finished products;
• Wednesday and Thursday--customer quilting;
• Friday--marketing and accounting. I also do some consulting work, so that would give me dedicated time to be sure it gets done as well.

This new scheme was very helpful in keeping good balance. Within the 1st 6 months, I had already quilted 47 customer quilt tops (the same # I had done all of the 1st year).

Exposure - Literally on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2010, Elaine Shaw of Highland Quilts in Athena, OR took me to lunch and asked me to write a column for the Country Register. She had met the editor of our regional semi-monthly paper and believed she could connect us and make this an opportunity that I should pursue. It worked out, and I have faithfully written an article every two months for the Washington, E.Oregon and S. Idaho Country Register.

That same day I made the decision to start writing a blog. My Facebook presence was reasonable, but it seemed that much of the quilting/sewing world was blogging, so I better jump on board ;-) Through this process I found Judy's Patchwork Times' Design Wall Monday (most recent 11/7/11), Lee's Freshly Pieced Supernova Quilt-A-Long and then started linking up with her Work-In-Progress (WIP) Wednesday (1 year anniversary link). I also discovered Megan at Canoe Ridge Design's {Sew} Modern Monday linkup and Lyn's What-a-Hoot Quilts' BOM's Away Monday linkup. All of these kept me motivated in one way or another to regularly or occasionally linkup with something to show in the appropriate category. Thank you hosts!! I've also made new friends along the way.

Another chance for exposure was joining in on the EQ7 Block of the Month, making the block in our own chosen colorway, posting a photo on their blog, and at the end of the year a contest to design a setting for the blocks. I've kept up each month and in September my block was the chosen winner (probably random;-)...but I received the Kaleidoscope add-in software to EQ7. This is still a work in progress, but so far...

and to my surprise a couple of months ago I was asked to be a part of their EQ Artist Campaign...

This went out in an e-newsletter and links to a page on their website with a quote from me. Wo Hoo!

On a local basis, I was given an opportunity as I brainstormed ideas for marketing our Guild's raffle quilt this year, to display and sell quilts at a local winery. Years ago I made a log cabin block potholder with fabrics selected that symbolically represent our local area. I still had a few, made some more and put these up for sale in the winery. I also finished up a small piece I had started years ago as a challenge for a local festival. It gave me an opportunity to try some heirloom quilting. It sold the next day! So...I'm still producing the potholders/table trivets, have added additional versions (Balloon Stampede and Onion Festival), bottle bags, and most recently placemats using a beautiful set of panel prints that I found this fall. I need to make more wall hangings as well.

In the spring I decided to enter again (I had tried in 2010), the McCall's Quilt Design Star 2011 Contest. I was selected this year using the 'Royal Peacock Jewels' commission quilt from Year 1 as an entry quilt. Each round a challenge was presented, each contestant produced a quilt top and submitted a photo, public voting ensued online and judging by industry judges make a final decision on who moved forward to the next round. I made it through to the FINALS where we also had to finish the quilt and send it to McCall's. Alas I was told this week I was not the winner, but this consumed a great deal of my time this year. It brought a great deal of exposure, including publication in the McCall's Quilting magazine (so far the Nov/Dec 2011 issue) and on their website (Design Star image in the right hand column here on my blog will take you to my profile page). The 'McCall's' label in the right hand column of my blog will take you to the blog posts related to these quilts that explain the actual challenge and my design process. When they are shown together, I see geometric and dimension as a distinct 'style'. I had never really given myself an opportunity to design, representing myself as a designer. This is a new concept for me. Hmmmm.

1892 Rondure 70"x70"

Pulsed Illumination 37"x37"

Mi Amore - 51"x63"

AQS Mystery - Beyond the Block;

my version (borders added): 'Bordered Beyond the Block'

Reputation/Juried Shows--I followed along with the AQS Mystery Quilt pattern published in the AQS Quilter magazine during the winter months and my version was juried into the AQS Knoxville show. I had two member exhibits accepted for show at the Association of Pacific West Quilter's Show in Tacoma, WA and had two personal quilts (1892 Rondure and Pulsed Illumination--rounds 1 and 2 in the McCall's contest) and a customer quilt (Wisteria Garden by Elaine Shaw) accepted into the MQX-West Show in Portland, OR. MQX was the only show of these three that provided judges comments, so it was good to get those and understand a bit more clearly what they are looking for. It was clear from my visits to each of these shows that the winners spend a great deal of time creating the masterpiece. It is intended as a work of art to hang on a wall. That is a very different way of looking at a quilted piece than making a quilt to snuggle with! ;-)

'Valley Icons' a group quilt made by the WWValley Quilt Guild for their raffle
- drawing to be held Dec. 13, 2012 (tickets still available)

designed and quilted by Marlene Oddie, artwork by Eddie Walker

Many guild members participated in the creation of this quilt.
Accepted into the special 'group' member exhibit at the Pacific West Quilt Show, Tacoma, WA

A photo of the quilt was used in the show program.

Starlight-Flutterbright (pre-crystals applied); designed on request by Highland Quilts, Athena, OR

accepted into the 'Star' special member exhibit at Pacific West Quilt Show, Tacoma, WA

Local shows provide an opportunity for local potential clients to see my work. I was fortunate to have several client quilts hung in local shows this year. One received a 2nd place, People's Choice award. This helps to get the word out about me even being in business and an opportunity for people to see the quality and style of my work. To the right in this photo is a 'Hugs and Kisses' TEST quilt.

'Jinny's Garden' - Jinny Beyer's 2010 BOM, made by Betty Baerg (my mom) for her husband (my dad), quilted by Marlene Oddie (me--her daughter!) We got to work a few days together on this pattern while I worked on my own version and visited them in Arizona this summer. My version didn't get finished in time for the festival, but it is finished now.

Walla Walla Valley Quilt Festival, 2nd place, People's Choice, Large Quilt

T-shirt Quilts - I was able to create a test quilt using shirts my parents provided from their days of working at Monterey Bay Academy located at beach front property on the central coast of California. This was a fun opportunity to set the shirts within a beach scene. I've now made two customer t-shirt quilts. First for a daughter, and then for her mother. Both of them are shown in my FB - T-shirts quilt album. I have a memory quilt using dress shirts sitting in my queue and several others who have expressed interests in having one made. I love the confidence that my clients give me by trusting me with their precious ideas.

Patterns - With the time consumption of the McCall's contest, my time to develop patterns is what was put on hold. I did put what I have written online at Patternspot.com, ( now available at Craftsy) and also have them with Pattern Peddlers for wholesale inquiries (NO LONGER). McCall's owns the rights to the contest entered quilts until they are reverted to me and I'm waiting on that news now to proceed with writing up at least 1892 Rondure as well as Mi Amore (but have permission for a special giveaway--keep reading!). I've written 10 patterns so far, the 10th--Hugs and Kisses--is yet to be published but has completed testing and just needs me to do some supplemental writing and illustrations. I also have several new designs I want to write patterns for, so maybe this can be a key focus in year 3 besides my long-arm quilting for clients. I even have a book idea...am I ready for that?

Customer Quilts - A new FB photo album was started for year two, 'Customer Quilts v.2'. With a goal of two per week...can I have two weeks vacation? that would mean 100 quilts. Well, I'm excited to share with you that I have worked on

• 75 quilt tops for customers (several were in local shows, one was accepted at MQX-West); 
• 4 commissions (2 t-shirts, 2 original designs) --do commissions count for more than 1 ?;-);
• 5 quilts completely constructed, 8 placemats and 2 postcards for charity; 
• 5 quilts completely constructed that ultimately ended up in a contest --big time commitment here (how much does that count?); 
• 8 sample quilts completely constructed and 2 placemats;
• 6 customer projects that required work beyond quilting;
• more than 25 pieces of small quilted finished products created to sell at the winery. 

I'm going to say, it was a successful year!

And to top it all off, Sew Many Places, asked if I would be a quilt blogger escort for a group from Seattle, WA to attend the 3+day International Quilt Festival of Ireland as part of an 11 day tour of IRELAND, June 5-15, 2012.WOW! Sooo excited. So jump on board with me if you'd like to go.

All in all...an incredible second year. So, I want to thank you in a special way with something I've seen frequently online--a giveway. This is how this one will work. I've currently got over 50 followers on my blog. Can we double that? Encourage your own friends to check out my blog, and if it is of interest to them, ask them to follow. Post it on your website, FB, Twitter, blog it or any other social media avenue, come back here and for each type of media that you use, post a comment with the link of where you shouted it out (One type of social media and link per comment, only use that type of social media once as a unique comment entry--you're free to shout it as many times as you'd like). Be sure you are a 'follower' of my blog, too. I will need your email address to contact you, so be sure you don't post anonymously. On Sunday night, 11/13/11 at 10pm Pacific time, provided I've got 100 followers by then, I'll take a random number generator and select 11 (I'm posting this on 11/11/11, I just have to go with 11) entries. This is what will be in the prize pot, you're welcome to encourage which one I give you by telling me what appeals to you most in your comment (no guarantees, i.e. I'll draw for a particular item and that will be yours if you are the lucky #, if the prize you asked for is still available--I'll switch it). List any and all in priority order that you'd like to receive) items 1 and 2 are for services or goods that I will provide as part of a quilting arrangement with me; I will cover postage on items 3-7; items 8-10 are electronic files and you'll need EQ7 in order to open them; 10 and 11 include fabric and I will cover the shipping cost):

1. 1 cent per square inch discount on your next quilt, quilted by me
2. Warm & Natural batting provided by me on your next quilt (typically half cent/square inch), quilted by me
3. Elephant's Play pattern.
4. Zoe pattern.
5. Will you Accept this Rose? pattern (available from Animas Quilts)
6. Starlight-Flutterbright pattern, includes 4 pre-printed paper piecing papers
7. Hugs and Kisses pattern - NEW! <This will make me finish it up!>
8. Royal Peacock Jewels EQ Project file (personal use only) - initial McCalls entry
9. 1892 Rondure EQ Project file (personal use only) - McCall's round 1 challenge entry
10. Cotton Sateen fabric kit to make Mi Amore with EQ Project file (personal use only) - McCall's round 3/FINAL challenge entry. This will not include the Jinny Beyer 6055-04 border print that is available at her website.
11. 7 half yard cuts of quilter's cotton sateen variegated fabrics.

It gets lighter to the left and darker to the right

Now I need to think about some year-3 goal setting! Thank you for being a part of this journey!

YMarlene

WIP

Super big day as we wait on the announcement about the winner of the McCall's Quilt Design Star 2011. As one of the 12 participants that made it through to the final round, all I can say, regardless of the result, is THANK YOU to all who stopped by and took a look, then decided to vote and sometimes left a comment. Thank you McCall's and all the sponsors for the opportunity! What a blessed experience, great online camaradrie with several of the contestants, and exposure to a whole new world. Couldn't have done it without you all! Thanks again! Thank you ! Thank you ! Thank you !

11/9/11 - 1p update: Congratulations to Melanie!

Lee's anniversary WIP brings back some great memories for me since joining this link-up. I probably found her as part of the SuperNova Quilt-a-Long that she hosted this spring. I LOVED the design and the format and getting to know so many people. My version is to the left, SuperNova-BlackHole. Read my written journey. One of her original linkup ladies was Becky of Becky's Blabber. Turns out she lives 1 hour from me. I've enjoyed meeting up with Becky on several occassions for some quilty chats. Thank you Lee for providing the opportunity to make friendships on our quilting journey.






My WIP:

I've got my one-fabric table topper on my quilting machine today. Time to get this one done!
I created these blocks as a sample for a guild presentation on using one-fabric designs. I used what I had (and that means lots of little pieces put together in the borders to make this work--wish I had found more when trying to put this together--just making the most of what I had) to make an exactly fitting table cloth for just the top of my table, so the idea of how you cut up the border prints and put them back together isn't fully executed (a much larger quilt gives it a better repeat of the blocks to really see how cool it can be), but hopefully you get the gist of it. I wanted the borders to be where placemats would go, so that the center of the piece is what you see on the table. Not sure why, but there you go. I chose a fun batik for the backside so I can use it too! ;-) Maybe more than the top! HA!

I'm still plugging away at the 'Oddie's Wild Nature' blocks. Here are some auditions for backgrounds on the bear catching salmon. I had posted some originally when joining WIP Wednesday, these are new. I've lost a fish, and think I might re-do them anyway in a different fabric and perhaps orient them in the other direction since they should be swimming upstream. I traced them incorrectly when I originally made them in the process of learning about fusible applique.

Note in this photo water flows to the left and the lighter fabric at the bottom almost makes it look like the bear is standing at the top of a waterfall, but the perspective of the water behind him doesn't seem right.

How about some pebbles in the foreground.

Oh...the water is on my wall backwards (as in right side of the fabric is against the design wall). whoops! So now it flows to the right and this version has a combo of the light fabric 'extra spalshy edge of the water?' and the pebbles. Maybe some fussy cutting at the water's edges to give it a bit more realistic sense?

The actual block needs to be 42" long by 12" high, so, part of my problem is I have several nice pieces that aren't 42" long or 12" high ;-) ...so I think I want to use a series of fabrics to create something big enough and more realistic to how we've seen bear in the wild.

How about a WIP finish?

Heart Placemats (See Monday's post for details). Very excited about how these turned out. Lots more photos at http://facebook.com/kissedquilts 'Fearless Design' album. And I did donate them to our local Senior Center for their craft sale at guild last night. Definitely going to have to make more for myself and maybe use the quilting as part of a wall hanging to sell at the winery. If you like it and want it quilted into something you have...I can do it now!!

This year:

In Process: 7

Completed: 13

I'm making progress!

The end of the week is near and it will be the close of my 2nd year in business. So, follow my blog and stop by for a Friday post of reflection, new goal setting and a giveaway. See you then!

Interested in attending the first International Quilt Festival of Ireland? I was asked to escort a group from Seattle June 5-15, 2012. Check out the details and sign-up to come along. You can also have your own piece of quilting at the festival. Check out the exhibits and how you can participate whether you go or not.

Check out others' WIP at Lee's 1 year Anniversary WIP link-up at Freshly Pieced --there is even a giveway there if you're timely!