Friday, August 31, 2012

What do you think?

 
This is the piece from my international robin.  I love it.  The kanji in the lower left means friendship, which is perfect since I feel I am friends with all the people who worked on this piece.  I am perfectly happy with it as it is, but . . . .Willa and I found some wonderful fabric when she was here that might make it even more interesting.  Certainly it will make it bigger.  Please leave a comment with your input about the following auditions.
 
 
Audition 1 has a panel of one of the fabrics with Chinese scholars at the top and the other with the dragons at the bottom.
 
 
Audition 2 has the scholars at the top and bottom.
 
 
Audition 3 has the dragons at the top and bottom. 
I am not tied to any of these, so anything you have to add will be very helpful, even if you suggest leaving the piece as it is.  Thank you for your input.
Joyful quilting, everyone.
 
 
 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

A little of this, and a little of that

 
I guess the first thing is that my old Black and Decker iron finally bit the dust.  I have had it for so many years, I can't even remember when I first got it.  I should have retired it long ago, but irons have become so complicated these days.  Anyway, the temp control stopped functioning and I burnt a test piece to ashes in less than 3 seconds, so it had to go.  This is the new beauty.  I am getting used to it, but so far, I like it just fine.
 
 
I wish I could lay claim to making this beauty, but I only quilted it.  It is a Jinny Beyer pattern and was made by the aunt of a neighbor.  It is going to a new home in Germany next month.  It was fun to quilt.
 
 
This is my August art quilt for the AAQI sale.  It was fun to design and create, and very different for me.  I think I will do more in this free style that is inspired by nature.
 
Speaking of nature, here I am going to do a shameless promotion of my business.  I have debated using this space to share the products I sell and the company I am associated with, but I think they are so wonderful that I decided I wanted to share them with everyone.  Univera is a natural botanical supplement company and so much more.  It is the PQ Diet from Univera that I used to lose all my weight.  Without some of the other products, I would not be able to sit at my sewing machine nearly as long as I am able now.  I have more energy, mental clarity and focus, and ease of motion since I started with this company.  I want to shout to the world how wonderful this company is.  Instead, I will just send you to our web site, Univera. Take a look at what we have.  Listen to Bill Lee talk about the company and Serve First.  That handsome man on the home page is my husband, Tom.  If you want to know more about how you can get involved with the company by trying the products or becoming one of my business partners, just leave me a comment, or send me an email.
 And now, back to quilting.
 
 
Today, I made this little 12" x 12" quilt.  The 16 patch in the center is a 1" square.  What looks like cream is really yellow.  I didn't realize until just now that the yellow didn't come through.  Also, the grayish looking color is green.  Interesting.  This one was fun and quite a challenge for me.  I may do another one just to see if I can keep all the points instead of just some.  I really think I should be able to do that at this stage in my quilting career.
I am back on the school year schedule of Tuesday through Thursday with Bella starting next week.  I am hoping that means more regular studio days and blog posts.  I have missed chatting with my blog friends.  Tomorrow, I am going to put up some audition photos for my International Robin quilt.  I have some ideas, but would like some input from others before I forge ahead.
Have a great evening, and joyful quilting, everyone.