A New Design

Invigorated by my walk in the sunshine yesterday, I came home in the mood to design some floral applique.  Here it is.  I visited my local quilt shop a few days ago and saw the most beautiful dark khaki green toile.  It was the inspiration for the circles and border.  This would make a nice bridal quilt if it were done in softer colors.  It would take some time to applique all those leaves but I think it would be worth the effort.  When I finish appliquing the flowers on the Ohio Star quilt I am working on, I will start this one.

Enjoying Some Sunshine

I don't want to complain about the rain because we need it so badly, but I couldn't help feeling uplifted when the sun came out today.  We walked the dogs in the open space behind our house and enjoyed seeing the brilliant green grass and the trees in full bloom.  Spring won't be far behind.  Everyone we passed on our walk had a big smile on their face.  It is supposed to rain again tomorrow, so I will just enjoy the euphoria while I can.  This has put me in the mood to applique some flowers.  Or maybe plant some live ones.

For the Love of Blogs

Do you enjoy reading blogs, and particularly blogs written by and for quilters?  Check out quiltersblogs.com.  The site reviews 935 quilt blogs every day and posts interesting text and photos from those blogs.  I wonder how long it takes to review almost a thousand blogs a day?  The mind boggles.  It is a great one-stop source of inspiration.

Ready for the rings

I was in the mood to create something "pretty" yesterday.  I looked through my box of "I'll-get-around-to-using-this-someday" stuff and this is the result.  A ring bearer's pillow.  It is about nine inches square.  I took apart a silk rose and rearranged the petals, adding some tulle petals.  The center is a vintage crystal button.  I found the button at a wonderful little shop in Berkeley called  Exclusively Buttons.  The small shop is filled with vintage buttons.  The owners are proud to tell you that there isn't one plastic button in the shop.  Bakelite, abalone, cloisonne, pearl, crystal, obsidian, brass...if a button has been made of it, they have it(except plastic, of course).  It is only open on Friday and Saturday, but if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, it is definitely worth a visit. 

Baby Betty Boop

When my friend Linda saw this embroidery design last week she said, "Oh, it's Betty Boop!"  I hadn't quite noticed the resemblance, but this could be Betty as a baby.  I am trying two things with this pattern.  This one I have made into a tooth fairy pillow by appliquing on a heart that is open at the top.  I am embroidering a second one on a blue background for a birth announcement pillow.  I am going to embroider the baby's name, date of birth and birth weight in the area where the heart is.  Then I will decide which one will become my pattern.  It is hard to tell in this photo, but the wings are embroidered in a silver metallic thread.  The thread has to be used in very short lengths or it frays and breaks so there was a lot of tying off and rethreading.

Eventually, Spring will come...

My tulips are about 6 inches tall now.  We had a semi-warm day today, so they shot up a little more.  It won't be long until I have a blaze of pink and white in my garden.  This is one of the varieties that I planted this year.  Maybe I have been stuck inside too long with all this rain we are having, but I am longing for spring.

This star is from Ohio...

I am busy designing a quilt pattern based on the Ohio Star block. This block is easy to sew (as long as I am precise) and is a great basic shape to edit. All the shapes begin as a square, so there are lots of possible variations. This is the first block. I love the pink and brown combination.

Work in Progress

I have been busy drawing embroidery patterns, which is good and bad. I have spent a lot of time drawing and redrawing, and stitching and stitching again. Quilt patterns are a lot easier! Last year my garden club had a florist demonstrate some interesting wreath arrangements. I thought an embroidery pattern based on a wreath shape might be fun, so off I went. Valentine's Day is approaching so I went with a heart shape. There are still a few details that need to be polished, but this might be my first embroidery pattern.