It’s Throwback Thursday! I wrote about two owls back when we first moved into this house. Choosing my friends wisely has made it much more fun for this introvert to socialize.
Here’s the newest addition to my flock. This lady has yet to tell me her name. What do you think it should be? She’s a good supporter when I’m frustrated and need to talk. My personal cheerleader, that owl will listen.
P.S. “Disapproving Owl” had an unfortunate accident when I smashed him to pieces. Whoops. 🙂
A #31dayblogchallenge post.
I made a new friend last night. We’ve known each other for years. She’s my neighbor. It all started when I showed her my studio. The conversations are private but here’s what my studio looked like after an hour. We bonded over art and stories. Can you see how many quilts are laid out? So much fun.
Hello everyone. We’re putting moving soon and looking forward to our next adventure. Wish us luck and buy my stuff! LOL seriously though, this is good news for you. In an effort to have less things to pack up in boxes and move I’m discounting all of my items for sale in the etsy shop. They’re now 30% off. No coupon code is needed as I’ve adjusted the price of each individually on the listings. I’ll be adding items to the shop over the next few days so check back for more cool stuff, all 30% off their original prices.
I had a great time recently having a booth at the Purrs and Paws Holiday Boutique. My friend Adva surprised me with a visit (yay!) and took this photo. I learned a lot and did a bit of networking too. I’ll tell you all about it in another blog post.
Blog post, you say? They’ve been few and far between for a few months now but that’s about to change. Cheryl Sleboda of muppin.com will be blogging every day in December. She’s invited other writers to join her and I’ve decided to participate. So buckle up everybody and find your reading glasses ’cause there’s going to be much more action on this site soon.
Welcome! I’m the last stop on this year’s teal mini quilt blog hop. Yay caboose! This swap, hosted by Beth of EvaPaige Quilt Designs, raised $2,000 and awareness for ovarian cancer. The quilts in this post were exchanged between me and my new friend Sarah. Here’s the quilt she made me. It’s double sided!
Sarah lost her mother to Ovarian Cancer. She has a Pinterest Board dedicated to awareness for this specific disease. I encourage you to check it out. The biggest predictor of successful treatment is early detection and there’s no medical tool that catches it in the earliest stages. Pay attention to your body women of the world! If you feel like there’s something amiss get it checked out. My survivor friend Trisha’s here today in part because she was paying attention and became her own advocate.
Ready to see what I made? I had a back injury while I was making this quilt so it’s 100% hand sewn. I started with some teal yo-yo’s and a contrasting orange batik background fabric. It needed s’more circles but I wanted the teal to be the star so I chose brown. After playing with the placement for a bit I appliqued those yo-yo’s upside down onto the fabric. They’re dimensional and a bit poufy which is fun.
I wanted the thread to stand out a little so you could see the quilting but not too much. So I auditioned them like so. It’s helpful to unwind a bit of thread to see what the strand looks like against the piece. The red’s too bright on the spool but just perfect this way and it’s what I ended up choosing to quilt with.
Double-fold binding is my jam but it was going to be a pain to sew on entirely by hand so I decided to fold the back over onto the front instead. Usually I’d use a gazillion pins to hold it in place but I saw a cool new thing on Sam Hunter’s Back to School Blog Hop. It’s glue basting and it’s pretty amazing. I learned on the tutorial from purpledaisyquilting in minutes. All you need is Elmer’s glue and a hot iron. I found these cute fine-tipped ones at the dollar store. Score!
Here’s a nice close-up I took while doing the final pressing and the finished quilt. There’s no right side up; It can be hung vertically or horizontally. Can you see the concentric circles quilting? No? How ’bout in this pic Sarah took upon receiving it? It got a little smushed in the mail but this is a much better angle to show off my handiwork. Pretty cool.
Check out these links for the other artists in this blog hop and mark your calendars for August 2016 to participate in next year’s swap. Sign-up via Facebook.
October 12th Tweety Loves Quilting and One Quilting Circle
October 13th Susan Brehm and Books, Hooks, Sticks, etc
October 14th Teachpany and Bobbin’s Lullaby
October 15th Splitting Stitches and Purple Leaf Quilts
October 16th Blue Ribbon Sewing and quiltartbymegan <— you are here!
Our brand new bathroom counter cracked. I heard it from the kitchen and came running. My husband was leaning against the side of the counter while installing the hand-towel holder and it gave out.
How did this happen? Can you see the gap between the counter and the wooden cabinet? That’s the problem right there. There’s no support. The store exchanged the broken bits for a whole and we started over. This time my husband cut some wood and glued/nailed it to the inside of the vanity. Â It was a design flaw. The sink needed more support.
We all need extra support sometimes. My quilting buddies are helping me with these place mats. They’re cool, huh? The conversation’s ranged from confidence to marketing with many ideas that are new to me. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Our bathroom looks much better now. The counter cracking was a bummer but I’m glad it happened when it did. We got it exchanged and added supports and can be confident it’s sturdy as well as pretty. 
It’s kitty approved. 🙂
What is that? It’s a dog, or a watermelon or a goat, or whatever it is that you see. This is the piece of art that’s the topic of tonight’s conversation with some of my quilting friends.
We have monthly challenges and come together to share our works. I usually sew something. This time I got my camera out to play.
My first idea was a mosaic with buttons. It’s cute and was fun to scrounge up all those pink and red buttons.
Then I went a little more abstract with ribbon, thread, and wound cards of embroidery threads. If you step back, you can still see the shapes from the original piece, especially since I kept the colors. 
I got messy. Pepto Bismol is the right kind of pink this and ketchup works for red. Since I finger-painted this onto a white plate I filled in the background. The negative space is chocolate syrup to form around the white shape.
While I was in the kitchen, I grabbed a cup for water. I saw the pink plastic one and went searching for more to complete the picture. The pink cup became the white shape. The round plate mimics the pink half-circle as it’s segmented by the red square-ish one.Â
It was fun playing around. I can’t wait to see what my friends came up with!
Crumb-pieced fabric is great for I-Spy or Treasure Hunt quilts! Finding the cute little things in my students’ made-fabric was one of the most fun parts about the test class I taught on Saturday. A BIG HUGE GIANT SMOOCHY KISS to my friends who not only allowed me to use them as lab rats, but who gave me invaluable input on how to do and not do things. Terminology matters and having clear examples does, too!
Anyway, on to the fun part of this post. Three of the artists in attendance sent photographs so I can share them with you guys. I’ll tell you about the fourth’s project first. We’ll call her “M.” Get your imaginations ready because *gasp* I didn’t have my camera in class. This talent made her crumb pieces in the leftover fabrics from working on an appliqued and embroidered mermaid. M is still working on blinging-up that center and will cut the crumb pieces into a 1″ border for it. It’s going to look so good!
Here’s a sample of Z’s creations. This quilter decided not to finish the crumb blocks into something, yet. Z said that the improvisational piecing technique of making these without a pattern helped her feel artistic. She making the pieces so much that (in the heat of the moment, maybe, but maybe not) they might make a fun bed-sized quilt. So Z is saving what she made in class to merge with more she’ll make during her home-sewing time.
Can you see the tiny triangle? It’s so cute! And no, it’s not made from a 1/4 inch piece of fabric… it’s all in how you sew the pieces together.
P made this little tree, inspired by a photograph a friend shared online. Like M, she used a limited color palate for her scraps. This time they’re all greens. P also worked on another tree, this one with little dancing ladybugs on the ground. We’ll see if they end up as wall art, a pillow, or something else!
Can you see three pigs? How about monkey eyes?
“A” made two place-mat tops in class. I love the blue and tan that she used to keep them cohesive and clearly a set! By the time I asked for photos, A had made two more. So here’s her set of four very modern-looking different but the same place-mats.
Can you find the words “Bug Off” and “Moo”? How about a dog’s face, a circle of flowers, a bicycle and a stop sign?
What else do you see in these crumb blocks? I’d love to know which pieces catch your eye. One of Z’s scraps stood out to me because I used that same fabric in a baby quilt.
If you live in Southern California, I’d love to see you at my class in San Luis Obispo on November 7th. I may have more classes next year. Of course, I’ll keep you guys updated. 🙂
If you love the look of crumbs but aren’t a quilter, aren’t local, or just have too many projects on your list already, check out my etsy shop. There are lots of things in there that have these crumb-fabrics. I also do custom orders so if there’s something specific that you want just let me know!
I’ve been a California girl for a long time now. Still, Connecticut is home. It’s where Katie is. She’s been my friend since 5th grade at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I was the new kid who had just changed schools (again) and decided not to make friends this time. Well, she would have none of that nonsense. She was gently persistent and soon I had someone to sit with at lunchtime and to play with at recess.
Last weekend marked her first year anniversary of getting married. I’ve been working on a quilt for her and her husband. It isn’t quite finished yet but includes paper-pieced numbers on a green background. Of course I’ll share photos of that once it’s complete.
Here we are goofing off in high school. At this time we had boyfriends who were friends before we knew them. Lots of double-dates to the movies, dances, and bowling. Then we’d ditch the boys for a sleepover, ice-cream fest, and chick flick night.
I spent my summers away and then left for college in Illinois. Still, we kept in touch. It’s one of those friendships where we don’t need any time to get to know each other again. We just pick up where we left off, even if we haven’t seen each other in years.
Katie flew west for my wedding. She’s a high school math teacher and took time off at the beginning of the school year (September 6th) to be here for me. She stayed at my house, helped with all the preparations, and celebrated with us. Here she is walking me to my bridal dressing room.
I found out recently that I have some food allergies, including a mild gluten intolerance. I’m a little bummed. You know what cheered me up quite a bit? Katie wrote a food blog post inspired by me. Here’s her recipe for crust-less spinach quiche. I can’t wait to try it!
My husband and I have a food garden this year. This watermelon looked like it hadn’t grown any more in about a week. So we called it ripe and cut it open. Not so much. Well, now we know to let the others mature a bit longer. As for Katie and I, we’ll decide just how mature we want to act as adults. It probably involves lots of ice cream. And dancing.
Welcome to 2014! It’s time for a sample sale. These quilts have been all over the place (even if just all over the internet) and it’s time for some fresh art to show for the new year. So here’s what I’m offering: 50% off the value on each sample piece plus free shipping. Each piece will be up on my etsy page so it’ll be first come, first served. Here’s what I have to offer!. Also, my prices on custom quilts are increasing on February 1st so now’s a great time to get new orders in.
First up is, “Big Megan.” Not because I’m big, but because the next one is little Megan. I like these words better than child and young adult. This piece is quilted and measures 13″ x 15.5″ and is valued at $85.45. Which means it’s now on sale for $42.73. Buy it here.
Next is, “Little Megan.” This one is quilted and measures 10.5″ x 13.5″ which brings the value to $67.53. It’s on sale for $33.76. Buy it here.
I’m going to break some hearts now. “Denver on the Beach” has already been sold. Here it is to admire anyway. It has a happy home now and has by far gotten the most Oooo’s and Wow’s.
“Uncle Time” features my baby sister. You know, before she had a baby of her own. This one’s a 10″ x 8″ top with two subjects in a frame. I’m adding $3 for the frame, so that brings the value to $65. Sale price is $32.50. Buy it here.
“Baby Food” is another 10″ x 8″ top in a frame. This frame is sparkly and heavy. Since I’m paying for shipping, let’s add $8 for the pretty frame. Total value $45. Sale price is $22.50. Buy it here.
“Superhero” is 11.5″ x 11.5″ square. It’s a quilted piece and is valued at $64.66. Sale price is $32.33. Buy it here.
Last on the list of sample quilts is one that I’m keeping. I call it “Four Faces” and has sentimental value to me. Plus it’s quite a bit larger than the ones I’m selling so it could make a nice impression hanging in a craft booth in the near future. Here’s what this one looks like:
Expect previews of this year’s sample pieces in my next post. I’m hard at work making beautiful and unique treasures. Thank you in advance to the photographers and subjects that are letting me use their photographs as inspiration.
I’m on my way back home tomorrow! I’ve had such a super wonderful time in St. Louis and am looking forward to a nice long hug from my husband. And some kitty snuggles. I’ll have a bunch of posts for you guys as I download photographs, experiences, jokes, and life lessons. For now, here’s a little insight onto how I’m able to turn trash to treasure with a little help from my friends.
Some of my quilting buddies have taken to collecting and saving their scraps of fabric for me. I love using teeny tiny pieces of fabrics for my crumb piecing projects, and they feel good that these bits aren’t ending up in the trash. My friend Melissa says it’s like going back to the origin of quilting, sewing together every usable bit of fabric. It was out of necessity way back when. You know, keep the family bed warm with what’s left of dresses and flour sacks. When I get scraps, they come in “Megan Bags” which look something like this:
Yup, this one’s mostly batiks. Aren’t they pretty?! I turn on the TV or Hulu and start the sort. The pieces that are too small even for me (yes, there are a few) go in a bag for community service at one of my quilt guilds. They stuff pillows for the homeless with those bits. The rest, I sort by color into bins.
When I stop for the night, usually when the show is over or the Megan bag is empty, I transfer the sorted fabric into the larger drawers that I use to store scraps. Here’s what some of them will become:
QUILTArtbymegan 
