collaboration1

I was very lucky to have the opportunity to take a class with Jacqui Gering last week. (Much more on that later!) Although this quilt is not the class project, spending the day with the president of the Modern Quilt Guild inspired me to expand my modern repertoire. I've been struggling with the concept of minimalism. More is more in my quilt world! So, I enlisted the help of my nephew, an industrial designer by day and very cool guy.

On Thursday night, I texted Eric for design ideas. Later that night, he sent me nine designs! A few looked too much like quilts that are already out there. This was my favorite of the bunch. I was so excited, I pieced and quilted it on Friday.

I knew it would be a challenge to get those vertical lines to match up. My first attempt had to be unstitched! As the quilt grew, my technique improved.

I took a break mid-day to take mom grocery shopping, but the top was finished soon after.

The quilting plan was in my head from the start, so I was eager to get to it. The sections with white backgrounds were quilted with 1/2" parallel lines with white thread. The gray section was stitched at 1/4" intervals with gray thread.

I do love the texture of parallel lines, but wish they were more accurately spaced. (I blame my off-center needle. My Bernina needs a trip to the spa.)

I didn't think a binding would work for this piece, so I used a facing instead.

I used Susan Brubaker Knapp's instructions for the facing. It worked perfectly and was quite simple.

I'm thrilled with this piece! I might be calling Eric again soon!

collaboration1

October 22-24, 2015

Designed by Eric Mott

24" X 38"

First Day of School

I used to be a little sad on the first day of school. Not today! I'm really excited to have the house to myself again.

This is not my usual first-day-of-school photo. I prefer to pose them on the front porch with their backpacks, but they just wouldn't go for it this time. I'll take what I can get! Pete really needs a haircut.

It was a busy last-week-of-summer. Julia had wanted to paint her room all summer, but she needed to clean and purge first. Josh was a huge help, but I don't know if he'll volunteer to paint with me again. I'm really particular about painting! We'll show you some before and after as soon as we finish decorating.

My nephew Eric moved into his new apartment last weekend. It was really fun for us to have him staying here, and the time passed much too quickly. He's happy to have his own place and he's only 40 minutes away, so we'll see him a lot. I hope!

Now to tackle the list of phone calls that need to be made, then I can sew!!

Hooks & Art

I wanted a quick, easy project yesterday and found this cute bookmark pattern on Ravelry. You can find it at crochetroo. It only took about an hour to crochet. I soaked it in liquid starch, pressed with a hot iron, and attached it to Julia's birthday card.

It seems that I've been turning to my hooks a lot lately. There is no crocheting without my reading glasses and good lighting!


My nephew Eric, who is in art school, landed a summer internship at Fisher Price. There are so few jobs to go around this year, we are so proud of him! The only piece of art that I have of his is the troop logo he designed a few years ago for my Girl Scouts, which is too cool.The sun is burning through the fog. Hurrah! I'll be sitting in the sunny dining room window today, stitching up some new pins for the shop.

Ciao,
Tina