Mary Catch Up

It's winter.  We have snow on the ground.  But today is beautiful - the sun is shining, we went for a walk around the 'hood.  Nice.

And of course I've been sewing.  I decided to try going into a craft show so in the limited time I have, managed to get enough stuff together to set up a respectable spot at the Silver Springs Crafters' Market - just down the street from my house, so very handy.  My sister Chris shared the table with me to promote her custom cakes - "Cakes by Christine" - of course!.   We were very happy with the way the day turned out!  We made back the $25 we paid to have a table - which was our goal.  Chris gave out many of her cards.  I actually gave out a surprising number of mine to quilters who were interested in my long-arming.  Quilters go to craft shows! 

Chris made about 50 "cake pops" and sold about half of them, Joe made about 60 wood coasters, sold about half of them, I made a number of things and sold quite a few of them.  My inventory wasn't as scientific!  But the biggest surprise is that I sold one of my quilts!  That was huge because I wasn't expecting anyone to buy a quilt.  People don't got to craft sales to buy large expensive items, quite the opposite - small and inexpensive is the key.  I had put out 2 Christmas quilts and 2 to show my long-arm quilting thinking other quilters might be passing through. 

I sold one of the latter.  I called it "Winter Stag" because it was blue and white.  I used the "Quilt in the Headlights" pattern from the Dare to be Square book by Boo Davis.  I just finished it last week and never got a pix of it.  So I have learned a couple more lessons this week: 1 - always get a pix right away and 2 - put quilts out (I could have put out more, but didn't) because someone really might want to buy one! 

Enough chit chat - here we go with some pix!

 First up - this darling little bird!  Joe must have snapped its pix recently - I found it in the "bucket" - it is so cute I had to post it.  I don't know what kind of bird - sorry - but it was perched on our garage roof.

Here is Maxine's "Crabby Christmas".  I found the Maxine panel at a vendors' market at a recent quilt show and couldn't resist.  And I wanted to try that wonky star block so thought Maxine would look good surrounded by wonky stars.  This is the result.  Final measurements are 54"*54".

 I finished off a couple of Halloween table runners (front above, back below) - but missed Halloween by a day.  Oh well - always next year.  That's the good thing about quilts - they never go bad!!!

 Here are a couple of Xmas table toppers - same, but different due to more or less random fabric placement. 

 This is a "No Rules Quilting Design" - I called it "Remember Summer? II" (I already have a Remember Summer from last year - hence the "II").  I designed this to have lots of negative space for quilting.  I'll be posting the quilting close-ups to my new NoRulesQuilting.ca blog.  So take a look over there.

 Below is the back of "Remember Summer? II".  This is a print - I did not piece this, although some thought I did.  I love this fabric.  I got it for $4/yard online from the Fabric Depot in Portland Oregon.  Can't beat the price and I love the print! 

 

This is the pix of "Quilt in the Headlights" from the Dare to be Square book - which I made but of course mine looks quite different as my fabric choice was much different.  In mine, the deer and antlers are bright whites/greys and the background is various blues running from royal to navy with black for the eyes and nose.

 Above are two of Joe's coasters - he's been practicing with his CNC router which allows him to do quite intricate inlays - so the rose and hummingbird are not painted on - it is all wood inlayed in wood - even the darker "red" on the bird's throat is wood - I had to ask him because it does look like it's painted on!  I think he's getting pretty good with his machine!

Below is what I have come to think of as my "Pain in the Ass" table runner because it was a pain in the ass to make!  I had to cut a million small pieces and put them in certain spots - rules!!! - I'm not good at rules!  But after a lot of fussing and fuming (the Diva's will all attest to this as I made it at the quilting retreat we all attended) I finally got the darn thing finished.  I really liked the pattern and it turned out quite well - but I won't be making one again for awhile!  :)

I know there are a few other things that I missed - but this is the big stuff.  Stay warm if you're in the northern hemisphere and enjoy summer if you're south of the equator!