Checking In and Catching Up!

I've been out in the garden this spring....not blogging so much!

But I have finished some projects...so here they are...

First is "Be Kind".  My Uncle Hal's dear wife Deb gave me the cross stitch piece that I used in the center of the quilt.

This was quite experimental for me, combining crazy quilt fabrics, supplies, and techniques in a traditional machine quilted format.  I loved every second of making this...

This detail I hope shows the quilting, couching, machine and hand stitching all combined together.

Next, I finished up a long term project called "The Red Guest House".  This is at my cousin Tracy's ranch in New Mexico.  I started it in one of my "Home Portraits" classes. 

This also was experimental, combining vintage blocks with embroidery, lace, photo printing on fabric, and some contemporary repro fabrics too.  It captures the feel of the place, and is really an homage to my cousin.

A throw quilt top came together quickly using blocks from my "Pretty Crazy" pattern for Brookshier Design Studio.  I can't wait to quilt this on my Handi Quilter Sweet 16!

Cheery, isn't it?

So I've been having some fun, exploring new ideas.
I'm getting more and more drawn into using vintage textiles in my work...and was recently given some very precious blocks from Lisa Boni  that I will be working with later this summer...you'll be hearing more about that project when the time comes.

And another dear friend has sent me some vintage quilt tops that I will be practicing my machine quilting on...yes, I know, you heard that right.  I have a deep desire to make functional quilts again, traveling in the footsteps of women lost to time who went before me....but adding my own quirky elements, never leaving the 15 years I've spent crazy quilting too far behind.

Here is one of them...

Lots of room to groove and practice in those white areas....

Speaking of history....
I was honored to be interviewed by the Why Quilts Matter: Quilts, Art, and Politics project undertaken by the Kentucky Quilts Project, Inc.  They asked me about the connection between crazy quilting and today's art quilt movement and made me do some deep thinking on the subject.  Take some time to look over their site...there is treasure there!

I've got some traveling ahead, but expect to be blogging more regularly after I return home in a few weeks...til then,  Happy Stitching!