Superquilt!

I found this on Joe the Quilter's blog, I think you might enjoy. It is the unveiling of Margaret Fabrizio's 26th quilt called Superquilt. She decided she would video log (vlog) the process of making her quilt and made 32 vlogs which she turned into a dvd of the whole process! Here's a link to the first one and a link to the index of the rest.

9 Lives

There it is, the top is fused! I stayed up to midnight on Thursday working on it, I was a bit obsessed, and then I finished ironing it up Friday. I didn't have any good quantity of black, that is actually a navy blue with a black print on top, and the cats are also a blue with a black print, just a slight shade lighter. I know it might not show up that way in the photo. I think you have to be 12 inches away to see the print at all; it is that dark. I added some more birds, giving it a bit of an Alfred Hitchcock feel, also the birds flying are like in the movies when a gunshot is heard but all they show is the birds flying away.

I like the quickness of using the heat and bond, but now I hate the next part, machine stitching it all down.

New Comic Day!

Wednesday is new comic day at work. Every Wednesday the new comics come in and I have unpack them and input them into the computer, put them aside for the holds etc. It's kind of like X-mas, opening presents every week. It's one of the fun parts of the job. Every once in a while a cover of a book makes me stop and look at it. This time it was 100 Bullets #92. Wow ! I loved the colours: red, black, white, with a little bit of beige. I love the silhouette of the tree showing the branches and the roots. Oh I said I could make this one into a wallhanging! We'll just ignore the fact that the red is supposed to be blood and those are skulls buried under the trees and they are executing someone. OK that is a bit macabre and gross! but still I like it, who is the artist? Johnson, Dave Johnson, that seems familiar.....it's the same artist who did the cover to the Spectre cover I liked which I turned into this.

So I did some sketching and hunting through my stash. First I look at the cover and decide on the ratio of colour, then I jot down some notes: stuff I liked, first impressions, etc. That's when I thought of my other Cat and Mouse piece. I could incorporate a cat and mouse theme again so I am not completely copying his work.


So my gangsters are now cats, and mice and birds are their prey.


Now to think of a clever name....the original is 100 Bullets...hmm 100 cats, no, Oh I know! 9 Lives!

Liberated Quiltmaking and Hup Holland!

First just letting everyone know that Tonya at LazyGalQuilting is doing an online poll on who wants to pre-order a second printing of Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking book. The publisher is trying to find out what kind of interest is out there for reprinting this book. Visit Tonya's blog today and vote today!

Next topic: Hup! Hup! Holland!

Holland wins again, this time against France! Below is my experiment of hexagonal piecing in Dutch Oranje fabric. I've hung it in my door window for the Euro cup. It's not finished, though.


This is just a photo of a wild flower I found growing in my garden. I've never seen this flower before and I am unsure how it got there. According to my Audobon's Guide to North American Wildflowers it would appear to be Yellow Goatsbeard or the closely related Meadow Salsify. Goatsbeard sounds more interesting to me.


More scrappy bargello progress, all the strips are cut, they just have to be sewn together. I have enough scraps to make a 5th panel...I will see how big this is when sewn together before I decide to make a 5th panel.

Scrappy Progress

Making progress on the scrappy bargello! But will be busy in the next few days, guild executive meeting, D&D day at the store and just work in general, I tire thinking of it all...

My brother bought a house!

My brother just bought a house and we're all pretty happy for him. He's 40 something and it's about time he settled down! Now it might not be the house we would have picked for ourselves but I think it suits him. It's a small bungalow, with a decent sized property that backs on the river and a park. It has a large detached garage/workshop, one of the things that makes it perfect for him. He's very talented and designed a lot of the fixtures we have in our store. So it's great he will have his own permanent workspace. The former owner was a mechanic and the place was filled with cars and car junk! I'll spare you those before photos! The former owner had until the end of May to clear out the garbage! As of yesterday, the vehicles were gone an the garage cleared, but still there was quite a bit of junk on the property; he is supposed to get the junk removal people in today to clear the last of it! Cross your fingers!


Above is a photo of a steel rail from a railroad, that is actually one of the beams in the ceiling of the basement in his house! There are 2 or 3 of these rails in the house used as beams. We find this ironic, since my brother is an avid model railroader, so another reason that this is his "perfect" house. :P


My brother is a notorious collector of speakers and stereos. Above, a turntable or some call it a record player....these predate CD's for you young folk(hehehe), he buys them from garage sales, Goodwill, auctions, and yes he will even pick them from garbage. Amazing what people will throw out that still work!

Anyway, what has this got to do with quilting? well of course I must make him a quilt for his new home. I originally thought I would make a psychedelic quilt based on his favourite TV show The Prisoner, going as far as designing 13 different versions on my EQ5! but then I rediscovered Bonnie's website and was admiring all her scrappy quilts, and thinking I really should have a go at that Scrappy Bargello quilt....but do I really have enough scraps? It turns out I do! I call them "scraps in waiting".

Bonnie says even your ugliest fabric looks great in this quilt....I don't usually make scrappy quilts, so Bonnie, I am putting my trust in you! I dug down deep into my stash to find stuff I've never used, haven't used in 10 years and stuff other people have given me that I didn't know what to do with. I've reacquainted myself with my Debbie Mumm, Thimbleberries and even some pieces of old clothing. So, now I am thinking a scrappy quilt, is perfect for my brother the recycler! And so it begins....stay tuned!