Playing again.

Hey there, I'm back! So, obviously it has been a while, but whatever, I've got something new to babble about.

I'd been wanting to do something with old clothing, so I grabbed some old shirts and jeans and started cutting. (That sounds like I took them straight from the closet. I didn't, these were set aside a while back.)

Didn't really know what I wanted to do or where to start, so like I said, just started cutting. Once I had some pieces, I played with the fabrics on the wall and noticed I really kinda liked the effect you can get on the sleeves at the seams.

I found some groupings I liked and started piecing. I let the fabric tell me where to go with things and when to stop. (No, I'm not nutty enough to actually talk to the fabric, other than cuss at it when it's being a pain.)

I ended up with this odd, modern, random design.

For the top and the backing, I recycled some old cloth napkins. Didn't do anything to them, but put some batting in between 'em and run a straight stitch around. Didn't bind this one. I liked the way the napkins looked just 'pinned' together with the straight stitch. As for the quilting, well, I hand quilted the pieced design on with rough, rustic, random stitches. 

Wanted to pass this on...

Okay, so this isn't really a post, just a link to someone else's.  Over at sewmamasew.com they've put up a great post about Thomas Knauer.  He is the real deal, this guy does some great things with fabric.

To the 2 or 3 of you that regularly check this blog, again I'm failing at keeping the blog up to date like I keep saying I will.  But hey, at least I've posted a link to a good read.  I am working on a little quilt and do intend on getting back to this, but right now, it has necessarily slid a couple slots down on my to do list.

Talk to you all soon... I hope.

At the hop...

I made my first garment this week.  Well, sort of...

The little one had a sock hop at her school and wanted to have a real poodle skirt for her outfit, so I gave it a try.  I have to say I am very pleased with the result.  With the help of this Circle Skirt tutorial as a starting point it really was quite simple.

We won't discuss the needle I broke sewing the felt to the elastic waistband or the fact I cheated by gluing on the poodle.  But, really, we had no choice about the applique, we thought we'd take the easy way and get an iron-on poodle...ya, not gonna work with felt. Oops, no problem, gotta love the Liquid Stitch.

So, here are the obligatory cute kid photos!

She was overjoyed at how well the felt spun for her!

Hi all,
I've submitted the quilt to the right in the latest Quilting Gallery Weekly Contest. It's not a totally new work, I did it back in
October, but it fits the theme of Squares and Rectangles pretty well, or at least for how I see "squares."

Anyway, if you have found your self here from the contest, thanks for coming by, poke around, leave me a note.

If you haven't voted in the contest, go vote! Vote for me!  Or not, whatever, just check out the quilts and your voting lets people know their work is appreciated.

Liebster blog!

So, a little while back Angela, not my Angela, but Angela of Indomitable Angela, that Angela, selected You Quilt? as one of her Liebster Blogs.  Besides being pleased with myself for getting 5 Angelas in that last sentence, I was very flattered to get her note telling us about being a "Liebster Blog."  Now, other than Angela, you other 15 followers are probably going huh? Lieb'a what? (And those of you who found this blog by mistake or randomness are thinking this guy's a mess.)  Well, below is what Angela had on her blog about the Liebster Blog thing:


"What is a Liebster?  Liebster means "favorite" in German and paying forward the Liebster Blog badge is a way for those of us in the blogger world to spread the word about the blogs we enjoy and which inspire us. 

When you receive the Liebster Badge, tradition compels you to pass it along to 5 bloggers.  To accept the award you must:

1.  Link back to the person who granted the badge to you, thanking them for the honor; 

2.  Post the award to your blog;

3.  Give the award to 5 bloggers who you appreciate and value and who have less than 200 followers
4.  Leave a comment on those 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award; and

5.  Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you."


So here I go:
1. Angela, thank you! Seriously, that was very kind and I apologize for taking so long to get something up about it!  Indomitable Angela, check it out.


2. The badge:

3. The four (I know, it is supposed to be 5, but I don't really have 5 with less than 200 followers that I check out regularly. More on that below...) blogs I'd like to pass the Liebster Blog award on to are: 

 Along the Doodlescape 
     My friend Drew's blog.  Like me, he doesn't post enough, but his art work is very cool.  It is because of his blog that I started this one.  I figured, "What the hell, Drew's got one he's messing around with, why not?"

 They Call Me Rachel
     Rachel is Drew's significant other.  She is also quite talented and blogs on a little bit of everything.  

 Crafty Candace
     Candace, a relatively new blogger herself, was one of our first followers.  
Like Angela, of Indomitable Angela, she's been supportive of our efforts.

 Orange Explains It All
     I stumbled on to this blog awhile back.  Can't really remember how, maybe looking up men quilters or something.  Anyway, Fredrick does quilt, but really that's just a small part of it.  He's an artist who works in many genres, it's great stuff, check it out.


4. Comments sent.


5. "Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you." 


 Hmmmmm.....
                   1. Well, this is awkward, but I'm not so sure about this whole blog thing.  Yes, I've got one here, but I'm still not sure what to do with or why I want to be messing with one anyway.  You see, I really only check out a hand full of blogs on a regular or semi-regular basis.  
                   2.  When Angela, my Angela, not Indomitable Angela,  and I lived in K.C., we used to go to the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum at least a couple times a month.  Every time, I had to visit two paintings, Canaletto's The Clock Tower and Rothko's Untitled 11.  Any 'shrinks' out there should have a field day with that!
                   3.  Favorite city: Siena, IT
                   4.  I've used the name Angela 15 (now 16) times in this post.
                   5.  In spite of being over educated as and making my living as a musician, I have never thought of myself as creative or artistic.  Between my wife's and my daughter's influences on me, I might believe it someday.