"Joy"

When do you feel the most creative?

Sometimes it's when I'm alone and

then other times, it's when I'm

surrounded by creative people.

I look forward each day to reading

the blogs that I follow. 

These bloggers are very motivating

and I'm always inspired by the work that they share on line.

I have also been blessed with some

close friends, both in mind set and proximity,

who are very creative.

They can easily energize me,

charge me up,

and make me step off into a new direction.

This weekend I was gifted a 

lovely handmade gift from one of my creative friends.

She does bring "joy" to my life.

Projects don't have to be complicated

to be creative,

just an interesting way of seeing things.

 

 And what's not to love about this sweet pillow,

especially with all that lovely French General fabrics.

And thank you, to all the bloggers that 

share ideas and their creative process,

you continue to enrich my life and

bring me "joy".

 Until Next Time-

In and Out, Start and Finish

With Thanksgiving over,
it was time to take some things out
of the picture

"Turkey Jack"

and bring some other things in.

 With such a short time between holidays,
there's not much time to waste.

***

Some of the quilts I started recently

are now Finished!

A new flannel quilt

for a big boy bed.

Pretty simple, with
preprinted snowman fabric.

I only wanted to machine quilted between the snowmen.
But the design didn't have straight lines to

follow so I used a serpentine stitch and
aimed for the middle.

A perfect quilt for a little guy to
snuggle under.

The other quilt I had started was 

another simple pattern using 

 blue plaid half square triangles set

together with the Robert Kaufman's

Essex Yarn Dyed fabric that is

55% linen.

Quick and easy.

I machine quilted between the plaids 

and solid, but decided it needs something more
to make it my own.

I pulled out some perle cotton and 

did big stitches to 

define the asymmetrical diagonal pattern even more.

Some 1 1/4 wide blue painters tape was

just the right width.

I threaded two needles 

to work both sides of the tape at the same time and 

easily stitched perfectly straight lines.

Another finish

This is feeling pretty good.

Until Next Time-

An Awesome Surprise

 Last night I finally had the 

opportunity to attend my local quilting guild meeting,

The League of Northern Colorado Quilters.

Everyone was feeling festive

with Christmas quilts on display

and wonderful food for a holiday potluck.

Local guilds are important groups to support.

They help to bind the quilting community together

and spread the love and joy of quilt making to others.

 They give the opportunity for us to see and 

learn new techniques, that we might not otherwise

be exposed to.

Last night LNCQ had their first raffle 

quilt drawing.

And believe it or not,

 my name was drawn!

 

 "Ocean Paradise"

What a wonderful holiday surprise,

made by many of my long time friends 

from the guild. 

 This batik queen size quilt is a 

delightful mixture of shades of blue and green,

truly feeling like a topical paradise.

But wait...

this tropical quilt will

 soon be covered with snow.

The snow clouds are starting to roll over

the foothills bringing a major snow

storm my way today.

Thanks again to my many friends

who with skilled hands made this quilt.

I'm honored to have it.

Until Next Time-

So Disappointed

You know how excited you can get

when you plan an outing with your

quilting friends.

You just know it's going to be a special day.

 It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon

in Golden, Colorado.

We had lunch, checked out the local

quilt shop and

walked  down the street to enjoy the latest

quilt display at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.

Put on the brakes!

No mention on the website.

What a bummer.

 One of their current exhibits is

Twice as Nice-Two Color Quilts

 I love two color quilts.

The two fabrics contrasting each other

pull off some spectacular designs that are so awesome.

It still was a great day, girl friends, lunch, time away from

responsibilities at home.

sigh

Looks like we'll just have to come back in January,

and have fun all over again.

Until Next Time-