Now, I've sewn all my life. Made my mother the most God-awful apron as a Mother's Day gift when I was about 8. It had RED SEQUINS on it! What farmer's wife doesn't NEED an apron with RED SEQUINS? I'm just sure she wore it to the barn to milk the cows! NOT!
I'm just SURE she was just thrilled with it. Never mind that I was (and still am) a terrible direction reader, so she had to help me make this thing without her knowing what it was. I remember the hem line wasn't sewn straight. I'm sure it wasn't even CUT straight.
I'm also sure she was very enthusiastic when she opened the box - my parents were both very encouraging with my brother and I. We were always told we could do whatever we wanted to do. Now, around about the time I was 21 I finally figured out what that really meant.
It meant I would be able to accomplish whatever I really desired and was willing to work to achieve.
But I digress. Today I went to my first Quilt show.
It was a wonderland of fabrics and quilting machines, and needles and threads. THAT I expected! But there were also booths selling jewelry, hand cream, embossing powders (the old guy from the Delmar Fair!), and already made products.
I can't say I've ever been drawn to quilting. I've knitted (not well), I've crocheted (better at that), fabric painted, sewn a LOT of clothes over the years. Even made clothes for my husband WAYYY BACK WHEN. But never been drawn to quilting.
Now don't get me wrong. I admire those that do - it's a lot of tedious work, but the finished product is beautiful, and lasts for years. I do have at least one quilt that my maternal great-grandmother made. I cherish it because it's "family". But quilting has never seemed to be "my thing".
The reason I went to the quilting show was to see my upline demonstrating the Big Shot! She had a number of quilts hanging in the booth that she'd made cutting cotton fabrics on the scallop dies we sell for the Big Shot.
And here are some photos of the quilts she's made:
The pink and yellow quilts are crib quilts. They use 35 sets of scallops (one of each of the three sizes we carry). The green quilt is full sized and requires 45 sets.
She was demonstrating cutting thru eight layers of fabric each time, which would make cutting the scallops for either quilt so quick and easy!
Here she is again, doing her demo thing:
She also had pot holder sized quilted items using the 5 point star die. I thought she was quite clever with how she handled these. I would have NEVER thought about using the pieces this way.
Here it is as the star. Pointy ends out, squared off ends in the center.
And here she turned the pieces around so the points are in the center, the square ends are pointed out, and a flower is formed.
Here she made it into another type of flower, and used green scallops for the leaves.
Every year she has a stamping event for her downline in her home town of St. George, UT. Susan and I have attended the past couple of years. We get the greatest ideas at this event, and, frankly, it gives us both a "reason to get the hell outta Dodge".
Last year while we were there, I had occasion to go to Jill's house and got to meet her GORGEOUS Rag doll cats. If you've been reading this blog at all, you know how I love cats. So, I took quite a few photos of hers, and have been promising to get those to her.
Today, I burned the photos onto a CD and gave them to her in a folder I quickly threw together with an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of CS and left over pieces I've cut with my Big Shot. A very simple design, but it filled the bill.
This is the outside of the holder.
And here's the inside. After I took the photo I also added a note so she'd know what was on the CD.
I spent an enjoyable afternoon browsing the ideas at the quilt show. Found a small (6" x 6") quilt wall hanging with cherries on it that I couldn't resist, so, of course I bought it. I NEED it for my kitchen, doncha know!
It's a kit, so you get the fabrics and patterns and then you just shove the cut fabric into foam - inside the foam is a metal die (much like the Big Shot dies!) that will, when completed, hold the fabrics to form the cherries, stems and leaves. It looked like something in the way of quilting that I could handle! When I get it finished, I'll try to remember to post a photo.
And then I came home and remembered I've been seeing a lot of quilting on cards recently, too, so I quickly made a card using the Walk In The Park DSP and the Top Note die.
It's a very simple idea, but with some embellishments, will be a lovely card. Here it is in raw form:
I glued 1" square pieces of DSP onto Whisper White CS, then cut it out using the Top Note die. I added the stitching by using my black Journaling pen.
So, if you're like me and don't really quilt, you can still achieve the LOOK of quilting with paper.
Have a great weekend! My stamp club ladies will be here tomorrow, so I'm sure I'LL be stamping!
Sam
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