Paducah and Susan Quicksall

Last week was full of fun and excitement!  The week started with a trip to the AQS Show in Paducah, KY.  The show was quite a bit different from previous years due to flooding.  AQS did an outstanding job of last-minute logistics in order to pull everything off.  I was amazed at how smoothly everything went!  I thought parking would be a nightmare, but other than the crowds being a little thicker than usual in some of the vendor locations, I think it went rather well.  It seems like it took a lot less time to see everything than usual.

I returned home from Paducah a day early after giving up my room to some friends whose hotel had closed due to flooding.  It worked out well for me in spite of the fact that I missed a chance to have a second dinner at Flamingo Row and instead ended up with Hamburger Helper since I needed to be at Nola's Friday afternoon for my workshop with Susan Quicksall.

The workshop was wonderful! Susan is such an incredible artist. Her patterns are gorgeous, and sitting in her class you are tempted to buy one of each...if only I had time to do them all!  Below is a sneak peek at the rug she is currently working on.  It's amazing!

I ended up pulling out a rug I started in class with her the last time she was here (five years ago - yikes!) and was very happy I did.  It became obvious as I went through the materials I had packed away with that project that I must have left that workshop without much of a plan.  I was able to really focus on the color planning this time aroung and have a good idea where I am headed now. 

That being said, I was having trouble following the color map on Saturday night and ended up making a mistake.  The dark teal behind the red-orange flower is suposed to be red.  I pulled it out last night and replaced it with the correct color, but now the flower looks like it needs to be a different color even though it is outlined.  I will probably pull out the petals and make them some type of blue.  I think it will work better with the other flower in the long run.  It started out as gold and ended up red, and I hate having two red flowers so close together.  I'm setting aside my Antique Floral for a while to focus on this one - I would like to finish it up as quick as possible while I am in the groove. We'll see how fast it goes!

Rug Camp (Catching Up)

I never got around to posting pictures from rug camp, so it's time to play a little "catch up". Our camp teacher this year was Wendy Miller of The Red Saltbox.  The class was wonderful!  Wendy's colors were awesome. Here's a small sampling of what she brought (and this was taken after the table had been heavily picked over by all of us!):

I didn't get a lot of pics of people working on their rugs this year, but did manage to take a few at show & tell.  Here are a few of the finished rugs, beginning with Imogene's Christmas Sleigh:

Angie did an incredible job creating dimension with lights and darks - she did this rug using only overdyed worms:

Barb H. did a beautiful job on her rug:

And I absolutely love Barb A's chickens:

Rachel's rugs are always beautiful and always original designs.  I love her color pallete!

Now back to the present...I did manage to finish one thing on my "to do" list this weekend.  This block is part of a special top-secret project, so I can't say too much about it now...  I found the pattern in a book of blocks published by Quiltmania.

I was a little too ambitious with the embroidery - thankfully it doesn't show up all that well in the photo. I absolutely HATE writing on quilt blocks, so I thought I would give embroidery a shot. While I have gotten better at the fancy stitches from my crazy quilt classes, I am definitely a novice when it comes to stitchng letters!

Antique Floral Progress - Week 3

Work continues to get in the way of my artistic endeavors, so I haven't made a tremendous amount of progress on anything lately.  With the quilt show looming less than two months away, I think it is safe to assume I will not have anything to enter.  I haven't had time to work on the one little quilt I thought I might be able to complete due to other commitments.  I am currently spending my applique time working on a block for a friend, and as soon as that is finished I need to knock out another cake basket for the AQOMV quilt.  I am wondering why I got myself into that one!

I have spent some time on my Antique Floral rug.  Not a huge amount, but I can at least see a little progress since the photo two weeks ago.  I have a horrible tendency to pack when I use monk's cloth, though - it's tough to get it to lay flat enough for a picture!

I finally remembered to take a picture of the building across the street from my office in New York.  I have been fascinated by the facade ever since I first saw it.  It is barely noticeable from the street level, but we have a very good view from our third floor windows.  I would love to make this design into a brightly-colored rug:

Time to get back to that applique - I don't want to be the last one finished!

Time Sure Flies...

...when you are traveling almost every week!  Between vacation and work travel I have been on the road for five of the last six weeks.  I even took two trips one week!



I attended the Applique Academy for the first time in February.  It was wonderful!  I took classes with Kathy Dunigan, Bobbie Ashley and Georgeann Wrinkle. I purchased way too many patterns - enough applique to last me a lifetime!

Somewhere between the Academy and a trip to Austin, TX (work-related) I managed to finish my first swap block for the AQOMV exchange.  I really, really hate having to sign the blocks.  I ended up having to replace the piece I signed on this block and wasn't at all impressed with the one I did this month. There has to be some way I can do better!

I haven't had a chance to work on any other blocks for myself.  I am doing well just to get my one basket made and in the mail every month!

Last week was one of my favorite events of the year - Toddhall Rug Camp!  This year's teacher was Wendy Miller.  I decided to work on an old Emma Lou Lais pattern I had in my collection.  Wendy's wools are gorgeous!  I didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped, but I did get a good start and can't wait to get this one done.  I have to work hard to make a significant dent in it before Susan Quicksall's class next month.  Here it is at the end of week one:

I have completely given up on finishing that big applique quilt in time for this year's show, so I have gone back to working on my Lisa's Garden blocks.  There's a slight chance I could get that one done by June, particularly since I could do the quilting myself.  Too bad it's not a rug show - I have actually finished a couple of those in the past two years!

AQOMV Eagle Block

I finally finished my eagle block for my AQOMV project!  I was just a little behind - he was supposed to be finished in January.  I did manage to finish one of my signature blocks so I am ready for the February swap.  I haven't signed it yet... I really hate writing on blocks!  I am completely terrified of messing them up.  No matter what technique and pen I try, it never looks good to me. 

I need to prep another applique block for this project.  All of the signature blocks we are swapping will be pieced, so I plan to focus on applique first and then fill in with additional pieced blocks later.

Bedspring Challenge

I finally finished my bedspring!  It didn't turn out exactly as planned, but I am pretty happy with him.  Making a snowman seemed particularly appropriate this weekend given the surprise 5" of snow we received Saturday morning!

I learned a few things in the process of making my little snow guy.  First, you can't felt into styrofoam - it just doesn't stick!  Second, you can't cover styrofoam with wool and attempt to felt additional wool onto it.  Why it wouldn't work I don't know, but I totally destroyed my Clover felting tool (one broken needle and four bent ones)!  Third, Clover makes replacement needles for the felting tool - I had tossed it into the trash with the intention of buying a replacement, but found that you can get refills at JoAnn's for less than half the cost of the tool.  Luckily it was still near the top so it received a quick bath and is happily back to 'normal' now.

Last, but not least, I learned that they make a textured paint that looks like snow that does stick to styrofoam.  I was walking through JoAnn's with a bottle of glitter in hand when I spotted it.  I was thrilled - I absolutely HATE glitter!  The snow stuff went on easily with a brush and really turned out cute! 

I was also really excited to find the button I used for the nose.  I can't remember what it is called, but it is perfect!  Now I just have to hope that all the hot glue holds until Wool Club!

Sincerely Jane Challenge

I haven't been able to spare much time to work on any of my projects lately, but I did manage to get my journal cover finished and started filling it with ideas.

One of the project ideas I have added to my journal concerns the "Sincerely Jane" challenge that I am planning to start with other members of the Yahoo Rug Hookers group.  I really don't have time for yet another challenge, and already have way too many projects slated for 2011, but this one is really calling to me!  I pulled out the old pattern I drew 8 or 9 years ago and found that I don't really care for it all that much.  I designed a couple of alternatives with my Dear Jane (TM) software:

The blocks and triangles in the above layout are subject to change - I just threw things in to get the basic idea.  I had to make the center pretty large to balance the traingles on the border - the size is 39" x 49".

This one is similar to my original.  I am not sure that I like the plain borders.  It ends up being much more reasonable in size (29.5" x 39.5"), but it doesn't speak to me like the first design. I think the triangles and kites really tie it to the original.  Now I just need to decide if I am up for starting yet another huge rug!