Oh My Goodness

I almost forgot. I finished one of my little painted fabric quilts. I really, really wish the color was better. I absolutely love this one, except that the binding is uneven and the corners look funny on the binding....but with therapy....

I did free motion embroidery on the painted middle section, then the double border simply has a stitch in the ditch.

I am planning to enter a quilt or two in the Kaw Valley Quilt Show, what are your votes? I think I will go with the Geisha for sure...but then maybe a more traditional quilt..... I would definitely enter Scrabble, but it is currently in Oklahoma, so, that is okay.

Aunt Mary Ann wrote today, she has quilt fabric for me. I think I will print some pictures and send them to her, so that she can see I really will use it. I think she rather thinks I was just being polite when I said I would love to have it.....Never know what gems I will find in her lot.

Now I am starting to collect fish fabrics - SHOCKING - I want to do a fish bowl quilt.

Oh, and hope to have Doni's Fosters finished this week. Here is a little teazer for that one......J

More on the quilt trial

So, over Spring Break I had to say good-bye to three different quilts, it has been quite an emotional journey.....

I finished the Jayhawk for Connie, so it went to live at her house. The good-bye wasn't so hard, since it was the 3rd Jayhawk quilt I made. Oh, and save your comments about March madness, it seems rather like Mayhem to me. My favorite Jayhawk is still Papa's though....

(I finally delivered Kaye her quilt. Let me tell you, that one was hard to give up. The kids want me to make another one, but I can't do that, in my world, the quilt is made for the owner...maybe I will just make one similar....)

and finally, I completed and delivered the Scrabble quilt. Yeah, it turned out pretty cool, and I am sure the bride and groom (Martha and Alex) enjoyed it. It looked really good, and I love the humor in it. In case you didn't know - Martha rather proposed to Alex in a game of Bananagrams - but I played off the scrabble aspect. The entire wedding reception followed the same theme so I was "right now!" or some other cool phrase.

I also finished Ian's quilt. I particularly liked the bright colors. Ian wanted a quilt for his "Duckie" but decided he was going to keep this one. He told me that my other quilts were nice, but this was my best one... okay it was adorable the way he said it, but didn't translate to blog very well.

Another Pair of Quilts

Here are another 2 quilts that I just finished. They by no means are related to each other - I have just had time during Parent Teacher Conferences to finish the bindings. I know I would have time on my hands, so I have been saving up.....

The Geisha quilt is based on one of mom's drawings. She did several in a series, so I think I will do a couple more similar. There is one of a samurai in one that Bill is particularily interested in.

The other is the first quilt I have made based on a pattern and it was rather challenging. It didn't help that I used cotton velvet for much of it, and it has a greater thickness that regular cotton quilting fabric. But I like how it turned out. This is another one where I dyed all the fabrics for.

Both have free motion quilting/emboidery - whick is absolutly fabulous in my opinion.

Feel free to leave feedback. Jen

Yep, yep, yeppers, here is another addition. Most of these fabrics are hand dyed on Kona cotton - which is absolutely fabulous. I never know when I use my "special" fabrics how much quilting I should do, I don't want to draw attention away from the fabrics. Such a quandary.

Here are a few more quilts, including the one I made for Baby Eva.


And Papa's KU Quilt









There are a few more that I need to get photographed and posted. But I am thinking that I am pretty happy with what I have done. Any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to let me know. Oh, and Jamie, if you send me a picture of Braden's, I would love to add it to the posts.

Oh My! A Quilt Attack

Well, I created a quilt for my friend John (actually, his new baby girl) in Sept, and got rather addicted. At this point, I have made 2 full size, 2 throws, and 3 wall hanging quilts. The goal, besides that it is just fun, is to use up my fabric stash. And quite honestly, 6 quilts latter, and I still have crap-loads of fabric, but I think I have made some fabulous quilts. I even joined the Lawrence Quilt Guild - hoping to learn some new tricks.

I also have 4 quilts in the makings - but I ran out of batting, so I am just completing new tops - I will finish them as soon as I get more batting. I am doing some art quilts using all my hand dyed fabrics, and making applique projects (like Doni's Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends quilt.) I am also taking some of mom's drawings and turning them into quilts - this one is one of my favorites, but its not finished yet, hopefully this weekend.

I have posted some pictures on Facebook - and I am getting offers to buy them, and have one that I am making for a co-worker - She wants one just like Papa's KU Quilt.

And - check this out - I have learned to use a thimble, I hand stitch the bindings, and my fingertips had begun to loose their fingerprints - so I had to learn.

End of an Era

So, on February 13, 2009, Gramma Josephine Denton passed away. She was my mom's mom. This was another hard time for me. I can't really say that I have recovered from Mom's passing, and now I have to say Good'bye to Gramma Jo. She and I had a complex relationship. I knew her when she was young enough to take me to World's of Fun, and she was there as an extra parent through high school and college, and she had become a source of inspiration for my marriage and parenting. And for some reason, I seem to be the only person in the world that she did not fight to pay for lunch or dinner.

The funeral itself was difficult because the topic of many conversations was condolensces for my mom, as well as for Gramma. But I made it through, and really enjoyed the time that I got to spend with my family. I really do have a great support group, though I rarely let them know that I need them. I need to work on that. The attached video is one that I made for the visitation. It shows how alive the woman really was. Well, I need to go for a bit, chat later. J