I'M IN A CREATIVE MIND

Although I have not been on-line in the last few weeks, does not mean I have been idle.  A little vacation is good for everyone.  I have, however, been very busy.  I started up beading again, while on vacation and created a few goodies.  Please check them out.

1. The mix includes  lucite with copper earrings; ceramic necklace strung with metallic cord;
If you're interested in any of these please email me at josie.brat@yahoo.com.  They are not posted on my website yet.

2. Knitting - a few new beanie  hats.  Please email me if you're interested in any one of these beauties, made with my favourite yarn -merino wool.

I LOVE CREATING

Well, another week has gone by and I have not had a chance to update my blog.  Today, I said it's a must as I have so much to tell you about.

QUILTING

I belong to the NJ Modern Quilt Guild which has a member listing of over 50 people.   I joined this group back in March, and have enjoyed the monthly meetings.   While it's a "modern quilt guild" it does not exclude others who are doing more traditional quilts.  It today's market, the modern quilting is becoming more and more popular, especially with the young, and newest quilters.   I have never been traditional so I'm finding the modern quilting more exciting, as it involves simple lines using a lot of negative space.

During the monthly meetings we talk/share what's going on in quilting.  We also have a segment called   "Show & Tell", where members or visitors can share their projects.

 Last month I participated in a "Challenge" from "Cloud 9", a local fabric company.  This involved 3 fabrics from a new line + solid white.
The  guidelines for the block was no larger than 12.5" on 2 sides, and the other 2 sides any size.   I came in 3rd place in this challenge which was exciting as this was really my first challenge. This is what my block looks like.  You can see all the other lovely blocks on the  "Cloud 9"site below.

The Land That Never Was

More updates later...

KNITTING - another passion

Ok, some of you may be surprised as sewing has always been my biggest enjoyment.  As a young child I taught myself how to knit from a book, knit a few items then stopped.  I had too much going on at school including my "Viola"lessons.   About 7 months ago I was getting ready for yet another trip to Asia, when I stopped in at 2 Stix & A String, a yarn shop in Jersey City.  With the help of Karen, the owner, I purchased yarn, a set of knitting needles, and a simple tip book with DVD to get me started.  Karen was so kind to tell me it would be very easy to pick up knitting again.  I believed her, and 7 months later I am knitting hats, scarves, and now shawls the latest trend.

I try to visit "2 Stix" at least once a week, to sit, knit and chat with other knitters.   Oh, what a great community.
Here are some of the items I have made in the last few months.

My first hat -using a variegated merino wool yarn. I started this on the flight, and finished by the time I landed.

My 4th hat, where I took a basic silhouette and modified the stitching to create this texture in the hat.  My favorite hat.

Novelty yarn - cotton scarf knitted for my neighbor's daughter

 Tri-color wool scarf using 1) super wash worsted wool, 2) Merino/baby alpaca/silk and 3)merino combo.

Tri-color infinity scarf and my first venture into the seed stitch.

well that's it for today.  I'm sorry for the delay in post, but I was off on a short vacation.  Yes we all need that.

WHAT ABOUT THE STAIN

 When i went to pick up the ABC print which I had planned to use on the back of the baby quilt I noticed it was damp.  Well guess what?  Unfortunately, there was a mishap in the upstairs room and the water came down into the basement, so a few fabrics got wet.  Yes, the ABC print was also stained, as well as another pinwheel quilt I had been working on.

Anyway, i spoke with my friends from my quilting group in town, and I got a few suggestions.  I tried the "Shout" - Color Catcher on the ABC and the red stains were removed in a color water wash.   I used the one sheet i had previously received in the mail, and yes it worked.  I then went out to buy a pack as I never want to be without this stuff.

The quilt is coming together now.  No more mishaps.   Have not yet figured out the design of the quilting, but it will all come together when I sit down at the machine this week.

Backside of Kameron's quilt

Front side of Kameron's quilt

Colourful Baby Quilt

Below is an update on where I am today on the Baby Quilt.  I was not able to spend much time working on this last week, due to some other commitments on hand.  Anyway, you can see the quilt top stitched up now.   All blocks were sewn together into 4 different sections, then these sections were sewn to the central focus panel.

triple border=crayon pattern outside with navy flange/thin green strip

 I plan to take the leftover log cabin squares/half triangles and use for the backing in a simple modern design.  Stay tuned for more exciting finishing details.

INSPIRATION, INSPIRATION - OH WHAT A DAY

 I finally made it to the Brooklyn Museum last week.  I saw 2 exhibits including the "Workt by Hand" Hidden Labor & Historical quilts and "Gravity & Grace" El Anatsui.  The latter had an exhibit of monumental proportions using mainly bottle caps and copper wire.  Truly mesmerizing, and nothing like I've seen before.  The bottle caps come from a local distillery in Nigeria, then pieced together.

Take a look yourself - Gravity & Grace

Some of my favorites from "Workt by Hand" Quilt Exhibit:

Crazy Quilt, silk

Tumbling Blocks-about 1865-70/silk,velvet,wood

Crazy Quilt 

Crazy Quilt 1880, silk (1)

Crazy Quilt 1880, silk (2)

Colourful Baby Quilt

I promised my niece I would finish the baby quilt now that I completed the big project for Mother so yesterday I finished putting all the blocks together.   I'm really a free spirit when it comes to most of my quilting, whereas I will take an idea or a piece of fabric and build around it.
Step 1:
  In this case, my niece and I went to the fabric store, in Vernon CT.
My niece saw so many fabrics she loved, but the one that stood out the most was named "Noah's Ark"...  Of course, I started thinking about how I could use this and immediately came to one conclusion.  This Noah's Ark had to be the central fabric, and we would find other fabrics to surround it.   We then spotted this lovely collection of fabrics and immediately selected a few patterns that would work together.

Noah's Ark- theme fabric

main ground fabric

contrast

contrast

Backing 

Piecing

Crayon-border plan

Step 2.   I created some rough sketches about what I had in mind (please see below).

Step 3:  Cut up  1"to 1-1/4" strips of fabrics from some of the above, plus others in my stash.  Sew together.

Piecing and assembly of blocks takes time, so tomorrow more exciting photos to share.

 This week I finished a full size photo quilt for my mother.  It's called a "Tribute To My Mother" and was shared with my Mom less than 2 weeks ago.  i also plan to make a bed skirt, and 2 pillow cases to match the back of the quilt.  Since my mother wanted  colors to match her current room, I worked with blue and white which is pretty new for me...Those who know me as a quilter know I like black and white with bright colors.    Many of the fabrics used are from shirting collections, which i collected over the years from the excess at my last job.  I added in some more modern like fabrics  and yellow as the sashing.    This is an heirloom piece that will be treasured for years.