A few more designs

Here are two more designs that I was able to draw up for the tablet design class. The first is a Rose Spray and the second is a Diagonal Feather I could use to fill in a block.

~ Norma

Zen Doodle

One of our homework assignments for the tablet design class was to draw up a Zen Doodle. I came up with this:

This is a lot easier with pen and ink vs. using a tablet and looking at the computer screen. There are a couple of designs that would work well for free motion quilting.

 

~ Norma

Tablet Design Class

While I did not quilt much in April I was still busy improving my quilting skills. I took an online course from Carla Barrett. A couple of years ago I took her “Quilt Whispering” class. This time I took her Tablet Design Class. I was able to practice using Photoshop to aid in designing custom quilting for customer quilts. I also learned how to design whole cloth quilts. Carla’s classes are jammed packed and there is always something to learn from her wonderful designs. Over the next few posts I’ll share some of my homework from the classes.
I own a Wacom tablet (thanks Heidi!) and there is a huge learning curve in drawing without looking at your “paper.” You have to move your pen along the tablet while looking at your computer screen. Maybe in the future (when I’m filthy rich)  I can invest in a really nice tablet that shows your computer screen on the tablet, but those are about $1,000. Yikes! On the plus side I’ll do great the next time I play Cranium and have to do a “senso-sketch” (drawing with your eyes closed.)
Here is an exercise where we had to draw a background fill. I drew a feather fill. I’m a little shaky but it’s not horrible.


~ Norma

PS. Don't forget to visit the Quilty Giveaways Page to see the wonderful giveaways going on in blogland. 

Millennium Star

I had already written this post once and then blogger decided to crash and I had not saved my progress (boo!) So now you get the abbreviated version.
A couple of months ago my quilt guild held a really nice workshop. Lucky me it was only $20 for guild members. You can bet I signed up right away. $20 for uninterrupted quilting time with no kids? Count me in any time. Of course it helped that we were going to have an awesome teacher. We had Mrs. Pat Speth come and give us an amazing workshop. There were so many choices for projects to work on. I finally settled on Pat’s Millennium Star quilt.
I didn’t really have time to go fabric shopping for the workshop because at that time I was still traveling between two states. So I looked through my stash and found two “12 Days Of Christmas Charm Packs” by Kate Spain. I then quickly drew up the quilt in EQ so I could play with the quilt colors. I settled on adding brown, red, and ice blue to the quilt. I had to pick colors that I knew I would more than likely find at Hobby Lobby since it is the only place to get fabric around here. At least they carry Kona Cottons.
This is what I came up with:



The day of the workshop my very awesome hubby took the kids, baby included, for 6 whole hours! Do I have an amazing husband or what?! This was my very first workshop ever. I had an awesome vision of coming home with a completed quilt top. I mean 6 hours of dedicated quilting time? I should have had that quilt top pieced, basted and ready for quilting right? LOL, how naïve I was. I was able to complete 4 blocks. Yup that’s it! At least they were four very well put together blocks. I think I was the one that got the most blocks done. It may not seem like a lot but the rest of the blocks are in a semi-started state so it shouldn’t be too hard to finish up the other blocks, assuming I could ever find another 6 hours of quilting time!

I’ll post pictures of my finished blocks soon.

~ Norma

PS. Don't forget to visit the Quilty Giveaways Page to see the wonderful giveaways going on in blogland. 

Personalized Baby Quilt

I have added a new item to my Etsy shop. These fabulous personalized baby/toddler quilts are a perfect gift for a special baby boy or girl. It is a simple design in which the name of the child becomes the focal point of the quilt. I’m going to have lots of fun picking out coordinating colors for the binding and the name.

I made this one for my third cousin (my mother’s cousin’s baby- LOL I had to Google it.)

I love this backing print and have been hoarding it for quite some time. I believe it’s by Timeless Treasures and has a very lovely Asian feel.

You can purchase your own personalized baby quilt HERE.

~ Norma

PS. Don't forget to visit the Quilty Giveaways Page to see the wonderful giveaways going on in blogland.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Hey there! I'm so glad you deiced to stop by and visit my little blog. I haven't had much of a sewing/quilting year. Having a baby will kill your quilty life :) Now that my little guy is 9 months old (WOW already?!) I'm finding making time for quilting. Just a snippet here and there.

One of the best ways I have found of forcing myself to make something is to make something for someone else. I can't tell you how many UFO I have for myself and my immediate family. Every now and then I take on a new project that is for someone outside of my family. Usually an online swap. This forces me to get something done because there are deadlines and someone on the other line I wouldn't want to disappoint.

My all time favorite swap is the DQS (Doll Quilt Swap) hosted on Flickr. A mini quilt is totally doable in tiny quilting sessions. But smaller doesn't always mean easier! I like to try out new techniques, blocks, or patterns on my DQS swap quilts. It's a fun way to try something new without commuting to a giant sized quilt. Plus if you need to scrap the project it doesn't feel like a waste of precious fabric.

For my last little quilt I decided to go with paper piecing. I've only done pp maybe four times. So I decided that was enough practice to tackle an advanced block with curved flying geese and sharp little points. SO I decided on a fun NY Beauty block. Ha, ha! It was definitely a learning experience, but in the end I think I did all right.




And I decided to add a bunch of quilting to detract from the not so great piecing :) When in doubt add more quilting!

~ Norma

Don't forget to visit all the other blogs participating in Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side.

Oh and don't forget to  check out the "Quilty Giveaways" tab  for a round up of quilty related giveaways going on in blog land)