Wednesday, January 28, 2009

A Sneak Peek


Here is a sneak peek at the crazy quilt block I just completed for the current president of the Friendship Quilt Guild. I was so pleased to have a chance to use my imagination. Each year we make a quilt for our current guild president as a thank you for their service. The theme is chosen by the president but she does not get to see the progress until May when the completed quilt is presented.

My apologies for the brief posts I've made lately. Something had to give way to make room for all the other things going on in my life. I have attended two weekend retreats this month. No, this in not normal for me but it sure was a great way to start the New Year.

I also taught a class about hand piecing quilt blocks at the Piecemakers Guild which meets at Patsy's Retreat once a month. This was the first time I taught the class so I had some work to do to get the samples in order for class.

Last weekend was our annual Sleep-In for the Friendship Quilt Guild. Our Art Quilt group met to share paints, markers and other messy embellishments. We also did a little color discharge from fabric. Lots of fun and a great chance to see which products worked well and which did not.

Here is another project we worked on at the overnight. Our group is sewing pillowcases for children with cancer. These pillowcases will go to the cancer ward at UW Hospital in Madison. We made 40 pillowcases on Saturday. I was able to finish 3 at the overnight and have 4 more to complete this weekend. Suzanne will continue to collect these into next month. See info on RC blog for details.

The biggest reason I have not been blogging as frequently is exercise. I used to read and write my blogs in the morning before work. I am now riding my exercise bike each morning. More about that soon.
I recently started using Google Reader to read posts and have sometimes waited so long that I have 200 posts to read before I can get caught up. Please know I am reading and enjoying what you write. I am not commenting as much as I used to because Google Reader does not have a option to comment (or am I missing something?). Also, please note I do not reply to comments on my own blog but will e-mail a reply to you if you enable the e-mail feature when you leave a comment. I welcome comments and e-mails.

Wishing you all lots of time to create and dream. - Chris

11 comments:

Tracey Leeder said...

I love how you did the spider web and the spider! So cool. I hear you about something has to give where time is concerned. You just cant do it all sometimes, life just gets in the way! i am really interested in this crazy quilt media. Looks like so much fun! Beautiful work (as always) Slow down and have fun!

Anonymous said...

I love what you have done with this quilt block....LOVE IT! So whimsical and fun. A beautiful piece of art :)
xxsm

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

that is a really neat crazy quilt decoration! very unusual
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Jackie's Stitches said...

I love the idea of making a quilt for your guild president. What a lovely keepsake for them! Your quilt block is gorgeous and I love the spider!

Great job on the exercise....I need to get into a routine myself!

Greenmare said...

Very cool!! I love the flowers you embroidered. I'm holding back on the spider............ she looks a bit familiar to me......

Faith said...

ooooh I love that spiders web and spider what a great idea,,, it is so good to let your imagination run riot on these things where you can use stitches and embroidery too on quilts... this looks brilliant thankyou for showing us.
it shows so many things can be done instead of just boring block to block, so much more exciting.

bindu said...

I love spider webs and spiders, so I do love your design too! It's great you are riding your exercise bike in the morning - great way to start the day.

JennaLouiseCreates said...

Your crazy quilt work is just beautiful. I recently picked up my crazy quilt books and have been thinking about diving in again. Thanks for sharing...outstanding. Jenna Louise

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

OH lovely lovely crazy quilt. I just discovered your blog and really enjoy it. I'll be back to read more.

On the google reader - if you click the main "name" of the blog it opens up a new window, which is the actual blog - and then you can comment from there.

Patsy's Middle of No Where said...

This piece turned out fabulous! I can't wait for pictures of the finished quilt she will recieve! Yours will be the best! p

Susan Elliott said...

I'm glad to see you get behind on your reading as much as me! I love those pillowcases -- do you use a serger to make them? Do you have an easy pattern to follow?

The colors on your CQ block are compelling and beautiful and your spider is so sweet. The buttonhole pink flowers are my fave though...glad to see you're on the bike in the morning...it's best to get it out of the way first thing.