Quilting in Williams

Alex and I made a rainy day trip up north and look what we found!  Williams is home to Grand Canyon Railway, Bearizona, and best of all, Quilts on Route 66
Easy to find in a turn of the last century building on the old Route 66 historic Railroad AVE of Williams, Quilts on Route 66 has tons of charm and some unique finds too:

This sample of Creative Girl Pattern from BelieveMagic stopped me in my tracks.

Yes, it really is raw edge applique, Customized with tiny sayings patch and script quilting too!

 

Here are handmade lampwork bead fobs. So great to find local arts represented:)

 

This sparkly Japanese floss was another  must-have find.

Quilts on Route 66 is a  great LQS for Americana and Route 66 fabrics -

Alex chose a prickly pear FQ, of course;)

 

An adorable shop in an adorable town, I can't wait to return:)

 



Blue House

I started this as one my final project attempts for Quilt It Challenge! I wanted to go ahead and finish this dream project, a whole-cloth table runner.

I know you can't see it very well. I chose the new Connecting Threads variegated thread Denim Blues, which is great! Except I put it on closely matching large print fabric.

This is a Mary Engelbreit house in the woods. Love her art! Maybe I should spend more time on some thread painting to help the picture show up better? However, I'm having trouble deciding where the negative spaces should be....

What I am proud of - and why I wanted to finish this Challenge- is the free hand feathers. Not traditional feathers as I have been practicing, but more stylized to fit the "ME" picture. And it worked! At last I know how to talk to my machine:)

But this runner did not want to be finished! LOL Ran out of blue denim binding....

I still say variegated thread is a great choice for adding visual interest to whole-cloth works. Can't wait to use all my new CT variegated threads [Item No. 21289: I received set of 10 for Mother's Day!] on more whole cloth projects.

To be continued.....

Quilt my Chairs

Pinterest convinced me I could do this. Time to refinish ye 'ol dinning room chairs.

Yes, this is my dining room chair. I know, yikes, right?

"Chair, meet Drill."

This soft sanding attachment was less than a $1 at the hardware store.

[Why aren't quilty tools always that cheap? Just sayin'.]

You could use sandpaper instead. But, hey, if you have a drill...

 

You'll also need:

screwdriver (ask your chair what kind)

mallet (optional)

old towel

old quilt :)

staple gun

3 spraypaints: primer, dark blue, black

 



Looks better already right? Here's how it goes:

• take seat off chair w/ screwdriver.
• sand chair (but don't sand cane back - I learned)
• dust with old dishtowel
• spray with primer
• spray with blue spraypaint
• spray with black spraypaint

It's VERY dry here, so I only waited 15 minutes between spray coats.

You may want to let them dry longer. 

• Wrap quilt remnant right over old seat cover (pretend you're wrapping a present) and staple in place.

• Fit chair onto seat. Mallet is handy for making alignments.
• Screw chair to seat. [I found screws went right through old quilt, no need to pre-drill holes.]

 

Seat is covered with more of the old Northern Star remnant.

I takes two coats of spraypaint to cover primer. Blue undercoat gives a nice glow and keeps new black paint from being too stark with old quilt, don't you think?

 

But wait there's more -

I painted blue roses on top of chair back.

{Did I ever tell you how I learned to paint? Didn't think I would survive Alex's first day of kindergarten, so I invited all the Mom's on the street for a Donna Dewberry painting party to keep me busy until school was out. Hired a craft teacher for the party and we all learned to paint.}

 

 



House's House Quilt

This is relevant under the heading of Quilt Watching. Don't you just love when quilts turn up in unexpected places?

Speaking of unexpected finds...discovered this Hugh Laurie album in Starbucks a year ago. That's right - Dr. House is a killer jazz pianist. Honest!

 

[here is the link since YouTube is refusing to show in post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGiNa-7opKk ]

Didn't It Rain album is simply excellent. [See what I Mean!? Evenin' is my FAVE. Which one is yours?]  All superb musicians with The Copper Bottom Band.
Take time to read Mr. Laurie's liner notes!!! Equally superb writing.

So after a year of dreaming and waiting impatiently, yes stamping my little foot the entire time, HL & The Copper Bottom Band [with  Elizabeth "Trombonista" Lea -  showstopper extraordinaire!] finally came to town! We got tickets third row center!! And this is what we saw!!!

House Quilt :)

 

In the spirit of One For My Baby...and One More For the Road (which they bring to a new standard on this album, btw), here is our original favorite Hugh Laurie piano, from way back, remember Jeeves and Wooster?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnCNJD3-e7g

 

"Oh, and one for yourself...of course."

 





Those Surprises

You know kids have that little fascination for bikes. They love it and treat their bike like family. They care for it, fix it, ride it, make the little bike happy. I am one of those kids. I love my Quilt Market Meet-Up bike with it's sky blue color, shimmering in the sun. It even has a basket to carry everything that I need in it. You wouldn't believe the look on my face when Mom had created the cutest creation for my bike. --Alex

up-cycle bike basket liner

 

I made Alex's basket liner from an old work shirt and bunting flags leftover from other (apron) projects. A double recycle project!

 

Shirt placket is the casing, with shirt front still attached for liner sides. Liner bottom was cut from one of the shirt sleeves. Sides (shirt front) were gathered around oval (sleeve) bottom. The big design challenges were:

 

 

1. Deciding to put the exposed seams on the outside. They really are well hidden by the basket and the bunting.
2. Giant snaps instead of drawstring casing.[ It is so hot here that sticky Velcro melts off in the garage, so although an obvious choice, that wasn't a real option.]
   

   
3. Shirt pocket section was pieced in center front of basket liner. Gathering made the pocket gap, so skip that step on the front edge if you use a pocket.

 

Well, all that is left of Uncle Dennis' denim work shirt is the collar, cuffs, and one sleeve. Can you think of another upcycle project that would finish it off?

  Time to go outside for a summertime bike ride :)

 





RHQ in LizzieBCre8tive

We, at RHQ, are so honored to be featured in the Holiday Issue of
  LizzieBCre8tive Dream, Laugh, Create, an amazing quilty emag.
If you look at pages 34-36 of this emag, you'll see our Quilted Santa Hat project.

Not only does Dream, Laugh Create, include our Santa Hats, but this issue by LizzieBCre8tive also has 9 awesome projects, plus a cookie recipe! (How convenient to have a cookie recipe for Santa. ;-) )

Thank you LizzieBCre8tive for choseing our Quilted Santa Hat to be in your emag!

Teacher Appreciation Week

May starts Teacher Appreciation Week. You need to find a trendy and functional present that can be shipped fast! If his is you, please check our Etsy shop link to the right of this post.

Don't tell Kitty Pearl, but I first designed this quilted keyboard cover to keep soft fluffy cat fur out of our new computer. It turned out to be a fun gadget for organizing the office area. And I liked the reversible opportunity for decorating. I've made a few of these in chalkboard themed novelty fabric. They reverse to a Debbie Mumm fall fabric, as classrooms seems to decorate most for Fall. Couldn't resist adding a patch of vintage teacher illustration and poem from The Vintage Workshop.

What other themes would you like to see in a Quilted Keyboard Cover? Cats? Coffee? Would you like me to post a tutorial for making your own Quilted Keyboard Cover pattern? Please comment and let me know. Happy Quilting --Mom

Organize the New Year

How can I make it easier to celebrate the seasons? I want to hang my seasonal welcome signs the first minute a holiday approaches. No time for digging in the garage to find the right treasure to fit a new mood. Do you have this issue?

This is the inside of my hallway coat closet. It took nothing but push-pins to help hang my favorite holiday decorations for quick and super simple access. TA DA!

Do you have an organizational tip? It doesn't have to be a decorating idea. Anything that will help

keep the new year simple is worthwhile here. Please comment with your idea!

If you comment with a link to photo, I will re-post for you here on RHQ Blog.

Let's see how many organizing ideas we can collect this first week of 2011. Happy New Year! --Mom

Vote for Barn Quilt #7

I joined Facebook today so I could vote in the AccuQuilt Barn Quilt Block Contest.

Please Vote for #7! Very honored to be chosen as a finalsit in the first Barn Quilt contest. The blocks here each represent a local feature of AccuQuilts hometown.

Here are instructions for voting. And while you are in facebook, Be Kiity Pearl's Friend.

Thanks for voting!!!!!

http://facebook.com/accuquilt

1. Select LIKE button next to AccuQuilt title on the WALL page/tab [It's tiny and hard to see]
2. Select BARN QUILT tab
3. Select the first quilt, on point with an "A" in the middle. This is Block #7
4. At the bottom of the block photo and before the list of comments is a tiny blue link that says: comment-like. Select Comment
5. You will be entered in an open field at the end of the comments list. Please leave your comment to vote for #7.
6. Remember to click the blue COMMENT BOX to post your comment.
7. YOU CAN VOTE AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE! Voting deadline is Friday, 5/21 5:00pm Central

Thanks again for voting, friend!