Tuesday rambles

I put together a new website for the new block gather project.
Please head over there to show, inspire, ask questions and to stay up to date on the project.
I sent invites to all participating so that you can post,
if you have not gotten the invite for some reason please shoot me an email.
I did notice one person's email, whom I email regularly has come back for some unknown computer issue.



I thought it was humorous when I posted this quilt the other day that several people commented, they liked the "Chopsticks" quilt.
I thought, that was a clever name, then it was pointed out that it wasn't so unique!
go figure! I guess I don't read enough quilt magazines. ;-)

My inspiration came from two sketches I have here in the studio.
The blue and green one, was for a mural painting I was going to do in my new
kitchen at my house, but it never came to be..
So it has been hanging here for a good 5 years, and looking at it every days,
I thought, hmmm, that might make a nice quilt.
I'm thinking the mural still needs to become a quilt that actually resembles the sketch... the whole blue green thing is indeed very "me!"

Just below the above sketch hangs this black and white sketch.
Same concept, different mediums, simple, yet striking.
(match sticks, chop sticks, counting by 5's, etc. etc.)
I need to pick a nice name for this quilt...


which goes to show you: Nothing is original... But hopefully authentic.

One particularly great thing I picked up from Shelly this past weekend,
was when machine quilting, put on its undergarments before you start quilting it!
This, first I thought very funny, Shelly does have a fun sense or humor.
And second, it made a lot of sense.
She said stitching in the ditch does two things.
one, sets up the quilt in a way you can take out the basting pins
which will make it easier to quilt,
and two, gives the designs more refinement.

So don't forget your quilts undergarments!

I finished up these two little projects with her theory.
I think it will help me a lot and give me more patience in machine quilting larger pieces...

And lastly,
The PIXIE DUST BLOCKS go together today! Yippee! I just made a few adjustments to the layout, after I took this image. And now will begin sewing them together, and decide on a border choice... I am still amazed at how lovely this quilt looks already.
You guys are talented & awesome!