come plAy!

CHALLENGE!
SAY CHEESE!
Time for PLAY!

I've been thinking about

PORTRAITS....

Have you seen Katherine Roumanoff's portraits?
really really fun...and inspiring!

Kathy's Header has a quilt she did in Self portraits, here
her post about this project here


I've Never done a portrait in fabric...

Want to experiment along with me?
style wise, Anything goes

Let's do a portrait of ourselves in fabric,
16" X 20"
and have a little showcase of them all...

This is a new experience for me,
let's try something NEW together!!

Leave me a comment if you want to play along...
if enough wanna play,

I put up a little blog
where we can all show our process and learn from each other...
after I get your comment to join I'll send you a invite so you can add to the blog posts...

GUEST BLOGGERS WANTED:
if you want to contribute a tutorial of a portrait you have done, let me know
would love some guests bloggers on this topic...

I will post about the progress of mine.

Have you done a portrait in fabric?
send me a link...



Kathy York has a cute one on her blog here

Nellie has a fun one here

Here's a tutorial on making it in paper, which could easily be done with fabric instead.

TGIF

Fun Friday....

Procrastination and why it's great...

I've have a group project that I started with a bang weeks and weeks ago,
and now, of course, it needs to be done very soon.(it has since been neglected)
My goal for the week was to sit and get the applique done by today.
Well, today is here and guess what?
Two Oprah's,
three Parenthoods,
One,the mentalist
and one American Idol later,

I am now caught up on my TIVO'd shows from
when I was away on vacation!

And I just got the applique done.

Yippee!
(did you know, if you skip commercials,
you can watch all those shows in about 3 hours?)

Gotta love procrastination! (and Tivo!)

April 28th I will be working with 12 kids ages 10-15
from the BASICS program
to make enough blocks for two more quilts...
I cut a bunch of squares and will bring my bins of scraps
and some steam a seam, and hopefully,
come up with a bunch of blocks like mine above....

They can make whatever they want,
and I am so looking forward to see, what they come up with.

I still need a helper or two, if you anyone wants to come lend a hand...

I did get one more BASICS top together today...
Still have time to send blocks!
Get them to me BEFORE APRIL 30th to be entered in the
drawing for the AMY BUTLER fabrics giveaway...
I will continue to gather the house blocks afterwards...
Can never have enough quilts for this cause...

**
Have a great weekend, oh, and
For all you 80's game fans....
(even if your not, I bet you'll like this.)

now, I gotta find something for that "15 minutes for myself"...
perhaps cut a few more tumblers...

toodles~!

other ways to help

Today's 15 minutes:
Cutting strips for my Anguillan Sunrise Quilt

Last night, My hubby said, ok are you ready for your last Birthday gift?
HUH? my Birthday is sort of over...
Nope, he said, you have a gift that just got here...

Inside was, this lovely Aqua glass bead bracelet. And even better was the story behind it.
SAMESKY.COM
Same Sky employs HIV+ women in Rwanda who survived the 1994 Genocide. Instead of a hand out, we give these women a hand up and the chance to rebuild their lives.

One of the founders, I learned, is a friend of ours, who in the past had also worked with
The Christopher Reeves Foundation.
A woman I admire, who continues to do lovely work,
also inspired me to give what I can, help where I can, no matter how big or small...
The Rawanda effort has always been something I have been wanting to be a part of. So even though it maybe a small effort, today, who knows what more I could do...tomorrow.

Please visit the site. See the lovely things the women have made.

Support people.

Anyhere.

In the great scheme of things, we're all related.

Speaking of doing my part, , sorry three, more tops completed for the BASICS HOME Quilts

Got 42 10.5" blocks?

got 6 house blocks?

Quick and easy.
Wanna send tops like this too!

At one point I had said I had enough backings etc.
But I have recvd so many more house blocks then I thought,
that I will indeed run out of backings... and 10.5" blocks.
If you are not able to send house blocks,
backings and 10.5" blocks would be greatly appreciated...

Thank you to Alexis and Gail!
More Fabulous blocks!!!!

this and that

I Finished this little goodie last night... ;-)
gotta get it in the post now... it was fun to put this together!
I love making things that fit a person specifically!
Hope she likes it...
(hope you're not reading my blog!)
**
Todays' 15 minutes....
I try to take 15 minutes everyday to do something for myself.
(on top of all the other stuff I have going here)
Keeps me sane...

My trusty cotton purse...(on the left) new on the right)

I made the little purse on the left about 8 or 9 years ago.
I am always on the hunt for the PERFECT NYC bag.

When you walk a lot in NYC, if your a mother,
you always need one hand free and the other to latch onto your child...
So having a purse in one hand usually doesn't work...

because you may have a lunch bag, backpack of groceries
that also needs to be carried...

I can NEVER find a long strapped SMALL, easy access bag and that is not to heavy...
So my little cotton bag was born.
I love ot take it to the beach and everywhere else.. packs easy for trips etc,

But sometimes you want something a little snazzier...

SO today, with my
15 MINUTES for me, I picked out a piece of washed out stone gray leather
at one of the local shops in my hood. (matches my hair!)

one piece cost me $45 dollars, I came home, copied my favorite little bag and
added a pocket for my Metro card(subway pass)
(which you are always searching for...)
got out some snazzy red for trim, cute huh?
AND,
got out some purse handles that I had previously bought
and made a second hand bag!

Not bad for $45!

Got two more BASICS tops put together..., or nearly...

Obviously these two will be great for kids!

And Thanks to Janet H, and Jennifer!
I got you on the list! thanks ladies!
if you two have blogs let me know...
**
Now I have to get back to the applique projects I have going here...
And catch up on my new show,
JUSTIFIED, with Timothy Olyphant.
LOVE IT!!

Sunsets and 15 minutes

Finding Rhythm.

My mother, as I said, graciously helped me by joining 8 quilt tops 6 X6
of the pre cut 10.5" blocks you all have been sending.
This by the way, is a HUGE help.

Feel free to keep sending the precuts, backings and House blocks and bindings...
I can see I will be going through the load I have here faster than I had thought...

I had not planned on starting to finish these to 6 X 8 (60" X 80")tops,
But having the 8 tops lay there,I figured a few a day will keep me from leaving them til the last minute...
So i am figuring out how to incorporate the House blocks, and come up with 14 quilts for Auction, plus about 6 more that BASICS will sell at other various functions...

Yesterday, I rcvd these blocks from
Nancy, Janet R., and GiGi

Janet, Need your email address please...


If Nancy and Janet R have blogs, please let me know so I can link them.

Thank you So Much!!!

Keep them coming til April 30th!
Don't Forget that Fabulous Amy Butler Fabric Giveaway!!!

Just have them to me by the end of this month and you will be entered!

**


As I applique away on the commission quilt, I still need to play a bit for myself!
So I Am trying to finish this little giftie for a friend...
*****

And Today's
15 minutes of play
is:

Definitely inspired by Anguilla's Sunsets....
My toes, thanks to my daughter choice of color!

And
these vintage blocks I found in Lancaster....
I love the colors...
Navy, pink, yellow, black... and SAND

I'm seeing another BIG quilt coming with this block...

From Hawaiian Sunset quilt to Anguilla's Sunsets...

Have a few quilt bee blocks I need to get to yet today,
so I better sign off and get working...

What will you do special
with
15 minutes today?

home again.

Home again....

Not a stitch of sewing happened in the past week.
Can you believe that?

Although the manager of our Hotel, pointed out that there was indeed a quilter on Anguilla!
Carol Richardson... was hoping to pop over to her studio,
but I couldn't drag my lazy backside out of the sand!

I did read my brains out laying in the sun, and swimming in the ocean....
The Hotel we were at, had a library of books so as I finished my first book,
The Reliable Wife,(good trashy read) I turned that one over to them
and picked up The Glass Castle.
Wow. it rattled me to the core. probably changed my look on life eternally) fantastic.
Then I read, Olive Kitteridge... Also very good.
Interesting choice of books... then one last pick up from the airport...
The Guernsey Literary and potato peel pie Society...


I noticed a load of people reading THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett...
might need to pick it up...
must be a good lay around the pool sort of read also...


Mary R.
Cherie
Sharon
Ann Marie
Barbara

I Had Lovely packets waiting for me when I got home!
Not just house blocks but loads of pre cut 10.5" squares!
Yippeee!
Since my mother, while I was away, sewn together 8 tops of the first lot of pre cuts that I had!
A great start! Thank you Mother!

I had a few more of my One block Over Bee blocks waiting for me too.

so those went straight up on the wall so I could see them...
My camera went ka-flooie just today! Better today than on my trip!
Oi! oh well. it seems ot be s ticking and being difficult... hopefully it's not full of sand!

I hope to crank out a few more of these blocks this week...
Yum. Makes me SOOO happy!

It's nearly 80 degrees today in NYC! Gotta get this paper work done...
Thanks again to all of you for your lovely emails this past week. It helped hearing all the lovely words as I reached the top of that (40) "HILL!"

And, as a parting pic, this guy was wondering around,
outside Macy's just before we left for the Caribbean...

Makes you smile, don't it?
(and perhaps, shake your head?)

Happy Easter

For some reason the Easter commercials made a big impact on my family when I was a kid...
we all recall these Cadbury commercials like
THIS one. Click here

or here

And even til this day, we say,
HAPPY EASTER, EASTER BUNNY!
BAWK BAWK!
(CLICK HERE)

Hope the Easter bunny didn't leave any black jelly beans in your Easter basket...
(something my grandma used to say!)

Have a super SWEET day!

Thank you all fopr your lovely Birthday wishes!

It was so fun to read them all! Never had so many happy thoughts on my birthday!

We are heading home today, so I will be back online monday.

I woke up this a.m. thinking about all the work I have a head of me...

;-)

but fun work at that!