Hi Everyone! Have you recovered from Valentine's Day? Hope you're not in a chocolate coma!
I thought I'd update you on my challenge that I'm working on with Lynn, Alamosa Quilter.
Remember, we're working out of this book:
And we are on the second "assignment."
Soft curve piecing. I am finding this more challenging to master. But, the more I practiced, the better it got for me. I e-mailed Lynn and told her it was more challenging. She reminded me, "We're not creating masterpieces. As long as you learn something, that's what counts." Yup. Really true. And I'm learning a lot.
You might recall I'm using this as my color inspiration.
So, here are my fabrics.
I needed some inspiration for what I was going to make. I didn't have any photos that were grabbing me. BUT, my mom sent me a subscription to this magazine...for no reason...just to do it (thanks, Mom...as always, you're the best):
The articles are okay. But more than that, I just really enjoy some of the pictures and advertising. Here are some examples of cool pictures/advertising:
This photo of grapefruit is pretty cool. I'm tucking that away for some later inspiration.
I like this color combination. Don't you? Yep. Tucking that away for later, too.
I like the colors in this one, and I like the circles as well as the little "snowflakes." Saved that one, too.
But this one, here. This one I really liked. I'm using this as my inspiration for my gentle curve piecing project. And I'm using the color combination from the greeting card.
Want a sneak peek at what I accomplished on it this weekend? Well, do ya'?
Here is a little tidbit of what I've accomplished so far. It is turning out okay. I have the top all pieced. I need to quilt it now. I have some ideas for quilting I'd like to try. I want to ponder on it a bit.
When I'm done, I'll show you the whole thing and do a process post about it. Sometime in early March or whenever Lynn and I are both ready to go on it.
I also wanted to show you some photos I took of Sweet Pea over the weekend. Right next to my LQS...
...is a store called the Art Bayou.
It's one of these stores where they have bisque pottery that you can paint and they fire it for you. They also do glass fusing and jewelry making here.
I took Sweet Pea here last year to paint her dad a Christmas present. She really liked it. One day, when I was shopping in the LQS, Papa Pea took Sweet Pea next door to the Art Bayou to look around. She wanted to show him the store. While they were in there, she started whining that she wanted to paint something, Papa Pea said that there wasn't time, she got cranky, and...well...it didn't end happily. She was crabby about it. We said maybe another time.
On this past Saturday, Sweet Pea said to me, "Mom, could we go to that one store and...you know...paint something, please?" She said it so very nicely. I wasn't sure what she was talking about. I queried a bit and figured out she was talking about the Art Bayou (when she said, "You know, that place next to your quilt store?").
Well, I had had such a busy week that she and I had had very little time together. So, I said, "You know, I was going to ask you what you wanted to do today...if you wanted to do something special together. I think that sounds like a great idea. Let's go."
Her face just lit up in disbelief! She was so happy. We cleaned up and off we went.
She picked out this unicorn, then picked out her "paints" (actually it's glaze), and she got to painting.
She had a plan for all the colors....purple body, pink mane and tail, orange horn, gray hooves, red mouth, blue eyes....
She worked carefully for nearly 2 hours! (You have to put on 3 coats of each color.) I was frankly surprised she didn't burn out sooner.
At one point when she was intently painting, she said, "Hey, Mom...I really love doing this with you." I melted into a puddle on the floor. It was really a nice day. We can't wait until next Saturday when we can pick it up and see how it looks after firing. I'll show you some photos.
As a bonus, I got to stop at the LQS after we were done to do a little shopping. :-) It was a very fun girls' afternoon out.
Hope you enjoyed it, too!
In closing, I would like to thank all of you for your ever so kind and supportive comments regarding Piper, Brian, and just everything in general. I really appreciate it more than you'll ever know. Caroll (of the Attic Window) sent me a quote after I posted the buttonhole stanza the other day. It goes like this:
Think you can't change the world? Too late, you already have. It was changed for the better the minute you were born. There are more people than you can imagine who will never be the same because they came in contact with you, if only for a fleeting moment." ~Gail Purcell from My Empty Nest is Full of Cat Hair
What a very nice thing. Well, this is exactly how I feel about all of you. You've changed my world. And so has Sweet Pea. Blog-land really rocks, as far as I'm concerned. And I can't even believe I'm saying that. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd have "virtual" friends. Thank you for your friendship! And for putting up with all my ramblings!
By the way, as Lynn was working on her gentle curve piecing, she got totally inspired and sidetracked. Hop on over to her post about it and see what she made. You won't believe it. She was inspired by a RADIATOR! It's pretty neat! She shares her process through to her almost finished project! Check it out!
Until next time,
Mama Pea
P.S. I just saw it's supposed to get up into the 50s here this week! Wahoo! What a treat. But it will just whet my appetite for spring, which I'm sure is a long way off yet. But, I'll take it! All the snow is melting fast here right now!
Snow is melting here too!!! Wahooooo!
Love your attempt at curved piecing!
Enjoy the day!
Posted by: Brooke | February 15, 2011 at 07:53 AM
Curved piecing looks fantastic! What a fun day for you and Sweat Pea! Looks like she had a blast! We have a very similar place in Marshall. The girls love to go there too.
Posted by: Linda | February 15, 2011 at 08:16 AM
LOVE your curved piece! The colours rock! And Sweet Pea looks like she is in the zone! A budding artist!
Posted by: Maggie Szafranski | February 15, 2011 at 08:24 AM
Your curved piece looks fantastic! I love the colors you chose. This looks so modern which is right up my alley. I can't wait to see the finished piece. Maybe you can do a tutorial because I want to do it too! That Sweet Pea is so cute and it is great that you got to spend that time with her. Looks like she was really enjoying herself. You are making nice memories!
Posted by: carolld | February 15, 2011 at 08:52 AM
The colors you have as your inspiration are just like the ones I made a table runner out of for a swap I am doing. I just got it basted last night. I am hoping to get it quilted today. I like to do curved piecing but I might cheat :)
Posted by: Jewel | February 15, 2011 at 09:27 AM
See your Chinet coffee cup? I just got that material at that Nancy's sale. I saw it and liked it right off and got others to go with it. As soon as I started reading this blog, I remembered that I wanted to send you those snowdrifts pics, so look at your emails.
Posted by: ee | February 15, 2011 at 09:58 AM
Your curved piecing looks fantastic! I love your inspiration photo too.
I hope you are putting those magazine pages in a notebook or folder so you can find them later. Be sure to write down what you like about them and put it with the page. I started doing this about a year and a half ago. It is interesting to flip back through after you have a good collection - really makes it clear what appeals to you!
Posted by: Lynn | February 15, 2011 at 10:42 AM
Love those curves! I think there is a huge demand for any tutorial about these so if you have a minute (actually more like two or three hours :) ) you should do it!
I once did a block with some curved piecing and was asked by several people how I did it. It is embarrasing to admit that I just went and somehow put them together :)
And I love your daughter's expression. She looks so happy! I bet I were, too, if I could paint a unicorn :)
Posted by: Johanna | February 15, 2011 at 10:45 AM
It's so wonderful to do things that stretch your creative side. I agree that last photo in the magazine really does it for me too - can't wait to see your finished project. As for friends in blogland, I'm happy to count you as one of my friends. (Who knew this would happen when we first started blogging?)
Posted by: Linda in Calif. | February 15, 2011 at 11:23 AM
Sweet Pea has a good name because she looks so sweet! I'm glad to hear that she's a normal child and throws a tantrum every now and then though :). I can't wait to see what you do with your curved piecing - I'm really liking it so far - it has a certain gracefulness to it and the colors are great.
Posted by: Deb | February 15, 2011 at 01:10 PM
Your daughter is just beautiful. Why every time I read your post, I am in tears?
Posted by: Jackie | February 15, 2011 at 10:06 PM
I LOVE your curved piecing - oh I can't wait to find some time to dive into this book! Sweet Pea is TOO adorable, what a fun thing for the two of you to do together. She must really love it to last so long at it!
Posted by: Allie | February 16, 2011 at 02:11 AM