Pieceful beginnings

 

I've mostly joined blogger in order to post to other bloggers' blogs. I'll throw up an occasional post to keep track of what I have been up to, and share some of my ongoing work.

About me--I am a wife,  married to my best friend in the world, after losing my first husband to cancer. I am a mom to an adult daughter. I am a new grandma, with a baby grandson I adore. Gabe turned one on January 16, 2013. I was there when he was born, an event I will never forget. I am a librarian, working with teenagers the last 13 years in a public library, and in various capacities before that since I graduated from college.

My two favorite activities are quilting and gardening, hence the title of this blog. I also enjoy reading and cooking, and canning, and playing with my animals.....I have a lot of favorite activities.

I am working on two block of the month projects right now, one through my local quilt shop and one in a Facebook quilting group. I also have a number of other quilty projects I am working on.

Above is block one of the Facebook BOM, called "Piece on Earth." I am not a fan of applique, so this is a stretch for me. I have modified the original design quite a bit, which called for applique continents on the globe and a much simpler dove. I found the Kaffe Fassett fabric I used for the globe, called, appropriately, "maps," and decided to use it instead of appliqueing the continents. I fused it, using a ring of fusible web, then used a machine blanket stitch around the outside edge.

The dove is a stained glass pattern. I shrank the original design, and used fusible web to applique the individual pieces to a piece of black Kona fabric. I placed them slightly apart so that the black fabric looked like the stained glass leading. The dove is composed of 20 pieces of white Kona cotton. I used a scrap of black Kona for the eye, and a scrap of a gold print for the beak. The olive branch has four batik leaves, and a scrap of brown batik for the stem. I started to machine stitch the dove, but did not like the way it looked so left it be. The design calls for lettering to say "Piece on Earth" but I have not yet decided how (or if) I am going to do the lettering. I have contemplated printing on fabric and appliqueing, slk ribbon embroidery, or embroidering using floss.

The second BOM I am working on is Celtic Crystals, from Quilter's Quarters. So far I have completed the first block. I have two more cut out, and hope to piece them in the next week. I love the bright jewel tone batiks used in this quilt!

This is a horrible picture of the block, as I could not get the camera to cooperate in the poor lighting. I will endeavor to get a better photo of the block.

As of yesterday, I got myself roped into another project. We are hosting the Montana Library Association annual conference this year in my city. We needed two speaker gifts, and my boss asked me to make two small quilted projects, with the conference theme of  "Home Grown." I think I will make table runners, a shelf of canned fruits and veggies, using a collection of fruits and vegetable prints I have accumulated. Should be fun, and not too taxing a task.

Ta for now!  Thanks for joining me in the garden.