Joys and Trials of Social Media

Hi Everybody! 
I have been having difficulty gaining access to this blog account when I have felt the urge to write lately.  I made it through today though!  It has been a busy fall here in Colorado.  The flood was not a good time for anyone I know.  There has been a lot of clean up and things are getting back to normal.  That's the great thing about us resourceful mountain folk.

 If you look back through my posts, you might find the Empress Ohashi quilt that I did for a client last winter.  She was being stored in a closet waiting to see if she was going to MQX West when disaster struck.  I found out the closet was leaking with all the rain and the original red interlocking design in these center corners was bleeding into the beige!!!!!  After many deep breaths, I realized that I made the quilt, I could fix the quilt.  I ripped out the offending, bleeding red fabrics and came up with this new design to cover all the damaged areas.  It was a good deal of work getting her ready and off to the show.  It is so much fun to have a quilt in a show that your parents went to see!

                                                                                  

Empress Ohashi's new corner treatment

Now that the Thanksgiving feasting is done (I will never be finished being thankful), I can focus on getting through the next holiday.  I have the Quilts for Paws program, several quilts and my wonderful truffles up for sale at www.mountainjoyquiltndye.etsy.com.  Time to think of gifts of folks that I love.  I will share all the photos of the Christmas gift quilts, both clients and personal, after the holidays.  I hate ruining surprises. 
Until next time, keep quilting and creating!

Claws for Paws * A Fundraising Project

I have had a busy summer with some travels, some floods, and some quilts of course.  I have begun a new project.  It is called Claws for Paws.  This project will help animals everywhere, starting with my little Shadow and then continuing with funding animal care on a local and national levels.
This began because of my cat, Shadow's need for a non-life threatening operation.  We already got him through the life threatening stage, but now he is in pain sometimes.  The operation will make it so he is pain free and back to his normal litter-box using self.  He is quite happy and social since his near death experience.  My vet is willing to perform a multi-thousand dollar operation for cost.  He does this because he loves animals and understands that sometimes animal owners are down on their luck, but never their love.  I am not the only one in this boat.  Therefore, I came up with this idea.
The quilted pet portraits are as unique as your own animals.  You see, I begin with an actual photograph of your pet.  The photo is transferred to fabric and then given borders to make it look like a framed portrait.  Then, quilting/thread-play adds all the dimension, life, and character of your best friend. I can do single animals, best buddies, or whole herds.  The animals don't have to be furry to friendly in my program either.  I will do cats, dogs, iguanas, llamas, fish, you get the idea. 
At first, 100% of the funding will go to Shadow's surgery.  Eleven quilt orders will get Shadow his operation.  Once Shadow has his surgery, 50% of the profits will continue to go to animal care funding.  It will be split up with my local Veterinarian getting 25% and the remaining 25% will be donated to other foundations such as PetAid Colorado or the Humane Society. 
This 13" x 15" quilted portrait costs $75.00.  You can email me at rebeccah@mountainjoyquilts.com or visit my shop at www.mountainjoyquiltndye.etsy.com to order your portrait.
 I will be keeping track of funds donated and names of ours friendly supporters on my website page dedicated to the Quilts for Paws project on my website www.mountainjoyquilts.com.  I know we can help animals get the care they need.  Please help me spread the word and thank you for your support.

June Already?

Please Note:  I have not done any linking within my text in quite a while.  As I preview this, I notice links come up everywhere in my post, including old text.  My computer has been embedded with "trusted offer surveys" left and right.  My apologies for this and I suggest not clicking on any of the links.
So, about my life:
I have been addicted to Facebook and Pinterest recently.  Fun stuff.  I have also been doing a lot of work both in the home studio and at Long's Gardens.  My dogs are happy that I get to be home more now that Open Season at the Gardens is over.
I have been playing with Zentangles for a few months now and have started creating pieces like the one pictured here.  My new style of quilts are done on silk with very fine threads and a lot of doodling.  Ohhhhhhhhhh, I really like where I'm going with this. I can't wait to do more.
I have also been attending some local quilt guilds and meeting new people with the same passions about quilting.
My mother in law has been hankering for pictures of her grand-dogs.  So, here are a few.  Gwynnie loves sitting on this windowsill.  I have tried to break her of the habit, but to no success.  She has the best, most comfy view in the house.  She and I have been putting oil of coconut in our hair every few weeks.  She tries to eat it before I can get it on her.  It is quite entertaining.  She also loves taking naps with her best buddies Bogie (dog) and Loki (cat known as Big Dog).

February Always Flies By

Sid and Gwyn enjoying some long awaited snow

 It has been quite an eventful month for me.  I have been working away on several quilts for Kerry of Commaworkshop.  I also attended three quilt events/guilds which were all very fun.  I have been working on a quilt for my aunt for 2 years now.  It is all hand applique block-of-the-month and named Empress Ohashi.  It is the type of project that I enjoy doing on cold, snowy days when I don't want to move more than three feet from the wood stove. 

Gwyn helping arrange Empress Ohashi

I just finished all the applique and pieced together as a quilt top the other day.  As you can see in the photo, my master of balance was helping me arrangement.  It is too funny how she sits in chairs like humans or the cats.  Now, I have to quilt it. 
I am, of course, nervous about this last step.  It is such a gorgeous quilt top.  So, yesterday, I had a play day.  I loaded the machine with pretty tie-dyed fabric and just played.  I think I learn more on a play afternoon than I do in months.  It is truly important to take the time to play/practice. 
I also just started taking a Zentangle drawing course.  I think it will really improve my skills as an artist.  I have never been good on paper, just give me fabric or frosting!  So, I thought it was time to learn.  The Zentangles are great and the style really translates into quilting quite nicely.  It is fun, relaxing, and educationally skill-building all at the same time. 

Bogie under pile of blankets

It is dumping snow on us today (finally!).  So nice and pretty looking out.  Starting to wonder if we should move the car to the bottom of the driveway.  It's about time.  We were really overdue and fire season just stinks of fear and anxiety around here in drought years.  Thank you for the snow!
Well, I am going to try to clean my house up today. I've been ignoring it for the sake of work lately, but let's face it, I'd rather be quilting any day of the week versus cleaning.  Glad my hubby keeps on top of things and I just go for the deep clean every few weeks.
Keep Creating and Quilting!

The Steam Trunk Dresden

This is the Steam Trunk Dresden quilt.  I was recently given pieces of this quilt found by my client in her grandmother's steam trunk.  The blocks were already sewn into 4 rows and my challenge was to create a finished quilt that looked like it had been done in the 1930's.  This was my own personal challenge as the client admitted knowing nothing about quilts.  I felt a desire to be as true to the original quilter's vision as I could imagine.
I pieced the top only adding two small strips of muslin to make complete rows and not have to chop into two of the rows background.  I must mention here how the quilt was hand appliqued onto old sugar bags.  You can still see "C & H Sugar" print among others on the bags as well as the curved needle holes evident of the original bag structure.  For the quilt designs, I went old school.  I did free motion tear drops in each of the petals, did a feathered wreath in the center, and echoed the flower/plate itself.  To fill in the background, I choose and adapted a design from Quilting Designs from the Past, by Jenny Carr Kinney.  I found the most wonderful design and enlarged it and added a few scrolls.  After tracing this design with my laser from the back of the machine, I jumped to the front to fill in.  There were several open spaces that needed a flower or scroll added in order to achieve interwoven flow.  Quilting it like this left me with approximately 1800 threads to tuck when I was done.  It took me five hours to tuck those threads, but it was well worth it  for the incredible antique look I managed.
The best part is that the client loved it and can't wait to surprise her father with it when he visits this summer.  That is the most wonderful thing about quilts - their stories.  I'm sure this man can remember seeing his mother work on this quilt.  Now, he gets to hold his mother's work finished in his hands.  The grandchildren and future generations can feel the soul of their maternal creator in their hands.  To be able to help make this happen for people is what makes quilting so special for me. 
Keep quilting and Creating!