It took quite a while for me to get these personal quilts done, but perseverance pays off.  I love my bedroom now.  Here is a photo of the quilt made from our wedding Huppah and the signature quilt of wedding guests on the wall.  The quilt has my favorite design, The Seed of Life.  I went very simple with my quilt, it does not have any bias tape on it.  I usually make the seed look stained glass with black bias tape and then I have been known to lay down miles of colored bias tapes in Celtic knot work around the borders.  (Visit my website gallery to view several versions of this great design, www.mountainjoyquilts.com). 
I had a very busy weekend with the 1st Annual Gilpin County Artist Open Studio Tour.  I had over 30 people come visit my studio which is really good considering how far from the beaten track I live.  Everyone was just delightful.  They loved my work, my long arm, and my funky mountain home.  It was a great experience for me and I loved meeting all the new people. 
Looks like rain today or possibly our first snow?  I must get to work now, I have a queen size quilt to do today.  I hope everyone has a fabulous week!  Keep on creating!

Wedding Memory Quilts

I got married to my tie-dyeing husband 5 years ago.  As mentioned in earlier blogs, the whole wedding was tie-dyed including my dress and the Huppah.  It only took me these 5 years to finish because I'm always doing projects for others.  This is the first time my mom gets see this quilt finished.  She painstakingly pieced this dahlia quilt for me of the fabrics we had people sign with their well-wishes.  Along with the usual love & joy, some of the wishes were fabulously funny such as "If this quilt is a rockin', don't come a knockin'."
This quilt was no different than any of my other learning experiences with quilting even though I didn't piece it.  I have done signature quilts before and one was a great family tree that used fusible applique.  During that quilt, I learned it was better to attach fusible to the back of fabric before people signed it (the fabric doesn't wiggle and you don't have to use sandpaper).  So, I talked my mom into doing this for our quilt.  She didn't know that she was going to choose a Dahlia pattern.  For anyone who is thinking of doing this---Never, Ever fuse the back of fabric if you are going to make a Dahlia!  Mom did a great job and it actually quilted and lays pretty flat for all the stiff bulk that went into the seams.  This quilt will soon be hanging over our bed and the finished Huppah quilt will be on our bed.  Our room will look so nice if I ever get around to arranging it!  Photos to come in the future (near or far).
I was visiting the Quilters Blogging site this morning and found it was updated.  Michelle is doing some amazing work trying to keep all of us quilters connected and informed.  She has put out an invitation for more quilt bloggers to join the directory.  If you are not aware of this site and directory yet, you should really go check it out.  I'm setting up a link so you can get there quickly and start reading about quilters and their experiences world-wide.

Quilting Companions

 I wanted to show you the quilt I did last week with Sid's help, but it is a Christmas present for a client's adult daughter.  I don't think she'd see it here, but I would hate to ruin a surprise for anyone.  I'll post photos after the holidays of this really cool t-shirt quilt.  I have Sid working for me again this weekend.  We have begun another silk tie memory quilt.  This one is going to be in a windmill pattern.  For some reason, I like doing traditional patterns with these beautiful silks. Sid and I have created many wonderful quilts together both traditional and non-traditional styles.  The quilt pictured here really captures both of our talents. 

            We are very proud of this quilt named "Kundalini".  It was made several years ago as a commissioned piece by someone who liked our seed of life quilts.  This client used the word Kundalini when describing what they wanted.  I did a touch of research and discovered that fire and snakes were associated with Kundalini energy.  The client thought it was wonderful and so we created the quilt you see here.
All of the fabrics were dyed by Sid and I did everything else.  I am fond of saying that my quilts are a series of mistakes.  I learn incredible things when I allow myself to make mistakes.
The lesson this quilt taught me was about bias tape.  I had made my own and used bias tape for years.  Then we got this brilliant idea to dye the snake fabric on the bias and cut it 2 1/2" wide.  This looked great! What I learned is that bias tape over a certain width will not lay flat in curves!  After an hour of freaking out,  I decided to methodically pleat the inner curves and sew them down.  This solved the main problem and gave the snakes such LIFE!  It really looks like the snakes are moving and writhing around in the knot work.  You can view other quilts we've made using the Seed of Life pattern at our website, www.mountainjoyquilts.com.
Well, it's truffle time.  I must dip and package many of these chocolaty delights to send to all my loved ones.  Sometimes, I think it's a cop-out to send truffles every year.  I know they are looked forward too though with great anticipation and I might even get in trouble if I don't send them.
We all need a yearly overdose of chocolate, don't we?  Happy quilting and creating!

Ice Fishing for Star Flowers

Here is the next in our series of Star Flower quilts. My husband put the fabric into the soda ash one day to prepare for the next days dyeing. When he returned to the bucket, it was frozen on top. Now, this is a really salty mixture and doesn't usually freeze! It did this time though and Sid broke a hole in the top and proceeded to go fishing for the fabric. He choose to go for the purple/aqua combo that always looks great. I also had him pleat the borders. I learn something with each quilt and this one taught me not to quilt feathers on pleated borders. It took a lot of time and they just disappear into the pleats. Sid and I have just started planning and creating quilts together again. Sometimes our ideas work and sometimes they don't. This one came out quite nice though and is for sale at my Etsy shop, www.mountainjoyquiltndye.Etsy.com.
Speaking of Etsy, my mother and both sister-in-laws have Etsy shops now too. I love it that there is somewhere for all of us to do our thing. There are so many creative people in the world. It is simply fabulous! Keep quilting and creating!