Monday, November 26, 2012

My Goodness....

Where have I been for the last 2 weeks?  hmmmm....i can't come up with a good excuse. LOL

I've been hopping here and there....

..only one more corner piece to put together then the Dear Jane quilt top is ready to be quilted. i'm going to (try) hand quilting this one. i've never done that before. am assembling supplies...thimble, thread, needles, batting, etc. watching online videos and talking to a fabulous hand quilter that i know to get pointers and tips. i have been doing a bit of practice. it's going to be slow....i figure a year. if i can get it done in 6 months i'll be much happier. there will be thousands of yards of SID quilting. pray for me. hahahaha

...I got the Safari Animals top put together. using wool felt and hand appliquing them down. they turned out cute. ... i think. right now i am thinking i will quilt trees in the backgrounds. might need to find some tree patterns....or stencils....or something. still thinking.

Here is the whole thing. the background is a orange/rust paisley fabric that i had. i used all but a small piece about 6x8". i had to work out the plan on graph paper to get all the blocks together.


You'd think my picture taking abilities would be improved...but apparantly not. there are 2 zebras. i stitched the stripes on him separately.


There were 4 different monkeys and 2 elephants.


This photo shows the background fabric the best. you can see the top of a giraffe...there are 4 of them. and 5 different birds...crane, parrot, ostrich, etc.


It's going into the to-be-quilted cabinet. i'm thinking it will be a monthly UFO Challenge top for next year...then i know it will get quilted in a year.

We got a fir tree pattern in quilt class....with a challenge for the Christmas party to piece the tree and embellish it. i got mine finished and got the binding on it, too. but i don't want to show it because i know some of my classmates look at my blog. so, i'll just give you a tease until after the party...then i'll show the rest.


I've dug out the monthly Santas again from PieceMakers and am hand stitching on that again in the evenings.

My embroidery machine has been busy. i am stitching out many, many blocks. i decided if i have all these embroidery CDs with designs....i better at least use them once. i probably have 20 sets of designs stitched our already....just awaiting their turn to become a quilt top....and eventually to be quilted.

These are....Daddy's helpers...cute little bears with various tools.


This is called On the Road Again...various vehicles...think vacations and road trips.


And i put this little top together for the vet in town. he can hang it on his wall and get a chuckle.


And i've quilted up a few customer quilts. i seem to be getting more from out of state.

Although it's not really cold here yet...no snow flying....we have spent the last couple weeks cutting wood and stacking it in the shed. the stacking part is my job and my shoulders know that i've been working.

Thursday i head out to the Duck...there is a dumpster being delivered on Friday....so that is dumpster day. i'm hoping this is the last one that i need. my sister is getting one also....so on Saturday...and possibly Sunday...we will be filling her dumpster with the remnants of her 3 car garage that we took down. my shoulders will probably be talking to me again.

Our new entertainment is auctions. here in town it's Monday night. we go and i tell myself i won't buy anything...but i usually come home with SOMETHING. LOL   and last Friday we found a newer and better auction.....only it's about 50 miles away. but it is better than the in town one and we will check them out again. it is cheap entertainment and kind of fun. i believe the one in town is more a get together and swap stories with the locals than any serious selling. .... plus you can pick up Frito Pie or a bowl of chili for a couple dollars for dinner. we country people know how to live. hahahahahaha

I am clearing out my studio and selling all my quilts. i even took down the ones hanging on the walls. the bins were full and they all have to go. i came up with 61 quilts to sell. plus 3 or 4 more small ones hanging on the walls that i didn't take down. so far i have sold 7....and put 7 more on consignment in a shop in town. would be nice if a couple sold there, too. i have an ad in the paper through Christmas and a sign outside the studio. In January what is left will go on Etsy. then i get to make all new things and start all over again. LOL   you didn't think i was quitting....did you?  that's not gonna happen.

OK...now you know everything going on around here. i'll try and come up with something more exciting.

Until then...i'll talk to you....

Later

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

More quilts for sale

Let's see if i can get blogger to work tonight long enough to show you some more pictures of quilts for sale at the studio. the studio is as clean as it has been in months. hahahaha  when you move stuff around you have to vacuum up the dust bunnies.

#41 .... Baby Squares...50x58"......$40


#32 ... Morphing Pinwheel....82x100"... $75


#24....Egyptian Take 5 .... 80x90" .... $50


#2....Halloween orange and black selvages...with machine embroidery....60x68 .... $150



#27... Neutral Jelly Roll.....72x74" ..... $50



#19...Laurel Burch tumblers....45x70" .... $40


#37...Postage Stamp Collection... with hanging sleeve....45x55" .... $50


That should give you an idea of what i have out there.....a bit of everything. all sizes and prices.  something for everyone....kids, grandmas and yourself.

See you soon.

Later

Monday, November 12, 2012

Quilts for Sale

I am making a clean sweep of the studio and selling all the quilts that i now have. tired of looking at them all the making new. Here are a few pics of some of the ones for sale. Come on down and check them out.

 #53...Frederick the Frog Prince...machine embroidery...50x72....$75



 #26...Blue and green tube quilt....74x90....$50


#14...Shadow Churn Dash....63x63...$40


#45...Nantucket Knots...Red, white and blue....66x82.....$60




#60...Sunburst...paper piecing...76x76....$150


#28...My Sister Jewel...applique, custom quilted...82x86....$300


#59....Color Blocks....Selvages....60x65....$75


#12...Word selvage quilt..says Put Some Selvages in Your Quilts...88x92...$300


#30...Hand embroidered hearts...with 2 pillowcases...98x98....$80


#33....Memoriam to Sarah...applique....86x86....$300


Those are just a few...will post more later

Questions....send me an email   brunerwoman@yahoo.com

Sunday, November 11, 2012

November UFO Challenge

November's UFO Challenge quilt is done early...how about that? this was a pretty simple pattern...snowball blocks and 9 patch blocks. and i made the blocks bbiiiggg.  LOL  this was my 'pattern'...i drew it in EQ


This used up some blue and brown fabrics. it's a pretty good bed size.


Snowball blocks


And 9 patch blocks...how simple is that. then why did it set in a box as an UFO for months?  sigh!!


Borders of tan and more blue....binding yet another blue. i seem to have a lot of blue fabric.


Backing was plain muslin and i quilted it with my 'go-to' quick and easy maze board from Quiltazoid.


Just one more UFO Challenge quilt for this year...December. i've already started it....ssshhh...don't tell Judy. LOL  in fact, December's box of 2 1/2" strips has sooo many.....there will be 2 quilts.

Then it is time to start the UFO list for next year. dare i try for 2 each month?  mmmmm....maybe every other month could be 2. we'll see.....there are still lots of UFOs living in my studio. are you sure you didn't sneak some of your UFOs in with mine when i wasn't looking?  i might have to check on that....

Later

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Animal House

I had yards and yards of this animal fabric.....used in the border and the back. it's been talking to me for a while. i had cut out about 60 little animal blocks and finally got out the scrap boxes and sort of crazy quilt pieced around them.



There is a giraffe, cow, pig, rooster, rabbit and sheep


The fabric i started with is the border fabric. i pieced them with the color that was the border on the animal print. all fabrics came from the scrap boxes....and sadly still didn't make much of a dent.


Here is the whole thing. definitely colorful. this is one of those quilts that it really doesn't matter what color thread you use....i used bright yellow...top and bottom. can hardly see it in all the chaos. hahahaha


I had 4 blocks left over...so pieced them into the back.


It was quilted with my Quiltazoid maze boards. i like that pattern...quick and easy and doesn't take away from the fabrics. not that anything could outshine these brights. LOL



I STILL have some of this fabric left on the bolt. i have more little animal blocks cut out....so guess one day i will do it again. perhaps another idea will come to me....

Later

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Laundry Room prettying-up

The Duck is just all studs and insulation and no ceilings and unfinished floors. it is rather depressing at times. So, i decided to pretty up something....anything. the laundry room was the logical choice....it was the smallest room. yes...there is no washer and dryer in there...yet; yes, there is no tile on the floor...yet; yes, there is no baseboards or trim where the ceilings meet the wall....yet; and, yes, the corrugated tin that i plan on using on the walls is not up, either...yet. but, damn it...it looks almost normal.

I painted the ceiling something called Rich Caramel....sort of a yellowy brown. and the walls are a Burst of Orange. you won't be bored doing laundry. baseboard and window trim will be chocolate brown.

I found this cool piece of furniture made from old barn wood in a local antiques store. it's been sitting in the Duck's garage for months. my sis helped me haul it into the house....no easy feat.



Don't know what i will do with the bottom. maybe some square baskets to hold something. or just some quilts under there.


Here is a small quilt that i found .... for a buck at Goodwill.... to hang behind the glass in the top of it.




The top of it has a flower box that i will put greenery in. the piece on the wall above it was on sale for half price at Pottery Barn.


Notice the little candle holders on the sides? i found those cute orange candles at the local Salvation Army in Centralia.


And these two orange glass containers with brass lids came from the same antique store that the barnwood furniture came from. i paid $15 for the 2 of them....pretty expensive for me...but they seemed perfect for the room and i liked them. the larger one has clothespins in it, the other will hold those little bars of soaps that you find in hotels....just need to accumulate more of those or find some in a thrift store. hahahaha


The set of brown glass jars were an auction find....$4.50. of course, i dropped the lid of one of the large ones and broke it....so that one will be a flower vase.  the the green runner on the piece also came from the thrift store....$1.29...someone knitted it.


I have this huge basket on the floor...not sure what it will hold yet. it might even live somewhere else in the house. gotta think on it.  


On the wall above where the washer and dryer are going....i strung some burlap string...clothesline style. i found these 'wallie' laundry items...in a thrift store, naturally. the wallpaper paste doesn't really stick much anymore so i am going to clip them to the string with cute tiny colored clothespins that i found at Hobby Lobby. along with the quilt and the apron, there is a shirt and some socks. will finish hanging those next time. there are 26 pieces and will go all across the wall. the apron is about 5" tall.



This is the wall you see when you walk in the door. i found this old wooden ironing board ...antique store...$7.50....and mounted it on the wall. i will use it as a bulletin board and tack laundry coupons and ads and laundry related items to it. metal Tumbleweeds Hotel sign up in the corner. i plan to add more metal signs as i find them.


My sister spotted a gift bag at the Salvation Army that had these tiny baby clothes on it so i got it and cut them out and put them on the board. more things to come as i find them.


My sis also found the little girl with her umbrella for me at the Salvation Army. I scored the scrub board and found tiny magnets at Hobby Lobby that i will put on the corrugated part to hold laundry notes. the switch plate cover was found online. and the tiny wooden laundry basket was a thrift store find, also. there is a thrift store theme here, isn't there?  i love thrift stores. did you notice the electric box to the right of the washboard? i painted it, too....hoping it will blend in. i guess i could have hung a picture over it....might still do that.


The lace curtain was found at Salvation Army...the plaid curtain parts on the edges came from Walmart. i scored the little red ladder at a thrift store closing up and got it for $2. then found the little hankies to hang on it at Salvation Army for 19 cents each....need 1 more. the the white piece hanging over the doorway was a Salvation Army find also...$1.99. might put some paint on it one day.

  So, i can now come into the laundry room and see some pretty when i get tired of looking at insulation walls and no ceilings. LOL   Of course, eventually the laundry room will have to be cleaned out again to put in the permanent wall covering and beadboard on the bottom of the walls. and trim around walls and windows. but for now, a gallon of paint made some of my world happy.   Hopefully i will get back to the Duck in a few weeks and get more insulation hung.....   Later

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