Wednesday, May 21, 2008

FIBER FONDLING

Wow, I got in some serious fiber fondling while I was at Anna Maria's babysitting for her while she was at quilt market in Portland. Her children are old enough now that I am able to do more than just child care. Her mother-in-law had already finished whatever huge pile of laundry may have there by the time I arrived. So what's a quilter to do with some time on her hands?

I used her big farm table to change my current quilt project from this


to this (using one of her fabulous new "Garden Party" prints for the border).


I played around with free motion and basted the quilt that way. It worked well, but it was most likely a mistake as it will be a real pain to take those stitches out. I am not going to try to free motion the quilt though (except maybe the border). Actually I think I'll go for hand quilting; I've got an idea in mind for how I want to do it. I'll have to play around with it a bit, but DRATS, I still have a sweater I need to finish knitting.

But the real fiber fondling came on Monday when I decided to transform her fabric scraps from this pile


to these stacks:


Oh, and before I left for home yesterday, we checked out a couple quilt shops in Franklin TN. (She had met the owners at market.) And, of course, I couldn't come away empty handed, so I now have the fabrics I need to start my next quilt--a picnic quilt with all kinds of "food themed" fabrics.

By the way, I can tell you that her market was quite successful, but I'm not going to spill the beans; you'll just have to wait for her to tell you.

4 comments:

SandyQuilts said...

Oh my gosh Mary Lynn I would have stolen those stacks .... the colors/prints are too luscious. Can't wait to hear AnnaMaria's exciting news.

Mary Lynn said...

Oh, Sandy, you can bet I've got some of the fabric!

Anonymous said...

I love what you did with the border on your quilt Mary Lynn. AnnaMaria's garden party fabrics bring just the right color pop to your masterpiece. I was lucky enough to meet you lovely daughter and son-in-law in Portland last weekend. WOW!!! The booth was amazing and I can't even describe how beautiful all of her fabric and projects were. It's so nice to see that talent and the love of textiles runs in the family. Nice to "meet" you. ~Eva

Becky said...

You want to come transform piles at my house? I'd be happy to leave to get that kind of help. BTW, the quilt is beautiful.