HOT TUBBIES

This is my latest venture...."Hot Tubbies"

The  local Art Gallery looked through my CD of my work and selected some items they wanted to put in their Gift Shop 

These dolls are so much fun to make..They do not like to get wet in the Hot Tub, but they like to get into their swim wear and sit arounf the Hot Tub and share time with their friends.

Some like to knit, some like to read, sometimes they have a glass of wine.

Their stories and chatter is hilarious but as the saying goes.......

WHAT GOES ON AT THE HOT TUB.STAYS AT THE HOT TUB

I didn't know exactly how many to make so 3 sounded good...

They were sold before I got out the door!

  So I guess it is back to the drawing board...LOL

My Latest Adventure

 The first of May a small town in Southern Ontario, Canada called Ailsa Craig hosts a different group of quilters from Across the big pond including Europe, The British Isles and different countries.

This year the quilters were from Denmark.

 They bring a quilt show with them for all to see and admire and they also teach some classes.

I took two classes, one with Charlotte Yye who is a master world quilter...

She taught Chiva Paintsticks and how to incorporate this work into a quilt.. Fabulous workshop.. unfortunately I forgot my camera that day ...darn! and since it was over an hour from home I did not bother to go get ...sigh.. Oh well I do have my samples which I will show at another time and the memories will last forever.

 This class I am showing you now was called Japanese Patchwork. Our teacher , Lisbet Borggreen was a delightful woman and had slides from the area where she lived.. Most interesting!

 I was absolutely intrigued with this idea and had to take the class. Each block has 9 finished pieces in it and depending on how you place them it gives you the design. The fun part is the back of your quilt has a different design than the front!...is not that cool!These are a few examples of the work

This is the front and back of my sample

ANOTHER ONE DONE AND FRAMED

Finished framing another Needlepunch piece..I LOVE anything "Sheep" and this one is especially nice.

BUSY...BUSY!

I have been busy framing my needlepunch work for the Artists of Oxford County Studio Tour. 

The " Rabbit" took forever to do as I had trouble getting the wrinkles  under control.I did lace the back as I was suppose to do but yet it was not perfect....sigh

The Mola is one of Four.I thought I would rather frame it in fabric and did a fine stippling stitch on the background.I thought I was done and yet it seemed to be lacking in something so I  put a beaded fringe along the bottom in the colors of the mola.I used some large black crystals to give it a zing.

I am very pleased with how it turned out. Now I have 12 more pieces to do. Gee I only have 2 weeks!!!

What's New

Had a great time taking a workshop from Heather Stewart a couple of weeks ago.This is the quilt we were making.

It requires a lot of sewing but well worth it. 

 
 

 I went on a retreat with my quilting friends last week .

I decided to work on this quilt so I got all my strips and pre sewing done I got these blocks done .

 .I have about 40 more blocks to make..Lots of sewing but I just love the design.I have a "blue" bedroom so it will look nice on my bed.

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 I had to stop working on the quilt as I had orders to fill and the Studio Tour is coming up and I have some thread work to frame along with some other things to finish up. Here is Patriotic "Angelbelle" dressed in pretty gold embellished raspberry  outfit. This doll is so sweet and is always in demand..I never get tired of spending my time on her.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Thanks for stopping by.......I always appreciate your comments.;-)

Happy Easter

 HAPPY EASTER

Hi to all my readers.

I am off to a workshop to-morrow and I made these treats to take along.

I must admire the birds for the way they build their nests. I am afraid mine were not that easy and I had chocolate all over the place.

That is why there are no prep pictures!!

The workshop is making a quilt like  the one in the picture.

It is called Irish Courthouse Steps and my dear friend and well known quilt teacher Heather Stewart will be teaching the class

I just LOVED the design and knew I had to do it.

Mine will be monochromatic in shades of blue and beige to fit my bedroom.

I will post more about the class later and hopefully they will enjoy the "treats"

I'm Still Here

 Everything old is new again! The "Raggedy Ann & Andy" dolls never seem to disappear. I have not made any since about 1999, and now I have orders for them. I was all set to deliver this pair and was thinking "Ann" was missing something???.....Oh My Goodness... It was her panties!!! It would have been ME that would have been embarrased had she arrived minus the undies! She is now wearing some and we both feel better.. Andy said nothing.... he just smiled!

This is Angelbelle in a patriotic mood...I had fun working with her. She wasn't sure about the flag fabric for her ensemble, but once she got it on she liked it! She will be delivered this week as well.
I must say I so enjoy working on the dolls...Someone to talk to when you are alone in the studio;-)
These are classics but I have some art dolls in mind so stay tuned.

I had to take 3 days off as I was removing wallpaper from one of my bathrooms and I am still here to tell the tale!
 The only room in the house that had wallpaper.....THANK GOODNESS!!! Had I known what a job this was going to be I would have hired someone, but in my mind I thought how hard could this be! SURPRISE! First of all they should take the word dry-stripable off the package! second of all wall paper should be BANNED!
I cannot tell you how painful my arms and legs are....up and down the ladder and then all the arm action...
I think I am too old for this hard labour! However in spite of it all I finished to-day and am so happy to be rid of the old look... can't wait to  get some new accents.
That is the only major job I had on my list so I am hoping I can get lost in my studio for some good times...
I might add I will have a surprise for my followers in the near future....
Thanks for stopping by, I love reading your notes, It makes me happy...

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

Hello Dear Friends

Hope Your day is fun filled.

I have been so busy and will share some things with you soon.

Busy,Busy,Busy

I have been busy working on quilts the past few weeks.With so many different things I like to do I have not quilted for quite awhile and I have had a lot of fun..

I have a large tote full of strips of cotton and decided I would do a couple of string quilts. They are so much fun and very addictive.However, the tote of strings seems to be as full as ever!!I imagine there must be another 25 quilts in the future!

 This is the spider web design..I chose a lovely deep red for the centres.. It got larger than I planned...I said they were fun to do! I am not putting a border on this one as it already measures 80.5" x 80.5". I am a hand quilter but I think I will machine quilt this one... Yet to be decided.

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 This is another string quilt with black centres and a diamond design. Isn't it pretty! the black really makes the colors pop.This one too needs borders and that is what I will be working on to-day.

  

This is  the bear paw design. I chose black/brown and butterscotch for this one.It still needs a couple of borders. When I am finished with this one it will got to "Victorias Quilts" . I am a supporter of this charity as

volunteers make quilts for cancer patients and treatment centers.

SPRING IS COMING

While my DH was out in the yard filling the birdfeeders this is what he discovered!!!

The snowdrops are up... sure sign spring is on the way...YEAH!

Retreat at the Elmhurst

 This is where our retreat was held.... "The Elmhurst" a very special luxurious place to stay, dine, relax at the spa.

This was the bedroom and the beds so comfy

The bathroom was very modern and the shower wasfull width of the room and big enoughh to have a party in!!! We didn't VBG

Here is where we enjoyed a fabulous buffet every day

The tables with lovely linen cloths.

This is what I planned top work on?????

Yes a tote full of strips of fabric of every color and design.I have been saving these for a long time but I swear these strips multiply overnight! I have used them before again and again and yet there must be another 25 quilts  in there.

I decided to do a spiderweb string quilt. It was so much fun and very addictive.

Sorry this picture is blurry but it gives you and idea how the quilt grew(80"x80")

I might add the strips were sewn on  tissue paper  and when I got it as big as I wanted it took me a whole evening to 4 am in the morning to remove the tissue!! worth it though as making the quilt was so much fun.

I also worked on this triple 4 patch and I used 30's fabric for this one...It was suppose to be a baby quilt but the size grew to 58"x64" without borders. I'm thinking I will divide it in half and make two baby quilts..Time will tell.;-)

This heart table runner was a gift from the hostess Cynthia from

   Cherished Pieces, Cynthia's online quilt shopWe worked on that the first evening.

These were some of the quilts the other quilters were working on.

Here is a pair of happy quilters....

There were 21 of us and we had a wonderful time together for the 3 days we were here..

Already looking forward to the next one..

My ORTS JAR

Here is my "Orts" Jar.

I joined in with hundreds of other bloggers  at "Daffy Cat's blog" for this Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long.

Check it out.

You post a picture of your Orts Jar every new moon.

There are 12 2012 New Moon Dates:

January 23

February 21

March 22

April 21

May 20

June 19

July 19

August 17

September 16

October 15

November 13

December 13

Let me know what you think ;-)