July 2009 Archives

Our dream pillows are now at Etsy.com. We will be listing more in the days to come, but these four are so sweet. They are the perfect size to tuck into a travel bag and take with you in the car or plane...and have in a hotel room. They look great on your bed, and add a bit of whimsy to your bedroom decor...We have kid pillows also. These measure about 7" square, and are backed with soft Minkee. Great idea for gifts. And, besides being just about as sweet as they can be, they are machine washable. Check them out at Etsy.com.

Two more placemats to complete a set of four purchased at Art by the Bay. Amy pieced these, using a great fish fabric framing the focal bird houses. I love the way they turned out.

Every quilt has a story behind it. And in the case of our first pattern, "A's Strips," there was a quilt behind the quilt. Those of you who have a copy of the pattern know from the "History of A's Strips" that the pattern was based on a quilt Opal made as a gift. I loved the vertical lines and random feel and rich interplay of color and pattern that I wanted to standardize the elements into something repeatable... and so I did.

We showed you the quilt I designed (with bird transfers used as the spliced elements), and we showed you photos of two other versions of the quilt made during testing.

I though you might enjoy seeing the quilt upon which it was based. (You really are only seeing a portion of it here.) This quilt doesn't match up exactly to "A's Strips." Instead, it's the touchstone upon which the pattern was based.

This one... a one-of-a-kind.

This is a piece created for Creative Therapy catalyst 71: A Day to Do Over and Over. As you can see, there's a pile of fabric that made its way into this really focused set of ten panels. You can read more about this piece on the Creative Therapy site.

Pair this up with a song I heard recently: Simple Life by the Weepies.

Last night I was honored to be invited to a dinner where our Here2There placemats were being used for the first time. Actually, it was someone's retirement celebration, but in truth, it was the placemats that held center court. I was told that new dinnerware, flatware, glasses, and chargers were chosen to match the placemats.

Before everyone took their places, I discreetly moved the plates aside and snapped a photo of the guest of honor.

I just finished the last of eight placemats for a special order. Tonight I'll see them being used...I was told they bought new dishes and glassware to go with the new placemats...I can't wait to see it all together.

When I set up my expanded studio space a few weeks ago, I brought out this machine from the storage closet. I use it to do everything but quilting. Would you believe I won it? It was one of those drawings where you drop in your name and then forget about it...but this time I got that phone call.

So on to the next project...a baby quilt happening...and some applique circles in my favorite colorway...

When I got ready for vacation last month, I faced the daunting realization that I'd be gone a number of days without a sewing machine. Knowing how hard it would be, and how antsy I might be away from the ability to "work" for so long, I started contemplating applique as a way to keep my hands on fabric (as opposed to just knitting, which I also do on vacation). I planned several projects and took along a bag full of fabrics ready to let my applique spirit free. In the end, I have three very different projects to show for my efforts, and I had a great deal of fun.

In the way it often goes, once you start noticing something, it seems to be everywhere. When I got back, I had the chance to look at Applique Outside the Lines. From the get-go, I'm in love with their work... so much so that it's taking me a bit of time to settle down and actually read the text (but I've started). This is one to look at, for sure.

For a look at other titles we're thumbing, check the Here2There site.

Thank you for the support and encouraging words from those of you who came by our booth last weekend at Art By the Bay on Camano Island in Washington, and especially those who braved the cold and rain on Sunday. We had the most colorful booth at the show. Our birdhouse placemats were a hit. In fact, we sold all of them and took special orders for others. Our pattern for A's Strips was popular for the quilters, and our quilted art totes found new homes. And I smiled when I saw someone walk by with one of our quilted coffee sleeves on their espresso drink....

This is our booth before it was set up,,,,10 feet by 10 feet, with a climbing rope hanging right in the middle.

Still not ready, but almost...these are some of our items we had on display.

Everyone commented about our soft colorful Dream Pillows.

Today, the day after, we are busy completing special orders and planning for the upcoming shows.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by Art by the Day today and visited with Opal and commented on Here2There work. We're thrilled at the favorable response to our collaborative work - at how many of you like the A's Strips pattern!

We are just finally putting all our pieces in place. To be honest, with my (Amy's) working and parenting and all the sewing we do, not to mention the podcast, our bird book, and so on, we've been slow to get things (like our web site) up, running, functional, and the collaborative studio showcase that it should be.

The site is finally underway as a central landing space for "us," but I thought I'd mention, too, that we do have a Facebook page set up. If you're a Facebook user, please consider becoming a "fan" of our site just to keep in the loop on small announcements, tidbits, and news we share there that may or may not make it to the blog!

Today... you'll find a glimpse of some small pillows that are part of this weekend's Art by the Bay sale in Opal's area. (She has photos to share later that show how wonderful everything look when put together this way!)

Doesn't this little quilt bring a smile to your face? Another Here2There collaboration which we are very proud of. This was Amy's concept and design. She pieced the top in rows, each one with a unique pattern of block in happy kid colors. When it arrived in my mailbox, I couldn't wait to see it. I put it up on the design wall and looked at it in the days that followed...wondering what would work for the border....I waffled between several possibilities, and finally chose this one...I could see the quilting lines following the diagonal lines of the dots....adding to the overall whimsy.

These close ups show the details of print, color, piecing, and quilting...

I've tried something new this week...well, new for me. I am working on three quilting projects ..multi-tasking. This small quilt is in pink and orange and black and white, a palette we love to work with, Amy designed the quilt and made most of the rows. One row features a strip of her sketched birds. You can see a bit of them in the photo. I did the quilting. I think it turned out perfectly.

This is an original quilted wall hanging we call "Green A's" based on stripped triangles in greens. We each made blocks, and Amy designed and made the border out of the trimmings and remnants from our piecing. It is now ready for binding.

The third project is not far enough along to show you, but I'll say that it is an Asian theme panel which is being heavily stitched in thread play...The borders showcase flowers, circles, vines and leaves which meander around the edges. I can't wait to do more on it tomorrow.