Sam the Dog

First off, thanks so much all of you who left happy birthday wishes for me in my last post. Each one was a gift in itself and they all put a smile on my face!


Since Mo had her stroke, (she's still doing good, but the med she was on caused her blood to thin which caused her sinus tumor to start to bleed a bit...) I have moved my sewing from my normal work space into the living room, so as to be close to her while she continues to recuperate. This small move totally shifted my creative energy. While I still have some unfinished Mod Squares to complete, my head rebelled against them, and insisted I do something just for fun. And that is how Sam the Dog came to be.


SAM The DOG:

Well read.
Good sense of humor.
Friendly.
Enjoys organic gardening and an occasional good smoke.
Loyal.

Sam began his life when I free-hand cut into a piece of cloth which I had earlier quilted and washed, (to bring outs it's cuddly texture). His features were cut from more of my quilted cloth and securely hand sewn down and embellished with embroidery floss. Because he's hip he insisted on two turquoise colored earrings. To be kind, I obliged.


10.5" tall from toe to tip of ear. He can't wear his heart on his sleeve because he has no arms... so he wears his heart on his hip.

Sam is soft, lovable and sewn with great care. Suitable for young and old.


He hates baths, so if you adopt him, please be kind and promise to only spot clean him.

I am working on Sam's friend, "Bebe the Bunny" and will introduce you to her soon. xo

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NOTE: Sam has now been adopted to a good home!

Sneak Peek

Here's a little sneak peak at what I am working on. The quilting is all done, but I still need to attach the binding and machine wash it. I like machine washing these functional art quilts as a final step in their creation. I like how washing changes the hand of it, making it softer and bringing out the natural puckering and texture that makes quilts so appealing.


For this quilt I decided to just do closely spaced rows of vertical stitching. I love how the lines of stitching look, but I still am not achieving the varied colored overlay stripped look that I am going for with the stitching. Here, I alternated grouped rows of yellow thread with grouped rows of pink thread, but they wound up blending in a bit more then I had hoped, (although I still think it looks good.) I think I either need to use thread colors that contrast very strongly with the fabric color, or use a heavier thread. Sulky makes a really lovely heavy machine quilt thread, but at about $5.50 a spool... caa-ching, caa-ching!... that really adds up! I'll be posting pics of the whole quilt once I get her finished.

Also, continued thanks for all of the good wishes for Mo. I am so happy and grateful to say that she has been having some really good days, and has even started playing with her toys again. I think all of the extra love and attention she is receiving, plus the kind wishes sent her way, is doing her wonders, and I am so thankful for each good day that she has.

Work in Progress

No chance yet to delve into the new fabrics... I am practicing restraint until I finish up some previously started projects! Here are some close up shots of one of the quilts which I am currently working on. Lots of machine quilting on this one! (By the way, my camera was behaving very wacky-doodle-lee, and so the color is off on all of these pictures. The quilt is actually a rich dark brown and lovely deep aqua).


Quilting on the machine.


Front side of quilt showing some sections quilted, and some not yet done. (Click on the photo to see close up detail).


Back side of quilt showing the detail of the machine quilting.