It doesn't get any better than this...

Aahhhhh...hand applique on a perfect west Michigan afternoon, listening to fantastic music on the last day of Session One of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.  Yep...I had to actually leave home to get some sewing done this summer!  I was just hanging out in the 'cheap seats,' stitching and enjoying the perfect place to applique until my daughter's Symphony Band was ready to play.  Then we moved up to good seats and enjoyed a fabulous concert with all the other adoring parents and grandparents.

Before leaving home, I had hastily prepped some of my Blackbird Design basket blocks and placed them in my "Magic Box" with needles, thread, scissors, beeswax and my thimble.  I had everything I needed for a good time.  It was Heaven!

 

To prep the blocks, I glue basted everything together using my light box and my Roxanne's Glue Baste.

First, I placed my placement guide on the light box, lined up a background square on top, then used my pattern weights to hold everything steady.  This is what it looked like before I turned the light box on.

Now the light box is on and the placement guide shows up nicely.

Next, I put tiny dots of Roxanne's Glue Baste on the background fabric where the basket handle will go.  Can you see the tiny dots?  Remember, "dot-dot-not-a lot!"

After placing the handle, I applied tiny dots of glue on the background around the edges where the basket went (and around the edges of the peep hole!).  Once pressed in place, I set this aside to dry and prepped another block.  I am careful not to put the glue dots right at the edge of the outline...I don't want to have to stitch through the dried glue when I come back and make my applique stitches.  I only glue to hold things in place temporarily so that I don't have to work with pins.

All ready for hand applique!  Once appliqued, I will soak the block in water to remove the glue, then press it dry with my iron on the WRONG SIDE (dry iron, no steam), working on a towel placed on my pressing surface.  Once dry and pressed, I trim the basket block to 5 1/2 inches square.

nce the glue dries, into the Magic Box it goes until I have about 10-15 minutes to stitch it (and a few of its friends...).

While on the west side of the state, I had the opportunity to visit a new quilt shop (new to me, anyway...).  The shop is called "Fabric Quilt Scissors" and it is located in a charming little town called New Era, just northeast of Whitehall, where my husband and I were staying while waiting to pick up our daughter from music camp (not far from Muskegon, MI).  It was not in my Quilters Travel Companion...I asked the Innkeeper where we were staying if she knew of any quilt shops in the area.  She had hosted a quilt retreat recently, and the quilters attending had nice things to say about this shop.  I programmed "New Era, MI" into my GPS, and off I went, looking for an adventure!

What I found was a charming shop!  New Era is about 2 blocks long, and this shop was right in the middle of town.  I noticed there was a nice bakery right across the street, but since I'm dieting, I steered clear of THAT little adventure...

The shop is bright, cheerful, and full of fabric and project temptation!  Owner Kathy Szczesny (pronounced "chez-ny") carries a nice variety of fabrics...batiks, modern, baby, kids, brights, florals, color blenders, northwoods, novelties, patriotic.  There were plenty of patterns, books and notions to temp me as well.

 

The back room hosts more fabric, samples and a classroom.

 

I loved the Amy Bradley bug sample...

I gave into temptation many times, but by FAR, my favorite fabric purchased was this glow-in-the-dark piece from the "SKELETOONS" collection by Mark Hordyszynski for Blank Fabrics.  Fun, fun, FUN!

I love the colorful sneakers!

So, if you find yourself near the coast of west Michigan, check out Fabric Quilt Scissors, located at 4708 1st Street, New Era, MI, 49446, (888) 861-4646 (http://www.fabricquiltscissors.net/).  When visiting new places, don't be afraid to ask the "locals" about quilt shops...there are lots of charming shops that aren't listed in the travel companions.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Catch as catch can...

I'm having one of THOSE summers...disjointed, complicated, on the road, life changing...it causes my inner troll to be unhappy about not having enough creative time in the quilt cave.  My cave-anchored projects are on hold and I can only work on things that travel, catch as catch can, when I have a few minutes.

I talked about one of my favorite shops to visit while on the road between Michigan and Alabama in my last post, The Quilt Box of Dry Ridge, Kentucky, without sharing my purchases...bad, bad blogger!

Blacks, browns and blues...oh, my goodness!  The blacks are from the "Inkwell" collection by Marcus.  It is so hard to find repro blacks, and these are gorgeous!  I bought a few things with which to pepper my repro stash and enough to share with my buddies.

I am a "bag lady" at The Quilt Box, which means I faithfully return with my bag as I pass through the area and enjoy 20% of my purchases.  I've been a bag lady so long that I've forgotten what I did to earn the bag...I think I had to spend $75-$100...that wan't a problem.  Then, every time you spend $100, they stamp your bag.  After a certain number of stamps you get free stuff...I can't remember how much.  I'm always excited about the 20% off.  There is nothing more tempting than 20% off...I just leave the tote bag in the back of the car so I don't forget it!

I dare anyone to visit this shop and not be tempted by all the shirtings she carries!

My buddy Ola visited this shop for the first time a few weeks earlier and brought me THIS lovely bundle.

I
 

Fat 1/8s of pure joy...pink and brown repro fabrics.

The variety carried by this shop is amazing.  I spread them out below to see them in all their glory...

...then I opened them up to wash them and just wallowed in them for a while.  I also received the lovely new tote bag and my daughter/photographer suggested  me put it on my head to get it in the picture.  Since I am a silly cave troll, and a little camera shy...why not?!?

Since I need portable projects for the next month, I am hard at work on my Blackbird Design applique baskets.  I started these in 2010 and have about 60 done now.

When I have some prepped, they are the perfect thing to work on while away from the quilt cave.

I carry the prepped blocks around in one of my "magic boxes," a small box containing everything I need to sew away from home...silk thread, needles, beeswax, scissors, thimble, and prepped blocks.

While doing laundry last night, I prepped a few more baskets using the gluestick method (freezer paper pattern adhered to the right/front side of the fabric, turn under allowances glued to the wrong side) and a few of my new fabrics.

I have a stack that have been appliqued and are ready to soak and trim to size.  I started out making brown, cheddar, gold and black ones thinking it would be more like the quilt in the Blackbird Designs book.  But now I'm thinking color and have decided to expand the color pallet to include red, green, blue, purple and pink...all repro.  And I am using a ton of different shirtings for backgrounds.  I love scrappy...it keeps me from having to make fabric decisions.

I also managed to cut a stack of shirting fabrics 6 1/2 inches square on which to glue-baste these lovely baskets.  

After the applique is done, I will soak the blocks to remove the glue, press and cut to the 5 1/2 inch block size that I need to make the quilt.

Don't get me wrong, it is a good summer...time spent with my 14-yr-old daughter and husband and time spent in the sunny south visiting/helping my extended family is always wonderful.  Then there are the necessary lifestyle changes that come with losing almost 40 pounds since the second week in May...yippee for me!  My inner quilt troll will get back into the quilt cave in a few weeks and go nuts with my sad, neglected, lonely stash.  At that time, I need to spend some sewing time with my sad, neglected, lonely quilting buddies.  Until then, I am happy to make some progress on hand projects, maybe get to visit more quilt stores on my journeys, and work on some original quilt design projects.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Momentary slices of handwork - introducing the "magic box..."

Just when I think I'm nuts to work on hand-appliqued projects because someone once said that "handwork takes too long," I find that there are lots of small slices of free time in my life when I can do a few stitches at a time.  My problem seems to be finding bigger chunks of time to sit in front of my sewing machine, with the iron turned on and containers of fabric opened, spread out and ready for action.

At this point in my life, I seem to have more slices than chunks.

When I saw people working on these fun little baskets over the last year in blogland, I knew this kind of project would be perfect for my "magic box."  I spent a few slices of time cutting out freezer paper patterns and some background squares.  Then, in another few slices of time, I ironed the handle and basket patterns to some chunks of fabric and placed them in my magic box, a recycled, paper-covered gift box, along with some scissors (the box belonged to a family member, Betty, who passed away recently...I think of her when I open it to work).

As I went to meetings or while waiting in the car to pick up my daughter, I would open my box and in these stolen moments I would cut out the fabric/patterns.  Upon being at home again, I took the big scissors out of my box and added a small plexiglass ruler, a glue stick, and my stiletto.  Then in other stolen moments away from home, I would glue edges to get ready for applique.  I would peel off the freezer paper and save it to iron on the next set of fabric chunks at another time.  Then I would remove the glue stick, etc. from my magic box, then add the Roxanne's glue baste bottle.  The next time I had a slice of time, it was filled with glue basting little shapes to backgrounds

Then, the tools in the box shifted to thread, a needle, a thimble and small snips.  I think you are getting the picture.  My magic box is always ready to grab and run out of the door with the next step of the process ready when I get a second or two.  I find I can stitch a basket down in 10-15 minutes.  I usually can do one every morning while I drink my tea after my daughter leaves for the schoolbus at 7:00 AM.

I really believe in this concept, and because I also subscribe to the "multiple projects" view of quilting, I have many versions of the magic box.  This little box was "borrowed" (stolen) from my daughter.  It contains my little 3-inch spool project, filled with pieces, thread, needle and snips, ready to walk out the door with me.

This old funky purse of my Mom's contains a stitchery project that I am currently working on.

Choose a magic box, put a project in it, and make a stitch or two every time you have a stolen moment.  Before you know it, stitch by stitch, you will have something very precious.

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)