Daily Design Wall

Tomorrow is my 41st birthday. I'm seeing all those crow's feet and age spots and gray hairs. I'm dreaming of the summer I was 22 and was able to wear a bikini with a pierced navel in public.

With these thoughts I created "Fleeting Beauty."

Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise

To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies; 

One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies; 

The Flower that once has blown forever dies. 

Yes, I am painting the finished quilt. I thought those white roots needed a little extra strength to show up better, so I went over them with some pearly white Tsukineko ink using a fantastik.

Here's to 41, and another trip around the sun.

It's been a week of lots of finishes. I'm a deadline motivated type of gal.

Two quilts done and relinquished to the Quilt Bingo committee.

Amalia quilted and bound this one for me. I just had a label to slap on the back.

I quilted this one myself, and made some fun binding out of feedsack that I just love.






I finished up a small series I started in a class several years ago.They started with a panel of nursery rhymes. They are fused collage and a bit of paint.

I embellished each one with some buttons and a hanging ribbon.





And, lastly, I whipped up a wall hanging from an old Nancy Crow panel. It will be a bonus prize at Quilt Bingo.

I've almost finished the quilt top for a donation to our annual Quilt Bingo.  A friend in the guild will quilt it for me on her longarm.

My bee's current swap is just finishing up. This weekend I squared up everything I received, and made all the setting pieces (2 sets of 112 squares) and squared them all up. Whew!



I started putting it up on the wall, and I'm loving it!

I am shipping off a quilt this week which will travel for the next two years. I wrote up a page of special instructions for unpacking, display and repacking this quilt, which is a bit unusual. It has moving parts, "doors" that open and close. It also has grommets and magnets as part of the structure.

Since I won't be there to do any necessary repairs, I included repair permission and instructions as well. I also made a special label to accommodate spare parts.

My days have been filled with poolside hand stitching and family visiting from far away. I am packing up my quilt to send to Houston, and keeping an eye on airfares.

Some new experiments on linen are beginning...

I stay very busy this time of year doing this:

I got a lot done today. I started by taking two steps back and doing lots of unsewing.




I can't reveal an image of the whole thing because I'm trying to enter it into a competition that allows no published images. But I am very happy with my progress. The spray paint was a leap of faith, and I'm very happy with the way it looks like a charcoal drawing.

Working on a vest for my friend Lee. We're swapping handmade gifts.

Improvisational piecing, not something I do a ton of. I made a pattern from one of her existing vests.

 then quilt, quilt, quilt, quilt.

I had fun quilting the heck out of this little piece.

Back when I started this project, I wasn't sure I liked it much. But it is starting to grow on me.

Minou was my helper of the day.


I quilted this little holiday hanging.