Around the World Blog Hop

It's my turn! My thanks to Cathy from Eagle's Wings Quilts for asking me to play along on the  Around the World Blog Hop. I've really enjoyed reading other postings and look forward to seeing more today as I catch up on my blog reading today. 

If you are new to my blog...welcome. I have called Alaska home since 1998. Before that I had lived in San Antonio, Texas for eight years. And...prior to that I was in the military which was only fitting since my dad was in the Marine Corps and I spent my childhood moving...all the time. We even did an overseas tour for two years in Japan. I went to a different school almost every year until my dad retired when I was in high school. And then of course I went to college out of state. Seems to be pattern here! I guess it shouldn't have surprised me at all when my husband asked me three years ago if I would like to live in Paris for a few years. I did have to make sure he was talking about Paris, France...and not Paris, Texas. 

Add into the mix that we had just started building our dream house in Alaska...because we had decided we were going to stay indefinitely...or so I thought. I knew this opportunity for my husband to work in Paris was very important to him...okay...I said yes!

So...just like an episode of House Hunters International, we made a trip to Paris to hunt for an apartment. We looked at 15 apartments in two days. And just like the show...my husband and I both thought the other wanted a different apartment but it turned out we agreed. Our two homes and lifestyles couldn't be more different! We kept our Alaskan home and rely on our sons to house sit for us while we are away. My husband works full time in Paris for Fed Ex and I spend half the year in Paris and half in Alaska. My husband visits Alaska several times throughout the year...even when I am in Paris. I'm sure you can figure out which months out of the year I spend in each home.

This is a street just around the corner from our Paris apartment...yep...we are very close to the Eiffel Tower. I took this photo on Christmas morning last year. The people on the sidewalk are in line at one of three local bakeries near us. Living in Paris, I have learned what good bread really tastes like. Oh...and of course the cheese. European cheeses are so wonderful...it is a fact.

There is still plenty I love about the United States and in particular...Alaska!

This was the view from the back deck of my home in Alaska...just a few days before I left for Paris last year. Those were the quilts I managed to finish last summer. (I only got three done this year!) My Alaska home sits in Eagle River valley and is surrounded by the Chugach mountain range. It is so beautiful...and quiet here!

I get lots of local visitors...moose, bears (brown and black)...and even manage to get a good picture for my blog now and then. I think I could go on forever about my two homes but lets get back to the Blog Hop topics.

First and second questions...what am I working on and how does my work differ from others? I am hand stitching the binding on a quilt of my own design called, "Katchemak Baywatch." It is an excellent example of my work and how it may differ from others. I work almost exclusively in batiks...front and backside. I like intricate piecing. I do my own quilting on a Nolting Fun Quilter which is a midarm. I am size-challenged...my quilts grow and often end up being somewhere between a queen and king size. Even when I make patterns designed by others they wind up getting biggie-sized. Most often...I feel compelled to change the borders of most patterns. I have a stack of tops that need quilting and several designs waiting to be started. Like most of you...I have many projects in the works at all times...and now...in two countries. I really would like more hours in the day.

Third question. Why do I create? 

I create...therefore I am... 

I was born this way...

I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn't create! I grew up watching my mom sew...usually clothes for me. I remember getting a toy sewing machine for Christmas when I was six or seven. By the time I was in sixth grade my parents bought me my own grown-up sewing machine. I haven't lived without a sewing machine since. In college I did alterations and mending for a little extra money. I have always sewn. Clothing, home decor...and now mostly quilting. Blogging was a natural leap for me since I was a journalism major in college and worked in the public relations field before I became a stay-at-home mom.  I also dabble in many handwork areas with a notable addiction to making Bucilla kit felt applique stockings...to the point of making detailed videos posted on You Tube with my construction techniques. It has brought me so much happiness to hear from "viewers," who find my videos helpful.

And the last question. How does my creative process work?

 Most often a fabric inspires me. The size of the design in the fabric is where I most often start for the block size. I'm drawn to batiks with animal motifs. I use EQ7 for designing quilts. I learned to type as I wrote in journalism class (before laptops! I did have an electric typewriter). It was an easy step to design quilts on the computer instead of using graphing paper but the fluidity of stitching quilting designs eludes me on a computer screen. I still have to move the pen like my needle across a drawing of a quilt top to figure out the quilting design. 

I've read a few books about the creative process and I have found for me it takes about 15 or 20 minutes of engaging my brain on a project before the process starts to click. I'm a regular exerciser and I find myself working through designs while I'm in the middle of a hike or a Jazzersize routine. Sometimes I'll be working on a hand project (cross stitch or those cute felt stockings!) and I'll have a design on my mind and somehow ideas and solutions seem to just pop up.  My new favorite place to get my mind wandering is pinterest. A picture will catch my eye and I might do something completely different but it triggers the wheels in my head to spin.

I've found two great bloggers to share with you on this Around the World Blog Hop. They will be posting next Monday so make sure and check them out today and next week. 

 First is Lynette with What a Hoot! She hosts BOMs Away Mondays. I love Lynette's projects. She does an amazing job of quilting on her domestic sewing machine. I've tried that...and failed. I am amazed when people quilt large quilts on little sewing machines. She's been working on a beautiful wedding ring quilt this past year...or maybe even two years. There is so much variety to her work. I always enjoy seeing what she is up to and of course I do try to link up now and then with her on Mondays because I do have a few BOMs in progress. (Those projects are in Paris...and I am in Alaska.) I must also say...I like hearing about her cats too. A big downside to this living in two countries thing is I can't have pets...I just have to enjoy other folks cats and dogs.

And the second special blogger is Béa in France. As soon as I got to Paris I started searching for French quilters. Béa's blog, Needle in a Hay Stack instantly grabbed me. Her blog is in French but don't be put off by that because she does have a translate button on the left side of her blog and you don't want to miss the great photos she has of her quilts. You will see some familiar designs on her blog as she enjoys a lot of American quilt designers. Being a quilter in France is a challenge. Fabric is so expensive and the selection is so small compared to U.S. quilt shops. I always read her blog in French first and then hit the translate button to see how much I got right...quilters from different countries do pretty much speak the same language.

Thanks for visiting...I enjoyed sharing!

Gloomy Outside - Bright Inside

I have all my blocks made for the Disappearing Hour Glass design made from Layer Cakes, or 10" squares. Here's the first layout I tried on my design wall.

Then I tried to organize by bands of color. I'm leaning toward the color bands. 

Oh darn...I'll have to make a trip to a local quilt shop for the border fabric! 

I'm still pecking away on the quilting of "Katchemak Baywatch." 

Did you just hear my squeal of excitement? A new Bucilla stocking release. How  can I resist? 

The Prettiest of All Places

Today I had a play day with my husband in his little SuperCub airplane. I took this photo with my iPhone. (It just amazes me what I can do with a tiny iPhone!)  You are looking at the tallest peak in North America, Mt. McKinley or better known as Denali to Alaskans. According to Wikipedia, Denali means "High One," in Athabaskan. I have previously heard it meant, "Great One," in Athabaskan. (I don't always trust Wikipedia). Athabaskans are a native Alaskan tribe found in southcentral Alaska. The river in view is the Susitna River just outside of one of our favorite towns, Talkeetna. A very beautiful part of the world!

The sun is shining so when I got home I decided to grab a quick photo of my latest quilting project. I pulled it off the frame yesterday because it is time to turn it to finish quilting the final two borders. 

A quick look at the back side. This is a good time to see if I need to add more quilting somewhere.

Next summer one of our little airplane trips will have to be down to Homer where I can get a photo of this quilt in an appropriate setting. Homer is on Katchemak Bay which is a stomping ground for whales, Humpbacks and Orcas. I call this quilt, "Katchemak Baywatch." It makes me sew happy to see it close to being done!

One last photo from today's flight. Talkeetna is known for its "Hippie-ish," residents...or maybe just "non-conformists" like most of Alaska! In the red field is a peace-sign one can only see from the air. 

Hanging Out in the Studio

Lots of projects underway in my studio. I am stitching (by hand) wool felt backings to cross stitch ornaments I have made in the past year. All of these ornaments are stitched on perforated paper. The directions call for gluing a piece of felt to the back side but since I have been doing this for a few years...I know the gluing option does not holdup to the test of time. Now I stitch the felt to the piece, going every-other hole in the paper as I stitch the outline of the ornament. Then I trim the felt. I use regular 1/8-inch sating ribbon to make a hangar. A nice chenille needle works best to pull the ribbon through the backside of the felt. 

This photo shows all the steps.

All done...sew adorable!

I'm at least 30 hours into quilting my latest top. Midarms aren't the fastest machines! My best guess is I am two-thirds through the quilting design.

I still have these blue areas to work out a design for...my original plan just isn't going to work when actually stitched. That happens a lot of the time...drawing and stitching are very different!

I have found two vintage Bucilla kits on eBay at prices I was willing to accept. I can only think of one other vintage kit I am still looking for..."Rock 'n Roll Santa." 

I had a trip to the dermatologist today to get planters warts on my heels frozen. I know this is too much information!!! But...I can't stand at my quilting machine today because my heels hurt too much so I will work on my Disappearing Hour Glass. 

I am planning to use 30 blocks, 5 X 6 layout with a small inner border of my background fabric and a 5" to 6" outer border which will make the quilt about 70" x 80". 

A bit bigger than lap-size but far from being king-size.

August Show and Tell

It's time to recap August's Breakfast Club. As usual...it was great fun!
Lets get right to the show and tell.

Some of the ladies participate in a monthly strip club. This month's Strip Club pattern was LeMoyne Magic. Kathy pulled all of these fabrics from her stash. The pattern is a Cozy Strip Club Design.

Erin is getting ready for Christmas early with her holiday quilt from the book, "Holly Jolly." I just noticed the red triangles along the red inner border. Adorable. 

Last month's project for Breakfast club was table runners. Maria got these three done.

Another holiday project...I should have gotten a close up photo of the snowmen embroidered blocks. Such a gorgeous quilt. This is also Marie's. She bought some border fabric at the shop that day. The setting is the pattern, "Perfect Ten," from our June Breakfast Club meeting.

Another mini professional tote completed. Ronna (sp?) found this perfect trim to add to the handles. I especially love the buttons.

These were Bonnie's runners from last month. You see the same colorways because many did kits.

This is also from Bonnie...I know this was a garage sale find...just not sure what stage of completion she found it.

Bonnie is our scrappy Half Square Triangle queen. Lots of those triangles get cut off in designs made from 2 1/2" strips. All of these triangles came from one of her strip club quilts.

And here is Bonnie with a project from a new club focused on mini quilts.

And one last stunning quilt from Bonnie..."Hollow Cube," from a new book from Marci Baker. Bonnie said this was a super easy quilt she made from scraps.

Besides Show and Tell and eating...we do some sewing. Our project this month started out as a mystery using layer cakes or 10" squares. It is a great technique from the Missouri Star Company called, "Disappearing Hour Glass." Here's a link to the You tube video. The green was made with 10" squares and the purple is made from charms or 5"squares. 

I was able to finish six blocks in the class. Not sure how big I am going with this...I keep telling myself...keep it to lap size...keep it to lap size!!!

Long Time Coming

It is autumn in Alaska...and I am good with that because August is just too wet most of the time. September means more sunshine. Looks like we are getting an early start...

The leaves are just starting to change. I'm so lucky...this is the "somewhat paved" street to my driveway. Alaska is Gorgeous!!!

I almost missed the afternoon sun while working at the quilting machine. It seems like I have been waiting forever for sunlight to showoff my quilting!!!

This has been quite a quilting season for me! A trip to Bali which was a major bucket-list item. Then I got inspired to stretch my brain...I had to figure out how to get outside my midarm 17" space to quilt on a grander scale. Mistakes along the way? Plenty!!! But thanks to all the wonderful quilters who share their knowledge and experiences on the web...I feel like I have made a major leap in my quilting skills.  

Lots of tension issues on this quilt...but despite that...the back is still fabulous!

I have shared this quilt before but the sunlight makes so much of a difference. This is a pattern called "Irish Mist," from the book, "Six Halves Make a Whole Lot More." I bought this as a kit at the Houston Quilt Show in 2012. The only thing I changed was the color layout for the squares in the four corners. The pattern called for a random placement of the 2" squares. Nope...can't do random! The pattern was so simple!

I first saw this pattern in my Breakfast Club group. This picture does not do this quilt justice. It is beautiful. It won an award in this year's Alaska State Fair.

Next up is a quilt I absolutely love! This has probably happened to you. You see a BOM starting on someone's blog...you decide to give it a go. I'm so glad I did! The sampler blocks were from Shannon at Pieceful Kwillter. She hosted the BOM in 2011. I started out trying to go with the darker background like Shannon's version. (Her version was more of a black background with bright colors.)

It was pretty but it just didn't sit well with me. I tried a completely different look...very girlie!!! I don't know how I came about putting these colors together but a good stash definitely helped! I had loved the inspiration fabric...a Hoffman batik in the colorway Sweet Pea...for a while. It led me somewhere wonderful.

I was in love at first sight. Somewhere along the way I have discovered I like orange. I used to hate orange. No orange flowers for me. Orange...at one time was banned from my flower gardens.

Sometimes people change. It's now my favorite accent flower color. Go figure! Maybe I should try watching the new show, "Orange is the New Black.?" HAHA...I just looked up what the premise of that show is on Wikipedia...I don't think so! Women in prison...enough said.

But I digress...

I was humming along with my new colorway until block five. I thought I wanted more blue. 

Changed my mind!!!

Much better!

Again..going along swimmingly...block 11.

Batiks have a tendency to lean toward the "merky." 

A little orange solved the problem.

Then of course...I wanted to do something different for the final layout than Shannon's plan. I just loved these blocks so much. When in doubt...add a chain. This could be my motto. 

Voila!

Here she is...Sweet Peas in the Meadow.

She's the first quilt I have double batted with a layer of Hobbs 100% cotton and a layer of Hobbs wool. The wool batting had a few "extra thick," areas that made me a little nervous but everything washed up just dandy. 

Oh...here's the backside.

I used a batik backing from Sew Batiks. Their batik backings have a looser thread count than traditional batik backings...a little easier on the quilting machine. 

Upon finishing this quilt I feel so steeped in the quilting tradition. This quilt is all about the sharing that quilters do...thank you so much Shannon. You inspired me!

One Picture Says It All

I finished my mini professional tote...LOVE IT! 

I have Breakfast Club tomorrow. We are doing a mystery quilt that involves Layer Cakes and a yard of background fabric. I'm going with a Hoffman Bali Volcano Layer Cake. I have two pieces of yardage I bought in Bali that I am taking to class...I'll pick the color there with the help of our leader. My green class tote bag is pretty much ready to go...I am going to be so color coordinated tomorrow.