Monday, October 6, 2014

Around the World Blog Hop




I was kindly invited to participate in the Around the World Blog Hop by both Mary on Lake Pulaski and Brittany from Pickles Quilting

I always love the fabric that Mary is using! Beautiful! She makes lovely, fresh quilts and the most adorable children's clothes.

Brittany is making some cool ABC blocks that will make an fun quilt when she's done. I'm happy that they asked me to join in and today is my day on the tour!








Why do I create?  Because it's fun!

I've always considered myself a creative person and quilting is a great fit for me.

As a stay at home mom with two active teenage boys and one crazy dog, quilting gives me that quiet, super peaceful...or you could say pieceful..... time with bright fun colors even including pink and purple on occasion!








I also like quilting because it stays done!

Unlike many of the other things I do throughout the day, such as wash muddy laundry from a really wet, muddy cross country practice.

We seriously had to spray him off with the garden hose after practice early last week before he came inside the house!  And Saturday's meet was just as muddy!








Also, I enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from being able to say, "Wow, I made that!"








My great-grandmother was a quilter, all hand quilting and piecing back then, but quilting wasn't something I ever thought I'd be interested in as a teen, so I didn't take the opportunity to learn from her. 








My friend Kim was the one who suggested that I could make a quilt, even though I'd never touched a sewing machine before.








I thought she was crazy to think that I could learn to quilt.  As you can see she was right and I was way wrong.  I haven't stopped quilting since.  Seriously, I haven't stopped!  









What am I working on now?  Right now, I'm working on getting some things quilted.  I've got lots of quilt tops laying around here that I need and want to get quilted so they can be used.










I enjoy doing my own quilting and that's my sewing priority this fall.  Unless I get distracted of course......Oh, I'm also making some ABC blocks and I might throw in a few Schnibbles patterns too......









My quilt tastes are all over the place!  I love modern quilts, traditional quilts and a mix of the two! I never met a quilt that I didn't like.

You'll find me working with more modern, bright fabrics and darker repro prints too.

 One reason that I started my blog was to learn more about modern quilts and fabrics, because at the time there wasn't too much of that in my area, but I've learned so much more than I ever expected through blogging. 










To continue the blog tour, on Monday, October 13th my friend Cheryl from So Many Quilts, So Little Time will be participating.  I think the name of her blog is so true! Cheryl is wonderful at small scale piecing and she enjoys using reproduction fabrics.  I consider Cheryl to be a great blog and quilting friend.  She and I have been reading each others blogs for years.  In fact I think her's was one of the first blogs I ever read! Recently her Autumn Pinwheels quilt caught my eye and I can't get enough of her photographs of nature!


Another blogger on the Around theWorld Blog Hop is my friend Jamie.  You might know her from her blog busy bee quilts.  I love her modern fabrics  and her fun quilts.  She recently made an adorable stuffed owl and she also shared a tutorial for making a burlap wreath.  Her willingness to give new quilting techniques a try is amazing.  She did a Modern Quilt Guild Michael Miller Challenge quilt that I just love!  


If you'd like to be a stop on the tour just leave a comment and tell us who you are and feel free to join in!  We'd love to hear from you and learn all about why you create!




10 comments:

Cheryl said...

Nice post and TY for the kind referral!

Houseelf said...

Thanks for a wonderful insight into your quilting world. I love your use of colour and the way you put fabrics together for effect. Thanks for popping in.

Needled Mom said...

I loved your statement that quilting stayed done!!! So many of us can relate to that.

Your work is wonderful and your quilting looks great. I love that bow tie quilt.

Lynette said...

This was a fun post! And *seriously* about the love of quilting for something we're doing staying done. I get that, completely! Hadn't actually thought of it, but that's a huge component of the satisfaction it brings me, I'm sure.

Candace said...

Such a wonderful post, Michele! I really do like your style - modern and fresh and always so colorful! Love your doggie, too :>)
Cheers!

Izzy said...

Nice post! You are so right about quilts staying "done". At the end of a long hard day, it is so nice to know My whole family is sleeping under quilts I have made for them. :-)

Anonymous said...

I loved reading your post! The part about quilting actually staying done made me laugh just because I wish other things could stay that way too. ;) Thanks for participating!
-Brittany

Mary Pat Callihan said...

I loved reading your post Michele, like having a lovely conversation with you. I also liked seeing more of your quilts!

Teresa Rawson said...

Great post! I love your scrappy projects with such bright colors and interesting neutral background selections. And your machine quilting is wonderful! I, too, love that the projects get done and stay done...that is a lovely thought!

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

Michele, I've never thought about quilting that way, that it stays "done" unlike the cooking, cleaning, and laundry, arggghhh! And I love your mantra that you've never met a quilt you didn't like. I need to embrace that a little more.