Category Archives: Art

Sew-in Fun!

Posted on September 8, 2019 by heARTsCreations

Last week I had the good fortune to spend four days in South Carolina with a group of talented and fun quilters! Everyone brought their own projects and worked away all day and into the night. Mostly we had hot sunny days and were able to enjoy the outdoor pool.

These hat pin cushions were made and gifted to each of us by Judy. I absolutely love mine and am so thankful for her thoughtfulness and efforts.

Here’s Laurie with her very impressive bin full of 1 1/2″ solid scraps. She’s turning them into the now popular spinner blocks. What a great use of scraps!

Debbie lives nearby and is the one who introduced us to the Homeplace B&B that we were at. Thank you Debbie!

Studious Susan is carefully planning her next project. (Something I need to get better at)

Sandy really worked away consistently. She not only machine sewed but also worked on some English paper piecing.

This square in a square quilt tells Susan’s life story. The grits block was definitely a favorite!

Lots of trimming and squaring up. Sandra was another who sewed, sewed, sewed!

A log cabin quilt for a friend of Laurie’s who recently purchased a log cabin! She’ll add a border – what a wonderful and thoughtful gift.

Judy is cutely peeking out from behind her 30’s print quilt. I love the design this layout makes.

This is such an impressive paper pieced beach quilt! Lorel isn’t finished with it yet. She’s planning on adding on some amusement – shells? crabs? beach balls? Can’t wait to see the finished quilt!

Debbie brought her very impressive woven (from bed sheets) rug. Wow!!

Sandy finished this Frozen quilt top with a special little one in mind. How cute!

This minimal and very striking modern quilt was completed by Susan. I can’t wait to see this one quilted.

Five O’Clock Coffee Time!

Unfortunately, some did not get into the picture, including myself. There were eleven of us and I do believe a good time was had by all. Lucky me to be a part of this group of fun and talented ladies!

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Posted in Art, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, Sew-in, Stash and tagged projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Applique Update & Detour

Posted on August 20, 2019 by heARTsCreations

A very long time ago I began to hand applique Lollypop Tree by Kim McLean. The background for my first block wasn’t quite what I wanted so I began again, using a gray and white backgrounds. Much better! There are now three complete and the fourth one is very close to being done.

But I’ve come to a complete halt. I was so on fire to finish this one and get to number five. My plan is to do six total as the blocks are rather large. Most unfortunately I’ve developed what I believe is tennis elbow and I cannot do hand applique until it’s better.

Big whimper – it hurts My research has shown that this could take months – Grrr!! I see the doctor next week to get an official diagnosis and plan of action although I’m betting it won’t be much different from what I’m doing now – limiting what I do with my right arm, exercises, and icing it regularly.

Big SIGH…I want to applique!!

Tennis Elbow

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Posted in Applique, Art, block pattern, Fabric, Kaffe Fasset, Projects, Quilting and tagged projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

End of June & a Winner

Posted on July 3, 2019 by heARTsCreations

Industrious wouldn’t exactly describe my quilting progress this past month. There have been some big house chores, like power washing, and truthfully, I have been in a relaxed mode with my sewing this past month. There’s surprisingly has been quite a bit of progress, though. I got a quilt back from the long armer and did get it bound. I’ve been working on a quilt for our bed – bigger than I usually do and although I love it and it’s exactly what I’ve wanted, it’s a bit boring (all 3 1/2″ squares). I also finally prepped and began to applique the fourth block of “Lolly Pop Trees.”

June Project Listing

AND….we have a winner of the 98 metallic hexies and leftover fabrics. Joan S will be receiving this bundle! Thank you all for participating!

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Posted in Art, Color, Fabric, Give Away, Hexagons, Quilting and tagged Color, Giveaway, Metallics, projects, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

Little Improv Thank You’s

Posted on June 30, 2019 by heARTsCreations

Recently I wanted to send thank you notes and somehow a store purchased card fell short of how I wanted to express my gratefulness. I was also feeling a bit restless about my sewing – time to break out the scraps and do some improve! I chose various brights and just had to add some black and white and just began to piece.

The heart shape on this one below was a happy accident! There was a fair amount of sewing with those narrow strips, but it was fun.

Basically a wonky log cabin, the one below is my favorite.

Each wasounted on stabilizer then glued to the front of a 5″ x 7″ card. If you do a card like this, remember to go to the post office to have it weighed as there was extra postage. But OH SO worth it! I just hope the recipients understand how much I appreciated them.

Linkups: NTT WOW Design Wall Monday Main Crush Monday What I Made Monday

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Posted in Art, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Quilting and tagged improv, projects, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

My Pot of Gold & A Giveaway!

Posted on June 24, 2019 by heARTsCreations

Several years ago, more like many years ago, I started collecting metallic fabrics. Many had an Asian theme and I loved them. It took me a couple of years to decide, but finally I decided to do a hexagon star pattern. I cut the hexagons on my Sizzix – I cut, and cut, and cut. Rather than cut the individual triangles, I sewed the hexies to strips of fabric and then trimmed.

I found this black with gold dots fabric and a friend suggested that I scatter a few black stars about. Had to admit – a good idea. It also meant taking some of the quilt apart in places, but it was doable.

Finally, I pulled the project box out and was inspired to complete this quilt top. I added the black borders. I played with a couple of cornerstones, but nope, the black borders were it! It is being added to my “to be quilted” pile, as I plan on quilting this one myself. The project box, however, is empty!

Leftovers – many hexie leftovers! And several pieces of the fabrics! I will not save them, but if someone out there would like them, they are yours if you leave a comment saying so. I will randomly pick a winner and announce the winner next Wednesday, July 3.

Linking up with: WOW Midweek Makers

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Posted in Art, block pattern, Color, Fabric, Give Away, Hexagons, Projects, Quilting and tagged Color, Metallics, projects, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

Post Retreat + Enjoying my Passions

Posted on May 8, 2019 by heARTsCreations

After being home a week, I’ve finally made it to the computer to do a wrap up of my somewhat productive sewing at a quilt retreat I attended in South Carolina. I began the week full steam ahead by making string blocks for a border that I cut into fours. I then paired each with a white on white square and made half square triangles. All of my notes were at home (why oh why??) so I just made bunches! This is the quilt top I was preparing the border blocks for:

These are the border blocks, not yet attached to the quilt:

And these are the leftovers! They will make a sweet little quilt. I will either add a couple of border to make it a baby quilt or add to it to make a lap quilt. That is a decision to be made at a later date.

Following my “string fling” I just piddled. I did some pinning, some sewing, but didn’t really attack anything else with much vigor. Mostly I enjoyed my time away and being with an awesome group of quilters!

What’s really been keeping me busy is the great outdoors. I am in the process of dividing my ferns. They are truly glorious this year! And tree work was done in our yard and this pile of mulch was the result. I can only load a few wheel barrels a day and do the spreading. Hubby cut this pile of wood and we’ll need to get a log splitter to finish the job. This is not fun yard work.

There is also much weeding to be done. I attack it a bucket at a time and have the wonderful ability to look past the weeds and enjoy the pretty plants and flowers. Fortunately, my one side bed manages to stay weed free!

The temperatures here have been glorious so I am enjoying the outdoors fully. I will sew more when it becomes very hot – mid to high 80’s and gardening do not go well together for me!

Embrace ALL your Creative Passions!

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Posted in Art, Color, Design Wall, Fabric, garden, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, spring and tagged Color, flowers, garden, projects, Quilting, Quilts, Scraps, spring. Bookmark the permalink.

Moving Ahead

Posted on May 1, 2019 by heARTsCreations

Goals – I like to set them but even better I like to meet them! My biggest upcoming one is to finish up the Hospice quilts by the end of July. They are donated in November, but I’d like to use the other four months for concentrating on completing more of my Works in Progress. Here is how April ended up:

April WIPs (Medium)

Because I am out of town, I don’t have pics of some finishes. Will get to those after retreat. Until then – enjoy being creative!

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Posted in Art, charity quilts, Hospice Quilts, Projects, Quilting and tagged projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Gifts!

Posted on April 24, 2019 by heARTsCreations

Gifts are fun – especially when given by someone special. A friend recently came to stay for an overnight play date (yes, quilting of course!). She brought me her farm fresh eggs – no picture as they didn’t last very long! If you’ve never had farm fresh eggs, let me tell you that they are the best! The shells are fun because they’re not plain white, the yolks are a deep yellow and denser, and the sizes are big, big, big!

My friend has a farm in South Carolina – Fox Trot Farm in Lancaster. Touring the farm is fun and a great time to spend in the country. As their website states, they have:

Grass Fed Lamb, Fresh Eggs, Honey, Soap, Tours, & Farm Fun!

Honey, oh my! Not only is it fresh and yummy, I love the bottle and label!

Cord holders – I’ve been meaning to make these handy little things for some time now but somehow have never gotten around to it. I put them to use right away. Awesome!

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Knitted dishcloth – love these. This one has now been used several times – didn’t even get a pic when it was brand new. Mine have a lot of wear and tear so this is very welcomed.

AND…I know, more – right?! This beautiful embroidered towel. I do like dragonflies and have a few scattered about the house and she noticed!

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Thank you for these wonderful gifts that keep on giving!

Spring here in the NC Piedmont continues to delight. Temps have been perfect too! It’s also had me gardening and doing a bit less quilting.

A Finish & March Wrap-up

Posted on March 31, 2019 by heARTsCreations

Another Hospice finish and I love the back and forth of this quilt. The pretty leaf blocks were leftovers from donations to a friend’s daughter’s project. Amazingly enough, I found a beautiful striped fabric in my stash that coordinated with the blocks perfectly! It was fun to put them together and see a pretty quilt emerge. I even had a great swirly fabric for the backing and binding.

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Laurie (my friend who had passed the blocks on to me) was visiting one day, saw the quilt top, and offered to take it home to quilt and bind. Now that’s an offer I have no problem accepting! As always, she did a great job.

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Winter’s end and March is at an end – how quickly it passes! Monday not only brings another month, but my Birthday – yay!

Happy April Fool’s Day to everyone!

WIPs 2019

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Posted in Art, block pattern, charity quilts, Fabric, Hospice Quilts, Quilting and tagged Charity, projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

Tribal Finish

Posted on March 27, 2019 by heARTsCreations

This quilt has been in progress for quite some time as I blogged about here. I am so glad to say that it is quilted and bound! All the cutting and sewing on this quilt was definitely worth the effort.

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The backing is made up of the leftover fabrics. I love when I can do this and not try to figure out how/where to store the remains.

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The smaller bits I cut into the scrap sizes I have been saving and they are tucked away in their proper bins. I am trying so very hard to keep up with this and not end up with the daunting task I had before I began this system.

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