The New Orleans Quilt

I wanted to create a quilt that had a New Orleans/Mardi Gras feel without being too literal…i.e. green, purple, gold and beads. I ran to my favorite local quilt shop, Strawberry Patches, and begged the assistance of the owner, Suzanne, to help me find the perfect fabrics for my vision. I think she wanted to call the police and have me admitted…but she persevered and hooked me up with the perfect fabrics. I wanted that purple and gold feel with some brown, green and blue undertones. A little mystery and a little gritty-ness…

New Orleans Quilt front

We selected four fabrics for the background: 3 batik fabrics and one quilting weight cotton. The Fleur-de-lis is made with two gold fabrics: one quilting weight cotton and one batik. The darker Gold is used as the binding. The back shows off all the main fabrics in larger scale.

New Orleans Quilt Back

Some detail shots:

Detail of New Orleans Quilt Front

All quilting was completed on my Bernina 440 with my trusty walking foot. Applique is raw-edged to give it an aged feel.

Quilting Detail of New Orleans Quilt Back

This one is headed off to a friend living in New Orleans. As soon as I can get my tush to the post office.

Front Detail

Joy of Love – Day One – DO

Joy of Love 3, originally uploaded by A meets Z.

I’ve been following Kelly Willette of Willette Designs for awhile now.  And Lucky Me…she’s doing a free workshop this month through e-mail called The Joy of Love.  There is still time to sign up is you want to join in on the fun.  Today’s assignment was 1) to capture someone you love doing what they do and 2) to work on finding the light in your house to get a proper exposure.  The above photo was taken in my dining room.  Bryan is sitting at the picnic table playing with his truck (kid has a thing for cars).  As you can see, Duplo blocks are scattered on the floor around him and he’s giving me is best grin as usual.  This was not the best light available in the house.  I had to crank my ISO up to 1600 so black and white helps with the overall effect.  But of the day, this was my favorite.  The top 3 are on my flickr stream if you want to sneak a peak.  Can’t wait for tomorrow’s assignment!

Go sign up…what are you waiting for!

Its about time…

Christmas 2010 Sunrise

It’s that time again…resolution time…

I know I’m getting to it a little late, but better late than never…

It might be a little cliché, but the new year always brings about a sense of renewal…that there are endless possibilities…that you can put last year behind you and move on.  So I’m taking that feeling and running with it.

While I do have the traditional goals of exercising more and getting healthier, a big one is trying to be a little greener at home.  I’m trying to make some baby steps like recycling, reducing our electricity usage, buying local and organic and just cutting back on our consumerism.  (that’s going to be the hardest…I LOVE me some Target). 

Going a bit greener ties into two of my other goals: spending less money and having more quality time with my kids.  That is probably my biggest goal…to really spend some good, quality time with my kids.  I still have to keep the house in order and find time to workout and cook and maybe brush my teeth before noon…but I HAVE to work on investing in my kids more.  There are a couple facets to this goal:

1) having more structured days.  I’m trying to wake up before the kids, usually by 6am.  Not going to lie…its only happened once since christmas but I’ve had an awful cold (I seriously didn’t know the human body could produce so much snot…y.u.c.k.).  The flip side to that is going to bed by 9 or 9:30…which I’m already breaking while writing this…I know…off to a fabulous start.

2) unplugging for the majority of the day.  Hello, my name is Liz, and I am addicted to the computer.  I am.  I will leave it on all day and go check every 5 minutes to see if someone posted something on facebook.  Maybe I got an e-mail.  Let’s face it…I am not that popular.  And to be honest…I think I should be glad I’m not that popular.  But my kids think I’m pretty cool (at least right now…maybe in 2 years they won’t) so I need to unplug and really get down on the floor and spend some time with them.  The other part of unplugging is turning off the TV.  I have been soooooo bad about letting my kids watch TV.  I used it as a crutch to let me get stuff done around the house…now it is pure habit.  I mean, we haven’t been watching the Exorcist or anything…but even educational TV doesn’t need to be on all day.  We are now on day two of unplugging (although I went for a haircut so I’m not sure if hubby caved).  There have been major times I’ve wanted to cave and just turn the happy glowing box on so the kids will stop whining…but I have resisted.  I’ll update on our progress…say a few prayers :)  I also have to cut down on the number of blogs I follow.  That is going to hurt.  There are so many talented and inspiring people out there.  But I think its time to cut the list down.  All for the greater good.

And to round out the list, I want to really explore my blogging…try to find my voice and purpose and still bring some killer quilts to the mix. 

Practicing my photography is on the list.  Starting Jan 1 I have vowed to take more pictures in Manual mode.  They look so.much.better.  Honestly. 

And Last but not least, Quilting.  I finished two awesome quilts before the holidays.  I’ve just been waiting on some pics to post to the blog.  They will be posted next week, along with some other projects currently in the works.  I’m hoping to get the nerve up to open an etsy shop this year.  But I’m not rushing it.

So here’s to a joyful new year!

Cheers,

Liz

Baby E’s Quilt

It was such a thrill to work on this quilt.  One of my dear friends gave birth to beautiful Baby E.  They decided to wait to see if Baby E was going to be a boy or girl until the birth…so I needed to make it unisex. 

Baby E also has an awesome older brother so I wanted to make it a nice size so they can lay together on it.  The quilt measures about 45″ x 45″.

The back is pieced with strips of scraps from the front.  I quilted about 1/8 inch on both sides of the seams.  The blue binding is the same blue from Baby W’s Quilt.   I used the “wrong” side of the fabric again to get a more mottled blue than a leafy, flowery print. 

incidentally Baby E is a boy…so i hope he likes it!

Cheers!

The Texas Quilt

A fellow Texan and good friend is having her third son.  And she never got a baby shower for the first two.  So this quilt had to be extra special.  And what could be better than a quilt to celebrate the great state of Texas…

The Texas Flag Quilt

Here is the front.  I wanted a scrappy look, so the squares are placed at random.  Even the Star is scrappy and raw-edge appliqued to give it extra age.  I outline quilted the star across the entire quilt.

Back of the Texas Flag Quilt

The back is pieced with a fun blue fabric and red and white from the front.  And of course a tag to name the quilt.  The quilt is approx. 50″ x 45″…I think…at least that is what I had on my drawing…I didn’t measure it before it left my house…

Totally going to make each of my kids one of these.  They were both born in Texas, and Texas will always feel like home no matter where we reside.

cheers,

Liz

The Canada Quilt

I teased you a while ago with pics of the fabrics for The Canada Quilt.  And here it is…

Front of Canadian Flag Quilt

I didn’t have anyone else to help hold it up, so its draped over the couch.  Some friends of ours requested this quilt and I have to say it is one of my all-time favorites.

Back of Canadian Quilt

For the back I found a red and white houndstooth.  So awesome!

Maple Leaf Close-up

Maple leaf is raw-edge appliqued to add to the scrappy homemade goodness.  I love it so much I might have to make one for myself.

Cheers,

Liz

Remember those Lists…

Hi! It’s me again…deep thoughts by Liz time.  Remember those Lists…here’s what I did with them…

I took all the items in List one and wrote them on a blank sheet of paper so a lot of space was between each item.  Then I went thru and listed any and all goals I could think of for each. Yes, this copy is a rewritten version…I’m pretty messy and wanted a nice clean copy for you guys…you’re welcome).  Am I doing each and every one of these things currently…no…But the point is that I can revisit/rewrite this list at any time.  It gives me something to go back to and ask myself, “am I on track?”  We are working with trial and error here…not set in stone. 

List Two had all those time stealers—all the things keeping me from getting constructive stuff done.  I took each of those and tried to find ways that I could combat or eliminate the wasted time.  Don’t get me wrong…sometimes it’s just plain nice to waste time.  But I think my problem is that I waste so much time unconsciously, that I don’t have enough time left to choose to relax.  In my head, that’s how it works anyways.  Once again, am I doing all of this…no…But I still have this list that I can come back to and remind myself.

So there you have it—my visual version of working things thru.

Don’t kid yourself…it will probably change by next week…maybe I should have written in pencil…

Cheers,

oh poor neglected blog

I think my husband and i have decided to scratch 2010 and just move on to 2011. The year started out with the mysterious rash on my son’s face and hiney. March gave us my husband’s knee surgery which he is still recoving from. May gave us viral diarrhea for both the kids…which my daughter never recovered from. August saw us in the ER and then admitted to the hospital. We’re back at home for now. And of course I’m having issues that need to be addressed. And the cherry on top…our hard drive died :( hence no photo in this post. We waited too long to back up our photos onto dvd. My hope is that they will be able to recover the hard drive…at least the photos and the itunes music.

surprisingly, I haven’t had a complete meltdown yet. I’m trying to remember the blessings and that it could always be worse. We are still in relative good health. we’ve almost met our deductible and max out of pocket for insurance, so maybe we’ll stop hemmoraging money. We still have friends and family to call on in emergencies. DH still has a job. And we are all still able to laugh.

So while I really want to forget 2010 ever happened, maybe it will get better in the next 3 1/2 months…there’s always hope…right…

So, now I need to get to work recovering a drive and finishing a quilt…and somewhere in there fold the laundry and clean the kitchen.

turning over a new leaf

I’m on the verge of something big. 

I’ve had a hobby/dream for quite some time.  And it finally might be coming true.  A few more months will tell.  I almost don’t want to believe it because it would really be depressing if it all just fell apart.  But I guess I’m in control of that. 

Do you ever have these crazy dreams of following your passion and then that doubt creeps in and gnaws away at you until it just seems impossible.  That’s what I do to myself…all the time.  I’m afraid to put my dreams into words because that would mean that its my responsibility to actually make them come true.  If they just remain in my head then if they fall apart who cares…who knows but me.  But this time…the cat is out of the bag…I’m accountable…and the funny thing is that I am actually excited…not scared…okay so maybe a little scared, but more excited.  Tomorrow I might be terrified…but today…I am making it happen!

yikes!