Down the Rabbit Hole

This is the only warning:  if you are part of the Martin County Quilters and want to be surprised about my entry for the member challenge - STOP READING!

This quilt was oodles of fun!  It all started back when Martin County Quilters announced the 2013 Member Challenge -- black and white. I knew immediately I would be doing one of my zentangle doodles, but didn't know exactly what or how so I put the thought away for a while.  One morning I woke up, poured my coffee and sat down to doodle.  Well, I doodled and doodled and this happened:

I had been playing around with an Alice in Wonderland-ish quilt in my head for awhile, and well, the Mad Hatter, he's one of my favorites and this quilt totally speaks Mad Hatter (at least to me).  So this just seemed like the perfect place for all these ideas to meet -- kinda cool if I say so.

The rules for the challenge were pretty simple -- max size 160" perimeter, must be black and white (you can add 1-2 other colors but they can't total more than 25%) and that's it.

So I took my drawing and enlarged it to about 39" square:

Yep, that's an aerial of my kitchen table -- wow, it looks amazingly fun now huh?

So I started with a piece of really nice white fabric -- when I say really nice, it is such a smooth silky feeling fabric!  Now, to try and remember when and where I purchased this... that just might kill me, but let me tell you it is absolutely sweet fabric!  I'll make a mental note to keep looking for it because now I've only got a little chunk left -- it looks like this:

I know, that wasn't much help huh?  So from there I transferred the pattern to the fabric in pencil:

And then the inking and coloring began:

And after about 80 hours this happened -- awesomeness!

And then it was time for the quilting... Yes, I still suffer from I'm-really-gonna-mess-this-up anxiety!  Seriously!!  When it comes time to quilt my own stuff I turn into a nervous-nelly.

So as with almost all quilts, I start by basting the entire quilt so I know it is square and make sure there will be no surprises when I get down to the bottom.  This also allows me to roll the quilt back and forth as much as necessary while quilting.

 Then some test stitches and we're off:

Staying on those lines... hmmm, maybe next time I'll quilt it first then color it in!  And some super-duper tiny pebbles -- FUN!

Hey... did you know that if you stick your hand in front of the needle it will bite you!  This has happened to me many times, but this is the very first time I got blood on the quilt!  Oh no!!  But, did you know that a tiny little bit of peroxide on a Q-Tip takes it right off!  Magic!

Although this quilt was hanging fairly flat, blocking is always a good idea with any competition piece.

before blocking

So it was dipped, blocked, and stayed like this for a couple of days while it dried:

during blocking

 And that leaves us with binding... ugh... yuck... hate... slow...

But here we go, the finished picture -- OMG, I love this quilt!!!

Down the Rabbit Hole - an original design by Karen Marchetti

So the best part of this... as I was finishing inking and coloring the design I realized how awesome it was and decided to submit it to MQX Quilt Festivals Pacific Northwest show.  It was accepted, so everyone will get to see it debut there.  No worries, it will still be my member challenge for Martin County Quilters, and hopefully many more shows!  Hope you get a chance to see it!

Impromptu sew day!

Yes, as crazy busy as I am I took the day off.  More about the crazy busy later (in another post) but more about the day off right now!

Tomorrow is yet another show committee meeting for the PSL Crazy Quilters.

Recently the guild held a contest for creating the show name tags.  Well, the one that won (weirdness there huh) was a badge nametag sort of holder.  And there were flaps and foldy things, and applique, and... and... and... kind of a lot of work in that badge holder pattern.  Someone made up a very similar pattern with much easier directions -- like the super simple version.  And, somewhere in the middle of all that is where Nancy and I landed today.  We created our own in a strange wing-it kind of way.  We were supposed to have these finished for tomorrow's meeting -- as part of the show committee we really need to set an example for the entire group to get theirs finished as well!

It was a great day -- Nancy had been up north for over a  month and it has been forever since we've sewn.

And after all day, two patterns, one redo, multiple goofy laugh-offs, two wtf's, and a nice glass of sangria, here is where we ended the day.  Nancy used a nice pink fabric with birds, bees, dragonflies, and all kinds of wonderful.  Me, I used green, yellow, and blue polka dots - so not me, I know, but it totally matches the show logo!

We both still had to finish the binding around the holder for homework.  Since Nancy went home I can only share pics of my badge holder.  I still need to add a little velcro to hold the flap in place, but other than that it is done!

Big deep inside pocket behind that flap:

Super cute clear plastic with finished edge of fabric:

And even back pockets for business cards and a pen:

Yep, that's it -- and yes, my straps are attached is the most basic way possible, but hey, it's due tomorrow!

Big Plans... Baby Steps...

Like the title says -- BIG plans, yep, I've got lots of big plans.  BUT, I am taking tiny little baby steps.  Here's why - You might not know this about me, but I suffer from anxiety, bad.  I'm okay in my little world, doing my normal little things that I'm accustom to.  Like going to guild -- it's fine, I'm happy, I talk, I make noise (sometimes too much), I can talk while doing show and tell -- I didn't used to, but got better at it -- that's one of my big things, talking in front of groups.  I'm slowly getting better at talking in front of groups, and the ADD doesn't really help, sometimes I need people to keep me focused and on track because before you know it I'll be discussing laundry and grocery lists instead of quilting -- or worse, I'll just stop in the middle of a sentence and be done with that thought, not because I forgot, but because a new better thought jumped in front.  Those of you that know me are shaking your heads up and down right now, because it is true -- I'm like the absent-minded idiot sometimes!

Some of you that have followed me for a while even know I don't like talking on my videos... I've gotten better at that too!  Here's one quickly explaining the path I travel while doing stitch-in-the-ditch on a double wedding ring quilt:

Not too bad huh?  I talked, yeah, I may have repeated the same thing, but it was kind of the point to show you the travelling path.

All this is leading up to one of the BIG plans... teaching and possibly some instructional videos.

Ahhhhh, did I really just say that? YES.  I'll be starting small, teaching some wonderful local peeps so that I'm better prepared for all you other quilties out there!  I also have to take some time to work on actual classes, outlines, etc.  And time is the key word here, I don't have much extra time to go around so I'll be sleeping even less than now!  Seriously, I don't want to jump into this only to fail.  I'm not like that.  I have to know everything possible, all the ins-outs, loops, pitfalls, everything!  Nor do I want to disappoint any of you.  I know some of you have waited a while for me to finally get out of my own way and do this!  Yes, I need to put all my anxieties, worries, doubts, concerns, and *little voices* away and just do this -- but slowly!

So here's a peek into the second part of that video:

So all my fears and worries about teaching are probably just in my own head.  We're all human, we all have faults, issues, inadequacies, and well, stuff -- it's what makes us real.  So I guess if I can deal with all my *stuff* maybe you guys can deal with it too!

I'll keep you all in-the-know and up-to-date on when the teaching will start.  In the meantime, my locals peeps, let me know if you're still interested and I'll work something up!

Oh, and a big shout-out to my friends who have dealt with my fears and crazies in getting to this point!  I love you all dearly!

Mari's arms just grew!

That's right, Mari's arms just grew... into longarms! 

Here is a quilt top I've had in my tub of UFO's for awhile now.  The pattern is Organized Chaos by Cozy Quilt Designs.  It was cute, easy, and never got quilted.  You see in a second that this turns out great for Mari.  Oh, for those of you that don't know, Mari is my son's girlfriend -- she is an absolute doll!

As I was reading the categories for MQX Quilt Festivals Pacific Northwest competition I noticed there was a Youth Category.  Hey... I'm teaching Mari to piece her first quilt could this be possible?  Well no, Mari is no where near finished piecing her quilt.  BUT... yep, those darn buts, sometimes they are actually good.  This one was good -- the Youth Category states that the kids are only being judged on the machine quilting -- anyone can piece the top.  Whooooohoooo!!!  This UFO works perfect!  And so it begins...

No, I didn't just throw her on the machine and say go.  She practiced and got the feel of moving the Gammill and doodled and played and liked it!  But she didn't feel comfortable enough to quilt from the front quite yet and wanted to try a panto.  Hmmmm... I had a bunch of them eons ago and I gave them all away to a friend.  For those of you that don't know I used a panto twice, once to try it, and a second time to confirm I did not like using a panto!  So we borrowed a couple of pantos from another friend and Mari made her decision on this one:

 

She starts by basting the quilt square (hmm... someone taught her well).

And thinking about threads... she chose a chocolatey brown.

And she's off!

She didn't get real far on Day 1 -- I forgot to mention that she goes to school, works, and also does virtual school so that she can graduate a year early.  Amazing right!

So here goes Day 2 - she is a determinted one - look at that lip biting (must be a concentrating quilter thing)!

And a peek at her first stitches:

And she took a nice break for Labor Day -- aren't they just the cutest!

 

Here she is on her last pass...

And... DONE!

Well, almost done.  This weekend Mari will learn how to make binding, how to attach binding, and then how to sew it by hand.  Then she'll be done!

I am so proud of her.  I'm honored and thrilled that she wanted to learn, not only the piecing, but the machine quilting as well.  I'll keep you updated on her pieced quilt as she works on it, and also when she quilts it!

And please, if you know someone that wants to learn, teach them!  This is the future of our industry!!!

Update on the goings-on in my little world...

Today is setup day for AQS Grand Rapids.
If you are there, you'll notice I'm not...

Yes, it is true, as much as I would love to be there, things have happened and plans have changed, and my cute (albeit chubby) face won't be at AQS Grand Rapids or OSQE Pittsburgh.  I would have been showcasing my talents as Quilting Artist in the Gammill booth sharing how awesome their machines are but life happened and crazies have landed and no... I'm not there.  I know this is a bit disappointing for a few of you who I was hoping to meet, but I am sure we will meet soon, at another show perhaps.  I'm not sure where I'll be next, but no worries, I will definitely let all of you lovely quilties know as soon as I do!  As disappointing as it is, it is also kind of neat -- it's like I've found two weeks that I didn't have.  That's cool, I might actually be able to get ahead of myself... hahaha... wishful thinking I know!

But loads of stuff are happening anyway!  Just adding to the fact that I am totally insane so why not just let the pot boil over with craziness?... right?

I'm trying to catch up on client work -- ehhh, that is a never-ending battle.  You get ahead only to fall behind again.  It is good though, it keeps life interesting and kinda keeps me on my toes.  And I do try my best to keep 3M in business with my plethora of post-its!

A quick run down on everything I have going on.  If you don't remember my last accountability post was on June 6 (check it out if you don't remember) -- and... not much has happened since, okay I lie, a lot has:

Kaleidoscope Quilt (aka Dance in the Rain)
I did manage to work on this for a couple of days.  I finished all the strata and started assembling the pie pieces.  Not too bad for less than a weekend's worth of work.  And the good thing is I managed to work on it -- it was stuck in that bad never-gonna-get-this done place, so some work is good!  Still have oodles of stuff to finish on this one.  I love the designs that are happening.  I totally did not plan any of my fabric placements -- just made the strata and hoped for the best.  I will be adding some applique -- the eyes might need a spot to rest every so often!  And, I still need to piece the border - more strata - have to grab some more fabrics from Natalie. Once this beauty is finished it WILL be amazing!  Right now it's still getting there!

H2O Challenge
My project for this years Journeys Thru Art challenge.  I'm calling it Drops.  I am so excited!  I spent a few hours and made some drops.... now to find a gazillion more hours!  But aren't those drops freaking amazing?!!!  I love when I impress myself -- it scares me sometimes when things turn out so perfectly that those little hairs on the back of your neck stand straight up!  IDK, maybe that's just me -- but it happened, they stood straight up and tinglies went up and down my spine.  One of those wow moments!  I can not wait to find more time to finish this quilt!



Martin County Quilters 2013 Member Challenge - Black and White
Just wait until you see this -- it is totally amazing and cool!  It is just about finished being colored and then needs to be quilted.  It turned out so amazing that I actually entered it into MQX Quilt Festival - Pacific Northwest!  It is a wholecloth which I am using fabric markers to color in one of my zentangly doodles that I drew specifically for the challenge.  I'm calling it Down the Rabbit Hole, and this is the only picture I can share at this point -- just wait though, it'll knock your socks off.  Well, unless you don't wear socks, then perhaps your flip-flops will fly?!!  Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my quilting will accentuate my drawing and I don't mess it up!

PSL Crazy Quilters 2014 Member Challenge - fail... I have nothing more than the last update.  The entry deadline is still in November.  My idea board is still blank.  Hoping my last minute magic kicks in on this one!

True Colors - I have drawn out the quilting design and I'm quite pleased.  That's it though, I still need to transfer the main lines to the quilt and then squeeze it into my schedule somewhere!  Soon!!  This quilt wants so badly to be born.

New Un-Named Quilt
Progress!  It has been named - Arachne's Dauntless Spin - why you ask?  Of course it is a long story, here is the short version... one of my besties said it looked spider-webby, which you can't see just yet but yes, some of it really does resemble spider webs.  So me and my little researcher brain had to find a name to match the spider-webbiness of the drawing.  Hmmm.... well..... wow.... not much.  Then I found the story of Arachne and Athena... and hey, the quilt is made of silk and spider webby and and and... there you go, that's how my brain works!  So while I can't share the drawing with you (only a few have seen it -- its going to be a surprise), I will share the fabrics with you -- beautiful aren't they!  I can not wait to work on this quilt!!

Un-Named, Yet-to-be-Designed Fantastic Idea for a Quilt
Absolutely no progress on this one at all...
my idea totally matches the Up Up and Away theme for MQS and I think it would be totally awesome.  The only problem I'm having is drawing it out, fabric'ing it up, quilting it... you know... T I M E.  Ahhhhhh, we'll see, this is on the back burner for now.  Even if I don't finish it for the Up Up and Away challenge I will still finish it because it is awesome in my head!

Where The Heck Did That Come From? - new un-named wonder
I have had these fabrics for forever and a day, or two... they were originally planned for something else and well, that something will never happen -- the one block took me an entire day to make.  I don't know about all of you, but I do not have enough time to devote an entire day to one block... ever!  So scrap that idea and the fabrics are now available for this amazing thing that just popped out of my head -- no name for this one yet but it is total coolness!  So again, I can't share the quilt just yet but here are the fabrics.  But here's the weird part.  I am not a print person -- lately I have been trying to rid my stash of all these crazy prints I've picked up over the years.  I think part of it is I like to see my stitches and prints don't always allow that.  But amazingly, this quilt will be using two prints!  Proud of myself in a weird sort of way.

I think that's it... probably not, but I've made blogging progress and added reminders to my calendar not to ignore you wonderful peeps!

Week One (2nd time)

Well, week one has come and gone along with four pounds.  Not much I know!  But, considering what this week was I still feel it was not a failure.

This week was Fourth of July and also my wedding anniversary -- 22 years, holy wow!  I did stray from my diet during the week, but only a little.  On the fourth I enjoyed a wonderful, perfectly grilled piece of prime rib.  OMG!  It was delicious, and not just because I was dieting.  I did only eat half and saved the other half for Friday's dinner.

Now... Saturday was a different story, but 22 years people, that's a big deal!  That's like half of my life!  I was definitely treating myself to some carbs!  We went to my favorite restaurant -- Conchy Joe's.  I started out good by ordering a white sangria... delish!  But then I ordered than darn Big Conch.  This is a drink for two -- seriously, says so on the menu!  Here is a picture of the Big Conch next to a normal ordinary glass of sangria:

Then it all went downhill...
Conch fritters...
Salad with creamy dressing...
Fresh warm corn bread...
Seafood combo (okay, I did order it broiled and not fried)...
Plantains with mango glaze...
OMG... heaven!  I ate it all so fast I didn't even take pictures!
I didn't order dessert.  I was good...

until... I got home, then I treated myself to a Nestle's Vanilla Caramel Drumstick -- it's just like the original Drumstick except it has this wonderful oozy caramel down the center of the ice cream.  Need I say more?!!

Sunday I ate nothing but vegetables... as much as I tried it didn't balance out that amazing meal!
Needless to say, I'll be eating MUCH better this week!

Shocking the System... again!

For those that are new to the blog or those that don't remember -- no worries, I forget stuff constantly, especially all that important stuff I'm supposed to remember!  Anyway, yesterday I started on my shock diet again.  If you have some time and want to catch up on the history (including pictures -- yes, I'm a brave girl) follow the links:

4/4/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/04/weight-lumps-and-hormones.html
4/10/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/04/weight-loss-week-1.html
4/18/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/04/pounds-tests-ribbons.html
5/7/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/05/down-13.html
6/3/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/06/catch-up-not-ketchup-that-would-be.html

If not, here's the quickie version:  I quit smoking, put on 60+ pounds, now don't get me wrong - I did WW -- yep, actually gained weight while counting all those points.  I had a couple thyroid issues so I went to the doctor.  Well, he explained to me no matter how many points I counted I wasn't going to lose weight that way -- I was a carb hoarder, everything I was eating was being stored away for later.  Really?  Later... like when I finally got stuck on that deserted island?  He did a bunch of blood work and decided that a no-carb shock diet would be the best way for me to go.  So for two weeks I ate no carbs,was a crazy veggie-eating woman and lost 13.5 pounds.  I added minimal carbs back into my diet and still managed to lose a total of 20 pounds.  That was about 1/3 of the weight I needed to lose.

Well I slowly added real carbs back into my world, which brings us to now.  No, I'm not packing the weight back on -- that was the entire purpose of shocking my system -- to retrain my body not to hoard them, to actually use them, as long I wasn't a carb-crazed woman I'd be okay.

Here comes the bad news... I put on weight -- only three pounds, but I don't want any back.  In fact, I'd love to lose a little more!  I guess if I had kept paying attention to all the carbs I'd been eating it might have made a difference.  But this is where the re-shock comes in to play -- hopefully it'll reboot my systems and possibly retrain my carb cravings just a bit.

So here is the Round 2 Day 1 picture:

I'll let you all know how it goes.  I've got help this time, my son's girlfriend is doing the shock as well!

And it is done...

the raffle quilt that is!

I have been working on the raffle quilt for the Port Saint Lucie Crazy Quilters for what seems like months.  Not really, but it's been awhile!  My time and stitches on the raffle quilt are donated so I kinda have to take little breaks and work on customer stuff in between all the awesomeness.

Here it is -- like I said, awesomeness!

The quilt was pieced and appliqued by several PSLCQ guild members.  They did a fantastic job!  Here's a picture of all of us with the quilt -- it wasn't quite finished in this pic, but still amazing!

We are calling the quilt "Tropical Paradise", and it is a nice queen size, the pattern is Flowers for My Wedding Ring by Judy Niemeyer/Quiltworx.  Marian picked the colors and did an awesome job with the layout.

Anyway, back to the point of a raffle quilt.  You can purchase tickets for this beauty!  They are $1 each and the drawing will be held February 8, 2014 (the last day of the show).  Just a nice warning -- you'd better buy a lot because I plan on buying a lot and I really want to win!  Info on the tickets can be found on the guild website on the 2014 Show Page here just scroll down until you see the quilt.

Hope you buy oodles of tickets and Good Luck!

Friday Fun Day!

Yes, Fridays are my sew day.  My day off to work on my own stuff -- sewing, quilting, fun stuff -- you know the creative fun zone!

This afternoon me, Nancy, and Mari worked on tie-dye shirts.  The shirts are for the red, white, and blue party at the guild next month.  What a blast we had!

We all tried a different folding technique.  Mine is a bullseye pattern, Mari did a chevron, and Nancy did a spiral.  I can not wait to see what they look like.  Outside they go in an attempt to speed up the dry time.

Oh, I mentioned bullseye, chevron, and spiral folds.  If you are interested in doing tie dye just head over to google (or your favorite search engine) -- there is a superabundance of info out there in internet land for so many different types of folds.

While the t-shirts were outside drying I couldn't help myself.  There was still a bottle of yellow dye in the kit just screaming to be used so I grabbed an old tank and a cute curly stencil and...

Do you notice those dark stripes across the shirt?  That was a mistake turned awesome!  Don't you love when that happens?  When I sprayed the dye over the stencil it left a dark line from the overspray as well as a bright white line from the stencil edge.  So where the line-ups were I manually sprayed a dark line.  To keep it looking planned I added several other dark lines.  I think it turned out pretty cool!

Okay, fast forward several hours of drying...  Yes, they are still damp - but we need to cut all the rubber bands and lay them out flat for additional drying before the heat setting.

Here is mine - the bulls eye:

Here is Nancy's - the spiral:

Here is Mari's - the chevron:

It was a super fun day and I think we all did some pretty amazing tie dying!  If you get the chance you should definitely try it (if you haven't already)!