My first applique project

So - for my first quilt project - I decided to do a fall applique. I picked up this pattern at the AQS show for a buck, yes, a buck! I found some fabric that appealed to me and thought would make this wall hanging come to life for me. Here is the pattern I picked up:

Now some may think i'm nutts for picking an applique pattern for my first ever pieced project but the pieces are pretty large, the smallest items are the applique leaves, acorns and stems but does that count as quilt pieces - rather applique pieces. What I did find is the the applique process is pretty time consuming... I dug out the small light table I have in my photo studio out back, that came in handy to trace out the applique designs on the heat-n-bond I picked up at Walmart. After I got into a rythm, things were rolling along.

As I got into my rythm, then it became clear that stitching around all these small applique pieces was either going to be fun or frustrating -- well, most of them were fun but some of them were just pure pains - I made some mental notes for future applique projects. The project really came along - I have yet to put the batting and backing together and bind it but i'll do that tomorrow or later this week.

A new addition

This is my latest addition to my Bernina 200 setup - I bought the 18x24 arcylic quilters table. I've been wanting one for a while and finally ordered one from my dealer. I love it - it makes projects so much easier since I don't have a table that has the built in slot for the Bernina - maybe one day I'll setup something like that, but for now, this is great.

Starting a stash

I am going to try and keep my stash as usable as possible and only add to it with specific projects in mind -- I know - I know - i'm crazy because it won't work that way even with the best of intentions. Well - I'll just let it do what it does and we'll see what happens over time. Most of my stash was recently purchased at the AQS show in Nashville - I tried to keep the different projects in mind but I wound up finding a few extra things that I just couldn't stay away from including a couple new Laurel Burch panels.

AQS Nashville - August 2008

Mom came to visit last month from New Mexico. We planned earlier this year that we could drive up to Nashville for the American Quilters Society quilt show in August - we both rather go to the BIG quilt show in Houston in October but timing wouldn't be good for me so we chose the AQS show instead. We left on Tuesday 8/19 and arrived at the Opryland hotel later that evening - we made a couple stops along the way in Alabama to visit a couple quilt shops and I bought a couple yards of this and that.

This was my first ever quilt show since I am just a begining quilter, actually, I still have yet to complete my first pieced quilt, if you don't count that fleece rag schmatta I made while evacuated. The show was huge! We didn't take any classes, not that we didn't have the time, but the schedule and choices was a bit overwhelming. Lesson learned though, we'll register for classes next time. The show floor was not very full the first day but by Friday, the place was packed to the gils. Mom purchased a long arm machine from Hinterberg, the Voyager 17 - after we went and played with every long arm they had on the floor - she liked the Voyager the best for her budget. The Gammil was nice but with stitch regulator and all it was double what she really wanted to spend. I of course, focused on patterns and fabrics - I hit all the $1 and above fat quarter boxes and walked away with a pretty big stash to get me started on a couple new holiday projects ahead of me - i'll post some pics soon of my new stash.

In all - this was an exciting week and the show was full of friendly folks. The quilt exhibit was incredible - somthing I did find is that I really liked some of the traditional piecing quilts along with many of the non-traditional art type pieced quilts along with many of the applique quilts- WOW some of those were just incredible. I've posted a few of my favorite snapshots from the show below. Enjoy! More to come in a day or two!

This beige/brown quilt is full of embroidered panels - it was incredible!

This orchid/green butterfly quilt was a show stopper for me - -I was so drawn into this quilt - I am just amazed at all the artistry involved in show quilts.

This was the best of show winner! Just incredible! The photo doesn't do it justice - the detail and the perfectionism was just amazing.

Hurricane Gustav Evacuation Project

So Hurricane Gustav created some crazy moments for us New Orleaneans recently when the city was ordered to leave under a madatory evacution along with most if not all the surrounding parishes (counties) which includes our parish, Jefferson. So we packed up that weekend and of course this time I took the Bernina and a bunch of fabrics with the impression we might be evacuated for an extended period of time and I for one did not want to be sitting in front of the television 24x7 watching hurricane devestation coverage like we did with Katrina. My goal was to begin and complete at least one halloween quilt project and I sure did reach that goal.

Before leaving New Orleans, I found and downloaded several halloween embroidery designs from http://www.embroiderydk.com/. I also hit my stash piles and took with me some orange and white fleece scraps (well, yardage to be more specific) with the intension of making some squares and creating a fleece rag quilt. Below is the result of my endeavor - what do you think?

Latest projects and endeavors

I began working on some rooster embroidered place mats - I found some really nice green/white check place mats at WalMart that were on clearance for like $1.50 each so they were irrestiable at that price. Here are a couple images of the rooster embroidery in progress - I completed one and have three more to go plus a few matching napkins.

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello friends and welcome to my new blog. I created this blog to share the 'crafty' side of Rick. I have always been the little sewer in the family and thanks to my mom Barbara, her talent for sewing has been gifted to me as well. Recently, we both became owners of new Bernina sewing and embroidery machines and this has become a new endeavour for us both to create new projects and creations with this wonderful piece of machinery - nothing sews like a Bernina!

Mom and I recently returned from the AQS quilt show in Nashville and now I'm full in new inspiration for creating quilts and quilt projects as well as starting some new embroidered quilt projects as well.

I am a full time portrait and wedding photographer in New Orleans - feel free to visit my company's website at www.cowboyupphotos.com