A great quilt group asked lots of questions as I shared my inspirations and reflections related to the quilts I make. I truly enjoyed being the May program for their guild and appreciated that a friend rode shotgun for the trip to St. Louis …
Down the road, around the bend, there’s an empty barn nearing its end. Sagging roof, windows gaping, weathered wood, rusted hinges, swiftly aging. (my adaptation of the first verse of a poem by Vance Oliphant) For the last ten years my morning walk has taken …
Photo 2 shows why this can be very improvisational. I missed the line on the left so just continued to make adjustments, still the same number of points in the arc but a slightly different shape! Photo 3 shows how I simply redrew the line and continued with the piecing. It’s OKAY to be improvisational even if it’s unintentional!!
Photos 4 and 5 shows ¼” seam allowance added and then trimming of excess. Photo 6, sew on the bias binding, paper foundation is still attached but can now be removed. Photo 7, press toward the seam allowance and then fold to wrong side (photo 8).
Photo 9 shows how I apply the arc to the block. And repeat for a finish (photo 10)!!
Ready for quilting. Hope you’ll try it!!
Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3
Photo 4 Photo 5
Photo 6 Photo 7 Photo 8
Photo 9 Photo 10
I am so pleased to share that with my daughter’s expertise I have the final proof done for my quilt book titled “Hand Me Down Quilts”. I hope it will be available by mid-October. It is not a how-to quilt book but has 14 patterns …
I have jumped in to a new endeavor in the quilting world. I have to part with some of the fabric and linens that I love to dye. I will never be able to use it all myself so now to consider how to package …
Every once in a while, especially after having done a lot of precision sewing, I crave the freedom to simply create without a plan. And this is what results! The lace tablecloth was a throwaway, had some tears and probably some stains but since it was ecru those didn’t show. For sure it wasn’t going to be used as is for the dinner table so into the dye bath with experimental color choices to see what comes out. As my husband remarked, it would make good camouflage. But wait, I see a vase and a lot of scrolls and that piece of home décor that was in the same dye tray might be a background. Another funky bouquet is in the works!!
I start pulling fabrics, including other linens I have dyed along with some drapery samples for texture. It takes many auditions of fabrics that I love but just won’t work for whatever it is that I think I want this to finish like. I have included the photo of just one arrangement that was rejected but there were many more! 
Finally, coming up with the fabric choices I’m satisfied with I realize the vase doesn’t show up at all. A slubby yarn couched with pearl cotton and then beading to highlight the lines of the vase worked for me. Black embroidery floss, my first thought, was way too prominent and didn’t allow the vase to shine. 
My favorite touch on this bouquet was the small tatted motif that I used for the center of one of the flowers. I admire anyone who has mastered the art of tatting, especially with the very fine thread that was used for this circular center. Other flowers were made using portions of the dyed linen/rayon napkins that I find in forgotten boxes at auctions. Sometimes it’s necessary to stabilize the napkins with a fusible tricot but for flowers to be softly dimensional as in this bouquet I do not stabilize and they are still heavy enough to hold their own. (If you have them languishing in drawers consider rescuing them from darkness and repurposing them in a special project, whether dyed or not.) 
Funky bouquets may not be everyone’s cup of relaxing tea but for me, I’m now ready to tackle the next “precision necessary” project.
My new program addition for 2022 will focus on floral bouquets, yes, including funky bouquets, and the various techniques, traditional and non-traditional used to make them.
Schedule your program by contacting me at sharonwasteney@gmail.com
Gingerbread Friends is my newest pattern now available at Hickory Stick Quilt Shop. Get yours and use your favorite winter wonderland fabrics or make it scrappy using leftovers from winter/Christmas past.
As part of my decluttering goal I was reviewing my stack of vintage magazines from the early 1900’s. There was such informative value in them that it became very time consuming. I had to read the ads as well as the articles. I …
Needless to say I am proud of having my quilt selected for the cover of Quick and Easy Quilts, June/ July issue. It became real when I saw my name in print. I wish my quilting grandmother “could see me now”.
Great quilting!! Wait til you see the whole quilt, Quick and Easy Quilts, June/July issue.