Trick-or-Treat Bag (or Jeepers Creepers! Where'd Ya Get Those Peepers?)

Here's another little sample "I threw together" the other day. Sue of The Needlework Factory, is the digitizer who is taking my designs and translating them into embroideries. She sewed out a number of the Jeepers Creepers on 6"x6" blocks. I am trying to make the most out of these samples, so I created the reusable Trick-or-Treat bag. Although you cannot see the lining, it is my Candy Corn print, so the bag is always full of candy!, and the eyes and white fabrics Glow-in-the-Dark!

Blast Off! Boy's Insulated Vest

Here is the cotton flannel vest I made from my Blast Off! group. I used a commercial sewing pattern found on the internet, and with a few tweeks, of course... I think it is quite impressive.

I am fascinated by things that shine -- like stained glass and mirrors, by metals, oxidation and metallic finishes, neon, glow-in-the-dark, and by reflective objects. When I haphazardly stumbled upon Pearl Trim on the last day of the Quilt show in Pittsburgh last year, I was giddy with all the safety trims, reflective tapes and piping, and neon webbing they were showing. I am thrilled that I finally found an excuse to utilize them!

Fabrics: outer shell - Blast Off! (flannel), inner collar - Ray Gun Strip (flannel) and lining - Galaxy Quest (sheeting). Neon orange taped armholes and reflective stripe on back.

A Preview for Spring Quilt Market

Here's a picture of the quilt I finished for promotional purposes at Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis next month. The 8 blocks of skeletons and the center block are all embroidered. These designs are from the Jeepers Creepers machine embroidery disc being sold by theneedleworkfactory.com. Sue, the digitizer and owner, stitched out the blocks and eyes and webs in the corners, and pieced the blocks together. I added the candy corn, eyes and webs in fabric, and quilted the piece. I think both collections, the fabric and embroidery, will be a big hit at the show. In another post I'll show all the embroideries available on the disc!

A Side Trip to Sonoma

I recently made a whirl-wind trip to New York/New Jersey (I just returned this past Tuesday). I spent a week in New Jersey with my parents. There I rummaged through the remnants of my possessions in the storage unit, sorting through stuff one last time, making the decision what I would keep, what would ship to Hawai'i, and what would become garage sale items. Then it was a week commuting back and forth to New York, visiting with people I work with, doing a bit of shopping, and the highlight and main reason for scheduling the trip when I did, was to see the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA. If you can find images online, I highly suggest checking it out because the exhibit was incredible, and the man is a genius!!!

To end the trip back to Hawai'i I made a side trip to Sonoma to visit my friend Kathy Miller, accompanied by our mutual friend Marinda Stewart. It was then three days of wine and olive oil tastings, chocolate, strawberries, artisan cheeses and wonderful, creative conversation. My camera didn't come out until Sonoma, and here are some pics that I took.

This is a tree in a very eclectic garden, antique and artist center. It is covered with blue plastic christmas balls. I love how the sky has such a lavender hue compared to the balls.

These were taken on Kathy's property. This is a shot of the studio... studio??? I could live there!!

Wisteria outside the main house.

If you enlarge this photo you can really see the wonderful texture in the fence post and the rusty barbed wire (rust is one of my favorite finishes -- real or faux).

These are 100+ year old grape vines. These twisted shapes -- very Tim Burton -- remind me of the invasion of man-eating plants in the original "The Day of the Triffids".