The Surprising Hexie

Posted by Nadine

I’ve been bitten. It’s also contagious, I’m sure of it. I fear there’s no cure. It’s the dreaded hexie bug!

To be clear, it’s not that I’ve never heard of hexies. I knew about them long before this latest fad hit the quilting community. 25 years ago, a coworker was busy making a hexie quilt, and she was kind enough to share the method with me. In all the years since, every time English Paper Piecing has come up, I’ve thought to myself, “Eh, not really my thing.” Seems I may have been incorrect on that point. 😉 Continue reading →

The Making of ‘Tis Just the Wind

Posted by Nadine

I promised (a very long time ago…) to share some of the construction details about ‘Tis Just the Wind, the project I made especially for the Wicked Blog Hop in October. When I decided to participate in the Blog Hop, I knew wanted to make something seasonal, but not screaming cutesy Halloween or spooky Halloween–Wicked was apt description of what I wanted the finished project to be. Continue reading →

Feeling Wicked Today…Though ‘Tis Just the Wind…

Posted by Nadine

Truthfully, that Wicked feeling has been here since last week. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed visiting with all the bloggers on the Wicked Blog Hop and seeing all of these amazing and inspiring projects! Special thanks go to Wicked Wendy for cheerleading and organizing this Hop, Madame Samm for organizing and making these hops possible, and to the awesome sponsors Madame Samm rounded up: Wyndham Fabrics, Reliable Iron and Bird Brain Designs!

Onward! I had so much fun with this project I don’t even know where to start, so I’ll just share my favorite bits in pictures before I share the whole thing (click if you want to see them bigger!): Continue reading →

Beginnings…

Posted by Nadine

Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement I received, both here on the site and via email, after my last post. It’s heartwarming to know that others do understand and that I’m not alone! Looking back a bit, the irony of this post following hard on the heels of this one is not lost on me. I still feel quite ambivalent about it all really, but at this point any decision seems better than no decision at all and if it turns out to be the wrong one later, so be it. I can live with that, because it’s not like it hasn’t happened before, right?

Onward! When I look at all of this “stuff” I have in my studio, I find it rather sad that it’s all sitting here in the dark, not being loved and used and inspiring. It was all inspiring to me at one time; a piece of beautiful fabric could (and did!) inspire whole quilts, and the texture and color interaction of embellishment materials could be the start of entire sets of Inchies. Just because it isn’t inspiring to me anymore doesn’t mean that it should sit in the dark until the end of time however. These lovely bits and bobs should be getting used and loved by someone, and to that end I’ve started creating bundles for my shop. Continue reading →

Gifts from Japan

Posted by Nadine

Just look what arrived in my mail box last week from Japan:

I ordered a couple of small things from the lovely Mai who sells her hand made items on Etsy, but I call this “gifts from Japan” because I received so much more than just the things I ordered! It was all so beautifully packaged, and even the envelope was hand made from recycled Japanese catalog pages!

Handmade envelope from Japanese catalog pages

And just look inside! Continue reading →

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Posted by Nadine

Amy @ Park City Girl is calling all quilters to the First Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival beginning April 17! How can you participate? From Amy’s blog:

Be thinking about, and post on Friday, your favorite completed quilt project, and the story that goes with it. I will have mister linky sign-ups here starting Friday for an entire week. Then we can visit everyone on the list and leave fabulous comments about their favorite quilt 🙂

I’ve actually been thinking lately about the quilts that I’ve made and about which one is my favorite, so I can’t wait to share the story tomorrow. Oh, and there will be prizes too! Check Amy’s blog entry for details about that, more on how to participate in the Bloggers Quilt Festival, and what prompted Amy to host this event. Then, grab the button, and post your story about your favorite quilt on Friday!