Inspiration photos and such

We went to the zoo in San Antonio... got to go to a short talk about condors.  It was amazing!  They have two, and they have bred in the past, but no longer.  Apparently they got a condor divorce.  :)  They live in two different exhibits now; we got to meet Daisy.  She is being trained to follow a certain stick so they can move her into her cage when they need to.  She doesn't fear humans - she was raised by them, so she has a tendency to want to play instead of get in the cage.  Can't say I blame her!

One of the other things we noticed at the zoo was the number of statues that you can actually climb on!  They have little signs warning that the metal statues can get hot in the Texas sun, but other than that, have fun!  I thought that was amazing!

One of my favorites was this one:

 

Steampunk hippos!  They were adorable!  The live hippo had a new (to me) exhibit behind glass so you could watch it swimming around, but he was having his breakfast while we were there.  The old hippo enclosure is now for a capybara and a tapir. 

 

 



This is at the Japanese Tea Gardens - looking almost straight up into the top of the pavilion.  It was amazing.  I wish I had a better camera to grab better shots, but this one isn't too bad.  I'd love to recreate this in a quilt - the beautiful geometric pattern and the different shades of wood.  It's like looking up into a flower unfolding above. 

 

The pavilion from ground level - it's amazing.  Everything is limestone from the quarry the Tea Garden is located in, and it's chaotic and orderly both at the same time, organic and formal.  It's an amazing balance, and I adore it!

 

I did indeed work on Boston Molasses - got another complete row of quilting done - both parts of the "wave" of molasses, so I am reasonably pleased.  Got it rolled up a little more and started the next row of "wave" as well.  So far, so good.  Now for shower and working on pineapple.  (Not a real one, a stuffed one for a luau at work).

 

Saturday, round one!

More star blocks.  Yes, this one will be my humility block...  I stitched the white a little far out.  But, I think I like it that way, so I'm not concerned.  And since this one's for me, that's all that matters!

Today will be sewing and piecing and maybe a trip down to the Semi-local LQS for more fabric.  We'll see. 

And, if the sun co-operates, we'll take another good pic of Sea-Glass and get that on the pattern cover, and I can send that sucker off to pattern companies.  *fingers crossed* 


Oh, and I have to figure out how to make dressing for Thanksgiving today.  It should be fun!  (And a good thing D likes dressing!).  The biggest challenge is not the making of it, but making it tasty and as traditional as I can (for my father, who really wants a traditional Thanksgiving this year) and still making it vegetarian so my sister can have some.  So, kitchen playtime, here I come! 

I am also going to try to finish piecing Crazy Diamonds.  When I started this one, I swore it would be the project I worked on when I didn't have anything else going, or when I needed a break from other projects.  Somehow it hasn't worked out like that.  Somehow, it has become another of the "oh, I really need to get this one done!" projects.  So, if I can get it pieced today (only 24 more blocks to go!), then I am set - while I figure out how to quilt it! 

At any rate, there's the day as I have it planned.  Well, as much as I plan anything, really.  Wish me luck!

Sunday Finish Line (Almost, Anyway)

Today was a day of finishing things (or getting close, anyway).  Yesterday was spent rampaging around East Texas, hitting estate sales and quilt shops with abandon.  Some success was had, and some non-success.  Got ignored at a quilt shop by two employees.  Completely ignored except for a glance up at us.  Really?  Are we too young??  Eh.  We didn't buy fabric there.  Bought it elsewhere, where the clerks were nice and said hello and such.  No big loss, really.  Found some lovely material for D's next quilt - she's designed one of sea life, and found the perfect material for the background.  Hooray!

So today D. worked on the sealife while I finally got a quilt on the mid-arm (my Middie Frank) and got busy.  Mind, this is my FIRST quilt on Frank.  It's definitely a learning experience!  But I could tell that by the end of it I was already more skilled than when I began, so that is very gratifying!  Here they are, Isaac's Storm and Middie Frank, hanging out together.  Oh, and look!  Scissors!  (I can NEVER find them when I need them.  I think I own a dozen pair, and STILL lose them all the time!).

So after four hours of standing and sewing with Middie Frank, Isaac was complete!  Hooray!  Except... I forgot the binding.  And don't have enough of the wave border fabric to make binding.  So... that will have to wait until tomorrow.  But that's okay.  I actually got work done, and ALMOST finished!

It's uneven in places, but here's a close-up of my very first attempt at Middie Frank.  Since this is Isaac's Storm (named after the book of the same name about the Galveston, TX hurricane of 1900), I thought I would quilt a spiral - the whole hurricane/cyclone thing.  It went PRETTY well.  Some of my arcs are a little flat, and some of them twitched a little, but since it's my first go, and I am not entering Isaac into competition, I am not concerned.  I finished a quilt on Frank!  That alone makes me almost giddy!

Tomorrow will be working on Texas Blue Jay Summer.  All I lack are the bluejays... they are in progress, and when I have them done, I will show them off!  I promise!  And I need to get a good pic of the other colorway for Isaac's Storm up, because of the OTHER thing I almost finished!

My first pattern is done, complete, printed, and so forth!  It's actually for Isaac's Storm, and I am hoping to get it to distributors soon.  So wish me luck!  (I don't expect to get rich, but it would be nice to have some patterns out there that are recognizably ME).

Hard at Work in the Forge

Back into the forge! 

Moo, y'all!

This time, it's to work on a couple of things - still working on the Crazy Diamonds.  I have 12 squares done - only 88 left to do! 

And on Texas Daycare... well, we'll just let it speak for itself.  I finally got the tree worked out - I was shooting for too much realistic detail.  Clashed with the rest of the quilt.  Once I realized that, I was good to go!  So here's the little longhorn, hanging out with the prickly pear and the tree.  He doesn't look bad!

The border is going to be fence posts and bluebonnets.  When I quilt it, I will run heavier lines along the fence lines to act as barbed wire to keep the little guy in his field.  The outer border is yet to be determined.  We'll just have to see when we get there!

The other pieced top that is done is one of D's.  She finished it up and is apparently quite glad to be done with it!  It's someone else's pattern, and she was going to do it for a break - something easy to burn a little time. 

So here it is!  Pieced and ready for quilting. 






And, since I promised a few pics of the outside of the studio, I took a few.  They may not be fabulous, but here's the best!  This one should give at least a taste of the area around the forge.

This is looking into the back corner.  Lots of green, lots of shade.  We're eventually going to put a bench or something back here, maybe a little table so we can sit out here when the weather isn't excruciating.  The little bit of black on the left side is the very edge of a former pond.  We're in the process of converting it into a planter - we've got some rosemary to put in it, and if that works, we'll add more stuff as we go.

We've got some lovely space around the forge, and now it's just a matter of getting it all neat and tidy and prettied up.  I look forward to sharing more pictures with you as we get more done!

Shay