The Polka Dot Debutante

Since I haven't been longarming, I've had time to get to some of those little projects that I've been wanting to do but haven't had time for. It's been great. Here are the two latest.

I got this cabinet door from the ReBuilding Center for $3.00. I removed all the hardware and took the glass out of the center. Then I glued in some needlepoint canvas where the glass used to be. I added some pretty glass drawer knobs and voila, a jewelry holder. This is for my daughter; she's been coveting mine for years.

This is the canopy I made to give us some shade on our back deck. I bought some adjustable tent poles and hooked them to the outer edge of the deck. I put five eye hooks under the eave of the house. Then I hemmed the fabric and put five grommets on the side that is next to the house and grommets on each of the outer corners. I used latches to hook the grommets to the eye hooks and slipped the outer grommets over the top of the tent poles. I will probably switch out the fabric because although I like the look of the gauzey stuff, it doesn't block enough light. Still, done for now!

I'm having a blast in Sisters teaching at Quilters Affair. Today was day two of the Sushi Rolls class and I am just so proud of my students that I want to share some pictures. This is a difficult, two day class filled with lots of cutting and designing on the first day. And then on the second day we have to tackle those dreaded "Y" seams. Everyone was very inventive with their fabrics and got lots up on the wall, and today they all managed to get a few rows sewn. Fabulous. These women were the first to ever take the Sushi Rolls class and I was concerned about how much they would get done, but everyone did great! Here are a few of the pictures.

by Deborah Cagle

by Peggy Kelly

by Anne Matlak

by Ilsa Birmingham

You just can't imagine how wonderful the Sisters Quilt Show is unless you've experienced it for yourself. About 1,000 quilts are hung from the buildings all through the little town of Sisters for one day. They go up around 7:30am and come down around 5:00pm. The sight of all those quilts on a beautiful sunny day is just amazing. And LOTS of people come to see them. Here is the view looking both ways on Cascade Avenue which is the main street through town.

This week I taught the Egg Drop Soup quilt on Tuesday and again on Friday. Here it is hanging in the teachers tent.

Even though I didn't make it myself, I also put the 25 Dresses quilt in the teachers tent. It is just so wonderful that I really wanted to share it.

This is Vivienne's "Memories of Sisters" quilt which she taught this week. It's also a pattern and the Stitchin Post sold tons of them!

I just had to throw in this great picture of my buds. I love my friends and we have such a good time together. To good times.

I've been working on my collage piece for "Broken For You" since I got home from Sisters. A friend made a wonderful suggestion that I think really pulls my ideas together and gives them coherence. I knew it wasn't working but couldn't see what it needed. Now that I've finished the drawing, I am really getting excited about this project again.

This is what I already had:

And now I'm going to add these cracks to it. I really think it will pull it together, and it totally fits with the theme of the book. Yeehaw!

Every new baby needs a quilt, don't you think? I just finished this one the other day for some friends of ours who have a new baby named Kate. She is about 5 weeks old and cute as a button. This pattern is the one of the ones I use in my Value in Action workshop and it was fun playing with the colors. I used strips out of my "parts department" bin and then added in some blacks and whites. I was pleased with the results. Hope little Kate enjoys it.