Boy this was a lazy Sunday.  Some sun here in Houston but mostly cloudy skys.  It has been nice though, probably upper 60’s, lower 70’s.  I spent most of the day playing with a machine applique block that has been laying on my worktable for a couple of months.  I also finished up a quilt belonging to Sandy K.  It s so cute, a casual baby quilt with lots of applique and hand embroidered cats and dogs.  I have attached pictures of the whole quilt and some close-ups of the block

Well, here is a project that I decided would be a fun way to experiment with these pencils. I have sewn out a series of redwork designs on my embroidery machine.  I backed the fabric with a thin layer of cotton batting, hooped both pieces and sewed out the design.  RJ is my up and coming cowboy so this will eventually to him.  My plans are to color each design with my Derwent pencils, then work on an unusual setting for the blocks.  I have cut the fabric large enough to give

COLORING WITH PENCILS 72 Colors to a box Borders Colored with pencil This was an auction quilt I made for our guild auction.  I wanted something different so I found a wonderful pattern for quilting the border and then used my Derwent Inktense pencils to color the border to enhance the quilt design.  Using the Derwent pencils, which resemble water color dependent upon how much water is applied is so simple.  Color the areas you want, you can shade to your hearts content, then

Easy Street ready to quilt This was an incredibly fun adventure and I want to thank Bonnie for her generousness.  Easy Street was the first of her quilts I’ve done since discovering Quiltville.com  So much information, so many things to try.  Now, I don’t know if I would have started it if I’d had any idea there were nearly 2500 pieces in the quilt-thank goodness for my Sizzix cutter.  It was a challenge but worth every minute! Karen #longarm #Quilt

Gosh I am so tired of the rain.  It has drizzled for days and been gray and miserable.  Oh well, it has kept me busy working inside and I am getting lots done for a change.  Even so, it snowed about three hours from Houston.  That, my friends, is a very exciting thing in South Texas!  TV is showing kids sledding in laundry baskets. Meanwhile I finished the top to my Bonnie Hunter Quiltville Mystery quilt, Easy Street.  I love the way it came out.  It is currently on my longar

I am having a great time working on my first Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt.  This one is called Easy Street and it is tons of fun, and very relaxing, just piecing away.  This is a block from the quilt that has some small “wasted” corners.  I have sewn an extra 1/4” seam and then cut the small finished 1” block off and put them in a baggie for later… Sew easy and lots of fun.  Here is a picture of the steps to completion – a 2 in 1 project for sure.  Hmmmm, I feel a miniature qu