April FMQ Challenge

April FMQ Challenge, a photo by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This month in Sew Cal Gal's challenge, we were to make a stencil of sorts using tulle, a hoop and a permanent pen. I then ironed the template on a low setting as indicated to set the ink, and then re-traced the image onto my fabric. I used my air disappearing pen, because I couldn't find the blue (water erasable) one! The pattern I used was from a Blockcentral.com applique challenge I found online. Something about tulips just speaks to me!

The printed pattern is hiding a previous month's challenge practice. I didn't have the time to make a new sandwich for today's sample, and didn't have enough space to do the entire motif.

Overall I liked the lesson, but the tulle is pretty hard on the nib of the purple pen. I made sure that I just slowly dragged it in one direction, so it would ink the fabric enough to see it. Trying to sort of "sketch" the image did NOT work, and seemed to be harsher on the nib.

Snowshoe Hares!

DSCN7212 a video by Misha Misha Misha on Flickr.

I have been working on bindings lately, so not much quilty pics to post at the moment, but I did see these cuties outside my bedroom window this morning and thought you might enjoy seeing them too! They're snowshoe hares and they eat the tree branches and bark. They're not entirely white because they're in the early stages of changing over their coats for the season. Click on the link below the video to go to my Flickr page to see some still pics and an additional video!

Comfort Blocks for Friends

One of the benefits of being part of an online community is getting to participate in group activities, like making comfort blocks for our friends when they're in need of some quilty love.

First up are two "Hug" blocks (think XOXO) for Denise, who recently had a serious surgery. The color theme is red, white and purple. I put a tutorial on how to make the Hug Blocks (aka Wonky X) on my Flickr page. Click here to go to the tutorial/set.




The next two blocks are for Aileen who also had surgery recently. The blocks are from About.com. Here is the link for the instructions. I signed all the blocks after I took these pics, and they will be on their way to their respective homes soon!