Ingrid Whitcher

I used a piece of left-over quilted fabric from the Large tote project to make a small bag. This time I added a button closure at the top. I also did not sew the straps on to the bag, instead, I added some suspender straps to the handles which makes the handles removable.

A few months ago I made a decision that I rarely make – to rip out quilting an a quilt that was almost entirely quilted. Yes, I know, that is a little obsessive. I blogged about my frustrations and problem solving back on this post. Some may say that what I did was over-the-top or crazy. I feel, as in many aspects of life, that if you want to succeed in life you have to make the hard choices. Some may say (and have said) that I am not truly an artist but merely a technician. That the way things turn out should be spontaneous and relaxing. I do not think that many of these people have truly met a “true artist.” I think that true artist’s are some of the most critical and tortured technicians. They practice and hone their skills so that it time it may appear effortless to those around them.

Anyway – my rant now over – here is the quilt I decided to pull out the quilting. I did put it back on the long-arm. Yes, I could have done a beautiful job with the quilting on my Bernina, but I am trying to stretch myself and add new skills. I am happy with the quilting. My control is getting better and I am so happy that I made the hard choice and pulled out the quilting because the tension this time is perfect.

I have no idea why the colors are so different in these pictures-or why the quilt is so very lopsided. =) The color of the quilt is somewhere between the two different variations.

This was a wonderful project to work on. I was planning on keeping this for a class sample, but I like it so much that it may be given as a gift.

(The second picture is a close-up of the bottom right corner.)

There are a few people in this world that I would do almost anything for. My dear Leoma is one of them. She is an older lady in our church who has, with her husband, taken such care with our family. They were one of the first people we connected with at our church and have become “family” to us.

I did not undertake a big Christmas project this year which gave me the time to quilt this beautiful (king sized) quilt for Leoma. It is the biggest quilt that I have put on the long-arm and it went great.

I have not been getting a lot of quilting done recently since I have been distracted with a rather large project. We are remodeling our kitchen. When I say “we” I mean my husband and I are doing all the work. He is quite handy – has learned electrical re-wiring, dry wall and some carpentry.

We decided to take a wall out that was separating the kitchen from a small dining room. I am so happy with the progress so far. I have spent my time in re-painting furniture and reorganizing everything.

This is a large dresser that we found at a local thrift store for $30. I love how big it is. Mark took out the top 2 drawers and made a shelf where we will be keeping our every-day dishes.

I love the black and yellow!

I also painted the kitchen table – and repeated the black with a thin yellow stripe. I am on the look out for some cheep sturdy chairs that I can paint black.

I have one more hutch to paint. With the weather turning, I will probably ned to set up a pint booth on the deck.

I also have fallen in love with glass etching. It looks so nice a clean and is easy to do. I also makes great gifts.