A Day in Round Top, Texas

I went with a few of my quilting friends to an art gallery in Round Top, TX yesterday. We had a fun day and saw some beautiful art pieces. After lunch, we drove around a bit and stopped at 'The Internationational Festival Institute at Round Top'. I took some pictures inside the beautiful theatre and lots of pictures of the interesting grounds around the theatre. I am posting some of the best pictures here. You can click on the picture for a close-up view. I was testing out my new camera using lots of settings I hadn't used before. It was quite windy and cold and I discovered that buying a camera without a viewfinder was not a good idea. In the bright light, I could hardly see what was on the camera screen. Enjoy.

Bobbin Lace Mobile

I made a real mess of the endings in this piece. Anybody know of a good book that talks about endings in detail? I need all the help I can get. I'm getting better at making leaves, and think I will do some practicing of leaves before starting my next project which is ready to start but since class was cancelled today because of snow (believe it or not), I'll have to wait until next week for help.
This mobile was made using Lizbeth, Size 20 thread and the pattern is from a book by Annelies Kirst. I can't see her endings at all---HOW DOES SHE DO IT?

Beads in a Jar

I posted, a few days ago, a picture of some beads that turned out not to be beads, if that makes any sense. Someone suggested I put them in a jar so I could look at them for inspiration. I had the perfect sized jar and inserted a little blue butterfly and it now sits on a shelf. Thanks for the idea.

INSPIRATION

Found these 'beads' at the thriftstore and found the color very stimulating. The color inspired a bunch of ideas for art pieces. After I got home and opened the package, I realized that these were not beads at all but a kind of gravel for an aquarium. So now I will have to think of some creative way to use them because I love the color.

We've been having an interesting discussion on one of my yahoo groups about the meaning of inspiration. To me, inspiration is a very positive force. It is like 'a fire in the belly' or a 'lightbulb moment'. It's what makes me live life to the fullest and not just drag on day by day. It is SEEING something and not just LOOKING at it. It is what makes me get up in the morning with the drive to get on with the day. Even though we are all inspired by different things, I think inspiration is what makes us love life.

I'd love to hear what inspiration means to you and maybe we can inspire each other to see things from a new perspective.

Bead and Fabric Necklace

Valentine's Day Necklace

I have seen these necklaces of beads covered with Indian or Asian fabrics for several years and have always loved them but the beads were always too large for my taste so I never purchased one. I went and found some small, inexpensive, wooden beads and picked a fabric that had a variety of color running through the design and attempted to make one myself. I am pleased with the way it turned out. I gave this one as a Valentine's gift but am ready to now make one for myself. I plan on putting a needlace piece I did in a small wire circle at the center of the necklace. That needlace piece was posted on December 18, 2009, if you want to see it. It's the one on the left with the amber stone.

Valentine's Day

Wishing all my blogging friends a Happy Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday and I think it should be celebrated all week or all year, for that matter. We had a fun quilt bee meeting today. We exchanged Valentine's day gifts and 2 of us had birthdays in February so some of us also gave and received birthday gifts. I had asked for tatting shuttles or an unusual notion. I love all the things I received and you can see them in the picture. There were also sweets to eat but I resisted except for one piece of chocolate which was delicious. Sweets are my weakness but I try to be disciplined. Wouldn't it be nice if they could make chocolate that had zero calories?

I was talking to my bobbin lace buddies about an afghan that I crocheted when I was in high school and college (about 50 yrs ago). I did it in squares using the afghan stitch and it took forever since I only worked on it at night while watching TV. It's probably twin bed size. Unbeknownst to me, my dad was keeping track of the time it took me to complete the afghan. I wish I could remember what that was, but I do not. He tried to impress on me that I could never get paid what it was worth given the time it took to complete. This afghan has been in the closet for years since it came back from the cleaners (probably 20 years or so). I guess I was afraid to put it in the washing machine. I can't decide what to do with it. I hate the color or I would put it on my bed. Any ideas????

Simply Quilters Bee Meeting

Rick-Rack in Czech Lace from early 1900s

Retractable Tape Measures for Boutique (fronts)

(backs)

Rick-Rack made from used color catcher sheets and fabric

Anita admiring her rick-rack

Diane ironing the folds on her fabric rick-rack

We've all been covering tape measures for the upcoming Guild Show in the Fall of this year. They will be sold in the boutique to raise money for the guild. I loved them so much that I made one for myself. We just bought the .99 retractable tape measures and covered them with wool, felt or fabric after decorating the pieces with embellishments. The picture shows what we have made so far.

I taught the ladies who came to bee this morning how to make rick-rack. When I visited the Czech Lace Museum last week I saw some lace from the early 1900s that had rick-rack made from white cotton fabric. As soon as I saw that, I knew I could replicate it. It just involves a strip of fabric and 2 simple folds. We started out with used color catcher sheets cut into strips and then used fabric backed with a fusible web. Easy, fun and so many ideas for projects where they could be used.

My Bobbin Lace Mates

Pat learning how to make Bedfordshire Lace

Pat's Bedfordshire Lace--so beautiful

Jo and Shirley bobbin along....

Karen (teacher) and Christine working on a new design. Check out Christine's new pillow. It's a laptop holder she found at Frye's---great idea.

This is my mobile that's almost finished.

Tuesday is bobbin lace class. Thought I'd share some pictures of my lace mates. We enjoy learning new things and have some interesting conversations.

Carol Morrissey Quilts

Here are some close-ups of Carol Morrissey's quilts that I saw at the Austin Quilt Guild Meeting yesterday. Some beautiful colors and designs. If you want to see more of her work, go to her website: http://ocaroldesigns.com/ . Lots of neat patterns for sale there. She fuses her pieces down with Wonder Under but you can do hand applique, if you prefer.