I obviously have not blogged for a while, 8 months it seems. I plan on becoming an active blogger again starting today with today's news.

I recently took a class with Jane Sassaman and so I will start there. I decided before the class I would make a piece for the auction being held the end of June at the Red Line Gallery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My daughter, Wendy Carlson, is serving on the board of directors for the gallery and honored me by asking if I would make a quilt for their auction.

I chose this flower because of all the red lines and the tie-in to the gallery. I made the quilt using the new techniques I learned taking Jane's class. I love the process and thoroughly enjoyed the class. I have always quilted with very thin threads but in keeping with Jane's style I will quilt this project with 12 weight thread. I find the whole process enchanting.

I made the parts of the flower and leaves in class using Shir Tailor as a fusible interfacing . I then assembled the flowers and leaves. Next I placed different fabrics under the assembled parts and created the background. These were all techniques I learned from Jane's class.

After I had the background finished I added the borders. I backed them with Shir Tailor also leaving a 1/4" seam on one side. I folded the seam over the edge and pressed it in place. I put a little washable glue on the edge to help keep the seam tucked under. I then used a washable blue marking pencil and drew lines on all 4 sides of my top making sure the top was square. I placed the long sides on first and top stitched them in place. I then added the top and bottom borders and stitched them in place. Next I layered the quilt with a backing and wool batting.

I have started quilting the piece and so far it is going well. More on the quilt tomorrow.

Today is a beautiful sunny day. There is a family of sparrows outside my window which have been a delight to watch. These are newly fledged baby sparrows who are trying to learn to eat at the feeder. Mom and Dad are very good at landing on the tray of the feeder but the babies have not figured out that landing style at all. The little ones fly in to the feeder and then keep flapping until they can reach a branch. They are wonderful at branch landings but can't seem to get the hang of the flat footed approach. My cats and I are having a wonderful time watching them learn this new skill. So far they are getting a lot of practice in flying but not so much eating!

Be with you tomorrow, enjoy today.

Roberta