One of the things I always find so interesting at a quilt show is the response that people have to what they see. Spend thirty minutes in front of a single quilt and you'll see people glance at the quilt, smile briefly and continue walking while others will stand there for a very long time examining every possible detail with a look of awe. Much of the difference is surely about personal taste, and perhaps some of it is about preference or bias - hand-quilted vs. machine-quilted. It always makes me think of the nature of inspiration.

Finally, I can share this FAB-U-LOUS quilt with everyone. This Block of the Month 2017 is now available in book form so I can share the photos of one that I quilted. Lots of photos, click to enlarge. Very few words are necessary. ENJOY and savor the stitch work that KB did on this amazing treasure. Few stitch as good as her. KB worked on this all year, did not waver, and had it finished in time to take to a Sue Spargo retreat. How terrific. Keep the quilting simple, dense and make sure to quilt over the seams. Wool shifts and moves, and when that happens, you can get bumps or ridges along the seam lines. I did a small paisley motif in black thread over the whole background. Minimal stitching on or around the blocks using monopoly thread. OK I know that was a lot of photos, but how could I not share every single one with you. I got to see every stitch up close when I quilted it. I hope you enjoyed seeing this lovely jewel of hand crafted loveliness. Keep stitching, Sharon

In early November Cathy and I drove to Ontario Canada for my last teaching contract of the year. This little store owned by Jocelyn Chamberlain is the best kept secret in Eastern Canada! It is a haven for the creative minded beautifully decorated and stocked with a wonderful array of knitting yarn and sewing fabrics. Jocelyn was a delight and made us feel so welcome. It was fun getting to know her and her lovely friend Linda during the weekend. In class I had 23 students for two days of creative stitching. I began with a trunkshow sharing my quilts and talked about how my travels and my life have influenced these quilts. We spent time journalling and exploring all the possibilities for creating leaves and berries in wool quilts using a wonderful array of different stitches, threads, beads and textural fabrics. It warmed by heart to see a version of my Ginger Grove quilt displayed in the store. A very creative student made this quilt using mainly cotton fabrics. She also took images from my quilts and made this wonderful banner. This was a very special place to finish up my teaching for the year. Many thanks to all the wonderful students and a very special thanks to Jocelyn and Linda for taking such good care of us. I look forward to returning to 'Stitch' to teach next year. This has been an amazing year and wish to thank my family and friends for their unconditional love and support as I continue to explore my creative path. Take care Sue

Sue Spargo explains how to use blocks with colorful home images to create your own Homegrown quilt! Homes may be pieced or layered, then enhanced with embroidery in a vast array of fibers differing in type and weight. As with all towns, expect the unexpected... mystery stitched random elements will appear throughout the quilt. The book is 169 pages, softcover, 8.5 by 11 inches, full-color, describing in detail how to create and assemble each element of the blocks that make up the 45.5-inch square Homegrown quilt. The book also includes the patterns for three bonus projects: Sunnyside Manor Pincushion, Peep Party Zip Bag, and Home Sweet Home Spool Sack.

Sunday at Sue's I have a wonderful group of friends Carol, Joyce, Kim and Cathy and we have been meeting to sew once a month for years. Many of my quilt and sewing project designs where started in this group. This has been a busy year for all of us and we have not meet as many times as we would have liked. Last Sunday was a good catch up day. We missed Kim but the rest of us had a lot of fun playing around making these fun little owls out of wool. Private Class at Home 10 ladies joined me in my home for an embellishment class. Fun was had by all as they worked on their own pieces. We had fun working with fibers and stitches. Olive Juice - Onalaska, WI I had a wonderful weekend teaching at Olive Grace. I taught my Thistledown Table rug and an embellishment class. They have an amazing classroom and provided a wonderful sit down lunch. Many thanks Diane and Monica for making me feel so welcome. Calico Cutters, Undercover and Brandywine Valley Quilt Guilds, PA Cathy travelled with me to Pennsylvania. I taught a class using one of my small kits working on wool appliqué and a little embellishment. I had a wonderful group of enthusiastic stitchers. I also gave three lectures at the guilds. The weather was perfect and the fall colors were magnificent on our drive over. TQGIBT Alliance, OH I gave a lecture at the guilds annual luncheon. My friend Gabriel shared her colorful 'Ginger Grove' quilt she had just finished. I am on my way to Quilt Market in Houston. Will post 'Whats New' soon Take care Sue

Finally, I can share this FAB-U-LOUS quilt with everyone. This Block of the Month 2017 is now available in book form so I can share the photos of one that I quilted. Lots of photos, click to enlarge. Very few words are necessary. ENJOY and savor the stitch work that KB did on this amazing treasure. Few stitch as good as her. KB worked on this all year, did not waver, and had it finished in time to take to a Sue Spargo retreat. How terrific. Keep the quilting simple, dense and make sure to quilt over the seams. Wool shifts and moves, and when that happens, you can get bumps or ridges along the seam lines. I did a small paisley motif in black thread over the whole background. Minimal stitching on or around the blocks using monopoly thread. OK I know that was a lot of photos, but how could I not share every single one with you. I got to see every stitch up close when I quilted it. I hope you enjoyed seeing this lovely jewel of hand crafted loveliness. Keep stitching, Sharon

Great for thread embellishment, big stitch hand quilting and Sashiko! The impeccable quality of Eleganza Perle Cotton results in smooth, lustrous surface allowing the thread to glide smoothly through all types of fibers.  Eleganza's tight twist creates beautiful, firm and textural stitches, and its reflective surface g

For the past 12 months Sue Spargo has been running a free mystery quilt along on Instagram. She called it #instastitchwithsue and released a pattern each month. Here's my version: I love Sue Spargo's designs - I have her calendar on my office wall and gaze at it often when I should be doing work. I couldn't pass up the idea of a mystery quilt along with hand stitching thrown in! So I started watching for the patterns each month and tried to keep up through out the year. Here's a link to ALL 12 blocks. Just click on the photos to download the patterns. I thought I'd use different fabrics from my usual selections, so I went with orange and purple!! Quite radical, but I found a few fabrics that contained both colours, and built up a collection from there. Here's how some of my blocks turned out. I didn't do quite as much decorative stitching as Sue did, but some of my fabrics were very patterned and I knew the stitching wouldn't show up which ever colour thread I used. The variegated threads are Sue Spargo's Eleganza perle 8 threads for Wonderfil thread. The colour variations are beautiful!! And all together before I started to join them: I decided to make a pieced backing from some of my purple fabrics so I did a bit of quilt maths, and here it is. I'm not sure how I'm going to quilt this yet. I need some time to think about that. I might even machine quilt it myself because I'm, feeling inspired after reading Jacquie Gering's new book - Walk.

Sunday at Sue's I have a wonderful group of friends Carol, Joyce, Kim and Cathy and we have been meeting to sew once a month for years. Many of my quilt and sewing project designs where started in this group. This has been a busy year for all of us and we have not meet as many times as we would have liked. Last Sunday was a good catch up day. We missed Kim but the rest of us had a lot of fun playing around making these fun little owls out of wool. Private Class at Home 10 ladies joined me in my home for an embellishment class. Fun was had by all as they worked on their own pieces. We had fun working with fibers and stitches. Olive Juice - Onalaska, WI I had a wonderful weekend teaching at Olive Grace. I taught my Thistledown Table rug and an embellishment class. They have an amazing classroom and provided a wonderful sit down lunch. Many thanks Diane and Monica for making me feel so welcome. Calico Cutters, Undercover and Brandywine Valley Quilt Guilds, PA Cathy travelled with me to Pennsylvania. I taught a class using one of my small kits working on wool appliqué and a little embellishment. I had a wonderful group of enthusiastic stitchers. I also gave three lectures at the guilds. The weather was perfect and the fall colors were magnificent on our drive over. TQGIBT Alliance, OH I gave a lecture at the guilds annual luncheon. My friend Gabriel shared her colorful 'Ginger Grove' quilt she had just finished. I am on my way to Quilt Market in Houston. Will post 'Whats New' soon Take care Sue

I am home for a couple of days so hope to catch up on all my travels. Early in April I headed to sunny California to teach at Quilters Paradise in Clovis. I taught two classes, a one day class embellishing my Sew Your Seeds NeedleKeeper and a two day class appliquéing and embellishing my Pomegranate Table Rug . The students enthusiastically worked with ribbon stems attaching them with various couched stitches, velvet leaves and needle turn appliqué. We also used a variety of stitches using different threads and beads to make each piece unique. I only use 5 different needles for handwork and always have a needle case on hand to store each variety on a different page. I also suggest that my students make a little label for each page. This helps to keep them in order until they become familiar with the needles and there uses. We used a variety of textural fabrics for the background of the Table Rug adding ribbons and cottons for texture. Many students used our ribbons for the stems adding color and variety to each piece. It was fun to have two day class as each student had time to start embellishing with stitches. We used many different threads each adding different textures. Fron here I travelled to Sierra Guild in the Foothills. Happy Stitching Sue

Rae has been busy on her Sue Spargo piece too. These are her updated photos. Oh wow look at all her embroidery. I love her sparky greens with the indigo blue vases. You can follow her on: www.recondfab.blogspot.co.nz

Just in the nick of time, the second to the last day of the exhibition, my quilt/bead buddies and I went to see the show at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum. WOW! Sue Spargo's quilts on the 2nd floor just caught my heart, wrapped it up, and sent it to heaven! I've always been attracted to folk art, the whimsical, fanciful, happy, colorful art, which I assume is made by people who are equally whimsical, fanciful, happy, and colorful. While I loved every single one of Sue's quilts, I think this one makes me the happiest. Look at all these little chicks (36 of them!), jauntily dressed in their best, and headed toward a big hoopla somewhere to the left. Sue calls it "a small study sampler," and names it Bird Play #1. Here are some of my favorite players. (I apologise for the shadows on the bottom of each of these detail pictures, caused by my hands and camera, and for the inaccurate colors, especially of the background. Picture them much brighter, more highly saturated colors, and the background is blue, not grey!) Sue's technique of using hand-dyed wool, cotton fabrics, hand-dyed velvet, silk thread, Perle cottons, buttons, and beads to applique and embellish her little chicks (each about 3" high), lends itself so well to creating character. And birds are a great subject for "character," with their colorful plumes, spots, stripes, combs, feet, etc. After making Bird Play #1 in 2013, Sue further developed her techniques in a larger wall quilt called Bird Dance, which is another piece at the top of my favorites list. Once I had admired each of the 30 birds and photographed some of them (see below), I began to notice the background, the way she layered and stitched the background blocks, how they compliment the birds, balancing the entire composition, keeping the birds from appearing to be "stuck" on the background. Pure genius, if you ask me! Although birds lend themselves to folk art and fanciful design better than any other subject matter, Sue also gave her talents to various animals, leaves, flowers, and circles. Here are a few examples to show what I mean. This is Travel Journal, with impressions of Italy, Vietnam, South Africa, and Australia. My favorite animal here is the camel. As you can see in the circle of critters, the camel is upside down. I've left her that way for you to see in detail. As with all of the pictures, you can click on the image to view the stitch details in a larger size. Sue had many small study samplers in the show, several of which were of leaves. Here is a detail from one of them. The machine quilting on all (or most?) of her quilts is done by Janet Joehlin. It's worth noticing because it doesn't compete with the applique at all. One automatically studies the applique first, before even noticing the quilting, which is (in my opinion) exactly as it should be. Many of her quilts also include flowers, another subject that lends itself well to this design style. Here is a detail of one of them. If you've been drooling over the stitches, the bullion loops, the Italian knotted border stitch, the Palestrina knots, the woven picots (bird beaks), etc., if you've been itching to learn them (as I was), there is good news! Sue's book, Creative Stitching, How to Create Vivid, Lively Textures Using 50 of my Favorite Stitches, tells and shows you how to do them with easy-to-follow drawings and photos. It's available in the gift shop at the La Conner Quilt Museum, or through Sue's website, here. Sue also teaches classes. She's teaching 4 one-day classes in La Conner this fall, all of which are already full. But they are taking a waiting list. Guess who is on it?! She teaches around the country and sometimes out of it. Her schedule is here. I have only two regrets: 1. that I didn't get to La Conner at the start of the show, so I could go see it again, and maybe again, posting about it in time for local readers to go see it too, and 2. that I didn't know about her workshops before they filled. Her work makes me happy. I'm happy posting about it. I was happy working with the photos. I am happy just thinking about all those little chicks heading left, bless their little hearts!

You might recall that I signed up for two Craftsy courses earlier this year. Today, I present to you my first finished project, from Embroidering Texture and Dimension from Sue Spargo which is a lesson in textured embroidery. I ordered her fabric kit but could not justify spending an equal amount on the threads (once I become

Rae has been busy on her Sue Spargo piece too. These are her updated photos. Oh wow look at all her embroidery. I love her sparky greens with the indigo blue vases. You can follow her on: www.recondfab.blogspot.co.nz

Just in the nick of time, the second to the last day of the exhibition, my quilt/bead buddies and I went to see the show at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum. WOW! Sue Spargo's quilts on the 2nd floor just caught my heart, wrapped it up, and sent it to heaven! I've always been attracted to folk art, the whimsical, fanciful, happy, colorful art, which I assume is made by people who are equally whimsical, fanciful, happy, and colorful. While I loved every single one of Sue's quilts, I think this one makes me the happiest. Look at all these little chicks (36 of them!), jauntily dressed in their best, and headed toward a big hoopla somewhere to the left. Sue calls it "a small study sampler," and names it Bird Play #1. Here are some of my favorite players. (I apologise for the shadows on the bottom of each of these detail pictures, caused by my hands and camera, and for the inaccurate colors, especially of the background. Picture them much brighter, more highly saturated colors, and the background is blue, not grey!) Sue's technique of using hand-dyed wool, cotton fabrics, hand-dyed velvet, silk thread, Perle cottons, buttons, and beads to applique and embellish her little chicks (each about 3" high), lends itself so well to creating character. And birds are a great subject for "character," with their colorful plumes, spots, stripes, combs, feet, etc. After making Bird Play #1 in 2013, Sue further developed her techniques in a larger wall quilt called Bird Dance, which is another piece at the top of my favorites list. Once I had admired each of the 30 birds and photographed some of them (see below), I began to notice the background, the way she layered and stitched the background blocks, how they compliment the birds, balancing the entire composition, keeping the birds from appearing to be "stuck" on the background. Pure genius, if you ask me! Although birds lend themselves to folk art and fanciful design better than any other subject matter, Sue also gave her talents to various animals, leaves, flowers, and circles. Here are a few examples to show what I mean. This is Travel Journal, with impressions of Italy, Vietnam, South Africa, and Australia. My favorite animal here is the camel. As you can see in the circle of critters, the camel is upside down. I've left her that way for you to see in detail. As with all of the pictures, you can click on the image to view the stitch details in a larger size. Sue had many small study samplers in the show, several of which were of leaves. Here is a detail from one of them. The machine quilting on all (or most?) of her quilts is done by Janet Joehlin. It's worth noticing because it doesn't compete with the applique at all. One automatically studies the applique first, before even noticing the quilting, which is (in my opinion) exactly as it should be. Many of her quilts also include flowers, another subject that lends itself well to this design style. Here is a detail of one of them. If you've been drooling over the stitches, the bullion loops, the Italian knotted border stitch, the Palestrina knots, the woven picots (bird beaks), etc., if you've been itching to learn them (as I was), there is good news! Sue's book, Creative Stitching, How to Create Vivid, Lively Textures Using 50 of my Favorite Stitches, tells and shows you how to do them with easy-to-follow drawings and photos. It's available in the gift shop at the La Conner Quilt Museum, or through Sue's website, here. Sue also teaches classes. She's teaching 4 one-day classes in La Conner this fall, all of which are already full. But they are taking a waiting list. Guess who is on it?! She teaches around the country and sometimes out of it. Her schedule is here. I have only two regrets: 1. that I didn't get to La Conner at the start of the show, so I could go see it again, and maybe again, posting about it in time for local readers to go see it too, and 2. that I didn't know about her workshops before they filled. Her work makes me happy. I'm happy posting about it. I was happy working with the photos. I am happy just thinking about all those little chicks heading left, bless their little hearts!

One of the things I always find so interesting at a quilt show is the response that people have to what they see. Spend thirty minutes in front of a single quilt and you'll see people glance at the quilt, smile briefly and continue walking while others will stand there for a very long time examining every possible detail with a look of awe. Much of the difference is surely about personal taste, and perhaps some of it is about preference or bias - hand-quilted vs. machine-quilted. It always makes me think of the nature of inspiration.

The last 4 days my quilting soul was filled to the brim. Stitching with Sue Spargo, being with friends and meeting new quilters was very satisfying. I also met my June 1st deadline with Huckleberry Stitches 101Fabulous Small Quilts Challenge! She gave us an opportunity to make 2 little quilts this month. But, I could only accomplish one...and, I love it and will be placing it on my coffee table the month of July! Using my stash which always makes me happy! ...now back to the fun with Sue Spargo! I apologize that Smilebox is on the fritz...which means I can't share all the photos because it would make the blog a mile long, lol. The class was to help us create a textured background and then build the peacock motif on top all the while learning some creative stitches. I loved the class...it met all my expectations...except...I didn't want a Peacock :) Sue had no problem with a few of us venturing out into our own designs. A great teacher is one who brings her knowledge, shares it...and then lets you run with it! Although my piece is no where near finished...I have a whole lot of stitching before I add some colorful elements...I am totally in love with it! ...and my friend Lori's is absolutely adorable! There were a handful of flower vases and wide variety of Peacock... none looked the same! I thought I would share some photos of Sue's stitching. The photo below are examples of stitching with ribbon. ...the next 4 photos are close ups of a wall hanging that I fell in love with...the circles are about 2 inches across. this hexie is only about an inch and a half!!! When I saw this project I decided when I finish my circles I am going to put a border of leaves :) If you ever get a chance to take a class with Sue Spargo you won't be disappointed! In fact if I get a chance I am going to take another one :)

Taking classes in Sisters, Oregon this week has been just fabulous! And the weather has been awesome too! I am totally soaking up the sun before we head back to the land of rain. One of the clas…

I have recently had the pleasure of quilting a Sue Spargo quilt called In Full Bloom for my customer Penny. Penny completed this quilt as part of Sue Spargo's 2014 Block of the Month Quilt Programme. In Full Bloom is made with beautiful wool fabric and incorporates applique and lots of embroidery embellishments. I am sure you will agree it is a stunning quilt. I had lots of fun with the quilting, using a number of different background designs. I did particularly like the feathered border - The pattern for In Full Bloom was released recently at Spring Market.

Addicted to Fabric is a wonderful store owned by Jenny and Noel in Canberra. It is filled with the most beautiful range of fabrics for both quilting and dressmaking and is managed by Kerry and Samantha. The class was filled with very enthusiastic students. I was amazed at how much they accomplished and how different all their work was. Jenny had an amazing assortment of ribbons and buttons which many of the students used in their blocks. Some worked in cottons as well as stitched them creatively on the machine. I loved that each student started with a different block. It was very inspirational and many ideas were collected throughout the two days. Some worked with hand dyed velvet and silks as well as embellishment yarns. Judy has worked up many of my patterns over the years and also teaches some of my quilts. I was delighted that she brought this great quilt of hers to share. She made her quilt out of her own hand dyed wools. I love to see other variations of my designs. This Flowerbed quilt was made by Judy from Canberra. And this Folklore quilt was made by Annette from Sydney. She took the main theme and gave it her own personnel twist. I just love what she is came up with. It was a pleasure to meet many people I have communicated with via email and now can put faces with names. I was very fortunate to see Kerry's wonderful quilt all done on the machine. I thought Jason would be very envious to see what we got to ride in each morning. Many thanks Jenny, Noel, Kerry and Samantha for making both Wendy and I feel so welcome. Our visit was short but we will have fond memories. Creative Stitching Sue and Wendy

One of the things I always find so interesting at a quilt show is the response that people have to what they see. Spend thirty minutes in front of a single quilt and you'll see people glance at the quilt, smile briefly and continue walking while others will stand there for a very long time examining every possible detail with a look of awe. Much of the difference is surely about personal taste, and perhaps some of it is about preference or bias - hand-quilted vs. machine-quilted. It always makes me think of the nature of inspiration.

I just spent a fabulous 5 days in Sisters, Oregon. The weather was great and I always love the smell of the pine trees which radiates the outdoors. The hotel upgraded me to a suite, so I had a great spacious room with a comfy leather chair to sew. What more could a girl want! I taught 2 two day classes with very enthusiastic students and also did a trunk show for their guild night out. The first class was 'Red Clover' a small wall hanging pattern. Most of the students worked on the star block as they were wanting to learn some embellishment stitches on the second day. We placed all there blocks together on the wall so we could all enjoy the different embellishments each person experimented with and decided it would make a wonderful quilt. Unfortunately for me they did not want to part with them. We used ribbons for stems and stitched with Genziana wool thread. www.suespargo.com Used seagrass which is one of my favorite embellishment threads right now. I taught them how to make roving balls and bullion knots. They also used beads and fine yarns to couch. The second class was the 'Altered Texture'. Each making a unique piece of their own. Some students fussy cut flowers and beaded them. Many did all sorts of fabulous stems. They also made unique trims for their vases. Learnt many stitches. Rushing hand dyed silk ribbon. Appliqued with my hand dyed velvets. Used a combination of different techniques in their flowers. The last night I had dinner with Jean and spent a little time at her sewing machine stitching together strips using her technique from her new book 'Intuitive Color and Design'. What fun, I can now see a new quilt in my future! Sisters is one of my favorite places to teach. It is so well organized and I want to thank Jean, Valori and Jackie for making me feel so welcome. Creative Stitching Sue

Just a little leaf inspiration. I am fascinated with this shape and amazed at all the variations. These leaves are from my Monday Morning Group. They are great stitchers. Have a wonderful weekend. I am off to Lincoln, NE in the morning to teach a class at the guild. Keep Stitching Sue

Jacobean Leaves A crisp, white cushion featuring 10 leaves in a crewelwork style The design measures 10 x 10 inches (25x25cm). The cushion cover is for a 16-inch (40cm) square cushion. This is a 14-page hand embroidery pattern in PDF format, which will be available as a digital download from your Etsy Purchases as soon as payment has cleared. ** How to find and download your digital pattern after purchase: https://www.etsy.com/help/article/3949 The pattern includes: Fabric, needle and thread requirements: A list of the type of fabric, DMC six-stranded cotton thread colours and the required needle types and sizes for the embroidery. Transfer instructions: Various options for transferring the design on to fabric. Embroidery instructions: The illustrated instructions tell you which embroidery stitch, DMC thread colour and how many strands of thread to use, as well as any additional embroidery instructions. Reference photograph: The full-colour photo on the front page and close-up photos inside serve as references when stitching. Sewing instructions: Step-by-step instructions on how to make the cushion. Embroidery design: The design is given at full size (100%) with a join line, as well as at half size for enlarging to A3 if preferred. It’s also provided in reverse for creating an iron-on transfer. Printing: The PDF document is set up to fit on A4 or US letter-sized paper for easy printing on a home printer. ** This pattern does not include stitch instructions. You’ll find instructions for all the embroidery stitches used on my Stitches board on Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/kellylfletcher/stitches) and in 120 Embroidery Stitches: https://www.etsy.com/listing/547161663/120-embroidery-stitches-book-a-hand ** Embroidery Tips, Tricks & Techniques takes you through the embroidery process, from choosing suitable fabric to transferring designs to planning projects: https://www.etsy.com/listing/626800324/embroidery-tips-tricks-techniques-ebook © Please be aware that I, Kelly Fletcher, retain the copyright for this design, which is for personal use only. By buying this pattern, you are agreeing not to forward or pass on, upload, duplicate (print or make copies) or sell the design, instructions, pattern or any finished item featuring this design. Thanks for respecting the hard work that goes into creating my designs.

Folk art quilter and teacher Sue Spargo talks about her recent trip to quilt shops The Rabbit’s Lair and Yellowbird Art where she taught her Altered Texture class. Go here to see some student…

My folk-art imagery reflects my multi-cultural background and my fascination with folkart from around the world. Inspiration comes from memories collected during my African childhood with its animals and grasslands, a sojourn in the green South of England and time spent in Connecticut, Tennessee, Utah and Ohio.

My folk-art imagery reflects my multi-cultural background and my fascination with folkart from around the world. Inspiration comes from memories collected during my African childhood with its animals and grasslands, a sojourn in the green South of England and time spent in Connecticut, Tennessee, Utah and Ohio.

Explore woolly fabulous' 3410 photos on Flickr!

A week of finishing!!! Oh my, it feels good to finish things, doesn't it?! Last October, I started the applique process, stitching chick bodies and wings cut from felled wool onto the wool background fabric. Seven months later, 16 chicks, embroidered with threads and beads, run free! Please click the picture to enlarge it, so you can enjoy the fanciful details. If you are new to this process, you can see the various steps and pictures of the chicks on these posts. Of course, they are inspired by Sue Spargo's exhibit at the La Conner Quilt Museum, by her book, Creative Stitching, and by taking a one-day class from her to get me going. Along the way, other books, embroideries, and drawings also inspired me. As you might guess, most of the chicks have at least a few beads. Here is one with the main motif embroidered with beads. And, here is one with just a few beads, the center of the "flowers," and one with no beads at all. Also note that I've quilted the piece with Danish Flower Thread in a shade which closely matches the background color. At first, I thought it would be pleasing to embellish the areas between the chicks with flowers, vines, and leaves using three close shades of the background color. Here is an example. It looks OK when you look at just four chicks with the flower/vine motif in the center. But when I had finished 6 of the areas (sorry no photo), some of them with larger spaces and larger vines/leaves, it looked too busy. It took away from the chicks. I couldn't tell if I was supposed to look at the chicks or the flowers. So I picked out the vines and leaves, leaving just the flowers, which weren't such a distraction. After sewing on the binding, the chicks seemed to need a little warming around them. So I added a line of stem stitch in variegated pearl-cotton in a magenta color. It pleases me! Oh, and one more thing... This is a quilt, designed to hang on the wall, with lots of details to enjoy as you view it up close. But what happens to wool felt when it is out in the open? MOTH DAMAGE and DUST are the enemies. My solution? Find, buy, or have somebody make a wall-mounted display case, with a hinged door. Hang the quilt inside the case, which remains closed except when somebody wants to take a closer look. The above, found on the internet, is close to what I have in mind, with a white background of course. What's next in chick-land? Well, my dear niece just got married... Here is the start of her wedding gift... I'll post a finished photo soon.

This abstract zippered pouch is fully lined and large enough to hold a tablet, phone, toiletries, notions, knitting projects etc. It is 14" x 12". You will receive several PDF files - complete instructions, including lots of colored photographs, templates for the abstract appliqué wool front as well as pattern templates and a list of all the materials you will need so you can make this project yourself. This pouch was inspired by the artist, Sue Spargo, and her technique of layering and embellishing with stitching. I grew up in Northern Californina surrounded by art, sculpture, and books, but it was the contemporary, African and Pre-Columbian art that I remember best. My father and mother traveled all over the world and had a great many friends who were working artists. It was not unusual to come into the living room to find guests from the Ivory Coast deep in conversation with my French speaking father or a local sculptor, whose work was featured in our house accompanying us to the beach. The juxtaposition of the old with the new was particularly appealing. Abstract art almost always brings about an emotional response, whether that is a sense of calm or excitement, the best pieces draw the viewer in. It was with this idea in mind that I found myself working with abstract shapes and came up with the idea for this extra large, fully lined, zippered pouch, using Sue Spargo's wonderful techniques, wools, and threads. The size makes it perfect for knitting, embroidery and all types of stitching projects. It is perfect for travel!