The Cellists Glasses

Many years back, I spent several months creating an art quilt of my son playing his cello. 

Here it is displayed in our local quilt show:

"Mason's Cello"- 

a quilted arts portrait of my son 

using mixed techniques of purchased 

and hand dyed fabrics, piecing, applique, 

reverse applique, thread painting, free motion quilting... And a whole lot of artistic stress! 

March 18, 2016 

I entered it in to my local show... but it's eyes were so overpowering, I took it home after the show and banished it to the stack. I always hoped to some day get better at eyeballs.I didn't.Recently, I noticed sunglasses worn indoors are oddly back in style. (Why, I will never know!) But- It gave me a chance to cover those darn killer eyes and give this quilt a new chance at display.

Not ideal, I know... 

but I think it works well enough 

to display in his old bedroom!

The Nebula... A journey achieved!

It's finished!!! One & a half years on a journey to Nebula with several thousand internet friends ---

After a wonderful monthly 

Journey to nebula of achievement- 

it was time for a double the Block of the month. 

I used 1 set from fabrics from mailed kit- 

and 1 set from my hoard.

Some were easier than others, 

but all were created mostly ON TME!!!

So many background pieces 

had to be cut and pieced... 

But eventually- It was pieced!!!

Then came the quilting...

And finally the hand binding...

Shhh.... I'll give it to the kids for Christmas!!! 

(Mine will have to wait a while...)

Christmas 2021: 

Mason & Zoë got their quilt for Christmas!

38 days 'til Christmas!

 I've started sewing Christmas gifts! 

And- I'm excited to say I'm actually making progress!

Hot Pads are SEW easy using PlumEasy pattern paper!

Eventually, I created TWELVE different ones!!!

Next up- Hand Towels: 

I actually downloaded an ITH machine embroidery for the toppers...

After the in-the-hoop topper creation, 

I pressed the towel in to position & 

sewed each one in place

Then I paired up towels and Hot pads... 

Pairings ready to be wrapped!!!

Meanwhile, preparing for a visit to my grandson, the sewing theme for him was cooking as well!

A sneak peak of the dish towels all will get with their hot pads is also ready for travel!

*** 

And, in EPP, 

I finished my first large set of rings

Creation of my Tula Nova: Start to Finish!

As I glanced at my blog for my previous NOVA update... I realized- there weren't any since the very first entry.

Quite surprised, I somehow managed to only share things with the FB NOVA group and the pricks in my fingertips... let's start at the very beginning and work our way through:

I made my very first post on instagram 21 weeks ago:

intherobynsnest

No more spending hours in awe on Pinterest wasting time: avoiding that first fabric pick, first cut, first stitch, first needle prick! SEW excited to finally take the leap in to EPP! #tulanovaquilt #epp

21w

I sewed together 3 pieces of matching fabrics

 to create pieced sewing machine for NOVA center

quickly discovered my favorite part was 

planning- cutting & glueing!

intherobynsnest

SEW many Fabric Decisions... cutting... glueing... and determined

 hand stitching many of the “puzzle pieces 

together”! Nova ring 5 is ready for STITCH in

 place! #tulapinknova

17w

I decided to use solids for my stars

 

and go with a rainbow wash effect.

intherobynsnest

HOMEMADE love ❤️ stitched 🧵 around a

 rainbow 🌈 of 🌟 stars to complete RING 5 in my 

NOVA. #tulapinknova #epp#tulapinkhomemade

16w

intherobynsnest

Completion of ring SIX

 with a celebration of mixed fabric collections

 escaping the coveted hoard of Tula Pinks: All

 stitched around a rainbow of “Solids” and

 “Homemade”stars... around a “Flutterby” of agave

 bees... all around a pieced “Homemade” sewing

 machine with some more Busy Fingers and Pins and

 Needles! #tulapinknova #epp

15w

intherobynsnest

All the “puzzle pieces” for ring 7 have been 

created... next up: to hand-stitch the rainbow solid 

stars, homemade hands, and beautiful floral and suits 

from TPs newest Curiouser & Curiouser line to 

surround inner ring. #tulapinknova#epp

14w

Pairings up ready to complete next ring

Adding the heart pieces...

intherobynsnest

And the NOVA English 

Paper Piecing puzzle continues... the heart ❤️ of ring 

7 has been hand stitched in place and awaits its ring 

completion of stars 🌟 and 🖐 #tulanova

13w

Next up:sew the stars in place...

intherobynsnest

I have completed another ring within my NOVA English Paper Piecing 

puzzle... with all of the second ring of stars now 

stitched in place... it is time to return to the fabric 

stacks and cutting table to make the final decisions 

for that last ring! #tulanova #epp

11w

intherobynsnest

My last “artsy” stars are ready for

 their debut in the final ring of my NOVA English

 Paper Piecing Puzzle. Just 5 more basic outer stars

 to complete— and then it’s just a ring around the

 NOVA to the FINISH! #tulanova 

#englishpaperpiecing

6w

Final round of centers... & stars

Intherobynsnest

17 weeks and 3 days later, I am 

excited to share my pieced completely hand pieced 

NOVA! I even dipped in to those hoarded Tula Pink 

fabric collections. It is my very first English Paper 

Pieced quilting project- I learned so much. I can't 

wait to quilt it! #tulapinknova #epp

5w

intherobynsnest

Putting all the lessons I

 learned in The Free Motion Quilting Challenge to

 work: Block by block, stitch by stitch… I am

 braving my way along my now fully English paper

 pieced NOVA quilt. It’s completion is near 🤪 #tulanova

4w

My Babylock was kept very busy after all the EPP 

handwork was complete. 

intherobynsnest

 5 weeks later... the outer 

ring surrounding my NOVA EPP wall quilt is finally

 surrounded in BUBBLES. That is 14 bobbins & 2

 rolls of thread worth of sewn bubble rings, and I am

 still not done quilting the outer ring... but it will be

 on pause as I return to the mobility of my 

LA PASSACAGLIA. #tulanova

3w

I spent over a week debating final shape- torn

 between square and stop sign. In the end... square

 ruled itself out, when I realized I did not have

 enough extra on all sides to create a true square.

So I cut away hours and hours worth of quilting and

 went with the stop sign

.

And then I hand pieced the binding and set it aside

 another week until I could come up with a plan on

 how to mount it for display...

The shape left me a lot of problems for display and

 eventually I came up with the idea of a deep 

inverted pocket to hold cardboard and hang from

 small quilt rod...HOPEFULLY it will work.

I sewed the cardboard in- 

in hopes of keeping the quilt mounted flat against wall...

My mounting attempt lasted 

less than a minute on the wall before I

 realized it would buckle & spent the rest of day

 removing all my stitches and cardboard.

So, it was back to the drawing board 

for a more basic idea.

I went back to the basics and 

sewed a heavy duty fabric 

sleeve in place on top.

Each corner is tacked to the wall with 

command velcro wall strips.

She hangs proudly in our bedroom!!!