I have been meaning to get to this post for days!

I have finished the Balance lap quilt and it is listed on Etsy in the Paganteam Shop!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33627375

I am not 100% satisfied with the machine quilting tension or design... motivation to keep playing. I think I will return to stippling until I feel I have a better control of the whole skill... we shall see...

Here it is! A close up of the quilting and the whole top.

I have offered my sister one of the previously posted quilts, either Gypsy Rose or Spin Off, but have yet to here which she prefers, though I also said she could wait to see what else will be available as I work though some of these tops I have waiting in the wings! Either way I hope to find out soon so I can list the other one on Etsy! Balance was made specifically for the challenge so it was necessary to list it.

I am cleaning and sorting everything in my house... good to go into the winter with a handle on my life, mentally and physically! Almost finished with my fabric and projects, then I can return to creating and finishing stuff!

I am working on designing an Altar cloth for our Circle's Greening Service the first weekend in December. My brain is having a challenge trying to get out on paper what I see in my head! Good to stretch my designing!

Back to the tasks... also taking care of my son who has the flu:( Trying to pretend I don't have it... but think I do :( Just keep doing stuff and pretend I feel OK! Sometimes it works!

Balance

For the past few weeks, since Innovations, I have been working on a lap size throw quilt. There is a small amount of the challenge fabric from Sew Batik http://www.sewbatik.com/ . There are 2 fabrics I originally purchased at Bayside Quilting 2 http://www.baysidequilting.com/ that I thought would work as border fabrics for my Spin Off quilt I was working on for Innovations http://www.mqinnovations.com/ . I added a couple other batiks from my stash and started building a quilt top. My plan was to machine quilt it in sections then connect them, not a unique to me technique. While working on it the Pagan Team on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/ selected Balance as the challenge theme. There are many ways this little quilt aligns itself with this theme. When working on any challenge piece I contemplate the theme. I find myself asking where balance is or isn't in my life. A very informative journey, it is good to take inventory! The theme was selected to reflect the equinox and our position in the universe. Autumn is my favorite season, the Autumnal Equinox signals a significant change is coming. A natural progression of life. Not going to take the time now to edit and post progress images, I have taken several pictures along the way and plan to post them on my flicker page when it is finished. Haven't posted anything on flicker for a long time!

Remember the EAST Team on Etsy Treasure Hunt! Awesome give aways! If you are not an Etsy member it is free to join and there's no influx of emails from the site. You do not have to open a shop, you can just shop! Or in this case participate in our Treasure Hunt! see more details below or on the EAST Team blog http://earthpathartisans.blogspot.com/ !

Back to piecing the sections of Balance together! Nice thing is how finished it is with the sections already quilted!

EAST Treasure Hunt!

The following announcement is on the Team blog for my Etsy street team EAST (Earthpath Artisan Street Team) http://earthpathartisans.blogspot.com/

The EarthPath Artisan’s Street Team (EAST team) on Etsy invites you to participate in our Harvest Treasure Hunt! Since, for so many of us, this is a time of harvest and thanksgiving, we have chosen to begin our Treasure Hunt on, September 22 (the Autumn Equinox). Each week, for 9 weeks, thru Tuesday, November 24th, we will be giving away a different prize to one lucky treasure hunter each week - and then on Wednesday, November 25th, (the day before Thanksgiving) we will be drawing one lucky winner from all entries who will receive an amazing Bounty Basket filled with an assortment of wonderful items from a variety of EAST team shops!

As our “Harvest Treasures” we have selected an item (or items) from our participating shops that we feel represent the Harvest theme. These items may be representative of an actual harvest of fruits and vegetables or a harvest of personal/spiritual nature. When searching through our team shops, look for item titles you think are harvest related! Not as easy as it sounds when you consider how Earth friendly we all are! Designated treasures will change throughout the prize period and will contain one of the following phrases in their descriptions:

“Look EAST and harvest the fruits of our labor!”
“The EAST Team wishes you Bountiful Blessings!”
“Treasures abound when you follow your EarthPath!”

We’ll also be sprinkling around a few clues to direct you to our treasures, so be sure to check out our shops and follow our blog to help you on your way to winning! You will receive one entry for every 5 items you locate! Each entry must contain 5 different treasures. Limit of 3 entries per person. An additional entry will be given to anyone posting a purchase of an item from any shop designated with an asterisk on the list below! Once you have gathered your “treasures”, post your list of page addresses as a comment to the blog post on our team blog http://earthpathartisans.blogspot.com/. Comments for this promotion will be moderated for approval, so the answers won't appear there! Be sure to include your Etsy name/contact information in the post as well! Happy Harvesting! Participating shops:
*ArabesqueArtsByDarcy ( http://www.arabesqueartsbydarcy.etsy.com/ ) *Cobaltquilter ( http://www.cobaltquilter.etsy.com/ )
*dismissie ( http://www.dismissie.etsy.com/)
*divapixie ( http://www.divapixie.etsy.com/ )
*DivineDesignsByForet ( http://www.divinedesignsbyforet.etsy.com/ )
*Foret ( http://www.foret.etsy.com/ )
*ForetTwo ( http://www.forettwo.etsy.com/ )
*Howling Caterpillars ( http://www.howlingcaterpillars.etsy.com/ ) *Generationstiedye ( http://www.generationstiedye.etsy.com/ )
KarinLorenc ( http://www.karinlorenc.etsy.com/ )
*Merigreenleaf ( http://www.merigreenleaf.etsy.com/ )
Mountaindreamers ( http://www.mountaindreamers.etsy.com/ )
*Mysticwynd ( http://www.mysticwynd.etsy.com/)
*Rainfeather ( http://www.rainfeather13.etsy.com/)
*RainSews ( http://www.rainsews.etsy.com/ )
*Ravenshold ( http://www.ravenshold.etsy.com/ )
*Sagehealer ( http://www.sagehealer.etsy.com/ )
*SoulyStones ( http://www.soulystones.etsy.com/ )
*TheOmIntention ( http://www.theomintention.etsy.com/)

There are weekly Prizes and a Grand Prize Winner will receive a Bounty Basket!

There are treasures hidden in my Etsy Shop! http://www.cobaltquilter.etsy.com/
Happy hunting!

Quilts are home from Innovations!

No ribbons... good comments from the judges! The same areas I knew I needed to work on were noted, it is good to know I am on the right track. I am going to try a quilt as you go technique on the current quilt I am working on to see if I can get more creative with the quilting! Great classes and information from the conference I will post more details soon. Wanted to get images of the 2 large quilts in full view from the show! I will be listing them on Etsy soon I think. I wasn't going to but they seem 'okay' to me as long as I price them accordingly and not as a master quilter! So, above you see... Spin Off and Gypsy Rose, once again!

The Harvest Challenge voting complete

Well, I am pleased to have the privilege of receiving the most votes cast in the Harvest Challenge. The running was very close between a few of us. I suspect my nudge over the top has to do with the email I sent out to my family and friends. A reflection of my wanting to boast and show off what I am doing! Making the win an interesting potential for the continued sending of my "Shameless self promotion" email when I want to share what I have been doing with the limited circle that is my 'comunity'. I know I missed at least one family members address... (Note to self: work on a possible email group titled Shameless! I did ask if they wanted to be removed from my posting of these shout outs they were invited to do so.)


It is also an opportunity for them to visit the wonderful art on Etsy! Often I find myself pulled in by one person's work. Sometimes it feels like I'm wandering through an art gallery, especially when I view it in 'gallery' rather than 'list' view. http://www.etsy.com/ I love the sense of being in on others expressions of the passion they feel inside!


Haven't steam blocked Rose yet, but Spin Off is nearly ready to bind! I have to have them all ready to go a week from today! This has made me much more forgiving of my developing skill with the ratio of my needle's speed to the speed I move the quilt. I know one thing, the smaller the whole quilt the easier to manipulate. A measure that increases exponentially in the negative way! If I continue to have a desire to create these bigger pieces I will try a few 'quilt as you go' techniques. I made several quilts that way in the 80's & 90's. A bit more difficult to construct a unique whole in pieces! I'm playing with one right now that will use a set of stacked & slashed hexegons I have had a difficult time placing.


I don't think I ever look at a piece of fabric or other patterns found around me with out trying to imagine the possible kaelidoscope images it could create! Probably the same thing that keeps me buying blue and white fabric as well as autums amazing color way! Back to the quilting!


So I said an image of the Rose...
I know I'm working large when the finished quilt doesn't fit on my design wall!

August Challenge Entry!

I took time to finish the last of the pieced leaf kelidoscopes, from my stash, table topper pentagons this weekend to enter in the Pagan Street Team August Challenge "Harvest"!

To see all the entries an vote on your favorite visit our blog!

http://paganteam.blogspot.com/

Or search Etsy for 'paganchallengeaug' and they will show up also!

I have completed the quilting of Gypsy Rose! I need to block/steam it and then mount it on a piece of dark fabric with a sleeve as the shape is odd and won't easily hang in the show! The fabric challenge quilt Spin Off" is next in line to begin the quilting! It is good to be busy!

I have pretty much decided to put off the Barter Fair this year... too much to do and not really up for the camping experience right now. And I don't know what I want to barter for or if I am ready to commit to barter commissions, it may freeze my creative side for the winter. That happened last fall when I was putting too much energy into 'marketing' ideas and got lost creatively! Not going to happen this year! The day job calls my name!

Gypsy Rose

The images are of the design phase of the top. I have nearly finished the quilting and will post a picture soon! Machine quilting is something I am still very much a novice at. Stippling is getting better, more consistent stitch length, but not what I would like to be able to do. More, and more practice in my future...

I haven't fully figured out the placement of images! Another thing to work on....