Don't Buy Retail...

It was gorgeous today. I opened the door and windows of the Thread Shed so I could see the sunshine, feel the warm breeze, hear the cattle moo-ing and smell the horses. If I couldn't be outside, then I was bringing it in with me!

I spent the day finishing up the applique' stitching on the sunflower quilt top.

Then I spent a couple more hours trimming all the stray threads off the back side of it. It is ready to be basted and machine quilted..........we have a date on Friday.

With this warm, beautiful weather my favorite sport comes to mind....thrifting.....yard sales.....second hand stores.......the sport of champions! I was raised by a mother who trained me well. Most of our home today is furnished and decorated with second hand items. I love things with character.

Click Images to Enlarge:

My friend Linda, who has walked many a mile with me hunting down second hand items, sent me this entertaining video. Click here to view ESTATE SALE

CLICK HERE to view My Quilts

The Yard Sale Queen,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Flowers Chicks & Grapes...

Monday I spent the day putting together this backing for the sunflower quilt top I completed last week. The quilt top measures 100 inches square. This backing measures 108 inches square. It is too large to see the entire backing on the design wall, so 3 feet of the bottom portion is laying on the floor. If you tip your head to the left, you can view the strips of fabric horizontally rather than vertically. I plan to sandwich the quilt together so the back is horizontal. I will keep you updated as the free-motion quilting progresses...

Click Images To Enlarge:

The iris are really putting on a show this week

The baby chicks are 6 weeks old. The barred rock peeps are all feathered out with their black and white poke-a-dots. They have become the friendlies of the baby chicks. They run over to the food and water each morning when I come to do chores.

You can see all 3 breeds... Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons & Barred Rocks. They no longer look like baby chicks...more like miniature hens.

Just in time for hanging laundry on the line... the pink lilac bush, just outside the back door, is beginning to bloom... and it smells yummy. It is located a few feet from the clothesline... the aroma lures me outdoors to hang the clothes.

The grape arbor is beginning to leaf out. I strung out a soaker hose around it yesterday. This fall the leaves will turn purple with bright lime green veins. I press them in the phone books, then toss them all over the table on Thanksgiving.

CLICK HERE to view My Quilts

Enjoy,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Hospital Quilt Exhibit...... May 2009

The Permission 2 Play members have a new journal quilt exhibit going up at Good Samaritan Hospital and Corvallis Clinic

This is a revolving exhibit that changes every 2 months.

Click Images to Enlarge:

Melted Crayon Printing

By: Nancy Bryant

Painted Fusible

By: Virginia Gregory

Painted Fusible

By: Virginia Gregory

Painted Fusible

By: Kathy Haywood

Painted Fusible

By: Nancy Bryant

Shaving Cream Printing

By: Virginia Gregory

Shaving Cream Printing

By: Nancy Bryant

Shaving Cream Printing

By: Nancy Bryant

Shaving Cream Printing

By: LuAnn Kessi

Shaving Cream Printing

By: Kathy Haywood

Paper Quilt

By: LuAnn Kessi

The Permission 2 Play Class meets once a month at JanniLou Creations Quilt Shop in Philomath, Oregon. This is a free class offering for cancer diagnosed patients. No quilting experience is necessary. If you would like to be a part of this class, or have any questions please click the comment link below and leave me a message. You can also contact me at: kessi@pioneer.net

To see more Permission 2 Play CLICK HERE

To see more Journal Quilts CLICK HERE

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Raffle Quilt......Workshop

4th of July Quilt

Quiltmaker: Jan Bressler of JanniLou Creations Quilt Shop, Philomath, Oregon

Pattern Designed by: Judy Niemeyer of Montana

Click Images to Enlarge:

I spent Saturday with the members of the Mary's River Quilt Guild. We participated in a paper piecing class to create the 4th of July quilt pictured above. This quilt will be our 2010 raffle quilt.

After a thorough paper piecing lesson, lead by instructor Jan Bressler, the volunteer quilters were paper piecing units like the ones above. The gorgeous batik fabrics worked well with this design.

Earlier in May a group of volunteers gathered to cut all of the fabrics needed for this quilt.

This is Jan Tallis, who completed the very first paper pieced unit of the day!

Jan is responsible for producing the MRQG Newsletter.

Volunteer quilters began arriving at 9:30 am ready for a full day of paper piecing.

Linda, Marcia & Kelly kept things lively in the back of the room

Paper Piecing is all about sewing on the lines

This is one of the main paper pieced units with a curved arc unit added to the top

By the end of the day there were piles of completed units all over the classroom.

This is a HUGE help to our raffle quilt committee.

Please see Debbie van der Sommen to check out a packet of blocks to paper piece.

The block packets will be at the next Mary's River Quilt Guild Meeting, May 28, 2009, 7pm, Benton County Museum, Philomath Oregon

When I arrived home Saturday evening, I pulled down the driveway.....Dancer & Freckles were there to greet me with a view of Mary's Peak in the background.

I had a fun day with the quilters and it was good to be home.

CLICK HERE to view My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

A Day On The Coast......Sand Images

We took the dogs to the coast to run on the beach. The tide was way, way, way out. The images of the sand were spectacular. They reminded me of marbled and hand dyed fabrics........yes, I have a one track mind. Look further to see what I did to the images once I was home and imported them into my iPhoto program...

Click Images to Enlarge:

Original sand image

I darkened the image a bit to enhance the lines

I added some brown to make the image look like wood

Now it was time to play with some colors

This reminded me of dyeing fabric.....without all the work

The blues could be used in landscape quilts for sky or water

I could see this pink tone in an applique flower

This light wood color reminds me of the floors in our house

I tried out red just for fun!

This is the second original sand image I chose

Be sure to click these images to enlarge them.

You can still see the sandy texture after they are manipulated and colored up.

The detailed images are wonderful.

Again, I darkened up the exposure a bit to enhance the lines and textures

I added more brown to the image, which reminded me of myrtle wood

I continued to add more and more brown to the image

After manipulating the images with temperature controls & saturation, they began to glow. I really like these.

This is definitely in the plans for transfer to fabric.

This would make a great background for a silhouette image...

A third original sand image

Here I go again manipulating the image, enhancing the lines....this is addicting. If you have an iMac, you should give this a try. The controls are built right into your iPhoto software, directly in the program where your photos are downloaded.

If any of these images inspire you, please download them and put them into your artwork. I don't get carried away with all the copyright issues. My motto is.......Share What You know........Share What You Have.

CLICK HERE to view My Quilts

Enjoy this sand art video......click HERE to view.

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

From The Oregon Coast,

LuAnn