Blogger Users – You need to read this. Google may identify you as a spammer, that’s bad.

 **I will not be updating this version of the this blog going forward. If you happened here by accident, find me @ www.theboredzombie.com. **

As some of you know, I was locked out of my Google account Wednesday morning. What that means is I was completely shut down – no access to email, no access to g+, no access to photo albums, and the worst, attempting to access my blog returned a plain blogger error page that says THIS BLOG DOES NOT EXIST. That’s right “does not exist”. Everything was gone. If I attempted to access any Google account features I received an error message that said I “may” have violated Terms of Service (TOS) and I could try to restore my account with a txt message to my phone. I had no idea what I had done or why they thought I “may” have violated TOS. I did get back online through the phone verification (took two tries over 45 minutes).  

It is crazy easy to get locked and here’s how it happened to me. I had made a few comments on some blogs as well as updates in g+ communities. I made a comment on someone’s blog, moved to the next blog, hit submit for a comment and boom – I didn’t exist anymore.

I knew I needed to consider moving my blog to my own hosting to avoid the issue in the future, but I wasn’t in any huge hurry to do so. I had decided that I would just be VERY careful when using my account and make sure I didn’t OVER comment. Then, I discovered that my blogger account settings had been changed on my behalf and I was now a no-reply blogger. While attempting to figure that out, I heard from another blogger that they had also been spam locked. In addition, I’ve noticed Google removing comments from my blog. I will get an email that indicates I’ve received a new comment from a REAL HUMAN only to find it has been deleted from my blog. I’ve gone back and checked my own comments on other people’s blog and mine have been deleted from time to time as well.

The combination of my blog being removed, comments being removed from my blog, and my comments being removed from other blogs, I was inspired to try to get help from the big G to figure out what the issue is. As it turns out – Google had determined that blocking some legit users is acceptable to keep the number of spam blogs down. You can read another big pile of words that describe why google may shut you down for spamming and the unusual resolution process in this blogger product forum. I like Google products. I like blogger, it is exactly what I need for what I want to do. I like it’s simplicity. I like integration with my mail and social media. I like having everything on one platform. It doesn’t matter how much I like it though, when it comes down to it, we are all at risk of being criminalized in an effort to catch the criminals. Guilty until proven innocent. Ouch. I can’t allow Google to automatically and arbitrarily remove me from the face of the internet because I’m “too active” or used a word that is popular with spammers.

Truth - I’ve outgrown blogger. I’m serious about my web presence and intend to manage it reliably and fairly. I’m moving myself off the blogger platform. Yes, I will have to pay some amount per month for the hosting, but less than $10/month for the peace of mind that comes with having actual support people contactable by phone for issue resolution is worth every penny. Truth – I have no idea what I’m doing or how to do it. Like you’ve come to know in my crafts, I’m just going for it. One step at a time. It is going to take some time to get everything moved and looking like I want it. It is also going to take me a bit to learn the ropes for commenting and reading via wordpress. As a matter of fact, I’m likely to be a hot mess over the next week or two while I straighten myself out.

 I sincerely hope you will have patience with me and meet me on the other side!

(update: In the first 30 minutes of working with GoDaddy for hosting, I’ve run into a problem, contacted a human support person, and had it fixed within 10 minutes.)

Saturday Studio Challenge (on Thursday!): Pac-Man Purse

Since I was off work today and didn't have any BBQ plans I decided I would repeat last Satuday's Studio Challenge. This time though - I picked a project I knew I could finish. I'm really happy with how it turned out and excited to show you!

Pretty cute right?? I can't wait to use it at my next nerd con. I'm certain at least one person will be jealous of its awesomeness! I didn't get to structure this challenge like last Saturday's. There were lots of planned interruptions though the day and I knew I wouldnt get two solid hours for eight hours, or even for two hours. I went ahead and worked all the way though and will show you milestones.

Milestone 1: Collecting Supplies.

I bought this Pac-Man fabric a few months ago. I try not to ever buy a fabric I don't intend to use for a specific project. This one was special! The instant I saw it the only question was, how many yards? It's been hanging around the studio for a month or more and I look at it all the time just dying to make something out of it!

You may remember one of the classes I took at the Original Sewing and Quilt expo was Hope Yoder's Hipster Chick. (If you don't, here's the link with my class attempt at it.) It didn't take long for me to connect her bag pattern with this fabric! I did have to make some modifications to her pattern, mostly for preference, but it is pretty close to hers.





Milestone 2: The Quilting

Alright Alright - Getting somewhere! I just love the mod look of the fabric and wanted to highlight it. Rather than straight line quilting, I did small circles in every other row around the existing circles. You cant really see it in the pictures, I used black thread on a black background, but it is very similar to the yellow pattern. I added a button because I didnt like the idea of my phone living in a pocket that could just pop open.

I'm still struggling a bit with those curves, epically when the fabric is going from the back of the machine to the front. This was good practice indeed! 

I'm impressed with my clever idea to get the pattern on to the yellow fabric. I'll be showing it at the end of the post so stick around!



Milestone 3: Embroidered Patches

I just had to get a Pac-Man in there somewhere. Trust me, I duly noted Clyde's (the orange ghost) absence. I couldn't live with Pac-Man missing too. I whipped up some with a little free motion zig zag stitch in a hoop to add on the prairie circles in the pattern. I just went for it here. I doodled them on the stabilizer and whipped them out. They aren't "perfect", but that's OK, I wasn't going for perfect!






Milestone 4: Front Pocket Complete

I made the circles, added the embroidery patches, put the blue binding on and attached the pocket to the front side of the bag.

Aren't the Pac-Man and ghosts fun? I'm still debating with myself a bit, I was going to make one of the ghosts white and red, the off color when they are blinking. In the end I decided "just ate a power pellet" solid blue would work. That way none of us have to have anxiety because they might be turning back to eat Pac-Man any second!









Milestone 5: Connecting the parts

Phew! The part that had me worried! Pesky Zippers! I know they aren't hard, but there are so many ways to muck it up. If you look really hard, you'll see that my connection to the front side of the bag is a little wonky. The thickness of the praire circles, binding, zipper, quilt layer, and lining was just a bit more than would glide right through the machine. I never quite managed to get it straight. It is pretty close, zips open and closed, and didnt get sewn on backward. WIN!

That's pretty much it. After this I sewed it all up, did a few finishing touches and called it done! If you're curious - the modifications I made were adding a button, making the strap both wider and longer, changing the super stiff crafty fuse to a medium stiffness interfacing, and added an inch to the length of the bag to accommodate my wallet.



Bonus!

As I mentioned, I wanted to mimic the circles and lines in quilting of the yellow background behind the pocket of the purse. I knew there was no way I could keep them straight or even without some sort of guide. After thinking long and hard, I thought about these little stickers. They are meant to fix three hole punched paper in three ring binders. You can find them in any office/school supply store. These ran $1.27 for 500+ stickers.

The whole time I was using them, the line "you're a * genius Gump" kept swimming through my head. I may have been more impressed with myself than the idea warranted!

Don't forget - I love to see what you're doing too. If there's something I just shouldn't miss, be sure to link me!

Dizzy Dresdens: Applique and Trusting Instincts

When we left Dizzy Dresdens, the piecing had been done and the dresdens were ready for applique. The background squares are 21" so I was quite daunted by this task. There were several reasons - a circle center, no fusing, lots of tiny little points, BIG square, virtually no room for placement error, and well, the nerves that comes with inexperience. Like I'm famous for, I figured there's no room for being scared and I should just go for it!I think it worked out OK and I surely learned a few things along the way!

OK OK, I should have cropped those cute little feet, but I just couldn't!

The first step was cutting and prepping the circles. I was determined to do it as directed in the quilt magazine the pattern came from and it went a little like this:

Cut 1/4" around applied freezer paper template

Baste seam allowance and pull

Starch and Press

Not bad for my first try. It is something I think you certainly get better at. You can see, I dont quite have a circle there. There's a point at the bottom and a bit of extra seam allowance bending it a bit at the top right. I decided this quilt is all for practice and learning so I wasnt going to get bent out of shape (ha!) about small things like that. Quick scroll up to the picture with feet, do you see the wonky point on the center circle of the yellow dresden? Me either.

The next big step was putting it on the background square and blanket stitching around it. Boy did I feel like I was flying without a net here! No fusing?? I may have over done the pins a bit, but I felt good about it and decided to go with it.

As it turns out - it DOES work just fine without a net. I dont know that I got every single curve right, but over all, pretty darn good. I was pleased with myself and went on to doing the points.

Here's where we are going to talk about instinct. I was so hell bent that I going to do it the way the magazine said that I forgot I kind of know what I'm doing and sometimes my way is OK too. I mentioned way earlier in this post that one of the issues was placement. The background squares are cut to 21", the dresden point to point is 20.5". So you see - no room for error. I did ok with the placement, but when it came to stitching on the points close to the edge of the square, things went south quickly.

See how those points are puckering ? When the needle was near the points, they fabric would get caught in the throat plate. Sometimes piles of thread would catch and it knotted, or worse. A few times, I managed to sew a few stitches and the feed dogs were not moving my fabric along giving me a big old corner of mess. I fought with it all the way through the yellow and into the purple dresdens determined that if the magazine didn't SAY to use stabilizer then it must be do-able and I must be wrong. I finally just said "screw it, I dont care what the magazine says or doesn't say, I'm getting out at least a lightweight stabilizer. Night and day y'all, night and day. When your instincts are screaming at you - don't be pig headed, listen! try! do!

Now you REALLY see the puckers in the previous picture, don't you?

Here's one final picture, just because I like it even if it didnt fit in the body of this post. Trust me, I tried to force it!

Hope you're having a great week - I can't wait to see what everyone is working on! Think I might have missed something fab? Be sure to link me and I'll come by and check it out!

Want to see all the posts related to this project? Here's a handy dandy index!

Saturday Studio Challenge! The Flamingo House

I've wanted to try a studio challenge for a long while now. This is the first free Saturday I've had in months! Here's how I think it will work:

• Turn off the computer and enter the studio. 
• Start working!
• Update every 2 hours with a quick check-in
• Keep at it for at least 8 hours.

In fairness - I have no idea how this is going to actually work. Will the 2 hour check in interrupt my flow? Will the needs of the housemates take away too much attention? Will I just get bored and want to play Warcraft? Since I don't know - I'm not doing it live this time, but I promise not to change a single word after it is written (unless I spell original "origional" again). If it goes well, next time I'll do it live and maybe even recruit one of you to join! 

Getting Started: 10:30 AM

I picked up a pattern from Marcia Layton at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo because it screams me and bestest friend Jess. Tacky to the max with flamingos, yo yos, and rick rack. One day - I'm going to make one for Jess and I to hang up in our retirement beach house, but for now it seems like a good practice opportunity. If it turns out - I will donate it to my quilting bee who is collecting house wall hangings for Habitat for Humanity. You may remember the first house attempt, mushroom house - Nice experiment, but I can do better for sure!









YO YO Mania: 12:30 PM

In the last two hours, I cut a super ton of yoyos with my fancy new circle cutter. I don't love hand sewing when I'm in the studio. It is much better suited for traveling and keeping my hands busy during movies or TV. I did want to have one or two of the different sizes made up to try as the wall hanging came together so  I decided to sew as many as I could before I hit the 12:30 update deadline. Time for a little snack and then it is back to work!










The Background: 2:30 PM

I finally was able to cut out some large pieces and see this thing start to come together. I fought with myself a bit because this is *NOT* how I would build this quilt. Then I remembered - the reason I do projects like this following someone's instructions is to learn new ways of doing things. Sometimes, as difficult as it can be for my hard headed self to admit, their way is better! (ok, you got me, MOST TIMES)

This project calls for using fusible fleece to applique the parts together. Until yesterday - I didn't even know what fusible fleece was! So far it is pretty cool. Works the same as fusible web, but is plushy. The sky and the sand go together and all the other pieces are appliqued on with a blanket stitch. It leaves a raw edge under the blanket stitch, but I think I can live with that. We'll see how it all comes together.



Applique Fever: 4:30 PM

Phew! I'm so tired of blanket stitch I could cry! My machine only has one right and one left blanket stitch and both are quite short. I find it a bit tedious to work with, but made it though. All of the water and sand has been attached as well as the house, door and windows. You can probably see, the windows are a touch wonky. I dont know if it is a machine or user problem, but I struggled a lot with two layers of batting and two layers of fabric. I know a walking foot would certainly help, but mine only works with straight stitch.

I started adding a few of the embellishments then deiced to take an hour off for dinner. A girl's gotta eat right??






Rainbows and Trees: 7:30PM

Alright alright! It's starting to look like something! I didnt have any of the ribbons recommenced. I made do with what I had for the door and made the awning all by myself. I'm quite pleased with my problem solving here - I had nothing that would just plop in there and manged to pleat *just enough* of the light blue ocean I had left. I didn't have any striped fabric, but I did have some ribbon left from the Hungry Caterpillar gift bag (thanks Jess!) to improvise. It is only 1/2 and she suggested a full inch. An inch is probably better, but I think it is ok at this size. 

The tree was quite a pain. It sits far in the corner and has lots of turns. I didnt think I would ever get it on there, but finally managed it. Marcia has rick rack to mark the frowns on hers, since I didn't have any, I just used thread. More problem solving!



Now the fun part is left - putting on all the little picture making things like the flamingos and crabs and such. I'll work on the yoyo's in my down time this week and see how it goes. I knew I didnt stand a chance of getting all the hand work done today, but I did kind of expect to make it through all of the machine applique. I'm famous for overestimating, I shouldn't be surprised!

I'm home all day Thursday (July 4). I may try another challenge with something I can actually finish in day! The rules I set out for myself worked ok other than I didn't really include time to do things like eat. I may just repeat the update times, 10:30, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 7:30. Anyone else home for the holiday and want to play along? It would be fun to check in on someone while I'm at it. :)


Link Ins:
Sew Darn Crafty @Sew Many Ways
Anything Goes @Stitch by Stitch

30 Days of Suedre & Bird, an installation art project

I think I mentioned I'm taking a Coursera class, Introduction to Art: Concepts and Techniques. If I didnt, well, I'm taking a Coursera class, Introduction to Art: Concepts and Techniques. In this class, we have an art assignment every week and this week is installation art. I instantly thought of a project I did back in 2008 with a plastic pink flamingo and a camera. I decided to review it and collect up the photos in a quick view mosaic. I enjoyed doing it and looking at the photos again so much, I decided to share the whole project, including the required artist's statement. The coursera folks only saw two of the high res photos, but I'm treating you all to FIVE, lucky you! Without further ado, here they are!

Tilte: Bird (2008)
Summary: 30 days in the life of Suedre told though images depicting Bird, my half of the pink plastic flamingo pair my best friend and I split when we moved to separate states. For close ups, I selected two that I think best fits what I was trying to accomplish - cheeky interactive personification of an inanimate object.

I completed this project in 2008. I made a Bird carrying purse and a few pairs of feet and carried him with me everywhere I went for 30 days. Each day, I installed Bird in a funny or interactive place, took his photograph, then published it on a daily blog. Some days were more challenging than others. For example, the grocery store manager was none too thrilled with me taking photos in his store. Sometimes it was just getting over feeling silly, like when I put a plastic tennis show wearing flamingo next to a statue at a very busy mall.

For this project, it was important to humanize Bird and make him part of his environment. I didn’t want to just put a plastic flamingo somewhere and take a picture. I wanted him to look as if he were an active participant in his various summer activities. It was also important to tell a story. He starts with the first picture leaving the house and ends with the last, going to bed.  For me, looking back on this project has been more meaningful than the project itself. Through Bird, I can remember and relive small everyday moments, like ordering at the drive through, that I would have never considered important or interesting otherwise. He tells the story of my life for those 30 days as if he were me.

This project started as a silly internet game but quickly became something else. By day 3, I was completely engaged in the challenge of putting Bird in various places and telling a story everyday with nothing more than plastic flamingo a cell phone snapshot.  In the five years since I completed this project, I’ve certainly gained significant technical skills in photography and storytelling through art. Maybe I should give this another go!

My favorite days!

Day 3, Shopping at Harris Teeter

Day 4, Offended at the July 4th BBQ

Day 13, OK - not part of the final photos, but it melted my heart to
run across this one when editing. She's so grown now!

Day 17, At the Sonic drive up (makes me giggle every time I see this one!)

Day 27, A new perspective.

I hope these made you smile and you enjoy them as much as I do!


Link Ins:
Really Random Thursday @ Live a Colorful Life

Hungry Caterpillar Custom Embroidered Gift Bag

As I mentioned in my last post, my very best friend in the world came by for Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Raleigh. On her way back home she was going to attend a baby shower for a good friend of hers. She had already mostly finished a Hungry Caterpillar baby blanket and wanted a cute gift bag. We only had about six hours, but we were not deterred! We went to JoAnn's and picked up one of those pre-made blank canvas totes brought it home and ended up with this:

You're looking at the FAT version of the Hungry Caterpillar, so I suppose he is really the Full Caterpillar. I'll be honest with you - this was a rush job. Not a lot of time for marking, washing, and perfect stabilization, but still cute none the less. He and the letters are freehand. I made him as a patch with Sulky Water Soluble Stabilizer and tulle. I marked 2.5 inches tall and dropped those letters right in. I hand sewed his little hairs to his top side and added the ribbon with a straight stitch.

I promise, one day, I'll show you exactly how I make these patches. I was in such a rush, I didn't take the greatest pictures along the way or think about which ones I'd need to demo the technique. I'll show you what I have though and one day soon I'll fill in all the words and specifics.

So here we go... a WIP with only pictures!


If you're curious - here's her super cute blanket that goes with it!

 

I can't wait to see what everyone else is up to this week!



Link Ins
Mel's Daisy Patch Crochet and Crafts
WIP Wednesday @Freshly Pieced
Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation. 
Free Motion Friday @ Free Motion Quilting Project.

The Sunday Geekery: On The Sewing Con

Finally back home from the Raleigh NC Original Sewing and Quilt Expo and pretty much totally spent! I had a pretty fantastic three days and picked up all sorts of new ideas, learned about new products, and tried my hands and some fun little projects. Since this is the Sunday Geekery and we geeks love our cons, I thought this a good place for a little wrap up.

Nice Car Cover!

THE FACILITY

The facility was top notch. I'd not been to the Raleigh convention center since they renovated it and had no idea what I was in for. It's HUGE, clean, modern, and has tons of art all over the place. I can't even image how many people you could get in there. I'd far rather attend Dragon*Con at a place like this! Funny story, this big huge multimillion dollar beautiful facility had farting chairs. Every time someone sat down with even a tiny amount of force, they acted like little whoopie cushions. This made me giggle. every. time. I'm such a child!

This is just one "small" hallway, all of the spaces are open like this with giant ceilings and windows everywhere. I never had any reason to see the ballroom floor. I kind of regret not just going up there and looking anyway!

All of the rooms I attended were set up and ready to go. I didn't experience any technical problems or issues with classes starting on time. Both hands on classes were set up with Pfaff's. One in the $2000 price range, the other with a show special of $6500. Was I totally blown over and ready to do anything to own them? No, not really. They certainly have their conveniences, but none that made me want to impulsively bring one home.

I have been thinking about upgrading my machine though. I had kind of narrowed it down to a Janome and a Bernina so I was looking forward to trying them out at the show. Wouldn't you know? Not one Janome or Bernina dealer at the show WITH machines. Seems like the long arms are the order of the day. That disappointed me a bit, but it is probably just as well. I need to spend lots of time with them at my LQS.


THE CLASSES

I attended six hands on classes and five lectures. I would say my satisfaction level is with the programs is around 60%. A few of them were fantastic, a few total duds, and everything else somewhere in the middle.

These are from Stacy Michell's of Shades Textiles "Color Cups" class. It was by far my favorite class. Stacy is a good teacher full of anecdotes and knowledge. She certainly made my friend and I comfortable working with dye that we were both total newbs with. I had though the supply fee was a touch high when I signed up, but it turned out to be well worth it. You can see how much hand-dyed fabric we came home with and Stacy had thought of everything for packing and traveling.

Thanks Stacy!

This bag is from Hope Yoder's Hipster Chick class. If you like it, you can find the pattern with videos on her site. The kit was complete and Hope came prepared with extra supplies like Steam-A-Seam 2 and Sewing Clappers. She showed us how how to add a zipper in a bag and I managed to actually keep up. Impressive, zippers have always stumped me!

I really do like this bag. Well, *THIS* one is a bit of a problem, I'm not sure who the strap measurement was made for, but it isn't big tall me! I picked up the written pattern, pdf, and videos. I'll try again in the future with a strap that fits. In addition, I think the front pocket is a great phone pocket, but I'd never put my phone in there with a button or clasp of some sort.  When I get to it on my never ending list - I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks Hope!

This was my introduction to Shiva Paintsticks on fabric from Helene Weber (sorry, can't find a web presence for her!). The paint sticks are oil paints that can be set with heat. They work well on fabric because they are VERY thick and don't bleed into the fibers.

I was quite torn on this class. I like to paint from time to time and as you can see, I'm not the worst painter ever. I managed to create nice soft image with a bit of depth from just the three primaries, but I didn't love the process. The thickness, that makes the paintsticks appropriate for fabric, was driving me nuts. I just couldn't manipulate it like I wanted to. I still have quite a bit of paint left, so I 'll try both painting again and using them to augment fabrics to see if they grow on me and they might.

Heh, this is me goofing off a bit in free motion class. Debby Kratovil teaches a nice class. She goes out of her way to make people comfortable trying out new things. I'm glad I took it and got a chance to learn some actual technical terms along with open practice.

The thing I walked away from this class with is there isn't much more to "learn" right now. I just need to practice practice practice. I get the gist, I know what I need to do and now I need to work at it until I'm actually good at managing both the fabric and the needle. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!


 
THE LECTURES

Here's the negative - Almost all of the lectures included a disclaimer like "this is not a sales pitch", "I just want to show you some new techniques", or "Let's get inspired". It seemed like they were "proving" it wasn't a sales pitch by not selling anything during or right after the lecture. Here's the elephant in the room - if your lecture includes "buy at my booth", "come by my booth", or "we have these patterns at the booth" every five to ten minutes over an hour - it *IS* a sales pitch. Can we just call it what it is please? Maybe even let them bring the products up. I'm obviously interested in buying them or I wouldn't have PAID to attend a SALES PITCH. OK OK, I know, Silly Suedre. I'm all about transparency though, especially in sales, so I get annoyed when I fell like I'm being manipulated.

Negative aside - Most of the lectures were good. I picked up some good pointers about using stabilizers from Meg Covalt and will certainly put them to use. I also enjoyed a few apparel lectures, both from really loopy and fun instructors, Kathy Ruddy and  Cynthia Guffey. We also checked out some bags and patterns from Linda Lee. I've never really considered making bags, but she had such fun and interesting textiles that I kind of want to try now! I didn't take a class on Zentangle, but heard the word a lot. After looking it up - I might need to check that out too!

SUMMARY
I saw some fantastic quilts, put my hands in different machines and project types, picked up two new patterns, met some amazing and interesting women, and was able to spend a little bit of quality time with my very best friend in the world. Pretty great weekend right? Now it is time to put my head down and start working with all my new skills and ideas!

I can't wait to see what you all have been up to over the last week. I've missed following your updates - If you made something beautiful while I was away, be sure to link me so I don't miss it!


Linking in with Anything Goes @ Stitch by Stitch & Happy Day @ Not Done Growing

Original Sewing and Quilt Expo, Ralegh NC: A little taste of Day 1

I survived day 1! All 14 hours!


lol @ Sir Walter Raleigh!

Wow! What a day 1! I've tried my hand at free motion, made a hip bag, and attended great lectures on techniques and products. I have a fair amount to say with actual pictures of the hands-on projects. I'm tired though... almost too tired to write without being dangerously punchy. I'll tell you about all the classes and what it feels like to use a 10,000 dollar machine in upcoming days. For now, you'll just have to deal some eye candy!

I saw the most amazing quilt, likely one of my favorites ever. I so wish my cell phone took better pictures because I can't even see the beauty of it here when I assure you, in real life, this thing will knock your socks off!


Quilts like these make me want to toss the dining room table right outside and put a big old long arm machine in there! The artist's name "Koi" is Dustin Farrell. It didn't list an associated website, but I suspect this is him.

There are scores of beautiful quilts, every one of them special in their own way. I promised myself I wouldn't post a million pictures. I limited myself to SIX, that's right, just SIX. I went for pieces that really stood out for a technique or something special I had never seen before.

Here's a fantastic use of denim from Lisa (omg I can't see her last name in the picture. Will find it and update soon!). All of these square are little pieces of denim. Some with seams, some without out. They are top stitched on with the red thread and it is just stunning.

This is an art quilt from Susan Bleiweiss. I love all the bright colors mixed with the stained glass technique. Certainly something I'd be willing to try myself.

There were 10 artist listed for this art quilt and I just couldn't help but smile at it. It really stands out as something different and fun.

Lisa Ellis has really mastered these grapes in "Abide"! I took a picture from the side to try to really show you how well she's made me them pop with thicker batting. I love how dimensional this piece is

Karen Marchetti's The Choice grabbed my attention because of the amazing use of quilting to create texture. It looks like she has used all solids and created the bricks, floor, and door using FMQ. Seriously? Unreal.

This is another one from Dustin Farrell. It's intention to show off the long arm quilting, which is amazing, but what really caught my eye and put this on over the top was the use of mirrors and 3D flying geese like border.

That's it for me. I'm hitting the hay to get a little rest before beginning again tomorrow! Just so you know - I put in a zipper today and it wasn't a total disaster. Look out world - here comes Suedre!