Tag Archives: sewing

Poultry Love

Posted on by
2

It’s been so long since I posted that I forgot how!  But it is coming back.  I have been doing a little painting over the winter break from school.  I’ve sold several paintings in my re-opened Etsy shop in the last few weeks, that I thought it was time to add some new stock.  I still don’t have much time for painting, but I have this definite need to make.  Yes, I have realized that I am a “maker”.  I just have to make something to keep my sanity.

I finished this little 4″ x 4″ painting today.  Is it a chicken or a rooster?  I am not  really sure– hence the gender neutral title.  It’s obvious I never spent a lot of time around farm animals, but it makes me smile nonetheless.

Poultry Love

Poultry Love by Pam Schoessow    bluepumpkinstudio.com

I’ve also been quilting a little bit making several small quilty things for gifts.  Since I am STILL without my longarm, I had to rent time on a machine at the local quilt shop to get my projects done.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take any pictures and now they are all gone!  Well except for a table runner and some placemats that were just for me.  I’ll try to post a picture of them soon (when I get the dining room table cleaned off!)  Things are still a holiday mess around here, and I return to school on Monday!

Quiltshop2

Quilt Shop by Pam Schoessow  bluepumpkinstudio.com

I did have a wonderful time last weekend with family in Provo, Utah.  My brother and his wife just built a beautiful retirement home that is filled with treasures from their 30 years in the foreign service.  It’s not a downsized home–but one made for  lots of family and especially grandchildren.  There were rooms and beds for 18 of us for the weekend–quite a feat.  The highlight of the weekend was a 1 year olds birthday party for 2 nieces’ children that were born 46 hours apart last Dec 30 and Jan 1.  15 more family members showed up for the birthday party on Saturday.  Highlights included a crawling race (results were highly contested!) and 1 year olds (Ada Kate and Sam) chowing down on their first birthday cake.

Dainty Ada Kate
Sam the Man

I won’t make any promises about when I will post again.  I DO miss all of my blogging friends and hope to make it a higher priority in 2018.

Best Wishes to all of you for a happy, healthy and rewarding new year.

Playing with Color

Posted on by
4

This little birdie expresses my sentiments exactly.  Just as little time creating at my sewing machine puts me in my happy place–something I haven’t had time to do a lot of lately.love-to-sew-originallogo

As with my last post, I’ve playing with the color on the computer.   The above painting is the original.    Below is the computer enhanced version.  I do kind of like the brighter colors which I can’t seem to create as well with watercolor.   love-to-sew-brightlogo

Which do you like best?

40% OFF MOVING SALE!

Posted on by
1

It’s time to get serious about this move I’m making across country in a couple of weeks.  I discovered I have over 100 pieces of little art in my Etsy shop so I have decided to have a first ever SALE to lighten up a bit. If you are interested in some whimsical art from the “Quilter turned Artist”, then check it out at BluePumpkinStudio.com.  The sale just runs until August first, and then I’m out of here!  Thanks for all your support.  I do hope to keep up with my blog better once I get settled.

10 Day sale at BluePumpkinStudio.com by Pam Schoessow

10 Day sale at BluePumpkinStudio.com by Pam Schoessow

Quilt Retreat on Lake Michigan

Posted on by
10

I spent this Friday and Saturday at my annual quilt retreat along with about 25 other dedicated quilters.  This is our 6th year at the Illinois State Beach Resort in Zion, IL.  Not much swimming going on at this time of year, but it’s pleasurable nonetheless to gaze out on the icy lake as we get our quilting fix.  Warning:  This is a long post–but it’s mostly pictures.

I did a little improvisational piecing this year–no pattern, not much measuring, just fun play with some fabulously colorful materials.  Kind of like painting with fabric. These are a couple of the wonky star blocks I made.  Can you count how many different fabrics are in this one?

improvisational piecing by Pam Schoessow

improvisational piecing by Pam Schoessow

IMG_1033

 

Many others were more prolific than I.  A lot of other fabulous work got done.

Such happy colors in this finished quilt top.

January 2015

January 2015

Love this romantic table runner.

IMG_1036

Cheryl works on an art quilt.  Can you see the Chicago skyline?IMG_1037

Hanging the pieces up on the wall helps with color placement.IMG_1038

Love these hand appliqued hearts.IMG_1039

Most quilters are strippers at one time or another!

IMG_1040

If you don’t sew, you would be surprised how long it takes to sew all these little pieces together. (And to make all the points and corners match).

IMG_1041 IMG_1042

Fun baby quilts

lots of elephants

lots of elephants

IMG_1059IMG_1079

cute fabric!IMG_1080

 

More wonderful piecing.  We all worked very hard.

More stripping!

More stripping!

Everyone does their own thing, so we get quite a variety.

quilting retreat at Illinois State Beach Resort IMG_1068 IMG_1045

Wow!  All those little pieces.  Amazing what you can get done if someone else cooks for you!  Striking!IMG_1081

Bev ( my roomie) models her new apron. IMG_1084

She also finished this small quilt.  It just needs the binding around the edges.

Bev's Quilt

Bev’s Quilt

A more modern slant IMG_1086

So what did I do for two whole days?  Make a big mess, mostly!

Pam's creative workplace

Pam’s creative workplace

I brought a lot of bright, fun fabrics purchased just for the occasion.

Quilter's candy

Quilter’s candy

I don’t need no fancy machine!  I’ve been sewing on this little gem for over 46 years! ( I started in my childhood–I’m not THAT old!)

Pam's Singer Featherweight

Pam’s Singer Featherweight

I did manage to finish 13 star blocks.  Haven’t quite decided how I will put them together.  I just design as I go.

Pam's star block fun

Pam’s star block fun

I put some borders on the 13th block.  I think it will make a fun wallhanging when it is quilted.

Improvisational pieced block by Pam Schoessow

Improvisational pieced block by Pam Schoessow

Well, that’s all folks.  Hope you enjoyed the pics.

 

 

Happy Tablerunner

Posted on by
9

I attended a quilt retreat a few weeks ago.  The 26 of us brought our own projects to work on.  There’s nothing better than spending three days sewing to your heart’s content and having someone else do all the cooking!  I like to do  easy projects so I can go home with something finished.  I had a charm pack of 5″ squares (by designer Pat Sloan for Moda fabrics)  that I wanted to create something with.  I had also purchased about a yard of extra fabric that coordinated with the charm pack.  I decided to make a table runner for my long kitchen table.  I made up the pattern, which was quite simple.

Image

I made rows of 3 prints separated by 2″ sashing.  Then I added a wider border with the same fabric as the sashing.

The quilting was very simple–just straight lines.  I varied the spacing to add some interest.  I finished it off with an orange print for the binding.

Image

Though this winter seems never ending (a few more inches of snow today!), this table runner makes me happy every time I look at it.  And even though I didn’t measure beforehand, it fits my table perfectly.  I couldn’t be more pleased with the result.

Image

Newborn King

Posted on by
2

Today I’m getting things tagged and finished up for my quilt show later this week.   I’m hoping that people who love to look at quilts will also be interested in my little paintings.  Here are a few more mini 4″ x 4″ pics I have recently completed.  

Image

ImageImage

ImageImage

3 Watercolor Quilt Blocks

Posted on by
9

Here are three more of my mini paintings.  All are 4″ x 4″ and are watercolor on aquaboard.  

I’m continuing my quilting theme.

ImageImageImage

I really appreciate all the supportive comments I have received about my paintings.  Thank you!

 

Sewing Toys

Posted on by
12

Day 14

Today is a little departure from my seasonal paintings.  Before I started painting, I was (and still am) a sewist and quilter.  A few years ago, I started collecting toy sewing machines off of Ebay.  They decorate my quilt studio.  We quilters do have quite an ability to justify buying a plethora of things.  Image

Here’s some of my collection.

.Image

Image

More Ebay finds: vintage spools and pincushions.  ImageImage

After a dozen toy machines, gobs of sewing “stuff” and about 100 unfinished, vintage quilt tops, I’ve managed to tear myself away from Ebay,  My husband (and my accountant) are very happy about that!

Spools

Posted on by
6

I was able to do a little painting on my recent vacation.  Sewing is a familiar theme and thread is definitely a part of my life.  I doubt I ever leave the house without some thread attached to my clothing.  Some people seem to think they need to point this out to me–as though I should be embarrassed to be seen that way in public.  To me it is a badge of honor!

Image

Sew It!

Image

1

Sew It!

I spend a lot of time THINKING about sewing and quilting. I read magazines and books. Search Flicker, blogs and Pinterest. I drool over fabric on the internet and in fabric stores (and buy an awful lot of it) I draw quilt ideas in my sketchbook and all together fantasize about quilts all the time but have little to show for it. So I painted this little pic to remind myself that nothing will ever happen unless I sit down and DO IT.

Quilting with Pineapples

Image

6

Quilting with Pineapples

I finally finished my pineapple block quilt. Since the colors are quite bright, I opted to use a calmer pink for the inner border and binding. Besides, pink is my favorite color. For the quilting, I used a circular pattern in the center with a separate pattern (I call ‘wood knot’ in the inner border. I used straight lines in the wide outer border. Since the fabrics are crazy busy, it didn’t make any sense to do more extensive quilting. I love the sewing themed focus fabric. I think I will hang this in my sewing room if I can find a spot.