Kaleidoscope Kreator

               Have you played with Kaleidoscope Kreator??? 
                          http://www.kalcollections.com/

You load your favorite photo into it and design your own kaleidoscope.

This bright and cheery photo, made up the quiltie below.

You have so much flexibility with this program. It allows you to move the window around and see how your photo changes as you include and exclude different parts of the photograph.  You will spend hours just playing with photos, trust me!

I went with paper piecing the outer borders. No pattern, I just scrawled out something myself.

The little buttons I've had for oh so long, finally found a home.

This was again another of those 2008 finishes.

Oh the trips down memory lane!

:-)

Speaking of memories...

I took a quick little get-a-way trip this week.

I haven't been to Disney in years.

Long before "Cars" was even a thought.

The park was just a riot. I haven't laughed that hard, in a long time.

But better yet...

Are these treats just not divine looking?

For the record, I did not have any of them.

Wish I could have said the same for the Beignets they had at the "Du Monde" place.

LOL!!    

And it's never a real vacation until someones mother, ends up with yet another crazy hat on her head!

This better not end up in a photo quilt somewhere!

;-)

Blast to the Past...Dad's memory quilt

Great dad's deserve great quilts.

Quilts with photos.

Hubby has always been a great dad, and having the boys help plan out his birthday surprise was so much fun.

Those were the days!

                                      
                           This is Fabri-Scrapping, from Sew Artfully Yours.

                                    Using Cindy Losekamps software.

                                  We planned a theme for each block.

Finding embroidery designs and buttons, to compliment each one.

This was a 2006 finish, and I have to say, that quilt has been on the back of our couch ever since. The photos are as clear today as they were back then. Not too bad for so many years, huh? Although I must say the newer printer fabrics to give you much crisper photos now.

I used a variety of printer fabric in this quilt.

 

This was a newspaper ad. 

Hummm.... we don't hear about news papers much anymore!

 

I didn't know much about quilting when this was done. It's kind of fun to go back and see where you have come from.

And dream about where you've been in your life!

Memories, that's what its all about.

:-)

Mommy 'N Me

My special little Alaska baby, isn't a baby anymore...  :-(   In fact she turned 9 just last month. Where oh where does the time go?

On my quest of scrapbook quilting, I was about to surprise her mommy with this quilt a few years ago.

                                   They are both so special to me!

Again based on regular paper scrap booking ideas, but this time with a twist.
The incredibly talented Cindy Losekamp has come to the rescue and created a scrap booking design set for those of us with embroidery machines.  Loads of great frames and fun mini clip art designs to use too.  It's called Fabri-Scrapping.

You can see more on that here...
     http://www.americaquiltscreatively.com/episodes/AQc_201.pdf
                                                      and

http://www.secretsof.com/content/4050 

She is such a little princess!

 

 

Who can't love that sweet little face!

 

 

:-)

 

So you asking me just why NOW, am I posting these things?????

Well, you see, I am busy working on some outrageous things for upcoming blog hops... and I sure don't want to spill the beans!  So to say.. For now, I'm just keeping you guessing!  LOL!!


 

MuskOx Love

                           Or was that song Muskrat Love???? 
                         It was from years ago, that's for sure!  :-)

Musk Ox or "Oomingmak" as the native Alaskans refer to them, are Ice Age animals that are well known for their "Qiviut" considered the finest wool in the world! 

 

 

I took this photo at the Musk Ox farm in Palmer Alaska.

They are some interesting animals, but this guy just caught my eye, as he was eyeing me!  It was destine to become a photo memory quiltie!

 

 

Especially once I stumbled on this gorgeous pattern for Musk Ox

 

 

 

***

 

 

Little, out shines their majesty, accept the beauty of their surroundings!

Don't you agree?

 

 

Check out this link to learn about the Alaskan Qiviut Hand Knitters.

The patterns these women knit into their scarfs are absolutely fabulous!

 

http://www.qiviut.com/

 

So little time, so much to learn...

 

Rotten Banana

I've been busy putting my quilt photos into my Quilt Album program and updating my Pinterest. I found quite a few quilts that I have neglected to share.

It brought me back to the roots of why I started blogging. Sharing my love of photo quilting. Oh the windy roads we travel, only to come back to the beginning!



This is a photo memory quilt of the Rotten Banana!

Rotten Banana you ask??

You saw it here a few posts back. During the Dresden blog hop, in fact. In it's new and improved state though!

What do you do when your oldest proudly brings home this...

pile of primer and rust!

Gheez, was this a piece of junk or what?

Truly the best part of the entire thing was this floozy!

 

 

None the less, he proudly raced it.

 

 

 

But after 2 years of  tearing up, replacing sheet metal, sanding and painting

It rolled out...

to be this beauty, that deserved a memory quilt, showing all his hard work step by step. As well as his accomplishments with his beloved car.

 

It was not much different than building a scrapbook page, only with fabric.

Combining the Internet for embroidery designs was just what it needed.

But the big score was finding a Mustang pattern at a quilt shop in Santa Fe New Mexico.

The photos are old and the quilt is proudly hung in my son's home now. For a kid who thinks quilting is "stupid", it managed to find a way into his heart!

Ahhh, that's what it's all about isn't it?

:-)





 

Memory Quilt for Mom's

A friend approached me a couple of weeks ago, about making a memory quilt for her daughter and daughter-in-law, for Mothers Day. While I didn't have much time to get to it, she only wanted a single photo on a 2' x 2' wall hanging and in black and white. That didn't seem so hard. She had provided me with a little saying she wanted on it also.  That was easy to digitize and stitch out.

I was able to steal a day to myself the other day and here is what came out of it.

Embroidered lace butterflies stitched on wash-a-way stabilizer were added, along with black and white ribbons and charms. I even found a set of stackable black and white buttons. The 3-D effect was just what it needed.

"A Mother Understands what a child does not say".

Something so simply stated, that makes such a big statement.

I am thrilled to have been put to the challenge, and I have to make one of these for myself for Mothers Day this year too. What about you? Do you have a mom that would love one of these treasures?  :-)

Messanger Bag

If you have been following Aunt Polly over at Aunt Polly's Porch, you might have seen her tutorial for a great messanger bag. Click "HERE" to see it.

I have had a photo that was so special, that I knew I needed just the right project for it, and Aunt Polly came up with the answer. It was delivered to my friend Tyna this week, so now I can share it with you all.

The adorable cutie pa-tutti is her daughter, who is quite the little character. I had the privilege of working her school carnival last night. It's been many years since my boys were that age, and it sure brought back a lot of fun memories. I love seeing the little ones play the games and pick out their little prizes. I helped with the duck pond. Definitely only of the wettest jobs, but it sure was great fun...  and I got to live my childhood dream of eating more cotton candy than anyone should!!   :-)  :-) Ah yes it was a great night!

Polly used an assortment of scraps in  her bag. It's fun to pull together a few bits and pieces and come up with a great project. Little changes can truly make it yours. I made a small change to the inside pocket of the bag, when I choose to make it the width of the bag and stitch down a few lines to separate compartments and  have a couple places for pens to go. Your choices are endless, so head over to Aunt Pollys Porch and check out the tutorial for yourselves! I can hardly wait to see your projects.