tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44161682545190005322012-01-17T13:44:17.037-06:00I Quilt and Craft, Therefore I AmFruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-85231310878054536052012-01-17T13:43:00.000-06:002012-01-17T13:43:26.638-06:00

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-7485691620568288012011-11-06T15:14:00.001-06:002011-11-06T15:14:51.364-06:00

  Tonya's Show at Café Du Luxe!! Go check it out during the month of November.  Café Du Luxe is located at: 3101 Unicorn Lake BlvdDenton, Texas 76210940-382-7070 (p)

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-54949715514231301282011-10-29T13:47:00.001-05:002011-10-29T13:47:16.720-05:00

Artist Joni Nickrent is holding a contest at her website! Check it out!

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-63258450041634023142011-10-26T23:11:00.001-05:002011-10-26T23:11:40.573-05:00

For me a new hobby and obsession. I’ve been primarily using Swap-Bot to swap ATC s and a few postcards with others.   For postcards I’ve been using Postcrossing, The Postcard Crossing Project. My username is FruitJarNicky on both sites.  If you are interested in a one-on-one swap contact me through email.

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-70154599238191525492011-10-25T13:07:00.001-05:002011-10-25T13:07:04.589-05:00

Time has been flying by!  However, my machine quilting has been at a standstill this summer due to mechanical/technical problems with the longarm machine.  As of this week it is finally up and running. In August, our family, minus Nathan (he had band camp) spent some time in Iowa visiting family. This is our 5 generation picture with my Dad and his mother, my Grandma James. This is our 5

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-40648890658028587412011-08-05T23:02:00.001-05:002011-08-05T23:07:49.736-05:00

Other participants can be found here. The next two were my practice pieces.

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-29216830668763705962011-07-31T23:19:00.001-05:002011-07-31T23:20:30.571-05:00

Ugh!  It’s for everyone, but some weeks are better than others.  I had the hardest time with this week’s challenge.  Ever the unsatisfied perfectionist, I’m probably doomed to continue thinking of this challenge and redoing it over and over  in my mind if not on paper.  Can’t wait to see what the challenge is for the upcoming week, so I can clear my mind of this one.  Go see all the entries for

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-719816364526830762011-07-25T14:45:00.001-05:002011-07-25T14:45:43.812-05:00

  Look at what came in the mail today.  It’s a lovely ZIA piece (zentangle inspired art) by Catherine of Long Village Lettering and Alphabee Tangles.  Thank you Catherine!!

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-58984322359614300852011-07-25T13:59:00.001-05:002011-07-25T13:59:24.513-05:00

“I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. No time to say hello, good-bye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late.”  White Rabbit This week’s challenge was to make an environment that fairies would like to visit.  I started several different pieces, but this is the one  I spent the most time on and feel is mostly complete.  Check out The Diva’s website for other entries.

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-64180778944250547612011-07-17T00:54:00.001-05:002011-07-17T00:56:47.391-05:00

The quilting for MY two-color quilt it finished.  It’s off the frame, trimmed and ready for binding, sleeves and a label.  Here’s a sneak peek of one of the borders.  I’ll keep you guessing on what two colors I used. The next quilt is loaded and I’m working on the stitch-in-the-ditch to start.  It’s a Girl Scout quilt and has tons and tons of different patches on it.  This is one prolific Scout!

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-82492071028964051972011-07-15T02:07:00.001-05:002011-07-15T02:07:00.539-05:00

The only reason I’m finished with this particular challenge early is because 2 of my 3 children are at a midnight showing of Harry Potter, Part 2.  Since one of the two is my 11 year old, I will be up and awake until he is home  where he belongs.  It’s 2am and I’m still drawing. This week’s challenge is to draw your first and last initials, overlapping, and use this as the string for your tangles

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-33521387535994638012011-07-11T23:34:00.001-05:002011-07-11T23:34:14.171-05:00

Boy am I excited about our recent batting roundup.  Usually, I’m rather indifferent to having to restock our batting.  It’s boring, expensive and we always get the same thing….100% Cotton and an 80/20 Blend.  It’s not like getting thread which is colorful and fun! We tricked it up a bit this time around.  The large roll is Hobbs Tuscany Collection 100% Cotton.  In front of that is a board of

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-50581063286739472412011-07-11T19:41:00.001-05:002011-07-11T19:41:45.154-05:00

Last week’s challenge was to find a string around the house. Find a weight that has a hole in it. Tie your string to the weight. Set the weight on your paper and let the string slowly drop down onto your paper. I used the lens cover off my camera and a shoe lace I found in the junk drawer. Here is my finished piece.  It’s late, but at least done. I’m still at work on #28 and #27, but I’m moving

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-59275223662289870072011-06-23T21:32:00.001-05:002011-06-23T21:41:08.040-05:00

I’m still at work on the Double Wedding Ring quilt.  As I suspected the last row is going to be a bear.  I left it for tomorrow.  I shall then say a prayer and “quilt it out.” Is there a prayer or a Patron Saint out there for Longarm Quilters?  There should be.  Maybe I should email the Pope…. Here is a picture of the CAD screen.  The red is what has been quilted, so far. Weekly Challenge

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-24764896463544206272011-06-16T08:30:00.001-05:002011-06-16T08:30:46.928-05:00

Oh the things we’ll do for family.  Double Wedding Rings, unless perfectly pieced and then even so, are just a pain to quilt.  For me anyway…I’m sure there are quilters out there that love to do them and relish in their curves.  Ugh! There was some debate about whether or not to just send this back un-quilted with an apology, but in the end we decided to tackle it with gusto.  “If I don’t do it…

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-38668820087882771832011-06-08T22:59:00.001-05:002011-06-08T22:59:24.389-05:00

The two color quilt is not finished, but it’s very close!  Tomorrow for sure….keeping my fingers crossed. I’m still at my tangles and finished two patterns today in between quilting.   W2 will definitely have to be revisited this pattern again soon.  I’d like to get a more woven effect next time.  I tried a tiny bit of shading…a tiny bit. I’ve already started on “Bales,” but I’m still just in

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-37821345469707627712011-06-07T22:27:00.001-05:002011-06-07T22:27:42.642-05:00

My mother and I are collaborating on a two-color quilt for an upcoming guild event.  I’ve got about 32 hours of quilting into it so far.  Hopefully, I’ll have the quilting finished tomorrow, so I can move on to something new.  Care to guess what the two colors used are???   Daily Tangle Patterns I worked on three tangle patterns today.  Three!!  Not bad since I was in the quilting studio for

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-57592797451200229942011-06-06T21:54:00.001-05:002011-06-06T21:54:42.358-05:00

Lately, I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at Zentangles on the internet.  The term or doodling style seems to be overlapping into the quilting world. The above picture is a tangle pattern I attempted to draw today called Zedbra.  Instructions on drawing it can be found here. I have the idea of working on a single tangle a day.  We will see.

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-89304718084253131402011-06-02T14:48:00.000-05:002011-06-02T15:12:07.979-05:00

I don’t even know. There was a fair amount of quilting going on, but for the life of me I can only remember my recent finished piece.  I’m thankful that it is done and went home with it’s owner (Sue D.) yesterday. There’s a boat-load of quilting on this 91.5” X 91.5” quilt.  SID around each applique piece.  The screen shot above is just of the SID.  I need to go back and take a picture of

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-947984510195346492011-03-08T09:47:00.001-06:002011-03-08T09:47:16.169-06:00

And it’s already the 8th of March.  Time is flying by and I’d like it to slow down a bit, but I can’t seem to get off this ride. Another bird joined our family this last week.  This one I got to name and his name is Picasso.  He’s made Scrappy a very, very happy bird. I did finish a quilt this weekend.  It’s off to a retreat having its binding put on. Gotta include a grandbaby picture…..This

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-80629288294464847032011-02-18T20:40:00.001-06:002011-02-18T20:40:51.354-06:00

Lots and lots of Pink!! Sometimes life gets in the way of the quilting.  That “sometimes” has been lately for me.  I look up and it has been almost two weeks of no quilting.  How time flies! I assisted with the labor and delivery of my first grandchild, Kayla.  She was born during Super Bowl XLV at 8:18pm.  She’s lovely and a wonderful addition to our family.   I spent some time today adding to

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-19879367865856600582011-02-04T18:35:00.001-06:002011-02-04T18:35:29.039-06:00

I’ve laughed all afternoon at this clip from Walk on the Wild Side. “I can’t wee with an audience.” Me neither. It’s Day #4 of being housebound, because of ice and snow.  I think we are probably looking at another couple days of this.  Luckily, the 10 year old has a friend down the street and they have taken turns going back and forth between our houses.  Keeps them busy.  The 18 year old is

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-53884267142807708052011-02-02T21:55:00.001-06:002011-02-02T21:55:15.257-06:00

No.  This is day #2 of being housebound in North Texas, because of icy roads.  Schools are already closed for tomorrow, so there will be at least one more day of this. This morning was especially exciting!  The rolling power outages hit our home at about 6am.  Which, in turn, set off all the smoke detectors  in our house.  My husband had to drag in the ladder from the freezing garage into the

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-40270259930404682332011-01-24T19:09:00.001-06:002011-01-24T19:09:33.155-06:00

I’m being hypnotized by the soundtrack of Chocolat while I type this.  Rachel Portman’s instrumentals are beautiful.  Yeah for female composers!! At least the sound of the longarm quilting isn’t drowning out the lovely sound of the music.  Today I’m quilting a quilt for a woman whose husband is in the Army and deployed at this time.  She is planning to mail this quilt to him so he’ll have it

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-21709834672808958062011-01-23T20:22:00.001-06:002011-01-23T20:22:44.236-06:00

The night is young, the skies are clear So if you want to go walking, dear, It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely. I understand the reason why You're sentimental, 'cause so am I, It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely. You can tell at a glance What a swell night this is for romance, You can hear dear Mother Nature Murmuring low, "Let yourself go!" So please be sweet, my

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-25174742519920852422011-01-20T13:22:00.001-06:002011-01-20T13:22:42.336-06:00

No quilting today.  Unfortunately,  I was home sick with a stomach bug.  I’m feeling a lot better.  Hopefully it was just a 24 hour thing. The day was not lost though.  I got all the laundry finished and put away.  No small feat in this house.  Plus, only one tissue made its way into the washing machine.  I check every pocket, every time and it never fails, one sneaks its way in.  More than

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4416168254519000532.post-31261973398147080342011-01-18T14:24:00.000-06:002011-01-19T14:33:34.269-06:00

Blessings Quilt This seems to be the never-ending quilt.  Fruit Jar Jan spent probably 5+ years piecing it and doing the hand embroidery.  Now, it’s in my hands.  In 2010, all the stitch-in-the-ditch was completed, but it had to be pulled off the table so that customer quilts that were waiting could be finished.  There’s lots more quilting to do, but soon it will be off the table again.  For

Fruit Jar Nickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005986621095045593noreply@blogger.com1