Welcome to Mountaintop Quilting Studio
This is where you find me exploring a variety of creative adventures mostly about but not limited to quilting. I'm a firm believer that one increases their creativity by being open to and playing with a variety of cretative endeavors ... at least that my excuse for today. Enjoy your sourjourn through my studio playroom. May you find encouragement and inspiration, and on occassion, a little pin-prick that may be thought-provoking or spark your imagination. Thank you for stopping by.
DesigningPOMEGRANATE THE FRUIT OF THE GODS
DESIGN QUESTION: FEATHER SURPRISE BORDER
Recently Cindy sent me some beautiful photos of a quilt she completed using the 1472 FEATHER SURPISE COLLECTION. She had some questions about using the border blocks. So I took some time today for design play using the blocks in question working up options for filling large triangle spaces and ... ...read moreIRISH MIST INSPIRATION
If you were at the Southeast Statler Retreat in Atlanta this year you may recall a request for design help on a quilt called Irish Mist. Many in the audience had suggestions but most were edge-to-edge. The customer wants custom quilting with a Celtic flavor. After much searching through my ... ...read moreSTONEHENGE SKINS
This yummy bundle of fabrics starts with the gorgeous ... ...read moreQUILTS QUILTS AND MORE QUILTS
One of the ideas cooking in the back of my mind is to develop a art journaling project centered around the theme of houses, homes, the comfort of home, castle in the sky ... you know ... It just takes a heap of living to make a house a home. I just ... ...read moreFEATHER SURPRISES ABOUND
So ... ...read moreRIPPLES AND FLOWERS
You need:
FEATHER SURPRISE WHOLECLOTH
Have you seen the new patterns going up in the store over the last few days? I had a few minutes to play with a new wholecloth design in Creative Studio. This mockup features patterns from a new collection coming together called FEATHER SURPRISE. Individual patterns used in this mockup ... ...read moreFULL SNOW MOON DREAMBOARD
One of the things I really enjoy about living in the Berkshires is how many more clear night skies we have than I experienced living in Oregon in the Portland metropolitan area. The reasons for this are … unlike the cloudy rainy Pacific Northwest, we are much drier even though we ... ...read moreNORTHWOODS
Learning is a funny thing just by the nature of how it happens, and as Marva Collins says, "The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another." So what is this deep thinking all about, Kay, and what ever on earth does it have ... ...read moreHEARTS & VINES
Did you go read the article by Matt Gartland I posted yesterday? I was so taken with this sculpture. Usually I am not that excited about sculptures but this one really spoke to me ... the beauty and the passion ... the emotions it evokes. Chalk it up to the spirit of ... ...read moreHAPPY VALENTINES DAY 2011
Some new heart designs are going up in the store over the next week ... blocks, edge-to-edge patterns ... some fun fresh new stuff you want to add to your pattern library. And some food for thought on the ... ...read moreOFF TO WORK
Sleet, Freezing Rain, Hail or Snow Does not matter Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to work I go In hand ... my yummy cappuccino I love my hand-held aerolatte for making my in-house special coffee drinks. Amazon keeps me supplied with my flavored syrups ... hazelnut being my flavor of ... ...read morePROJECT PEEKS
Not much time for blogging this week as you can see. Sandwiched in between snow storms and shoveling duties, I was pretty focused on the projects in the studio. I started the week with babysitting joy in Boston, but when I came back to the Berkshires I was ready to ... ...read moreJOURNAL QUILT PROMPT: DANCE JOURNAL QUILT GROUP MARCH 2009: Our prompt was the word "dance" and our challenge was to use printing on fabric in some way in the block or challenge fabric. And thus began my journey exploring and experimenting with techniques. I knew what I wanted to do; I knew what I ... ...read moreLOG CABIN PLAYMore ideas using 1402 Hearts a Flutter Block 2 and practice with the DIVIDE PATTERN feature in Creative Studio.
This block derivation was created by dividing the pattern as described HERE and then rotating half of the block 180 degrees. After adding a connecting p2p line and setting up the ... ...read moreCREATIVITY
There is a fine line in maintaining a balance in life whether we're talking personal, emotional, or career and our creative endeavors. Many times I find that I can get so caught up in the finished product I can easily loose sight of the process. How easy it is ... ...read moreBY SPECIAL REQUESTThree new edge-to-edge patterns due to customer request and what fun patterns they are.
When Becky and I were visiting at the recent retreat at Simpsonwood in Georgia, she mentioned a quilt she is making for her son. She has been looking for a very specific edge-to-edge pattern ... he drives ... ...read moreDESIGN CHALLENGE: MARCH
It's DESIGN CHALLENGE TIME ... are you a designing diva? Time to dust off the mouse, open up Creative Studio and start playing. I've designed a new block that is easily divided so you can create and re-create until your "hearts-a-fluttering." The challenge unit ... 1402 HEARTS A FLUTTER BLOCK ... ...read moreAND THEN ...
Just a quick glimpse into my art/journal quilt planning journal. This is a copy of the page with notes and ideas ... first impressions ... how would I transform this concept into an art quilt. I find it really helps me to come closer to making the project REAL ... making it ... ...read moreONE STEP FURTHER
Taking it one step further ... I've made a commitment to fit in a weekly photo-walk when planning my calendar. I find much inspiration when I take the time to slow down and be more observant of the little things normally missed in the rush of the day. Built in ... ...read moreART QUILT IDEA?
MQS112 DIAMONDS ON THE DOUBLE BONUS FREEBIES
PLAY DAY
Happiness is Freedom; Freedom is Courage. Our technique challenge: we're to visit our art supply cupboards and find materials that would work for ... ...read moreCONCATINATING GOLF
HOUSTON 08 - BOOTH 2217
What have I forgotten? Today I take care of the personal stuff ... haircut, packing my clothes, etc. I ... ...read moreINNOVATIONS
The best part about any quilting conference or convention is the getting together with old friends you haven't seen since ... well, since the last quilt show! Innovations 2008 lived up to all I hoped for as I got see old friends and make new ones. Even with a heavy ... ...read moreSTITCHOUT SAMPLERPATTERNS & PLOTS OF ROCKSToday was a BABY QUILTS & FRENCH BRAIDToday was a day of cutting, piecing, and computers. First, the cutting ... my red and white sample of TWISTING RIBBONS is hanging in my trunk show at Fabric Depot and this means I need to have another sample on hand for booth hangings in the area and regional retail shows ... ...read moreTHEY'RE HERE! I'll bet you all thought I went to the retreat and just ran away ... never to come back. Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea, but if I was going to run away, it would be back to those two sweet little grand babies!Yes, they are here ... FUN STUFF TO CHECK OUT
What a fun-filled great day ... work sandwiched in with play is a good balance. We had two students play their trombone sol
os today for league competition and they did so well. They have 5 more weeks to polish everything up before district where they compete to qualify for state ...
...read more
WINTER ART
Texture ... Color ... Line ... Shape ... Value ... Form ... Space
Emphasis ... Movement ... Unity/Harmony ... Balance ... Rhythm ... Contrast
![]() The art form is negligible; the elements and principles are the same whether your create with music, dance, paint, crayons, pencils, your camera, words ... or ... fabric.
Every year during the end of January and through the ...DRAGONFLY BLOSSOMS & GOSSAMER WINGSA sneak preview of a pattern to be published later this spring in the AQS journal American Quilter with closeups of the quilting designs from the Gossamer Collection. First you see the border design Gossamer Wings and after that Gossamer Block filling in the pieced Blossom block.
I resized Gossamer ... ...read more |