Catching up Part 1

What's Creating Today - Catching up since my last post - Part 1

Wow, so my resolution of posting on my blog is not going as planned as I have barely found the time to get into the studio let alone find the time to blog about things. 

Obviously life at The Loft has been anything but idle, so I thought I would share some of things we have been up to.

The Loft was in full Tampa Bay Lightning fan mode as our beloved Bolts once again made it into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Besides our normal half season tickets, Hubby even got the full playoff package, so late season and post season hockey was at the forefront of all of our activities from March through May.   During this time though, Cassidy and I took advantage of a behind the scenes tour of Amalie Arena before a game in early March, so here are some pictures.  The free tour was really great and very informative.  I never know so much went into ice maintenance.

This is Bob, who is in charge of making sure the ice is in top form for each game, and is one of the drivers of the Zamboni.

 

 

 

The Press Box

 

The hockey playoffs definitely kept us busy as we had tickets for all the home games.  Here is a picture from Game 1 of the first series against the Islanders.

 

 

 

Even for Mother's Day, the Lightning made for more lasting memories.  My husband unfortunately had to be out of town that weekend but he arranged for a wonderful surprise for me.

 

ThunderBug our team mascot, paid me a visit at work and brought me flowers.  This was one of those wonderful surprises that people always see on the internet but almost never happens to them. 

 

 

I did manage to get some studio time in however, and finished these two Toni Whitney wall hangings.

 

 

 

I even managed to get my first tattoo on the 4th of July weekend.  Lord of the Rings fans may recognize the font.  I'm a big fan so I had my name inked on my back in Elvish!

 

 

 

I also reached a milestone with my bicycling.  I logged my first

1000 miles,

since I started seriously riding in October of 2014.  I know to some this might not seem like a lot, but for me it was a huge personal accomplishment.

 

On my next post I'll catch you up on the rest of what we have been doing since my last post.  I am also working on some new posts about a few other projects I have been working on so please come back soon.  As always comments are most welcome so feel free to drop me a note and let me know what is on your mind.

 

Thanks for reading and we'll see you soon.





 

 

What's Creating Today OSQE 2016

One thing as a quilter that I always look forward to every year is the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo in Lakeland, FL.  When I first started quilting the expo was a place to go to see a wonderful and magical gallery of quilts on display that both amazed and inspired me.  It undoubtedly was also a good time to shop for hard to find items or new gadgets and products that were just coming on the market.  As the years went on it the OSQE experience changed for me and became more about going to classes.  Taking one class here and there transitioned to an entire weekend retreat for me and a desire for learning new things.  Here is where I take time for just myself, and focus on a craft that I have come to love with a fierce passion.  I have a real thirst for educating myself, broadening my horizons and opening my eyes to new techniques and different ways of doing things. 

I have found at times however that classes can be hit or miss.  I have been fortunate in that most of the classes I have taken were very educational and teachers were both knowledgeable and wonderful at conveying that knowledge.  But there have also been a few that were less than the value at which I paid for them, and more that a little disappointing.

The quilt gallery however has always been the place for me to be inspired an motivated.  It never fails to impress me, to open my eyes, to make me look at things from new perspectives, and to deepen the passion for quilting in me even more.

With that being said I thought I would share with you photos of some of my favorite quilts from the gallery.

These were but a small sample of all of the amazing quilts that I saw.  So which ones were your favorites?  Feel free to leave me comments or drop me an e-mail I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Quilting!

What's new at The Loft - Episode 115

In my last post I hinted that I would have an announcement soon and after many months of discussing, planning and stressing I'm happy to announce that...

MY ETSY STORE IS FINALLY OPEN!!!

The shop right now only has one listing but we will be adding more in the near future, so stop by and let me know what you think.



Mini Art Quilts

I recently took a thread art mini quilt class with my good friend and quilting mentor Teri Morrow.  She is amazingly talented and creative, and a wonderfully patient teacher.  In her class we learned how to make these fun little scrappy mini art quilts with layered backgrounds, applique and LOTS of free motion stitching to not only secure the layers but to accentuate the applique with an almost hand drawn look using thread.  Teri had given us a choice from two of her original designs to work on in class.  I chose the below design to learn the technique.   

I loved this project so much that I couldn't wait to do the other one of Teri's designs (below).

I was so inspired that I wanted to see if I could duplicate a picture, so I found this cute picture online and went to work.

And here is how she turned out

This project was a challenge but I am really happy with the way it turned out.



Well that's all I have for today.  Comments are always welcome so feel free to drop me a note and let me know what you think.  Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.