Wandering Feet

It's been a while and not because I have been traveling.  Been reading and working a lot.  I even spayed some more cats.  Today I have finally started to really work on what I call Molly's Quilt.  No real name for it yet but I probably will once it is done.

As you can see the sky is done.  I am hoping to work on the main tree section and have that done by tonight.

In other news I will be traveling to PA where I will be for a few weeks.  I will be doing an internship of a sort.  There is an equine vet some friends of mine were able to connect me with who is willing to have me ride along and is also willing to talk to another vet who does cows to see if I can split my time between them.  She left the time I will be going up to me so I just have to get back to her about then and I will be set.  Well back to my quilting break and them hopefully more art quilting!

The Fourth is with Me

Today is Star Wars Day so I thought I would post a picture I found.  The fourth or rather God is with me because I had an unexpected job interview this week.  At the end of February/ beginning of March I submitted my resume and cover letter to an emergency veterinary clinic that was reopening in Meredith under new ownership.  However, they did not have any positions left at that time.  I had dropped them from my mind after that, thinking I would probably be stuck at the store until veterinary school.  This Monday I received an e-mail from the manager asking for a phone interview.  The manager wasn't asking to have the interview down the road but that week.  I had the interview Tuesday and I am now waiting to see if I will be working at an emergency clinic until vet school.  God is very good!

I have finally finished my design and can get on to the actual fabric part.  I don't really need a physical design.  I could have jumped right to the fabric but I always feel better with a design in front of me.  This picture is a combination of the two photos I was given.  It is not the actual design that I drew out but can give you some idea of where I am going with this quilt.  There are some things that are going to change from this image but you can wait until I post pictures of the quilt as it progresses to figure out what those changes will be (That means you get to play spot the differences).  Until then may God bless you and may the fourth be with you!

A Rags and Strings Raffle

Recently I 'raffled' off a quilt on my facebook page.  This is what I had posted:

RAFFLING OFF A QUILT. DEADLINE TO ENTER: MIDNIGHT, APRIL 8TH. TO ENTER COMMENT ON THIS POST. In order to start a new quilt project i am raffling off my next quilt. I don't know what I am going to create but it will be a wonderful quilt. Just look at my picture album Kara's Quilts to see some of the quilts I have created over the years.  I will randomly pick the winner from the comments.  The winner will be notified and asked to provide a selection of pictures so I can create a unique wall quilt.  The quilt, once finished, will be delivered to the winner.

The winner was randomly selected using an online random number generator.  I then sent that person some questions and asked for a few photos they had taken preferably scenery.  The two photos below were the ones I received.  Both are gorgeous.

I am not quite sure what I am going to create yet but there are many ideas floating around in my mind.  I have decided the size will be 11" x 14".  Normally I would pick one of the images and recreate it as a quilt.  This time I may take elements of both and put them together.  I hope to have the design finished by the time I head back to Houghton for senior week.  Until then its lots to do and so little time.

The Art of Giving

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the family.  Then I decided that since I was home and didn't have that much I needed to do I would start working on some Christmas projects.  I ended up creating 8 Christmas ornaments that I will take back to school with me and give out to 8 lucky individuals.

First four of the 8.  The top right is like my four seasons quilt except in just winter.

For the backs I ended up using a fabric that had snowflakes and made sure each one had a large snowflake. I then put my name and the year on each back.  Sometimes I had to get creative about where I put it so it could be seen.

Last four of the 8.

Back of the last four.

These all came out very well.  For all those who are wondering about how long these took me I think I spent 18 or so hours working on all 8 of these.  In all it doesn't take me that long to make one.  The length of time varies depending on how detailed I want to be and how involved the design I have in mind is.

These ornaments will be given out during one of my regular 'drops.'  Throughout the semester I have given some of the girls I know, who live in the dorms cookies with encouraging notes.  It all started last semester with a couple girls who lived on my floor.  They were in East Meets West, which is the honors program I did, and had papers to write on the weekends.  Knowing what they were going through I anonymously made goodies and left them outside their doors with notes.  Eventually they found out it was me and I have been doing it ever since.  Fridays have become cookie days and I have expanded the number of people I give cookies and notes to.  At the end of December though, I will be graduating so I won't be around to give them goodies anymore.  For the last 'drop' of the year I have cooked up something special and hope they all will like it.  I have enjoyed giving to these girls and encouraging them throughout the semesters.

My next project will be caramel corn.  However, there isn't much room in the car that is going back to school so I will just end up making it there.  I have a lot to make this year.  I have a request to provide some for "The Biggest Bestest Christmas Party Ever" that is taking place at my house hosted by two of my housemates.  Every year they have one and it just keeps getting bigger.  I then have lots of other people I want to make caramel corn for.  When I am done making it at school I get to go home and make even more.  Although I get tired of making it, I enjoy seeing the people I give it to enjoy it and that is what makes it worth going to so much effort to make it.

Just three weeks of classes and finals left before I am done with my undergrad years.

Who's That Doctor?

Before I came back to school I had mentioned I might get to spay a cat.  Well I actually did.  This cat was a stray that the hospital had.  A doctor was in the room with me the whole time but was just observing and explaining while I did the surgery.  Although I was nervous it ended up being a lot of fun.  Other than explaining the doctor also took pictures while the surgery was going.  I think she was just as excited as I was to have me be in surgery.

The surgery went well and the patient did fine.  She was adopted three weeks ago and is named Nellie.  After the surgery I was told that if I want to I can have more cats lined up for me when I get home from school.  Sounds like I am going to have a fun semester off in the spring.

We are now almost halfway through my last semester and it is going fast.  A couple of weeks ago I went to a conference in Pennsylvania about propionic acidemia.  During Mayterm I had done a research project among the Amish focusing on this disease so it was interesting to go to this.  I am also doing an independent study that is following up the Mayterm by doing a literature review.  This weekend is homecoming and Saturday night will end with me being in SPOT.  It is going to be really fun.  TTFN.

...Go, Going, (Almost) Gone

Here is the progress I have made since the last post.  My mom has allowed me to use the fusible webbing that she has so I have made significant progress.  Anytime I have stopped I have taken a picture of the quilt.  I had originally thought I might give this away as a gift but I have since grown too attached to it.  Not only did I have the idea for several years before I actually started to make it but I have spent a lot of time on creating this quilt.  I think it will look very good as a bedroom quilt.  Just means I need to make a smaller traditional gift sized quilted picture for a gift.

This is after I had finished the sky.  I really liked the way it turned out.  I was trying to think how I could do it like the Ecuador Sunrise but then I found I could offset each color and it turned out much better.

After the sky I added the mountains.  What is the interesting thing about this quilt is it is one mountain range spanning across the four seasons.

The lake was then added next.  The lake consists of several layers of wavy water color fabrics.

Hills were then added between the mountains and the lake.  It is just two hills but like the mountain range the hills span through the four seasons currently making then seem like more than two hills.  Also added were evergreen trees between the mountains and the hills.

A reflection was added in the lake along with the near side bank of the lake.

After I had fused all the pieces on I then added 1/2" strips of brown to create the window.  However, I found that the mid line would cut through the trees so I moved the mid line up and cut a small strip from the bottom so that the top and the bottom would be equal in length.

This is how it looks without the strip hanging out near the bottom.  I also added a shear white piece over the winter portion of the lake to act as ice.  My brother is the one who asked if I was going to have the lake iced over for the winter.  At first I thought no but then decided it looked good with it.

I have now gotten the window frame added to the quilt and am ready to quilt parts of the inside.  After that I will put a backing on it and it will be ready to be a wall quilt.  I may or may not add some trees or something to the different seasons but it depends on how much time I have left to spend on it.  It might just be done as it is.

I will visit Tuft's on Tuesday, have my last day of work on Friday, and then leave Saturday to go back to Houghton.  I may or may not get to spay a cat before I leave.  I was supposed to last Thursday but the cat had escaped the trap.  It seems like Dr. Tighe really wants me to spay a cat before I leave.  If I don't then I can probably look forward to doing one when I am done with my undergrad years in December.

3, 2, 1...

Progress!  I have finally cut a piece of white muslin to the size I want it with a 1/4" seam allowance.  On it I drew approximately what will be on it so I have some idea of how far certain fabrics need to go.  Seen around it are the various pieces of fabric I have bought from the sale room of Keepsake Quilters on my way home from the orthodontist in North Conway.  Missing are some of the whites I got as well as the many fabrics I have access to from my school collection and my mom's collection.  Hopefully I have enough fusible webbing to start putting it together tonight but if not I will just have to wait.  I just have to have it done by August 31st before I head back to school on September 1st.  This will be my last semester of undergrad.  I also plan to submit my applications before heading back as well.  Back to the grind I go.