90 Flames

The right panel of the banner is now appliqued. I used one of my machine's shading stitches, in various widths, from 4mm.-7mm. to applique the 5 sizes of flames on the panel. I free-motion stitched them using my regular opened-toed foot because I felt I had better control with it, instead of using my darning foot.












35 more to be stitched -
Since the 125 flames in total will represent 125 years of the congregation, they are also the people. Interpretations of music, outreach, family, caring, and our congregation's passion for taking in Jesus' true spirituality will be added to the flames.

Quilted Center Panel

I just finished quilting the center panel of the banner. Using the two forward, one back stitch on my machine, I was able to get the top-stitch effect that I wanted. I worked on about a 10 inch area at a time, changing thread color quite often. I was having a few problems with my bobbin thread showing too much, so I changed that thread each time too. Since I use this stitch quite often in my quilting, it really wasn't that tedious.

What also helped immensely was that I finally got a walking foot for my machine, so now you could say that I have a Kenmore~Janome machine. The dealer knew exactly what foot I needed.

What's next? I'll be warming up to free-motion quilt on the flames. I'll keep you posted...

She Sure Gets Around

The "Green Goddess Dressing" quilt does it again! Her latest photo is in the current issue of Common Thread,
Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores company newsletter.

They wrote something very nice about me and the quilt...thanks to Sally, Becky and Kayla from Store 610 for setting this up ~

Progress on Banner

After removing over 10 flames from the banner, I felt I needed to break it up a little. I started working on this center panel by fusing small strips of the same hand dyes that I used for the flames. The Luther Seal is about 2/3rds of the way down the panel and in the photos here, you can see the silk organza with some images from the church printed on: the "1882" is taken from the cornerstone. All is going well...when can I start quilting?

To view previous posts on the banner, check out May 24-June 5...

The Latest Pincushions

on my gallery blog: Julaine's Gallery of Artful Adventures

Sacred Spiral Dancers

We have a liturgical dance troupe at Emmanuel who through their movement and music bring so much to worship. Our son joined the group and danced with them for the first time on Sunday. He fit right in with all the ladies and Tim, our music director.

I told him yesterday after rehearsal that I saw something in his eyes that was magical. The youth director was amazed because he's one of the party guys in the youth group, and is often seen being goofy...

He's still a teenager (you know what I'm talking about), but there are times...well, Jeff and I cried.

Side note: not too much complaining ("Mom, I'll look like a bridesmaid") when he saw the sashes that I made for him and Tim. I had to match the ladies' orchid skirts.

Visiting an Old Friend

This is the "Estrogen Patch" quilt that I made 5 years ago when I was still a newbie. At the bottom are actual estrogen patches sewn on and along the top third of the piece are words related to HRT at the time: 'breasts beware' - hot flash finis - beautiful bones - mellow moods - ??? - healthy heart? - sublime sleep.
Pokey, do you remember this one?


The quilt is in Lois' (nurse practitioner) at my gyne's office. When I showed it to her back then, she arranged to have me meet the drug rep from the company who made the patches (my brand). The drug rep fell in love with it, had her company purchase it, and then they donated it back to my Dr.'s office. It still hangs in Lois' office.

I didn't just go to visit my quilt. I had an appointment with the doctor. This past Monday, I had a mammogram and an ultrasound because of some "nip fluid." We have a breast health center here in Rockford that tells you what's up before you leave. Nice.
The doctor took some swabs and put me on an antibiotic because he thinks it's just an infection. If not cleared up in 7 days, I'll have to see a surgeon. I think he's being over-cautious, but how do you tell your physician that?


June 13th update: I found out yesterday that I have a staph infection (ok-I can deal with that)in my breast, but no cancer cells (I am so happy...). The antibiotic that I was on is resistant to staph, so I'm now on another med that will take care of it...



Another solo exhibit coming up for me: Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Rockford
dates: Sunday, August 17th through Sunday, August 24th with a reception on Wednesday, August 20th (time tba). I do have many small works ready for this and I'll be doing a few more in between times of banner creating.

Of Wood and Stone

A few months ago, I found a postcard of Emmanuel from the late 40's - on it was a description "the church beautiful" ~

Here are some of the photos I took today "of wood and stone" ~ the first three are from the sanctuary, and the last one is of a stone carving on a fireplace.

All inspiration for the banner...

Painted Luther Seal

I was a little unsure of how to add the colors to the Luther Seal that will be on the banner...

Remembering that if it didn't turn out right, I could go to plan B...

Here's how I did it:
~ copied the image from the internet
~ enlarged it
~ printed it out in black and white on cotton lawn with freezer paper ironed on it
~ pinned it to a piece of canvas-like fabric
~ painted with Jacquard Textile paints, and Lumiere on the outer circle
~ the color between the rose and the gold circle is teal (can't tell from the photo)
~ Pigma Micron pen for accents
~ it felt a little like "paint by number"

I'm very pleased with the outcome!