2012 Free-Motion Quilting Challenge-May

So I finished my May challenge for the 2012 Free-Motion Quilt Challenge!! Our teacher was Leah Day, who I greatly admire!! She gave us two designs to work on and I put both of them into the border of my sea-horse applique. I still have more quilting to do on this piece, but the border is completely done!!!

The following photos are closeups of the border. I found it difficult at first with the base meandering line with the large size of it. I have gotten so used to doing very small stippling, that doing it in large form posed a bit of a challenge.
After your base line is "drawn",  you go over it with another meandering line, curved and straight. I didn't think that I would like the straight meandering, but it ended up being my favorite. I will use both of these designs in future projects.

In this quilt, the border quilting designs represent the seaweed and the coral found in the ocean.

Thank-you Leah Day for participating in our 2012 Free-Motion Challenge. This was truly a fun and educational challenge!!! I love all your quilting designs and have used several in other quilts!!

Take care everyone, Happy Quilting, and keep those needles sharp!!! Martha

Home from Paradise (Kihei, Maui, Hawaii)

We are home from Maui, and trying to adjust to the cooler temperatures and gray tones here!! Glad to be home but miss the sunshine, the beauty, and the locals. What an amazing place Maui is!! We stayed at Waiohuli Beach Hale in Kihei and loved it. Our unit was a one bedroom condo, next to the beach, with a wonderful swimming pool, view of the ocean and the price could not be beat!!! In the off season, $95.00 a night, wow!! If you are interested in checking out this place, contact Martha Ingalls of Quality Real Estate : martha@beachbreeze.com (808) 283-2231

This is the back side of the condo's,

and the view from our Lanai. Awesome!! As you can see, the grounds are gorgeous!!

The beach at Waiohuli Beach Hale!! There is a bit of seaweed that gathers at our beach, but the cool part of that is the sea turtles love it!! Once the sun sets, the sea turtles show up just 20 feet from the shore and dine on the seaweed!!! They pop there heads out of the water frequently as they munch down all the delicious food!!!!

We rented a Road King Harley Davidson for a day and road around the country side, half way on the Road to Hana, and into the Up Country to the Tedeschi Winery where we bought a yummy bottle of Maui Splash wine for our last night on the island. On the Road to Hana, we stopped at an amazing sight! A grove of Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees. They are so amazing and beautiful. I had never heard nor seen anything like them before. I think I am going to have to design a quilt of this photo!!!

WOW!!

Us on the bike, you can see me in the mirror,hahaha!!!

I also finished reading a book, the second Flavia de Luce Mystery, while laying out by the pool!! I don't get to read much at home, so this was a treat!! Now I am ready to begin reading the third in the series by Alan Bradley called, "A Red Herring Without Mustard". I love these books!! Flavia, an 11 year old sleuth/chemist is hilarious!!

So, I did bring home some treasures from the island:

We swam with the turtles while snorkeling, so I had to have a turtle pattern!!

Love the Aloha Hawaiian shirts!!

Fresh pineapples from Hawaii! This is what we had for breakfast!!!

These plants and many others that are houseplants on the mainland, are outside plants there!!

I've got plans for this fabric!!!

And gifts for my birth mom, Judith, she does fabulous hand applique and these patterns and fabrics remind me of her :^)

And here we are, after 36 years of marriage enjoying our first trip alone, just the two of us!! It was an amazing adventure and we hope to go back many more times.

Until later, keep those needles sharp, Happy Quilting, Aloha and Mahalo friends :^) Martha

Quilting in Paradise!!

I took a traditional Hawaiian needle turn appliqué class today at the Maui Quilt Shop here in Kihei. We had a wonderful teacher named Cheryl!!! And I am now on my way to achieving a skill that I thought would be impossible for me to learn!!! She made it so simple!!
Here are photos of the quilt shop, my kit and my progress in the two hour class!! Aloha!