Blue Nickel Studios

245: I just don’t know when to stop….

admin August 29th, 2010

yes, I signed up for ANOTHER project, but this one isn’t a swap so I won’t be in as much trouble if I don’t get it done on time. I joined up with this grouping over with my friends at the Fat Quarterly....You can sign up too for a fun project and “group” across the miles fabric therapy session.

I don’t have time for this as I am wrapping up my Doll Quilt Swap 9 Project (TODAY I hope!) and started the Hoop Upswap (but I have til November!) as well as a couple other projects you will be hearing about too…probably fairly soon I think. I just finished up another LONG run of days in a row at my DayJob, so not much has happened in the studio…..which is why you will have to put up with these leftover pictures from our vacation where Linda did this....and actually none of are the beach….cause I just couldn’t subject our good camera to that environment…so they are mostly of the wildflowers I picked on our walk BEFORE Linda broke her leg…...

Here is a shot with the wonderful Castle Peeps Bag that I just barely scored at Quilt Market this last spring. I love this bag and the line….I have just played with it a little, but I am working on a few things where it is popping up more….

And then here are some more shots of the flowers on the front porch. You can tell it has been a cool summer. Normally at our friend’s beach house in July these wouldn’t have looked so lush. I love the cottagey feel of them….

So that actually is all the good pics of our Summer vacation…didn’t get any really good ones of the kids..they are such sourpusses when it comes to pictures. One of these days, I will get some better ones of them and let you see them again. I really do have 3 amazing kids, even though I have very little prood (other than an empty wallet and full calendar, that is)....

Off to the studio….I REALLY have to start cleaning up there before Linda gets back up there when she is out of her cast!!

242:More Winners….

admin August 11th, 2010

For the winner of the Jelly Roll from the Quilt-a-long post we have

Janet who wrote…..

I am really enjoying the quilt-along. I am using a Blush jelly roll and having fun with this line of fabrics. I love brights and enjoy all the wonderful blogs that are on line.

And on the Name Game…it was not an easy task for me or my panel of guest judges…In fact, the race was so close for this sweetie,

that I am giving her a middle name and a little scrap bag to the giver of that name as well. Her first name will be Wren, and I had two entries for that name, but Mr. Random came to help and picked my friend John as the winner. And Wren’s middle name will be Olive given by Nancy.

and Girl #2

will now be named Suki by a near unanimous final vote…This name comes courtesy of Kaye Prince....who by the way also won something from me not too long ago…In fact, I met both Kaye and John at Quilt Market, and feel rather guilty of some sort of rigging the contest because Judge Jennifer is a Fly Girl with Kaye, even though no one really knew who submitted what name, and I didn’t even remember that info.

The stories that you sent in surrounding these two girls were WONDERFUL….I think I am going to give all your stories to my daughter and have her create a mashup of our favorite parts. These Blue Nickel Assistants are some amazing individuals….

So winners please send me your snail mail addy’s (and yes, John and Kaye, you two…because I probably lost both of your addresses since the last time I sent you something…I am bad that way, I need but can’t afford a real intern!!)

...and just so you have a little new inspiration and a tiny bit of color…here are the flowers that were planted on the front porch of the beach house we stayed at two weeks ago…

I loved this little spot of color on the porch. Flowers are always a nice touch anywhere….Beauty’s where you find it…

and now work mixed with beauty is waiting for me to found in my studio….and you in yours as well..

I just want to thank all of you who stop by and visit me here on the blog….I love hearing what you have to say and all the great stories you share! Keep your chin up, and have a great week….

Later Gators, Scott

238: Briefly … Doll Quilt Swap 9 Status and more flowers…

admin July 28th, 2010

busy week around here….above is a picture of my creation for the Doll Quilt Swap 9 ...this picture was taken last week…and it is already further than this…and looking different already…

We were just at the beach the last few days, and I have a few pictures from that trip…but I don’t like to take the camera out in the sand and the salt water areas all that much so not a lot of pics were snapped.

Thought I would share these shots from our gardens a few months back as they are piling up on my laptop’s desktop…

this gem is in our mowed grass and friends that pose as lawn….love that this little thing flourishes in the total neglect it receives.

This glorious plant is called Solomon’s Seal and Linda picked the original up 15 years ago or more at a local plant sale…we love the mystery of this plant…big leaves that pretty much hide these bells that dance along the stem….

The dogwood was wonderful this year…not always do we get such prolific flowers on it…

This flower is another old favorite of ours….so detailed, yet so tiny!!

and a few more….

Have some great posts still to come….tomorrow a contest of sorts for two nice big prize packs….a bunch of assorted fat quarters and layer cake squares….Guest Panel of Judges and everything…

Have a Marvelicious day my friends!!

How’s your week coming along this week??

237: Summer randomness…..

admin July 18th, 2010

So it’s July….must mean it’s time for Christmas in July planning, huh? Well a couple months ago, I received in the mail this magazine from Vienna….I wondered, hmmm…why am I getting this, I didn’t subscribe, and I don’t read German (it is German spoken in Austria, isn’t it? or is it actually Austrian?? the last 100 years over there things have become so jumbled, and I just don’t know…I am sure they are close though) I had no idea this quilt made it in their magazine…but was delighted to see it there…although I have no real way of proofing their interpretation of my directions….or what they said about me. (hoping it was marvelicious!)

But it is pretty funny more me to think that I have gone “international” so to speak I had that one quilt way back when in a display in France, and now this one in Austria….I feel so continental!

You can get your own directions for this quilt on my download page and click on the picture of the quilt….

Oh, dang, that reminds me I have three more online quilt patterns for you to download….I have still got to get those up for you…hang in there, I will get to it eventually…

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Here is one of my new prop girls getting made up…she’s still missing an eyelash in this picture…..they are actually all done now just waiting for their photo shoot….and the upcoming contest!!

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And here is just a little bit of summer for you, Enjoy!!

235: Come, let’s walk in the garden…

admin July 14th, 2010

Welcome to the gardens at Shiloah Cottage….home of Blue Nickel Studios and Miss Mabel Studio, and a rag-tag fleet of teenagers, chickens, cats…...and a duck….

Here is your self-guided tour:

Also note how relatively weed free the gardens are here due to some meticulous editing weeding by the photoshop gardening staff…...yeah right….

Well, that’s your tour for now…all of these pictures were taken back in May before Quilt Market, and yes, it has taken two months to get them posted here….there are actually a bunch more to post, so come check out the next installment of the Blue Nickel Garden weedfree tour…..

hey two months isn’t too bad…I still have pictures of our 20th anniversary trip that I really want to share with you….and that was LAST October….

Peace out, Peeps!

234: Happy July 11th

admin July 11th, 2010

Happy 11th of July….exactly one week after the fourth…today is my sister’s birthday, but she barely goes online ever, so I won’t say Happy Birthday here…I called her, but she was out, likely celebrating or what not….

Anyway, I thought I would just share these few pictures of our bouquet for the day.

It was kind of a weird fourth of July for both of us. I had to work about 4-5 hours at my DayJob and Linda had to work her 2 hours at her NightJob so we saw each other in the middle of the day, and she got home in time to watch the neighbors blow up thousands of their dollars in the air….we burned up about $51 worth of fireworks. It was windy and rainy at times…so I wasn’t too worried about fires and such…and glad to be able to celebrate all the freedoms we have in this country!!

The week that followed the fourth was a lot of work for me at my DayJob, as my assistant was on vacation, and we had some of that high heat that the East Coast has been dealing with for sometime now. In a word, I am exhausted from that week. Today was my first full day off in the past 11 days, and I slept in really late as well as a long nap this afternoon…I think I may be coming back to life soon…

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Okay, totally off the subject….......

My friend Melissa has just done 30 days of Bikram Yoga and deserves your applause if you want to drop in and see her over here. Yoga is something that I have been considering looking into for the health benefits….and that I could use the stillness and meditative time to just get closer to God. I have been reading Melissa’s Tweets about yoga, and it has been in the forefront of my mind…I wonder if I could just do it on my own in the morning with a DVD or something….any recommendations? I don’t really have the extra $$ for a class, but I think I could pickup a DVD to try it with….

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And here I veer topics again… want to meet my new assistants in the studio? Okay, they aren’t really assistants, but they did cost a bit of money, and they will be showing up here in the blog from time to time…..AND they will be the topic of an upcoming contest here at the Blue Nickel ….complete with a panel of guest judges….I am so excited for this contest because the following fine ladies have agreed to be on the panel…Mary Abreu, Jennifer Davis, and Patty Young.....

okay, so do you want to meet these “assistants” ??

Here they are in their un-made up state fresh out of the box….please welcome the Blue Nickel Studio Prop Girls….

Stay tuned for their new looks when they get Linda’s wonderful doll-makeovers, the whole rest of their story, and the scoop on the contest…..

So besides feeling wiped out for a week, I am working on a wall quilt for a magazine with Laura Gunn’s Poppies line and a doll quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap No. 9 ....and other stuff….like pretending to clean up the studio again…

Like that will happen, huh?

Anyway, I hope your summer is going great, and that you are staying creative….it’s at the core of every human being you know….Scientists may not be able to find it, but there is creativity in everyone….are you enjoying yours??

Peace out, my friends,

Scott

233: Swap meet….

admin July 1st, 2010

So I have been doing the Doll Quilt Swap for about 5 rounds now….this could be my last as the rules have strictly said if you are late on this one…You’re out on the next one….

and yes, I think they made that rule because of me…..I don’t think I was on time sending on any of them…I did great quilts, and my swap buddies TOLD me they loved them…but I was a bad swapper in regards to timeliness….I have til the first of September to get this baby done….I think I can do it…

The above picture are some fabric who have come to interview for the position in the quilt….the books are for inspiration….I get inspired by these two books a LOT….

Here is my sketch and some more fabrics…. The butterfly fabric is from Australia….and I do love it…my swap buddy loves purple and autumn and modern quilts….so I think somewhere in this we will find a good one, yes??
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I also just sent out a bunch of these for the Siggy Swap set up by the fabulous Julie Herman!!

Here are mine in the process.

Here they are waiting for their white middles…. I had to go specially buy it…I don’t just have plain white hanging around here..

and here with their mid-drifts…

I did this swap just cause I thought it would be fun to have all these signatures from all these folks across the globe, in really modern fabrics, and just to have a simple quilt that is just for me to throw over when it gets chilly…..kinda like its been here in the NW this summer….seriously….my neighbor has a fire going tonight…on the first of July!!

so that’s it for today….
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then the upcoming news….

I have some quilts coming out in magazines again…about 4 this late summer and fall I think…as they get published I will let you know… I also have some more free patterns to post here, I just have to get my butt in gear and do it..I’ll let you know….

and this fall?? I hope to be getting some patterns available for sale at your local quilt shop or on some online shops….ok, it may be next spring…we’ll just see how that goes, okay? One day at a time, right??

And if you ever want to have me come share my quilts and stories at your local guild, just let me know…I love to talk about this stuff ….just ask my wife and kids!! I am a pretty cheap deal for the moment….until I hit it big-time...

And yes….. I did just put that last link in there…. I love the 80’s…...you’re welcome….

232: More winners announced….

admin June 26th, 2010

I finally got all the past recent winner’s packages put together to be mailed….one step closer in actually getting TO the winners….some went out last week, and the ones I just bundled up should go out this coming week….

Soooo…..I think it is time to pick three more winners from this post....

And the three winners are (from a random drawing).....

Evelyn from Use The Loot

Nanann from Nanann’s Woogies & Whatnots

and Believe it or not….Cherie from the Quilted Jonquil .....for whom I just packaged up a package for in the last round of giveaways, and it hasn’t left yet ...... has won a second time!! ....so I don’t need your address again Cherie, you lucky jonquil, you!! Everyone rush over to Cherie’s place to pick up that winning mojo, ok?

But Evelyn and Nanann, you need to send me your snail mail address so I can send your Anna Mariaprize packs to you. Send them to bluenickel5(at)earthlink(dot)net.

Hope you enjoyed the random garden shots juxtaposed with all the “info” stuff….

And here is a day or two ago showing the results of a fun day in the studio….it is cleaned up a bit not at all from then….it was sure a fun day in there!

231: Random Rainbows….

admin June 23rd, 2010

Okay to start with….yes I am very “kinetic”.....that is my PC term for my sporatic flow of information, blather, and prizewinning packs (which is to say they are still waiting by my desk to be mailed in the mail…) And no, I haven’t drawn for the Anna Maria packs yet….but probably will later today which mean that post should be following…

But this post does relate to the Delightful Mrs. Horner in some way. I just wanted to quickly share these blocks that I made for Anna’s Rainbow Around the Block project. (and any of you who keep a blog know that “quickly” share is a joke figure of speech…taking pictures, downloading pictures, readusting and cropping pictures never goes quickly enough, but posts without pix=boring in my book)

I had a great time playing with fabric on these blocks with absolutely no concern for accuracy or anything….just fun…and going to a great cause too…

I dunno about you, but I just don’t give enough back to the world I think…..

And it is such a beautiful world to not give back too….

Someone had to do it….

maybe you can make some blocks too…

Just follow the link for more info…

And have a great day playing for a great cause….

230: Winners’ Circle…

admin June 17th, 2010

Alrighty then, sorry it has taken me so long to get back here…my DayJob has been keeping me pretty wiped by the time I get home, plus I have a bunch of studio stuff I am trying to work on…all at the same time…

Note: If these project were dishes I was juggling….we’d be eating on paper plates…..

Anyway….I could NOT just pick one entry for the bird stories I requested here ......and even with 4 prizes-winners that I eventually picked….there were still other wonderful little anecdotes and tales…and I truly loved reading them all…aren’t memories and stories fun??

So without further ado…...

here are the winners:

For the Main Prize…..Kelly Oletzke who talked about her Father-in-law with such love, I have re-read it a couple times, and it just warms my heart so very much….thank you for the loving picture of a great man and his love for birds.

Three runner up prizes are going to the following ladies whose entries also caught my eye…...

Ginawho also made me very sad with her story of when she was little coming to terms with the inescapability of death when she watched a bird die from being hit by her dad’s car…..I can just picture the sobbing and I really felt bad for you Gina!!

Denise who made me totally laugh out loud when she told of a “two-liner” she had heard about a mom’s love/hate relationship with birds….complete with a Ba-dum-dum for effect….

And lastly one of John’s Fly Girls whom I met at Market…. Kaye Prince shared some a beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson about a little bird…well Kaye being a librarian (if I am remembering correctly) must have remembered I was an English major in college and got me hooked in with the poetry (and no, I don’t really know or care too much if it was supposed to be whom or who back there in that earlier sentence….I am not a copy editor!)

SO Kelly, Gina, Denise, and Kaye, please email me your snail mail addresses (to bluenickel5 (@) earthlink (dot) net…....and I will eventually get your prizes out of here into the postal system on their way to you!! (and no, the last batch of prizes haven’t left here yet, but they are almost ready…they are in envelopes with addresses…but I want to add a note to each and whatever other little extras I can…I tend to throw little odd things in to make them not run of the mill….)

AND just so you know, I do have two more entries coming up regarding Quilt Market, then we will be back to a more of the visual variety-pack from the world that inspires my Blue Nickel Studio Mindset. And since I don’t really want to leave you with another non-pictorial post….here is a little bit of inspiration from the studio and grounds to remind you that there is more to me than just fabric…..Not much more, but there is some….....