Blue Nickel Studios

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!

• Home
• Comments(11)

admin April 5th, 2010

Thi colorful Pompom Mirror was a gift from Mimi a few years back…A little too bright for the rest of the house, but it goes just great in the studio.  It is just a basic IKEA mirror that she hotglued a bunch of Pompoms on….here it hangs with my Chinese boxing boys, the Abominable Snowman, my homemade pencil frame and a Christmas kitten drawn by the same Miss Mimi…

....and here is something a tad more exciting than this messy corner of the studio.  I have had the pleasure of being interviewed by Joe Cunningham for his upcoming book, Men and the Art of Quiltmaking.  Joe asked me last year and interviewed me by phone for my bit in the book.  And I have three of my quilts going in it, one of which you can make cause I wrote up directions for it for Joe’s book.   Joe was up in my neck of the woods about 5-6 weeks ago, and we had a great evening after his show at a local quilt guild. If you haven’t seen him do his “show” it really is a great one, and I am here to say you should …..not only is he a talented quiltmaker, he is a great muscian too!!

  I can’t remember what Joe told me he wrote, but I okay’d it, so it must be decent!   I am really looking forward to getting my copy, and I will probably get a few to sell in our Etsy shop too, just cause I can, and you might want to get yourself a signed copy (well, okay my signature, not Joe’s…but maybe I can get some like that too.) 

That’s all for now, I am back to those approximately 673 things I have to do this month and 1/2 of next….

TTYL,   S.

PS, if you really want to keep closer tabs on me…which may or may not prove interesting, follow me on Twitter.  I am on there probably too often, but I might actually even say something intelligent once in awhile…maybe….more likely it would be something silly…but you know, whatever….  

• Home
• Comments(2)

admin March 10th, 2010

So I was supposed to have this done and outa here 2 days ago for the DSQ8, but here it is on the design wall… and I should be done piecing it tonite…probably won’t get it on the quilting rack til the weekend…    

This week at my day job I got some bummer news about bonuses…or this year lack of a bonus, and I am trying to recover from that….I have always gotten a bonus and thought I was getting a small one…very small, but it was something….and yesterday found out not even that…sigh…being a guy, I can get too attached to my work, even work I don’t like, so I am having a tough time, but you know what…this too shall pass…..

It might take awhile, but in time, I  know God will take care of everyhing…so I will wait and see what He does….

And too keep in peaceful mood, here are some pictures from Linda’s clean side of the studio….

And our ancient Quince and Forsythia that keep coming back year after year after year…..Spring brings a great amount of hope…no matter what the situation, don’t you agree??

As the kids in my kids school say,

“Peace Out”

and a wonderful day to you all!!

• Home
• Comments(5)

admin October 3rd, 2009

Well, you know I am now really frantically sewing to finish all these projects for Quilt Market next week, and so with my day job taking up most of my time, there hasn’t been much time for reflection and blogging and making all the pictures look all prettified and what not….but I could not resist particitpating in the Quilting Arts Open Studio Virtual Tour 2009 !! I found our cheapy little digital video recorder and did a ten minute whirlwind tour of the studio that Linda and I share in our home.  I didn’t clean, so it looks exactly like it does when I am working on too many things at once…which is most days….maybe if I get around to cleaning it, I will do another recording of it so you could see what it COULD look like.

So anyway without further ado, here is the Blue Nickel Fall 2009 Studio Tour…

Blue Nickel Open Studio Fall 2009 Virtual Tour Link 

And let me know if you have trouble seeing this, as loading it this morning is proving to be a pain in the butt (of course, because this is the day all of us who signed up for the tour said that we would have pix or vids of our spaces for you to enjoy)

Also let’s do a mini-giveaway while we are at it.  I will give away 2 bags of colorful quilting scraps from my various projects..some of which will not even be in the stores for awhile yet…So let me know what you thought of the tour, and whatever else you want to tell me about what inspires you or what you like about this time of year….not to hard, is it.  Not like my friend Jona who once made people respond in rhyme, which I might do soon, because I thought her responses were absolutely hilarious!

(PS, if the above video doesn’t seem to be working you can check out this pre-tour video I shot, it’s shorter and may be all you ever want to see of the studio anyway. ) 

Shorter version of  Studio Tour

• Home
• Comments(21)

admin September 29th, 2009

Okay so officially summer ended last week, right?  But around here it ended yesterday and the rains and winds have come…
I hope I am forgiven for not posting most of this month…I have had a ton of projects due (like next week) for Quilt Market, and I am frantically trying to finish them up now….I should be doing those right now, but I thought if I didn’t post soon…you would all run away looking for a fresher and more frequently updated blog (one that doesn’t tease about giveaways and then never gets around to it..oh, wait I am guilty of that too!  Dang!...Really, I do Promise to have a big giveaway soon….I gotta make room for more you know!)

Anyway…I don’t have a lot of time to squeeze this post in so I am going to make it a brief one.  

First come back and join me and a host of other artists on October 3rd in the Cloth Paper Scissors Open Studio Virtual Tour....CPSOSVT for short….  

       I am working up some videos of my studio for the tour and will post them here on the day of the virtual tour…..the video camera I am using is not that great, but adequate, and my test videos were fun to do….so come back here on the 3rd and join the tour…I can probably even work up a giveaway by then…maybe…I probably should huh? Since I am inviting all these people I should do something nice, since I am not really cleaning the studio for the tour…

Well, I gotta get back to work on these projects which will get posted in a couple days, but before I leave…let me leave you with these shots from this past May and my mother-in-law’s beautiful yard:

That’s all for now….Betty has an awesome green thumb, doesn’t she?  I have pix I took inside the house too, and her artistic touch is obvious there too…okay so now back to sewing!!

• Home
• Comments(1)

admin April 4th, 2009

What you are about to see will hopefully delight and not disturb you.  Please don’t think I did all this work overnight….Actually these pictures have been sitting in a file on my desktop labeled “pictures to put on website” or something akin to that.  I have enough desktops full of stuff, and I thought I would try some spring cleaning here with a series of not-necesarily related photos.  So enjoy and feel free to comment as needed.  There are actually some more pix to post…so there will be a part II.  (there are some still trapped in the camera come to think of it, so there will always be something to pull out of the logjam)...

Here is a Round Robin I did with some of the guys from QuiltGuy....I dit the last round with the pseudo-star-flower sorta look.    

Detail below.  I had the applique round, and I am not particularly fond of applique.  Actually I love OTHER peoples applique, just not mine.  I don’t have the paitence I think.

This is another Round Robin from the QuiltGuy group.  Again, since I was the last one in possession of the quilt at this time, I did the round of 60degree triangles around the blue-9-patch border. 

Two great books that Linda got me for my birthday and/or Valentine’s day.  I can’t remember which now. Both are TERRIFIC books!

Our old directive board from when we ran a vintage clothing/antique smalls shop on our property.  I love the worn look of this….I have very fond memories of the days we kept that shop going…..  

New ironing surface reinvention….before this area was a simple fold up ironing board—-ricktey, no storage underneath, and it was noisy when I would iron late at night, and this room is right over our bedroom, so it would sometimes keep Linda awake.

Different angle.  I love Anna Maria’s stacked books covering the ironing surface. The wooden section actually needs to be taken out and painted white/grey/pale green/ or blue ( I haven’t decided yet) so nothing is totally secured yet.      

The little cubby holes underneath served two purposes.  It got the ironing surface higher and more comfortable for me to iron, and it adds storage capability…I am delighted with it.  I have an extra cutting mat in there, and if I need to trim something at the pressing time, I can just whip it out and get it trimmed right there. 

This area of the studio used to just store boxes and well….junk…now Linda has a nice place to sit on the IKEA futon and if we ever need a space for someone to sleep, it would be tight, but we could rearrange it and get a space made.  I like to sit here too sometimes.  It is a great place to hide from the kids as it is behind the quilting machine and frame, and you can’t see this area from the main area of the studio too well. 

  Another view…notice this was taken on a snow day!  

Here we sneak over to Linda’s side of the studio to see this old apron on the dressmaker’s dummy…I am sure she should have a name, but I don’t think she does.  Just stylish accessories.  

I just LOVE this vintage fabric. So many things going on!  

So that is phase one of the Blue Nickel Studio PC Desktop Clean Up (BNSPCDCU for short)....

Until next time mes amis!   (Paul, you can correct my French if you need to…which you probably do)

Scott

• Home
• Comments(3)

admin November 30th, 2008

just some snapshots of life around here…things are cooking up on the Jay McCarroll quilt.  Next entry should have some pictures of that!

Here are some other things that have been seen around the Blue Nickel…. this stack is going into a quilt for Sara Nephew’s new book…not sure when it will be out…maybe next fall?   

Some of my latest acquisitions….all destined to be in some kind of publication, either a magazine of my book…..there is a mix of Free Spirit, Michael Miller, and Moda fabrics in this bunch…needs more DARKS, huh?  

A glimpse at my other  big project that was almost completed before the Jay McCarroll fabrics came in…Hoping to get this one in a magazine soon.  It is made entirely out of Moda’s Urban Couture line by Basic Grey.  Interesting fabric!  Wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it, but I like it more and more now..And I must admit, I really like the quilt I am creating out of it, even though it doesn’t feel really “me”...(but it must be a part of me, n’est pas?)

  some more Urban Couture. 

 I made this bag  years ago, and I love how it looks just hanging outside…It is getting faded as it is an old red, and I am sure not very colorfast, and I think it sat outside too long this summer, but it has a patina that I just love.  Mimi was eight when I made it, so that makes it three years old.  

This little leaf is just hangin’ around until the very last minute…so nice of it to share it’s bright color… 

And last, but not least…  is another Round Robin from the all male quilting yahoo group that I visit occasionally.  This one is Paul in Canada’s and I added the final round with the squares and split corners.  I really don’t like “white” in my work all that much, so it was quite a challenge to me.  And for me, personally it is too “rainbow-y”....but that is what he started out with, and this is what he gets…It is actually on its way back to him so he should be getting this anyday…Hope he likes it!

• Home
• Comments(2)

admin November 27th, 2008

Well, I was supposed to be working on my quilt for Free Spirit this morning before going over to my parents for the big feast, but it hadn’t come yet…I was working on some other quilting projects for mags and stuff, and then about 1:30pm, Linda calls me downstairs to see a box delivered on Thanksgiving day…I was happy for me, but sad for the person who had to work to deliver it too me!  The fabric is washing right now, I will post pictures later…very unusual and fun stuff to be sure!

So for today I thought I would drop in some pictures that you might enjoy from our studio and around Shiloah Cottage. 

     Some of Linda’s dolls that she made in the 80’s I think….one may be a store bought one. 

   The Muppets who sit above my window…being kept in check by the plastic Mountie that I got from Canada when I was about 7 I think…    A lone leaf outside by the potting shed

A rusty hinge hanging      by my sewing machine….just for Melissa!

   and a pile of my favorite    color of anything, but especially nice in fabric!

Have a great Thanksgiving, and come back soon for updates on Project Jay’s Quilt!  (I really need a better name for this quilt) 

• Home
• Comments(0)

admin November 17th, 2008

Looks like Gina at Quilter’s Buzz is safe …..but hundreds of others have suffered great loss in the California fires.  If anyone has any links or ways to help please share them….I know I will be praying for many days as I think about the destruction down there.

 Here are some photos that I was going to post last Friday, but technical difficulties prevented them.

 My “Halloween” necktie…only cause it is so strange!!   pictures just don’t do it justice …... 

the lining is this awesome bright greenish yellow…  Isn’t it tremendous??

  greener in real life..this lamp is totally Hot!  Farmer’s Market pile waiting for it’s turn in the pattern mill!  made with my first batch of Spoonflower fabric..I never blogged that yet, but I did get a little, and want to experiment some more, but it may be awhile is is kinda pricey, but VERY fun!

My son Max was here….such a happy little tomato….    That’s all the photos for now…

I will leave you with this quote..from someone much more profound than I….I have been trying to remember the marvel of this for months now:        

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
—Victor Hugo

Isn’t that just sublime??

• Home
• Comments(1)

admin November 8th, 2008

.......I had this thought when I was driving home the other night.  Fall is here bigtime, in fact, it is going into phase two already—the rainy part.  We had a wonderful indian summer here in the NW, as I rather expected after the coolish summer we had for the most part.  But now the hush of winter approaches, and as I drove home, it seemed to me that the world was snuggling in for a cozy nightcap, shedding all the extras and froufra for a nice long winter’s nap…and I got excited because to me that means most of the yard work is at a minimum, and I can get to the sewing stuff!    I haven’t been sewing as much as I would like, and that makes me kinda blue…I have not been feeling well lately, and I think it is either because I spent too much time trolling the internet looking for Quilt Market news, or the stress of another retail 4th quarter is hitting me, or my current 98 mile a day commute, or the two (now) trips to the ER for some sort of allergic reaction I have been getting…I finally am getting to an allergist soon, now I am just pretty afraid to eat anything…(great diet plan, not!) but ENOUGH whining already Scott!

Today I have some random shots for you from some things I have been working on…or collecting….or whatever….so here you go:

 the part of me that was at Quilt Market.

      a great flag that Linda made for me for last Christmas or the Christmas before….

          pages from the journal I started in 1001 Journal project  someone else is adding to this now, and I am excited to see what others add to my little book…..HOPEFULLY I will really get it back…sometimes these things get lost….

  a great turkey from Dover  and another batch of turkeys from Pokey at Quilting Arts:      I am thinking I have to do something with these…I love them…Real turkeys, I guess, can be quite the nuisance, but I hear about them a lot, they don’t seem to be here in the NW, but someday…I do have the neighbors peacocks infiltrating our yard sometimes….beautiful but annoying creatures….mainly the peacocks and sometimes the neighbors ….  )

   a snippet from my wife’s and my friend Elaine over the mountains in WA state.  I just noticed she calls me Mr. Mabel in her links…cause she found my wife’s blog before mine!

  a cool black and white photo found in a standard clip art set and the Blue Nickel version below:

and finally one of the round robins that I signed myself up for is ready to go to its next round.  This quilt will belong to Denis in Canada when it is finished…this is from my all guy quilt round robin project that we have been doing for over a year now…

     My part was the last border around the circles…it was applique, and well, I take forever on that sort of thing…so I was way behind on this round…I have another one to work on today…I am almost done with it..no applique, so much faster for me!....

so that is it for now…still feeling “restless” and not sure about a lot of things ….as Linda calls it I feel rather “scribbly” inside…...Hope all is well with you out there and that your “nestling in” time is just grand!  And don’t forget leaving comments always cheers one up….it’s nice to share….

• Home
• Comments(2)