Welcome to my playground!

Welcome to my playground! Designs in the MAKing is a play on words. You see, my monogram is MAK and my last name is KING, so there you are! There are so many different things I love to create it's hard to call myself a 'knitter' or a 'quilter' or a 'designer'. Titles just seem so limiting, don't they? I love to play with textiles: fabric, yarn, fleece, jewels, glass--well, you see my dilemma. Maybe you'll be able to help me identify just who I am.

I recently was fortunate to go on a week-long quilting retreat with 5 of my quilting friends. This was our second annual retreat, and this time we went to North Myrtle Beach, SC. As it turned out, it was also 'Bike Week' for motorcycling enthusiasts. Six quiet, mild-mannered quilters in the middle of roaring engines, defective mufflers, multiple tattoos and body piercings we didn't even want to see. It was a hoot! Here are some of our creations: the first photo is Elizabeth's "Fractured Crystals" and the 2nd photo is my rendition of "Bamboo Dance."

We created our own version of a 'sweatshop', sewing for 12 hours most days, breaking for meals and walks on the beach. We took a couple of shopping trips to the nearest quilt shop and t-shirt vendor, but most of our time was spent doing what we love most--being together and making quilts. Truly, there aren't very many things I'd rather do.

My "Convent Quilt", though it will be king-sized when it's finished. I will add many more blocks and some borders. I love making this quilt almost as much as I love collecting the fabrics for it.

This scrappy pattern has given me a way to use lots of my fabric stash and still collect more colors. I stopped counting the half-square triangles I would have to make when I was reminded that I want to put these little blocks in the border, too!