Tippeca-Needle

Instant retirement!

2010-03-18T09:44:00.009-04:00

One of my finished quilt tops for 2010. This was a Block of the Month kit from our now departed, "Sew Creative" quilt shop. I always like to make some changes to make my efforts just a bit different from others participating in the same BOM. For this one, I purchased a couple scrap bags of the fabrics, and made many different tea-cups in the borders, changed three of the fabrics in the four pieced tea pots, and used piping to frame the blocks, instead of a mini-border. The pattern was Sweet Tea by Quakertown Quilts (I think!)

This was a BOM purchased on sale; the pattern is Lori Smith's Ode to the 30's. I highly recommend the BOM's offered by Stitchin' Heaven in Quitman, Texas. Each block kit came packaged with a fabric swatch detail, noting the block piece to which it was assigned. That made it nearly impossible to make a mistake. Also, the pieces were generously cut. Since I'm somewhat of a scrap nut, I kept all the scraps, and if a fabric appeared for the second time, I tried to cut as much as possible from the left-overs. That left me with some nice large scraps for future projects!

This one is Old Tobacco Road, and it is large, as the photo shows. This was completely made from scraps, and is a Bonnie Hunter design. I love it! Her designs always start with small components, but she launches each project with simple blocks, and before you know it, those little pieces have turned into a giant gem! This was my second mystery of Bonnie's designs, but there will be more. I've got Double Delight in progress, and just need to make about 9000 three-inch nine-patches to finish it!

Finally, my most favorite BOM, also started from the shop, Sew Creative. This was Santa's of the World, and included a pieced block as well as an applique block each month. Once again, wanting to put my stamp on it, I made the choice to change some of the mini-blocks to a red pieced frame around some component in the applique blocks. In the center, you can almost see the gold jug, and a little wagon block. Others included a doll, a doll house, a rocking horse, a star, horns, a heart, an evergreen tree, and candles.

To put my own mark on the individual Santa blocks, I embroidered the country of origin and the name of the Santa. The kits included one white fabric to be used for all the pieces of the beard. I found a panel to make a stuffed lamb, and used it to cut the largest pieces , which gave more depth to the beard.

My final alteration was to add the topper, "Here Comes Santa Claus!" For this, I used some software (Printmaster Platinum) to create a banner in the appropriate size, and interesting shape. I marked the letters on red fabric, and appliqued the peppermint stripe letters to it. Then, I trimmed them to leave about an 1/8th of an inch around each letter, and appliqued the doubled letters to the background. It makes it appear to be satin stitched in place, but it is all hand-applique. I think I like this addition best of all! It gave the added advantage of adding some length to a square quilt. Finally, I finished it all off with a piano key border of many of the fabrics used in the top itself.

I finally rounded up the hardware to my quilt frame, . . . put it where it was safe, and it was so safe, I couldn't find it! The frame is up in our den, where I can easily see the television . . . if I want to. I have a quilt nearly finished in the frame, and I'm focusing on finishing it, soon.

Just three days after my last post, my boss called me in to terminate my job. I think I'm mostly over the shock now . . . and beginning to enjoy not hearing the clock radio click on in the morning when I'm warm and cozy in my bed. I should give kudos to General Electric. My mother bought my radio for my 11th birthday, when I was just starting in junior high. It has awakened me for the last 52 years. They just don't build them like that any more! Now it is in semi-retirment, at least. I'll probably have to use it occassionally, but not every day!

So, I'm all set . . . if there is a cotton or wool yarn shortage in our future, I have a very good stash to protect my interests. Since my last day at work, I have been knitting socks (pix next time). Yesterday, I decided that I would begin knitting mittens for Christmas, and I found some lovely patterns on-line. The first pair, called "Cabobble Mittens" are on the needles, and the cuff is nearly finished, using some yarn I hand-dyed. If I can make a pair every two or three weeks, I'll have a nice selection to share at Christmas.

Watch for more pictures and projects here!

Wowed 'em at Show and Tell!

2010-02-22T12:59:00.003-05:00

I'm always teased when I have lots of projects for Guild show and tell, and last Tuesday was no exception. I had my five recently assembled quilt tops; fortunately, Claire also brought lots of finished quilt tops, too. So, that meant there were two of us to pick on.

Our current president, Cheryl, likes to launch the meetings with a survey, or something to think about. At next meeting, it's going to be true confessions . . . how many projects in progress, how many quilt tops ready to be quilted. I needed to pull all of mine out anyway, so I started the count. I have 48 bed sized quilt tops ready to be quilted. I sorted that stack into those to be hand-quilted, and those to be machine quilted by Viki in exchange for hand-knit socks. Those two stacks came to 30 for Viki, and 18 for myself. This count, of course, includes only those that are actually ready to be quilted. I laid four tops aside to be donated as charity quilts; there are about half a dozen that I probably won't quilt, but I still have some emotional attachment or something . . . I just can't let them go . . . yet! Hey, Viki . . . do you need about 150 pairs of socks?

Over the weekend, I worked on my Bonnie Hunter mystery (#4), Double Delight. I have about 40 square-in-a-square units to trim, and then 4 million nine-patches to make to finish that one. Also, pulled out a project from a mystery taught in 2006, by my dear friend, Laura. She was teaching the class at a now gone shop called, "Sew Creative" . . . and Roseanna and I decided to sign up to surprise her. We had a great day, but I put the quilt top away, and haven't gone back to it. Pulling it out gave me an opportunity to remember a fun-time spent with Laura and Roseanna . . . and I have all the blocks sewn, ready to press and assemble. I'm fiddling with the outer border, which will be a vine; picking up an idea from the background fabric, the flowers will be red hearts. I was trying to locate a green in my stash for the vine and leaves, when some minor inspirational nag in the back of my mind suggested making the leaves from scraps . . . my green drawer is just about to overflow again. So, I guess that means I only need to locate a suitable green to be the vine.

My other sit and sew project is a Bonnie Hunter (can you tell I'm a fan) pattern using Kab-net Wax paper as a foundation, and "strings" to make blocks. (Strings are narrow strips, though I have used mostly 1 inch, 1 1/2 inch and 2-inch. I don't know why I am obsessed with big quilts, but I'm planning to make about another 18 ten-inch blocks, before putting this project on the completed flimsy side bar! This is a kind of funny one, because it started with another's scraps. Linda G. had a shoe-box full of strips, and was making piano key borders. She finished her project and was going to throw the shoe-box in the trash! My heart nearly stopped . . . I grabbed the box, and started my string blocks, adding some from my stash, too. My DSIL, Jan, also used some of them . . . adding from my stash . . . oh, well, I have plenty to spare! Any way, I suggested passing the box around, and I need to pass it on to the next player who made the call, Ginny.

Not neglecting my knitting, I am nearing the heel on the second Jaywalker sock for Viki, and plodding away at my SFS pair, too. For no brainer knitting in the car, I launched a pair for myself in Cat Bordhi's classic pattern, using some Debra Norville sock yarn with aqua, lime green, and a mottled reddish brown and white . . . it's really cute, not as disgusting as it sounds!

Grandson and his buddy, Trevor, will be my shadows on Saturday . . . Grandpa will be working the auction, and I'm going to get the boys started with a penny book, the beginnings of a coin collection. They want to go to the auction, too. Grandson really likes to help put the chairs and tables away after the sale . . . it doesn't hurt that Grandpa usually finds a couple dollars in his pocket for Drew, too.

Pictures up next, double dog promise!

UFO's becoming finished objects!

2010-02-09T15:20:00.002-05:00

I launched the new year with the completion of two quilt tops . . . applied the borders to my Old Tobacco Roads, a 2008 mystery from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville site. Also put the borders on an old Block of the Month, Sweet Tea.

We had our annual Retreat at Miss Mary's Quilting Cottage, and I assembled my Santas of the World, including borders, and worked on my previously cut Double Delight . . . still lots of work to go on that one.

Over the weekend, I assembled Ode to the 1930's, a kit I purchased from Stitchin' Heaven in Quitman, Texas. The pattern by Lori Smith, had been a block of the month for them the year before. I started the blocks at the Guild Retreat in September. I finished all the pieced blocks in the interim, and then all the applique blocks. It has a "cottage" setting, with blocks in four sizes, 3-inch, 6-inch, 9-inch and 12-inch. It was time-consuming to assemble, but once that was done, the borders went on quickly. I have to highly recommend Stitchin' Heaven. The kits were so well done, and easy to follow. Each month's blocks came with a color chart indicating which fabric was to be used in each block. As I progressed, I put stickers on the overall design chart.

So, here it is, February 9, and I have four finished quilt tops! Big ones, too! Last night, I kind of looked around at some of my other projects to decide what to work on next. I have a complete set of blocks from the first Paducah Booth Hop, and had made an appliqued center for it. I was fiddling around trying to decide if I should try to find more of the fabrics, and make it larger. I laid it out on the floor with the blocks just abutting the applique center; I've decided to cut to the chase, and put it together as it is, with a plain and then a pieced border. It will be a nice cuddle quilt size, and with the snow coming all day today, that sounds very appealing.

I also looked over an Illiana Quilt Shop Hop kit where I have all the blocks assembled. I designed a Mariner's Compass to be part of that quilt, and just need to get busy and piece it. Have plenty of fabrics, so I need to pay some more attention to that one.

I've been in a bit of a knitting frenzy, too. Just keep looking at sock yarn sales, like I need to accumulate any more of that . . . currently OTN are a pair of olive drab Socks for Soldiers . . . i'm knitting those two at a time, and it seems to go more slowly that way. The yarn is Regia Stretch, and the pattern is a classic knit 2, purl 2. I'm really liking the texture of the knit. Also, working on a pair of Jaywalkers for my friend, the long-arm quilter, Viki. The yarn is On-line Savanne, and boy, are they bright. The zig-zags of the pattern really show off the yarn well. Viki has posted a picture of the pair I just finished for her . . . that I forgot to photograph for my sock journal, so her blog-post has been substituted.

I'm also working on a pair of "Sam" from Cookie A's book, "Innovative Sock Knitting" for Viki with a light blue and gray, with a metallic thread. That pattern requires a lot of attention. The other evening as I was working on them, DH asked if I was all right. I said, sure, why wouldn't I be? And he said I was counting out loud . . . so, obviously, I was really into what I was doing. I hate to frog socks or most any knitting, for that matter.

I'm off to set up my featherweight in front of the television, and put that Booth Hop quilt together. Then, I can have FIVE quilt tops to take to the next Guild Show and Tell!

My New Year's Resolution . . .

2009-12-31T10:30:00.002-05:00

is to not make any New Year's Resolutions. They rarely make the cut, anyway. I'm just going to play it by ear, and make the things that appeal to me, and enjoy every stitch. I know I can live up to that resolution!

The movie we saw, "Blindside" with Sandra Bullock, was great. As polish on the apple, when I got home, there was story about Michael Oher, and the making of the film on 20/20. Seeing the real Leigh Anne Tuohy and having just seen Sandra Bullock's portrayal, I have to say her performance was dead on! What a dynamic and wonderful woman. I give this film ten stars! See it!

Gave Viki her next pair of socks. She gets so excited, and her whole face just sparkles. I wish everyone could get the kind of response to a hand-made item that she gives. She's just a very pretty little gal, anyway. Lots of sparkle and lots of substance.

Maybe I should just count my blessings of my friends here. They are all wonderful women.

First, my DSIL from Texas. One would think that we couldn't be as close as we are, since the only time we lived in the same town was for a couple months more than 40 years ago. We just have a great time together. We're the babies of the family, having married the two youngest sons. Her family commitments have recently begun to limit the amount of time we get to spend together, but we sure had a great run for several years, when she was able to fly free. Still, I do spend more time with her than all of my other in-laws combined!

Melanie is our strawberry blonde. Beautiful eyes and smile, great sense of humor, and just as cute as a button. Her needle skills are exemplary.

Her "twin", Marguerite, is a lovely blonde, very smart, energetic, thoughtful . . . an elegant beauty. She always describes herself as a slug, but she is extremely meticulous and everything she makes is perfect.

Mary J. is bright and brash. She always has a funny comment, and is ready for anything.

Laura keeps her light hidden under a basket. She's a very strong mother, and wonderful friend. She's perky and cute with short dark hair, a slender figure, and a great laugh. She's the one who got several of us started putting words on our quilts. She finds the most touching quotes, and inspires us all with her efforts in quilting.

Ginny is really sweet and lots of fun. Her back problems have slowed her body, but not her spirit. She loves to play along, and no one gets a bigger kick out of it when we all get silly.

Mary M. is our quiet observant one. She's supposedly retired, but she really hasn't quit working at Habitat for Humanity. I think she might have tended to be a project person, but we broke her of that! Now, she usually has several projects going at the same time. She is meticulous in her efforts, and her work is lovely.

Lela is our great audience. She's full of sparkle and laughter and is drop-dead gorgeous. Her only problem is that she denigrates her work . . . she makes lovely things all the time, not just her efforts in quilt making. She gives from her heart, and makes one feel so loved.

Michelle is one of our "baby girls". She was previously married to Melanie's son; after they split up, I think she might have been afraid that we would hold that against her, but she's learned that we love her because of who she is, not who she might marry. When she gives you a big smile, her eyes squeeze shut, and her whole face lights up. She's working her way through school, too, and we're all so proud of her strengths as a mother to Blaine, and admire her ability to keep "all the balls in the air".

Sossity joined us a few years back, and she's just a joy. She's very enthusiastic at every thing she approaches. She wants to learn it all, and is very productive. She just jumps in wherever she's needed and does a great job. Another beautiful young woman, and marvelous mother to Donovan.

Lanna is our lovey-dovey. Talk about having a boat-load of health problems, in the last several years. She's faced kidney cancer, brain aneurysms, and various other assaults that would have broken most people. But, she still approaches everything with a smile, and is another dedicated mother. We don't get to see enough of her is our only complaint.

Patti lives in Georgia now, but will always be part of this group. We suffer not seeing her for several months, and then, we just pick up where we left off when she joins us. She's got an irreverant wit, and is our world traveler, with her husband, an economics expert. When she's queen, we're all going to be in high clover.

Linda G. is too funny for words. I've known her the longest, since she was a student and later, a colleague of my husband. This one just sparkles! And, she's educational, too. How many people do you know that have read the biography of Mr. Ed . . . the talking horse. She's going to be a wonderful grandma for her first grandchild, because she will be ready to play at the drop of a hat. At least she always is with us!

Dawn has never lived near us, but once Laura introduced her to the group, she just fit right in. We don't know how we ever did without her. Our first meeting with her was a trip to Paducah one April. By the time autumn rolled around, we talked her into teaching at Retreat, and now she's one of our regulars. We were extra lucky, too, because her daughter, Holly, was at Purdue, and that sometimes gave her an extra chance to be with us, and we got to know Holly, too. Too bad Holly had to graduate and move to Oklahoma! She's ours now and we're not giving her up.

Can't mention my wonderful friends without mentioning Roseanna, and the loss we all feel since she passed away. We'll always miss her. She was the best kind of friend one could ever have. She just filled in any spot that needed attention; she was enthusiastic about any ideas that were presented. We're always going to have a little hole in our hearts, but know that her spirit will always be with us.

There now . . . I like counting my blessings much more than making resolutions. My wish to all for the new year is to be surrounded by soulmates, as I am. I love them all very much.

Christmas is past . . . .

2009-12-29T11:08:00.002-05:00

This was one of those whirlwind years. I can't quite believe Christmas has come and gone. For one thing, we changed our plans for a trip to Virginia at the last minute. The weather scared us off for the first time. We've never seen a flake of snow on any of our previous Christmas trips to Virginia . . . but before we departed Indiana, the kids got two feet of snow. They didn't get out of the house until Monday, late afternoon. We started talking about it, and on Tuesday morning, it was snowing to beat the band here at home. We decided we've always had such good luck, that we didn't need to be stupid in our advancing years, and put ourselves at risk.

It's probably the most laid-back Christmas we have ever had. We hadn't put the tree up, since we were going to leave, and it seemed silly to put it up for two days. DH decided he wanted meatloaf for dinner . . . I love cold meatloaf sandwiches, too, so that was fine with me. Our niece came for dinner, since she was across the street visiting her mother at the nursing home.

I made pumpkin bread and pumpkin pies, too. Our grandson came to spend the night, and had a buddy come over to play on Saturday. Sunday, I bundled the boys all up, and sent them down to Murdock Park to go sledding. I went to check on them after about 45 minutes; they were all aglow and happy, so I told them they could sled a few more minutes. Finally, at about 1 1/2 hours, I had to practically drag them to the van to go back to the house. Fed them hot chocolate and cookies, and got them warmed up, while I threw their wet jeans in the dryer. Neither of them had ever worn long-johns before, so they thought running around the house in their long-johns was great fun, too. Then, later, we took them to Pizza Hut where they both devoured a personal pizza each. I hope that these will be fun memories for them someday.

I went through some of the junk in my studio. What a mess! But, I put away lots of fabrics that were strung around the room, and organized a couple of my projects toward completion. I'm on the last block of Lori Smith's "Ode to the 30's" pattern, a flower pot with hexagonal blooms. The leaves and stems are all in place; just the pot and the blooms to finish. This may make the cut to go to Miss Mary's at the end of January, and become a finished top.

I actually cut the first borders for my Old Tobacco Roads, and need to trim the top before pinning them on and sewing them. I'm determined to have that one in all one piece before the clock strikes for the New Year on Thursday night.

DH is working an auction on January 1. He made the mistake of looking at the sale ad last night. They have about 65 lots of coins, and 27 guns, not to mention numerous antique toys, and other antiques. With the quantity of items, it's going to be an all day, and into the early evening kind of sale. He'll be beat when he gets home. It's the only auction all weekend, so they are sure to have a big crowd, and with the quality of items, lots of high prices. I'll have to make an appearance, but I'm going to try to stay home and sew!

It's Tuesday, and that's when our little group gets together. We're all going out to eat and then to the movie this evening for a change. We always have a good time, so I'm sure it will be fun.

Promise to post pictures with my next comments!

Still on target . . . sort of!

2009-12-15T13:08:00.002-05:00

I've been making my planned pillowcases as gifts. Last Saturday, my grandson, Drew, helped me pick out a few more fabrics. Made one last night, and hopefully, Saturday will provide me with an adequate block of time to make a few more. If not, I'll just put my Featherweight in the car, and sew in the motel room on the way to Virginia. Driving time is reserved for knitting.

As is usual, with my quilting friends, our focus isn't on the approaching holidays, but on our planned retreat at Miss Mary's Quilting Cottage, at the end of January. I think I could easily gather at least 142 projects to work on that weekend . . . culling it down to a smaller number, but none the less, unreasonable quantities for the time available to us!

It's going to be very different without our dear friend, Roseanna, this year. She kept us all straight, and organized. She was younger than I, but still acted the part of our "group mom". Maybe we'll ask her brothers to come join us for lunch one day. We'll have to re-organize our usual menu; Roseanna always made her wonderful chicken rice soup. I think all of us will have trouble sitting any place but our usual spots, probably leaving her sewing station open. She will be with us in our hearts.

I've been collecting the clues for Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Mystery, "Carolina Christmas". I peeked at Clue #6 this morning, and I'm in love. The quilt is stunning; might have to gather my fabrics, so I can sew on that one at Miss Mary's. I've got to put the borders on a previous mystery, Old Tobacco Roads, which I loved, as well; and I have Double Delight completely cut and ready to sew.

One thing I have learned in recent years is that preparing a project by getting as much cutting done in advance frees up lots of sewing time. One can really make a lot of progress when it's all ready to sew. Pre-cut projects in the "on-deck circle" are an Anita Shackelford Christmas quilt which appeared in Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting. I have blocks to finish for two of my grandsons, and blocks to re-cut for a quilt for my grand-daughter. As I mentioned previously, I started cutting some applique to be assembled with those blocks, and the blocks are too bold for the applique. Also, I found some fabrics that I think are better suited. Will probably put the blocks already assembled together for a NICU quilt. They will be darling for a little baby girl quilt, just not compatible with my applique work for Lisey.

My friend, Viki, quilted the Halloween quilt which was project with my grandson, Ben. He's going to be over the moon for it. A couple of the fabrics have glow-in-the-dark eyes. If he follows his brother's example, from a few years ago, he will be hauling people into the bathroom to turn out the lights, and see his quilt glow. It's just a simple quilt; some ten-inch squares of Halloween fabric surrounding a Halloween panel. But, I told him that I was having trouble figuring out the best way to put it together, and he just took the blocks and dealt them out on the floor, looked at them, rearranged them a bit and said it was done. I sewed it together in my motel room that night, and the next day, he had to take the top, and "try it on" laying down on the couch. He pronounced that it would fit, and it will be going back to Virginia with me. Viki did a great job, as usual, quilting it all over with spider-webs in orange thread. It's just adorable.

Time for a lunch break, and some knitting. I was to the toe on the second sock for Viki's current pair, when I realized I had way too many stitches. Had to rip it back to the finish of the heel gusset, and work down a few more stitches. I'm anxious to cast on my first pair of Socks for Soldiers, but won't until I get this pair complete!

Holiday Spin

2009-11-23T09:49:00.003-05:00

It's the time of year when my imagination overdrives the amount of time available, and I end up spinning in circles, trying to accomplish last minute Christmas gifts, etc. I have some sewing planned, but mostly, it's going to be a bit laid back this year.

I finished knitting a pair of bedsocks for a girl who was in a serious automobile accident. Parents of one of her friends asked if I would make her some because she moves around a lot in her hospital bed, and doesn't keep covers on. Hopefully, her feet will remain warm! Also working on a pair for my quilting buddy, Viki; first sock is done, and I'm nearing the heel on the second. I signed up for Socks for Soldiers, and am anxiously awaiting the arrival of those supplies.

Our trip to Florida came and went in a big hurry. It was great, just too fast. Kathi and Sherri joined us from Oregon, and they are new to knitting. Sherri is brand new . . . still was working on her first dishcloth. She caught on quickly, and steamed right through that project, and on to a couple more. Kathi was knitting patterned dishcloths, with a bee hive and a lady bug on each. We did a little scouting on the internet, and found TONS of dishcloth patterns. Since we were in Florida, we found many that would follow a beach vacation theme . . . flamingo, hibiscus blossom, dolphins, palm trees. Made me want to knit dishcloths, but I have to finish the socks I have going first!

As usual, we made the trip to Dunedin, for lunch at Bon Appetit on the Marina, and then to Rainbow's End. I was remarkably well-behaved! I bought a batik scrap bag, a pattern, and some fat quarters. Stops at Patches Galore and Quilt Haven yielded some scrap bags, and the fabrics to make pillow cases as Christmas gifts. We went to Kneedles and Knobs, too, and I got the yarn for some Harry Potter items for grandson, Ben. He's just six, but he is reading the Harry Potter series by himself. He loves them, and knows all the finite details about the characters. I'm anxious to see how he will like his Harry Potter sweater and scarf.

We were able to attend Ribfest in Vinoy Park in Saint Petersburg on Sunday late afternoon. We saw Zac Brown's Band. The place was so packed, you couldn't even get near the booths to try the ribs. Multiple lines at each booth were 30 to 40 people deep. We ended up picking up pizzas on the way home! Glad I didn't try to get a Ribfest t-shirt as a souvenir . . . seems sort of like it should be against the law to go to a big food festival and not be able to get any of the food! I was with my friends, though, so I had a great time.

We caught the flea market one day, too, and while I didn't spend much on fabric, I scored quite a few books. I found lots of bargains on clothing at the outlet mall, so when it was time to think about packing to go home, we made a quick stop at the Pack and Send to launch my books, fabric, and dirty laundry toward home. I put my new clothing purchases and gifts in my suitcase, and off we went.

We had plenty of leisure time, too. I did a little knitting, a little sun-worshipping, and a lot of reading. Ate my fill of seafood while close to the source, too. We have some places that we love to go . . . Crabby Bill's on the Beach, for shrimp and a very tasty Margarita; then Back Fin Blue in Gulfport for wonderful crab cakes, with corn and crab chowder. Always ready to go back for those!

12/15/09: I intended to add pictures and post this sooner. Better to post now, than wait any longer!

Where does the time go?

2009-10-30T12:07:00.002-04:00

As usual, I'm astounded at how long it has been since I posted last. Actually, I started to post, and paused to include some pictures . . . then forgot to photograph the NICU quilt top I made before giving it away. It was a variable star in purples with a rose bud applique over one block, in memory of my dear friend, Roseanna. We're all still reeling from the loss. Marguerite mentioned a little project for us for the Christmas season; she suggested we all hunt for a Christmas ornament that reminds us of Roseanna, to be placed on a wreath for her grave marker every Christmas. I suspect it will have lots of purple flowers, and some hummingbirds. One of her long-time projects has been a pattern by Patricia Cox, with hummingbirds and flowers. All the blocks are made and ready to assemble, so that will probably be one of our first projects to finish for her brothers. We volunteered to complete her quilts in progress, and Viki has offered to quilt them on her long-arm.

Roseanna's brothers asked if we would come out to the house and clear out her sewing room. Also, just come out some evenings and sew as we did when Roseanna was still with us. We said we would be happy to do that, and I suggested we could bring dessert. The "boys" were insistent that they would make dessert for us. We've all been talking about the task of her sewing room. We don't want to descend like locusts anxious to grab it all. Discussion has centered on each of us having a keepsake, and using the fabrics to make NICU quilts. Another suggestion was auction her books at a Guild meeting once evening, with the proceeds going to the Guild, as that has been a wish of the boys, too.

As far as own projects go, I just have four applique blocks to complete from my Lori Smith "Ode to the 30's". I finished the piecing last weekend, while my grandson played with his X-Box 360. Through the week, I made flying geese blocks for the border of my Bonnie Hunter "Old Tobacco Road" mystery. Next up is a quilt for my granddaughter, with Pinwheel Sampler blocks from Sindy Rodenmayer's Fat Cat Patterns. I pulled out an old QNM pattern called, "Victorian Medley" from Leman Publishing that I have had for years, to make a center applique medallion. Blocks chosen are a glove, a flowered hat, high button shoe, and parasol.

I also have blocks cut for two grandsons using Sindy's Bear Paw Sampler blocks. Addison's will have some applique jungle animals, again from Fat Cat Patterns, as a center applique to commemorate his performance in an opera, Noah's Flood. I haven't made a choice of the applique for Drew's quilt, but am considering something with planets. He's very interested in science.

On the knitting needles, I have cast on the second sock in a pair from Cookie A's Book Innovative Socks, for Viki. I have some Regia Silk (a merino wool, silk, nylon blend) to be made into a pair of Cookie's Monkey pattern which will be my knitting project on the upcoming Florida trip with Melanie, Marguerite and Patti. (Only 12 days to wait!) Will probably take some applique, too.

To top it all off, I have been on a reading binge, too. I really need to thin down the ranks of books I want to read. Read two last weekend, and I'm nearly done with another. Working interferes with my play time . . . but it also funds it . . . a conundrum if ever I've seen one.

Tomorrow, several of us are getting together again to make NICU quilts in memory of Roseanna. Her quilts will be featured at our Guild Show in the spring, with a special exhibit of all the NICU quilts made to honor her memory. Have to get my toys packed up for sewing at Mary J's tomorrow!

Good Grief! Almost two months . . .

2009-09-22T11:51:00.002-04:00

. . since I last posted. Well, I have been busy! Mostly, I was getting ready to go to Retreat. I sort of have double duty because I am the program chair for the Retreat. And, my DSIL flies in from Texas, so I make sure her sewing machine and tools here are ready to go to Camp. This year, Dawn brought her friend, Joan, and came to my house the night before we went to Camp. We had a great dinner at The Smokehouse, and then Jan was delivered from the Indianapolis Airport by Marguerite. DH thought he was in a sorority house!

The next morning, we got going and loaded up the cars, and made a side trip to Rossville Quilts on the way to Camp Tecumseh, where we all acquired something we couldn't possibly live without.

In the weeks before Camp, since Ruthie took care of most of the hand-out work at her job . . . boy, I can't thank her enough . . . I almost didn't know what to do with myself. Usually, I'm making copies, and sitting down in front of the idiot box, punching holes and collating. I had just a few pages that I added, and those went very quickly. I managed to fill up my time by cutting lots of things, so they would be ready to sew at Camp. The inventory looked something like this:

1) Remaining blocks for grand-daughters Pinwheel Quilt, as well as applique blocks for center medallion.

2) Remaining blocks for two grandson's Bear Paw Samplers. Found an applique of a giraffe that I can add to one of these quilts for my grandson's performance in the Opera, Noah's Flood.

3) All the pieced blocks and applique blocks for Ode to the 1930's, a BOM that I purchased all at once . . . just adore it!

4) Christmas quilt by Anita Shackelford that appeared in Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting; cut all the pieced blocks, templates for applique, and all the applique pieces.

5) Bonnie Hunter's mystery, Double Delight . . . it's all cut, so I used some of it as leaders/enders as I sewed.

6) Beach umbrellas for my Florida sunglass quilt. The sunglass blocks were my own design based on a notepad I found in the shape of sunglasses. I used conversation prints in the lenses to commemorate one of my fun trips to Tierra Verde with my quilting friends. I pieced the umbrellas as leaders/enders, too. They are fun to do; it's basically a kaleidoscope block, and all the umbrellas are cut from bright striped fabrics.

7) My applique box had three or four blocks in it to work on, too.

I should have done what another friend did . . . signed up for the week-long Camp Tecumseh Retreat that followed our Guild Retreat, and kept sewing for another week. I think I might have had enough projects to carry me through . . . obviously, I couldn't possibly have made all those things in three days! However, they are all nicely organized, and I can follow through at home on lunch hours, and evenings, and one of these days, I'll have more quilt tops ready!

Overly-enthusiastic, under-achiever had a great time being with old friends, and making a few new ones, too!

Friendship, the thread that quilts our hearts together.

2009-07-29T10:31:00.003-04:00

Those of us in our small quilt group that have blogs have often mentioned the blessings of our dear friends. Last night, we witnessed another gift of love among these women, and we counted our blessings yet again.

More than a year ago, one of our dear out-of-state members suffered an illness which left her with some comprehension issues. She has difficulty following written directions for some quilt patterns. She had been tidying her studio, and decided to pass along to the rest of us those projects that she felt she would be unable to construct. Among them was a Block of the Month by Pam Bono Designs, featuring beautiful pieced flowers. She had acquired all the kits, even when she was first suffering from her illness, because she so loved the design. Called Out of Darkness, her color choice featured a light background, with a ribbon border. (The quilt is shown on the website with a dark background with a floral border.) She consoled herself with the thought that one of her dear friends would enjoy making and having the quilt, and that made her happy. I'm sure you can figure out what happened . . . last night, we all got to spend the evening with her at her mother-in-law's home, while she visits. Roseanna stood up and walked over to her, and handed her a finished quilt top saying, "This is yours." Of course, I didn't have the camera with me. Roseanna is a very talented quiltmaker, and the quilt top is stunning. Needless to say, there were lots of tears of joy over this lovely gift. We are all so proud to be in this circle of friends. I'll try to round up a picture of the quilt top to share.

Camp is coming!

2009-07-24T10:50:00.003-04:00

It's still about six weeks until our Guild Retreat, but things are coming together, and I'm getting so wired up, I can hardly stand it.

Thanks to a MAJOR assist from Ruthie, the great majority of hand-outs are ready to go, even hole-punched and collated. When she asked about the collating, I thought, "Gee . . . I'll sure miss walking around and around my dining room table . . . and punching four to six sheets at a time with my little three-hole punch in front of the television for a couple weeks in a row . . . and picking up all the little dots trailing through the house that escape the trap in the bottom of the punch!" Well, surprise, surprise . . . I don't miss that part at all! I just can't decide what to do with all this "extra" time! I just have a few things to print in color and add to the mix. Laura has a couple things ready to add as well.

I started putting a few projects aside with the intention of assembling the quilt tops while at Retreat. DSIL, Jan, is bringing her Bonnie Hunter "Carolina Crossroads" to assemble, if she ever gets all her nine-patches done. I have a heap of nine-patches to make also, but mine is the Bonnie Hunter "Double Delight", and I want to pull fabrics to make her Christmas mystery currently being featured in Quiltmaker Magazine.

Other good news is that Viki brought my cake stand quilt to Guild on Tuesday evening. We've got a barter thing going here . . . she's quilting my quilt tops, and I'm knitting socks for her. Each of us thinks we have the better side of the bargain. I just finished a pair of Lacy Mock Cables for her last night, and the second Monkey (Cookie A. design) is approaching the heel turn. Since one pair has been finished, I immediately launched a pair called Crystals, 'Combs and Cables Socks, in a beautiful hand-painted yarn, but I'm omitting the beads.

So, as far as what to do next, I think I'd better get the binding on the Cake Stand quilt so it will be a suitable sample at the Retreat, Patchwork Pantry!

OTQG Retreat just 7 weeks away

2009-07-21T11:13:00.002-04:00

Wow! I'm starting to get really wired up for our annual Quilt Guild Retreat. Today is the date that registration is opened to non-guild members, and there have been a number of inquiries. Plus, a couple people have called to inquire about bringing friends or relatives. Here's a new problem: Will we have to set a ceiling on the number of participants? The facility will technically sleep 80 . . . but that's half bunk beds. Fortunately, volunteers have been adequate in the past to not make that a concern. I'm getting to an age where I stop to think about it, and there are a few who absolutely have no business climbing a bunkbed ladder.

Things are starting to tick together very well. I've always had permission to make copies in my office, but my old copier has finally given up the ghost. Another friend with the same benefit in her office doesn't think it's going to carry over this year. So, I inquired with another friend who works for a local graphics company, and I saw her Saturday evening. She said that the copies will all be donated! I almost ran around the car and kissed her on the lips! That's a big task to not to have to worry about.

Next concern is that our volunteer for door prize collection has kind of slipped on the job. Not really a surprise, as she doesn't have a good track record for following through with those things for which she volunteers. My DH always makes a couple of mason jar lamps for us, filled with old sewing notions or wooden spools. Those are well-received. And, he's been after me to cull down my sewing box collection, so I'll pick out one of those antique beauties for the cause. I'm watching Hobby Lobby's ads for patterns to be $.99, so I can score some new apron patterns for the cause. I'll just have to make an announcement at the Guild meeting this evening, to see if others want to come up with something from their studios. I hate to resort to that, because it may impact the Traders Post at our Guild show in the spring. Personally, I can do without the door prizes, but they mean a lot to some participants. So, we'll just see what happens.

I started filling a tote with projects, including my Bonnie Hunter mystery, Old Tobacco Roads, which needs it's borders added. I have a couple others that are ready to assemble, so I've tucked them in, too. Been doing block samplers for a quilt for two of my grandsons and granddaughter; need to cut kits for the last couple blocks, and pack those up.

I think I'll be ready, but I know that there will always be that last minute frenzy. The biggest problem is that Retreat is over too quickly!

Why does time fly when you don't want it to?

2009-07-15T16:12:00.002-04:00

And, how is it, that my office clock seems to have come to a dead stop whenever I look at it?

We've had some nice cool evenings, and I swear, that brings out the "nesting" syndrome in me, and makes me want to start at least 82 new projects! I grabbed to some knitting to try to relax a little and refrain from launching too many new things. I do have the excuse that I am preparing things for The Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild Retreat, coming up in September. I almost think I might be ahead of schedule a little bit, because hand-outs are pretty much all lined up, and there isn't too much to do to get some instructions written.

Over the weekend, I finally put an apron quilt idea that has been circling the drain in my brain into actual fabric. I'm really pleased with how my sample turned out. Writing instructions for that will be the next task, and I was considering how troublesome it might be to draw in EQ6, since it has gathered skirts on the aprons. Fortunately, the old gray cells kicked into gear, and the instructions will include photos of the steps, a la Bonnie Hunter.

I've always said that I wished I could find my high school home ec teacher, who taught me to knit, so I could thank her again for all the years of pleasure my knitting has provided. Well, this morning, I was able to locate her address through my high school alumni website. I can't wait to sit down and write her a big old thank you. As usual, as students, we thought all our instructors were older than dirt, so I had to laugh when I determined that she was only 33 when she was my teacher. She really gave me a life-long gift by teaching me to knit, and I'll never forget her.

Lunch break brought a wonderful package delivery to my house. I ordered three books from Interweave Press' hurt and damaged book sale. The discounts amounted to from 40 to 75% off. I expected to find a corner folded on a page, or a scratch on the cover, or something to indicate that the books were "hurt". They are all perfect. They must have just been neglected! Titles include "Men in Knits - Sweaters that he WILL wear" by Tara Jon Manning; "The Best of Interweave Knits - our favorite designs from the first ten years"; and Folk Socks. I've already found a couple of wonderful possible choices to knit for my son in Virginia; the stash has a great ginger colored wool that will work for at least one of the choices. And, an adorable tank top called, "Lotus Blossom" for my daughter-in-law; I have several skeins of a stunning lilac Checkheaton Country Silk that will be perfect for that project. In this case, it's good that I am thinking of starting them in July . . . I may actually have them ready at Christmas!

Ladling into the "guilt" stash, it occurred to me that I should do some cutting, and prepare for sewing the next stages of pieces for a couple of stalled quilt tops. I have at least three that just need to be laid out, and assembled. It's always nice to do that at our Retreat, because we try to reserve the major portion of floor space in one of the rooms for just that purpose. It's so much fun to walk into that room and see the projects that near completion over the weekend. I can't wait!

This little "pep" talk has been good for me . . . I can feel my energy turning from the idea of new projects, to some of my lingering UFO's, and an excitement to get them finished. Then, I'll be ready to start something new!

Yesterday was a mixed blessing.

2009-06-18T12:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, my youngest brother, Wayne Michael Hogan - Mike, passed away. He suffered with cerebral palsy all his life, and was 53, which I have learned is well beyond what most CP patients are expected to live. They expend four to five times more energy to do something an able-bodied person doesn't even have to think about. He had lost his ability to swallow (which happens in 20 percent of the patients), and was going to require a feeding tube. So, he won't have to suffer through that now.

He was born too soon in more than one aspect. My twin brothers were born at 6 months gestation . . . it's a miracle that they even survived. The doctors told my mother to put him in an institution and forget him. They didn't know my mother very well. We all helped at his exercises, which ultimately gave him the ability to walk. We gave him plates with peanut butter or sugar on them, to strengthen his tongue, and improve his speech.

He loved to fish, read, and watch racing on television. If he had been born a few years later, he would have benefited from all the programs that are now available to CP patients, and probably had a life of more contributions. He had a good mind, trapped in a damaged body. He made fabulous Lego creations, and he worked for one of my other brothers (a cabinet-maker) finishing wooden toys, and doing hand-rubbed finishes on custom pieces of furniture.

He had the sweetest, most gentle natured disposition, and was a terrible tease, too. He mocked all of us as we were growing up. In my junior high years for a time, one of my "fashion statements" was a headscarf and sunglasses. One day, I came home, and he came out of the bedroom with one of my headscarves on. "Madame Fifi" was born! I said Madame Fifi liked all things French . . . French couture, French movies, and especially French Fries. On my last visit to him at the hospital last week, I came into his room, and said, "They told me I would find Madame Fifi in here!" He just laughed and waved his hand at me in a "get out" gesture. We had a nice visit. He told me I look just like our mother, and gave me the most beautiful smile.

While he didn't have an opportunity to realize the full use his brain, he was the family pet . . . we all learned a lot about love from him. I'm going to miss him a lot. I wish everyone had an opportunity to feel the pure love he showered on his siblings. His illness was a burden, but he was a gift to us.

I had promised to knit him a pair of blue socks before winter, but he was gone before I even had a chance to start them. I think I will knit them anyway, and donate them to a charitable fundraiser in his memory. It will ease the sorrow, as the yarn slips through my fingers, and I can concentrate on good memories of him.

Yesterday was also my grand-daughter's twelfth birthday. She was selected to participate this week and next in "The Governor's Art Program" in Charlottesville, one of only 40 junior high students. She is the youngest in the group, and was a bit un-nerved by the whole thing the first couple days. Now, she is happy that she is participating. It will be interesting to see where this opportunity leads her. She is a talented artist and musician. My Mother had both of those talents, too. It's fun to see those talents continue through the generations.

Pedal to the Metal!

2009-06-12T11:38:00.002-04:00

Zoomed along and managed to get my Basket of Flowers top completely assembled. The gals in my quilt group talked me out of an additional border. I must admit, it's a nice size, and looks cute as it is, especially since it has my own stamp . . . every blossom is a different fabric, and it will be embellished with some cute buttons for the flower centers, once quilted.

On a roll at the machine, so out came "Old Tobacco Roads" to get it closer to being assembled. Kept up a pretty steady pace, and have just three strips to join the top together. Then, a spacer border and a pieced border, and it will be ready to quilt . . . or turn over to my friend, Viki, to machine-quilt for me. Can't decide for sure what will go across the machine bed next . . . I made a few pink and white nine-patches for "Double Delight", the fourth Quiltville Mystery. Bonnie Hunter has her fifth mystery, "Christmas Lights" in the current and next two issues of Quiltmaker. It hasn't yet appeared on our local news stands, so I signed up for the Bonnie Hunter special shown on her blog-site. Since that publication comes out every two months, it should be easy to keep up with it.

My three-ring binder of Bonnie's stuff was gasping and stretched to its' maximum. So, last weekend, I acquired another file box, and started filing everything "Bonnie Hunter" in it. It is the kind of file box which will accommodate hanging folders, so her book is in one folder, the issue of Quiltmaker with her first appearance in another, and one will be dedicated to the new Christmas Lights mystery issues. I gathered all my hand-outs saved from her website, and set up folders for those, too. Also included the journals compiled as each mystery was made. I probably should start looking for a two-drawer filing cabinet.

Two weeks ago, DH worked an auction. There was a lovely featherweight, and not many bidders, so it came home with him. It is in mint condition . . . all the gold is perfect, and the case is completely unmarked. A little oil, and grease, cleaned the felt out of the feed dogs, and its' only issue is a little "thread-throw-up" on the bobbin side of stitching. Dropped it off at Sink Sew and Vac in Lebanon for some of Gary Sink's TLC. It will soon be operating perfectly.

At the same sale, there was an older Kenmore in a cabinet. The sale was on a Friday, so I was only able to attend for a bit on my lunch break. I asked DH what that machine sold for, and he said only a couple dollars, sold with some bedding and a chair. I kind of grimaced, because I always seem to run into someone who is looking for a reliable machine. The lady who made the purchase was pointed out to me, and I went over to ask her if she had intentions for the machine. She said she hadn't even looked it . . . her objective was the chair. So, we walked over to the items, and took a good look. She asked what I would offer, and I said, "Five bucks". We made a deal. Later, after work, I went to the Fairgrounds, in case DH had more acquisitions than he could fit in his van. Sitting around chatting over the day's sale, I learned that when the machine first came up for bids, no one would even open it. Two fellows put up $1 each to get DH to take it, and he refused. I could have had it for nothing! I'll polish it up a bit, and find it a new home, after I'm sure it is in good operating condition.

Bleary eyes make mistakes!

2009-05-22T10:35:00.003-04:00

We've all done it . . . the "I'll just do one more thing" syndrome. Last night, I was preparing to sub-cut my strips for three-inch nine-patches for Baskets of Flowers. Thirty 9-patches are needed, fifteen of each of two colorways. I cut one strip set making 29 units, and I need 30. I was tired, and I thought I need to make another complete strip set to cut just one unit. Fortunately, I went to bed then. This morning, as I thought about it, I realized I just need one green 1 1/2 square to alter an opposite strip set, making the one remaining unit necessary. Did that for each of the two colorways, and I should be able to complete the nine-patches easily today. Then, press the sashing sets, and cut to size, and the quilt top will be ready to assemble, sans borders. So, now I can concentrate on the friendship phrase I want to place around the border. This is my current favorite:

"Sew a seed of friendship,
Reap a bouquet of happiness." Lois L. Kaufman

Received notification that the fabric has shipped that will become that border, so perhaps I can get my lettering ready, and by the time that is done, the fabric will have arrived. Maybe this will be the first quilt that Viki will quilt for me on her long-arm machine!

I'm going to keep going with piecing projects while I've got the "fever". Still have Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Roads to complete, as well as a completely cut Double Delight. Truth be known, I'll never run out of projects!

Hope to put some of this long weekend to good use at the machine. Also, in the never QUITE completed task, should plow the studio. It was a mess, but with the window incident, it's even worse. Nothing to do but yank everything out and put it back properly. What a drudge, but it will be more inspiring to have a nice neat sewing space again.

Happy weekend to all!

Patchwork-a-Plenty!

2009-05-18T10:17:00.003-04:00

As you probably have surmised, I succumbed to the offer from Hancock's for Mary Engelbreit's Basket of Flowers kit by Moda. It arrived on Wednesday, and I held off all the way until Thursday to start cutting it! By Saturday morning, it was all cut, and several blossoms assembled. I have made some adaptations to personalize it. First, I cut flowers from a matching jelly roll, so every flower is different. I woke up Sunday morning with the idea of adding buttons to the center of each blossom, once it is quilted. Since my dear friend, Laura, has launched me on my "words on quilts" program, I've decided to add a border, and a phrase about friendship. Haven't stumbled over a phrase that entices me yet, but I'll keep working on it. Last night, I finished all the red blooms, and have only five pink blossoms to stitch before assembling some nine-patch cornerstones, and three-strip sashings. Whatever the phrase is, I think I want it to be as "scrappy" as my flowers, so I might have to choose a light outer border. Because I prefer to cut the exact size and shape of each piece, I have plenty of fabric left over from the kit. I cut my triangles with an EZ Angle, instead of using the corner square technique . . . can't bring myself to throw away 40% of a square.

On Thursday, my E-bay bargain Shangri-la kit arrived. I read through all the instructions, and fondled the little 2" swatch patch packet attached to the pattern. There were enough swatches to make 12 little four-patches, so stiched them up to make a pillow. Found a remnant of one of the fabrics on-line to make the setting squares, and backing of the pillow. This morning's awakening inspiration was the idea of piping around each of the four-patches, so I went scouting for a little piece of one of the companion fabrics. It's so much fun with the old brain cooperates with inspiration without much perspiration!

Another inspiration was the idea to make throw pillows for Christmas gifts this year. Every other year, we spend Christmas in Virginia, with our eldest son, his family, and in-laws. They just make us a part of the family, too. The idea is that the pillow tops can be made up, and packed in a small box for the trip to Virginia, and I can purchase pillow forms once I arrive there.

Dh had his annual spring garage sale last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He was kind enough to share some of the proceeds. He cleared out lots of stuff that had been "bonus" purchases at auctions where we wanted just one or two things from a box. He said this morning that he thinks he made about 5% on his investment. I told him that is fantastic in this economic time. And, he also made the front page of today's Lafayette Journal and Courier, in an article about garage sales. He said the writer didn't use some of his best lines . . . I told him, the writer was probably jealous.

We had one catastrophe early in the week last week. Some neighbor kids were playing ball in our side lot . . . they had permission from DH. At some point, someone gave them a hardball instead of the plastic ball they had been using previously. Double-pane window in my studio was lost. The kids came to the front door immediately to tell us. DH was crabby, but I tried to keep him from scaring them too much. I bought them a sack full of wiffle balls on Friday night, and tough guy located a wiffle bat yesterday. We're going to show them the location of the bases when our boys played ball in the yard. That will move them more toward the back of the lot, and away from windows! It's nice to hear the children's voices in the yard again.

Temptation is a terrible thing to waste!

2009-05-11T11:05:00.003-04:00

It happens every year. While I'm in Paducah, I can't wait to get home to work on my projects because I am so inspired by new fabrics, and patterns, and tools, and techniques. Once I'm home again, I can't settle down enough to actually get the flow going. In the interim, I've been working on socks for Viki and Mary J. I'm telling myself, there are several tops close to completion, and I SHOULD work on those. Meanwhile, my mind continues to whizz, giggle, jolt, and veer to newer horizons. Then, this morning, I got a sale e-mail from Hancock's of Paducah, and it included a half-price kit for a quilt that I have been considering using Mary Engelbreit's Basket of Flowers line. How is a person supposed to resist that kind of enticement?

Then, when peeking around in E-Bay, there was another Moda fabrics kit on clearance. I could justify making a low bid on it, with the thought that the bid was so low, someone else would surely out-bid me . . . amazingly, I made the ONLY bid! I can't decide if I was lucky or not in this case, since the price was about one-fourth of the price of the original kit from one of last year's lines! This kit is packaged in a matching tote-bag . . . Did I mention, FREE SHIPPING?

Finally, there was another Moda kit for which we saw the finished quilt on display at Hancock's. It uses the Aviary line by Three Sisters, and comes packaged in a back-pack. It was $129.00 at Hancock's. I walked away easily . . . found the pattern on the Moda fabrics website, and thought I would put it away for a later project. Bought a jelly roll of those fabrics before going to Paducah, and thought I could fill in with some of the backgrounds to make my own kit for it. At the current prices, the additional fabrics to build my own kit would add up to about $100, but that wouldn't include the "free" back-pack or binding. Of course, I stumbled over a kit for $99. So far, I've resisted the siren call, but if I look at that kit again, and see that the distributor has only one left, I confess to considering a mad dash for the last one in stock!

Retirement can't come too soon for me . . . and I'll have plenty of projects to keep me busy!

Wonderful AQS weekend . . . again!

2009-04-28T09:06:00.002-04:00

I must admit, I felt a little at loose ends without my DSIL, but those of us who were able to make the trip had a wonderful time on our Paducah adventure. Linda G. rented a full-sized van . . . rumor had it that 15 could be seated, but with luggage and purchases, and 7 of us, it seemed kind of tight coming home. Fortunately, we have some great packers in the bunch, and under seat storage was a help.

I had my camera, and I even took two pictures before something happened . . . it was tucked in my purse, and it seems as though the lens mechanism has been goofed up, perhaps from being bumped to the on position, and not having room for the lens to open inside my purse. So, not only can I not see the two pictures I did take, but I can't get the camera to turn on at all.

Everyone everywhere seemed to be very conscious of their spending. Some vendors reported shoppers looking things over and putting them back. I always have a problem with impulse buying, but even I held things more in check . . . though, I did have a slight spending spree on Saturday morning. I picked up six books at the AQS on Broadway store . . . $5 each. I've never been successful in finding six before, but scored five applique and a cross-stitch book. The AQS website indicated there would be a booth hop, but I asked at a vendor's booth, who has been a sponsor in the past, and she said they dropped it because there was so much uncertainty that there would even be a show. So, the money set aside for that became a fund for some applique patterns that I adored. I bought about ten one-yard pieces from the flat-fold tables at Hancock's . . . no yardage off bolts, and some half-priced jelly rolls. Replenished rotary cutter blades for DSIL, and learned that there was a free triangle ruler by OLFA with a $25 order. So, my blades are also replenished, and we have twin rulers now! I only bought one book . . . this is remarkable for me! It is a new Blackbird Designs book that has a wonderful Christmas quilt in it. I do admire their designs . . . just can't remember the name of the book!

One of our "playmates", Viki, is a marvelous long-arm quilter. She quilted the perfume bottles for my cousin, and has done a couple quilts for DSIL. A couple weeks ago, she asked if I would knit her some socks in exchange for having some of my quilt top stash finished on the long-arm. Boy, I jumped at the chance! I didn't tell her about the size of my backlog of finished tops; but I did confess that I would probably have to knit her 700 pair to cover what is made so far! In my handwork taken on the trip, I tucked in a ball of Opal Beach Colors, a bright yellow with orange, hot pink, lime green, and turquoise . . . she loved it, so I started knitting on the way home. We haven't really negotiated a "price" yet, but I think there should be several pairs of socks per quilt top. I've been thinking about which top should go first, but I have plenty of time to make up my mind. I'd like to have the socks done in advance, and she has a backlog of quilts from Alabama right now, as that Guild gets ready for a show in a few weeks. I'm rather thinking I should start with one of the oldest projects and come forward. So, today, at least, I think the first project should be "Chocolates in Foil", a pieced quilt that appeared in the FIRST issue of Quiltmaker! It is so old that when I started it, I was marking pieces with a template, and cutting them with scissors. I got a few blocks done, and put it in a box. Later, when I decided I could rotary cut it to finish, I mentioned to a friend that I had a "quilt in a box". Garnet said, "That's not a quilt in a box . . . that's GUILT in a box!"

Paducah, here we come!

2009-04-23T07:37:00.004-04:00

An oldie but goodie . . . made these Cypress blocks years ago, and decided they needed an applique border. Nearly done with the applique, I thought I would lay them out and see how it was going to look. In my opinion, the applique nearly disappeared. On to Plan B!

Used the same image . . . a vintage embroidery test pattern, by the way . . . just enlarged it, and changed to a "Boston Commons" set. I think it's going to work much better. When I was cutting the setting squares, I had two pieces of fabric in my stash. I cut the first one, and was able to get exactly 23 squares from it. Before I started cutting the remaining necessary squares, I laid it all out one more time . . . with Plan B in place, applique on the same peach background instead of the floral, I wouldn't need as many setting squares . . . anhyone want to guess how many I needed, exactly? That's right . . . 23 . . . somebody up there looks out for me and my projects!

Time flies when you are having fun . . . my friend, Melanie will be here shortly to pick me up, and we'll be joining the other five Paducah bound travelers. I'll be back before you know it. Smaller group, but one big van full of laughing quilt makers. I know it will be great fun!

Hope everyone has a pleasant weekend . . . I know I will!

Eau De Parfum!

2009-03-16T17:24:00.002-04:00

Here is the finished product . . . the perfume bottle quilt I made for my cousin. It has 120 perfume bottles, each different, set in an attic window setting. This was taken at Guild the night before I flew to Atlanta, to give it to Diane. It looks great in her bedroom which is a lovely coral color. She has gold pillow shams and is going to put up new white sheers at the windows, and a gold dust ruffle on the bed. I made one additional block for the back, reversing the colors and used it as a label.

More later!

Time has flown!

2009-03-13T08:59:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. I'll try to make up for that fairly quickly.

First, I've been having trouble with my computer at home, and yesterday, I had an opportunity to get it picked up and worked on, so that is in the works.

Second . . . found the camera! I had just about torn the house down looking for it. I remembered picking it up when I left Miss Mary's at the end of our Retreat. I put it and several other things in the car, and went into Quilter's Harvest to check out. After making yet another search at home, I got in the car, stuck my hand into the little wastebasket, and there it was.

Next post will show the Perfume Bottle quilt I made for my cousin, and a few pictures from my visit to her in Atlanta.

Hey . . . and the stock market went up a bit yesterday! Life is good!

Okay, Camera . . . Come out of hiding!

2009-02-06T12:32:00.004-05:00

It's so frustrating when one can't locate a possession. I've looked high and low for my camera, and have yet to find it. And, of course, I have lots of items to photograph and post from my visit to Miss Mary's quilting cottage.

The BOM, Somewhere in Time, is completely assembled and bordered into a quilt top. I love the way it turned out. I'm sure, if I could find the camera, you would like it, too! (You can sneak a peek during it's assembly at my friend, Laura's blog. She posted some pictures of the first evening we were at Miss Mary's. I'm on the left in the picture of four of us seated at our machines. And, my DSIL is shown at her tan Featherweight machine.)

I made all the blocks posted to date for a Pinwheel Sampler for my Granddaughter. Ditto for two grandsons with a Bear Paw Sampler for each. My cousin's Perfume Bottle blocks have all received the attic window treatment, and will be laid out on the basement floor this evening, to begin assembly. Borders will make it ready to go to my friend, Viki, a long-arm quilter. I'm determined to take the quilt to visit Diane in Atlanta on March 4.

I have completed the applique of "Here Comes" . . . for my Santa's of the World quilt . . . starting on the "S" in "Santa Claus!" I'm using double-layer lettering for it, and it really pops. It has a peppermint letter with a dark red outline to complete each letter. I've also done a bit more of the embroidery of the names and countries of origin of the Santa blocks for that quilt. That's real close to completion, too.

My participation in Scratching Post and Quiltville chats have made me aware of several new BOM's being launched on various websites. Of course, I've passed these along to my quilting pals . . . I think they concur with my DSIL, constantly warning me that I'm out of control . . . the comment I got when I noted yet another BOM was, "Step away from the BOM's"!

It all goes to point out the accuracy in a new acronym of which I recently became aware: SABLE . . . sewing projects above and beyond life expectancy. I think I can live up to that!

Environment or genetic inheritance?

2009-02-02T10:59:00.003-05:00

Had my 8-year-old grandson, Drew, on Saturday. We usually run errands, and play. He's very into Pokemon cards at the present, so our errands usually include a store where those cards are available. This Saturday's run included Target and Wal-Mart . . . I wanted to go on to Staples, but he was anxious to get back to my house to get his Pokemon cards organized. Grandpa gave him some plastic pages to hold his cards, and he likes for me to set up a tv tray and he sits down and spreads the cards all out, then places them in alphabetical order. My husband and I have reputations as being very organized, so we have taken credit for this trait in Drew. It certainly is funny to see this type of habit pop up in the someone so young.

Another purchase on Saturday was a bean-bag video chair. He just went ga-ga when he saw them, and asked if we could get one. I told him it could be an early birthday present, since it's just about four weeks until his birthday. Yesterday, my son called for some cooking advice, and I asked how Drew was. He had gone to spend the previous night with a cousin, and insisted on taking his video chair!

I try never to turn him down when he calls and wants to play. I know this time is short-lived, and soon, he won't find going on errands with his grandmother to be such a great idea. A couple years ago, I went over one morning when both his parents had to work. When he got up, I asked him if he would like to go to the local science and technology museum for children, Imagination Station. He said yes, and asked if he could invite a buddy. I agreed, so instead of going to the phone, he looked out the front door. Two boys were peddling by on their bikes, and he yelled, "Hey, guys . . . want to go have fun with my Nan?" Not a single detail more was given, but they both yelled, "Yes!", and peddled off to ask permission. It just cracked me up. About half an hour later, we were loaded up in my van, and off we went to Imagination Station, and of course, that favored dining spot, McDonald's.

These little jaunts with a car full of boys are so much fun. And, it's gratifying that Drew is so proud of me . . . someone will ask a question, and I try to give an answer or a promise to look it up. On one occasion, Drew announced, "My Nan knows how everything works!" Boy, have I got him fooled.

A couple weeks ago, we made a visit to Hobby Lobby. I needed a red for grandson, Addison's quilt to commemorate his performance in an opera last fall, Noah's Flood. Usually, while I'm looking at the various fabrics, Drew likes to push the cart up and down the fabric aisles. He came steaming around the corner and announced, "Look what I found, Nan". We have had some yardage in orange laid aside to make Drew a quilt, and sure enough, he had found a puzzle fabric that would be a perfect complement to the orange. So, I started making both Drew and Addison a quilt based on the Bear Paw Sampler blocks at Sindy Rodenmayer's Fat Cat Patterns. I had the first six blocks cut for each boy, and worked on assembly at Miss Mary's. I used a royal blue background with Drew's orange and puzzle fabric, and the blocks are very striking. New block for February has been posted, so getting back to those will soon be on the agenda. (By the way, Sindy has just posted a stunning new applique BOM called, "Baltimore Bliss". Wonder when I can try to fit that one into my agenda?)

Haven't sewn much since I came home from Miss Mary's. I signed up for two fabric swaps . . . neutrals in one, and civil war neutrals and shirtings in another, so cutting strips has been a priority. Just two pieces of fabric left to cut, but they needed a little pressing, before cutting. Also, participating in a Valentine's swap from Pat Sloan's yahoo group. I embellished a tea towel with hearts, and am about to finish a pin-cushion using an antique heart-shaped jell-o mold. I used Sandy Gervais' Candy Kisses fabrics, and they are really cute. Other "treasures" are some valentine candies, a valentine journal and note paper, a little red-work kit with cupid's arrow, and a tiny little flower-pot with seeds to launch a spring garden! Pictures will be posted later today!

Still rotary rolling along!

2009-01-16T09:50:00.002-05:00

Still have "cutting fever", so I'm taking advantage. I've been cutting triangles to get my pinwheels finished for Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Roads, her September 2008 mystery. All the bricks are cut, as well as the corner pieces. I might even think about cutting the flying geese for the borders.

Sindy Rodenmayer at Fat Cat Patterns has been posting both Bear Paw Sampler Blocks and a Pinwheel Sampler. Last trip to see the grandkids, I took a couple fabric selections to make quilt blocks with the eldest kids. They are just too busy, but at least they picked out their favorites. Last night, checked through the journals I created for those patterns. The pieces are fairly large, so I'm already thinking about putting those fabrics in the path of my cutter, while it's hot! It's nice to have many choices to sew for those days when one's brain wants to shut down, but sewing is appealing in a mindless way.

As I get some of these projects closer to completion, its good to downsize the container in which the project has been stored. Santa's of the World had a really big tote, since it contained extra fat quarters in anticipation of making borders. Since all the borders are now cut and ready to assemble, that container is down to only being about one-third full. Thinking about going to Miss Mary's, it seems like a good idea to combine several projects into one tote, thereby eliminating trips to the car to haul in stuff . . . being -19 outside, I find my mind is working harder on eliminating trips outside! Targetting to have two totes for projects, my Featherweight, and applique kit seems like a really good plan. Then, I only have to worry about clothes, and my food assignments!

About a year ago, I fell in love with a Christmas quilt by Lynette Anderson, called, "Friends for Christmas". The quilt has penguins portraying the three kings, a snowman, and whimsical reindeer. I had to have the book, and it should have drool marks on the pages. Yesterday, I got a sneak preview offer from Homespun Hearth for a kit to make the quilt, since I previously purchase the book from them. They didn't even have to threaten me with any kind of weapon . . . I jumped right on that bandwagon. One can never have too many Christmas quilts, to my way of thinking.

OOOOOH! That reminds me . . . I have a self-assembled kit for an Anita Shackelford Christmas quilt that appeared in Fons and Porters Love of Quilting. As soon as I finish the Santa's, and another Christmas quilt in progress, I'll have to decide what to start on next! Reminds me of a new acronym I learned today from a quilting chat . . . SABLE . . . Sewing projects above and beyond life expectancy!

1320 feet or 1/4 mile, and counting . . .

2009-01-13T09:14:00.000-05:00

Just an approximation of the distance I have cut with my rotary cutter in the last few days. Saturday morning, I awoke to a nice glaze of ice on everything. DH had been out to breakfast and back, and said there wasn't any reason to leave the house again. I said I needed to get my shower and get dressed, and he said I might as well stay in my robe and pj's all day, and be warm and comfy!

I cleaned up my Featherweight in anticipation of going to Miss Mary's Quilt Cottage on the 22nd. Not wanting to start another mystery before finishing Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Roads, I have been saving the clues for Double Delight for a later date. Well, I peeked at the quilt in one of the later clues, and it was like an arrow right through my heart! I decided I could go through my pink scrap drawer and pull out fabrics to put into a container to save for it. I have a tote full of swatches from Mr. B's Fabric Club, and lately, I have been good about pulling things from that stash for these scrappy quilts. With those two sources lined up, it wasn't too far a jump to cut some to size, just in the interest of keeping the proposed quilt kit neat and tidy. Then, I found out there was a Monk marathon on television all day . . . perfect . . . I'll just cut until I get tired of cutting, or watching Monk, whichever comes first. Pretty soon, it was time to go to the blue scraps to select what was needed for eighty 3 1/2-inch squares. Put those in a little sandwich bag, and cut more pinks and neutrals. Then, I located some yardage, and four fat-quarters, to cut setting triangles. Had another actual quarter yard to cut setting corners. Might as well find a brown and cheddar. Found a perfect brown and cut it up . . . then, realized it was a bit smaller than needed, so I found a compatible brown to finish out. Had a perfect cheddar . . . but not enough . . . rounded up a light old gold, and cut what was needed from it. Now, I have a complete Double Delight kit to take to Miss Mary's . . . and my rotary cutter was just warmed up, and there were about 8 episodes of Monk to go.

What shall I cut next? I've been diligently working on the embroidery of my Santa's Around the World, so I could cut the piano key border, which would permit removing extra fabrics from the tote that one has been stored in, and have it ready to assemble, too. First, calculate size . . . then go through the scraps to cut as many "keys" as possible from scraps. That gave me about 40, and I needed 84 . . . on to the fat quarter stash put aside for this quilt, and cut the "keys" needed. That one is ready to go.

My Millennium quilt needs sashes and cornerstones . . . and star points, since it is getting a star and sash setting. Have about a dozen blocks sashed . . . so, cut prisms until the main setting fabric is used up. Will have to fill in with a couple of other Millennium prints to finish those out. Cut lots of half-square triangles for the star-cornerstones, and squares for the center of the stars. Also ready to go.

Get ready for bed, and think about work the next day . . . how dreary . . . think about my quilts some more. What else could I get ready?

Morning comes, and driving to work, re-think the Christmas quilt . . . it's going to be nearly square, and I'd like it to have some added length. How about a title . . . "Here comes Santa Claus" . . . now, I'll be singing that all day! A nine-inch border with words . . . won't Laura be proud of me . . . lunch hour, I cut two strips to make that border . . . can't decide if it should be on top or at the bottom of the blocks, but it needs to be inside the piano key border . . . cut six more piano keys. Went to the computer and did a banner in Printmaster of a swooping "Here comes Santa Claus". Started marking letter templates, and cutting some of them out while preparing dinner. Went through the fabrics again, and picked a red and a "peppermint" stripe for the lettering.

When dinner was over, and dishes were done, back to my post in front of the television to think about what else might be nearly ready. Really need to finish my perfume bottle quilt for my cousin, Diane. Have about 40 blocks set in attic windows, and another 80 blocks needed to be set. I'm using a black with gold confetti, and a gilded window-pane print from Michael Miller. Cut lots of strips, and using the large EZ Angle, cut all the attic window pieces to complete the remaining blocks. That will be ready to set together at Miss Mary's.

Already packed for assembly are two other projects. One is Somewhere in Time, a BOM from Block Central last year . . . all pieces are cut and ready to assemble. Also, have all blocks and pieces ready to assemble a Paducah Booth Hop from a couple years ago.

Still feel like cutting . . . need to start on my Farmer's Market, since it will be a BOM at Guild. Brought that tote upstairs . . . templates are all made, fabrics selected for the first block. Ready to cut the background, and launch the applique.

Cutting urge waning, but I can cut more pieces for my Old Tobacco Roads mystery, and get it out of the way. Have the four-patches all done, but need to make more pinwheels, and can cut the bricks needed. Might as well get that one ready to go.

Need to check on my Sweet Tea quilt. Started putting borders on blocks, and that could go along to be finished. Not much cutting to do there.

Wonder how much it will cost to rent a POD to have all this stuff delivered to Miss Mary's?

Santas almost ready to assemble!

2009-01-07T11:15:00.000-05:00

On August 15, 2005, I went to a now-closed quilt shop's Monday Madness, to begin collecting blocks for quilt designed by Quakertown Quilts' Susan Garman called, Classic Santas. Once a month, I dutifully attended to collect the kit for a "free" pieced block, and the applique Santa block to which I had subscribed. The concept was that the first pieced block was purchased for $5, and subsequent block kits were free, if one attended the meeting, with the previous month's block completed. I kept up with the pieced blocks, until the last meeting, when I was visiting grandkids. One of my friends kindly purchased the last block for me, so, my pieced blocks cost a grand total of $10. Each month, I also acquired fat quarters or half-yards of some of the other fabrics included in the kits, looking forward to being prepared to make the border. The original design included six-inch duplicate blocks of the 12-inch finished blocks, to be used as spacers. After making about four of them, I decided to continue with the pieced frame, but use some design elements from the applique blocks. Yesterday, on my lunch hour, I stitched down the last berry on a mini-block featuring three candles, with holly leaves and berries. Now, I'm attending to the embroidery embellishments, such as eyes for the Santas.

In two weeks, our little group will be going to Miss Mary's Quilting Cottage for three days of non-stop sewing, and nearly non-stop laughing. I'm in hopes of having all the embroidery embellishments done by then, so that I can assemble the quilt top. I've got a few extra embellishments up my sleeve, intended to personalize this quilt a bit more from the others made on the same program.

My DSIL will be arriving from Texas to play with us, too. It's such a joy to have her here, and I feel so fortunate that we are so close in hearts, since the geographic distance is large. We've been amused in recent years at how many people ask, or assume that we are biological sisters. Some say that couples start to look alike after living together for years . . . but who would think that the wives would begin to look alike after being married to brothers for years! Some of the gals from Guild, who see Jan at our fall Retreat, ask how my sister is, and knowing they mean Jan, I always say just fine. As to resemblance, at this point in time, we both have salt and pepper hair, wear glasses, and enjoy the same activities.

When I return from the mini-retreat, I should be receiving some blocks from a Quiltville Swap exchange of Bonnie Hunter's Boxy Stars. I have about twenty additional block units made, so I'll have another quilt top to put together. I can't believe how many wonderful people I have met on-line through some quilting groups. It's just too much fun.

So, from this vantage point, 2009 is going to be a productive one in terms of finished quilt tops!

New Year . . . New Ideas Whirring!

2009-01-04T12:13:00.009-05:00

The Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild Scrap Bag Challenge was revealed at the December Christmas Party. That's my friend, Viki, surveying some of the 17 candidates. The weather was terrible that night, and kept only those who were not just dying of curiosity to see the results from coming. We'll have another display later in the year when weather is more cooperative.

Here's my entry. It turned out very nicely, if I do say do myself. The rules indicated that up to 20 pieces of scraps no smaller than 4-inches square were to be placed in a bag. There wasn't to be any deliberate color coordination. I received Cheryl's scraps which included some dress-making scraps, some brights, and even a piece of decorator fabric. I think I used thirteen or fourteen pieces, adding only the light gray background. Mine was one of only two that were hand-quilted. Sort of got my inspiration going in that direction, too, so I've resolved to finish a quilt that has been on my frame for entirely too long, as well as one I removed from my hoop to quilt the challenge piece.

This is Marguerite displaying her entry which was voted favorite quilt. It was called "Galaxy Diner", and featured conversational prints of Coca-Cola products and space novelty prints. It was adorable, and, as usual, the machine quilting is fabulous. That's just Marguerite's usual manner of working. In other words, Perfect!

This is an aging applique project that I have decided needs to be completed in 2009. The blocks were made in a scrap quilt class called "Scrap Soup". After assembly, it seemed to call for some applique in the borders, which is an adaptation of a Pat Andreatta pattern called, "Serenade". I decided to call this quilt, "Serendipity". I probably put it away because I got tired of all the little curlicue vines and the quarter-inch circle berries. Only one corner and one border remain to be finished, so it's first on my list.

In about 2 1/2 weeks, our group is making our little trek to Miss Mary's Quilting Cottage for 2009. I have two quilt tops ready to assemble and border; one is the Somewhere in Time BOM that was featured in 2008 on Block Central. The other is blocks from Paducah Booth Hop which featured a fabric line by Judy Martin. I found a medallion applique that is rather whimsical and well suited to the fabrics, making it a center block, to be surrounded by the hop blocks. The border will be a scrappy one, including all the fabrics in that colorway of the fabric line.

I'm also hoping to have my Santas of the World ready to assemble. All the Santas are appliqued, all the large pieced blocks are complete, and there were to be in the original design by Sue Garman, fourteen 6-inch pieced blocks to match the large ones. I made about four of them, and then got the inspiration to use the red piecing around the edge of the small blocks, and feature some applique element from the Santa blocks in the center. The elements I chose are a little wagon, a rocking horse, a pitcher, a couple of horns, a star, and a doll house. Have all the red pieced portions cut, and just need to applique three more mini-blocks. On each of the Santa blocks, I began to embroider their country of origin, name in that country, and English translation. So, I have a little embroidery to do, too.

This morning as I was whizzing the one-inch half-square triangles through my Featherweight, I thought about another of my "PITS" . . . project in tote storage . . . some gingerbread men and a gingerbread house. My friend, Laura, has us all thinking of placing lettering on our quilts in some fashion or another. Those whirring wheels in the back of my head suddenly spit out, "Welcome to Ginger City, a Gingerbread Village". So, whirring onward, I imagined the letters being gingerbread, too, with rick-rack trimming. Steaming along behind that image in my brain was a gingerbread steam engine, with "Ginger City Railway Company" down the side. I had to jump up and run to the basement to get that tote, and make note in my journal. Can you guess what Christmas quilt will be next on the agenda?

I'm collecting the clues for Bonnie Hunter's newest mystery, Double Delight. She said she would be posting clues sporadically, which I decided might give me a couple weeks between clues. Fooled me . . . last I looked, there were three clues up already. And, I'm still working on the last one, Old Tobacco Road. Have the four-patches done, and have begun assembling the pinwheel blocks . . . decided to think only in terms of 96 pinwheels . . . instead of 388 half square triangles!

I think I hear my Featherweight calling me to join more fabric pieces together. Need to bless that little beauty with a good cleaning, oiling, and a new needle. Also, need to do the same for DSIL's beige Featherweight which lives at my house for her periodic visits from Texas. Actually, it's jointly owned by us, so she always has one to use, and that way I get to keep it . . . otherwise it would have been looking for a new home! DH thinks 8 sewing machines ought to be enough to keep me going!

Will this one work, Paulette?

2009-01-02T13:46:00.002-05:00

I promise to post this evening and include lots of pictures, but for the moment, this is a message to Paulette. An errand of mercy, one might say, to help her find a necessary fabric! My e-mail is not cooperating right now, so this provided an alternative! Wow! Picture is better than I thought it might be!

Plugging along . . .

2008-12-08T11:53:00.002-05:00

I'm being really good at not starting some new projects . . . that is, if assembling patterns, making templates, and selecting fabrics are not presumed to be a "start". I keep telling myself, it isn't started until I cut into the fabrics. (That's my story . . . okay, so far!)

I have 8 days to finish my brown bag challenge quilt for the Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild Christmas Party on December 16. I'm just about to turn the corner on the half-way point around the border of my piece. The first border is just a plain one-inch strip, the second is a round of flying geese, and a plain border on the outside quilted with a cable design. My left index and middle fingers are very tender, but not bloody yet!

That's how I learned to use a thimble when I first started hand-quilting . . . I couldn't leave it alone, I was so entranced to the texture of the quilting. Once the fingers on my right hand were extremely sore, it made the transition to the thimble a snap. I've sewn since I was 8 years old, but my mother didn't even own a thimble, so I did all my garment sewing without one, too. Now, I feel undressed without my thimble . . . or one of the choice ones from my collection of silver thimbles. I probably have more than 50 that I have collected through the years. About five are silver with gold bands, and I have two 18-karat gold ones. One my husband bought me at an auction on the day of our 40th anniversary. It's an 1880's Stern brothers ten panel. The second gold one, DH gave me for my birthday in October. One rule I have is that the thimble must not have any holes, and it has to be suitable for use. Otherwise, I'd probably need a shopping cart to push them around!

I picked up a nice silver thimble on my recent Florida trip with friends. We were in Gulfport, for the best crab cakes in the world at Backfin Blue Cafe. It was evening, and there was a street fair going on. While most of the vendors were artists, there was an antique dealer right in front of the restaurant . . . and he had an entire case full of vintage sewing items. I selected a plain thimble which has the name "Irene King" engraved around the outside edge. It's a lovely remembrance of the fifth trip we have made as a group to Florida.

Pat Sloan has a cute pattern on her website for "Twinkle Ornaments". I was sorry to miss the opportunity to participate in a swap, so, at Pat's direction, I started to make one for myself. The pattern will use up a lot of those "scraps too small to be used" in a little box of gilded fabrics that I can't bear to throw away. If the scrap is too small for one of these ornaments, it is REALLY too small to be used! I need to dig into my doll dress trims for some embellishments to finish the top and bottom of the ornaments, and I think this is the kind of project that one keeps by the chair for brainless sewing while watching a movie. I've already decided that the blocks, which are rectangular, should be staggered with some sort of gold cord or rickrack to resemble a chain linking them together.

Tomorrow evening is our little quilt group's annual Christmas dinner. We are to be at Marguerite's . . . and of course, since she lives at the top of a hill with a steep drive, the weather forecast is not really good at the moment. She swears that all she has to do to bring on a snow- or ice-storm is invite us to her home during the winter months! So far, her record is intact.

It's only six weeks and a couple days until our mini-retreat at Miss Mary's Quilting Cottage. So far, I have two sets of blocks lined up with borders cut, ready to be assembled. One other project needs review to see exactly what remains to be cut to get it ready. I have a little stack of about seven blocks needing a pieced border, and my Santas of the World quilt will be closer to completion. Just some embroidery on each block to finish the main blocks off. Hopefully, once Christmas is over, I can focus on those and get that one all together, too!

Pictures next time . . . I promise!

Don't pay the Ransom . . . got away from those Devils!

2008-12-02T11:17:00.003-05:00

Can't believe it's nearly been two months since I posted . . . but I have been busy with work, travel, and my quilting!

When last I posted, we were anticipating a trip to Virginia to see the darling grandchildren, not to mention the beautiful DIL and handsome DS. We had a wonderful visit. Middle grandson, Addison, is very interested in music, and was selected to be in the Liberty Chorus. While we were visiting, we got to see him perform in an Opera, Noah's Flood. I also received a gift of a CD, "Kid-Pan-Alley, Charlottesville". This was part of a program where songwriters come into the schools and work with various classes writing songs. We didn't arrive in time for the premiere and release party, but the album is great. Lots of talented performers lined up to perform and record the songs the kids wrote. Addy's class wrote, "I love Virginia", and it was recorded by Cissy Spacek.

The other kids are busy, too. Ben is the talker . . . he always brings me up to speed on the latest Poke'mon news . . . and last night gave me about a ten minute run-down on the phone about his favorite Wii game, Mario Kart. Lisey is a percussionist, and today, she and Addison will begin piano lessons.

Came home from Virginia with the cold the kids shared with me. Came back to work one full day, and the next day, on my way to the drugstore to get my morning Cola, I tripped on the new streetscape sidewalk across from my office. It's okay . . . broke my fall with my face! Broke my nose in two places. My first question in the emergency room was, "will I be able to use my airline ticket to go to Florida next Wednesday?" Doctor said he didn't see why not.

So, home I went to ice my face and sit in the recliner. Couldn't stitch very well, because my glasses hurt when they were sitting on my nose. By the next morning, I looked like a raccoon. By Sunday morning, I was starting to experience vertigo. So on Monday, off to my doctor for a check-up of the nose, and a resolution to the vertigo. She said the combination of my cold, and the inflammation from the fall, and my ears were just over-loaded. She gave me some meds, and I once again asked the question, " Will I be able to use my airline ticket on Wednesday?" She asked if I would be driving, and I said no . . . so she said, go ahead and have fun!

Well . . . I always try to follow doctor's orders. I had a blast. Everyone was looking out for me, and identifying holes and bumps, and I watched my feet almost constantly. Every morning, I gave them the "fall color report", as the purples and greens descended from top to bottom of my face. I picked up some fat quarters for a planned quilt . . . probably a few more than necessary. Just before leaving home, I acquired an applique pattern called, "Chubby Chicks", and started a quilt that I have had in my head for years. I have lots of really bright chicks, and several brown ones. Around the border will be the legend, "If brown eggs come from brown hens, where do Ukrainian eggs come from?" I'm having a blast with these . . . there are some really wacky chicks in my selections . . . and I added an egg to most of the blocks, too. The block size is 6 inches finished, so it was the perfect carry along project for Florida.

We came home, and I have been back at work every day. I thoroughly enjoyed the Thanksgiving break, and did lots of quilting. I pulled out the blocks from a 2006 Booth Hop at the Paducah Show featuring fabrics designed by Judy Martin for Quilting Treasures. I had one kit for a block yet to make, and it featured a crazy quilt theme. I just didn't like it, and didn't think it fit into the general theme of the other blocks, so I made a star and square block instead.
Much happier with it. Then, I found an applique pattern called, "Bird on a Wire", available from Andover fabrics. It is 24" square which will make a perfect center medallion to be surrounded by the hop blocks. I just have 7 leaves to go to finish it, and the borders are all cut.

Our group is getting excited for our annual mini-retreat at Miss Mary's Quilting Cottage at the end of January. I'll have several projects ready to assemble there. Want to finish sashing my Sweet Tea blocks and get that one together. Also, have all the perfume bottles to set together for my cousin's quilt.

Then . . . what to work on next! I have at least three "kits" assembled for new projects, and that doesn't even county my PIP's!

PIP's progress

2008-10-08T10:30:00.002-04:00

Making an effort to devote some time to some of my "projects in progress". (Sounds less negative than UFO!) The handles are all appliqued to the tea cups border of my Sweet Tea quilt, so it's time to begin assembly of those blocks. The pattern called for a 1/4" accent strip around each of the tea pot blocks, but I am replacing that with piping. I did a test block, and love the look, but had to "reverse" sew it. I'm using my Pfaff, and to use the piping foot, must disengage the even feed . . . which means, of course, that it doesn't feed evenly. Each of them is going to have to be pinned to maintain the proper alignment. The blocks get a blue floral print around each, followed by a striped border to complete the frame. The original design has butted borders, but I don't like that look. Think I will miter each one, even though it is an uneven stripe . . . I'll just be happier with the look. There are only five blocks, so it won't take too long.

Last night, Laura did a program for The Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild about including words on quilts. She had thirty quilts to show her progress, and emphasized that it is a means making a quilt more your own. Her examples are all stunning, but the quilt she just finished for her son, Jess, will take your breath away. She used a quote from "A River Runs Through It", and the fabrics are predominantly batiks. I hope she posts a picture to her blog. Through her inspiration, I've put words on a couple quilts recently, and now I'm looking at my Sweet Tea quilt, thinking it needs an outer border with words. First thought was "Sweet Tea" . . . but how pedestrian! So, I'm on a quest to find a simple little tea poem that I can adapt. Since that quilt is a Block of the Month from a quilt shop, it could use some personal touches to make it different from the other kits sold in town. I've already made some adjustments, such as the piping, and more fabric choices in the tea pots and tea cups. Commentary on the outer border will really personalize it.

Looking around at the things "simmering on the back burner", I picked up my Santas of the World, and continued the applique on the tenth block, the Lapland Santa. Just two Santas left to make. It needs seven small blocks for spacers, and it will be ready to assemble. To personalize, I started embroidering the Santa's name, and country of origin on each block. A couple weeks ago, I stumbled over the perfect fabric for the outside border. It is a creamy white, with Merry Christmas in red, green and gold, in several languages. Got enough for a nice wide border, and used a 40% off coupon at Jo-Ann's . . . really made a dent since it was $10 a yard originally!

I stitched up all the attic window pieces that were cut to perfume bottle blocks. Need to cut more, and that one will be ready to assemble, too. I think it will probably need words . . . something about perfume, no doubt!

Finally, I've been cutting rectangles and stitching four-patches for Bonnie Hunter's "Old Tobacco Road" mystery. Since all the clues have been posted, I've been skipping around on that one. Four projects at a time seems much easier to manage!

In a couple weeks, we are going to Virginia to see our son and his family. I'm taking my Featherweight, and since we gave our granddaughter a Featherweight for her birthday, we can do some sewing together. Sindy Rodenmayer at Fat Cat Patterns has a nice pinwheel sampler, and a Bear Paw Sampler posted. I'm going to cut kits for the first three blocks of each, so that Elise and Addison, my grandson, can each start a quilt. Ben, the five-year-old, will want to do everything the big kids do, so big blocks of super hero fabrics are going to be the order of the day for him. I always ask my daughter-in-law privately about my ideas . . . then, I ask her again in their presence, so that they see that I respect her rules. I don't think the grandkids should see their grandmother in Time Out!

This and that!

2008-10-06T19:12:00.004-04:00

I didn't post any comments about our trip to Nashville, Tennessee, to Ben and Amy's wedding. Amy's mother is one of our dear quilting group, who lives now in Cleveland, Ohio. We were all invited to the wedding, but none of the husbands wanted to go . . . imagine that?

It was a perfect weekend. Three of us piled in my mini-van and started out on Friday morning, destination, Quilter's Attic, in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, directly north of Nashville, just off I-65. Patti, in the mean time, since she had a shorter drive, slept in a bit, and then departed from Atlanta to meet us. We reconnoitered pretty close to our time schedule, and after bringing the quilt shop to its knees, headed to our weekend lodgings.

Marguerite had secured a reservation for us at The Bluebird Cafe for Friday night, and that alone was worth the trip. We saw Amanda Green, Jason Blume . . . and, of course, my brain has let go of the other names. The performance was great, the food was delicious, and I would highly recommend making the effort to see a show here. It's a showcase for songwriters, performed in the round, and up close and personal. Very talented people, and so much fun to see them join in and perform together.

The next morning, we went for the historic side of Nashville, visiting both Belle Meade Plantation and The Hermitage. Beautiful homes and grounds, and we had a nice lunch at the cafe in the visitor's center of The Hermitage.

After a stop for a little ice cream to energize us, we made double time back to our hotel and got beautiful for the wedding . . . fortunately, it wasn't much of an effort for the other girls, and I just schlumped along! The wedding was absolutely beautiful in a lovely little old church, The Church of the Assumption. On to the reception at The Parthenon. Just inside the doors, there was an old fashioned photo booth set up for wedding guests to have their pictures taken, and contribute to a scrapbook for the couple. It provides some really fun candid photos of the guests for the couple. Of course, we decided the occasion called for a picture of the "Siamese Quilters", and somehow we managed to cram into the booth, and take a few riotous pictures. Later, the mother of the bride joined us, and we did it again . . . this time, noting in the scrapbook, "with five you get egg roll". Fortunately, we were also immortalized together on the steps of the Parthenon, and that is the picture shown above. Bottom to top, is Melanie, our cute little redhead, Linda - beautiful mother of the bride in mint green, classic beauty - Marguerite, Patti - the bell of Atlanta with the great legs, and me as the top of the totem. I sure do have pretty friends! And, they have beautiful hearts, too!

Of course, before departing for home, we had to make plans for our next get together, which , for some, will be Pinehurst, in October, and for others, Tampa in November. We just never tire of being together! Of course, we were also talking about our Retreat in January, and what we will eat and what we will sew!

DSIL might be right?

2008-10-02T10:36:00.000-04:00

Every now and then, my sister-in-law, Jan, tells me to chill, and that I'm out of control. Last night, as I was cutting batiks for a Quiltville swap, and my mind was racing on pending projects, plus a couple new ideas . . . I thought, "I need to get a grip!" Then, I had a new worry . . . was I merely at the level that DSIL usually comments, or had I reached such a new high that even I could see the "whirling dirvish" to which I had descended . . . or is it ascended?

Here's what I was thinking about:
1) Cutting batik strips for the Swap . . . mission accomplished, as it happens. Maybe I should put this in the "completed" column!
2) Pat Sloan's "Farmer's Market" quilt for which I picked up a couple backgrounds, and grazed my stash for a few others. I've started a journal, and need to start making my applique templates. Several in our group are doing this one, and our Guild received permission to use the pattern for a Guild BOM/Retreat project for 2009. It's really fun to see the same block made with different fabrics.
3) Sindy Rodenmayer's "Summer Pond" BOM. I stumbled over Sindy's website earlier this year, and did not hesitate to subscribe. She's very talented, and has lots of applique patterns, which I love! When I first looked at Summer Pond, I thought it was cute, but didn't think I had anyone who might enjoy the quilt. Then, in the middle of the night a couple nights ago, I woke up thinking of the pattern executed in Asian and gilded fabrics. Of course, that led to the remembrance of a fabric I saw in the Quilter's Attic in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, last Friday, that I fondled several times, but didn't buy. Now, in my mind's eye, that's the only background I can see being used for these blocks. So far, I haven't succumbed to ordering it for this quilt. I thought I should stumble around in my stash a little more to be sure that I don't already have something suitable. P.S. I launched a journal, just in case . . . ready to make applique templates!
4) Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville "Old Tobacco Road" mystery. This is already started. The first clue called for 4 patches made with 2-inch squares. I have a box full of Benartex fabrics, all squares from Mr. B's Fabric Club, and quite a few "quilter's candies" . . . two-inch squares that were given out at quilt shows a few years ago. So, I made the first 150 four-patches using those. Then, I got sidetracked going to the Retreat, and haven't gone back to this one . . . but I do have the journal made, with all the clues inside.
5) Perfume Bottles in Attic Windows for my cousin. I've been working on this one, and I'm almost to the half-way point in framing the blocks . . . and loving it! I love these little blocks so much, I can't stop making them. I see a new gilded fabric, and can hardly walk away from it (see above)! Need to cut background for the last 30 blocks I cut, but will do that after Diane's quilt is assembled. I made an additional 70 in the last few weeks. As I work on these blocks made with gilded fabrics, I see some that would be great in the Summer Pond pattern noted above. One green print bottle framed this morning will be a knockout Turtle for that one!
6) Sweet Tea. Tea pot blocks are made, piping is made, and the blocks need to be framed. Only three more handles to be attached to the tea-cup and ribbon border. I can see assembly of the top in the near future for this one.
7) Garden Glories. This is a set of patchwork blocks that I made several years ago, and designed an applique float for diagonal set using a vintage embroidery test pattern, enlarged. It has one morning glory, one bud, one two-pieced leaf, with stems and vines embroidered. BUT . . . there are 24 of them, using three different Fossil Fern prints (blue, violet, and pink) for the blossoms. The detail is time consuming, but it will be stunning. A couple weeks ago, I got the pieces out, and told myself, if I just do one each week, I'll be done in no time . . . finished the one that was nearly done at that point, and promptly fell off the wagon! Wonder if assembling the center blocks, leaving the seams open for adding the floats of the diagonal set would be good inspiration.
8) Millennium quilt. Considering projects that don't need too much more work brings on the guilt. Just need to get the star-sash done on each of these, and it will be ready long before the NEXT Millennium . . . probably should make these star sashes a "leaders and enders" project, to make them go more quickly.

THEN . . . there is the journal issue. I pick these up at Michael's, most often, but now and then, somewhere else. Like to pick them up when they are on clearance, and tuck them away. Using a journal, I've found, is particularly helpful when going to a project after setting it aside for a while, to refresh my memory of where I stopped and where I intended to go. It's fun to try to match the journal cover to the theme of the project. Perfume Bottles are in a little journal with hearts on the front . . . significant because when I first met my cousins, who were all siblings who had just met, I trimmed sweatshirts with hearts embellished with ribbons that tied them together. Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush was recorded in a journal titled, "Fresh Squeezed" with oranges and a reamer on the cover. Farmer's Market has "Strawberries and Cream" for the strawberry block. I put aside "Fresh Lemonade" for an applique in an Australian Patchwork magazine called, "Lemon Zest". A journal full of ideas is a Mary Engelbreit design that says, "Keep it under your hat". So, yesterday, I was looking for one to use for Summer Pond, and decided to pull the collection out of the drawers and cabinets of my studio and count them up. IF, I FOUND THEM ALL, there are 80 journals ready to be used for future projects. Fortunately, I think I have enough fabric in my stash to accomplish that goal!

Jan . . . I think I'm out of control!

Time flies!

2008-09-22T19:21:00.009-04:00

Sometimes, the time can really get away from you. I can't believe its been three weeks since I posted, and that our Guild Retreat was over two weeks ago. We had a great time, with the usual cast of characters, plus a few more for good measure. One of our special opportunities was having your picture taken with a former President. Here Brenda and Gabriella make the most of the photo op. We borrowed Mr. Lincoln from his usual post in the window at the Republican headquarters, and he seemed to enjoy the break in his normal routine. Not only was he in the dining room for dinner the first evening, but he attended our pattern presentations, and I'm certain he was happy to see his block, "Lincoln's Platform" included in the mix.

To Abe's left, you will notice a Blue Star Mother banner. Ruthie told us about the organization, of which she is a member, and displayed her banner for us.

Everyone broke out their patriotic wear, but none could compare with Marguerite who claims to have the world's largest collection of tacky hair-wear . . .. or is it hair-ware? This charming ensemble was topped with a flickering star in the middle of her tiara, and I can't believe I was lucky enough to snap it in full "bloom". I had a deely-bobber on my head, too, but it was not nearly as memorable as this one.

Since I had been preparing for the Retreat for almost a year, I was ready to move onto projects other than red, white, and blue. I started the wonderful mystery quilt, which Laura and Dawn

prepared for us. There was a bit of whining about the high number of half-square triangles, but everyone was pleased with the results. You can see my DSIL's at her blog.

I did quite a bit of piecing, assembling all my pre-cut blocks from the AQS Booth Hop in Paducah this year. I'm planning to do a center applique medallion, and vine on the borders. Now that the blocks are all assembled, I have some decisions to make on the applique.

My dear cousin, Diane, was in Indiana for a visit in May. I suggested she look through the perfume bottle blocks already assembled, and promised to make her a quilt with them. She was afraid she would choose my favorites, but I said, "If you take one of my favorites, I'll just make another one!" I kept thinking in terms of just a sash and cornerstone setting, but I woke up in the night thinking of an attic window set with gilded fabrics, to carry out the theme of the many perfume bottle blocks. So, I began to dabble with that concept, and I'm very happy with it. I think the whole quilt, which will have 120 blocks, will be very elegant. I have continued to pick up gilded fabrics, and stuff them in the box for future use. Just before Camp, I cut those to be ready to sew, and believe it or not, had exactly 100 new combinations to assemble. I've only put together about 70 of those, and need to cut the background pieces to finish the last 30 blocks. A silly thing I have found myself doing as I sew the blocks together is to try to think of a perfume name as inspired by the fabrics. It can be quite entertaining.

Another project which got some attention is "Sweet Tea", a pattern by The Quilt Company. I have all the tea pot blocks assembled, and made piping to use in the frames for those. It calls for a pieced twisted ribbon border, with little tea cups place at even intervals along the ribbon. All the piecing is complete for the twisted ribbon, and I'm half done with the hand-work of sewing down the tea cup handle. They go pretty quickly, so I'll be ready to assemble that whole thing in fairly short order.

Friday, a couple other quilters and I will pack up for Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the wedding of another friend's daughter. We're making an adventure of it, and our plans include dinner at The Bluebird Cafe, and a tour of a popsicle factory. Of course, any quilt shops along the way are fair game, too!

I hear my recliner calling me, and I'll layer up some more attic windows to get them ready to sew. It's always nice to be re-energized about an older project.

Countdown is under 6 days!

2008-08-28T18:45:00.006-04:00

We're all getting excited as our Retreat . . . Hooray for the Red, White and Blue . . . grows ever closer. If our e-mails were being monitored, the software program responsible for such activity would probably have been swamped by now. Everyone is commenting on what they will bring to work on, what kinds of tools we will share, which sewing machine will be brought along, and fabric choices, too. I've been excited because I really thought our attendance would drop this year . . . instead, we have a new record - 53! In the past, we have made about 48 sets of hand-outs . . . this year, we made 50, and I had to go back and add to bring us up to full complement. Here's the stack of collated folders . . . all three boxes, ready to go. Well, almost ready. I have some "political party" badges for everyone, so they can make their favorites known. However, our choices are applique, patchwork and redwork! They usually don't inspire anything but creativity!

My DSIL, Jan, will be arriving on Wednesday from Texas. Her projects arrived today. She mentioned that the large box weights 36 pounds . . . I haven't tried to move it. DH put it in the corner of the kitchen which generally becomes the "staging area". And, yes . . . those are cookbooks behind these items.

Between items put aside for "decor", and our "campaign rally" where the project choices will be presented, I have a rather ugly looking assortment. I just keep dropping things on the stack, and before departing, will have to go through and organize them in a much more reasonable fashion. This doesn't even include my sewing machine, and chosen projects. I have mentally whittled the number of projects to three or four. Laura will be presenting a mystery, so I started cutting the first pieces for that yesterday. Plan to assemble 144 half-square triangle units over the long weekend to be ready for Clue #2 at Camp. I'm sorry to say that since we took over responsibility for setting the theme, and presenting the programs, I have not been able to get everything to Camp in one car. DH usually has to follow, bringing the overflow . . . I tell myself that if we didn't have all the hand-outs and displays, etc., DSIL and I could make it in one car. Someday, we will have to figure that out . . . when we run out of ideas for themes. We have a little list made up . . . we're set until about 2034.

One would think we would just wear ourselves out carting all these things from the car into the lodge. Probably the absolute best idea we ever had was to arrange for "valet service". We have a lot of older gals who attend . . . me included . . . and after loading in, I'd be too tired to sew the first evening. (Of course, not sleeping for three or four nights and being on an adrenalin high didn't contribute to the slump . . . much!) For probably the last five years, we have rounded up a few grad students from Purdue to come out to Camp Tecumseh, and carrying in our baggage. The Guild seeds the "tip jar", and everyone is encouraged to contribute. After the first year, the same guys came back for three years, and were delighted with what they saw as easy money . . . then they graduated. Last year, at the last minute, our new recruits backed out. In a flash of brilliance, Brenda W. called Purdue's Air Force ROTC, and got two cadets. They were wonderful. As each Camper arrived, these guys would run out to the car to greet them, and get their things loaded up. Such handsome and clean-cut young men. When I called for this year's assistants, the Captain remembered our event, and said, "the cadets that came last year were really happy they came. This sign-up will be filled very quickly." They are to arrive at about the same opening time as we do, and we have a cart and a red wagon for loading sewing machines, etc., and taking them into the building. It is good pay for a couple hours work.

On Sunday, when it is time to go home, the process is reversed, and we have a youth group from a local church. They always have some sort of project to which the money is to be dedicated. As I remember, last year, they were getting some musical instruments, and the tip jar gave them a really good start.

Back to attending to details . . . I'll try to wear myself out the next few nights, so I might actually sleep before Camp gets here!

Quilting Adventures!

2008-08-13T11:42:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Tuesday, so I got my weekly fix of being with my friends. We usually meet for dinner, and then go to someone's home. This week, I was hostess. Laura has been my right-hand woman in getting our hand-outs ready for our Retreat. She printed all the black and white pages, and I have been printing those with some color on them. I just had a few more things I wanted to add for sure, and on a whim, I began looking through Barbara Brackman's book, with software CD, Creating a Family Quilt . . . exact title just flew out of my brain. I looked through the index for blocks which had a historic or patriotic connotation, and found Star Spangled Banner, Lewis and Clark, and Liberty Star. I thought those should be in the mix, too. So, I'm adding about five or six pages to those we already have compiled. The girls were all kidding me last night about how large a binder they should bring to Retreat to hold their hand-outs. I said that ideally, they would need one for Redwork, one for projects, one for applique, and one for blocks, because unfortunately, no one makes an 8-inch capacity binder!

The first year I was on the Retreat program committee, we found that 3-ring notebooks were a more economic purchase than paper brief covers. So, we assembled everything and handed out notebooks. As the first two binders came out of the box, one of the girls said, "Are we supposed to take a page out of each binder?" They were stunned when I said, "No, everyone gets a complete binder." I don't know why my DSIL says I'm out of control. After about three years of enjoying ever dropping prices on the binders, oil products started going up. That was the end of that ride, so now, we tell everyone to bring a binder for their hand-outs.

As to what is contained, we find many things on the internet, and always write to ask permission for their use. Fortunately, we have never been refused. Some websites actually contain the information that their products may be used for live Guild presentations . . . there's not a more lively group than those who come to Quilt Camp! Still, we always announce where these projects have been found, and credit the designers.

Secondly, I'm fortunate to have the Electric Quilt software program, and I use it as a source of several blocks, templates and rotary cutting instructions. It's nice because I can select a color palette to suit the theme of these blocks. Night before last, Mrs. Roosevelt's Favorite block received by attention, and when I had substituted red, white and blue fabrics, I LOVED it! I might have to add this one to my hopper of prospective pieced quilts. The software also permits selecting a standard size, so that a sampler quilt could be a project of choice for someone who finds it difficult to choose. Several of the blocks printed in full color on 8 1/2 by 11" paper can be displayed around the room where we do presentations for more inspiration. Plus, it's just fun to draft blocks and play with the software!

Saturday is the day of our excursion to Madison, Indiana. We've added a rookie to our adventure . . . Ruthie is going to join us. It will be a great chance to get to know her a bit better before Camp. I'm so excited, I'd like to drive out to Sossity's, our departure point, and wait!

Finished another Santa block, and started on the tenth one. I'm trying to be dedicated and finish this one up, so I can add another quilt top to my finished flimsies list. Thought I would piece the small setting blocks at Camp, where I will have a nice open floor to lay it out for assembly.

Better make sure I have a shopping list for Saturday . . . sort of insurance against disaster!

Week ends . . . past and future

2008-08-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

The weekends always go too quickly. Saturday, my DGS and I went to the Children's Museum, in Indianapolis. This is a wonderful place for kids and adults, and home of the largest permanent exhibit of glass from Dale Chihuly, a blaze of color that is four-stories high in an atrium. Just stunning. I never tire of looking at the components of this piece . . . but, I always think about how hard it would be to dust! One very interesting aspect is that one can go to the lower level, and lie back on a rotating circular sofa looking up into the base of the sculpture.

Currently, they have an exhibit on animation, and Super Heroes. So, not only did we see some vintage cartoons . . . Drew giggled madly at "El KaBong", a Hanna-Barbera classic . . . but an animator was on site, and he actually drew a cartoon based upon suggestions from the audience. One of the suggestions was horseback riding, and another was waiting in line for ice cream. So, he drew a horse, making its way through a line for a chance to eat grass.

In the Super Hero exhibit, we saw one of the eight Batmobiles. Pretty strange looking car . . . bet it would be difficult to parallel park with those huge wheels in back. Evidently, my practical side was in charge this weekend, because I kept applying daily considerations to the unusual.

In the drive, to and from Indianapolis, my grandson was greatly concerned if we would have adequate fuel, as well as, the distance. My Montana has a trip odometer, so I set that at zero, so he could watch the mileage. It also has a computer mode which will reveal how many miles one can travel on the remaining fuel. I don't know that he has ever been in a car that ran out of gas, but perhaps he's heard comments about getting short of fuel. Anyway, I set the other computer, so that he could see our range of mileage, and I estimated that we could drive 450 miles on a full tank. One of the things that puzzled him was how the range could drop as we accelerated, and actually go up when our speed evened off. He wanted to know if we got better mileage by going faster. I wasn't sure I could explain that to his satisfaction, but I gave it a try. He so bright, it is really fun to hear his questions. Probably the funniest thing he ever asked was as we were driving along one day, and he said, "Nan . . . tell me how something works." My DH says I have set myself up to this kind of questions, going back to when I showed him an electric eye that activated an automated Santa one year at Christmas. I don't really mind . . . it's one of the things my parents always did for me, so I'm just carrying on the tradition.

Next Saturday, several of us are piling in a couple of cars, and heading to Madison, Indiana, for a visit to Margie's Country Store, a very nice quilt shop, and other destinations in town, such as Lanthier Winery, the fudge shop, and the Lumbermill antique shop. The crew will be kind of a combination of two quilting groups . . . sort of mixed nuts! I'm dedicating myself to minimal purchases . . . looking for some chocolate browns. A couple weeks ago, my friend, Linda G, came over from Cleveland for a couple days, and got to come to quilt group with us. She had been tidying up her studio, bent on removing things she would never make. She passed these things along to the rest of us. In this bounty, were eight kits for a quilt designed by Piece O' Cake a few years ago, called, "Tulips in the Park", long on my list of quilts to make if I live long enough. My first thought was that I would take the kits to Camp in September for the "garage sale" . . . but as I looked through them, I thought this was an opportunity for me. I actually have several of the patterns already, having picked them out of clearance bins through the years. Here in my hands was the launch of the quilt with 75% of them already in kit form. I didn't have to think too long, actually. I went to my stash, and pulled out a few browns to supplement, and that gives me a shopping objective, too. Having a "shopping list" is much safer than walking into a quilt shop without a plan!

Yesterday, I spent the day repairing a poorly made quilt. It belongs to the elderly neighbor of a friend, and Helen had asked if I could fix some places where the stitching had broken. The quilt had been a gift to this older lady, and she was greatly distressed by the damage. It turned out to be one of those imported jobs that some of the discount stores sell. If it had been technically correct, it wouldn't have been possible to repair . . . but, it also probably wouldn't have NEEDED the repairs. There were tucks and bubbles in the piecing all over, and some of those stresses were too much on the large stitches. Every time I thought I was done, I found several more splits. I just told myself, it would make this older woman happy, and make me appreciate the skills and good materials I am fortunate to have.

I'm going back to working on my current Santa now, and have only his beard, mustache, eyebrows, and hat to put in place. Saturday morning, before Drew arrived, I was able to piece the next Somewhere in Time block from Block Central, so that project is current again. I'm so lucky to have multiple projects going!

About 3000 words - in pictures!

2008-08-07T19:51:00.004-04:00

Finally . . . some photographic evidence of my recent projects! First, all of my Elegant Garden applique blocks completed to date. As I finished the last one in my stash, I was patting myself on the back, because I thought it would be a couple weeks before the next one arrived. Of course, it came the next day, and so I'm behind again!

I've been putting together the Somewhere in Time blocks from the free BOM at Blockcentral. The pictures don't do the fabrics justice. They include a rich burgundy, and a lovely Hoffman with gold embellishment. I've just printed the August block, Union Square, and will probably put it together this weekend.

The Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild is in the midst of a challenge. In April, we each went through our scraps, and assembled a little bag of them. They were to be no smaller than 4" square, and could contain up to 20 fabrics. The objective is to create a quilt to be complete at our December Christmas party, using those fabrics, and as many as we wished from our own stash. The only requirement was that at least half of the packaged fabrics were to be included. I received the fabrics of Cheryl, a long-time friend, who was actually responsible for directing me to the Guild more than 20 years ago. It was quite an eclectic mix. The fabrics chosen to be omitted were all rather bright, except for one decorator fabric. The blue, used in the border of this piece was quite a large "scrap", which appeared to be left from a dress-making project. After studying the selection for a while, a Lori Smith applique pattern was selected, and some taupe fabrics in the mix were used in place of what might be green in a regular palette. I thought it would resemble some of the 1850's quilts where the color was migratory, and greens often faded to brownish hues. The vase is a brighter red paisley. Only the background, a gray, was added from my stash. You can see in the picture that it is marked, ready to begin quilting. I'm pleased with it so far . . . I'm not sure if it is to be kept a complete secret . . . so don't tell anyone you've seen it!

A friend finished her Santa quilt, which was a Block of the Month from a local quilt shop before it closed. It encouraged me to get mine out of the PIP's, and start working on them again. I had six blocks appliqued, and six to go. There are now three to finish . . . well, and the one I'm working on, but it has passed the half-way point. The original design was accompanied by some 12-inch finished pieced blocks, and those have been done for some time. There are also to be 14 six-inch pieced blocks, miniatures of the larger blocks. I made four of them, and then, hearing my own drummer, I appliqued a heart in one of the pieced red frames. I always like to add my own touches to the mix, so I'm going to make six more of the small block frames, using some of the toys shown in the Santa blocks throughout the quilt, such as brass horns, a rocking horse, a doll, a doll-house, a teddy bear, and a little wagon. I'm going to cut kits for the small blocks, and have those ready to take to Camp. It's amazing how much more can be accomplished when one pre-cuts.

It's just four weeks until our Guild Retreat. I rather thought that our numbers might be down this year, with gas prices where they are. However, we have surpassed our previous record number of participants. Our full complement will be 51 this year . . . I guess everyone is enthusiastic about our theme, Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue. I can hardly wait for it to get here myself, and way ahead on assembling the hand-outs, thanks to a great deal of help from my dear friend, Laura.

Several friends drive quite a few miles to get here for the event, including Dawn. She is teaching one of our "make-it-take-it" projects on Friday evening. One of the things we all love is the Baked Oatmeal for Breakfast at Camp Tecumseh. Dawn said she got to remembering it, and had to make a pan because she couldn't wait until September! Griff drives over from Cleveland for the weekend, and my DSIL flies in from Texas. It's a wonderful reunion for us!

Sossity will also present a "make-it-take-it" project on Friday evening. She has been handling sleeping room assignments, which can be rather frustrating. Some people seem to think they are staying in a four-star hotel. It's a great facility, but the rooms are more of the dorm room type. Some people have indicated a desire for a two- or three-person room. I don't know where they think the remaining half of the group would sleep, if they received their choice, since the rooms have eight beds in each room. It's not as though one lounges in the room as one would in a hotel. Most of us just fall into the beds and sleep long enough to hit the ground running in the morning.

I think I hear my current Santa ho-ho-hoing for me to come sit in my recliner, and stitch down his mittens. Hope everyone has a pleasant weekend.

My blog ate my homework!

2008-08-01T10:32:00.000-04:00

Twice, I have written up a draft, with the thought that I would add the pictures and post later. Both times, my text has just flat disappeared . . . so, I've decided I'll post whenever I write something, and I can always just post pictures later!

We're at five weeks (four weeks and six days for those of us taking advantage of the extra day) until Retreat for the Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild. Everything is coming together, and I'm so excited. I really thought that we might have a lot of people drop out this year, with gas prices, etc. But, actually, we have more registered than ever before, and also, much sooner than in previous years. Laura has been handling our hand-outs, and I have some color printing to do. The way things are going presently, the sets of hand-outs will probably be all assembled and ready to pass out long before Camp. Usually, a bunch of us get together a few nights before, and collate the stacks. It's really funny how serendipitous things fall into place for us, too. At my office, we use exclusively legal sized folders. Somehow, a case of letter sized was delivered. We were not charged for them and the office supply company didn't want to pick them up. So, the boss said they were free to anyone who wanted them. I waited until everyone else had a chance, and I ended up with three boxes. That will provide folders for Retreat for the next five years!

On a personal front, I've switched from a piecing frenzy, to an applique frenzy. I just caught up my Elegant Garden blocks, and thought I had about a week to ten days to coast till the next arrive, but it came the next day! It's marked, pieces are cut, and its ready to begin stitching.

I worked on the BOM Sweet Tea blocks, and have all the blocks complete. They are ready for sashing and assembly; then a pieced tea-cup border with appliqued handles . . . only 22, and they should go quickly. The pattern called for a 1/4 inch embellishment of an accent color, but I've decided to add piping instead. It won't affect the sashing sizes, and will make my quilt a little more unique. I'm always "cruising" scrap bags, and remnants, and was lucky to score some extra fabrics for this quilt, including, nearly a complete border kit. There are four pieced tea pots which were to be identical, but with the extra fabrics, each of mine are different.

My friend, Mary J, finished assembly of her Santas of the World quilt, and that enticement brought my project up from the basement. One Santa was marked, cut, and ready to applique. That one is now complete, and the next one needs only the mustache to place it in the plus column. The next two are ready for the handwork, and the last two needle backgrounds pieced, and a couple of templates made before they will be ready for marking. The original pattern is supported with twelve-inch pieced blocks, and called for fourteen six-inch miniatures of those blocks. Four of those are complete, and on one, I danced to my own drummer, using an applique heart in the pieced frame instead. That inspired the idea to applique half of the smaller blocks, using the pieced frame, and some elements from the Santa blocks. One has a little wagon, another a doll, doll house, and teddy bear, a couple have "brass" horns, and one has a rocking horse. I'm all wired up to work on that one now!

In anticipation of Camp, I pre-cut all the blocks from the Paducah booth hop. Pre-cutting saves a world of time, and makes the time at Camp much more productive. This is a lesson that Sossity taught us. Last Thursday, the companion finishing kit for the booth hop quilt arrived. It has a lovely applique pattern, but, of course, I'm thinking about changing it to personalize the quilt to my taste. The fabrics are from the Aspen line by Benartex, which is very rich colors in elegant patterns. I've been looking at some of Pat Campbell's Jacobean designs for inspiration on that one.

I scored an adorable set of patterns on sale for a Christmas quilt. This is definitely an addiction. In addition to the Santas noted above, the stash includes a fabric palette for a Christmas quilt that appeared in Fons and Porters "For the Love of Quilting", designed by Anita Shackelford. Maybe I'll try to cut the pieced blocks before Retreat to take that one along. I also have a Blackbird Farms design on dark backgrounds in progress, and some other Christmas books and patterns lined up. One can never have too many Christmas quilts!

Over the weekend, I'll post some supporting pictures to this text!

Great fun with the grand-kids!

2008-07-01T11:39:00.002-04:00

My grandchildren from Virginia were here for a few days. We packed a lot of fun into a short period of time. On Friday evening, we had to have dinner at Arni's, a local pizza legend. Whenever someone moves away, Arni's is the place they head first on a return visit. We shared salads and the ever popular Arni's Junior Salad. I'm sure no one left hungry.

Saturday morning, we went to visit Target. Ben is four, and it's his favorite place to shop. On my last visit out east, I asked if he would come to the airport to get me, and he said, "Sure . . . it's close to Target!" Lucky for us, they had some Pokemon toys on sale for half-price, so I asked my daughter-in-law if he could have two of them . . . she always just shakes her head, and smiles, and says, "Nana . . . ." She stretches out Nana so long, one would think it has 42 letters instead of just four! I don't want to be in time-out, so I always ask, and follow her directions. Lucky for me, she consented in this case!

Next stop was the auction to see Grandpa at work. It was mind-boggling to 8-year-old Addison, who couldn't sort out the Auctioneer's gibberish. He finally had to walk outside the building, because he found it rather irritating.

We had some lunch at home, and then went to Wolf Park. This was the weekend of their big fundraiser, when the wolves are given watermelons with have been filled with other treats. It was fascinating to watch them pick up the watermelon and cart it off away from the other wolves. This was also the first time they had ever given watermelon to the bison, filled with corn. They were mostly unimpressed, but one of the herd of about a dozen seemed to figure it out and enjoy it. We also took our other grandson, Drew, along, so he could spend some time with his cousins. I gave him my digital camera and he took some really wonderful pictures of the wolves and bison. He seems to have a natural eye for framing his subject.

Grandpa came home from the auction with a box full of costume jewelry for our granddaughter, which was a big hit. She spent most of the evening sorting and untangling the pieces she wanted to keep or share with friends. Some of the pieces were probably high dollar items when they were purchased originally, and had received good care. Needless to say, Grandpa was a very popular person.

We also gave Elise a Featherweight machine for her recent birthday. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to sew. But, I did teach her to do counted thread cross stitch, and she was immediately in love with it. I have a stash of kits that I got on sale, and she picked out one of vegetables. It didn't take her long to catch on and ask about half stitches. As they piled in the car yesterday to head back to Virginia, she was beginning to teach Addison with a dinosaur kit. I promised to find her some other kits, and some books and magazines . . . fortunately, I believe I have a reasonable . . . or DH would say unreasonable . . . stash of all!

I had picked up a card game packed in a little tin lunch box called, Peanut Butter and Jelly. The object was to make three sandwiches before your opponent. I'm sorry to report that I lost all four World Championships to Addison. I seemed to spend most of my time with the big rubber fly on my sandwich, or watching the ant cards take components from my alternate effort. Addison, who remains undefeated, took the game home to teach Ben . . . I don't see a lot of victories in my future.

The World Championship of Frisbee tricks was won by Ben. The score was four infinities, one bazillion, to 12. I suspect one of my weakneses was in letting the four-year-old competition keep score. I was not the only competitor to lose to this champion, however. He also defeated his Uncle Casey, and his dad, Kyle, with similar scoring.

There were several wiffle ball games played in the back yard, and a new variation called, "Calvin Ball" which relates to the Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. This was mostly because Addison's hair needs a trim, and made him appear to resemble a Calvin look-alike from spending a lot of time in the pool this summer. There was a lot of laughing, giggling, falling down, and general good fun. It was wonderful to hear laughing children's voices all weekend, and see them playing in the yard.

Sewing machine may overheat!

2008-06-18T11:11:00.005-04:00

As you can tell, I've been busy. First picture is my London Square, which I finally put the outer borders on . . . don't know whyI put it off for so long. It was done in an evening! The outside purple star print border is a perfect complement, and was found in the Eleanor Burns' sale tent in Paducah for only $4 a yard. Not only perfect, but the price was right, also!

Next up is Orange Crush. This is only a portion of it, because it's quite large. I love it! I have sufficient orange left that I will make piping for the binding, and bind it with the floral that I used in the center of the orange blocks. It's so happy, it's delirious!

Finally, the quilt that launched three border projects in one week! This will be a Camp sample (our Retreat is "Hooray for the Red, White & Blue!"), and was made as part of Judy Laquidara's Quilt for an Hour Quiltathon. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will have some sample components to show how to change the look of the star, for a 54-40 or Fight block, for example. I think this will be called Patriot's Stars". Or maybe I should name it for my 6-great grandfather who served in Lafayette's unit in the Revolutionary War. His name was Honyere Doxtator, and he was Oneida Indian. He is depicted in the movie, "Patriots". Or should I call it by his Oneida name . . . Tehewangeraken . . . he who takes up the snowshoes.

I'm going to turn my attention to the Guild Challenge project, making a quilt top from another's scraps. I have a central applique medallion all done . . . chose a Lori Smith design for that, and have pieced borders nearly ready to apply. I don't know where my digit-head brain was when I made the pieced borders which should have been based in a two-inch grid, but I made in a three-inch grid. I'll just have to re-scale when I trim the block, and then I can begin quilting that one.

I've also completed the applique of my sunglasses, so it's on to the "beach umbrella" blocks and borders for that one. Elegant Garden, block two, has also earned my attention as I stitched another corner of it last night. I carefully packed my applique kit to take with me to Guild meeting, and after completing a bud on it, found that the zip-loc of remaining applique pieces wasn't in my kit. Scard me for fear it was lost, but I found it in the container with the other blocks when I got home. Have one more corner to stitch before the center piece, and then a lovely pineapple applique will be the next in that series.

Since I like to work on multiple things at once, one of my well-aged projects is a star block quilt from a class with Sally Schneider. It's going to come upstairs to have blocks added, and hopefully be placed in the finished flimsy column very soon. I think probably two or three additional blocks will push it over onto the completed flimsies list. I just love looking at the list! I can't believe I've moved so many projects to completed quilt tops just since January.

Not neglecting my sock knitting, either, since I am finishing the second sock of a pair of Monkeys, using Schaeffer's Anne mohair, wool and nylon in a pink, orange and brown mix. I've certainly been infected with "bright" this summer!

Vote is in . . .

2008-06-11T10:36:00.002-04:00

And the winner is . . . . Example A . . . green narrow border. The final count was about 11 to 7, including my quilt group last night. I've started assembling the pieced border, but need to do a bit more cutting for it.

Also, have my Quiltathon candidate, which I'm going to call, "Patriot's Stars" to the point of assembling borders. Hope to finish both before the weekend, or over the weekend. DH is working at an auction on Saturday, so I should have some sewing time. Actually, I have three tops ready for borders. My London Square has been laying around for weeks, just waiting for a good pressing, so I can measure for borders, not to mention move it to my finished flimsies list on the side bar. If I can show some dedication, I might be able to post three to the list in the next week or ten days.

Last night, I finished the twelfth sunglass block for my "Fun in the Sun" Florida 2007 memories quilt, so the applique is half done. The kaleidoscope beach umbrella blocks are starting to call to me. The borders will have lots of words, so a start on that is warranted soon.

Marguerite was kind enough to bring a replacement pattern of the Margarita glass block she drafted for our group three years ago. It's the only one that remained in hiding in my studio, and the plan is to use each of the three blocks for 2005, 2006, and 2007, along with a sunglass block as the spacers to assemble the Florida 2006 Shop Hop Blocks. Have some applique planned for the setting corners, too.

The OC group is hot on the trail of another project . . . or projects . . . to carry us through until a new mystery by Bonnie Hunter, projected to launch about Labor Day, the first Monday in September. Our Guild Retreat launches on September 4, so it might be an extra project to take along to Camp. In the interim, some suggestions have included finishing a UFO for June, launching Bonnie's Boxie Stars (shown on her sidebar in the list of patterns) for July, and some others are choosing to make Chunky Churn Dashes. I promised to make some tops for baby quilts for the Home Hospital Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit, so just a few of both of those patterns will work for that project.

Once again, my job is interfering with my chosen activities . . . which I wouldn't be able to afford at all, if I didn't have the job!

Put it to a vote!

2008-06-08T13:17:00.007-04:00

Some of the discussion on the Orange Crush chat has turned to studios, storage and custom furniture pieces. It was my chance, once again, to brag about the fantastic custom piece my husband bought me for my sixtieth birthday. All the drawers, except the large bottom left drawer, were salvaged from vintage sewing machine cabinets, while the top drawer was in a spool cabinet in it's former life. At the back of this drawer, the glass still resides!

What can I say about it? I am delighted to own it, and it was a lovely way to face one of those dreaded decade birthdays!

Bonnie posted the last clue of the Orange Crush mystery, so I went to the basement and spread my blocks out to ready them for assembly. I think my temporary title of "Danger - UV Warning" is right on target. Would you believe these pictures were taken with the basement lights off? Well . . . maybe not . . . but you have to admit this is a bright one! I will follow through, and include the pieced border which she suggests, but I also am trying to decide what the border colors should be.

Example A: This example brings in a narrow green strip before the floral accent fabric. (Ignore the dark red . . . that's the carpeting in the basement!)

Example B: Narrow accent fabric border, with wide green. I think the floral is lost in this example.

Example C: There goes blogger . . . maing it's own editorial comment by placing the image on its side. Narrow orange followed by floral border! Leave a comment with your vote, please!

With a little help from my friend . . .

2008-06-03T12:57:00.002-04:00

We went to St. Charles, Illinois, this weekend for a great-niece's graduation party. It was perfect weather, and there were lots of people there, including Rachel, who is 4. She had been bouncing around playing with the other kids, visiting with people, and she came to sit by me, asking what I was making. Working on my sunglass blocks, I told her it was a story quilt about my vacation, and what I saw. And, I asked if she could guess what some of the things on the blocks. She was really excited to go through them with me, and she grasped the concept quickly. Her favorites were the spaghetti and the fireworks blocks, because the glass frames were orange. She told me her Ga-ga sewed and baked cakes, but she is dead now, and in heaven, and she pointed skyward, as she gave that information. She asked about my thimble, so I put it on her thumb and let her push the needle through for me. She sat with me for probably the better part of two hours, and we basted all the remaining sunglass blocks, readying them for the applique. I had just brought a partial spool of white thread to baste with, and when that ran out, I was pulling the previous basting stitches out (that held the sunglass lenses in place for applique) and re-threading my needle to baste the complete sunglass unit onto the blocks. I asked her what she thought would be fun things to put on a quilt, and she chattered away, noting snowmen, butterflies, lady bugs, balloons, and unicorns. She didn't think frogs would be a very good subject.

My brother-in-law sat down next to us, and was watching, and chatting with Rachel, too. She told us her last name, and it was the same as a popular singer. So, Steve told her that he listened to this singer in the car when he is driving. She said, "oh . . . he's my cousin, but he's dead, you know", and once again, pointed skyward. I think that little gesture is going to become a permanent part of our "lexicon". Steve chatted with her some more, and told her she is really smart, and she must be about 14. At this point, she bounced up to her feet on the bench where we were sitting, and gestured from the top of her head to her feet, and said, "Look how little I am . . . I'm only four!"

I spoke to her parents, and told them how much I enjoyed her company, and they thanked me for entertaining her for so long, and I said she did all the entertaining. Later, her mother came to tell me that Rachel had reported that she really likes sewing, and she's going to make quilts, too. She also said that Rachel misses her Ga-ga terribly, and that they were very close. She said when they were explaining that Ga-ga had gone to heaven, she was worried about who would make her birthday cake, because I understand Ga-ga was an artist when it comes to decorating cakes. I thought I was so lucky to have such a wonderful companion for a few hours at the party. I keep thinking about making a little quilt for her . . . with snowmen, and butterflies, and lady bugs, and a unicorn . . . but no frogs . . . and telling Rachel it has lots of Grandma hugs in it, just for her.

And then . . . depression set in!

2008-05-30T15:44:00.002-04:00

Mail delivery brought me a communique from The Stash Store that the finishing kit and block kit for the AQS Booth Hop are delayed by back ordered fabric. While I'm absolutely thrilled that they took the time to let me know, I'm bummed that I've got another month or six weeks until it arrives . . . What can I possibly do to keep myself busy until then?

Had a distinct moment of weakness this morning, but I counted to about 42 million, and overcame the urge to sign up the the 52 Pair Plunge II which launches in June. I have plenty of sock yarn, but I also have sample quilts to prepare for our Guild Retreat in September, not to mention my various and sundry other projects. I told myself that even though there is an adequate supply of yarn for the 52 pairs of socks, I would have to dedicate myself entirely to that project, and call a halt to my continuing progress on various quilt tops. As a matter of fact, we will be going to Chicago for the weekend to a grandniece's high school graduation party, and I'm looking forward to the trip, simply for the knitting time. I desperately need to complete my obligation of a pair of Monkey socks to a dear gal in northeastern Indiana with the patience of a saint! I didn't manage to knit one single stitch while my cousin was here, so I really need to dedicate myself to finishing that project this weekend.

This weekend is also the Friends of the Library book sale. Like I need to buy another book! But, I have tried to control that urge, too. I always read about fifteen to thirty minutes before I go to sleep. If I don't get my chance to read, I have trouble drifting off! DH always grumbles that bed is for sleeping, so it's clear that he didn't have the comfort factor of reading in bed when he was growing up, as I did. The last few library sales, I have limited myself to the purchase of titles which will fill out a series by particular authors. With few exceptions, I take my index cards, alphabetized by author's name, and listing the missig titles, and attach the whole list to my tote-bag with a springy cord. Then, when reviewing the mounded tables of books, its easy to check and stuff them in the bag, if the book qualifies by being on the list. Hard backs are $1 and paper-backs are 50 cents, so it is a very economical purchase. As we finish reading our acquisitions, and perhaps passing them around among friends, we pack up boxes to return to the library for the next sale. It works out very well for us! In fact, when some of my friends are done with their books, they cycle them to us for delivery to the library as well!

Wonder when the next Orange Crush clue will be posted . . . I'm guessing in about another week on the approximate two-week intervals that Bonnie Hunter originally mentioned. I'm driving myself nuts trying to figure out how the remaining pieces will be utilized. It's just like Christmas . . . I want to open that package!

Hope everyone has a pleasant weekend!

Picture This!

2008-05-29T13:42:00.010-04:00

Progress Report: First image is the first applique in the Elegant Garden blocks by Laundry Basket Quilts. These are small, and just so enchanting. This might be my favorite of the first five block kits I have received. I know you have been waiting to these, Dawn!

Next up is Clue #5 of the Orange Crush . . . I chose to work in a bright palette. Would you believe that the lime green in the alternate block actually tames these DOWN! I think I should call mine, "UV Warning!"

Now, back to the archives! The above is a Christmas quilt pattern with non-traditional colors and fabrics. It's been so long since I made it, I'm not sure of the designer, but I want to say it was a Pat Campbell design. Don't count the berries . . . it wll make you tired. I'm sure they were multiplying as I appliqued them in place. Sort of like an ugly piece of fabric that never gets any smaller . . . the stack didn't seem to get shorter very quickly!

Another from the archives . . . Perfume Bottles from a swap several years ago. These were the inspiration for the blocks I have been making subsequently for a quilt for my cousin. Actually, I started to make a larger quilt for myself; when I decided on a setting . . . different from this . . . I realized I had many more blocks than I needed. This little quilt was one admired by Diane when I first met her, so I decided I would make her quilt first, and my larger quilt later. I let her go through the box of about 180 blocks and pick out her favorites. I'm ready to cut cornerstones and sashing for that one, so the intention is that you will soon be seeing an assembled quilt top, ready to go to Viki Kirby for her magical machine quilting!

On other PIP's, I've got all my sunglass lenses in place, and started to apply the sunglass units to the backgrounds. I'm going to my niece's high school graduation party this weekend, so maybe I can get a few finished blocks put aside for that project, since I have about a 4 1/2 ride, while my husband drives.

I've been all but stalking the mailman, waiting for my last three AQS shop hop blocks to arrive. I'm getting more anxious all the time. I'm going to give it until next week, and then contact the shops that haven't forwarded my blocks and ask what the status is!

I guess I'll have to give the old roulette wheel a spin to see what project will come up next! (Reminds me of going to a Super Bowl Sale with Marguerite once . . . they had a roulette wheel to spin for a discount. As we walked in the door, and heard it clacking, she said, "Wow! Sounds like my first sewing machine!")

2008-05-29T13:42:00.003-04:00

2008-05-29T13:42:00.001-04:00

Extended week-end still went too fast!

2008-05-28T11:55:00.003-04:00

My cousin, Diane, was here to spend the weekend with me. We didn't do a whole bunch except get to know each other, something we missed as children, because we didn't know she existed. I had a great time, I know, and I'm proud to say she got her edits done and wrote the last chapter of her book at my house while I sewed quilt blocks. It's amazing how much we resemble each other, and we compared some childhood photos, and we look like twins! In addition to writing a novel, she makes beautiful jewelry, so I made her do a show and tell of that when my quilting friends came over last night.

I pulled out my box of Perfume Bottle blocks and told her to pick out her favorites for a quilt. She was worried about taking my favorites, but I said I would just make another! I have a wonderful black fabric with tiny gold squares sparsely scattered on it to use for sashing, and a gold sort of "window-pane plaid" to use for corner stones. I also gave her the Peppermint Pinwheel quilt. I hadn't put a label on it, and when I reached for the quilt to add it, she grabbed it and hugged it . . . I had to promise that I wasn't taking it away from her!

I have ten Orange Crush blocks to make, and once those are done, I'm going to work on the perfume bottles until the next Block Central BOM block is posted next week . . . I have the framing for that block all done, so it should take less than an hour to get that one done.

Before Diane arrived, I finished making the Quilt for an Hour blocks . . . I didn't follow that format too closely. Once I knew the block size, I just kept the sewing machine pedal to the metal! I made my blocks in red, white and blue, so it will be a sample quilt for our Guild Retreat this fall.

I just have two lenses on one pair of sunglasses to applique for my Florida 2007 quilt, and I'll be ready to start setting those onto my blocks, and making the alternate "beach umbrella" blocks. I ran across some Tampa Bay fabric I bought in Florida, and my first thought was that the scale was too large to use anything in the sunglass lenses. However, there was a section showing the Sunshine Skyway Bridgein an applicable scale, and since that is an integral part of our quilt shop hopping, I deleted another design with wine bottles, and added the bridge to my quilt. I'm getting really wired on this one. Of course, I don't have too many projects that I don't get wired for sooner or later!

Now that DH is off painting every day, I can really keep the sewing machine rocking during my lunch hours! Pictures next post . . . I just wanted to get caught up!

Machine versus hand quilting?

2008-05-21T09:59:00.003-04:00

Last night was Guild meeting, with show and tell. Several people had quilts returned to them by their favorite machine quilters. It is amazing. We had five talented machine quilters at the meeting last night. It has become much more common place for people to make the quilt top, and send it out to be quilted. I still love hand-quilting, and it's an emotional response for me. I find it relaxing, and satisfying. With the backlog of quilt tops I have, one would think I could easily give in to the trend. When my cousin, Diane, arrives this weekend, one of the things I plan to do is let her go through my perfume bottle blocks, and select her favorites for a quilt. I'm working on my mental attitude to assemble them, and turn the resulting top over to Viki Kirby for quilting. Otherwise, I know I can't get it finished. Though my frame is not in the living room, it still has a quilt in it that just needs one more turn to be finished, and a design added to the narrow outer border. I'm sorry to say it has "celebrated" more than one anniversary in the frame. Just too many irons in the fire, I guess!

A few days ago, a friend of ours called, and I chatted with her a moment before turning the phone over to DH. She was once a student, and then a colleague of DH, and now a long-time friend to both of us. Anyway, she asked how much longer I plan to work, since DH has been retired ten years. I said I have years to work. Later, I overheard DH say to her, "oh, I don't think she will have any problem filling her time when she retires". He keeps saying it's not going to be as many years as I think, but I keep pointing out in return that he retired with full insurance benefits. I hit the door, and I'm uninsured. I think there are lots of people in my shoes.

I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch hour sewing yesterday. I stitched the components for four additional star blocks, rinsed markings out of my Elegant Garden block, and posted notes to my journals for those quilts. I've collected some stickers with various phrases on them, and have been having fun adding those to the journals now and then. I should make some of my own on the computer, and I could tailor them more to the situation at hand!

I got to show my Shining Star quilt top at show and tell last night, too. It was so well-received that I'm fired up to do more lettering. Well . . . obviously, it doesn't take much to fire me up to make a quilt or knit something! I also took my Colonial Girl quilt top that was a gift from Patti. Everyone was envious.

Blogger doesn't like my pictures, so I'll just post this and try again next time!

Officially Summer!

2008-05-20T11:23:00.004-04:00

My DH has launched his summer job today. He paints for a couple sororities at Purdue each summer. For me, that means when I go home for lunch, I have the house to myself, and can sew without interruption . . . until it's time to go back to the office. It's amazing how much one can accomplish with about a 40-minute window every day. Today's project is my Shadowy Stars; I have the units to make four more blocks laid out. Since this is Tuesday, I should have them all done by Saturday. Then, I just have to decide what I want to work on next!

I managed to mark and cut the next two Elegant Garden blocks. They are just enchanting in the lovely reproduction fabrics. At this rate, I'll have the first five done when the next packages arrive.

I'm still waiting for four of the AQS Booth Hop blocks to show up, as well as my finishing kit from The Stash Store. I haven't cut into any of those yet, preferring to wait until I have accumulated all of them.

I'm so excited . . . my cousin, Diane, is coming from Atlanta, and will stay with me this weekend. We only met about 12 years ago. My uncle, a musician, had a bad habit of getting married, and taking off. Diane located her brother, the eldest child, and about four years later, another sister found them. Unfortunately, Woody and Angelia both passed away in the last few months, so Diane is really an orphan now. We just clicked immediately, and I know we will have a great time going through the few family pictures I have. She is a writer, and master gardener. She resembles my mother a great deal. It really is amazing how much we are all alike, and is rather a strong demonstration of genetics versus environment! Everyone of the group is crazy for books and reading, and has some innate talent. Our grandmother was said to be quite a gardener, and both Diane, and my sister have inherited that talent. I hate to garden . . . my brother says it's because I don't like to get my hands dirty, and it is true . . . everything I like to do, one must have clean hands . . . sewing, quilting, knitting, and cooking. I obviously took after our other grandmother, who was a fantastic needlewoman!

Found this interesting color quiz . . . I'm not sure that this is my color! It's not a color I wear, because it washes me out so much . . . but, perhaps it does suit my personality!

you are lavenderblush
#FFF0F5

Your dominant hues are red and magenta. You love doing your own thing and going on your own adventures, but there are close friends you know you just can't leave behind. You can influence others on days when you're patient, but most times you just want to go out, have fun, and do your own thing.

Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working.

Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Quilting along with a Quiltathon!

2008-05-18T19:33:00.004-04:00

Stumbled onto Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times, and her scheduled Quiltathon for May 17 and 18th. She had posted a block called, "Shadowy Stars", which I recognized as being a component of the historic block, "54-40 or Fight". Since I planned to make a sample for our Guild Retreat in September, I decided to play along, an accomplish two tasks at the same time, having fun with a block sewing with others, and getting a nice sample ready for Retreat. Theme for this year's Retreat is, "Hooray for the Red, White and Blue", so I selected an appropriate palette for my quilt top. Managed to cut all the components for the blocks, and assembled eight of them over the weekend. I might add that the fabrics were ALL from stash . . . doing that is giving me a real buzz!

I also finished the applique for my first Elegant Garden block. It's all reproduction fabrics, and I just love it. Before going to work, I managed to get the next block marked, and ready to start stitching.

Checked to see if Clue #5 of Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush has made an appearance yet. I'm sure the "early warning system" of our little group, my DSIL, will notify us all when it appears.

I'm lagging behind in my knitting, trying to finish my Monkey swap socks. I have been in contact with my pal, Natalie, and she has been very gracious. I'm almost to the heel turn, so I did manage to get quite a bit done on those this weekend. I also volunteered to donate another pair to the Almost Home Humane Society, Barking for Bids Auction. I thought that would be an incentive to get the second sock off the needles. They need to be turned in by May 30.

Have a couple other projects lined up to start, but need to get back on track on some of my PIP's. I was doing so well at getting those quilt tops finished, but have fallen off the path with my current infection of Start-itis! The good thing is that I never seem to run out of things to do!

Give photo upload another chance!

2008-05-14T21:17:00.005-04:00

Continuing the review of "flimsies" on parade, this probably my favorite block in another quilt in my "quilt top collection". I had some fabric with huge lilies, and one petal became the chest of my little hummingbird. The blocks are from a book by Brandywine Design, but I enlarged them to 125%. I just wanted to work with bright fabrics on a black background.

This is the whole quilt top. The only block that I can say I was disappointed in was the sunflowers at the bottom. That's because my bird is just a bit too dark, and it somewhat disappears, I think. I had great fun fussy cutting butterfly wings from striped fabrics. I bought a different print for sashing, but the whimsical stripes reaally punch it up. I have backing, and the bias made . . . just need to get started quilting it.

Here are my clue #4 blocks for the Bonnie Hunter Orange Crush mystery. Finshed them yesterday evening. When I was assembling the four-patch units, it seemed as though every patch I picked up was pink. Imagine my surprise as I began to assemble the spinning stars to realize how much green I found in my finished four-patches. I wonder what made them change like that? At the top of the picture is my journal, "Fresh Squeezed", for this project. As clues are posted, I print them off and paste them inside. Then, I add notes of my own, and follow up with the picture of my finished clues. These journals are most helpful when I have put something aside for a while, providing notes on plans discarded, or a technique to explore. I think someday, my grandchildren may enjoy reading the story of the quilt and what was happening in the world as I made it.

Have about a week until the next clue will be posted. Can't decide what should get the majority of my attention in the interim. Might have to start something new!

Start-itis virus rages on!

2008-05-12T16:04:00.003-04:00

Last month, I was able to go to the Chicago show, where I fell in love with a quilt with wool applique called, Primitive Garden, by Primitive Gatherings. So, last week, I thought I would take a peek at their website, just to see if there is a regularly scheduled shipping date for said blocks. While there, I read their newsletter, and noticed an applique club, dedicated to making the Elegant Garden blocks by Laundry Basket Quilts. So, I hurried up and e-mailed them, asking for those blocks to be included in my monthly shipment. Today, I had a wonderful package from them with all these rich applique projects.

I'm working on Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush, and through it's chat-list, I played along in a fabric swap. My partner was Renee, who was looking for some dark fabrics. I received her package last Friday, and it was wonderful . . . lots of 2 1/2 inch strips, which can be added to my Civil War Love Letters project, and a couple of darling Christmas medleys from Keepsake Quilting, which she said she will never use . . . well, I will, and I will certainly enjoy them, too.

Another "Crusher", Wanda, noted she was working without the EZ Angle ruler, recommended by Bonnie in making this quilt. I had a couple extras that I bought in Paducah, and put away just for such an opportunity. So, I sent one off to her, and today, I got a package with three adorable food related fabrics. Timing was perfect for this, because in reading Renee's blog, she made mention of a quilt-along at Amanda Jean's blog. She has just launched a star quilt, and in thinking about whether I should play or not, I thought I could use some of my food fabrics for a fun quilt . . . if I played. Well, you know . . . Wanda just pushed me right where I wanted to go anyway!

My next AQS block from the booth hop arrived today, too. And, my son sent me the Rosie the Quilter t-shirt for Mother's Day. Is this a great country, or what!

So, you won't think that I have just been launching new projects, I'm moving along on my Orange Crush Clue #4, though I almost messed that one up. I forgot which fabric I chose for my accent, and made some triangle squares with it. Fortunately, I looked back in my journal, and caught my mistake, and I have plenty of yardage to finish the quilt, in spite of my mistake. I'll probably use the squares I made to make a quick neo-natal quilt top for the hospital.

Last night, I finished the applique on the Guild challenge, working with fabrics selected by others. I'm going to look through what remains of that fabric palette, and I think a flying geese border is in order. At this rate, I'll have this done by July . . . and, it doesn't need to be complete until December. Usually, I'm terrible about waiting until the last minute.

Speaking of which, I am knitting Monkeys for Swap #4. They are all I need to get done to send off my care package to my swap pal. If she's been reading my blog lately, she probably wonders if I have ever knit! I might send all the other elements to her, and follow up with the socks as soon as I get the second one off the needles, just so she knows she hasn't been neglected.

Blogger is being obstinate, refusing to upload any pictures . . . so I'll try that the next time!

Look what found me!

2008-05-08T08:42:00.008-04:00

Some of my friends say they would like to follow me around, because I am so lucky at finding special quilts and quilt tops. Well, this one came to me! One of my dear friends, Patti, who now lives in Atlanta, brought this perfectly delicious 1930's Colonial Girl quilt top to me. It was discovered among her husband's grandmother's things, and they don't have any idea who may have made it. It isn't in a style that any of the family members was interested in, so she put it in her luggage, and brought it to me when she arrived for our Paducah pilgrimage. The colors are just stunning, the seam allowances are generous, and the applique and embroidery is perfect on all 12 blocks. I will finish for my grand-daughter.

Have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mail each day, watching for delivery of the AQS booth hop blocks from the various Paducah vendors. The fabric line for the booth hop is Aspen by Benartex, and it is really beautiful. Acid greens, and rich burgundies are the main flavor, support by light golds and mauves. As I made my rounds of the booths in Paducah, I looked at each booth's finished quilt. The one that took my breath away was The Stash Store.
Theirs had a central applique medallion, and I love the combination of applique and patchwork. I didn't rush into it, however. I waited until arriving home and thinking about it a few days before I called to order the finishing kit. It didn't hurt that DH gave me some money from the garage sale that he held while I was gone, so I didn't have to "go into debt" to order it. Kerri gave me the option of choosing the acid green or large burgundy floral for the outside borders, and I chose the floral. They were awaiting additional fabrics from Benartex, but she anticipates the kit will ship in about another week.

Yesterday was a dry spell for quilt related mail. Just credit card offers and catalogs. All the credit card offers were for platinum cards . . . how ordinary. I'm holding out for Plutonium . . . I want a card that is radioactive! The suggested limits on these cards are outrageous . . . more than my gross annual pay. I love to buy fabrics, and books, and yarns, but I don't think that even I could spend that much!

I have my Orange Crush components up to date, and I'm anxious for the next clue to be posted. In the interim, I have been bouncing from project to project, stitching on my sunglasses for my current Florida quilt, setting fabrics aside for my Civil War Love Letters quilt, cutting the setting pieces for my 2006 Florida shop hop, and launching the current Guild challenge. In April, we each brought a quart bag with up to 20 pieces of fabrics within, with a minimum size of 4" square. These were all placed in a large container, and we stuck in our hands and pulled out our prize. My palette was quite a challenge, with both vintage calicos and bright fabrics. Fortunately, we only need to use half the fabrics, and can add as many of our own as we wish. I started working with the vintage calicos (more than half of the collection), and I'm fairly pleased with how it is coming together. Of course, the reveal won't happen till December, so you will have to take my word for it!

I wonder what the postman will deliver today?

Oldies but Goodies!

2008-05-06T08:08:00.006-04:00

I promised Sossity that I would haul out the warehouse of completed quilt tops. She still gets to see them in person, but this makes a record of them, too! First up, a mystery quilt from the second Guild Retreat . . . about 1997, I think. Carol Hopkins had us going, making four-patches and connector corners. Nobody guessed where it was going. I liked it, so in my usual fashion, I kept going . . . cutting from my scrap drawers after I got home. I finally decided to quit as I was nearly out of my setting fabric. I'm afraid to measure this one . . . it's big!

My husband has always loved Norman Rockwell. One day, on one of my quilt adventures with my friends, in the dead of a hot summer, I found this Rockwell panel on the clearance table for $1, so I promptly snatched it up. I added a striped border to bring it to a measurement which would allow the addition of the rising star blocks, and finished it off with another striped border. I do love this one . . . need to get it out of the "quilt top collection" and onto my frame!

Another Retreat mystery project, this one led by Roseanna, again at a Guild Retreat. I love how it turned out. The next picture shows the piped border that frames the quilt.

There is a Guild meeting tonight, thank goodness! It's only been a week, but seems like a year since I saw my friends. We are truly all addicted to one another. I have Paducah presents for the girls who didn't get to make the trip this year.

I've had a lot of fun getting some scraps and strips ready to send off to a couple gals in a swap. We were supposed to gather about one pound of strips in the Orange Crush swap. My partner, Renee, needed dark fabrics. Since she lives in Florida, I know that not many shops in that part of the country offer dark fabrics . . . they are a great source for bright fabrics, however. I just kept stuffing fabric in a zip-loc bag, making sure it would still zip. When I thought I had enough, I took it to the post office. Before going over there, I checked it on the postal scale in the office. I'm sorry to admit that my path to an alternate career as a butcher's assistant, or deli-worker, is in jeopardy. I would soon bankrupt the company. The package weighed in at 3 3/4" pounds! Renee is swapping fabrics with me, and has advised that she included some plaids, in short supply in my stash!

This morning, I took my care package for Kim to the post office. I was able to control myself a bit more in this case. Kim was looking for 1800's reproduction fabrics. She'll have to suffer through with only 2 pounds, 12 ounces! Kim is sending me some sock yarn!

Finally, in Paducah, in the Eleanor Burns tent (can't stand her, but her sales were good!), I found EZ Angle rulers for just $3 each. I grabbed several of them. Posted to the Orange Crush chat, Wanda inquired about cutting triangles for a 3" finish from a 3 1/2" strip. Someone told her to just cut 3 1/2" squares and cut them in half! Having made this mistake in my early quilting career, and ending up with squares that were 3/8" too small, I hurried to stop her from this mistake. I promised to send her one of my spare EZ Angle rulers, because that's the exact reason I bought extras . . . to share! Wanda is sending me a fat quarter.

In Paducah, I played the AQS booth hop, paying for kits for a 12" block with Benartex's Aspen fabric line. Most of the shops were out of the blocks, and promised to mail them. One arrived yesterday, and I only have 9 to go, and one component of the 10th one! Also, I called the Stash Company, and ordered their finishing kit, which has a beautiful applique medallion center. Kerry gave me a choice on the border fabric, and I selected the large burgundy floral.

So, getting the mail in the next week or so, is going to be great fun! Having Murphy and his ridiculous laws, several will probably show up today, because my car is being serviced, and I can't go home for lunch! If I ever see him, I'm gonna give him such a smack!

Funny story never gets old!

2008-05-02T15:40:00.001-04:00

I'm very lucky to have wonderful quilting friends, and we have had so many fun adventures through the years. One event came to mind this morning, and though it happened many years ago, I sat here and giggled till my sides hurt!

Melanie and I were together in a flea market outside Waynesville, Ohio. There was a fabric outlet, and we were cruising for bargains. Suddenly, I saw it . . . our Guild Retreat had featured an ugly fabric exchange several times, and presuming that would be featured again this year, this was the perfect candidate. It had a black background with large neon pink blossoms, and acid green leaves. It was hideous. I couldn't wait to show Mel . . . and I kept saying, "I love it!" Took it over to the clerk for cutting, and she was looking at me strangely. I explained my purpose, and she said, "oh . . . I was afraid you really did like this!" I had a half-yard cut, knowing that no one could possibly find anything more gruesome than this piece of fabric. The weeks flew by, and it was time for Retreat. On Saturday evening, we were each instructed to bring our fabric to share in a brown paper bag. We played a game passing right and then left. When all the passing was through, Darle was chosen to select three letters from a bowl, and use adjectives to describe the fabric inside the brown paper bag she now held, at which point, anyone playing could call out to receive the hidden treasure for her very own. Her adjectives were, "bright, stunning, and cheerful". It sounded to me as though it was right up my alley, and of course, I spoke up, knowing that this was one fabulous piece of fabric, and I was going to love owning it. The bag was passed to me, and I think you can guess what was in it. I peeked inside, and instantly was laughing so hard, I couldn't breathe, much less, speak. Melanie was sitting next to me, and she tried to help me, by taking the bag, and looking, too. Now, two of us are hysterical . . . but not nearly as amused as everyone else when they saw the fabric! I think I threw it in a dumpster before I came home! I should have been ashamed of myself, contaminating a landfill that way, but it hasn't found it's way back to me yet!

Progress!

2008-05-01T20:41:00.007-04:00

Keeping my sewing machine going almost non-stop . . . except for those hours when I have to go to work, of course. First accomplishment is that I am current on the blocks from the Block Central "Somewhere in Time" BOM. Here are those results!

Next, the picture of my Clue #2 results for Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush Mystery. I chose to work in brights . . . and they are not misnamed!

This evening, I finished Clue #3 . . . now, I have about a week of waiting for the next clue!

Gloriosky! I finished the applique and added the borders to my Rising Star. I am just delighted with the way this turned out. Initially, I thought I would use the border fabric for all the lettering, but then decided that the scraps in the blocks should be reintroduced. Glad I did . . . I think it unifies the whole thing much more.

Here is a close-up . . . I printed a banner with full-scale lettering in Printmaster, and traced it on my background fabric. Then, I just appliqued the individual letters. It was so much fun, I can't wait to do it again!

Next up are a couple of Florida quilts. I've been working on my sunglasses, and I have an idea for the 2006 Florida Shop Hop Quilt setting.

Recovering the evidence!

2008-04-30T12:48:00.001-04:00

Just happened to read Ruthie's blog this morning (www.threadsofmine.blogspot.com), and found she has posted pictures of some of our Paducah room-mates loading the evidence of their shopping successes into Sue's car to go home . . . claim is they didn't have room for their luggage! There's a little video, too. Hop over there for a peek!

I'm not sure, but we may be able to pad our pockets with monies for our own shopping next year, by agreeing . . . for a price . . . not to reveal this evidence to certain husbands!

When we had show and tell, we thought their "show" was a little light. To be honest, Jane admitted that they left most of their purchases in the car, because some of the fishermen didn't understand that those parking places were not for their boats and trailers, but for the occupants of the adjacent townhouses. So, Jane and her group had to park some distance away from our lodging and walk "home", and couldn't carry all their purchases. (Those boys didn't read their information packet which indicated that boats and trailers belong on the marina lot. I'm the stubborn type . . . I wedged my vehicle between two boats.) Now, we know they weren't kidding about not being able to carry it all!

Well . . . back to work . . . I'd rather be sewing!

Back from Paducah!

2008-04-29T15:59:00.000-04:00

I think I'm mostly recovered except for the burning desire to do nothing but sew or quilt . . . but I've suffered that malady for most of my life! We had a great trip. We usually exchange some sort of little "room-mate gift", and mine was the compenents to make and embellish a pincushion. I took my little kits in a plastic sweater storage box, and was able to put all my personal purchases inside it, and close the lid! It only took one trip to carry it in . . . previous years have seen three or four huge bags full of fabrics, so this was quite a turn around. I bought the show catalog, Art Quilts 2009, and Judy Martin's new book on Log Cabin variations. Even found a scrap bag at one vendor in the mall, and some $1 fat quarters in brights to liven up my Orange Crush quilt.

Benartex and AQS had a booth shop hop, featuring the Benartex line, Aspen. I loved the colorways . . . burgundy, a sort of mauve, light gold, and acid green, and had to play. By the time I got to the convention center, most of the booths were sold out of block kits, but promised to mail them to me. I even found a roll of half-yards of the six fabrics in the color palette, so hopefully, I will have an adequate amount of supporting fabric to design a flattering setting for the blocks.

In the category of "Well, duh . . . ", I put the camera in my purse, and the first time I tried to use it the batteries were dead . . . with batteries in the recharger back at the Lake cottage. So, that evening, I carefully removed the camera from my purse, and switched out the batteries . . . then left it on the dresser at the Lake. Needless to say, I didn't take a single picture!

On Wednesday evening, before we left for Paducah, Jan (my DSIL), and Dawn were at my house, and Marguerite joined us. We all were sewing, and had a lovely time. On Sunday evening, after we had returned home, my DH came into the studio, and looked at Jan and I sewing. He asked if this scene would be a constant if we lived closer together, and we decided he was probably right about that.

Yesterday morning, I drove Jan to the airport, and stopped by my brother's on the way home. My cousin, Diane, will be coming for a visit at the end of next month, so we made out an agenda of sorts. And, of course, decided on the menu for a cook-out. My brother grinned and suggested immediately that I could make German Potato Salad . . . I like to make it with LOTS of bacon. Then, he requested Carrot Cake for dessert. Both are easy, so I'm planning on them being my contribution.

On the needlework front, I finished the applique of my title, "You Are My Shining Star" early this morning, and rinsed it out to get the markings out. It should be ready to trim and attach to my scrappy yellow rising star blocks. Borders, and that one will be ready to quilt. I even found a backing at Eleanor Burns' tent sale. I don't care for her, and have never set foot in any of her Paducah locations before, but the other girls wanted to go because of the $4 a yard fabrics. I liked that part, and thought that since we were going as our first stop in the morning, I wouldn't have to listen to her voice, or kindergarten delivery. We weren't 20 feet from the car, and I heard her on the PA . . . I managed to refrain from sticking my fingers in my ears. I know that many people adore her, but she just drives me nuts! I was happy to find a couple fabrics, and some EZ Angle rulers for only $3 . . . I grabbed a couple of those, because I have been known to use one so much that I rubbed the lettering right off the ruler.

Last night, I put together the framing sashing for the upcoming Somewhere in Time blocks. The fifth block in that series should be posted in a day or two. I pieced the first four last week before departing for Paducah. On my lunch hour, I started cutting for Clue #3 of Orange Crush. Once that is out of the way, I have to decide what I will work on next. I think I'll get my Millennium quilt (WAY AHEAD on that one!) out and prepare the sashing strips "leader and ender" fashion. Also, have a lay-out planned for my 2006 Florida Shop Hop blocks which are all assembled, so will probably start the applique for the setting pieces on that one. Can you imagine what I might get done if I didn't have to work?

Has the clock stopped?

2008-04-22T12:57:00.000-04:00

My sister-in-law arrived from Texas last night, and we lost no time in getting to sewing in the studio. I made the next two blocks in the Block Central BOM, "Somewhere in Time". Just one to go, and I'm caught up. The next one, for May, should be posted shortly after I return from the Paducah trip. Then, it will be slow going . . . only a BOM, amazingly enough!

I just was looking at the AQS site, and note that they are having another Paducah Booth Hop. I got the list of vendors and booth numbers. I might have to indulge in that. My shopping list is really quite short. I need one for fabric for the borders of Somewhere in Time; I have another quilt in the planning stages, and I'm looking for a lemon fabric for that one. There are a couple of stitchery books I'd like to acquire, but they are Aussie publications, so the availability in this venue may be limited. So, I could easily add the booth hop blocks. I NEED to replace the shop hop blocks I recently assembled with another project; and I have details all figured out for another . . . so that would be two projects making space for a new one. Of course, if the blocks happen to be made with some of the Kaffe Fassett fabrics, I'll just pass. They don't do anything for me!

Tonight is Paducah Eve . . . we'll gather together, and have a big meal, including our husbands . . . sort of a last hot meal for them! Since we aren't leaving till Thursday morning, we're talking about doing dinner tomorrow evening, too. After all, we will be spending four days solid together . . . might as well squeeze in a little more time together! Obviously, we never get tired of each other.

I took the day off tomorrow, too, so I can throw my clothes into a suitcase, and bake some cookies to take along on our journey. We usually have too much food, and I would hate for this year to be an exception!

My DSIL is looking for some batiks to finish a project she has underway. She went shopping in my basement this morning, to find a fabric to add to her Orange Crush palette. She had picked out a solid originally, but felt it was too stark for the rest of her choices. All the scraps she has used have some metallic embellishment. Fortunately, she found something she liked right away.

Time for me to sew a little bit before going back to the office. It's been very quiet, but under Murphy's Law, some ugly project will show up at the very last moment of the day, just to make my heart stop!

I've been tagged!

2008-04-21T11:36:00.000-04:00

I've been tagged by Candace to give you 7 Random or Weird things about me.Here are the rules:1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.2. Post THE RULES on your blog.3 Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.4. Tag 7 people and link to them.5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.Here are Seven Random or Weird Facts About Me:

1) I had the best of both worlds. I am my father's only child, and my mother's eldest of five. My parents divorced when I was three. They had been married eleven years when I came along, and the marriage couldn't stand the strain!

2) I don't like eating raw tomatoes, but I love to cook with them.

3) I have all kinds of collections: silver thimbles, advertising recipe tins, pin cushions, needle books, tea pots, cookbooks (have around 500 of them). I suppose one could say I collect sewing machines, too, since I have about ten, five of which are the working "fleet". Have a couple that I need to have serviced, and one that should be a boat anchor.

4) I'm in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York . . . as a donor, not as a player . . . I throw like a girl! When my sons were playing Broncho league ball, I organized a cookbook from the families of the players, and solicited recipes from some major league players, as well. After the cookbook was published, I took a copy to Cooperstown, and it was accepted for their library there. They sent a very nice certificate of thanks!

5) My DSIL and I have been married to brothers so long, we've started to look alike. People are constantly asking if we are sisters, or just presume that we are. We like the same things, so we might as well be! I have more in common with her than I do with my sister!

6) I love flowers, but don't like to garden. My brother told me that I don't like to get my hands dirty . . . and I realized he was right on target. But all the things I like to do require clean hands . . . quilting, sewing, knitting, cooking!

7) My brother mentioned about another brother, "you can always tell when he needs a haircut, because he starts running his hands through his hair on the top of his head, just like our uncle." I looked at him thunderstruck, because I do the same thing, but had never recognized it as a family "trait". As I get older, I find myself with other little "signatures" that I recognize from my mother or dad! I think we all have a litany of things our mothers said that we resolved never to say. It's amazing to hear those things coming out of my mouth . . . and I hear them in my mother's voice. But, even scarier is when you realize that you are railing against the government, just like your father!

So, there you go, Candace . . . just another nut in a nutshell! I won't specifically tag anyone, but I would love to see others respond!

Studio is Tidy!

2008-04-20T19:05:00.010-04:00

Spent most of Saturday evenings, and all day Sunday, finishing up the clean-up of my studio. Thought I'd better hurry up and take pictures, while it's still tdy! This is the view from the doorway.

This is the view from the computer station, next to the doorway! Hey, Sossy . . . take a good look at the bookcase! It doesn't show clearly, but to the immediate left of the bookcase is an interesting roll-top sewing box. Multiple chatelaines hang from the shelf, too. Look at that collection of rulers, will you? They are all lined up in a file sorter on the cabinet at the left.

Speaking of the computer . . . here's that and the bookcase in the other corner. You can see some of my collectible pincushions on the shelves above. Also, you might note that I have two printers. The one on the right is an old dot-matrix that I use for printing paper foundations on freezer paper. Works like a charm!

Here are my entertainment components. Inside the armoire, is my television and DVD player. I can sit at the sewing machine and watch movies. The doors of the armoire are convenient to drape a flannel-backed tablecloth, and display blocks I've assembled.

And, here's my reward to devotion to task. I'm collecting the Block of the Month at Block Central, called "Somewhere in Time". This is block one, Union Square. It's an 18-inch block, and uses a color palette that I had assembled with no known purpose. I think it's going to be a fun project. I have three blocks to make to catch up. I wouldn't let myself start it until the studio and basement storage were cleaned up.

Friday evening, I completed assembly of Clue #2 blocks for Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush mystery. It will be about a week until Clue #3 is posted, and that will work perfectly for me. My DSIL arrives from Texas tomorrow for Paducah Week! We will be departing on Thursday morning for our annual adventure.

Crushing and Road Tripping!

2008-04-17T12:56:00.000-04:00

Bonnie Hunter posted Clue #2 yesterday. I'm still in my never ending quest to clean up my studio . . . now that the basement is tidy. I was really good, and worked on the stuff on one of the bookcases, and one double-drawer unit. Having "earned" some sewing time, I proceeded to cut the half-square triangles and squares I need for the second clue. This morning, I put about 20 units of the 142 necessary together. Since Bonnie said she will post a new clue every two weeks, that fits my schedule perfectly. I can get my units done, go to Paducah, and come home to Clue #3!

Next week is going to be a blast. My DSIL arrives from Texas on Monday, along with Queen Patti from Atlanta. Tuesday, of course, is Paducah Eve, and the accompanying dinner . . . we sort of feed our spouses a "last meal" at this event, which includes Patti's famous cream puffs! They are spectacular. I was lucky to be accepted at the Cream Puff Symposium which she offered for us before her move to Atlanta. Hers will always be the best, though.

Wednesday, Dawn and Linda G. will arrive from the Chicago suburbs and Cleveland suburbs, respectively. Linda is to be an honored guest of a former student on Wednesday evening at the student's senior banquet. Dawn and Jan will both be staying with me that evening, so we will probably work on our Orange Crush projects.

For several years, we have driven to Effingham, Illinois on Wednesday evening, so we can hit the ground running into Angie's Nine-Patch, there when she opens the door. I always send her a note to warn her that the quilting "locusts" will be there, so she has enough help to cut for all of us at the same time. So far, she hasn't locked the door when she sees us coming! This year, we have gone back to the Thursday morning departure. The way we do it, it will probably be dinner time before we see the doors of Hancock's in Paducah!

I'm on the same fabric diet, continuing into Paducah. A jelly roll, and some charm squares are the probable limit . . . perhaps a scrap bag, if I can find any. I saw several new patterns that I wanted to buy in Chicago, but I managed to abstain . . . hope I can keep that willpower going. Maybe I should stack all my PIP's bins . . . which would be substantially higher than my 5' 8" . . . take a picture, and put it where I can see it all the time. Sort of a self-imposed guilt trip. Once, I mentioned having a quilt project in a box, and my friend, Garnet, said, "That's not a quilt in a box . . . it's guilt in a box!"

Welcome in from the cornfields!

2008-04-15T14:44:00.000-04:00

Carol has joined the blogging world. Be sure to check out her blog at www.cornfieldquilter-carol.blogspot.com. She lives in north central Indiana . . . in the general area where part of the Hitchcock movie, "North by Northwest" was filmed. Remember the scene where Cary Grant gets off the bus out in the country, and then takes cover in the cornfields from the crop-dusting plane? That's Carol's neck of the woods . . . or cornfields, as the case may be! Carol is a long-arm quilter, who does fabulous work, and has posted a picture of her Carolina Crossroads quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter. It's wonderful!
Got to sew a little bit on my lunch hour. I had hoped to have my rising star quilt top completed for Guild tonight, but I'm still doing the applique of my letters. Have just started to stitch down the second "i" in Shining (You are my shining star!). I had good intentions of working on it on the recent bus trip to Chicago, but the road was so bumpy, I couldn't keep my needle threaded. After our frequent freeze and thaw winter, the asphalt and concrete is just exploding. We might have lost the bus in one crater, if it weren't for the volkswagen that had already disappeared into it! The main belt line around Lafayette is supposedly scheduled for repairs . . . in 2010. By that time, it will have busted up into just plain gravel. Maybe we can re-name ourselves as the hubcap city of North America, because there are plenty to choose from along the sides of the roads!

Chicago Quilt Show was fun!

2008-04-14T10:45:00.000-04:00

Managed to drag myself out of bed, get dressed and get on the charter bus to the Chicago show on Saturday morning. This after a night of tossing and turning and sitting up to look at the clock entirely too frequently . . . terrified I would oversleep and miss the bus! Made the bus . . . forgot my camera!

I did remarkably well on my fabric diet. I bought a couple charm packs for my Civil War Love Letters stash. Then I grabbed four fat quarters in a watermelon print, and a watermelon rind print . . . want to make the pickle dish pattern, and call it, "Watermelon Pickles"! I had just posted a note in my journal of ideas to do an inchworm quilt . . . found fabric with tape measures all over it, so I bought that for borders. The Pfaff booth had fat quarters for $1.49, and I found an acid green print for my Civil War stash, and picked out three others for a friend who couldn't make the trip. I got a little packet of hand-dyed wools for my friend, Laura. My final fabric purchase was two five-dollar grab bags from the Little Quilts booth. My friends all laugh at my addiction to grab bags. There were lots of Moda's and Andover prints, and many WOF cuts. Yesterday, out of curiosity, I measured the WOF cuts and came up with a total yardage of 6.5 yards. That didn't include the squares and strips narrower than 5 inches, and odd shaped scraps. Lots of them will go into my Civil War stash. I guess buying 6.5 yards plus of fabric is falling off the diet, but I only spent $10 on it, so I think I'll count it as scraps!

I picked up three spools of Aurifil thread for piecing . . . love this thread. I put a spool on my machine in January, and have pieced at least three quilt tops, and I'm still only halfway down the spool. It's a nice fine thread, that seems to permit the seam allowances to lay flatter. Best of all, it doesn't lint up my machine.

I bought an applique quilt pattern from Primitive Gatherings, and while standing in the check-out line, I felt faint when I saw their BOM, Primitive Garden. By the time I got to the cash register, I had my credit card in my hand, and I signed up. It is stunning, and a gift to myself which will keep on giving for the next 14 months!

Friday night, I finished assembling my four-patch blocks for Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush mystery. Yesterday, I finished tidying the last of the basement stash of yarns and fabrics, and began attacking the studio. I found the desk top by putting all the books stacked there back on the bookshelf, emptied two plastic tubs and a Longaberger basket of an assortment of things. I sewed buttons on two hand-knit topped dish towels, and put those away. Tonight, I'm planning to dig down to the sewing machine cabinet top. I had an ill-assortment of "stuff" under one wing of my sewing machine cabinet, and I removed it all. It now houses my sewing machine "fleet". On the bottom are my vintage Pfaff and a Viking. Next up is a basic Elna, and the case for my featherweight, as well as the case that fits atop my new Pfaff that is in the cabinet.

When I finally sat down last night, I was still wound up tighter than a $2 watch, and felt like piecing something. So, I pulled out the kit collection for The Quilt Company's "Sweet Tea" BOM, and pieced the first tea pot. This morning, before leaving for the office, I managed to applique the spout into position. I was lucky to score a couple grab bags at the LQS where I bought these kits before they closed up (owner's illness). The grab bags gave me an extra border kit, and lots of extra strips for the various components of the quilt, so I can make this one a bit larger, if I want to. That's a trap I always fall into . . . Ooooh! I like this . . . I'll make it bigger!

Now, I'm on the countdown for the Paducah show. Next Monday, Good Lord, and American Airlines, willing, my sister-in-law will arrive from Texas. I'm only working Monday and Tuesday, so I think a few of us will play, "Orange Crush" on Wednesday evening, before departing Thursday morning. I have three items on my shopping list: 3 yards of fabric with lemons for a blue and yellow quilt, and I'm hoping to find two books by Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly Designs, Polka Dot Girls, and Miss Mary's Garden. If I can't locate them, I'll break down and order on-line. As you can tell, I need more projects!

Quilt Show is history!

2008-04-11T17:45:00.005-04:00

Our Guild show was another success story. I was really proud of my DSIL's quilt. It was wonderfully displayed. One rounded a corner, and there it was right in front of you. It is stunning. She did a magnificent job . . . of course, blogger is being obstinate again!

I managed to get my Peppermint Pinwheel finished, and didn't even get any blood on it! I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, too. It's nice and flat, and the hand quilting shows up nicely, though you might have to squint to see it here.

So, with those obligations behind me, I'm free to just freak out! I still have "Start-itis"! I signed up for Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush Mystery. She will be posting Clue #2 sometime early next week, so I thought I'd better get the first clue done. I have about 60 blocks of the 150 required four-patches complete. I'm using a bright palette. Won't have to have a night light!

Early in the morning, our Quilt Guild bus departs for the Chicago show. It's always a good time when you go with friends. One of the things we started doing several years ago is to bring cheese and crackers for the trip home . . . oh . . . and some wine! We serve the cheese and crackers to the whole bus. Of course, its just not the same without Patti doing the "flight attendant" routine. I remember the first year she did that, I thought we would have to get oxygen for one gal's husband. He was hysterical . . . especially, as people were getting off the bus, and she was saying, "Buh-bye! Bye! Bye! Buh-bye!" But, she lives in Atlanta now, so she doesn't make this trip with us. She will be here next week to go to Paducah however.

Since I'm in the final stages of tidying up my stash in the basement, I'm hoping to remain on a fabric diet . . . though a couple appetizers in the form of charm squares or jelly rolls won't hurt! Now that everything downstairs is organized, I can turn my attention to the long neglected studio . . . which is really a major mess. I think I remember seeing carpeting in here, and I'm going to find it before my sister-in-law arrives from Texas. Rumor has it that the computer desk has a wood top, too. Now, it looks like a vertically challenged bookshelf!

I'm doing the applique of lettering for a quilt top made entirely from my stash, and scraps of yellow. I have thirteen rising star blocks set on point, and "You Are My Shining Star!" across the top border. I am ready to start on the first "n" in Shining. Hope to have it assembled for our Guild meeting on Tuesday.

I've made one block from the Civil War Love Letters book. I bought the software, so I need to print some paper piecing patterns for the more difficult blocks. The first block is titled "Enthusiasm", and I just rotary cut it to size, because it is a very simple block.

Next in the hopper from my seemingly endless supply of UFO's is my 2006 Florida Shop Hop blocks. I have some applique work to do on the setting squares and triangles. I'm anxious to get going on that one. Then, it's the luck of the draw to see what I'll work on next.

Surfing for primitive stitchery led me to a neat website full of clever designs, and lots of cute free-bies, too. Check out Jennie Baer's designs. They are enchanting. She has a new book out, too, published by Leisure Arts . . . of course, the name escapes me, but you can get to it from her website.

Hope everyone has lots of quilting and or sewing in their weekend plans!

No fingerprints!

2008-03-31T12:20:00.000-04:00

I'm down to quilting the last eight to ten inches of border on the Peppermint Pinwheel Quilt. I presume I will finish that this evening, and begin application of the binding and sleeve. The fingers on my left hand, which are under the frame, hover between leather-like callous, and bloody stubs. There are a couple spots which have been pricked so continually, that by bedtime, little chunks of callous have fallen out, and I literally have holes! I had the quilt with me yesterday, as my DH and I went to an auction, and I worked in the car and in my seat at the auction nearly non-stop. A lady sat next to me, and complimented the evenness of my stitches, so that was encouraging! I was afraid they were beginning to get larger as fatigue crept in.

I had an e-mail notification that my software for the Civil War Diary and Civil War Love Letter patterns shipped on Thursday. A follow-up on the tracking information showed it was in Indianapolis on Saturday night, so I'm hoping to find it has arrived when I go home for lunch today. I know I have several projects lined up for post quilt show, which will be Saturday, April 5. Can't believe it is so close, and on its heels, our annual trek to Paducah. A couple of our veterans can't make the trip this year. I'm sure we will have a good time, but it just won't be the same without them. I'm going to try to be on a fabric "diet" this year, though I have considered that a few charm squares and fat quarters won't hurt.

At yesterday's auction, DH bought a little plastic bag with about 20 advertising thimbles in it. They were all quite dirty, and you can imagine my surprise when he handed a silver one to me. It was slightly out of round, but a few seconds with it wrapped in an old rag, and a gentle prod with a pair of pliers, and it is nearly perfect again. After we arrived home, and he was cleaning them up, he found another. Not too bad for a $4 investment! Both of them are free of holes, with their biggest problem being a lot of black tarnish. They polished up pretty well, and reveal a country scene on one . . . . house, trees, pathway and sunrise (or sunset depending upon one's viewpoint), and an interesting fleur de lis type design on the other. I told him I was delighted to have two silver thimbles for a present on our 42nd wedding anniversary. He said no amount of money was too much to spend on me!

Next post will have pictures of my London Square top . . . which I have decided needs borders, and the finished Peppermint Pinwheel!

On a Buzz!

2008-03-27T11:25:00.002-04:00

I can't believe how cleaning and organizing my stash has revved up my quilting buzz. Last night, I went downstairs to pick out some neutrals for a swap, and found three candidates for backgrounds in the Civil War Diary and Love Letters books. Yesterday morning, I woke up with a setting solution for my 2006 Florida Shop Hop blocks. I'm so anxious to get that together as a result, I could hardly sleep last night. As noted before, I'm still plodding along on the hand quilting of my Peppermint Pinwheel. It MUST be finished by next Friday to be turned in for our Guild show. To top it all off, my job is interfering with my chosen life style! I'd much rather be home sewing!

Friends!

2008-03-26T10:30:00.000-04:00

Tuesday evenings are reserved for spending time with my quilting friends. Our Guild meets the first and third Tuesdays, and our small group gets together on the alternate Tuesdays of every month in each others' homes. We ooh and ahh over each new project, offer advice when one hits the wall, and generally encourage each other in not only our quilting, but in life.

When someone has to be absent, it's as though a piece of the puzzle is missing. Last night, we were without Melanie and Laura, who are both in Florida. Melanie is a sparkling little redhead, cute as a button, and twice as much fun. Laura often hides her wit and wisdom, but when she gets going, she's just a riot. She's a great story teller, often poking fun at herself about her cooking and domestic skills. She's the maven of lettering on quilts in our group. She's the master of both "wonky" pieced letters, and taught us the technique of enlarging a title on the computer, selecting various fonts to enhance our message.

At our Miss Mary's retreat in January, she encouraged Marguerite to make some wonky letters in Tonya's style. At the same time, Laura was working on a challenge with lots of lettering. Laura collects phrases that she believes will translate well to a quilt, and tell its story a little more. Her comments are always heartfelt, and true. She encouraged me to do the lettering on my little tea pot quilt, and I'm so happy with the way it turned out.

So, now she's in Florida, and I'm working on a piece with Rising Star blocks, and the title across the top, "You Are My Shining Star!" I can't wait for her to get home, so I can show her my progress. I know she will be encouraging, and delighted to see it.

Sometimes one just needs a personal cheerleader's endorsement to make everything perfect!

Start-itis infection continues uncontrolled!

2008-03-25T09:23:00.000-04:00

As previously noted, I received an invitation to play in Monkey Sock Swap Four . . . and to my pal, I received an e-notice this morning that Little Knits has a half-price sale on Brown Sheep Wildfoote, as well as Regia yarns. I would be happy with a skein of either of those . . . and you might even save a little money, too! I have purchased quite a lot of yarn from them, and been very happy with their service and selections. One thing I like about their website is that they have a listing of various yarn weights on a tool bar to the left of the screen. One is designated for sock yarns only, although, one should also read the text of their sale ad in the main portion of the screen for some additional sale listings. Just wanted to share that!

A few weeks ago, I laid aside some yellow scraps to be used in 12-inch Rising Star blocks. I pieced those over the weekend . . . just 13 of them, set on point. Since Laura has many of us launched into adding words to our quilts, I woke up Saturday morning thinking, "You Are My Shining Star!" I used Printmaster to create a headline in a wonky type-style, and printed it full sized as a placement guide. I knew I had a piece of yellow fabric with brightly colored stars edged in gold in my stash. I was delighted that I had an adequate amount to make a border, as well as my letters. Last night, I appliqued "Y" onto my border strip, and decided I will be happier with it using that fabric for the capital letters, and re-introducing some of the yellows in my blocks for the remaining letters. I'm also replacing the dots of "i's" and the exclamation point with stars. I'm having so much fun with this, I almost have to force myself to put it down, and attend to finishing the quilt I registered to be shown in our Guild Show!

DH worked at an auction Saturday, and after playing with my grandson for several hours, I went back to the sewing machine, and finished piecing my London Square blocks in scrap purples. Once it is pressed, I will post a photo. I'm still trying to decide if it should have a border. It's already 80 X 96 inches.

Bonnie Hunter is launching a new Mystery Quilt on April 1, called, "Orange Crush". I didn't play last time, and when I saw the finished quilt, I was kicking myself. Yesterday evening, I went to grab a journal from my stash to put the instructions in, and had a perfect candidate. The art work is oranges and a reamer, and says, "Fresh Squeezed". I'm thinking that was the perfect indication that I am SUPPOSED to play along this time! Brights are resting on my mind as the perfect candidate for this one.

I've been admiring the Civil War Diaries and Civil War Love Letters blocks, too. I have two tubs full of 1800's reproductions, not to mention a couple hundred charm squares left from my Millenium Quilt (the one I'm WAY ahead on?). I like controlled scraps, so usually have a single background fabric to unite all the components. Since I have an entire shelf unit of neutrals, I should be able to find one for that project. I bought both books, and I'm awaiting the arrival of the CD's to print out the patterns on freezer paper. (I haven't picked out a journal for it yet!) Once our Guild Show is behind me, I think I might have to keep a fire extinguisher next to the sewing machine . . . or my head, in case my brain bursts into flame from racing from one idea to the next!

I wonder if tidying up my fabrics giving a better idea of what I have, and where it is, are contributing to "Start-itis"? Might just be gasoline on the flames!

Well, duh!

2008-03-24T14:04:00.003-04:00

I've been invited to participate in Monkey Swap Four, and just carefully posted my questionnaire answers there . . . instead of where they belong . . . here! So, here we go again!
1) Measurements: shoe size US 8 1/2; foot length 9 1/2"; circumference 8 1/2"
2) Yarn preferences: colors - surprise me; clashes - none!; solid or variegated - yes!; favorite sock brands - Online, Opal, Regia, Cider Moon . . . seldom met one I didn't like; New yarn - bamboo or cornsilk?
3) Cookie A. Patterns: Twisted Flower, perhaps
4) Allergies: None; Love my friends pets, but none in my house; smoke - NEVER!
5) Shipping: Resident of USA, but happy to ship anywhere!

Looking forward to another fun adventure!

I think I have "Start-itis"!

2008-03-17T13:06:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure if it is the time of year, or just because I've been handling so much fabric in my stash. I just want to start some new things . . . maybe its because I've been so good recently and moving PIP's into my quilt top collection. By the way, I found another euphemism for quilt top collection - flimsies, meaning a quilt top which needs batting, backing and quilting. I have many of those. I should start taking pictures of those, and perhaps it will inspire me to do more quilting.

I have been surfing around the Sew Many Block webring, and I just love the blocks being made from the Civil War Diary and Civil War Love Letter books. In cleaning up the stash, I realize I have two full tubs of 1800's reproductions, as well as a container with 6" squares left over from making the blocks for my Millenium Quilt . . . I swear I will finish that one before the next Millenium! I couldn't stand it any longer, so I ordered the two books and CD's for printing out the patterns.

Was looking through my Australian Patchwork Quilting Magazines, and always find lots of fun things there to make. I managed not to select any fabrics, mostly because I can't make up my mind on color palette. I limited myself to making applique templates for a quilt published last year titled, "Peaches and Cream". I'm leaning toward bright and whimsical . . . I have four tubs full of bright fabrics.

Judy Martin has a nice Quilt of the Moment on her site called Bluebonnet --- . . . can't remember the rest of the name. I love her patterns. They are so precise, and easy to make. One of the tubs I need to go through has lots of small pieces of blues in it that might work well for this one.

After I think about starting something new, I think of my PIP's, and feel guilty. I've been pretty good in that regard. Saturday, DH worked at an auction, and I set together the blocks from a November 2005 quilt shop hop in the Tampa, Florida, area. Most of the girls who "played" have their quilts together, and some are even quilted. We all admired a setting by Keep Me In Stitches on Dale Mabry Boulevard in Tampa. Several of them used the same set, so I wanted mine to be different. I worked with Sharyn Craig's "Setting Solutions", and made good progress. Now, I need to put on a plain border to frame it. I'm considering a row of smaller stars to add some length . . . like I need another bed-sized quilt top in the stash!

I just have 15 blocks to make in my scrappy purple London Square blocks, and again, cleaning up the stash yielded a suitable fabric for the border . . . at least it looks to be a likely candidate at the moment. I may change my mind, once the blocks are assembled, and I can take it for a "test drive".

I've been quilting steadily on the borders of a piece called, "Peppermint Pinwheels" that I have entered in our Guild's show in 2 1/2 weeks. I had to put it aside a few days when the callous on my index finger of my left hand cracked . . . boy, was it sore. I usually rub in a little Bag Balm or antibiotic ointment at bedtime to get past the soreness in general, but this called for a "glob" and wrapping in a bandage. Happy I was able to keep the Featherweight going on the other piecing projects as it heals. I think I can probably go back to quilting tomorrow.

P.S. Couldn't get my camera to cooperate and load my picture. So, this has been laying around in drafts for a bit!

Time for Tea . . . and other matters!

2008-03-13T11:43:00.007-04:00

First of all, I finished my "alphabet challenge" piece. We each drew letters, and mine was "T". Perfect for a collector of tea pots. Rules were that each quilt must illustrate an item or shape beginning with the letter, and using color named with the letter. Besides the tea pot, I have a time-piece, and all is executed in teal and turquoise! I found the tea pot at Sindy Rodenmayer's Fat Cat Patterns. I reduced it 75% to fit into this 14" maximum finished size. I sweet-talked one of my pet land surveyors into drafting the 10" by 12" ellipse for me. He was quite proud of himself when he delivered the drawing, saying I couldn't complain about the "ellipse-service" I had received! I designed the other elements of the block, and finished it off with piped binding. I'm quite delighted with it.

Still up to my hips in re-organizing my fabric stash. I hosted my quilt group Tuesday evening, and took them to the basement to see the effort so far. They were astonished at the quantity of fabrics, but I keep saying, I've been quilting for thirty years! I have to admit, though, it is a bit over the top. I'm sorting into themes, such as batiks, 1920's repros, 1800's repros, sewing themed, tea pot themed, Christmas, Halloween, and fabrics with metallic trim. I still have about eight or ten tubs to go through, but at least four of those are all Christmas fabrics. Then, there's my carousel, an auction bargain from several years ago. I intend to pull each basket off the carousel, and a lot of them are vintage, and will be cut into strips for scrap projects. The first picture is the table where I've been working my way through all this stuff. The second is the far end of this basement room, displaying my carousel, and you can see some of the plastic containers I have emptied on the floor to the right. To the left in the last picture is the result so far. I still have projects on the top shelf, and a few have slipped onto shelves below but they will be removed to limit all the lower shelves to fabric stash only. I'll post another picture when I get further along . . . and then, I'll be able to clean up my studio a bit better, too!

I was surfing around the Stashbuster's web-ring, and came across another title for UFO's or PIP's . . . PIGS, or projects in grocery sacks. I've heard of the "Tote Bag Filing System", where one stores all the components of a project in a souvenir show tote bag. I've graduated from that to individual plastic boxes for each project . . . take a look at those stacks! And, bear in mind, I've moved some of those contents to my "quilt top collection"!

Promised pictures!

2008-02-28T19:15:00.008-05:00

Some days, blogger has a mind of its own . . . this is one of those days . . . maybe, it is a signal that we should have just stayed in bed, and this is the view we would have from there!

Anyway, here is some eye candy for you to enjoy. The first quilt top is one I acquired recently at an auction. It's primarily 1940's fabrics in the pickle dish pattern. I can't tell if more than one person made it, or she just ran out of the red setting fabric. Either way, it has one row and one edge which don't feature the red center. It's quite a feast for the eyes, with many different muslins, and perhaps some feed sacks as well. I scored it for $55, and was just ecstatic.

In my never ending quest to tidy up my studio . . . a quest that never ends, nor is ever complete either, I might add . . . I started going through the plastic boxes with various projects in them to analyze what needed to be done to get them moved into my quilt top "collection". I was quite surprised at how close some of them were to being complete, and I kept the sewing machine ticking along as I finished up the necessary blocks, so that I could assemble and border them while our group was on its annual Retreat at Miss Mary's Quilting Cottage at the end of January.

This Snail's Trail is for my grandson, Drew, who loves orange. I began it several years ago, when I acquired all the fabrics from the clearance table at Quilter's Harvest, while we were staying in the Quilting Cottage next door. I drew it up for myself in EQ, and don't know what possessed me at the time, because in my drawing, I had an on-point set! That would have required half-blocks, and been a logistic nightmare, if I hadn't come to my senses. It has two bright cheddar yellows, and two oranges. It was quite a bit of fun to piece.

This one is from a Fons and Porter pattern, Kitty Corner . . . which I keep caling "Kissing Cousins" for some reason! I was looking for scrap patterns to be adapted or displayed at a Guild Retreat two years ago. My sister-in-law was also looking for a pattern to make use of her accumulation of Mr. B's fabric club squares, and Benartex Quilter's Candies. The candies are two-inches square, and that was the cut size of these pieces. There are several hundred 2-inch squares represented in this quilt top. I just love the way it turned out. Jan launched hers before our Retreat, and actually completed assembly while we were there. I was a slug, and stuck this in my PIP's . . . "projects in progress" . . . sounds so much more interesting that UFO's, don't you think?

This was also a block selected to be displayed at the Retreat two years ago. Again, my sister-in-law was looking for a pattern to use some triangle units left from a previous project. Once again, she got going and finished hers. Have I mentioned that she is a project person, while I am a process person? We have managed to corrupt her a bit more, but she still pretty much sticks with a project from start to finish. The block is a 6-inch Contrary Wife, and I set mine with an alternate blue and white hourglass block. All the Contrary Wife blocks were cut from scraps and strips in my scrap drawers. I could stand to clean the blue drawer out again.

This might be my favorite of all these. Once again, it's comprised of red scraps, though I did buy some fat quarters to "sweeten" the mix. Kansas Troubles is the classic pattern. I only had to make 20 blocks because they are 16-inches, and I'm just tickled to death with how it turned out.

I'm presently trying to finish a block for an alphabet challenge for our Guild show coming up on April 5. I actually finished the quilting on my lunch hour, and need to make binding. It has to be ready to turn in for voting next Tuesday evening. We drew for our letter, and the rules indicate that our letter must be represented by a shape or object, using a color which starts with our appointed letter. I drew the letter "T", which was a natural, since I collect teapots. I'm going to Sossy's on Saturday for a sew-in, and believe the binding and label will be my appointed duties. I will post a picture of that one next time.

Next post, I'll also provide some pictures of a couple other auction acquisitions, as well as the PIP resulting from review of my purple scrap drawers!

Quilt Project Journals

2008-01-22T11:17:00.000-05:00

As this blog drags on into the second month of "cleaning my studio", you may get a realistic idea of how much attention it needed! This weekend, I did some sewing, but I also continued sorting through existing projects. Laura has always encouraged us to journal our quilts. My first attempt was in our Dear Jane group. Six of us decided to swap blocks, so each month, we made one of those adorable/frustrating 4 1/2 inch blocks . . . six times . . . well, actually, seven, because we decided to donate some to the Quilt America Yes Mam Auction . . . but I digress. Anyway, I began keeping a page showing details of each block, a copy of the pattern, and noting which fabrics I used for each of my co-conspirators blocks. It was encouraging to look back at what I had accomplished, and notes I made on construction of each of the blocks.

I'm not sure what quilt I decided to maintain a journal for next, but as I always have several projects in progress, I really began to appreciate the fact that I had made note of lay-out plans, yardage of fabrics required/acquired, rotary cutting measurements, and any additional thoughts that I considered and cast aside for one reason or another. The value of these little journals became more apparent as I went through projects that I had put aside which did NOT have any journals or notes in them. Over the past weekend, I actually launched a number of new journals to accompany those projects, so that when I pick them up again, I know how many blocks are already made, what needs to be done next, or even worse, what I have to fix before I can move on! In this first month, having all that information at hand for five of my unfinished projects has moved them quickly to the nearly completed stack. One just needs to have the bias binding made before it is ready to start quilting. Another has notes that answer the questions of whether I have adequate fabric to complete the piecing, and use those two fabrics in the borders . . . I do, and all calculations are noted in my journal which accompanies the quilt.

The journals are not anything really fancy . . . more in the cute or whimsical category, and all came from Michael's crafts, from the little bins at the front of the store with $1 items in them. I usually check each time I go in, and pick out one or two for my stash. As I added journals to my aging projects, I tried to pick one that fit the theme of the quilt, such as Christmas, or coordinating colors. I have an abandoned, but not unloved Lone Star, and had a journal with bandannas, and boots, a perfect combo. An ancient project with completed blocks, and applique "floats" for the on-point set now has a journal in companion colors, and includes a count of the blocks, a lay-out plan, and the story of the origin of my applique border for it, an enlarged embroidery test pattern . . . a sweet little morning glory and bud, with one two-pieced leaf, and a small amount of embroidery.

I've found it entertaining to read back through my notes, and hope that someday, my grandchildren may find it interesting to see how I planned a particular quilt, and proceeded through its construction.

Give this a try with your creative passion. It doesn't have to be a "job", but just a note or two about progess . . . some of my entries are short and sweet. "Two blocks done; eight to go."

That's it from my soapbox today! Next post will be lots of pictures, I promise!

Progress . . . great and small!

2008-01-18T08:58:00.000-05:00

Still fooling around with the stuff in my studio. I pick up a few things and put them away, and then my attention is drawn to the stacks of projects. I'm making tremendous in-roads in those! On my lunch hour Wednesday, I laid out the Kansas Troubles blocks, to prepare them in setting order, using the "iron elbow" technique . . . ready to sew at our Miss Mary's retreat. After dinner, I thought I could just sew them in one direction, so the blocks would be linked and in position for the final assembly. Since they were in that position, I just kept going, and have a full top, ready for pressing, measuring and border application.

Earlier in the week, I finished an applique project begun in a Lori Smith class on making your own folk art quilts. I'm delighted with the way it turned out. So, to apply my friend, Laura's analysis . . . if you like it, it's folk art; if you don't, it's primitive . . . it must be folk art!

Currently under the presser foot, a Snail's Trail, in orange, bright yellow, and black. I cut more blocks, and will have enough for a finished piece approximately 48 X 54. I have all the pieces cut, so it's fun to see the colors gradually spiral into a block as I add triangles to the four patch center. I need to cut more black triangles, but decided to keep sewing until I ran out, so I can determine how many more EXACTLY will be needed. The border fabric I have is black with tiny yellow and orange flowers all over. When I drew it up in EQ, I found that exact fabric in the fabric library, so I'm sure I'm right on target as to how it will actually look.

Test drove the Contrary Wife blocks set with a blue and white half-square triangle. It was interesting, but didn't really set the blocks up with any "punch". Second choice was blue and white quarter square triangles, and it is perfect. Each contrary wife block appears to be framed by either blue or white, and the use of the quarter square block makes it appear that the blocks were framed as an on-point square in a square set. The fabrics are washed, and if I ever get my studio more tidy, I can cut the triangles to make the setting blocks!

Love those scraps!

2008-01-08T10:35:00.000-05:00

Gee . . . where to start . . . had a wonderful Christmas in Virginia. The kids are healthy and bright, and growing. Very entertaining little people . . . especially Ben, the 4-year-old. He's the family entertainer, for sure. I've got an airline ticket to use, and I asked him if he would pick me up at the airport. He said, "Of course . . . it's close to Target"! He loves to go to Target. We took them shopping there before Christmas, and he was to pick out something for his parents. As soon as we walked in the door, he descended upon a DVD of the Simpson's movie, and tried to tell me that his "Mom and Dad always wanted this!" We settled on Shrek Third, because the family does a lot of movie viewing together, and I knew they had the first two versions.

We were blessed with good weather on our trip out, and back home. The most snow we saw was in our own yard when we left. I managed to visit a couple quilt shops and yarn shops, and refrained from going completely nuts. I got some sale fabrics at Rachel's, in Staunton, Virginia, and a few fat quarters at Cottonwood, in Charlottesville.

Since returning home, I have been slogging through the stuff in my studio. I need one of those little Bobcats to go in and just scoop it all out. I have most projects in individual containers, so the first thing I did was pull all of those out of the stacks in corners. I began to review them to see what each project needed. One just needed the outside border to be attached, so I did that New Year's Day. The next was a group of Kansas Trouble blocks, with all the components cut, and 12 of the 20 blocks assembled. So, I sat down and put those together in a couple days.

Next up was some Contrary Wife blocks cut from scraps of blues and neutrals. All the half-square triangle units were assembled and pressed, and even paired with a set of blue squares for each box. I made 12 of those one evening . . . and 52 the next day! Sat down with EQ5 on Sunday evening, and played with a setting block. I have 85 Contrary Wife blocks; of the setting blocks I dabbled with, I liked the hourglass block best. I have the fabric to make those. Might be a project to take to Miss Mary's Quilting Cottage at the end of the month, if I don't get it going sooner.

Presently whizzing through the machine, (again, most of the components cut) is a Snail's Trail with a black background, and deep yellow and orange "snails". Eighteen were assembled, so I made six more with the cut pieces, and laid them out for a preview. Calculated that I could cut 24 additional blocks, and have a nice sized finished piece. It was late at night when I made this decision, and it didn't occur to me until I started sewing last night that the additional cutting will actually make 48 additional blocks, because only one unit of the color components are used in each block, but two units of black. Fortunately, I have an adequate supply of the black fabric . . . but I need to do some cutting! And, it will be an even nicer sized finished piece.

Looking into the drawers, I found an applique piece I barely remember making, and it needs only an outside border. In that case, I remember wrestling with an idea for the border, but I think the concept that was a stumbling block will be ditched in favor of a basic border, but with some piping for interest.

Scouting around the internet, I stumbled onto a designer who is new to me. Her name is Sindy Rodenmayer, and she has a wonderful selection of patterns. I was bowled over by her new Block of the Month, Blatimore Blues. Among the dozens of things I dream of making is a blue and yellow quilt. I rumbled casually through my stash, and pulled out my collection of Benartex squares from Mr. B's Fabric Club. There were packets from three fabric lines which fit the color palette, and other individual pieces from other collections that will suit, so I tucked them all in a container, started a journal, cut the templates. The background is one that I found on sale, and bought the remainder on the bolt, about eleven yards. I had already selected it to use with the Contrary Wife blocks, but it will be perfect as the neutral for this quilt. Anyway, I needed another project . . . after all, I have emptied three project containers!

This morning, I was glancing at my friends' blogs. I almost hyperventilated when I read in Laura's blog that she is tidying up her studio, and THROWING AWAY anything smaller than 6 x 6 inches. That seems HUGE to me. I go through my scraps, and keep anything that I can cut into a 2" half-square triangle. Have nearly a shoe box full, and when it "grows up", it will be a scrappy Ocean Wave.

It's a very gloomy day, rainy, and in fact, some of the county schools have had to close because roads are flooding. It seems like a perfect day to continue going through my studio. Need to try to get it more presentable before my sister-in-law arrives from Texas in two weeks. Actually, seeing it tidy will be more of a shock than seeing it in its present state of disarray!

I'm still here!

2007-12-18T10:50:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I always think that it is necessary to have some photos ready before I can post. That's ridiculous, of course. So, here are some random thoughts that have been cluttering my mind for a while.

On the quilting front, we had a great time in Florida, as usual. We always exchange what we have dubbed, "Room-mate gifts". My contribution, as we arrived in Florida, was note pads in various shapes, including flip-flops, palm trees and sunglasses . . . . sunglasses . . . . hmmmm. I felt an idea germinating, and it influenced my fabric purchases for the trip. The idea is sunglass frames, with images as though they are reflected on the lenses. I have about twenty-four cut, and they're just a riot! All the images are tied to themes of our trip. Some are sewing related - stacks of fabric and sewing notions, food related - spaghetti ala Patti, and lots of opportunities to enjoy sea food, so crabs, too; and beach related - sea shells, flamingos . . . lots of fun in bright polka dot frames. I was bemoaning the fact that a few "road signs" would really add to the memories . . . such as the speed bump that was definitely speeding toward us one evening . . . the girls in the back seat might have permanent knots on their heads, and Patti claims to have been assaulted by an arm rest. Dawn sent me a link to Bear Paw Fabrics, where they had posted a road sign fabric . . . perfect phrases shown on road sign shapes. I managed to put a "collage" of phrases in a few lenses, such as "Getaway - AreWe There Yet? - Quilter on Board" in one sunglass frame; and "Road Trip" in another. Because the placement is critical, I have basted the lenses into position to do reverse applique. They are the kind of project where one can't help but giggle at the whimsy. I'm thinking of placing them in a pinwheel or perphas just simple 9-patch block set. This definitely goes in my "Miss Mary's Retreat" projects for the end of January.

Once the muse has been inspired, it generally snowballs into other projects, so as I was contemplating sunglasses, I tried to think of a way to use some of my stash of Christmas prints in a similar fashion. Ski goggles came to mind, but it seemed that the image might not be as easily recognized as sunglasses. Once again, Dawn to the rescue . . . she suggested snow globes. I can't wait to start digging in my tubs of Christmas fabrics. I would put that on my Miss Mary's list, but I'd have to have them all delivered in a POD!

DH has worked several auctions since my last post. And, I have had quite a bonanza of good things. One Friday, I went on my lunch hour to see what the sale of the day had to offer. I found a neat little Norwegian sewing box with some kitchen "plunder" . . . zip-loc bags, freezer paper, etc. I bid to $11 and won the bid. I was delighted with the sewing box, and in looking through the three other boxes, found I also had solved my dilemma of my aging hand-mixer. At the bottom of one of the boxes was a brand new 7-speed LED display Cuisinart hand-mixer. I put it to use this week with quick breads, and was afraid to take it above speed #4, for fear I would achieve lift-off! With a big grin on my face, I walked over to my husband to show him how lucky I had been with my $11 bid. He just smiled, reached in his pocket, and said, "Merry Christmas . . . you can enjoy this longer if I give it to you now." In his hand was a stunning 18-karat white gold wedding ring set with diamond. The stone is brilliant and flawless. I need to get it appraised for insurance, but hate to take it off my hand while that's done!

The remaining "valuable" in my $11 bid assortment was a portable electric typewriter. I decided my grandson might enjoy it, and I was right. What was funny, though, was trying to explain what it did to him. His first question was "where do you see what you entered?" So, I put a piece of paper in it, and showed him how to type. His next question was, "how do you clear it?" He was clearly delighted with the instant result of the keys hitting the paper, as opposed to having to send it to print on the computer. I think my son is getting tired of hearing the clatter of the typewriter every evening as Drew plays with his new "toy".

A few weeks ago at an auction, the acquisitions were two antique quilts. One is a summer quilt, with sort of an arrow pattern. It has only a muslin backing on it, so some day in the far distant future, I may take the back off and actually quilt it. The other is a red and green applique quilt in a 4-block coxcomb pattern, dated 1871, and proudly signed in about 5 inch letters, "Elise Schurbeck". The red has long since departed the quilt, but some remains, held in place by the quilting. I promise to post a picture of it soon.

My cousin, Diane, sent me a lovely gift for Christmas, too. This must be my year for jewelry. She designs stunning pieces, and sent me a necklace and matching earrings in her design called, "Nefertiti". It is Venetian glass beads, malachite, and brass with gold settings. Her jewelry is called Stone Blossoms, and she's very talented.

Last Friday, four of us took off on a mini-shop hop. I managed to locate the perfect background for my "snow globes", and "wooden" looking fabric for the bases. In Danville, Illinois, at Threads of Time, I found a fabric on the sale table suitable for the back of the quilt . . . it has snowmen in snow globes! One of the challenges for the Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild show this spring is an alphabet challenge. We drew for letters, and we are to make a 14" quilt with something depicted that begins with our selected letter, and using a visible amount of fabric in a color that starts with that letter. I found all the fabrics I need for my turquoise tea pot. I envision it as rather elaborate, and am contemplating doing some Celtic work on it. See what I told you about the muse striking? Mine has shifted into overdrive!

I'm still plugging along at my sock knitting, working on Pairs numbered 32 and 33. I want to select a couple skeins to work with as we visit our son and his family in Virginia. Can't wait to see those kids . . . I know they are growing like weeds.

Countdown is hours, now!

2007-11-06T09:15:00.000-05:00

In less than 21 hours, four of our quilt group will be on an airplane, enroute to Tampa, via Atlanta, where we will claim an ex officio member who now lives there. We will connect with Sossity and Jan at the Tampa airport, for a week with Melanie. To score a very cheap ticket, we had to stay an extra day . . . it was a tough decision, but we decided we could do it!

Wanting to spend as much time in Tampa as possible, and in an effort to coordinate flight arrivals, we booked through Atlanta to collect Patti, and enable Jan to join us there. So, Jan booked a direct flight! We have to leave town at 3AM to get to the airport for appropriate check-ins, etc. Then, we have a 4 1/2 layover in Atlanta. Glad I've packed my knitting. I should be able to finish a sock!

The weather here has finally turned cold in Indiana, so we are very much going to appreciate our days in Tampa bay. Plans include a quilt shop hop of our own device, lunch on the bay in Dunedin, and other surprises. Since we aren't doing a shop sponsored hop, we should have much more time to relax, and enjoy other features in the area.

Jan has rented a mini-van . . . don't know if they have posted warnings of a van full of laughing women, but they probably should. A couple years ago, at dinner one evening, we got so tickled, the hostess of the restaurant came over and told us we were having entirely too much fun, and asked if she could join us!

Tonight, I'm going to actually pack my suitcase, which I have packed and repacked mentally a number of times. Since there will be 7 of us arriving, we try to keep the suitcases small, which should give us plenty of room for fabric purchases! (Like I need more fabric!)

Wanted to post before I start getting the pre-trip giggles . . . and turn absolutely worthless in terms of getting anything done. Will share lots of photos upon my return!

Autumn Sunset

2007-10-25T17:59:00.001-04:00

I was on my way to Mary J's on Tuesday evening, for our weekly quilt get together, and this was the sky as I headed West. I didn't make much of an effort to frame the picture . . . just pulled the camera out of my purse and shot. The sky was a constant color show as the sun was setting.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Wisconsin for the memorial service for my cousin, Woody. He has been battling emphysema for some time. He's suffered so long, it's almost not a sad thing. Woody embraced our Indian heritage, and had become active in the Brotherton nation. I'm curious to know if some of those ceremonies will be part of the memorial. About a year ago, he got all the cousins together, and explained some traditions to us. Woody was a classic curmudgeon. He could always locate the negative. He made Don Quixote look like an amateur. Once, he was disgusted with the manufacturers of dishwashing soap, but I don't know what the issue was. To protest, he refused to let his wife wash his coffee cup, and it turned dark brown from the tannic acid in the coffee. It always seemed that his protests ended up punishing him more than anyone else. You had to laugh. I got tickled at him once when he was explaining to me that Darwin was wrong . . . not on a religious level, but he said the weak tend to eliminate themselves . . . and I said, "leaving the fit to survive". Once we took off on an all day adventure to visit our grandmother's farm, now owned by a cousin. The house was almost hidden behind trees and shrubbery, including some wild red raspberries. Kids and vandals had broken into the house, and strewn things around on the first floor, but upstairs, everything was just the way my Aunt Edith left it when she passed away. All her clothing was still hanging in the closets. We snooped aroung there for a bit, and then headed to the Stockbridge Reservation to see a basket woven by my great-great grandfather, on display in a glass case there. Unfortunately, they were closed that day, so we could only peek through the windows. Back into the car, and somehow or another, we got to singing with the radio. Woody had a wonderful voice, and had spent many years in a barbershop group. So, he was singing the bass part and I was singing harmony with the radio. It was great fun. Music rather runs in the family, since his father was a musician, and my mother was one of the singers with his bands in the late 30's and into the 40's. They were brother and sister.
Less than two weeks until we head for Tampa and a week at Melanie's house. We had to stay an extra day to qualify for the discount tickets. What a sacrifice! We'll muddle through!
Back to my sock knitting . . . I've finished number 27 in the 52 pair plunge. I've got second sock syndrome on a current pair . . . the first is finished. I think th pattern is just so boring, that's the problem. I like the feel of the yarn, and the way the first sock finished. I bet that's the last time I finish a sock, and don't immediately cast on the second one . . . or knit them simultaneously!

Busy . . . busy!

2007-10-17T21:31:00.000-04:00

Wow! Lots of interesting and exciting things happened in the last two weeks. First, I finished and sent off my Monkey Swap items. My pal has a little boy, so I sent a couple things for him, too. He just had to have a copy of "Five Little Monkeys", don't you think? One of the things I included was a Sock Needle Book made with Moda's Funky Monkey fabrics. I had a great time putting that together. I have another concept running around in my head. You can just barely see the stitch markers pinned to the white fabric portion of the needle book. It has a vinyl pocket and zippered pocket on the left side, and narrow slots for double pointed needles on the right side. Timtex is a very stiff interfacing product used in hats, and fabric bowls, and it provided the stability necessary, and made it completely washable, too.

My up-stream partner, Jessica sent a Monkey Swap package that arrived on my birthday. Here's a picture of the "bounty". The socks are PERFECT!! I think the Monkey change purse needs to go on my upcoming Florida vacation. My hands are just itching to knit with that yummy Cider Moon yarn in the Banana Cabana colorway. Jessica was busy with the Moda fabrics, too.

My DH was working at an auction on Saturday, the 6th, so I took off with some "quilt bandits", as he calls them, for Madison, Indiana. It's right on the Ohio, and is a neat old river town. I've been there several times, but never knew I was missing a quilt shop, Margie's Country Store. I won't miss it again! There's another business called, "The Fabric Shop", and it's almost like a time machine. They have some vintage fabrics, but I did find some superwash sock yarn there, too. We had lunch at the Red Pepper . . . love their chicken salad . . . and dinner in the diner. I chose the meatloaf sandwich special that was outstanding; nice, and moist, with cheddar cheese on a marbled rye. Making my own mouth water as I remember it! We also caught a wine tasting at Lanthier Winery overlooking the river. Their wines are mostly of the sweet variety, which suits my palate to a "t". Tasting three wines was plenty for me. I always say I used to go to nickel beer night, and take a dime, but I don't have that kind of tolerance any more!

This past Saturday, DH and I got up and going to attend the 40th Annual Feast of the Hunter's Moon along the Wabash River, near the site of the 18th century French Fort Quiatenon (We-at-ten-on). We always say, they don't call it "the Feast" for nothing. The way to taste more items is to share, so we had a cider-basted grilled pork chop that was seasoned to perfection, and had very little waste. Then, there was a buffalo burger - less cholesterol than beef, a baked apple, and one of my favorites, "Noodle-ables" which is carrots, broccoli, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, and egg noodles in a dill sauce, all cooked over open fires. We never miss the opportunity to have a "Croquinole", which is an 18th century donut. It's easy to find their booth . . . it's near the police station . . . coincidence?

Three weeks from this moment, I'll probably be gasping for breath, laughing with my friends on our annual Florida excursion. We had to dig down and force ourselves to spend an extra day so that we could qualify for a bargain priced airline ticket. We'll muddle through . . . I'll post some pictures of those festivities, for sure!

Busy, busy . . .

2007-10-03T12:59:00.000-04:00

Time sure does get away from one. Since my last post, three pairs of socks, and a pair of mittens donated to the Prophetstown State Park Barn Dance and Auction sold for . . . are you ready . . . $45 a pair! I was elated! That brought a request for a pair or two of socks for the YWCA Holiday Luncheon on November 2. So, I have a pair in a zigzag stitch in dark persimmon superwash wool, a Y theme color, on the needles. Next pair will be a plain ribbed pair, but in a superwash wool that has the fair-isle look; color is lavender, grey and white.

I finished my Monkey swap socks over the weekend, and have been busy getting my Monkey "accessories" ready. My partner has a toddler, so I collected a copy of Five Little Monkeys (jumping on the bed), a travel pillow with a pillowcase I made with Moda's Monkey fabric, and fleece cuddle blanket that has cute little monkeys all over it. I just fringed that. The back-ground is pink, but the monkeys are so cute, I couldn't resist it. My knitting pal is getting some Trekking Pro-Natura (a bamboo and wool blend that is very soft), a pair of Monkey socks, in a purple self-striping merino wool, a needle book for her double pointed needles that I made with the Moda fabrics, and some bamboo needles. Saturday, I found some monkey charms, so I made some stitch markers, too. I purchased a new Cookie A pattern, and since she said she didn't have any of the others, I printed out all the free ones in color. Then, I was tidying up my sock patterns, and chose some other freebies to send. I put all the patterns in a brief cover. I'm intending to "put it on the bus" no later than Friday.

Only five weeks until the Florida trip. There will be 8 of us this year. I'm not too worried about the clothes I will take, but I keep changing my mind on the projects to be taken along. Since we are flying, they will be limited. I think an applique block from my quilting, and the continuing quest in sock-knitting will be the limit. Then, a couple paperbacks I want to read!

Pictures next post, I promise!

Camp 2007 . . . on to Camp 2008

2007-09-13T13:01:00.000-04:00

This year's retreat is now behind us . . . only about 350 days until the next one. Everyone seemed to have a good time. I was fighting a cold . . . and losing . . . but I really did manage to get a lot done, which isn't always the case. On Thursday evening, I made a scrub top for my friend, Linda G. She was the birthday girl a few months back. I found a fabric I couldn't resist that was a cute pink, with little green frogs on it. I had good intentions of making it before Camp, but I seem to have wandered down that road that good intentions sometimes get you on! Anyway, a reprieve from the governor . . . or actually, from her aunt. While Linda G. went out to dinner with her aunt, I cut out and assembled the scrub top, and tucked it carefully into her little gift bag at her sewing station. I wasn't at my station when she returned and found it. The other girls said she pulled it out of the bag, and looked at it, peeled off her shirt, and put it on. She found me upstairs in the dining room a few minutes later. She threw open the door and jumped into the room, and pranced around, modeling the shirt. She said it had my name all over it. So, I wasn't successful with that surprise, but I did manage to pull off one or two others. Friday morning, I worked on some Kansas Troubles blocks, completing about eleven of them. Then I switched to a basket quilt in a strippy set that needed to be set together. Managed to get all the floral stripes in between the baskets, and only need to add the rose-colored border on the outside. Next up was some 6-inch patchwork blocks to make a border for an aging BOM in my stash. Got those all made and attached to the sides of the quilt top, thereby making it wider. I made two blocks for the Quilts of Valor camp project. Enough blocks were turned in by Campers to make three quilts for that project. I polished off the weekend by tracing freezer paper templates for a house quilt project, and slid into home on a few Kab-net wax foundation blocks in brights. I actually worked on every single project that I brought to Camp . . . a new record!

One of the cutest interpretations for this year's Retreat, "Run for the Border", was Lanna and Sossity's room assignments and name tags. They identified one wing of the building as Canada and one as Mexico. The individual rooms had names of the provinces or states. I was assigned to Ontario. Our name tags were wooden US maps with our names woodburned into them. And everyone got a Passport, with our nationality for the weekend in it . . . we were all age 29 for the weekend. The center of the Passport was the weekend's agenda. Each passport had a cover on it with a seal. They really look official. It was the greatest!

Door prize people, Barb and Moreen, really were over the top. We even had a few extra door prizes, which came in handy when a couple members who couldn't come to stay made a visit. They were certainly surprised when their names were called!

Next year's theme is "Hooray for the Red, White and Blue", since it is an election year. We will have some complete patriotic quilt patterns, as well as blocks based in election campaign slogans, the most obvious being "Old Tippecanoe". One of my "partners in crime" is also all wired up, and designing a project for next year's camp. Should be fun!

It's tradition!

2007-09-02T13:07:00.001-04:00

One can tell by walking into my house that some great quilting event is approaching. There are plastic boxes with quilt projects to choose from, door prizes that will go, and since I'm the program chair, there are stacks of handouts waiting to have holes punched for three-ring binders. I'm just about ready to go attend to that task while watching the Mystery marathon on Hallmark channel.

Another indicator of the fast approach is that DH's tolerance level is reaching the breaking point. He asked me this morning if anyone else prepares anything for Camp. I'm very lucky to have such wonderful friends who will pitch in and do anything that is asked of them, whether it is teaching a class, or making copies, or preparing samples. Of course, it is most easy for those who are located here, but that's not a deterent for any of them. We've asked participants to make a 12" red, white and blue block, and will assemble them into Quilts of Valor of injured soldiers from Iraq. We are also setting up a station where items to be included in packages for Any Soldier or Any Sailor can be deposited. My friend, Linda, who comes to our event from the Cleveland area has just picked up the reins and taken care of that project for us entirely. She made hand-outs, and already has boxes prepared for shipping immediately after Camp is over.

I've been trying to keep my personal project list limited . . . but every day, I think . . . oh . . . I could take that and work on it. There's never enough time. And, to make matters worse, my mind has started to drift toward the subject matter of next year's retreat. My friends always tell me, "You're out of control"!

I've been keeping up with my knitting of socks fairly well, though I have had a kind of Deja Vu all over again experience. Several years ago, I signed up for a scrap quilt class because I had three baskets of scraps to use up. At the end of the class, I had five baskets of scraps. With my sock knitting, I started out with a single basket of sock yarns. Now I have one tucked underneath the end table, and one in front which is suffering from "spillage". Late in the evening, when I'm too tired to knit, I sit there and fondle the skeins and try to decide which yarn will be the next pair. I've just finished #20 of the 52 pair plunge, and have four pair in different stages on the knitting needles. Tomorrow I'm going to an auction where DH will be a ring man . . . I usually get lots of knitting done there!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Wound up tighter than a $2 watch . . .

2007-08-17T12:15:00.000-04:00

one of my mother's phrases for when I was excited about some coming event. It's still appropriate. I feel like I could jump out of my skin. What has brought on this "condition"?

It's about two weeks and five days until my sister-in-law arrives from Texas, and we're off to our annual Quilt Guild Retreat. The theme this year is "Run for the Border", and we are covering border and binding techniques. I haven't made a solid decision about any projects that I intend to work on, but have been anticipating the laughter and joy of being with my friends. I'm only teaching a basic class on calculating and constructing continuous bias binding, so I'll have the better part of three days just to sew on my own projects. Of course, the time goes much more swiftly than any ordinary days . . . especially those at work!

On my sock knitting front, I'm finishing the leg of the second sock for my 18th pair in the 52-pair plunge. Yesterday, I prepared some "wrappers" for three pairs which I donated to the Barn Dance and Auction for the Prophetstown State Park. One of my dear friends from Card Club is on the board. Last year, I was dumbfounded when four-sets of quilted coasters brought in over $50. I'm anxious to see what the socks will bring. I gave a green pair of Embossed Leaves, a pair of Jaywalkers in a red-white-blue denim colorway, and a pair of variegated browns in a garter-rib pattern. To jazz up the labels revealing size, fiber content, and care instructions, I imported a couple pictures of the Farmstead and Barn from the park website.

A very talented contemporary sock designer is Cookie A. Her pattern called, "Monkey" is enormously popular among current sock knitters, to the point that there have been some sock swaps dedicated to that pattern only. In fact, there is a sign-up for the third round, and I've decided to play. It won't be any extra effort, since the pair I knit for my swap partner will still count toward my 52 pairs, and I've wanted to start another pair anyway. A criteria for playing in this round is to answer a questionairre, and next topic is those questions, and my answers!

Monkey Sock Swap THREE Questionnaire

The basics:Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep?
Intermediate – need to add some toe-ups to my techniques. When I first was knitting, about 45 years ago, I made a pair of knee socks for one of the guys I grew up with. In his college colors, they had his school up one side, and his greek affiliation up the other . . . and he wore size 15 shoes. Kind of burned out my interest in socks for all the intervening years!
The measurements:
Shoe Size: 8 1/2 (US)
Foot circumference: 10 inches
Foot length: 9 inches
Yarn Preferences:What colors do you love? Yellows, pinks, reds.
Do you prefer solids or variegated?
In Monkeys, I like the solids because it shows the pattern more clearly, but I love racing to the next color change in my knitting..
Do you prefer wool, cotton or acrylic yarn? Superwash wool, any natural fiber, really
What colors would you never wear? Never met a color I didn’t like!
What are your favorite brands of yarn? Opal; Lana Grossa; Regia, Trekking, Austermann Step
Are there any new brands you would like to try? SWTC Maizie! Louet, Cider Moon, anything!
Cookie A. Patterns: Which of her patterns have you already knit? Just Monkeys, so far
Which pattern(s) would you like to knit and don’t already own? Twisted Flower, Flicker, Gothic Spire . . . they all look wonderful, so surprise me!
Other pertinent information:Would you be willing to have an international Monkey Pal or do you prefer one in the US? Surprise me
Do you have any allergies? Not that relate to my knitting!
Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? No
Are you on Ravelry yet? If you don’t mind having new friends, what is your Ravelry name?
Plan to join the wait list!

Plan to "plow" the studio this weekend, and start a stack in the "staging area" for supplies and items to go with me to Camp. It's a little different for me in some ways, because I keep spare items for my dear sister-in-law, who flies in from Texas for the event. So, I have two sewing machines, two sets of bedding . . . just like Noah, only different!

Playing catch-up . . . again!

2007-08-01T17:27:00.000-04:00

Wow! Where does the time go. Actually, I do have a couple valid excuses for not blogging in a month. First, and most sadly, we lost a dear nephew on July 5th to cancer. David was just 47, and I've decided as the weeks have passed that his legacy was his sense of humor. We didn't realize how many times we quoted him, as in "How hard could it be?" He tossed that phrase in a lot as he reported on the installation of hardwood floors a couple years back, making his woes and struggles fodder for hysterical laughter. So, we all miss him, and think about him a lot as the days go by.

Then, I was in Virginia for about a week, with a couple days travel on each end of the visit. It's about a 12 hour drive, when going straight through, from our home to our son's home. The grandchildren have grown like weeds, and are very entertaining . . . especially the youngest. He's just a laugh a minute . . . a big Pokemon fan. He told me he likes Pikachu because he's cute, just like him!

As you can see, I did manage to find some fabrics. On the drive out, we spent part of Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky, and I acquired a background fabric for my bright stars block swap due next week. Also visited Rachel's in Staunton, Virginia, a delightful shop located in the old railroad station. A couple of those prints will become doll dresses in my never ending quest for the title of "Nana of the Year".

Grandpa scored a huge number of points when he delivered a Samantha to our granddaughter. We had piled a few doll sweaters and dresses on top of the doll. When Lisey opened it, she said she thought it looked like an American Girl doll box, but for a moment believed it had only clothes in it. She gave a shout and a squeal when she pulled the clothes out to reveal the doll. She said it is one she has been wanting. So, that was lots of fun, and Grandpa was somewhat surprised by the enthusiastic response.

We try not to disrupt their schedule completely when we visit, so we usually left after dinner, in hopes that they would settle down enough to get adequate sleep each night. After scouting around in shops that we like, we went back to our hotel, and I had my Featherweight, along with several patterns and fabrics for additional doll clothes. Each morning, I would bring one or two more garments for Elise, and one or two more for Ben's "American Boy". He took them and proceeded to dress all his favorite stuffed animals, too. I'd have to say the biggest hit for him was the Spiderman shirt.

The last two days we were there, we got to see Elise and Addison swim in a statewide competition held at the Natatorium of University of Virginia. This was Addison's first competition on this level, and he came in 17th in the backstroke. There were about 2000 kids participating in all. Elise also had a phenomenal finish, taking 14 1/2 seconds off her record for the back stroke. We had to start for home, so I don't know where she fell in the overall standings, but the new record for herself was certainly a great accomplishment. I can't swim a stroke, so it's nice to see them enjoying the water.

We brought two big boxes full of books home with us, too. We stopped in a Half-Price Books in Lexington, and subsequently located a church book sale there also. I found two titles that were just published this year, "Dragonwell Dead" by Laura Childs, a tea shoppe mystery, and "Daddy's Girl" by Lisa Scottoline. I had my list of titles that I am seeking on index cards by author. We made our customary stop at "Read it again, Sam" on the Mall in Charlottesville, and picked up 34 paperbacks there! I filled in the gaps in about three different series that I was looking for.

Next big event on the agenda is our Guild Retreat, September 6-9. Our theme is "Run for the Border", and we will cover borders and binding techniques, along with some related projects. One is a lovely quilt from Canadian Living magazine, which they were kind enough to authorize us to use. We have a few other little things up our sleeves. It's going to be fun . . . again!

The secret is revealed!

2007-06-27T13:47:00.000-04:00

Picture won't cooperate, and turn right side up when I import it. Sorry to make you turn your head!

Last night was a surprise birthday party for our friend, Linda G, who will be turning 50 in a couple weeks. The teapot block which I posted earlier was to be part of this special quilt. Each of us made a block to represent ourselves, and mine reflected my teapot collection. The surprise came off perfectly. She was totally surprised by the 50+ gifts, which were everything from funny to serious, and in the bottom of the box was the quilt. Linda was completely surprised by it all.

Marguerite did a fabulous job, as usual, in preparing the label. She was also our hostess for the big event. We carried in food, and as usual carried in so much that we had to carry it back out again! Everyone is a wonderful cook, so no one went hungry.

One recurring theme relates to frog boots. Marguerite had received a pair as a gift from her aunt, and was less than thrilled with them. As she was recounting this to us one evening, Linda piped up that she had always wanted a pair. Little time was lost as Marguerite passed along the gift to someone who would really appreciate them! Needless to say, since that event, there have been many references to the frog boots, including their image on the quilt. I happened to run across a pattern for a child's frog hat. I selected some chenille yarn, which is a bit soft for this use, but that just made it funnier.

Here's Laura, trying to keep a straight face, while poor Ed doesn't really know what's he will see when she turns around!

Next birthday event is for Marguerite . . . I mentioned that I have time to knit a hat for her, too. I got the same expression she wore previously when talking about the frog boots!

I'm sure lucky to have such wonderful friends.

Auction Surprises!

2007-06-17T11:13:00.001-04:00

Where does the time go? I guess I've been busy! DH has worked at several auctions lately, and brought home a very interesting find from a Friday auction that I missed while I was working. It's an 1886 Singer sewing machine. Note that it is operated by use of the thumb wheel on the lower right of the machine, which is connected to a pushrod at the back. The presser foot lever is at the top left of the machine. It is dated 1886 on the platform surface, and most of the paint is still intact, but the "S" in Singer has flaked away. Guess I really just have an "inger", but it does still have its' medallion on the base of the machine. It's cast iron, and just a little cutie. I'm delighted to have it.

Went to Columbus, Ohio, to the National Quilt Association show last weekend with my friends, Marguerite and Roseanna. Marguerite had two quilts in the exhibit. The first is her "Katrina Chaos", an abstract composition quilted with the stories of the storm in New Orleans, and details of the aftermath. Since it is difficult to read on the busy quilt surface, she has a label on the back with the text repeated.

The other quilt that Marguerite displayed was my favorite, Clean Run, representing her pet's participation in Agility training. She reports that Sparkle doesn't do as well in the event as represented by the quilt, but I think it's just such a happy quilt.

We made a leisurely trip to Columbus, stopping in four quilt shops, and The Container Store. That evening, we lounged around the pool at the hotel for a bit, reading and knitting. Then we went into Worthington for Graeter's ice cream. It was a beautiful evening.

The next morning, we hit the ground running for the quilt show. Lucky me . . . there was a knitting event at the same convention center. I managed to acquire some fabrics, AND some yarns for my sock frenzy. Bought the quilt book, "Home Sweet Home" by Blackbird Designs. The quilt with the houses appealed to me more than many house quilts I have seen, because each "lawn" had some applique. I am definitely addicted to applique.

On the knitting front, I got some Tofutsies yarn, made with Chitin, a fiber generated from crab and shrimp shells. Also got a skein with Bamboo, and a Panda Cotton with elastic. None are available locally, so I will enjoy the opportunity to knit with those.

"Plowed" my studio yesterday. Still have some tidying up to do, but my sewing machine has more than just a path to it, so I'm anxious to do some piecing. I have some applique to do for our Guild's raffle quilt, but need to pick up some template plastic before I can proceed on that one.

My grandson spent the night with us, and we went out to breakfast. He's lots of fun! I think we'll go to the quilt shop to get my supplies, and I will be ready to do my duty on the Guild raffle quilt this evening.

Time flying, as usual . . .

2007-05-28T09:48:00.000-04:00

Haven't a clue where the last two weeks have gone, not to mention that it's the last day of a three-day weekend, and I haven't done any of the things I planned to do . . . yet. Tomorrow evening, our group is getting together to assemble the top which will be home to the wonky teapot. We had to make a couple alterations to our plan, when we received a few more blocks than we anticipated. Then, having made those alterations, we noticed we were going to run out of background fabric, so we decided to make four more blocks to fill some space. It must be assembled tomorrow evening, because it is going to the machine quilter on Friday. Nothing like a deadline, they always say!

On the knitting front, my DH worked at an auction on Friday, and another on Saturday, and he brought me a prize. About a week ago, I asked him to make sock blockers with a pair of wire hangers. He made them, and that set the stage for this auction acquisition. He brought home these lovely vintage wooden sock blockers in four sizes. I was ecstatic . . . then he said, "don't look in the back of the van, okay?" Yesterday, he occupied some of his time washing the 36 canning jars full of marbles. Today, he is cataloging the vintage 45rpm and 33rpm records he purchased. The best part is that he can't really say anything about my quilting and knitting stashes when they have uses . . . what do you do with 36 jars of marbles, and 45rpm records that you don't have a player for?

Wonky Tea Pot Block!

2007-05-12T13:33:00.000-04:00

A few of us are making some blocks to share. The interpretation was that it should represent ourselves, and the criteria required bright fabrics. I decided on a tea pot, to represent my collection, started by my mother's collection, which I inherited. When it came to selecting the colors, I just reached into my bin of brights, and pulled out a handful. The first one that caught my eye was the yellow tiger stripe as the perfect spout. The stripe seemed to "harmonize" with it well, and the other colors just carried on the theme . . . BRIGHT! I'm especially tickled by the lid. I think it looks like a Bowler style hat, except for the knob. When we accomplish our objective, I'll post a picture of our mutual project. Every time I look at it, I just have to giggle. The background is a pale green fairy frost print.

My sock knitting continues, too. DH had arthroscopic knee surgery yesterday, and I knitted about 90% of one sock . . . it was a bulky yarn on large needles, so that's not as amazing as one might think. The other pair that I'm working on are a lace pattern using US Size 1's, and let me tell you, that's small, and therefore progress is slow-going. Don't ask why I do this to myself, but I prefer a longer legged sock, so every pair I've made have a pattern repeat or two added to the leg. They just seem cozier to me that way.

My little teapot stirred up some enthusiasm for applique, so with that little gem complete, I shall go to work on some of my other 37 applique quilts in progress. Where to start?

Remarkable Restraint!

2007-05-03T08:49:00.000-04:00

Paducah, Kentucky, home of the American Quilt Society, as well as their annual show, is a tremendous event. There are so many things to see and do, for years, we have made the comment to those attending for the first time, "Bring $10,000, because you will want to buy everything you see!"

In past years, I've wedged bags of fabrics under the seats, and stuffed things into my suitcase to return home. This year, I had taken my Longaberger Market Basket, in which I placed some journals and pens for "room-mate gifts" for my quilting friends. Once emptied, it was the perfect place to put my purchases. Surprisingly, all my quilting items fit into that one basket. I had a stray bag that contained seven skeins of yarn for socks . . . also known as "Socks - some assembly required". Three books came home with me, too . . . Elly Sienkiwicz's newest Baltimore Title, and another applique book, and Nancy Bush's Vintage Sock pattern book.

Inventory of the basket revealed a 7 1/2 yard background fabric (amazingly, shown as background in the picture) for use in a block of the month called, "Songbirds"; 6 sampler packets of 5-inch squares; a few fat quarters; a Benartex tone-on-tone small quilt top in beige, pattern is Autumn Wreath; clearance table finds of another "ready-to-quilt" tone-on-tone white lap quilt, as well as a small pink one; a cute little embroidery kit which says, "Sew , Gather Love" with a sweet little girl quilting by candlelight; and a fun print of pretzels, which inspired me to collect a few batiks to make a wall-hanging.

I brought back a few gifts, too. My friend, Sandra, couldn't make the trip at the last minute because of water in her basement. She's fond of redwork, so I found a set of patterns with little girls month-by-month, a red print fat quarter, a blank lace-edged hanky, and a sampler of 5-inch squares of feed sack reproductions.

I bought my husband a book about buttons. He frequently picks up jars full at auctions, and carefully sorts them into sets. He's always asking if this one or that one is glass. The book has a big section on glass buttons that I thought might help him identify them. The downside? He's been dismayed at how many buttons he's had and given away that are shown in the book!

My youngest son has become a real homebody, and loves to cook. I found a slow-cooker cookbook that I thought he might enjoy, and provide some complements to his grilled masterpieces.

Now that the big trip is behind me, I need to get inspired with my quiltmaking. I have some applique that I volunteered to do for our Guild's raffle quilt, a block for a friend, and several blocks for a block exchange in August. Should be fun . . . but first, I need to "plow" my studio!

Didn't post this right away, because I wanted to add the picture. More photos later!

Paducah Pals!

2007-04-30T16:35:00.000-04:00

WOW! Another great trip to the American Quilt Society annual show in Paducah, Kentucky. This trip was made extra special by the fact that my friend, Marguerite, had her quilt, "Katrina Chaos", accepted for the exhibit. Linda G. kindly made all the rest of us tags which read, "Friend of a semi-finalist, 2007", as well as commemorative bookmarks reflecting the quilt info and a picture. Best of all, she made some outstanding labels for Marguerite to wear, including a star-shaped one had a picture of Marguerite, along with a balloon stating, "I'd like to thank the Academy". On Friday evening, we toasted with champagne, and were all presented with special M & M's with the legends, "Paducah 2007" on some, and "Katrina Chaos" on the others.

There were only ten of us wearing the friendship badges, but many people commented saying they had seen them all over the convention center! A couple of us "planted" them with two of our favorite vendors, Xenia Cord of Legacy Quilts, and the Scissor Man, Brint Finizza.

Another extra special event this trip was the opportunity to meet Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, and Lucy Van Der Sluis, a native of The Netherlands, from Quilting with a Past. We knew we would all be staying at the same resort, so we made plans to meet, and invited them to our customary evening "show and tell". Pictured are Laura, Bonnie, Dawn, Luci, and yours truly. Laura, Dawn and I presented Bonnie and Lucy with some Old Tippecanoe blocks, in an Old Tippecanoe Quilt Guild tote bag, with some other special gifts inside. Lucy brought us some historic Dutch fabrics, a bandanna with a map of The Netherlands, and a unique starched garment worn over the bodice in traditional Dutch apparel. This garment was starched as stiff as a board, and it is difficult to imagine wearing it daily. Seems as though it could cut into one's neck, since it is so stiff. It certainly is a lovely remembrance of a fun trip and great opportunity to meet internet friends.

I was able to make purchases which gratified both my favorite hobbies, quilting and knitting, and added the purchase of a locker hook for making rugs, as well as dyes from Pro Chem to make an attempt to handpaint some yarn for socks. Always an adventure!

Where does the time go?

2007-04-19T17:44:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday found me in Chicago, at the International Quilt Show, where it was sunny and brisk. Here's a view from the tour bus window as we progressed SOUTH toward home. I told our driver, I thought she was taking me home to Milwaukee, not Indiana.

Here's one of the first quilts I saw upon entering the convention hall. It is part of the Celebrate Spring exhibit, and I thought it was lovely. I'm sure that the winner, a hummingbird, will be posted many places, but this was one of my favorites. Ran into Dawn in the show. She took pictures of many of the same quilts that I did, but hers turned out a little better, so I invite you to check her blog.

If I survive tomorrow in the office, I'll then be off for ten . . . count 'em . . . ten days! We launch our adventure with a visit to my cousin in Markesan, Wisconsin, as our most northerly point of call. Then, it's back to my niece's home in St. Charles, Illinois, for a couple days, where I will collect my Texan sister-in-law, and bring her back to Lafayette. Then, all the crazy quilters load up on Wednesday evening, and begin our trek toward the AQS show in Paducah, Kentucky. It's a big annual event. A new feature this year . . . we get to meet Bonnie and Lucy.

I've been making a doll sweater for each of Lucy's girls. They are turning out cute, if I do say so myself. It's going to be great fun to give the sweaters to Lucy, and hear her girls' reactions when she returns to The Netherlands.

Paducah . . . I'm trying to be on a fabric diet this year. I did remarkably well in Chicago. I only purchased a tube of 7 spools of silk thread for applique, and a vintage needle book for my collection. That was just a one day excursion, however. The Paducah trip is four days of shops and vendors. Could be quite a trial. I probably won't go cold turkey, but I will be somewhat selective!

Let the laughing begin! There's no way to get into shape for all the laughing we do on this trip. If laughing is good for one, we're the healthiest bunch of women around!

Spring has sprung!

2007-04-01T14:23:00.000-04:00

Sorry to say, it's just a rumor, however. The meteorologists are forecasting dips into the 20's for Easter weekend. Everything is turning green, and will probably turn brown by this time next week! When I was a kid, a group of us participated in sunrise services on Monument Circle in Indianapolis on Easter Sunday. I don't ever remember doing that when it was warm. In fact, I have specific memories of one year when we stood in freezing rain and snow!

I still haven't organized my studio, but I have done some organization of my "socks - some assembly required" basket, as well as my sock patterns. I decided to participate in a knit-along titled, "52 Pair Plunge". The objective is to knit one pair of socks per week or 52 pairs in the term commencing April 1, 2007, and ending April 1, 2008. Surprisingly, at last count there were about 50 signed up . . . so, I'm not the only person in the world crazy about knitting socks!

The "bad" news is, my basket only has enough yarn for about 30 pair. Before the year is out, I'm going to have to buy more sock yarn . . . oh, no . . . don't make me do it! As to patterns, I have TWO three-ring binders full of patterns. I haven't counted them yet, but they are alphabetized, and sorted by the weight of yarn each calls for. Emily, another 52 pair participant is my hero . . . she has her patterns indexed with a spread sheet. I'm going to give that a whirl, too, and compare notes with her, so perhaps we an fill in the gaps.

I launched my participation with Basket Case socks, a pattern found on the internet;I believe the designer's name is MacVay . . . I'll have to check. It calls for a doulbe-knitting weight yarn, but my gauge still worked out for size 2 needles. My backup plan for this week is a pair of Dorm Socks with a freebie pattern by Bernat Yarns. I actually made a pair of those for my DIL at Christmas, and she loves them. They only took about a day to knit, so I can use those to catch up. Also have a pattern for some socks for DGD American Girl doll. The rules, fortunately, do not require that the socks be adult in fine gauge. The only need to be a pair.

Remember me?

2007-03-25T09:37:00.000-04:00

I don't know what I've been doing, but I must have been busy!

My friend, Lanna, is having a second round of surgery tomorrow, as the next phase of treatment for removal of a malignant tumor with its host kidney. Please add Lanna to your prayers, along with ours, for a good report, and speedy recovery. Lanna is just as sweet as the day is long. So, to wrap her in the warmth of our hearts, as she approaches this surgery, we made her a flannel rag-time quilt.

Here's Marguerite at the machine, with Mary J, assisting, sewing the last seams together, and the assembled project. This is a cross country effort with blocks sent in by others in our group living in Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Georgia and Florida. Sadly, we've made a number of these quilts, so we are experienced. We'd be happy to give up the practice, since it means that someone we love dearly is very ill.

As to my own activities, mostly, I've continued in my sock knitting frenzy. I desperately need to dig out my studio again, and think about making some more doll clothes for grand kids. The room is such a mess, I hate to even walk into it, because it's almost claustrophobic. A good start would be merely cleaning up my desk!

Spring is trying to peek out at us. The iris in my front flower bed have shot up so fast, one would believe it possible to actually see them grow, reaching for the sunshine. The huge lilac bush outside my kitchen window is loaded with green shoots, and I anticipate tons of fragrant blooms. When my DS and DDIL moved into their house, the first spring brought three blooming lilac bushes. One has deep dark purple blooms. I always wanted a white one, but I think I may have to get a runner for one of the dark ones first! They are stunning. I haven't looked at my magnolia bush yet . . . I'm sure it's ready to bloom, too.

We're on the countdown for our annual Paducah trip. We've had a couple people have to withdraw, so I would be happy to find replacements for them. It helps bring down the cost per person, thereby leaving more money to spend in Hancock's on fabric! It's just 30 days away, now. We stay at Big Bear Resort on Kentucky Lake, reserving both a chalet and a townhouse. I'm afraid I may have scared away a couple candidates when I suggested bringing $10,000, because one wants to buy everything one sees! What a fantasy . . . to spend $10,000 just on sewing things . . . of course, then I would need even more time to dedicate to sewing, as to justify that expense . . . it's probably better to be more selective, just for the purpose of alleviating the guilt such spending would incur. The guilt surfaces now and then, as it is, but I try to lay down and let that feeling pass!

We are looking forward to meeting Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, and Lucy from the Netherlands, who will be in other quarters. Bonnie is such a gracious hostess with materials shown on her website. She was very kind to permit our Guild to use some items from her website for our Retreat last fall. We have a whole new crop of Bonnie Hunter fans as a result. They are all using her "Leaders and Enders" techniques, as well as sorting their scraps. Sossity has baskets adjacent to her cutting table, and attached to each are lists of the components she needs to cut for three different quilts. They are filling up fast, and she has been turning out quilt tops like a whirlwind. Sandra is enjoying it so much, she has nearly ceased coming to auctions so she can stay home and sew!

Just thinking about it all is inspiring . . . think I'll get the snow shovel and clean my room, so I can start sewing, too!

More auction scores

2007-03-01T19:43:00.000-05:00

Winter is when my DH disappears to the basement to work on his refinishing projects. Some are sewing boxes that I’ve collected at auction, and sometimes he has a table or chair that he acquired at an auction. Last fall, he bought a game table because it had interesting carved legs. He doesn’t like me to come down and peek at his projects while in progress. He gets a big kick out of bringing the treasure up when its complete. As he was working on this table, we happened to catch an episode of Antiques Roadshow which featured a similar game table. It was reported that this particular style, with a leaf folded in half on top, that one rotates 90 degrees and flips open to create the full table, was popular in the late 1800’s. As with other projects which he has refinished, or touched up, this one is stunning. When I saw it, I had to quickly rearrange furniture in the living room to keep it from going out of the house.

The picture shows a couple other sewing boxes subject to his magic touch. The curved side model on top of the table is from the 1920’s, and is one of the many styles which were given as premiums with the purchase of furniture or appliances. On the floor is an interesting roll-top version, as well as a maple sugar bucket style. The décor is completed by the old crock, which I think looks enchanting with yarn spilling from the top. Actually, I have yarn spilling all around the room, since I have been on my knitting frenzy!

March is trying to keep us guessing whether it will come in like a lion or lamb. It’s been gloomy and rainy all day, but we are under a tornado watch. Yesterday, I was going to run a sewing machine Sink’s Sew and Vac, and pick up another that I had serviced, but when I got just outside the edge of town, sleet, freezing rain and snowflakes the size of a silver dollar were all hitting at once. I got less than halfway there, and decided when visibility was about one-quarter mile, that it would wait for another day. By the time I got back into town, my wipers had a coat of ice on them, but the precipitation had changed to rain.

I think this is going to be a nice evening to kick back in the recliner and tend to my knitting!

Catching up . . .

2007-02-28T11:28:00.000-05:00

Long time since I posted, but I've had a house guest, not to mention a bout of shingles. Boo-hiss! I'm a cheap drunk . . . used to go to nickel beer night, and take a dime . . . so, I usually respond well to medications, too. Since I last suffered this malady, the medication routine has changed, and I didn't feel so much like a zombie . . . or like I'd been on a 10-cent drunk! The biggest aftermath that I have noticed, fortunately, is a lack of stamina, but that's building up, too, and I'd say I'm back to 98% normal . . . whatever that is!

My house guest has been our eldest niece, who lives about one hour from Lafayette. Her mother is DH's eldest sister, with a 28 year gap between the two of them, not to mention 6 more brothers, and 4 more sisters. Helen, at 92, has been at the nursing home across the street from our home since last May, after falling down the stairs, and breaking her leg and wrist. She suffers the symptoms of Alzheimer's, and Jane, her daughter, is the only person she recognizes most of the time. With our 20 inches of snow, and road closings, we were delighted to have Jane stay with us. She's a wonderful guest, and we actually had a lot of fun. She said it's been the longest vacation she was ever on . . . about 3 1/2 weeks actually, but it went by so quickly, it seemed like a mere weekend.

Knowing my fondness for old quilts, Jane brought this Double Wedding Ring beauty, made by her paternal grandmother. It is a feast for the eyes with the striking red background, and the piecing is a festival of 20's and 30's prints, including some feed sack prints. As the pictures show, it is in marvelous condition.

Last weekend, Jane needed to check in at home, and there was an auction . . . surprise, surprise . . . so, we had breakfast, and piled into the van for a trip to Monticello. The auctioneer is not one of my favorites. For one thing, when the price offered isn't what he thinks it should be, he berates the crowd, telling them they should check "downtown" to see the value of the object. He also will arbitrarily remove items from the sale if he doesn't like the price offered . . which is a clear violation of the law. If it's advertised without a reserve, he has a legal obligation to sell it. Needless to say, his crowd usually thins out pretty quickly, and at the end, he is subject to selling tables full of items for $1. To make matters worse, he makes derogatory comments against a religious entity, and everyone there wonders how he can be so politically incorrect in these times.

We did buy just a couple things. DH scored a small metal Lily thread cabinet, and a box full of old wooden spools. He found about a dozen Lily spools which will go in the cabinet. There was also a grocery sack full of knitting needles, so he bought that for me. (At that point, Jane and I had gone to her house.) There was another cache of embroidery kits of various types, that he bid on, and the lady who won the bid was kind enough to give me about ten circular knitting needles she found in the bottom of that bag. When DH bid on the bag of knitting needles, he didn't realize they had thrown in four boxes of yarns that were under the table. I found more needles in that stash. The knitter had been a maker of afghans, and there were multiple skeins of acrylic yarns included in those boxes. DH will take all that bounty to our Senior Citizens Center, where the ladies make afghans and other items for sale in their gift shop. We finally have convinced them that sending us a thank you note each time we bring yarn is an unnecessary expense. We are happy that they can put it to use, and that's thanks enough.

My sock knitting frenzy continues. I started a pair of a lace pattern, but have decided that using the self-striping yarns is entertainment enough, and I enjoy the rhythm of just making plain socks. I've also knitted another sweater for my grandson's "American Boy", and my grand-daughter's American Girl has a fun little vest with a turquoise yarn with nubbies of pink, purple, yellow, and green. I used the purl side of stockinette because it seems more of the nubbies show. Both were fun, and fast to produce.

It's time once again to "plow" my studio, which hasn't yet recovered from my Miss Mary's Retreat. I need to take quite a few of the UFO's down to the basement to "mature", and focus on finishing one or two tops. I'm sure my knitting frenzy will be put aside for quilting again because next Saturday, a few of us are heading to Bloomington, Indiana, for the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show, which will be inspiring. I'm trying to stay on a "fabric diet" for this event. We'll see how that goes!