Still rotary rolling along!

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 . . .

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!

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!

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?

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 . . .

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!

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

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!

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?

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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 . . .

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!

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!