Moving right along ... again!

There things to be happy about
(1) the end of the work week
(2) a good report
(3) figuring out a problem

What's the difference between these two pairs of quilting gloves??

The pair on the left only cost a buck in the dollar section at the Shoppers Food Warehouse!

They were labeled as knit work gloves, but they work just as well as "real" quilting gloves you get at the quilt shop.  You should be able to get these at your local dollar store - Dollar Tree is the bestest and  my mostest favorite!

I should have said these work just as well under "normal" circumstances...

I had very abnormal circumstances while I was trying to quilt my 10th anniversary quilt, it fought me like a knight!

I use fusible web for smallish quilts - hey it works for me! - but this time the back fused on with a wrinkle that I just couldn't get rid of ... when I was quilting it, the quilt just wouldn't move across the machine bed, the stitches were skipping, my foot pedal kept sticking in the ON position -  it was a fight and the quilt won!

Sometimes things just aren't meant to be, so I called my long armer and said "Oh please, can't you help me, can't you help me!!"  Long story short, I unpicked the stitches, separated the top from that ugly back, took it to her and breathed a sigh of relief!

Meanwhile I finished putting together that Milkmaid Star top I wanted to finish, it looks nice.  I don't think the quilt police will come after me for machine stitching the rows together on an otherwise hand pieced quit!

I've cut a 2" blue inner border...  I'll decide on an outer border later.

Finished a few more blocks for the Strip Twist leader ender project -

As I'm writing this I just got a phone call from my long armer - the anniversary quilt is ready, yes!!!

Things are looking up!  I'm going to eat breffus and arrange a rendezvous time with Patty D to get our beautiful quilts.  Sew forth and sew on til later  :o)

Wee Bee meeting

Three things to be happy about:
(1) Jamaican jerk chicken
(2) a good strong lock
(3) crunchy peanut butter

This month we had visit from Toni Ford, a member of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, who is conducing a video documentary of  Washington area quilters.

Toni began her interviews with a group of quilters at a Senior Wellness Center in Southeast Washington, DC.  When she interviewed Sandy Hassan and me a few weeks ago and expressed an interest in visiting a bee, we invited her to our meeting to see some of our work.

While Toni chatted informally with us about her project, her videographer took shots of our work from different angles in the room. 

Toni was impressed with the range of talent in our Bee...

Of course, we had "new" show n tell!

Shirley's Bento box!

Linda's veggie jars!

Toni noted that a lot of  quilters she has talked with make quilts as gifts or just as a creative outlet.  One concern she has is that the talent of quiltmakers as a whole is not as well known as it could be; every group of quilts seen by someone other than the maker is probably just the tip of the iceberg!  To help our Bee get more exposure for our work, she'd like to assist us in showcasing our work at one of the local embassies.

That bee it for now, sew forth and sew on til later!

Out of the bag

Three things to be happy about:
(1) spring cleaning
(2) recharging your iPod
(3) springing out of bed

I didn't spring out of my bed this morning, I swanee I could've used some more of that shut eye!  BUT... since the clock said 9:00 I thought I better get up.  My father used to say if you stayed in bed too long you might get woofs in you.  Now, we never knew what "woofs" were, but we DID know we didn't want any!

I was gifted with a huge bag of scraps at guild meeting last Saturday.  As you all know, I love scraps, I see them as bags of opportunity!

Thanks Deb for so much scrappy goodness, I can't wait to dig into them to see the great stuff I pull out!  The quilts I'll put together couldn't have been the same without your scraps in the mix!

Meanwhile I dug into a whole nother bag to see what UFO's were waiting in there.

I'm pretty sure I showed these blocks before, I want to go ahead and put them together, rather than start something new right now.

These blocks were hand pieced when I was in my "piece something while waiting" phase.

There are enough now to make a quilt, for some reason I was making more.  Want to know a secret?  I think I used the rest of that blue in other projects... either that, or it's mixed in with my stash and I probably won't be able to put my hands on it!

The block is a Milkmaid Star, I don't know how I was going to sash these, but my inclination now is to just set them side by side.  I hope the seam allowance will let the points match.

I think it looks okay as is, I don't want to spend a lot of time on this one!  Maybe two borders around the edge, the inner one maybe a close match to the corner stones.  I'll take another look at it after the middle is pressed and sewn together.

I may not blog for a coupla days, I need to get started on the quilting of the anniversary quilt, time flies whether you're having fun or not!

My oatmeal is ready, sew forth and sew on til later!

Another top done

Three things to be happy about:
(1) fresh, ripe cantaloupe
(2) putting on the ritz
(3) a hug from a friend

At last -  the blocks from the 2011 scrapbag retreat are together!

It only took 3 years  ;o)

I used 3-1/2" sashing around the medallion in the middle and 2-1/2" everywhere else.

The sashing color doesn't photograph true to life, it looks a bit grey in the shot but it isn't.

It matches nicely with the main colors in the blocks.



I could add another border to the quilt, but frankly my goal was to get the blocks off the shelf and sewn together into a quilt.  This top is done!

Sew forth and sew on til later!

Guild meeting

Three things to be happy about:
(1) an old talent rediscovered
(2) paint-by-number kits
(3) opening the sunroof

Yesterday's guild meeting was lots of fun, as it usually is every month.

Besides the usual catching up with friends, door prizes and show n tell, it was also the day for our annual tea party!

There were several kinds of finger sandwiches to enjoy including cucumber, sliced meats, cheeses, chicken and tuna salad.

There might even have been some vegan sandwiches  - whew!

Yummy desserts included several kinds of tea cookies, cakes, fruits, cheese and crackers, chocolate-dipped strawberries, those tiny cupcakes, Lindor's chocolates - lots of goodies to choose from!

Everybody enjoyed the great food; there was plenty to go around AND lots of leftovers for doggie bags!


We also had great show and tell, here are three...

by Angela

and Sandra

and Jeanette

More blocks from the monthly Tula Pink modern quilt workshop:

and last but not least, I had to get a shot of Felicia and her new wheels!

Sew forth and sew on til later!

Swap block progress

Three things to be happy about:
(1) birds on a road sign
(2) a ticking clock
(3) sculpture gardens

I made it out of the design slump I was in while trying to lay out my retreat swap blocks.  I had it in my mind to use the green batik-y fabric for sashing and the darker fabric for cornerstones.

However, I won't need cornerstones for the design I decided to go with.

Remember this layout?

It just wasn't coming together for me, but thanks to Gene's advice I thought "a-hah - medallion!"

This is the middle part, it looks great just as a small quilt!

I'll sew the quilt together in three rows...

Here's part of the middle row sewn together.

The two blocks will be added at the right side, then I'll add the top and bottom rows and sash the outside edges.

Progress is good!


Well today is quilt guild day, has it been a month already??!

It's also our annual guild tea, so it should be different and fun.  We'll have tea cakes, those cute little cookies, cucumber sandwiches ... the whole nine yards!

That's it for now, go out and have fun today, sew forth and sew on til later!

Progress

Three things to be happy about:
(1) total recall
(2) fresh broccoli
(3) a typewriter keyboard

I'm still cutting 9" black and white strips for my strip twist quilt!  Surprisingly I didn't have too much black and white in my 2-1/2" bin.

That Moda at the far right is called Comma, by Brigitte Heitland for ZEN CHIC.  I'm pretty sure I bought this from Sauder's on last October's Lancaster shopping trip with the Faithful Circle quilters.  Pretty fabric!

These are the blocks I've completed so far.

I plan to scatter red throughout the quilt, not too many because I think less is more in this case!

Test layout, just to see how they look together!

This is how I will lay it though - 4 across and 5 down:

I'm getting there, no hurry on this one.  I'm trying to keep this as a leader-ender project while I do other stuff.  That's one way to ensure "other stuff" gets done!

I'm feeling more chipper today, thank goodness!  I popped a crown a couple months ago; the dentist put it back in but it needed replacing and besides, I had decay under it, yuck!  The removal and temp crown were no problem but somehow he managed to poke me under my tongue and made a small tear.   Feels better now, but woe was me since Monday!

It's very difficult to NOT chew on that side, forget salads for a couple weeks!

Do something creative, give yourself a treat, sew forth and sew on...

A day on the farm

Three things to be happy about:
(1) new beginnings
(2) holding on
(3) knowing when to let go

Last month I had the pleasure of going to a real farm!

My neighbors Matt and Rachel who live across the street from me (part-time!) celebrated little Isaiah's 3rd birthday on their farm in Castleton, Virginia.

I'd never heard of Castleton before, but it's near Warrenton, about an hour and a half drive from my house.

I drove down with my neighbors Lauren, Eric and baby Nicklas.

Oh, and Dora the dog!



That day was one of those "spring is coming, let's enjoy the great weather" days!  We couldn't have asked for better weather.

I wanted to give Isaiah a quilt for his birthday and this jar quilt was the perfect one!  I named it "Isaiah's Secret Treasures."

I actually intended to give it to him for his 2nd birthday last year but for some reason it got pushed aside.

Birthday cake!

He discovered the icing tasted great off the edge of the knife, later for cutting the cake!

Rachel, his mom.

She was moving non-stop the whole time, there was a whole passel of grandparents and uncles and aunts and friends to take care of!

Bedtime, under the birthday quilt!


During the day I saw lots of cows but I didn't want to get close enough for a picture, too many cow pats (or is it cow flops?) to navigate!

Maybe I'll just call them pat flops, you get the picture... or not.

A large barn had tractors, hay mowers and lots and lots of bales of hay.

Oh, and great refreshments!

The refreshments included deep-fried catfish yum!  We ate it out of paper cups.

And ALSO a beverage that came in a mason jar!  Iced tea, wasn't it?

At least, I link it was piced flee...

Flow sorth and long life...