Good intentions

Here we go!

My friend Renea and I made an overnight trip to the Mid-Atlantic quilt show on Thursday; it was my intention to upload some of the pictures to be shared on Saturday but that didn't happen.  It was a great show but I was wiped out when I got home Friday evening!

Oh my, there were so many great guild challenges this year!  Themes such as Living on the edge (designing with selvages); Lovely as a tree; Take a shot [at expressing yourself]; Color squared (one-color, 12-inch mini-quilts); Dream big - stretching art and tradition; and of course the Hoffman challenge.

Here are just a few that I liked:
Color, color everywhere!

Lovely as a tree...

There were fractured quilts:

And you'll like this one, Gayle:

Pigs in a Blanket, by Sally Trude from The Objects of Design! Her tag reads "I inevitably end up making comical quilts because I love to design animal blocks and then dress them in bright colors. The piglet is a favorite pattern that is available for free on my blog..."

Check out this 3-D design:

viewed from the left...

viewed straight on...

and from the right side...

such talented cleverness!

Anabeth Dollins of Pittsburg named this one "Around Town."  365 days, 365 blocks...

Lady of the House was clever; "house" represented in humorous ways:

Mary Kerr of Woodbridge set 9 Dresden Plate blocks from the 1940s in a sea of white...

The pictorials were awesome:

I hope you can biggie size these to see details!

I hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I enjoyed the Mid-Atlantic show!  I have more to share, so come back tomorrow.  Sew forth and sew on

Showing and sharing at the guild

Three things to be happy about:
(1) mint-flavored dental floss
(2) calendar pictures
(3) candy hearts

On Valentine's Day someone at Deb's school gifted her with candy hearts.  Since it was waaaaay too much chocolate for one person, she shared them with us at guild meeting on Saturday.

There's just something about quilters and chocolate that naturally goes together!



And what would a guild meeting be without show and share ...

Cynthia shared a free form quilt she made as part of a challenge.  This piece includes stamped art and beading ...

... while Adrienne shared her paint chip challenge quilt.


Several of our members also belong to other guilds, bees, and art groups, so we have the advantage of seeing things made as an activity or challenge in their other group!

A Turning Twenty quilt ... or was it Turning Twenty-one?

In either case, I like it!

Angela finished a UFO ... gotta love the end of a UFO!

Charley has done it again - she makes the most amazing fractured quilts!

This one is still in the floppy stage - she turned it around to show the seams.

In my opinion, the back looks as great as the front!

A child's quilt by Cynthia.

She chose an alphabet panel, then fussy cut the alphabets to hang them in their own individual frames.

And last but not least, take a look at this one ... twelve blocks, right?

Nope!

It's all the same block done in different color ways.  She took a workshop in color contrast and made this quilt based on what she learned.

I was intrigued!


So another great guild meeting goes down in history, a good time was had by all.

Sew forth and sew on

Just puttering

Three things to be happy about:
(1) stuffed chops
(2) line dancing
(3) a good deal

Sometimes I'm still amazed at the good stuff you can find at the Dollar Tree!

Udderly Smooth hand cream, love it!

I mention again, all dollar stores are not created equal - I call them "brand x" dollar stores. Names like 'Dollar Ocean' or 'Dollar and More' or 'Dollar Plus' - they just aren't the genuine article.  IMHO, it has to be Dollar Tree, or nothing!

While I was puttering around not sewing, I dug up this top yet again.  I keep taking it out and putting it back.

The issue is, should I add a border, or just have it quilted without one.  It measures 72" square and it would look great as a borderless quilt.

If I add on a border, what kind??

The entire thing is made of 6" string blocks, so I don't think it would look good with a solid border.

I could make a string border in 6" blocks, I guess.

hmmm ...

If I go borderless, will I lose any of the important parts when it's trimmed after quilting??

Decisions, decisions.




Sew forth and sew on and on....

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day - make someone happy today!

Sew, sew, ... sigh

Good morning from a non-snowy Washington DC!

... as viewed from a television screen shot of Channel 4 news.

They were warning (threatening) of a 1-2" snowfall starting in the wee hours this morning; they were promising to keep us updated starting at 4 am this morning.  I don't know if they did or not, I was still sleeping!  So this is what 1-2" looks like:

well heck, I'll take it!

My latest adventures in the En Provence mystery quilt ... Sometimes I think it's a mystery why it's taking so long to finish, but then again - it isn't!

See that peek-a-boo hole in the middle there?

That's part of a sashing strip - I turned a lot of my purple 4-patches the wrong way!  I started off doing it right in the first two blocks, but somewhere along the line I did one wrong.  THEN, rather than looking at Bonnie's sample, I looked at my own layout and kept repeating and repeating that wrong layout.

So my sewing time (such as it is) the last couple days has been releasing those errant 4-patches, turning them a quarter turn, and sewing them back in - without unsewing the entire row!  *Sigh*  

Still cutting pieces for the QST's, sewing them as leader enders as I go.

Okay I admit it - I'm getting just a bit tired of this one, looking forward to finishing it up and moving on!

This is my last En Provence post til I get it finished, what more can I show and tell about it??  I don't want to bore you, you might not want to come back!


That's it for today, keep warm, stay out of the snow, sew forth and sew on

Time to refurbish ... or re-fabric

Three things to be happy about:
(1) getting your new quilting magazine
(2) Neutrogena Rain Bath shower gel
(3) a spur of the moment outing

You can never have too many brick-and-mortar fabric stores, if it's a good one!

About 2 weeks ago Fabric Place Basement opened a store in our area, and yesterday my friend Sandy and I went to check it out.

We were pleasantly surprised!

The fabrics were plenty, the manufacturers were recognizable - names such as Riley Blake, Hoffman, Kaufman, Andover, Free Spirit, Michael Miller, Benartex - and the prices were kind to our wallets.

Most of the cottons were $6.99, except a few that were $5.99 - an excellent price!

You never know who you'll run into in a fabric store, but you can almost guarantee it'll be another quilter.

This lady shared a picture of a beautiful double wedding ring quilt she's making for her son's birthday, and a beautiful full length embroidered wedding veil she made for her daughter.

Kindred spirits seem to gravitate toward each other!

I wanted to get a few more greens and yellows, some of them can go right into the last few EP blocks.

I told Sandy I wish this store had been open when I was gathering my fabrics for the EP mystery, could have gotten some great purples!

Of course, more neutrals are always, always needed!

When the lady who was cutting my fabric got to the piece on the left, she stopped and stared at it. Then she said "What are those things??" Tomatoes!  That bolt was from a section marked "for the kitchen" or "inspired by the kitchen."

Something like that.

Fabric harvesting 101 - always include some fun fabrics in the bunch!

I like the doodly squiggles on the top piece, and those fish are really cute.

And words get my attention every time.

I noticed this after I got home - I don't know that I've ever bought 100% certified organic cotton fabric before.

What is it, anyway??

And last but not least, I had to have a piece of this black and white.

I love words, and these are all words that I like - Raspberry danish! Triple fudge chocolate cake! Oatmeal raisin cookie!  Banana walnut bread!

All the other pieces were 1/4 yard, but I got a yard of this one.

That was our excursion, we enjoyed every minute of it!  Have a great Friday, start a new project, pet some fabric, sew forth and sew on ...