Quilt Show in the Woods

What a beautiful day we ended up having for my quilt show! It rained HARD until about 4:30-5:00 AM and then stopped. It wasn't supposed to rain anymore after that, but it didn't look too great. About 8 AM, we started hanging quilts. Well, let me tell you, it may not have rained, but we had some WIND! What took us 30 minutes last year to hang, took 1 1/2 hours! The labels that were clipped on, kept falling off. The clothespins were just not enough to keep the quilts on the lines, the bulldog clamps I had were too big and didn't grasp the rope. We had a devil of a time! :) But we got it done in time for a 10 AM show. The clouds eventually led way to sun, but the wind just kept on coming. Made for an interesting day. But it was SO beautiful to see all the different quilts, blowing in the wind. 118 in all! We had baby quilts, hand quilted ones, 1st quilts, T-shirt quilts, in all different sizes. They were quilts from students, quilt buddies of mine and mine. I even had a vendor who has an on-line quilt shop come and set up shop, Theresa from Country Colors. And of course, my Open House for my Studio, which kicked off the fall season. All in all, a great day. AND I met a lot more of my neighbors (well, if you can call it that--in the country a neighbor might live 4 miles away! LOL).

quilting fun with granddaughter

With my bi-annual quilt show coming up, my 8 year old granddaughter wanted to have her own quilt in it again. She picked out her fabric on Saturday, then on Sunday came over to start sewing. I cut it out for her and then gave her the design wall to play with the fabric. She only worked for about an hour before bedtime, but got up raring to go on Monday. She sewed them together, I pressed for her. Then I loaded it on the long arm and away she went! It's funny, the platform I let her stand on to reach the handles, was almost too tall for her! She had to bend over a bit to see what she was doing. And yet, not quite tall enough without it to reach the back of the quilting area or to see what she was doing. But she managed and got it all done. She got a little more nervous when I reminded her that we had to stitch the binding on the back by hand. (I sewed it onto the front for her). She remembers poking herself a lot! So, being the softie that I am, I told her I would sew the binding for her. But she had to do the next one. All during the day, she kept mentioning that she really needed her own sewing machine and work area, like mine. AND she wanted a sewing machine mat with pockets with HER name on it, like mine. So, she worked hard on her quilt, so we could 'play' a bit. I made the mat for her and in the meantime, she created a little quilt for her doll. She even quilted it herself on the sewing machine. I love it! She found things to add to her pockets, making sure she had all the essentials like I had close by my machine. (Yes, she was pretty sure she needed reading/sewing glasses like mine too!)I love how she reminds me so much of my younger years, always wanting to create things. Scrounging around for materials to create. I didn't have access to fabric then (my mom didn't sew and I lived too many states away from both my grandmas), but created other things. What a blessing to have a new generation eager to learn and pass on our love of creating beautiful things!

samples and more samples

I was a busy little bee in SC, AFTER the grandkids left, working on new samples for my upcoming fall class schedule. I realized I needed to get back into a little more basic quilts for the newer quilters and let them develop some confidence in their quilting skills before forging ahead. I showed the Fall Rail Fence, then here is another one that used Christmas fabric. I hope I can make some kits up in time...as I have a LOT of Christmas fabric that would be good to be OUT of MY closet and into someone else's! haha

This is not a beginner's quilt with all the Half Square Triangles, but one that that has been on my list to do for quite some time. I love the color combination and you are starting to see it a lot more. The 40-50's retro kitchen colors. I had seen one done similar and decided to just do it. Do you see the homespun in the close up? I was purging a closet of clothes from, gosh, 10-15 years ago. Remember the homespun jumper days? I loved them and made them in all colors. Actually, in reality I think it was when I had started gaining weight and it was a great cover up! LOL Anyway, I decided to put a little piece of my past into this quilt.

Sewing on samples

While I was in SC recently, I always pay a visit to my good friend, Pat who owns Quilter's Cottage in Garden City, SC. She was the former owner of Island Threads and decided that she really missed being in the quilt store business, even though she has a thriving long arm quilting business. I've made samples before for her and when I paid a visit to her, she mentioned that she really needed a quick sample made. So I carved out some time for her and made this cute little baby quilt.close ups of the monkeys...

Announcing a new addition to the family

I'm sorry to say that 'Zoe', as my HQ16 was affectionally known, has been adopted by another quilter who promised to treat her well. Normally when adding more to the family, you just find love and room for the next one. But unfortunately, when your new addition takes up to 18 feet, you must get rid of one. So...........here she is, our newest addition to our family....Chloe..........the newest longarm in the market, by Handiquilter..the Fusion. And baby, is she a nice one! And behaves SO nicely. I'm in love already. She arrived at the end of May and I only got to do one quilt on her before I had to leave for my trips, so I've been making up time since I've been home. I actually got 5 quilt tops quilted in the last couple of weeks. I had grandiose ideas of doing one every day. Well, that sounds good, if you had nothing else in your life to do! LOL I even got the bindings sewn on and hand stitched down. I'm working on the last one. (edit. note: I wrote this in July, but didn't have pictures, so didn't post it. It's now August and I'm FINALLY back home and have gotten one more quilt done. But next week.....will be the week to crank them out!)

I vowed I didn't need a bigger machine, but when I saw them in Paducah with a lot of new features, I thought I'd just to ahead and take the plunge. The only thing was that I had to put her in my classroom (that really does have a lot of space). So had to do some rearranging of cupboards and tables, but it all works. And I'm glad to say that I did not make a mistake.

The good thing is that it loads just like the old one, so all the people who rented Zoe, will be able to transition well to Chloe. And they are going to love her....

I love the night life...

NYC at night--what a hustling, bustling place! We went to see 9 to 5 on Broadway, Allison Janney from West Wing was one of the leads and did a great job, it was really good. I'm glad we saw it as the last show is Sept. 6. I was afraid my dress wasn't 'dressy' enough, but I seemed to be one of the more dressed up people there! I was a little surprised. I figured that most would be dressed to the 'nines', but that must have gone by the wayside as well. Remember when people used to dress nice to travel by air? Those days are gone too, you wouldn't believe how many people (usually the younger ones) that had pj's on! Oh well, off subject..

I did find the City Quilter, a quilt shop in Manhattan and about a 20 minute walk from my hotel, fairly close to the garment district. Go figure! And it was constantly turning over people, lots of foreigners from the sounds of them. It was a little bit weird though to have to be 'buzzed' into the store. I'm sure for their protection. It was more contemporary, urban store but not a lot of Kaffe or Amy Butler type of fabric. More retro stuff and Japenese fabrics. Lots of embellishments, wool and silk ribbon, buttons. It's always fun to check out the quilt shops in different parts of the country to get a feel for what is popular in that region. The best thing was that they had a nice selection of NY fabric. I spent a lot of time debating what to get. The first was scenes from NYC and I thought I'd make a tote bag or something. The second one I got was Hoffman Batik, made exclusively for them. So you can't get it anywhere else ( I suppose you could call them and order it) and it was the Statue of Liberty. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but it will come to me.

On Sunday night, we went to a comedy club--BIG mistake. We should have realized when we entered and had to head to the basement, it seemed a big 'rough'. I realize that adult people like a little more adult humor, but most of them had profanity that just did not add anything to their monologue. In fact, they would not have been funny had they left it out. The last comedian we saw sang songs about how fun it is to beat up women, picked on the mentally handicapped people and the last song was about Chris Reeves. We finally got up and walked out. He said early on it was just joking..that he really doesn't beat up women or rape puppies, so don't email him. They are just jokes. I guess I don't get his style jokes and in fact, don't think any of those issues were something to joke about. Kind of a bummer on our last night there. But it was fun to see all the crowds of people at midnight. The place was mobbed. I guess someone forgot to tell everyone their was a recession going on. In fact, most of this summer has been like that. There are more people at the beaches than ever. I can't believe they all were international travelers before and are now staying closer to home .I was happy to see the throngs of people though.

getaway to NYC

How do you say no when hubby asks you to have an impromptu getaway to NYC for a long weekend? You don't! Although I had just gotten home from being gone for 3 weeks, was home a day and then went on a 3 day retreat with my quilting buddies, the next day we were on the road to NY! It's been 20 years since I've been to NYC and even then we missed a lot. So, we're acting like typical tourists, even doing the double decker tour bus! I never thought I'd see him on one, but he agreed! We did the night tour at night and had some awesome views of Times Square and the Manhattan skyline, but my camera doesn't take the best pictures at night. We did get a young teenager to get one of us.

Today we'll hit the Empire State Building, Central Park, Canal St. and hopefully the quilt shop that is around here. Tonight we go see 9 to 5 on Broadway, which should be good. I'll give a report. :)

working on samples

With all the kids gone, hubby is in Vegas, I stayed in SC for a little while longer to catch up some sewing with friends, playing cards with my folks and making some samples--oh, and a little sun too! :)

I realized that too many of my classes that I teach are too much for the beginners I have, so I've gone back to a little more basics. So, I'm starting off with a Disappearing 9 Patch that is so popular right now. I did mine a little more controlled (instead of totally scrappy) and forgive me, I saw one similar but now I can't find it to give her credit. I used black/white and lime green.

I'll use mine as a table topper in my new kitchen.

Rail Fence is another easy block to do for beginners, so I pulled the rest of the 2 1/2" strips I had used for another quilt in fall colors. I'm going to add random appliqued leaves on top, but didn't bring any fabric with me. It looks a bit wonky in the photo, but it's straight, honest!

I'm also offering another layout option for the Rail Fence and brought JUST what I needed for the top. Well, some of the fabric wasn't quite wide enough to get all the cuts I needed, so what's a quilter to do? Piece stuff out of the trash! I figured I'm acting like an original quilter! LOL It's okay, in the end, it won't be that noticeable. I couldn't finish the top here though, because although I wrote down the strips that thought I needed, I didn't bring them all! Oh well, I'll finish when I go back home.

On a non-quilty note, look what I found crawling up my book. It was so cute, I have no idea what it is, but an inch worm comes to mind. It was really skinny and long and had kind of webbed suction feet and webbed little legs in the front. It was almost like it should have been in a comic strip or cartoon. I had a hard time getting a good close up photo, darn camera! I wish the kids would have been here to see it. I didn't have the heart to kill it, so took it outside.

Fun in the Sun with grandkids

We just spent a fun week in SC with the 3 oldest grandkids (8,6,6) and Sheleah. And man, are they busy! Almost every waking moment was spent in the water or me cooking for 6 and then cleaning up! But we had a fun time with a movie thrown in, some card playing, puzzle making and teaching one of the 6 year olds to ride a bike. I thought I would get to sew in the evenings after they went to bed...HAHAHA! I was pooped and just vegged on the couch and ended up going to bed early myself.

The kids got some silly little wiggle worm thing and then decided it needed a quilt to cover up at night. So Kajsa and I ended up making 3 little quiltlets for these silly little toys that they will never play with again Here's looking through my one basket of scraps down here. I don't keep fabric here, I just have kits (that I've made up) to sew, but I do keep my leftover scraps. But it was fun teaching her some more sewing skills. She is SO good at a 1/4" seam. She sews slowly, but so accurate. And then was teaching her how to properly put on borders. She's learning to pin her own pieces now.

Here's little brother with his quiltlet. The 2 six year olds thought they wanted to make one, but their attention span was about a minute! So Kajsa ended up making theirs as well (well, with a little help from Nana!)

Okay, I can't get the last two pictures where I need them, but you get the picture! :) I have a new little 10" Dell computer, which I love but the screen size sometimes is a hindrance. But I love how lightweight it is!

the 'girls' learn how fun it is to quilt in pj's!

On our recent retreat, I warned them all that I only get dressed if I'm going somewhere (other than the pool) and I RARELY go anywhere! LOL I live in PJ's and swimsuits while in Pawley's. How much better can it get? Quilting and sunning...my idea of an ideal vacation. And they all got in the spirit of it all and learned that pj's are okay to where, even at 3:00 in the afternoon! It's so fun getting away with other quilting friends. And boy, do you learn a lot when you get them away from home! Whooo--eeee!! Did we learn about the 'other' side of everyone and decided that some things are just better left among just us! So, my lips are sealed. But let me tell you, we sure did some hootin' and hollerin' and lots of laughing when some 'secrets' were revealed. Don't ask, cuz we won't tell.

We had daily classes on learning/perfecting quilt techniques and by the week's end, they all had their quilt tops done. A couple of them had only to fuse on the lettering, but they decided to do that at home because they were leaving early to stop at yet another quilt store on the way home and wanted to leave time to shop! But other than that, they all got them done along with a few UFO's.

More finished photos to come.......

Life is Good!

3 months ago I was diagnosed with Diabetes and it's been an emotional roller coaster since then, add in a HUGE change in our household with our youngest daughter's (with Down's) moving out into her own apartment and it explains my absence. I was in a bit of a depression, but I just kept plugging away and now I feel a TON better.

First..health wise--got a GREAT report from the Dr. yesterday. My blood sugar numbers were well below where they needed to be, so she is keeping me off meds! WOO HOO! I've lost 27 lbs. so far and have a bit to go, but it's nice to be able to fit into some clothes of the past. :) The numbers aren't completely under control, but well on it's way. Thank God for allowing me to perservere through all this. And thanks to Kirt, being my biggest supporter. He said that my diagnosis was a good thing for both of us...a huge incentive to get back into eating healthy and exercising. So, he's been going right along with me and has lost 42 lbs! Go figure, it just drops off men, doesn't it? Well, I guess that and the fact he works out 1 1/2 hours a day! LOL

Second...Sheleah's big move! She was ready for it...acting like a rebellious teenager, you know--the ones who hit adulthood and decide that they can make their own decisions? Well, she was there, a bit late perhaps, but was ready. We moved her into her own apartment and she has care takers with her from the time she gets off work through the night until she goes back to work in the morning. We pick her up on Sunday mornings to go to church with us and then spend the day with us. I never thought this day would come actually. It was always a dream, the kind of dream like winning the lottery--you'd like it to happen, but it probably won't. I wasn't sure how I'd be with all of this and solved the problem by going out of town with some friends! And it worked! I missed her, but there wasn't a huge hole at night when she didn't come home.

We had an impromptu housewarming shower for her and she was SO excited. Well, after we had to explain that it wasn't a birthday party and they would be bringing kitchen related stuff rather than CD's and DVD's! She did request pink, she loves pink. And she got a lot of pink stuff! She loved the whole shower and was really pleased when they spelled her name right. LOL--she hates it when people misspell her name or say it wrong. And unfortunately there were a few that didn't know how to spell her name, but she waited patiently while they had to get up and change it right away--per her request!

I went away for two weeks, the first week was back to Lake Anna, VA with some friends. What a nice getaway, I caught up on sleep, laughs and a bit of sewing. It went by way too fast, as girlfriend getaways do! Then I headed down to my home in Pawley's Island, SC where I was having a retreat for my students. Some were so anxious to be there, they beat me! We had another fun week of mini lessons in the mornings (I had a retreat quilt that they all worked on, a bit each day), sunning at the pool/beach/Lazy River in the afternoons and then more sewing at night. Man, if you ever want to get to know people, go on a retreat with them! LOL We learned some good stuff--but we promised not to share it! Spent a lot of time laughing, tag team sewing to get someone (no names will be mentioned--LOL) caught up so she wouldn't have to stay up all night sewing. I presented the next step for the quilt in the mornings and then they all had to have their homework done by the next morning. Let's just say there were some wee hours sewing going on! I threatened to ground them from the pool if they didnt' get it done. But they all did and all went home with finished quilt tops! And lots of quilty things learned and a whole lot more. here's a little preview of our retreat quilt.........more to come.........

Being gone and being preoccupied has pushed me way back in my postings, but hopefully I can slowly get caught up. I'm back into the groove of sewing again--I KNEW it would come back! But more in the next post!

OH--there was a third thing I wanted to share---we have a new resident at our place..........more to come! heehee

I'm back!

I'm not sure where to start..it's been 2 months since I've last posted and a lot has been going on in our household. The last time I wrote I was in SC on a little vacation with my hubby and daughter. And the last time I felt carefree. I got a call from my doctor while gone and found out that I have diabetes. I know so many that live with the disease, but it sure was an eye opener and shock to me. And talk about a change in lifestyle! I've been trying to get it under control with diet/exercise and I think I've done as best as I can and think that I may have to reconcile the fact that I'll have to take meds. My first check up with the dr. was good, but things haven't gotten any better since then. But we'll see. Then our youngest daughter, with Down's....oops, I'm sorry,. she's now French..LOL.. has been acting like a rebellious 18 year old. Lots of issues at work and home. A very emotional time at our house for the last two months. But I see a light at the end of the rainbow. She is going to be moving out on June 1st and she is so excited to finally be a woman, or so she says! :) She's going to have a caretaker at all times, so that makes me feel better. But ask me on June 1 how I feel! So, in a nutshell--lots of changes/emotional ups and downs these last few months left me with no desire to sew/quilt/blog. BUT--after spending a week with Ted and another friend in Paducah and then back in SC with some quilting friends has spurred me back into the quilting world again. My hubby was getting worried about me. I mean, I've never gone this long without sewing, ever!

So...what have I been working on? I had to make a few more purses/bags for gifts....

I offered to sew a few samples for Laurie at Lollipops Bindings as she is about to depart on a whirlwind Australian tour..

Found a kit I got last year as a gift and knew it would be quick and easy... And another kit I received as payment for work done for a quilt shop..(you know I DO work for fabric! LOL)...

Made a few blocks for a friend who is having her own struggles with her husband's health issues..

So, there you go...my life...all the good and the bad. And I'll survive. :) and I'm glad to be back!