Summer Garden

Nope--don't have one except one lone tomato plant. I'm referring to a quilt I designed a few years ago to teach people how to do prairie points. Most of the time the prairie points are on the outside of the quilt and applied AFTER the quilting is done--kind of hard to teach a class like that! LOL So I made a quilt that had them on the interior of the quilt. I just taught this class again last week..so thought I would share.

Speaking of tomatoes...I was searching for a good tomato/basil/mozzarella salad and I think I was on Judy's blog to start and somehow ended up on Libby's blog--and she had the MOST delicious recipe for Tomato Basil pie EVER!!! My husband can't get enough of it--I've made it 3 times in the last week and he wasn't too happy when we had company and had to SHARE it! LOL

The Fruits of Summer

Ahh--don't ya love summer and all it's sweet, fresh produce? I sure do...I'm thoroughly enjoying going down the road a few miles and picking up sweet corn and tomatoes that were picked that morning. And the watermelon this year has been the BEST! And of course, I had to share the fruits of some of my efforts..a watermelon quilt. Actually, it was done a couple of years ago...but I'm not quite ready to show what I've been working on all summer. But be prepared..I've been busy! Finishing lots of quilt tops, finishing quilts (some have been hanging around for 7 years, waiting to be quilted!),making class samples, painting my studio, cleaning, reorganizing, purging and whew! I'm tired.

Right or Left Brained?

While searching for something else today..I came across this..and found it quite fun and interesting..try it..it's a bit harder than you think..I found myself hestitating all the time! Say the words out loud!


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starting them young...

It's never too early to get those grandkidlets started quilting for me--after all, they need to earn all the goodies I spoil them with! LOL just kidding--I really don't spoil them with 'things', in fact, can be a bit Scrooge like with them, preferring to spoil them with my time. As I'm on my quest to get tops done, my granddaughter's quilt was on top of the list. And since she was visiting me, I figured she should do it herself! I set up a platform in front of the machine and since she had to hold the handles, it was pretty safe for her. I stood by them the whole time, so nothing could happen to the machine. Of course, little brother wanted in on the act--so they both quilted her quilt (well, he did a few places and the bottom row-which he recognized!). It won't win awards at the quilt show, but it will always be special to her. Next is to bind it--and we will work on that next. Never too young to get them going....

Hummingbird? Well, we were pretty sure it was a baby ruby-throated hummingbird that we saw in our garden last night. That is until we started talking to some other people today. Seems they, too, saw what appeared to be a baby hummingbird, but it was a bit weird. Like it was an overgrown insect. I didn't have my glasses on, but when I got closer, it did look pretty much like a hummingbird. It's wings fluttered so fast you couldn't see them, it hummed like a hummer, flitted from flower to flower, feeding on the nectar. And you know what they say, if it sounds like it, looks like it, acts like it...it must be one! Curiosity got the best of me though and I looked it up and one blogger (who is a birdwatcher) mentioned it in a blog last year, that most people are confused about it. It turns out it is a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth! Well, looking at still pictures, you can tell it's not really a bird. Totally fascinating! Picture above is from Wikipedia, but there were a lot more out there that show this interesting little critter!

Outta Control!

AAARRRGGGHHH!! Working on my Leaf One Hour quilt--as usual, I decided to make it 'my own'. No, I just couldn't follow Judy's directions, I had to add my own touch. I was thrilled when she initially did the Challenge in that I found a bunch of leaf blocks in the RIGHT size for it. I never got around to finishing that quilt, so I was well on my way, right? I just had to add a few more leaves. No problem. And that little window in between the blocks? How cool would it be to put pictures or appliques of real leaves? Well, now I finally decide to get that done and that tub of unfinished blocks off my worktable! I had pressed the leaves in a book last fall, so I dug them out and since we need 5 1/2" squares--I could fit two on a page--which was great since that computer fabric is a bit pricey. After a few practice tries, I decided that I liked the look of a fabric background rather than white, so I taped my leaves to the fabric and then copied them. The colors of the fabric weren't quite the same, but they look similar and that was good enough. I followed the directions to heat set the ink, rinse in cold water and then let damp dry and then iron. So far so good!

NOW here was the problem--did you know that the computer fabric by June Tailor shrinks? Almost an ich! So, now I can't cut my 5 1/2" squares, I was down to 5 inches. Problem--big problem! Everything else was cut for the quilt and a 5 1/2" square HAD to go in there. Problem #2--since I copied the leaves on fabric--I would need to have more of that print! So, I pieced together all the little pieces of computer fabric leftover to get 1" strips to add to the blocks. Sheesh! What an ordeal--some of the blocks now have 2 seams in them! Oh well. It's the best I can do without wasting all that computer fabric.

I also did slightly different borders than Judy because I had a lot of HST's leftover (remember these were leftover from another abandoned quilt project) and I wanted to use them. So I figured out what size my borders had to be so I could use these HST's. Used up the last of my fabric and got all my borders cut. Started sewing them on--and when I get to the HST borders, they don't fit--by a couple of inches! Well, it turns out that borders #1 OR #2 should have been a little wider. Now what? And since there was an odd number of HST--adding a 'filler' would be a little obvious. But I reallly couldn't think of what else to do, so added the filler anyway. I couldn't take the other borders off and fix them, because I was out of fabric. What a pickle I was in! I was way beyond frustration--so I decided to go do something in which I had CONTROL!

And that was my pantry--sorry didn't take before pictures--but believe me, it was bad! I totally emptied all the shelves, bought containers to control the loose things and totally re-organized the whole thing. As I was putting things away, I thought I should have painted--but it was only a fleeting thought! And now I know I don't need any more corn--I have 12 cans!!

and after immersing myself in the pantry for a day and a half--I was able to calm down and go out and sew again. So, it's not perfect--that added filler strip is obvious to me--off center and I thought of a few other ways I could have solved the problem (but not until after it was done naturally!). But the top is done and I was planning on donating this one too. Hopefully whoever gets it won't be disturbed by all the boo-boos! Boy, it's been a while since I've done all that!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dad says he's the luckiest guy around--the whole country celebrates his birthday in a HUGE way each year--4th of July. When I was little, I believed him--heck, I still do! :) Here's to ya, Dad! (My daughter was down in SC visiting him--so thanks to them for the picture).

And while they were playing, I was back home sewing away. I'm trying to get samples done for the fall classes (my Open House/Quilt show is at the end of August)....here's some of what I've been working on...I FINALLY got the binding on my Grandma's Double Wedding Ring quilt. This is a top I finally talked her into giving me..I had it quilted by my Amish friend and then stalled for quite a while (I'm taking the 5th on this one! LOL) and decided since it's about my oldest UFO--I should get it done. and it finally is..hallelujah!

I'm playing around with my HQ16, aka Zoe, and am doing a modified Baptist Fan. Still working out the kinks, but it looks pretty good to me--and it's another DONE quilt! I'm donating this one to a local charity that supplies foster kids with basic neccessities and their very own quilt.Finally got the Tennessee Waltz quilt done--I named it "Vintage Paradise"--after the fabric by that name. It actually was leftover fabric from another project I was doing that got changed and I had a lot left. It's now almost gone! A great stashbuster for sure!

on a whirlwind tour

Yikes! It's been 2 weeks since I've last posted? Hmm. lots to catch up on..but this month I've been to Denver to help my cousin, Mona, pull a trailer with my grandparents cupboard with leaded glass to my house. Home a few days, then to the NQA show in Columbus and then on to Canada with 4 other quilters for a retreat on Georgian Bay for 9 days! A lot of quilting, gabbing, laughing and eating went on and we enjoyed the beautiful sunsets each evening from the deck. Then we returned home to work on a few special projects (not quite done yet), pick her daughter up at the airport and spent 2 days quilting with her before they headed back to Denver. An hour after they left, I packed up my car and drove to my own quilt group's summer retreat. I have been playing catch up all week! I'll be posting pictures in the next few days--cuz I have lots to share!

Today was the first day I have had with my hubby (other than an hour or two at nights), so we noticed the forecast for today was gorgeous weather, so we made our plans for the day. I picked a few quilt shops from the Quilter's Travel Companion, and a postcard from a new quilt shop and hopped on the motorcycle and took off. Here's what we found today:

We left home and headed to Urbana (OH) and stopped at Rothschild's Farm on the way. They have grown from a little local farm with raspberries and other crops to a large corporation that sells their gourmet jams, their famous Raspberry Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip and all kinds of goodies in speciality food stores--YUM!

Back on the road to Urbana, we found Quilter's Outlet/Antique Alley (sorry--no website to send you to) on the main drag, among all the neat little shops. Good thing there was a coffee shop on the corner so hubby could kill some time. Nice little shop filled with fabrics she bought from another quilt store that recently closed in Marysville (Sweet Mountain Quiltery). One side of the store had the fabrics and books and the other was set up similar to a antique vendor's mall. A small, but nice collection of neat antiques and one booth in particular had lots of sewing memorabillia, including quite a few toy sewing machines. You know, my hubby is smart...he offered to take me all these places.....on a MOTORCYCLE! Now just guess how much I can buy? LOL I did find a book and a box of old wooden spools of thread for a few bucks. And on our way to Yellow Springs...where we passed by Young's Dairy Farm--and man, what a hoppin' place! Not only did they have homemade Ice Cream, but a petting zoo,miniature gold, driving range, a restaurant, kid's rides and much more. Hmm, we've never even heard of it. We made a note to check it out on our way home. We arrive in Yellow Springs and immediately went back about 30 years...to the 70's complete with tie dyed shirts, war protestors (it was hysterical--it looked like they let the nursing home people out on the streets with posters--have they been there since the OTHER war?), natural food shops and much more. It was in the National news recently where the local college, Antioch, is being closed down. Of course we found many people trying to sell shirts to save the college. Home to Amy Butler (we tried to find her studio, but I don't think it's open for retail purposes) (ED.note: when checking Amy's website to provide you with a link..I discovered she doesn't live here! LOL She actually lives in Granville, OH--I guess that will be another day!) and many other artists, they definitely listen to the beat of their own drummer. The smell of BBQ pulled pork lured us to their outdoor stand, but we could have stopped at any one of the little bistros along the way with their tofu/sprout sandwiches. I didn't notice any quilt shops, so we vowed to come back another day to check out many of the little shops and art galleries this town had to offer (as well as jump on the 75 mile bike trail that begins here).

And finally on to Waynesville, OH...home to more than you can count antique shops/speciality shops and gift shops...and one quilt shop....Fabric Shack. What a store..they are midst a remodeling/updating state, but was full of the latest fabrics and ones that I adore..Amy Butler...Jennifer Paganelli...Moda's...and many more. Several jumped in my hands before I left the store (but not enough to not fit in the side saddle of the bike!). Very nice store and was glad to return!

We turned around and headed for home, but not without stopping in Plain City (a small Amish community) at Der Dutchman (a VERY well known Amish restaurant) for some good homestyle cooking. We had called our kids to meet us there, so we enjoyed a visit with the grandkids, had a delicious meal, did a little shopping at the attached store and bakery and on home to plop our feet up!

What a day..er..what a month!

Is getting rid of ALL your scraps a good thing?

I recently had that quandry. I kept thinking that it would be nice to get rid of ALL my scraps by using them, or letting other people have at it or just tossing them. They do seem to get old and stale at times. But just a few days ago, I was working on finishing a quilt I had made for a sample for a class and didn't finish. (Tennessee Waltz--done all out of my leftovers--except the black) I thought it would be good to go ahead and get it done. I should leave notes to myself on what I was thinking when I quit working on it, because it took me over an hour to figure out where I left off, what fabric I needed to finish cutting, etc! As it turns out, I must have cut what I had and then quit. My black was easy enough--I always have Kona cotton in black on the bolt, but it was the little brown dot on tan that I couldn't seem to find anywhere else. I needed just 3 more 9" blocks cut and didn't have anything left but scraps. I sewed them all together, end to end (they were the ends of the strips from when I cut the others) and was still short. After digging through all my stash (no wonder that closet is always a mess! ), I could NOT find any more. I thought, well, my last chance is my scrap bins and my neutrals IS overflowing...could I possibly find some in there? Now this fabric is OLD--at least 10 years old, I would venture to say. I kept digging and digging and fluffing up the scraps and lo and behold--I found ONE scrap--it was 9" x about 12"!!!! I sewed it to the end of the other scraps and by golly, I got my 3 9" squares. Another SERENDIPITY day!

That also got me to thinking--should my goal REALLY be to get rid of all the scraps? Or just keep them to a manageable size? Meaning, not overflowing the bin, like they are now? There is some benefit to having scrap bins........

1. great to dig through for applique projects

2. great for grandkids to go through and practice their cutting skills, playing with designs of their own

3. great for when you need just a little more of that fabric you used 4 years ago

4. great to make wonderful scrap quilts for "FREE", yes I know--it's not free, it still costs the same per yardage, but I somehow feel that these are 'bonus' quilts because I made the quilt that I intended to out of the fabric

5. great for testing blocks or designs and you don't want to use "REAL" fabric from the stash!

And so my thoughts are that it's okay to have scrap bins--just keep them manageable. If they get too full, start the scrap quilts again. More Heartstring blocks!

Here's how I sort my scraps:

1. Neutrals--whites, creams, tans

2. Blues and purples

3. Greens

4. Reds and pinks

5. Blacks, browns and some yellow

6. Brights (I keep these all together because they all play together so well!)

And I keep anything in there that is really less than 1/4 yard pieces. I have separate drawers for my cut strips (another story). If they get too small, I have a basket that I keep the small pieces to make more diamonds (which are currently my leader/ender project).

So, how do you sort and handle your scrap accumulation?

Down to the end of the fabric

End of what fabric? Stash--ROFLOL!! Scraps--LOL! No--my Quilt 24 Challenge fabric! Here is what I have left. On my rounds of blogs I saw what Bonnie and Tonya did when they recently were together. I thought it would be perfect to use up the small scraps. And what fun! But, ooops! She used a 45 degree angle diamond and in my excitedness, didn't even THINK about that--I had a diamond shape template and went to town!
And look what I get.....a 6 pointed star, NOT an 8 pointed star. It turns out my template was a 60 degree diamond. Oh well--I do have a few thoughts on what to do....I'll be back!
And of course, I had to make a postcard with ALL the fabrics that I used. I decided I will do that with each big challenge...it's kind of a nice way to remember all the fabric I used. My cousin does beautiful journals with her projects and I really would like to do that too--but time gets away from me SO fast--this has to be the next best thing.
And talking about going around the blogs--you guys are ALL so inspiring! I apologize if I don't comment as much as I would like--I'd never get around to all of you if I did that. So please know that I am keeping up with you--and will try to leave a comment now and then. I'd rather visit more blogs than stop and chat with all of you, although I would love to! Also, thanks to those who do stop and 'chat' with me. If you leave a comment or question, I'll answer you, but there are still quite a few who do not allow replies and then I can't answer you.

******Gratitudes***********
1. Sleeping on sheets that have been hanging on the clothesline
2. Safe journey for my hubby
3. Being excited for each day--so much fun stuff to do!

Serendipity

I've been working hard on my Quilt 24 Challenge, trying to get that done and out of the way. The trouble is I don't know where to stop sometimes! LOL The good news is that I have figured out what the rest of my projects will be, have them cut out and some are well on their way to being done. Where does the Serendipity come in? Well, I had quite a few strips left, ranging in size from 1" to 2" wide and most not longer than 8". I finally decided to cut them into 1 1/2" widths x 6 1/2" to get the most that I could. I figured I would 'frame' a block or something and had enough to do 9 blocks. Then I thought I would maybe do some redwork in blocks, good idea. I stayed up late one night surfing the internet for redwork patterns. I then thought since I'm doing that other hand embroidery, I didn't want to do any more handwork, so switched my thinking to machine embroidery--a whole other set of internet sites. I couldn't find quite what I was imagining, finally settling on maybe doing the days of the week and I'd figure something out for the other two blocks. I went to bed with that on my mind. Well, you know what sleep does for you! It goes into overdrive in thinking, processing and assimilating all the information it took in for the day! I woke up with a great idea! My mother had given me a set of tea towels my grandmother embroidered years ago. I didn't even get dressed, eat breakfast or anything before heading to the studio. I found the bag! And there were enough for 8 blocks and I quickly decided that embroidering a center block with "When this you see, Remember me" in it.AND they were 6 1/2" square! The only thing was that one block was a bit stained from what appears to be a little rust from the hoop and in the other, it must have been the last thing she was working on, because their were a few small flowers that were not done. I thought about finishing it, but then decided not to--remember her just as it is. I have everything laid out..and had enough fabric left to cut down to 1 1/4" and sewed them all together for a small border, in between two white borders. I have an idea for the last outside border, but will withhold judgement until I get to that point.

****** Gratitudes************

1. Days were everything seems to fall into place

2. The lush, green grass of spring

3. Waking up to the birds singing

working with Miss M

It was little Miss M's turn to spend with Nana--and she too, had to make her own little personalized pillow. She wasn't afraid at all of the sewing machine and wanted to do it by herself! Ahh, maybe a little later, :)
They sure liked putting the "fluffies" inside the pillow. She liked doing that so much she wanted to make one for little brother too...Little brother...sorry Liam--you didn't get to come help--soon...soon..And another quilt for my Quilt 24 Challenge...this time we were to do an applique--and if you remember, I was working on this during my trips and then one little Scotty dog got away in Bora Bora. If you look really close, you'll see an outline of a Scotty dog, headed the wrong way. This little quilt is dedicated to him--titled, "To the One Who Got Away"! It's all basted and ready to be quilted--and it's not even due until June 2!! I'm working on another twin size quilt for this challenge. I've got all the blocks pieced and am working on the MACHINE applique blocks now.

K creates her own quilt

Miss Special K is working on her own quilt. I purchased some yardage (her choice) with strips of cats and other designs. I cut it apart and we are inserting other fabric rows and she is creating her own rows of things she has cut out and fused. She's only in kindergarten now--I hope she always will love fabric and sewing as much as she does right now. Mommy and Daddy weren't even out of the driveway when she is dragging me to the studio to play!




She is very careful when she is cutting! And her teachers wondered where she got such good cutting skills! :)














Viewing her quilt to see if it is how she likes it. She definitely has her own opinions on where she wants things on her quilt--I might make a suggestion, but she doesn't follow it very often! :) That's good--she has her own mind on why she wants things in certain places.















Quilt in progress...the blue rows are the ones where she is adding her own designs. We got all the center rows done, and now need to add the side borders. She wanted it all done because she went to the Quilt meeting with me and she wanted to have her own show and tell. She took what we had done so far, as well as the pillow and baby doll quilt that we had done.

how time flies when you are having fun

Man, how does time get away so fast? In fact, my granddaughter was here last weekend with me and she was really sad at bedtime. She was crying and said that time always go too fast here! Catching up on things....playing and having fun with grandkids.....

This is Kai stuffing his pillow we made with his name on it. He spent a day and night with Nana, just us two....sewing, playing soccer, having a picnic at the park


working on my Quilt 24 Challenge Medallion....still painting....making baby quilts......and running my daughter to and from work for 2 weeks while hubby is out of town--it takes 2 hours out of my day--OUCH! But he's home now and I can have those hours back!
This is my Quilt 24 Challenge Medallion--as I had sketched out on paper. It sure looked better on paper! After playing with it, I changed the leaves on the vine to become flowers and added 2 more borders...I'm a little happier with it now. Since I'm using feedsack repros--I thought I would make more traditional style quilts, but with a little contemporary twist to them. In this case, I would make the medallion OFF-center. And fortunately I had cut too many squares for another quilt, so I added the extras as a border.

"Funky Monkey" quilt for my youngest grandson. He just loves monkeys and SOFT fleece blankets, so I put Minkee on the back of this. I gave it to him and we put it on the floor with the Minkee side up and he kept putting his forehead on it, sliding along and then rolling over...looked like a little kitty!

a sneak peek..

a sneak peek as to what I've been doing......

Well, I've got the second dress done in the series of embroidery that I'm doing. I only work on it during a few TV shows that I watch--American Idol and House. I like CSI, Without A Trace too, but forget to watch them.














For the next Quilt 24 Challenge, we have to do a Medallion Quilt. I have come up with a dozen designs and could never decide what I wanted to do. I finally decided to do an hand applique center...so here it is, all basted and ready to applique. I hope to get it done tonight during my quilt group.







This is one of the borders for my medallion quilt above...it only used 1 1/2" squares from each of my FQ's! At this rate, I'm going to get 20 quilts out of all those FQ's. This is quilt #2.










This was a storage room, that was full from floor to ceiling of stuff! To name a few things: 5 sets of metal bed frames??? A twin headboard/footboard set of my husbands, a picket fence, a box of books, 7 Cabbage Patch dolls, a kitchen play center and boxes of dishes, play food,etc., a miniature kitchen cupboard that my Dad made for ME when I was a little girl, boxes of games, clothes, a laundry hamper from my girls younger years and many more odd and end things. I should have taken a picture. It was a mess, and filthy! The walls were dirty and dusty. I turned it into my Quilting Supplies closet
and will store all my batting, quilts to be quilted, threads, and stencils/templates for my HQ16.


I just love the colors! Lime green and aqua...it looks so fresh and clean. And hopefully ALL my supplies can be easily found now and I can see what I have. I do know that I will not need to buy batting for a LONG, LONG time! :) I found all sorts of batting for all types of needs. You don't even see all the batting--that big bin below the W&N batting roll, is full of packaged batting and I need one more bin like it to hold the rest!

Busy as a Bee

I don't know, maybe it's the spring trying to greet us, but there are quite a few out there that have gotten into the "spring cleaning" mode, myself included. I decided that I couldn't go any farther without stopping to regroup, reorganize, de-clutter, purge, paint, donate and shore up the studio. With the exception of about an hour a day for my daily sewing--the Calendar Quilt, my Heartstrings blocks, my Quilt 24 Challenge--I've been buzzing around like a little worker bee to the tune of almost 12-14 hours a DAY! It's coming along. I didn't have the nerve to post my mess like Nancy did :) (thanks for the encouragement though!) I hid a LOT behind curtains and closed doors, but now everything will be presentable instead of being shown with a precursory statement of "excuse the mess"!

I am doing a little bit of sewing--but it's been piecemeal on about 5 different projects. I'll share pictures tomorrow. After I paint that one door pink............

**************Gratitudes***************

1. a chance to enjoy spring all over again!

2. the awesome paint choices we have today

3. oatmeal raisin cookies

Stained Glass and other ramblings...

I taught a Stained Glass class over the weekend. I had given my sample away, thinking I wouldn't teach it again. So, I had to make another one. I used my own hand dyed fabric for the flower and literally SCRAPS for the leaves. I was at my Friday night Quilt group and I'm normally not a dumpster diver (I figure all my friends KEEP all their trimmings, etc), but I noticed the trash can had USUABLE scraps! I couldn't believe it! Those kind of scraps are what made my Stained Glass! It's a darn sickness I tell ya. I spend over half my time making quilts from little bits of fabrics, when I have a closet FULL of FQ's and yardage. I just need to sew faster and sleep less. It would be hard to clean less because that's not on top of the list anymore (well, having a cleaning lady twice a month does force us to keep things picked up!) and my cooking is down to a bare minimum. A grilled meat, big yummy salad or soup. Quick and nutritious. Today I do have something in the crockpot--even better! Whoa--how did I get to talking about tonight's dinner? LOL My point....I had a great class and it is SO fun to see beginning quilter's make something that they are 'sure' they cannot do. They all completed their tops and they looked great. They were a bunch of happy campers. I wish I had taken my camera.

***********************Gratitudes*********************

1. A bright sunny day (not warm--but we see sun!)

2. An awesome Praise Worship service at church last night

3. Seeing smiles on quilters after learning a new technique successfully

Dabbling in Embroidery

I decided to make the plunge into the embroidery world, doing it by hand! If you look close, you will DEFINITELY see that it's not by machine! LOL I've never done embroidery and am kind of just winging it. I'm probably doing it all wrong, but that's okay. I found these darling 50's dresses done in pink and black with a little accent of green and I couldn't resist. They were part of the free series on The Bobby Sox Company site. I love her site--if you have a chance to go look, check out her darling sewing room. Oh, if only mine looked so good! She has a new free series on there now with alphabets.

I'm hoping that this will be my Friday night Quilt Group take along project. I get tired of lugging my machine and all the stuff. My Dear Jane project can get a big tedious at times and is sometimes hard to travel with and not lose pieces. I prefer hand quilting in a frame (yeah, like I have anything in the frame at the moment!), so I thought maybe this would be a good idea and I could certainly get one done in a month. So, we'll see how it goes!

Thanks for all the comments on Brianna and her creativity! That was the first time we had met,but I see more get togethers in the future. I think her Mom and older sister want to join in too! I think next time we ought to work on a quilt of her own, to take home with her.

Gratitudes:

1. It's April, so spring is around the corner!

2. Being able to try new things

3. the new Cinnamon Melts at McDonald's :)

Encouraging young quilters

This is for Brianna (sorry if I spelled your name wrong!). Brianna and her sister Abby, came over today with their Dad to discuss some business. Well, it wasn't a short meeting as it turned out. We were showing them the studio and somehow we ended up in my "reading room" that has a design wall in it. While the men were talking, I showed her how the blocks were put up on the wall, and then my husband told her that she should design her own. Remember my mystery quilt from late last year? Anyway, I didn't get it assembled and then had to take it off the wall for something else. I pinned them all in rows and then the rows got messed up! so I was going to have to re-do the layout anyway.

So Brianna went to town...she laid all the blocks out herself. She had no idea what I had planned, and created her own design. I kind of like it! I taught her how to squint her eyes so she could see the subtle lines the neutral squares were creating. She spent a long time arranging them and I had to help her put up the last row because she couldn't reach it. Great job, Brianna! And she is only 8! This is the first time she was around a quilter--but I think she wants to come back. :) I think I hear the rumblings of a beginning quilter. I told her that I thought she might be old enough to start sewing a little bit on the sewing machine. Gotta grab them young!

Back to normal?

So, am I Back to normal? Well, I'm home now and busy as ever, so yes, I guess I'm back to normal for me! I sure am paying the price for being gone so long! And I didn't get my taxes done before I left :( So...I'm stuck at the computer. But I had to take a break to finish my Quilt 24 Challenge's first quilt. It was due by April 1. We had a meeting that day, so we REALLY had to have it done! Okay, not really--we are really challenging ourselves, so if we don't get things done, it's our own loss. But it's nice to have deadlines. So, while adjusting to being back in my own time zone, I sewed in the wee hours of the mornings to finish about 4 hours before our meeting!

This is my first quilt--(which was to be a twin quilt, according to our challenge rules) and you'll recognize it as Judy L's "Gratitude" pattern! I figured I might as well kill 2 birds with one stone, although I didn't follow her one hour a day. It was more like ...sew like a banshee during a retreat on the blocks and sew like mad during the middle of the night! But hey, it worked and it's done. I can't tell if my eyes are blurry (it's 1 AM here), or it was a blurry picture..the blocks look a bit blurry to me. At our meeting, it was really great to see everyone's quilts--they were all so different but beautiful! I think we all are enjoying the challenge it gives us to be very creative with our fabric. I can't wait until next month.

Our next quilt is to be a medallion quilt and I designed my own, so am now working about 1/2 hour a day on those. I'd MUCH rather work on those than my books/taxes so I have to limit myself until I get them done.

Thank you all so much for bearing with me while I posted mostly non-quilt related posts about my trips. Not only am I sharing my adventures with you, I'm really recording them for me. I hope that if they bored you, you went on. I do enjoy looking at other's pictures of where they live, they visit, their kids along with the quilts.

By the way, did you see the new "The Quilt Show" with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson? Ricky said that quilters do have other lives! :) How many of you signed up for the series? I read somewhere (I forget now where) that they pay for cable and weren't going to pay for more shows. Well, my feeling is that all the good quilt shows are gone (from my area at least) and for the price of less than 2 yards of fabric, I can watch quilt shows for year, at my convenience. And they are close to an hour long! There are a few ads, but very short ones...not annoying long ones that last longer than the show segments! So....what are your thoughts? If you are against it, why? If you did subscribe, did you like the first shows? Just curious....

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Gratitudes:

1. Taxes--hate to do them, but love the freedoms we have because of them

2. Fun challenges to keep us inspired

3. Pansies