Merry Christmas

This is a picture of the mystery ornament we made on Saturday at the Quilting 101 workshop. I gave this one to Julie when we met for breakfast yesterday along with some chocolate chip cookies. I made 60 of these a few years ago and gifted them to the staff at school. I had stars on top of those trees. I tried to find a star to put on Julie's tree, but I could not find one that was large enough in my stash of stuff. I must have used them all on the staff ornaments. Bummer! I think it is cute anyway.

This picture is of the paper origami quilt that my friend Monica made for me for my birthday. Isn't it darling? She made it in my favorite color combination: purple and turquoise. I just love it. She is really into origami and I am certainly happy about that! You should see the hexahedron she makes (I know that may not be a real word, but I cannot spell the real word because I don't really remember what it is)! They are open work round thingy dingys that are way cool.

Here is a picture of the two blocks I have done for Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Christmas Mystery Quilt. I have not completed step four, but I couldn't wait to see the two blocks sewn up, so I completed a couple of each block. There is so much sewing on step four. Maybe it seems like so much because I am close to the end and want to see it all done before Christmas.

So many little pieces to sew together. I cut very carefully, and I sewed very carefully, but still some of those little units are not the same size. My sewing machine likes to chew up the edges of my triangles, so between the cold and the machine, I am likely to toss it all out the window if I cannot get it done pretty soon!

Did I mention that our heater is nonfunctioning? I called our gas company and reported a gas smell. A nice fellow came out and checked the heater, the whole house, and the gas line outside. He determined that our heater was dangerous and turned off the gas to the heater. My hubby bought a new heater on Saturday so now we must find someone who can put it in and check all the stuff the gas man said needed checking, and possibly replacing. So.......we have not had any heat in the house since last Friday. I know 50 degrees is not really cold to many people, especially those in the east who are experiencing a terrible snow storm, but 50 degrees is cold to me here in sunny California! The only way I can get my feet warm is to go to bed and turn on the electric mattress pad. I honestly do not want to get out of bed in the mornings because it is so nice and warm under the covers. I apologize for whining since I know so many other folks across the nation are so much colder than I am. Wanda told me last week it was -5 degrees where she lives. OMGoodness! Way too cold for me.

Wherever you live, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And.....

Happy Quilting

New Applique Blog

I am so excited. I just found out that my favorite applique teacher (who moved away to Michigan six years ago) has a blog. Please check out Nadine Thompson's blog - Bapplique. I have just listed it in my side bar.

The quilt she has pictured in a recent post, In The Garden, is a class I took from her years ago. It is a Piece O Cake pattern, Through Grandmother's Window. Nadine made a center medallion and added it to her quilt. Her quilt is stunning. Her work is stunning. She made a Baltimore Album quilt and entered it in the Pacific International Quilt Festival years ago. It won first place. This quilt was featured in a calendar also.

The picture I have included in this post is my Through Grandmother's Garden quilt. It is still "in progress". I have the blocks together with one border attached. My second border is a vine with flowers from various blocks in the center. I have the vines sewn down, and I need to decide on which flowers I will add to the vines. My Baltimore Album blocks I have pictured in previous posts. Those are the blocks that I sewed in Nadine's BA classes.

Nadine is the unfortunate teacher who had me as a student in her Baltimore Album classes years ago. The class description stated this particular class was for experienced applique students. Well, I had made a baby quilt with two appliqued blocks, so I considered myself as an experienced applique student! Poor Nadine. She was so patient with me. She is the person who instilled in me my love of applique, and especially Baltimore Album quilts. She is a great teacher. If you ever have a chance to take an applique class from her, DO IT! You will certainly enjoy it.

Happy Applique

P.S. I am almost finished with step two of Bonnie's Carolina Christmas mystery quilt.

Here's the latest

Here is a picture of a community quilt that I finished. The top is Chinese Coins. It was tied at a community quilts activity. I took it home to cut and tie the knots on the back and also to apply the binding. It is amazing how much gets done at these activities. Last month there was a Saturday community quilts day. I think there were 14 quilt tops put together that day, and some tying and lots of sewing accomplished.

This little wallhanging with the crooked picture is a sample that I sewed up last week for a local quilt store. It was made from a charm square packet. This is not my color pallet, but it was a nice charm packet. It was different sewing with colors not in my comfort zone. I also decided this week to participate in Bonnie Hunter's newest mystery quilt, Carolina Christmas. I do not have much gold in my stash. When I need the color gold, I purchase what I need for the project. After my pumpkin block exchange, I did not have many gold fabrics left. I used almost all I had in my stash for that exchange. So, out to the quilt store I went. It was such fun to be in the store for a particular purpose. I looked at the Christmas fabrics and found a couple of pieces I liked. I also found some wonderful reds and greens (that I don't think I really needed, but wanted). I have not purchased any new Christmas fabric for quite a while. I had some background fabric left over from another project, but not enough for this mystery, so I bought some more of that fabric. I was lucky there was still some at the store. I have completed part one, now I am on to part two. We have been very busy the last few weeks with some family business, so I have not been sewing as much as I want. It was not smart of me to start another project, but I cannot seem to pass up a mystery quilt challenge very often. I have been trying to get some UFOs finished this month with Finn's UFO challenge, and I have accomplished more than I thought I would. I decided to reward myself with Bonnie's mystery quilt. You know how Bonnie loves those little 3 inch units for designing her quilts, so I am cutting and sewing all these pieces for these little units. I also have a lot of scraps I have collected at the last few classes I have taught and taken. I have enough scraps to make quite a few crumb blocks I think, and I am itching to start sewing them. I have been sewing together HSTs from scraps that I have been given. I have also been cutting 2.5 inch squares for a leader/ender project, too. I want to work on that also. My problem is that when I start using these pieces for my leaders and enders, I get so caught up in sewing them that I stop what I am working on and only sew the leader/ender pieces! That sort of defeats the purpose of the leader/ender idea though, doesn't it? I am so undisciplined, it is sometimes scary!!! I still have some time to sew today, so I want to get back to my fabric and my machine. I hope you all have a great weekend....... Happy Quilting

P.S. It seems that I have lost my paragraph spacing again. Whenever I put my pictures in first and then the text, I lose my paragraph spacing. It appears that I am rambling in the text after my last picture, but really, there are four paragraphs. Sorry!

Pumpkin Block Exchange

Here are pictures of the pumpkin blocks I received from our friendship exchange. As you can see, they are all different and varied. I like the exchanges where each participant chooses their own design. Our theme was pumpkins (no jack-o-lanterns) in a 10 inch finished size with fall colors. In the picture below, the pumpkin on the right side on the top row is a view of the pumpkin from above. I think it is difficult to see that in this photo. You see the pumpkin from the top with a leaf and part of the vine. I thought this was a great design idea. I also think the white pumpkin is very original, too.

The two smaller blocks on the top row of this last photo are the Chop Suey blocks. We were all amazed at how much time was needed to finish these blocks. They look so simple, but they took more time than any of us allotted for the block. First you made a strata that needed to measure at least 5.5 inches. Next you cut the wedges, then sewed three wedges together. The last step was to cut down the three wedges to a 5.5 inch square.

The pumpkin on the bottom right of this last photo has lots of leaves that have glittering pieces on the netting. The quilter embellished her pumpkins with these leaves. I was with her at a LAFS gathering when she sewed these sparkling leaves onto the blocks. It was so much fun watching her happy face and her big smile as she placed more and more leaves on the pumpkins. It does not show well in the photo here, but the leaves are made of different colors of netting. The light from my flash bounced off the sparkly things and makes the photo unclear with reflections.

I went to quilt retreat last weekend from Friday through Sunday. The block exchange happened on Sunday at retreat. I forgot to take my camera this time so there are no other pictures of finished projects. Although, most of us were working on our blocks for the exchange, so not too many other things were finished. There were four quilters working on other projects. Two of them had finished all their blocks before they came to the retreat (the GOOD girls). The other two quilters were not participating in this exchange and they worked on their own projects. On Friday, I was working on the last of my Chop Suey blocks. I finished them Friday evening. One of the quilters had a plastic template made from the dimensions given to us for the wedge, and she lent that template to me to cut my wedges. I had made a freezer paper template, and thought I was so clever when I thought of that! But she was much more clever and had a plastic template made of the wedge. That template made cutting the wedges so much faster. All the other quilters who were still working on their Chop Suey blocks used that template. We all thanked her for her bright idea that made the cutting go so much faster. I will remember that when I have another template needed to use for cutting. A trip to Tap Plastics for a plastic template will be the trick from now on, for sure! What a great idea! It is amazing the things we learn when we get together and sew!

On Saturday I cut ties and applied binding on a community quilt that I found underneath a pile of quilts in my "other room". I don't remember how long I have had it, but I decided it should be finished since the Community Quilts Coordinator made a call for any unfinished quilts to be finished and turned in before the end of the year.

I also worked on a quilt that I have wanted to make for a friend. I have had the jelly roll for over a year, but have not taken the time to make her quilt. I took the jelly roll with me and the fabric I had bought to complete the quilt. Well, when I had cut up the jelly roll strips, I discovered the fabric that I had brought for the rest of the quilt was not the correct fabric for that particular jelly roll design. Fortunately, I had also brought with me a BOM project from last year. It is a darling quilt using some Mary Engelbreit fabric. I picked up my BOM each month, but did not get any of them sewn. I have taken it with me to two different retreats, and did not get any sewing done on it until last weekend. I finished four of the twelve blocks, so at least I have it started. I really like these blocks, so now I am anxious to finish the rest of the blocks. I have several other things I want to get done before Christmas, so I may not have time to work on them again until January.

I will try to get a picture posted of the community quilt I finished, and also pictures of the BOM blocks I finished. Until then..... Happy Quilting

Happy Halloween

This darling BOO wallhanging was made by Sharon and given to me years ago. I have not finished it since I have not decided what to do for borders. But, I hang it up every Halloween in my sewing room. It reminds me of the retreat we were at where she was sewing these. She made quite a few of them. I had to whine and beg and plead in order to receive one. She was very gracious and made an extra one and gave it to me.

Included in this post is a picture of my first finished pumpkin block for my block exchange next weekend. All of my orange centers are done. Now I am sewing on the corners, sides, top and bottom strips to finish the blocks. I showed this block to my hubby this morning. I asked him if he thought it looked like a pumpkin. He said, "Quite interesting". He really does not appreciate how much time I spent sewing on all those strips.

The other picture is what is left of the strips that I cut for the blocks. I am going to use these strips to make the chop suey (???) blocks that will accompany my pumpkin blocks. The chop suey blocks are only 5-1/2 inches finished. I have not made those yet. I think they will make a great border for a quilt. I have some fall leaf exchange blocks I received a couple of years ago. I was thinking this morning that I could combine both sets of blocks and have a very nice fall quilt. Just a thought.

Our weather is cold and foggy this morning. It is just the right weather for trick or treating. I love to see the little ones dressed up in their costumes arrive at the door. We have lived in this neighborhood so long we are seeing children of the children that were in our scout troops, and on the soccer and baseball teams our children were on, and the soccer teams my hubby coached. It is so fun to try to figure out who these adult people are that say hello to us while they are pushing and carrying the babies to our door. I will need to find my haunted house shirt and put it on before the trick or treaters arrive tonight.

To all of you who celebrate Halloween... have a Happy Halloween.

October Aunt Millies Garden Block

Yeah! Aunt Millies Garden block for October is finished. My fingers are sore from so much hand sewing and applique lately. Maybe I can give them a rest for a couple of weeks.

I like this block. It is bright, and busy, and it was fun to sew. I always have such a difficult time picking out fabrics. I have too many choices and cannot decide what color scheme I like best. Of course, I never seem to have exactly the right fabric, or the right shade of a color. So that means ROAD TRIP!

Monday hubby and I did exactly that. I needed to get a copy of my birth certificate, so off we went to the county seat of the county in which I was born. It was raining heavily when I exited the county building. I was drenched before I could reach our vehicle that was parked right next to the building. Then as we were driving out of town, lo and behold, I spied a quilt store just a few blocks away. Hubby made a quick left turn and we ended up in a parking lot behind the building. Well, in the process of trying to find a spot to cross the parking lot that did not have a deep puddle, I was drenched again before I arrived in the shop.

I went immediately to the restroom to try to dry myself off a little. I did not want to drip all over their beautiful fabric. I just remembered I had an all weather coat in the back of the truck, I wonder why I didn't put it on? I guess I thought I could dash between the rain drops. But that is such a laugh. I have not been able to dash between the rain drops for quite a few years! LOL and LOL again!

I did find some beautiful purple fabrics there. I bought some beautiful purple fabrics there, too. There were a couple of gold fabrics purchased as well. I was looking for gold and orange for my pumpkin exchange blocks. These blocks are due to be exchanged in November (no pressure there, at least not yet).

When I returned to the truck with my purchases, my hubby asked me where I was going to put this fabric. He had heard me talking to a friend on the telephone the other day. I told her I could not buy any more fabric because I did not have any room to store any more fabric. I told him I was going to sew it up right away. Another LOL! He knows me better than that.

I am glad to have my October block done. I am trying very hard to keep up with the group. If I fall behind... well, let us say I know what will happen. I will not get back on track I fear. I have wanted to do this quilt for over a year. Now that I am actually sewing the blocks, I want to stay focused. I am so distractable. I love starting new projects, but my staying power is not good, to say the least. I am depending on Crispy to keep me on track.

Have a good week everyone, and try to stay dry!

Happy Quilting

Lemoyne Star Blocks

Yesterday was another Quilting 101 workshop. I featured Lemoyne Star blocks. This was the month I decided to present the dreaded inset piecing block. A lot of quilters will avoid this type of block because they feel it is difficult. I much prefer the Variable Star block, but I have done Lemoyne Star blocks. I did not like them, but I think it was because I did not like piecing them very much.

I found a magazine article with one page instructions for piecing a Leymoyne Star block so I decided I could present this at a Quilting 101 workshop. That was a couple of months ago. Last month I saw a show with Eleanor Burns and she did the Lemoyne Star. I liked the way she sewed her block together better than the way the piecing was presented in the magazine article.

The green and blue/purple block is the block I made from the instructions from the magazine article. The pink and blue block is made from Eleanor Burn's book, Victory Quilts. I had to search far and wide to find this book. It seems that someone else had designs on copies of this book. I had seen it everywhere I went all summer. But when I wanted a copy of this book last week, it was nowhere to be found! Since I wanted it ASAP, I did not have time to order it and have it delivered to my home. So hubby and I went on a trek 50 or more miles away to get this precious book. I like the way Eleanor Burns presents her directions in this book. They are very detailed with lots of pictures. Since I am a picture lover (I don't read the directions until I have made a mistake), I appreciate that concept.

One of the ladies finished her block at Quilting 101 yesterday. I was excited for her because this is not the easiest block to piece. She was very happy that she persevered and finished it also.

Please check out Roberta's blog. She has lots of great pictures from our retreat.

Happy Quilting

A Challenging Retreat

This last weekend I attended a quilt retreat. We had a wonderful time. There were many projects finished, started and finished, and all parts in between.

My major project was to complete my guild retreat challenge quilt, and I did it! Our guidelines were: black and white with one other color, and no side to be longer than 24 inches. I took all the black and white fabrics I could find in my stash, and some orange fabrics. I also took a BOM that I bought last year and have not sewn yet. I started on my challenge on Friday, and finished it Saturday evening. I worked on my pumpkin blocks on Sunday. I did not get to the BOMs, again.

I was thinking of Wanda all the time I was working on my challenge quilt. I wanted something artsy, but not a miniature. With the restrictions on size, there was not a lot of room. I made a strata, and then started cutting it up. I wanted some circles and gradations. I saw a quilt in A New Twist on Strips and Curves book by Louisa Smith that sparked my interest. It was a lot bigger and had much more going on in the design elements than my quilt, but the design started me thinking. I really like my quilt and am excited that it is my own design.

I have included some pictures of some projects from the retreat. I will post additional pictures in my next post as I don't think I can get them all in this post. There are great stories that go with these quilts. One of these stories is of the Amish Roman stripe quilt. The quilter said that she started that quilt 16 years ago. She just about finished it at retreat. It was so gratifying to see it get to this stage for her, and for the rest of us also. This gives me hope that I will get my big applique quilts finished some day! There is hope for them all!

Happy Quilting

Latest Applique Block

Here is a picture of my latest finished applique block for the Aunt Millie's Garden quilt. I have three done now, nine to go! This block was much easier for me to sew than the last block. But when I finished it, I looked at it and thought it needed more color. My first two blocks had more color. I like the orange color I used in this block, as well as the green, but when I added the lighter yellow with the inner circle, it livened up the block more for me.

I love the look of applique, and I enjoy the act of hand stitching. But my fingers are itching to sew on my machine, so I think I need to start working on a machine project. I want to finish one of the quilts I have "in progress" on my sewing table. I am going to pull one out and finish it. I have joined with Finn to complete some UFOs before the new year, and I think this is just the time for it for me. My sewing table overflows with projects! I have one quilt that needs the final border of HSTs and the top will be complete.

I am off to my knitting/crocheting class this afternoon, and I am hoping to finish the shawl I started last year. My knitting skills are very basic. That is the reason I enrolled in this class. I also have a knitted vest that I started last year. I was hoping to get it done so that I could wear it last winter, but did not make that deadline. I am determined to finish it now so that I can wear it this winter.

Happy Quilting and Knitting

Great Quilt Show and Great Friends

Yesterday my hubby and I went up to Sonora for their annual quilt show. We were joined by our friends Julie and her hubby. We all had a great time checking out the quilts and vendors. I always enjoy the Sonora quilt show. We go every year, and I know some of the ladies who are in that guild. Since we have been going to the show for so many years, I am beginning to recognize different quilters' work.

The featured quilter had many beautiful quilts displayed. Years ago she lived in this area and taught classes at a local quilt shop. I took an Around The World quilt class from her. I finished that king sized quilt and had it on our bed for 10 years or more.

There were many large quilts. My hubby found a mariner's compass quilt that he liked. BTW, he does not think it is a quilt unless it is large enough to fit on a bed! I could not decide on any one quilt that I liked the best. There were many that I thought were good. I liked all the the quilts of the featured quilter, as I did last year as well.

There were three buildings full of quilts and vendors. This show is held at the county fairgrounds. In the front building, I saw a quilt in the last row that I really liked. It was a mystery quilt, and I thought the colors were great in the way they went together. Sometimes even though our colors are wonderful sitting together on our sewing table, when they are put intoo mystery quilts, they are not always as pleasing to us as we originally planned. When you do not know where a color will be placed, or what other color it will be placed next to in a design, it is not always the most pleasant experience when finished.

I was trying to figure out the pattern of this mystery quilt. I think I have seen it before somewhere, or a design similar to it, but I could not remember. There was not a name of the pattern on the information card, just that it was a mystery class quilt. I forgot to take my camera, AGAIN, so did not get a picture. I really liked the design. It had stars in it and part of the design looked similar to a Jacob's Ladder design. This quilt really interested me.

There was another quilt that I could not discover the block pattern. It was a 12 inch block on point. It had small squares in each corner, then the main part of the block. It was the way the blocks were sewn together that made the pattern. Or, maybe it was sashing in between the blocks that made the squares appear to be in the block. I love that type of quilt. I will stand in front of it and try to dissect it and discover the design elements, and/or how it was sewn together.

Simple Quilts (that look like a million bucks) is a book that I bought a few years ago that has this design surprise. When viewing the quilts, it looks like the block is the main focus. In reading the book and looking at the design elements, it is the sashing that is the main focus with all the color, and the block is a smaller, less important element in the design. I saw a quilt at a show made from this book and I fell in love with this concept. I have seen many quilts since then with the sashing as an important player in the quilt's design.

The photo I have included today is of my purchases from the quilt show vendors from yesterday. I purchased some luscious batiks, a couple of regular cottons that look like batiks, and three patterns. One of the patterns is the Baltimore Halloween applique pattern. The other two designs are from the same designer. Watch for more of her designs. I think she is going to be a household applique name before long.

Happy Quilting

P.S. Crispy, I am putting needle to fabric today (as soon as I get my fabric washed). *VBG*

P.P.S. The froggy batik is from generous Julie!

August Block Finished

My August Aunt Millie's Garden block is finally finished. I did not think it would take me so long to get it done. I sewed my back to my front twice on this block. I took off two pieces and resewed them because I did not like them. I think I could take off every piece and resew it to make it better. But, I have decided that for now it is finished. I did the center like the pattern. On my first block, I changed the center. I am not really happy with the first one, so I will probably change it to the pattern design some time before the top is quilted, but who knows? Maybe each one will be different.

My next project is the guild challenge. I almost forgot about it. I have not looked at my To Do List lately. I know what I want to do, and I have all the fabrics gathered for it, so all I have to do now is cut and sew!

Friday evening I taught my Shop Hop Bag class at Camp Stitches. There was a great group of ladies in the class. I saw several bags in progress throughout the evening, but none finished that evening. Almost everyone was taking all the other classes at the same time, so many were table hopping trying to get in as much information as possible before they sat down to sew. A few quilters brought sleeping bags and stayed all night. I heard there was not a lot of sleeping accomplished, but they had lots of fun just the same.

I returned to Camp Stitches on Saturday after lunch. I brought my applique block to work on. My main purpose was to bid on some items in the Silent Auction. I certainly do not need any more UFOs or fabric, but I brought home two hexagon UFOs and two bundles of fabric from the auction. I also bought two $5.00 bags of fabrics!

Saturday evening, after Camp Stitches closed, we had LAFS and Quilting 101. A member demonstrated paper piecing using a small heart pattern. She also demonstrated how to paper piece without sewing through the paper, so there would be no paper to pull off afterwards. I must try that idea. I am not much of a fan of paper piecing though. I cannot seem to get my fabric the correct size, or sew it in the correct direction so that when the fabric is flipped over, there often is a small hole in a corner or on a side!

One project I sewed using paper piecing turned out okay. The designer included directions for precutting the pieces, and the sizes they should be cut to cover their respective areas. Those blocks did turn out well. It was a friendship block exchange, so I wanted my blocks to be good. My blocks that I brought home from the exchange are awaiting further sewing. They are still in the bag I brought them home from the exchange (and placed them under my sewing table with many other block exchanges yet to be completed). One of the members of the exchange did sew her blocks together to complete her quilt. She is a quilter who actually sews her blocks together and completes quilts almost every time. She is usually the first one to bring a completed quilt to share at the next block exchange. I wish I had more of her "finishing" determination.

It is raining outside! Friday evening we had lighting and thunder with a little rain. By Saturday morning, the sun was shining. It has been overcast and dreary looking outside today, though. I have been sewing and washing fabric today. Now I must find someplace to store that fabric! Where, or where? The bathrooms are looking pretty empty these days. Hmmmmmm?

Happy Quilting

Finally a Free $5.00 Block!

Today I actually arrived at the quilt shop before it opened, so I was one of the first to get my ticket for my $5.00 block. Since I arrived on time, and had my block from last month with me (finished), I was able to receive next month's block kit for free. I did not need to pay $5.00 for it. I know the next two months I will need to pay because I cannot be at the meetings, but at least today I made it. Hubby and I were up early and on our way. It is about a 35 minute drive from our house to the quilt shop. If the traffic through the pass is heavy, of course it takes longer. With the Bay Bridge closed for the weekend, I was afraid the traffic everywhere else would be really bad, but not so this morning.

The teacher of this class had her finished quilt with all the $5.00 blocks with her today. It is in purple, and very nice. All the blocks are on point. I thought I remembered that from the picture I saw of them before I signed up for the activity. Her quilt was so pretty in purple! Oooooohhhhh! She placed her nine blocks on point in the center without sashing, then placed four other basket blocks in each corner. Very interesting design.

There is no set design for these blocks. They are nine different blocks the teacher picked from the book we are using. So, all our quilts should look different depending on what design we decide to use when we put the quilt together. I hope that there will be a "reunion" of all the participants so we can see what different designs were used for these nine blocks. Of course, these nine blocks could be combined with other blocks to make a quilt that would be uniquely different that anyone else's design.

At the first meeting of this $5.00 quilt group, there were a few ladies who brought their finished quilts to share who had participated in a previous $5.00 quilt group. The quilts were all very different and very nice.

The picture I have included in this post is my sample for the Shop Hop Bag class I am teaching for my quilt guild this coming Friday evening at Camp Stitches. It is an easy bag to sew. It is large enough to keep things that you may need while shop hopping, but small enough to tuck under your arm. The strap is long so it goes over your shoulder, or if you make it a little longer you can throw it over your head and be hands free to grab your purchases with each hand! For avid shoppers, I think this is good!

Happy Quilting

$5 Quilt Blocks

Here are photos of my first two $5 quilt blocks that have cost me $40 so far! Well, I have to say in defense of the quilt store, if I had the book with the patterns in it in my library already, it would have cost me only $10 - $5 for the first block, and $5 for the second block (because I did not make the meeting on time). The next meeting is coming up next Saturday, September 5, 2009. As you can see, I have my block done. If I can get to the quilt store before 9:00 a.m. with my finished block in hand, I will receive the fabric kit for the next month's block for free. I know right now that I will not make the October, and the November meetings since I already have plans for those days. I will need to go into the store and pay $5 sometime during those months to obtain my fabric kits and information on what blocks in our book are the patterns for those months.

I was intending to have nine quilt blocks for the price of only $5.00 when I signed up for this activity, but that has not worked out for me. We'll see how well I do for the upcoming months. Other than October and November, I should be able to get my kits for no cost if I can only follow the rules!

For my August Aunt Millie's Garden block, I have my vinyl overlay made and my freezer paper templates for the block. All I need now is to pick out my fabrics (purple background is ready) and get busy sewing. I want to have it done by Tuesday, September 1, 2009, so that I can keep up with the group. Crispy has her block done, so I must focus, focus, focus.

I did "volunteer" at my old job (from which I retired at the end of June) on Monday, Tuesday (first day of school) and Wednesday this week. I realized that I had not been able to "let go" of my job due to the fact that I did not know who was replacing me. I met my replacement, and I helped out in the office this week. I am now able to really feel retired. On Thursday morning, I came out of the bedroom and shouted, "I am retired. I am finally retired!" My hubby was the only one here to celebrate with me. The cat was not at all interested in the frivolities.

So, now on with the rest of my life - whatever that is???

Happy Quilting

Pincushion filled and finished

These pictures are of the pincushions that we did at Quilting 101 this month. The orangey one I made, and the larger purple and turquoise is the one my friend, Monica, made and gifted to me.

I hand pieced my pincushion using the English paper piecing method Monica taught at the last Quilting 101 workshop. I filled it with walnut shells. What a hoot! It feels like a bean bag. I sewed a half inch finished band all around the hexagons which attached them together. There are two pictures, one of each side. I made it reversible. I wanted it to lay flat, so I did not put as much of the walnut shells into it as I could have. I sewed the clear beads on through the pincushion to try to keep the walnut shells from shifting so much.

I have had a couple of quilting teachers making pincushions and telling us to use walnut shells instead of polyester stuffing. I like the poly stuff, but the shells gives it some weight and hopefully it will stay where it should stay on the sewing table. I had to go back over a few places where my stitches were a little too far apart as the shells started to pop out when I squeezed it. I was testing it to make sure my hand stitches would hold. I know it would be hard to sew it by machine since the hexagons I used were a smaller size than Monica's pincushion.

It took more time than I thought it would take to hand piece the strip all around. It was fun to figure out everything, but I am sure I would not want to try to make a living selling those little things! Maybe it will be like my apple pie...I did it, I mastered the concept, now on to something else!

Happy Quilting

Early Trick or Treat

Not a trick, but a treat. I have been treated by Julie. In the mail yesterday there was a mysterious package. My husband brought in the mail and set it on the table. Since I knew I had not sent for anything lately, I was mystified as to what it could be. When I looked at the return address, I knew who sent it, but not what it was. When I opened it, there was a sweet card and these darling Halloween fabrics with the two Halloween panels.

I have been thinking about Halloween lately. I have a Halloween quilt kit I bought last year sitting on my sewing table. There are a couple of projects that I want to finish, then I thought I might start on my Halloween quilt kit. Since I did not get to it last Halloween, my idea was to get to it this Halloween. I do have a finished Halloween quilt. I found it in a stack of quilts in my alternate sewing space yesterday. I saw jack o lantern faces peeking out at me. I had to get up and pull out the quilt so that I could remember what was on the front. I then remembered it was made from a Halloween fabric line that I call the Killer Tomato line. The line was called Pumpkinville, I think, but the pumpkins do not look like pumpkins to me. They look like killer tomatoes, little evil bad boy tomatoes!

I also have some Halloween exchange blocks from a few years ago that I have wanted to put into a quilt. I have been looking for a haunted house panel that I could place in the middle like a central medallion block. I also thought that I could applique a haunted house design in the center. My idea is to put the exchange blocks around the center block, then borders around that. I always have these great ideas, but not the follow through. I am often the idea person on the team, but not the follow through person!

I have not been doing much sewing lately. I did supervise the Quilting 101 workshop last Saturday. My friend, Monica, came and demonstrated English Paper Piecing with a hexagon design. We sewed small hexagons together to make a pincushion. I will get a picture of mine when it is done. It was lots of fun. The ladies in attendance appeared to have a good time. They all sewed the hexagons for their pincushion, or they could use them to make a quilt block, or however they wanted to use them. It was a productive afternoon for one and all.

Happy Quilting

Feathered Star Block Finished

I started applique on my feathered star block at bee last Thursday, and I finished it today. I added this block last year to my collection. I did not want to do it at first because of all the peaks and valleys. Well, I forgot about that when I prepped the block, but I sure remembered that thought while I was stitching it! LOL! Some of my peaks are not too peaky, and some of my valleys are a little fuzzy, but it is done. If you looked at my block while sitting on the back of a galloping horse, you would not notice its flaws. Right now I am satisfied with that! LOL!

I have been doing so much hand sewing this week, my shoulder is hurting. It hasn't hurt this much in a long time. It seems that when I am doing hand applique and machine quilting, I hold my shoulders up and tight. I try to remember to relax and do my shoulder shrugs often, but I can tell tonight that I did not do that often enough this week. I guess I need to do some machine sewing, or sit and read, or something else as a break from hand work.

Since I made chocolate chip cookies last night (and did not do the dishes then) I had lots of dishes to do this morning. So after breakfast, I did the dishes. Then sewed for a while. Then I made a cake for a friend's birthday that is today. After that, I did some sewing on my block. I had to stop at noon to watch Perry Mason, then I packaged up the cookies, and frosted the cake. Hubby and I drove to our friend's house, delivered the cake, then we went to the salon and I received a hair cut. We stopped at the store and did some shopping. (Hubby wanted a ham hock for his beans.) Then we returned home whence I started sewing again. So, I had breaks during the day, but I know I was so intense the last couple of hours because I was so close to getting my block finished.

I am so proud of myself. While sewing these last two applique blocks, I did not once sew the front to the back, nor did I cut a hole in any parts of the fabric that should not have holes. I did cut my thread once when I was trimming back some fabric on the feathered star block, but that's not bad. My track record on sewing my front to my back happens more than I care to say, so I am quite pleased with my progress this week and last week, even with a sore shoulder.

I want to get back to sewing some patchwork. I have just one more border to finish on my Bears in the Farmhouse quilt. It is all HSTs that will form a sawtooth border. I am anxious to finish my green and purple friendship block exchange quilt. I have a few more blocks to complete and I will have all the blocks done. The sashing contains these cute little nine patches, and I think they are all done. So I will need to cut some sashing strips and then put it all together. It is going to be way cool!

Kim is inviting folks to see how many projects they can finish this month. I have a little more embroidery to do, and I will have block #9 finished in my Periwinkle Lane series. I have drawn out the last three blocks. They need coloring, then I can start stitching. I have a tote bag that needs quilting, then construction. I have two more tote bags that I wanted to get done this summer, and a couple of quilts, but they are only in the pattern stage right now.

This week I did do some machine sewing. I constructed a shop hop bag sample. I still need to do the binding, then it will be finished. If I keep track of all of these things, I am sure I will be surprised how much I did "finish" this month. Join Kim and I see how many projects you can finish this month.

Happy Quilting

Aunt Millie's Garden Block #1

Here is my first Aunt Millie's Garden block. Purple was my choice for the background. I know you are not surprised. I have joined with Crispy to applique these blocks. With some gentle nudging on her part, I finally started, and finished, my first block. Thank you, Crispy. I changed the center of the block, but I am not sure I like it.

I have been out of my applique element for a while. Getting back into the rhythm of applique has been interesting. I found my threads, my needles, my vinyl, my freezer paper, and my marking tools. I also found lots of blocks that need to be put into quilts. There are also more blocks that need to be completed for projects. Then there are those five big applique WIPs (works in progress). I feel that I finally have my applique mojo back. Next is to get some patchwork WIPs finished and off my sewing table.

Yesterday, our family went up to Sonora for my husband's stepmother's memorial service. It was interesting to see all the family together again. The last time we were all together was for my father-in-law's 80th birthday. The weather was good, not too hot. Usually this time of the summer temps are higher in Sonora. We brought home a couple of apple pies from Cover's. They have a satellite kitchen in downtown Sonora now. The last couple of trips to Sonora it was not open when we drove through town. Cover's makes the best apple pies.

I made an apple pie from scratch once. It was so successful that I decided I would stop there. I wanted to go out with a winner! I have not made any pies since.

We also stopped at three quilt stores on the way home. I forgot to go to the quilt store in Sonora itself! DAH! I thought about it on the way home. I wanted to stop at the Quilter's Cabin in Oakdale to purchase some Kona Cotton. Since I have used up all the yardage that I bought there last year, a stop was in order. They also had some new solid colors that had just arrived. Our next stop was at Ladybug Quilts in Manteca. I bought a new Halloween pattern there from Crabapple Hill, Vintage Trick or Treat. I have the Hocuspocusville pattern from last Halloween that I have not made yet. I doubt that I will have time to make either pattern before this coming Halloween, but you never know!

Our last stop was at In Between Stitches in Livermore. I missed the $5.00 quilt class that morning, so I was required to pay another $5.00 for my next BOM kit. Maybe I can make the next class on time and with my block finished. Stranger things have happened to me, you know!

I am so excited that I finished my first AMG block, and now have the second block assignment. I also started working on another Baltimore Album block at the Thursday bee. My chubby little fingers are flying and my needles are humming a happy tune! Life is good.

Happy Quilting

My Baltimore Album Blocks

Here are some not so great pictures of my Baltimore Album blocks. I ventured into the closet and pulled out my box of blocks and my clear vinyl. In the box with my BAs were 20 or more heart blocks, and some hand pieced blocks.

In the photos, the three dark colored blocks on the left are ones ready for stitching onto the light background. Some of the blocks on the top row (which are difficult to see) will not go into this quilt. They are some of my first blocks and I am not happy with my color choices or my stitching. I need to make one more heart shaped block if I am to have four blocks, one for each corner. Last evening I looked through my BA books. There are four more blocks I found that I want to sew to be included in this quilt.

The pictures of the individual blocks are some of my favorites. The heart shaped block with the smaller hearts forming a larger heart are all the fabrics that I was using for the blocks. My original color scheme was dusty pink and dusty blue. Why, I don't know! The lyre block with the folded roses is my favorite. I enjoyed making this block. A couple of the blocks still need some ribbons to finish them.

Next comes the stitching. But before that happens, I want to stitch my first Aunt Millie's Garden block. I have my fabric cut, my overlay drawn, and my stem fabric ready. Since my bias bars have not been uncovered, I will use a different technique for making the narrow stems for this block.

Not to be forgotten is the challenge quilt for my quilt guild. I signed up to participate in the challenge, and it is due early September. I have the fabric and my idea, but have not started on either yet. Then there is a friendship block exchange due in October (I think). Also, I have this darling aqua quilt that is on my design wall. And, there is the $5.00 block that has not been sewn yet. I have not picked up the first Bunny Hill Heritage Chrismas BOM block, yet either.

Finally, I have some plans made. I am committed (in more ways than one) to these projects since I have now written about them and have talked about them. I do feel better - I have some deadlines ahead of me. I know I work better when I have a deadline! Let the stitching begin!

Happy Quilting

Monday's Design Wall

Happy Monday! Here is what is on my design wall this Monday. These blocks are the result of a friendship block exchange that happened yesterday. Our guidelines were: sherbet colors, 9-1/2 inch block, your choice of design. We are 12 very diverse quilters. I grouped the blocks in two color ranges: one group is the lime green, lighter blocks, and the other group are the purple, more intense color blocks. Yes, I know. The purple butterfly is in with the lime green blocks, but I wanted six blocks in each picture, so there you go.

I laid these blocks out on my bed this morning and added another block that Julie gave me. It is more intense colors, but I was looking at the idea of using these blocks to surround a center medallion design. I was thinking of putting a border of pinwheel blocks around a center block. Julie's block is a 12 inch block finished. I think that would leave me with 3 inch finished pinwheels. I laid these blocks out on my bed because my design wall is not big enough to accommodate that large a layout. Don't you love the very colorful quilt peeking out and around the blocks? That is my current bed quilt (which I absolutely love, BTW) that I finished a few years ago. It is all batiks.

This last weekend was busy for me. Saturday was my Quilting 101 workshop. I really did not need to do too much this month since one of the other ladies in our guild did a demo on applique. She is a very accomplished applique person. I did the project along with the group. I learned a different way to sew my applique stitch. It was not difficult to transition, but I needed to think about sewing the opposite direction that I normally sew (which is from left to right). Kathie sewed from right to left. It is much easier to see the edge of the applique piece which makes for stitches that are more hidden. She also basted the pattern piece to freezer paper, then pulled the paper out from under the applique piece just before closing the seam. Kathie irons the freezer paper on the underside of the fabric. I usually iron the freezer paper on the top. It is good to take classes from different people. I always learn something new.

On Sunday, I went to the block exchange, then had lunch with some of the ladies from the group. After that I went home, picked up my husband, and we took off to the county fair. It was the last day of the fair. There was a show that evening that he wanted to see, so we attended on that particular day. We also saw the crafts and quilting exhibits, which were in a different building this year. It was really hot, and we arrived in the hottest part of the day. By the time the show started, it had cooled off a bit. We stayed at the fair until closing. I usually will attend the fair two or three days each summer, but since our guild did not do any exhibit quilting this year, I went for one day only.

My husband and I enjoy going to county fairs. We missed the fair in Sonora last month, but we hope to go to Santa Clara's fair, and maybe the State fair this summer. If I can find dates for some other county fairs, I hope we can attend them as well.

Hope you all have a great week.

Happy Quilting

Triple the Fun

Above you will see three quilt pictures. My hubby took these pictures with his new camera at the Santa Rosa Quilt Show. There was no sign stating that photography was not allowed, so I am posting pictures here. I am not sure if you can see the names of the quilters, and I apologize for not writing them down so that I could include the names here.

Three ladies met and formed a group to make Baltimore Album quilts. One of the ladies did not know what a Baltimore Album quilt looked like, but she agreed to make the quilt sight unseen. What a brave soul!

You can see from each picture that there are many of the same blocks in each quilt, but also some blocks that are unique to each quilt. One quilt is very traditional, the second quilt is a little different in design and also traditional, and the third is quite different in the use of color and design of some of the blocks. I think you can guess the third quilt was made by the quilter who had never seen a Baltimore Album quilt before.

I am have a Baltimore Album quilt in progress. I have 20 or more blocks completed, but I decided I wanted to make 25 blocks. I have the other five blocks laid out, and ready to sew. When I started this quilt, I was taking classes at a local quilt store. It was an ongoing class that met once a month. We were to complete a block a month. The idea was to have enough blocks done in a year to make our quilt.

Well, partway through the project, I changed my color scheme. I started out with dusty pink and dusty blue. I progressed to the more traditional red and green. Then when I entered my "purple period", I included some purple (actually, a lot of purple). In looking at all my blocks laid out together, I think I could make two different quilts with the colors that I have so far. I could also put them all together in the same quilt, and include all the colors I have used in the blocks in the border as well. This project is one of my large applique quilts that are "in progress". If I remember correctly, I have five large applique quilts that are "in progress" at this time.

I am preparing to start another large applique quilt, Aunt Millie's Garden by Piece O Cake Designs. Crispy is beginning this quilt, and I thought I would applique along with her. I purchased a large amount of a purple fabric to use as my background when I bought the pattern. The original quilt has red as the background. Why do I think I have time for another large applique project? I should be finishing one of the older projects instead of starting a new one. Or, I should be working on the applique BOM I bought last year and have not started yet. Or, I should be making the Bunny Hill BOM basket blocks that I have been downloading.

Back to the subject of this post...three Baltimore Album quilts. I like all three for different reasons. I like the idea that three quilters get together to make the same quilt, and each quilt is different. Each quilt reflects the personality of the quilter. Don't you find this fun? I love it.

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Until next time.....

Happy Quilting

Happy 4th of July

Here is a picture of a quilt that I made from a friendship block exchange. It is one of the first exchanges in which I was a participant in a friendship group that I had joined. We received the blocks on Saturday. I went home immediately and sewed the blocks together, and had it basted the next day. I was so excited. I was going to machine quilt this sampler myself. Well, a few years later, I decided to have it professionally machine quilted. Genece Hoskin did a beautiful job of custom quilting my quilt. I wanted to get the binding on this week so that I could post a "finished" picture in this post. Well, it is the 4th already and the binding is not done, but I decided that I wanted to post the picture today anyway, so here it is. My block is on the top row. It is the large heart block. I worried and worried about this block. I did not know if the ladies would like it, or if my work was good enough, etc., etc., etc. Years later, I like my block as much now as I did when I made it. Our guidelines were: red, white (not beige) and blue colors that would work with a 12 inch finished scheme. Of course, my friend Monica's block is the large eagle block that is not on a white background and does not work into a 12 inch scheme (she loves to break the rules). Since it was such a beautifully appliqued block (and it was Monica's block), it holds center stage. I felt so special since I was the first one of the group to get my top together. Well, I am sure there are others in the group who have actually "finished" their quilt before I will finish mine, but this 4th of July it will be almost finished. I will sew on the binding this afternoon and start sewing down the backside by hand tonight. I will then take it to the July guild meeting this Tuesday evening and share it. That evening it will return home to be placed on our living room wall for display for the month of July, and possibly August. My bargello flag quilt will be joined by my patriotic sampler as one of my favorite quilts. I want to take this moment to send my thanks to all the soldiers and their families who have sacrificed so much so that my family and I can live in freedom. On this day I think about all the soldiers and all their families who have sacrificed so much over the years to keep our country free. I want to thank all of them from the bottom on my heart. I also wish every person in every country around the world could live in peace. Until that happens, I will continue to keep the words "World Peace" in my prayers. Happy Quilting

P.S. It looks like I have lost my paragraph spacing again. Sorry!