What to Celebrate First??

Top o' the mornin' to ye!!

We have a conflict of interests today. Most folks are celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Since I've got a fair amount of Irish in my lineage, I am happy to join the festivities.

However, it's also National Quilting Day, and that has me conflicted. I feel compelled to honor both events equally! Here's an image I found that brings the 2 celebrations into one.

Pretty, wouldn't you agree?

Since the quilters at Terry's retreat are probably all working on the mystery quilt, I figured I'd go ahead and share the picture of my sample. I doubt at this point I'll be ruining the mystery.

This mystery quilt is called Seams Like Yesterday by Debbie Caffrey, from a pattern she issued in 1998. The resulting star is called Bradford Star, and I really like it. My picture doesn't show the  difference (much) between my light and medium fabrics. I will rerun a picture of the fabrics.

All three are from Westminster Fibers, but I can't recall exactly which designer. Martha Negly? Phillip Jacobs? Kaffe Fassett? I looked when I was cutting, but the scraps are gone now, so it's anyone's guess at ths point.

The family is all a-buzz over March Madness. With all 4 of our Ohio teams doing well, we have lots of basketball games to watch! Ohio State, Ohio University, Xavier and Univ. of Cincinnati have all advanced to the top 32 teams. Lots of fun, and easy to quilt by hand when games are on. I am binding a quilt currently, and when I finish that, I have a couple of other hand-work options I can move on to.

The work in cleaning the sewing room has not taken off too well because of all the basketball. I still have hopes of making at least a minor dint in it this weekend.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Happy National Quilting Day!

Cute Dogs

I'll just let you know up front that this post is going to have little to do with quilting. It will, however, have a lot to do with dogs. It seems many of my quilting friends have dogs for pets. Very special pets. Almost-like-family pets. As it should be, right? Let's meet some of them. I've got pics of a few, and once this gets posted, I am sure to get pics of the rest. *remind me!*

Here's our very own fur-person, Steve. He is our son's dog, and named for the distance runner from the early 70's, Steve Prefontaine. (FYI, DH and DS are both distance runners.) Steve likes living out here in the country where he can chase rabbits, squirrels and birds to his heart's content. He is also very happy to chase any toys that might be thrown his way, too.

Meet Little Buddy, the latest addition to Kay's family. She went to an Amish farm market for veggies or something, and came home with Little Buddy. Isn't he adorable? This was his puppy stage, last summer. Kay and Chuck are dog people. They've had many over the years. Scamper, Levi, Panda, and now Chelsea - these all preceded Little Buddy's arrival. There were many others before I came on the scene.

Here is Sharon P's puppy, Rose, whom you've met before. I introduced her on a  post from late last summer, I believe. This is the same pic; I need to get a more up-to-date shot of her. I've not seen Rose for a month or more, so I know she has changed a good bit.

These 2 lovable furry creatures are Terry's dogs, Lillie and Maddie. Maddie, on the right, is a long-time pet, grande dame of the house. Lillie, on the other hand, is brand-spanking new. Just 8 or 9 weeks, now, and has just very recently come to join Maddie.

Lillie sleeps so soundly that she rolls right off the edge of the cushion and onto the carpet. She seems oblivious to anything. We were sewing and talking all around her this day, and it didn't seem to matter one bit. What a cutie she is!

Friends, I am gearing up for a BIG JOB - cleaning and reorganizing my sewing room. OMG. It is a total disaster, and all the sewing I've done lately has been done on the kitchen table because there is no workspace remaining in the sewing room! Why even have a sewing room, if I can't keep it clean enough to work in?!? So, after giving myself a stern talking-to, I am prepared to begin this overhaul.

Heaven help me!

Single Irish Chain

Here's the result of the sneak peak of blue and white I showed on the previous post. It went together fast, and is so satisfying to be able to post a finish in 3 days. (Actually, I had it done yesterday; I just couldn't find time to get to the computer to blog about it!)

It does not take borders, according to the pattern I used, which came from Quilts and More, Winter 2009. It's the cover quilt called Rhapsody in Blue.

Off to a retirement meeting with DH this morning!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Blogging Milestone: 300th Post

It's been quite a weekend! We've had our fill of Big 10 tournament action, even though our beloved Buckeyes couldn't pull out the win for the championship. I've got a new project started. What do you think of this combination of fabrics from my stash?

It seems like a winning combination to me. And here is the super easy, super fast block I'm using.

Yeah, I'm liking it, too!

And, guess what? This is my 300th post! Wow. Pretty cool. It's been lots of fun.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Quilting: A Community Affair

Seems as if 4 out of 5 blog posts I write includes details of my getting together with friends for sewing, or quilt shows and the like. This hobby truly is one that is easy to share with others. Even our ancestors knew this, as they had those quilting bees we've all heard about. I sew on Mondays with Sharon P.; every other Friday with the Frankfort girls; annually at the June quilt camp; also annually at Sherrie's all-night quilting on Veterans' Day/Night. Interspersed throughout those regularly scheduled events, there are impromptu gatherings - wonderful opportunities to share a beloved hobby with other women who also love quilting. I am so blessed to have so many sweet and amazing friends in my little quilt world.

Today, we Frankfort girls met at JoAnn's. As usual, there was the show-and-tell portion of our morning. Take a look at our wonderful treats!

Sharon made this little tote bag to donate to her church's rummage sale. The panel appliqued to the front is cross-stitched, and it is gorgeous! Here's a close-up.

Beautiful workmanship! Someone will get a sure treasure if they buy this at the church sale!

Sharon also showed us a walker pouch she made from a place mat and half a kitchen tea towel. It Velcros around the front bar of a walker, thus enabling the user to carry things.

The ribbon ties secure the sides to the legs to prevent excessive swinging to and fro. The towel at the top folds over the bar of the walker and velcros shut. Inside there are pocket. Nice. For anyone who's ever had to use a walker, this would surely offer a measure of independence, being able to carry things even with hands on the walker.

Here are two halves of one quilt. Terry worked on on half; Sheryll worked on the other. It is now ready to be sewn together. This is the guild quilt that will be raffled at September's quilt show. Many members of the girls' guild (I'm the only one not a member) made blocks. This week Terry and Sheryll got together and made the blocks into the quilt top. (Two more instances of the social nature of quilting!)

One of JoAnn's purchases last week at the Lebanon quilt show was this book and a jelly roll; in typical get-busy-and-get-it-finished JoAnn fashion, she is off and running with a start on this!

Here's her cherkerboard section. Very pretty. I don't think I've ever seen a reproduction fabric I haven't liked, and this set is no exception. It is going to be fabulous!

JoAnn had a couple of patriotic goodies to show us. She is all ready for the Fourth of July - in March, for heaven's sake!!!

This wall hanging is going to be sent to JoAnn's long-time penpal in England. Wouldn't you love to have this coming your way in the mail?

And, in more typical JoAnn fashion, because there were leftover triangles from the first project, she whipped this up from them. What a great wall hanging! I want it!

Terry used 12 barn quilt panels to make this pretty quilt. She had begun quilting it, and look. She spent the morning picking out stitches. Sweet Sharon offered to assist; the job was nearly finished when we closed up at noon.

Her machine's tension was all out of whack, so she "frogged" her quilt - "rippit, rippit!" A little quilting humor to go along with the unpleasant task of taking out stitches. *grin*

JoAnn wasn't finished! She had a pretty pillow case made from leftover fabric used on the back of her pink and green quilt I showed several weeks ago. Isn't this feminine and frilly? Beautiful! Here's another pic of that quilt; I wasn't satisfied with the picture's color, so we are trying again...

This looks better; it's quilted now, and the pillow case fabric is what she has on the back.

And, a close-up:

Sheryll continued to work on her appliqued basket quilt from last time, and I was putting the final stitches into the binding of the OSU t-shirt quilt from several weeks ago! (Procrastination!!) No new pics from us.

So we had a great morning stitching and chatting over coffee and cake, covering many topics from politics, to family, to retirement, to travel. Wonderful morning. Even more wonderful friends.

Happy Quilting!

Field Trip!

Those two words always excited a classroom full of students. We had some fun field trips over the years when I taught. Poets, authors, movies, exhibits - we had quite a variety, I suppose.

Well, there was a quilting/sewing field trip on tap for Sharon and me on Monday. The two of us normally do sew together on Mondays, so that part was not out of the ordinary. Our location was switched up this time. Terry, of the Frankfort quilty girls, invited a number of random quilting friends in to her home for a day of stitching. So Sharon and I took our first field trip, and it was great fun.

Hostess Terry was working on a kit. I need to get the information about it, but the fabrics are reproduction, obviously. I really love these stars, Terry!!

If the remainder of the blocks turn out as gorgeous as these two, then I am very likely going to have to borrow Terry's patten. They have such impact.

Sharon worked on a quilt she intends to give to her mother made of DAR fabrics.

Windham Fabrics had this line, The Eagle Medallion Collection, several years ago; since Sharon and her mother are members of the DAR, she thought this would be a perfect gift for her mother. With the panel in the center, Sharon began adding borders and stopped when she was satisfied. It will be a treasure, for sure.

Wish I'd taken the trouble to move the folding chair, but I think it still looks impressively regal. That outer border has me salivating. Isn't it stunning?

Sheryll attended, too, and she worked on the same mystery quilt that I worked on. She was in the initial stages of sewing hers, so I did not take pictures. She is using a dark burgandy, a medium green and a beige light. As soon as possible, I will get a pic of it to show here.

Sharon O. came for just a bit, as she had an early afternoon doctor's appointment. She brought hand work - binding a small wall-hanging. I didn't take a picture of it, either.

Monica from Grove City had intended to come, but weather conditions prevented her attending. We have had an unbelievably mild winter, but of course Mother Nature had to coat our roads with black ice Monday morning. Boo! Some area schools went on a 2-hour delay, while one near us closed completely. Anywhoo, Monica opted not to test her luck and stayed home. She did send a picture of a quilt she wanted me to share on the blog. Sweet!!

If I enlarge it, it becomes distorted, so I must leave the picture small. I think because it was sent by picture phone/text message (?) that might have something to do with its losing quality if enlarged. Perhaps I will have an opportunity to see this quilt in person and take a picture of it with my camera - then we'd be in business! Monica's description of this quilt was cut short, so I don't have any details to share. I hope to be able to provide them at some point soon.

Today I am off to visit Grandma; picking her up from the beauty shop at 10:30 (she get her hair done every Thursday!), then who knows?? Supposed to be a lot of rain today. My dad would say "good day for ducks!"

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Super Tuesday!

Yes, I did my civic duty and voted yesterday in the primary election. Here in Ohio we think our votes must be pretty important, if we listen to the talking heads on radio and television. So, now it's all over until November's general election. The frequency and sheer number of political phone calls we had was incredible. I would not be exaggerating to say we averaged 8-10 per day, especially in the final week. Even yesterday, Super Tuesday, we had calls.

Now, for Super Tuesday quilting, let's just see how much progress has been made on the mystery quilt, shall we?

There's been a fair amount of chain piecing. All parts are going together quite well.

The points are perfectly pointy and seams are matching up as they should. I am very pleased with this star. It will make a good mystery quilt at Terry's guild getaway in a few weeks. She will take my quilt top, one of her own, and possibly two made by Sheryll for participants to see after they've sewn most of theirs together. It's always fun to see the variety that fabric choice provides.

I have the rows and the sashing all sewn together, and plan to complete the top today. I will wait to show a picture of the complete top until after the guild's retreat. I wouldn't want to ruin the "mystery" now would I??

Tomorrow, I will post about a sewing field trip Sharon P. and I took on Monday. It was a fun and productive day!