Jayne's Quilting Room

USPS Delivers!

2012-02-19T23:06:00.000-05:00

Saturday's mail delivered a real homerun - a giveaway prize I won recently arrived all the way from Leeds, UK.

Sue Abrey, aka Quilt Sue, is both the author of this book and the author of a wonderful blog, Quilt Times. She and I have followed each other for awhile now, and we are working together to host the Lone Star Quilt Along.

But I digress! She had a little give-away, like I said, and I was the lucky winner! Isn't it great? Getting Sue's book was on my Christmas list, but Santa didn't come through for me. Santa Sue did, though!!

And, in true Santa fashion, Sue added an extra-special bonus in her package! I'm just loving this quilted journal cover!

Pretty, isn't it? I wonder if I have pretty enough thoughts to write in such a fine journal? I just love stuff like this. When I taught English at CHS, my students journaled every day. Writing is something our kids just didn't do often enough, so I made sure they did a bit each day. They weren't particularly thrilled with this activity, but we did it anyway.

Ah, there I go again, digressing. Sue wrote a lovely sentiment inside both the journal and her quilt book.

Thanks, Sue! You're the best!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Much to Cover

2012-02-17T13:18:00.000-05:00

Since I have been rather a slug about posting in recent days, I appear to have a full agenda today. Here we go!

Item 1: On Monday, Sharon came over for sewing. She brought 3 newly finished quilt tops with her! My, my! Has she been productive! Take a look.

The light-colored one is from an old Thimbleberries book - the original is pictured as a navy and tan shower curtain. Big pieces + big blocks = fast quilt. Nice. The darker one is similar, but from a different book. The one on the foot stool is another Thimbleberries pattern, which I've pictured in an earlier post. Isn't this an impressive display? Gracie thought so; she made a beeline to them to test them by walking and "wallering" in them.

Yes, I'm talking about you!

Item 2: The purpose of our sewing on this day was to construct the flannel quilt for Alexis, our former student undergoing cancer surgery and chemo treatment. I had my stack of 6.5" squares and Sharon brought hers. We laid it all out on the front room floor, tinkered around with it a bit to get the randomness just right (does that make it less random???), sprinkled in a few 4-patch blocks for variety, and stitched 'er up! The speedy, Eleanor Burns method really favors one seamstress on the job to prevent mix ups (and Sharon and I would SURELY get mixed up!), so while Sharon sewed, I cut borders and made more 4-patches. Later, I sewed the borders on and here it is!

Again, color issues. I hang these quilts out on the screened porch to get natural sunlight. However, only the top half looks "natural." Our porch has more screens than walls, but the washed out part is (I think) from the shadows cast by the short walls. Anyway, the colors at the top are truer than those at the bottom of the photo. The only newly purchased fabric here is the solid pink inner border (and a few inner blocks). I found it on the flat-fold table at Ben Franklin, drastically reduced. I was looking for backing flannel, which I found, and that was purchased, as well. Looking now for a quilter.

Item 3: I spent a few hours Wednesday at Grandma's house, helping her clean out a cupboard. Mostly, we trashed old household records from 1993-2008. Whew! What an organized lady my grandma is! We had a great time just chatting and visiting. She gets a bit lonely, at times. Even though much family lives near and she's checked on daily, she says the days get awful long when there's no one to talk to. I am going to take the old documents to be shredded, so she doesn't have to sit over her little shredder. She was dreading that job! I would be, too! In putting away things afterwards, she handed over this old quilt to me.

Grandma could not remember any particular history on this quilt. She said she does not know who made it. A woman gave it to her because she knew Grandma quilted. Grandma said her plan was to cover it with fabric, using it as batting in a coverlet that she would have tied. It is terribly worn. I would guess that most of the fabrics are feed sacks, however some of them may be remnants from dresses or shirts. It appears to be a utility quilt; by that I mean that the 9-patches are so randomly colored, the border has been pieced with several different fabrics, and the quilting is not as close as it should have been to keep the batting from separating. It's not very big, but it is heavy. I suppose that is indicative of the kind of batting used back then. When is "back then?" Again, I'm guessing, but I would say the 1930s.

Now what should I do with it???

Item 4: Here are the flowers from my Valentine. Thank you, Sweetie! I will always remember these! (There's a cute story behind that, but that's just between us!) *wink*

Item 5: Above you met Gracie, our cat. I also have a "grandcat," Rocky. He lives with DD#1 in her apartment in Columbus. Rocky sent me an email yesterday. I think you will like it; I sure did!!

Deer granmah,
I fink u makes the best kwiltz. I fink dem r reely comfertible.
I has sleept a lot sinse I wer at ur howse. I got wor owt!!
I luv u!
-rocky

Now, how about that?? A cat who can take his own picture, write a letter, and send an email!! We have such talent in our family. :-)

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T15:41:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping there's some chocolate or champagne or smooching in your day!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

F. F. G. Q. G.

2012-02-12T22:01:00.000-05:00

Friday Frankfort Girls Quilting Group.

Yes, we got together Friday morning at Sharon's house for some stitching. We were missing Sheryll, who had another appointment come up. Here are a couple of pics of our recent projects.

This project came from JoAnn's talented hands. I remember when she bought this group of fabrics and pattern last April at the Cincinnati quilt show. The picture doesn't really show enough of the pink that is in this quilt top. I really am sorry it doesn't show the true colors - in real life, the colors are softer than this ; the greens are softer and the pinks are more prevalent. (Perhaps I need to learn how to better operate my camera!)

This adorable child's quilt is for Sam, Sharon's newest grandbaby. I believe she said he is now 4 months old. Isn't this a great, fun baby quilt? Sam will surely love this quilt.

My camera batteries ran out at this point, so I didn't get pictures of the other things we had for show and tell. Terry was continuing some embroidery work that she's trying to stay caught up on; I did some hand piecing, which I can show you, because once I got home, I replaced my batteries! :-)

I want you to see how small these pieces are; that's the reason I'm hand piecing. I suppose some people feel comfortable sewing such small pieces on the machine, but I'm not one of them.

These little squares measure about 4.5 inches. I think I will keep a secret, and not tell just now what I am doing with these tiny things. I am working on it, though, so it won't be long before I show you a happy little finish.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Quilt for Alexis

2012-02-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

Life sends some giant bumps into our lives every now and then. My former student, 20-year-old Alexis is dealing with a very serious one right now. She had surgery yesterday to remove an epithelial sarcoma. I have not heard any news from her family or friends, so I am just praying for the best until I do hear something. She has pretty-much been on my mind 24/7 since Monday, when I last spoke to Alexis on facebook. She is being so brave, bless her heart. She has lots of faith, has a strong church family, and support beyond even what she knows. Her dad told me they've heard from complete strangers about prayers being said for them. What strength that must give them!

Sharon also had Alexis as a student, so together we are teaming up to make a comfort quilt for her. The simple 6.5" square. We attacked my flannel stash, pulling out lots of pinks. Sharon then searched her own stash and did the same. Our plan was to sew this on Monday when we met for our day of sewing, but I was still sick and had to miss; so we have our squares all cut and ready to go for next Monday.

In the lower left corner is a stack of 3.5" squares. I thought that we might consider sprinkling in some 4-patch blocks here and there, just to give a bit of interest to the quilt. If we decide not to, then I've got a nice stack of squares ready for a different project.

Alexis is the second young person close to me to have a cancer diagnosis in recent months. My former colleague, Diana's daughter, Ellen, has just been given the all-clear pronouncement for her non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Ellen, 24, was diagnosed last spring, so Sharon (also Diana's colleague) and I got to work on a flannel quilt for her.

Remember this? Sharon actually did all the work on this; the sewing had to follow a certain pattern (obviously), so it was just easier keeping is straight with one seamstress on the job. I don't know if we will do the same pattern for Alexis; probably not, since we are relying so heavily on our stashes, we will most likely have to just do a random, scrappy quilt.

Think how often we complain about all sorts of things in our lives; then think about those who have much bigger and scarier battles to fight.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Meet Chantilly

2012-02-06T13:31:00.000-05:00

Yes, the easiest quilt in the world to make is finally finished. I sure did drag my feet on it, but, oh, how pleased I am with the results!

The border is yellow. My photo looks a bit washed out. Since we are having such gorgeous weather, I took the quilt top out on the screened porch for the photo shoot. The morning shadows must have had a play in the lack of color in the bottom half of the picture. Anyway, you get an idea of my finish. I am so pleased with it. The picture in the book was perhaps a bit more muted and subtle in coloration, whereas I've got some definite lights and darks, but I still like it - a lot.

A careful study of the original to mine will also show you that in addition to making mine larger, I also changed the way the borders were done. I used a narrow inner border then the wide outer border, whereas the original has a wide inner border and a narrow outer border.

I went way overboard on making blocks for Chantilly. The leftover pile has enough in it to make an entire second quilt, I am sure.

Maybe I will make another one. Or perhaps I will save them for some future, as yet unknown project. It's possible that I will stitch a few of them into the backing for this quilt. We shall see.

So, what to work on next? I still have work to do on Mom's signature quilt. I need to put a zipper in a jacket for my FIL. I have agreed to make a mystery sample for Terry. Sharon and I are making a flannel quilt for a former student who is undergoing chemo treatments. And I think I'm hearing some blue and white fabric calling to me from up in the sewing room. Hmmm...

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Recovering

2012-02-05T19:56:00.000-05:00

Gee whiz! I sure hate getting sick; and this is so mild compared to sickness that many suffer with, but this head cold has really had me whipped for a couple of days.

I've been remiss in reporting the progress I've been making on Chantilly. Here is 1/3 of the quilt top, taken about a week ago. I have worked on it this week and currently have the inner border on, the outer border cut and ready to put on. Close! I will post a pic of it tomorrow.

I've had a few Mondays with Sharon that I've not reported on, either. She's got some fabulous finishes to brag about!

No, you are not looking at 2 pictures of the same quilt; Sharon has been madly stitching on two of these 9-patch/snowball quilts.

Aren't they wonderful? The blocks are nice and big, so the construction goes fast. She was able to use up a lot of fabric from the stash and has definitely created a couple of great looking scrappy quilts.

Sharon recently picked this quilt up from Linda's, a longarm quilter near here who does beautiful work. The quilt was made with an Aviary layer cake. It's just dreamily soft and feminine, isn't it?

So, while we sewed last Monday, we draped our pretties around the family room to inspire us. On the floor is the Thimbleberries top that Sharon began several weeks ago. I know I pictured it on an earlier post, but I can't remember how far back.

Tomorrow, I'm scheduled to go to Sharon's to sew with her. If I can, I'd like to get a binding cut out and sewed onto the Ohio State t-shirt quilt. I then could just take that quilt to Sharon's and not drag my sewing machine out. We'll see if I get as much done this evening as I hope. The Super Bowl is on, and I've got a book that's calling to me, plus I'm running some laundry. I am a known procrastinator, so we shall see.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Quilt Along Updates

2012-02-04T14:51:00.001-05:00

First, I want to thank everyone who has come out to play in our Lone Star Quilt Along. We are going to see some beautiful quilts coming together. It will be such fun watching everyone's progress.

Second, I want to apologize for being a rather absent hostess today! I woke up with a really awful head cold or upper respiratory infection (whichever one makes your head feel like there's a balloon in there waiting to explode). I got up around 7:30, but was back in bed in short order, and stayed there until nearly noon!! (Unheard of for me!) A shower helped things, and I will be off to the drugstore shortly for some meds.

Enough whining. I want to talk about all the pretty Lone Stars that are going to be made through our little quilt along! We are going to have some stunning results based on the fabrics I'm seeing selected.

My previous post explained how I handled the Y-seams that will result when the rays of the stars are attached. I just visited Elizabeth's blog, Sand and Sun, and I saw that she has a tutorial on how to avoid these seams. Very good advice; if I hadn't already had my rays all stitched together, I would have tried this!

Here's a picture for Quilt Sue.

Using your handy spray starch will be a must when constructing this quilt, IMO. Care must be taken, though, not to pull or push when pressing, but using the Best Press has been crucial for me.

Another must, IMO, is pinning, which I mentioned in the previous post.

But, I'll mention it again...pinning is essential. The sheer number of places that will need matching and the potential for bias issues surely makes pinning worth the extra time.

I had a question about the size of my Lone Star, if my setting blocks are just 12 1/2" square. My quilt is actually a variation of the Lone Star called Broken Star. Here is the picture from the book I'm using.

The smaller inner star radiates out to these starbursts. The setting blocks on the outer corners are also 12 1/2". The side triangles have me a bit concerned - the bias edge is on the outside. Usually, quilt pattern designers avoid this, I believe.

ADDENDUM!! A couple of things I wanted to add, and forgot (blaming the balloon in my head). Tonya over at Hillbilly Handiworks has some suggestions that you Lone Star quilters will want to read about. ALSO, if some of you are just discovering our quilt along, try putting "Lone Star" into the search box; both Sue and I use labels, so a plethora of posts should pop up for you.
Happy Quilting, Friends!

February Lone Star Quilt Along

2012-02-04T06:30:00.001-05:00

Good morning, Lone Star Quilters! Are you ready to check in on all of us to see how we are progressing? Sign in here with Mister Linky, post your pictures, go over to Quilt Times where you can visit with Sue, the other half of this quilt-along team, and leave comments for us! We want to hear both your triumphs and tribulations as you've undertaken this Lone Star Quilt journey with us.

Here is the progress on my quilt. I've cut all the 12.5" squares for setting the star and starbursts as well as the 8 side triangles. I have attached the center star to its setting squares. It was fast and easy, but not without some challenges.

I'm a bit uneasy about how this section is not laying flat. Alas, I know there has been some stretching. I'm going to keep going, though, with the hope that any waving can be "quilted out" and will not result in spoiling the overall effect.
The challenge in this portion of construction was the Y-seam, which I alluded to yesterday. My first attempt resulted in this rather unattractive, "un-square" corner.

First Y-seam attempt.

As I hoped, though, practice did make somewhat perfect, and the remaining setting squares went in without too much effort.

Second Y-seam attempt.

Here's what I discovered. Back years ago, when I began this UFO, I sewed the starburst units together all the way out to the end. When you want to insert a fabric into this angle, however, it is helpful to stop the seam 1/4" from the end of the fabric. See if the pictures below illustrate what I mean.

Pencil points to seam; all the way out to the end.

Pencil points to seam which ends 1/4" away from the end.

I started at the outside point of the star and stitched toward the Y-seam. When I got to the place where the Y intersects, I stopped and backstitched to secure the stitching. Then I removed the fabric from the machine, pivoted the fabric a bit, and pinned from the Y intersection out to the point of the star. It is very important that you don't stitch through the seam allowance at this Y intersection, or you'll end up with some puckering. I won't guarantee that all my corners are perfect, but I am satisfied. I left that first "un-square" attempt just as you see it pictured above; in the overall effect of the quilt, it will be negligible.

I pinned - a lot! Why take risks on such an involved quilt?

Hopefully, this little heads-up on Y-seams will benefit those of you who are embarking on this journey with us.

So, quilters, fill in Mister Linky, upload your pictures, leave us your comments, and show off your stuff!!

Are You Ready?

2012-02-03T11:43:00.000-05:00

And I'm not talking about the Super Bowl, either!! No! What I want to know is are you ready for February's Lone Star Quilt Along update?

Yessirree, it's been a month since Sue over at Quilt Times and I kicked off our little quilt along, and tomorrow is the big day for checking in with each other. Will you be sharing your progress with us? There'll be a Mister Linky to help you along. I do hope you'll all stop by tomorrow and also at Quilt Times to share in the progress and the pitfalls we've encountered.

I've heard throughout the month that we have several following us, but are just not quite ready to dive in and make one of these beauties. Others who have taken the plunge have hinted at some need for helpful sewing tips or strategies, especially matching up the points with all the bias edges at play. It is my hope that all who are stitching a Lone Star will feel free to offer their helpful hints to those who are either unsure or reluctant.

I'm having a particularly trying time with Y-seams. I plan to work specifically on that today, with the hope that practice will make perfect, and I can show everyone a well-executed 90-degree angle with no puckers!! (Can you picture my mess??)

I see that Sue has her cutting underway, and has already encountered her first (small) hurdle - not enough fabric for one of the colors. Check her out here to see how she solved the dilemma. A woman of action!! I like that!!

So come on along and join the Lone Star fun, okay??

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Where Did January Go?

2012-02-01T11:20:00.000-05:00

I blinked, apparently. But January is gone already, and here we are looking at 29 days of February! How on Earth does time fly so fast?

In the last post, I mentioned that I'd been to cash in my gift certificates at our new quilt shop. The first time I stopped in there, I was using my old, dying camera and had very inferior pictures to share. I think I can do better this time!

The shop's name is Old Town Fabric Shop in historic downtown Chillicothe, Ohio. The owners/operators are mother-daughter team, Cindy and Kelly Henderson. Look at how spacious and well-lit the store is, with plenty of room to grow! Cindy was working away at the front desk with a huge shipment of new fabrics she was prepping to go out on the shelves. The shop is carrying a huge array of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, batiks, reproductions, and 1930s. Other types/styles are available, too, but these are predominant. Because the shop is so new, parts of its website are still under construction. In April (maybe sooner), they will begin selling and servicing Bernina sewing machines. When I was in the shop last week, Kelly was in Chicago at Bernina school, learning about all the machines and using them, too, from what I see on the shop's facebook page!

Here's a pic I grabbed from their website. Isn't the building gorgeous? The fabric shop is actually in the back section of this old historic house; there's plenty of parking back there, too. Second Street is a one way street, and parking on the street is possible, but it will be limited. In addition to the parking in their rear lot, there are about 8 more parking spots off the alley behind that, so no need to worry about having parking issues with this downtown business!

I am so excited to have more quilting options right here in my own backyard! Quilters around southern and central Ohio can now make Chillicothe a destination for fabric shopping! This is our second quilt shop, and we have a JoAnn's Fabrics. It will be nice to see this new business grow!

[Did I mention that I had Kelly as a student "back in the day"? Early to mid-90s, I think. ;-) ]

In a future post, I will highlight our other quilt shop, Creations. It's been a staple here for over 20 years. Stay tuned!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Baby Quilts and Stash Enhancing

2012-01-31T21:20:00.000-05:00

On Friday, we Frankfort quilters met at Sheryll's for our regular session. We were missing JoAnn. Terry had 2 quilt tops to show us. Friends of hers are grandparents for the 2nd time, and Terry has these two darling quilts for the lucky little girls. Pretty cute, aren't they?

I got a couple of gift certificates for Christmas to the new quilt shop in Chillicothe; about a week ago, I had the chance to go in and use them!

I know, I have enough Kaffe Fassett fabric! And I know, I have promised to use my stash and limit my fabric purchasing! I just couldn't resist, you know??

Happy Quilting!

My Sister's Bar Stools!

2012-01-30T12:30:00.003-05:00

Sandy, my sister of "get the ripper" fame, is boasting yet another reupholstering project - and this one she did all by herself!

Here is a before barstool.

Remove the seat; these are screwed on for easy removal.

Purchase the foam rubber; Sandy's came from JoAnn Fabrics.

The steps are easy enough; just follow the pictures she sent me.

She stapled the new fabric under the seat, reattached the seat to the stool, and there you go!

This stool has the same fabric as her desk chair that we did a few weeks ago.

A no-sewing project by my sister. Thanks, Sandy, for providing the material for today's post!

Bartering

2012-01-29T19:39:00.000-05:00

I went over to Terry's on Thursday for a couple of hours to help her get started on a t-shirt quilt. She'd never made one before, and since I've made several, she thought I could coach her through the process.

If you've never made a t-shirt quilt, it is absolutely the easiest, fastest quilt in the world to make. The blocks are big and because it's made of t-shirts, it's generally not going to be an heirloom or anything, so being super exact about everything is optional. (YAY!)

My tried-and-true method requires using a 15" square ruler to cut the front design out of a t-shirt. These would be adult-size shirts with big designs on the front or back. (The picture above is from a previous t-shirt project.) Naturally, for children's shirts or for shirts that have smaller designs, a smaller ruler would be necessary. All of Terry's t-shirts had smaller insignias on the upper left chest of the shirt, so we used an 8" square ruler for her blocks. She will end up with more of a lap quilt than a bed-size quilt. She had 12 shirts in all.

There will be a lot of waste with what is discarded after each shirt is cut. I've seen some really cute things on Pinterest that use t-shirt knit, so the fabric could be repurposed. The knit also recycles nicely as car rags, camping rags, pet rags, etc. - they sky's the limit on uses.

Here is the waste from 12 adult-sized shirts.

Next, cut the fusible lightweight interfacing - the same size as the block. This then is ironed on to the back of each t-shirt block to stabilize it and prevent the stretching and curling that working with knit would naturally have.

These blocks have the interfacing ironed onto the back.

Next, cut the sashing strips. No rules to follow - they can be any width you want! On my Ohio State quilt, I cut 3 1/2" strips to finish out at 3" sashings. Cut as many as you need to do the sides of each block, then sew the rows together.

For the long sashing pieces, I would measure the length of each of my rows, establish an average, and cut them to that length. Another alternative is to do the math: add up the totals of the blocks and sashing strips. It would all come out pretty much the same (ideally). Cut as many strips as you need to this length.

Then construct the top by sewing long sashing strips to rows, until you have your top. Add borders to your desire, and VOILA!! Your t-shirt quilt top is done! Easy-peasy, right?

So, you may be wondering, why is the title of this post Bartering? What's the connection? Well, Terry did the quilting on my Ohio State t-shirt quilt. Instead of paying her, she wanted me to give her lessons on how to make one! How sweet is that? In just a couple of hours, I paid off my debt, had a wonderful visit with a dear friend, all the while doing something that I love!

Have you every bartered with someone - exchanging one service for another? I think it's pretty cool!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Ditty Bags

2012-01-26T21:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was involved in a project that I felt very good about. A friend who is a DAR member invited me to participate with her and others in a service project that would benefit our local VA Hospital - the making of ditty bags. Strange name for a bag, but who am I to question it?

Every patient at the hospital - both those who are recovering there and those who come for appointments - is given a ditty bag that contains certain personal hygiene products (I don't know exactly what those are). The size of the bag is strictly 9" wide by 13" tall. We were given a direction sheet to follow.

We cut long 10" swaths of fabrics, then we cut those down into 33" segments. We folded at the bottom, sewed up 13" on each side. Then we were left with turning down a casing-style top. We did not have to insert a drawstring; we just made the bags.

The morning went pretty fast, and we established a bit of an assembly line of duties. We had stations for cutting, pinning, stitching, and pressing. The beauty of the endeavor - besides the fact that we were performing a service to veterans - was that it's a great way to use up old, out-dated fabric. I know I have a box or two of fabrics that are ancient, but still useful. The hospital had no requirement about the color or even the type of fabric! We were using all manner of fabrics, including t-shirt knit. Previous bags have been made using double-knit - remember that stuff?? So anything goes.

At the end of the day, 50 bags were completed. I did not stay for that entire time, but several ladies did and got a lot accomplished. As I said earlier, I really felt as though it was time well spent, and I am planning to make more bags on my own.

I asked if VA Hospitals nationwide use these ditty bags, but no one knew the answer. If you were so inclined to make ditty bags for the VA in your area, I would suggest first contacting VA offices to see if bags are needed or wanted.

YUM!

2012-01-24T18:22:00.000-05:00

Are you hooked on Pinterest? I have described it as being as addictive as "crack." I heard someone else describe it as being similar to looking at magazines. Since I have cancelled or let expire nearly all the magazines I used to get, I can relate to that similarity. Now I can look at the pics I used to look at in my magazines free on Pinterest. Strangely, I never would spend much time looking at pictures of food. I generally enjoyed looking at pictures of homes, decorating, fashions, shoes, etc. On Pinterest, however, I seem to pin an exorbitant number of food pictures. Here's a salad I've recently pinned.

Does that not look like an absolutely scrumptious dish? The main ingredients: spinach, strawberries, feta cheese, candied walnuts and croutons.

Here's my version, which I had for lunch both yesterday and today.

I changed a few of the ingredients, but the spinach and strawberries are still there. The original recipe called for raspberry poppyseed dressing; I had just regular poppyseed dressing on hand, so I went with that. I also added a diced chicken breast. It was quite good, if I do say so myself!

My quilting report: I've finally pressed the last of the half-square triangle blocks for Chantilly. I will begin creating the rows next - except...

I found about a dozen more suitable fabrics that would work nicely in this quilt. So I might cut a few more squares and add them into the stack. I will have oodles of extra blocks, but I will have nice variety, that's for sure!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Fabric Bonanza

2012-01-19T12:04:00.000-05:00

It just doesn't get much better than this!! I am in fabric heaven this week! I've invited all my friends to play along: Lynette, Judie, Johanna, the 3 Sisters, the French General, Robert, and a host of others. We've had quite the bash!

The two projects I currently have out are ones that will be very scrappy; therefore I have pulled lots and lots of fat quarters out of the stash - some of them well aged - and have been cutting away! The assortment above has given me 6 7/8" squares for Chantilly.

The pattern is in the book Mulberry Lane by Teri Christopherson, copyright 2000. Ever since I bought the book, I have wanted to make this quilt! I even plan to make it a bit larger, as illustrated below:

I think it's evident that I've drawn on additional blocks, right?

So, I'm happily cutting away. I have a stack already put together from a few days ago.

And I have a hefty pile of newly cut squares from my stash that need to have the diagonal line drawn.

There are some golden oldies in there. And some newer stuff, too. But mostly old.

Besides cutting and prepping more HSTs for Chantilly, I've been working on Mom's signature quilt. I'm using two lines of Fig Tree Co. fabrics - Mill House Inn and Patisserie (sp?). I had a charm pack of each. It will be a nice, soft-color quilt. These signatures were collected at the big 75th birthday celebration my siblings and I had for Mom back in October. There are over 80 signature blocks, and I will need to hunt for more charm packs of these fabrics, because 2 weren't enough!

Do you open up/unfold all your fat quarters when you get them home? I sure don't. But maybe I ought to because I found one fat quarter that wasn't fat at all! It was about 4" too thin! I got ripped off! I pressed all the fabrics and when I laid this one out on the cutting board, I discovered the dastardly truth.

Aren't fat quarters supposed to be 18" x 21" or 22"?? Fortunately, this is the only one that was short. And probably whoever cut this just had the ruler in the wrong place (I know first hand how easy that is to do!!) I have asked myself if perhaps I'd cut off a 4" swath, but I don't think so. Anyway, buyer beware, right?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne's Reupholstering Service??

2012-01-16T22:45:00.000-05:00

A week ago Sunday, out of the blue, my sister calls to see if I have some free time. She is newly retired, and is working - no, tearing - through a to-do list like gang-busters!! Her mission on this day was attempting to reupholster her desk chair.

A bit later in the day, here she is with Mom in tow, bringing her chair and the materials, needing a woman with a sewing machine (that would be me!) to help out with the back. She'd managed to do the seat with a staple gun, but as the back was made around a metal frame, stitching was inevitable.

A quick bit of background: Sandy has always been the tomboy sister who never had the least inclination to learning to sew. Her few attempts back when we were in 4-H resulted in Mom's telling her to "get the ripper." We still get a good chuckle out of that.

We traced and pinned and tugged and tucked until VOILA!! we had a really awesome-looking desk chair!!

A close inspection would certainly uncover some imperfections, but it's functional, will serve its purpose, and looks fabulous, wouldn't you agree? I love it, and, more importantly, so Sandy loves it!

Today I spoke with Sandy on the phone. She is now reupholstering kitchen bar stools. I told her to take pics before, during and after. I even suggested she be a guest blogger here and share her little endeavor! We shall see about that!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Frankfort Friday

2012-01-15T09:15:00.001-05:00

The quilting babes of Frankfort *snicker!* got together on Friday for some stitching and quilting. We had our first blast of winter -finally - so we were 'over the river and through the woods' on this moring!! Brrrrrr, was it shivery! Temperatures in the 17-19 degree range, but wind chills in the 5 degree range! Gracious!

Everyone made it despite the wintry conditions, and we had some yummy muffins and coffee in Terry's cozy kitchen.

Sharon had a sweet finish to show us - a happy little table runner in festive holiday fabrics. This was a kit she'd had; wouldn't you love to have this on your Christmas table?

Sharon's stitching for the morning was this table topper.

I worked on handquilting the border on an old UFO; a Schnibbles from almost 2 years ago. It's been taking up valuable space in my sewing room for far too long, so it's time to finish it off and make use of it somewhere!

In searching for the pic, I found that I made Tagalong in April of 2010. Somewhere along the line, I began hand quilting it. I remember stopping when I got to the borders because I wasn't sure how I wanted to quilt them. That is when I brought home the box of templates from under Grandma's bed. She had a border template that pleased me, so now I'm going to finish it. (I swear, sometimes I need a fire lit under me to get me moving on things.)

Sheryll, JoAnn and Terry were working on things that I think have already been pictured here on the blog from previous get-togethers. That's the way this every-other-Friday-thing works - we save these projects for just this time. The good thing about that is that we always have a hand-stitching project ready to go; the downside, however, is that I don't have any new photos to share. No biggie.

A new project has arrived on my to-do list. Terry is running another mystery quilt for her guild's retreat, and she asked if I'd be interested in making a quilt that she could use as an example. I will need to have that done by March. It's a twin-size quilt, and the pieces aren't terribly small, so I think I can accomplish it. I will need to get crackin' on it, though! Time flies, and March will be here before we know it! The pattern is by Debbie Caffrey.

When I got home from quilting, this lovely bouquet was waiting for me from DD Emma. Aren't they pretty? Yours truly will be blowing out some birthday candles on Sunday (today). *grin*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Bento Box Quilted

2012-01-14T08:31:00.022-05:00

Emma Jean got a surprise for Christmas. Most of what she got, she knew she was going to get - isn't that the way it is with most teenagers? She gave me her list and I bought from the list!! Sneaky old mom, though, had a surprise up her sleeve! I took it to a long-arm quilter in Hillsboro, Bonnie Morningstar, who quilted it in a jiff - a week to do this quilt and one for my mother! Fast service for December!Bonnie is establishing a quilting business in Hillsboro, and I have now had her do 3 quilts for me. Very happy to have her so near! Anyway, here is Emma's completed Bento Box.

Fortunately, Emma had a job over her Christmas break which allowed me time to get the binding stitched in secret! There were a couple of times where I was scrambling to hide my work as she was pulling into the driveway! This is her bed (minus a pillow!). Notice the stars on the wall? That is the handiwork of DD#1, Erin, who resided in this room prior to Emma's taking over when Erin moved out. Nice complement to the Bento Box, isn't it?

The iron bed is my childhood bed - a real antique! :-) No, really, before I got it, it belonged to my paternal grandparents! This bed is an heirloom! DH and I began married life with this bed. It is perfect for showing off quilts - I should use it more often. Now that Emma is away at college, it is available, too. So, maybe I will do just that!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

OSU T-Shirt Quilt

2012-01-13T08:22:00.004-05:00

Wrapped up in Christmas finery was this gift to my DH.

He'd casually mentioned early last summer that he'd like to have a quilt. Can you believe I've never made one for him?!?? I went to the thrift shop and bought all the Ohio State t-shirts they had (11) and found an old one here of ours, and VOILA! a quilt for hubby was born!

I could not get it quilted before Christmas, however, so also in the box was a note: " This is scheduled to be quilted in early January." And it is; I'll be taking it this week to a friend who will quilt it for me.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Meet My Stars!

2012-01-12T14:59:00.001-05:00

I'd like to introduce you to French General Stars. Or I could call it Rouenneries Stars.

Whichever I end up calling it, I love it. That line of fabric has been out since around 2007, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm just now using it in my first project! (I know I'm not the only one hoarding a few yards of French General fabrics!!) I am happy to report that I have plenty of FG fabric remaining in the old stash; I hope to be churning out a few more lovelies in this fabulous stuff!

The quilt pattern, September Stars, is from a Thimbleberries book called September Morning, from 2001. I not only hoard fabric; I hoard books, as well! Surely other quilters can relate, no??

I have a bit of a dilemma. Technically, I just put the borders on this week - Monday, to be exact. But I had all the rest done before the new year. I really want to count this quilt as a product of 2011; it was on my goals list for the year, and it ends up taking care of 2 quilts at once - it is a Christmas quilt in addition to being the French General quilt I wanted to make in 2011. So, the quandary - consider it a 2011 finish, or the first finish of 2012?? Maybe 2011 with an asterisk?

That's what I'll do - 2011*.

So, on the sewing table today, I find myself working on 2 things at once. I've got Mom's signature quilt going. I'm using square-in-a-square blocks for that. Also, I have begun cutting and stitching Chantilly, a quilt I have wanted to make for ages and ages.

I've pulled a bunch of fabric for it, and the cutting couldn't be easier - 6-7/8" squares!
the stitching is pretty easy, as well. Draw a diagonal line; stitch on either side; cut apart ~ voila!! It should go together fast. Easy-peasy. Great way to begin a new year of stitching.

Here's some of the fabric I pulled.

These are mostly Robert Kaufman fabrics from a very old fat quarter pack I've had. I have about this much more random stuff pulled to go with this. It will be very scrappy.

I was reading some blogs this morning and came across Kathie who talked about working on more than one project at a time on her blog called Inspired by Antique Quilts. Now, I am notorious for this; I like starting things, and I start LOTS of things! The trouble is I always have to push myself to finish them. It must be a character flaw. That's why I could spend a whole year working only on UFOs, and still have work left to do! Anyway, it was nice to read her post about needing to work on more than one thing at a time. I share that sentiment, for sure.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

I Love January!

2012-01-08T09:37:00.002-05:00

There is just so much promise in beginning a new year, don't you think? I've got lists upon lists, and they grow each day. I've started some new projects and am planning many more.

I wonder why we don't like Mondays. It's the same concept, isn't it, as January? Beginning a new week as opposed to a new year? Well, I was never a big fan of Mondays when I worked, but I don't mind them a bit now that I'm retired! :-)

Yesterday Quilt Sue and I held our first Lone Star Quilt Along. She does a very nice wrap-up on her blog today. Check it out, and then consider joining us for the fun! It's like being in a sewing circle, but not having to attend any meetings! Just work on your Lone Star, sign in using the Mr. Linky on both my site and Sue's, take a few pictures of your work and share them on the first Saturday of the month! Next month, yours truly will hostess our get-together; the date will be Saturday, Feb. 4. I'm looking forward to seeing all the progress we will have made by then!

I did want to mention one quick thing related to the quilt-along. The book I am using is an oldie (1989), but I imagine that it would be available in libraries. I also looked on the internet and found that while Amazon doesn't have it, they do list sellers who have used copies available - inexpensive, too! I found it, as well, on ebay, but it was somewhat pricier. Several quilters had mentioned that they were looking for patterns that showed strip-piecing methods, and this one does.

I offer that info just as a bit of FYI to those out there searching for a book/pattern.

What else has this new year brought to my sewing room? In an earlier post I referenced the doll quilt along that Lori at Humble Quilts hosts each January. This year's is called Pink Lemonade, and it's a real beauty! I have pulled the fabrics I want to use; now I need to press and cut. Last year, I made Midnight Stars with Lori, and the year before that I made Cheddar and Crackers. The beauty of making doll quilts is the speed with which they can be finished. I get to use super-small pieces, but I am not trying to make a bed-size quilt with them! A perfect combination: small pieces in a small quilt. I love it!

I spent the better part of Friday working on drawstring book bags for my twin nieces who are 4 now.

This project was featured in the BH&G magazine, Quilts and More. Either summer or fall, 2010. I can't wait to give them to the girls. They attend a Montessori (sp?) school 3 or 4 days per week, and are just as smart as can be. They will be thrilled to get these bags, I think. I plan to include a book, a box of Crayons, and a tablet in each one.

Yesterday I prepped a backing for a t-shirt quilt; it's now ready to take to the quilter's. Today I want to cut and attach the borders for my French General Stars. It was supposed to be finished by the end of 2011 - the center was, but not the borders, dang it! (I am still going to count it as a finish for 2011, though.) I'll get pics of those to share in the coming days.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Lone Star First Saturday!

2012-01-07T14:26:00.002-05:00

What a pleasant surprise! I am farther along on my Lone Star quilt than I realized! Happy New Year to me!! *big, goofy grin*

The first Saturday of the month is supposed to be the day when we check in and report our progress on our Lone Star Quilts. If you recall, Sue of Quilt Times and I are teaming up for a quilt along. Her desire to make a Lone Star quilt and my desire to finish an ages-old UFO of a variation called Broken Star have brought us together for the quilt along. Hope we get a few quilters out there motivated to begin and/or finish one of these stunning beauties!!

As Sue said, there are no rules for this quilt along. We just invite quilters who are interested in beginning or finishing one of these gorgeous quilts to click the Mister Linky button above, register your progress and perhaps share a few photos, as well.

Now, let me show you what has made me such a happy girl. I'd brought the tub down from the shelf, but hadn't really taken out and examined the contents until last evening. Whoa!! I'd made a lot of progress on this quilt!!

Of course, when a UFO is nearing 20 years old, one needs to take stock of the progress and determine a course of action. I truly had no idea what to expect as I delved into this tub. To find this thing so far along is a complete surprise. It makes me wonder why I ever quit on it in the first place! If, in fact, it was the bias edges and some occasional "wonkiness," they aren't too bad as far as I can see, and I am uber-excited to get back to work and finish it!!

Doesn't that look great? I astonish myself! (I don't mean for that to sound like bragging.) This is the center section. That central blue star is not as flat as a purist might want it to be, but it pressed out rather nicely, and considering all things, I will be happy with it just as it is.

Here are three sections of the outer ring - the starburst, I guess I could call it. A few pictures down is the picture from the pattern book; you'll get what I mean. Not all the points are matching, but again, I am not objecting because it's really not that bad. The main thing is that they lay (mostly) flat and the look is definitely established, so why complain? (I have never been known to be a purist/perfectionist when it comes to quilting!)

Finally, I found 15 of these units ready to be sewn into the remaining starbursts. There are a total of 8 starbursts, each containing 3 of these units. The math works (thankfully!).

So, like Sue, I've not sewn a stitch this week on my Lone Star. I am, however, eager to get back to this and finish it! Pressing it (carefully!) and examining my earlier work was fun. I am so pleasantly surprised at how much of it was done once upon a time, and am ever thankful to Sue for providing the prod I needed to drag this UFO down off the shelf.

Here's the picture of the pattern from my book.

The book is by Better Homes and Gardens from 1989.

So come on, quilters! Begin the new year with a Lone Star quilt! Or, if you are like me, begin with finishing a Lone Star UFO! Hop on over to Sue's blog to see her progress. I have a significantly smaller following than she does, so I imagine there'll be quite a few folks already signed in on her Mister Linky. She has already done several posts today (sorry, Sue, to be such a slacker!!). Check hers out here, here and here!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

25 Things To Do...

2012-01-05T00:18:00.002-05:00

... Instead of playing Scrabble or Spider Solitaire on the Internet:

1. ~~Sew buttons on DS's shorts and pants.~~ DONE!
2. Finish hand-quilting brown/pink quilt.
3. Put Civil War patterns from last year's Brackman-sponsored quilt-along into sleeves and binder.
4. Finish hand-quilting Schnibbles.
5. Make book covers.
6. Work on Wendy's pillow.
7. Work on Robin's pillow.
8. Sew batik leftover strips into a quilt top.
9. Make Farmer's Wife block(s).
10. Make Civil War block(s).
11. Stitch decorative designs on white jacket.
12. Finish curtain for closet.
13. ~~Make little book bags for twins.~~ DONE!
14. Cut out blue/beige quilt.
15. Cut out floral stars quilt.
16. Cut out Thimbleberries red, gold, blue quilt.
17. Cut out red and white quilt.
18. Cut out pastel triangle quilt.
19. Finish Adam's t-shirt quilt.
20. ~~Work on Lone Star quilt.~~ DID SOME!
21. ~~Begin Pink Lemonade doll quilt-along.~~ FABRICS PULLED!
22. Clean off sewing room dresser.
23. Finish 5-pointed star quilt.
24. Get a package ready to send to Amie for her postage stamp quilt.
25. Work on Mom's signature quilt.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Big Plans

2012-01-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

You've probably heard the saying about one's eyes being bigger than one's stomach? Well, that's the same idea applied to quilting projects for me. I wanna do 'em all!!

I've already got my start on the Lone Star Quilt-Along. Hoping to see lots of pretty quilts and inspiration from that.

Now, I've just read Lori's blog, Humble Quilts, and I know she always starts the new year with a doll quilt-along. I've done 2 of them and I simply adore them! So, of course I am going to do this one, too! It's been given the name Pink Lemonade as its primary colors are pink and yellow. Go take a look at it and see if you can resist!

One other quilt I really want to get going on is the signature quilt from my mother's 75th birthday party. I put it on hold through the holidays and now I'm psyched to get it going!

Image from Google.

In other business...did you know I got an iPad for Christmas? I was entirely suprised. My dear children and their father DH were the responsible parties. Gosh, I wish I knew all the cool uses for it. It takes pictures and videos. I've downloaded a bunch of apps for it. It can be both a Kindle and a Nook. I don't know 1/100th of what all it can do. I'm spending a lot of time playing games on it so far, but I want to make it do useful organizing and creative things. Any suggestions, readers?

Image from Google.

And, my new camera came. I've been trying to learn it in addition to the iPad. Techno-overload for me! Let's just say teaching an old dog new tricks is a process.

I've taken just a few pics on the new camera, getting a feel for it, you know. Here are some Christmas pics that turned out okay.

Our tree. Red and off-white quilt for a tree skirt.

This yo-yo table topper is from a Thimbleberries book. It was a lot of fun to make. Guessing: I made it about 12 years ago(?).

This throw pillow is one I made many years ago. It's over 20 years old since I remember having it at our old house (we moved here in 1992). I hand-pieced and hand-quilted it.

Finally, I'll show you this jolly guy. My dear friend Kay made this squishy Santa for me even more than 20 years ago! I used to have him sit in the little rocking chair that my kids had, but now that they are all big kids now, he sits in the big rocker.

Wish me luck on executing these big plans!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Challenge to Begin the New Year

2012-01-02T15:37:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year, Quilting Friends!

Whew! What a whirlwind couple of weeks we've had around here!

We had 29 here for dinner on Christmas Day - my mother, siblings, their spouses and children and grandchildren. And a few extras, too - boyfriends, brother's in-laws, etc. Christmas with family - a blessing beyond measure!

Just after Christmas, we traveled a couple of hours across the state for a 2-day visit to my father-in-law's and got a chance to see very nearly everyone on hubby's side of the family. Again, it was a wonderful opportunity to visit with family.

On Friday, I hosted the Frankfort girls here for our regularly scheduled get-together.

Then we had our annual New Year's Eve party with 2 other couples. Those 2 couples have been doing New Year's together for 25 or 26 years; we have been a part of it for the last 18 years. The three families rotate homes each year for hosting duties, which makes it nice.

In between all those functions, there was the usual hustle and bustle of preparations - fixing special dishes; wrapping; decorating, and then keeping up with the cleaning and laundry of having extra family in the house - these sure can keep a gal hopping!! But NOT sewing, doggone it!

I will make up for the lack of sewing and quilting by getting right to work now in the new year! Oh, the promise of a new year!!

Now, let's talk about that challenge I mentioned in my title, shall we? Last fall, my blogging friend Sue Abrey at Quilt Times shared a UFO that she had a hankering to finish. I chimed in with a comment that I, too, had the same quilt in UFO condition that I would love to finish. So we've cooked up a little quilt-along. Read about it here.

Step into my sewing room and take a look at my shelves with project bins (and other stuff) lined up there on the wall.

Locate this bin on the top shelf.

The stuff on the top shelf is the really old stuff. My Lone Star UFO is around 20 years old. I was spurred to make it when my then-ten(ish)-year-old son admired the quilt in a book I had, and told me I could make that quilt for him. I began it in the summer time, possibly at a quilt camp at CHS.

As you can see, I have made some progress on this. I remember that I was running into trouble with the bias edges. I think I have improved in my abilities in 20 years, so those biases won't intimidate me as much as they did back then.

Here's the inspiration photo from that long-ago book (still on my shelves).

So, the quilt-along is on! Thanks to Sue for the prod I needed for getting this UFO out after all these years! I hope others out there will join us! There are no complicated instructions to follow; just sew along with Sue and me! Here is what Sue has on her blog:

We will not be providing patterns or instructions, but we will try to suggest places where patterns are available;
You can write posts about your progress on your blog, and then sign in to a Linky on one of our blogs on the first Saturday of the month, so we can see each other's progress (or not);
There are no other rules/timescales/competitions/etc. except Rule 4 below;
You have to encourage me cos I think I might struggle with this quilt.

Sue is putting an awful lot of confidence in me that I will be able to do things like Linkys - I'm not at all sure that's such a good idea, Sue!! My computer skills are not as advanced as yours! :-)

I have added the Lone Star QuiltAlong button to my sidebar; feel free to grab it and join us, won't you?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Bit of Old Business

2011-12-23T14:18:00.001-05:00

Everyone probably feels the same rush to get things done before Christmas, so I imagine the fact that I've got a few things to get done today comes as no surprise to anyone. But, I also wanted to blog about some recent things that I just didn't want to put off until after Christmas. If we were having a meeting, this would fall under the category of Old Business. Let's dispense with it now.

A week ago this morning, the Frankfort girls met at JoAnn's house for our regular sew-together. We set our calendars for the entire coming year. We also penciled in a couple of quilt shows and a breakfast. Very productive. We took stock of the families - 2011 found additions for 3 of us: Terry gained a daughter-in-law; Sharon gained a grandson; JoAnn gained a granddaughter from one son and twin grandsons from the other son! Three grandbabies born in one year - how's that for productivity??

Grammy Jo had to make stockings for these new little ones.

We have an "understanding" that we don't do Christmas gifts, but Sheryll bent the rule a little bit and gave each one of us a nifty glasses case - or a rotary cutter case, however we want to use it, I suppose. Really nice! Mine will definitely be used for glasses. I just love it!

In other quilting news, the above quilt is (the other) Sharon's current project. Again, she has chosen one that is going together incredibly fast. She is making it one row longer and two rows wider and is not using the mitten appliques. This is what she accomplished in our time together on Monday.

It is going to be sooo cozy.

Finally, an oxymoron in old business: a new business!! A New Quilt Shop!!! I stopped in there on Tuesday, just to check it out and to buy a gift certificate for one quilty friend who shall remain nameless for the time being. *cheesy grin*

Old Town Fabric Shop is newly opened in a historic building on W. Second Street in Chillicothe. Owner Cindy Henderson and daughter Kelly Henderson have quite a beautiful shop - filled with primarily modern fabrics such as Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler and reproduction fabrics. I don't think I have ever seen so many Kaffes in one place!! It was heaven!

I got a big hug from Kelly as I entered the store-she was a student of mine back in the nineties. And a special one, at that!! I did love that girl! We clicked, as sometimes happens between teacher and student - I am so glad to be reacquainting with her!

I took a few shots from inside the store. However, you'll note that my camera is behaving badly, so the quality is lacking, for sure. I will have more to say about this later in New Business.

The Kaffe wall - sigh, heaven!!

There's the lovely Kelly at the cash register!

A bed displaying several reproduction quilts. (Terrible pic!!)

That's Linda cutting kits. Look at how roomy this place is! Since I had only a few minutes to just look around, I didn't get to investigate really closely. That will require a return trip, for sure! It's quite a thrill having a new quilt store to come to town. We have one, Creations, which has been here for at least 20 years, and now we have Old Town Fabric Shop. They should fill every quilter's needs and/or desires! I hope the word gets out that we have these 2 gems; I so want them to experience success!!

And now, we will move on to the New Business portion of our post. A bit of background first, if you don't mind. Just as I was noticing the incredibly poor quality of my photos, I read Suzanne's blog, At Home With the Farmer's Wife. This blog is one of my favorites; it was one of the very first blogs I started following way back about 5 or 6 years ago. Her gentle humor appeals to me, and her outlook on life is quite agreeable to my own, so I read her faithfully. Well, anyway, she posted about one of her cameras biting the dust, and about finding a new one for an incredibly great price. You can read all about it here.

Now, I wonder if you can guess the first topic in New Business??? Yes, my new camera - which I ordered on Wednesday, and which will arrive just after Christmas. Serendipity!! I ordered online from the same store, and got the exact same camera as Suzanna bought. Took all the trouble of shopping and comparing completely out of the equation, and that makes me very happy. Merry Christmas to Me!!

And, I will go back to the new fabric shop and take better pictures to share. Promise.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Cheater Week at Sharon's

2011-12-22T14:58:00.000-05:00

On Monday I went to Sharon's to sew for the day. And boy, was I in for a huge surprise! She had been quite a busy little stitcher in the week since we'd last been together! Her focus was using up all the cheater panels she had. What a stack of quilts to admire!

And, I'm sure you'll note that they are not just pieced, but also quilted. Such an accomplishment! We have a lady in town who machine quilts as a business; and she specializes in a fast turnaround on quilts. She does basic meandering designs, and is quite reasonably priced. Sharon would take one in, go back the next day to pick it up, and drop off another! She had all these done this way. The woman even stitches down the binding for you. So, when we want a quickie, we go to her!

Here are the cheater quilts Sharon made this week. Some of these panels, she said, had been in her stash for a very long time.

The last one pictured is not a cheater quilt; it is the Flannel Cascade that she worked on last week at my house. Quilted and bound in under a week! Pretty good feeling of accomplishment, wouldn't you agree?

I was finishing the binding on Emma's purple and gold Bento Box quilt. After that, I cut out some quickie projects for my twin nieces. Hope I have time to get them done by Christmas!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Something for Myself!

2011-12-17T13:48:00.001-05:00

n the midst of all that I should be doing for Christmas, I up and make myself a bag. Now, I never have claimed to be a zealot when it comes to focusing on a job, but we are just 8 days out from Christmas, and I definitely have other, more pressing obligations.

But I've wanted to make it for so-o-o-o-o-o-o long! Here's the story:

Quilts and More, Winter 2009.

This "Super Simple Tote" caught my eye from the very moment I saw this issue. I had plenty of Kaffe fabric from which to choose; I found a suitable stripe for accent; I purchased the fusible batting.

Back in the summer, I asked blog readers what to do with this wonky cutting mat.

One suggestion was to use it as base material in bags. That struck a chord with me, so I saved it back for just this bag!

Now let me tell you, that "Super Simple" tote turned out to be quite a doozie of a project. First of all, fusible batting is used on both the outer fabric and the lining fabric - this makes for very bulky work. Second of all, that cutting mat was a killer to cut, and I kept having to shave off sides to get the piece to fit nicely into the bottom of my bag. Third of all, these layers of outer fabric and lining fabric called for quilting before construction, so I got to test out my machine quilting skills (they aren't very good, in case you were wondering).

Before finishing, I told DH that not a single Vera Bradley bag is overpriced!! These things are a lot of work! And this one doesn't have any hardware - no snaps, buttons, zippers, clasps, etc.

Finally, I finished it. And I love it! *big grin!!*

It needs a good pressing and the lining could fit better, but for me I think it will be just fine. If I were to make another one (and I just might!), I believe I would not put so much batting in it. Pockets don't need batting. Also, if I make another one, I will cut the lining slightly smaller than the outer layer. That will reduce the excess that I am finding in this first version.

Always learning, aren't we?? I am going to watch the Buckeyes this afternoon and work on that knitting project for DD#1's boyfriend. That, and intermittent laundry folding. Later we are going to Hillsboro for Mexican and a visit to Grandma's.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Monday Quilting with Sharon

2011-12-15T13:14:00.001-05:00

I will quickly post pictures of what Sharon and I worked on this past Monday when she was over to sew for the day. I take too long when I write, and I need to be devoting time to some other more pressing endeavors! So for now, pictures will have to do...

Sharon had this top quilted. She brought it to show to me, and of course, I snapped a picture to chronicle here on the blog.

Sharon arrived with this...

...and left with this!

It was a kit of yummy flannels:

After I made the stocking for DD's boyfriend (see previous post), I did some sewing on the French General Stars (shown on several recent posts). I am also working on binding the Bento Box quilt I made this summer for DD#2. I had it quilted a week ago, and need to get the binding done! I really like how it turned out, and I think Emma will, too.

One final note: Today, December 15, is Grandma's 95th birthday!! Happy Birthday, Grandma!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Christmas-y Creations!

2011-12-14T09:23:00.001-05:00

ately, I've been somewhat focused on a few little items for Christmas. While I was digging around in the bin of Christmas fabrics and related whatnot, I came across 2 UFOs that I didn't even know existed! How is it that a person can make something halfway, then put it away for say, 10 years, and then when it is unearthed not recall anything at all about it??? There has to be some mysterious force at work here.

Ahem - well, enough of theorizing, let's look at those mystery projects!!

This single, unfinished hand-pieced block resided in that bin which I turned into a candle mat. In trying to solve the mystery of this piece, the clues show up on the back:

Childishly traced pieces and childish cutting. Something tells me that I was giving someone a little project to work on while Mommy was busy! Erin or Emma?? Haven't a clue, truly. But a little girl cut them out, that's for sure. The stitching is mine, not a child's. Cutting was as far as we got with this little girl!

Another find in this Christmas bin was a holiday tablerunner. The stars are paper-pieced. It's been ages since I've paper-pieced anything, so again, not much to go on to figure out how long this has been around. But, I finished it up and will use it on the coffee table in the front room.

Do you recognize this fabric?? It's Roman Holiday - in woven, home dec!! I have absolutely been in love with Roman Holiday since it came out however many years ago; I wish I'd bought way more of it than I did. Who new it would be scooped up so quicky by quilters?? Well, here's a cool story. In May, when I went to Berlin (Amish Country/Ohio) with Kay and Sherrie, I saw a table draped with this in Mrs. Miller's Dry Goods store. I went on a hunt for the fabric and found it in the basement where all the bargain fabric is located. I bought the entire bolt - maybe 12 or more yards! I cut it in half; one half went to Sharon in July for her birthday, and the remaining half I kept for myself!! I hemmed it earlier this week and threw it over this round table. In this picture the tablecloth is doubled; but when I extend the table for Christmas, it will fit perfectly!

Last but not least, I made a stocking for Erin's boyfriend. He will be here for Christmas and she asked if I would make a stocking for him. This was the reason I was digging around in the Christmas bin in the first place! I found the pre-quilted red and the cotton checked fabrics, used an existing stocking for a pattern, and created this. It looks a little wonky, but it'll serve its purpose, right?

Are you all getting your houses ready for Christmas?? Most people are probably done by now...not me!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Projects Keep Finding Me

2011-12-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

ver there in the sidebar where I have my list of 2011 goals you will see that I am doing rather well with getting this list nearly done this year! Makes me pretty happy, for sure. As I take stock of the year's work, it appears I can focus on getting specific things done - glad about that.

One thing I have not mentioned lately is the way projects seem to be finding me. I can think of three off the top of my head that have appeared on my horizon.

Two weeks or so ago, when I was visiting Grandma, she indicated to me that she had some things for me. This always excites me just a bit, because it's usually quilting related, and I love looking at her quilting goodies. Some of it is soooo dated - antique notions, thread, patterns, trim, and so on. It's just so neat to see how she quilted throughout the years.

This stack of goodness is what Grandma handed over to me. Trust me - a whopper of a project resides in this bundle. (Remember, now, there were quite a few projects in the boxes from under Grandma's bed that I posted about earlier. Add to those, these that I'm about to detail for you.)

The box on the bottom contained all of Grandpa's neckties. I did not take them out of the box to count them, but I estimate that there could be as many as 60 ties here! Grandpa was a farmer, so it's surprising that he'd have so many ties. However, Grandpa and Grandma were very involved in activities that required their attendance at meetings, conventions, dinners, and such. They were quite involved with the Ohio Fair Managers, Federal Land Bank, Farm Bureau Council, political activities, and, of course, church. Grandma said that she'd always intended to make a quilt with Grandpa's ties, but just never got to it. I know it must have been quite a goal for her by the amount of books and patterns she had amassed.

On top of the ties, Grandma had also given me all those necktie-related books, magazines and patterns she'd collected since 1997 (the year Grandpa died). Quite a few!! It seems she couldn't decide which pattern to make, so now the decision is passed on to me! Gracious! How will I ever decide??

The two neutral fabrics are extra wide backing-sized muslins. The blue is just some yardage she had stored with the ties. She isn't quite sure, but Grandma thinks she planned on using these for constructing a quilt with those ties. Some things are getting a bit fuzzy for her, so she is not certain, but I would say if the fabric was stored with the ties and the patterns, then, yes, she was planning this fabric for those ties. She has always been the most organized person I have ever known. She may not remember putting this fabric with the ties, but that must have been her plan at some point.

When will I ever make this project?? I have no idea. I'm not even allowing myself to think much about it until after the new year.

The next project was a 2-parter. I belong to a women's civic organization here in Greenfield, and our fundraiser for this year has been selling a woven coverlet highlighting several landmark locations around town. We also sold related totes and pillows. The company we dealt with sent a 2-panel sample of what the tote would have on it, which we were allowed to keep. So I volunteered to turn these panels into totes. I bought a yard of upholstery fabric at the Ben Franklin for $5.98/yd. and made both totes on Thursday night and Friday morning. Easy, really, and it's for a good cause. Our entire purpose in this organization revolves around giving back to the community.

The final project?? Well, it's one that I got myself into willingly. Remember when we celebrated my mother's 75th birthday? I made squares for guests at the big celebration party to sign with the intent of making a signature quilt for her. I have the fabric selected for the project, I just need to figure out the method I will use to make it.

I remember counting the signed blocks, and I think I have around 80. I have 2 charm packs of Fig Tree fabric - Buttercup, I think - and want to make square-in-a-square blocks. So, I must get crackin' on that in the new year. It'll be a top priority, definitely!

So, in the midst of doing projects of my own choosing, I am getting a few "extra" things in the queue, as well. I imagine we all have that from time to time.

This Quilter Also Knits

2011-12-09T09:10:00.000-05:00

nitting is something I think I could really get into, but I don't dare let myself get too interested. My fabric stash needs my full attention. I could just see me growing a yarn stash to match the fabric one if I allowed myself to delve very deeply into knitting.

That said, I was wandering through my local Ben Franklin store in mid-November and saw a display of yarn with an "on sale" sign attached. My eyes landed on this incredible blue yarn and I knew it would be going home with me. I bought two skeins, and now look at what I've got.

My justification for buying this yarn and committing to this project is simple. We were going to be on the road to my father-in-law's over Thanksgiving and I needed a portable project. None of my quilting projects were in the proper stage for portability, and knitting was a simple alternative. All I needed to do was remember how to cast on, which I easily accomplished by watching a You-Tube video about 45 times. (I swear, I really am a slow learner at times.)

Speaking of learning, I need to learn a few things about knitting. First, I can only do straight things, so scarves are my specialty. If I learn how to add or reduce stitches, then I run the risk of doing exactly what I don't want to do - get really into knitting. I am happy making scarves; I don't need to be learning any advanced skills! Now, (here's the second lesson I need to learn) I make them too thick. When I cast on, I have no idea what to expect, so I just cast on a bunch of stitches until I think I've got enough. This scarf is about twice as wide as it ought to be. Too much bulk! All that knit stuffed around the neck will stifle a wearer, so it probably won't be a gift as I thought it might be. Instead, I think I will use it myself, but if I hope to make these to give to people, I need to exercise restraint when it comes to casting on.

After I got this blue scarf done so quickly, I dug out a knitting UFO from upstairs which had been taking up unnecessary space in my sewing room. It is a rough-looking thing, but it needed to be finished, so I went to work on it. Again, too wide, and this one, oh my, is a perfectly imperfect knitting project. Wonky. Uneven. Dropped stitches. Added stitches. All unintentional...what a mess, but with this bulky yarn, a lot of imperfections are masked.

After these two scarves were finished, I again found myself in Ben Franklin, and thought to myself, "If the yarn is still on sale, I'll get another couple of skeins for a skinnier scarf." I was half wanting the yarn sale to be ongoing, and half hoping it wasn't!! Alas, the sale was still on, so I bought 2 skeins of a masculine blue and beige variegated. I cast on fewer stitches and am working a bit each evening to complete this scarf. Here's the progress:

I began with 25 stitches cast on and I still have 25 stitches! Whoo-hoo! It looks pretty good to me, but my DD says it's still too wide. Guess I really am a slow learner.

Do I need to admit that I recently bought a crochet hook??

A Fun Day of Sewing!

2011-12-07T23:50:00.000-05:00

I've been sitting on some quilting activity for several days. Just so darned busy!!! I declare, retirement is the busiest time of a person's life!! I am volunteering to do a poetry workshop in a friend's sophomore English classes 3 days this week at the local high school. I also have had to get my book club book finished, as we had our meeting tonight. The book, Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson, was a good read -- a mystery with lots of storylines intersecting for a satisfying conclusion.

Last Saturday, quilter friend Terry opened her beautiful home to a gaggle (what would we be called?) of quilters - 8 in all, including our hostess. Tables filled the family room, cutting and ironing stations were set up in the kitchen. Of course, there was a good bit of food out in the kitchen, as well.

Here is the photographic evidence of our wonderful day.

This is only a sampling of the tasty treats we had to select from. Terry served a delicious chili for lunch and the rest of us brought snacks and side dishes to add to the spread. Needless to say, we didn't go hungry!

Ok, on with the quilting and sewing...

Finally, all 30 of my French General stars were done, and I was ready to move on with the construction of the quilt top. I did some fussy cutting for the cornerstones.

And I had to make some decisions about the fabric to use for the sashing. I changed up the pattern a bit (from a 2-fabric sashing to a 1-fabric sashing), and was limiting myself to using only from my existing stash. So this is what I chose.

I have made some progress, and I love how it's looking. You all will see it soon enough.

The other gals had equally productive days. Many were making a snowman wall hanging.

This snowman wall hanging is just plain adorable! I hope to borrow someone's pattern and make one for myself.

This is a finished wall hanging; trouble is, I don't remember which of the girls had a finished one - I'm thinking it was Cherie, but I could very likely be wrong. Regardless, isn't it an adorable snowman?

This is the snowman that Mary worked on. Love that purple background. Terry worked on one, also, but her progress was impeded by all the hostessing duties she had. I couldn't say for sure if anyone else was working on this project - I admit to being so wrapped up in my own project that I was somewhat oblivious to all that the others were doing. (Self-absorbed?? Guilty as charged.)

A new acquaintance, Gwen, was working on a little Christmas quilt. My pic of it is somewhat blurry, unfortunately.

All was not smooth sailing on this wonderful day... Monica was sewing right along on her project when suddenly her machine jammed up and refused to operate! Well, after digging into its innards, she was a bit embarassed to unearth all of this "gunk."

Fortunately, Monica's new manicure looked good during the deep cleaning process!!

Back to the projects...Sheryll was as busy as can be; she made 14 table runners! I think I am correct on that number. She found a "10-minute table runner" on the internet, made one for each woman in her family for a Christmas event she was having this weekend. She was certainly stitching up a storm on her end of the table!

So, I've covered just about everyone. Sharon (Frankfort quilting Sharon) was there for a time, but left early to take in some grandbaby time. I don't have any pics of her project, and since it's been several days, I've had enough time to forget what it was that she was working on!

It was a good day of sewing, and I am glad I got the chance to catch up with the Grove City group - Mary, Cherie, Monica and Gwen. You may remember my outing to the "barn" back in the spring. Same group of women. Wonderful people; hope I get opportunities soon to sew with them again! Thanks, Terry, for hosting us! Perfect, yes perfect, day!

Happy Quilting, Friends.

An Outing with the Frankfort Girls

2011-12-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

nstead of quilting at Sharon's as we were scheduled to do, 4 of the 5 of us took a little road trip to Columbus for an outing. We left around 10am, stopped for brunch at Bob Evans in Worthington, and then headed to the Worthington Holiday Inn for a small vendors' festival.

There were approximately 10 central Ohio quilt shops represented. They had small booths set up with a variety of items for sale - fabric, patterns, notions, accessories, precuts, etc. There were also demonstrations being conducted. It looked like there was a steady turnout of quilters on hand. Hope they did a good business. We were in and out in about an hour. It was not too big, so we didn't have a whole day devoted to it. Christmas time always makes me feel as though my time is at a premium, so I was pleased that I was able to spend some time with my quilting buddies, get to do a bit of shopping, and then still get home with plenty of daylight remaining.

On the ride up (thank you for driving, Sharon!), I did some knitting, and got some hints and tips from Sheryll, who also brought along a knitting project. She also let me know that I had a mistake in the last post, which I will be correcting, if you care to take a look.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

It Just Occurred to Me...

2011-11-30T14:29:00.001-05:00

...that I'd never shared the wall hanging I made at the request of my friend Terry earlier this fall. If you recall, her guild was having a retreat and she was in charge of the "mystery quilt." She'd asked me to make the quilt in some of my colorful, more modern fabrics. And so I did. I gave peeks of it here on the blog, here and here and here. Well, the retreat is long passed, but I completely forgot to share the finished product (top, not quilted) to blog followers.

Terry wanted to have a variety of "looks" to show her mystery quilt participants. Here is Sheryll's Christmas version.

Here is ~~Terry's muted patriotic version.~~ Correction!!! It may look like muted patriotic, but in reality it is 30's prints! And it was made by Sheryll, not Terry! (I stand corrected in my orthopedic shoes!!) Terry made one that is black and beige, but I didn't get to take a pic of it.

Here is my jazzy version, in which I've use all Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

The pattern is called Razzle Dazzle (I forget who designed it.) It measures roughly 36" square.

I am not overly fond of mine, but it does do a good job of showing how different fabrics change a pattern. I don't know what I will do with it. Suggestions welcome.
Today I am doing a couple of things I really don't care much for. I've already made backs for 2 quilts. Ugh! So much work!! And math!! Double-ugh! Next up, I will be adding borders to a t-shirt quilt. If I can accomplish that, then I have a couple of very small Christmas projects I'd like to finish, and I still have that French General Stars quilt top to finish off.

I feel December calling, and with it all the hustle and bustle that is Christmas. I hope I remember to savor the sweetness of the Christmas season, and not stress about the "stuff" of Christmas. I am also beginning to give serious thought to the projects I want to put on my 2012 Goals List.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Lot of Quilts Live at Sharon's House!

2011-11-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

ince so many of us are quilters, we really don't think about how many quilts we have. It should come as no surprise that my good friend Sharon has a plethora of quilts on display at her house. Wanna' take a little tour with me? I thought so. *grin* Okay, so here we go!!

Straight into Sharon's front door is a stairwell, with a landing about 10 steps up. That landing offers 3 walls perfect for hanging quilts. Currently, she is diplaying red and white quilts.

This is her retirement quilt that some of you may remember. Looks pretty good!

This is a beautiful toille quilt. I have never made a quilt using toille, but I have some toille fabrics in my stash. This may have to be a new year's goal.

Catch your breath...ok? I know!! Stunning, isn't it? Well, this is an heirloom! Sharon's beloved grandmother made this quilt. It just seems so fitting that Sharon has it, given that she is a red-and-white gal! Serendipity, I do believe!

This Ohio Star quilt hangs over the bannister of one side of the landing. I don't recall how long ago Sharon made this quilt, but my grandmother did the hand-quilting. How's that for a full circle??

The opposite bannister on the landing sports a blue and white quilt. This is the dining room, and is decorated in blue, as seen in the wall-color.

Remember Rose? You met her back in August. She's done quite a bit of growing, but is still 100% puppy. She can survey our sewing activity at the dining room table from this location.

This narrow bargello quilt hangs on the wall near her fireplace. Doesn't it look great on the golden wall? (The paint color is called Cider Toddy.)

This is a Rose quilt...waiting...

It's Rose's quilt! Sharon uses it to cover the cage that Rose sleeps in. Perfectly apropos, wouldn't you agree?

Draped over the armchair in the dining room, Sharon displayed this bowtie quilt, another one that was her grandmother's. I never got to meet Sharon's grandma, but I can tell that she was a very special lady, much like my own grandma. Many times over the years, Sharon has referred to her "Mammaw" with devotion and love.

This festive French country quilt adorns the wall in the half-bath.

This pineapple quilt is also in the halfbath. Yellow and blue are the go-to colors in this small room, and these quilts work perfectly.

Finally, this scrumptiously inviting flannel quilt was folded on the living room sofa; you can be sure that some books have been read under this cozy beauty! It's been loved, for sure!

I can think of one quilt I failed to photograph. In the dining room, the blue room, another toille quilt hangs above a tall chest/buffet. (You can catch just a smidge of it in the earlier photo with Rose on the landing.)

End of tour! Wasn't it great? Sharon and I have tons in common, but she far surpasses me in the home decorating department. I have no imagination when it comes to doing creative things with my abode, but Sharon has taste on top of taste when it comes to decorating her place. Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Day for Stitching

2011-11-27T17:08:00.002-05:00

ast spring, Sharon and I established a day each week for getting together to sew. It was a wonderful thing to do! We got so much done, and we got to visit and catch up with each other! Sharon taught with me at CHS; I retired in '09, and she retired this past March. In that year and a half difference, we really lost touch with each other! I live in the outer limits of the county and she lives in town; since I didn't have to go to work anymore, there were few reasons for me to even go to Chillicothe many weeks.

Our weekly date to sew and visit was, like I said, wonderful. Too often, she and I tend to put off working on projects as diligently as we should. I know I fight a constant battle with procrastination, and I often allow too many other interests to take precedence over my stitching, unfortunately. This set date each week forces us to remain faithful to our stitching, and I am glad for it. We both are. Sharon has finished several quilt tops, and I did, too. My "Summer of Kaffe" (has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?) came about as a result of these weekly sessions. I finished the long-time UFO, Broken Dishes; made a blue strippy Kaffe called Blue Portugal, and a second blue Kaffe called Economy Blue; my last Kaffe was Pastel Floral Parade. Talk about satisfying!! I have such a mountain-sized stash of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, I am really happy to boast a few finishes.

As Labor Day rolled around, Sharon and I both faced returning to our part-time teaching jobs at OU-C. She taught two classes on Monday and Wednesday; I taught two classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Our schedules just weren't going to allow our continuing through Fall Quarter. Regretfully, we agreed that a hiatus was inevitable.

Here, now, we find ourselves knocking on December's door! Fall quarter is over, and our grades have been submitted. We are reestablished in our weekly sewing get-togethers, and don't seem to have missed a beat.

This past Monday, Sharon finished this quilt top. The fantastic combination of fall colored darks and great neutrals really makes this quilt appealing to me. The "snowballs" offer ample space to do some nice quilting -- if one should so desire.

The pattern she used is from a 20-plus-year-old book, and is called Wedding Wreath (the pattern, not the book). She began the quilt a year ago at our annual Veterans' Day quilting event; worked on it further at this year's Veterans' Day event, and finished it last week! Finishes are soooo nice!

Tomorrow, we sew at Sharon's house. I have a real treat of a post coming up. Many gorgeous quilts reside at her house; I took pictures of them all two weeks ago. I promise I will share them - in the next post.

Still Catching Up - Veterans' Day Sewing

2011-11-25T21:28:00.002-05:00

eems like I have spent the whole of November trying to catch up with various sewing and quilting activities in which I've participated. Clear back on Veterans' Day, dear Frienzie Sherrie hosted us for about the 10th or 15th year (we never have determined exactly when we began this tradition). Originally, it was an all-night sew-in. We did this for 3 or 4 years; when too many of us were wimping out and going home at midnight or 3 am, Sherrie changed to an all-day event. She puts the coffee pot on at a given time - 6am, 8am or whatever - and we can stay as long as we want. I arrived at 8am and worked until 8pm. A good day of sewing, for sure. It felt good to get back into a project that I really want to finish.

First, I'll say a bit about the food. Susan brought this breakfast casserole, which looks like it went over well, doesn't it? I know I had seconds! Yum-o!

Some of the other goodies: fresh pineapple and mango and a rather addictive bean dip.

Here are some muffins and a plate of cookies. Looks like we have a bottle of Best Press sitting there in the midst of the foodstuffs - NOT on the menu!!

We had several other delicacies to feast on, but I guess I was too focused on sewing and visiting to grab pics of the rest. I remember Sherrie's potato soup and turkey sandwiches; I took a jello dessert, recipe courtesy of Pinterest. We celebrated Kay's birthday, and there was some cake for that, as well.

Enough with the food!! Let's get to the sewing and projects!!

Kay and Sherrie had recently picked up a couple of quilts from the local long-arm quilter. This is Sherrie's - a king size quilt called Match Stick (I think). It is to be a wedding gift for her nephew and his bride-to-be. Sherrie bought these fabrics last May when the 3 of us (Sherrie, Kay and I) went to Berlin and surrounding Amish country quilt shops for the day. These were purchased at Mrs. Miller's Dry Goods in Berlin.

Two years ago at quilt camp, Kay began this Trip-Around-The-World style quilt with luscious Amy Butler fabrics. She finished the top this past June at quilt camp, and used 2 pink Amy Butler's for her backing. Get a look at this -

The pic doesn't exactly show the coolness of the fabrics, but believe me, the back of this quilt is just as gorgeous as the front! These 2 backing fabrics were also purchased at Mrs. Miller's on the same shopping trip. That's Kay in red on the left, and Sherrie, our hostess, in the center.

You wanna hear a fabulous story?? This is so awesome...

Hettie, above at her sewing machine, comes regularly to the Veterans' Day event. Hettie, bless her heart, is not generally known for sewing at our get-togethers. She is a visitor!! But this year, she determined that she would actually work on a project with us! As she dug around her house for a project, and came across 2 stacks of flannel 6.5" squares. She offered one of them to anyone who wanted it because she was sure she would be doing well to get one completed. She couldn't fathom a guess as to how long ago she'd bought these squares, but many of us recognized some of the fabrics from the 90s.

Well, just about the same time Hettie was making her offer, Sharon realized that she'd forgotten to bring the project she'd been planning to work on! She'd inadvertently left the bag at home!! She jumped on Hettie's offer, and commenced working on this totally spontaneous flannel quilt.

Here's the result of Sharon's work:

How about that?? She had a piece of flannel at home that she knew she could use as a border, and actually finished this off just this week at my house. Here's the quilt with the border:

Well, let me correct that statement; 3 of the 4 borders are on; I really did not get that great of a shot of this with the borders showing.

Back to Veterans' Day activities... Kay worked on a new project with lots of triangles.

I wish I could tell you more about her project, but too many days have passed, and I forget...alas, do we all have this problem?

Linda had this vibrant batik quilt going. The curved pieces and the contrasting colors make it a real beauty. Hope to be able to show you the finished quilt top one day soon.

Susan worked on this baby boy quilt for a friend of her daughter's. So soft and cuddly. She was planning to attend a shower in about 2 days, so was hopeful that she could get the entire top finished to wrap for the new mother. I think she made pretty good progress.

Sherrie, our dear hostess, set her embroidery machine on auto pilot and got quite a bit of work done on this year-long project she's doing in conjunction with our local quilt shop. She is going to have an absolutely gorgeous quilt when it's all done, that's for certain. I just love the look of this! And all the other blocks that are already done are just as beautiful, believe me!!

I worked on my French General Stars blocks. I need 30 total. I began the day with only 2 done, but all the pieces and parts were ready for constructing all the rest - or so I thought. I got 23 done and discovered that I had not cut enough pieces for the remaining 7 blocks. To date, I am still trying to finish - I'm think I have about 27 done now...update forthcoming...

Well, that very nearly gets me all caught up with group sewing days. I still have one or two smallish things to share in an upcoming post, and I have a new haul from Grandma's house to tell you about. My sewing room is bursting at the seams.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Many Blessings

2011-11-23T16:37:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!! So many blessings exist in my life; it's good to take time to give thanks for those blessings.

There's this Pinterest pic that I've seen in several different forms.

Makes one think about the important things we take for granted, doesn't it?

So enjoy your Thanksgiving feast, give thanks for all your blessings, and try to get in a bit of stitching sometime this weekend!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Playing the Name Game

2011-11-20T20:32:00.001-05:00

y good blogging friend, Sue over at Quilt Times, made an interesting observation on the last post. She commented on the similarity of the names of the various quilting friends - all the hostess names mentioned in the last post began with "Sh-". Well, I'm forever getting tongue-tied with all these similar-sounding names, and it occurred to me that perhaps a bit of clarifying would be good for readers.

One group of 8 friends, many of whom quilt, are the Frienzies. We all taught together at CHS and have formed a tight-knit bond over the years. Two of the Frienzies are Sherrie T. and Sharon P.

A second group of quilting friends are the 5 Frankfort Girls; I have been with them for a couple of years now. In this group we have Sheryll H. and Sharon O.

Now, every week I get together with long-time friend and fellow English teacher Sharon P. (of the Frienzies group). We taught across the hall from each other for nearly our entire careers, and we are both adjunct faculty at OUC. We should have been sisters, I think. We finish each other's sentences, know what one means when we really can't think of what to say, read each other's minds, all those types of things. It gets a bit weird to think of how alike we are, in some respects. We have similar tastes in quilts and fabric, have travelled many times to Europe with student tours, read a lot of the same books, and enjoy the same types of movies. Bizarre, right?

Well, that sort of explains all the confusing "Sh" names. I am forever saying the wrong name and I know them! It really must confuse readers who don't know them. I just hope the "Sh" girls understand. Hopefully, this clarifies the Sharon-Sherrie-Sheryll-Sharon confusion!

Ok, on to getting caught up with recent quilting endeavors. Last Tuesday, I spent the day at Sharon P's house. We are re-establishing our weekly sewing dates and I am so glad. It really keeps me working on things when I otherwise would procrastinate or get side-tracked. An added bonus is getting to visit with a dear friend. Quilting lends itself to chatting and catching up, wouldn't you agree?

Sharon had pulled out a UFO from about a year ago. I love the fall colors and the scrappy nature of these fabrics. It's a quilt with 2 blocks - the 9 patch and the snowball. Notice that the 9-patch is just random and not the typical 4light/5dark or 4dark/5light combinations. I think it will be wonderfully cozy when it's finished. I can see this being a quilt meant for snowy days, thick novels, fireplace fires, and mugs of coffee or hot cocoa. Mmmm, I love quilts like that.

I worked on my French General star quilt. I need 30 of these star blocks and I have 23 of them done.

With this quilt I am knocking 2 items off the 2011 Goals list over there on the right. I wanted to do something with the wonderful stash of French General fabrics I had accumulated, and I wanted to make a Christmas quilt. I believe this quilt will fulfill both requirements, so give me credit for a double, right?

I got as far as I could go on those blocks when I realized that I didn't have enough hour-glass units cut and sewn to finish. I had a back-up plan! I put the French General away, and got out the OSU t-shirt quilt I began last summer and put the entire top together. I thought I'd taken a picture of it, but I'm not finding it, so maybe I didn't. I will get one ASAP - I really like how it's looking!

Going to Sharon's house is always a delight. Even though we have so many things in common, like I said above, she vastly outdoes me in two areas - decorating and cooking. Her house is full of colorful quilts, large and small. I took pics and will follow up in my next post about them all. You are going to love it. As a cook, Sharon has few to rival her. OMG, I have enjoyed many a meal at her table - she makes feasts look so effortless, yet always done with such flair! Very talented, she is!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

By Gosh, I Made It!

2011-11-19T12:16:00.000-05:00

ey, Everyone! I'm back! I made it through Fall Quarter and I see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel! There shall be more quilting, sewing, creating and blogging! Yaaay!

I have photos of several recent sewing/quilting events to share, actually. On Veterans' Day there was the annual day-long sew-in at Sherrie's house. Then on Tuesday, I went to Sharon's for sewing. We are re-establishing our weekly sewing day now that Fall Quarter has ended. And yesterday, was the regularly scheduled Frankfort Girls sewing - this time at Sheryll's house.

Since there's a lot to cover, I will work backwards - yesterday's sewing in Frankfort...

Like I said, we met at Sheryll's and even that, for me, proved to be a challenge. I drove over to Sharon's house, and when I didn't see any cars in the driveway, I knew I'd gone to the wrong house. There is a regular rotation, and you'd think I would know the routine by now...naahhh, I don't. So I was about 20 minutes late arriving at the shindig, but there was still coffee waiting for me!

Sharon had many finishes to share. Remember she's the one who had the toe-straightening surgery about 3 months ago. She is still wearing the boot, but is getting around really well. Hooray for that!

The little patriotic wall-hanging she's been steadily working on is now completed. All ready for use next July 4th! Looks great, Sharon!

She has also been cross-stitching. Take a look at these gorgeous stocking she made for two of her grandchildren.

And, she has also been crafting! Take a look at what she made with yo-yos in graduated sizes -

She said she used scraps of Christmas fabric - a great way to eliminate waste! Topped with a red star button, and it looks great! Fun, fun.

JoAnn had some wall-hangings to share. She's been in the grandbaby business lately. One new granddaughter and then (about 2 months early) twin grandsons! She went from one grandchild to 4 in record speed!!

This one features coffee-related panels.

This one features birds.

Sheryll worked a bit on some applique and then switched over to knitting. The applique project is going to require some very tiny bits; I just don't think she was in the mood for working on it! They are tiny tree ornaments of felt. She had all the pattern pieces cut out and yes, they are small. Minute, actually!

Terry worked on an embroidery project. I think she might have had this at our last get-together...

That's a lot of embroidery! I love it, but I just don't know if I have the stick-to-it-iveness to work on such a project. It oughtn't to be that much different from the type of work I already do, but for some reason this seems daunting to me!

Terry's son recently got married, and she now has their wedding quilt finished. Take a look at this king-size beauty!!

I took a bit of knitting and also some embroidery. Since both might possibly end up as Christmas gifts, I am not sharing pictures of them just yet. *grin*

I should have taken a picture of the delicious coffee cake Sheryll baked for us! OMG! It was tasty! She gave us all copies of the recipe - it is from a Gooseberry Patch Christmas book. I looked it up, and it's out of stock. The cover picture is the coffee cake she made. Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Stay tuned. I hope to be returning to my more regular blogging now. There's much to be done this time of year!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Retail Therapy

2011-11-09T22:35:00.001-05:00

ast Friday four of the five Frankfort Girls took a little trip to Marion, OH, to shop at the Christmas Open House at Good Wives Company Quilt Shop. It was a lovely trip and we had some lovely shopping. I did not go totally crazy with my purchases, but I did get a few 1-yard cuts to enhance the stash.

Here are my purchases from Good Wives:

Good Wives specializes in reproduction fabrics, as illustrated with these lovely pieces. I have no plan for any of these fabrics; they just struck me as useful and pretty and calling to me to join my stash. I complied. *smile*

After a good lunch at an Italian restaurant in Marion called The Warehouse, we headed south toward Columbus for a stop at Red Rooster in Dublin. Again, I did not need a single inch of fabric, but I managed to find a few fat quarters that struck my fancy.

I'm thinking of making some crafty items with these pieces. I prefer not to be too specific about the particular items in the event that they become Christmas gifts!

And then I found these random 3 fat quarters and for some reason they just struck my fancy, so I brought them home, too.

I know, I'm hopeless. I've tried for so long to use from the stash. I sorta' fell off the proverbial wagon, didn't I?

Here's Grandma

2011-10-28T14:27:00.000-04:00

My previous post was all about my grandmother, but (duh!) I didn't even think to include a picture of her!! Ridiculous!

Here's my pretty Grandma earlier this month at the big celebration we had for my mother's 75th birthday. Grandma stayed all afternoon and had such a good time. She enjoyed so much getting the chance to visit with relatives and friends.

She and Grandpa had six children -- my mother is the second. Their 4th child died in infancy and the remaining 5 have given her 15 grandchildren, of whom I am the oldest. We 15 grandchildren have grown the family with (I think) 26 great-grandchildren, and we can add 5 great-great grandchildren. What a clan!

Grandma made clothes for the children and herself, and also made household necessities like curtains and pillows and aprons. Of course, what she enjoyed most of all, though, was making quilts. She began quilting in the 1930s and continued into the 2000s - I would say it's just been in the last 4 or 5 years that she's lost interest in it. So that's 70 years of quiltmaking - the old-fashioned way. She could crank them out pretty darn fast, too. And she was a stickler for small stitches and accurate cutting on the grain. She would not use pieces that were cut off-grain, and I've known her to remove stitches if they weren't up her standard.

And, so there. You have now met my grandma, one of the most special ladies in all the world. She is a treasure and a blessing to me!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Under Grandma's Bed

2011-10-26T21:30:00.000-04:00

That's a provocative title, isn't it now? *grin*

Let me tell you a little story. Who knows, by the time I finish, it might be a rather long story. We shall see...

On Sunday afternoon, I drove over to Hillsboro to visit my 94-year-old grandma. It is my custom to go about once a week; usually DH goes along with me, and occasionally one of the kids, if any of them happen to be around. This time, however, I was all by myself. Grandma still lives on her own, in her own house, and is in such great shape for all of her years. My mother, and an aunt and uncle check on her daily, and another aunt and uncle visit her every couple of weeks. Right now an aunt from Kansas is visiting, so there's lots of family around and she gets regular attention.

Grandma is the one I credit for fostering my love of quilting. For as long as I can remember, a quilting frame was set up in her house, with a quilt stretched across it. I don't remember having a particular interest, though, until I was in college. At that time, I came to have a box of miscellaneous boxes from my mother, a couple of which contained quilt squares that she (Mom) had appliqued. I conspired with Grandma to finish a quilt of those squares -- I sewed the top together, and Grandma quilted it, and I gave it to Mom as a gift. There were at least 2 sets of squares -- the other set was embroidered.

So with that, my interest in quilting began, and Grandma and I have become so close as a result. I always had someone I could consult with questions and she always had someone who would "oooh and ahhh" over her many creations. We went fabric shopping together; she always shook her head in a "tsk-tsk" sort of way when I would buy more (and more and more) fabric. We perused books together. Whenever I got a new book or fabric, I always brought it with me to show her. I frequently bought 2 or 3 fat quarters - usually blue - to give her as little surprises. She went through a couple of rough patches with her health and the fabric seemed to bring her some cheer.

All the quilts Grandma ever made were handmade, from cutting out with scissors and templates to piecing to quilting. Nothing was done by machine with the possible exception of attaching a binding. (Generally, though, she cut her backs large enough to be folded around to the front and tacked down for binding.)

But, I digress! While visiting on Sunday, I asked Grandma if I could look in her box of quilting templates for some that I might borrow to use on the handquilting projects I currently have in progress. She keeps her templates in a large 'under-the-bed' storage box in her spare bedroom. This room also houses what remains of her quilting material in the closet, under the bed and in a few drawers of a desk. The templates were in a box under the bed along with 3 other boxes.

I suppose you can't guess what I brought home with me, can you?? Yes, Grandma had me pull out all four boxes from under the bed with instructions to just take them with me. First, though, we went through them to see what all was stored there.

Now, I will share with you the contents. It's mostly uninteresting, but a couple of things make it extraordinary.

First, the small square-ish box contained all embroidery-related materials, including a variety of DMC thread, quite a lot of stamped fabrics, and a few patterns.

Some of the pieces had been started on. This is a really long piece of fabric that looks like it might be meant for going on a bed.

A goodly sum of DMC - by the box even. The original owner of this stash was planning on making a bedspread with that pretty blue and teal. I found the pattern and the fabric, so someone could pick right up on this and finish it off, if they were so inclined. (At present, I am not.)

Here is a sampling of the patterns. They look in pretty decent shape for being stored away for so long. I did not get a clear date off of anything in this box, but I did find a rather telling price sticker on one item.

The funny thing about all of this? Grandma had no idea where that stuff had come from, who gave it to her or when she got it. As we were putting it all away, I noticed a mailing label on the box. I showed it to her. Ah-ha! Suddenly, a light bulb flickered on and she completely remembered its origin. Back when she volunteered at the local hospital, a woman who worked with her there had given it to her. The name on the mailing label was all she needed to recall the details. See? I told you she was in good shape!

Okay, the other boxes... one was full of batting pieces; ends that get cut off when they are too big for the quilt and so forth.

Grandma has always been meticulously organized. She has a spot for everything, and everything is always in its spot. This next picture will very definitely prove my point.

This box contains all solid fabrics. I'm thinking what a cool 9-patch quilt I could make with this stuff!! Look there in the corner of the box - a box within a box. That's how Grandma worked on projects. She'd get her pieces set up in a sturdy little box, and work out of it - it was portable this way.

The cut-out pieces on the right are for Sunbonnet Sue blocks; Grandma made lots of these over the years.

There are over 50 dresses cut out here. Look at the wonderful variety. All cut out one at a time by Grandma.

Finally, the box I was originally interested in - the one with the quilting templates.

Jackpot!! Most are the plastic templates readily available today. However, buried down in this box is an antique.

This template is a homemade one out of stiff cardboard, made by my great-grandmother, Grandma's mother.

Grandma estimated for me that this was made in the mid-to-late 1930s. She based this on the births of her first 3 children, and recalling times when they were babies and she would quilt with her mother. Can you see how worn the edges of the cardboard are? I know Grandma used this template on many a border; I suspect I even have a few quilts on which this border template was used.

Well, there you have it, my "little story." I knew it would turn out to be a lot longer than I thought it would.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Yummy Treat

2011-10-24T20:44:00.000-04:00

uilting friends from Frankfort came over last Friday morning for our bi-weekly get together. JoAnn was missing in action - can you believe she preferred Ireland to my humble abode? Well, I guess just this once that's an excusable absence. *grin*

Our stitching was rather ordinary stuff. Sheryll and Terry both worked on embroidery. Sharon worked on her patriotic wall hanging, and I quilted on my brown and pink quilt. And guess what?? I have no pictures of any of that.

What I can share, however are the sticky rolls I served. This delicious concoction is the easiest, most inexpensive recipe I have ever seen, and the results do not disappoint. I found it on Pinterest, a really incredible website I've recently discovered. If you aren't pinning, you are missing out on some great fun!

Okay, back to the sticky rolls. The ingredients are simple: 2 tubes of buttermilk biscuits - I buy the cheaper store brands, and not the name brands.

Also, you need 1/2 cup of corn syrup, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and nuts. The recipe calls for pecans and almonds, but I have used walnuts. I believe the amount totals 1/2 cup, but you know I added more. Or none, for that matter.

So, mix the corn syrup and the butter together in a small bowl. In another small bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Drizzle about half of the syrup mix into the bottom of a ring pan and then about half of the nut mixture. Next, arrange the 20 biscuits on edge around the ring. Then sprinkle the remaining nut mixture and syrup mixture. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 15 minutes.

Let sit for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a serving platter. Then dive in!!

Here's my helping, along with a cup of coffee in my favorite souvenir mug. Ahh, what an easy delicacy.

Like I said, I found this recipe on Pinterest. There are dozens of recipes there, along with countless other ideas: DIYs, home decorating, gift-giving, gardening, travel, books, you name it, Pinterest has it!

Hope you will look me up on Pinterest! Over there at the top of my sidebar, you'll find a link. I warn you, though--it's addicting!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Calloused Fingers

2011-10-19T13:25:00.000-04:00

hile I have officially become an absentee blogger, I have still managed to eke out a few minutes here and there to stitch. I expect there are cobwebs forming in my sewing room, as I've barely darkened the door up there. Downstairs, however, I have my quilting frame set up and have used evenings for quilting.

Back at the beginning of October, I brought out the brown and pink lap quilt (which had been on the frame - untouched - for a year). I needed it for the history day demonstration. Instead of putting it away again (what I did last year!), I've just kept it out and bit by bit, I am getting very close to a finish on this! Yippee! I have calloused fingers to show for it, too.

So, with grading essays taking up so much of my time, I have just a thread (pun intended) of quilting to hang onto. There's really not much to blog about! I will likely remain infrequent in my blogging until fall quarter is over. Aaahhhh, I do look forward to a day in about a month when Sharon and I have scheduled to meet for sewing, like we did all spring and summer. Also, another friend usually does an "event" on or near Veterans' Day, and I even know what I will work on for that, if she has it again this year.

I did get a squishy envelop in the mail a week or so back. It was from one of my blog commenters who sent a package of scraps for Amie's postage stamp quilt. How nice. This is the 2nd reader/follower who has done this! (Here's the first.) Amie will certainly have a diverse group of donors when she finishes up this long-term project. (Read about it here.)

A mish-mash of colors and styles! Perfect for the scrappy look Amie is going for with her endeavor. I must get these in the mail to her ASAP.

An odd occurrence appeared in the sky to our south about a week ago. It looked like a rainbow, but it was neither sunny nor rainy where we were. I was driving home, but managed to grab my camera and shoot a couple of pictures of it when I slowed down for curves. (Tsk, tsk! Taking pics while driving! I would admonish my children for doing this!)

It looked like fire on the horizon. Very cool, and I'm glad at least one of my pictures shows it in a half-decent way.

This Friday, I am hosting the Frankfort girls for quilting. I already know the dish I am preparing for them. I've experimented twice with it for my family and it's getting big thumbs up. I will share with you bloggers, I promise.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Every Other Friday

2011-10-09T12:38:00.001-04:00

hat's how often the Frankfort girls get together for stitching, coffee and conversation. I always have such a great time with these girls, and look forward to our little events. This past Friday we were at JoAnn's who had to play hostess on her birthday! It was the first time since Sharon's toe surgery that she's been mobile enough to get out, so we celebrated not only a birthday, but mobility as well.

JoAnn was hand-embroidering some of the elements on this fall wall-hanging. Doesn't it look fun? Very playful. I wish I would think to do projects like this. I make quilts and table-toppers. Period. I really think this will be adorable when finished.

Sheryll has another neat embroidery project under way. I tend to shy away from so much handwork, but Sheryll doesn't let the time-consuming nature of handwork intimidate her at all. She does so much and does it so beautifully.

This is one panel of three that will go on a primarily black and beige quilt with a wintery look to it. I really like it, but oh! do I really have the stamina for embroidery?? I just don't know!

And dear Sharon of toe surgery fame continues to work on her patriotic wall hanging.

For most of us, we keep the projects for Friday just for Friday! If we aren't prone to having handwork readily available, we save the one for our get togethers only. So, don't be fooled - Sharon gets lots of other stuff done and works on this only when we girls are together.

Terry brought pictures of her son's wedding, and instead of sewing, she sorted and organized the pictures for scrapbooking and sharing. The pictures were plentiful, so the sorting job was involved. The wedding was on the bride's family farm, with cornfields in the background, straw bales for seating and cowboy hats on the groomsmen. Except for the heat, the day looked like it went well.

I worked on my Schnibbles wall hanging. It is completely quilted in the center; I am now deciding how to quilt the borders.

Next post, I will share the fun we had celebrating my mother's 75th birthday. We had a huge surprise party for her. Such a fun day...stay tuned!!

Happy quilting, friends!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-10-05T14:19:00.001-04:00

ast night I traveled to Hillsboro, my hometown, to celebrate with my 4 siblings and various in-laws, nieces and nephews. What were we celebrating??

My mother's 75th birthday!!

Doesn't she look great? We had such a fun evening. We met at LaCascada, a really yummy Mexican restaurant in Hillsboro. Mom had a couple of margaritas (several of us did!), and she was quite happy as the event drew to a close. *wink* She really had a good time! Well, we all did! It is such great fun to have us all together.

I haven't sewn a stitch since Saturday's event at History Day. No, I take that back...I did sit down at the machine and began constructing the star blocks on the French General Stars I've started. Did about 20 minutes of chain piecing...Minimal sewing, then...

I do have quilting with the Frankfort girls this week - Friday morning. I plan to hand quilt on one of my Schnibbles.

Happy quilting, Friends!

Hello October!

2011-10-02T00:48:00.001-04:00

few days ago, we had some really strange weather here. A very pronounced cold front moved through, dipping temps well below normal, bringing rain and wind and clouds with it.

Conditions just perfect for a rainbow. This was the best picture of the dozen I took. Chasing rainbows is not all I've been up to lately however. I've been bitten by a new bug - Pinterest. Have you discovered it? Let me just say I now know what addiction is.

But I digress . . . just looking over there at the tally of posts month by month, it's plain to see that I really have backed off on blogging. And I really don't want to, but it's just this crazy time of year - fall quarter, grading essays, outside obligations that force blogging way down on the to-do list.

Today, that outside obligation was Greenfield's History Day, sponsored by the Historical Society - that same historical society that I worked with this summer on the pictorial book. History Day is an annual event which opens all or most of the buildings owned by the historical society. Folks come in to see the society's holdings and special displays. Artisans and crafters also demonstrate their expertise. Yours truly was on hand to demonstrate hand quilting.

It was a wonderful day; I visited with so many people who shared stories and memories about the quilters in their families. A few folks came by who themselves were quilters. And the bonus? I got a whole lot of quilting done on this year-plus-old quilt.

I have some extremely sore fingers as a result of quilting all day. I began at 9am and finished up around 3:30. Fingers look like mince meat. *owie*

It's hard to make time for blogging, but I am still trying to get as much quilting done as I can in what time I have available.

Happy quilting, Friends!

Time is at a Premium

2011-09-25T16:47:00.000-04:00

ou're not going to believe what I am doing... I will tell you in a minute...first things first.

I knew that once I got back into school my quilting time would take a huge hit; but my class load is exactly half of what it was last fall, so I was expecting to have at least a little more to show for myself. Alas, my time with the sewing machine has been extremely limited this week.

So, if I haven't been at the sewing machine, what HAVE I been doing?

Hand quilting! I know! Sort of hard to believe, isn't it?

This is a Schnibbles I made over a year ago. Go here to read about it. It's been in this little quilting frame for a shamefully long time, so I figured that I needed to rescue it. I have things waiting in the sewing room, but my teaching job just doesn't allow me to focus my attention there at the moment.

I am pleased that it is nearly finished, and my callouses are returning very nicely, thank you. *grin*

Here is the yo-yo table runner I finished a week or so ago. It decorates our kitchen table.

So, I hope you all are getting some fun projects done. Mine are going to be finishing up a bit slower than they were, but I will still get a few things done, God willing!

Happy Quilting!

It's Rather Ugly

2011-09-18T18:59:00.001-04:00

xperimenting with fabrics for a mystery quilt has, for me this time, resulted in a quilt that I consider rather unappealing. It will be another couple of weeks before I can show the quilt here, because of the mystery class which is the 2nd weekend of October. I will just sneak a couple of peeks at it for you.

It finishes at roughly 38" square, and I am glad I made it because it took me out of my comfort zone. And maybe once the borders are attached I will have a change of opinion. We shall see...

Happy quilting, Friends!

The Line-Up

2011-09-17T09:28:00.001-04:00

chool's back in session, so when I'm not in class (Tuesdays and Thursdays), I need to be grading things or planning things. This takes a serious chunk of time away from working on quilts. However, I do love my little job, and it's only Fall Quarter, so I will get my time back soon enough. If there's one thing we learn as we age, it's that time does indeed fly!

So, when I get a chance to head up to the sewing room, here are my choices. I've shared all of this before, but it seems like I have so many starts going that I need to make a list of them all. Just keeping myself thinking straight, I suppose.

Here's a mystery quilt sample I'm working on for Frankfort friend, Terry. Can't ruin the mystery, so pictures of the quilt can't be shown until after her retreat, so all you get is fabric selection.

It's an unusual assortment of Westminster Fiber fabrics, which I categorize as Kaffe Fassett fabrics, but I beleive that some of the other WF designers are represented here as well. I've gotten a bit done on it, and believe it or not, I am actually pleased with the colors so far, and the placement decisions I've made. Will work on it a bit today, I hope.

Then, I still need to finish the French General Stars I began mid- to late-August. Oh, I love this fabric and cannot wait to see my quilt top finished!!

The pattern is from Thimbleberries, and it will have a Christmas look to it, I hope. If it does, this one quilt will satisfy 2 of the goals on my list that you see on the right (2011 Goals). Very happy accident!

Then I've got my Ohio State t-shirt quilt to stitch up. Most of the prep work has been done on this, and I could easily have the top together in a day. So I will plan to set aside a day soon for that very purpose. This would satisfy the goals list, too. I am glad to be soon able to cross things off the list!

So, there's plenty to keep me busy. Of course, one additional quilt is on the list: finish Adam's UFO t-shirt quilt using his high school shirts. (The fact that he turned 29 last month tells you how old this UFO is!) Doing this would also result in being able to cross off one of those 2011 goals.

Now to get "crack-a-lacking!" (Movie reference; my twin nieces watch Madagascar; they say this and it's so cute!)

Recent picture of the twins, now just one month away from their 4th birthday!

Anna Rose and Mary Jean; August 2011

The sweetest, most adorable, smartest little girls in the world - of this I am convinced!! *wink*

No Quilting, But Still Sewing

2011-09-15T18:11:00.001-04:00

regret to report that I have not had a whole lot of time lately to devote to sewing on quilts; however, I have still been busy at the machine.

Emma has gone off to college (2 full weeks now *sniff*), and she needed curtains for her dorm room. Voila! Ask, and ye shall receive!

I'm afraid this pic is the best I can do; she sent it from her cell phone, and it gets too fuzzy if I try to enlarge it. The fabric is called Honey Child by Jennifer Paganelli.

The minute I saw it at Waynesville (on the day of the tea party about 3 weeks ago), I knew it would coordinate with Emma's bedspread, so I bought 5 yards of it. This pic was snagged from a fabric site, so it too is fuzzy, but Emma is very pleased. Now she says she needs posters. Sorry, that's not my department!!

Then, with her off to college, her room became free for updating! Take a look:

I moved her bed from the window wall to the position above, and replaced her curtains. The fabric I used on them is a Joanna Figuroa fabric I had in my stash. The stars on the wall were put there by DD#1, Erin, when she occupied this room. I suspect that when DH retires in another year, painting might be one of the things he does not just in this room, but in a lot of the house.

On the opposite wall, I had to get creative. I ran short of the JF fabric, so had to add a purple JF fabric from the same line to give me (almost) enough length to look decent.

Now, in addition to making window dressing, I had some mending to do. Emma wanted to take 2 clothing items with her to school, but they needed minor mending, so I took care of that and mailed them off to her in a goodie box. Yes, brownies were sent, too. :-)

Besides this sort of sewing, I've also gone back to school, myself! My adjunct job started up and I'm now 2 weeks into my quarter already! Time flies and sometimes it just seems like a whirlwind.

Off to a meeting - dinner meeting, and DH (bless his heart) was satisfied with 2 grilled cheese sandwiches! Easy night for me!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Let's Play Catch

2011-09-13T19:42:00.001-04:00

atch Up, that is. Geesshh! I always seem to be behind. I imagine that everyone feels like they have duties, jobs, whatever, waiting in the wings needing to be done. But, really, don't some people seem like they ALWAYS have it together?

Well, I usually don't worry too much about being behind in things. I have a rather laid-back attitude toward most things these days. Life is just too short to stress about things.

So, last Friday morning (see, I said I was catching up), we had quilting. The day was scheduled to be at Sheryll's house, however one of our group, Sharon, has recently had foot surgery, and she would be unable to attend, so we just took that party to her house-with her permission, of course.

Here's our laid-up friend's leg and foot, tootsies elevated and snugly packed in a protective boot.

Sharon's toes were the problem here. She'd always had very crooked toes, and in recent years they'd become quite painful when wearing shoes and even sandals. It had gotten to the point that corrective measures needed to be taken. She has to be totally off her foot for about 4 weeks, and then will be able to slowly begin putting weight on it again. The other foot has to be done, too, but I don't know how soon she will be up for a repeat of this ordeal. She showed us a picture of her foot with all the bandages off, and oh, my gracious!!! What a simply (pardon me, Sharon) grotesque image!! It was quite an involved surgery, with pins inserted into toes, and incisions and stitches, ouch!! Get well soon, Sharon!!

I've been showing her progress on this project throughout the past couple of months. Sharon's little patriotic table-topper is coming along nicely.

Here's what Sheryll was working on. I tell you, she is so skilled with her handstitching. She does beautiful applique and here she is buttonhole stitching this wintery, wool table-topper.

Terry was stitching down a binding on a small wall-hanging. She'd just gotten this back from a machine-quilter who made the stitches look like hand-quilting (there's a certain brand of quilting machines that does this particular stitch, but I forget what it's called). I just love the yellow and blue reproduction fabrics. Very pretty!

A little later in the morning, Sharon had a good friend and former co-worker coming down. She, too, is a quilter, and brought this bowtie quilt. She made it for a friend who's husband had recently passed away. The bowties are actually fabrics from the man's ties. The bowtie block backgrounds are his shirts.

In the corners of the border, she'd selected meaningful emblems from a variety of sources - one corner even has the patch from the front of a cap. Very nice; it was fun meeting her; she seemed like such a fun person.

I finally put the finishing touches on the yo-yo table-topper I'd been working on. Here it is at Sharon's house. It is now adorning my kitchen table.

Gotta run - I mean walk. It's time to meet Vickie, my walking buddy. We've been pretty pathetic about our walking this summer.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Remembering

2011-09-11T22:20:00.001-04:00

atching all the tributes and specials on television has been so sad. Within a minute of turning one of them on, I am in tears. I remember this day and all those Americans we lost 10 years ago, but I haven't wanted to be sad all day. Consequently, I've watched a couple of programs and said a couple of extra prayers, but the rest of the day I've spent going about my normal Sunday activities.

God Bless America.

Two-Topic Day

2011-09-09T19:59:00.001-04:00

wo topics occupy my agenda today. First, I have been waiting to tell you about some very fun packages I've recently received in the mail. Second, I need suggestions on possible recycling ideas for an item.

It has been way too long since I've gotten any squishy packages in the mail. This is due in large part to my commitment to use from the stash. I've done pretty well with this goal, but I did have to break down and order this fat pack of Moda fabric from Green Fairy Quilts.

Panier de Fleurs by French General was just too beautiful to resist. So I found a great deal online and took the plunge. I really have been exercising restraint when it comes to buying more fabric, so I felt this was okay since it was 30% off. I'd looked at lots of the new lines of fabrics just out or due out, and this is the one I wanted most of all. ~~total bliss~~

Don't you agree that it was truly irresistible?

Another day brought another goodie. Awhile back I wrote about my friend and former student Amie who is making a postage stamp quilt - no repeats in fabric. She needs scraps, and lots of them! So a fellow Ohioan, Melissa, sent me a baggie-full of scraps she'd recently amassed. You can visit with Melissa at her blog, if you like.

I promised Melissa that I'd get my own scraps rounded up and have a package ready to send on to Amie early next week. Take a look back to see the story of Amie's ongoing project here and here. I'll gladly take scraps if you are interested in helping Amie. Leave a message and I will follow up.

Now, my second agenda item. I've got an old cutting mat that has warped terribly. Is there any use for them once they get this bad?

I'd love to be able to repurpose this mat, or figure out a re-use. I am betting that quilters have ideas of how this mat can be saved from the trash heap.

It's pretty badly warped, isn't it? I just hate that it's ruined. I really hope there is some alternate use for it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Yet Another Project!

2011-09-08T22:20:00.001-04:00

rojects just seem to find their way to my door at times. I do welcome them, too. I mean, after all, what was my plan for retirement?? Quilting!

My friend Terry asked me to commit to a project that will help her out. Later this year - maybe late October - she will lead a mystery quilt class for a retreat she will be attending. She wants to have some very different looks made up to show participants. She has someone making the quilt in reproduction fabrics. I believe she has another one promised, too, possibly a floral or a patriotic. My contribution is to make one using my Kaffe Fassett fabrics. One that would be considered "wild."

I've played around with some fabric groupings - it's a 4-fabric quilt - and have come up with 2 possibilities that I like. Tell me what you think.

This option is a pink, purple and blue combination.

This option is an orange/gold, green and purple combination.

Any opinions from the masses??

A Long-Forgotten UFO

2011-09-07T17:20:00.000-04:00

Today, as I was doodling around reading blogs, I came to one of my favorites - Quilt Times - and oh, my goodness, did Sue Abrey, the ever-friendly host of Quilt Times, take me back into the depths of UFO-land!!

Sue is wrestling with herself about starting a new project, one that many quilters consider to be one of the trickiest to make because of all the bias edges - Texas Star, sometimes also called Star of Bethlehem. I imagine there are other names, as well.

I trucked myself right upstairs to dig out my ancient UFO - Broken Star. I estimated to Sue that I began this around 1990. The copyright on the book indicates that I am pretty darn close to my estimate.

You see, even though this UFO is over 20 years old, I still knew exactly the book to grab to find the pattern!

So, was it just as easy to locate the project??

Take a look up there on the top shelf. See that bin on the left with the colorful stripes?

Yes, that's the one; almost touching the ceiling, isn't it??

Let's take it down and examine the contents. How far did I get on this thing anyway??

Well, it sure looks neat and tidy. Pressed nicely. What's under this layer?

Hah! Actual diamonds!! I'd gotten further along on this than I remembered! What a pleasant little discovery!

I commented to Sue that I would possibly be compelled to start back to work on this if she commits to beginning the project she is pondering. Hers is a more traditional Texas Star or Star of Bethlehem. Mine is jazzed up a bit. It's called Broken Star.

So, what do you think? Should Sue start the project she is so reluctant to start? Should I stitch along with her and finish up this old UFO?

I had to laugh at her return comment to me; she said, " I need this project like a hole in the head, but I'm going to have to do it I think." We quilters just don't know what's good for us, do we???

C'mon, Sue!! I'm in if you're in!!

Pretties at the Quilt Show

2011-09-04T00:54:00.000-04:00

Good friend Kay and I took a little trip north about 20 miles to Circleville, home of the Circleville Pumpkin Show which is pretty famous in these parts. This weekend it's also famous for the Good Time Quilters Guild annual quilt show. For 18 years this very active guild has hosted this show, which generally has some delightful beauties for guests to enjoy. This year was no exception.

Terry's Dressmaker's Quilt; you might recall that I made one of these, too; this was my inspiration!

I will brag on my quilting friend Terry, one of the Frankfort girls I quilt with every other Friday; she entered her Dressmaker's Quilt and received some recognition!

Take a look at her 2nd place ribbon and the Judge's Choice ribbon! Congratulations, Terry! She couldn't even attend the show this weekend because her son was getting married!

I took a few other pictures. This one is by Sheryll, another of the Frankfort girls.

Hey, why don't you just enjoy the rest of the show? You don't need any commentary from me!

I will finish with the most wonderful surprise hanging in the back room of the quilt show. A brown and cream Dear Jane quilt. Stunning. Isn't it grand??

Happy Quilting, Friends!

I Fixed My Goof

2011-09-02T08:58:00.000-04:00

Back awhile, on a day when Sharon was coming over to sew, I'd planned to work on the OSU t-shirt quilt. I cut out the t-shirts, then the interfacing, and proceeded with ironing on. Ehh, well, what do you know?? I bought and cut out non-fusible interfacing! There was no way it was ever going to "iron on." Dang! This frustrates me so - when I have a project ready to go and a stupid mistake prevents my making any progress on it.

And, to make matters worse, I bought about 20 yards of the non-fusible interfacing. I'd found a great sale, and since I had a couple of t-shirt quilts lined up, I figured I'd use it.

So what to do?? I had mountains of this stuff that I just hated to see go to waste!

Give me enough time, and I can often come up with an idea, you know??

Spray adhesive!

Last week, when I went to Kay's to work on the t-shirt quilt, I took both interfacings; she had some spray adhesive so I tried it and it worked!!! So, I will be able to use up the non-fusible that I have after all! Hurray!

Here is a quilt that Kay is doing for a friend who is a cancer survivor.

Twelve shirts - 12 years of survivorship!

Our friend and former colleague, Nancy, a non-quilter, was learning to make t-shirt quilts. Having 3 kids who were extremely active when in high school, she has plenty of t-shirts at her disposal.

Later today, I am meeting Kay and we are going to a quilt show in Circleville sponsored by the guild from up there - The Good Time Quilters. Pics forthcoming!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Visit to Kay's House

2011-08-31T09:00:00.002-04:00

ast Wednesday I stopped in at Kay's for a bit of quilting with friends. Just a bit, for me, actually, as I could not stay long. I will save the quilting details for another day.

First, I would like to show you the wonderful quilts that I saw everywhere I looked. I'd not been to Kay's in quite awhile, so there was a feast for the eyes! Enjoy these beauties!!

This is Kay's current project - a kit that she says is 11 years old! She's working on the borders. Looks great!

This beauty was on Kay's guest bed. Blue and white 9-patches on point.
Quilting doesn't get much lovlier than this!

This quilt was hanging from the banister of Kay's staircase. It was found in the belongings of her in-laws.
No one knows the origin of it, as her mother-in-law was not a quilter.

This is a batik quilt that Kay made with her granddaughter.

Take a look at the incredible quilting done on it; the thread is variegated. Awesome.

The pattern was featured on the cover of American Patchwork and Quilting by BH&G.
June 2007.

I'll tell you about our quilting work in an upcoming post.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Postage Stamp Quilt Update

2011-08-30T19:19:00.001-04:00

ay, way back on April 30, 2010, I shared a long-term project that a friend of mine was undertaking. Take a look back, if you like.

I have recently heard from Amie and she has given me an update on her progress, as well as a picture.

Impressive, isn't it? She has 15 blocks completed and plans to make 48 more! She did the math and figures that she has 2,160 1-inch squares in these 15 blocks, all different fabrics! Awesome, I say! I must send her some more squishy packages, too!

I continue to work on September Stars using my French General fabric. Love working with it, and cannot wait to see this quilt top finished! It's going to be one that I really love. (Of course, I love them all, right?)

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Last Sewing Day with Sharon ~

2011-08-29T17:58:00.002-04:00

or a while, anyway. Right after Labor Day, we both start our adjunct positions at Ohio University-Chillicothe. I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays; she teaches on Mondays and Wednesdays. That will not be very conducive to spending a day at the sewing machine, will it? So we had our swan song today at my house; we did look ahead at the calendar to see when the quarter will be over. We've penciled in a date for starting back up at the end of November. So a hiatus is upon is, that's all. We agreed today that this has been a wonderful weekly event that has kept us moving on our projects and has seen us finish off quite a few quilt tops! Sharon has even had a few of her quilted. So, we know we must continue when our schedules will allow.

Remember last week, when Sharon took a Pom Pom de Paris jelly roll and began a "race" quilt? Well, take a look at this beauty!

After we sewed last week, she said she was so motivated to continue working on this, that she just kept right on sewing and finished the quilt center. Then, on Saturday, after our tea party (see previous post) we made a stop in Waynesville at Fabric Shack. There, she found the fabrics she wanted for her borders and backing. Her only goal today was to get this top finished!!

An unassuming shop from the outside, Fabric Shack is packed full of fabrics.

So, Sharon is in a good place to be putting sewing and quilting on the back burner for awhile; turning her focus to OUC classes must take center stage for a bit ~ and for me, too.

I, however, have a long way to go before I can call this quilt top complete. I've got a lot of triangles to press and stitch into hourglass blocks.

I did, though, go ahead and make a block. I just couldn't help myself. What do you think??

One block of September Stars.

I am actually glad I did make an early block because I know now that my measurements are slightly larger than what the pattern says they ought to be. I cut the center square according to the directions, and it was just a smidge too small. I used it anyway, but on all the others I cut, I am planning to add a quarter of an inch to compensate.

Happy Quilting Friends!
I must be off! I've got stuff to do!

What a Wonderful Day!

2011-08-27T22:47:00.001-04:00

ometimes, when planning a get-together with friends, it just seems the right time to go the extra mile. That's exactly what the Frienzies did today.

We arranged a special outing to Lucy and Ethel's Country Tea Room, located just outside of Wilmington, OH. Bobbie, the 'Lucy' of the business, was the greatest hostess, pampering us with gorgeous yet comfortable surroundings and an incredible multi-course meal with a variety of teas.

Just try to keep your mouth from watering as you get a glimpse of all these delicacies!

First course: Little short breads and wedges of blueberry scones. On the table was clotted cream and lemon curd.

The table was beautifully set; this is Noritake China; Camelot design.

A green tea with a hint of jasmine; blooming tea is fascinating ~ can you see the pretty bloom on this?

Second course: Mild, delicious quiche with heirloom tomatoes. Check out that garnish! Scrumptious!

Third course: Soup. We had choices!! I selected the smokey cheese soup.

A second soup choice was this warm tomato soup with a dollop of sour cream. I had a taste - so, so good!

A third soup choice was this gazpacho. Since no one ordered this, she allowed us each to sample it. See the little container of tasting spoons? We each took a spoon and passed the soup around ~ it was fantastic.

Fourth, fifth and sixth courses: top, middle and bottom tiers, respectively. Just look at how pretty it all is! Those gorgeous cosmos flowers in the center of the top two tiers along with the doilies just make it look so special!

Presentation is everything!
Fourth course/top tier: Skewered fruit and a bite-size brie in a phyllo crust topped with blueberry and sauce.

How can I describe the taste of this brie topped with blueberry? I hope the picture does it for me!

Fifth course/middle tier: right, fruited chicken salad with a pita wedge; top, delicate cucumber sandwich; left, egg salad in bread, shaped and garnished to resemble a calla lily.

I must have been talking because I didn't get a close up picture of the sixth course. This is the best I can do. Desserts!! In the tiny demitasse cup, we had a spice cake with topping; in the ramekin, we had a most delectable creme brule; and in the cupcake paper, we had a chocolate-dipped strawberry. Oh my goodness! The flavors were incredible!

You probably think we are done, right?? We sure thought so. By this time, we were full and quite sufficiently satisfied! But no, no, no!!! Lucy had an extra-special treat to finish off our tea party.

Final course: Homemade lemon-vanilla ice with mint garnish. So light, so lemony. A perfect ending.

Now, I did not mention all the tea varieties that were offered. The teas served were Harney and Sons. Along with the green tea pictured above, we also had a black tea called Paris. I really liked its flavor. And the story behind it was so sweet. We were also offered the ever-popular Hot Cinnamon Spice. In addition, there was an iced tea, but I do not recall the flavor, unfortunately.

This was such a special day. We Frienzies have a long-standing tradition of getting together once each month, and I think I speak for everyone: we look forward to seeing each other! So every lunch or dinner is wonderful, but today's event was even more special because we were so magnificently pampered! We celebrated Pam's birthday. One of our group was unable to attend today, and she would have loved it. I don't think it'd be difficult to schedule a return trip to Lucy and Ethel's!

Anyone Interested in a Charitable Project?

2011-08-24T15:43:00.002-04:00

n between naps, I have been reading blogs (I just cannot keep my eyes open this afternoon!), and I happened across this project posted by Suzanne on At Home With the Farmer's Wife. I just love reading her blog; she shares insight with a subtle wit - just to my liking. Wish I had that knack!

Anyway, I digress. The charitable project is from Craft Hope. Their motto is "Spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time."

Project 14 is asking for donations of Christmas stockings to be submitted for distributing in Joplin, Missouri, where they suffered such devastation a few months back with a tornado. Here is the website for the project. There are some requirements to consider, so be sure to read through the page before starting a stocking. The page also lists the address of where to send finished stockings.

(Google Image)

Most quilters that I know are notoriously generous, and I just know that my few readers might be interested in contributing to something like this. When I think about Christmas, one very important part of the tradition is the stocking!! I have even framed the stocking that was mine all through my childhood. If it were to be lost in a tornado, why, I'd be heartsick about it! While this effort will certainly not replace cherished keepsakes, it will ease the pain of all the loss suffered by the Joplin folks.

(Google Image)

The deadline is September 23, so get cracking!!

I think I will make a few to send. How about you?

Meet Rose

2011-08-23T10:48:00.002-04:00

esterday I went to Sharon's for our weekly sewing date. I got to meet the newest member of her family, Rose, a Boston terrier puppy. She's a sweet little thing.

She is learning to be trained and what is acceptable to chew and not chew. She seems very well-behaved; I think she'll be a wonderful companion for Sharon. It is apparent that grandson Reilly (you met him here) loves her. Rose sure is a tiny thing right now, but will have some size to her in adulthood.

So what did we work on? Well, Sharon finished off the piecing of her Blue Frothy. She thinks it was an awful lot of work for such a small quilt. However, it is beautiful, and will be such a cozy thing to wrap up in when cooler weather comes and she feels like snuggling in to read.

Reilly helped!

After she folded Blue Frothy and put it aside, Sharon brought out a jelly roll of beautiful Pom Pom de Paris and a pattern for making a "race" quilt. I've seen directions for this around the internet, and will most likely do one myself at some point. Well, Sharon started hers!

It looks like a lot of fun to make, and I have some random jelly rolls that I really have no plans for, so this seems like the perfect solution for using them.

I began a new project! On Sunday night, I brought out my project tub of Rounneries and a Thimbleberries pattern from about a decade ago and began cutting.

September Stars is in a Lynette Jensen book called September Morning. As seems to be my typical method, I am going to alter the pattern a bit; I will not use as many different fabrics as are called for in the pattern; instead I will use the Rouenneries and related French General fabrics already on hand. Stash reduction is what it's all about!!! And, in keeping with the title, I'd be very happy to have the quilt top done by September!

A pattern calling for this many Ohio Star blocks is going to require many, many triangles. I get rather antsy about slogging through so many, and I'm trying to change my attitude. There are a couple of bloggers who have had some good triangle advice lately. I think Ariane's tutorials are very well done. I tried to take the advice of another blogger (who I would link to if I could locate it; grrr!!)NOTE! I found her!! Bonnie at Quiltville's Quips and Snips!! I read over the weekend; she gets into a zen-like groove when doing so many triangles; I guess I got to that point yesterday. I did gobs and gobs of triangles.

I am excited most of all to be using this French General fabric. When it first came out, I was eager to accumulate a good bit of it and I did! The "right" project needed to come along, and I think this one is it! I hope I can report a fast finish!

As usual, Sharon had a spectacular lunch for us - today, a vegetable frittata was on the menu. OMG, it was delicious! And the house smelled fantastic. What a lovely day for stitching - the weather was cool and pleasant - we had the windows and patio door open - it was wonderful in every way.

Happy Quilting, Friends. I need to get back to those triangles and finish them off.

I Dub Thee 'Vincent Van Sync'

2011-08-22T05:21:00.001-04:00

he synchronicity detailed in this post led me to the naming of my latest quilt top. Faithful commenter and bloggy friend, QuiltSue, suggested using the term synchronicity when naming the quilt, but it stumbles so much coming off the tongue; I have abbreviated it a bit.

Vincent van Sync - it was hugely fun to make, once I finally decided on a pattern. I spent more time trying to make that decision than I did making the quilt top. I first started pondering the possibilities for the Breath of Avignon fabric on July 26. I finally cut out the quilt last Saturday, August 13. And in a week's time, this top was finished!!!!

The red border print used in the columns has a very orangy-look, but it is red, not orange. When I showed it to my mother and sister yesterday, they said it looks like a picnic quilt. Then I showed it to my grandmother, and she agreed! So, once this gets quilted, there will be some picnicking on it, no doubt.

I mentioned that coming up with a pattern for this fabric was a long process. There were a number of factors I was considering: 1) I wanted to use the border print in a strip-quilt design, 2) I wanted the pieced blocks to look really scrappy, 3) I did not want to use any other fabric than what I had on hand in the Breath of Avignon bin, 4) I wanted the piecing to be simple and fast.

The piles of books and magazines around my very cluttered sewing room tell the story of my quest.

Books and magazines leaning against the dresser at the foot of my 'Thoughtful Spot" chair.

Magazines piled on the floor near the same spot.

And a huge stack of magazines leaning on top of the bookshelf.

Yes, I looked everywhere for inspiration. I didn't know what I wanted specifically, but I think I knew I'd see it and instantly know "voila!" that's it!! Well, it didn't happen exactly like that. I'd been giving a lot of thought to this quilt from Carrie Nelson's Schnibbles Times Two book:

It's hard to see, but the name of the quilt is Scratch.

What I liked about 'Scratch" is the 4-patch block on point. The drawback was that I didn't have the yardage necessary to make setting triangles. The way I solved this was to use her directions for the corner triangles of each strip all the way down the strip, and use my variety of fabrics to increase the scrappy effect I was going for. (following that???)

I pondered very seriously making Ohio Stars on point; the drawback: too much time planning and piecing. I really wanted to piece these blocks fast; 4-patches won out over Ohio Stars. I thought, too, that I'd use different colors in the border print strips. Turns out, the only border print I had enough of was the red. Sorta' dictated that decision, right?

Backing decisions are already made. I had this fabric in my stash, and while it's not Breath of Avignon, it does have the same feel and look. I think it will do nicely.

And, I have plenty, as evidenced here by the sales tag I found tucked inside it. I bought it on sale. What a bargain!! *big grin*

Six and a half yards for under $40 - happy, happy!

There is still quite a bit of Breath of Avignon left in the bin. I am tempted to cut it all into squares and just stitch it all up. But I will hold off. There are a couple of pieces that I didn't even touch - mostly blues, so maybe an idea will present itself. No rush. It can be tucked away in the closet for future endeavors.

Now I'm wondering what I will work on next. The OSU t-shirt quilt is waiting in the wings, as is Adam's t-shirt quilt. I really ought to get those done. But, you know, there's this tub of French General fabric upstairs, and I already have a pattern selected for it, and it's on the list of goals for 2011, and I really would like to cut into it, and it's begun "talking" to me...

Greenfield Area Barn Quilts

2011-08-21T06:27:00.002-04:00

I wrote a couple of days ago about the book project I worked on with the Greenfield Historical Society. I would be remiss if I did not tell all the quilters out there about the really wonderful project the GHS sponsored a few years ago.

The Historical Society put out a really nice brochure detailing each barn, its location, its owner and who painted it.

It's called Paint Creek Patterns. The Greenfield area comprises the corners of three counties. I live in the Ross County corner, This map pinpoints the barns in my vicinity.

Here are a couple of examples.

The quilt barns have been a bit of an attraction in these parts. I think more than a few tourists have come to the area to look at the barns.

It's kinda' exciting to be a quilter who is also affiliated with the Greenfield Historical Society.

My Darling Nieces

2011-08-20T06:45:00.002-04:00

It has been ages since I've shared anything of my twin nieces. I've not seen them much this summer. They were here in early June when we had Emma's graduation party. Since then I've not seen them until last Saturday night. And then again on Wednesday. Twice in one week! On Saturday night, DH and I went to babysit while my brother and sis-in-law went to a Reds game. We had a fun evening with the little sweetie-pies.

Then on Wednesday, sis-in-law's day off, she had been given complimentary tickets to see the women's ATP(?) tennis tournament being held down at Kings Island. I went by myself to babysit that day, as DH has started school already.

Time to quit blabbing and show some pictures!

Anna Rose on Wednesday afternoon. Getting ready for a nap; holding blankie.

Mary Jean, also ready for a nap with her blankie.

From Saturday night; we played with Play-Doh. Mary Jean, left; Anna Rose, right.

Historical Society Project

2011-08-19T09:37:00.001-04:00

***Disclaimer*** Today's post has nothing to do with quilting, and everything to do with local history. If you've come looking for pics of fabric and blocks and quilts, today is not the day to visit. *smile*

This former high school English teacher jumped at the chance offered last year to help write a small pictorial book for our local historical society. A small committee would be established to find pictures and research available information; my job would be to write the captions. We entered into a contract in late spring obligating us to have all photos and copy submitted by mid-August.

Needless to say, it is now just beyond mid-August. I've been commenting in recent posts that I've been distracted. Now you know why! This project and deadline have been breathing down my neck! We were able to secure a one-week extension, thankfully. Even so, I just had no clue the extensive details that needed to be dealt with when publishing.

This book is nothing huge - it'll be just 128 pages long. We have 225 (mostly) never-before-published historic pictures, and yours truly wrote most of the captions for them - with massive help from the group who provided all the historically relevant details.

A project like this is so much the kind of thing I wanted to do when I retired. To be writing for publication on a subject I am passionate about - well, that is exactly what I taught my high schoolers in composition class! The only drawback to this is that I am not a native to Greenfield; I grew up about 20 miles away in Hillsboro. Therefore, I am familiar with none of the history of this area. The other members of the committee had to feed me information. Thankfully, they were a patient group. Much of what they told me was surely "common knowlege," but only if you've lived around here forever! In the 19 years I've resided here, it has not been my priority to learn the nitty gritty historical tidbits of the town.

Here is where I have spent most of my time over the past 2 weeks ~ The Travellers Rest, a building which dates to 1812. It's been kinda' cool to surround myself within the walls of a building that so many earlier generations have visited. Even more cool, the TR was owned and operated by Noble Crawford, a name that I believe I can locate in my own family tree on my father's side. My grandpa's middle name was Noble, and his mother's maiden name was Crawford. It just has to be more than coincidence.

Above the door of the TR is this carved stone:

I'm going to have to go at different times of the day to re-shoot some pictures. I need to get the shadows just right so that the letters and numbers are more legible. But that's the proof that the founder of the inn was Noble Crawford. Way too cool, in my opinion!!

Here's a view from the rear of the Travellers Rest showing the Old Pioneer Burial Ground and stone wall.

An interesting fact about this building: it was not originally located on this site. In its original location it was under threat of being demolished (along with another historic building) so that a gas station could be built. The community came together and managed to dissuade the company, thus saving both buildings. At some point around this time - I think the 1960s - the building was dismantled stone by stone, moved across the street to this location and rebuilt, stone by stone! What an effort! Impressive, isn't it?

Back to the book project -- we worked a marathon day yesterday - from 9am to 10:30 pm - and finished it. Harold, the president of the historical society is going to send it all via computer to the publishers today.

I can't wait for this book to come out. And I don't know how long the wait will be! I'd love to be able to have it by Christmas - is that a realistic goal? I've no idea the turn around time necessary for taking a book through the publishing process.

Totally Weird

2011-08-18T08:28:00.000-04:00

The coolest thing happened a couple of days ago. It has to do with this book that I have been reading about Vincent Van Gogh called Sunflowers.

I'm not far into it, and actually I'd just picked it up after a few weeks' hiatus to read my book club book. I was trying to remember what had been happening without re-reading too much and that is when this cool thing happened. I was just casually reading along when this word jumped, and I mean that practically literally, jumped off the page at me: Avignon.

I got goose bumps. Really major ones.

Because, you know, I have been working on a project using this fabric called A Breath of Avignon.

Does stuff like that happen to you? I call this sort of thing 'synchronicity' which, according to Wikipedia, is the experience of two or more events, that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner. The concept of synchronicity was first described by Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung in the 1920s. I didn't know all that until I just looked it up, but I did know the definition.

I think it means I am supposed to be working on this quilt with this fabric at this time. Like maybe all the stars are in perfect alignment for me to create something really awesome. Hmmmm, well that may be exaggerating a bit, but it certainly feels right.

Since I am making up this quilt from parts of several quilt books and patterns, I have been trying to come up with a name for it. In all likelihood, this quilt will be named with this whole coincidence in mind. I'm holding off giving it a name until after it is finished, but I'm thinking that Vincent Van Gogh might get a shout out.

On Monday when Sharon was here to sew, I spent much time figuring out how to proceed with my Avignon project. I had 21 blocks made and sewn into 3 strips of 7 blocks.

I studied the largest piece of border fabric that I had: a red, 2-yard cut with 3 complete borders. I had to really get my thinking cap on because this was math-related. If I had 3 pieced strips, then I would only need two border prints to separate them. If I had 4 pieced strips, then I could use all 3 borders. No waste. No leftovers.

So I got to work making another set of blocks. In that thought process, I also decided that the quilt should be longer and have 8 blocks (instead of 7) in each strip, so I made 11 more blocks. (Man, I hope everyone followed all of that; trying to put into words the way a quilter thinks through a process is not easy!!)

Whether you follow or not, this is how things stand now: I have 4 strips of pieced blocks with 8 blocks per strip. I am ready to cut the border print and sew the strips together. Then I will have a new decision to figure out: how to do borders. I'm thinking a small yellow inner border, but will there be enough fabric to do it? Stay tuned.