Productivity!

I just finished up the center portion of 9-Patch Criss Cross. I like how it turned out; I have to admit that I was a bit fussy about putting this one together. Normally I am not anal about these things, but this quilt has no seams turned under or going the wrong way. If a point got lost in the seam allowance, I picked it out and did it over. For some reason I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. *grin* I did, and it looks pretty darn good both on the front and the back!!

Now I must think about borders. The book calls for a 2.5-inch dark brown border and a 7.5-inch red border (finishes at 2 and 7 inches, respectively). This works for me, so I just need to haul out the fabric bins and do some stash diving. I think I will be able to come up with two fabrics that will suit me.

Off to quilt and watch Olympics!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

My First 9-Patch Criss Cross

I beg your pardon for a wee "untruth" I told a few posts back. I mentioned that I'd made this pattern once before using 2 fabrics. Well, now that I've taken it out to photograph, I realize that I used 3. (4 if you count the backing) So with that correction out of the way, here is my first go at 9-Patch Criss Cross.

Since I don't have a label on it, I will have to guess at a construction date. I will estimate that I made this in 2002 or 2003. I bought most, if not all, of the fabric from a shop in Wilmington that was going out of business. My grandmother was with me when I bought it. She ended up quilting this for me, too, Can you see her trademark cable down the border? The dark blue looks like a solid, but there is a pattern in there; it's been laundered many times, so it has a well-loved and much-used look to it.

I intend to give this to my son at some point. I put it on his bed after he left for college, but I did not send it to college with him! (I learned a hard lesson when DD took a quilt to college with her!)


I am staying busy with the hand quilting, and since I have not taken my machine to be serviced yet, I am joining rows on my second 9-Patch Criss Cross.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Olympic Update

A little addendum to the previous post concerning Ohio's Olympic participants. I knew I'd heard about others, and it turns out there are more. These are affiliated with Ohio State but aren't necessarily from (as in born and raised) Ohio.

Check out this neat site to read more about it!

I have done a good bit of hand quilting on my pink and brown quilt. I mostly just have the borders left to do. My fingers are very sore and raw. Will have to pace myself!

I have had this quilt in this frame for nearly 2 years. I only work on it for History Day, an annual event sponsored by our local historical society. Since the next History Day is coming up in October, I think I need to be working on a different quilt, so this one needs to come out of the frame. Plus it takes up an awful lot of room in the the sewing room. I've just decided that finishing it while watching the Olympics is THE thing to do!


Happy Quilting, Friends!

2012 Summer Olympics

I have been so psyched for the Olympics; have you? I am planning to position my Q-snap quilting frame in front of the television for some marathon quilting and Olympic viewing. I will be starting tonight for the opening ceremonies.

My home state of Ohio has several Olympians competing in the London games. Here's the alphabetical list of Buckeye State Olympians which I found on a Google search.

1. Katie Bell
Sex : Female
Competing in Diving
Event / position / class: Platform
Born: 1988
From: Columbus, Ohio

2. Tervel Dlagnev
Sex : Male
Competing in Wrestling
Born: 1985
From: Columbus, Ohio

3. Peter Graves
Sex : Male
Competing in Rowing
From: Cincinnati, Ohio

4. Lebron James
Sex : Male
Competing in Basketball
Born: 1984
From: Akron, Ohio

5. Abby Johnston
Sex : Female
Competing in Diving
Born: 1989
From: Upper Arlington, Ohio

6. Justin Lester
Sex : Male
Competing in Wrestling
Born: 1983
From: Akron, Ohio

7. Holly Mangold
Sex : Female
Competing in Weightlifting
Born: 1989
From: Columbus, Ohio

8. Margot Shumway
Sex : Female
Competing in Sculls
Born: 1979
From: Cincinnati, Ohio

9. Nick Thuman
Sex : Male
Competing in Swimming
Born: 1986
From: Cincinnati, Ohio

10. Rau'Shee Warren
Sex : Male
Competing in Boxing
Born: 1987
From: Cincinnati, Ohio

11. Jacob Wukie

Sex : Male

Competing in Archery

Born: 1986

From: Oak Harbor, Ohio

The most recognizable Ohioan is this man, LeBron James. I'm still sore at him for leaving Cleveland to go to Miami, but I will root for him in London. He is an amazing basketball player; so talented.

A few of the less-well-known athletes include Holly Mangold; she is from Columbus, so we have seen her in a few interviews on our local news. Her big brother Nick played football for Ohio State, and now plays for the New York Jets.

Also from Columbus is diver Abby Johnston; consequently she also been interviewed on the local news. She seems very likeable and perky; it'll be fun to watch her.

Wrestler Tervel Dlagnev has been on the local news as well. He attends Ohio State, and for such a huge guy in such an aggressive sport, he seems like a big teddy bear.

About 45 minutes to the Opening Exercises, so I need to get my stuff situated. I did not get 9-patch Criss Cross top finished, unfortunately. I had hoped to have that done before the Olympics. I also hope to have my sewing machine serviced while the Games are on. Since I will be focused on hand quilting, I think I can bear to separate from my machine for a few days. *heh heh*

Cheering for lots of gold, silver and bronze for our USA athletes! Hooray for the red, white and blue!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

9-Patch Criss Cross

The sewing has been so satisfying lately. I feel like I'm getting lots of things done, and finally I have begun working on a project that is on my 2012 to-do list.

It bears repeating: whenever I want a fast, easy project, I go with a Thimbleberries pattern. When she was really the "hot" item back in the 90s and 00s, I bought every book she published. And I'm glad I did! Even though I was unable to make a lot of her things when I bought the books, I am now finding that I go to her patterns quite frequently.

The pattern called 9-Patch Criss Cross is from the book At Home With Thimbleberries Quilts.

I actually have made this quilt before; the pattern center calls for 4 fabrics, but I used just 2. The pattern also calls for 2 additional fabrics for the borders, but I have not yet decided how to handle those. My earlier version turned out pretty well in just 2 fabrics, and it went together so fast. I decided it was time to make another one. Here are the fabrics I've pulled from the stash for the quilt center. The blue is a Kansas Troubles fabric; the neutral is by RJR, the red is Thimbleberries, and the gold is a nameless piece with nothing to identify it.

I will be busy today constructing the last of the 9-patch units. I got all the connecting units finished yesterday. Such fun sewing.

I will pull out my earlier version of this pattern and take a pic so you can see it and compare it to this new one. Stay tuned.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Unexpected Shopping Trip

It happened last Thursday, when we sewed at Terry's. You read about that in the previous post. So, what I teased you with was the fabulous fabric find on said shopping trip!!

I have wanted this fabric for simply ages. I suppose I first saw it when the gals at Old Town Fabrics first displayed their Generals' Wives Quilt. What a great quilt. I opted not to sign up for the BOM club they were offering, but I really wanted to get my hands on that background fabric!!

Of course, the fabric had to be held back for the BOMmers, so I waited. Patiently. Oh. So. Patiently. That patience paid off on Thursday when I laid my eyes on 4 fat quarters of that exact fabric! Then when I exclaimed my excitement, Cindy (or was it Kelly) told me that there was a bolt of it on the shelf!

Squeals of delight!!

The bolt had 1.5+ yards, and I took it all, thank you very much! When finishing a bolt, they give a 10% discount!! Whoo-hoo!

Just in case you need a bit more eye candy, here is a pic taken from Windham Fabrics' website of the Generals' Wives quilt. It is amazing.

That's all! I looked at a lot of other fabrics, but finding this was all I wanted. There's something about putting oneself on a stash-reducing diet, and then finding the one fabric that has been long-desired. I have been really good about limiting my fabric purchases lately - for most of a year, actually. I've used a lot from the stash which was my intent. This small increase in the stash will be enough to satisfy my "need," I think. It's like allowing yourself a (very limited) sweets splurge after faithful, long-term dieting.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Another Day of Sewing

On Tuesday, Amie came to my house for sewing; on Thursday, I took my machine and went to Terry's for yet more sewing. Gosh, it's been a productive week!

Terry has hosted sewing days before, and I have participated in three now. On this particular day, Cherie, Monica, Sheryll, Terry and myself made the most of our day together.

Sheryll cut out the fabric for this quilt several years ago, and worked on it Thursday. The pattern is from an old issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. She was hard at work making flying geese units. Added later: The issue is October 2007.

I just love this, and I'm certain it's going to be gorgeous when Sheryll gets it finished. If I get a chance, I will be sure to bring you updates here.

Cherie was using up leftover charm pack squares in a small quilt, perhaps a lap quilt or a table topper or a baby quilt. This was quick work for Cherie, and she ended up playing assistant to Terry by late afternoon. You'll see Terry's project here in a bit...

Here are some shots of Cherie's work.

She has numbered each row to keep her chain piecing all straight. Good idea. I admit that I sometimes do not chain piece because I do get rows mixed up, so this is a really smart way to prevent headaches!

And this is her finished quilt top. Easy as pie. I am sorry I didn't take a better picture! I'm not showing it as fine as it truly is!

Monica was working on brown baskets with pink tops (flowers?). Anyway, it was a kit she had, and made quite a bit of progress on it Friday.

Monica wasn't the only one getting lots done; we all worked really hard even though we did lots of talking and visiting, we were still very productive!

Terry, our hostess, has taken on a daunting project. This pretty blue and white Civil War inspired quilt, James River Blues. I've seen it made up at our LQS. It's to die for! Terry is a very brave girl for undertaking this, imo!

She had to make gazillions of half-square triangles. Oh, that so intimidates me. By the end of the afternoon, though, she had them all sewn, and with Cherie assisting, she had them all cut apart. Her plan next was to press them open while watching a movie that evening.

And yours truly worked on a long-forgotten project: The Farmer's Wife quilt. It's been ages since I last made a block. I had 15 blocks made, so I set out on Tuesday evening and part of the day Wednesday, cutting out 15 more. This way, I could take those blocks to Terry's and sew all day. I managed to get 10 of the 15 done. Here are a couple. I plan to devote an entire post to showcasing all 30 of my blocks next week, so stay tuned.

Block #1: Attic Window.

Block #34: Flock

I had a great time with these ladies, and a great time making more FW blocks. This day was even more special in that we took a field trip!! Yep, we went to Chillicothe to have lunch and to show Monica and Cherie the new quilt shop. And that, my friends, will comprise yet another post: what I bought at Old Town Fabrics. Believe me, it is exciting.

That's all for now.
Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Wee Bit of Shopping

Last Friday when Terry and I went to the Shop Hop over in Dayton, I spent a grand total of $7.50 on 3 fat quarters. I did intend to shop for fabric, and I had hoped to find more that really "spoke" to me, but alas, all I found were these three French General pieces.

Scrumptious!!

I already have a stash of this line; it is the fabric I used on my French General Stars quilt which I made last winter. Take a look here, if you like. Well, of course, that remaining stash could/should be enhanced, right?

This little purchase makes double good news: I limited my fabric purchasing, but I also scored some great stash-enhancing fat quarters of a line that I am wild about. Good outing!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Visiting (And Sewing) With Amie

On Tuesday, I had a most lovely day. A dear old friend from back in the early 1980s had contacted me about getting together for a day of sewing. What makes this unique is that she was a student of mine in the 1980s, and her mother was my son's babysitter for that school year. We had a wonderful teacher-student relationship, but as she moved on to working, marriage, and motherhood, our contact was for the most part limited to Christmas cards.

I always knew she was one of those crafty gals, so it was no surprise to me when I learned that she had taken up quilting.

I have spoken of Amie here on the blog before. If you've followed very closely for any amount of time,  you may recall a certain postage stamp quilt. That's Amie! She contacted me a few years back asking for scraps that she could cut 1.5" squares for her project, one that she would devote years to completing. Her plan was, from the very beginning, to make blocks as she had scraps. Her original goal was to never repeat a fabric, but I think she's since given that up. Here is a link to a past post about Amie's postage stamp quilt. In that link there are a couple of others you can click for the full and complete story.

Enough of the talking; let's look at some pictures!!

Her project bin full of completed blocks.

One of the 15 blocks Amie has completed. Look at how straight and perfect all those intersections are!! Impressive.

And another one. Won't it look grand when finished? I looked closely and found a few of the fabrics I sent her. I've also had a couple of quilting friends leave me with scraps that I've sent along. She took a chubby little bag full home with her on Tuesday, too.

So, I am pressed for time, therefore I will just post some pics of the remaining highlights of the day.

Amie worked on this pile of blocks for a quilt called Cathedral Window.

And another. All homespun plaids, and wonderfully scrappy. It will look great when finished!

Also in her project bag was this kit, purchased at the 2011 Amish Shop Hop held last fall here in Ohio's Amish Country. A few of the blocks she has completed are...

Happy, aren't they? It's gonna' look great.

With both of these quilts, I hope I can get pictures of them when finished to showcase here. Keep that in mind, Amie, as you complete these!!

I'll end with dessert. (Perfect ending!) Amie brought dessert, and this delicious and sinfully rich chocolate cake is one she found on Pinterest. It was wonderful. I should have had mine with coffee, darn it. It was nearly 100 degrees on Tuesday, so coffee didn't seem feasible, but as I look at this picture, I'm thinking, yeah, it would've been fine...oh well.

Thanks, Amie, for the wonderful day! I really mean it when I say we have to do this more regularly! I look forward to it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!