Ready to Bind

Terry had Mom's quilt ready for me last Friday when we got together at Sharon's. I have thought all week that I would get a picture of it on here, but just got busy on it today.

I just love how it turned out. The gentle meander quilting is perfect for both the pieced blocks and the very busy setting blocks.

I am turning the back forward to bind the quilt. With basketball games and the Superbowl going on this weekend, I think I will get a good portion of the binding completed.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Birthday Goodies

A few of you know that I have a January birthday. Celebrations with various groups have been going on for awhile now. Any opportunity to get out to a restaurant and visit with dear friends, you know?

Well, even though we are weeks past the actual birthday, on Saturday the Frienzies met at Olive Garden for our January get-together. It was great fun, but only half of us could attend. :-(
I think you quilters will be interested in the great gifts the dear Frienzies gave me for my b-day.

A portable little iron to take when quilting away from home. I've used one of these before; someone else's and it sure is handy. This was from Kay, who also had another goodie in her package.

A handy free-standing cutter. I think Kay has both of these items, and knows how helpful they are in one's sewing room. I can't wait to get a chance to use them myself. (Still waiting on machine's return from fixit shop.)

This is a "bowl" for, I'd say putting out your fruit on the table or counter. But I see it serving a different purpose . . .

Why not re-purpose it in the sewing room to set up a pretty bowl of fabrics? That's what I'm doing. :-)

Do my friends know me or what? I have many of the Kaffe books, but not this one. So Sharon P. remedied that situation. There are at least 2 quilts in this book that I MUST make. (And they are not on the 2013 list!)

And, finally, tucked into a card from Lyn was a quilt shop gift certificate, so I really had a great "haul," wouldn't you say?

Concerning that 2013 list, I have been giving that some thought since posting it. I notice that I began with "finish" 3 quilts, and I ended with "finish" 3 quilts. That would be a wonderful accomplishment right there! A couple of those have been long-time UFOs (as some of you know).

Well, I get my 2nd sciatic shot tomorrow, and afterwards, Sharon P is coming to sew. We had a conflict of duties on Monday, but we are determined to get this routine established again.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

The Goals are Posted!

It has taken me most of the month to finalize the goals list for 2013. I put them on the sidebar yesterday. It is a rather long list, much longer than last year's, for sure. There are a couple of items on the list that have been on the UFO to-do list for the entire time I've done this blog, so I really want to accomplish them this year. There is no excuse for not getting these things done. Absolutely none.

I hope that I don't get so caught up in completing the list that I forgo doing things on a whim. Sometimes, things come up! I want to be sure to take off on a tangent if so moved.

I generally don't have a problem making this quilting thing mostly fun. That's what I love about it!

I have worked off and on on Emma's t-shirt quilt over the past month or so. I will make it a top priority when my machine comes back.

Short and sweet today, Peeps!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Red and Black Confetti

It has been ages since I have shown any actual sewing from these parts. The big sewing room move and an ailing machine among other things have sorta' taken center stage.

Well, let's rectify that with this post, shall we? I know that somewhere back in November I showed my early progress on piecing this quilt. Here are some pics of more recent work.

My stack of 40 star blocks, pressed and needing a good trimming (which I likely will not do). The original pattern is called Christmas Confetti from a book by Thimbleberries and Lynette Jensen. I say it time and time again, when I need an easy yet unmistakeably traditional quilt, I go with Thimbleberries. I've never yet been disappointed.

This pattern is the one we Frienzies have used for 6 retirement quilts, at least. I plan on using it again soon with Kaffe fabrics. The pattern is just really user-friendly, as nearly every Thimbleberries pattern I've ever made has been.

These 2 fabrics are the remaining fabrics needed for the quilt. Alternate blocks will be made of the floral. Side and corner triangles will be made of the black. Then, I plan to change the pattern slightly with regard to the borders. I hope to have 3 borders instead of the pattern's 2, and the widths will change, too, depending on how much fabric I have left after completing the quilt's center.

I've tried to simulate how the quilt will look by folding and placing the parts to give myself an idea of the "look" of the finished quilt. I am eager to get back to work on it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Randomness

Seems as though I've been trying to take care of old business for quite awhile now, and the job is not quite done yet. And let me just warn you up front, if ever one wanted a definition for random, this post would be a good place to start. Don't expect any continuity whatsoever, ok? *wink*

I wanted to show you the 2nd pillow I made to give to Sharon P. for Christmas. It matches the Grannie pillow I gave her earlier.

Both pillows are made with Breath of Avignon fabric, and they have Sharon written all over them.

In sewing room activity, I have rearranged bins of fabric in the closet. Previously I had stuff front and center that I really would rather have had in the farthest, remotest corners. And vice-versa. So I pulled out a lot, rearranged a lot, and put it all back - and more. The closet is now quite full. Above is one-half, below is the other.

Things may not appear to be better organized and accessible, but they truly are. I really do think I will be pleased with this arrangement. Time will tell, true, but because so many of these tubs are see-thru, and they are mostly organized by color, I will be able to "shop the stash" with a certain degree of efficiency, I think.

Speaking of shopping, you all know that I have been relatively successful in  limiting my fabric purchases of late. I determined about a year into my retirement that I, 1) needed to be more frugal on my retirement budget, and 2) I had quite enough fabric in the stash to complete many, many quilts.

New rules were established: 1) buy only what is necessary to complete a stash quilt, and 2) buy when prices are drastically reduced.

So the above deliciousness - you may recognize it from the most wonderful Roman Holiday line from several years back - was a purchase I made a couple of weeks ago. I haven't seen any of this fabric in stores for ages, so it practically leaped into my arms. It was reduce-priced, and I got just a yard of each. Yummm. Added it to my existing tub of Roman Holiday, and I hereby resolve to make a RH quilt in 2013.

This past week, I got an email from Old Town Fabric Shop informing me that Thursday (1/24)  was something along the line of "support your LQS day" and they had a couple of mark-downs to show their appreciation, so I stopped in to take a peek. When given an offer of "buy 4 fat quarters, get the 5th one free," you know I can't resist! Below are 5 of the lovelies I selected.

Who can go wrong with a sweet variety of Kaffe blues? This was given to Kay as part of the prize package for the Lone Star Parade. I knew she would prefer these over the brown reproduction FQs that I'd originally planned to use.

(It helps when you know the recipient of the giveaway! Don't fear; there was no "prize-fixing;" besides myself and Quilt Sue, the other 2 entrants were personal friends of mine, so one of them had to win!)

The other 5 FQs I got for myself. I suppose I was in a repro mood that day.

Since I've been all over the place with topics in this post today, why not throw caution to the wind and show you another accomplishment I've managed this month??

January is jigsaw puzzle month for me. I dare not allow myself to do any more than that for I would get nothing else done. They are addicting for me. This one is special because it is a picture of a place I've been - Mrs. Miller's quilt shop in Charm, in the heart of Ohio's Amish Country. It was a fun puzzle to do. I did another puzzle before this one, but I apparently did not take a picture of it, for I have searched through many files and do not find it anywhere. (A good reason for keeping photo files organized, which I do not.) It was a gorgeous picture of a Maine light house - lots of blue sky and blue water to keep things interesting.

Ok, time to wrap this up. I've rambled far too long. I'm thinking that since Miss Bernina is still in the shop getting her feed dogs fixed, I will focus on cutting out a few things this week. Then I will be prepared for action once my  machine is returned.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sewing With...Vol. 3

And this will be the final Sewing With . . . installment. I'm sure you are glad. I just don't know how it happened that I got so far behind. Whatever the reason - and probably there were several - I am moving on. No sense dwelling on it.

So Friday morning - yesterday - was the regularly scheduled get together for the Frankfort girls, this time at Sharon O's house. We no sooner got there than the snow started, so we had a pretty view out her back window of the snowy hillsides of southern Ohio.

Sharon, our hostess, is working on this 100% hand-done doll quilt. Even the meander quilting is done by hand! Very impressive, and very pretty! It was originally intended for her granddaughter, but I believe Sharon has decided this is staying put as a table topper, perhaps.

Sheryll was hand quilting on the Guild Quilt. It is so pretty. Who doesn't love a blue and white quilt? It's traditional pattern and scrappy blues just really make for a wonderful quilt. This is the quilt they will be raffling off later this year. I suppose it is quite a big moneymaker for the guild.

While we were together yesterday, JoAnn announced that she was officially finished with the wall hanging that she's been diligently working on for several recent sessions. Here is a picture from a few weeks back, as I didn't take a new pic.

Terry was piecing this quilt in the previous post, and here is the completed wall-hanging, getting it's binding applied. She was fortunate in that she had enough extra HSTs to make a small table topper out of the remains. Lucky!! Ignore the hand in front of the quilt. I thought my fabrics matched Terry's, so JoAnn is checking by holding my squares in front of Terry's little table-topper.

I made 9-patch blocks, which has been my handwork of choice lately, it seems. For this particular session, I was using the leftovers from a quilt I made back in the fall called Antique Nine Patches.

Pretty stuff, wouldn't you agree? I have so enjoyed seeing all the amazing projects these dear girls make. I am frequently inspired both by their incredible productivity and their gorgeous quilt/fabric choices.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sewing With...Vol.2

In continuing to catch up with things around here, I want to tell you all about the Frankfort girls' sewing day last week at Terry's house.

Sheryll had these blocks already constructed and laid them out on Terry's bed in order to begin sewing the rows together. It is a beautiful quilt, and Sheryll picked these fabrics herself! I would have thought it was a kit, it is so well done!

It's a Country Threads pattern, and gosh she did a wonderful job of creating the quilt on the pattern front, didn't she?

By the end of the day, Sheryll had gotten the entire top sewn together. What efficiency! And what a great quilt. I just love the look of brown and red.

Sharon O. had a pattern from awhile back from Jo-Ann Fabrics. The corner there shows house blocks, and Sharon is getting hers constructed as you can see.

This is the best pic I took of the pattern. It looks very scrappy and has a country flavor to it.

We had a novice quilter with us this day! Terry's daughter-in-law Christa was working on a super simple quilt using a Jelly Roll.

It looks like she is off to a great start! I like her color combinations, and her easy pattern should give her a positive first experience with machine piecing!

Terry herself was also making a gorgeous creation! I tell you, these girls sure do give me big ideas. I want to make these quilts!!

Terry's assembly line of HSTs  looks quite efficient, for sure. She was zipping right along and put her project together easy as pie. She did use Thangles to make the triangles, which helps a lot.

Here's the pattern picture, and I don't have the actual name of the quilt but I think it is a pattern from Country Threads - like Sheryll's above - and this time it was a kit.

This is one quadrant of the quilt. It will be wall-hanging-size. Love the colors.

We were entertained by Terry's sweet doggies, but they soon tuckered out and took long afternoon naps.

Maddie

Millie

We girls had med the previous Friday, and I have not shared our projects from that day yet. So let's get that caught up too, shall we?

Sharon O. models the frilly scarf that she knitted (or is it crocheted?). Lookin' good! Correction: Sheryll made the scarf; why Sharon is modeling it, I have no idea. I was present, and I did take the picture, but my brain must have been elsewhere!

JoAnn has enrolled in a class offered at Old Town Quilt Shop called Mill Girls. This is one of the blocks.

 

Here are 2 of the patterns. Oh, gosh, oh gosh...

Sheryll had these great wonky hearts to show us. I believe these were to become a wall hanging. Yet another correction: JoAnn made these wonky hearts. I do not know what was wrong with me on this day; my recollection of all this is completely gone! I guess that is why I should post things very quickly - can't count on my brain to recall facts after a week or more.

Well, I have just one more sewing with... to share. And you can look for that tomorrow!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sewing With...vol. 1

I've had several sewing with... days, and I've not blogged about any of them! I tell ya, look back at yesterday's title - I've gotta' get it together!!

Well, Sharon and I have finally resumed our weekly sewing date. We have decided that Monday is going to be the best day for the time being. And, another change, we are going to be here every Monday. Since she is primary babysitter for new grandson Flynn, she takes baby Flynn to his other aunt who lives between Sharon and me. It would make absolutely no sense whatsoever to have Sharon drive out to Aunt Ginny's, turn around and go back to her house to wait on me to come to her. So she packs up Flynn, drives to Ginny's then on to me. Streamlined.

And you won't believe this part. Since sewing with me on Monday's is the ONLY sewing Sharon is doing, she is just leaving her machine and current project here. Saves on having to pack it up every week.

We've had 2 sewing dates so far this month. Sharon has pulled out the long-term project Tumbling Blocks started by her daughter. If you recall our 2011 Quilt Camp, she was completing the first 1/2 of this very large quilt.

Here is a pic from 2011 of Tumbling Blocks. It requires very particular placement, as all the blocks are the same - well, all the purple blocks are formed with the same 3 fabrics, and so on with all the other blocks. Study it for a second and you will see that there is a plan.

Sharon has her rows neatly stacked in this bin, and everything is pinned in order. so her machine is whirring right away on those rows.

Remember back in late September when I made this Jelly Roll Race quilt for Flynn? He was within just days of being born, and we (Sharon and I) haven't sewn together since. His arrival, my sciatic, the holidays and occasional illness prevented it. And I did not work on the baby quilt any more. So I needed to get it done. I practiced machine quilting throughout the intervening weeks, and worked on this these last 2 sewing days together.

Ready now for the binding. I am stuck for a bit, however, as my Bernina has decided that her feed dogs are tired. They just won't move! So she is at the repair shop, having her feet tended.

In the meantime, I continue to straighten up the sewing room.

Come back tomorrow for volume 2 of "Sewing With..."

Happy Quilting, Friends!