Fishy Finish

Working diligently yesterday (Monday) resulted in a finished quilt top! I love having a finish to share.

I am quite pleased with how it turned out, but I have to admit that I wasn't so pleased with the directions for getting to this point. The pattern was a free one, from an online source, and the way they tell you to make the white outer edges is really wasteful of fabric. Additionally, those side triangles are bias edges, not straight edges. But, it has come together nicely, and I am happy for the result.

I am showing you this pic from a few days ago because I have the backing shown here. That hot pink is a Kaffe fabric that I found on sale at Old Town Fabrics. I bought it all. (Duh!)

I am going to prepare the backing and give it to Terry to quilt on Thursday. I will be binding it in no time!

I have a book to read by Thursday for my book club, so sewing will be on hold for awhile. The book we will be discussing is The Round House by Louise Erdrich.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Loose Thread Quilters Show

You may have read about my big day on Saturday when my mother and grandmother and I went to a quilt show. I related that memorable tale in this blog.

I promised that I would highlight the quilts in the show, particularly those in the "Bed Turning" that I mentioned in the earlier post. Without further ado, let's get to it!

I was really enthralled by the Bed Turning, as I'd never seen one before. These are in order of how they were shown. There was a pleasing mixture of antique and new quilts, as well as those from beginners to masters. Often, there were many hands involved in them, and several were purchased at yard sales or auctions.

That bottom one on the left is the one my grandmother made for my great aunt and uncle's wedding in 1949.

The bottom quilt on the right in this collage is the quilt show's "Viewer's Choice" voted by those attending the show. The three ladies pictured with it are the owner, the piecer and the quilter (I think I recall that correctly!). Please, girls, if you leave me a comment to correct me, I won't mind!! **Correction!! The Piecer, The Appliquer and The Quilter! I have it straight now! Thanks, Sylvia!

And now I will show you some of the quilts in the show, as well as other highlights. There was quite a variety.

The first panel of this collage features a "puff quilt" or "biscuit quilt" that my young protege, Erin was working on when she came over for some help a couple of weeks ago. Click here if you want to read about it. The picture on the top right shows an apron collection of one of the guild members. It was quite extensive, and included books and patterns in addition to the actual aprons. I thought Sharon O., one of the Frankfort girls, as she has a fondness for aprons.

Both pictures on the bottom of the above collage are of the patriotic theme that members participated in. The entries were widely varying. Below is a collage of the actual quilts in the show. They were draped over the sanctuary pews, which made it quite easy for attendees to get up close to view each entry.

The Loose Thread Quilt Guild meets the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at the Peebles United Methodist Church from 10am-2pm. I think they are a relatively young guild, and still growing, but they have lots of fun activities and seem to have a genuine rapport with each other. This show was their second annual event, and their theme is "Sharing the Joy of Quilting" - and from the looks of things in the short visit we made, I think they are succeeding very nicely in that effort.

Happy Quilting, Friends!



Making a Memory

Quilting has done it again. Because of quilting, I have another wonderful, sweet memory to tuck away and keep in my heart.

I attended a quilt show yesterday with my mother and grandmother. We were invited by Mom's first cousin Marilyn, who is a quilter and an active member in the guild in her area. So already, we have 3 generations of the family involved from 2 branches of that family.

Now I have to say, that getting my 96-year-old Grandma to agree to go somewhere is no small task! We rarely ask her to go anywhere anymore because she always says no. Besides her Thursday beauty shop appointment, she is content to stay home!

I asked her on Friday evening to go with us on Saturday afternoon. We have learned that we can't ask too far in advance, because then she will have too much time to think of a reason why she can't or won't go. And we have also learned that we have to keep trips short. The ride to Peebles is about a 30-minute drive south of Hillsboro, and I told her she could dictate how long we stayed.

The last thing I told her was that I had a sneaking suspicion that one of her quilts was going to be in the show.

That got her! :-)

I tell you, I felt like I had returned to my childhood! Mom drove and Grandma sat in front, while I was in the back seat. Driving down the road and listening to them talk about the farms, the people, the landmarks and such along the way was priceless. One doesn't realize that as a child, so I absorbed as much as I could, and asked questions - a lot of questions. Grandma loved seeing the countryside, and reminisced about days gone by. Yesterday, while chilly, was sun-filled and the spring leaves are just popping out, so everything had a clean, fresh look.

Quilts??? Oh, yes, we did see some quilts! I will show most of those in my next post. Today, I will just focus on the family stuff.

Here is my spry Grandma Mary, age 96, flanked by my Great Aunt Nina and Great Uncle John. My grandpa, Mike, was Uncle John's oldest brother. These 3 are the only ones remaining in this generation. Grandpa died in 1997, and the two other brothers and their spouses are gone now, too.

Now, to the quilt. Uncle John and Aunt Nina were married in 1949, and Grandma made this quilt and gave it to them for a wedding gift. My cousin Marilyn, their oldest child and only daughter, says it was on their bed for many, many years. In other words, it was used! And there is some wear showing, particularly on the upper border.

The way we saw the quilt was really cool, and a first for me. The guild had scheduled a "Bed Turning" at 2pm. I'd never seen one done before, but I had heard of them. A bed is layered up with a dozen or however many quilts spread across it. A speaker tells a brief story of each quilt, and when finished, 2 volunteers are positioned in such a way as to fold and remove that quilt, so that the next one is seen. Then that story is told and so on with folding, removing, and revealing the next quilt.

When Uncle John and Aunt Nina's quilt was uncovered, Grandma practically squealed with delight when she saw it. "Oh! I see pieces I remember!" All the petals on these flowers were scraps from dresses and skirts that Mom and her 2 sisters would have had. Grandma made all their clothes, and no scraps were ever discarded! That would have been wasteful!

Marilyn had taken the microphone to tell the story of this quilt, and she introduced both her Aunt Mary (my grandmother) and her parents. It was so special. I think Marilyn was thrilled to have Grandma and her parents present for the Bed Turning. It really made for a wonderful event. I have to admit to wiping a tear. Or two.

And that's the way it is with quilting. The special times we remember; the bonds of family; the love of stitching -- so many facets of quilting bring people together. The fabrics are bits of other things. As gifts, they mark significant events. Quilts do indeed have histories and tell stories.

In just an hour we had finished our visit, and were heading back to Hillsboro. The front-seat talk was just as pleasurable on the way home, only this time added in were delightful comments about the quilts and about the family. Grandma thanked us over and over for insisting that she attend this event. It not only made a memory for me, but she and Mom were equally pleased with the afternoon's adventure. And, I would guess that Uncle John, Aunt Nina and Marilyn experienced similar delight at how lovely an afternoon we all had, and that they, too, made some memories.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Tidbits

I'm in a bit of a rush today, so this will be short and sweet. I have a rather fun little adventure I will be going to today, and hope to share a good deal about it tomorrow or the next day.

So, yesterday was Frankfort Girls Friday; we met at JoAnn's, and I have just 2 projects to share. Now that I think of  it, I could have taken a picture of JoAnn's WIP (work-in-progress), but I just never thought of it.

Terry had a sweet little table runner that she finished binding while we were together. Looks so easy and simple. I'm pretty sure Terry has just the spot in her house for this little gem.

Sharon O. was attempting a new technique - paper piecing. She was doing it by hand, too, since it was technically not paper, but lightweight interfacing, instead, she brought it along to work on with us. This will become a wall hanging for spring. Bright yellow and red tulips will brighten any spot.

In the bits of time I have had, I head back to my sewing machine and whittle away at those fish blocks. I just love how it is turning out. Here's a representative look at "the catch" from yesterday. These blocks with the white block will be outer blocks. WHAT??? How many times can we say "block" in one sentence?? Let me try that again...The blocks with the white square will be around the outer edge of the quilt. (That sounds so much better!)

Happy Qujilting, Friends!

Gone Fishin'

I knew at some point I would resort to that lame title while I was working on the Kissing Fish quilt. I know you'll forgive me. It was just too obviously necessary!

So I have, actually, done some more work on those fishies, and it feels like I am coming into the home stretch. When I quit work on it last Sunday, I had discovered that I had somehow goofed on the number of blocks I needed. That was somewhat disappointing, since I was geared up to begin sewing them all together!

Sometimes I just need to step away from the project. I had obligations Monday and Tuesday, spent Wednesday playing at applique, and now, since I have had time to cogitate the situation, and I got back to work on it today. Things just needed to simmer for a bit, you know?

So now the last 2 of the printed fishies are pieced.

And the last 13 of the white fishies are pieced.

So now they are ready to be laid out with the rest of the fishies, and sewing units together has commenced.

If things go well, I could be on my way to a finish this weekend!

Today, 7 of the 8 Frienzies met for dinner at Red Lobster. So much fun catching up with these girlies!! We meet monthly, yet we pick up with our conversations just like we see each other daily! Don't you just love friends like that?

Tomorrow, another group of dear friends will be meeting - the Frankfort girls will be meeting at JoAnn's for our regularly scheduled sewing session. Looking forward to that!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Learning Applique

I've been practicing.

I learned some new and fun stuff at last week's quilt show in Cincinnati, and I continue to be totally psyched about perfecting this applique technique.

The reason I want to learn it so bad is that I have an ancient UFO that has bugged me for years. I love this quilt, and it is so close to being finished. That pesky applique panel at the top of the quilt has had me stymied for years - I will guess 15-20.

Here is the pattern, copyrighted in 1998, for heavens' sake! So my 20-year guess is off a bit, isn't it?? So maybe it's more like 15. Geesh.

All those rows were so much fun to make, and even after all this time, I still love the colors and fabrics I used to make them. It is really pretty!! I have come so close on several different occasions to omitting the applique panel. I just could never allow myself to be defeated by it, though.

Part of my reluctance to throw out the panel is that I have started on it. My apologies for the shadow here, but I think it is sufficiently shows my (limited) progress.

So, here is a flower component which appears twice in the panel. I worked on them today, and feel relatively successful. Take a look:

So what do you  think? Am I getting the hang of it? If I continue to do this applique business, I will invest in some fabric glue. The expert I watched at the show did what she called "glue basting," and that would be a whole lot easier, I think. Getting these pinned the way I wanted was tricky.

I sure do enjoy it, and I am so glad I watched the quilt show expert for as long as I did. She gave such good instructions, along with some wonderful little tips and hints. I referenced her in a post from a few days back. If you click here you can read about it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

The Most Adorable 5-Year-Olds In the World

My twin nieces are now 5 1/2, and are currently on vacation with their parents in Florida. I got these 2 pictures in emails yesterday with the subject lines of "Strike a Pose" and "Another Pose." They perform on command, I believe! I do know they love the camera, so are ready with a pose without warning.

Anna Rose, left, and Mary Jean, right.

Anna Rose and Mary Jean, the cutie-patooties.

I worked yesterday at Sherrie's on Kaitlin's wedding quilt. Five of the Freinzies pitched in and we got a lot done. All 8 of us will be dining together on Thursday, so I will find out if there is more to be done.

I have not worked any more on the Kissing Fish quilt. I need to cut out the parts for the additional blocks.

Happy Quilting, Friends!