Blogger’s Quilt Festival

This is my first year to enter the Blogger’s Quilt Festival. And I decided that my entry would be my interpretation of Bunny Hill’s 2009 BOM A Tisket A Tasket and which I named Baskets and Lace. I completed the blocks in December 2009 and the full quilt was completed in January 2010.

This was my first attempt at any kind of applique. I did fusible applique and was very pleased with the outcome. Then the baskets needed to become a quilt. I went through all my fabrics and shopped in several different fabric shops but nothing seemed right. Then one day I remembered a ream of lace I had bought several years ago. That lace was perfect for the sashing and then one of my stash fabrics looked perfect. I am always surprised that fabrics speak up at just the right time.

The quilting was free motion machine quilting. I varied the filler in the blocks and followed the lace pattern in the sashing. Because the border fabric was so busy I only quilted loops.

I always label my quilts and usually with a machine embroidered label. It is always fun to hunt through all the designs I have collected to find one that fits the front.

This quilt will be entered in it’s first quilt show November 11-13. The local quilt guild is putting on a quilt show so Baskets and Lace will be making it’s debut.

Be sure to head on over to the Blogger’s Quilt Festival to see the online quilt show.

Mid-Week

It has been a while since I had time to post on a Wednesday. But with the finish of Christmas gifts there has been a turnaround in the studio.

The first thing I worked on was scrappy blocks for the Scrappy Quilt Along at Pleasant Home.

She is going to give several different ideas for using strips and strings to move those leftovers along to become quilts, bags, etc. I have made straight string blocks (right now a UFO) but this is the first time I have sewed strings in more of a log cabin format. Here I used primarily 1.5” strips that came out of this bin.

Please note that there seems to be enough strips left to completely fill the bin again. I think I will do several more before I put the bin back in place. I see a fun comfort quilt coming here.

Yesterday I was outside getting finish pictures of my Christmas gifts before packing them away. I was helped by Ms. Murphy, our adopted cat.

She has now had her first vet visit and shots and is scheduled for her “operation.” She better stick around now.

And when we take the dogs out, there she is, running along right with us. We never leave the property so she stays pretty safe.

And she and Abby love to explore our woods, where Ms. Murphy also frequently has lunch (uck).

This morning I skipped quilting for machine embroidery.

I found these earrings at Walmart and spent a couple of days looking through my embroidery designs for an appropriate design to go with them. I will be wearing these tomorrow at my WW meetings and then again to an employee meeting on Saturday and a Halloween party later that evening. I call this my “subtle” Halloween outfit.

:-( No Design Wall Monday

I have had a very productive week and I completed all of the handmade Christmas gifts I plan to make. And, as a design wall photo, I am showing my leftovers.

But, that being said, I haven’t yet had time to start new projects or even get UFOs out to see if one of them can be completed. But starting today I will be packing up the gifts and bagging up the quilts I am going to put in the guild show in November and then I will be looking at what I want to work on next. I do have a comfort quilt that needs quilting and a flannel quilt I want to make and the jacket I just bought fabric for, so I guess it won’t take too long before I am busy again.

Friday DH and I went to a quilt show in Dothan, AL (and I forgot to take my camera). The quilts were very nice and some were outstanding. But the highlight of the show was a collection of vintage victory quilts, at least 20. Many were made during WW II but some were much older and some even from more recent conflicts. The owner of the quilts (I didn’t get her name) had excellent reproductions of the patterns and some of the history surrounding them.

One highlight of the show was that I got to play with an Accuquilt GO. And since I knew more about it than the girl vending, I got to show it to DH and demonstrate it (my first time). I told him that I keep trying to win one but so far I have been a failure in that arena.

Saturday morning I took some time to check out the “color” of fall here on my little piece of South Alabama.

We don’t get the brilliant color that can be seen further north but we do enjoy just enough to experience seasonal change.

Then I went into the studio, turned on the iron and sewing machine and just as I was getting started DH came in and wanted me to go to the school with him to watch Auburn play football. They have a projection TV and a 6’ square screen. So off to Subway we went and then got to the school just in time for the kickoff. And, I must say, we had a good time watching another great game where, of course, Auburn won. But no sewing got done.

So Sunday I locked myself into the studio and finished off my biggest project (see above). However, even that got interrupted when I remembered that I was supposed to be cleaning the PVC poles that we will be using for the quilt show. 2 hours later I was back at the sewing machine. It is not easy getting things done around here.

Our weather has been picture perfect: nights in the high 40s and days in the low 80s with blue skies and lots of sunshine. We need rain but since I am not a farmer and we had lots of rain during the spring and summer, I have really been enjoying the beautiful days and taking breaks sitting outside. I even drove to NWFL with the windows down because the fresh air blowing through the car felt and smelled so good. And while there on Thursday I spent about 30 min at the beach, watching the water and fishermen. It was so peaceful.

Well, those new projects won’t get started unless I get off this computer. Have a great week!

Design Wall Monday

Well, there is nothing on the design wall but on my design ironing surface there is this.

These are the “baubles” I will be appliqueing for the Christmas BOW. I have one started but I am finding them a little difficult. I have never done applique with little pieces and my fusible isn’t behaving. I am going to try a different one today and see if it works better.

I only have a little bit of the background fabric so I can’t redo any of these. Here you can see the baubles drawn on the back of the fabric, ready for me to cut out and applique.

I did do some fabric shopping this weekend.

I bought this layer cake to use in the new BO2W that Moose on the Porch will be starting in November. I have never bought a layer cake before but I spent some time looking for a light group of fabrics for this one.

And this fabric is for a new quilted sweatshirt jacket for me. I have three already but when I lost weight last year those jackets have gotten too big. I have been wanting a blue jacket, thus the two blue fabrics. And I am planning on the lighter fabric to be the lining: or maybe I’ll do something else with it. Who, knows.

Be sure to check out what the other great quilters are doing over at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Wednesday

OK, that’s only to say there is something different on my design wall today. I have been working on my Esther Eliu BOW and have got the 12 paper pieced blocks done.

They don’t go into a star, I don’t think, but it was fun to play with them as I put them on the wall. For some reason I had difficulty with these: I think I have forgotten how to count. Anyway they are done and I started tracing out the applique (I will be using the fused applique method).

I am only two weeks behind and of course I won’t be able to sew for the next 2-3 days. But everything is set up, ready for me to get back to over the weekend.

I did finish the Hugs & Kisses quilt and it was gifted today. I really think it looks great with the green binding.

And we have one new thing at our house. It rained here yesterday, first time in three weeks, and DH became worried that the cats (outside cats) were getting wet. So he made this “lean-to” for them. It is sitting on the deck, next to the front door. I know one of the cats has found the top for afternoon naps but I don’t know if they have tried the inside or not. This is real country living.

Design Wall Monday

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I participate in Design Wall Monday’s at Patchwork Times. It is a wonderful place to share and see the works of several other quilters. But I sometimes wonder if everyone who lists their blog there reads all the other blogs. I do. But I read them 10 at a time and sometimes it takes me all week to get through them all.

Here is what is on my wall this week.

All quilted and ready for binding.

I also have strips cut to begin paper piecing Esther Eliu’s 12 Days of Christmas BOW (block of the week). I haven’t let myself start this until I get the above quilt done.

I have sewn the binding together and will be

pressing it and sewing it on today.

So, that is where I am, how about you?

Frustrating

Oh, not in the studio/sewing room. Things are going along there swimmingly. I am right on track with my Christmas gifts: should be all completed by the end of this month. (don’t get jealous) And I am coming along nicely on the Better Late backing: pieced backings do take a little more time, don’t they?

I even had to piece the label into the backing because I was short on the fabric I chose.

My frustration is with my reading. I am reading a wonderful book written by someone I care for a lot. However, I have always been a slow reader. But there is one other problem. I tend to read the good/happy parts quite quickly but when there is sadness or threat, I tend to slow down to a complete stop. I don’t like to read bad things so when the plot starts to put the hero in danger, I stop reading. Today I have stopped to do laundry, eat lunch, and sew. And then it takes me a while to go back and read through that part so I can get the hero to a good/happy point again.

I worked as a psychotherapist for 25 years and heard all kinds of horror stories that people were living through. My job was to help them make peace with what had happened so that they could live comfortably in the life they had ahead of them. I was good at that. But when I am reading (or watching TV or seeing a movie) I tend to shy away from the problems.

Now, my current dilemma is that this is a very good book. I love the characters, I love the setting and the family interaction and I want to finish the book so I can tell the writer how much I liked/loved the book and all that she has put into it. But I am having trouble getting through it: not the book’s fault but mine. You should have seen how long it took me to read the Lord of the Ring’s books and I loved them so much I read them twice.

Well, now that I have vented, I will show you that I am using my new placemats so it must be Fall in AL.

Design Wall Monday

And I have something new on it.

I have started working on a backing for this quilt.

This is my plan and I plan to put lettering in the white squares.

I have been working on the machine embroidery letters and have them almost ready and they are what is on my design wall this week.

Here is a close-up of one of the letters.

I decided to finish this quilt for a friend who recently was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I want her to know that she is being wrapped in love.

While the letters were sewing out I was working on some placemats for our fall table.

And, being a thrifty person, I put Christmas fabric on the back so we can use them for 3 full months each year.

All that and over 450 miles for Weight Watchers. Busy, busy, busy.

But the nicest thing that happened this week was that our SIL came over today and washed the outside of our house and the studio. We live in the humid South and suffer from a little mildew. But now our buildings are beautiful. Thanks, Gary.