Wednesday, December 31, 2014

For the Birds



Our guild show is coming up in March 2015. I made this small piece in response to one of the challenges set for the show. It's titled "Out on a Limb" and is a huge drawing of a tree trunk with outstretched limbs. The drawing was partitioned off into sections and each section was assigned a season and time of day. The one I selected is Winter Night and as you can see, it is the very end of the branch. We were allowed to interpret our section however we chose using whatever techniques we chose, the only requirement being that the branch had to start and end exactly as drawn on our individual section so that when all the pieces are placed side by side the continuity of the tree branch is preserved.

I used several techniques on my piece. The sky was constructed using fabric weaving and was constructed on a piece of fusible batting. When the woven piece was finished to my satisfaction, it was ironed to the fusible, stabilizing it. The snow was made using Victoria Findlay Wolfe's made fabric technique. She was a guest speaker and artist at our guild earlier this year and I was eager to incorporate what I learned from her into this little challenge project. The cardinal and tree branch were done with fusible machine applique. At first the red bird did not show up to advantage against the dark blue of the sky background. Therefore, I fused the entire bird to a piece of sparkly silver Fairy Frost fabric. What I learned in doing this is that fusible adhesive does not adhere hardly at all to the heavily frosted surface of this fabric. That made it necessary to sew all around the edge of pieces to make sure they didn't fall off.

I used a pillowcase, knife edge finish as I did not relish trying to get a binding in dark blue and white to match up with the background sections of the piece. I fused a strip of Wonder Under to the wrong side of the backing, then cut a slit so that I could turn the piece inside out without having to whip stitch the opening closed on the edge. I am a good hand sewer, but I never think those whip stitched openings ever look really, really good.

After the backing was sewn on and the quilt turned inside out, I pulled off the paper from the Wonder Under and pressed the backing to the batting. This really helped in keeping the piece together while  quilting it. I quilted it using some decorative stitches and metallic thread. Lastly I embellished it with paillette stars in the night sky and iridescent sequins on the tree branch to suggest frosty snow. In addition to the metallic thread and sequins, there are quite a few fabrics that are sliver metallic or shimmery. I think the overall effect I wanted to achieve - of a sparkly, cold, snowy winter night - was accomplished.

Things I learned along the way:

1.While the knife edge pillowcase technique was supposed to save me time and hassle by not having to deal with a two color binding, it presented its own set of issues. One of them is the fact that with no binding to be sewn on to cover up the edges of the quilted lines, each and every thread had to be threaded onto a needle, pulled to the back, tied off, and buried. There were a lot of those to do.

2. With the amount of quilting the piece distorted and the edges are not straight (the cropping I did prior to uploading the photo corrects that in the picture) and are a bit wavy especially on the right hand side. This was exacerbated by the woven fabric night sky and the made-fabric snow which have all kinds of wonky seams.  You can't square up the quilt after quilting when using this technique, so it is definitely something to consider with this method.

3. If you are going to torture yourself with metallic thread, use a metallic needle. Enough said.

4. I need to learn to use a thimble. As calloused as my fingers are from making 2,000 hexies this year, the skin is not thick enough to push a needle through several layers of fabric backed with fusible and with fusible batting underneath that. Some of my DNA now lives in this little quilt.

5. Fairy Frost fabric does not fuse well.

By the way, the little caption above the cardinal reads "Winter is for the birds." Oh yeah, I also forgot to give the bird an eye. He will have one - done with silver and black Sharpies. The finished size is 24" x 16".

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas



Argyle Christmas, which I made last year, is now quilted although this photo is just of the unquilted top. It is a pattern from "Simply Modern Christmas" by Cindy Lammon, shown below. Bonnie Hunter is hosting a Christmas Party Link Up over at Quiltville. Take a look!




This is as far as I got with Alex Anderson's Christmas Lights pattern last year. It's still sitting on the floor under the design wall, waiting to be taken out of  "time out."


And much as I would like to take credit for this beauty, I have to give credit to Hattie Thompson, a guild member, who made this Christmas sampler quilt and showed it off to us last year. The pattern ran over most of the year in one of the quilt magazines several years back. It was either McCall's or American Patchwork and Quilting. It is just stunning and she did a beautiful job!


I will be wrapping presents and baking off one last batch of Christmas cookies today. What about you?

Monday, December 22, 2014

Grand Illusion Clue # 4


Bonnie promised us an easy clue this week and it was. I was done in record time (for me), finishing up on Saturday evening. We had to make 80 more of the broken dishes blocks, very similar to the ones made in step 1. There were 80 pink and aqua half square triangle blocks made in step 1 which were used to kick start this week's blocks. I know these look alike, but trust me, they aren't. There are 40 each of two different colorations of this block. No amount of twisting and turning, flipping or flopping of one block will make it the same as the alternate colorway. They are also different in color from clue #1 blocks, which have no white or neutral squares. See everyone's progress here.

My cookie baking is proceeding apace with these cookies being completed so far: Springerle, chocolate chip (Toll House recipe, natch), peanut butter, sugar, Red Velvet, spritz (tinted red and green), and Russian Teacakes. In the fridge chilling for tomorrow's baking is the dough for gingerbread cookies. 

Oh, and I almost forgot, Redneck cookies. That is not the original name for them but rather what I decided to call them. I think they are called Cracker Dream Cookies which is an even more offensive name unless you know that Ritz crackers are one of the ingredients. No baking is actually involved. One Ritz cracker is spread with marshmallow creme, and another with peanut butter. They are sandwiched together, dipped into melted chocolate, and finished off with sprinkles. I am hoping that the salty/sweet/crunchy/creamy combo will be a hit because they are awfully messy to make.

I have already decided that Red Velvet cookies will not be getting a reprise next year. They were only selected because they looked so nice and bright red in the Yummly photo and I thought they would make a nice addition to the cookie tray. See the photo. Despite the extraordinary amount of red food coloring (5 tsp.), this cookie doesn't really look much different than chocolate crinkle cookies. Maybe if you reduced the amount of cocoa powder from 1/4 c. to 2 tbsp. you might get a redder color. Anyway, they do not have an outstanding taste and they aren't red, so they have been crossed off any future cookie list.

A cookie really has to be outstanding to make my keeper list. They have to taste really good, look appealing, have a sensible number of ingredients, and not require a Cordon Bleu certificate to make. After the gingerbread cookies are finished, the cookie kitchen will be closed. I might still make an old-fashioned buttermilk fudge recipe that one of my guild members posted the other day. We will see.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Grand Illusion Clue #3



I am working away on clue 3 of Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion mystery quilt. This week we are making a kind of double four patch block. There is a lot of speculation flying around cyberspace as to the function of these blocks in the final quilt. I have heard several people mention that they think the blocks will be in the border. Bonnie likes pieced sashing, however, so that is definitely also a possibility, I prefer just to go with the flow, make the blocks, and wait and see where everything fits in with the final reveal.

Bonnie warned us to make a practice strip and double check the finished size to ensure proper sized blocks - much like making a swatch when knitting to check your gauge (which I always hate to do). I did it this time and lo and behold I wasn't as accurate as I thought. So I made a couple of minor adjustments to my seam width to get the blocks to come out to the right size, which is 6.5" x 3.5" unfinished. To see everyone's progress, click here.

I haven't gotten as far along as I would have liked. Friday I couldn't sew at all because it was my mother's 92nd birthday and I wanted to spend some time with her. Our guild Christmas party was Friday evening and that required some last minute preparations on my part as program chair. And I can't honestly say what happened on Saturday, although I did manage to get 36 blocks finished (120 are needed), which is as far as I have gotten. Today, between grocery shopping, cookie dough making, skyping with a friend in Germany, Christmas letter writing, and card addressing - not to mention making acorn squash soup for dinner - the day just flew by without one minute for sewing. I'll get there by Friday, though. just have to have a couple of days uninterrupted.


THURSDAY EVENING UPDATE: ALL 120 BLOCKS OF CLUE #3 ARE DONE!! Ready for clue #4.


Not such a great photo, but this is one tray of Springerle cookies from my efforts today. For those of you not familiar with this southern German specialty, it is an old style cookie, anise flavored and imprinted with wooden molds. You can't really see that very well in the photograph. They have to dry overnight and in the morning they will be baked in a low oven (275-300 degrees). The cookies will spring up (hence the name) in a certain way. I will post another photo after they are baked. My brother-in-law, whose grandmother was of German descent, loves them as I do. He will get the majority of what I make, as all but six will go to him as a Christmas present.

They are particularly good with a cup of strong tea. I have molds that I bought while a student in Germany 40 years ago and a good friend gifted me her mother's wooden molds after her mother's death. You can still buy the molds today, of course, but as the good ones are still hand carved, they are pricey. Here's a link to some really spectacular ones: the Springerle Baker.

Last, but certainly not least, welcome aboard to Rhoda and Carla, new followers. I am also finding new and interesting blogs to follow through Bonnie's Monday Mystery Link-ups!

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Grand Illusion Step 2



Here's a small selection from the 100 blocks we need to make for this week's step 2 of Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion. I have completed 76. 24 more to go. I feel confident that this step will be finished later today! Go here for Linky Monday. You can see what everyone else is doing on this mystery quilt.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt Step 1



Bonnie Hunter has posted clue #1 of her 2014 mystery quilt, Grand Illusion. I completed part of step one today. All 280 half square triangles are done. They were made using her preferred method using the Easy Angle ruler. From 200 of the HSTs we are to make 100 broken dishes blocks as above. I have completed 22 so far. Of course, we have no idea how they will be used in the final quilt (it's a mystery, remember?), so these two layouts are just "because." Here are the rest of my HSTs:



It's not too late to join in the fun. For complete information about the mystery, click on the Grand Illusion button to the right of the post. To see what everyone else is up to, click here.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Mystery Quilt and Starry Migration



I just finished this quilt top this morning. It's intended for a friend's grandson/ The pattern is Starry Migration by Tamara Kate Designs. It's made with Origami Oasis fabrics by Michael Miller. The size is 52" x 41". One of the fabrics, with the yellow zebras, is intended to be fussy cut so as not to feature any of the blue zebras that are also in the fabric. I chose to include one blue patch and will call this quilt "One Blue Zebra".


With this project out of the way, I am free to pull out all the stops to complete the first step of Bonnie Hunter's 2014 Mystery Quilt, Grand Illusion. This will be the third year in a row I have participated in her mystery quilts and they have all been winners. I have pretty much adhered to her color scheme and have not been disappointed yet. To find out more about Grand Illusion, click the button on the right of this post. It's not to late to jump in!

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Baby's First Christmas Quilt




This is a baby quilt for my neighbor's baby, a little boy, born this past February. The pattern is Dapper Canon from "Simply Retro" by Camille Roskelley. I have already made this quilt once in another colorway and liked it enough to make it again. It goes together easily and quickly. The fabrics are from Storybook by Kate and Birdie for Moda Fabrics.

I have been plugging away at my English paper pieced hexagons as well as the Lady of Shalott quilt by Ricky Tims. That one is a chore for me at present as I labor away at the tiny blanket stitching that goes around each and every applique - and the thing is covered in it. I am looking forward to next Friday when I give dive head first into Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion mystery quilt for 2014.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Plugging Away at the Lady


I have been plugging away, slowly but surely, on this Ricky Tims' project, Lady of Shallott. It is a Rhapsody  design, for those who are familiar with this aspect of Ricky's work. It is a slow process because the double blanket stitch around the appliqued pieces cannot be done quickly - at least not by  me.



I am learning a lot and hope to design my own Rhapsody quilt one day, I have an inspiration photo taken at the Russian Chapel in Darmstadt, Germany several years ago when my husband and I visited the site.


This is a lovely gem of a chapel, built by the German royal cousins of the Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. Tzarina Alexandra was a native of Germany and she used this chapel when she visited her family in Germany. The chapel has beautiful tile work under the gold decoration at the top of the walls. Turquoise is a prominent color, Directly beneath the turquoise tile work are half moon "lunas" with more detailed tile work. A close up of one of the lunas, taken by my husband with a telephoto lens, is my inspiration for the applique that I hope to incorporate one day in my own Rhapsody quilt.

You can read about the chapel here.


Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween




My favorite (so far) Halloween quilt. It is named "Owen's Quilt" in honor of a favorite young man whose birthday is Halloween.

While on retreat, I finally finished this quilt top. All it needed was the final border. Guess this tells you how much I hate sewing on borders, huh? I can't lay my hands on the book at the moment (imagine that), but will post the name of the pattern when I find it. It's done in modern Christmas fabrics.




The day lily wall hanging has also been completed. Now it goes into the pile "to be quilted someday."



Last but not least, two veggie blocks are finished and the third one started for the kitchen wall hanging. Both the lilies and the veggies are patterns by Ruth McDowell. I would have been well advised to have made the corn block larger. Both for aesthetic reasons and for ease of piecing. It's giving me fits. Lots of steam being applied.


Saturday, October 25, 2014

Day Lilies



I began working on these day lilies several years ago. Three flowers were completed and then the project sat in the "time out" box until this week. I went on a quilt retreat with three friends to a summer cottage owned by one of them. I love these home made retreats the best. We were blessed with lovely Indian summer weather and I pulled out this project box to take along. The lily in the upper right quadrant is not quite finished. I hope to finish it tomorrow. Then a decision will have to be made as to what to do with them. They are from Ruth McDowell's book, "Pieced Flowers." I so enjoy making these that I believe that I will make a triptych of pieced vegetables next. There is a perfect wall in my kitchen that is begging for some adornment.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Ready for Bonnie


I'm ready for Bonnie Hunter's "Grand Illusion" mystery quilt. The first clue will be posted on Friday, November 28, 2014. All the introductory information is here. Fabrics, with the exception of the yellow yardage, were pulled from my stash. Truth be told, I could have pulled that as well but Bonnie is using one fabric for the yellow in the mystery quilt, so I decided to do the same. That required a small bit of fabric shopping while I was away in San Diego. Bonnie Hunter was in San Diego during the week I was there, but with all there was to do at my brother's house, I didn't feel I wanted to take the time to attend her lectures. I will catch up with her next fall when she will be here in St. Louis in conjunction with the Quintessential Quilt Show put on by Circle in the Square Quilt Guild.

Back in May I had visited my brother in the East Bay of northern California to help with packing up and moving to southern California. This trip was to help him and his wife unpack. It was a big job and we didn't get accomplished as much as I had hoped. It's trickier unpacking than packing in some ways. Decisions about where things need to go have to be done by the people living in the house. Then, just when you think you have figured it out, another box is opened and you have to rethink what you just did. Sometimes things have to be moved again to make a sensible arrangement.

I did of lot of citrus picking and eating, though. There are 30 fruit trees on my brother's property. Mostly they are citrus of every type plus five avocado trees. We ate fresh grapefruit every morning. Sometimes as a snack again in the afternoon. Limes for beverages. And the promise of many juicy mornings to come as soon as the navel oranges ripen in January.

The days were sunny and warm with misty mornings and cool nights. Perfect weather. Except for the lack of rain.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Final Layout and Possible Borders



I finished sewing the blocks together on the Stepping Stones project. I have a piece of Kaffe Fassett fabric pinned up on the right that I am thinking of using for the borders. It is for another project, but I think I can get more, or something similar. The magenta strip was pinned up just to see if I want another smallish inner border before the final floral one. That is not the color that will be used. If I decide to make another border, it will probably be the purple that is in several of the blocks in the quilt top.



Margaret, this is for you. You wondered at the sharp long points, and here is how it's done. They are paper pieced. As you can see, some of the paper has been removed as the sections were sewn together. No reason to pick out tiny bits from the seams later if it can be helped. That will be a little project to do one of these evening in front of the television. By the way, this is a Judy Niemeyer pattern.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Stepping Stones Progressing



I am fiddling around with the final layout for "Stepping Stones", which was started back in August at a Judy Niemeyer workshop hosted by my guild. The instructor was May Snook of Rolla, MO. The blocks still need  the remainder of the sashings plus a border. The pattern calls for a piano key border, but not being a fan of that style, I will probably come up with something else.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Borders On and a Guild Challenge



The borders are finally on this project. It's one of the more mundane, and - to me - boring tasks and I can procrastinate with the best of them. Now it gets moved to the "to quilt" pile.


This rather unpromising drawing is the jumping off point for our guild's quilt show challenge. This is the actual paper pattern and measures approximately 19" x 16". There are twelve of these patterns in the series and three series were made. This is the tip of a tree branch which extends across eleven other patterns, each one a bit different as you follow the branch back to the tree trunk. Each pattern has a different season and time of day. This one is Winter Night. Other than the finished size, which must meet the dimensions of the pattern, and the tree branch, which must also match the pattern, how the time of day and season are depicted is the choice of the individual challenge participant. 

You can depict a scene looking straight out at the horizon, up into the sky, or down at the ground. Anything can be placed in the background - landscape, sky, buildings, etc., or on the branch. I have figured out what I am going to do, so the hardest part (ha! famous last words?) is done. All that's left is the execution. The completed piece has to be a finished quilt, i.e., three layers quilted and bound. The deadline is January.

The background pieces I put together and posted here, went into the reject pile. What I envisioned as looking like African landscape turned out to be entirely too somber and muddy. The fabrics for the elephant either clashed terribly with the the background or dissolved into it. It was a disaster. Plan #2 is to use interesting subtle tan and beige prints. I used this to good effect several years ago in this quilt.


The background pieces look gray in this photo, but there are actually warm beige in color. The change in background pieces helped a lot, but there is going to be much trial and error cutting the pieces for the elephant body. I was pretty dejected a couple of days ago, but feel like tackling it again soon.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Blue Bird of Happiness


September's hexie block, a blue bird, is finished although not appliqued onto a background just yet. On my way to my LQS for that and fabric for a new project.


Shopping completed! This doesn't look like much at the moment, but it is the background for an African elephant, soon to appear. The fabric in the lower left side is a piece of authentic African batik salvaged from clothing. The friend who gave it to me spent two years in Accra, Ghana in the early 1990s. She had several outfits made for herself while there. Not having a use for them when she was back home, she gifted them to me. I have been parsing them out over the ensuing years and they have appeared in various projects. This particular project will be a gift for her first grandchild. I promised a baby quilt, but this will be a wallhanging, so I guess I am still on the hook for a baby quilt.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Hexie BOM Progress



I haven't posted in a while as I didn't have anything interesting to show. I am working on the September block of the Hexie BOM project but thought it would be interesting to see the eight that have been completed so far. The September block will probably be finished this evening as there is another two hour episode of Ken Burns' "The Roosevelts" on PBS. Prime hexie time!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Cell Phone Bike Bag

I attended a family reunion this weekend and re-connected with about three dozen first cousins from my mother's side of the family. It was quite the crowd with my mother being the oldest of the four remaining siblings in her family. Three of her brothers also survive out of eight children. One of my cousins died tragically 20 years ago from a malignant brain tumor when his four children were quite small. His wife has saved pieces of his clothing all these many years in the hopes of finding someone to make small quilted pieces for each of his children.

When she heard I was a quilter, she asked if I knew anyone who could take on this project. She has called here and there and has been searching for several years, to no avail. She even took a quilting class at Jo-Ann's but quickly realized such a project was over her head. Of course, having known Bob, her husband, how could I do otherwise but to offer my services? We will get together soon to work on getting this project started.She described very small projects - almost just a table topper size. I will aim a bit higher and try to get lap sized quilts made for her. It will all depend on how much fabric is in the clothing she has saved.

Next up, my sister has gotten into bicycling rather energetically in her "old" age. She is looking great and has really built up her stamina to the 30+ mile range! She has an app for her phone, "Map My Ride", which keeps all kinds of statistics for her as she rides, plus it has GPS capabilities. She has been putting it in her pack on the back of her bike, but can't always hear it. So, I am making her a cell phone holder to go on the handlebars. Here it is.


I used a fun orange and turquoise plaid for the inside.



The black straps on the sides are Velcro to wrap around the center bar. The black ribbons at the top are to anchor it further and are meant to be tied onto the handlebar. I hope it works out for her.

Otherwise, I have been working on hand work at night and plugging away at the Judy Niemeyer paper piecing blocks for the "Stepping Stones" quilt. Here are the latest two, completed this evening during QuiltCam with Bonnie Hunter. The count is now up to about 20, with 36 needed to complete the quilt.



These are the "K" blocks and have the dark sashing strips sewn to one side. Yes, these blocks are angled a little, per the pattern. Grunge is the more or less solid fabric in both blocks and the prints are straight out of my stash. As you can see, I ascribe to Bonnie's philosophy that anything goes. A green 30s print in one and a gold metallic modern print in the other.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Busy But No Final Products Yet


I have been working on several things as once - no surprise there. I made these three string pieced blocks last night as samples for a QOV project that our guild is doing. The hope is that it will spur guild members to make these simple blocks in between or along with their other projects and donate them each month at meetings. When it's time to construct our quilts, those who wish may make use of the blocks for the QOV they are making. Sometimes people just need a "visual."



This is my August hexie blog that is featured at The Hexie Blog. As you can see, I had to truncate my sunflower by omitting the six outermost hexies in order for the flower to fit onto the background fabric. It looks from the photo as though there is plenty of room, but I haven't cut the background down to 15.5" yet. If I do that, then the edges of the flower will be at or on the seam line. Others making this project have had the same problem. Not quite sure what the issue is, but I like mine better anyway. Seems more sunflower-like.


Lastly, here is the first strip from a new hand applique project I started from "Savor Each Stitch" by Carolyn Friedlander. There are several projects in the book that are appealing to me, not the least because, although they are "modern", many are hand appliqued. So, the best of two worlds as far as I am concerned. The circles are freehand cut and needle turn appliqued. She says in the book that the variations thus produced add to the charm. Maybe it's just me, but I think that I will try using a template for the next strip. The first two circles on the left were cut without templates as suggested in the book. The others were cut using a large spool as a template and I simply drew around the spool on the fabric, rough cut with scissors, and needle turned them onto the strip. The "variations" don't look all that charming to me, especially once the circles were more or less uniform in size and shape. Then the "variations" really stand out. Plus they aren't really straight down the middle of the strip either. Live and learn. Pressing on....

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Getting Help with the Scraps


This is my very discriminating helper, Charley. He is a very affectionate feline and loves to roll around in the scraps. I had dumped out a bag of strips, scraps, and crumbs on to the floor as I dug around for small bits for a new applique project. My daughter's dog went home today after 9 days of dog sitting. I think Charley is just so happy to see the back end of that canine for awhile that he was rolling in ecstasy in the fabric scraps. Our other feline, Mickey, aka "Mr. Excitement" (due to his predilection for bringing live prey into the house), made friends with Striker. I wouldn't exactly call it a love affair, but they got along. Charley not so much.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Circle Lattice



I finished the hand applique on this piece. It is "Circle Lattice" from Carolyn Friedlander's book, "Savor Each Stitch." Next step is to get more of the blue Shirting Stripe fabric by Kaffe Fassett for borders. Then quilting.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Under the Needle





I have started quilting the New York Beauty top that I started back in May in a workshop with Linda Hahn. I am practicing free motion quilting and it's certainly true that practice makes perfect. Well, at least makes better.



Also coming slowly along are the paper-pieced blocks of my Judy Niemeyer Stepping Stones project. The weather has once again turned seasonal here, which is to say it is very hot (95 degrees and higher) and humid. It is August in the Midwest and this type of weather is to be expected.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

A Productive Workshop



Our guild hosted a Judy Niemeyer paper-piecing workshop today. I was able to complete four blocks in the class and two more this evening at home. The blocks are not at all difficult and it was fun to see the colors and patterns emerge.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Mizzou Quilted!


Mizzou is quilted, bound, labeled, washed and dried. Ready for gifting on Saturday. Some of my favorite Grunge fabric is in the first gold strip at the top of the quilt.


Closeup of the fusible appliques with the Mizzou tiger and university logo.


Tiger stripes for the backing.

The quilting follows the lines of the chevrons, so it was nothing complicated. The lines of quilting are about 1" apart and the new Bernina performed flawlessly without the aid of a walking foot. 

I have been cutting fabric in preparation for a Judy Niemeyer workshop on Saturday with my guild. Today I will gather up all the supplies I need. I am only lacking template plastic. There is usually some on hand in my sewing room, but the piece is not large enough so off to the store after lunch. I will also be picking up batting for the two QOVs that need to be quilted prior to September's meeting.

While in Cedar Rapids recently for a Ricky Tims Super Seminar, the latest Ricky project, "Lady of Shallott" was on display. The colors are gorgeous, and really, nothing is a good substitute for seeing one of these projects up close and personal. Mine was ordered today. With the new Bernina I have confidence that I can complete this project.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Ready to Quilt



The quilt for my niece's dorm room is ready to quilt. Slight mishap with the dang cat. Even though I gave Mickey a nice fat pile of batting scraps to lie in and play with, he jumped onto the back and batting all nicely spray basted and proceeded to claw a hole in the batting. Grrr. I was able to spray baste the chunk back into place and no one will be the wiser (I hope). So you know what I'll be doing the next few days. Chained to my  new Bernina! I want this finished to be able to give to my niece to take to college. Deadline is Sunday, August 10.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

July Hexie BOM



The July Hexie BOM is finished just in the nick of time. I seem to be able to procrastinate by visiting quilt stores, pawing my fabric stash, reading quilting magazines, and surfing the net. Otherwise I have been slogging away on the dorm quilt for my niece. Pics soon as the top is sewn together completely.