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.

Blocks from Bonnie's Workshop

Here are the blocks I made in the Crumbs workshop with Bonnie Hunter last Friday in Champaign, IL. It was a day of total fun and play. No stress. The workshop was hosted by the Illini Country Quilt Guild. A big thank you to them for allowing non-members into the workshops and lecture. It's a great group of ladies and I had a wonderful time. If you ever get the chance to take a workshop with Bonnie, do so. You will not be disappointed.

Bonnie suggested using the blocks to make a baby quilt and I think it's a super idea, don't you?

Awesome Teacher and Workshop

I had the good fortune of attending a Bonnie Hunter lecture and workshop last night and today. Bonnie is a fantastic teacher and just as nice in person as one might expect by experiencing her online presence.The workshop I took was the Crumbs workshop. We made wonky stars, folksy hearts, string/crazy pieced blocks, and free form letters. It was all play and fun and no stress. When I get my blocks unpacked, I will post some photos of what I learned and made. In the meantime, here are a few photos from among the many I took last night of Bonnie's quilts. The photo on the table above is from "Ring Around the Hexies" which Bonnie co-authored with Mickey Depre.

Hawk's Nest from "Scraps and Shirttails II".

Virginia Bound from "Scraps and Shirttails".

Lazy Sunday mystery quilt published in Quiltmaker magazine in 2013.

Midnight Flight from "More Adventures with Leaders and Enders"

Lucy's Baskets from "More Adventures with Leaders and Enders"

Winston Ways from "More Adventures with Leaders and Enders"

Sister's Choice - free pattern at quiltville/blogspot.com

Yes, I know, there are three quilts pictured with no name. I have to get to my quilt books to find out what the names are and when I do, they will be posted.

UPDATE: Finally found the book I was looking for and the names of the quilts have been added.

Out of the Box

Out of the box. Up and running. Finishing up a QOV. So much fun to sew on this machine.

And here is the first quilt top I completed with the new machine.

There may be some rail fence blocks that went in the "wrong" way, but honestly, I can't tell. There is supposedly a pattern, but I can't see it. I will be quilting this top and the first QOV quilt I made on the new Bernina. While at the Ricky Tims Super Seminar in Cedar Rapids last week, one of the sponsors of the event was Pine Needles quilt store. I found two different spools of thread at Pine Needles in a red, white, and blue colorway that will be used to quilt these tops. If you ever find yourself in Cedar Rapids, IA, treat yourself and visit this store. The selection and customer service are top notch.

I taught myself to free motion quilt - more or less. The results were not always what I had hoped for. The new machine has a stitch regulator and I am hoping it will make a difference in the quality of my quilting. Some quilters have said that once they learned to free motion quilt, using a stitch regulator messed them up. I will report back on my experience with the gadget.

Christmas in July

Christmas in July. Wonder what's in those boxes? Can you guess? I have a significant birthday coming up in three weeks and thought it was time to treat myself.

I know I have neglected the blog for awhile, but I have been busy, busy, busy - and mostly with quilty stuff. I have been to three guild meetings, two workshops, a QOV sew day, and a three day Ricky Tims seminar since last time I posted. More on all those activities soon. I just got back from the Tims seminar and am worn out. Some mindless television tonight before I tackle unpacking and setting up the contents of the two boxes above.

More Day Lilies and a Table Runner

As I mentioned before, the day lilies are really splendid this year. First of all, our plants have matured and are now good-sized, with each plant having over a dozen stems, each with multiple flower buds. Secondly the spring and summer here have so far been quite wet and cooler than normal. Seems to suit all the growing things. These particular lilies are just about my favorite. The predominant color is cheddar with a throat of mahogany.

This is one of the flower beds with several colors of day lilies and lots of cone flowers as well. If I could just get daisies to take hold, I would be content. For some reason - even though others seem to have no difficulty growing Shasta daisies, they have thwarted my best efforts. The cooler and wetter than normal weather this year in the Midwest has another side. The ticks and other insects are more prevalent than I can remember in a long time. Out outdoor cat came home with four ticks in one week, forcing us to change the flea preventive that we use to one that also controls ticks. Since then, no more ticks on Mickey. We humans are another matter however. This morning, after a quick walkabout in the yard taking these photos, I pulled a tick out of my hair.

Here's a table runner, hand-pieced except for the borders, from a packet of 2.5 inch pre-cut squares. The light aqua background fabric is Grunge by BasicGrey for Moda. It comes in a wide assortment of colors and is my go-to blender fabric of choice these days.