Pinwheel Daisies

I finished Pinwheel Daisies and have given it to the recipient, the daughter of a former co-worker. This is a quilt top that has been hanging in my closet since around 2006 or so. The pattern is from American Patchwork and Quilting magazine from around that time. I decided to quilt it and get it out of here for a special little girl to enjoy.

Next up is this month's BOM, The Fox has Spots, from Quilted Fox store.

I recently received instructions from a quilt designer to test out one of her new patterns by making several blocks. I am sworn to secrecy and can't show you the block or pattern, but when it's released, I will post about the project.

Last night I attended Hearts 'n Hands Quilt Guild in O'Fallon, IL. Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works, was the speaker. She is a certified Judy Niemeyer instructor and I am now kicking myself that I didn't take her workshop, which was today.

Grandmother's Choice: Contrary Wife

We did a Grandmother's Choice block a few weeks back called "Contrary Husband", seen here. This is the mate to that one, "Contrary Wife." Seems a fitting pair of blocks for a blog entitled "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary."

I have also been working sporadically and somewhat diffidently on "My Guy." The challenge is over, all that is left is the mechanics of sewing on borders, a task I truly dislike. I cut up all the pieces for this quilt prior to retreat. Another mistake and one I will not repeat. I didn't like the blandness of the original pattern and in brainstorming with others at the retreat, came up with the idea of adding small red strips in between the columns of blocks. That did the trick as regards blandness, but now the borders aren't long enough. I am in the process of inserting red strips randomly into the outer borders to lengthen them. I think it looks better that way, so it's not a problem, just more fiddling with the hated borders.

Also on retreat the borders for my Bonnie Hunter Easy Street mystery quilt were sewn on. It's a simple task, but - again - BORING. It managed to suck up half of a day of sewing at the retreat. Here's a look at the borders. The top is nicely pressed and quite large, so I didn't unfold it for the photo.

I will be taking a couple of things over to the longarm quilter this week. That will at least free up a bit of space in the old sewing nook.

One for the Boys

While on retreat I worked on a Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle quilt, "My Guy". This was published in 2009 in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. I have a large amount of plaid fabrics from years ago when they were needed for a nephew's quilt. Determined to use them, I came across the pattern while cleaning out old magazines. After piecing a few blocks, it became clear that something was needed to jazz up the look of the blocks. One of my friends suggested small strips of red between the columns and another suggested confetti like sprinkles of red, orange and yellow across the surface of the quilt. They will be added and fused down after the top is completed so that placement can be determined. And before one of you ARs (Alert Readers, with apologies to Tom Schlafly) points out that the plaids are not necessarily cut on grain - I don't give a rat's you-know-what. This is to be a fun, quirky quilt and will eventually be donated to our guild's upcoming charity project. Some young man will love it. No pink, no purple, no flowers, hearts, fairies, or unicorns, thank you very much.  To see more of what Bill and Weeks are doing, check out their website - Modern Quilt Studio.

Art Square

The Grandmother's Choice block this week is Art Square. My rendition is above. I have been on quilt retreat since last Friday. It was a very productive time and a lot of fun. New friends made and old acquaintances renewed.

East Quilts West

For several years I have participated in a monthly workshop, East Quilts West, hosted by Quilted Fox Quilt Store and led by owner Louise Georgia. The blocks are from Kumiko Sudo's book, "East Quilts West." It is now out of print, but copies can be nabbed from time to time from Amazon. Here is a slide show of my blocks. Give it a few seconds to load, turn up your speakers, and enjoy.

Customize your own free picture slideshow

Grandmother's Choice: Endless Stairs

The Grandmother's Choice block this week is "Endless Stairs" and here's mine.

This Memorial Day has been very productive for me. I am getting caught up with Bonnie Hunter's Lazy Sunday mystery quilt, making 24 of the yellow, orange, and turquoise blocks of step 3. When that task is complete, cutting begins for two quilts to take with me to retreat next weekend.

It's a four day retreat! I haven't been on a commercially sponsored retreat in several years. Usually they are only over a weekend, beginning on Friday and ending on Sunday. With all the stuff you have to haul to a retreat, what amounts to a day and a half of sewing time doesn't seem worth it. For me, it usually goes something like this: arrivie Friday, set up, eat lunch, and  finally get to sit down and sew on Friday afternoon; eat dinner, sew an hour or two after dinner. Saturday is pretty much all day sewing. Sunday: breakfast, show and tell, pack up to be ready to leave directly after lunch. This time we arrive Friday in the morning and don't have to leave until Monday afternoon.

Have to figure out how to get my Bernina sewing chair into the car. Four days of sitting and sewing is too long to use a metal folding chair. The last time this happened, I could barely sit or walk afterwards and could not sit and sew at all for longer than 15 minutes. That was when I bought the Bernina chair. It was worth every penny and I have never had any pain while sewing since then.

Less Mardi Gra-ish

Other than the fact that the upper left block has an entire row sewn in backwards, I am satisfied with how the two blocks look together. I am sure they are not going to end up in the finished quilt in this order. Bonnie always has a surprise at the end. This month we are also making a whole lot of black/white print and purple rectangular units. They have to go somewhere.