Rabid Quilter

Wool Appliqued Kitties

2012-02-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm really loving this wool applique! The sewing's like 'butter' and it's really, really fast! I blanket stitched around all these cute kitties in a couple of hours. Nothing to turn under, no basting, just trace the pattern pieces on fusible, iron them on the wool, cut them out and fuse them on the main piece. A couple hours later, you're done! I'm still sewing on the eyes, noses and whiskers and there are a few more cute little details to do--mice, a yarn ball. . .

I changed the colors from the pattern on four of these kitties to represent our own: The gray and black is Bobo, the black and white is Tippy both cuddly little guys who adopted us a few years apart. They sleep with us, bring us 'presents' all the time and bring joy to our lives. The calico is Little Bit who passed away 5 years ago and the all gray is Boogie who passed away 2 years ago, also kitties who adopted us many years ago. We miss them so much. Perhaps some day, we'll have an orange kitty and a white one with gray patches. I hope so.

This started as a "Bareroots" candle mat pattern but I wanted to enlarge it for the center of my new dining room table. What you see here measures 19" across. When all the hand sewing is done, I'll be fusing this whole thing on a wool piece that's about 1 3/4" larger (a lovely green) making a pretty ring around it. Then I'll blanket stitch around that. I'll show it to you all when it's finished.

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Especially you Judy! Thanks for the Design Wall!

Selvage Bag

2012-02-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

Do you save selvages from your fabric? I heard quilters were saving them to make pincushions and small zippered bags so I started doing so about a year ago. When I was at the fabulous Road 2 California quilt show last month, I saw a woman carrying a great bag made of selvages and decided I had to make one!

I found a pattern I really loved and some bright Alexander Henry stripe-y fabric (to go in the opposite direction of my selvages) and started making it right away. I'd post the pattern title for you but, truly, it is written so poorly (missing pattern pieces, other pattern pieces the wrong size) that I wouldn't recommend it.

Getting all the selvages centered and sewn together on a foundation just the way I wanted them took several hours and the bag construction took several more but I just love it! Hope it inspires you to save your selvages and make something out of them!

Thank you, as always Judy, for allowing us to show off our wares!

Color Palette Challenge

2012-02-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

This is a stretch for me, that's what's so great about Judy's blog--she stretches us, challenges us, makes us better quilters!

I'm kind of choosy about my colors and there are certain colors I'm uncomfortable with but I decided I'm going to do this!

It looks like Judy's making a whole quilt each month but I can't do that so I have a plan: I'm going to make this same quilt block each month with the monthly color palette THEN make them into a quilt at the end of the year. This block is from one of my favorite books, "Knockout Blocks and Sampler Quilts" by Judy Martin. I feel the blocks in it are so different and original. With this particular block, I can use 5-6 different colors easily and I can't wait to see what the next month will bring! (In this photo it looks like I used black but it's really a really dark blue.)

Oh, and the best thing about this challenge: that we get to use all those fabrics from our stashes that are at the bottom of the stack, wondering when they're going to be chosen to appear in the next project! I have LOTS of those!! LOL!

UFO #5--All Done!

2012-02-01T00:12:00.000-08:00

By the hair of my chinny-chin-chin I finished my UFO #5, "Anteitum"just in time . I started this quilt at a mystery retreat last June and finished the top there then put it away. I pinned it a couple of weeks ago but didn't remember I needed to finish it until yesterday! Can I quilt it and sew on the binding before tomorrow, I wondered? Well, I spent 5 hours today quilting it on my domestic machine (Janome 6600), put the last stitch on the binding at 11:48 pm, took a picture (that's my adorable DH holding it for me) and typed up the blog.

I did a small meander on all the light, background spaces and put a little swirly stencil on the blue spaces, (haven't washed out the markings yet!) and let the rest "pop out". I love it! It will go to the next person who requests a quilt from me for one of the local charity auctions we have so often where I live in northern California.
Thank you, Judy, for inspiring all of us to finish our UFOs!

Wool Applique ala Primitive Gatherings

2012-01-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Judy, for letting us show our design walls every Monday. I am so inspired by what I see every week!

I've been a member of the Valley Quilt Guild in Yuba City CA for 15 years. I've lived 45 miles from there for over 11 years now and even though there are many quilt guilds closer to me, I still go there for meetings every month because my very favorite quilting buddies are there. Last week, we were lucky to have Lisa Bongean from Primitive Gatherings in Wisconsin teach us how to wool applique! What a character! We were thoroughly entertained by her lecture and her techniques and amazingly wonderful wool and patterns. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get hooked on this 'new' process as the wool is SO lovely to needle through and the sewing goes SO much more quickly than traditional applique. Instead of spending weeks or months producing a work of art with cotton, you can get a beautiful wool applique project finished in a fraction of that time. I'm all over that!! This is the project we worked on in the class.

I'm also in a Row Robin group and this is the row I'm to be inspired by. I plan to add a tree, another type of house and a bear in the row I make to go with this one.

Fabulous Chili

2012-01-24T21:30:00.000-08:00

Found a good-looking chili recipe on the Better Homes and Garden website and thought I'd try it. Made a few alterations and, wow, it's fantastic. Don't let the ingredients put you off. Make it and try it!

FABULOUS CHILI

Serves 12

1 Recipe Chili Seasoning, (recipe below)

1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck

1 1/2  large onion, chopped

3  stalks celery, sliced

2 1/2  tablespoons smoked paprika

2 1/2  teaspoons ground coriander

1  teaspoon crushed red pepper

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 15 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 can kidney beans

1  32 ounce container beef broth

1  6 ounce can tomato paste

2  ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped or

1 semi-sweet, 1 unsweetened

1/2 cups dried plums, chopped

directions

Prepare Chili Seasoning Puree. In 6-quart Dutch oven cook beef, onion, and celery until meat is browned, stirring as needed. Drain fat.

Stir in Chili Puree, paprika, coriander, crushed red pepper, and cloves. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Stir in undrained tomatoes, beef broth, kidney beans and tomato paste. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Add chocolate and plums. Simmer, covered, 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Makes 12 servings.

Chili Seasoning Puree

2  dried chili peppers

¼ cup  jarred, tamed jalapeno peppers

3/4 cup beef broth

5  pitted dried plums

directions

Place dried chile peppers in a bowl. Add boiling water to cover. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain; remove stems and seeds. In food processor or blender combine drained chile pepper, jalapeno pepper, beef broth, and dried plums. Cover and process or blend until smooth.

Another One Done!

2012-01-23T07:07:00.000-08:00

First things first: Did you all get a copy of Judy's new book, "60 Pieced Borders"? What a fabulous book!! There are so many quilts and borders I want to make! What a design WIZARD she is! If you haven't gotten the book yet, I'll tell you, it's the best value in a quilt book I've ever seen--and I have a couple hundred quilt books! Go get it!

Now, for my design wall:

I'm on a roll--two quilts finished in one week! How did this all come about? See, the part that always holds me up with a quilt is the PINNING! I simply don't have a place big enough (the floor is not an option with my bad back) to comfortably get this part of the process done--until this week!! My DH come up with 2 long tables and cleared a space in our well-lighted garage to put them up, got me a chair and everything so I could sit and pin--YAY!!!.

So, I pinned 3 quilts and quilted 2 of them! You saw the first in Judy's last Design Wall Monday (the baby quilt for my daughter's friend) and this one is for my daughter and her wife who will be closing on their first home next week. It will be a throw for their new sofa. Their color plan is white, black and Tiffany blue, the condo is bright and modern and they're young so I wanted something hip and fun. I decided on "Happy Hour" by Atkinson Design.

They don't know what the quilt looks like but I gave them a choice of back fabric knowing full well what they would choose: Zebra print Minkee! I quilted it with big flowers and leaves which I know they'll love too. I named the quilt "Happy Hour, Happy Home". I hope they thrive in this new space that's totally their own!

A word about the little orange rectangle: My daughter is trying to find the perfect rug for her living room and I told her last week to find one with a complimentary color in it as a boost to the palette they chose. That would be orange. Since they were married on Halloween, I included this orange fabric which has little pumpkins on it; a salute to their very happy, 3-year marriage.

Do you like the binding I chose?

One more thing: I just came back from arguably, the best quilt show in California: "Road 2 California" down in Ontario. The quilts! The people! The classes! The SHOPPING!!! Here's what I bought: 4 new patterns I just MUST make NOW, enough thread to last me a lifetime including 72 pre-rolled bobbins ('Superior' thread is my fav brand--2 miles of thread on each of those big spools), 4 kinds of needles, pearle cotton, some new gadgets to try and a few pieces of fabric to fill in my stash. PHEEEW! What a fabulous time I had!
Now I have to get into my sewing room!

Baby Quilt Finished!

2012-01-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

Is there any better feeling than finishing a quilt? My daughter's wonderful friend is expecting her third child next month. I made quilts for her first two and she says they won't go to sleep without them. Well, how can I NOT make one for baby III? I took a panel meant to be made into a book with Mother Goose rhymes, cut them out and inserted pinwheels for the sashing. Of course, a plush Minkee is on the back--nothing else will do for a baby quilt!

I'm a member of a 7-quilter group who has decided to do a Row Robin. This is the first of the rows and I wanted mine to be a summery, bright one. Each of us will pass our row, every other month, to another person in the group until we have 7 rows that we will then, each put together as we wish.

So what did YOU make this week? Check out everyone's beautiful design walls on Judy's blog.

Ta-Dah!!

2012-01-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

The top of my "Azalea Bay" (aka Orca Bay mystery) is finished! Oh and I just LOVE it! It ended up taking me 50 hours and 40 minutes to make and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

I'm the type who has to do quilts in my colors and while I really loved how the red, white blue and black quilts turned out, my green, white, pink and purple quilt makes my heart sing!

I had a problem fitting the pieced border to my quilt and had to manufacture a center piece but I did it. I had to add a 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" piece on the long ends and a 1 1/4" piece on the short ends. See the little purple stripe just under my chin? And see the purple "arrow" in the center of the left border? Those are my additions. If you are having trouble fitting your border, add something like this to make the measurements work.

Did you notice how heavy this quilt is? Think of all the 1/4" seams that are on the back of this quilt. There's probably a yard of fabric that doesn't show. I usually machine quilt my own quilts on my domestic machine but I think I'm going to have this quilted on a long arm because of ALL those seams.

Thank you, Bonnie for gifting us with this beautiful pattern! If you're kind enough to give us another one, put my name on the list right now!

Orca Bay Mystery and UFO #5

2012-01-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

I love Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay Mystery quilt! She revealed the finished quilt yesterday and I just gasped! I finished all the components, squared them all up and put half of them on my design wall today ('cuz my design wall isn't big enough for all the blocks). I'm in love with it! I didn't use the colors Bonnie suggested--these are MY colors, and I just hoped they would work as well as hers. What do you think?

I named it "Azalea Bay" because of the colors. There are 3,564 pieces in this quilt and so far, I've put 47 hours and 20 minutes into it's construction--worth every minute! After sewing it together and quilting it, there'll probably be more like 70 hours into it. But I loved the process, learned a lot and will do another Bonnie Hunter mystery again in a heartbeat. (I have a different post about this quilt and the process of making it on Bonnie's blog that you might want to look for).

I'm also doing Judy's UFO Challenge and this is my #5 for January: "Anteitam". This was a Linda Ballard mystery class my quilt guild did and I just love the quilt and the colors. The top is finished and I'm looking forward to quilting it but I just hate to pin quilts! I don't have a good place to do it and I can't get on the floor any more as it kills my back. But, I will get it done!

See what everyone else has to show on Judy's Design Wall Monday! I always learn something new from going to everyone's blog.

Mystery Revealed!

2012-01-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

Before you read any further, open your mouth wide and inhale noisily. . . go ahead. . . THAT is the sound I made this morning when, still half asleep, I logged on to Quiltville.com where Bonnie Hunter had just revealed her Orca Bay Mystery quilt for all to see. OMG---what a spectacular quilt ! ! ! !

I had seen many of the finished quilts from Bonnie's past mysteries and vowed I'd make one some day even though they looked like a LOT of work. I had high expectations but the fact that I used colors different from Bonnie's had me a little worried. And, since I'd kept track of the time each of the 8 steps took to make as well as the number of pieces used in my very scrappy quilt, I almost dreaded seeing what the quilt would look like--what if I did all that work and spent all those hours as was disappointed?

Obviously, I needn't have worried. I'm SO, SO happy with my quilt! What do you think? This photo shows about half of the blocks I made but it's as big as I can go on my design wall. I'm calling it "Azalea Bay" because Orca just doesn't fit my purple and pink with green color-way. I love Azaleas and they're these colors so it seemed to fit.

So, what are my time and piece totals? I have all the components completed and squared up, all I need to do it sew the top together and so far, I've spent 47 hours and 20 minutes on it. And, give or take a few, there are about 3,564 pieces in my quilt! I'm sure that's a record for me even after making well over 100 quilts in 14 years. By the time I'm finished putting it together and quilting it, I think I'll be in the 70 hour range.

I've learned a lot making this quilt: That the Companion Angle Ruler is a slick tool I'd never tried before, that string piecing is fun, that phone book pages make perfect string piece foundations and that I love making hundred and hundreds of the same little components, chain-piecing my heart out! Who knew?

Bonnie: Thank you for gifting us with your creativity, your expertise and your generosity. If you do this again next year, I'll be right with you!

I'm sure a lot of people have posted their success of this Orca Bay mystery on Judy Laquadara's Design Wall Monday. I urge you to look at all of them!

Speedy Tricks

2011-12-25T21:07:00.000-08:00

My quilting buddies know I'm a speedy sewer and it's because I organize the steps of each project for maximum output. For Orca Bay step #6, I didn't stop to set up each block before I sewed, I started with one center (in my case green) and chain sewed a quarter square to it 28 times.

Without cutting the strings, I brought the whole chain to the ironing board--so much easier than moving one piece at a time!
I press them open THEN cut them apart. Back to the sewing machine to sew the other quarter square to this row then over to the ironing board again with the whole string to press then cut apart. Viola--one row done!
I did the same thing for the other two rows in the block and it saves so much time because I handle the whole lot of them at once instead of picking up one piece then another then another. A great time-saver.

Here are my dark blocks . . .

. . . and my dark and light together. 4 1/2 hours for all of them.

I would be happy with Bonnie's quilt just like this!!

Total time on all 6 clues: 39 hours 40 minutes.

UFO for 2012

2011-12-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

I'm out of town for my birthday (tomorrow) so I'm doing this list off the top of my head. I will add the rest of the 12 UFOs when I get home. I have until January 1, right?

My UFO quilts for Judy Laquadara's challenge are:
#1 12 Days of Xmas. This was on my last year's list and I really need to finish it. It's the Nancy Halvorson quilt with her fabrics. I collect 12 days of Xmas stuff so I had to make this quilt. The top is finished and the back is made so all I have to do is quilt it.

#2 Henreitta Whiskers
This was a 2011 online BOM by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs. Her adorable animal characters are irresistable and I encourage you to check out her website.

#3 is The Big Easy, a mystery quilt by Linda Ballard I started in 2009. I love this quilt top and all I need to do is quilt it. (Hate to admit this was also in my 2011 UFO list)

#4 would be my Ferris Wheel top. I started this
making these traditional blocks at least 5 years ago with 30s fabrics. The block is pretty intricate and takes a long time to make so I made about 15 of them and put them away. I discovered them a last year, made a bunch more and added this "hankie" border. It's been worth all the time it took and now I need to make a back and quilt it!

#5 Anteitum. This quilt was made in a Linda Ballard mystery retreat in McCloud, CA in June.I actually changed the configuration of the blocks as they were to be set on point with 12" snowball blocks in between. Since I don't like a lot of "empty space" to quilt in I decided to set them better this way and I just love it. Again, top and back are finished all I need to do is quilt it.

#6 is my Orca Bay Mystery by Bonnie Hunter started just before Thanksgiving! I haven't even finished all the clues yet but I know I want to finish this quilt ASAP! The pink and green blocks on the scale here are parts of it.

#7 is a project (as of this writing) I haven't started yet: A quilt for my daughter and her wife who are in escrow with their first house and have requested a "black and white and Tiffany Blue" quilt for the back of their couch. I knew this pattern (Happy Hour) wold be perfect for it.

#8 is another project I hadn't started yet: for my daughter's best friend who's expecting her 3rd baby in February. I made quilts for her first two and she says they cannot go to sleep without their special "binkies". (If I had a quilt for myself with Minkie on the back like I made theirs, I'd probably feel the same way!) I've purchased a Mother Goose panel that's supposed to be made into a book that I plan to cut apart and put pinwheels as sashing. If Judy picks #8 first, I will be happy!

By the Skin of My Teeth

2011-12-18T21:46:00.000-08:00

Last week was a busy one for me: we had guests 3 of 4 nights and gave a party for 35 people. I was so afraid my Bonnie Hunter Mystery clue #4 was not going to get finished before clue #5 was posted! I'd been so good at completing clues 1-3 by Tuesday of their respective weeks and I was bound and determined not to fall behind. (Besides, I'm absolutely LOVING this process!

Happy to say, I completed all 64 of the 5 1/2" strip squares by Thursday night. Just to be different, I took my photo on our kitchen scale and as you can see, clue #2 (pink) and #4 (green) weigh 13.6 ounces together. Of course, the clue #4 blocks still have the paper on them but it's only tissue-thin yellow pages paper which I plan to pull off by the time this posts on Judy Laquadara's Design Wall Monday.

I'm timing how long it takes me to complete each clue and #4 took me 6 hours and 15 minutes (including taking the paper off the back) bringing the total for all 4 clues to 35 3/4 hours.

As for Clue #5: Since I'm going to be out of town Tuesday through late Thursday, I knew I had to finish this clue by today! And. . . I did it! 5 hours and all 350 are done! I'm also keeping track of the number of pieces are in this quilt. To date, I count 3,392 pieces in mine! Can't wait 'til Friday!

Group Quilts Revealed!

2011-12-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

Cooky's quilt

My quilt

Today was the big day! My Calendar Girls group, together 11 years, revealed the quilts from a block exchange we had in July. Every year we decide on a block project, make one for everyone, exchange the blocks mid-year then each go home and make a quilt from them. The theme this year was "North Woods Winter" and we decided to make 8 blocks, 9 1/2". We could make anything with a winter theme but not Christmas (because we've done that a couple of times), applique or pieced. Aren't they all wonderful? It's always so amazing to see what everyone else has put together.

and Kim's

Here's Sharon's

and Linda's quilt

I'd love to hear what you think!

Orca Bay Clue #3 Progress

2011-12-04T12:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks you Judy for giving us Patchwork Times, a great place to post our design walls and chat with quilters from all over the world!

I'm pretty amazed that I'm enjoying Bonnie Hunter's mystery quite as much as I am! After all, asking quilters to make nearly 650 multi-pieced components in the first 3 clues would be daunting to any quilter and I'm simply not used to this type of scrap quilting. BUT I'm absolutely loving this!

I had company this weekend and was so sure I would go completely crazy and not be able to work on clue #3 but things worked out really well--my cousin from South Lake Tahoe visited for 2 days and our plans included 3 craft fairs and a Holiday Home Tour in a spiffy part of Sacramento. And with all the chit-chatting we would do, when would there be time for sewing?! She was due around noon on Friday so I got to work early. I use half-square triangle paper to make my HSTs using 21 different purples and neutrals. I don't have strips on hand and would rather use larger pieces of fabric so this method works better for me. You might say, "but I hate tearing off that paper and cutting off the 'dog ears'" but I have time-saving tricks and if I told you it took me only 4 1/2 hours to make all 350 HSTs, would you think my method was time-consuming? The great thing about it was I was able to include an eager cousin in my process! She LOVED helping me with my 'project' and we tore off paper as we watched holiday movie DVDs. Win-Win!

Yes, by a little over an hour after my cousin left on Sunday morning, I was able to get them ALL finished. (actually, I miscalculated and made 380 HSTs--anyone need a few extra? They're purple!) In that little container in the lower right, I put the tiny dog-ears. Figure Bonnie will have something in mind for them! LOL!!

Next Friday, we're expecting about 50 people for a holiday party. Hope I can squeeze in at least a little sewing on Clue #4 that day so I won't go crazy!

November's UFO and #12

2011-12-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Yes! I DID finish November's UFO. It was our Quilt guild challenge. We needed to use the fabric that I used for the borders and I drew the green fabric too. We could add 3 other fabrics--I used the backs of the fabrics too.

I was inspired by the cover of the January 2011 issue of American Quilter magazine. Each of the pieces of this "mosaic" wall hanging is no larger than 1/2" x 1/2". It was a very tedious project and in the end, the fusible webbing I used started coming off! Couldn't get the little buggers to stick! So. . . I covered the whole thing with black tulle and machine quilted around EACH AND EVERY tiny piece! You'd think I would hate this quilt but I really am proud of myself for sticking with it (LOL!).

My #12 is a Ricky Tims "Cool Kaleidoscope" and it's almost finished!! I'm going to look at everyone else's finished UFOs on Judy's blog!

Started and Finished

2011-11-28T06:01:00.000-08:00

Every time I start a small project and finish it quickly, I realize I should just do small projects--then I'll get them FINISHED! I taught a class in Anna Faustino's woven technique last week and was so inspired by the quilts made in the class that I had to go home and make another one! Found this great husky and adapted it to a silhouette. Finished this 20" x 24" wall hanging in a couple of hours.

I need a name for this guy. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm also working on Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay mystery. Took me 10 hours to finish the 224 required QSTs in Clue #1 and now I'm working on Clue #2.
These 3 1/2" square string-pieced blocks are so adorable and they finish very quickly! I've finished 42 of the 72 required and will probably only spend about 4 hours total

Bonnie's idea to use telephone book pages is a good one and I have a slick trick to removing it after the block is sewn:

Give a gentle tug in opposite directions and the paper will split on the seams making removal really easy!

Check out Judy's blog for some other great projects!

I'm IN!!

2011-11-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

I've never done a Bonnie Hunter mystery but I've seen so many gorgeous quilts from them I just had to dive in this time. I'm using greens, pinks and purples with neutrals.

My method for QSTs: cut a light and dark 2 1/4" square. Right sides together, sew a scant 1/4" seam down one side then down the opposite (parallel) side. Cut diagonally, corner to corner press open. Try it!

I've made all 224 plus a few more so I'm ready for Clue #2! Check out everyone elses QSTs on Bonnies Blog!

I'm Doing It. . . !

2011-11-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

After years of watching others produce amazing, one-of-a-kind, scrappy (my favorite!) colorful, stash-busting quilts from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Mysteries, I've jumped on the Quilt Train to success and joined them! Quiltville will post a new mystery clue every Friday starting November 18th for 7-8 weeks and you need to keep up!

If you are familiar with Bonnie's mysteries, they are not for the faint at heart!! There's lots and lots. . . and LOTS of work to do. (For example, the first clue is to make 224, 2 1/2" quarter square triangles!! Yes, that means the triangles are cut from 1 1/2" strips--OH, MY!)

As you can see, I've got them started--in fact, I have 211 finished at this writing! Should be finished by tomorrow. Are you going to join me? I'll bet there are a lot of comments about this mystery on Judy's Design Wall Monday post today--go see!

Finished!!

2011-11-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

I've missed two DWMs in a row! Oh, I've been sewing a lot but only on projects that I have to keep under wraps from the two quilting groups I'm in. One is a quilt that will be revealed to the group on December 11th and the other two, one Row-Robin and one art quilt project, not until mid-January. Yes, I do like to begin early and give myself plenty of time to relax before a project is due rather than what I hear so much from my quilting buddies--that they were madly finishing up the binding at 2am on the day it's due! Sooo not my style!
This is a 'Lil Twister quilt that turned out to be
60" X 70" and all I used was 1 Layer Cake and a yard of background! I made a template that was 7" and after cutting everything, I ended up with a Charm Pack's worth of fabric left over. I cut those charm squares in half, joined them to the same sized background pieces, and that made the border you see here. This will make a wonderful give-away quilt for the next time a community group asks me for an auction item.
I'll tell you, I'm hooked on these 'Lil Twister quilts! So easy and quick to make--and aren't they great looking?
What do you have on your design wall this week? Did you post it on Judy's website for us all to see?

It's Garment Time!

2011-10-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm the Rabid Quilter but sometimes I have to return to my roots. My mom taught me to sew when I was in grade school by making aprons. I took sewing in 4-H, then more lessons at a Singer store in my home town--yes, there were entire stores devoted to sewing machines, lessons and fashion fabric--then in Home Ec in high school. I can't say I was completely successful because the clothes I made didn't really fit that well, but I was proud of what I made and at this point in my life, I feel it was a great start to my knowledge of sewing.

This week I made a skirt. Doesn't sound exciting but let me tell you that I made it by copying my favorite off-the-rack skirt I purchased a couple of years ago. I've worn this lightweight, slightly stretchy black and white skirt a LOT and thought I'd love to have a couple more of them in different colors. Without taking the skirt apart, (wouldn't want to ruin my favorite skirt!) I managed to copy it on to paper, a technique I learned quite a while ago in one of my favorite magazines, Threads. I looked in a few Joann Fabric stores before I found a lightweight, slightly stretchy, non-knit fabric. (Super stretchy, knit fabric, ala t-shirts, is easy to find but wouldn't work for this skirt). Sure wish there were as many fashion fabric shops now as there were when I was young!

This skirt has no facings, using only a double fold, pre-packaged bias tape and an invisible zipper so it was super easy to make and after only a tiny bit of tweaking, I had success! The top I'm wearing is one I bought at Coldwater Creek a few minutes after I'd bought the fabric. I brought the fabric into the store to match it and the ladies there probably had no idea why I would be making something instead of buying it. Well, ladies, I paid $7.50 for the fabric (with my 40% off coupon) $1.79 for the zipper and $1.55 for the binding. A little over an hour to make the skirt and a priceless amount of satisfaction!!

What do you think?

Lot's to Share

2011-10-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

This is a strange image I know. It's the back that I've made to put on the quilt project (which I need to keep secret until December). That's when my Calendar Girls group reveals their block exchange projects from June. So, in the middle of this back is a "tea towel" calendar dated 2011. If you haven't heard of the website Spoonflower you need to check it out. It's a place where you can create your own fabric! Just design by scanning an image, coloring, drawing, anything you want, then upload it to their website. You can then order quilters' cotton, linen, knit, even bamboo fabric to make whatever you want! Each week, Spoonflower has a contest with a theme. Several dozen designers submit their images and you can even vote on your favorites each week. Every November, one of the contests is to desgn a calendar tea towel. I've collected calendar tea towels from everywhere we've traveled and I usually order at least half a dozen of the designs submitted to Spoonflower to use on the backs of my quilts. Talk about a great quilt label! The year is already on there and I circle the date when I finish the quilt. Cute, huh?!

The stripes at the bottom of the quilt back are all the different fabrics I 'auditioned' for the front sashing of the quilt and that I ended up not liking. There were so many of them I thought I'd sew them together to add to the back. Waste not, want not!

This weekend was PIQF--Pacific International Quilt Festival--in Santa Clara, CA. It's a wonderful show with probably 100 vendors (my favorite part!) My friend, Jody, came with me and we had the best time! We saw this product at a vendor's booth and Jody said she'd bought them years ago and LOVED how they worked so I bought the set--one purse-sized, one regular sized and one with a telescoping handle to use on drapes and design walls! "The Sticky" is a permanent lint roller. Instead of sticky paper you have to tear off or replace (which I have such a hard tine with!), there's a silicon stickiness that pulls off lint, THREADS, pet hair, beads, even coins off any surface and then---you just rinse it all off in warm water! Then start rolling again. It's an amazing little tool.

I use batting for my design wall which is pretty fuzzy so it picked up a lot more fuzz than threads but it worked pretty well. But on pet hair--OMG--it's amazing!! I can de-hair our sofa and chairs so fast and efficiently! You might want to look for them and try it for yourself.

Another thing you must try: checking out all the other Design Wall Monday post on Judy's blog!

Teaching a Class this Week

2011-10-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this from a lovely place in central California where, I'm thinking, most people rarely venture. Most Californians who drive from northern to southern California (or vice versa) use I-5, the 70 MPH uber freeway. The town I was to teach a class and lecture in was on HWY-101, a lesser yet more historic (read, older) classic highway. Since I'd never been there except to speed through on my way to my infrequent visits with my aunt nearer the coast, I didn't know what to expect of the quilters I'd meet there. Were they going to be wary of someone who lived closer to a more "metropolitan" area? Would they like me?!

King City: an agricultural area 50 miles, north or south, from a major department store. Population 11,000 plus or minus, and that probably covers a very large area. Yet they've had a quilt guild over 10 years of no fewer than 50 members, about 20 of whom took my class on Saturday. What a lovely, happy, welcoming bunch of ladies! Their salad potluck was fabulous, all homemade, and those pies---!! By the look of the progress of their quilts on Saturday, they really knew their stuff and were going to have some lovely quilts!

Thank you Holly, Jackie, Marilee and all the other quilters who made my day a memorable one! I look forward to seeing you again on Monday when I give my lecture on Group Quilts.

UFO challenge completed

2011-10-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

My UFO challenge for September was our Quilt Guild Challenge. We were given a fat quarter of this large print and one other fat quarter, mine being green. We could use up to 4 other fabrics.

This quilt is about 20" x 26". I decided to do a mosaic. It was very tedious and I spent hours with tweezers placing every 1/4" to 1/2" square, pre backed with fusible, on to the black background fabric. Turned out the fusible wasn't holding very well and I had to end up covering it with tulle (netting) and machine quilt between the tiny squares! More work than I expected but I did like the outcome and, it was well received.

My #5 UFO is The Big Easy, a quilt I made in a mystery class over 2 years ago. I love it and hope to finish it this month but I'm lecturing and teaching to 2 quilt guilds this month and might not have time. But, we're all busy, right?

Hope the rest of you are able to finish yours!

Thank you Judy for giving us the little push we needed to finish so many of our UFOs this year!

Name Tag Project

2011-09-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I got together with my quilting buddies, the Calendar Girls, with the intent on making 100 name tags for our quilt guild to use at our annual quilt show. Every year, we all make new name tags that depict the theme and colors of our quilt show. In the past, we've just put fabric, batting, backing, a pin back and directions to make the name tag into a baggie for everyone but this year, we actually pieced the front of it, a big job with lots of tiny pieces--the name tag finishes at less than 4" square.

We love to get together for any reason but having a production line and putting these kits together will make a lot of people in our guild happy!

I do have something on my design wall and worked quite a bit on it but I can't reveal it to my quilting group until December so it will have to remain a surprise.

Go to Judy's blog to see what everyone else
has on their wall!

Happy quilting!!!

I'm Back!

2011-09-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

This is where I've been for the past couple of weeks--Nantucket, MA! What a wonderful island. We've been going there for 30 years and celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary there.

And now that I'm home, I have to get working on the block exchange! I've tried several backgrounds and none of them worked but I think this one, which has a little aqua in it, of all things, might be the one. Oh, I'm not just going to put plain old sashing and borders--no, I have a plan for something more worthy of our Calendar Girls group.

So, what did YOU put up on Judy's blog today?

Out Of Town

2011-09-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation--woo-hoo--in my favorite place in the world--Nantucket, Massachusetts. My husband and I come here almost every year in September to celebrate our anniversary, explore the island and the wonderful restaurants here. I don't tote my sewing machine with me but I did bring a bit of hand applique to do if I have time. So while I can't show you my design wall, I can show you the quilt-related items I bought the other day--and I think you'll love them!

I attended the Brimfield Antique Festival in Brimfield, MA. The things I'd read about the show were almost unbelievable--5,000 vendors and over a mile long but it was no exaggeration! There's something for everyone, and quilters are no exception.

This crazy quilt has 81 hand-embroidered names and ages (!) on it and in the center it says "Made for H. Wales Leines from the members of the Masonic Home, Christmas 1908". There are some condition issues with the satin and silk fabrics but that's to be expected. It really is in remarkable shape. An interesting element is the little red 'bows' you see in the black squares. They tied the quilt with pearl cotton around tiny red ribbons and they look like little bows! Very sweet!

The other quilt is a lovely example of a 2-color quilt, hand-pieced and meticulously hand-quilted with teensy stitches. When I heard what the vendor wanted for them I almost gave myself away but in the spirit of the flea market, I bartered him down even a little more! I'd expected to pay 3 times what I did.

Can you see the error in the quilt? Do you suppose the quilter put it there on purpose? I do!

Oh, I also found something I've secretly wanted for years--RED cowboy boots. They're great, leather boots and were only $40! My husband laughed and laughed but loved them on me!

Did YOU post something from your design wall on Judy's blog?

Lots of Quilting This Week

2011-08-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

I had time to get a lot done this week. Unfortunately, it's all stuff you've already seen so it isn't too exciting. I finished the 9th and next-to-last block for Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Design's free online BOM, "Henreitta Whiskers", almost finished quilting the quilt I made at last week's Linda Ballard class,

plus a whole lot of unglamorous, boring, mending and altering ("this tag itches me" my husband says of the Hawaiian shirt I bought him, and the beautiful, white gaberdine slacks I bought at the shi-shi consignment clothing store I sometimes go to needed shortening (lining and all) and I needed to finally make a proper derndl skirt for an upcoming Oktoberfest!

Oh, and I finished quilting and just need to hand-sew the binding to the "'Lil Twister", Layer Cake quilt I started in April. A UFO just about completed!! YAY!

Hope your week was as fulfilling ! Please check out Judy Laquidara's blog to see a LOT more inspiring Design Walls

A Class Without a Teacher!

2011-08-21T18:31:00.000-07:00

I always look forward to quilting classes even if I'm pretty sure I know how to do everything we're going to be working on. It's being with my quilting buddies and spending a whole day with only sewing, pretty colors and catching up with my friends' lives to occupy my thoughts that makes classes fun. Oh, and I always do end up learning something new--even if it's from the person sitting next to me.

Our quilt guild in Yuba City, California has a favorite teacher and we have so much fun with her, we have a standing contract with her to come teach a class every January and every August. This has been going on for probably 10 years!! You might have heard of Linda Ballard whose specialty is mystery quilts. We just LOVE them--and her!

So yesterday was the class and there were about 30 people signed up, but on Thursday, we heard she was in the hospital with a gall bladder issue (except she had her gall bladder out years ago). Anyway, she was hurting and they had to do surgery but even though she returned home on Friday, she still wanted to drive 150 miles to teach the class the next day!! Well, it didn't even cross our minds to cancel the class OR to have Linda threaten her health and come--we just got together with the pattern for the class, which she sent down, and we spent the day making "Dancing with the Stars". Linda has taught us well over the years and we just used that knowledge to 'channel' her right into that classroom.

I changed my quilt up a little and put applique baskets where there would have been big, blank areas I would have had to quilt--not my strong suit. I sure do like the way this quilt turned out! 30s fabrics are so 'happy' don't you think?

One more thing: I was very late getting last weeks DWM out and it was the reveal of my Spring Chick's group's challenge so if you missed it, click here to view all the great quilts that came of our "3 Little Words" challenge. And don't forget to see what everyone else has on their design walls on Judy's blog!

Three Little Words Challenge

2011-08-09T23:04:00.000-07:00

Three months ago, our Spring Chicks group decided to do a Three Little Words challenge. We all took little sheets of paper and wrote down 3 nouns, 3 colors and 3 themes. We each drew a slip of paper from each pile without looking and had to make a 16" x 20" quilt depicting our adaptation of these words. Here are the wonderful results:

Jennifer's words were red, balloons and mosaic. Those balloons flying off in the sky were really a fun element.

Carolyn's words were Aquamarine, feather and summer. That's a feather fishing lure there--cute!

Doris's words were dark green, house and gardening. We didn't expect an out house in the woods! Too funny!!

Sherry's words were aubergine, grass and that special vacation. She used her embroidery machine to create the flowers she saw in Monet's garden on her 'special vacation' to Paris this spring.

Sandy's words were lime green, party and wildflowers. She'd just gone on a retreat with Mary Lou Wideman so her quilt was a riot of colors with the humorous words, "when wildflowers party".

Betsy's words were olive, fall and celebration. She loves sunflowers and this quilt depicts her joy of them for her fall birthday.

My words were aquamarine, the Queen of hearts and fireworks. I used a lot of Swarovski crystals for the fireworks witch may not show up too well in this photo. What a fun challenge! I want to do it again!!

Spring Chicks Reveal!

2011-08-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Carolyn

Tonight our Spring Chicks quilt group had the reveal of the Sutter Hospital Breast Cancer Quilt Auction quilts we made. Several months ago, we exchanged 2 1/2" strips and could make any quilt we wanted with them. Here are the fabulous quilts what will be donated to the auction this week:

Doris

This one's mine

Sherry

Sandy

Julie

What a spectacular bunch of quilts, ladies. We should all be very proud of ourselves and honored to be able to give something to help Sutter Cancer Center raise funds for this great cause.

Betsy

On My Design Wall

2011-08-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

I have a special event tomorrow night--my Spring Chicks quilting group is meeting to reveal our "3 Little Words" challenge. Each of us randomly chose a theme, a color and a noun, from a bunch of them that we'd written on little scraps of paper. My 3 little words: Queen of Hearts, Turquoise and Fireworks. What would YOU have made with those words?

Each quilt is supposed to be 16" x 20" and I bet they'll all be spectacular. Mine turned out exactly as I'd planned and I'm so happy! This is my version of the Queen of Hearts on a turquoise background holding a firework with dozens of Swarovsky crystals decorating the piece.

The queen is made with fusible applique and each element
you see is an individually cut out piece placed on a black background then trimmed and placed on the white background.

Now I'm going to look at all the other wonderful projects
on Judy Laquidara's website for Design Wall Monday--
you should too!

P.S. Jennifer--you shouldn't be looking at this! Wait until
tomorrow night!

A Block Exchange

2011-08-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the eagerly anticipated block exchange with my quilting group, The Calendar Girls. Here are the 9 blocks with the theme "North Woods Winter" that I was lucky enough to come away with! Don't you LOVE them?! This is such a talented group of ladies and I can't wait to get started on the design for making these blocks into a quilt.

The blocks are 9 1/2" square and I want the quilt to be small--a wall hanging of 42" or less--for a perfect little place in our foyer where I display seasonal pieces. I'll have to scour my books and magazines for ideas. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Here is our lovely group--that's me on the far right. We'll all have our blocks made into quilts ready to reveal them on December 11th.

We're Back!!

2011-07-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

My last post was 2 weeks ago telling you I was embarking on my first cruise and our first trip to Alaska. I really missed reading about and looking at all the Design Wall Monday projects but our trip was fantastic and I was surprised I didn't miss my computer at all! I was also surprised that I didn't get one stitch into all those applique squares I'd prepared for the trip! We were busy every minute with tours and interesting things to do. Highlights of the trip: Mt. McKinley (Denali to Alaskan's) "was out" and we saw her in all her grandure. Only 1/3 of travelers there see the 20,239 foot mountain because it's usually clouded over. I'd never been so moved--she really took my breath away. I also saw a lot of wonderful totem poles and learn a lot about them--something I've always been interested in doing.

I wanted to do something special for the lovely couple who organized this 11-day trip for our group of 30 (15 ship cabins) which certainly took a lot of time and effort. Everything was splendid and all we had to do was "write a check". They live in Connecticut and collect pinecones (and not just the kind that fall from trees!) so when I saw this fabric in one of the 5 quilt shops I visited on the trip, I new I would make a purse for her and a charge-cord organizer for him.

Next weekend is the block exchange for my Calendar Girls group and I can't wait! It's a whole day of show-and-tell, a gift exchange, lunch and goodies and then the exchange of blocks. Here are a couple of the 8 blocks I made. The theme we chose last December was "North Woods Winter". It could be any 9 1/2" block that depicted winter but not Christmas. I won't put them all up so they can remain a surprise and I'll show you the blocks I ended up with in next week's DWM.

Thanks to our wonderful blogging friend, Judy Laquidara for giving us Patchwork Times, my favorite means of inspiration.

Traveling Orders

2011-07-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

I am about to embark on my first cruise--to Alaska! Perfect time of year for someone living in the hot central valley of California. Of course, I needed to prepare some hand-work for the trip so I'm bringing these 15, 10" blocks to hand-applique. These have been prepared in the freezer paper and starch method and have been glue-basted down in just a few places--ready to go.

It's an old pattern, from 2002 I think, by Piece O'Cake designs. I was the high bidder on the entire kit of this quilt at a Breast Cancer Auction last month. LOTS of fabric and LOTS of work but it will be wonderful when it's done.

Of course this means I will miss next week's DWM on Judy's blog as I'll be at sea and I'm not going to bring my computer with me!! I don't know if I'll survive but I'm going to take this vacation seriously and just enjoy. And yes, of course I have researched all the quilt shops in the ports where the ship docks. I won't miss a one!!

2011-07-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

This September wallhanging was the UFO I was supposed to finish in June. Didn't happen. It's a finished top and it's small and I didn't finish it. I'm duly ashamed of myself. I hate to see another September come without this to hang on my front door. . .

This is my #2 UFO, "12 Days of Christmas"
pattern by Nancy Halvorson from a couple of
years ago. It's also a top. Christmas in July!!
Oh joy!! Don't you just love working on
something for Christmas when it's 100 degrees
outside? Me either.

But it's a completed top and all I need to do is
pin it (the most dreaded part of the quilting process for me) and quilt it (not so dreaded).

I hope to be a better girl in July and finish this one but, since I'm going on an 11-day cruise in July and have 8 blocks to make for a block exchange on the 30th of July,
chances are I'm doomed for failure.

Best of luck to the rest of you though! Can't wait to see the successful quilters on Judy's blog on July 31st!

Design Wall Monday June 27

2011-06-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is Pilloapoppin, my Fairy Quilt Godmother. She is a paper pieced pattern from the creative talents at a wonderful website I go to for my paper pieced patterns. Right now they have a fun, FREE project that generates a unique Fairy Godmother for everyone who signs in. It took me about 3 hours to make this 10" x 14" project but isn't she wonderful!? You choose your own colors right from your stash so you can be as flamboyant and creative as you want. Definitely not for the faint at heart, there are dozens and dozens of pieces, some infinitesimally small in this project but OH SO FUN!!

Go get yours now! I hope to see some of them on a future Design Wall Monday at Judy's website!

Projects

2011-06-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of little projects this week. A sun hat and baby shoes to match this outfit (scroll down) that my daughter's best friend's baby will receive for her 1st birthday next weekend.

Below is the 6th block of Anne Sutton's Bunny Hill Designs Block to the Month--Henreitta Whiskers.
I've been having such a fun time making these delightful blocks and I've been keeping up every month! That feels so good.

Go take a look at all the fun projects
everyone else has been working on
at Judy Laquadara's Design Wall
Monday blog!

Can You Say "Retreat"?!

2011-06-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

I spent 2 1/2 days at a quilting retreat in McCloud Calif this weekend--near the unbelievably beautiful, snow-covered Mt. Shasta. Twenty-six women (18 in our group) worked on this mystery quilt. Do you like it? Actually, the mystery quilt design was quite a bit different than this but I always have to put my spin on things and this is what I came up with. I really like it!

This retreat was in an historic hotel/mercantile so our charming rooms (all of them entirely different and wonderful), restaurant and huge meeting room were under one roof with no restrictions on how late or early we could sew. If you haven't quilted at a retreat in your jammies, it's high time you did!!

Because I'm a fast quilter, I always bring a few extra projects.

I'm attending a 1st birthday party at the end of the month for my daughter's best friend's baby. Her cousin, who's more like a sister to her, is celebrating her 5th birthday. I made the baby's dress (on the left) and a coordinating top for the 5-year old on the right. I also made coordinating shoes and a hat for the baby but don't have a photo.

See who else posted Design Wall projects on Judy's Blog!

"Ferris Wheel Frills"

2011-06-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

I finished the top I posted a couple of weeks ago here, and I sure do love it! Doesn't it look like a hankie edge? I collect hankies (only ones with a state name or ones with a calendar year on them) and with the 30s fabrics, it seems a perfect nostalgic coupling. I made most of the blocks a few years ago and remembered they were a little tedious to make (they're 6") but when I found the stack of them, I decided it was worth making more.

Where will this quilt end up? Well, our daughter's been married almost 3 years and will graduate this fall and she wants kids more than just about any-

thing so. . . I'm pretty sure this will end up being my first grandchild's first quilt. I'm guessing 2 years at the most. . . I'm also guessing a girl, as you can tell--tee-hee! It's a bit big for a baby quilt, 59" x 65" but that's just how it turned out!

Take a look at all the wonderful projects Jody's followers have up on their design walls at Patchwork Times!

One Step Backward

2011-06-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so bummed I didn't get my May UFO finished! Actually, I didn't even start it--but I have an excuse. . sort of.

This beautiful silk brocade, satin lining and squishy-wrinkly lapel fabric is going to be a jacket. I made a 'muslin' of the pattern just so it would fit perfectly--wouldn't want to waste the $85 I spent on this fabric!--and when I went to start the project, I COULDN'T FIND THE PATTERN!! I found the package, the cover photo and the parts of the pattern I didn't use but can't find the pieces I need in my size! I looked ALL over my sewing room but, evidently, only the places where it wasn't--LOL!

I will keep looking and I WILL make this jacket even if I have to buy the pattern again. Good thing the fabrics are suited for fall so I have time.

My #8 UFO for June is a pretty easy one: A wall hanging I started probably 2 years ago that says "September". If I recall, I started it in plenty of time-- like JUNE--and finished the top the end of August. Of course, That's where I stopped. All I have to do is pin it and quilt it which will only take a small amount of time. YAY!

Check out all the successful UFO finishers (who WERE able to find their patterns) on Judy's blog.

This Week's Project

2011-05-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to stop making these fun 'Lil Twister projects! I saw it done as a mini quilt in a quilt shop in Sacramento last week made with 3" squares and a 2 3/8" 'ruler' (which I made with a cardboard

template). They had it framed in a beautiful, glass-front frame and I thought it would make such a lovely gift, country store or silent auction item!

Here's what it looked like with the squares sewn together, measuring 16" x 20"
<-------

. . . . and here's the finished product. It measures 12" x 16". (That is a regular, 45mm, rotary cutter there.)

Thanks to my email friend LuAnn for the
Charm Pack for this project!!

You can see my other 'Lil Twister projects here and here.

Take a look at all the other creative projects on Judy's blog!

Another quilt completed!

2011-05-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

There is no better feeling than finishing a quilt! Do you agree? This quilt started as a mystery class in January. The 6 blocks in this quilt use an identical pattern but because I scrapped it out, they all look different.

Besides Judy's UFO Challenge, I'm also in a UFO Challenge with my quilt guild. This is my UFO #7 which was the number drawn 2 months ago (we have 2 months to finish in our guild's rules). YAY, another UFO bites the dust!

I used Maywood Studios Wild Rose line and just love it. This photo doesn't do it justice though. There's butter yellow and 2 different pinks among the greens and floral black and white. I felt it would look adorable with a wavy edge and am so glad I took the time to measure (with Eleanor Burns' easy scallop tool) and cut it that way.

I plan to work on the UFO from Judy's blog this week--my brocade jacket. Hope I can make it by the 31st!

And speaking of Judy's blog, take a look at all the other Design Walls she has posted there!

Ferris Wheel for DWM

2011-05-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a cute block? It's called Ferris Wheel and I fell in love with it several years ago. I made 24 blocks then, probably, some other project beckoned and I put them and all their parts and pieces in a box on a shelf. You've done that before, right? Well, I found it the other say and decided to work on it again--I'm obviously in a 30s frame of mind lately.

Decided I needed to make 15 more blocks for a 7 x 9 layout. It's a tricky little block to put together and since I made the 6" version rather than the 12" version, it was pretty tedious but worth it!

I plan to put white sashing with 30s cornerstones in all different colors then do some applique treatment on the borders and probably have a wavy or scalloped border. It would make a darling baby quilt that way, wouldn't it? Perhaps for a future grandchild? (I understand from my 25 y/o daughter that I won't have to wait more than a couple of years. . !)

Don't forget to check out all the other beautiful projects on Judy's blog!

DW Monday--Baskets

2011-05-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

Last week it looked like this--

Now it looks like THIS!!
These blocks will be going into a scrappy, 30s wallhanging-sized version of Tennessee Waltz, a class I'm taking with my quilting buddies later in the year.

Happy Quilting everyone!

UFO for April--complete!!

2011-05-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

   Four for four!! I feel as good about finishing this quilt as I have for any I've made. This is the first quilt I've marked and quilted with contrasting machine quilting and been completely happy with--like happy enough to put it up for judging in my next quilt show! Formerly called "Michigan Highway", I renamed it "Starry Night".
   With the 18 different colors of stars, I also used 18 different colors of thread to quilt it with. A good friend of mine suggested that and I'm glad I took her advice.
   This was a quilt I made in a mystery class about 3 years ago. I was apprehensive about quilting it because I knew I wanted to use all these colors on the black and I've never found a way to mark on black (and have it wash out) that I was happy with. My friend suggested the Clover white marking pen. She also lent me 5 of her 300+ stencils (!) and that was the ticket! Worked great and the marks washed out beautifully.

Here's my #9 UFO for May. It consists of a pile of luxurious fabrics I bought at Britex in San Francisco a few months ago. Britex is a 5-story building just off Union Square in the heart of the city, has been there for decades and is one of the only true fabric stores for a hundred miles around. (No, Joann's doesn't count!) This is where the serious clothing-makers shop, ladies!

I found a fabulous jacket pattern at the road to California Quilt Show in January. Lorraine Torrence is a talented pattern designer who creates fashionable yet wearable garments. So I made a 'muslin' of her

"City Wraps" jacket using my neglected dress form and LOVED how it fit! Hopefully I can translate that into the brocade and silk for which I paid $85!

Thank you, Judy, for encouraging me to finish 4 of my UFOs so far this year. I finally feel that my UFO pile has been depleted enough to start on some new projects! Check out Judy's website to see everyone else's accomplishments.

DWM: My "A-word" Love Affair

2011-05-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

People talk about "the A-word" like its a scary ogre or a disease. I shared that opinion through 3 applique classes over the years where the method and outcome produced a less than desirable outcome. Then I found the freezer paper and starch method and an obsession was born! I'm currently working on 4 applique projects including a Bunny Hill Design BOM pictured here. This is the 4th block of a 10-month series and I'm going to love this fall-themed quilt.

At my quilt guild meeting last week, I signed up for a class in August. The quilt we'll be making is a wall-sized Tennessee Waltz which has 4 large blank areas for fancy quilting or a fussy-cut fabric. I've decided to use 30s fabrics and prepare 4, 'basket-of-fruit' applique blocks to put in the spaces instead. Besides the baskets that will measure 6" across, I need 8 leaves, and 8 each of a penny-sized circle, a quarter-sized circle and one in-between those sizes. By the time you read this, they will be cut out and ready to sew.

I'm also appliqueing 150 leaves on borders of the "Civil War Anniversary" quilt I'm making for my Civil War-buff DH commemorating the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War and making the "Flight of Fancy" pattern below.

If you think of applique as "the A-word", don't give up! There are a lot of different methods you can learn!
Don't miss at all the other fabulous projects by checking out Judy's blog!

Do I HAVE to tell you. . .?

2011-05-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Boy was I a bad girl this week. Fabric.com had a one-day sale earlier this week where some mighty lovely fabric was $3.95 and $4.95 a yard. With the price of fabric so high--and going higher--I thought I'd better embellish my stash a little and also buy some 3-yard pieces for backs. I added . . . gulp . . . 29.5 yards. . . to my stash. Top this off with the fact that I only did applique this week (tiny, tiny pieces), and a binding, I can only add 1 yard to my 'used' column.

Fabric bought this week: 29.5
Fabric used this week: 1
Fabric bought this year: 109.5
Fabric used this year: 68
Total: -41.5

Finished 2 quilts this week!

2011-04-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

I'm on a ROLL! Don't think I've ever finished 2 quilts in one week before--what a great feeling.

This will be my donation to the Sutter Breast Cancer Auction along with 8 other quilts, one each made by my Spring Chicks group. (They're not supposed to see this one until August when it's due but I can't help myself).

Below is the detail of the quilting that a longarm quilter from my quilt guild, Cathy Evans, added. I hope someone finds this quilt worthy of donating some serious money for this great cause.

The other quilt I finished is the April UFO that Judy challenged us to finish so I'm going to wait to post a photo of that until the 30th. I think you'll like it! If you want to see a 'before' photo of it (as a top) look at #4 in this post here.

Check out all the other accomplishments from Design Wall Monday on Judy's website.

And if you want to see a hilarious U-Tube video to prepare you for the Royal Nuptuals later this week, check this out!

"A day patched with quilting seldom unravels"

2011-04-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love that quote? It's so true. I get in my sewing room and it's like going on vacation. Color! Patterns! Soft, cuddly stuff all around! Once I get my quilting 'fix' I can face the day, or, more often, once I'm done with things I HAVE to do, a respite in my sewing room is my reward.

I'm working on my April UFO here. The pins are still in it and you can see the markings I made with white pen. It's a top I finished a couple of years ago with 20 blocks in different rainbow colors of batiks on black. I envisioned quilting it with bright colors of thread to match the blocks but even though I've had quite a number of years of machine quilting practice, really wasn't sure I could pull it off.

With some encouragement from my "best machine-quilter" friend plus the fact that I bought a Janome bobbin case made especially for machine quilting that another friend told me was great, (and that totally fixed my tension problems!!) I have success! I'm very happy with the way it's turning out!

This UFO WILL be done by the end of the month and I'm going to try to take a photo of it that does it justice rather than the rather washed-out version you see here. You'll notice I used a black batting to keep any "bearding" that might occur from a white batting at bay.

Thanks to Judy for the encouragement to finish my big stack of UFOs! See what other quilters are working on at Judy's blog!

Quilt Rush!

2011-04-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

Before my report, take 2 minutes to watch this U-tube video, already seen by almost 3 million people, in preparation for next weekend's Royal Nuptials.

The 12th annual "Quilt Rush" shop hop in Northern California is going on as we speak and I'm pleased to say, that for the first time, I completed it!! What fun! If you've never gone on a shop hop before, grab a quilting buddy or your significant other and head off. A few of the shops I'd never been to and, let me tell you, I now know which shop has the best selection of Civil War fabric is AND which shop has the best batik selection. I bought everything on my list and then some! (I like to save up a list so I buy at least a little something in each shop although it is certainly not required).

Of course, this means my stash report took a hit--although I did make a couple of backs so all is not so bad. I could not resist these fat quarters of "Charlevoix Summer" a 1910-1935 repro by Moda from a shop I like to support that's 80 miles away.

Added this week: 10.75 yards
Used this week: 5.5 yards
Added this year: 80 yards
Used this year: 67 yards
Stash NOT busted: -13 yards
HAPPY QUILTING!!

My newest WIP

2011-04-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

How to go from this . . . .

1 Layer Cake with 6" border

I tried out a Lil' Twister ruler with a
Charm Pack last week (here) and loved it. So I
made a 7 1/2" template and tried it with a
Layer Cake.
(don't you just love the Moda "Salt Box
Harvest" fabric?)
After you finish cutting all the 'wonky'
blocks you're left with 42, 5 1/2"
squares (a Charm Pack!!) to create
the border. This quilt measures about 62"x 65.
It's a very quick and satisfying project,
I'll tell you!
I know, I know; now I have another UFO!!
LOL!!
I also worked on a couple of hand-applique
projects which I'll show you next week.
Thanks, Judy, for giving us the opportunity
to show our stuff here!

to this?

Add a 7 1/2" Lil' Twister ruler (or equivalent)

LEAP!!

2011-04-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

Before I give you my stash report, here's a thought:

This is my credo etched in a tile that hangs in my sewing room. We women are more resilient than we believe and that's been proven by history time and again. I truly believe that most of us can turn lemons into lemonade easily and shoulder whatever life throws at us.

Don't be afraid to try something new--a project without a pattern, an art quilt, curved piecing, applique, one of those decorative stitches on your sewing machine, a color you think you hate. The net WILL appear!

I've decided I needed to get off the computer every night and start hand work again. Here's the first block of a redwork pattern I'll bet many of you have already made. It's amazing how quickly these blocks finish up!

I bought fabric this week (a Layer Cake that I used in a quilt you'll see if you check out my Design Wall Monday tomorrow!) but I also used more fabric than I usually do--2 3/4 yards for a background and borders and 2/3 of a yard for a couple of applique projects--YAY!

Added this week: 3 yards

Used this week: 6 1/2 yards

Added this year: 69 1/4

Used this year: 61 1/2

total stash busted: -7 3/4

Check on Judy's blog and see what everyone else has LEPT into! LOL!!

Designing Woman

2011-04-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

The 16 quilters in my Calendar Girls group decided to donate a quilt to the Sutter Hospital Breast Cancer Auction coming up this September. They do this every 3 years and receive over 300 quilts each time to raise funds for their cancer center. We call this quilt "Hearts For Hope". It's only a top at the moment but with the quilting we plan to add, we hope it raises a good bit for their cause.

Judy's UFO Challenge has actually gotten me to finish 3 quilts this year and I intend to keep it up. She picked #4 for April and this is the top that awaits me. . . . . I love this quilt which was a mystery class I took three years ago. I want to quilt it with multi-colored, variegated thread, maybe feathers or some other wonderful pattern but I'm just not sure I'm good enough to do it justice. Think I should pay a long-armer to do it for me?

Check out what everyone else has on their design walls HERE, on Judy's wonderful blog!

Stash Report April 3

2011-04-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

I bought fabric this week. Plain white to do some redwork embroidery. Yes, I have a ton of white fabric but I don't have very big cuts of it and I want all the redwork on the exact same background--you understand. . . Here's one block I made so far.

So, a yard of that and a yard and a half of the background for the Civil War fabric I'm using for the mystery retreat in June--decided to make it larger than planned. I cut leaves for my appliqued borders and cut the other 2 sides of the CW quilt so I used about 1 3/4 yards for that. Not bad for me!

Bought this week: 2 1/2
Used this week: 1 3/4
Bought this year: 66.25
Used this year: 55
Total busted: -11.25

Finished!!

2011-04-01T05:19:00.000-07:00

Three for three! I've finished my 3rd UFO Challenge project in as many months! If you know me, this is totally unexpected! I'm the one with 2 stacks

of finished tops never to be heard from again! Yet,

Judy's encouragement has some sort of magic effect on me and I'm actually finishing projects!

I loved this quilt top, begun in 2008 at a "Strip Club" (tee-hee) in Sacramento. Why didn't I finish it? Same reason as always: I hate to pin! Love to piece, love to quilt, love to hand stitch binding, hate to pin! And another thing I did that is astonishing: I marked this quilt before I quilted it! I don't like to mark (takes too much time for a peddle-to-the-metal quilter like me--that, and the fact that I've always had trouble "coloring inside the lines") so I'd rather just wing it with free-motion quilting. Here's a little detail of my "fancy" quilting for this quilt though:

Once again, thanks to Judy for the support! (Peer pressure from the other fabulous quilters on Judy's blog doesn't hurt either!)

Designs Galore!

2011-03-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

I've had quite a bit of time to quilt this week! With all the rain we've had (over double normal for the month of March and there's lots of flooding) I'd rather be in than out so it's been perfect.

I did some hand-applique on my DH's Civil War quilt borders. . .

I also started another hand-applique project:

They're not sewn down yet but the freezer paper/starch method I love has them all ready to be.

And this beautiful stack of Civil War fabric (took me a while but I'm hooked on the colors and 'flavor' of it) are for a June Mystery Retreat my quilting buddies and I will be going to.

Check out what everyone else has on THEIR design walls over at Judy's Blog.

Stash Report March 27

2011-03-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned last week, my quilt guild's quilt show was last weekend and like a good little quilter, I supported our vendors. I'm signed up for our annual mystery retreat in northern California and found some lovely Civil War prints just right for it. Aren't they pretty?!

But I did work on 3 projects that used a total of 1 1/2 yards so I wasn't all bad. Two were applique projects which used tiny pieces but I did have fun with my new ruler gadget and used up a Charm Pack plus borders.

Fabric added this week: 8.25

Fabric used this week: 1.5

Fabric added YTD: 63.75

Fabric used YTD: 53.25

Total: -10.50

Go on over to Judy's Blog and see how everyone else's done this week?

New gadget!

2011-03-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

I bought a new ruler-gadget at our quilt show yesterday and tried it out today. It's the Lil' Twister ruler and here's my progression through the process:

You take 5" squares (perfect for charm packs of which I have many!) and make 9-patches out of them.

Add a 3" frame around them making a 14" block.

You take this little 3 1/2' Lil' Twister ruler and lining up the lines on the ruler with the seams you've just sewn, slice up the nice little blocks leaving this behind:

But what you get are these cute 12 1/2" pinwheel blocks that would make a lovely baby quilt, which is what I'm making this for--

You might think there's a lot of waste but you can cut the remaining scraps into 2 1/2" squares. I used 36, 5" squares for this quilt center so have 36, 2 1/2" squares to use for the border or whatever. They also make a larger one of these rulers to use with "layer cake" charms. I think I might buy one!

Oh, and I spent 2 1/2 hours on this project. I plan to add sashing and borders and am thinking about making it Minkee!

Stash Report March 20

2011-03-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

We had a terrific storm last night and our electricity has been out until now so I couldn't post!

As I reported last week, my quilt guild's quilt show was this weekend. Since I won't be shopping until later today, I have ZERO additional fabric for this week! However, we are encouraged to "make our vendors happy" so we do like to buy from them and I intend to comply.

I quilted my UFO, completed by BOM and prepared applique leaves for my Civil War quilt so didn't use much fabric--only 1/4 yard for the binding for my UFO and 1/4 for the leaves. I don't use a double binding, only single, cutting 1 1/4" strips. I learned that in a Darlene Zimmerman finishing class. Most of my quilts are for show and won't get a lot of use so why struggle with double binding? Of course, if it's for a college kid or a baby or a quilt that will get a LOT of use and washing, double it up. Otherwise, save your fabric and make it easy on yourself, especially if you're doing a curvy or wavy edge you'll be cutting on the bias!

Stats:

Fabric added this week: 0

Fabric used this week: .5

Fabric added year to date: 55.25

Fabric used year to date: 51.75

Totals: -3.75

DWM--Vernal Equinox!

2011-03-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

First things first: go to this blog and vote for Judy for “Best Author” in the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards--

http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/

...OK. . .

Welcome to Spring! It's official no matter what the weather's like where you are, yesterday at 4:20 PDT, spring officially began. And here's Henreitta Whiskers pulling her cart full of yummy acorns on a windy, spring day on Acorn Lane. This is the 3rd block in Bunny Hill Designs BOM and I'm loving the hand applique, embroidery and embellishments that make these blocks (by Anne Sutton) so charming.

I've also been working on the borders for the Civil War quilt I'm making my husband. I took your advice from last week's post, and will be appliqueing the 150 leaves in an alternate pattern along the vines on the borders. Thanks for your almost unanimous vote!

Borders on my Design Wall

2011-03-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

So, which do you like better for the vine and leaf borders

for the Civil War quilt I'm making for my husband: leaves adjacent to each other like the sample on the left or alternating like the ones on the right?

You're seeing the vine just pinned up there and paper leaves, also pinned, but you get the idea. I'm planning on hand appliqueing 150 leaves around the border to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the historic conflict using at least 50 different fabrics. It's truly a labor of love and I'm really enjoying making it!

Check out what everyone else has on their design walls on Judy's blog!

March 12 Stash Report

2011-03-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

I have to say, joining Judy's weekly stash report is really helping me contain my fabric-buying habit! (Thank you, Judy!) I was in 2 quilt shops this week and didn't buy a THING!! (Of course, next week is my quilt guild's quilt show and I just KNOW I'm going to be bad . . .

I did a LOT of sewing this week: setting triangles for my Cal King Civil War quit, borders for same, 330" of vine for the applique borders--I used 5 1/2 yards of fabric! YAY!

Fabric added this week: 0

Fabric used this week: 5.5

Fabric added year to date: 55.25

Fabric used year to date: 51.25

Totals: -4.25

Working on my UFO for March!

2011-03-06T21:00:00.001-08:00

I'm really proud of myself for (so far) keeping up with Judy's UFO Challenge! I organized a UFO Challenge for my quilt guild a couple of years ago and never once finished a project. I guess when someone else does it, it works better. (Or, I just want Judy to like ME as much as I like HER! LOL)

I do my own quilting on my regular machine but I almost never mark anything--I just quilt where it takes me; stippling, leaves, hearts, swirls, stuff like that. This one though, I felt really needed to be marked and quilted with some traditional and elegant patterns. You can see the blue markings on this one. I'm happy that my calendar suggests I'm going to have time to actually get this done this month!

I'm also hand appliqueing the BOM at Anne Sutton's website:

"Henreitta Whiskers". Really love this little squirrel!

Block number 3 was posted yesterday and I've

almost finished it already!

Now I'll go see what everyone else has on their design walls on Julys blog!

Week 9 Stash Report

2011-03-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

These are the blocks my small quilting group is working on for a quilt to donate to the Sutter Hospital Breast Cancer Quilt Auction. Held once every 3 years, a couple hundred quilts are donated and displayed for a silent auction for the month of October in the halls of the 5-story cancer center in Sacramento, California. The live auction is the first Saturday of November and over $100,000 is raised for this worthy cause.

The blocks you see here will be cut in 4 equal pieces and rearranged into new blocks before being assembled into a quilt. I'll show it to you in September before it's donated to the auction. We call it "Hearts for Hope".

So this week I used 1.5 yards for this project, 2 yards for the Civil War quilt I'm working on and .25 yd for the BOM (from Bunny Hills).

I also bought 5.25 yards of fabric for said projects--(boy it's hard to be good on this stash report stuff!!)

Totals:

Fabric purchased this week: 5.25

Fabric purchased year to date: 55.25 yards

Fabric used this week: 3.75 yards

Fabric used year to date: 45.75 yards

Net used: -9.75 yards

So, how did you do on Judy's stash report blog?

UFO #10 Completed!

2011-02-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

I finished this skirt early in February and have worn it a couple of times. I altered the pattern to narrow the gores and added pockets. The stretchy red and black fabric feels great!

The #1 for March will not be as easy to finish but I'm committed to Judy's great UFO Challenge so, I'll do it!

You can view my UFO list here.

New Blocks and a Challenge!

2011-02-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

I started a new quilt! I figure I've completed so many projects lately I'm due. My husband, the Civil War buff, agreed that he needed me to make him a quilt with Civil War reproductions for the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of this historic conflict.
I didn't have a square of CW fabric in my extensive stash so you know what that meant. . . . I got to buy fabric!!! I found a beautiful fat quarter tower celebrating the CW anniversary by Julie Rothermel for Marcus Fabrics in Nancy Rink's booth at the Road to California quilt show and fell in love. Of course, it didn't help my "Stashbuster" numbers. . .This represents half the number of 9 1/2" blocks I need for the quilt. I plan several borders, probably a pieced one and maybe an applique one. It's

going to be a magnum opus!

I also can now show the Challenge quilt I finished for my quilt guild. The theme is "Bloomin' Fun" and we had to use the border fabric and the green you see in the middle. I saw this idea in a recent issue of Quilters Newsletter. I spent hours cutting and fusing each of those 1/4" to 1/2" 'mosaic' pieces to the background. Trouble is, they started suddenly coming off!!! I tried gluing a few back but that didn't work and I didn't want to machine sew them because it would have ruined the 'tile' effect. So I was forced to put a piece of fine, black tulle over the top and machine stitch around each piece! Tedious and time-consuming and I think the effect damages the idea but, it is what it is. It measures 20" x 30".

Drop by Judy's site and see what everyone else is up to, quilting-wise!

Week 8 Stash

2011-02-24T23:26:00.000-08:00

I was a little better this week than last. I didn't buy 23 yards of fabric for one thing! LOL

I also started a new quilt. My husband is a huge Civil War buff and since this year is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of this historical event I thought I'd ask him if he wanted me to make him a quilt to honor it. (This is the guy who implied about 8 years ago that we had too many quilts in the house--HAHAHAHA, too many quilts!! Not possible. . . )

Anyway, he surprised me by saying 'yes' he did want a Civil War quilt--for our California King-Sized Bed! So, I've planned out a 110" x 110" quilt using 'Birds In The Air blocks', inspired by a quilt I saw in Nancy Rink's booth at the Road to California Quilt Show. (I bought all the fabric in the form of a fat quarter tower from her too!)

So I used 5 yards of it for the blocks pictured here:

Fabric purchased this week: 0

Fabric purchased year to date: 50 yards

Fabric used this week: 4.25 yards

Fabric used year to date: 42 yards

Net used: -8 yards

See what all the other Happy Quilters are doing on Judy's wonderful blog!

DWMonday--Finished UFO #10!

2011-02-17T08:07:00.001-08:00

I've been a quilter for ONLY 16 years. I started making clothes for myself when I was about 12. I stopped when I was about 25 partly because it was easier to find great clothing for less money and, well, I started having money then! I acquired a dress form many years ago with the idea of getting back into making garments---then, I got the quilting bug and became the Rabid Quilter.

I finally found a fabric store that gives lessons in garment making and I've signed up for several classes: pattern making, draping, working with knits, etc. I found this wonderful knit a while back, perfect for a skirt, adapted a commercial pattern (adding pockets and changing the width of the bias panels) and actually finished a garment I will wear often! I've already worn it twice in fact and it's so comfortable and stretchy. You can't see it but it's a nubby red and black--really a great fabric.

Don't worry though, I still have about 7 quilting projects in progress as we speak as you can see from the other posts I've made on Judy Laquidara's wonderful site. Hope you're all having a great sewing week!

I've fallen off the wagon . . .

2011-02-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

There are times when, good intentions aside, we're tripped up and try as we might cannot resist an offer too good to be true. Some examples: your best friend makes you a yummy chocolate cake on your birthday (and you're on a strict diet). You've committed to cleaning the house, top to bottom then your husband takes the day off and, sun shining and skies blue, suggests you go off for some fun.

Here's what happened to me on Tuesday: I was hired to lecture at a quilt guild where one of the members had just passed away. She left her stash to the guild and they were selling it. . . for $3.00 per yard! What's more, each piece was neatly rolled and secured with masking tape with the yardage amount written on the tape. Most were 3-8 yard pieces and were by Kaffe Facett, Moda, Hoffman, etc. NICE fabric. And get this: there were 24 HUGE tubs full! About 25 rolls in each tub, segregated into colors so neat and tidy! I tried not to look but I was there for 3 hours and needed 5 yards for the back of the top I finished last week-- and finally, I just had to look.

$3.00 a yard people!!

So, I'm now in the red. . . . :-( But you know what? I have some WONderful new fabric and the quilt guild made $72 just from little ole me!

My totals:

Fabric purchased this week: 23 (!!)

Total fabric purchased this year: 50

Fabric used this week: 5

Total fabric used this year: 37.75

Net used: -12.25

Week 7 Stash Report

2011-02-09T20:07:00.000-08:00

I led a double life this week: I was a good girl and a bad girl. I bought the backing for my husband's Civil War quilt (a California King!) but also started a new quilt totally from my stash (or rather, the stashes of my Spring Chicks group).

Let me explain. . . I needed 8 yards for the back of a huge quilt and really needed an appropriate Civil War-type fabric which I don't have in my stash. 8 yards! Found just what my DH wanted and found it online on sale!

I also got together with my 9-person quilting group and exchanged 2 1/2" strips to make quilts for the Sutter Hospital Breast Cancer Auction, held every 3 years. We'll be turning in 9 quilts before the cut-off date, September 1st. See the quilt I'm working on for it HERE.

My totals:

Fabric purchased this week: 8

Total fabric purchased this year: 27

Fabric used this week: 5.5

Total fabric used this year: 32.75

Net used: 5.75

I'm not proud of these totals but I plan to do better. . .yeah, next week. . . LOL!!

Fun new quilt!

2011-02-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

I saw this great pattern at Road to California and came right home to make it! Last week, my "Spring Chicks" group met and exchanged 2 1/2" strips. With these strips, the challenge is to make any quilt we want and have them finished by August 2nd. And it's for a very good cause: see, every 3 years, Sutter Hospital in Sacramento holds a quilt auction with all proceeds going to their Breast Cancer Center.In past years, the auction has garnered hundreds of quilts from generous quilters, quilt groups and guilds and has netted over $300,000 from them! This year, all quilts are due on September 1st and all 9 of us Spring Chicks are donating our finished strip quilts to the auction. I hope this quilt strikes someone's fancy and they donate a nice, large sum to the auction and take home this colorful, twin bed-sized quilt that we all had a part in, wrap it around them and feel the LOVE!!

I know I have until August 2nd but I have time NOW so, here's the top! YAY!

What's on my design wall?

2011-02-07T08:33:00.000-08:00

I had a pretty prolific week! I finished the Mended Hearts quilt that my friend asked me to finish for her niece the day before she died. It took so long because I just didn't want to give it up! I felt her beside me every time I worked on it and knew when it was done, that I probably wouldn't feel that loving intensity again. But here it is and I know her niece is going to treasure it. I put a nice label on the back documenting the sad but loving story of Lee's desire to complete it for her.

I also worked on my quilt guild's challenge and it's almost done but can't post a photo of that one until the 'reveal' at the end of the month. Don't want to give away my design :-)

I'm also working on a BOM by Anne Sutton at Bunny Hill Designs and have kept up very nicely so far. It's only my 2nd applique quilt, a fall theme (my favorite time of year) and I'm loving it! Really need to get myself another applique project to work on in the evenings when I sit and watch TV with my husband.

So, what's on YOUR design wall this week? Take a look at Judy Laquadara's wonderful blog and see! (Don't you just LOVE to see everyone's post??!!)

Stash Report Feb. 6

2011-02-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

I found perfect fabric for the Civil War quilt I'm making my husband in the Hancock's catalog and bought 2 yards. It has pictures of Lee, Grant and Lincoln and my husband approved! Only thing is, he's decided he wants it for our bed, a California King! I drew it out on EQ7 and it will be 102" X 102". Ahhhh! 2 yards for the borders isn't going to be enough (I don't like to piece borders). Does that mean I have to reorder 3 yards? No. I'm going to break my rule and piece the borders.

I worked on my quilt guild's challenge and made a bib for my father-in-law (at his caregivers request--she was tired of using so many paper towels.)

Yardage purchased this week: 2

Yardage purchased year to date: 19 yards

Yardage used this week: 1.75 yards

Yardage used year to date: 27.25

Net used 2011: 7.75

Oh, here's my #10 UFO for February: 2 1/2 yards of beautiful red and black stretch fabric for a skirt. I haven't started this one!

Happy Quilting!!

Stashbuster 1-30-11

2011-01-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

Remember the Civil War quilt my husband asked me to make for him? And remember the 10+ yards I bought for said quilt last week at the big quilt show I attended? Well, I HAD to buy border fabric, right? Two yards out of the Hancock's of Paducah catalog--the fabric with the Civil War generals depicted on it. ? That's it!

The 2.5 yards I used was a vintage tablecloth my grandmother embroidered in the '50s. I cut it up to make a blouse/jacket. (See my Design Wall Monday post tomorrow!)

Yardage purchased this week: 2

Yardage purchased year to date: 17 yards

Yardage used this week: 2.5 yards

Yardage used year to date: 25.5

Net used 2011: 8.5

Happy quilting!!

A Garment on my Design Wall

2011-01-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

I went to the Road 2 California quilt show last week and among the great vendors there, I found one specializing in antiques: antiques quilts, tablecloths, hankies, blocks, etc. I collect antique quilts and give a lecture to guilds on the history of fabric in America but I swore to be a good girl and not buy another for my collection. I came close to buying 2 redwork pillowcases with sayings that really got to me: the first one said, "I slept and dreamed that life was beauty", depicting butterflies and blossoms. The second one read, "I woke and found that life was duty" with an image of a woman with a broom in her hand. Sad, huh? Didn't buy them.

Then I saw a rack of blouses made out of vintage tablecloths, doilies and cutter quilts. OMG! They were wonderful! But at $110 to $150, a little pricy. Then, a lightbulb went off above me! I have 4 drawers full of embroidered and crocheted items that my grandmother and mother made and they've been sitting there, unused, for a couple of decades! I don't use them because they are stained and not the right size for my tables. Making them into garments I would wear would be a tribute to my forbears as well as the ultimate recycling of otherwise unusable items.

So, I found a simple, non-dart blouse pattern, chose an embroidered tablecloth my grandmother made eons ago and put it on my design wall. I made some calculations, marked it up and started cutting.

This is the back. It started as a 50" round tablecloth that fit a table my mother replaced with a rectangular one when I was about 10 (1963). It's the one I chose to make first because it's the least 'special'. If this one turns out as great as I think it will, I'll cut into the really pretty ones and make more! Can't wait to finish it and wear it!

UFO #6 FINISHED!

2011-01-25T22:16:00.001-08:00

Six days early too! I'm so proud of myself! I really didn't want to finish this quilt--didn't really like it that much. (See the 'before' photo of #6 here). See, I made this on a mystery quilt retreat and I wanted it to be a Christmas quilt, thus the red and green fabrics. The pattern turned out not to look very Christmassy so I was disappointed. But, of course, now that it's quilted, I like it a whole lot more! You like the quilting? I did it on my regular machine, a Janome 6600. It's 60" x 76" and I'll probably donate this quilt to the next community service organization that holds a silent auction for some good cause. This is a quilt both men and women will like.

Looking forward to February 1st when Judy pulls the next UFO number. THANKS, JUDY!

A Naughty Girl. . .

2011-01-20T20:23:00.000-08:00

First you need to know that I'm sitting in my hotel room at Road 2 California, a huge quilt show in Southern California. I'm here for 3 days, 2 of which are all-day classes with Darlene Zimmerman and Joan Wolfren. For those of you who've not been to this particular show, I call it a mini-Houston. Fabulous quilts from all over the world and over 100 vendors--oh, and the sunshine--in the 70s. Yeah. . .

So for this stashbusting report, please don't judge me. You know how it is when you're facing all that yummy fabric all those fun patterns and beautiful quilts. But wait--my husband actually told me he'd like to have a Civil War quilt. (This is the guy who asked me, like 5 years ago, "How many quilts does a person need, Sweetie?") Guess what? I don't have a single piece of Civil War fabric in my stash! What's that mean???? Say it with me, ladies and gentlemen. . . I GET TO BUY MORE FABRIC!!!!

So here are the stats for this week:

Yardage purchased this week: 10.75 yards

Yardage purchased year to date: 15 yards

Yardage used this week: 3 yards (for the classes I took)

Yardage used year to date: 23

Net used 2011: 8

. . . .and I was doing so well. . .

A Productive Week!

2011-01-16T17:41:00.000-08:00

These 2 projects are on my design wall at the moment. On the left, the beginning of a mosaic-type wall-hanging I'm working on for my quilt guild's challenge, the theme being the same as our quilt show: "Blooming Fun". I'll show you the rest of it the end of next month when I complete it.

The other is the first block in Anne Sutton's free 2011 BOM. She's the creative genius behind Bunny Hill Designs and if you click this, you too can get her free monthly patterns for "Henreitta Whiskers", her adorable squirrel quilt.

I also finished a quilt, made huge progress on Judy's UFO Challenge #6 and have pinned and am ready to quilt the quilt I made in a mystery class last weekend! Woo-Hoo! I'll show them all in a future blog post. (Don't want to be a show-off!)

Stash Busting Time!

2011-01-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

This week I managed to put backs on 2 quilts so used 8.5 yards of fabric from my stash! Backs are great stashbusters, aren't they? There was a time when, every time I'd run across a $4 or $5 per yard sale rack, If buy 5-8 yards of some not-so-beautiful fabric, but nonetheless, in "my colors" to use on the back of some future quilt. When I remodeled my sewing room last year, I found I had 41 of these bulky wads stacked on my precious shelves!! E-gads, what was I 'saving' them for? They are going to be used nicely this year because of Judy's UFO challenge and also the UFO challenge I have going at my quilt guild. YAY!

So, my stash report is as follows:

Yardage purchased this week: 0

Yardage purchased year to date: 4.25

Yardage used this week: 8.5

Yardage used year to date: 20

Net used 2011: 15.75

"Geese in the Wild Roses"

2011-01-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

Three times a year, I attend a mystery class given by Linda Ballard of northern California. It's something my quilting buddies and I have been doing for, oh, about 10 years! (yeah, do the math--this may be why my mystery quilt tops take up a large portion of my UFO list!)

So, Friday night and all day Saturday, we worked on this quilt: The line of fabric is "Wild Rose" by Maywood Studios and I just LOVE it! My DH put up a new quilt rack for me for Xmas and I'm going to be making quilts that fit it just right so I can change them out on a regular basis. This one's only 42 X 52 so I'm sure to finish it quickly and put it right up!

BTW: the 6 blocks in this quilt are from an identical pattern. The value of the fabric is what makes them look different.

My First Stash Report

2011-01-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

The Stash Report on

Judy's blog

always intimidated me and I never posted. When I read the last Stash Report post of the year and saw that some people had purchased hundreds of yards of fabric (and USED hundreds of yards of fabric), I decided i needed to see what my totals were. (I'm secretly trying to convince my husband that I really don't buy THAT much fabric!) I'm desperate to lighten up the stash I've been accumulating for 15 years so I'm going to be good and buy fabric only when I absolutely HAVE to. Judy's stash report is going to help me do just that!

And so, here is my first post of totals:

Yardage purchased this week: 4.25

Yardage purchased year to date: 4.25

Yardage used this week: 11.5

Yardage used year to date: 11.5

Net used 2011: 7.25

Design Wall/UFO Challenge in ONE!

2011-01-02T20:06:00.001-08:00

This photo will have to do for my "design wall" because I blew a fuse while sewing on my UFO Challenge #6. It was cold and I turned on the space heater while my iron was on--CHeeze! (This photo was taken in a totally dark room.)!

This is a top I completed in a mystery class last summer. It was supposed to be a Christmas quilt but really didn't look Christmas-y when I got done. I bought 'chili pepper' fabric for borders but didn't like that either. SOOO, I was 'forced' to go out today and buy fabric for a border--right??! You see that little black area under the presser foot? That's a 1" black 1st border before the final border. I needed 'something' to differentiate between the main body of the quilt and the 6" border I plan to put on. When in doubt, use black!

Did I mention how proud of myself I am for starting my #6 UFO at the beginning of the month its due! I'm serious about lightening my UFO stack!

What's on YOUR design wall?

My very first Stash Report

2011-01-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

I've never posted a stash report because, frankly, I didn't want to know how much fabric I was buying and using! I like Judy's rules though: don't have to know how much is in your stash, clean slate for the start of the year, etc.

But wouldn't you now, I had to go to the quilt shop today to buy border fabric for the UFO Challenge #6 I signed up for, also on Judy's blog! See, I made this top last summer at a mystery retreat. I wanted it to be a Christmas quilt but it ended up not looking like one. So I bought chili pepper fabric. But I didn't like that (and put it on the back of another quilt!) The stash report below reflects my purchase today for said borders and the amount I'll be using for them . . . after I get my husband to flip the breaker in my sewing room: It's been so cold, I ran the space heater and the iron at the same time and KA-blooee!

Used this week: 1 yard

Used year to date: 1 yard

Added this week: 2 1/4 yards (I don't like pieced borders)

Added year to date: 2 1/4 yards

Hooo Do You Love?

2010-12-19T21:12:00.001-08:00

This is a baby quilt for my daughter's best friend's sister's baby (got that?). Hey! I have to quilt and I have over 100 quilts in my house (although some of them are the antique quilts I collect) so I need to have excuses to make them. What better than a baby?

This is a panel kit I purchased while on vacation near Portland Oregon. Holly Hill Quilts in West Linn Oregon is a fabulous quilt shop! We were on our way to the airport to fly home when we stopped here and when my husband, who likes to take a nap in the car while I'm in quilt shops, came in looking for me after about 40 minutes. I took one look at him and said, "You go ahead Dear. I'm going to just stay here. LIVE here. IN this quilt shop".

I bought the kit before we knew the gender of the baby but now we know it's a boy so this fabric with all the adorable little owls on the border, will be perfect. It's backed with orange Minkee.

2011 UFO Challenge

2010-12-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

Over at Judy Laquidara's WONderful blog, Patchwork Times, she's created a challenge to the bravest quilters: post 12 UFOs you'd like to finish and work on one a month to see if you can complete 12 in a year. Judy will draw a number on the first of each month and that's the number of the quilt you need to finish. Here is my list:

1. Jelly Roll Xmas Quilt, top completed in 2007

2. 12 Days of Xmas, pattern by Nancy Halvorsen, top completed in 2008

3. Pastel Stars from a Linda Ballard mystery in 2004

4. "Michigan Hideaway", black and jewel-tone top completed in 2006

5. "Big Easy", a yellow, black and quilt top made in 2008

6. "Glory Bee" red, green and white top started in 2009

7. "Twinkle Little Star" a little Xmas quilt started in 2006

8. "September" wall hanging.

9. Brocade Jacket--I assume garments count?

10. Red and black skirt--ditto #9 (I haven't even started this one)

11. VQG Challenge quilt. This is my own quilt guild's challenge; we have 2 fabrics, add can only 2 more making something with the theme "Blooming Fun".

12. Kaleidoscope. Ricky Tims' pattern. This one's pinned, I only need to quilt and bind it.

As you can see, my 'bog down' point is when I have to pin the quilt. Hate that part! So I have a lot of tops. Some of these I really like and want to complete. Others, not so much. They will be donated to one of the many worthy causes in my life.

Good luck to all my fellow Judy Laquidara aficionados!

FINALLY!!!

2010-12-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

I can finally show everyone this quilt I've been working on for 6 months! My quilting group "Calendar Girls" selects a block and color-way every December, we make 16 blocks, exchange them in June and 'reveal' our respective quilts in December (yesterday, actually). Since I know some of my quilting buddies read this blog, I had to keep this under wraps because it's a very hush-hush thing every year.

So this is my quilt! We were to make any basket block we wanted in red and white. I came up with about 15 additional blocks because I really wanted a mish-mash of sizes and shapes. This is the 10th year we've been together so I commemorated this fact in the top with paper-pieced lettering.

So what did the others Calendar Girls make? Oh MAN! Every quilt was outstanding! I was surprised that only 5 people chose to add other colors to their quilts. One tea-dyed hers, one added butter yellow stars, one appliqued pink-ish red flowers with green leaves and 2 others added all the colors of the rainbow! The rest were pretty much true to red and white and they were all FANTASTIC!! I'm so lucky to be part of such a tight group, all of whom have become really great friends!

Mended Hearts

2010-12-06T14:36:00.001-08:00

A couple of months ago, I told you all about my dear friend Lee who passed away after an 18-year battle with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma at the age of 60. The day before she passed, she called from her hospital bed to "ask me a favor". She wanted me to complete the 2 quilts she'd started for her daughter and her niece. You saw her daughter's, here's the niece's quilt, Mended Hearts, in progress to be finished for Christmas. This is a 'quilt-as-you-go' method, a little different than I'm used to. Once you applique the hearts on to the background, you stitch with different decorative stitches in varying colors then cut some of them in half and 'mend' them together. Then you butt the blocks together to finish the quilt--which is the part I have left to do. I'm sure it will be a touching moment when her husband delivers the finished quilt to her niece.

Miss you, Lee. . .

I Got the Extra Fabric!!!

2010-11-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

I'm so happy to report that I was able to get enough of the red fabric I told you about last week to finish the binding on my red and white quilt--woo-hoo!! I called the shop, they still had some, my son picked it up for me and got it to me! Just when you think it's a lost cause, the Universe surprises you! The photo here is not the quilt, just my cute kitty Bobo with another red and white basket quilt I made a few years ago. I will post a photo of the Calendar Girls quilt on Monday, December 14th the day after the group has their 'reveal'.

Corn Pudding with Buorbon

2010-11-19T07:45:00.000-08:00

CORN PUDDING WITH BOURBON

I cut this out of the Sunday paper in 1998 and it’s wonderful!

Just make sure your corn is thawed if it’s frozen and if using

canned kernels, drain well.

3 eggs

1 1/8 cup evaporated milk

3 cups canned cream-style corn

3 cups corn kernels

3 T butter, melted

3 T brown sugar

3 T cornstarch mixed w/3 T water

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

4 1/2 T bourbon

3/8 tsp salt

3/8 tsp white pepper

Preheat over to 350º and butter a 2 quart baking dish

Beat eggs and evaporated milk together in large bowl. Stir in all remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into baking dish. Bake 45 minutes (might take a little longer) or until slightly browned and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve hot. Serves 8-10

The Case of the Too Short Binding

2010-11-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

I am part of a wonderful group of 16 quilters who have been together for 10 years; The Calendar Girls. Every year, we pick the parameters for a block, make 16 of them, have a block exchange in June then make a quilt and have "Reveal Day" in December. Reveal Day this year is December 13th and it is my favorite day of the year. The Taj Mahal couldn't rival the splendor of the decorations of our host, Cooky. We gather around 11 am, everyone brings goodies and other edibles, we pick at them and visit, then we sit down at the magnificent dining table set with Spode Christmas china, crystal and the 'good' silver while surrounded by her Santa collection, her Christmas quilt collection (decorating every spare wall space and chair back) and the lighted village that runs all through her home.

There's show and tell, a gift exchange, then dessert and more visiting! Then we get down to business--The Reveal. Everyone's quilt is wonderful, stories are told about the sewing of them, photos are taken (to be kept in a comprehensive scrapbook, almost 3" thick now!) and at last, we choose a theme for the next year's block. (This year's was red and white baskets).

I can't show you the whole quilt, which is 98% finished, because it's a surprise and they might peek but I have a little problem: Yesterday as I was putting on the binding I cut months ago, I realized I didn't have enough and had run out of fabric! I remember where I bought it (wonder of wonders) but that's a 2 1/2 drive--each way! I've scanned the fabric and emailed it to the shop and will call them tomorrow and see if they can send it to me. (Good thing I'm one of those people who finished things early instead of waiting until the last minute. Do YOU do that?)

Tree Skirt

2010-11-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

A completed project! F-I-N-A-L-L-Y!! I started this a couple of years ago and were it not for a UFO Challenge at our quilt guild, it would have probably been another 2 years. So, just in time for the season. . .

The Cat Wears a Different Hat!!

2010-10-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

That Cat in the Hat fabric quilt I had on my design wall last week just wasn't working for me. I love Sandy Klop's "Triple Crown Quilt" pattern but just didn't like how it was turning out with this fabric. So I tore it all down and tried something different--and LOVE IT! Most of the left side is sewn and the right side will be added today sometime.

Unfortunately, I need to make 5 more triangles out of the light fabric--the one with all the words on it--and have run out of fabric! It means I won't be able to finish it right away--ARGH! I only need a 2 1/2" WOF piece!! I called every quilt shop within a 50 mile radius and no one has it! (I bought this online). Guess I'll have to order a whole half yard and wait for it to come in the mail. . .

Little Bags and The Cat in the Hat

2010-10-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

I found this little pattern by Valori Wells at PIQF (Pacific International Quilt Festival) a couple of weeks ago and can stop making these cute little bags! I'll give them to my friends for Christmas . You can put a lipsitck, a tissue and a couple of cards inside. Or, better yet, all those punch cards from all your favorite quilt shops!! Snap the snap and put it in your purse or pocket. Easy-peasy!

Finally getting back to this project which will be a Christmas throw for my daughter and her wife. They're writers (creative and screen, respectively) and love all the classics--Dr. Seuss being one, of course. This quilt isn't easy to put up on the design wall, I've found. Quite confusing with all the colors but I'll get it. Need to make at least 5 times more blocks (with 6 triangles apiece!) before I can begin to put this together.

Hop on over to Judy Laquidera's blog to see what everyone else has on their design walls!

The Cat in the Hat meets American Jane

2010-09-26T17:19:00.001-07:00

I didn't mean to start a new project--I really didn't! But how could I resist this new Cat in the Hat fabric knowing my daughter would LOVE a quilt made out of it for Christmas? Never mind that she's 25 years old--I think she likes Dr. Seuss more now than she did when she was little.

I've chosen Sandy Klop's American Jane pattern "Triple Crown Quilt" and think it will look great. I'll be getting a few more different fabrics in this Cat in the Hat line and have already purchased an aqua Minkie for the back, another thing my daughter will love about it!

Oh, the dreams that she'll have with this quilt!

Someone else's 'design wall' today

2010-09-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

I'm traveling on the east coast for a couple of weeks so have nothing to show on my design wall--however, that does not mean I'm not steeping myself in sewing and quilting along the way! Today I'll be visiting the Folger Museum on Nantucket Island, MA to see the Susan Boardman exhibit of the most exquisite hand work imaginable! When I first saw these works in a magazine, I thought I was looking at applique on quilts that were quite large. Oh, no! These are completely hand worked with fine gold and other threads, tiny beads and accouterments on very small incredible works. This is a photo of the front of her book documenting the lives of 'notable Nantucket women" many of them whaling ship captain's wives, left for years at a time while their husbands were off at sea. This 'quilt' is less than 14" x 16" and every stitch is hand wrought with single strand silk thread and a beading needle! I'm so lucky to be able to see these works of cloth arts in person.

My Design Wall's a Secret. . .

2010-09-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

This quilt is not technically on my design wall but what I've had on my design wall for a couple of weeks now is my Calendar Girls group block exchange blocks. Since I think there are a couple of women in the group who read Judy's wonderful blog, much as I'd love to show it off (as I'm VERY happy with how it's turing out!) I can't post photos of it as it will spoil the surprise of our annual 'reveal' in December.

This is a small quilt I finished just before the 4th of July. It started with a Schnibbles pattern but then I added the 2 border edges, the "fireworks" complete with fused on crystals and hand-appliqued circles, and the flag. I love the way it turned out!

For the next couple of weeks, I'll be on vacation on the east coast so I won't have any input but I'm bringing my computer with me so I won't miss Judy's or anyone else's posts. I find I LIVE for Design Wall Monday and all the inspiration it brings! Thank you, Judy Laquidara for your wonderful "Patchwork Times" blog!!

Ready to Quilt

2010-08-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about my friend Lee who passed away a couple of days after asking me to finish 2 quilts she'd started, one for her niece Caitlin, which was my last post, and one for her daughter, Elizabeth. Lee had finished the center part of this sampler and had included a dozen or so fabrics in a neat bundle, including enough for the back. I chose this peach-colored first border and a piano key outer border to enlarge it to the queen-sized quilt she'd planned for. Another of Lee's friends and I will be quilting it later in the week.

It's amazing how I felt Lee's presence while working on this quilt. I felt her smiling, as she always did, and encouraging me. I also thought of how Elizabeth will think of her mom every time she sleeps under it. The fact that it was so important to Lee to get these quilt finished will make Elizabeth and Caitlin realize just how special they were to her.

--On another note: for those of you who live in MA, ME or NH, if you have a favorite quilt shop you'd like to tell me about, I'm vacationing there in mid-September and will need my quilt shop fix! We're traveling from Cape Cod through Boston and up to Camden ME. Then over to Lincoln NH then down to Manchester. Thanks in advance--

Design Table Monday

2010-08-02T16:02:00.001-07:00

In a couple of hours, I'm attending a "Celebration of Life" at our local arboretum for my dear friend, Lee who passed away last week after asking me to finish her 2 quilts for her daughter and niece. I haven't been in a particularly productive mood for a couple of days and have been moping around just being sad.

Lee's unfinished heart blocks which were on my wall last week are on my cutting table at the moment. I found out that this was to be a "mended hearts" quilt and had to change my idea about how Lee wanted the quilt to go together. (I wondered why she had a pile of 8 1/2" squares of batting cut along with a pile of red and black polka dot squares 8 1/2" squares).

Never having put together a quilt like this, I found a description of it online (what CAN'T you get online!) and am in the process of sewing different decorative stitches in bright colors across each sandwiched block--polka dot back, batting and heart top square.

Once that is done, you stack a light background block with a dark background block and slice them any which way, then zig-zag them together so one side is dark and one light. It's a "quilt-as-you-go" process so when you get done zig-zagging the rows together, all you do is bind it and you're done.

I'm sure after tonight's memorial, I'll have the spirit I need to get going a little faster on this wonderful quilt.