Lot's to Share

 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

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

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

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!

 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

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

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