Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day 2010

Today was a  day of remembering.  I came across this little cake topper in my mother-in-laws things after we cleaned out her house upon moving her to assisted living.  There was a note explaining it.


It read:  "This bride and groom was on top of our wedding cake December 7, 1940.  Russ bought the cake at Saunders and it cost $6.00.  Everyone had a piece of the cake."
 
One year later, my father-in-law was called up for World War II.   He brought back this bottle of "Carnation perfume" bought in Paris for my mother-in-law sometime while he was in the war.


 I always wondered why she loved Carnation perfume so much.  Now I know.  She now wears Belodgia (carnation fragrance) and it is my favorite perfume, too. 

Another thing that I came across while going through her household things was this little creamer.  I love toile and just couldn't pass up keeping it. 



Underneath the creamer it says "Reverie...Alfred Meakin ....Staffordshire England
A Hand engraved pattern applied under the glaze, detergent and acid resisting colours"

I am going to do some research on this one. 

On the quilting front.....I pulled a little kit out of my cupboard and thought I would prepare it for a retreat that I will be attending soon.  It is a Schnibbles.



I have three other friends who bought the kit the same time that I did and haven't seen or heard about any of them working on it so I put out some feelers as to how it went  since I have heard that Miss Rosie patterns can sometimes be a little hard to understand.

Anyways, two of them attempted it and the fabric ended up in their stash and the other one got it out to work on, but didn't have the correct ruler with her at the time. So, it was suggested that before I head out on my retreat with this being my only "full quilt" project to work on, that maybe I should put together a block and this was the result.



Not that easy when you are working with "scant" 1/4" seams and having to use an Omnigrid 98 ruler.  I didn't have that ruler but I had one by Fons and Porter that I thought would fit the bill and the block did come out pretty close, so I am going to give it a try.  I will be taking some applique on the retreat.  Hopefully #9 Cherry Trees will be prepped for the trip and maybe  a few of my circle blocks or maybe even a DJ block.  I will keep busy, I am sure; but if I am going to keep going on reducing my kits; UFOs and WIPs, I hope to get this Schnibbles top done by the end of the retreat.  

Anyways, I just wanted to touch bases with you all and hope you all had a great Memorial Day.  I know I am very thankful for all our military does for our freedom; and the fact that we, as a family, did some remembering of my late father-in-law, Russ, today and got to think of how much he meant to us.  

Happy Memorial Day! 

Friday, May 28, 2010

Per your request, plus.....

Here are all eight of the Beyond the Cherry Tree Album Quilt blocks thus far. 


I am running out of design wall space, so I will be taking these down for the time being. There will be a total of 25 blocks, PLUS a viney border with cherries all the way around.  I may never get to see this up on the wall again.  Hmmmm...how am I ever going to decide how to lay it out?  Oh well, time will tell.

Now for the plus....there are a few bloggers who are working on Dear Jane.  I started mine quite awhile ago, but keep putting it away to work on something more pressing.  I jokingly say that I will be taking this one to the "home" with me, but I have been re-inspired after seeing  Doreen's from http://auntreensplace.blogspot.com/ and her goal of having it done by March of 2011.  I bow down to her for such a lofty goal. 

Anyways, I got mine out to see just where I was at; and this is what I have, although on my check off list, I show that I have another three or so floating around somewhere, so I am going to have to do some hunting.



I have one block that I didn't sew according to the pattern (the bottom one) and I am thinking of re-doing it, but for now, I am thinking of keeping these up on the design wall to keep me motivated and just maybe I will work on a block or two every once in awhile to reach my goal of completion....maybe before the "home". 

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

#8 Cherry Trees has sprout!

Well, it took a little time for this one to come to fruition, but not because it was hard or anything like that.   The weather has just been beautiful  for working outdoors and I have been shopping for a wedding dress with my youngest daughter which by the way, we did find and order. 



I did get the layout drawn up, all the freezer paper pieces traced and cut out, background cut out and finally had all the pieces ironed on their respective fabrics; and this is the result. 
There sure were a lot of leaves, but once I started working on them, they didn't take long at all since they really are pretty small.  Don't forget, these blocks are cut at 17".   I promise to get a picture up soon of all 8 blocks laid out together. 

Next on the agenda is to get the binding on the Zen quilt that came back from the quilter last week, so I need to get busy on that.  I want to take it to my retreat in June for show'n'tell. 

Hope your weather is as good as ours is here in Michigan. 

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Mini get together and more.....

Met up with my "quilty chicks" today and we did a little show'n'tell along with some eating and chatting....lots of chatting.

Here is Sharon with her lovely red and green applique.  She just got it back from the quilter's, so I am sure binding is in her near future.  I just love her choices of fabric.  Can you see the subtle pinwheels in the big open areas.  This is a lovely quilt.

Here is Nancy's quilt She is another one who chooses lovely colors and quilt patterns. I love the idea of using a large white border to showcase the beautiful quilting  that one of our favorite quilters, Karen McDavitt, did for her.  With the extra blocks, she centered them on the back of the quilt.  I am thinking this could easily be a reversible quilt.
















As for me, I showed my painted daisy quilt, the toile quilt and the Home Sweet Home quilt, so nothing new from me that  everyone hasn't seen yet. 

On the home front, I got all my batik scraps out and just started cutting from each of the darker batiks to make the binding for the Zen quilt.  I didn't do any measuring, just kept cutting. 


I cut numerous strips, cut each end at 45 degrees, sewed them together, pressed them  and after measuring and finding out I now have enough binding for two quilts, it is all wrapped up and ready for the phone call telling me that my Zen quilt is ready to be picked up.  Guess I will be making another quilt with my brown batik scraps just so I can use my extra binding. 

Ok, onto block #8 of the Cherry Trees.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Reached another goal....

Two more UFO's have bit the dust.


The binding is all hand stitched down on my black and cream toile quilt.
So here is the completed quilt. 


The binding is, also, on the Painted Daisy quilt.


....and here is the completed quilt.


Of course my goal was to get these two done before the 10th when the new Beyond the Cherry Trees block was available, but I missed it by only one day. I guess if I hadn't taken a couple days off to rest the 'ole wrists, I would have been ahead of schedule, but that's ok.  I still think I am doing good. 

So, the next project is #8 BOM (Cherry Trees).  I will be printing up that block and getting busy on it tomorrow. ( http://sentimentalstitches.net/free-stuff/polka-dot-garden/beyond-the-cherry-trees-album-quilt/ )

My goal this month after making the next Cherry Tree block is to make the binding for the brown batik quilt that is at the quilters right now (my Zen quilt) and just maybe get to a "crayon challenge" quilt that is due at a retreat in June.  I am not going to hold my breath on that one, but we will see.  I will have it started for sure. It can be as small as 22" square, so we will see.  I am just trying to keep up the momentum. 

Friday, May 7, 2010

There's shopping in my future....

Went to check what I had left over from my pallette of fabrics thinking I might just piece the whole back for the Home Sweet Home quilt, but there really wasn't enough to get very far, so I think I will be doing some shopping soon to look for a backing. I am just going to incorporate this into my stash instead.


Don't know if you remember my saying that I thought I had plenty of the border fabric left over  just in case I didn't want to remove the scallops that I had already done (incorrectly) and was thinking of starting from scratch.....well upon looking for the fabric this evening to make binding, this is all I had left of the border fabric.  Certainly not enough to re-do borders.  Good thing I went with what I had and didn't ruin them while I was picking out threads.


So I figured I would try and cut out my binding from this.  I cut my binding at 2 1/8".  I know...a little crazy, but that's the size that I like.  Anyways, I got the full length that I needed.


It is all sewn together, pressed and rolled and ready to apply to the quilt with this much to spare.

 

Is that cutting it close or what?

Well, I was on the "binding making roll" tonight so got the bindings made for the cream and black toile and the painted daisy quilt, too


So, my plans for this weekend are to get the bindings on the two black quilts.  Hope to get to one of my favorite quilt shops to find backing for the house quilt soon and really need to cut up scraps for the binding for the brown batik "Zen" quilt, but that seemed like too much work tonight.

 It's only a couple days before the next Beyond the Cherry Trees block of the month comes out and all else will stop once I get that, so I figure progress is progress and I should be happy with that.  So....happy quilting.

Monday, May 3, 2010

4 out of 4 plus 4 (cornerstones)...done, done, done!!!

Four corner scallops.....


and this completes the quilt top.


Do you think even though I started this quilt in 2008 and then put it away for a year because of those darn scallops (that weren't so darned afterall) and then finished the top in 2010, that I should rip off '08 and make it '10?

Now to decide whether or not I have enough imagination, patience  and the fortitude to hand quilt this baby  or if I should send it off.  It would get done a whole lot sooner if I sent it off, but with all the work I have done, handquilting seems the way to go.

Anyways, can you tell that my giddiness is making me do that quiltng "happy dance"?  I can't believe this quilt top is done.   I can now start the next UFO...which is probably a binding or two for the last two quilts that went to the quilter.  Beyond the Cherry Trees BOM is due out on the 10th.  I still have a few days.

Thanks for joining me on my journey !!!!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

4 out of 4!!!!

I am so excited to report that the fourth border is now attached.


For this border I didn't have to remove one scallop, but the two outside ones had their tips loosen so that I could scootch those in so that scallop #5 and #6 could be added in their respective spots.  That was just way too lucky. 



I have been a little worried as to whether or not I would have enough space for the corner scallops, but was afraid to check until I was to this point.  I am thinking it looks pretty good.  Then.....


I laid out the first scallop and it works just fine! 

My giddiness is now from my toes to my stomach.  I am seeing the light at the end of this tunnel and it really hasn't been all that bad of a road.  Too bad I didn't have the patience a year ago to sit down and work out the mathematics to make my scallops fit.  I would have had this done a long time ago. 

Well, the four cornerstones are now basted on. I am heading over to my easy chair and am going to get started on this.  If I get these four done in the next day or two, I will have some time to do a couple bindings before the next Beyond the Cherry Trees block comes out. 

Wish me luck!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Little country church quilt show

I didn't have real high hopes that this would be a great quilt show today since it was being held in a small, white clapboard, country church.  I just thought it would be a great day out with my quilt friends....seeing "some" quilts, lots of chatter and going out to lunch, but I was pleasantly surprised.


They really packed the quilts into this quaint little church.



The quilts were draped over all the pews and there were plenty of quilts hung on the walls. Some new, some antiques.   I thought I would share some of our favorites.

The one that I hoped would win the "best of show" was this one. 


Those 9-patches were each 1 1/2" in size.  (each little square was then 1/2").  I forget how many thousand she said were in there.  It was to die for!!!


This "star" quilt  was awesome.  I think it was the colors of the quilt and the fabric choices that just sung out to us.  Each star was just "fussy" cut from a fabric. We thought at first that they were appliqued, but it just didn't matter because the whole quilt was just very inviting. 


Then there was this applique quilt.  It seemed so impressive (or I should say that it was impressive), but on closer inspection, it was much more simple than first thought as their choices of fabrics and the fussy cutting they did for each of the pieces made it appear much more elaborate.  It was beautiful.


Then there was this very pretty 9-patch (but laid out differently than most).  I believe this quilt was an antique and it had a very different edge.


One more antique that caught our eyes was this Texas star.  I sure would have loved to see this one hanging.  Texas stars are almost always impressive. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed what little I could share with you  at this lovely little country church quilt show.

I am now off to work on my fourth scallop border which I did manage to rip out only a couple tips to scootch them in (no full scallop removal on this one thank goodness) and have the last two full scallops basted one.  I will be sharing this with you very soon. 

Happy quilting. 

Michigan quilters, take note

  Come see us at our first Quilter's to Quilter's sale.   Don't know what that is?  Well, it will be 28 quilters/vendors selling...