Saturday, June 25, 2011

Tastes change.....

I needed to get back to my sewing, so I got the binding on this flannel quilt sewn on last night.





I had machine sewn the binding on a couple weekends ago on my girlfriend quilty weekend getaway, so last night I just sat down and hand stitched the whole thing down.  Now it is done. 

Ashamed to say that this quilt is one of my first quilts....probably over 10 years ago.  It was made to go into my living room where I had a sand rose leather couch and bluish green chair.  I no longer have that furniture.  Now I have red.  So....this isn't going to go.  I think it will be a good quilt for the couch in the basement.  That's why I said.....tastes change.  Another reason not to wait too long to finish a quilt. 

Why did it take me so long? Well, I had seen this quilt in the quilt shop and it was being offered up as a class.  I signed up and then the gal who was teaching it got sick with leukemia and was sick for well over a year.  I thought that I could do it anyways (which I could), but what held me back in finishing it was that it was hand quilted in perle cotton with a very pretty design.  Of course by the time I got the quilt top done, I couldn't remember how she had quilted it (it was no longer displayed in the shop), so there sat all my perle cotton for all these years.  I finally just got fed up seeing this sit in my closet, so it went along to the quilter with two other quilts (that still need their bindings made).  Now it is finished and outta the sewing room.  That in itself is a good feeling. 

Also, yesterday I  squared up all the lavender half square triangles for the baby quilt that I started, so I guess the next thing will be to put a row or two of the lavender zig zag rows together. 

I would say I am back in the swing of quilting.  I just needed to get my behind in that room and get myself motivated.  So, the wedding "let down" is done and over.  I'll be back with something new to report soon. 

Happy Quilting. 

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I need to get back into the swing of things.....

I should be all excited that my time ( outside of work) is my own now.  Wedding is done and all other commitments are out of the way.  All my free time should be quilt oriented, but this is as far as I have gotten.


Finished the Winding Ways Quilt and then  read the Quilter's Kitchen in less than one evening.  Well, I guess they are quilt related, but that wasn't what I had in mind when I thought I would be quilting my brains out.  Now I am reading The Girl that Kicked the Hornet's Nest on my Nook.

I actually feel that I am suffering the "let down" after the wedding.  You plan for a year and a half, you go through the wedding and then just like that it is over.  It was a beautiful wedding, but now I am feeling like....gee ....what am I going to do with myself?

Well, I do know what I am going to do with myself.  I just need to get out of this funk.

Oh yeah...I do know what I am going to do.   I am going to look for the remote to my TV because the grandkids hid it so that the other one wouldn't change the channel on them and now no one remembers where they put it.  Does that mean I have to clean my whole house so I can find my own remote?  

Oh well, I think I will go and read some more.  I'll let you know when I get back to my sewing.   


Saturday, June 18, 2011

Wedding day was June 17.....

....and everything went off without a hitch.  The weather was gorgeous, the bride was beautiful and the groom very handsome. 





The flowers were more beautiful than expected.



We had cupcakes rather than the traditional cake, but there was a small cake for the bride and groom to cut.


....and of course, I presented them with their wedding quilt today, the 18th, when they came to the house to open their gifts. 




I think they were very happy with the quilt.

Once I get some more candid pictures from the wedding, I will post a picture of me in my dress.  So far, no one has any.  Oh well.  It was a great day!!!

Now, on to things for me.  The wedding was the final thing on my long list of commitments.  Hopefully nothing pressing comes up too soon as I want to enjoy my freedom.  So...I am heading into the sewing room.  See  you when I come up for air. 


Now.....my time is my own

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Weekend at the farm...

Got away from Friday through Sunday at my friends farm with friends to quilt our hearts out.  My goal is to get some baby quilts made and on hand for those last minute baby showers that one is always asked to attend. My first top was made with a four patch and alternating block. 




 I, also, started another one from a stack of fat quarters that I have had since  the 2010 Paducah show.

I got all my half square triangles made.


They need to be trimmed, but of the ones that I did trim, I put this row together.



Scrappy blues.

I have piles of pinks, lavendars, blue and ivorys that need to be trimmed and then will make more of the "rick rack" type rows


I, also, got a binding on a very old quilt....in fact, it was one of my first quilts that I finally just took to the quilter ( I had planned on hand quilting it with perle cotton, but that wasn't happening).  I will post pictures of it when I get it all handstitched down. 

Nancy was working on a beautiful Moda pattern that is something new  just shown at Market.



Sharon  ( http://totallyobsessedwithallthingscreative.blogspot.com/  )  was working feverishly on getting rid of stash by making a scrappy quilt that we had recently seen at a quilt show.  (but we believe her stash was reproducing itself as the pile never seemed to get smaller)



Here's the pattern she is working on.  Actually...she was just going by a picture that we had taken at the quilt show.


Also, Sharon's friend, Claudette came and spent some time with us this weekend.  She not a quilter, but rather she is a photographer and she tagged along with us looking for inspiration  so that she could take some photos.  Pop over to her blog and see a quilt store from her eyes.  It's great. See her June 11 post about us. 

I sure needed this little quilty weekend away.  The wedding is this weekend and I am missing out on my St. Louis retreat with my online friends because apparently my daughter didn't believe me when I told her the rules.....no weddings, no babies being born, no nothing to take place during the week of my St. Louis retreat!!!  Oh well, I guess I will have to stay home for her wedding.  Pictures of that will be posted most likely this weekend, so stay tuned!!! :D




Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Look who is moving into my house.

This is Annie.  Isn't she adorable?

I saw these Annies  first on Sharon's blog ...  http://redgeraniumcottage.typepad.com/my_weblog/
She collects them and after she posted pictures of ALL of hers, I just couldn't resist checking out the website where she gets them from which is here... http://www.raggedyoldannies.com/ .  I have fallen in love.

If you are into folk art, this is one good place to find some adorable "Annies". 

Also, pulled out the next Cherry Tree block that I intend to work on.....#15

Had it out last night to work on and ended up arranging seating for the wedding and that took a little while, so maybe tonight I will get in a few stitches. 
Probably won't get it done too quickly with the wedding coming up, but at least I will have something to work on while my nerves are getting to me.  

Well, keep cool.  It's in the high 90s here today and sitting here with my laptop isn't all that comfortable, so I will be back later.  Happy quilting. 

Monday, June 6, 2011

#16 Cherry Tree block and thread.....

I finally got another block of the Cherry Trees done.

I know...they look like grapes, but I am sticking with the red and green theme of this quilt (with just a smattering of rosey shades as of late).  Of course, there ARE red grapes, right?

This block, also, requires some embroidery stems, but because I made my cherries slightly bigger, I am not so sure that I am going to bother with the embroider since there isn't much room now.  Of course, that is something I can always do a little later.

Another thing I wanted to discuss with you is silk thread.  While at the AQS show in Paducah I had taken a block to work on and I had only about a yard of green silk thread left on my spool, so my mission was to find green thread in a vendor's booth.  You can ask Sandy over at http://sewthisismyblog.blogspot.com/ ......I got carried away.


I bought three spools ....all in about the same shade of green that I am using for the Cherry Tree blocks.   I won't be running out soon. 

Anyways, I bought Clover, Kimono and YLI.  These are all different from what I usually use.  Tire is the one I usually go for.  So far from the new ones I have tried the Clover and Kimono.  I like them both, but the Kimono one is really nice. 

So....what kind of thread do you use for your applique and why?  I would really like to know. 

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...