Monday, August 30, 2010

My First Redwork

I thought my first redwork turned out pretty cute. I was trying to stay focused on a couple of other projects, but when I came across this towel in my sewing room I thought it would be a nice short break from quilting. The chickens are really the same size, it is my photography skills that need improving.


Saturday was yard sale day at the Stitchin' Post. They open up the back lot for people to sell their sewing and quilting supplies. I met Phyllis there and she directed me to what I love the most- vintage and reproductions. Check out this great pile I got for a pittance. Most FQers were 75 cents and I even found 2 pieces that were free!


Three books to add to my library for a mere $3 a piece.
I hope you all had a great weekend. We are trying to get the trim painted on our house (ugh!) but had a wonderful opportunity for a short road trip yesterday. I can't wait to tell you about it, although it doesn't have anything to do with quilting.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Check out the Giveaways

Anybody else notice the Go! cutters have taken over blogland? Paulette did a very impressive demo. Check it out, then leave a comment on her site to win. Go to Sweet P Quilting & Creations to enter.

Barb has a fantastic post with some wild & beautiful quilts and she is having a wonderful giveaway. Enter at this site: Fun With Barb & Mary.

I was asked to psot this invitation on my blog. If I was closer I'd go in a heart beat!

Quilt Show And Sale, a Fall Tradition

Brightly colored quilts wave in the breeze at Sully Historic Site’s 37th Annual Quilt Show & Sale on Sunday, September 12, 2010 from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Merchants will tempt shoppers with antique and new American-made quilts, fabrics, antique linens, baskets, stained glass and jewelry at the largest outdoor quilt show in the east.

Tour the 1794 home of Richard Bland Lee, northern Virginia’s first congressman and see early examples of quilts in the period rooms. These quilts, belonging to private collectors reflect this year’s theme, Great American Quilt Designers, 1830-1930.

Throughout the day, Northern Virginia Quilters Unlimited will provide demonstrations and talks on quilting techniques. Children can try their hand at quilting. Living history interpreters will demonstrate spinning, weaving and hand sewing as it was done in the 18th and 19th centuries and invite you to try some of these techniques. Appraisers will be available to evaluate your family heirloom quilts for $10 per quilt with a limit of two quilts.

Sully’s door prize quilt has been designed, pieced and quilted by members of the Hayfield Country Quilters. Each adult or senior admission ticket includes a chance to win this beautiful prize!

Admission to the Quilt Show is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for children. For more information, contact Sully at 703-437-1794.

Directions: Sully Historic Site is located on Route 28 in Chantilly, VA. From the Beltway (495) take either I66 west to Route 28 North or the Dulles Toll Road to exit 9A (Route 28 South).


Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I've been getting some quilting done, but nothing really done enough to show. I basted three small quilts, one I have started hand quilting Baptist fans. I've been getting a bit of machine applique done and started a new hand applique project. I'll be sure to show them when they get to the "complete" stage.

The end of summer is nearing. Boo-Hoo I always think of this song by Dashboard Confessional:
so long sweet summer
I stumbled upon you and gratefully basked in your rays.....

I thought I'd post a few photos I shot in the garden today.

I probably should have flicked that grasshopper away, but I couldn't bear to. I thought he made the shot a little unusual.
My favorite flower of all time!

This little Mexican hat is out in my wildflower patch. It is about the only thing left out there.


See this beautiful vintage looking fabric postcard? Libby at Paper Napkin Poetry made it for me! (I borrowed the photo from her site) I couldn't be more thrilled with it and especially her thoughtfulness. It makes me smile every time I see it.
Still Alice was a heart wrenching, amazing book. I'm not sure I've ever read a fiction book that made me cry at times- this one did.
I'm loving The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (despite the name). I saw it on Valentina's blog and she told me she was really enjoying it.
Next in line is Pearl of China by Anchee Min.

Hopefully I'll have something quilty to show you the next time I post.


Monday, August 23, 2010

Vicksburg and Wool Crazy

Here's the quilt I finished last week. This was the Vicksburg BOM from Dawn. The back is the same as the swags, which was the rich blue floral I posted a few days ago.

My machine quilting is a bit folksy- not perfect by a long shot, but I'm happy with the end result. I gave it to a newly married couple and I hope they like it.

Here's the start of my Wool Crazy round robin. Kaaren asked if I'd be interested and of course, I jumped right in! Paulette and Karen are the other participants. My theme is all things summer.



This was my first base which I opted to redo. I felt like i had too many pieces for the foundation that would be distracting to the applique and stitching. I think a little applique and lots of embroidery will make this a fun one to work on myself.



I tried a few of the zucchini recipes. Thumbs up on the stuffed zucchini and the quick zucchini saute. I'm having another flush of them so I'll be trying a few more. Thank you for those who sent links or posted recipes.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Do you have QB?



Are you trying to lose weight? Exercise more? Make healthy changes to your lifestyle?


Get up off the QB (even my college age son knows what that means!) and visit my other blog.

Friday, August 20, 2010

May I Introduce You...

I met Phyllis while working for Weight Watchers. Not only did I find out she was a quilter but a really nice lady too. She speaks her mind when necessary and I like that!!
I met up with her recently and after a lovely visit over lunch I got the quilt tour! Wow!! I was blown away. What a talented woman, creative and diverse. She said she'd love to share her quilts on my blog. You ready for a little quilt tour?


I thought I'd start out with a photo of her and one of her many quilt tops. Isn't that lovely? It's a little funky but a little elegant too with that black border.


This amazing quilt is on her bed. The blocks that look appliqued- it's a cheater panel! I never knew what to do with those. There sure isn't anything cheating about the rest of this quilt! BTW, the border and basket is appliqued.


This photo is hard to see but Phyllis used John Flynn's method of making a diagonal pieced backing. Apparently you don't need as much fabric doing it this way. The pieced stars you see are also on the diagonal. It really makes the backing exciting and different.

This quilt is from Blackbird Designs. I don't think Phyllis ever follows the pattern. I am pretty sure she made these blocks smaller than the book called for.


This was a challenge quilt. Phyllis doesn't enjoy traditional applique so uses a cutaway method. She lays the fabric down, sews a shape, then trims away the excess. I believe most of this quilt was done that way. Maybe I can get her to do a tutorial for the blog. (Of course I'd love to see it done myself!)


Here she is working on a quilt as you go and the cutaway applique.


I am pretty sure this one is all done by cutaway. I'm also pretty sure some artistic and drawing talent comes natural to her!! I think it's so cool!!

I've seen this pattern, but have you ever seen it with leftover ties, kind of like a penny rug? How adorable is that?! Notice the use of buttons too.




Why doesn't my brain think of things like sewing buttons on? It adds such a nice simple touch.
Speaking of buttons, you should how cute she has them stored. Sorry, no photo this time.


I will end with this somewhat simple and charming quilt. I love everything about this and I'm sure she hasn't even worked her artistic talent on it!!
Thanks Phyllis for a great lunch and inspiring afternoon.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

House on the Hill and Random Ramblings

This was the last house block in the House Party quilt!!! I have had so much fun working on these this year. I'm a little sad to see them finished. Now to figure out a setting and fabric.
I won this awesome bundle of wovens from Sew Cindy. I have a project I've been wanting to work on for some time and these will fit right in!!


I also won this adorable small reproduction pattern from Sue at I Sew Quilts UK. Little quilts are right down my alley and I'm sure choosing fabrics will take longer than the actual sewing.



I received two blogging awards this week!! I'm a rebel and never follow directions but wanted to thank them for reading my blog and the awards!! The Versatile blogger award comes from Rita at Quilt Piecer. I thought it would be fun to tell you 7 things about myself.
1. I really am a good speller despite the errors in the comments I leave. Just overlook it, ok?
2. I really love summer time and am always a little sad when it's over. Please quit talking about fall being right around the corner.
3. I love to read and no matter how tired I am I have to read a little before turning the light out for bed. I started Still Alice last night.
4. I've been married for 28 years!
5. My flower and vegetable garden are a lot like my quilts. Free-willing and humble. But I love them despite that.
6. I lost 57 pound in 2001 and have kept it off since then! Woo-Hoo!
7. My eyesight is getting worse and have to have magnifying glasses to thread small needles.

So that's a little peak into my life. A few random thoughts that's for sure!!

The I love your blog award comes from Cheryl at Sweetie Scraps.
Thank you ladies for the awards and the wonderful giveaways!!






Sunday, August 15, 2010

Finishes!!

I actually have been making progress on some quilt projects lately. I'm trying to stay focused and get some finishes so I feel free to start a few new projects this fall. Here's the reproduced quilt I made from an old doll or crib quilt. The finished size is approx 22x25 inches.
I had to show you the backing. Kathie sent me this shortly after we met blogging and I thought it would be the perfect beautiful piece for the back.

Because the hst are busy enough I machine quilted the rows between them, then handquilted the center using this stencil. I didn't really want more straight lines.


Here's another project I'm not quite ready to show. I'm handstitching the binding down so that means I'm very close to a FINISH!! Woo-Hoo!

I brought my niece and nephew into Portland on Friday for a day of school shopping. We left the house at 6:30AM and returned home at 10PM! When they lived with us a few years ago shopping was a bit easier. Now that Hannah is 17 and Zack 13 it takes a bit more time. I was exhausted, but it was fun to spend the day with them. They lived with hubby & I for 5 years and I don't get to spend near as much time with them as I'd like to.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

More from the "Antique Quilts for Sale Booth"

I thought it was about time I showed you some of our wonderful purchases from the Sisters show. (There were five of us, I only purchased the last quilt top) I guess I should find out if they have a business name...
Actually this first quilt was what I slept under at my friend Randy's house. She had an antique quilt on all of our beds when we arrived! I did have plenty of pillows too but removed them so I could get the full effect of the quilt. It is a simple 25 patch but what joy it is to see it and get to sleep under it.





Look at this happy quilt from the 30's!! What an awesome blue and so much fun to see the variety of fabric. It had a cute little flower hand quilted in the center of the plain blue squares.


And how about this great quilt? Simple, big and effective. I showed you the toile on the back on my last post. That gave it such a nice touch.

Here's another terrific scrappy quilt top. I love the bold use of the pink and green print.

Are you seeing a scrappy theme here? The changing placement of lights and darks really gives this quilt its charm. Look how many different fabrics were used!!


Blue and white never goes out of style. The little square in the center of the photo was a patch job. It looks pretty good to me.

Here's the quilt top that I bought. It has a few issues, so I think I'll be removing a row and using the setting fabric to replace the damaged squares.


The clover fabric looks purple but I'm not sure if it started out that way. It is such a fun print and really caught my eye.

Here you can see a little damage. Looks like it was probably good mouse nesting material. Check out the wonderful lightning-type tan print. Another fun and unusual one.


Thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate comments but if you leave one and you do not get a response from me that generally means you are set on "no-reply". If you'd like me to answer a question or respond I will need to have your email address.
Have a wonderful day!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Churn Dashes & Nine Patches

Here's what I've got so far on my churn dash quilt. All the blocks are made it is just a matter of putting them together. This has been put aside for now while I finish up another project for a wedding gift.
While at the "antique quilts for sale booth" we saw this wonderful double nine patch.

With tiny pieces! We figured they finished at 7/8".


My friend Kathy, loved it so much that she dropped her churn dashes like a hot potato and quickly made up a couple of small double nines. Hers finish at 7/8" too!
She has a nice collection of blue and whites and she was continuing the theme with both of these quilts.


I hope you are all having a nice weekend. It is beautiful here. I planted 2 plants of zucchini and have quite a few. I am going to make zucchini bread today and have grilled them a few times this past week. Does anybody have any great healthy recipes they'd like to pass along to me? I'd sure appreciate it. Next year I think I'll just plant one!!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

British Patchwork & Quilting

Sue at I Sew Quilts UK was kind enough to send me the August issue of British Patchwork & Quilting. I was so tickled when she told me she saw my blog featured as "August Blog of the Month"

It also mentions Vicki & Jan's blog What A Load a Scrap and Kathie's Inspired by Antique Quilts.


Click on the photo to enlarge, then you can click again to actually read it. Can you believe my son just showed me that trick. I guess I'm a slow learner. ;)


Next up is a few wonderful backings on old quilts that I saw at the Sisters show. I was surprised to see so many beautiful fabrics on the back, especially since fabric wasn't readily available to most quilters like it is today.

This pink one is my favorite.