tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-284547732024-03-07T21:10:33.861-05:00Quilt Til You WiltTHE MUSINGS OF A QUILT MANIAC -MY QUERIES, MY QUANDRIES AND MY QUILTSMcIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.comBlogger226125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-90503981739769343532013-05-30T09:07:00.000-05:002013-05-30T09:07:15.215-05:00Latest finish and a previewI am taking this one with me to Florida for Cayden who is now ON THE MOVE. Just started walking!<br />
Not sure why the pictures are so pinky! I was shooting really quickly. This was made with bright orange and blue Kona cottons and novelty 5.5 squares. <br />
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I had a great time quilting this one. I got to practice several of Leah Day's fillers from her 365 days of quilting designs. I tried to keep it modern and graphic. <br />
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I haven't done much sewing and one of the reasons was my 20 year old Janome was in the shop. I have wound soooo many bobbins on her that the clutch was gone and had to be replaced. I also cracked the bobbin casing somehow and so she needed some TLC time with my man, Warren. He told me she is as good as new and ready for another 20 years. Yeah!<br />
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A couple of Fridays ago, I spent a day of sewing with some quilting friends. I made a big dent in my Fabric Fling project that I started on retreat. This is the perfect project for an Open Sew. No thinking, just sewing strips together. I have half of the strip block sets together. They are now pressed and squared up. I also pulled out another UFO/WIP which is my Winter Wonderland. I am still working on the "blue"work blocks. A friend had her top completed on Friday. It is gorgeous and compelled me to pull it out for some attention. I still have three BIG redwork blocks to complete but each stitch is a stitch closer to done!<br />
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I am also working on my guild's challenge quilt. Don't know if it will get done by the deadline but it will get done. Here's a preview of what it looks like on my design wall right now. The challenge was to use an "ugly" fabric which was given to us. <br />
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The ugly fabric will be used in a very limited way but will meet the challenge. This is going to be fused raw edge applique with lots of thread painting. It will be a nice sized wall hanging. wow these pics stink but you get the idea.!!<br />
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Headed to Florida Thursday evening for an extended weekend. Then my sissy from Florida turns around on the following Friday to come to CT for a graduation party in Mass. Our little brother's triplets are graduating from high school. So a family reunion of sorts will take place. Things should settle down after that and hopefully sewing will resume at a quicker pace than the proverbial "snails' pace"! Happy stitching!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-25143068245744273182013-05-16T14:50:00.000-05:002013-05-16T14:51:32.459-05:00Dirty Laundry<br />
Don't know if you have run across this post from <a href="http://www.craftygardenmom.com/2012/04/my-7-dirty-quilting-secrets-what-are.html" target="_blank">Crafty Garden Mom </a>from a year ago with her 7 dirty quilting secrets but it has resurfaced as funny blog posts often do and it is hilarious!!! When I was reading it, it was as if she had read my mind. But I would like to add a couple of my own secrets to the "dirty laundry list of quilting"<br />
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<strong>I am a lazy quilter.</strong> It's true, I will look at a quilt pattern and if it requires anything with 7/8's or 8ths of any kind, I round up. I am not known for my 1/4 inch perfection in any quilting circle so I figure the extra 1/8 of an inch will "come out in the wash" as they say. In addition, if it requires y-seams, templates, any type of precision or pieces smaller than an inch and a half, I'm OUT. I will claim that it is because my quilting time is so little and precious to me but really I am a BIG FAT LAZY QUILTER.<br />
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<strong>I like to "pretend" shop for fabric.</strong> I get numerous emails from websites like Equilter, (heart u!) with notices of special sales, etc. On any given evening, I can be found sitting with my ipad watching TV with hubby and loading up my cart with luscious amounts of fabric and then... I close my browser and go to bed. It doesn't always work but a lot of the time, the fun of choosing the fabric and thinking about the gorgeous quilt I could create is enough to keep me happy and out of trouble.<br />
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What about you?? Do you have a secret you'd like to share??<br />
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<img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" />McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-22077055533742666012013-04-29T10:05:00.001-05:002013-04-29T10:05:54.311-05:00Tops completed on RetreatI started attending this 4 day retreat about 2 years ago. It is held in the Spring (April/May) and the Fall (October). It had been held at a YMCA camp but as we ladies (not me!) are getting older there were complaints about the accommodations (bunk beds), so the gal who runs it decided to try it at a hotel in the area. This was the trial run. Well, let me tell you, it sure is nice after a hard day of sewing to put your feet up on a queen size bed! I don't now how she does it! Each room had a microwave, fridge and TV. In addition, the hotel is close to just about every store imaginable, including a quilt shop and Joann's. <br />
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She also offers a mystery quilt and runs a batik FQ raffle and a thread raffle. <br />
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I arrived on Thursday just before lunch and stayed til 2:00 on Sunday. Here's what I accomplished!<br />
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I made myself finish some WIPs before starting anything new. <br />
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First, I sewed together all of the Sampler blocks from the Block of the Month which was run through a local quilt shop and ended in December. You may remember some of these blocks. I have the fabric for the backing and will try to get that pieced soon.<br />
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Next, I put the borders on my "fabric softener" quilt. The blocks are foundation pieced onto used dryer sheets. This quilt has been "in the works" for about 4 years. The fabric for the backing is at home. Guess I will be piecing backs and making binding next week.<br />
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Once I completed these, I started the "Happy Child" quilt using the fabric sent to me by Janet in honor of her friend. This came out fabulous. I made the binding but was short on the backing fabric so some creative decisions will be made about that. Looking at it now, I may add a small black border. This is the quilt that I had "measuring and direction reading" issues. According to the pattern, these pieces should be 8.5 x4. I'm pretty happy with my "mini" version of this. <br />
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Next, I made an I-spy quilt of sorts for Cayden. He just turned 1 on April 1st and we are headed to see them the first weekend of June for Bella's birthday (she has requested a Hawaiian Luau, lol). I wasn't sure about the bright blue and orange but it works and I will be loading that right away. I ordered the backing from my ipad while on retreat and it arrived Friday. The back is ready to go. I am now waiting on thread. I want to use a variegated with these big solid blocks.</div>
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Finally, I made a start on a quilt using the Fabric Fling pattern. Here is a picture of what it will look like. I am making my version in batiks. It calls for 25-30 FQs. I wasn't sure I had that many. Sadly, I had enough for TWO quilts! The FQs were prewashed and ironed. I cut them into 2.5 strips and started sewing them together. This one is 85 x 85. It will go on my bed or perhaps to my son, Alex, as he just got into his first "all by myself" apartment. <br />
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I have already given my check for the October retreat and have even talked my sissy into coming up from Florida for a weekend of quilting. Gosh, I do love retreats!!!<br />
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Also, I FINISHED A BOOK!! I finished my "palate clearing" book that I chose after Great Expectations. I got it for free through Book Bub. Life from Scratch by Melissa Ford is a cute "girlie" book. I was doing so much more reading earlier in the year and I seem to have hit a bump. I am trying to gain my momentum back. Next up is The DaVinci Code. Book Bub offered that for free recently so I grabbed it since I have seen the movie but never read the book.<br />
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Well that's it from here. I did lots of spring cleaning over the weekend. Windows cleaned, spring/summer curtains up, bedding switched over to spring/summer, vacuuming/dusting and flower beds cleared, cleaned and trimmed. Whewww! <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /><span id="goog_2023551420"></span><span id="goog_2023551421"></span></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-42243756226414488392013-04-24T08:30:00.000-05:002013-04-24T08:30:15.565-05:00The alphabet post - NOLA and MQXI am back from my vacation to New Orleans. We were there for the Womens' Basketball Final Four. It ended well for us, UConn Huskies fans, with our 8th Championship. It was a rough season but the girls pulled it together when it counted. We had a lovely time in NOLA. We did a lot of eating, some drinking and even went on a swamp tour. <br />
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We got back on Wednesday and I was on the road again on Friday to attend MQX (Machine Quilters' Expo) in Manchester, NH. I went with my quilting buddy, Diane. MQX was back in NH after being in Providence for a few years. Believe it or not, there was SNOW on Friday!<br />
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We had signed up for two hand-on classes with the longarm. Everyone had their own machine to work with thanks to Gammill. Our first class was with Dawn Cavanaugh on Friday and we were with Linda Taylor on Saturday. I felt like I was back in school!!! My head hurt at the end of each day with all the stuff we learned. I soothed my headache with a glass of wine! <br />
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I bought a little bit of stuff which you can see here. My major purchase was the Leader Grips. I had seen these on one of the Handi Quilter videos so I decided to check them out. The hubby of the woman who came up with this idea was there doing the demo. I was sold after I met up with him. I hate pinning! I usually end up stabbing myself. This system will make loading much easier and I won't be so reluctant to turn the quilt to do some lovely border work.<br />
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Diane and I, the "unofficial" quilt judges (<em>wink</em>) were not as impressed with the quilts as we were last year. Here are a few quilts that really caught our eye.<br />
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For the traditional quilter, this is a Dear Hannah. <br />
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For the paper piecing crowd<br />
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For the art quilter. This quilter, Barbara McKie, takes a photo, prints it on fabric and thread paints. They are amazing!<br />
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My favorite by far. The center of the flowers are old jeweled buttons or broaches. The applique is fabulous and it is sooo cute. See if you can find the earthworm in the ground!<br />
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This is out of the box for many of us. The quilting on the gold fabric was fabulous. The beading on the woman and the train of her gown was incredible. </div>
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I returned to work for the next three days and then headed out to my Spring Retreat (Thurs - Sun). It's a tough life ladies but someone has got to do it! LOL! I got lots done at retreat and will share those pics once I upload them from the camera. Til, then, <em><strong><span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Quilt til you Wilt</span></strong></em><br />
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McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-49578358029123339852013-03-28T09:53:00.001-05:002013-03-28T09:54:12.491-05:00My week in reviewFlower Power is on its way to my fairy goddaughter, Bridie. As I posted last week, we have just completed week 1 of March Madness. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday glued to the TV watching basketball. I did work a bit on my scrap busting project. This is what I got done after sewing down the binding on Flower Power. I am sewing 2.5 squares together to make blocks. The pattern calls for 846 squares! This is going to take some time. <br />
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I also worked a bit on my blue blanket. Boy, knitting goes soooo much slower than sewing. <br />
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Please tell me I'm not the only one to have done this <strong>STUPID</strong> thing!! On Friday, I received some "special" fabric from<a href="http://barnquilter.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> Janet</a>. I was so excited to get started with this project. She sent me about 50 6 1/2 inch squares of Japanese fabric. I had a project in mind for them and pulled the instructions to start cutting. Wellll, I had the measurement <em>"6 1/2"</em> stuck in my brain. It did not matter to my brain that the instructions said "cut 60 <strong>8.5 x 4 inch rectangles</strong>. In my mind, it was <strong>6.5 x 4 inch rectangles.</strong> And so I merrily went on my way and cut those 6.5 squares into 6.5 x 4 rectangles. Now, I decide to add some of my own fabric so I pull some of my FQs and proceed to do the same. It is only when I am getting set to cut the <strong>1.5 x 8.5</strong> sashing strips that my brain finally sees <strong>8.5. </strong> Seww, what's a girl to do? I did a little math (<em>which I avoid at all costs)</em> and figure I need to add 20 more of the smaller rectangles to make the quilt the same length. Basically, I will be adding 2 additional rows. I'm tellin' ya, sometimes I am my own worst enemy. <br />
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A few posts ago, I mentioned the bag of quilt tops which needed borders. Flower Power was one and that is done. This is another. I made two of these "chinese coin" style quilts a retreat or two ago and I spent an hour or so yesterday putting on the top and bottom border. REALLY, all it took was an hour. I also pulled the fabric for the backing and made the binding. I have one top left needing borders. Hopefully, I will get to that one in the next week or so and that bag will be empty. <br />
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I currently have 7 quilts ready for quilting. All of them have binding, backing and batting cut and ready to go. Now to find some extra time to spend with Ava. Hmmmm<br />
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In <strong>Turning the Pages, </strong>I finished "Heads in Beds". It was an insider's view of the hotel industry. A bit disturbing. I am now in the midst of <strong>Life of Pi</strong>. This is a wonderful book! And in true feast or famine style, I have another one waiting anxiously in the wings,<strong> The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. </strong><br />
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We are headed to New Jersey this weekend to help a good friend who was washed out of her house after Sandy. All the repairs have been made to her house and she is ready to move back in. We are soo excited to help her get back into her nest! Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend. <br />
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See ya next week!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-6151386854798863552013-03-21T09:16:00.002-05:002013-03-21T09:16:40.028-05:00Off the rollers First and foremost, I hereby CLAIM MY BLOG through bloglovin!<br />
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Now back to quilty news....<br />
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I finished the quilting on Flower Power yesterday. I used Superior's monopoly clear and so fine #30 in the bobbin. The monopoly has been "adjusted" and is not so shiny. Someone at Longarm Club had done a quilt with it and it looked great so I thought I would give it a try since this one had sooo many colors and I didnt' want the thread color to fight with the quilt. It worked beautifully. Never had one breakage. Only problem was trying to SEE it for threading purposes. Finally, I took the end and colored it with a black marker. Worked like a charm. I will be cleaning up the edges and adding the binding this weekend. <br />
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Have a quilty day!!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-46574257662405345732013-03-13T13:06:00.000-05:002013-03-13T13:11:13.083-05:00Scrap momentumI made excellent progress this past weekend. I finished up my string blocks. There were strings leftover but I culled through them carefully and threw out all the ugly ones which included lots of CW reproduction that had been around, I think, since the Civil War<em>. </em>I just could not stand to look at them anymore! This is what was left which is in the closet reproducing as I type. <br />
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Jeanne over at<span style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://spiralj2.blogspot.com/2013/03/more-sorta-orange.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Spiral</span></a> <em>(click over and see her)</em> had made some cute blocks with her strings which has inspired me to do the same and move them out quickly.<br />
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I also got the borders on Bridie's flower power quilt. It took longer than I anticipated as I was 6 inches short on the outer border <em>( this is becoming a standard practice lately)</em> and had to do some "magic" to make it work. I am happy with the result. I have the back pieced and the binding made. Once my mono poly thread arrives from Superior, Ava and I will get her done. Today I am loading Flower Power on Ava.<br />
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Since I didn't have to work today, I stayed up late <strong>turning the pages</strong> on "The End of Your Life Book Club" which I finished. It was a very good book. If you are a reader and a mom, you will enjoy this one. And I just got a notification that another book is available for me. Feast or Famine, I tell ya!<br />
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While <strong>Traveling in Blogland,</strong> I came across a super idea. I am a Bonnie Hunter fan but there are some folks out there that take stash <strong><span style="font-size: large;">to the extreme</span></strong>. One of them is Kathy of <a href="http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2013/03/design-wall-10-alamo-stars.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Kathy's Quilts</span></a> <em> (click over and see her</em>). She is a scrap maniac. I was visiting her and she had a picture of her current leader/ender project. Kathy was using her little binding clips to hold together the parts of her little blocks!<br />
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I had been asked to put a picture of Think Pink's backing and label on here so look under "FINALLY FINISHED" if you are interested. <br />
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Finally, here are the ingredients for my next mindless sewing project. As many of you know, March Madness is about to begin so I need something I can sew while I coach from the sidelines! :)<br />
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Stay tuned to see how this "recipe" turns out! <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-81105273350667875612013-03-08T09:30:00.001-05:002013-03-08T09:30:45.489-05:00Midweek progress that wasn'tThis.... <em>(oatmeal in the crockpot)</em><br />
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This.... <em>(hamburger veggie soup- recipe courtesy of Paula, the quilter. This recipe is fantastic!!!)</em><br />
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this and this....<em>(you all know what these are)</em><br />
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as well as grocery shopping kept me from doing much sewing, on Wednesday :(<br />
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But I did get my March pillowcase for Princess Bella made and have started the scrappy inner border for Bridie's quilt. And TODAY...........(<em>I know this looks like the picture from 3 weeks ago but it is actually from this morning) </em><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wt3KCtymvEU/UTnxuarHpnI/AAAAAAAAB-0/d-6qEfiigqM/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wt3KCtymvEU/UTnxuarHpnI/AAAAAAAAB-0/d-6qEfiigqM/s1600/image.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Today is snow all day!!! And to that I say WOOO HOOO! cause I'm staying home in my PJs and heading for the sewing studio. <br />
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I am now <strong>turning the pages </strong>of<strong> The End of Your Life Book Club </strong>by Will Schwalbe<strong>. </strong> It was recommended by a quilter friend. So far, this one is pretty interesting. A little rambling. I am amazed at how many books people find time to read. They must not be quilters! :) <br />
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I borrow ebooks through my library and my number came up on this one. When that happens, I have 2 weeks to read it or it magically disappears! It really isn't a bad system, I always have 5(the max) books "on hold" waiting for my turn. So my other books are pushed to the back shelf. Yess, I now have BOOK UFOs. LOL!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-60635149389868145562013-03-04T12:44:00.001-05:002013-03-04T12:44:14.107-05:00A Finish and future plans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here is the finished and in use Pie-eyed Snowmen quilt. <em> I had premade my binding for this and when I started to sew it on, I realized it was too short, hence, the green <strong>and </strong>red binding.</em> Hey, its done! <br />
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This is my PP top from the October retreat. <em>(Boy, I sure do get lots done on retreat!) </em>I want to work on something a bit smaller before I jump back into a big quilt. There are a couple of fillers that I have seen in Machine Quilters magazine and on Leah Day's website I want to experiment with so this has been squared up and will be loaded on the frame to work on for Wednesday. I have the PERFECT backing for this which has been sleeping in my stash for about 5 years if not longer. See, having a stash IS a good thing!<br />
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I also watched some basketball this weekend so more string blocks were made. This project is losing its fun factor but I only have 16 squares left and I am determined to finish them up and dump any remaining ugly strings in the trash. Some of them are soooo old and I am sooo sick of them! Why do the ugly ones reproduce in the drawer?? <br />
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Anyway, I think I told you about the bag o' quilt tops I found in my closet that need borders. <em>Yes, a bag of tops! </em>This is one of them. I made this on retreat and since my fairy god daughter's birthday is coming up, I thought I would finish it for her. She is turning 11 at the end of March. I think this will be a hit. I am going to add a thin scrappy border and then I have a stripe that was part of the flower fabric which is long enough to be the outer border. Sewww, gotta get moving on this. <br />
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I am now <strong><em>turning the pages </em></strong>of a new book. I finally finished <strong>Great Expectations</strong>. A weighty tome indeed but very enjoyable. I have <strong>Les Miserables</strong> next up on the classics list but need to "cleanse the palette" with something a little lighter first. This one is called "<strong>Life from Scratch</strong>" by Melissa Ford. I picked it up through Book Bub for free. She is divorced and learning to cook and has a blog and loves her blog friends. It is cute and easy to read. <br />
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We headed to a local winery for a tasting on Sunday, bought a couple of bottles and proceeded to open one at home so there was very little sewing done yesterday. I stuck to my rule of "mindless sewing only" when wine has been decanted. :)<br />
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Have a great week! Stop back on Thursday for the midweek progress!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-34784481178649156422013-02-25T13:27:00.003-05:002013-02-25T13:27:35.366-05:00Pie-eyed SnowmenI quilted the second of my jelly roll strip quilts that I made on retreat in October. This was not an actual jelly roll, just random fabric that I had bits and pieces of which I cut into 2.5 inch strips. As you can see, the fabric is quite old, "primitive" in fact, but still useful. I had an Anne Bright panto called "Snowman Kit" that I have wanted to use. When I laid it out, it had more elements than I really wanted. I wasn't crazy about the boots and carrot nose and the snowmen only had one arm! <br />
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So here's what I did. I had bought the Creative Grid from Colorado Quilting Company when I got my Sunshine and basically all I used it for was to hold down my panto. DUH!!! This time I laid out the panto, used the wet erase marker to draw out the elements I wanted, tweaked it here and there and Ta da! Pie-eyed Snowman. They look as if they have been hitting the sauce for a while and ran all over my quilt. <br />
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I used a brown Omni thread in the top and bottom which looks orange or red in this picture. </div>
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This is only my 5th or 6th quilt with my HQ and I always learn something to remember for the next time. This week's lesson is to make sure I put the backing on the right way! As you can see, I ran out of backing before I ran out of quilt.! OOOPS! Luckily, it's a jelly roll strip quilt so I just stopped quilting when I ran out of backing. It's a little shorter than when I started but it still looks good.<br />
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I started sewing down the binding while watching the Oscars and will post a finished photo in a few days. Hope you had a productive weekend! <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-77669984113374566672013-02-20T15:00:00.000-05:002013-02-20T15:00:54.898-05:00Hump Day and My AnniversaryWell, here it is Hump Day and as it turns out, my 30th Wedding Anniversary!!! Yep, DH and I have been hitched for 30 years and to be quite honest, it has gone by pretty quickly. We have been empty nesters for about 6 years now and have found our "groove". We still enjoy each other's company, like to do things together, the tiffs are few and far between and when there is one it doesn't last for very long. I guess that's a pretty successful formula.<br />
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We are going to New Orleans in April so we decided to keep it low key. So when I started my car rhis am at 5, I was surprised that the radio was on and was playing "our song"! DH had gone out the night before and cued up the CD to play. How sweet is that! I bawled all the way ro the gym.<br />
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I am making lots of progress with my string blocks. As you can see, I have set up a little sewing factory in front of the TV (which I have done in the past and don't know why it isn't a permanent fixture) and have been able to do anywhere from 4 to 8 blocks every day. Once I get through the precut squares, I will move on to another "mindless" project involving getting rid of some of my scrap. I am thinking a scrappy trip around the world courtesy of Bonnie Hunter or getting caught up with my SAL blocks which I am following through Shannon, the Pieceful Kwilter.<br />
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On the machine is my winter jelly roll, which I will quilt with a snowman panto. I hope to have that done this weekend. <br />
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In other unrelated news...<br />
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<strong>On the needles</strong> - I have frogged the blanket I started. I just wasn't loving it. I have decided to do the same pattern just as a normal shape. <br />
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<strong>Turning the pages -</strong> I finished <strong>Gone Girl</strong> and loved it although the ending left me less than happy.<br />
I have returned to Pip in Great Expectations and hope to finish that this month. <br />
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<strong>Travels in Blogland</strong> have led me to to My Imperfect Life. This gal is a hoot! She is also a quilter and a newbie crocheter. In one of her recent posts, she reviewed an ebook for Fons and Porter on log cabin blocks and here is the <a href="http://bowenstephanie74.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/build-your-best-log-cabin-a-fons-and-porter-e-book-review/" target="_blank">Link</a> if you want to download the free ebook! I love all the sharing and caring that goes on with quilters. Well, off to make a special dinner for my sweet, sweet hubby!McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-36337827626482031762013-02-18T10:32:00.001-05:002013-02-18T10:32:46.964-05:00Weekend update and revealI was hoping to get this post on earlier in the weekend but Hubby is sick with a cold so I have been making soup and playing nursemaid to my sick boy. But I did get most of the doodads and buttons on Think Pink and here it is .......<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xa4wHs0wFlc6l1x6qiy-I4kjgOUpkJBujzPiHmvOvaEPMcNZhyphenhyphenonOzO7D5qYX0ZNt7WXSfuqx_z4ryf44-AiWMHMttLMu3YhW1JHKwm2533c8urQbHOhWW8GNS0sH9gmTpzt/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xa4wHs0wFlc6l1x6qiy-I4kjgOUpkJBujzPiHmvOvaEPMcNZhyphenhyphenonOzO7D5qYX0ZNt7WXSfuqx_z4ryf44-AiWMHMttLMu3YhW1JHKwm2533c8urQbHOhWW8GNS0sH9gmTpzt/s320/image.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>As I had posted before, this is my recovery quilt so there is lots of symbolism on this quilt. The dog symbolizes my awesome trainer Kyle who was so supportive through my treatment and continues to be there. The beehive is the Gray Cancer Center and their fabulous staff unfortunately it is always buzzing with activity. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ixijE-fbv42Rv23BUJwBcJ_Dn13-9Zdp4p9YeY-WP3EGmsVIEhyphenhyphenobL5s62V6dLFWgjKH5hCMpwbNx1fTOThRI2sq8y_8w77j37q3jErrF47Aic84nzYM9yZrUlf-KqoCedkp/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ixijE-fbv42Rv23BUJwBcJ_Dn13-9Zdp4p9YeY-WP3EGmsVIEhyphenhyphenobL5s62V6dLFWgjKH5hCMpwbNx1fTOThRI2sq8y_8w77j37q3jErrF47Aic84nzYM9yZrUlf-KqoCedkp/s320/image.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>The dancing queen with the wine bottle next to the flagpole (which reads Think Pink - Save the Tatas!) is ME! Happy to have my wine back that was a real sacrifice. </div>
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The flower is for my friend, Susie in New Jersey who called me after every appointment and every treatment to check on me. She is a proficient gardener and a true friend. The cat is my surgeon, Dr. Welch. I still have to put his bowtie on. Dr. Welch always wore one. He recently retired and is on a cruise around the world. Often when you think about surgeons, you think of Type A personalities. Dr. Welch was one of the sweetest, kindest men I ever met. <br />
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The black crow is my DH, who watched over everything and made sure the house and our life ran smoothly during that turbulent year. <br />
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My backing was made of all the bandanas I wore to the gym after my hair fell out from the chemo. They were given to me by Kyle and my hubby. <br />
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and a view of some of the quilting. It is sooo great to have this done and it will hang in my sewing room once I put on the hanging sleeves.<br />
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I also did some scrap management this weekend. My scrap bucket was getting full so I pressed and cut everything and then decided to cut up some random muslin scraps into 6.5 squares. I am currently making diagonal string blocks. I have seen some awesome quilts made with them and decided to make this my "mindless" sewing project for now. They are addicting!<br />
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I'll be back midweek with some other unrelated stuff! Hope your weekend was productive. McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-51010866485873411092013-02-13T12:26:00.000-05:002013-02-13T12:26:01.895-05:00Whewwww! I have quilted and bound <span style="color: magenta;"><strong>Think Pink! </strong></span><span style="color: black;">This was a real workout for me and Ava. I had not done much "custom" quilting, mostly pantos but since this is for me and is my recovery quilt, I wanted to make it special. I worked on it over three days and used 7 different colors of thread. So I definitely have thread changes down to a science. I used light gray Bottom Line thread for the bobbin. What a fabulous thread this is! It blends in nicely and plays well with other threads. I also got a lot of practice with my ruler base and stitchin' in the ditch. I still have some handwork to add, buttons and whatnot as well as the label and hanging sleeves. But for all intents and purposes, this one is a quilt! I'll do the grand reveal this weekend when everything is done.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">In the meantime, here are some pics of our "snow event" of this past weekend. We got about 35 inches of snow! This is the back yard from our slider. Good thing we have one because we couldn't open either</span> door. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-caOUlLR8Ki0/URvCaujUHhI/AAAAAAAAB5s/_CqTOV0QslA/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-caOUlLR8Ki0/URvCaujUHhI/AAAAAAAAB5s/_CqTOV0QslA/s320/image.jpg" height="240" width="320" /> </a><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bSo_Ik99EMI/URvCYpKCqCI/AAAAAAAAB5k/rhefLKRc9_A/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bSo_Ik99EMI/URvCYpKCqCI/AAAAAAAAB5k/rhefLKRc9_A/s320/image.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black;">And here is the front of the house. That's my hubby's Yaris waiting to be shovelled out. </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bv5TEQIV-A0/URvCbSC18JI/AAAAAAAAB50/FTUSnt1RT-E/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bv5TEQIV-A0/URvCbSC18JI/AAAAAAAAB50/FTUSnt1RT-E/s320/image.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black;">This is my hubby digging his way around to the front of the house. We do not own a snowblower because our driveway is pretty small and we are both in good shape but this one did test the limits! LOL! Took us about 2 hours to get things cleared up. There were a few sore muscles the next day but we are no worse for wear.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Of course, on the day before the storm (Thursday), my front loader washing machine decides to DIE...with a load of towels in it...prior to the spin cycle. I called the repair guy and told him what I heard (<em><strong>an elephant was inside my washer trying to get out!!</strong>)</em> and he diagnosed over the phone that one of the spider bars had snapped and that the repair would START at $300. We decided given the age of the machine (8 years old) that a new machine should come to my house. Soooo, on Sunday, after the shoveling out, we went to Home Depot to look at washing machines. The snow shoveling didn't kill DH but the cost of the washer almost gave him a heart attack! Needless to say, I could have</span> bought<span style="color: red;"> </span><strong><em><span style="color: red;">lots</span> and<span style="color: lime;"> lots</span> and <span style="color: blue;">lots</span> and <span style="color: magenta;">lots</span> and <span style="color: #ffd966;">lots</span></em></strong> of fabric with that money but I guess clean clothes are a little more important( <em>but just a little)</em>. <br />
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We ended up with a Samsung ( I thought they only made TVs but apparently they are the #1 washer on the market right now) and it arrived today. Isn't she a beauty?? She sings little songs and everything. Now to figure out how she works. Hmmmmmmm!<br />
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I'm off to do many loads of laundry. Catch you on the weekend! Stop by for <span style="color: magenta;"><strong>Think Pink's </strong></span><span style="color: black;">debut. </span><br />
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McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-21639525620900049942013-02-01T14:53:00.001-05:002013-02-01T14:53:25.706-05:00Back from RetreatI spent a lovely couple of days shopping, eating, drinking wine, and oh, <em>quilting </em>with my bestest quilt friends at a B&B in Rhode Island this past weekend. It was our tenth year together! We arrived Friday morning, set up for sewing then headed out for lunch and shopping. On Saturday, we never ventured outdoors, just hunkered down and pushed the pedal to the metal.<br />
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We take over the entire place and spread out!<br />
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This is Sara, our "youngest" member. She will be 89 this spring. She and I stayed up Friday night til 11:30 and finished off a bottle of wine! She made three of these tops as well as a strata for another quilt, a fleece tied blanket and taught a demo on Saturday! I don't know where she gets the energy~<br />
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I have sooo many pics from our show and tell. These ladies are very productive but I wanted to share this one. It is an original design by Joyce. She is having her first grandchild in March. Is this the cutest thing you've ever seen??? Her daughter and son-in-law have a little henhouse on their property.<br />
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I made excellent progress on Think Pink. Ava and I need to do some quilting magic and then there is some handwork but the top is basically done. I got the back pieced too!<br />
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In addition, I finished the November and December blocks from the Sampler block of the month. I will be putting them together in the next couple of weeks and then will be looking for a back. These blocks are 16 x 16 so it's a big one. <br />
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<strong><u> On my Needles</u></strong><br />
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I've added my latest project to On My Needles page. FYI, I have added knitting to the list of things I should not do after a glass of wine! Brought this on retreat and did some "unknitting" this week.<br />
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<strong><u>At a theater near you...</u></strong><br />
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We are blessed with two theaters near us where we can see a movie on a weekend for $7 and on a Tuesday for $3!! Since it looks like we will be seeing quite a few, <em>(my hubby is on a roll right now),</em> I have added a Movie page. I don't want to distract from the quilting! So, if you are looking for my take on a flick, check out the Movie page.<br />
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<strong><u>In my blogging travels</u></strong><br />
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This week, Wanda from Exuberant Color caught my attention with <a href="http://exuberantcolor.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2013-01-23T05:00:00-06:00&max-results=7" target="_blank">Lunar Revolution</a>. Wanda has been doing "wonky" before there was even a word for wonky and she pushes the envelope with color and layout. Please check her out, she is really inspiring! She has also been featured on <a href="http://quiltinspiration.blogspot.com/2013/01/exuberant-color.html" target="_blank">Quilt Inspiration</a> which is a fabulous site I just found. If you are looking for free patterns or blocks, this is the place to go. I am soooo amazed at how giving quilters are!<br />
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<strong><u>Turning the Pages</u></strong><br />
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I have been on a waiting list for several months through the library for the Kindle version of <u><strong>Gone Girl</strong></u> by Gillian Flynn. If the book is popular, there is usually a significant wait, but I figure there are so many books in the world, I can find something else to read while I wait. Since I get up at 4:30 most mornings to go to the gym, my body is now "in that groove" even on Saturday and Sunday. While on retreat, I was up at 4:30 Saturday. Trying to be quiet while others slept. I turned to my ipad and found that <u>Gone Girl</u> was available! Yippeee! I downloaded that right away and started reading. Miss Havisham and Pip will have to sit in the corner and wait til I have devoured this one. <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-44776513726539955242013-01-21T10:56:00.003-05:002013-01-21T10:56:41.484-05:00Well, here is my progress on Think Pink. I am pretty pleased with it. The baskets are attached as is the vase with flowers. I am in process with the row of blocks on the bottom. I am pondering adding a row of small flying geese or some sort of additional border at the top as it looks a little bottom heavy to me. What do all of you think??? Of course, there area lots of little bits of handwork that needs to be done and embellishments that need to be added but I think this is a good size. I will be taking this with me to work on this coming weekend for our Rhode Island retreat. I also got my January pillowcase finished for my Bella. <br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: large;">TURNING THE PAGES</span></u></strong><br />
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For my first edition of Turning the Pages, I want to tell you about this book I got through Book Bub which emails me books to purchase every day through Amazon. This one was 99 cents. <strong>Free Country</strong> is a story about two 20 something English guys who travel from Land's End in England to John O'Groats in Scotland, basically the length of the British Isles (approx. 1000 miles). It is a popular trip for cyclists and walkers but these guys added a twist. They started in Land's End only wearing boxer shorts and were determined to get everything they needed through the kindness of the people they encountered. It is a hilarious story and reaffirms the good in the human race. <br />
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I am in line for several bestsellers through my public library so while I am waiting, I have started reading <strong>Great Expectations</strong> by Charles Dickens. I recently found a list of the books from Oprah's First Book Club and thought I would go through some of these. I have read several already. Any who, really enjoying the adventures of Pip.<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: large;">NOW SHOWING AT A THEATRE NEAR YOU...</span></u></strong><br />
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We saw two movies last week, both nominated for Best Picture. The first was "<strong>Les Miserables</strong>". We had read the reviews in our paper which had panned it but we figured it had had a long run on Broadway so what the heck! It was HORRIBLE! First off, the singing ruined it. It could have been a good movie with dialogue. It was very dark and the camera angles were too close and off kilter which was distracting. My hubby was squirming within 30 minutes. I was squirming in an hour. We probably should have left but stuck with it. Don't!!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">To make up for the Les Miz blunder, we went to see <strong>"Life of Pi"</strong>. It was the exact opposite of Les Miz. The story was fascinating, the music was fabulous and the camera work was incredible. This one you should definitely see.</span></span><br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: large;">IN MY BLOGGING TRAVELS</span></u></strong><br />
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Although this idea is not quilty, it is a great idea. Actually Kathy didn't think of it, her daughter did. She gave Kathy a <a href="http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-happy-jar.html">"Happy Jar".</a> I thought this was a great idea. I had thought about keeping a diary of sorts and had picked up a weekly calendar journal which had spaces for each day. I started on January 1st but already I could see my entries were getting boring! "Went to work", did some housecleaning".yawn! Since seeing Kathy's post, I have started looking for Happy moments. There is plenty of mundane, sad, and frustrating moments. Happy ones are sometimes hard to find so we should relish them and remember them. Go check out Kathy's blog, she is a great quilter too!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-19884205715180098512013-01-17T16:40:00.000-05:002013-01-17T16:40:21.523-05:00My blog is spiffed up and ready to goThanks for the warm welcome back and all your thoughts and prayers regarding my FIL. <br />
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I spent some time looking over my posts from 2012, the few that there were. Although I did make some progress in the UFO department, there are still too many UFOs wandering around my sewing room. So, I will try to clean a few of these up over the next few months. Several just need borders, in fact, I have a bag with three quilts that need borders. And I have three that need to be quilted so Ava is in for a workout. <br />
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But the first one I need to finish is near and dear to my heart. It has a February due date so with the flames burning my butt, I have started some work on it. It is a quilt I started with Libby (A Simple Girl) a couple of years ago. I know she is working on her quilt also. I am going to do an abbreviated version of this as I want it to be a wall hanging for my sewing room. This is where I last left it, although there are some blocks done that need to be added. <br />
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I started it right after I found out I had breast cancer and actually worked on this right after my surgery and during my chemo treatment. Considering what a difficult time that was, this is a really happy quilt. I worked it on Sunday and will be working on it this week so progress <strong>will </strong>be shown. Here's the link, if you missed this one...<a href="http://quilttilyouwilt.blogspot.com/2010/10/think-pink.html" target="_blank">THINK PINK</a><br />
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I've also decided to add a couple of things to my blog. I am doing lots of reading since receiving my Ipad last year and want to share some of the books I like so <strong>"Turning the Pages"</strong> will be a new addition to my blog. Feel free to let me know if you have any recommendations!<br />
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I am also doing some knitting. I have a huge stash of yarn that needs to be whittled down so in the spirit of Paula (The Quilter), I will be sharing <strong>"On My Needles".</strong> My knitting is not nearly as awesome as Paula's but I do find it relaxing. I got a new book for Christmas on working with circular needles which has lots of little projects so I will be working on some of these. <br />
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My hubby and I are frequent movie goers. We actually saw two films last week and are headed to the movies again tonight. I thought I would share my thoughts on the flicks we see so I will be adding a section "<strong>Now showing in a theater near YOU...". </strong><br />
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And lastly, I read lots of blogs and <strong>ALWAYS</strong> find inspiration and ideas out there. We all have our favorite bloggers so I thought that when I am struck by something I see that is awesome, I would share the link with all of you. Who doesn't need another place to find inspiration?? I'm going to call this <strong>"In my blogging travels".</strong><br />
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I'm hoping that by adding some of the other interests I have, I will blog more often. Let's see what happens!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-81114859362182204452013-01-15T08:54:00.000-05:002013-01-15T08:54:45.417-05:00Welcome 2013, good riddance 2012!I have not posted since sharing Ben's quilt which I made for my father in law. Since that time, life has been pretty chaotic and sad. As many of you know, dealing with a loved one in declining health is difficult. We were very involved in helping my mother in law care for Ben in his final weeks here on earth. Sadly, he passed early Christmas morning at home. The good thing was that everyone got to say their goodbyes. Now, we are all trying to get back to a normal routine as he would have wanted.<br />
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Despite all of this, I was able to finish a couple of gifts for my great niece Bella because Christmas still happened. Bella got an ipad for Christmas from my sister, her nana that spoils her rotten, so I made her a bag to keep it in as well as a Christmas quilt to snuggle under with her brother while they waited for Santa. <br />
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Blogger is being difficult about loading pics so I just have this one which took an act of Congress to load! The Christmas quilt was a jelly roll race which I showed back a couple of posts. I just did a big meander and wrote some "secret" messages on it like "Santa is coming" as well as their names and the date. Bella and I skyped on Christmas day with our ipads. It's amazing what 4 year olds can do these days. <br />
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My DH and I had also planned to go to the Tournament of Roses parade and the Rose Bowl game. We had been planning this for a year. So after my fil's funeral, we went to <span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">Pasadena</span>. He had told us all along not to miss this trip. It was bittersweet but we did really enjoy our trip which was a bit shorter than planned due to the circumstances. We met up with one of Bob's childhood friends, who is very involved in the City of Glendale. The city was sponsoring a float and we were able to go into the place where the floats were being put together. What an amazing process!<br />
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In addition to a Tournament of Roses coffee cup, I got the flu! I am now recovering from that. If you haven't gotten a flu shot, go right now and get one! This flu is a doozy!<br />
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I hope to do some blog housekeeping in the next week or so and get back to a more regular schedule of blogging. So check back next week!<br />
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<br />McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-82183358361969422242012-11-08T09:45:00.000-05:002012-11-08T09:45:02.708-05:00Ben's Quilt<br />
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This quilt got its start at the quilt retreat in April, 2012. This is a M'liss Rae Hawley pattern from her 1st Fat Quarter Quilts book called Roman Stripes. I am on a mission to clear out old fabric so I took all my homespun, plaids, and solids and started stripping them together. The only problem with this pattern was lots and lots of bias. That was a small problem in the quilting phase but another lesson learned. I LOVE how it looks with the black, it has an Amish feel to it. My hubby helped me with the layout and I' m happy with this. <br />
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I am not crazy with the panto I chose but it got the quilt finished and in the hands of my father in law, Ben, who is 85 and not in good health. He absolutely loves it and uses it every day while sitting in his recliner watching TV. <br />
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These pics were taken prior to the EIGHT INCHES of snow we got last night. To that, I say, BITE ME, Mother Nature!! Temps should be back in the 50's and 60's come the weekend. <br />
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Next up, my flannel snowman quilt! I think we are gonna need it this winter! <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-74215053985365424552012-10-31T09:57:00.000-05:002012-10-31T09:57:23.976-05:00Why I love quit retreats<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_bif5VFcDcDpVl3aDQpnIl6sPyQ_w6cbeW8ZVYy3OhDuiI-H1bFeDq8Iqwb_LJ3CNi-Aw78_imCtJk-GHqQhgdrZM1tTYFtFHM1RFJmTxhmjXHIsdMb7KCRGe9O6A44SzPaB/s1600/q1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_bif5VFcDcDpVl3aDQpnIl6sPyQ_w6cbeW8ZVYy3OhDuiI-H1bFeDq8Iqwb_LJ3CNi-Aw78_imCtJk-GHqQhgdrZM1tTYFtFHM1RFJmTxhmjXHIsdMb7KCRGe9O6A44SzPaB/s1600/q1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
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I am back from my quilt retreat and made some significant quilting progress. I completed the top to the Paper pieced quilt I posted about last time. THIS is why I love quilt retreats. If I hadn't gone on retreat, I probably would not have finished this for THREE reasons:<br />
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1. my good friend, Diane, was there to help me back on the paper piecing bicycle. She is a PP expert having done about 5 Judy Neimeyer quilts;<br />
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2. I didn't have enough of the fabric I liked for the border but thanks to the tag sale table I found a piece that worked for $3.00 a yard.<br />
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3. Since it was a stripe, I thought it would be great with mitered corners. Of course, I haven 't done them in years. But over at the next table, another quilting friend helped me through the process and I was able to get 'er done! I loved how it turned out.<br />
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I had packed two jelly roll race quilts to do which are now complete. The first was all my random scraps that I thought matched to make a lap quilt for my cousin in New Hampshire. I visited with her a couple of weeks ago after not seeing her for about 3 years! We had such a great visit. We promised that 3 years were not going to go by before we saw each other again. Anyway, the lap quilt turned out big enough for two. I am going to cut this in half and add borders so there will be his and her lap quilts.<br />
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The second one is all my old Christmas fabric cut into strips. On this one, I counted out 40 strips. I have enough strips for another one! I think this one will go to Bella a/k/a Rapunzel. She told her teacher on the first day of school that her name was Rapunzel when they finally squeezed her real name out of her, she told them that Rapunzel was her ALIAS!! How does a 4 year old come up with that?! LOL!<br />
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All in all, a successful retreat. I was also able to get caught up with my sampler blocks and I did quite a bit of reading and relaxing which were greatly needed. <br />
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While I never fell off of the quilting bandwagon, it is nice to be back on the blogging bandwagon!! I have another quilt for later this week. Check back!!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-31120410018499801722012-10-23T15:34:00.000-05:002012-10-23T15:34:10.744-05:00Leaves are falling down, down, downMy last post was before the 4th of July and here it is the middle-end of October. Where did the time go? We had a very busy summer with a visit to my son in Nevada, several trips to the Jersey Shore, and a trip to Boston to see the Boss at Fenway. But now my yard is full of yellow, orange and red leaves. We are starting to settle into fall and (<em>grumble, grumble</em>) winter.<br />
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Just a note to let you all know that I am alive and well and buried in my quilting hovel. I am quilting and getting to know my Ava better every day. I have not felt very bloggy these last months. Don't know if perhaps the blogging thing has run its course for me. I continue to follow all of you, often "lurking", some times commenting and I enjoy this. <br />
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I am heading to my bi-annual quilt retreat on Thursday with many projects packed to go- a couple of Christmas jelly roll quilts for gifts, a new paper piecing project (I've not done PP in years!!) and a UFO from two years ago which I am bound and determined to finish for January as part of our guild's New Year's Resolution project. <br />
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I will bring my camera to capture the finishes. Maybe that will get me back on the Blog Wagon.<br />
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Still thinking of all of you! <br />
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<strong><span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">QUILT TIL YOU WILT!</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-24142446542351471202012-06-27T10:54:00.000-05:002012-06-27T10:54:21.301-05:00Guild Challenge - Quilters, Even and Odd<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every year our guild issues a challenge (usually a theme) to the members and the quilts are due at our annual picnic in June. This year the challenge was "A Song in my Heart". The challenge was to choose a song and represent it in a quilt. In addition, members had to decide <strong>"</strong><em><strong>Are you an Even or an Odd?".</strong> </em>We have a diverse group with both traditional and non-traditional quilters and some who dabble in a bit of both. If you decided you were <strong>EVEN, </strong>then your quilt would be a traditional four sided quilt. If you decided you were an <strong>ODD, </strong>your submission could be anything other than your traditional four sided quilt or constructed with alternative type of materials.</div>
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The winner of the <strong>EVENS </strong>was Lynn Brown, a gal who is a fabulous quilter and married to a minister. She chose a hymn and then proceeded to do a bible block quilt. Her work is always fabulous. She used Jinny Beyer fabric. She is also a big fan of Kaffe Fassett. You should see what she does with that!!</div>
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The winner of our <strong>ODDS</strong> was Lesa Gemmell,our president of the ODDS!! Lesa never fails to surprise and take a challenge to the extreme. Her song was "It's Raining Men" by the Weathergirls. She deconstructed an umbrella and then put it back together. She is holding it by the handle. The back was flat with a hanger so you could put it on the wall like a canopy. It also had a little music box so when you pressed the button the song played! <br />
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And in my little neck of the woods, Ava and I quilted our first quilt with a panto. It took me 15 minutes before I could figure out where the laser light wire got plugged in but after that we were off to the races. I had bought the DVD on pantos which was really helpful and gave me the basics for aligning everything. This is a Jelly Roll Race quilt which I made with the first Jelly Roll I ever bought. This is an oldie! I got it at Houston Market round about when Jelly rolls were just becoming popular. The panto is called Oak Leaves which goes along with the theme of the fabric. I am pretty pleased with it and as always learned a few things along the way to make the next one easier. Just need to trim and add the binding. <br />
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I am off to the Jersey Shore for the 4th of July so will be back in a couple of weeks. Hope your summer is off to a good start! </div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-86875858819641591462012-06-12T11:06:00.000-05:002012-06-12T11:06:38.360-05:00Pics from Jacksonville<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><br />FYI!!! This is not a quilty post. I don't post family pics too often so thanks for your indulgence! </div>
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Well, I am back from my trip to Jacksonville. It was great to get away to some nice warm weather, to visit with my sister, to get reacquainted with my great niece, Bella, and to meet my great nephew, Cayden.</div>
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Bella knows me as Auntie Ann and I have sent her a couple of quilts. She was excited for my arrival as we had a "Girl's Day" planned. She absolutely loves Jacksonville Zoo so after some lunch and some Toys R Us birthday shopping we headed to the zoo. <em>FYI </em>(<em>Bella picked out</em><em> a Mermaid Barbie which when you pull on her mermaid tail it comes off and turns into a surfboard which she can ride. Her hair turns pink when it gets wet and she had a tattoo on her belly! Oh, Barbie, how far you have fallen!!!)</em></div>
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We had loads of fun riding the Merry-go-round and visiting with the bird the monkeys and the giraffes.<br />
This pink elephant was a "must have" from the gift shop and she carted that thing around all day. I love this pic of Bella and her nana!<br />
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Here she is at the end of the day! <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPknmZA4US-IVb0tD_v6DpFW_iLBuvFCnEMPLIDRhNAn9nvhBVKAMgX8oar_HFSLanDin6EBGfRCYKMJrupB6tPfQeLIWPwCi8cFgZo42ySnQtyFQFQcaSC4zA9ewC7_1WRw0/s1600/IMG_0684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPknmZA4US-IVb0tD_v6DpFW_iLBuvFCnEMPLIDRhNAn9nvhBVKAMgX8oar_HFSLanDin6EBGfRCYKMJrupB6tPfQeLIWPwCi8cFgZo42ySnQtyFQFQcaSC4zA9ewC7_1WRw0/s320/IMG_0684.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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And here we are after her "power nap". She got her second wind pretty quiickly. I was pretty tuckered out after our big day!</div>
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Saturday was the Big Birthday Party. Bella turned 4 and this year was a cowgirl theme which included horses and a petting zoo. Here's her little brother, Cayden, who just turned 8 weeks old. His mom had him dressed as a little buckaroo as well.<br />
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Bella has already been taking horseback riding lessons with my sister who is a horse lover. She looked right at home on this big horse.<br />
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Here is a picture of my sissy, Kathy! We headed to Epcot after the birthday party for some BIG GIRL R&R. This was taken in "Japan" where we had awesome sushi for lunch.<br />
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<br />Our time together went by tooo quickly. I hope to get down there again really soon. </div>
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Back to quiltiness in my next post. My next Ava adventure is going to be quilting with a panto and the laser. We'll see how that goes! LOL! </div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-84714090468298873022012-06-09T18:55:00.001-05:002012-06-09T18:55:06.704-05:00Cayden's first quiltI am on a roll with Ava! She and I worked all day Memorial Day on Cayden's quilt. He was born April Fool's Day and I got to meet him this weekend in Jacksonville, FL. He's such a serious little old man! LOL! So very different from his sister who came out of the womb smiling. <br />
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With each quilt I load, I am trying to use a new technique or skill. On Cayden's quilt, I used the ruler base for the first time and stitched in the ditch on all of the blocks and around the outer little border (which was harder than I thought it would be but I'm pretty happy with the result) and I worked on some free motion stuff in the blocks. My brain was exhausted by the time I got to the border ( and I was running out of time) so I just did a swirly doodly meander ( that's the name of it, really!). Not as happy with that but it is done and it's for a baby. I was brave and used red thread in the bobbin as well as the top because I didn't want the light thread to show through to the front if my tension was a little off and the backing I used was pieced from what I had, which was very light so of course, you can see EVERY mistake. I guess that stuff about a "busy" back is true. BOY, there is a lot to think about with this long arm stuff!! ah, like what is the needle up/down button and what is the start/stop button and touching the right one at the right time! a few of the goofs on this one is because I mixed them up.<br />
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Seww, here is a picture. It looks wavy but that's because it is draped over the poles of Ava. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mEGVYjVQgoM/T9PgQEMhjaI/AAAAAAAABwg/IkI7UtNL-mo/s1600/IMG_0645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mEGVYjVQgoM/T9PgQEMhjaI/AAAAAAAABwg/IkI7UtNL-mo/s320/IMG_0645.JPG" width="320" /></a>And since I was attending Bella's 4th birthday party (It was a cowgirl party with ponies!!), I made her a Happy Birthday pillowcase and one with horses on it. I will be sending her a pillowcase every month for a year. She loves to get mail.<br />
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Will be back next week with pictures of the cutest kids in Jacksonville next week! Have a quilty weekend!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-77098273168456112002012-05-23T05:12:00.000-05:002012-05-23T05:12:18.449-05:00My first Avante finishHope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! My son lives on the West Coast so I don't get to see him very often. I got a lovely card from him and a telephone call which was wonderful. He later called to tell us to watch for a package addressed to him but said it was really for us. I got a note from the postman that it required a siggy so I trooped down there last Friday and picked it up. What a surprise to open it and find this inside.<br />
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For those of you who know me, you know that I was born and raised a <strong><span style="color: red;">Red Sox fan</span></strong> and will go to my grave as one. It's in the blood! Number 15 is Dustin Pedroia, my favorite player. I remember the first time I saw him play and knew that he was going to be great. He only stands about 5'7" tall but he has the heart of a giant and eats and sleeps baseball. I was soo excited to get my shirt. My son had also included one for his dad. So now we both have shirts to wear when we watch the games. Of course, the first game I wore my shirt they won, which hasn't happened much this season, so now I will have to wear it for every game so I don't jinx them! <br />
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In quilting news, I finished my first quilt with my new BFF, Ava. Since it was my first adventure with her, I stuck with what I knew - a nice allover meander. I also stuck with a thread color which was close to the fabric color just in case I had "issues". This actually made it harder since it was hard to see where I had been and where I should be going!!! LOL! Once I got the tension worked out, it went soo fast. I am in love! <br />
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This quilt will be going to the Summit, which is a rest home in our area. They have a fabulous community room and have been so gracious about offering it to our guild for our meetings. In exchange, we make quilts for their residents. <br />
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This quilt top has a special story. I bought it wayyy back in the mid 90's at an estate sale. As it turned out, the home had been owned by a quilter and there was lots of fabric, books, and many tops. At the time I didn't know who the quilter was but later I found out it was a woman who had run our local quilt shop, Calico, Etc. which was where I took my first quilting class. Cynthia was a fabulous piecer and quilter. She died of cancer many years ago but I know she would be pleased to know that her quilt top finally became a quilt and will be a comfort to someone in need. <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" /></a></div>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28454773.post-40551839265231074112012-05-12T18:37:00.000-05:002012-05-12T18:37:41.729-05:00Hey, what happened? I was just talking about April and my retreat and how fun and productive it was going to be and all of a sudden, it's the middle of May! <br />
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Well, anyway, lots of happenings around here. But first <span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;">QUILTS!!!!</span><br />
This is Flower Power. It stills needs some borders but the top is done. I love how this came out. And by the way, the only way I could get DH to hold the quilts was to let him be in the pictures too. He's a ham and just turned 60! Looks pretty good, I think, though the hair needs to meet up with a comb. <br />
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This is a chinese coins qult. Actually, this is number 2 made from the leftovers of #1 and if you can believe it, there is a #3! They will be donation quilts. <br />
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That empty space behind the grinning quilt holder is now filled with my HQ Avante 18. Ava arrived just shy of 2 weeks ago and she is now my new BFF. She and I have already finished one quilt and it is true love. I see many, many happy hours being spent together. <br />
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And while I'm here, I want to wish a Happy Mom's Day to all of my quilting friends. I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow. I got a lovely Mother's Day call from my son last Sunday! I thanked him kindly and then told him it was a good practice run since he was a week early and to give me a call again this Sunday! LOL! Better a week early, then a week late! <br />
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Til we meet again, Quilt til you Wilt!<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/64/B75B5488D08D638422727BA301F029D1.png" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px;" /></a>McIrish Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04636354235693444855noreply@blogger.com7