Quilt Til You Wilt

What's a Girl Gotta do to Fondle some Fabric??!??

2012-01-24T17:44:00.002-05:00

Like every quilter, I am always trying to fit fabric fondling into my daily schedule. For a while, I was getting up at the buttcrack of dawn, making a cup of coffee, and spending some time in the sewing room before I hit the showers for work. But now the buttcrack of dawn has been alloted to the gym or a spin class. Not that I mind, sometimes that's the highlight of my day! But where to fit in the fondling??? Hmmmmm. In trying to keep some of my New Year's resolutions, I have decided a little multitasking might work. I know that I can't do any serious sewing after dinner. That has been tried and proved disasterous. (read lots of unsewing). Seww, I thought that perhaps a little stash management and TV watching with hubby might work.

I am hoping that THIS MESS

might turn into something a bit more organized. I have pulled this scrap basket down to the TV room with my ironing board, cutting mat and rotary cutter. While watching mindless TV, I hope to fill the bucket below with strips for string blocks.

and the bigger stuff will be cut to go into my scrap drawers ala Bonnie Hunter.

Once this project is done, I plan on trying to do some simple sewing, like mastectomy pillows for my community project, string blocks and maybe precut some new projects to work on. Will see where this goes!!

Wish me luck!

I'M BACKKKK experimenting with ipad blogging

2012-01-23T10:48:00.001-05:00

Yes, I have been away for quite some time. But I am hoping that with my new toy I will catch the blogging bug again. Any of you out there that are blogging from your ipad, let me know what app you are using ,if you like it and which to avoid. I am using a free one now but would buy one that is good and works with Blogger.
Just got back from our annual January quilt retreat which was very fun.
Lots to share if this works out. Til then

QUILT TIL YOU WILT (and no running with your rotary cutter!) :)

This little piggy went to Florida, now the quilt is going too!

2011-07-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

This little pig was sent to Florida with my sister back in June to give to my great-niece, Bella. FYI, this little pig had been living in my fabric closet for a few years and when I reorganized, I found her buried in a bag of leftover batting. Now you know that my stash closet was a true pig sty. LOL!

The quilt top was made over a year ago earmarked for Bella's 2nd birthday. Well, she just turned 3!!!

Olivia's dress(that's the piggy's name) was made from the scraps of the quilt top as a peace offering until this quilt which I promised her in her 3rd birthday card was delivered!

I put the top on my frame just after my sister's visit and it has been waiting patiently,(and doubling as a kitty hammock) for a couple of weeks. Well, I finally set aside an afternoon and got 'er done.

I did a quick meander over the center and inspired by Debra did squiggly lines down the borders.
Don't know why I waited soo long.

I had hoped to put another quilt on the frame to be done before my vacation but that didn't happen. So, this is my quilty contribution to my blog til I get back from California. We are going to visit Alex and Yosemite National Park as well as see a SF Giants baseball game. We figure since the BoSox are #1 in the East, we should check out the #1 competition in the West.

I'll be back soon with vacation pics. Til then, Quilt til you Wilt!!!

Bag Lady

2011-07-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

Since last I blogged, I spent a great weekend with my sis who was visiting from Florida at the Vermont Quilt Show. It was 4.5 hours to get there from Connecticut so it was a first and last time visit for me! The show was celebrating its 30 anniversary. This year I have been to about 5 different shows and this one was quite traditional but great fun. I also spent some time with my other sibs celebrating my mom's 75th birthday.

Here are the five of us with our dear mom! The skinny one on the end is my sis from Florida. We all hate her for her damn skinniness!!

While at the Vermont show, I fell victim to another bag pattern. I say, ANOTHER, as I'm known as somewhat of a bag lady in my group of acquaintances. Not that I have lots of bags but that I have lots of bag PATTERNS! I have thought of just sewing the patterns together and making a bag cause I have sooo many of them. But this time, I actually made the bag!! I wanted to make a beach bag for my NJ friend, Susie, to give to her when we visited over the 4th of July weekend. I had the fabric set aside for some time just for her bag. This pattern is called the Chubby Charmer bag. It uses 48 charm squares. I substituted the striped fabric for a couple of the charm rows. It is a HUGE bag with pockets inside and it went together pretty quickly. We all know that some pattern designers are not blessed with great instruction writing skills but this one was really well written and I had no problems at all. I followed the instructions precisely but next time round would make a couple of changes. I would add a loop and button to close it and I would add a couple of skinny pockets inside for sunglasses and sunscreen.

Here is a pic of the bag which sadly is now living in NJ. ( I almost didnt' give it to her cause I loved it sooo much!!)

And here is a pic of the bag and the other sad bag patterns that are waiting anxiously to be made.

Paint chip challenge - Rush Hour

2011-06-17T13:02:00.000-05:00

We had our guild's end of the year picnic on Tuesday and the paint chip challenges were revealed. I had posted my paint chips and fabric in an earlier post and had shown you how much fun it was making the layered waves background.

My entry is called RUSH HOUR. I made the little fishies using texture magic to get that scrunchy look and then just cut them and stitched them on with a tiny zig-zag.

This was a top early Tuesday morning and was completed at 5:30 pm just an hour before the picnic.

Talk about Flames to my fanny! and I even added the label!! I still have to add a hanging sleeve but it's done!

Next year's challenge was given out. It's called Odd or Even - A Song in your Heart.

Choose a song and make a quilt. If you are an "even" quilter, it can be a traditional quilt. If you are an "odd", then your piece should be anything BUT a traditional quilt.

Guess which one I am??

Spring Cleaning

2011-06-06T10:30:00.000-05:00

I have been on a spring cleaning kick for the last couple of weekends. It has been far too long since mi casa has been cleaned "old school", you know, how your mom and grandma did it back in the day when women stayed home and well, cleaned. Last weekend, it was the upstairs, ceiling to floor, all the curtains down and washed, all the screens and windows washed, all the carpets beaten (well thoroughly vacuumed) and all the walls and woodwork washed. Wheww!!

The last room was my sewing room which I thought about bypassing but then decided needed a good once over as well.
Here's the BEFORE (yikes!!).....

and the AFTER.... Once I started, it turned into a total reorganization. Things were moved around, fabric was piled up for donation, etc. etc. The only thing not done was the closet which houses the STASH. That is a whole separate project which shall be attended to in the very near future. But, a tidy space is a space that you really want to work in and since the overhaul, I have been getting bits of this and that done which is great.

The nice thing about this is now I know where everything is. I also have a pile of books, patterns and stuff that I'm ready to part with and I'm thinking about setting up a swap page for those who might be interested later in the month. Sewww, stay tuned.

You may remember that Debra sent me her practice piece from her longarm which I finally cut up and made into mastectomy pillows. They really came out nice! Thanks Debra for your generosity!!!

Work on the paint chip challenge continues. The reveal date is June 14th so I need to get a move on! More on that later !

Ask and you shall receive

2011-05-30T20:37:00.002-05:00

Recently I have been surfing the blogosphere looking for some new blogs to follow. I have a core group of blog friends but I add and subtract on a regular basis. And as you know, you can go from link to link to link checking out who is reading who, etc. Well, this blog came onto my radar recently. It's a group of 13 (there's a lucky number!) fiber artists that are challenging each other to make pieces based on a theme. From there, I started checking out each gal's individual blog and fell upon this talented lady.

Well, when I saw this necklace, it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. I immediately searched to see if Sandy had an Etsy store cause I was wanting that necklace. As it turned out, she did not so I decided to leave her a comment about how gorgeous it was and how I would have scooped it up if for sale. Of course,this was the day that BLOGGER decided to be contrary and would not allow me to leave a comment no matter how hard I tried. But I was not to be deterred, I sent Sandy an email telling her about the comment problem and told her how much I loved the necklace.

Next day, I got an email from Sandy. She asked if I would like the necklace and that we could do a swap.. DID I WANT THE NECKLACE???? !!!! Heck, yeah I did!!

And so, a swap was done.

The necklace arrived today. It is sooo beautiful and I am totally in love with it. Sandy, thank you, thank you! This is the highlight of my weekl I love, love, love it. Your box went into the mail this morning.

I've been trying all weekend to upload a picture but BLOGGER is not being cooperative at all! Any one else having problems??

Hopefully, I can get a picture up later in the week of me and my beautiful necklace!!
Hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day weekend.

Woohoo!! I tried uploading my picture from work and that worked!!! Guess I need to check out my computer at home and see what's not working right!

Paint chip Challenge

2011-05-21T13:52:00.000-05:00

Before I get started, I wanted to post the pics of my pincushions that I received from the Pincushion Swap. I've done many swaps over the years - blocks, fabric, pay it forward, etc., and LOVE them. It is so nice to get a squishy envelope in the mail from another quilter far away and to make something for someone that you know will appreciate your time.
So here they are... In addition, I received a luscious Lindtz chocolate bar that sadly never made it to the picture :))

The owl and the rabbit have been confiscated by my cat, Mr. B. He likes to cart them around to different places in the house and sleeps with the owl on occasion. The little finger pin cushion is my favorite and I use it LOTS~~~.

In addition to loving swaps, I LOVE challenges!! My guild does one every year. We receive it either at the Xmas party or at the annual picnic in June and they are to be ready for the next picnic which comes up in three weeks!! When I think of my "best" quilts, they are the ones that I did for the challenges. The nice thing about the challenge is the IDEA is already done. I just have to work within the perimeters. The challenge has always taken me outside of my comfort zone and gets me to explore new techniques and ideas. It really gets my quilting mojo in high gear!!

This year, it is a paint chip challenge. We were each given an envelope and told to make anything but you could only use the colors on the paintchips and you could add one more color.

Here are my colors... Blues and oranges.

Here are my fabrics..... I know these blues look really dark but acutally they aren't. The other thing a few of us like to do is try to "push the envelope" of the challenge so to speak. For me, I am adding white but not as my other color. For me, white is the "absence of all color". We'll see how that flys on the flagpole. LOL~

and here is Round one. I decided to go with a pieced background and then applique on top. I've used Ricky Tims' convergence concept before so thought I would start with that. Although the piece came out ok, I was not in love with it. The last one I did the fabric had more pattern to it so it didn;t appear so static and flat. This one has been relegated to the orphan box for another project.

I wanted something more flowing. I've had Karen Eckmier's book Layered Waves for some time and actually am taking a class with her in July. But once I took a look at the cover, I knew that was what the bacground had to be. If you have never tried this, it is ADDICTING!! You cut, sew and add waves. If you don't like something, you take it off. You tweak as you go. It takes on a life of its own. Very organitc~ I was at it for hours and it felt like 5 minutes.

This is the piece I have so far. I am absolutely in love with it~ I'm going to add a bit more to it and then will move on to the borders. Hopefully that will be done by the end of next week.

But this will be pushed aside for a few days so I can get my greatniece's quilt quilted and sent to her for her 3rd birthday. Check back for pics of this one mid week. Till then ,

QUILT TIL YOU WILT!

A busy non-quilty month

2011-05-13T14:37:00.000-05:00

I know I've been MIA the last few weeks but life (in a good way) got in the way. The only quilty thing I did prior to this Monday was make this and send it off as part of the Pincushion swap. I received mine but haven't taken pictures yet.

The guy pictured below is one of the things that got in my way of quilting. Here's my DH on his 59th Bday. He wanted to go to NYC to see a show so we headed in on a rainy Wednesday and stood in line to get discount tickets to see Memphis. It was sooo worth it. A great musical about the move of black music onto mainstream radio back in the early sixties. This picture was taken at lunchtime in our favorite Irish bar where we go whenever we are in NYC. Notice how his paws are wrapped around that beer glass!

This is the other place we always go when in the Big Apple. It's a little shop called Crumbs and their specialty is cupcakes. We always stop for a Six pack before heading back home. They make the classic 2 inch cupcakes as well as the SUPER sized ones. My favorite is, of course, Irish Creme. We tried the Elvis ths time as part of the Memphis theme which was delicious. PB and chocolate, YUM!!

My DH took this picture and sent it to our trainer at the gym. He likes to torture the poor kid. I brought him back the Squiggle which if you are from the Northeast is the classic Hostess cupcake. Chocolate cupcake, chocolate frosting with the white squiggle on the top. Needless to say, Mr. Trainer did not say no to the cupcake.

Lastly, we spent Mother's Day at Fenway Park, courtesy of my son. He sent the tickets to us. He knows how much his mom loves her some Red Sox. It turned out to be a lovely day with great seats and a win! Yeah!

Now I'm back to the grind. This week I spent some time cleaning up some little projects. The shams for my Fall quilt are done and ready for September. I hemmed three pairs of pants, finished a wool pillow that I started months ago and cleared the deck for my Paint chip challenge which has been started. I'll have pics of my progress on Sunday!

Til then, QUILT TIL YOU WILT!

MQX Kitties

2011-04-22T10:14:00.000-05:00

As everyone knows, quilters are not only fabric lovers but animal lovers. So it is inevitable that our pets and animals end up not only ON our quilts but IN our quilts.I, myself, came to cats later in life. We always had dogs. At MQX there were lots of animals in quilts. I gravitated to the kitties. This post is dedicated to The Calico Cat. Dandylion, I was thinking of you when I took these.

This is Denim and Calico made by Janet Fogg of Oregon. This was a HUGE quilt. Take a look at the size of the yo-yos.

This is Alikins Alley Cat made by Jodi Scaltreto of Hillsboro NH. This was tread painted about 14 x 21 inches.

Look out for Scout by PennySander of Arlington MA.

This is another by Penny Sander called Where's Buddy?. This was the result of a guild challenge to use only black, white and one other color. This has over 2000 rectangles. Take a look at the close up.

And finally, Fall Frolic by Barbara Beaumont of Massachusetts.

And there are your kitty qui;tsphotos for the day! Hope everyone has a lovely Easter. Spring is finally here!!

Quilts from MQX

2011-04-20T18:10:00.001-05:00

I had a wonderful time at MQX on Friday. It was not crowded and the quilts were beautiful. My friend, Diane and I bought lots of thread and were really inspired by the quilts.

Here are some of the highlights!

This was best in Show. I love a girl who loves some bling! It is called Red Letter Daze by Janet Stone of Kansas. Each block is pieced and bound separately and appliqued to the background. This is the 7th in a series.

This is a detail of one of the blocks.

This one is by Kathy Sperino of Finishing Lines. She is the gal who quilted my Quilt of Valor last year and we chat through our blogs and email from time to time. She is a Red Sox fan so lots of commiserating of late. Check out her blog and the latest commissioned work she did. It is spectacular.

This one is called Ribbons of Hope.

I also got an up close and personal look at Debra's quilt that she did last year with her friends, Rian and Deb called Stay the Course.

This next one received three ribbons. Of note, one was Best Use of Thread (6000 yards of it!) and ladies, we better watch out! it was done by a MAN! Yep, it is spectacular. It is called White Tail Morning by Dustin Farrell of PA.

Here is a detail of the thread painting. He made 36 thread changes with 130 hours to create it.
I can't imagine at any point in my quilting life that I would I sit down and think, "Yep, I'm going to make this!!"

This one is Call of Africa by a local gal, Mary Franc of Bethel CT. This is a big one!
On my quilting front, I am up to date on the CW blocks. Got my shams ready for quilting even though the quilt they go with has been put away until the fall. I'll get them quilted and completed so we have them for next year. I have pulled a quilt from the CRYPT and will load it this week. After all the gorgeous quilts I saw at MQX, I am pumped up to get back to quilting. I have to get one done pretty quick to send to my great niece for her birthday. She will be 3 and is in need of a big girl quilt to replace the baby one I sent on her first birthday.

Then I will be moving on to my paint chip challenge due for the guild's picnic in June. Stay tuned. This should be a doozy.

Time to get back on track

2011-04-12T08:12:00.000-05:00

Well, basketball is over. My girls went as far as I thought they would. Just a couple of games short but next season will be fabulous. Congrats to the Texas Aggies! They deserved to win. They are a scrappy team ( and who doesn't like scrappy!!) with a super coach. The Uconn men won it all,coming from out of nowhere,which was great to watch.

And now PLAY BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Bo Sox are off to an interesting start. Our first win (9-4) over the Yankees was fun to watch. Our last loss to the Rays (18-4) not soo much. But both of my boys, Jacoby and Dustin, are back from their injuries of last season and are doing awesome.

And now for quilting! Well, I asked for charms, and boy was I charmed!!! I received packages, from Amy, Paula, Julie, Debra and Christine . I now have enough for my three quilts and probably one or two more!! Thanks ladies for your generosity. Quilters are the best kind of people. Debra also sent me one of her "practice" pieces she had done from her new longarm. I don't know about you but I think her "practice" quilting is pretty darn good. I almost hate to cut it up. I'm going to make mastectomy pillows out it for my guild's community project.

Well, I'm off to package up my pincushion for the swap. I'm sending mine to a lovely lady in Germany!

I'm going to the Machine Quilters Expo quilt show in Providence on Friday so I'll have some pics of quilts on Sunday. They won't be mine, but there will be quiltiness over here.

Til then, Quilt til you Wilt!

I Love New York

2011-03-29T20:46:00.000-05:00

I spent Friday and Saturday in NYC with three of my quilting buddies. We checked in early on Friday and headed for the garment district. It can be a little overwhelming but we browsed through many shops, including Mood, filled with lace, fabric and baubles. I picked up some lovely trim to use on my paintchip challenge quilt which is my next project.

We ended our day at The City Quilter which has expanded their store. I found lots of great fabrics for my paintchip challenge as well as other stuff. After a long day of shopping, we hit the bar for martinis and then had dinner at Shula's Steakhouse. Sadly, we are not the party animals of old. We were in our jammies by 9 watching basketball.

Saturday morning we were quickly out the door to the Empire Quilters quilt show. Hit the line about 10 minutes before the doors opened and started our busy day.

The quilts were lovely. There was something for everyone. Of course, being a New York quilt guild, they had an Urban theme. Here are is one of the lovely NYC quilts.

The Verrazano Bridge

This quilt and the next are tributes to Vermeer's "A Girl with a Pearl Earring". The first one was done in silks. The second in African fabrics.

I really liked how this quilter extended the image into the border with 1 inch squares.

This one is for the Calico Cat.. What part of MEOW don't you understand??

And this one is for Libby. Girlfriend, these yo-yos were about an inch big!!

Check out Empire Quilters' website later this week for pictures of all the quilts. It's definitely worth a look!

What was especially great at this show were the VENDORS!! There were at least three booths with Japanese fabric and one exclusively with kimono fabric. I picked up a panel with butterflies that is fantastic. There was African fabric, Batiks, a vendor with European fabrics. It was quite a smorgasbord! My poor little credit card was smoking at the end of the day!!

Our last stop was The Crumb Shop. Yes, ladies, a shop that specializes in cupcakes!!! I picked up a six pack for my hubby. It was really just to divert his attention from the credit card receipts!! My favorite was the Irish Creme.

Lastly, and certainly not least, thanks to all who offered to send me charms! You guys are really generous. This lovely package was waiting for me from Paula the Quilter when I got home from NYC.

Thanks Paula!! Well, I probably won't be posting til next week. Basketball and the final four are coming up this weekend. Go UConn!

Are you charming? I hope so!

2011-03-22T08:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it's March Madness time again! My DH and I have been parked in front of the TV all weekend and will be for the next couple of weeks watching UConn try to win another National Championship. Knowing that I will have some time to do mindless stuff, I have started cutting fabric for a new project. I found an easy pattern for using nickel squares and thought it would be a great way to use up my novelty fabrics. I pulled all my kiddie fabric and started cutting charms. I hope to make three twin size quilts ( one for my great-niece, Bella, one for my nephew, Aiden and one for charity).

Despite cutting for a few hours, I am woefully short on charms. This quilt calls for 88 charms for each quilt. I would like not to use repeats and sewwwww, I am asking if there is any one out there who would like to donate or swap charms with me. If you do, please email me and we can swap snail mail addys and I can get this project underway.

I've also joined another swap, cause you know I love me a swap! This one is a pincushion swap through Hilde and Hilde. If you are interested, click on over. Sign ups are until April 3rd.

In other news, my west coast-east coast-west coast quilting buddy, Libby, is headed back to the West Coast. She passed by me on Saturday and we got together for some coffee, catchup and hugs. Of course, Driving Miss Daisy was with her. Although we got together far less than we should have, it was so great having her close by and I will miss her. But now, I have a West Coast hookup which I intend to use and she and I will be roaming Rosie's quilt shop in the near future. Last text I got from her she was in Oklahoma. Gonna miss you girlfriend!!!

This Friday, I am headed to the Big Apple for Empire Quilters quilt show. I've never been to this one and I'm pretty excited. I'll be traveling with 3 other gals and we have decided to stay overnight in Times Square and check out the city a bit. A trip to Mood is already on the agenda. I'll have pics on my return from the show.

Til then, Quilt til you wilt!

HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY FROM MCIRISH ANNIE

2011-03-17T06:00:00.003-05:00

Couldn't let this day go by without posting as it is my #2 favorite holiday of the whole year! So, here are a couple of my wee Irish quilts.

Enjoy!

Please go over to the Quilting Gallery and vote for my shamrock quilt starting today!!! I could win a wee prize if I get the most votes!

Bealtaine go bhfuil tú i gcónaí pingin i do phóca, cara le do thaobh agus fabraic i do stash.

Copy this over to Google Translate to find out my wish for all of you.

This and that - back from retreat

2011-03-15T15:16:00.000-05:00

I am back from retreat and unfortunately have no pictures as Picasa ate my pictures before I imported them. Stupid Picasa!!!!

At any rate, I worked on several different projects. Here's the rundown:

1. made binding for Bella's quilt;
2. made 9 patch blocks for Debra's American Cancer Society auction quilt;
3. made my wool pillow for our guild's Victorian tea (got pics of that);
4. worked diligently on my dryer sheet blocks which will soon be a quilt top. I'm going to call it Bounce since all the blocks have Bounce fabric sheets as foundations; and
5. made more mastectomy pillows which I will make til i run out of fiber fill which should be soon.
Here's my pillow.

It was a great location with super accomodations, fabulous quilters and I can't wait to go again next year!

Since I've been back, I have made another of the Brackman CW blocks, Birds in the Air. Ta Da!

On Saturday I went to a workshop with Elin Waterston of Art Quilt Workbook fame. We got to experiment with textile paints on fabric and Shiva Paintsticks. It was interesting in that I realized I liked the stenciling and over painting on fabric but wasn't a big shiva paintstick fan other than for accenting. I had a picture of Elin but STUPID PICASA ate her too. I hate technology and computers and cameras today!

I also made hearts to send to New Zealand which I read about over at Quilting Gallery. Here is the link for the Hearts for Christchurch if you are interested. I had a few cross stitched heart blocks from years ago which I stay stitched and bound . They are on their way to New Zealand to cheer someone I hope.

Well, back to the Brackman blocks.

2011-03-01T08:03:00.004-05:00

First, I want to apologize to Barbara Brackman.

Barbara, I'm not mad at you anymore. I still like you and thank you for keeping quilt history alive.

There, I feel much better now and I finished the Richmond block and the Cotton Boll with few problems.

Sorry these are a little blurry, not the blocks, the picture~

After finishing the blocks, I decided to pull out some felted wool for a pillow I am making for our guild's Spring Tea.

Three hours later, I had gone through several bins of UFOs , reorganized things, found five tops that are ready for quilting and found this....

Not the bed, the quilt top~

I had bought this top without the borders a million years ago at a yard sale. I have been inspired by Debra , her new machine and all the practicing she is doing and thought this would be a good practice piece for me. I haven't given my Sunny a good workout in a long time. So I have added the borders, pulled some ancient fabric and pieced the back and this will be loaded for quilting in the near future.

Oh, and I did pull the felted wool for the pillow. See it sitting on the top of this enormous, yet not completed, pile of stuff!

I am headed for a quilt retreat on the Cape. I pulled a couple of Oldies but Goodies from the archives and will work on them as well as the wool pillow. And I will be bringing these awesome mags to peruse for inspiration and new ideas. As many of you may know, Borders bookstores have filed for bankruptcy/reorganization. They are closing some of their stores and one near to us is closing and liquidating their inventory. Magazines were 40% off!!! So, I grabbed a bunch.

Lastly, I just received this in the mail. Paula, The Quilter spoke about having your blog entries made into a book some time ago. With my Five Year Blogiversary coming up in May, I decided to do the same. So this is Year One of Quilt til you Wilt in print. It's cool to see your posts in print with pictures. I can't believe it's almost five years!

I'll report back with my (keep your fingers crossed) completed retreat projects next week.

Til then,

Quilt til you wilt!!!!!!!!!!

Tearing it up over Texas Tears

2011-02-18T18:16:00.004-05:00

BARBARA BRACKMAN!!! Do you see my fist???? I am shaking it at you !!

When I found the Civil War Block website, I should have just stuck to reading the wonderful history and pictures you provided.

But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I had to start making the blocks. What's one little old block a week?? I looked at this as an opportunity to improve my piecing and well, I am a sucker for CW repro fabric. Well, at first, I was nervous but after a couple of weeks, I was staying on schedule and I had not had any real problems.

I had NO trouble with Kansas Troubles. Though I expected it with all these little pieces and the others went together fairly easily.

BUT TEXAS TEARS!!! I had met my match.

I have learned over the last 6 weeks to wait til a couple of the other gals participating have done the block and then I go check to see if there are any pitfalls to avoid. There are soo many awesome piecers out there that I figure I'd leave it to the experts ( like Lillian) to iron out the kinks, so to speak.

So I started Texas Tears last Sunday. By the time I was done with the first block I was tearing up. I had cut the inner block down to 5 1/2 as suggested but when I was done the block measured 8" instead of 8 1/2'. Hmmmm...

But not to be deterred, I recut the block and started Round two.

Really Barbara , 1 7/16ths !!

On the second round, I cut the strip 1 1/2" and did not cut the block down but squared it up and used a scant 1/4 inch. When I was done, I was ready to tear out MY scant 1/4 inch of hair! (BTW, yep, my hair is growing back!!) Although this time it measured 8 1/2, I realized I was going to lose my points all around once I put the blocks together. But I decided that two shots was all this northern girl was gonna take at Texas Tears.

So here it is Texas Tears ala Annie.

After that tearful adventure, I was happy to move on to the Log Cabin. Thank you Abe! I needed an easy block after Texas.

I love a good swap!

2011-02-11T16:47:00.004-05:00

I love quilting swaps! I've signed up for mini quilt swaps, charm square swaps, postcard swaps-I'm a sucker for a swap. So when the Quilting Gallery had a Mug Rug swap, I decided to join in. I thought the concept was cute and handy for me and my DH since we love a nice cuppa and cookies while watching TV. Plus I had some super cute novelty fabric which has been kicking around for years and was perfect for this swap. For those unfamiliar with mug rugs, they are like quilted coasters but longer about 10 x 6, just big enough to put your coffee mug on plus some space for a couple of cookies.

I received my swap partner's name and decided last Saturday to spend the afternoon making mug rugs. IDEALLY, you are talking about a couple of FQs worth of fabric and some batting for pair of mug rugs which was the swap and I figured I'd whip up a couple of extras for myself. A nice little project, maybe a couple of hours.

However, HERE'S THE REALITY !!!

ROUND ONE:

My initial idea was to make two blocks framed side by side. This fabric was too dark so I ditched it.

ROUND TWO:

I liked this combo! The red and white check gives it a diner feel~but of course I cut the novelty fabric too small and the frame too wide and the two block idea was dropped. The red and white check was overwhelming the novelty print. This ended up in the Orphan Block bin.

ROUND THREE:

This next size worked out great! But it had been a week since I had read the requirements of the swap and I went ahead and zigzagged the edges which was a no-no. The edges had to be bound or enclosed. So I decided to try to add bias tape all around. A DISASTER!! Did not like the finished look of that. So I took it off and decided the zig zagged mug rugs would live with me.

ROUND FOUR:

Finally, after approximately SIX hours, here is the finished mug rug ( there are two) which will go to my partner who lives in Florida this weekend with some added goodies.

Oh, and here is the pile of scrap from making FOUR mug rugs.

It seemed so simple! LOL~

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-02-05T09:58:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we finally got to New Jersey to see our dear, dear friends. We usually see them 5 or 6 times over the summer but this past summer things got bumped around a bit and it has been SEVEN months since we have been together. As it turned out, we were all available this weekend which happened to be my Birthday weekend!! So we headed south to celebrate Christmas and my birthdday Jersey style.

Robbin made this lovely cake for me. I love the ? mark. Might as well keep everyone guessing! They overwhelmed us with presents and goodies. We went out to dinner Friday night and drank lots of wine. Saturday we got together to devour Susie's homemade sauce and stuffed shells and exchange gifts.

We stayed at Susie and Ronnie's house. She is the ultimate hostess with the mostest! Our room had a birthday banner and a lovely little basket with nice smelly soaps and lotions. She is also an unbelieveable cook.
Here I am with my gals, Susie, Robbin and of course, Miss Ellie-the bestest dog in the world!

And here are the hubbies- Susie's Ronnie, my DH, Bob, and Robbin's Vinnie. They basically sat there all afternoon drinking beer and watching music videos.
The weekend passed too quickly !

When I got back home on Sunday, a box had been delivered. I have to say I have THE BEST SISTER IN THE WHOLE WORLD!! My sister, Kathy, who lives in Florida, sent me this gorgeous Coach bag and wallet for the summer. It is the perfect size, perfect handles and perfect color. I would never spend $$$ on a bag like this (cause I gots to buy quilty stuff) but I've lusted over hers for years. So enuf of this SNOW, bring on summer!!!

Snowing again today. But my new saying is

A SNOW DAY IS A SEW DAY!!!

Rhode Island Quilt Retreat

2011-02-01T16:10:00.008-05:00

I am back to report about my quilting retreat in Rhode Island which was two weeks ago. Time does fly! We left on Thursday evening because snow was predicted which gave us an extra evening to sew. Nothing wrong with that! This group has been going on retreat for almost 1o years now. It is lots of laughs, wine, food, fun and of course, sewing.

As I posted last time, I had high aspirations of working on three projects. But the reality is I only got to one project. However, it has been a UFO for -count 'em - SEVEN YEARS. The Underground RR top is done! This dates back to 2004. In fact, the teacher of the class was on retreat with us. Good thing cause I needed help with the pieced border!!

Oh, and I did work on my scarf with the self striping yarn. This is half done and I am in love with it! Right now it looks like a reallly loooonnng sock or a pretty striped snake. I have another skein to make a matching hat.

We also made this cute little snapbag as a fun class taught by Sara. She is one of the founding members of our guild and 82 years young. You may have seen this bag around blogland. It has cut pieces of a measuring tape in the top to open and close it.

Of course, we did some shopping. I spent under $100 for the weekend which compared to most was frugal. Here is a picture of a darling pattern I had to have. This is going to be a great spring project. I have to order the black and white fabric for the handles which really makes this pop!

Quilt til you wilt!!!

January update

2011-01-18T18:17:00.004-05:00

We had an icy mix today so I chose to stay home rather than ice skate to work. I spent the day productively. After vacuuming and starting laundry, I spent the day in the sewing room. The mojo is still here!
This week, I finished two scarves that I started in December. They were supposed to be gifts for the gals at work but never got finished. Instead of just tucking them away, I plodded on and finished them. They will be put away for gifts for next winter!

I also made three sets of Mastectomy pillows which is my guild's community project for this year. I still have a half a bag of fiberfill so I will be cutting more sets to use that up. We hope to make at least 200 sets to donate to Hartford Hospital which happens to be where I go for treatment. Last year, they gave away 700 sets. Breast cancer touches far too many lives.
The set in front was made from a 20x 20 pieced square I bought at a tag sale probably 10 years ago! Why was I holding onto it?? It made perfect pillows.

Finally, I finished piecing the pillow shams that match my rectangle quilt. I just need to get a copy of the ginko panto from my longarmer friend so I can echo quilt it on the shams. This is one of the fronts.

I am headed to our annual Rhode Island quilt retreat on Friday. I have packed three projects:

1. my underground RR quilt. I hoped to finish this as part of Finn's New Years challenge. I looked at it today and don't know what has taken soo long to finish it! The top and the back will be pieced this weekend.

2. A wool pillow kit that I bought last year.

3. Snowman wall hanging. I bought the pattern back in November when I met with Libby at the Quilted Crow. I have pulled all the pieces together and if all goes smoothly, I may get to this project as well.

Hope your January resolutions to do more quilting (whatever that may be) are still holding true!
Check back next week for my retreat pictures!

Til then, Quilt til you Wilt!!!

RESOLUTIONS REVISITED

2011-01-09T18:11:00.004-05:00

Well, only 9 days into the New Year and I am doing some re-examining of my goals. I was so impressed by Jeanne at Spiral and her B-a-D project that I thought I could do the same. Sadly, just 3 blocks into the project I am baling out! Here are my three blocks which will be added to the Orphan Box. My DH finally made me see the light ( Are you crazy??? were his exact words) and I realized that with working, going to the gym and radiation treatments, I was not going to be able to keep up with this project.

But I have joined Jeanne and lots of others over at Barbara Brackman's new project, Civil War Quilts, where she is providing a block a week as well as interesting history from that era. Now a block a week I know I can do! And here are my first two blocks, Catch me if you can and North Star. I'm really using this project to keep me motivated to get into my sewing room. After finishing these two blocks, I started piecing my pillow shams to go with my recently finished quilt. Sewww, you see it's working!

Finally, here is the snow we received Friday night into Saturday. We got about 10 inches, though the totals varied dramatically over the area. And after shoveling out on Saturday, we got another 2 inches overnight. I guess winter is really here. I love how it makes the garden look. Time to hibernate in my sewing room!

Good Riddance 2010, Welcome 2011

2011-01-01T18:22:00.009-05:00

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, it's a day or two late but I finished my rectangles king size quilt ( I think there are about 600+ rectangles) which was my promised project for Finn's New Years' Challenge. I got it back from my long arm quilter last week and had the binding all ready to go. I'm going to make pillow shams to match and my goal is to have them done by the end of January.

Here is a detail of the quilting. I picked the ginko leaf which looks pretty nice with the taupes and japanese fabrics.

As far as quilting goes, 2010 was pretty pathetic with only 3 quilts finished. I, for one, am glad that 2010 is finished. The last half was tough but as my dad always said "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I'm feeling pretty strong and I'm ready for 2011!

We had a quiet but lovely Christmas. Here is my favorite quilty present from my hubby. He even wrapped it in a patchwork of paper.

It's the Shape Cut Pro which cuts fabric strips the width of fabric.

We also had a very quiet New Year's Eve. We didn't kid ourselves. Knowing we wouldn't make it to midnight, Bob popped the champagne at 9 and we pushed 2010 out the door and welcomed in 2011.

I'm pretty excited about quilting in 2011 and got my quilting mojo going early. I have already made some blocks for 2011. this year, I have been watching Jeanne of Spiral complete the Block a Day project. She did an amazing job! Go check out her blog for the tally of quilt tops. As I was watching her work her way through the 366 blocks, I decided to buy the calendar and this year I am going to try to repeat Jeanne's phenomal achievement!

I started making the blocks using what was on hand and with no real plan (i.e., my usual way of doing things!). January 1st block was the snowball. So I pulled from my precut stash and made two blocks. And like Melanie talked about this week, I hate to waste the little triangles, so I sewed them together and made another block.

I was going to just add the blocks to my box of orphans until I came up with a plan but looking ahead on the calendar, I quickly realized that I would probably end up with a mish mash of blocks. So I went back and pulled fabric for the first few blocks which relate to snow. I've got January 1 and January 2 blocks finished and have cut the pieces for January 3rd. I'll share these at the end of the week.

I also pulled out my orphan block box to see what was in there. What a mess!!

Not only were there lots of errant blocks but lots of parts, 1/2 square triangles, bits and pieces, leftover sashing. So I sorted everything, grouped some things together that actually might make up a quilt or two, and went through the parts. I had enough 1/2 square triangles to make these blocks.

My quilting resolutions this year (I must have one or two!) are to do more handwork while I sit in front of the TV, try to clean up some of the Pigs in the Poke that have been there forever, but also work on some new things which I think will keep my mojo going .I also want to post to my blog on a more regular basis and the B-a-D project will help me do that.

I want to wish a Happy New Year to my blogger friends. I really appreciate those of you who have checked in on me over the last few months. It really lifted my spirits. I'm through with chemo and start radiation treatment on Monday. By mid-February, I will be done with that and then will be put on a daily medication. I"ll know more about the paticulars of that when I meet with my doc at the end of the week.

Until then, Quilt til you wilt!

What's in the bag???

2010-11-09T17:02:00.008-05:00

See this bag! It is this top on its way to the longarmer. It's king size so my frame won't hold it. I finished it at a retreat in the spring and I finally got the back pieced and it soon will be a real live quilt!!! I even have the binding ready so when it gets home it might actually get really and truly finished!

Oh, and I've also done some work on my Folk Art Gals quilt. I couldn't have Freddy Moran without a little Gwen Marston sprinkled in so when Cheri's quilt called for template pieced basket blocks- what are templates again??!- I knew it was time to get "liberated" and made my baskets ala Gwen. Super easy and addicting!

I've also decided to be a part of Finn's New Year's Challenge. This mess is an underground railroad quilt. The blocks were made monthly through a class eons ago and when the sashing class was held I couldn't attend so you know what happened. It became a UFO. I pulled it out a year or so ago and tried to make some sense of it but found that the sashings were too long. Well, when I pulled it out today I figured out why! I was trying to fit the sashings to the wrong set of blocks!! Now, that I have the right set it may go together a lot easier.

Just had my third treatment on Friday which sort of kicked me in the butt. I've been home from work for two days just too tired and achy to get out of bed but hope to be back on track in a few days. Good news is the last one is the day after Thanksgiving and then I get a little break before radiation which won't start til after Christmas. and I've got nubbies growing on the cranium. Woo hoo! I probably won't have proper hair til spring but it's sprouting.

Think Pink

2010-10-23T07:53:00.003-05:00

I know, I know, long time no blog~In fact, I haven't even been lurking.

But here is some quiltiness from the Wilted Quilter.

As you know, Libby has started the Folk Art Gathering Gals which I am a proud member. I must say that I like prim for its quirkiness and most of all forgiveness when quilting but I'm not always a big fan of the brown, brown, browns. When I started to pull fabric for this project I kept pulling brights. I felt that I was channeling Freddy Moran! So, I decided to go with it and bought several pairs of sunglasses for the gals in the group, in case, the bright got out of hand. LOL! As you know, this is a Cheri Payne quilt. I love the quirkiness of the blocks and applique, the ability to "do my own thing" yet stay true to the pattern and I hope that this "Cheri & Freddy" collaboration will meet their awesome standards.

As you can see, I'm in the pink on this one and there is a good reason for that. Just after joining the Folk Art Gals, I received some life changing news. I have gone back and forth with posting this info but since it is such a HUGE part of my life now, I've decided to put it out there. I was diagnosed with breast cancer right before my vacation in July. I found the lump myself. (Yes, you will know when you find something so start squeezing the melons!!) Thankfully, it was small but the cancer cells had spread to some of the surrounding tissue which meant not only surgery but chemo and radiation. With my doctor's blessing, we went on vacation so that we could process everything before I started down this unknown highway. We had a wonderful time, got to see that Alex was ok and when I got back I was ready to face this lump in the road head on. I had a lumpectomy in August. I have done two rounds of chemo with two to go which will be followed with 4 weeks of radiation.

Cancer and cancer treatment is a personal journey. I believe 90% of it is mental. Positive thinking is key. My oncology doctor and I believe that this is curable but the treatment has to be heavy duty to achieve the goal. I am taking one day at a time and dealing with WHAT IS and not thinking about WHAT IF. I have a huge support system, including some of you out there in blogland who I have shared this and that makes a huge difference. I am also one of the few lucky ones that has a stomach of iron so that chemo has been easier. Oh, there are days when I feel like total crap and want to curl up in a ball and cry but for the most part, I get up every day, put on my big girl panties, plop my new friend "Beth" on my cranium and head to work like everyone else.

I am still working with my super duper trainer, Kyle, three days a week. He is absolutely in the top three of my supporters. If he wasn't waiting at the gym for me at 7 AM, I would not be there or feeling as good as I do on most days. Surprisingly, the workouts help tremendously. It makes me feel strong and I feel I can conquer the world and cancer. I still do laundry and food shopping and cleaning, just like all of you, though DH has picked up a HUGE portion of the work load leaving me time to rest and quilt when I feel up to it.

Sewww, that's that. In closing, here's a recent pic of my gorgeous son before he drove back to Colorado last week, me, and my new friend "Beth"!

QUILT TIL YOU WILT!!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

2010-08-08T15:02:00.005-05:00

We are back from our vacation which went by far too fast! Laundry has been done, house has been defurred yet again and we are back to work.

The trip was absolutely fabulous. We had never been out west other than California and have a true appreciation for how enormous this country really is. We landed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and spent two days hiking and exploring Grand Teton National Park. Then we spent 3 days in Yellowstone. We got to see all of the main attractions like Old Faithful and did a good amount of hiking as well.

From there we drove to Moab, Utah and spent four days in the Arches National Park. This is a must see for everyone. It is just an amazing place. We hiked every day early in the morning before the temps got out of control. We also took a Hummer ride out on one of the many 4 X 4 trails which was really fun and exciting. I took lots of pictures. The landscape was really inspiring and I have a couple of quilt ideas...

Lastly we drove to Government Camp, OR and picked up Alex for a long overdue family weekend. He lives at the base of Mount Hood and works above the clouds on most days in the terrain park for a snowboarding summer camp. He has perputal "goggle" tan. He really likes this job and is planning on returning next summer. We had him for the weekend and treated him to a nice hotel and lots of good food. He showed us around Portland which included a couple of brewery tours. My boy knows wayyyy too much about beer! The weekend was over too quickly but it was good to see that he is safe and happy.

On our last day in Oregon, Bob and I traveled through the Columbia Gorge and stopped at 6 of the most fabulous waterfalls in the area.

And now we are back to reality, lots of yard work is calling since we have been MIA for two weeks. sooo off I go. Hope to be in quilt mode soon.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as I am!

hey everybody, it's me! Annie!

2010-07-18T17:30:00.004-05:00

I know it's been months but I'm still here! Not much quilting going on but I have finished a couple of things. This is a hand quilted piece I started about 5 years ago. It's a whole cloth piece about 16 x16. The reason I finally decided to finish it was I pulled it out and the design had started to fade! I was afraid if I didn't get a move on, I wouldn't know what to do!

I used a varigated thread which I really like! I need to add a border to it and it will be another one finished! Oh, and I did finish the quilt that Libby and I started on our quilting play date back in May.

Oh, and let me introduce you to my new gal pal, Sunny! She's a stripped down 16" midarm that I bought from Pennywinkle Ranch out of Tennessee. We are still getting to know each other but I know that she and I will finish up a bunch of quilts come this fall.

Part of the reason quilting is not being done is that baseball and beer have been on the agenda. Here we are in one of our favorite cities, Baltimore. We've also been to several concerts- Michael Buble and Peter Wolf and of course, we've been down to the Ocean Grove, NJ to visit our friends.

And the big finish is this king size quilt top I started las fall. What a monster! I need to piece the back and then I will be handing it over to my friend to quilt it. I want it finished so I can use it this fall on our bed.

And just when I have returned, I am off again! We are headed on a two week vacation out West. First, we will fly into Jackson Hole, WY and see Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks for 5 days, then we are driving to Moab, Utah, to visit the Arches National Park, do some white water rafting and finally we will be driving out to Portland, OR. My son is working at Mt. Hood Snowboard Summer Camp this summer and we will pick him up and spend a few daysith him. We haven't seen him in over a year!

Sewww, see you in two weeks with lots of pictures.

My first 2010 quilt finish

2010-03-30T09:53:00.005-05:00

I think this says it all!

I have had this sign hanging in my kitchen forever and it never loses its charm!

Like many of you, I find that I am blogging less. It's not that I don't enjoy it anymore but it's a time management reality that you just can't do everything! I still stop by or, depending on the day, whizzzzzzzzzzz through my favorite blogs to check on people and see the work in progress. After about three years of blogging, I toy with the idea of discontinuing my blog since I'm not very prolific of late. However, every now and then, I still want a place to post my quilts. What about you gals? Ever think about closing up the old blog??

This last month is a blur. I've been working with a personal trainer two mornings a week before work as well as taking bootcamp classes on my non-training days which requires me to be at the gym by 6:30 am. Needless to say, I am in bed pretty early these days. I didn't know that there were muscles in some of the places I ache!! But it is starting to pay off. I am seeing great results and feel super. It doesn't hurt that my trainer is named Kyle and is 26 years old! Hey, I may be older but I'm not dead!! LOL!

My quilting is still on a bit of a back burner though I did get to meet with Libby at her house a few weeks ago and we had a great sewing day! I am almost done with our project. The applique is just about finished (just a blanket stitch around the wool and homespun) and I hope to quilt it in the next couple of weeks. And speaking of Libby, her house is beautiful and her quilts, ladies, they are to DIE for! She has them all through her house and they are fabulous! I even got to meet her worms! We will be getting together again in a couple of weeks at the Machine Quilters' Expo in Providence, RI for their quilt show. I'm super excited to introduce her to a few of my local quilting friends.

I also just returned from a quilting weekend sponsored by our Mother guild and finished this little beauty. I found this on Kim's Big Quilting Adventure 2 years ago and always wanted to make it. It is bound and I will put the sleeve on tonight. It will be up for next St. Pat's Day. (I told you I was quilting slowwwwly!)

I also made a bit more headway on my taupe and blue quilt. GOSHHH is that a boring project! I love the look but the next time I talk about making a KING SIZE quilt, somebody pleeeeze slap me!

My DH and I are headed to San Antonio again next week for the Women's Final Four and our spring/summer weekends are filling quickly with concerts, baseball and beach weekends so I'm hoping to get some quilting done but there are only 24 hours in a day!~

Well, til I stumble by this way again,

Quilt til you wilt!~

A Good Reason to have UFOs

2010-02-25T15:25:00.001-05:00

Thanks to everyone for the good thoughts on our anniversary. Unfortunately, my hubby picked up a cold somewhere and on Monday he was sick as a dog. Coughing, sneezing and generally miserable. He was out of work til Thursday. Tried to go in Thursday morning to be promptly sent home by his boss and told to stay there til Monday. By the time our anniversary arrived on the 2oth, I had been sleeping in the guest room for several nights. He was feeling better by Saturday and we did go out for an early dinner but then headed home. I actually slept in the guest room on our anniversary!! Oh well, I know there will be other anniversaries cause I'm not trading him in.

And on the quilting front, my machine was NOT ready as anticipated so the lap quilt waits patiently on the frame. I also hit a snafu with the Underground RR quilt. I lost the directions for finishing the sashings so I've got a "shout out" to my guild gals for the book. And here is where having lots of UFOs is a blessing. I just put the 200 Flying Geese to one side and dug back into the "Poke" for something else to work on. I was sorely tempted to start a new project but cooler heads prevailed and I pulled this one out. It was started in the fall but I quickly became bored with the piecing. So I pulled it out again, turned on Project Runway and had another crack at it. This is about half done. This will be king size and there will be over 500 rectangles in it when its finished. The long blue pieces are supposed to have buttons on them but I'm going for some fancy quilting instead.

But I wanted the world to know that I AM QUILTING just really slowly and in spurts. Let's put it this way - I won't win any gold medals for speediest quilter in the quilting Olympics!

The Best Laid Plans

2010-02-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

As you saw in my last post, I was all set to get that lap quilt done over the weekend. I got up early Saturday morning and was rearing to go. But my machine had other plans. I'd start, the thread would break, I tried several times, rethreaded no luck. I thought I would change the needle. but I was out of needles. So I went to the shop to get more needles. While I was there, I discussed my problem with tension as well. The shop owner suggested a couple of things and I returned home ready to go again ANNNND, found out I had the wrong needles. I trusted that the shop owner who sold me the machine would give me the right ones, nope, he gave me the ones for a different model. Sewwww, I' decided since I had to go 20 minutes back to exchange the needles I wouldl take the machine in for a checkup. She hasn't had one in over a year and my free service agreement runs out in May so now is a good time.

But I did not ditch the quilting completely. I pulled another pig from the poke and worked on 200 Flying Geese units. Yes 200! They are part of the pieced sashing for my Underground RR quilt. Now I know why it ended up in the UFO container!! But the units are done and I am ready to join them together. I have also been knitting. Finished a hat for my DH that finally meets his approval and I am now knitting together bits of yarn that are left over in strips to be put together eventually into an afghan while I wait for my new circular needles for a shawl kit I bought and for my instruction book on socks. Yes, I am going to take the plunge and try socks.

My machines will be picked up tomorrow and hopefully that lap quilt will get finished! I have also ordered a new machine, a 16" mid arm which will arrive in about 8 weeks. It fits on my existing fram and I'm excited to have more space to quilt!

Our 27th anniversary is Saturday. Doesn't feel like we've been together that long. I guess that's a good sign. LOL!! We will spend this one quietly. Dinner and a movie.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I promise pics of my URR progress after the weekend.!

this and that and another thing

2010-02-05T12:09:00.003-05:00

Well, here it is Friday again! I just seem to be in perpetual motion and a half step behind lately. I didn't get the pics posted as promised last weekend so here they are !

First, the 5 cases I made for Operation Pillowcase. Ladies, if you have time go over to the blog Debra set up and make a pillowcase or two. They are fun and easy and for a great cause!

The other project I promised was the top I finished for my greatniece, Bella's 2nd birthday in May. I will put this on the frame next month and get it done ahead of schedule. That will be a first!

Here is the top!

And here is Bella! This picture was taken last week. She is such a cutie and that's not just an Auntie bragging!

Finally, here are the three hats I've knitted for Warmth for Warriors. They haven't been blocked yet but once that's done they are headed to the soldiers in Afganistan as helmet liners. The pattern is on their website and this one is ADDICTING! Not only have I made these three but one for my son which is on its way to Colorado and I'm just about done with another one for my hubby. Super simple and fun to do on circular needles when you are watching TV.

And speaking of TV, I am now in the thick of my TV watching season. I've always been a fan of Project Runway and have started watching the episodes on my Tivo (so far, so good) and have added Models of the Runway but I think I'm going to drop this one. They are just not that interesting. Hmm, go figure!

In addition, my trainer has me watching the Biggest Loser. I never understood why people watched it but now I've been sucked into it. It's a good one to watch while chain-piecing.

BUT I'm super excited because Survivor Heroes v. Villains will be starting next week and the Amazing Race is about to begin. Of course, add to that, Medium, The Good Wife, Brothers & Sisters, The Middle, Modern Family, CSI, Leverage and 24. Wheww! I may have to give up sleeping. Well, I am not a big fan of Winter as you all know so this is when I hibernate, watch TV, quilt and knit.

Lastly, my weekend project. This is the Fall lap quilt I made for my DH two years ago. It's one of the Pigs from the Poke and it will be quilted this weekend. I used a flannel backing so it will keep him toasty warm.

Hope you all have great weekend plans!

Happy Bday to me!

2010-01-28T09:01:00.003-05:00

This was on my coffee cup this AM. Even Dunkin Donuts wants to wish me a Happy Bday. Oh, but I'm not 60, just a smidge over 50 and happy to be here even if I am at work, yuck!

But I woke up this AM to my Ipod singing "Birthday" by the Beatles and my DH made me a great breakfast. I also got a super birthday card from him with the promise to finish painting the kitchen and two tickets to see the Lion King when it comes to Hartford in 2 weeks. Not a bad start to a birthday. It's snowing here (not one of my bday wishes) but we are headed to my favorite restaurant Ruby Tuesday for dinner and I'm off Friday and the weekend!

I'm still here plugging away. Last weekend was our guild retreat in RI and loads of fun and swwing was done. I finished a top for little Bella's 2nd bd in May (pics to come this weekend) and one of the pillowcases for Debra's Operation Pillowcase is finished with three more cut and ready to be sewn this weekend. Even had time for a massage! Yeah, we do it right, had a spa lady come in for massages and facials.

This weekend I' m going to do a little shopping on the internet. I'll let you know what my birthday present is later.

Hope all of you have a great day!

Happy 2010!

2010-01-12T10:34:00.005-05:00

A belated Merry Christmas to all my quilting friends!

Our Hallmark tree. 8 feet tall and stuffed with 20 years of collecting ornaments~

The angel tree. 6 feet tall

Christmas and New year's day have come and gone. Bob and I had a quiet but lovely Christmas at home. Alex is still in Colorado loving the snow. We spent New Year's Eve in New Jersey with Southside Johnny. Check out us out smooching at midnight. Scroll down a bit and you'll see us in the corner. Not bad for 26 years of wedded bliss. We also visited with our NJ friends over the weekend. And so, the holidays of 2009 have passed.

For me, winter should now be officially over. But since I don't control Mother Nature, I will be entering hibernation until late March. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I now will be spending more time at home and that means quilting will come to the forefront.

But first, the Christmas takedown must be done. It usually takes us about 2 weeks to put up all the decorations and trees. We start the day after Thanksgiving. I am not a fan of the BIG Christmas extavaganza anymore but my DH loves it. The reversal of this process is NOT fun and still takes about 2 weeks.

here is just a small sample of the mess right now.

I have piles like these all over the house as we box up and store all the ho-ho-ho. Since my DH loves putting it up, I have left him in charge of taking it down and I am just a helper. Once he gets all of this put away, he starts his winter projects. This year it is painting the kitchen and guest bathroom and replacing the sink and vanity in the guest bathroom. got to keep him busy while i'm quilting~

I have done a pitiful amount of sewing/quilting over the last couple of months. Here is what I did on Sunday. Two eyeglass cases to go with my sweater bag that I made last year. I am half way through a quilt top which is made up of 536 3 x 5.5 rectangles. Easy but a bit monotonous to piece so I have been doing it a little bit here and there. I also have been practicing my machine quilting on my frame with the laser and a panto which is lots harder than just free motion! But I have a panto I really like so I am determined to get good at it so I can use it on an actual quilt. I'm using some old flannel sheets to practice on.

I'm also doing quite a bit of knitting. I just finished another hat for Hats for the Homeless. I like handwork at night and want to alternate between knitting and redwork projects. I have quite a few redwork projects that I'd like to finish. I also do quite a bit of reading in the winter. I just finished Alice Hoffman's The Story Sisters. If you are a Hoffman fan, I highly recommend this one. I had a hard time putting it down.

As for resolutions for the new year, I think I'll pass this year. I didn't do a very good job on last year's list and with an increase in my work hours, I just think I'll try to finish some of my pigs that are still "in the poke".

Well that's it from the Wilted Quilter. Still inspired by all of you out there quilting your little fingers to the bone. Hope to be able to inspire you a bit this year with some finished projects.

Stay warm and Quilt til you wilt!!!

Christmas in NYC

2009-12-20T17:03:00.006-05:00

My DH, the world's biggest lover of all things Christmas, planned a surprise weekend into the Big Apple for me to see the lights and the windows. From my last posting, you know it was just what the doctor ordered.

For my international friends and those of you who are not familiar with New York City traditions, the big department stores, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman ( to name the heavy hitters) decorate their windows for Christmas every year.

So we took the train early Friday morning and arrived in Grand Central about 10 am. From there, we checked into our hotel and then hit the bricks. We started at the windows of Bergdorf Goodman, which are always quite artsy and high fashion. This year was an Alice in Wonderland Theme.

Here's Alice!

and part of her journey through wonderland. BTW, Bergdorf Goodman loves to put monkeys, squirrels and weird little animals in their Christmas windows. They are really spectacular and the details are just amazing.

From there, we walked down Fifth Avenue enjoying all the sights. To say it was cold is an understatement. But we dressed for the weather. Although some of the gals in NYC would rather freeze to death than commit a fashion faux pas.!! I saw more women without stockings in little short skirts and black flats, no hats, no gloves. They looked fabulous but I'd rather be warm!!

These pictures are from Saks Fifth Avenue. It is the story of Twinkle, a snowflake and her journey. All of the windows had music and animation for the kids and all those young at heart. I like Twinkle's take on life. How about you?

Of course, we stopped at Rockefeller Center to see the big Christmas tree!

While we were there, a young man proposed to his lady on the ice of the skating rink which is down below under the Christmas tree.

Then we hit our favorite Irish pub for lunch. After that, we finished up at Macy's for a look at their windows and then some shopping. By the time we got back to our hotel, we were pretty tired. But after a little nap and we headed out for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. The next morning we were up bright and early for.....

THE ROCKETTES CHRISTMAS SHOW!~

Neither one of us had ever been to see the show. It was absolutely fabulous. We had seats right up front and were surrounded by lots of families with their little ones which made it even more magical. To see the faces of the little kids just added to our enjoyment of the show.

Here's a picture of the lobby.

And here's our souvenir ornament to add to the tree.

After the show, my DH parked me in the nearest Starbucks and headed out to do a "secret errand". I guess you and I will have to wait til Christmas to see what that was all about.

On our way back to the train, we walked through Bryant Park where they had little booths set up with handmade crafts and local artisans. This is the fountain with icicles hanging off of it.
We had hoped to stay later but with the impending snowstorm barreling up the East Coast,we headed reluctantly home. But it was really great trip! I have the one of the best hubbys in the world.

Reconnecting

2009-12-11T11:17:00.003-05:00

Lately, I noticed I've been feeling a little lonely and sad. I chocked it up to the holiday rush which often overwhelms me. I'm not a huge holiday season fan unlike my DH who counts down the days to December 25th. I usually enter December kicking and screaming "no not again, it's too soon!" I have been working long hours and doing all those "important" things like laundry and food shopping and cleaning which means that I've spent little to no time quilting which keeps me sane and blogging, well forget it, my postings are few and far between.

But on Monday I received an email from Patti, a blogger friend. She had saved a comment I had made on her blog months ago and was getting back to me. That email could not have come at a better time. It was truly the bright spot in my day. So when I was on the computer ordering a few Christmas presents Tuesday, I decided to check in on some old friends that I had been neglecting, my blogging buddies. :)

Wow!! When I started reading I realized that I have been away from blogging WAY TOO LONG! So many things had happened that I had missed. Birthdays, anniversaries, lovely vacations, and new babies (grandkids) on the way and sadly there were also illnesses, injuries, lost jobs, and the passing of loved ones. Oh, and there were quilts ! I know when I originally started blogging my focus was the quilting. But I have to say that what has kept me coming back is the fellowship - the sharing, not only of our love of fabric, but the sharing of our every day lives, not just the high points but the lows and the ordinary stuff that make up our days. The things that make us laugh or cry, the things that make us women.

Over the last few days, I have purposely set aside a little time to stop by and visit with some of my favorite bloggers, leaving comments or sending an email. And that lonely feeling, it's pretty much gone.

If I haven't stopped by your place yet, don't worry I will. And thanks for being there.

I made a quilt!!! (in my head)

2009-12-02T20:23:00.005-05:00

Hello Quilters! Happy December! . Well, we are entering the busiest month of the year and I'm pretty sure that the little bit of quilting I've been doing will come to a grinding halt now that the holidays are upon us. But today on my way to work, I was sitting in traffic next to a white truck which had a black logo on it which looked like the rays of the sun.

" Hmm, that reminds me of a New York Beauty. I love the New York Beauty. I should really make that Pat Sloan quilt that is in my binder."

(Ladies, you know the binder I'm talking about. The one that has all the quilt patterns you've culled from years of quilting magazines and you have sworn you will make all of them before you leave God's green earth!)

"I could make each quarter section to represent each of the seasons. I have that really great hand dyed fabric for spring, oh and that great snow fabric for winter. Now, what will I use for Fall?. I'd have to enlarge the pattern though to make it wall hanging size. Yeah, that'll work!".

And without touching any fabric or taking a single stitch, I made a quilt! And, you know, it was pretty satisfying! Seww, you see, you do have time to quilt even in December. You just do it in your head!

Oh, and here is a picture of the quilt I was thinking about from McCall's Quilting, October, 2006.

Have a quilty day!

Oh, Puerto Rico, te echo de menos ya!

2009-11-10T00:24:00.003-05:00

Oh, Puerto Rico, I miss you already!! We are back from our trip, well rested and relaxed. This tower is in old San Juan near the governor's mansion. We spent an evening there wandering around the streets and shops and having dinner in our favorite restaurant, Toro Saleo. We even had our favorite waiter who was there last year.

The weather was gorgeous, 80-85 degrees every day. The Marriott was beautiful and the staff was super friendly and helpful. This is the view from our balcony.

We spent most of our time on the beach doing this.

and in the evenings, doing this! Oh, and we spent some time in the casino. My DH played a little

blackjack and I learned how to play roulette. Even won a few dollars!

Meet our favorite bartender, Jonathan. He worked at the restaurant, Miro, across the street from the Marriott. They had a 2 for 1 Happy Hour every day from 4-7. Needless to say, we got to know him very well! The restaurant also had fabulous food. Our favorite dish was Arroz Negro (black rice) which was rice with a combo of seafood (shrimp, squid, scallops and mussels). What made it black and delicious was the addition of squid's ink which has a buttery taste to it.

This last picture was taken at Condondo Beach next to the Conrad Hotel. We have already decided that we will be returning again to Puerto Rico maybe in February. It's a quick getaway spot for some fun in the sun and many mojitos!

Well, back to reality and the old grind! Hasta luego!

Fall projects

2009-11-01T09:50:00.004-05:00

Despite a heavy work schedule, I have been able to finish one fall project and do some decorating for the season. The first picture is the space above our closets in our den. This arrangement was actually done by my DH. There are different sized wicker and ceramic pumpkins up there with an old wooden tool chest filled with fall colored leaves. He adds the twinkle lights which look so nice at night. He is surprisingly talented in doing this sort of thing! This will stay up til Thanksgiving.

The little wall hanging is made with hand dyed felted wool and stash fabric. I finished binding it last night while watching the World Series. This project comes from a great fall/halloween book I won from our guild's monthly raffle.

The pumpkins are a nifty idea I picked up at our guild's Annual Gathering. The inside is a roll of toilet paper, wrapped with a little leftover batting to make it look round and covered with a seasonal FQ that is stuffed into the top of the tube. The stems are a stick I found outside and I added a few artificial leaves on top. Took all of 15 minutes to make and when the season is over, I'll take them apart and use the paper! LOL!

The purses are part of a new drop in program we are doing with our guild. We have a drop in meeting on the last Monday nite of the month which is meant to be more social. You can bring a project you want to finish or do the project of the month. This year we are focusing on making bags. Since it was my idea for Bag of the Month, I was the first instructor and chose the Buttercup bag which I found on Rae Hoekstra's blog. She is super talented and this bag is the first of several that have appeared on her blog. She is so generous with providing the pattern and the bag was easy as pie to make. The size in the pattern actually uses a FQ. I made one in the original size using a wool skirt I had felted which I call Baby Buttercup. The other bag which is the same pattern enlarged to 120% which I call Mama Buttercup is made from Michael Miller fabric I've had forever. I used a magnetic snap for the wool bag but decided on a loop closure for Mama. The handmade glass button on the front is one I bought in Houston a couple of years ago. I really like Mama best. She is a perfect size and I added additional pockets inside.

We had 7 or 8 gals there making bags. I will have pictures in November to show. It's amazing how different they look depending on the fabric chosen.!

Sorry the pictures are so dark but we haven't had much sunshine of late!

Speaking of sunshine, I am headed for sunny Puerto Rico next week for some needed R&R with my hubby. My bag is just about packed and I just need to choose a book or two for reading on the beach! I'll be back in November hopefully fully recharged and ready to do more blogging than I have of late. BTW, if you haven't turned your clocks back go do it now! Daylight savings time started last night Boo hoo! Now I'll go to work in the dark and drive home in the dark! Did I ever mention I HATE WINTER!!!

What I did on my Summer Vacation 2009

2009-10-16T15:33:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know that it is now October 16th and I haven't been around since August. But I have been living in denial that the seasons had changed. I wanted summer to last forever. I even made a trip to Florida two weeks ago as an extension of my favorite season. But this morning when I got up there was white stuff on the lawn and I could no longer live in my fantasy world. SIGH! So I am back! The pictures above show what I did this summer. As you can see there are NO quilts. We spent our summer traveling to Maryland, Colorado, Florida and New Jersey as well as visiting with family and friends,working in the garden and doing lots of reading on the beach. I did go to the Jacksonville Quilt show with my sister and will show some of those quilts in my next post. The little cutie in pink is my greatniece, Bella, with my sister, Kathy, who turned 50 today! Welcome to the top of the hill sis!! You would never know she was old if I hadn't told you. She looks great and works hard at staying that way!

I have gotten back into the groove of quilting. I am working on some fall quilts now. I hope to have pictures of both of these by the end of October.

My next goal is to get caught up with all of you. I was doing some visiting over the summer but not much. Now that fall is here I will be around to see what's new! Hope all of your summers were as enjoyable as mine was!

Lazy Days of Summer

2009-08-08T19:05:00.002-05:00

This is my one and only quilting finish this summer. There are so many other distractions when the weather turns sunny and warm that quilting takes a back seat for me. I did get this one quilted and bound. I pieced the top back in January, 2007 at our guild's RI retreat as well as another more autumny( is that a word?) top which I am ready to load on my frame when we get a rainy day. Until then, I am doing some hand quilting while I watch TV or reading. I just finished "Little Bee" which was recommended on someone's blog and really enjoyed it.

We just got back from our weekend in Baltimore where we watched our Red Sox beat the stuffing out of the Orioles. Camden Yards is a great ballpark and we had fabulous seats for both of the games.

While I was in Baltimore, I finally got to meet The Calico Cat (Amy) as well as her hubby and of course, the Calico Kitten, Jacob. He is sooo cute and was very good during our sushi lunch. Amy is one of the lucky gals whose hubby is fabulous with the baby. It was fun to spend a couple of hours together talking about babies, the pros and cons of family vacations, and of course, quilting. I hope my next trip Amy and I will get to fondle some fabric!

This weekend has been spent cleaning and doing some needed maintenance work in the garden. I did receive our guild's newsletter which had details about our Annual Gathering in October. Carol Doak will be teaching classes and there was news of a retreat in March. On Tuesday, some of our members are getting together for dinner and an evening of shopping at a local quilt shop. I see more fabric in my future!

Lastly, for those who have emailed me about my son, thanks for your concern. He is getting back into the swing of things. The ringing in his ear is gone, he had the stitches removed and he is pretty much back to normal. Oh and he bought himself a nice new helmet to wear!

Hope everyone is enjoying these lazy days of summer!

My visit to the Mile Hile City

2009-07-26T10:00:00.004-05:00

I don't have any quiltiness to show but we have had some excitement around here lately. We were planning on going to visit my DS in Vail in September but last Friday as I was wandering the supermarket aisles, I got a call from my son, or so I thought. When I answered it was a doctor from Vail Medical Center informing me that Alex had been involved in an accident while riding his longboard ( for those of you unfamiliar, it is a skateboard but longer and used primarily for cruising around). Apparently, he had time between jobs and was returning a video to the library. He was on the paved bike trail that goes through Vail and as he turned a corner, there were bikers ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE PATH. Alex tried to swerve around them and lost his balance. He fell hard and was knocked unconscious. The bikers who were in the way took off but thankfully, a woman saw him fall and called 911. She stayed with him til the ambulance arrived and tried to visit him at Vail but was not allowed since she wasn't family. However, she did write him a note and left her number. We have been in touch with her to thank her for stopping and helping Alex.

When I got the call Friday morning, he had spent the night at Vail and they were transporting him to Denver as he had a small brain bleed on the CT scan and Vail doesn't have a neurologist on staff. After talking to the neurologist in Denver Friday night, Bob and I decided to fly out there. We left at 5:3o am EST from Hartford and got into Denver around 2:00 pm.

Alex spent a couple of days in ICU for observation but thankfully, he is going to be fine. He has a few stitches in his head and some ringing in his ear which should go away over the next month.

We took him back to Vail on Monday afternoon and got a brief tour of the area, which is absolutely gorgeous. This picture is of Alex at Vail Ski Resort with some of the rails that are being built and will be installed in the terrain park where he works this coming winter.

Here is me and Alex and the longboard. The ambulance crew left it at Vail Medical. Vail has a special holding area for skis, snowboards and apparently skateboards that come into the ER. We picked his board up on Monday.

Here's Alex and Dad. This river/stream runs behind Alex's condo in Vail. During the rafting season, he took rafters down the river as a guide while working for the river rafting company.

We headed back to Denver Monday afternoon and decided to stay an extra day to take a look around the city. We absolutely LOVED Denver. The people are super friendly and helpful, the city is nicely laid out with lots of public transportation so it's easy to get around. There are lots of fabulous restaurants and some good local beer. We went to the Botanical Gardens which were gorgeous and even got to take in a Rockies game on Tuesday night. The tickets ranged from $4 to $50! If you are a Red Sox or Yankees fan, you know what a bargain that is. We got tickets the day of the game, 10 rows from the field on the first base line. Coors Field is really nice and although the Rockies lost ( they need some help in the bullpen) we had a great time and met some really nice people.

All in all, what started out as a nightmare ended on a good note. We stayed at the Sheraton Downtown in Denver and I can't say enough good things about the staff there. They were sooo accomodating during this crazy time, from sending up a basket so we had some snacky stuff in the room, extending our check out time with no additional charges or hassles, letting us keep Alex in the room for no additional charge and having the van take us to and from the hospital whenever we wanted. Mr. Bonilla, the front desk supervisor, was an angel and made this part of our trip easy.

Don't know how much quilting I'll be getting done in the next few weeks. We are headed to Baltimore on Friday for our Red Sox weekend. Dandylion, I'll be getting in touch with you by email so we can hopefully meet on Saturday!

Til then, Quilt til you Wilt!~

Long time, no blog

2009-07-12T18:35:00.005-05:00

If I told you that I was on a secret mission for the CIA would you believe me?! Well, that and the arrival of summer (finally!) is the reason I am over 30 days away. Usually I am "lurking " around, leaving comments like breadcrumbs all over blogland so you know I am still alive but I haven't even been doing that!! And boy are things going on!! In just a few quick stops, I found that Libby, our Simple Girl, ( and I mean that in a nice way! LOL) has just about sold her house and will be close to me in a few short weeks!! I can't wait!! We are already planning our first quilting adventure!! Debra is being driven insane by her appliances and the Calico Kitten is just about on the move, Watch out Amy, once they are mobile there is no stopping them!

I have been working both at my job and in the garden as well as attending numerous family graduation, birthday and anniversary parties but I do have some quiltiness to show you.

My Uncle Sams were completed for the 4th of July. I am trying to pull a pattern or kit that has been hanging around and actually making them! What a novel idea! This one goes back about 5 years or so.

And you may remember the 2nd Round Robin I was doing with some of the gals from my guild. The kimono block was my center block. Well, the five of us finally all got together for lunch and the finished tops were returned to their owners about two weeks ago.

This is what I got back! I absolutely love it. These gals are sooo talented.

The dragon is my favorite part which was added by Bev who was a new addition to the group. Her applique work is outstanding! Bev is 70 years young and although she is a Yankees fan, she was a great addition to the group! I also love the Chinese lanterns and Pagodas which Lisa added. This one is not getting thrown in the box to "age". I will be finishing it very soon.

The summer quilt that I was working on has been quilted and I am in the process of sewing down the binding. I have been doing some hand quilting on another old UFO which is almost complete. I hope to show those in the next week or so. Summer has always been a slow blogging season for me so please forgive me for my absence. Once the leaves and the temperatures start to fall, I'll be back on a more regular basis.

Lastly, I have to thank Nellie of Nellie's Needles for sending me this lovely mini lake piece as part of her Pay it Forward. I have it hanging in my office at work. Thanks Nellie! It is fabulous!

Hope all is well in your corner of the world! Til we meet again, Quilt til you wilt!

30 things I've done since my last post

2009-06-03T19:53:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been 30 days (actually 32) since I posted so here are 30 things that I've done since then, both the QUILTY AND THE NON QUILTY!

First the Quilty, or at least fiber related!

1. I made a summer bathrobe. I had a silky slippery one but it never stayed tied, much to my DH's delight. But I couldn't find a nice cottony one. Then I remembered that I had a whole closet of cotton. I pulled two pieces of novelty fabric with coffee cups and coffee pots all over and Ta Da! a>
2. and 3. I made a scarf and two infant hats to add to my Charity knitting goal. The next knitting project is pink mittens to go with a hat I made earlier in the winter. I love this ruffle scarf pattern. It is so easy and works up quick.

4. I made this sunflower quilt from a kit I bought about a year ago. This only took a couple of hours and finishes at 8.5 x 15 inches.

5. I pulled a PIG from the POKE to finish. My summer plaid lap quilt now has borders, the batting and I'm piecing the back. I hope to have it on my frame by next week.

6. I finished my Quilt of Valor and sent it to Victoria in NY. It has been safely received and she will take it with others to Camp LeJeune.

7 I started reading Friday Night Knitting Club. A great easy summer read!

8 I spent Memorial Day on the beach in Ocean Grove, NJ. It was warm and wonderful to put my toes into the sand again.

9 I rode my bike three times with my friends in NJ over the long weekend.

10,I bought Green Day tickets for the upcoming tour which will be in Hartford in July. My son got me listening years ago. I loved American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown is great!

11. I vacuumed at least 6 times and each time I picked up a cat hairball the size of a small kitten! I am loving my new Bissell vacuum. It really gets up the cat hair. It's not a Dyson but I couldn't see spending $500 on a machine that cleans. I need to save that money for a machine that sews!

12. I started watching The Fashion Show on Bravo. I know it's a knockoff of Project Runway but I like it!

13. I booked airline tickets and hotel for a long weekend in Baltimore. We are going to see TWO RED SOX GAMES at Camden Yard at the end of July.

14. I joined a gym. The pounds have been creeping on and my treadmill motor is on its last legs. To repair it would cost more than the gym and i really need some new motivation so Cardio Express here I come!

15. I took my first BODY FAT BLASTER class and I never felt sooo old or sooo out of shape!! I was sore as heck but I'm determined to stick with it.

16. I' got in touch with a few old friends from HS through Facebook and we have set up a little reunion for August. It started with 4 friends and through FB, the numbers are growing.

17. I cut my lawn with our new nonmotorized lawn mower. We got it last year but this is my first try at it. What a workout!! The kids in the neighborhood had never seen one and I had a small crowd and volunteers help me cut it the first time out!

18. I took a week of long over due VACATION! I didn't go anywhere and just puttered around the house and decompressed! It was really great.

19. I got a massage to aid in the decompression.

20. I had my haircut.

21. I bought some new clothes. This was not the pleasant experience I anticipated and prompted me to do #14.

22. I saw Southside Johnny in Worcester with my DH and some SSJ friends. Always a good time!

23. I helped my DH pick out a new car. We got a Toyota Yaris. It reminded us of the old VW bug he had when we first started dating. It's a five speed, great on gas and fun to zip around in.

24. I bought some new silverware. Ours was a little shabby and the funny thing is the new pattern I picked out is almost identical to the old one. I guess I really like it!! LOL!

25. I cleaned out all of my son's old clothes and junk and gave it to Goodwill. On his last visit, I told him to take it, ask me to hold it or it was going!

26. I painted the fence in our backyard.

27. I got caught up on some TV watching. I finished looking at all of the "Saving Grace" episodes, "Brothers and Sisters", and "Mad Men". That cleared some space on the DVR.

28. I washed my kitchen floor on my hands and knees. This is a dreaded project that gets done every six months or so. I have a laminate floor which I love but it has little grooves that need to be scrubbed a couple of times a year. My Dh thinks I'm nuts!

29. I saw the movie "Wolverine" which was awesome. I love those X-Men movies!

30. I MISSED ALL OF YOU!!! I have been trying to do some blog reading but I'm definitely behind. Our office is finally fully staffed and (keep your fingers crossed!!) I'm going back to my 3 day week next week. I hope to be caught up and back up to speed blogwise very soon!!

Til then Quilt til you wilt!!!

Slowdown in Production

2009-05-01T08:24:00.003-05:00

Look at this. This is the extent of quilt production at Quilt til You Wilt! It' s sad, really sad. Last Sunday afternoon I had a couple of free hours and this is what I did. Now,although I have two projects that needed to be finished yesterday,I did this instead. Why?? Well, I walked into my bathroom and saw the tissue box with the snowman on it and down the crazy path I skipped.

And to boot, it was not a very enjoyable project because the directions were not very clear. But I persevered and now have a tissue box cover. Ta da!

I am in a funk, not only quiltwise,but lifewise. Maybe I should rename this blog Wilt til you Quilt. I just can't seem to get out of first gear. There is a lot of bucking and starts and stops going on. My 3 day work week is back to 5 which has really wreaked havoc with family life and keeping the household running smoothly. We are again searching for a paralegal that can stay more than 3 weeks. You would think in this economy they would be breaking down the door!!

One bright spot is that my son has been home for a visit from Colorado. It didn't take him more than 2-3 days to turn our guest room back into his room (for those of you with sons, you know of what I speak, LOL). He is a little beat up from a season of snow, living with three guys in a two bedroom apartment and lousy eating habits. Our first trip together was to the doctor. He had an earache and has an ear infection. But a few days of loads of sleep and Mom's cooking has him on the road to recovery. He heads back to Colorado on Tuesday. I miss him already. He is headed to Vermont to visit friends this weekend.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain. I can't remember the last time I was happy about rain on the

weekend. I hope to be holed up in my sewing room finishing my Round Robin and putting the label and binding on my QOV to be shipped out next week.

The other bright spot is all of you out there doing stuff. I have been squeezing in some blog reading while I eat lunch at my desk every day and that has helped. Ok, enuf of the whining!!!

I think I will end with gratitudes:

I have a job, I know lots of people don't right now.

I have a loving family,

I have food on the table and a roof over my head.

and I have my quilting friends, here in CT and out on the innernets.

Check back with me next week, I promise to be better company.

Machine Quilters Expo

2009-04-22T21:04:00.009-05:00

I spent the weekend at the MQX show in Manchester, NH. I have wanted to go for a couple of years and finally made it. I took two classes aimed at beginners with machine quilting frames and came away with some terrific tips and more confidence in quilting on my frame. I again spent lots of time looking (and yearning for) a longarm but the long and the short of it (no pun intended) is that I am short on space for the longarm setup. I did spend a bit of time playing with a Nolting Fun Quilter which is a 17" machine which would fit on my Gracie frame. I'm leaning towards this option. Now to get my DH to lean in that direction! How do I get him to finance yet another machine??? Ladies, all ideas are WELCOME!!!

My friend Diane and I had a great time staying at the Hilton Garden Inn. Our room overlooked the minor league baseball park. This was the view from our window. Too bad the Fisher Cats were away-in New Britain CT!

We saw some fabulous quilts. There are so many talented quilters out there! Here are a couple of my favorites.

We also spent gobs of $$$. I bought the quick zip system for my quilting frame which will make the loading process easier and though I promised myself I would not buy any fabric, I did. There was a gal with Japanese fabric and loads of taupes. I couldn't help myself!!

On Saturday night, we got together with my cousin,Mary. She and I were inseparable during our teen years (12-15) and I haven't seen her since my mom's 70th birthday party which was 2 years ago. It was sooo great to see her and catch up with her and all of her family's activities.

On our way home, Diane twisted my arm and we hit the outlet mall nearby. There was a Chico's outlet there and we both stimulated the economy a bit in there. All in all, a wonderful weekend!

Lastly, my son arrived home today from Colorado for a two week visit!! I can't believe it has been six months since he left. He is still in love with Colorado and will be returning to a new apartment and a new job as a landscaping foreman in Vail. He'll do this til the snow flies again and he returns to his position at the ski resort. We are making plans to visit him this summer once all the snow has melted!!

Work is very busy leaving little time for quilting. I did finish another knitted hat for charity and I continue to work on the Round Robin. Our exchange is just a week or two away so I hope to complete it this weekend. I'll try to post pics of that this weekend.

Til then,

Quilt til you wilt ~~~

A special Award for Special Ladies

2009-04-03T11:33:00.004-05:00

This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY -- nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these blogs!”

I was presented with this award from Kay. Thanks, Kay and RIGHT BACK AT YA!! I don't usually like this stuff but this one award is neat because it focuses on the friendship of blogging. There are a few gals out there that I share a special kinship which has developed from our love of quilting and now extends to a more personal level. I follow over 100 bloggers so to pick only eight is tough, but here is my list:

Debra
Libby
Finn
Amy
Kate
Wil
Joanne
Patti

All of these ladies are super quilters, some are traditional, some are arty and they all love quilting and fabric. But for me, the sharing of bits and pieces of their personal lives makes their blogs more interesting. They are moms and wives, they have jobs and family dilemmas, they are women in different stages of life and they share that with me and others through their blogs. That's why this award is for them.

Check them out!

Quilt of Valor

2009-03-29T21:12:00.003-05:00

I started this on Friday during our sewcial and finished the top this afternoon. It was really easy! It was 2 yards of a focus fabric and 7 FQs. The pattern is called "A Path Less Traveled" by M'liss Rae Hawley. The binding will be dark or navy blue.

Next up, my Round Robin and doing my taxes!!! Have a great week!

March Madness

2009-03-25T06:30:00.000-05:00

And it is maddening of late!! I know it's been two weeks since my last post but I have been working feverishly on the Fairy quilt. I showed a block in my last post. At our last Friday "sew"cial, I put on the borders, pieced the back and made the binding. Here is a photo of Bridie's quilt prior to the quilting. We try to get together every Friday morning and we alternate houses. It's amazing how quickly the time goes! I find I get lots done.

Isn't Diane's Storm at Sea gorgeous?? It is all paper pieced and she has been working on it bit by bit since our retreat in January.

This is Linda's mystery quilt which our guild did on drop in Mondays this winter.

Since that Friday, I have quilted the fairies, sewn down the binding. Now all I have to do is add the label tonight while watching TV and it will go into the mail tomorrow. Bridie's birthday is today so this will be late but I'm hoping that she won't be too hard on Auntie once she receives it.

Just a side note, I have been looking for something to use for marking other than chalk and several people had suggested Crayola WASHABLE markers. I tested them on several pieces of fabric and found that it does work well. I used it on Bridie's quilt ( I know, I'm brave or insane, one or the other) but thankfully it did come out, though it required two washings.

A couple of people had asked about my St. Patrick's Day. It was quieter than usual. Though a good friend (and an Irishman) that I had not heard from in a looonng time stopped by the house with a little pot of shamrocks! What a sweetie! Sure made this Irish colleen's day brighter.

If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I am not only a quilt fanatic but a women's college basketball fanatic. We are now in the midst of March Madness. My DH and I have been watching lots of games. Our Lady Huskies are predicted to go all the way this year! As a surprise and a fantastic finish to my sewing room makeover, DH got me a hi-def flat screen which will be going on the wall so I can sew and watch at the same time. It also eliminates the big tv and cart from the corner. Yeah!! more room for fabric!

In other non-quilty news, my DS, Alex, has decided to stay in Colorado after the season at Vail is over and will be starting a new job as a foreman for a garden center. He hopes to be back at Vail next year. Oh, and he got the cast off his wrist and is back to snowboarding again. He called to tell us they had another 12 inches of snow overnight. He is planning to come home for a week or so between the end of Vail's season in April and the start of his new job in May. It has been six months since we've seen him. I can't wait to have him home again!

My sister called from Florida to tell me that my nephew will be in CT training for a new job next week. Pilot Pen is closing shop in CT and moving to Jacksonville and he got a job with them so he is coming up here to corporate offices to get acclimated. This is great news as he has been laid off for about 5 months. So we will try to get together and have dinner with him. And my sis had good news of her own, she passed her CPA exam. Yeah!

I'm also back to 4 days a week at work since we had someone leave and the new person doesn't start til May 11th. So I am working more hours which is ok. The extra money will pay for a few things we want to do around the house.

Seww, as you can see, I am very very busy right now. When Debra put out the call for QOVs, I promised her I would make one. I have the fabric and pattern picked for that. I hope to start it this Friday at our next "sew"cial. I'll post pics of that top when it is finished. Til then,

Quilt til you wilt!!!!

Sewing Room makeover

2009-03-10T09:16:00.006-05:00

As I mentioned last weekend, I was in the midst of a sewing room makeover. I have moved from the smaller bedroom to the larger one and everything is now pretty much in place. My DH repainted the room and reconfigured the closet. The carpet was cleaned and everything was moved in.

I was hoping to do this makeover in two steps. First, the actual furniture and whatnot one weekend and then the fabric stash and other things from the closet on another weekend. However, while I was out to the grocery store, my DH did me a "favor" and pulled everything out of the closet. Needless to say, he did it in quite a different way than I would have! But it forced me to go through and weed out a tiny bit as well as reorganize everything.

Here's the pictures of my old empty closet and pictures of me and a portion of my stash:

And here are the after pictures of my new and improved sewing room. This is my cutting corner with design wall and bookcase.

Here is my quilting table, sewing machine table which has an extension on the back for machine quilting and my tv. I'm hoping to get rid of my old tv and stand and put a flat screen mounted onto the wall in the next couple of weeks. That will free up some more space. All of those storage bins under the frame are my stash management bins ala Bonnie of Quiltville fame, and a portion of my fat quarters in photo boxes by color.

Here is one side of the closet. I added a set of cubbies for my yarn stash.

And this is the other side. It has sliding doors on it which I have thought about using as a design wall but I'm still pondering that. The stuff on the right is one of those hanging shoe holders. I am using it to hold glue, glue guns, starch, 505 spray, and other stuff.

I have to say it is all a girl could ask for. I'm truly blessed to have the space and an understanding DH that encourages me to do what I love. It was quite a project but well worth the work.

The guest room is still a disaster but the closet has been painted and reconfigured and my DH will be painting that room this weekend so I can get it back together before my mom comes through on her way back from Florida in April.

In other quilting news, I am now working on Bridie's fairy quilt. The blocks are almost all together. Here's a sneak peek at one of the blocks. I hope to have the top finished by the weekend. Her birthday is March 26th. Hopefully, I can get it done and mailed to her on time.

I have decided to go to the MQX show in Manchester, NH in April. My friend who owned the LQS is going with me. Anyone out in blogland planning to attend???? I would love to meet up with a fellow blogger !

Oh, and lastly, I am now able to reduce my pigs by one with no work on my part at all! How did I do it?? Well, it was thanks to Debra . I sent her two or three quilt tops for her homeless teen project and she has transformed the yellow and blue quilt top. Take a look here! Thanks to Debra my poke is roomier and a quilt will be finding a new home.

Cold weather projects- A flurry of February Finishes

2009-03-04T20:03:00.002-05:00

I know I have been gone for a couple of weeks but my computer was sick and had to go to the computer doctor for a checkup. Thanks to Dr. Mike we are back up and running faster than ever!

The pictures I have today are the final February finishes that I worked on last weekend. Neither is a pig but sometimes you have to do something new and fun!

For Valentine's Day, my hubby bought me a teapot. I have found a wonderful teashop near my office and have been buying loose tea. Now that I have a teapot, I needed a tea cozy to keep my tea warm as it steeps. I found this fabric in my stash and made a little cozy. I am quite pleased with it and it gave me a chance to practice my FM quilting too.

My other project has been on the back burner since I went to Houston. I found this little project in a magazine I got as a giveaway. It is a purse made from a felted sweater! This sweater was one of my favorites that I bought at The Gap many years ago. I felted it after I got a hole in the elbow and it has been in my wool stash for some time. The wool plaid lining (which was not 100% wool and didn't felt well) was part of my goodies that I won at our guild's teacup auction last month. I absolutely LOVE IT! I even took the GAP label from the sweater and put it on the inside!

It is a fabulous little bag that matches my red wool coat.

This past weekend I moved my sewing room from the smaller guest room to my son's old bedroom. Now that he is in Colorado I figured it would be ok to TAKE OVER the bigger room and the BIGGER closet for my stash. Stop by later in the week pictures of the transformation!

More February Finishes

2009-02-20T15:01:00.002-05:00

I have finished two more of the piggies hanging around in the poke. The first is the Round the World wall hanging. I did some cross hatch quilting and a simple FM heart border and it is finished and ready to hang.

I also finished one of my summer totes. This is an Indigo Junction pattern and super easy! It will make a great bag to carry my lunch to work in this spring and summer. I have two others ready to go but will probably put them to the side to work on a couple of more pressing projects.

This weekend I hope to get a purse made that I have been wanting to do using a felted sweater. I want to get to use it before the winter is over. Based on this week, I don't see winter ending soon. Monday we got 3 inches and last night we got 3 more! Rumor has it that Sunday is supposed to drop a few more inches of the white stuff on us.

I also want to get moving on my goddaughter, Bridie's, fairy quilt. Her birthday is the end of March and I want to get it to her before she gets too old!!

Lastly, here is a picture of Mr. B. He is sitting on my quilting table, his usual perch, where he likes to watch me iron. He is fascinated by the steam. Hope everyone has a super weekend.

Quilt til you wilt!!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T15:41:00.005-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Bob and I went out to dinner and to the Hartford Symphony to hear Beethoven's 3rd "Eroica". It was a wonderful night out.

I finished my Flower Power quilt just in time for Valentine's Day and have it hanging in my hallway. Don't know why I didn't finish it sooner. All it needed was a bit of quilting, the binding and the sleeve ( which were both done!) This is the first deletion from my Pigs in the Poke list. I hope to have the Round the World wallhanging finished early next week. This is another one that needed just a bit of quilting, binding and sleeve.

I got together with my Friday quilting gals this past Friday. We haven't done it in sooo long and are trying to get back in the swing. I made super progress on the summer tote bags that are on my list. Again, a super easy project that got stalled. Hmmm, I guess I am easily distracted! I have to say that these projects were done in duplicate or triplicate. I made the Round the World for a swap and liked it enough to make one for myself. Guess I just didn't have the steam needed to finish it. Ditto for the bags. But now, I will have one for me and an extra for a quick quilty gift when I need it.

At our last guild meeting, we had our annual Teacup Raffle. I'm not sure where the name came from but basically we all bring gently used magazines, patterns, books, tools, fabric etc that we don't want and then we sell tickets hoping to win someone else's stuff. My DH thinks we are out of our minds but we have a wonderful time and raise a little cash.

I stuffed one particular teacup with all of my tickets and won!! Here it is a pile of wool just waiting to be felted. There has to be at least 5 yards of it! That will hit the washing machine this week.

2009-02-13T00:10:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, Bob and I got together with our NJ friends down at the casino for a Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes concert (that's Johnny above). That is actually where Bob first met Susie and Ron, who have become great friends of ours. Here's a picture I took of Southside Susie and my DH or as she calls him "Boyfriend Bob".

We all stayed overnight in the area and then they came to our house for another night. We spent time listening to music, hunting through the local Goodwill stores and went out for a nice dinner. Miss you guys already!

I did get the borders on my spool quilt and pieced the back. This is now ready for quilting!

I was bopping around blogland and came across Finn's pictures of her string blocks. I have been working on some with leftover batik strips from my jacket. I've been using old dryer sheets for foundations. So I thought I would post a pic of some I've finished.

Got some other projects almost finished and hope to post again after the weekend.

Blocks, Buttons & Borders

2009-02-03T22:33:00.001-05:00

Those three words were my quilting goals for today when I got out of bed. The first thing was to cut two friendship blocks out of batiks. These blocks will go into a quilt for the gal who has organized our guild's quilt retreat for the last 7 years. These photos aren't the greatest but you get the idea.

The second was buttons. I needed to add the button eyes to my snowman quilt. Of course, I only found 7 black buttons in my button jar and you can't have a one-eyed snowman so while out running errands today I stopped at Joannes and got some more. I gave these guys the gift of sight while watching the basketball game.

I never got to the borders. I hoped to add the borders to my spool quilt but my quilting time ran out! Oh well, another day.

This last picture is of all of my snowguys just above the shelf where my snowman quilt now lives. I decided to leave them out this winter til the snow melts which could be a good long time since we received an additional 4 inches today.

I also got another pair of mittens finished toward my goal. They are black and white to go with the hat I showed in my last post.

All in all, a very satisfying day off! I made two meatloafs- one for dinner tonight and one to freeze as well as two pumpkin cranberry breads.

Next up is a little Valentines' Day quilt that needs a bit more quilting and a binding as well as my around the world wallhanging. I hope to have these done by the end of the weekend.

I also just ordered the Block a Day Perpetual calendar from Amazon as well as the Quilt National book from Amazon. I got them both used and really cheap! I've been following Jeanne's progress with this calendar and finally decided to join her.

My 1st Post of 2009

2009-01-28T08:35:00.004-05:00

Wow! How did that happen?? Well, here it is - my first post of 2009 and as it turns out, my birthday! Yep, I am a 1/2 century plus 1 year old and really looking forward to what this next 1/2 century has to offer. The weather here is horrible, snow, rain, freezing rain, etc, etc. So I called my boss and explained since it was my birthday and I shouldn't be aggravated on my birthday, I was going to stay home. He laughed and told me to have a great day!

Although I haven't been posting, I have been busy. Here are pictures of projects I've completed since Christmas. There are two hats and a pair of mittens toward my goal of knitting for charity. I am really enjoying this! I am knitting at night while I watch TV with hubby. The picture of the black hat is not a good one. This hat is adorable, made from Lion Suede yarn and Fun fur, it worked up super quick. The mittens are my first pair ever. I wasn't crazy about the pattern I used so I have found another and will give them another try.

I finished my Chinese coins quilt!! bound and everything! Wahoo!! I know you have seen the front in my last post and I pieced the back from the leftover pieces. Bob likes the back better than the front. I'll try to get a picture of this later in the week!

Last weekend I was at our guild's annual retreat in Rhode Island. I worked on completing the top of my Mystery Nickels quilt and a snowman wallhanging kit that I picked up in Houston. The quilt top has pieced borders which I need to add but it's getting there. This is supposed to be twin size but once I add the borders it will be close to full size.

And here is my snowman wallhanging ready for quilting! This was a terrible kit! The snowman pieces were too large for the top so I had to keep trimming and trimming to make it fit and the instructions were not well written. But I do like the look of it and hope to have it finished and hanging by Sunday.
I received a birthday phone call from my DS ( without prompting from Dad), a call from my goddaughter and niece, Bridie, who thought I was 25 (she has moved up on my quilt list!) and I received the best slippers ever from my sis in Florida. They are from LL Bean, lined with flannel and are sooo comfortable I have to remember to take them off should I decide to walk out the door. All in all, a lovely birthday. No fuss, no muss.

I hope this will be the longest lag in posting! January was a tough month starting with a cold caught over the Christmas holidays that wouldn't go away.

Hope February will be a better month!

The Year of the Pig

2008-12-30T19:53:00.003-05:00

As I'm sure you know, the Chinese name each year after a different animal. For me, this year is the Year of the Pig. I have sooooo many PIGS ( also known as UFOs) in my sewing room that it has truly become a PIG STY! I spent a good hour ( Here Piggy, Piggy, Piggy! ) looking in every nook and cranny for those PIGS in hiding. I came up with a list of 25 (not too bad) which you will see in my sidebar now called Pigs in the Poke. I had forgotten about some of them but others have been calling to me. "Finish me, pick me next!" I can't take the squealing any longer!!!!

So the first of my resolutions for 2009 is to get as many of these piggies done as possible. Surprisingly, some just need binding, others are flimsies that need to be quilted, and there are a few that are truly just a few blocks in a bag. I really want to spend the first couple of months of the year clearing out old projects and freeing up space not only in my sewing room but in my head. I still like all of these projects but for one reason or another, I never got them done. I feel like they are weighing me down like a quilted albatross around my neck. I hope by finishing these up it will free my head creatively to work on other things.

The second thing I'd like to do is finish cutting up my scraps. I have one (sort of LARGE) wicker basket that needs to be sorted, ironed and cut. My scrap management system ala Bonnie is in place so I just need to allot some time each day to iron and cut. I hope to spend 15-20 minutes a day on this little project.

The third is to do some knitting and quilting for charity. I am hooked on the knitting and I have only so many nephews and nieces with heads and hands (well, they all have head and hands, LOL) to be covered. I am looking into different organizations to donate hats, mittens and scarves. If anyone knows of a worthy group, let me know. And three of the quilts on my list are already earmarked as charity quilts.

Once I get the Pigs out of the Poke, I'm headed for my quilt bookshelf. I know there was someone out there who wanted to try and make at least one project from every book on her bookshelf. I have soo many books, patterns, and a couple of kits that I would like to revisit. I must have at least 7 bag patterns. So this year may become the Year of the Bag as well.

In the spirit of keeping resolutions and as a part of my promise to Finn's Fantastic Finnishes before the New Year, here is the first charity top of the year. I have this top done and another 1/2 done.. Finn, it's not totally finished but it will be quilted and in the hands of someone by the end of the year!

This is my helper. He insisted that I put a picture of him on as well as the quilt. This is called "Chinese Coins" or "Crayon Box". It was a day class that our guild holds every November. I used all sorts of crazy fabric that I had collected. It always amazes me when you put it all together that it looks good! This will go to some gentleman at the Southington Care Center where we ocasionally hold our guild meetings. I really tried to pick "masculine" fabrics in browns and greens.

Well, we are heading out early tomorrow morning for NJ to visit friends for the New Year. Connecticut is expecting 4 to 6 inches of snow starting early in the morning and going all day so we will be up and out early. Seww, a very Quilty New Year to all of my blogger gals!!! I'll see you in January!

Merry Christmas to all!

2008-12-25T18:42:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas to everyone from the East Coast to West, in snowy Wisconsin and balmy Hawaii, in Australia, England, wherever you may be! Best wishes to you and your families from me, my Hubby, Bob, Mr. B and Miss Holly.

We had a wonderful but quiet day. Our DS called from Colorado and we opened gifts with him via cell phone. He is having a wonderful time in Colorado.

I am on vacation next week and hope to do some sewing before heading to NJ to visit friends for New Year's Eve. If I don't get back before then, have a Quilty New Year~

P.S. I can't wait to see what all of you have in mind for New Year Quilty Resolutions~

A snowy update

2008-12-21T12:38:00.003-05:00

Here are some of the things I have been working on for Christmas. The sweater is for my greatniece, Bella, who lives in Florida. I know it seems weird to knit a sweater for a baby in Florida. But they live in Jacksonville and it can get COLD. I think they had a very large 12 month old in mind. Well, she will grow into it. I made a really cute Santa apron for her mom but of course forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it. She loves to cook. Hopefully she will send me a picture of her in it.

The scarves are gifts for my MIL (the red one) and my coworker ( the multi color mohair one). Eli's scarf was really fun to make and worked up fast. It has a little ruffle on both ends. I got the pattern for this one in a book called "101 One Skein Wonders". It has lots of patterns for scarfs, hats, bags and other little things. I like how the book sections off the patterns by yarn weight.

The little snowman door hanger is one of a dozen that I made. I have sent him out to all parts of the country to friends and relatives and even saved one for myself.

The last picture was taken yesterday. We were hit with about a foot of snow from Friday at noon through Saturday morning. My hubby and I spent about an hour out there clearing the driveway before heading out to do some last minute shopping. The nice thing about shoveling is that you don't have to go to the gym that day!! Mother Nature provided us with our workout. We knew that another storm was on the way and when we got up this morning it was snowing again. It's about 12:30 now and it is still snowing. We expect another 6 inches. It's supposed to turn to sleet then rain. I'm hoping it doesn't as this makes cleanup really yucky!
>

We received a package from Colorado yesterday which we haven't opened yet but it is nice and cushy! Hmmm, wonder what it is. Alex is battling his first cold of the season on his own. When we talked to him yesterday, he sounded pretty lousy. I'm hoping he feels better soon!

Well, I'm off to do some sewing and have some cookies to make!!

I hate to brag but...

2008-12-17T14:28:00.003-05:00

I don't have any quilty pictures since it has been so crappy (weatherwise) the last few days, the light has been terrible for taking pictures. But I do have a little movie to share. As you know, I have two kitties, Miss Holly and Mr. B.

Holly is a lovebug and loves a good lap or a warm dark place like the laundry room and a basket of "just out of the dryer" clean clothes to nap in. She is the proverbial "dumb blonde" of the kitty world. Very pretty and a girly girl but not very bright.

Mr. B, on the other hand, is a bit aloof, but very curious and quite smart. Here is a little movie of his latest trick. Pay NO attention to the lady in the bathrobe. Not one of my better mornings!

I promise to be back with pictures of my quilty gifts in the next few days. I've never uploaded a video so hopefully this works!!

HELLO!! REMEMBER ME?????

2008-12-06T08:19:00.005-05:00

I know it's been a month. All I can say is BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!! I know that is the case with all of us. This time of year is always hectic. I have been sewing and knitting feverishly but can't show anything yet as most of them are gifts or still in process.

I do have a couple of things to show! One is the latest Round Robin I did. This is the last round before we embellish. I added the 3D flying geese units to this one, which is BRIGHT and BOLD and definitely reflects the gal who it is going to. I am now working on the last round of this project. There were five of us and we hope to do the final reveal at the end of December.

I also can show the spiffy ribbons that I made for our Parade of Pigs (Projects in Grocery Sacks) or UFOS to many of us. I am still waiting for pictures. Hey Lesa!!! Send me the PIG pictures!! I have to thank Nellie for the ribbon directions. She made them for her guild's show last year and she generously offered the directions on her blog. Everyone loved them!! I think we will have more gals participating just to get a ribbon!

And here is a picture of me modeling my PIG which has a dual purpose. It is also one of my FINNTASTIC FINNISHES for Finn's end of the year challenge. This jacket has been in process for about two years. I wove the fabric panels about two years ago. I had done them as a demo for my guild. I bought the jacket pattern from a vendor who did a jacket and purse trunk show for our guild last year. It is lined with flannel and was pretty easy to put together. The time consuming part was quilting the panels. I really like how it came out and have been wearing it quite a bit!

Thanks to all of you who have emailed me to make to check if I was still inhabiting this planet!! It makes me feel so blessed to know there are gals out there thinking of me.. I have been visiting some of you periodically. If I haven't been by in a bit, don't worry! I hope to get to everyone soon.

For those of you who have been asking about my son, he is currently working three part-time jobs in Vail waiting for the season to open. They had snow recently and he got his free Vail pass so he has been riding. I can always tell from his voice when the snow has arrived. He gets very mellow! LOL. He loves snow like his mom loves fabric. It's a ZEN moment.

This will be our first Christmas without him. Just me, my hubby and the kitties at home on Christmas morning. It will definitely be a little sadder but I'm sure we'll get through it. Even though he isn't a little boy anymore, having Alwx here to open presents was always a highlight for me. Better get busy packing that box for Colorado!!

To Market and back

2008-11-04T08:37:00.010-05:00

I know, I know, it's been a while but I have been to Market in Houston and back. Here are my traveling companions, Lisa, Linda and Diane, and I at the top of the Hilton where we stayed. I actually found some time to spend in the pool and sit out in the sun in my bathing suit as well as have a massage! It is a great hotel and we really enjoyed our stay.

And look who I ran into!! Mark Lipinski! He was very sweet and insisted that I stand in front of him to make him look thinner. His new fabric line is bright and springy and goes along with Califon, the line from last year.

This is Kate, who is a member of our guild, Apple Valley Quilters. She had a booth at market for her patterns, Seams like a Dream Quilts.

And look at the nifty Euro sticker she has come up with!! You have to have one of these for your car, ladies. Check out her website! The stickers are listed under NEW! and you have to email her if you want one.

Here is a picture of my Market Booty.

I found a great lady who has dyed wool which is fabulous! Guess that's why I bought so much!!

Sample spree was awesome! I bought two Bali Pops which are Hoffman's take on Jelly rolls (2 1/2 inch strips), a FQ bundle of Michael Miller's Winter Wonderland flannel, and these awesome taupes and homespuns.

I also picked up a couple of Kwik-Sew patterns. I thought this jacket would be great for work and the rep threw in the quilt tote pattern for free!

And this gal had some great patterns! I picked up these patterns to make quilts you can fit in standard frames as well as one which had 9 little seasonal quilts from FQs.

I am not posting pictures of any of the quilts since I failed to write down any names. I just went around clicking away! I will tell you that I was not as excited about the show as the last time I went. There seemed to be an over abundance of "art" type quilts. Not that I don't love them but I thought the traditional quilts were not equally represented. I mean traditional quilts are the ROOTS of quilting and deserve to be showcased. And to have two or three quilts by the same quilter(s) is over kill. Give some one else a chance to showcase their work! Ok, I'm done!

I am back to work and trying to catch up. I have almost finished my jacket. I didn't push to finish it since the weather was sooo beautiful in Houston and the jacket is lined with flannel. But I will have it done for next week since it is my PIG and our Parade of Pigs is next Wednesday! Tune in for pictures!

The Chick has left the Nest

2008-10-14T08:59:00.005-05:00

I can't believe I've been gone for a month! Life has been pretty hectic lately both at home and at work. As I posted about last month, my DS, Alex, was getting ready to head out west to look for a job in the ski resort industry. Of course, with company coming, I had to spruce up the place! That included lots of home dec sewing of new pillow covers, new valances and a new cover for my tired old window seat cushion.

We had a big party on October 4th with lots of family and friends. It was a beautiful autumn day and he really loved seeing everyone. We even had an impromptu auction with all the items that Alex didn't want to take with him. LOL. He sold his college dorm fridge, a study lamp, etc. We had a lot of laughs bidding against one another, This was one of the most sought after items- one of his old Halloween costumes- the blowup german bar maid.

The winner was this guy! My little brother Mike, father of four, and a VP of a commercial plumbing company. He will be wearing this to greet the trick or treaters at his house this year! (Some guys never grow up! LOL!)

Alex left last Thursday for his solo drive out to Colorado. He arrived in Denver on Sunday and had his first interview yesterday at Vail. He was offered a full time position working in the terrain park. He has an interview in Salt Lake City at Solitude on Wednesday and then he is headed to Lake Tahoe for an interview next week at Heavenly. After that he will weigh his options and choose a place to spend the winter.

I don't want to toot my horn too much about my one and only kid but I can't believe how brave he is to head out alone cross-country to start a new life. Just like the Pioneers!! His friend from college, who was to accompany him, bailed out at the last minute and it would have been easy for Alex to just stay put. But he knows this is the time to make a move, when he is young and unattached.

I knew Alex was really serious about making this a long term move when he took down his posters and rolled them up to put in his car. He looked a bit like a gypsy with his car packed full of all his snowboards, boots and clothes. So, it looks like Bob and I may be flying out west during the holidays!

Everyone please keep my boy in your prayers for a safe and successful journey!

Anyway, Holly and Mr. B have reclaimed their bed that they graciously gave to Alex to use for the summer and the nest is pretty quiet. I'm back to quilting and hope to finish the jacket I started last month by the time I leave for Houston in TWO WEEKS! Our little group is meeting next Monday to coordinate our final travel arrangements. I am also still engrossed in baseball. My RED SOX took a licking last night losing 9-1 to the Rays. Hopefully, tonight they will redeem themselves!

I am totally behind in blog reading but will get back around to all of you over the next week or so! Until then, Quilt til you Wilt!

This and That again

2008-09-16T12:55:00.007-05:00

I am hard at work on quilting the panels that will make up my Weekender jacket. Since the fabric is woven, I want to make sure it is really secure so I am quilting on a diagonal through the checkerboard. This is taking A LOT OF TIME AND THREAD!

Meanwhile, I recently picked up a copy of Quilter's Home magazine. I have been getting quilting magazines for years and really don't need another one that has more projects in it that I will NEVER make. But I heard this magazine was different and a fun read. Well, it is ! Mark Lipinski and his staff are hilarious! This is like Cosmo for quilters. It's fluff , no commitment just really fun to read with a glass of wine and a little bit of chocolate. And there are a couple of quilt patterns which are put neatly at the end of the magazine so you can remove them easily. Mark is a "Joisy" boy and his sense of humor is wonderful! I was laughing so much my DH wanted to know what I was reading! When I told him it was a quilting mag, he looked at me like I had lost my mind. If you haven't taken a peek at this magazine, pick one up.

I have also been walking with my Ipod. I like to listen to audio books or podcasts. The only good quilting podcast I have found is Alex Anderson's. Now I love her, but I need a little more. So if any of you have any suggestions on podcasts (and they don't have to be quilty) let me know.

Right now, I'm in the middle of "O Pioneers" by Willa Cather. This was something that Jeanne was reading over the summer and I found it on Librivox for my ipod. It's really great! I can't imaging living on the plains of Nebraska in the 1800's.

I received an email the other day from Sue who was the winner of one of my Hump Day giveaways a while back. Hmmm, I should do another one of those! Anyway,Sue has had a tough summer but is on the mend and sent me a picture of the quilt she made with the pattern and leftover blocks that I sent to her. Isn't it awesome?? I was sooo thrilled that she shared this picture with me and graciously let me show it to all of you. I can tell you that her points are far sharper than mine! I'm not really known for my accurate piecing! LOL

Finally, in non quilty news, I found out over the weekend that MY BOOBS HAVE SHRUNK! Yep, I've been complaining to myself (i'm the only one that really listens) that my bras were in need of replacement. So I hit the mall and happened upon the bra fitting expert in the store. First, let me tell you, she was about 30 and she was quite perky (if you know what i mean!) Anyway, I let her do a fitting and come to find out I'm no longer a C, I'm a B. If I were a schoolgirl and those were my grades, I would have been happy. I made her check me twice but finally agreed that the SMALLER bras did fit better and took them home. I told my DH the sad news and his response was, "Really, I hadn't noticed"! I didn't know whether to kiss him or kick him. Now if I can only find a way to get my hips to shrink like that, I'll be in heaven!

I'm not sure why but my links are INVISIBLE and I can't figure out how to fix it! Sooo, You need to move your mouse over the "empty space" for the link! What's up with that???

This and That

2008-09-10T16:31:00.002-05:00

Last week, I set up some goals for September never thinking that I would get two out of the three completed in a week! Here is the little bag I finished for my friend Robbin's birthday later in September. I vaguely recalled having one partially started last summer so I dug deep into the UFO treasure chest ( one of two huge Rubbermaid tubs) and found one all pieced and ready for construction! #1 GOAL COMPLETED!!

Now I HATE making curtains but because they are pretty easy to do and nice curtains are sooo expensive, I make them. We repainted our living room in the spring and although my old curtains were fine, I was tired of them. So when Joanne's had their big home dec sale, I bought the fabric for three valances and a window seat cushion. I've been putting off making the valances all summer. But since we are having a going away party for Alex the beginning of October, I figured now was the time. So here is a picture of one of the two smaller valances. I also made a ginormous one for the big picture window but it was too sunny to get a picture of that one. The fabric was a loose weave and was a real pain to work with so I am happy to have GOAL #2 COMPLETED (well 1/2 completed-I still have to recover the window seat). But September is only 10 days old so I have time left !! My final goal was to start the 3rd part of my Round Robin. But since this isn't due until the end of October, I decided to put that on the back burner and work on yet another UFO which I had completely forgotten until I was digging in the UFO treasure chest. About a year ago, I did a fabric weaving class for my guild which was fun. Some gals made placemats, another used her piece for the background on an art quilt, some made pillows. My pieces were intended to be used in a jacket. So today I pulled all the pieces out of its grocery bag, spent a half hour figuring out where I left off and what I needed to do, and made some real progress on getting the jacket made. I want to have it completed so I can wear it to Quilt Market in Houston at the end of October. These are the pieces for the front of the jacket ready to be quilted. The pattern I am using is called " The Weekender Jacket". I'm not sure if you are supposed to be able to complete it in a weekend or just wear it on the weekend. LOL!! The fabric is batiks cut into strips, woven and then fused to a lightweight interfacing. The jacket will be lined with flannel so it will be nice and cozy for fall.

And lastly, a gratuitous Kitty picture, here is Miss Holly in her usual position soaking up the afternoon sun. Boy, cats have it made.

Playing Catch Up - The Sequel

2008-09-02T20:21:00.003-05:00

As promised, here are some pictures of what I have been working on this month. Here is the Round Robin. This round had to include squares so I added the four patch blocks on point.

And here are my snowmen blocks. I have four more blocks to complete. This is a HUGE quilt if I complete all of the pieced blocks that go around it. I haven't decided if I will do that yet. I may just use one of the pieced blocks as a border all around the snowmen blocks.

This last picture is not something I made but one that I received. It is my ALQS quilt which I received a couple of weeks ago from Dawn who is in Turkey. I really should have posted this sooner so please forgive me Dawn for being sooo lazy. Dawn sent some samples of Turkish fabric used by the women there as well as some awesome beads to ward off bad spirits. I really like it. The quilting is fabulous and it looks summery!

And lastly, I am finally caught up with PROJECT RUNWAY. I was a couple of weeks behind with vacation and all. I sat and watched them last night. After the drag queen costumes, I couldn't decide who I wanted to go more - Daniel or Keith. Happily, I did not have to wait long. Daniel, the whiner, was the first to go. And Keith was eliminated in the next episode, though I thought that Saturn car part challenge was stupid. I think that both deserved to go and my boy, Suede, is still in the running which I am very happy about.

To start September, I have three projects that need attention:

1. finish a little purse for my friend, Robbin's birthday in late September;

2. start on the phase 3 of the Round Robin (yep, it has already been delivered to me);and

3. make my living room curtains which I bought the fabric for in MAY.

Oh, and of course, it wouldn't be autumn if I didn't FALL into another challenge! Finn has posted a challenge on her blog which ends on New Year's Day. I stopped by to say hello and jumped in with the promise to finish two UFOs before the New Year. Well, at least I kept it realistic! I could have said I'd finish all of them!!

Playing Catch Up

2008-09-02T09:37:00.005-05:00

I know I have said this before but I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted!! My last post was about my trip to NYC to meet Libby. In my mind, that was like.... two weeks ago! Where does the time go??

With that said, it's time to let all of YOU catch up with ME! I have been out there in blogland reading about your summer projects, vacations, and other activities and I have been emailing with many of you but here is a quick summary of my summer activities.

Bob and I have been working in the garden quite a bit. We both love summer and being outdoors. Here are a couple of pictures of my garden.

We also spent a week in New Jersey visiting our friends who live near Ocean Grove. We both love the ocean so spent several days on the beach! Here is my usual position on the beach!

and Bob boogie boarding!!

These are our good friends, Vinnie & Robbin, with me on the boardwalk in Asbury Park.

Now I have done some quilt related activities. I went to the Lowell Quilt Show with a couple of friends. This is a great show with lots of vendors and incredible quilts. There was a special exhibit of the Journal Pages from the IQF Houston show from 2007 on display. I took lots of pictures but will share one with you. This quilt is a riot!! We have all heard the expression and maybe used it on occasion, "The dog ate my homework". This one is called THE DOG ATE MY QUILT! Isn't it great??! Of course, I can't find the program from the show to give the maker's name but what a fantastic use of imagination!

I have also been working on the 2nd round of a Round Robin I am doing with 4 gals from my guild. This is just about done and I'll be showing you pictures of that tomorrow.

Since we are deep into the baseball season, I have been doing alot of handwork at night while watching the Red Sox continue to do their magic. The Bluework snowmen blocks are coming along and I have been knitting a shawl to keep at work this winter. It can get COLD in my little office.

I have also been doing lots of walking (I have been inspired by Debra) and listening to Alex Anderson's podcasts as I walk, which I've downloaded for FREE from Itunes onto my Ipod. If you get a chance to listen, check out the podcast interviews with Jinny Beyer (episode 28), the interview with the Purcells who own and run Superior Threads (episode 24) and the interview with Karey Bresnahan of Quilts, Inc. which sponsors the Houston show (episode 23). She has some really interesting insight into the direction that quilting is taking. Here's the link to Alex's website to review and download the episodes or you can go on Itunes and search for her podcast and Itunes will pull up all of them so you can download everything.

We are also helping Alex plan his itinerary for his cross country trip out to Utah and California. He is leaving in late September for Salt Lake City to interview for a couple of positions and then will head out to Lake Tahoe for a couple more interviews. His 22nd birthday was this weekend and we bought him a GPS unit for his car. I try not to think too much about his "big adventure" since as all you moms know, once the MOM wheels start spinning, you can end up in a real panic!

Well, until tomorrow,( and I PROMISE that there will be quilt pictures) QUILT TIL YOU WILT!

East Coast meets West Coast

2008-08-08T21:06:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I went into NYC to meet one of my favorite bloggers/quilters who happened to be visiting the city. When she posted on her blog late last week that she was coming across the country to my neck of the woods, I knew that I had to try and set up a blogger to blogger meeting. I mean, what are the odds ?? So I emailed her to see if she had any free time and luckily she did!! In case you haven't guessed her identity yet, here is picture of her current disguise.

Have you guessed yet?? Well, it was none other than Libby of A Simple Girl fame. Now you may not have realized this,but Libby doesn't have any recent pictures of herself on her blog. But since she was the only gal standing in front of the designated meeting spot at the designated time, I knew it was her! Let me just say that Libby has big blue eyes and a big beautiful smile to go with those peepers. Oh, and just between you and me, I think she may be "on the run" and wanted for questioning by the QUILT POLICE for her maverick ways in the "Indian Hatchet Quilt Caper". That's why there are no current pictures! So to keep her safe, I won't be posting any pictures of her on my blog. I know I am aiding and abetting but we maverick quilters need to stick together.

Anywho...When meeting with a quilter, hit a quilt shop! The City Quilter is an oasis in the midst of the chaos of NYC. I haven't been to the Big Apple in some time and had forgotten how overwhelming the sights, sounds and SMELLS can be! Once we had a quick cup of java (ok, iced chai latte), we were buzzed in and spent a good hour and a half ( and more $$$$ than I care to say!) in this wonderful shop. It is a quilter's buffet. I was especially thrilled with their selection of novelty fabrics, wool and Japanese fabrics. They also carried a very nice selection of books. Here's a peek at my booty!

You might have noticed some interesting fabric in the right corner of this picture. Where else but in NYC would you find PROJECT RUNWAY fabric! Well, Libby and I both squealed when we spotted this little collection since we are both fans and of course, we both took a little piece home with us.

After we were done gorging ourselves at the City Quilter, we of course had to have dessert at MOOD, the official fabric store for Project Runway.

You have to take an elevator up to the third floor and when the doors open, it's like you died and went to fabric heaven! It is floor to ceiling filled with bolts of fabric from silk to wool to laces as well as boxes and boxes of buttons and walls embellishments. As soon as we got off the elevator, a woman told us that one of the current Project Runway contestants was there. It was none other than Suede!!! Well, we started walking up and down the aisles until we spotted the blue mohawk. He was super sweet and very accomodating. He was working on a project for BlueFly but was nice enough to take a minute so we could both snap pictures with him .
After rubbing elbows with a celebrity, Libby and I both just wandered around fondling fabric. If you don't have a definite idea of what you want when you go to Mood, you could end up wandering for days trying to make a decision. We ended up buying some fabulous wool.

Here's my selections which I've already felted. I think I'll be using the blue and black plaid for a bag and the gray nubby one is going to be great as a base for needle felting.

After all that fabric fondling a girl gets hungry! We were ready for lunch. It was just great to sit down and talk and talk and talk about family and quilting and everything!! Before I knew it, it was time for Libby to head back to the hotel to meet Andy for her night at the theatre and I headed back to Connecticut.

During my ride back home on the train, I thought of about 100 other questions I had meant to ask Libby! Sew little time.. :(

I guess my questions will have to wait til I hit the West Coast on a visit, which might not be too far in the future as it looks like Alex aka "Snowboarder Dude" may getting a job at a ski resort in Lake Tahoe, CA. But that's another post!

I can't tell you how special it was spending the day with Libby. It was soo super to put a face and voice to a blog. If you ever get an opportunity to meet up with a fellow blogger/quilter, be sure to do it!

Libby, thanks for an awesome day of quiltiness!! and Enjoy the rest of your stay in the Big Apple!!!

Baby Bella's quilt

2008-08-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

Finally, here it is! This little quilt has found its home in Jacksonville, FL where Baby Bella lives. I used the Yellow Brick Road pattern. I did the quilting on my Grace frame. I think I've got the hang of the stipple/meander but definitely need to do some practicing with free motion as you can see by my dizzy daisy. I did these free motion all around the border.

I know I have been missing in Blogland but l am busy as the proverbial bee this summer. We just got back from a lovely weekend on the Jersey shore visiting our good friends and the beach. The garden keeps calling to me and I must listen while the weather is lovely.

But I am doing some quilt related activities. I am meeting a mystery friend tomorrow for some quilt shop hopping and lunch. On Sunday I am headed to the quilt show in Lowell, Mass. with a couple of my guild friends. I also picked out my mini classes for Houston Market. I am going with my good friend and LQS owner, Diane in October. I hope to get to take a class with Billie Lauder.

I have completed my 6th blue work snowman block and I am plodding away with my pillow shams to match my summer quilt. Hopefully, they will be done before summer is over. I just don't have anything finished enough for pictures.

I really have to turn my attention to my Round Robin which is due in August. OOPS! It is August! Better get started on that!

Check back later this week for pictures of my shopping goodies and the mystery friend I met!

Hello bloggers, I'm back!

2008-07-15T07:55:00.004-05:00

Yep, I'm still here! Life has been pretty busy (read WORK) but this week is the beginning of my 3 day weeks and here I am at home on a Tuesday and loving it!

The trash man woke me at 4:30 and I have been up since 5. So I made coffee and caught up with all of you leaving comments here, there and everywhere! I took my walk, did two loads of laundry, cut flowers and weeded, had breakfast and here I am. After this brief post, I'm off to the sewing room to finish that darn baby quilt for Bella Grace and get ready for my quilt class on Friday. We have Karen Eckmeier of "Accidental Landscape" and "Happy Villages" fame coming to our guild to do a "Happy Villages" workshop. I'm looking forward to that.

My ALQS swap partner, Jovita, has received her quilt so I will leave you with a picture of what I sent her.. She is the lover of purples and greens. I don't particularly favor purple but this one struck my fancy so I made two. My quilt top is done but not yet quilted. This is just four blocks and about 23 inches x 23 inches. It's hard to see the border but it is a fabulous strip that I found years ago. The light purple in the center is a Liberty fabric which I received from a very generous blogger in England a year or two ago and I've been waiting for just the right project to cut into it.

Well off to see what can be accomplished today! and just a reminder for you "Project Runway" fans, Season 5 starts tomorrow night!!! I will definitely be tuning in! Well, I hope to be back on Friday with a completed baby quilt among other things! So until then, as Heidi Klum says "auf wedersen" !

Novice Machine Quilter seeks advice

2008-07-07T09:19:00.003-05:00

Since the weather was quite uncooperative this weekend with rain off and on all weekend, I decided to load a baby quilt onto my Gracie frame for quilting. I have used this machine frame and my Janome 1600 for a few quilts over the last couple of years but have not used it extensively and I have only done a meander/stipple type stitch on the few quilts that I've done (mostly charity or kiddie quilts since they don't care about some uneven stitching) and this is part of the problem. Every time I decide to use it I have to reread the directions and/or watch the DVD for loading the quilt and threading the machine etc. and that is what I did Friday night when my DH was at a concert with an old college friend.

I finally got the quilt loaded and the machine threaded and decided to just do a meander/stipple on the body and then do a little something (yet to be determined) on the borders and four cornerstones. First problem I had was with the top thread breaking (this I anticipated as my Janome can be a bit finicky) so I changed it out to a different thread and fiddled with the tension and that seemed to work. Overall, it was not too frustrating and I have completed the meander. I have to say that my meander/stipple is pretty good. I think it is more a stipple as the quilting is pretty compact. I'll have to post a picture so you can see it. I think of a meander as more open. The stitches are pretty uniform, there are no crossovers, well maybe a couple, and no crazy angles. I want to use a panto for the borders and blocks. Not sure if I should have done this first or last!! I've never used a panto, well I have but not with the laser attachment for the machine which I got for Christmas and have yet to take out of the box and I'd like to give that a go this time around.

I have promised myself that once this quilt is done I will immediately load another so that I can get better at this and more comfortable. I do have another quilt with backing and batting all set to go!

So I thought that I would post a few questions to see if any of the more experienced machine/long arm/midarm quilters out there might have some advice or tips to share.

Here are just a few thoughts/questions.. but feel free to lay your wisdom and experience on me!

1. THREAD - Do you have a favorite?? I have some Superior which I have used but it's not as fine as I would like it to be. On this quilt, I used Metzler, since I had it and I was happy with it once the tension issue was ironed out.

2. Should I do the borders or the body first?? Do you start from the center and work out or go edge to edge?? I did edge to edge which seemed to work fine. Should I be basting my quilt first? The few times I have done it I haven't basted

3. Since my Janome only has a 9 inch (?) opening I am limited in the area I can quilt, I am planning on doing the top and bottom border and the corner stones then taking the quilt off and reloading so I can go the length of the side borders. Does that make sense? I'm not sure since I've never done it. My plan is to get more quilting under my belt and then decide on a possible upgrade on a machine, maybe a midarm with a larger opening like an HQ Sixteen.

4. PANTOS - any suggestions such as some easy ones out there for purchase. are straight lined easier than loopy??

I have to say I enjoyed doing the quilting on the frame and would like to become semi proficient at it. I certainly don't think I'd ever take in someone else's quilts since I have many tops that need to be quilted and would like to do them myself. I know that a big part of it is PRACTICE!

But any advice would be sewww appreciated.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

2008-07-05T14:50:00.003-05:00

I know I'm a day late, but what else is new??? Actually, I took the photo yesterday and never got to the computer to post it. This is a quilt I made a few years ago. It was for a guild challenge. I was looking for something else in a bin of quilts and found this one! Forgot I had it so I put it up. Our 4th was a quiet and wet one. It has been raining off and on since Friday morning. I have been machine quilting a baby quilt and watching baseball most of the weekend. Alex went to Vermont for the weekend with friends and my DH has gone off to a concert with his college buddy. It's just me, Mr. B and Holly for the rest of the evening. Think I'll try to squeeze my walk in before it starts raining yet again!!

Hope everyone had a safe and relaxing 4th!!

Another Little Quilt Swap and other stuff

2008-06-29T12:56:00.005-05:00

How is it possible that I have not posted in 3 weeks??!! I have been quilting which is a good thing but life in general has kept me from the computer. Oh, and my son and hubby, who are always on line!! You have to make an appointment lately to get near the computer!

Well, first off, I have been around blogland visiting and noticed that some of you had posted pics of your gardens. So here are pictures of my humble veggie garden.. I have a lovely yard with a pond and lots of flowers but really never did any vegetable gardening. But with the prices the way they are and the tomato scare, I decided this year to do some container gardening. Here are my lettuce plants in an old tub. I have since eaten this lettuce and planted more!! Doesn't look like much but it was good!!!

The tomato containers are courtesy of my hubby. He had these old speakers (circa 1980) which have been in the closet for about 15 years! He finally decided they were not repairable so I ripped out the guts and used the boxes for my tomatoes.

And the flower box is full of basil. We have eaten a wonderful pesto a couple of times in the past couple of weeks.

And in the midst of my pruning and weeding in the Garden of Eden last week, I somehow sat on an ant hill. Needless to say, they were not happy with my behind on their front porch and I ended up with about 20 bites which swelled up and were soooo itchy! I will spare you the picture. Definitely not pretty!!

And in quilting news, I have finished my ALQS piece and it will go in the mail to my partner tomorrow.. I'm one of those "down to the wire" people. It's a bit larger than the perimeters laid out for the swap, but I couldn't hold myself back and had to add the striped border.. My partner likes purple which is not a color I work with often but I liked this enuf to make one for myself. I hope she likes it!!

With any luck in the next couple of weeks, I will start my 3 day work week. I've been negotiating this with my boss for over a year and we have finally added another paralegal to our firm so I can work a bit less and enjoy life a bit more. Seww keep your fingers crossed! That's it from here in Connecticut. Summer is in full swing and I LOVE SUMMER, so I may be a bit scarce til the cold weather returns, but I am visiting everyone and hope to post some finished projects over the next few weeks. Quilt til you wilt!!

No quilting going on here!

2008-06-12T13:51:00.005-05:00

Monday I worked late,

Tuesday was our guild picnic,

and Wednesday,

THIS AMERICAN GIRL HAD A DATE WITH MR. PETTY!

I'm still recuperating from the late night! He didn't come on stage til 9:45. Steve Winwood from Traffic was the opener. I felt like I was 18 again. He and the band still sound great. The average age of the audience was surprisingly mid-20's. It was sort of cool to see Tom cast his spell over a new generation. The audience knew the hits, but the deep cuts were for the Baby Boomers in the crowd! At one point, Tom said he was playing a song from 1979 (Damn the Torpedoes) and I looked at my hubby and said "Half this crowd wasn't even born in 1979!!"

So, summer is really here with my first outdoor concert under my belt. Got my Petty fix for the summer! Next up, Toby Keith, then Tina Turner!

Now back to my regular programmed life.

Surprise package

2008-06-09T05:46:00.004-05:00

This enormous box was waiting on my doorstep last week. HMMM...... what could be inside??

Mr. B is my homeland security, checking for anything suspicious. Once he was done with his inspection, I opened it up to find what Amy (Calico Cat) calls UFOs. If only my UFOs were this complete!!! One is a beautiful flimsy in pinks and greens, the other is already sandwiched and partly tied with cute little white buttons. I absolutely love the fabrics and the design. They remind me of several Amy has made from " The Modern Quilt". I have the book and have yet to make one. I've already told Calico Cat that these are in the queue to be finished. In fact, they have bumped several of my own to the back of the line. In addition, Amy sent me a pile of books to peruse for more inspiration. Thanks so much, Dandylion~~

Once the box was empty, Mr. B spent a good amount of time IN the box. He loves a good box and apparently, according to Amy, this had been RB's box. I think they both knew that as much sniffing and smelling was done.
I saw this little group of fabric on a fellow quilter's blog and immediately knew I had to make a quilt for my new little great-niece, Isabella. I emailed Dawn and she told me the name of the fabric line., Baby Bella by Marcus (how perfect!!!). I was lucky to find some online and ordered it. I have already got the blocks done and the rows together. I ran short (what else is new!??) on the brown dot for the borders so I have to reorder. But once that arrives, it will be done and quilted. I'll share photos of the flimsy later this week.I was very productive this weekend, despite the 90 degree weather, but short of time right now~Photos of this weekend's projects tomorrow~ HAPPY MONDAY!!!!

Monday musings

2008-06-02T16:18:00.003-05:00

I spent most of this weekend doing errands, cleaning, and gardening but did find some time on Sunday to work on my Round Robin. I was given the 12 inch center medallion and the first round is to add a border with points. I knew what I wanted to do, thanks to Anne at Quilting Bebbs. In fact, I emailed her to ask if it was ok to copy her and she was very gracious! I had saved the picture she had on her blog from her Spring RR because I absolutely loved it. Seww, I just had to execute it. I pulled out my Thangles and made my 1/2 square triangles and then had to attack the flying geese units. I hate the maths of quilting but pulled out a trusty old book and figured out the numbers. BUT, unfortunately, forgot the seam allowance for the points, which I didn't realize until the borders were ON and I was adding the little outer border. That's when ( to use a Massachusetts expression), "light dawned on Marblehead"! Doh! Well, at least I was consistent and all four points were chopped off. I still think it is effective. Thanks Anne for your super border idea. I just love it!

I know I have praised the internet in the past for linking all of us quilters together but I didn't realize how much so until yesterday when I was working on this border and I started thinking about some of the people who have touched my life..

First, from Anne in England, I got a great border idea!

From Debra in Texas, I got a link from her blog for a Youtube presentation by Sharon Schamer for executing the perfect binding. And I mean perfect! you have to check it out! Just go on Youtube and put in Sharon's name. I emailed Debra after I watched it and told her it was the best thing I had seen on the internet in a loonnng time.

From Life is a Stitch's Nancy, I am finishing a super mystery quilt. (and I swore after my first one, remember Mystery Quilt from Hell, I would never do another).

From England and France, I received my beautiful postcards from Christine, Annette, Brigitte, Jennifer and Cindy, which brighten my day every month. And it goes beyond quilting....

Vicki's (field trips in Fiber) birdie updates...

Pictures from the proms, the new babies, the dogs and cats...

I chat now and again with Libby in California, Joanne at Rocking on the Porch, Patti (go Mariners!) Amy at the Calico Cat and not just about quilting but about life,kids,family, music, and baseball.

Woww! I'm getting a little teary here. Well that's my Monday Musings! Thanks to all of you out there who have touched my life... and it all started with quilting.

May Flowers

2008-05-28T09:19:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Despite being a long weekend, it was not long enough to get everything done. However, I did get my summer quilt bound and on the bed. I still have to make the shams. These pictures are my postcards for the May theme- Art Deco Flowers which will go out in the mail today. These are made from wool felt and I used my Baby Lock Embellisher! Loads of fun! I really need to pull it out more often and start playing around with it!

I spent time in the garden and planted my tomatoes, lettuce and basil in containers. I still need to relocate a few things and put my soaker hoses in a couple of the flower beds but there is only so much time in a day.

My next quilting project is my Round Robin due on June 10th and the ALQS quilt swap organized by Kate North. I also hope to get my new valances done this weekend!OHHH,
a quilter's work is never done!

In non-quilting news, I became a Great Auntie this weekend. My nephew and his wife who were married last June just welcomed Isabella Grace into our family on Sunday. I guess that honeymoon was a great one! She looks just like her dad did when he was born. Well, enjoy the rest of this short week!

Hump Day Giveaway #3

2008-05-21T19:35:00.003-05:00

It's Wednesday again and sewww I have a couple of patterns to give away. I received these as raffle prizes and they are really not my style. I'm really having fun sharing some of the things that were just hanging around the sewing room! Just let me know if you are interested and I will draw a name on Friday morning.

Zig Zag is 9 inch finished blocks and the quilt finishes 52 x 64.

The Bear quilt is actually two quilts. The one shown is blue work blocks and there is also a wall hanging quilt included that is 19 x 28 inches>

It's been really hard getting anything quilty done lately!! Last night I finished Step # 4 of my Mystery Quilt. Tonight I am determined to get the binding cut and ready to be put on my Summer quilt. Here are a couple of pictures as promised!

This quilt is soo big it's hard to get a good picture. here is a close up of the quilting. I think it looks fabulous. I also have fabric to make a couple of shams.

With the long weekend coming, I have BIG plans! Here's the list:

1. put the binding on my Summer quilt and make the shams

2. make my May postcards

3. finish a couple of Nellie's birds (I'm still working on them!)

4. make a purse for me ( I just got some awesome Michael Miller fabric)

5. make my new valances

6. work on my round robin (it's due 6/10)!

Of course, some yard work will need to be done also but sewing is really primary for me this weekend.

If I don't get back here before the weekend, everyone enjoy!

The Graduate

2008-05-20T19:28:00.006-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend in Vermont. Although the forecast called for showers, Saturday and Sunday were beautiful sunny days! The graduation went off without a hitch. It wasn't too crowded as there were only 200 graduates in Alex's class. We were surprised when they announced that Alex had graduated Cum Laude. He now has a B.S. in Ski Resort Management with a minor in Marketing. Here are some pictures!

The proud parents and the Graduate

Nana (my Mom, can you see the resemblance??) and Alex

Alex and Bob's parents

We all stayed at a lovely B&B and had a nice dinner at a local restaurant.

We got back late Sunday nite and Alex is now firmly ensconced in our guest room for the summer. He returned to work today after a week of partying with his friends. He is planning on working and saving his money to head out to Colorado, Utah or Northern California in the fall to work at one of the ski resorts.

I got my quilt back from the longarmer and it is fabulous!! I am soooo pleased. The binding still needs to be put on but I hope to get to that this weekend. I will try to have pics for you tomorrow for Hump Day Giveaway.

By the way, last week's winner was Elaine Moore! Your books will be going out in the mail in the next couple of days!

Hump Day Giveaway - Piece by Piece

2008-05-14T18:01:00.003-05:00

Here it is Wednesday again! This week will probably not result in much quilting. On Monday I spent a bit of time downloading some podcasts to my new little Nano. I have a sampling of five different podcasts, including Alex Anderson to preview. I spent a bit of time piecing the remaining 4 patches and cutting the remainder of my nickel squares for the next step of my mystery quilt while I listened to Alex Anderson talk about her trip to Paducah.

Last night I was at my guild meeting. I don't know how it happened but when I finally left the meeting I had promised to make friendship blocks for July, log cabin blocks for a charity quilt for the local Lupus organization, signed up for a class with Karen Eckmeier ( she is doing the Happy Villages workshop), promised to buy paper plates and napkins for our picnic in June plus make a salad and I became co-chair of the Program committee. Whewww~ Although this was supposed to be my "year off" ( I've been secretary for 2 years, then VP for 2 years), I just couldn't let the other gal try to handle it alone. The upside is I can pick the programs and classes that I LIKE ! Yipee!!

The rest of the week will be spent getting ready to head to Vermont for graduation on Sunday morning! My inlaws are driving up with us and we will be leaving early Saturday morning, having our graduation dinner on Saturday night at a lovely local restaurant and staying overnight. I still have to locate some appropriate clothes for Alex to wear under his cap and gown. When I mentioned it, he had a blank look so that meant he didn't have anything decent or he was planning on going Nekkid! He's already headed back to school to tie up loose ends, give his final presentation and clean out his apartment so I am in charge of wardrobe.

Sewww, here is the giveaway for this week! Lately(since I started my Mystery Quilt) I've been more conscious of the fact that quilts go together piece by piece. I know, pretty deep huh?? So with that in mind, I am offering this little book on paper pieced quilt labels. I'll also be including some preprinted paper foundations for star blocks and flower blocks that I found. If you are a paper piecer, leave me a comment and a way to reach you by email and I'll draw a name Friday morning!

I shouldn't say that there was NO quilting completed (just not by me personally)since I did get a call from Butch the longarmer and my summer quilt is done!! I'll call tomorrow and make arrangements to pick it up! I'll have pictures next week. If I don't get back before next week, have a wonderful weekend and try to do something quilty!

Happy belated Mom's Day

2008-05-12T10:54:00.004-05:00

I hope all the moms out there had a great Mother's Day! I had a super Mother's Day weekend. Bob and I went to New Jersey to visit with friends that we had not seen since September when we all spent the week at Cape May. Mother's Day was the only weekend we were all available so off we went. We took our bikes and got to do some bike riding on Saturday in a fabulous state park near our friends' house. Saturday night we had a belated Cinco de Mayo celebration complete with Mexican music, mexican hats, margueritas and sangria. It was really fun.

On Sunday, we took our bikes to Sandy Hook and rode the new bike path along the shore, about 10 miles back and forth. It was really great. On our way back to CT, we stopped to see hubby's mom. And when we got home, my one and only baby was waiting for us. And this is what he got me for Mom's Day!! A pink nano!

I was sooo surprised! I had been blabbing how I thought it would be great to have so I could listen to quilt podcasts, downloaded books, etc. I never thought he would actually buy it for me! He has just been home a week and has been working every day but Sundays at his new landscaping job. I was really touched that he spent his first paycheck on dear old mom!! Thanks, Alex!! You are the best son a Mom could ever wish for!!

Now I have to figure out how it works! It's soo little! Of course, the first thing I thought of was what fabric I would use to make a little case for my new pink baby! LOL
Any of you who can direct me to some good ebooks or podcasts, let me know!!

Oh, and the winner of the Humpday giveaway was Sunbonnet Sue of NY! Sue, your birdies are on their way to you!!

Check back later this week for another giveaway!! Until then, quilt til you wilt!!

Hump Day Giveaway - Birdies

2008-05-07T18:45:00.003-05:00

Well ,Wednesday is over!! I thought since this was the middle of the week, also known as HUMP DAY for many of us, it would be nice to offer a giveaway. I tried to post this morning but no matter how sweetly I talked to Blogger -NO LUCK! Bad Blogger!!

Seww, here it is Wednesday evening and finally Blogger seems to be ready to work. I guess it will be a Thursday giveaway! I have been cleaning and sorting in my sewing room and have a pile of things to offer~ Sewww, since it is spring and the birdies are returning and nesting and hatching eggs, I thought I would offer these two patterns.

GOLDFINCH is an applique pattern. And for you CW Repro gals, I have ROSIE FINCH. I have made both of these little quilts so thought someone else might like them.

Leave me a comment and be sure I can reach you by email for your addy. I will pick a winner Friday morning and put these little birds into the mail!

And speaking of birds, I spent part of last night prepping my patterns to make these little cuties. Nellie Durand of Nellie's Needles has generously posted the pattern and instructions for any one who is interested! I have a shelf with birdhouses on it and these little birdies will be a welcome addition. I hope to have a few birdies sewn and ready for stuffing and beading so I can take them on the road with me this weekend. Thanks, Nellie! You are super!

In other quilting news...., I finished the 4 patches, there were only 70 not 7 million! :)
I will be sewing those together tonight which will complete clue #3 of the mystery quilt and I will be up to date! Yea!! I think the 4 patches are for borders. This has been a really fun quilt to put together. I also hope to get my binding made and ready for my summer quilt.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Wednesday!!

FiberArt for a Cause- Collage Mania

2008-05-06T11:54:00.005-05:00

I subscribe to the e-zine Fiber & Stitch and the editor and founder, Virginia Spiegel, a fabulous fiber artist, is running Collage Mania. There are (were, they are going FAST!) collages offered by many different artists and available for a donation to the American Cancer Society. This was a two day event, yesterday and today. Luckily, I was in time to purchase this beauty by Lenna Andrews called "Cherish"

Check out this very worthy cause and pick up some eye candy of your own. My little treasure will be hanging in my office very soon. Also, check out the free projects at the Fiber and Stitch website. Once I tasted one of those little treats, I had to have a subscription to the magazine!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. My weekend was a four day event. And I sure did need it as the soon to be College Graduate has returned to the nest for the summer. In addition to his adorable self, he brought 4 snowboards, snowboard boots, a computer, 4 boxes of clothes, backpacks, a sleeping bag, a refrigerator and that's just the first load! He is in town for about a week and then he will return to Vermont to make a final presentation and walk the stage on May 18th. He has already got a job for the summer and is hard at work at this moment! We are all making some adjustments to this new living arrangement. Mr. B is clearly unhappy that he has to share his bed with Alex! LOL

In quilting news, my summer quilt is finally in the hands of Butch, the longarmer! Yeah!! That is one quilt that just did not want to be finished! It finally ended up being 85 x 92 inches. Can't wait to get it back and put it on my bed! I was in such a rush to get it out that I didn't take a picture with the borders on!

I also finished Clue #2 ( 20 spool blocks) for the mystery quilt I'm doing and I am well on my way with Clue #3 (7 million four patches, at least it seems like that many), which is a good thing as Clue #4 may be available now.

I have also made a decision on my May postcards, which is half the battle for me. This month's theme is Art Deco flowers. I am going to do them in wool and will be using my embellisher which I've haven't played with in some time. Hope to have some pictures later in the week.

Spring has finally sprung here with temps in the low 70's. It ain't summer but I'll take it!

April Showers

2008-04-28T14:28:00.003-05:00

Well, today is Monday and it's April and it's Raining! So it seems like a good time to show you the postcards I have received this month from my PC pals across the sea. This month's theme was appropriately "showers".

The woman sitting on the park bench in the rain is from Jenny in the UK and the clothesline picture is from Brigitte in France. I just love how we all interpret the theme differently and with different techniques. These ladies are super talented! They really set the bar high every month!!

The kiddies under the umbrella are from Annette in the UK. I love the background fabric and the little 3D flowers! The landscape is from Christine also in the UK. She painted this on Pelmet Villene and the border is Angelina fibers!

And here is my interpretation! If you are one of the PC ladies DON'T LOOK ANY FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED!!

I went with an old favorite, Sunbonnet Sue, even she has to deal with April Showers! These are on their way to my PC pals.

This weekend I worked a bit on my borders for my quilt. I should have the top finished in the next couple of days. I also worked on my snowman bluework. I have four blocks done so maybe I'll show those tomorrow.

As is my way, I have overextended myself quiltwise. I have decided to drop out of the Take it Further Challenge. Although I really enjoyed the challenge, I just don't have the time to do it with other commitments. Next up is making valances for my living room and a new window seat cover. The fabric that I ordered came in this weekend. After that, I have a RR challenge to work on as well as a little quilt swap, the mystery quilt I have started, the graduation quilt for my son, and forty jillion other projects!! Oh, so many quilts, so little time!