To Market and back

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!!