Machine Quilters Expo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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!