OUR ANNUAL GATHERING

Isn't this fun??! The sign on the chair says "George won't mind!" A little spoof on the AQS ad for their longarm. You can see it in the background. This was one of the little displays that greeted us at our Annual Gathering hosted by the Wallingford, CT chapter - Heritage Quilters on Saturday. As I previously posted, all of the chapters get together a few times a year to share our love of quilting. There are, I think, 13 chapters, with total membership of about 600 quilters. Unfortuately, with our busy schedules and children, etc. , there were about 150 members in attendance on Saturday.

This is one of the fabulous quilts completed by one of the Heritage Quilters. They had many of their challenge quilts on display. This one is from the applique challenge. On our arrival, there was a fabulous quilt and about 25 theme baskets filled with all types of fabric, tools, books, etc. which were put together by the members and which we could buy raffle tickets for. There was coffee and all sorts of goodies to eat while we gabbed before the speakers began. Of course, there were also about 15 vendors there so we could spend our $$$$.
This is a picture of a quilt which was shown during Jude Patoka's discussion of the history of quilting. Isn't it beautiful?? I have a soft spot for crazy quilts. The quilt dates back to 1889. This picture is of the separate "pillow topper" that was framed in lace.
Jude's discussion was really interesting. She spoke of the rise and fall of the popularity of quilting through the years and the significance it has had for women.

After a lunch break, I did my shopping!! I was a pretty good girl. Since I am going to Houston, I only bought a few things - a kit to make wool Christmas ornaments, a book of machine quilting patterns, a book with patterns for purses and bags and some doo-dads, buttons, ribbon and silk from the Linen Lady for crazy quilting.

Our second speaker was Anita Shakelford. Anita has been quilting for over 30 years and has judged quilts for AQS among other major shows. She had a slide presentation and discussion of what judges look for in competition quilts. For those of us who have entered a quilt show or are thinking about it, it was fabulous information. Anita encouraged everyone to enter shows, local or national.

I didn't win any of the raffle items but I sure had a great time.

Well, this will be my last post til I get back from Houston. I have prepped the wool Christmas ornaments so I can work on them during the plane ride that will be my handwork. Looking forward to getting away with my 3 favorite quilting gals!!! Everyone have a great weekend!! I'll be back on Monday and hopefully will be ready to post some pics by Wednesday!!!

Things I have Done and HOPE TO DO

I was tagged with this from one of many bloggers and thought it was fun. So here is my list of things I've done in BOLD and things that are on my life list in italics!! and of course, my comments about this list.


1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper (actually too many to count!!)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states (this country is so enormous and we tend to stick to our own
little corner.)
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends and still HAVE them, adding to them all the time thanks
to Blogger :)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater (this is getting harder to do- not many left :(
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a Party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship (hated it!!)
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children ( and would do it again in an instant)
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (NO, but I drove over and went under it by boat!)
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111.Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had surgery (wish this one wasn't bolded)
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (no, but rafted through it, it was AWESOME!)
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days (see # 121 nine days)
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

and just to make this quilty, I am adding the following and would love to get your responses:

151. Entered a quilt in a quilt show
152. Won a ribbon for one of your quilts
153.Been to Paducah
154. Been to Quilt National
155. Been to Houston
156. Been on a quilt retreat

I did take pics this weekend of the quilts at our Annual Gathering and will post them tomorrow with some info about our speakers. They were great and I know that other guilds are always looking for good teachers and speakers.

I'm in a Funk

I haven't posted for a few days because nothing particularly "quilty" is happening. I feel like I'm in a quilting traffic jam!! I GO, then STOP, then GO, then STOP. It seems everyone else is merrily quilting along and I am at a standstill. Over the weekend I did do some quilting on the infamous Mystery Quilt from Hell, but still not finished (pic below shown sideways- still not too good with the posting of pics on blogger!!!) . I think I am going to give this one away. I just want it out of my life!!!



I started to cut the pieces for my jacket and realized that I didn't have enuf woven fabric so I pulled out the batik strips and started making some more. For those who are new to my blog, I am posting a pic of the fabric.




I have been hand quilting on a whole cloth that I started a couple of years ago and I have started knitting a hat for Alex which I promised him last year! But no significant progress is being made. I'm in the slow lane and everyone else is traveling EXPRESS! Oh well, enough whining, sighing, and gnashing of teeth!

My DS, Alex, stopped in on Thursday night ,without warning, (hence the shortage of quilting time) armed with several loads of laundry and an empty cooler. I spent Friday and Saturday morning doing laundry, cooking, and shopping with him. My DH, DS and I went out to dinner together on Friday night. The only way to have a conversation with DS in one spot for more than 5 minutes is to put copious amounts of food in front of him. It was so good to see him since we had not seen him since he left Aug. 30th for school. His courses are a mixed bag-philosophy (the meaning of life) and lift operations (how to set up a ski lift given a certain slope, # of seats, etc). Once we got him on his way back to Vermont, I realized, (actually my stomach muscles told me) that I had done a little too much lifting, etc. since my surgery and I spent Sunday on the couch with little ice packs on my tummy!! But I did catch up on my TIVo shows.

Well today is Thursday, and this weekend is around the corner!! My local guild is actually a chapter in the Greater Hartford Quilt Guild. We are having our annual meeting tomorrow. One chapter hosts the meeting and all the chapters can attend. There are classes available, two speakers, and of course, vendors and fabric and food. The speakers this year are Jude Patoka and Anita Shakelford. This should be a great time. I'll try to post pics this weekend. This is perfect timing for me since my DH is going to be painting the living room!! He is a great handyman but I try to be out and about when he is working since he tends to pull out every tool and gadget he owns in the process! It can be quite messy but he gets the job done!

Finally, next weekend I will be in HOUSTON for the quilt show. I am going during the vendor week with a friend who owns the LQS. We leave on Thursday and will be heading home on Monday. This will be a whirlwind weekend I'm sure!! We will be attending classes about running a shop as well as mini quilting classes. I am taking a fabric scrapbook class and a class on quilting as you go. Of course, we will be viewing the quilts. We have an invitation to the MODA party (black and white attire required!) and we will be going to the fashion show on Sunday night. I can't wait!!! and I will definitely bring back pics to share.

SEWWWW, I guess I am still in "quilt mode". I just don't have any real finished product to show! But I'll keep plugging away Because a day without quilting or at the very least, fabric fondling, is an incomplete day!!! QUILT TIL YOU WILT, LADIES!!

The Wilted Quilter has a Mascot

Isn't she the cutest thing!!!??!! In my previous post, I was crying that I was too wilted and tired to quilt lately. Now, I don't have to worry because Ms. Mousie is going to pick up the slack. She is now the official mascot of my blog. See her little sign!!

This is a present from my dear friend, Diane at Clover Hill Quilts. Our guild had our monthly meeting last night at her shop. Our group met prior to the meeting at a local eatery for dinner and then went over to Diane's place to shop with a great discount to our guild members. I was a pretty good girl and only bought some great "Rose & Hubble" fabric for a backing to my niece's quilt. This is an older fabric that Diane had got from a lady who recently closed her quilt shop. When I got home I found that it was an exact match to one of the fabrics in the blocks for the quilt. I also bought a teflon pressing sheet for applique that I had wanted for some time. I think the prize for the most fabric bought went to our Francine!! She actually bought an entire bolt of fabulous pink fabric!!

I also received a great little placque from Mema, Diane's mom, to hang in my sewing room. It said "Good friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know that they are always there". I think that's a great sentiment and is exactly how I feel about all of you gals in Blogland. I can't actually "see" you but I know you are there It's a good feeling to be able to share the ups and downs on any given day and know that you all can relate!

Time for a little Halloween

I made this quilt last year. It was really for Halloween 2004 but was not finished til 2005. I received the fabric as a halloween bundle and used M'Liss Rae Hawley's Mystery Sampler blocks to put it together. The haunted house and bat appliques were traced from a coloring book, enlarged and fused. You can't see them well but there are little pumpkin and ghost heads in the windows. I found some Halloween wine charms at Joanne's and sewed them on. I think it came out pretty neat!!
This second quilt I bought years ago at the LQS which is now closed. He is called "Happy Jack". I think I paid $10.00 for him!!! I miss that LQS sewww much :( She was the first to stock batiks, japanese and other ethnic fabrics in her store.

I am enjoying the tour of laundry rooms and hope to have a shot of mine up before too long.

I must say Blogger is being really persnickity about loading pictures!!))&*$&*@#

Is any one else having this problem?????

Well, off to do some chores and errands. And then the sewing room to begin conquering the OCTOBER to do list.!!! Happy Quilting from Happy Jack and McIrish Annie. 

The Wilted Quilter

I know it's been awhile since I posted but not much has been going on other than recuperating and trying to get back into the swing of things! I have been visiting your blogs and as usual, you gals are busy, busy, busy !! But the post that caught my eye was from Nancy at "Nancyquilts"about how she should rename her Blog since she hadn't put anything "quilty" on it and had not done any quilting of late. I have been feeling the same way! Before I get to quilting, I am wilting ! In my defense, I did just start back to work after my lady surgery and when I get home, I am pretty tired. I have been poking around in my sewing room but have not produced anything worth posting. And here it is OCTOBER!! Like many of you, I am reviewing what was done in September and revising my goals for October.

1. Finished my Forgotten Flying Geese quilt and it is hanging in my hallway!! Yea!(Although this was not an original goal but a delightful detour taken during the month.)

2. Still quilting my Mystery Quilt from Hell. I did the ditch stitching but I need to finish the free motion quilting.

3. Made my Ovarian Cancer friendship block for our guild quilt.

4. Completed my BOM thangles blocks and I'm ready to pick up October's block on Tuesday.

Well that's it.. not much to brag about !!:(

SEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, here are OCTOBER'S GOALS:

1. FINISH MYSTERY QUILT FROM HELL INCLUDING BINDING AND LABEL
2. LOAD CHARITY "COWBOY" QUILT ON FRAME AND QUILT IT
3. MAKE "WEEKENDER" JACKET USING MY WOVEN FABRIC (hopefully before we leave for Houston.
4. START AND COMPLETE 1/2 OF THE SUPER SECRET GUILD CHALLENGE
5. CUT PIECES FOR KYLA AND ERIN'S FLOWER QUILTS.

Now with that out of the way, I have some Fall /Halloween quilts of old to share with you. I am really impressed with the beautiful and fun quilts everyone has posted. I thought I was the only one who changed out quilts, curtains, towels, etc. for the different seasons!!! Glad I'm not!

This is a quilt I made many years ago. I love the buttons on the gourds~!!

I have others but BLOGGER is being extremely uncooperative about uploading pictures so I will have to post them this weekend..

Finally, last night I made oatmeal in my crockpot!! I must tell you that I am NOT a morning person. I know alot of you are because I see some of you posting at 5:30-6:00 a.m. while I am still sawing wood!! My DH, Bob, is one of you. He is up at 5:30 or earlier before the alarm goes off. I'm sure some of you have actually done this but it was new to me! I used the steel cut McCann's irish oats, threw in the water, brown sugar, walnuts, raisins and some pumpkin pie spice, then crossed my fingers!!

Well, this morning, we woke to the smell of hot oatmeal ready to go!! For me, this is a super time saver. I just recently started cooking in the crockpot so if any of you have some good recipes PLEASE send them my way!!

My husband is out with friends tonight and tomorrow for his college homecoming weekend so I have some free time on my hands and hopefully will get some of the above done!

The Last Days of Summer

Blogger of course is being contrary and uploading my photos willy-nilly!! But I am back from a wonderful stay in Cape May, NJ.

This first picture (which I wanted to be LAST!!) is my quilty thing!! This is a redwork pillow I started last year and finished to give to our good friends, Ronnie & Susie, who invited us to join them in Cape May this year. They recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. As all of you married gals know, marriage is a rollercoaster with ups and downs! I think the sentiment on this pillow captures that! R & S really got a chuckle from it!!



That's me (back left) and my DH, Bob (back right) with our friends, Vinnie, Susie, Ronnie and Robin at the pool. Our hotel was right across the street from the beach. Ronnie & Susie have been coming to Cape May for years and found this really nice hotel! Vinnie and Robin joined us as part of Robin's birthday celebration! We shopped, sat by the pool, and ate at some fabulous restaurants during our stay. The days were warm (80 to 85 degrees)! It was a perfect way to rest and recuperate.


Here is one of the beautiful sunsets from Sunset Beach!




Before we reached Cape May, Ronnie & Susie treated us to an evening at the Cowtown Rodeo in NJ on Saturday night. Here we are with our cowboy hats! Bob & I had never been to a rodeo and really enjoyed it!! Of course, before we got there, we stopped at the Cracker Barrel restaurant for some good old country cooking including grits!




















I can't think of a better way to say "goodbye" to summer! We enjoyed it so much that all of us have booked rooms for the same time next year! But now, back to reality :( . The weather has certainly turned cooler here in Connecticut and the leaves have started to change!! But it definitely puts me in the mood to quilt! :))

PIGS ON PARADE, PART DEUX

This first quilt was the #1 Viewers' Choice. It was made by Linda Kotyk. She is our treasurer and has been quilting for many years. This quilt was started as a Mystery Quilt last November. It is called Flowing Jacob's Ladder. Linda finished this quilt on her boat this summer. When her DH went out fishing, she pulled out the Janome Jem and stitched away. It was machined quilt by our president, Debbie D'Angelo.
This quilt was made by a new member, Joan Mockler. I just love blue, yellow and white together. She has only been quilting a short time but long enough to have a PIG!!!
The Apple Quilt was made by Lesa Gemmell. This also started as a Mystery Quilt and she said it quickly became a UFO. She had signed on to finish this quilt twice before and finally as a PIG it is finished. Her label reads "From UFO to Roasted PIG, Finally Finished!!"
This last quilt belongs to Cheryl D'Angelo. She bought the Batik panel for her son who loves dragons. The top was quickly finished but she is one of several in our guild who hand quilt every thing!!! She now has it finished. Her son says he likes how the back looks better than the front!

Alas, my PIG was the Mystery Quilt from Hell. Although I did get the top done, I only got half of the quilting done before my surgery and wasn't able to get it finished!! But it will be finished soon and won't be part the next PIG Roast. I have plenty more to choose from in my closet! LOL

I think these ladies did a super job!! We will have signups for next year's roastin January. 

PIGS ON PARADE

Monday night was our first guild meeting of the year. We have programs and drop-in nights during the summer but our "official" calendar is September through June. It was great to see everyone after our summer break. It was also the presentation of the PIGS (Projects in Grocery Sacks). We had 14 members sign up to complete a project and 8 of our member were successful!! These are the "roasted" pigs! Prizes were given to all members who completed a project and we had three viewers' choice prizes as well.

The Butterfly quilt is by Molly Elmer. She called this her "vacation quilt". She always took this project on vacation and did a little bit every year. She finally decided to complete it. All the butterflys are hand appliqued and the quilt is hand quilted.




This is Ginette Wurst's "Paddington Bear" quilt. This is a reconstruction project. Her son got the quilt when he was a baby and "loved it to death", even took it to college. She took the bear parts from the original quilt and put together a new quilt for him using the fabrics in fashion when he was a baby!! I think she did a great job!

Mary Jane Plaza's "See Saw Margery Daw" quilt is a piece that was begun for a baby now full grown! She hand quilted the entire quilt. The quilting is phenomenal!! This picture doesn't do it justice! She was won one of the viewers' choice awards.



The quilt next to "See Saw" was made by Debi Bertenshaw. She is a hand quilter as well. This is a super lap size. Her fabric choices were awesome!! She also won a Viewers' Choice award.

Well blogger is only letting me put these four photos on my blog. So, I will post the others a little later. But didn't these ladies do a great job??!! I love the stories behind how each project became a PIG.

That's a load off my mind!!!!

Your Brain is 80% Female, 20% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Thanks to Nancy at Nancyquilts.blogspot.com for this cute little quiz!!! After my "surgical adventures" last week, it's good to know I'm still a GIRL~~ LOL

Slow and steady

I have finally given in to my body and have put things in neutral. I am now in RELAX AND REST mode. After getting home from the hospital, I was hot fired to get back into gear. One afternoon of that followed by a total meltdown (crying uncontrollably because I couldn't find a little mirror!!) and I learned that I need to listen to my BODY, not my CRAZY HEAD!!

I am now recuperating and actually enjoying doing nothing!! We as moms, wives, workers, and the other many roles we have, do not take the opportunity to just sit back and do nothing!! It feels foreign, we feel anxious and guilty! But ladies, I highly recommend it when the chance arises. I spent an entire afternoon just sitting in the garden, looking at the flowers, feeling the breeze, just sitting and doing nothing. You start to hear and listen to the sound of the children playing in the next yard, the smell of flowers, the feel of the sun on your face. It is really rejuvenating.

Now I must thank publicly four people who have made this recuperation possible. First of all, my DH, Bob. He is the most caring, loving man! He has taken over the reins of running things here so that I don't have to think about anything else.

Second, my dear friend, Debbie. She is our guild president and a longarmer. Not only has she called me daily to check on me, but has passed the word to others. She arrived Sunday afternoon with enough casseroles and all the fixings for a small army!! All the directions were on the packages and all we have to do is defrost and heat! I know that all I have to do is call her and she will do whatever is needed or find someone who will!! I have only known her a few years but I don't know what I would do without her friendship,love,and support!

Third, my good friend, Diane. She owns our LQS. She stopped to visit yesterday with a casserole, dessert and a bottle of wine. DELICIOUS!! She has been through the same "experience" as I have and she is a wealth of knowledge! She has made going through this procedure a lot easier. Just knowing I can call her with questions gives me peace of mind.

Finally, my boss. I work for an attorney in a small office and have worked for him for 10 years. I know that having me out of the office for three weeks is a BIG DEAL! He has been super supportive and understanding. I am lucky to work for such a great guy!

And of course, thanks to all my blog ladies. Your warm wishes and good thoughts mean so much to me. I' m not doing any quilting but following your progress is a good substitute!!