Decision on Reilly's Quilt

I am GA still tonight - I'll be driving back home from McDonough tomorrow - about 9 hours if I don't make any wrong turns!! Tonight Kristi and Micheal and I decided that we like the one border on Reilly's quilt I brought several possible fabrics, including the one they thought they wanted as the outside border, but when I laid it out in Reilly's room we all agreed on this - just one wide border of the brown polka dots; I'll use that as the backing too. I also had some stencils for the cream sections that I showed Kristi, she is leaving it up to me to pick between 4 of the 7 I showed her. Knowing me, I will probably practice with a couple of them at least before I decide. I think in the pink/brown areas I will just outline the sections. I did more of a quilting design in Lillian's but you can't really tell what it is, so I think I will do something more simple for this one.

I have had a great time visiting with all our GA kids and all of our grandkids. I left home last Wednesday afternoon, went to Johnson City, TN to stay with my mom that night, then on to McDonough on Thursday. Friday afternoon I went to Marietta, stayed there Friday and Saturday nights, then Sunday afternoon came back to McDonough. I really miss hubby though, and hope that he can come with me on my next visit here. We'll be here for Christmas, but I hope we'll be back before then.

Catching Up for the Last Two Months!

I HAVE been quilting during the last 2 months, just not blogging about it. I finished the "Simplified Log Cabin" a few weeks back and last week I went to GA to see our kids and grands and also to take a class in using the Handiquilter at A Scarlet Thread in McDonough. After taking the class I rented time on the machine for the rest of that day and most of the next day. During that time I was able to get a comfort quilt done that I started 2 years ago - as well as my "Simplified Log Cabin" and the "BargelloBowl" that I pieced on Super Bowl Sunday 2008 (a Bonnie Hunter project) These last 2 will stay at our house - I am hoping to get them bound and labelled in time to put them in the quilt show our guild has in July. I learned a lot from Kathy, the Handiquilter teacher at A Scarlet Thread, and had fun using the machine. Thanks so much to Wendy for helping me out when I had little boo-boos! I am not planning to buy one anytime soon as I have no room for it, but it sure does allow this hand-quilter to get some tops done more quickly!

Our guild had a retreat 2 weeks ago. It was held at the Virginia Horse Center in town, but it still felt like a get-away with 20+ quilting friends. Friday we had a class taught by Augusta Cole about making what she called Batik Beauty. We made 9-patch blocks to look like half-square triangles and saw various ways to assemble them. I have 9 blocks made so far and am thinking that I will put them together like this - The picture of the red and white quilt is in Karen Combs' Combing Through Your Scraps - called Star Puzzle. I took a class from Karen Combs thru Quilt University 4 years ago when I first got back into quilting - it was called Combing Through Your Scraps, but at that time I didn't realize she had a book by that name. I never finished that quilt, but I did learn a lot from her. We all enjoyed Augusta's class, as well as her lecture on tips the following morning, and hope she will come back for a guild meeting next year. One of the most helpful things she showed us was how to use Eleanor Burns' Triangle Square Up Ruler - a great ruler for squaring up HST's! And most of us bought one from her too!

Saturday afternoon at our retreat one of our members showed us how to make a folded log cabin square using iron-on templates from Foldy Stuff. Here are the two I have done so far - It is fun to do, and goes pretty fast once you have your strips cut. Of course it took me longer than most of the others because I was trying to use different fabrics in each block, or at least putting the fabrics in different places - typical of the way I seem to do things -- making them more difficult than is wise! A few of my quilting friends were surprised that I was using colors that were not blue and yellow, but I have lots of black/white and white/black fabrics left from the quilt I made for Lillian.

I am the program co-chair for the guild for the next two years. We are planning a challenge for our ladies that will begin in June. I don't want to give anything away in case some of them are reading this - but here is a picture of the pieces of a block that is involved in the challenge - More to follow in mid-June!

Cabin Branch and Stone House Quilters 2009 Show

Today we took a roadtrip to Northern Virginia - DH attended a sports card show in Chantilly and he dropped me at the Cabin Branch and Stone House Quilters Show in Manassas. This is only the 2nd quilt show I have attended that had vendors. It was not nearly as big as the Hampton Show, which I have only heard about, but certainly bigger than my guild's show. I took pictures of some of the 225+ quilts and loaded them into an album on my Webshots page. This was one of my favorites The woman who made this quilt was there as one of the "white glove" ladies, so I was able to hear about the making of this quilt - and it made entirely from batiks, which I love to use. Check out my Webshots album to see more of my favorites. I also took pictures of most of the labels, so if you are particularly interested in some of them let me know and I can maybe tell you more about them.

Two of the things that I was specifically looking for there was some fabric sheets for the printer and some Civil War era reproductions for the final ALA Biblioquilters block. I was able to find all of those things, plus some fat quarters, patterns, books and 1/2 yd cuts that just jumped into my hands! I was there from 11:00 - 4:30, so it was a long day of walking and standing, but also quite an inspirational day!

This Pattern Kept Calling My Name!

A couple of days ago I bought a pattern online called Simplified Log Cabin from e-PatternsCentral. I printed it and it has been sitting by my computer calling my name - over and over again! Tonight I finally gave in to it and pulled a bunch of colorful batiks to use in it. I have now cut 21 blocks, and positioned them where I think I want them to go, and have sewn 3 of the blocks together. Here is the layout for the upper left corner - and further to the right Here are two of the blocks sewn together and a third ready to sew to the first two. I think one of the reasons this pattern appeals to me, besides the bright batik fabrics, is that it is a tessellating design. The pattern calls for 42 blocks, but I think I will make it bigger. Since the border is part of the blocks I will need to decide on the size I want before I can finish the top row. I think the thing that will decide it for me is how much more of the border material I have.

This was not the best time to be starting another quilt top - I still have Lillian's quilt to bind and label (but I have finished the quilting on it), another block to make for the ALA quilts, fabric to cut for a table runner class at our guild meeting on Saturday, and tomorrow, well, actually today, I need to start taking the wallpaper off the bathroom walls so the contractor can start on our renovation project. Oh, and I also need to make some of the refreshments for the guild meeting. So around all these things I wonder how many blocks I could get sewn together this weekend??

Blocks for ALA Quilts

One of the online quilting groups I belong to is the ALABiblioquilters. We are all librarians and library-related folks. For the past several years this group has been making 2 or 3 quilts to be auctioned at the annual ALA meeting held each summer. The proceeds of the silent auction go to ALA's scholarship fund. I just heard about the group and joined last year, and contributed blocks for 2 of the quilts last year - shown here. This year I volunteered to make 2 blocks for "Chicago BLT" and 2 for "Star Struck"(a Bonnie Hunter gem) For "Chicago BLT" (Chicago because it is the home of ALA, and the site of this year's conference) the organizer sent us the brown and red fabrics and we are to supply the yellow and green. For "Star Struck" the organizer sent us the more solid red, which we could use for some or all of our sections, and were are to supply the black and white prints. For this one we are to send the 8 quarters back to her and she will arrange them. I have lots of black/white prints left from Lillian's quilt and would love to do a bigger one of these. As usual, Bonnie has come up with a great quilt pattern! I have one block to make for the 3rd quilt, then I'll mail them all off to the "Quilt Mamas." It is a version of a 4 patch with 2 parts being smaller 4 patches and the other 2 being stars. I still need to select my fabrics to go with what was sent to me for this one.

Allie's Quilt Top is Finished

DD Allie just sent me more pictures of her "Going Around in Circles Again" quilt. She has now finished appliquing the circles and has it sandwiched, and will start the machine quilting on it in a couple of days. Tomorrow is market day for her - she goes to the Greenmarket in Union Square in NYC for Hawthorne Valley Farm, where she was an intern during the summer of 2007. On some Saturdays she goes to the Inwood Greenmarket too. In between these times she will be quilting away. I think she will be outlining the circles but don't know what else she will come up with. I think she has done a great job with adapting the double wedding ring pattern to make it her own.

Senior Center Gift Quilts Finished

Last Friday the quilting group that I lead at the Senior Center presented the two quilts we have been working on for months to the director and associate director of the Center. Both are the Turning Twenty pattern, one in blues - with a large lighthouse panel on the back - because the assoc. director likes blue, and reminds us of that every day we are there, and he likes lighthouses. We made this one for the director - I used some large pieces of sunflower print on the back - At the time we were making this one the director was involved in getting a raised garden going behind the building, so we thought lots of floral prints would be appropriate. These were both made out of fabrics donated to the Center. One of the members of our group has a long-arm, and though she didn't want to volunteer to quilt them both she was willing to show me how to use a pantograph so I quilted both of them. The quality of the quilting does not stand up to hers, but we got them done - and the recipients seemed to like them. If they suspected anything during those months we were working on them they were kind enough not to say so. I am hoping that the woman who took some pictures will send them to me so I can add them to my collection. Here are the labels -the is Ray's and this is Jeri's I was finishing up the labels about 2 hours before their monthly musical program at the Center! I had quilted Jeri's the previous Friday, and though the other ladies said they would help me bind it at our meeting on Wednesday, I decided I didn't want to ruin the surprise by having one of them ask who it was for at that late date, so I just did the binding - and the labels - myself.

Allie's "Going Around in Circles Again" Quilt

Allie is working on a new quilt - this one as a belated wedding gift for the niece of the family she works for in New York. She wanted to do a version of the double wedding ring, but different. Here is what she has so far. She is using a pattern called "Going Around in Circles Again" using scraps of blues and greens. The circles are paper-pieced, then machine-appliqued onto the background fabric. Here is a closer view - with some of the pins in. Here and here you can see the design even closer. I believe I recognize some of my fabrics! When Allie comes to Virginia she stays in our guest/sewing room and sometimes some of my fabrics make their way into her bags. She has been having more time to work on it recently since it is very definitely winter still in the Hudson Valley. I'm hoping she sends more photos soon!

Back of Lillian's Quilt and the Quilt Frame at the Senior Center

Last night I finished the backing for Lillian's quilt - Here is the front . I have the backing and batting together now, just need to add the top to them and I will be ready to baste it.

Today I went to the Maury River Senior Center, where I lead a quilting group and teach a computer class, to demonstrate using a quilting frame during a community festival. Yesterday I took the Pantry Quilt over to set it all up. The frame I was using was a Hinterburg that was donated to the Center. We had to drill a bigger hole in each side of the legs to get the bolt thru that is a attached to a stabilizing piece. One of the gears on it was turned the wrong way, but we couldn't figure out how to get it off. We even tried hammering it off but it wouldn't budge. This afternoon, as I was taking the quilt off the frame, the director of the Center showed me that the gear has a screw - no wonder hammering it wouldn't make it come off!

DH came over to see how it was going for me and took a couple of pictures. Here's the long view and a closer up shot - In the backgroud you can see my Grandmother's Flower Garden, that is still a work in progress, and the Turning Twenty top we recently finished. The sampler on the wall with the gold sashing is the one our group made for the Center last year.

Pantry Quilt Update

Late last night I finished the top on the Pantry Quilt I like the braided border even better now that it is all done. (See the previous post for why I am working on this quilt now.) It was not as difficult as I thought it might be, but time consuming since there are a LOT of 1.75" x 5" strips in it - 85 each on the top and bottom, more on the sides. The quilt is 78" x 98" which makes it a bit bigger that the t-shirt quilt I made for Dave - and therefore the biggest quilt I have made to date. (Disregard the white sock on the couch - this was taken late last night and Dave was asleep on the couch!) Now I am working on a plan for the backing. I did not any wide backing fabric at Walmart that I liked, and don't have time to go out-of-town to a quilt shop this week, so I am taking a page from Erin and Bonnie Hunter and making do with what I have. I have some of the white left, and some of the woodgrain, as well as some multi-veggie prints that I bought to use on the front but ended up not using, so they will be on the back. Hopefully I will have that done by the end of today. I also have to piece some batting - the biggest piece I have is not quite long enough but is wider than I need, so I will try to piece it together. Any advice there?

Speaking of Bonnie Hunter - she has a great new book out - Scraps and Shirttails: Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle! The Art of "Quilting Green" My autographed copy arrived a few days ago, and after going thru it quickly I was even more inspired to try to make do with what I have for the back of this quilt.

Lillian's Quilt Top Finished

I just finished piecing the top of Lillian's quilt - and am working on the back of it now. (Lillian is our new granddaughter who was born August 16.) I am planning to make the back one large 9-patch square like the ones on the front, using the purple/black/red fabric in the border and one of the lighter red prints, then make a wide border of the purple used in the narrow border on the front. I am also working on a plan for the hand-quilting designs using a few extra blocks that I had. I've used a couple of purple fabrics that I used in her sister Reba's quilt which I think is fun to do. The pattern is "Glory Days" from Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, July/August '08 issue - I've just made mine more scrappy than theirs. I'm hoping to get the back pieced today, then I'll be ready to sandwich it. I've used spray basting a lot recently so think that I will use that for this quilt, but want to try it on my little sample first since I'm not sure how it will work with handquilting. I'm planning to use a new kind of batting - Quilters Dream Green. It is 100% polyester and is made out of recycled plastic bottles. I'll post a photo of the back when I get it done.

New Granddaughter and Quilting Progress

My quilting has taken a back seat since August 13 when I left here to go to Johnson City, TN to visit my mom for the night, then on to Marietta, GA to stay with our oldest daughter and her family. They were expecting their 3rd child on August 16 and needed some help getting ready and someone to stay with the older two while they were at the hospital. Lillian arrives Saturday afternoon just a few minutes before I got to the hospital. I would have loved to be there for the arrival, but was staying with the siblings. Our middle daughter and her husband came up to help with the kids, but I didn't leave quite soon enough after they got there. I did get to hold Lillian a few minutes after I got there and later that afternoon this picture was taken of me with the three siblings. If you look closely you can see that Jack and Reba were just as interested in Mom's crackers as in Lillian! After Lillian and her mom came home from the hospital my son and his son, Atticus, came from Athens, GA to visit - here are cousins Atticus and Jack in the Disneyland t-shirts we bought them . Reba wanted me to take pictures of her too, so here is one of the best ones - .
I had time for dinner at a cute little restaurant, The Fickle Pickle in Roswell, with my nephew, his wife and their new baby, Sofie. Here they are with the quilt I had just given them for her - Yes, Sofie has red hair - hopefully it will be as beautiful as her mom's!
I did get a little quilting done while I was in GA. I have started a quilt for Lillian - I have eight more stars to piece and the outside border to finish piecing. Those stars are hard for me to get just right, so I have taken a little break from it and have been working on my Grandmother's Flower Garden. I now have 25 out of probably 91 flowers - with this on our bed I have a better idea of how far I have to go! I am sure after this weekend I will be getting back to Lillian's quilt, but this weekend we are going to DC to see 2 Braves' games, then back home Sunday night and the probably to Richmond for the last Richmond Braves' game Monday afternoon. I see more GFG flowers being made on these trips!