The Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop was such fun!

I am now back to DD and DSIL's house in Marietta after completing the Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop - 13 shops in 2 days! What fun to take the tour with a bunch of like-minded shoppers!! I am SO glad I took the bus tour that was organized by Sarah at Intown Quilters. It was well worth the $100 to have John do the driving; I definitely want to do it again next year and I expect to see some of the same ladies on the tour next year. I met Shirley, Martha, 2 Mary K's, Diane, Anne, Deborah, Lucretia, Bonnie, Bess, Thea and Thea's mom, and others. We shared our purchases, our projects, and our lives during the long drives from Decatur to Covington, Conyers, Jonesboro, Newnan, Hiram, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Sandy Springs, Marietta (3 shops) and Holly Springs. Each shop had made a quilt using the same blocks, and each shop gave us a pattern for their block. It was so interesting to see all the different quilts made with the same blocks. At Red Hen Fabrics I saw Sandie, the woman who quilted my Van Gogh's View and shared my happiness about her quilting with my friends on the bus - and gave out some of her business cards. I even met a lady at one of the shops who had read my blog entry yesterday or this morning about going on the bus. An unexpected treat was meeting Aunt Philly at Stitchin' Time - the creator of Aunt Philly's Toothbrush Rugs. She was demonstrating her method of making these quick, completely washable rugs and some of us bought her pattern or her CD, or a starter kit -- and I practicing making it on the bus back to Intown - sure made the trip back go fast! Now I've got quite a few fabrics that will be "seasoning" as Lucretia says while I plan for their use. Maybe at least one of us will even be one of the prize winners.

Add to all the fun of the Shop Hop the fact that I have seen, or will see, my mom, 3 of our kids and their spouses, all 3 grands, and a friend of a friend back in Lexington - it will have been a great extended weekend. Only one thing could have made it better - if DH had been along for the trip so he could have seen the family too.

Van Gogh's View is officially finished

Just a few minutes ago I finished sewing the label into Van Gogh's View so I can now say it is officially finished. Usually the labels come later, sometimes much later, but this time I thought I would do it while I still had the quilt. I made the label using 18-count cross-stitch fabric, and did the lettering in backstitch, then put a border around the label. I'd hoped to have it finished by Christmas, but that didn't happen. I'll be shipping it to our daughter and her family in GA.Tuesday since tomorrow is a holiday.

Daughter is home; 1 treetop done

The traveling daughter is home, all safe and sound with no apparent problems. When she called this morning from DC to say she was that far it was a like a big weight off my shoulders. Kristie and Cindy, thanks for your comments.

I appliqued the smaller treetop on Van Gogh tonight, and 1/2 of the larger one, but it is time to put it up for the night. I work at the hospital tomorrow, but will try to finish it tomorrow night and get started on the label.

Progress on Van Gogh Quilt

Here is a picture of one of the trees on the Van Gogh quilt. I have machine quilted the two trunks and treetops. The trunks are appliqued on and I will be working on getting the treetops on today.

Van Gogh's View is back home!

As promised, UPS delivered Van Gogh's View back home late this afternoon. I LOVE the quilting that Sandie did on it. She did little swirlies in all the sections where the folds are not, so that the folded back parts really stand out. I had tacked them down well, so I am not worried about them falling out. Here is a picture of the quilting she did on it and a closer view of the it.





When you look at it at an angle you can see the 3 dimensional appearance - here is a photo that kind of shows that

So excited/nervous!

We took a trip this past weekend to Marietta and McDonough, GA to see our 3 kids and their spouses and kids, along the way stopping to see my mom in Johnson City, TN and Dave's mom and one sister in Flowery Branch, GA. It was a short trip since we left late afternoon Thursday and got home last night, but fun to see everyone. I have posted pictures on our Flickr page for all to see - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamanance/

Saturday morning I took the Van Gogh's View quilt to the quilt shop in Marietta where I bought the fabric. I'd been told on the phone that they could quilt it there, and so I expected it to be a simple drop-off, chat a bit about it and be on my way. NOT! The shop owner told me, very nicely, that they could not do it there - it has curved folds, like cathedral windows, in every block - so about 190 of them! She said their quilters were not that experienced - too bad one of their employees had told me, twice, that they could do it with no problem. Anyhow, the owner gave me the name of two quilters in the area that they use. I was of course reluctant to call someone I did not know or know of, but I thought I'd give it a try. I called the first one, Sandie, because Mary Anne said she might be able to do it more quickly. I called her, reached her on her cell phone, she said she was about 10 miles away, but would turn around and come to the shop. She was there in 15-20 minutes, we talked about what I wanted and what she thought would work, and she left with my quilt and the backing. She wanted to know when I was leaving, and when she heard it was the next day she wanted to know what time! She is northwest of Atlanta and we were going to be southeast of Atl, so we discussed mailing it. I just got a call from her this morning - the quilt is finished and she is on the way to UPS it to me so I should have it on Wednesday!! She says it looks really good - my piecing and her quilting. I am so excited and nervous to see it! I've never been in this situation before - I have the T-shirt quilt at one long arm quilter, this one just being finished, and Surrounded, the batik for son and DIL, ready to go to the local quilter as soon as she finishes the t-shirt quilt.

"Van Gogh's View" and T-shirt Quilt Update

First - a T-shirt quilt update. Yesterday the local long-arm quilter brought me the sample she worked on for the quilt, and I totally approve of what she has done. She seems more confident now of what she will do and she plans to get started right away. I am hoping to have it in a week or two although she did not give me a date. I also asked her to do Surrounded that was on my previous post, but first I want to take it to GA this weekend for my son and DIL to see it, then I'll bring it back for her to quilt.


Here is a picture of "Van Gogh's View" - I am making it for my oldest daughter and her family. She picked it out when she saw it on display at Red Hen Fabrics in Marietta, GA where she lives. Turns out that the fabric designer is the owner of that shop. She bought some of the fabrics and in August when I was there I bought the rest that I needed. I am going to see them too this weekend and hope to be able to take this quilt to the shop Saturday morning for them to quilt it. It is in the McCalls Quilting issue for July/August '07 - if you look closely at those pictures you can see the quilting design that was used on the sample. I saw the sample in the shop, and would like for them to do something like that. It is closely stitched swirls that resemble the swirls in some of the fabrics. I still have about 60 or so folds to tack down - they are folded back to give them a more curved appearance. If you look closely you can see about where I got to on them. I just finished the borders and my first mitered borders since I got back into quilting 2 1/2 years ago. I was nervous about that, but thought they turned out pretty good.


This is a picture of the fabric to be used on the back of the quilt. It is part of the same collection - First Impressions by Northcott - designed by Mary Anne Henderson of Red Hen Fabrics.