UFO Quilted

Today I did finish quilting one of my April UFOs.

Since it is an older traditional quilt I decided to quilt feathers, and I do love feathers. 

I am planning to put the binding on tonight.

Time to work on my UFO

Yes, once again it is hard to believe that another month is just about over. April is one of those months where I have 2 UFOs listed for the number that was drawn. I will be happy if I get one of them completed.

I got this quilt top a long time ago at an auction that my quilt guild had. The center was finished and there was fabric included for the border. I think I put the borders on at retreat in 2007. I am not sure how old it is but it is vintage fabrics.

Since it is vintage, what else but feathers. Besides, feathers are quick and easy. I have the binding prepared and ready to go. If I can get the quilting finished tomorrow, I should be able to get the binding on tomorrow night at the 7-Sisters guild meeting.

I am sitting here falling to sleep. Time to head to bed.

Stack-N-Whack

This is a Stack-n-Whack done be Elaine M.

I finished it up yesterday morning while my daughter was still sleeping. My daughter was still home from school for Easter break. After she got up and did a few chores we spent the rest of the day shopping. We went to the closest mall which is about 50 minutes away. I love spending the day with my daughter. 

My Baby's Birthday

Yesterday my youngest turned 14. I told her no party this year. I don't think she needs a party every year. Besides, she is going to the Capital's game today. She loves Ice Hockey. The Penguins are her favorite team but she likes to go to the Caps games and route against them. Today though, she should be routing for the Caps, because if the Caps and the Penguins win this round they will be playing each other and there is a good chance she will get to go to a game. Since going to this game is for her birthday she got to choose who goes to the game. She has chosen her 2 brothers and a friend to go with her. 

Anyway, yesterday she was complaining she was bored. I let her invite a couple friends over. I told her I would make her anything she wanted for dinner. She said she really does not have a favorite meal. This is what she requested: Parmesan Chicken, grilled asparagus, biscuits, and Caesar salad. Instead of a cake she wanted Chocolate Trifle.

After dinner my  husband suggested bowling so we all went. One of my sons got home yesterday so he was able to go along.

 Siblings?

Best friends!

Rectangle Quilt

This quilt was made by Eunice.

I love how this quilt looks more difficult than it is. It looks like rectangles but the piecing is really square blocks.

Another Circle Quilt

This baby quilt was made by Margaret. Margaret asked me if I could do the hand print pantogram on it. Since it is the raw edge applique and the circles are sewn on about 1/4 in from the edge I could not do a pantogram.  I needed to quit this from the front of the longarm to make sure none of the edges got sewn back. To give her the hand print she wanted, I traced the hand in the center of each circle. 

Quilting is My Job

This wedding quilt was made by Sarah. The small blocks are all embroidery. It certainly is a beautiful quilt.

I think sometimes I need to be reminded that I do have a job. It wasn't too long ago I went through a time where I felt like I really needed to get out of the house and be around more people. Lately it seems like I am involved in too much. I had three different things going on today. I needed to decide which activity I was going to attend. When it came down to it I decided to stay home and quilt. 

I can't remember the last time I stayed home all day and quilted. It really did feel good. I need to try to find that balance of how much do I stay at home and quilt, and how much do I get out with other people.

My husband called me from work this morning and asked if I would make lunch for him and a friend. I told him no, I am quilting all day. It really did feel good to say no. I think I am going to start saying no more often.

The First Bayside Quilters Quilt Show

Bayside Quilters of the Eastern Shore are planning their first Quilt Show. It will be May 20 - 22 in this beautiful little restored church. It is located in the quaint historic town of Oxford, Maryland. I think it will be the perfect venue for our first show.

Birthday Present

My birthday is coming up the end of the month. Earleen gave me this for my birthday. 

What can I say except "perfect gift."

If you do much fusible applique you need to check out this You Tube.

I have not used the "Leaves Galore" ruler yet but I am excited about trying it. 

Working on the Blooming 9-Patch

This is the printed diagram showing how to lay out the Blooming 9-Patch. At the class the other day, Alice showed us how to lay it out. 

I am always looking for a shortcut and I thought if I label the diagram I would not have to lay out the entire quilt. I have started piecing the top and it is working.

I used a different color marker on every-other row to make it easier to keep track of what row I am on. Each row (except the 3 center rows) has a duplicate on the other side of the quilt. So, I made 2 of each row. I started on the outside and stitched 6 triangle to an E 9-patch. I did this for all of the rows except the 3 center rows. (You must be careful here because the triangles are directional.) Continuing in this manner I stitched the 5 block to the D 9-patch. As I went I finished to shorter rows. I also crossed off what I sewed together as I went. This really made the piecing easier. (I don't know if I did very well explaining it though.)

 Here my fabrics are all numbered.

 Here my stacks of 9-patches are lettered.

 The rows I have completed so far (2 of each).

6, E, 5, and D pieced for all of the rows except the center 3.

I do not know when I will get the chance to work on this again, but I will keep you filled in.

Still Rambling About Orange

If you read my post on Friday, you know I was rambling on about when I started to like orange. As I was cutting this fabric for my Blooming 9-Patch I remembered it was one of the fabrics I purchased in Sisters, Oregon in July 2004. I wanted to show you the quilt I made after my trip to the west coast. 

All of the fabrics in this quilt were purchased at The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon. This was the first time I ever really bought any fabric with orange in it other than maybe pumpkin color for fall quilts. It is interesting that my Blooming 9-Patch has 2 of those fabrics in it. Fabrics #1 and #2 were in that quilt. I now have no more of any of  that fabric left.

Stash Report, Week 16, 2011

Used this Week: 3 yards

Used year to Date: 48 yards

Added this Week: 0 yards

Added Year to Date: 60 1/2 yards

Net Used for 2011: (9 1/2 yards)


I am going on the right direction!

Blooming 9-Patch Class

In March at this post you saw me choosing my fabric for a Blooming 9-Patch. Yesterday I attended the class.  Alice did a great job teaching the class. She had quite a few samples done up for us. I don't know why I did not take any pictures of them.

These are the blocks for Alice's working sample to demonstrate how to lay out the top.

Here is Alice's sample laid out for all to see. Alice had a print out for us to follow when laying it out. I think that if I label the diagram I can pick the blocks up in order and sew them together, allowing me to skip the step of laying it out. I will try that when I get to that point and let you know how it goes.

This is the center of Lucille's quilt.

This is the center of Chris' quilt. Chris is having a real problem with this because she hates orange. After the initial class meeting several of the ladies went to a quilt shop to choose fabric. (I did not go along since I was using stuff from my stash and I did not want to be tempted. You know how difficult it has been for me to not buy fabric this year.) Anyway the teacher and some of the other ladies really encouraged Chris to get out of her box. By the way she reacted, and the look on her face, I believe this is way far out of her box!

 

I was telling Chris how I used to hate orange and somewhere along my quilting journey my tastes have changed. My favorite fabrics used to be darker more conservative prints like Thimbleberries and Civil War Prints. Now I am never drawn to those types of fabrics. I prefer bright, lively fabrics and large scale prints. Colette brought to my attention that the turning point for me may have been when I had surgery, and I think she might be partially right. In April 2004 I had a total hip replacement. I was determined after that I was going to start doing things I enjoyed in life. In May 2004 my longarm was delivered. 

In July my Mom, Youngest Sister, Daughter and myself flew across the country to Seattle to visit another sister. She had lived there since 1992 and I had never been to visit her. While we were there we rented a van and drove to the Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon. We also visited many quilt shops. It was on that trip  I discovered fabric by designers like Jane Sassaman, Kaffe Fassett, and Valori Wells, to name a few. That was definitely a turning point in my fabric preference. Upon my return to Maryland I was extremely disappointed to not be able to locally find fabric that I had fallen in love with. I even talked to 2 of the local shop owners and they said they would not carry that style of fabric because it would not sell here. About 5 years later some of the ladies in my guild began to like Kaffe Fassett fabric. Can you believe we are that much behind here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland? I am all for supporting your local shops but if they will not carry what you want I am thankful for on-line shopping. Boy, I really got off on a tangent there. 

Well, now maybe you know me a little better and why I am drawn to the fabrics that I love.

Here is a picture taken in July 2004 in Sisters Oregon.

In back: sister #3, my mom, myself, sister #2

In front: my daughter and my niece