May 27, 2006

another one bites the dust

Another quilty day---what else is new?

Marilyn ran up to the long arm quilters with me this morning to pick up the quilt I had dropped off a couple weeks ago. We both did a little bit of shopping. I was good and just got 1- yellow background 30's repro fat quarter and 2-1/2 yard cuts of two nice neutrals. One of the neutrals was perfect for the background of the Dresden Plates that Marilyn is making for her bed. She did a little more damage though finding some lovely lilac/lavenders for a butterfly quilt for her granddaughter. We would have stopped for lunch and maybe hit Hobby Lobby on the way home but Marilyn had an obligation with her mom around noon.

Later this afternoon I pulled out one of the four tops that we pinned for Linda S at the sew-in--little frogs in a log cabin-ish set. It didn't take too long to quilt since it was just nine blocks. I listened to the Cardinal-Padres game on Gameday Audio while I worked. Our paper said that the game was supposed to be on Fox this afternoon but they were wrong--dang it all. DJ was listening in from the living room and when it sounded exciting, he came back to see the play by play on the computer or would listen in with me (Cards won but it could have gone either way in the bottom of the 9th.) Then it was on to NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and Michael Feldman's "Whadya Know" online radio shows while I continued to work. I put the binding on the quilt I retrieved and on Linda's frog quilt after supper (OR was it "breakfast" since we had waffles with cherry topping and bacon?). Those will get passed on for someone else to finish up, bless them.

Jane came by to pick up Finn's two tops and three other quilts that just needed labels sewn on. Here are two that Joy dropped off the other day. Joy made the Jewel box on the left--she used a spilled paint in primary colors for the large HSTs which was a challenge fabric I gave the group late last fall. Her granddaughter Helen used hers to make the paint cans in the quilt on the right. Helen is now 18 but has been sewing/piecing since she was about 7. Grandmommy taught her. She does a great job! Joy tells me that the two of them along her daughter and another granddaughter will be going to the Alabama Quilt Symposium together next month . With her permission, they've already been shopping in her stash for their fabrics for the event. I told Joy it was probably better that they DID raid her stash---that way she could see them enjoy it and what they made with it. AND the stashbuster motto: they'll make more fabric if you find you need some in the same color. They got into a couple of Billie Lauder's workshops, she said. Should be a good time for all.



Finn, I loved working on your scrap quilts! It did make we wonder if you pull the fabrics that are in a color group when you start with something like the basket or is completely happenstance that the fabric wind up where they do? The basket, for example, have an overall pastel tone but there are some darks at the bases. I like the scrappy backgrounds on the bowties especially since I usually just use leftover muslin. Why not use a print--it works! It was so fun to see little bits that I have also used in the past--the pinks that are in Beth's Snail's trail on the baskets, those happy Christmas trees in the bowtie that I have a strip of in the braid top, for example. If I'm having fun picking out little motifs, then I know that the kids will as well. Linda has little fun bits in hers too---I spotted some Mary Engelbreit fabric, a piece of that same challenge fabric and so on. Fun, fun, fun!

I suppose that this being a holiday weekend everyone is apt to be busy with friends and family so it will be a bit quiet for a few days. It will be quiet here since we already took our big trip earlier this month. Do our Canadian or Australian ring members having a comparable holiday to the States' Memorial Day but celebrated at a different time of year, I wonder. Hanne and Barbara, something similar in Scandinavia or Cathi, in Ireland?

8 comments:

  1. Hi Linda, nice to see you,and gosh, it's late! I've just finished watching a movie and quilting on some pinwheels. Sounds like you had a really busy, but fun day..*VBS* Hurray for new bits of fabric!!

    I can tell you that I don't do much of anything special when putting scraps together. The cake stand blocks(most of them) were the result of being in a nickle swap. I had always wanted to do that block..and alot of those prints I used seemed a good size for a small block. Actually I don't really sort them out or pair them up. If you look at the size triangles I was using, and at repeats, you can see that I could get one or two big triangles(base( or several small ones. I filled in here and there from my scraps. I kind of let one color "lead" me to what comes next..does that make sense? I suppose that a darker one slips in keeps the top from reading as all one thing.
    The X blocks(window pane? broken dishes?) are completely from my stash. I wanted something equally pastel so it didn't jump out too much...that's how that part happened, but not til I knew I was finishing it for your group.

    The bow ties are almost always made with scrappy backgrounds. I do them all of one kind if I am selling the quilt. Most non quilters just don't get the scrappy thing. I like them either way..all of one thing or all mixed up. But I do use both background pieced the same in a block.
    I'm really happy to hear that your work part of these was fun for you..*VBS*
    Personally I can sit and look at fabric in quilt squares all day..*VBS* Guess I got the quilt pox, huh??? *VBS* Catch ya later!!

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  2. Linda - over here in the UK it's also a holiday weekend, or should I say in England and Wales anyway, Scotland do their own thing at the beginning of the month I think, this can make life very complicated if you work for a Scottish based company but cover an area in England as I did some time ago. Monday is officially our 'Spring Bank Holiday' - we call the odd Monday's we get off throughout the year here 'Bank Holidays' (unsure of the origin of the name) This particular one sort of used to coincide with Whitsuntide - or Pentecost in the Christian calendar but as the majority of Brits don't really go to church much I guess it's just become 'that long weekend at the end of May' as it's always the last Monday in May. It also coincides with the children's half term holiday so they get the whole week off. As at the moment I work term time only in a school it means that I get the week off too - YIPPEE!!!!!!!. Before I worked in a school I used to dread the kids being at home worrying about how to occupy them - now I love it as it means I get a break too :o)

    Love the two quilts, especially the jewel box one - a pattern I've long wanted to make up - so many quilts, so little time sigh!

    Anne

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  3. In Canada we have similar dates for our holiday - last weekend was Victoria Day - a 3-day weekend. The weather is almost always terrible!

    Cheers!

    Evelyn

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  4. wow--you have been on a quilter's roll--great job in getting so many done. Isn't it funny how we put things off and then when we do start--how easy they are and how easy it is to keep going? hahaha

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  5. Hi Linda, I got so carried away with my comment last evening that I forgot to say how much I LOVE the jewel box and the paint cans!!

    I love that jewel box pattern, it's so much fun to piece..I have to do one some time soon..been a while since I have..*VBS* They look fantastic! That pile just keeps growning and growing, doesn'it????? Hugs, Finn

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  6. You are really going like the wind ! It is late - I will be back to read more tomorrow :-)

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  7. The quilts are both beautiful!

    I think if I had to pick one, I'd have a hard time - but I guess the white one would be my first choice!

    But I really like the paint can one for a child's quilt too, all the different color lids on the cans. :)

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  8. So many treasures on this page of posts. It's going to take me a long time to go over each picture and post. I wanted to thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures. I've never seen so many quilts in one place. :)

    Darilyn

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