quilt meetings and home front

Here is a quilt that was turned in at our meeting On Tuesday-- Theramae's Merkitty challenge quilt. She has been having some health problems this year, in and out of the hospital and such, so this was the first time she could in months. We had offered to come by and pick her up if she felt up to it and take her home when she was ready a time or two but she was not ready to take us up on it. (Her home helper brought her by and Jane and Aline took her home after going out for a sandwich at Quizno's. Most of us had brought our lunch so didn't go)

We had a few to pin, chatting to do, suggestions about quilt patterns for one of the girls. I did a bit of work on one of my bluework snowmen blocks since I didn't want to haul my machine. Really if I am going to be truthful, I am in the "not wanting to piece or quilt doldrums" again, I'm afraid.

Now mind you, I don't necessarily think that is a BAD thing. It helps to recharge the batteries to step back a bit but I do have some sewing that needs to be done. Some deadline type projects. I could tick all the items off on my fingers but except for needing a little push to get started, that is only important to me.


But, I didn't want to totally waste the days away on the computer or whatever. I started cutting and organizing some fabric bits instead. I have vowed not to have a bag that holds leftovers from previous projects, cutaways, etc and let those mount up again. Not after I spent three or four days cutting my way through it. However, I was very close to that. The leftovers from the bargello, my own and those that my mom sent for me to use were still in a bag on the floor. Atop that a small Hancock's bag stuffed to the gills with strips that I wouldn't let Judy toss. Marilyn added to it on Saturday when she brought a small box out to the car. Oh, and some donation fabrics earlier in the month from another friend.

A good bit of it was cut but some, not. 2, 2.5, 3 and 3.5 and a few 1 1/2 inch strips. Some was tossed and others separated out uncut. The pastels on the left---log cabin baskets. Some leftover Christmas nine patches. I still need to put this stuff away but there you have it. Replenish the scrap baskets with some new stuff and put away the old. I think I am going to dismantle an old top that Marilyn brought me after I post this and run an errand. The top is feedsack fabrics in large block form.

Obligatory kitty pictures are included, of course, LOL. Skyler playing with his toy mice and other toys scattered throughout the living room. He has taken to hauling the small ones into the kitchen to bat them around under the kitchen table. He will even dive under the buffet to fetch one out if it strays. Looks pretty funny to see a cat with just the butt end sticking out and completely flattened out. I know Pippi would have gotten stuck but he is smaller--and almost fearless.

It rained a bit around lunch time so he is keeping a watchful eye on the birds. Better than his playing with the iron cord, I think. DJ needs to trim the bush outside the other perch but he goes from one to the other throughout the day.

Other than some reading and poking around the 'net for some ideas of a Halloween quilt and of course, my almost daily walking it just doesn't seem like I have doing much. Maybe I should heed the word my husband often says "Aren't you retired? Who gave you all those jobs?"

Any of the rest of you having problems loading pics? I had to download Picassa in order to get these added today.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend---

flickr upload if interested

If anyone is interested, I loaded all the pics from Quilts in the Park onto a flickr set that can be found HERE

Also I never did get around to posting any of the pics from the Geraldine (AL) Homemaker's group quilt show on my blog--that was the weekend that Pippi died and my computer crashed. Understandable, I would think. Anyway I also loaded that batch on flickr in their own set HERE if you care to take a look.

Get real bored and you can look at all the past donation quilts and such, LOL. If I can figure out how to load that mosiac thing on my sidebar, I might give that a go.

followup

I have two pictures that I had intended to add to my last post concerning our trip to Cave Spring this past Saturday and Skyler's "Kitty Shower". Also I have a response to a comment that was left.

This was one of the quilts we saw in the bedturning presentation. The blocks were made by our group founder's mother. Joy, the daughter, hand quilted it. They look larger in the picture than they actually were from this angle---maybe 12 inch finished or smaller when viewed in person. One of my group was very interested in learning how to string piece so this one really "wowed" her when she saw it. She had me take a picture of a simple string/half square triangle block earlier.

And, here is Skyler worn out from playing with some of his new cat toys from the "Kitty Shower." I put quite a few of them away for now--sensory overload!! He knows right where I keep them though and meows like crazy when I open the drawer of the buffet. That, and tries to climb in said drawer. Also he can fish a few things out of what is supposed to hold fireplace logs from the hearth if he wants--and he does quite often. I toss them in and he drags them back out.

Okay, a couple of folks that left comments are on "no-reply blogger" which is their right, of course. I would have emailed back a response if I had been able to do so but lacking an eamil addy, I will respond here.

I was asked how to get to the quilt shop in Collinsville--- HERE is a link to their website but basically go north on route 11 to the intersection with route 68 and turn right. (if you turn left at the light it would shoot you out to the interstate) The shop is on Main Street about 4 shops in next to Cook's Barber Shop on the right hand side of the street. The town is small though and you can't really get lost, LOL. They aren't open on Sunday, Monday or Thursdays though. You would expect them to be open on the Thursday though but the whole town closes down to tend their "Victory Gardens" Yeah, I know--they haven't done that since WW II but it became a town custom.

They have a quilt walk each fall this year it falls on September 26-27 that may interest you if you are in Alabama or live near the GA line. HERE is the link for information, etc. Trade Days may be more renowned but quilters need the lowdown on the more important stuff, LOL.

Still have to prep a handout for our meeting tomorrow so off I go----

field trips and good friends

7 of the girls in my quilt group and I went on our field trip today to Cave Spring, GA. I am not sure just how far that is from us but it took just a little over an hour on divided highway and/or two lane road. Just far enough away to know you had gone somewhere but not far enough to get butt weary from the trip.

It had rained during the night last night but it was a Chamber of Commerce gorgeous day today. I took the picture at left through the window of the historic Rolater Park (built in 1851) looking outside at this gorgeous pink dogwood through the stained glass windows.

I am showing you a few pictures of the church interior. The lady in the turqouise shirt is my friend Debora who organized the quilt show. The cat quilt up on the Balcony edge is my "Kitty City" quilt from a few years back. The quilt on the left side of the doorway is the raffle quilt for the quilt guild in Carterville, GA. Also you see an overview of the quilts that were on display. One in the middle of the 4th pew back was one we all were speculating over (near the loomed rugs on the back pew) It looked like a lace almost or perhaps some machine sewn lace that you sew to a water soluble stabilizer. Quite interesting however it was made. You can see the lady working on more of the rugs in the back of the room.

This is looking from the back of the church towards the front. There is Debora talking with fellow Belle Aline with our pal Lois with her back to the camera. Vangie is the other girl in green--from my row quilt group. The bed in the corner was set up for the bed turning presentation. Debora was kind enough to do an unscheduled session for us and the other attendees.

A slightly different view of the room. All my quilts that I had sent (other than the one on the balcony) were on a pew of the right hand side looking towards the rear of the church. I did take a picture of them but you have seen most of them already. I think that turtle quilt in front was too cute! And I love that Jack's Chain in the row behind it. (ed.note: Debora said that the turtle quilt was one of the viewers choice selections along with one on the itsy bitsy yo you quilts that may have shown up in another shot. I don't think I had shown a picture of the one that won Best of Show)

They were having an antique car show, pony rides for the kids and like a craft show/flea market thing in the park but other than taking a stroll around the grounds when we first arrived we didn't stop for that. There were two cafes nearby so we picked one and made sure they had pie--the girls in the other car had been chatting about it on the way up, LOL. You gotta have dessert on girls day out, right?

The girls also had a sweet surprise for me at lunch time. They all knew that I had lost my Pippi late last month and that Skyler had come to live with us two weeks ago. They gave me a Kitty Shower!! It was Marilyn's idea--she called the girls that she knew were coming on the field trip and asked them to bring a cat item today. Look at all the cool toys and such that Skyler got today! Toys that dangle, crinkle, roll, have catnip, feathers and all of that---well, one was in the living room with him---a big fat mouse that squeaks that hopefully won't get stuck under the coffee table, LOL. I am constantly going on mouse patrol for him.

The funniest thing is that one friend is not all that fond of cats to begin with and yet she had to go shop for a cat toy or cat item for me---definition of a friend, right? Just the way she said that at lunch made us all laugh. Another probably was a little embarrassed about walking all the way through the store with that squeaky mouse---every time you touch it it makes noise! They almost had me crying but they were ready with the kleenex just in case.

From Cave Spring, we decided to run back over to the AL side to the quilt shop in Collinsville--3 or 4 of the girls had never been there. Well, lets go then! I only got one 3 yard piece of fabric that I can use for backing on the 9PP. Trust me, the others made it worth their while. After dropping Marilyn back home, I got back in the door at 4.

What an excellent day! How blessed I am to have such loving and caring friends.

quilt pics and check in

What is wrong with this picture? The cat is in the recliner, sitting on DJ's neck pillow while DJ is on the loveseat spot. To be honest, during TV viewing time DJ alternates between the two spots so he left the spot open. Skyler was getting down from there when he spotted me with camera in hand though. Ohhh, the answer to how long it would take him to get up on the top of the kitchen cabinets and the kitchen passthrough way high?? 11 days. He did it at least 6 times yesterday. Again, he got down when he sees me so no picture.

Slight detour with the 9PP top business this past Saturday but I am pleased with how the top worked out. I still need to get some backing pulled and pieced as I made wider borders than the book suggested so it finished at 48 wide. Fun, fun day with the FABS though I am convinced that I am the pokiest sewer around, LOL. I finished up with the borders about 13 hours later than I had started sewing. You don't suppose that all the chatting I was doing in between might have had something to do with it?? Well, it never really was about speed but more like enjoying the process and playing with a new pattern idea. Thanks to DJ for picking up some sandwiches for our lunch so I could keep sewing.

I promised you some quilt pics from our last meeting---at this rate it will be our NEXT meeting if I don't get to it. I'll get to that in just a minute after I do a "check in" note.

I started this post two days ago but obviously, posting didn't happen. The pics got detoured by the need to try to reproduce the quilt document for 08 which was lost in the "Great Computer Crash" --this involves matching the picture to the document, naming/numbering it and then ordering prints of the pictures for our photo album and one for the person who made or donated the top. I have a nagging feeling that I am "missing" a quilt or two in the documentation. YIKES! The problem is that I mailed off a box of 12 or 14 to WTIL headquarters last month. Well, rethink that--it not really a problem as they ARE where they need to be for distribution. I may need to wait till Ellen can post those pictures in the 08 gallery pages to double check myself. (In case you were not aware, she has a picture of each quilt donated since we started back in 99---great spot to visit if you are ever looking for inspiration for a quilt top especially for pro bono work.) The ones that are still on premises awaiting shipment to Pam for M2M or some saved back for local donation are more easily pulled for verification.

Yesterday I also had some document reconstruction to do for Home Extension. I finally get to hand over the baton to someone else after 4 or 5 years as the county treasurer. What a time to lose the files in that case! Anyway, I had a print out of the membership list and an old backup file from 05 that I could copy/paste from so that helped. I also updated the address book that I use for printing up mailing labels. All that remains is setting a date to remove my name from the signature card and adding the new sucker, er, treasurer.

Monday morning a friend from the row group stopped by to get a few of my quilts for the Quilts in the Park show being held on the 19th in conjunction with the Cave Spring, GA Springfest 08. This is the 2nd year for the quilt show and the Belles and I are taking a little field trip over. Should be fun to get away with the girls.

Monday afternoon I took Skyler to the vet for just a general checkup and followup to some treatment he received at the shelter. He didn't meow once in his carrier but I am sure he was stressed out by the whole ordeal. He had to have a followup ear mite treatment plus the fecal test (clear, thankfully) and such. The vet and Brandy the tech said to not be surprised if I didn't see him the rest of the day. Well, hiding lasted about 5 minutes. Poor thing, more or less sacked out on the couch for hours afterwards and then slept right next to me all night. No mice chasing Monday night for that rowdy boy. Oh, I also have to give him so antibiotics for an respiratory thing--sneezing a bit. And yesterday I was tracking down some"Little Noses" pediatric saline spray for the nasal crusting. Looks like my nursing expertise is coming back into play, LOL.

Okay if you hung with me this long you deserve to see some pictures of something, anything!

Linda C Trip Around the World just back from the longarmer--personal project

Linda C made this one as well. It will be gifted to a friend but Linda said she liked it so well that she is making herself one just like it. Also quilted by the longarmer. It has a cool backing on it too.

Diamond Strings--pieced by my mom Elsie and quilted by me. I even tried a simple cable on the outside borders though it was a bit of a tight curve on the DSM. Jane who was kind enough to stitch the binding down said that her Thursday evening quilt group was quite intrigued by the strings on the rectangle as well as the diamond effect of the red strings at center. They were measuring off how big to cut the rectangle base and the strips sizes--sounds like they are going to try making some. This one is headed to M2M.

Checkerboard Plaids--pattern from Evelyn Sloppy's 40 Fabulous Quick-Cut Quilts. Pieced by my mom and quilted by me also heading to M2M. I helped her cut this one out last summer when I was back "home" in Illinois. Or at least I think I did, LOL. Seems to me it was part of the great scrap bag cutting event anyway. Sloppy shows it in masculine plaids but I love this soft, feminine version just a well.
This one--giant ugh. Half of a donation top. I like the feedsack pieces but I will not quilt up the other half of this but will dismantle it for the sack fabrics and make something prettier with it. I did wash it but there are some stains that did not quite come out so I am not sure that it should be donated anywhere.

This is Lois' donation top that I quilted late in 07 but now turned in bound. I am sorry that I do not know the correct name for the pattern. I just called it "Stars and Ribbons" on the document. The squares finish at about 1 1/4 inches. It was a lot of fun to see the little bits and pieces from various Belles quilts and Lois' scrap bag while I quilted it. Not sure where this is headed but I do need to keep some back for local donation.

Linda C donated top. I think the pattern for this was from a recent BH &G Quilt Sampler magazine but even though she told me, that info flew right out of my head. I just named it "Zigzag Strippie" for my document. Not sure where it is going either.

Square in a Square---now this one I know I cut out the centers last summer of that apple print. Pieced by Mom and quilted by me.

Lastly, this one was pieced and quilted by me. Triple Rails with that Heart Pieced in though I should have used a contrasting color for it to show up. Pattern by Mary Ellen Hopkins as a pattern of the month thing back in early 2000. Some of the blocks were leftover from Nancy C. and another top I had made. The remaining blocks were stitched up at our fall 07 sew-in but these rail blocks are my ongoing project. Get enough, make a top.
We have had three cold nights but I think that the temps are finally up enough for me to go get my walking in. I have certainly gabbed enough for one post! Hope you enjoyed the quilt show and thanks for stopping by!
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9PP sewing date

Ready to rock and roll here in the central time zone. We had tornado warnings and thunderstorms again yesterday afternoon so I didn't get to sew my strip sets together till after supper. (I got my friend's king sized quilt cut out for her prior to that--cutting time only because I kept track because she was paying me to do it 2.9 hours)

I just took a picture of the short strips I will need to get the nine patches out. You only get 16-2.5 cuts across the width of the goods and I needed 18.


One of our few rules: sew the strip sets together ahead of the sewing date but wait till this morning to do the subcuts.

I'm ready to "rock and roll" on these nine patches. Design "wall" is up. My EQ sketch is up to follow--that helps me get the colors I will be using in mind rather than what is shown in the book pattern. Don't have to keep wondering which I substituted for the red she shows this way.

Found out last night that Cher has and is using the same green print as I am! Of course, we know that Norma has to have green in hers as that is her neutral. Yellow is mine and Pam took care of that by providing a piece to the group. Scroll down to see her bright fabric picks. Pat is going with the "mooshy" look described in the book--low contrast, sorta water color feel for some of the blocks. It is going to be fun to see how these all turn out and of course, email and chat in between. Even better, the quilts are all going to be donated to M2M.

Well I best get to sewing or the bunch in the PNW will catch up with me!! Nine Patch or Bust.

9PP, part two

Here is the layout---much, much brighter in person. I am not happy with my sewing on the green and moda marble sections though. Old eyes on those strips? Several threads off on the nesting thing and I can do so much better than that. How can the simplest things become more complicated than they need to be?

BUT as Pam often says, IIWII--it is what it is--and it will probably quilt out or another way of looking at it, how can see it in all this mish mash of color??


Look who decided to try to help me sew this morning? I did a whole top the other day and he didn't bother me once but this morning his curioity got the better of him. He was biting at the thread and getting a paw a little too close to the needle. I know he has been unthreading the cone thread because I caught him biting at it and don't leave that temptation but this was a new trick.


From there he decided to be a little more docile and climb aboard DJ's lap. The book just got put aside while he made himself comfortable. Later both were napping--DJ in his recliner and Skyler on the couch. Hard to say who was doing the better job of it, LOL.

Okay, I'm off to join the sections together. Pam has her top finished minus borders but no one ever said I was a speedy sew-er.