Gray and Cloudy Thursday

I have been quite busy here with needle and thread but don't have much to show. Yesterday was Quilter's Anonymous (my large quilt guild) and our featured speaker was Frieda Anderson. Her work is quite amazing - check out this website. This is all fused applique and while she does lots and lots of background quilting there is very little or no stitching on the applique pieces themselves. All from the Chicago School of Fusing (I think that's the name).

I decided to make another basket from Bunny Hill. This time I'm doing needleturn applique - or at least trying it. Ever since I took a class from Becky Goldsmith, I have wanted to turn out projects nearly so well done. Thus far I have not succeeded, but I do keep trying. I have also been working on a crazy exchange but, as you know, I cannot show you yet.









Tonight is our delayed Holiday party for my small quilt guild. We will do the requisite ugly fabric exchange, but this year we will also include some nice fabric along with the less than attractive. I think last year I got something with pink and purple seashells - really bad. We will also give everyone a muslin square to create a string block then we will draw a name and one of our members will get them all. Last year we did all Christmas fabrics. This year we are doing only black and white.









Finally in the "do you really want a big laugh" category, I unearthed two rather antique photos:


My dance career was rather short-lived. (age 3) and lovely, swirly dresses (age 18, Sr. Prom) aren't much in my wardrobe these days, either. Although I do remember those marvelous shoes: white satin, clear vinyl and rhinestones. Oh my goodness!

thanks Paula

Blessings to Paula for getting me back up and going and helped me move margins so that I could insert the little travel ticker. Now just to figure out what I'm doing wrong that doesn't allow the counter to show up. But I'm here and off to the sewing machine after Quilt Guild this a.m. So many things to try out.

And that silly weather girl has NOT looked outside - it is very gray and cloudy, not sunshine. Alas!

Change?

I know that I've changed the look of the blog again - I have been having troubles and cannot find how to change things around. It started with my ticker - the borders cut off the end of the ticker. I tried several different ones, but they all cut off the end. Well silly - move the borders! I cannot find out if that is possible or how to do it.

Then my counter disappeared. Yesterday I spent almost an hour trying to get that back on and nothing seemed to make it show up. Oh the words (title) would show but nothing on the blog itself. If I went into Layout and looked, the HTML code was there, so I don't know what to do. I tried removing it and re-inserting it about 6 times without success. That is why I did away with the cute border/edging thinking that might be the problem, but alas.

OK you computer genius (what is the plural of that word? geniuses?) can you help this wayward blogger?

2nd week of the month - always the busiest

Well here we are. Even though my weather girl for today says rain -luckily it is not! It looks wet but not coming down right at this moment. And all that silly snow business has gone away. The one particularly good thing about being snow-bound for a few days, all of us got in some good sewing time. Hurrrah. [At my CTA meeting this morning our "show and tell" time was especially long as everyone had been busy amusing themselves.] I got my chaos crumbs put together and if I do say so, it's pretty darn cute. I'm not sure what will happen to it now - probably find someone to give it to. The blocks are cut at 6", so I may make some 9 patch ones, too. Fun little things to have on hand.

I also have been making the Bunny Hill BOM - decided it was time to get with that program. Very cute. I have made this one using Wonder Under -to see if I liked it. And I do. So I will do another with appliqued pieces. If you are familiar with the pattern you will note that I haven't finished the leaves and vine overhead, but I'll get that one done. Now to decide if I like this fabric for the snowman. The sparkle seemed somewhat snow/ice-like, but I was also toying with using white batting for the snowman. And I think the star behind him/her needs to be a bit stronger. What do you think: sparkle or batting? Stronger star behind?




I have also been playing with some of the Dutch Fabrics I get quarterly from Minewood Quilting. [She even has her site translated into English. Waaaayyy easier!] They are marvelous and I keep saving them for just the "right" project. So I think I have found it with the "Vierkanten" pattern from Elly Prins. It is in Dutch but as long as you can translate from cm. to inches, you are all set. This is the same basic pattern that I used for Ronda's birthday wall-hanging.









I swore after White Chocolate that I would NOT be making any more quilts larger than wall hangings, but am finishing up with a crazy exchange that is a lap size quilt. Not so big, but it does require my 72" fold-up table to get it sandwiched. Takes up the entire family room when that baby is up for business. Quilting it now and soon will send it off to its new home. I forgot to include the photo of the last one I sent off, which went to North Carolina, just after Christmas:









This is just the greatest - to be able to sew and sew AND perhaps even more, to meet so many amazing people through this little "hobby" of mine. Gosh it's great. I feel so lucky, so my thanks to all of you who read my silly prattle and even come back for more. Happy January, 2009!

Chaos Crumb blocks

As I need to give Gretta a bit of a "breaking in" these seemed like a fun way to give us both some practice. Pretty darn easy and lots of fun to do.




Not sure what happens when I get these all put together. And my goodness but I have lots more partially done.

Also had a very fun field trip with my Stone Soup Quilting group out to Martingale Press. Their offices are just filled with tens of amazing quilts. So interesting to walk through. And then, the best for last, we got to visit the warehouse and shop for books that are more than 6 months old, for a whopping $5.00 apiece. Guess who spent a bit of money, but not too crazy. [they don't allow photos inside, saying that is because all the quilts are copyrighted.]

Come on out here and see what we have to show you. (the snow is gone, now) Only rain and nobody melts.

Happy January

Meet Gretta

I bought myself a Pfaff Quilt Expressions 4. I have looked at and tried out a number of different machines. While I have been tempted, I knew that I did not want the learning curve of an embroidery machine - while I love, love what they can produce. Basically I am a quilter so I needed something that would do all the requisite things (forward, back, zig zag) as well as a few stitches for quilters. I also still do a bit of sewing for the grands, so having a few cutsie stitches was fun, too. My old Pfaff 7550 (why did I think it was too extravagent to buy the top model, the 7570?) has 229 stitches on it. My Gretta has 220 - more than enough for me. In fact, I probably won't use all of those, but I suspect there may be some that I use a whole lot. Once I had a sewing machine tech. tell me that the 7550 was a good ole "work horse" and so that is why I was not interested in having to trade it in. The ad said the price included a trade-in, but they ended up selling me the new machine without a trade in. Score! The only extra I purchased was the (clear plastic) table that slides onto the machine, specifically for quilting.

Among the functions that I am really enjoying are:
* a 10 inch opening right of the needle - larger than many
* two lights to illuminate the "sewing field"
* and what has been my favorite, so far, if you 'tap' the foot pedal, the needle will go into the fabric but the presser foot will raise just enough to re-arrange the fabric or, better yet, allow you to insert fabric for chain piecing.












And in order to try out these wonderful new functions, I have been playing with scraps and making "crumb chaos" blocks , a la Patti They are something to use up a whole lot of bits and pieces. I'll let you know when I get enough 'rounds' done to actually have blocks. Not yet, but it is kind of fun (and reasonably mindless). Woo Hoo!!!!

January adventures

Well, friends, we made it to 2009. Despite our strange and marvelous weather, we have all survived and all the requisite holidays have been accomplished. We actually "did" Christmas yesterday with the grands (Jan 1st). Maybe there is something to be said for stretching this holiday out. I know that I must buy gifts throughout the year, a) because then you don't have all the expense at once, and b) you have to pick up things as your come across them. The secret is to put them away but not forget about them.

If I may digress for a minute - after my mother died, we were cleaning out her apartment and moving the furniture to its new destination. Under her bed we found Christmas gifts for my son, my brother, his sons, and my daughter. They were left-overs from the previous Christmas. Guess I take after mom.

Sometimes when you are two, the parcels are as big as you are. But it is also important to wear ALL the new hair clips along with your new tutu and pink tights and new lavender sweater.









We had a fabulous day.

I have been busily working away in my little "cave". Doing lots of tidying up - the sewing table surface is very clear. I have been making just loads of wine bags - both as gifts and to use. I have these two left for our next social engagements that requires bringing a bottle of wine. They are so cute and so easy.









We have been amusing ourselves with a little jig saw puzzle:
Matches the outside temperatures.








Santa found this lovely bag for me, along with a quilt calendar:









I don't think she reads my blog, so I will show you the little wall hanging I made for my crazy exchange partner. This one was just going across the U.S. so it should have arrived by now.









And that's about it, except all being well, I will go out and buy myself a new sewing machine later today. I have been looking at various ones and trying them out. There are some decent sales out there. For the number of hours per week I spend sitting at my machine, it is a worthwhile investment. I'll take photos. :->