More Quilt Show pictures

Nancy at Patchwork Penguin is hosting a Chimney Sweep block exchange using Civil War prints.  At the quilt show yesterday, I snapped a photo of a quilt made up of these blocks.  The blocks for the swap will  have a cross shape in the middle made up of the backing fabric (Kona natural).

I really think I am going to love a quilt from these blocks.  I will be doing my blocks in double pink.  A few of the other colors that swappers are using are:  cheddar, poison green, indigo, red, yellow, brown, blue/brown, and scrappy.  Luckily, the blocks aren't due until August so I have plenty of time to fit them in.

Quilt Show

Yesterday, I attended the Northern Star Quilters'  annual show.  I haven't been able to attend for the last 2 years, so I was eager to see the exhibit.  There seemed to be less quilts exhibited this year and the majority of them were art quilts.  Mixed in was a good number of Baltimore Album style quilts and some traditional quilts.  I was surprised at how few quilts were what I would consider "modern style."

There also seemed to be fewer vendors with less merchandise.  Many of them were selling embellishments for art and crazy quilts.  I did come home with a pattern and a few pieces of fabric needed to complete some current quilts in the final planning stage.  I also came home with 4 empty fabric bolts that my husband quickly cut in half so that I could use them for storage.

Besides having fewer quilts, many of the quilts were not hung to show them to their best advantage.  As I walked past a group of miniatures that was too high to really appreciate, a woman stopped me.  She asked if I could tell that the quilt in front of us had 120 hours of hand work.  She went on to point out some of the stitching.  It was then, that I realized she was the quilter and she noticed that I did not stop very long in front of her quilt.  She was very upset at the way it was hung and I had to agree with her (she was actually a little scary).  It is a shame the quilt was not hung at a more advantageous level.  I would have liked to examine the stitching more closely.  Here is a picture of the quilter and her handiwork.  The white area forming the center of each of the flowers was made of of hundreds of tiny button hole stitches.

Below is a the front and back of a quilt by Mary Anne Ciccotelli who is currently soliciting photos of interesting quilt backs for her new lecture and trunk show, "Fun Backs - Going the Extra Mile."  It's not surprising that she won a ribbon.

Glad to Be Back

I can't believe it has been a month since my last entry.  I finally have access to my camera again.  My husband found the battery charger so I am now able to take pictures again.  I have to admit, I am a little disappointed because this means I don't need a new camera.  That will have to wait for a bit.

Saturday was my husband's goddaughter's wedding.  She was a beautiful bride and her dress was exquisite. I managed to play a small part in the wedding.  I made the ring bearer's pillow.  On the front, I used an embroidery design from Laura's Sewing Studio.  I do not have the software needed to properly digitize the names and date, so Laura did if for me for a reasonable charge.

I was a nervous wreck while making it, but everyone seemed very happy with the results.

The designs on the back are from Embroidery Library.
It will take me a few days to gather together everything I've been waiting to post for the last month.

Janome sewing and embroidery machine giveaway

Sorry I have been missing in action, but the charger for my camera is missing and I have no way to take pictures for a while.  Since text in a blog without pictures is totally dull, I thought I would hold off until I can replace my charger,  In the mean time, there is a fabulous giveaway on the DIY Dish blog.

You can click on the logo on my sidebar to find out all of the details and to see some of their crafting videos.


I hope to be posting lots of photos of what I am working on soon.  Until then, I will be hibernating until I can find a way to charge my camera or get a new one.  

Design Wall Monday - March 15, 2010

The first picture is of the fabrics I am using for a Terry Atkinson (of Yellow Brick Road fame) pattern available free online called Neutral Territory.

The stripes in the pattern are formed by sewing 2 inch strips in sets of 5.  My strip sets are already pieced, but I have a problem.  Apparently, my 1/4 inch seam was too scant when piecing the strips, so my strip sets finish at 8.5 instead of 8 inches. They are supposed to be 8 x 8 before they are pieced to the other strip sets.   I'm trying to decide how to adjust the pattern so it will come out even.  

These are my sewn together strips laying on top of the border fabric.  The one on the right has been cut to 8 inches.  The rest of the sets are folded to approximate the 8.5 inches they would be if I cut them square.  I love the red/black batik and really need to push myself to work on this.

Don't forget to visit Judy L's blog to see some interesting design walls.

Makes me Happy Monday - March 15, 2010

Family events can be stressful.  Whether they are for your family by blood or marriage, it's easy to get drawn into the emotional stews that have been simmering for a lifetime.  The bridal shower I attended on Saturday was no exception.  With all of the crazy emotional turmoil that took place behind the scenes, the bride's mom (my husband's aunt who is only 2 years older than he is) remained gracious and serene (at least on the surface).

Although my contribution to the shower decorations were minimal, she made me feel as though I was a major factor in the success of the shower.  As I left the restaurant, she presented me with one of the centerpieces.  It makes me happy  to know that I have in-laws, rather than out-laws.

Showers - Rain and Otherwise - Saturday, March 13, 2010/ Stash Report Sunday, March 14, 2010

It's a miserable, rainy day outside and is predicted to stay that way until Monday.  Maybe it's appropriate that I am going to a bridal shower today.  My husband's goddaughter is getting married in April and her shower is today.  The family has been in turmoil for weeks preparing for this event.  Although I wanted to help, it has really taken a toll on the time I usually allot for quilting.  I only managed to sew some blocks for my "Downy Quilts for Kids" kit.  My job is to make the decorative shower umbrella.  As tasks go, it doesn't seem like a big deal.  We had a lace parasol left over from my days as a costumer designer for my children's school plays.

I started with 6 "bushes" of  white flowers, yards of 3 different kinds of white lace, and 2 spools of white organdy ribbon. This is what was left.

After removing 64 sprigs of flowers from the bushes and cutting the lace to fit; I hand sewed them to the umbrella.  The small plastic knob at the top of the umbrella was covered by a swirl of lace sewn to resemble a rosette.  I added double strands of organdy ribbon to the edge of the 8 umbrella spokes and sewed single flowers to the ends of the strands.  This doesn't sound like much, but it took days of sewing.  I think the result was worth it.

That's my excuse for not using any of my stash this week.

Used this Week:          0 yards

Used year to Date:    15 yards

Added this Week:       0 yards

Added Year to Date:  24 yards

Net Used for 2010:  - 9 yards

Please stop by Judy L's blog if you would like to see some successful stash busting.