Tuesday, November 24, 2015

The Prep Before the Meal

Anyone who has prepared a 
holiday meal for family and friends,
 knows that it just doesn't magically appear
on the table.
When everyone is licking their lips
and oooing and ahhhing 
 over the deliciousness
of the meal

there is a kitchen like this in the background.
It takes a lot of work to 


finally get to this point. 

The same thing happens when making a quilt.
I've been working on 
Halloween mystery quilt
since July.
I've had Halloween fabrics in piles
for months.
We got the final clue last week.
Yay!

Now there are literally
500- 2" four patches to make
for the lattice.

 Of course,
there's pressing involved

 and lots more sewing.


Eventually,
 the blocks and lattice strips
will come together.

And then the big reveal
ooooo, ahhhh.....
Delicious!
But not yet.
I'm still cooking
and making a mess.

Until then
have a wonderful Thanksgiving
counting your many blessings.

 Until Next Time-

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

A New Route to Travel

 Should I?
or Shouldn't I?



I've been wanting to start something new!
 But...
I've got so many other projects that need 
to be finished!

This isn't the time of year to
be adding things to the list!

Yaaugh!

What's a quilter to do?

 Well.....
 I've been wanting to start Di Ford's
"Route 66"
from her book, Primarily Quilts.
Her book has been around for awhile
and I know others have already made this lovely quilt,
but I've been waiting until I 

could really enjoy every moment of sewing.

I've been collecting some different border options,
interesting fabrics for hexagons and diamonds,
precut paper pieces,
and a big set of Clover binding clips.

I'm sure I learned to use these
from someone's blog,
but, boy, do these clips work great
holding the "fussy cut" fabric exactly in place
while you baste.

It's great to feel excited about the new challenges,
new fabrics, new skills.
Most of my works in progress, WIP's,
are closer to being finished.
(Notice I didn't say done, just closer!)
I know this isn't a "hurry up" and 
"get it done fast" kind of a quilt,  


but today is a  good day to start something new!


Until Next Time-

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Polka Dot Dottie Would Love This Quilt

 When I was a little kiddo
I remember having a children's Golden Book
about Rootie Kazootie
and his girl friend, Polka Dot Dottie.


She loved polka dots.
One day she hung out her laundry and 

suddenly all the polka dots where stolen
by Poison Zanazboo.

But like all good stories
there was a happy ending when all the
polka dots where eventually returned
and all was happy again in Kazootieland.

Don't you just love polka dots?

Back in the early spring
I was inspired by the cover of
Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke's book

Material Obsession.
That's a lot of dots, but
I loved it.

So I collected fabrics

and made Dresden Plate blocks
hand appliqueing the pedals and center circles.

 And before I knew it the quilt was done.
Sometimes that happens when the
quilt is "just fun" to work on.

All those bright fabrics
and dancing red and white polka dots
It's a quilt full of excitement and energy.

Rootie wouldn't have had to
do much detective  work
 
 to find all the dots in this quilt and

Polka Dot Dottie
would have been thrilled.

 I knew it might be hard to see the machine quilting
with so much movement in the fabric.
 It needed to be kept simple and playful.

I kept those spots and dots
all in a straight line by
 carefully cut out the binding.

I even found the perfect backing fabric
with more tiny polka dots.

Polka dots just make you smile.
They're playful, fun and
they have the power to make you feel great!


Until Next Time-

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

I Was at Festival!

Have you ever dreamed of
running through a enormous warehouse and

having only five minutes 
to collect as many prizes as you could?
 That's what it was like for me last Thursday
at the International Quilt Festival in Houston.

I had one day to find the best vendors

and look at all the marvelous quilts on display.

To be honest it was a bit overwhelming,
yet totally exciting.
Running Man dropped me off at the
Convention Center and then
it was...Ready, Set, Go!

With such a limited amount of time
I had my planned list and the number of each booth.

First stop,
Somerset Patchwork & Quilting
and Karen Styles.
She was such a delightful person.
I was too excited to get a photo
of her and the booth, but
here's what I brought home.
It's her new line by Marcus Fabrics,
"Loire Valley".

Next,
Dutch Heritage
with Petra Prins from the Netherlands.
(I'm barely containing myself by now.)


Unfortunately,
she could only take cash or a check.
Otherwise,
 
I would have gotten a lot more
of these awesome chitzes.
I was down to digging for change in the bottom
of my purse!
I didn't get a picture of her either.
I didn't want to act too bush league.

There were wonderful antique
quilts to look at,
 

shops that many of us recognize from online,

and the free Mystery BOM
by Buttermilk Basin.
I mentioned to Stacy West
I was following along each month and
 probably a gazillion people had already told her that
but, she was so genuine in her enthusiasm it was
truly heartwarming.

Saw a few quilting celebs,

Ricky Tims passing something
secretively to this button guy,


Carrie Nelson, of Miss Rosie's Quilts,

Jamie Wallen who has lots of YouTube videos
on machine quilting,
 
Lynette Anderson,

and Lisa Bongean
of Primitive Gatherings.
(Stop #3)
Everyone was willing to take the time
to talk with you, or show you how to do a stitch.

I took quite a few picture of the quilt shows,
but I won't post many.  There's better places on line
to see the winners.

Ewe Are My Sunshine
by Janet Stone.
(The grand prize winner)

But here's what you do
if your husband that has tagged along.
You find the husband's corner.

and they can watch TV or take a nap.
In Running Man's case he went and
found a park and took a simple 16 mile run. :0)

And when you've hit the wall
you can literally
 go sit up against the wall
until you've regained your stamina.

I saw gals wearing matching hot green T-shirts
calling themselves the Psycho Quilters
and then these gals wearing matching hats.

I guess it was so they could quickly find each other
in the crowd.

It was a wild place at Festival.

With awesome quilts
Pennsylvanian Star of Bethlehem by
Mickey Beebe

 Deconstruction
by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

and
828 Valance Street
by Laurie Tigner

and
The Collection for a Cause
by Moda

Just to mention a few.
Phew!

Until Next Time-