2015: A Very Good Year

 2015 was a very productive year.

I crossed off  lots of fun and 

some complicated quilting projects

off my list.
Of course,

added many others.

I've tried new techniques and

hopefully, improved on old ones.

I continue to learn new things

and I hope you do too.

I've made a Smilebox

to help me remember all 

that I've completed, and

I thought you might enjoy seeing it too.

This photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

 Until Next Year-

Making Memories

 Holidays are a time for

bringing together family and friends.

Our family celebrated Christmas 

early this year.

Scheduling everyone's availability

is often challenging

but we made it work.

My Florida kids

arrived and

the other families came

 from much nearer destinations.

We didn't do anything fancy

or complicated.

Took walks

made pies,

gave kisses

 and wore

new Christmas jammies.

It was more than opening presents

although that was fun.

It was just being together.

making memories

(photos by the talented Jessica Wolfe)

Happy Holidays

 Until Next Time-

A Triple Decker

 I just had to join in

Humble Quilt's SAL.

Lori was calling it Country Roads.

If I were "walkin' down a country road" near me,

  this is what I would see.

And this is my "Country Roads".

26" x 28"

I enjoy working on Lori's little quilts.

She keeps it simple.

Did you catch my humility block?

Not on purpose, just a continually reminder.

I love the look of quilts with no borders,

but I have a hard time leaving them off.

So I added two, one only 1/2" and the outer

border with two different widths.

I dug deep in the sewing stash and used

some ancient fabrics.

The center gold/cheddar is from a very 

early line of Fons and Porter called Cumberland.

The narrow border and binding from a 

Barbara Brackman line called Trailing Vines.

 And on the back, the oldest fabrics,

 are from Country Threads'

first line, Welcome.
Does anyone remember these?

Boy, did that feel good.

Thanks, Lori for another 

fun sew along.

****

I was recently a winner

of Diane's giveaway over at Butterfly Threads.

She sent me a copy 

of the newest magazine from

Simply Moderne, issue #2.

I hadn't had a chance to thoroughly enjoy

this magazine yet so,

 I was really thrilled to receive a copy.

It's filled with stunning photos,

modern style quilts,

and new ideas from young designers,

like my blogger friend,

Rachael at Blue Mountain Daisy.

There's a beautiful full page photo of her

prize winning red and white quilt from the recent

Sydney Quilt show. 

Check it out!

Yes, it certainly lives up to the standards 

of the original magazine, Quiltmania.

I'm going to have to add this to my

magazine subscriptions.

Diane also generously sent 3 of her
own published patterns.

You can find these and more over at Craftsy.

Thanks, Diane.

****

It's been almost

20 years ago since I went to the

International Quilt Festival in Houston

but I'm heading there next week!

I'm so excited.

I'm leaving plenty of empty space in my

bags and I'm ready for some

quilting overload, 

and maybe a bit of overindulgence.

Unfortunately, I'm there only one day

so I'm going to have to move in overdrive.
Did I say I was excited?

Until Next Time-

The Bear Chase

 It was almost 90 degrees

last Saturday.

Way too warm for the end of September.

But despite the predicted scorching weather,

Running Man and about 50 other

crazy Ultra marathon runners took to the trails
to run the 50 mile Bear Chase Trail Run
held in Morrison, Co.

 It's always an early start for
these races.

Even before the sun comes up.

Here's me and my little spot for the
long day.

Running Man's race was for 50 miles, but
there were also runners doing a 100K, (62 miles)
and a 50 K (31 miles)

Ready, Set, Go!
Look at all those crazy people.

The course was a 12.5 mile loop,
which made my job as the CREW pretty easy.
 I just stayed in one spot and waited
for Running Man to show up.

The course was through open fields

 

 and through creeks

With the temp around 90 degrees

everyone was trying to stay cool
by dumping water over themselves.

Not a cloud in the sky

or a tree for shade.

Some of the crews had great set up with
tents and BBQ grills.

 

Remember my little set up?
Some of the younger groups must have felt
sorry for this older crew person and
invited me in under the shade.
Good thing, because I would have fried!

So what do you do for about 11 hours
while your runner is

 hopefully avoiding bears?

You sit and stitch,

 an embroidery by Crabapple Hill, called Autumn.
Hard to see the design,
but look what I had done by the end of Running Man's race.

Running Man was a superhero

and crossed the finish line in 10 hours, 34 minutes.

He looks a little spent,
needless to say,
but he was first in his age group, 60+,
and 16th over-all.

What do you win?
This

and bragging rights.

It was a good day
and a good run

despite the heat.
Easy for me to say!

Until Next Time-

Baskets of Stars

Back in May I purchased a kit
designed by Moda.
I'm generally not a kit buyer,
but this one just spoke to me.
It is one of the
"Collection for a Cause"
Mill Book Series
Circa 1892

This particular quilt is
supporting the cause...
The Texas Quilt Museum.

I always hope that with each new
project there's at least one new idea or technique
that I can learn and

add to my tool belt.

This pattern had an accurate and different way to

applique the basket handles.

Two basket handles were

included in this oval shape.
It made for easier and
accurate placement on the background pieces.

I appliqued it as usual, but

knotted at the beginning and ending

of each handle individually.

The seam allowance was included in the oval shape
so when the square was cut in half

to yield 2 basket handles

there was adequate seams to

attach it to the pieced basket.
The knots prevented the handles from
coming unstitched.

The pattern is available here.

It's easy and doable.

It was inspired by this quilt 

in the Texas Quilt Museums collection.

There's some applique,

some piecing,

 but no borders.

The baskets alternating with the appliqued stars
are set square, not on point, but
they actually create the look

 of a diagonal set.


Basket of Stars was fun to reproduce. 
It's a classic design and would
work up great with any reproduction
fabrics in your collection.
I love being connected to the
rich quilting history of the past,
and this pattern takes us back.

Until Next Time-