It's Show Time...

"Over The River - My Way"

It's finally time...This week is Quilt Show Week for our guild.

I've entered five quilts for competition and display.

"Flutterby"

All of my quilts involve applique'.

If you've been reading my blog since I first learned this technique, you

may even chuckle a bit. You'll know that "I've come a long way, baby!".

"Martinique Plates"

I know that my friend, Flo would be proud of me if she were still here.

"Princeton Plates"

The week begins today with quilt judging for ribbons. Our guild has

about one hundred forty quilts, and most were submitted to be judged.

"The Pink Panther"

These are all my entries. I'm also having "Over The River" and

"Martinique Plates" appraised. Once "Martinique" is valued, I'll

know that "Princeton Plates" will be approximately the same value.

I'll be scribing (taking judge's notes) and helping turn quilts for

evaluation all day today. I'll be back on Wednesday to let you 

know the results. (Especially if there's anything "crow worthy"!)

 This is the week we've been working toward for the past two years.

We'll be crazy busy, but I want to savor it all.

I have to run. Judging starts at 8 o'clock this morning.

Wish me luck!

(There's still time to order raffle tickets, too! Just send me an email for details.)

Rainy Days and Thursdays...

 What to do on a cloudy Thursday that quickly turned to rain?

Well, for starters, teach the final class for the Over The River quilt.

That was really fun. I saw one finished quilt and helped with pointers

on another. My third student had a funeral to attend and couldn't come.

I headed home and went to the studio to work on the Princeton Plates.

 

 I asked Handsome for his input and together we chose the sashing, 

cornerstone and border fabrics. The blocks are all assembled now, 

so today, I'll square up the quilt and add the first and second borders.

 Then, I'll be ready to send it off to the long-arm. While it's away, I'll make

 coordinating pillowcases, shams and prepare the binding for its return.

There's still a bunch to do, but I couldn't wait to share my progress.

 If you need me, I'll be in the studio.

Catch ya later!

Scrappy Plates Bound...

WARNING: Picture heavy post.

 I'm finished! I did the binding, and now I'm almost giddy!

 I thought I'd start out by taking a few outdoor photos. 

(Dramatic, don't you know?)

Gratuitous "Corgi on Quilt" photo.

Then, I moved inside to take a few more photos.

It's a queen-size quilt on our king-size bed.

 More closeups to show you Susan's stunning longarm work.

(By the way, Susan Slaton of Wazoo Quilter in Punta Gorda, FL)

 I'm so glad that I made this quilt. I adore the "Martinique" fabric line,

the way that it all came together in piecing, applique' work and assembly...

and Susan's work was the icing on the cake...

 I think the back is just as beautiful as the front...and it highlights

the longarm work. Susan is a real artist, don't you think?

So, it's finished (except for a label). Now. it's onward to the next project.

I want to finish the American Treasures block in the next day or so.

Color me tickled!!!

Almost There...

I so hoped that I would be able to share my finished Scrappy Plates quilt with you by today. I worked on it for a long time yesterday, but it's just not finished yet. I continued to make those little, invisible stitches...

but the quilt is a queen size, and I'm still tired from working at the polls. It was a satisfying and challenging job, but it demanded full attention the whole time. I'm only telling you this to give a lame excuse explain why it's still not finished.

I will have photographs to share tomorrow. I'm going to stick with this until it's finished today. It's a process I really love, and it's relaxing, too, so don't think I'm viewing the task as a negative. No way!

One last thing. Words cannot express my thanks to Tag's Aunt Rita at Driftwood Pet Care and Kennels. She and her staff not only took excellent care of my boy, but when I went to pick him up and pay his bill, she informed me that there was no charge. When I expressed surprise, she told me that because I was "doing my civic duty" (working at the polls), they were comping his stay. I actually started to cry and told her how much I appreciated her gesture. I knew that I was tired from our day, but I even surprised myself when I got weepy! I will say though, my gratitude was heartfelt and genuine. Thank you, Rita and Fred. You're the best!

A Scrappy Peek...

Handsome and I worked in our own voting precinct yesterday, and I essentially lost a day and a half of working in the studio. We left home at 5:30 yesterday morning and didn't get back home until an intense 16 hours later. I'm not complaining, but I'm really tired.

I'm starting today by going and picking Tag up from the kennel. I missed him the past couple of nights. It's just not right when he's not home with us!

Then, I'm going to bind my Scrappy Plates Quilt, which I picked up from the custom quilter on Monday morning. I'll finish it today and then photograph the whole swoony, gorgeous thing (if I do say so myself!) to show you tomorrow. For today, I'm just giving you a peek at a teeny, tiny section of the front of it to whet your appetite to see more. As soon as I'm finished taking pictures of it, I'm going to take a nap.

A Busy Week Ahead...

Busy, busy, busy. That's what I am.

I'm picking up my Scrappy Plates Quilt today! Susan finished all the custom longarm work and I can't wait to see it. I'll bind it right away and you'll see it just as soon as it's finished.

I also worked on the Wisconsin block for our guild quilt all weekend, aaaannnnd I have been working on that "special" Christmas project, too. (You should see the tips of my fingers from "catching" the needle in my applique' work!)

Later today, we'll be working at our polling precinct to help set up the voting booths, and then Handsome and I will be working at our precinct on Election Day. I have to take Tag to the doggie spa today, too (sniff, sniff) because we'll be gone a minimum of fourteen hours on Tuesday. That's too long to ask him to cross his little corgi legs waiting for us to come home. He'll be much happier with Aunt Rita, but I won't be very happy coming home two nights in a row and not having him sleep on the bed with me.

Tag is writing his blog post ahead of time, so don't worry that you won't see him this week. He'll have his message up tomorrow, for sure.

So, my friends. This week I'll be off to the races. Put on your running shoes if you're coming along. I'm planning to have two projects completed for sure, and I'm aiming for three! I think I can...I think I can...

Off To The Long-Arm...

My version of Anne Sutton's Scrappy Plates quilt is now finished.

I added a skinny border in red fabric and then a final 

border in that yummy cream paisley I used in the main blocks.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed making this quilt and I

can see myself making another at some time in the future.

I'll be taking it to the long-arm quilter to do the custom design now,

and when it comes back and I've bound it, I'll show you the entire quilt. 

I'll also add my photos to the Bunny Hill Flickr group when it's done

so that Anne can see my finished interpretation of her design.

If you're interested in making a quilt like this, you can click here

to go to the free pattern/tutorial on the Bunny Hill website.

Just scroll down to the "Scrappy Plate Club" patterns and you can

download each phase of the tutorial for your own pattern collection.

Another "finish" under my belt this week. (woo hoo!) On to the next one...

Scrappy Progress...

I had this project sitting off to the side when we took off in the Flying Cloud in May, but yesterday I decided it was time to get back to it. (I don't like having UFOs. They take up too much space!)

All the scrappy Dresden plates were appliqued' and it was time to add the sashing so I could assemble the top.  Rather than putting the blocks together in a straight square layout, I chose to place all the blocks on-point. It will make the finished quilt slightly larger and the Saturday coffee group gals thought it would make for a more interesting layout, too. Works for me!

I chose my favorite paisley fabric from the Martinique line to use for the sashing and added pretty green/blue blocks at the corners. (All these fabrics are from Moda's Martinique line.) By the end of yesterday, I'd put everything together except the corner triangles.

Today I'll add the two borders and it will be ready to go to the long-arm. I'm going to have this one quilted in the traditional patterns for a Dresden quilt instead of an all-over quilting pattern. I'm anxious to finish it now so that I can add another "finish" to my stack.

Thanks to everyone who left such supportive comments for me yesterday, too. I'm just waiting for a few supplies to get here so we can put the rest of the kits together. For now, we've gone as far as we can until the package arrives.

I just wanted you to know that I'm going to print out all of your notes and put them on an affirmation board. That way I can go back and read them for moral support if when I feel a little overwhelmed with the guild project. Thanks again.

Ahead Of Schedule...

Photo courtesy of Peacockpictures.net

My deadline to get the Wedding Peacocks quilt top to Kathy was April 13th. She's going on vacation on the 17th and needed to have my project to her ahead of that so she can quilt it for me before she leaves. I finished it last night - ahead of schedule!

Photo courtesy of Peacockpictures.net

I'm taking the quilt top to her first thing today, and then I'll catch up on a few other projects that have been patiently waiting for me.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out and I'll share pictures of it with you in a month or so (closer to the wedding date). We don't want certain brides-to-be seeing it before she and her new husband open the gift package, do we?

I'm going to be making some mug mats and napkins with the leftover fabrics from the quilt. I'll be adding those to my Etsy shop when they're finished. I also have another project that I'm going to add to the shop in the next week that I think the grandmas and moms are going to love!

I also have twenty one blocks to make for April for the Farmer's Wife QAL, and I'm ready to finish my Scrappy Plates quilt, too. I love having lists, but I think this is a little ridiculous. Don't you?


Tag will be writing replies to the friends who commented on his post yesterday. He just had to wait for me to turn on the computer for him first. I promised him I'd help him after the Peacocks were finished, so if you wrote a note to him on Tuesday, he'll be getting back to you soon.

Time to head to Sandy's Quilt Shop. Have a great day!

A New Week, A New Quilt...

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might have noticed that until this year I usually only have one quilt going at a time. (I'm always working on a few things at once, but usually only one quilt at a time.) So far in 2012, I'm working on a Scrappy Plates quilt and our Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt QAL.

I told you recently that we'll be going to Michigan in May to a friend's wedding. That beautiful card with a peacock feather attached is their wedding announcement. When I decided that I wanted to make something special for them, I knew that a quilt would be our gift to them. (I asked each of them their favorite colors when we had dinner with them. Bara said he loved blues and black, and his future wife, Iman said she loved jewel tones and green.) With that knowledge in hand, I went in search of fabric.

A few days after our dinner with the couple, I was sitting with the gals in our Saturday morning coffee group at Sandy's Quilt Shop. We were chatting away when I noticed a piece of fabric hanging on the wall. I was stunned! It was perfect!

Kathy and Nora went and grabbed the newly arrived collection for me to see and after I chose which of the fabrics in the line I wanted to use, they had to unwrap them to cut the yardage!

My appointment date for Kathy to do the long-arm quilting on this piece is April 20th (or thereabouts), so now I have a deadline, too. This week, I'll be laying out the fabrics, deciding on a design and I'll commence to cutting and sewing. I'm so excited to see how this queen size quilt will look. Can you even believe my great good fortune in finding this collection? Kathy and Nora were tickled for me!

So, although I have Farmer's Wife blocks to assemble and Scrappy Plates to finish, the Wedding Peacocks will be at the front of the line this week.

Today, I'll close with a photo of me with my very own little leprechaun, "Taggart O'Corgi". Did you know that he'll be a year old on April 3rd? I can't believe how quickly time flies with a growing puppy!

Tag asked me to remind you about our Third Blog Anniversary giveaway. If you haven't signed up for the drawing yet, here's the link to our giveaway post.

Tag will be back tomorrow with his own post, but today, we both wish you a beautiful and creative week!

Lesson Learned...

Exact 1/4" seam on block on left. Regular 1/4" sewing foot block on right (smaller). 

You may think that it doesn't matter whether you're stitching consistent 1/4" seams, but today I can tell you. It matters.

You may also think that it's cool to be working on two quilts at one time, going back and forth between the two. It's not cool if you're stitching an exact 1/4" seam on one, and just using the measurement of the 1/4" foot as your seam guide on the other. And, then you forget to reset your needle between projects.

I completed twelve Scrappy Dresden plate blocks using the 1/4" machine foot to define the seam allowance. At the same time, I had determined where my machine needed to be set to sew an exact 1/4" seam on the Farmer's Wife Blocks. (Once I knew where the needle position needed to be for that project, I hit the "memory" button on Miss Ellie to default to that setting whenever I turn her on.)

Significant difference when using two different 1/4" seam measurements

Having completed those needed dozen blocks, I laid the Scrappy quilt components on our guest room bed to decide how I wanted to position the blocks. Once they were previewed, I realized that I needed six more blocks to fill in where I was originally planning to place empty blocks. (Too much "empty" on those blocks.) Back to the sewing machine I went.

I put together all six blocks, hand sewed them to the background fabric and pulled out my centers, which were ready and waiting. But, wait...what the...? This isn't right. The centers weren't fitting the plates. They should have, as I made them all at the same time and the others fit the original dozen blocks just fine. I finally thought to place one of the new blocks on top of one of the originals to see if the plates were the same size. No. They. Were. NOT! The new ones were too big!

I sat in front of my sewing machine trying to figure out what I'd done wrong, when voila! I realized that I hadn't reset my machine between the Farmer's Wife settings and my Scrappy Plates settings.

I pressed "reset", selected fabrics and laid out another plate. I made a test block on the new setting to confirm what I thought I'd done wrong. I sighed a sigh of relief when I checked the new block against the originals. (They matched again.) Then I sighed a sigh of "mild peeve" realizing that I'd need to make six new blocks.

I made the new plates yesterday, and I'll spend the next couple of days stitching them to the ground fabric...again.

I think I've learned two valuable lessons:

• In future, use the same 1/4" criteria on any projects that I work concurrently, and
• Think twice about working on more than one quilt at a time

My goal is to finish the piecing on this quilt next week. Then, I'll concentrate on the Farmer's Wife quilt blocks!

A Scrappy Update...

I played in the studio most of the day yesterday. I am enjoying the quiet process of hand stitching. My needle was dancing and I smiled with every stitch.

I placed nearly-finished blocks on the fabric I've chosen for the sashing, and imagined how it's going to look when it's assembled. Adding the centers will really make the plates pop. I had originally chosen the aqua fabric for the centers, but am doing a rusty red now. Perhaps I'll do some of each!

Late in the day, I received word that my dear friend, "Mom" Grace is not doing well. As I continued to sew, I stitched prayers for her into my quilt.

I've always believed that if I'm going to pray, I shouldn't worry, and if I'm going to worry, I shouldn't pray. I know worrying accomplishes nothing, but prayer can move mountains. So, I prayed that God will care for Grace.

I'll know more about her condition later today, and I may decide to go north to be with her and her family. In the meantime, if you're moved to add a thought or two on her behalf, I would appreciate it, and I know she and her family would, too.

I'll be attending a training class today with Handsome. We're learning to work at our local polling place. I'm looking forward to "doing my part" for the process.

When we get back home, I'll finish tacking down the last two plates and then work on attaching the rest of the centers - and praying.

By the way...Tag is doing great. I think my little bug was just pulling my leg!

A Little Vintage Goodness...

I took Tag to the vet for a checkup yesterday. He was limping around and favoring his left front leg. Seems he just pulled a muscle trying to catch a squirrel on Tuesday! He's alright (so is the squirrel), but I just have to try to keep him from running like a fool for a while. Yeah. Good luck with that!

After we got back home from Sarasota, I spent the rest of the day hand stitching my scrappy plates to the background fabric. I'm not finished yet, but I'm moving right along with them...and loving how they're looking.

Today, as I continue my stitching, I thought I'd leave you with an image from my studio. I have this pretty, oval ironstone dish on my sewing table. It's always filled with buttons and I toss in bits of ribbon or other embellishments from time to time.

I added one of my ribbon-embroidered rose strawberries and did a little re-arranging before I took this picture. All that vintage goodness - along with the girly pink touches - makes me smile. I hope it makes you feel good, too.

Enjoy your day today, and I'll be back tomorrow with project updates to show you.