liberation

I was recently  commissioned to make quilt

AND then to quilt it.

The "making part" was quite a change from the usual for me.

I know... I make quilts all the time.

Quilts that I want to make or give.

But this time, it was different...

The request came from a non-quilter,

and there was no pattern,

just the idea of starting with some signature blocks...

I started by telling her the process of

getting good signature blocks,

then making suggestions about color choices,

 possible layouts and

 the amount of fabrics needed.

I guess I've been quilting long enough

 to guess-timate

the required "stuff"

needed to make a queen-sized quilt.

Even if there's not a pattern to follow!

Here's a pic of the finish:

There was just enough fabric left

to make a

storage pillow case

to gift along with the quilt:

I hope she will love it.

And, I hope the recipient will love it too.

Anyway, the whole process

of starting with a

"blank quilting slate"

was liberating.

I guess that I don't do that often enough anymore.

 Start with no pattern that is.

Changes to the pattern, yes, always! :)

And the Storage Case?
I almost always make one for the gift recipient.
I've found that it's really appreciated.
I figure,
if there is ever the need for some
"repair" fabric, it could always be taken for the storage case.

AAAAKKKK! & Shelburne Museum/vaca part 5

AAAAKKKK!!!

My computer has a virus!!!

DOUBLE AAAAKKKK!!

My computer geek is on vacation!

Out of the country vacation!!!

So, real quick...

This was going to be a post about

part five of vacation:

The Shelburne Museum...

which could be the best place on earth.

Well, at least as good as Disney!!

I have SOOOO much to share about Shelburne!

But with this whole

virus thingy/computer geek/vacation going on

is really crampin' my style and

all I have picture-wise is a picture of

the couple of books I got while I was there.

And I'm really excited about those,

but there is just SO MUCH else!

Oh well, another day, another post, Huh?

Happy Stitching!

Hope your week was great

and your weekend is even greater!

vacation, part four

Driving back home/West from vacation...

we turned the car around and drove back East.

Here's the rest of the story:

While leafing through the Country Register paper

(OK - truth be told - Sweetie was leafing through the paper

while I was quilt fabric shopping

near the hotel where we had spent the night :)

there was a listing for

Quilted Crow Fabric and Quilt Shop

 in Harpursville, NY.

Mind you,

we were already a good half hour WEST

of the exit for this shop...

But Sweetie, being such a sweetie

(and because Quilted Crow

was giving away grilled hot dogs

and having a lawn sale),

turned our vehicle around and

 back EAST we headed!!

Boy am I glad!!!

Such a great find!!



lawn sale day at Quilted Crow, Harpursville, NY

Quilted Crow was just in the newest

Primitive Quilts and Projects publication (Fall 2012)!!!

Here's the project:

(also pictured: a little stack of fabric I HAD to purchase...

I had to make the extra hour of travel worth it!!:)

See?  How cute is this?: 

Packed full of quilty scrumptious-ness!

And that pic only shows the front corner of the shop!! 

That's Peg (owner/pattern designer) behind the counter,

working on my stack of fabric acquisitions.

  

If you ever get to this area of New York,

take the time to drive off the highway and visit.

Definitely worth it, as it's a great shop and so friendly!

vaca-part three- on hand and knee

While traveling,
I always "scope out" the area
surrounding the hotel where we'll be spending the night.

I'm sure other people do that too.
You want to feel secure about where you're staying.

But, I'm not just checking the safety of the area,
I'm specifically looking for the local quilt shops!

There's nothing wrong with that, right?

So, Friday night we spent the night
right around the corner from a quilt shop.

So, Saturday a.m.,
after a late breakfast,
we headed here:

Quilter's Haven in Owego, N.Y.
I know, I know, that's not the greatest picture of the front of a shop, but that's the only one I had that the lighting was good - sorry;
(there are much better photos of the shop if you click the shop name/link).



Anyway, the shop is kind of new, as she's recently un-retired.  Yep, she decided that retirement wasn't a good thing for her at this time, so moved from Florida and found this great, historic town and building and opened her shop!
I do have a couple more pics:

from inside looking out the front of the shop

And the following pic is probably one of my all-time favorites - which I know some will find weird.
But this was a furnace register vent cover in the center of the floor in this old building.
(in the first pic if you look closely, you can see this vent cover half way back the store)

cast iron register

I didn't get down on hands and knees

(but close- just hand and knee:)

to measure, but it was about 36 inches across!

It may have to become a design for quilting, don't you think?

Anyway, it was a really cute shop
and I was glad I had "scoped out" the area the night before.

I still have issues aka: vacation pt.2

After a very nice week plus of vacation
I found all of this in the back of my vehicle:

Yep, that's my haul from vacation.

Top to bottom, left to right:

Row 1:  a couple of out of print magazines, a Blue Hill/Sara Morgan fabric, some fruit/canning jar fabric, a chunk of fleece for a friend, and a fat quarter stack of the original French General
Row 2:  a Hoopla pattern/Monroe quilt, some older Rothermel fabrics, and a chunk for an eye spy.
Row 3:  Tidings of Great Joy and Peanuts Christmas, both by Quilting Treasures.

And there's more, but that's enough textile overload for today...

See? I have issues.

a little vacation time

I had a little vacation time last week...
Visited the favorite daughter and Rhode Island.
She lives and works there and loves it.

Oh, and is looking to purchase a home there.

For the record,

a twelve hour drive to visit your daughter

is way too long. 

What's up with

raising your children to be

strong, smart, and independent,

and then they go and follow through???!!! :)

Oh, well.  
We did have a great visit.
Last time we were there,
Sweetie was on crutches, so we couldn't do a whole lot.
This time, we walked EVERYWHERE we could!
It sure is a beautiful place.
Here's a pic of "her" beach:

Lovin' all the tumbled rocks...

By the way, she's a great cook- she made us a couple of dinners that were scrumptious.
And we ate it all, of course.  Then,

she took us to a popular bakery...

check out these donuts:

Allie's (I think in the North Kingston area)
party-sized donuts.
Check out the size compared to the cupcakes!!!

No, we did not have one of those giants,

though Sweetie was tempted :)

After daughter headed back to work,

we took off to "tour" the north east countryside

and found this place to visit in Lowell, Massachusetts:

The New England Quilt Museum!!!

I spent just a little time here...
though no pics were allowed,
I did, just maybe,
drool over a few of the antique quilts.
They also have a great library and thousands of reference books.
I could've stayed much longer than I did!
This is the back of the NEQ Museum:

Notice the quilt on the building?
Also, they were getting ready for the Lowell Quilt Festival the next weekend,
so the gals at the NEQ Museum were making pole wrap quilts
and the surrounding few block area had "quilted" light posts!  Cool, huh?
While I was drooling in the Museum,
Sweetie went to the Court House and walked around, unguided:

Three floors, double stairs, marble treads,
wooden hand-rails, cast iron banisters

Beautiful!

Then he found this view from a third floor gallery:



the court room

and this view out back from the top of the stairs:

We closed the place out at 5 p.m.
and headed further North and West.

More to come tomorrow!

happy, sad, happy & back to normal

Happy -
ZZZZzzzzzzzz. 

I can get back to my semi-routine sleep habit...
Because the Olympics are over and
I won't be watching the Olympians
every blasted minute of every blasted day!

Sad -

Because the Olympics are over and
I won't be watching the Olympians
every blasted minute of every blasted day!

Happy -
The DEC Club (Dark Eye Circle Club)
had it's resurgence
during the Olympics of this summer's games...
Membership into this elite club had record numbers
this past half of a month!,
and I just want to personally thank
each and every one of you for joining me in this DEC rage.
So, THANK YOU!!!

Back to normal -
Until the Winter Games - 2014!!!

bow ties alert

Those folded fabric bow ties...

I'm still loving them.

And, their popularity is growing!

This is a table topper done by Sharon:

that I got to Sashiko quilt.

I know I have warned before

about the possibility of an addiction!!!

But if you don't want to heed my warning,

here's the link

for the picture tutorial.

Happy Stitching!

Another good thing...

about watching the Olympics

for 4 hours nightly the past week or so...

I have the last half of my "Gardener's Alphabet"

traced and colored!!!

I don't know why I didn't photograph the "R".

It's also in the last half of the alphabet :) 

and it is traced and colored as well.

Oh, well.

The "S" is completely finished, sitting at the LQS as a sample.

The "Wx" block is almost finished with it's stitching, too! 

Just a few more thousand little chain-stitches

for the "snow" that has accumulated on the branches:

It also looks like it could use a good pressing!

Can't we all?!

Hope you have some "good things" going this week as well.

Happy Stitching and Olympic watching!

DECClub continues & a medal contender

I'm thoroughly enjoying my time spent watching the Olympics!

And, yes, I have me some "Dark Eye Circles" going for the "Club".

Sounds like I'm in the majority

when in comes to time spent glued to the television

watching our countries' athletes complete! 

And, just wanted to say a big THANKS!

Thanks for joining the club!, as I'm not the only one

sporting those dark under-eye circles from lack of sleep!!!

But, look what I've accomplished while enjoying the Olympics...
I have completely finished this quilt; it is 66" by 80":

pattern: French Country by "Spirit of '76 Designs"

It was an easy one to get done with that large piece of Jo Morton toile as the center; added some stripes and a big border. 
It really did go together sooo fast. 
I quilted it with the Sashiko machine. 
That wasn't fast, but I love the look. 
Then came the edge and binding. 
That?  Not so fast.

close up view of the quilting and border/binding of French Country

You can't tell, but the binding is a dark brown plaid,
and of course, since it's a scalloped border, done on the bias.

So, just about a week of Olympics, and I have a finish!!!
And,  in my book, it might just be considered a Medal Contender!

more meandering Monday

No roosters in this post...
but another quilt that I got to meander across this past Monday:

 This one is Patty's.  Isn't it just happy looking?
Here's a close-up of the front:

Perfectly square log cabins, and perfect corners!

Here's a view of the back of the quilt to show the meandering:

Another quilt that was a pleasure to work with!

fancy rooster tails

It is our State Fair time.

But that's not why I named this post about chickens...

I did a little meandering

aka: long-arm quilting this past Monday.

This is another of Louise's...

she's a newbie quilter. 

And in case you can't tell,

she's good.

Really good.

No chopped points,

no lumpy intersections.

No wavy borders.

AND,

she's prolific!

I think she now has

all of her immediate family wrapped in quilts.

Here's a pic of the back...

Yes, she does a pieced back that goes not only with the quilt top

but with the recipients personality and interests.

Back to the fancy rooster tails:

I have been reminded lately

that I don't take enough close-up pics

of the meandering that I do for folks,

that I just take quilt pics.

So, here's a meandering close-up for those who asked:

I call this quilting design "fancy rooster tails".
'Cause it reminds me of those tails on the fancy roosters at the fair.

You know the ones...
strutting proudly around thier blue ribbon adorned pen,
with those pretty and curly, shiny tail plumes waving behind them. 

OK, enough rooster/fair talk...
I'm off to do some more meandering!

another year another cake

This time last year,

I made a Barbie Cake for the grand daughter's birthday.

Ball gown Barbie Cake for a special girlie

It was a surprise and a BIG hit. 

This year, instead of a surprise,

I asked if she had a cake request. 

Without pause, she answered:

"Surfing Barbie".

Really?  Surfing?

Barbie Surfing?

So... I baked a big sheet cake and a little square cake.

I did some trimming and shaping,

iced and sprinkled sugar "sand".

Then I fought to open the Barbie box, again.

 This is what I ended up with:

surfing Barbie cake for a special 6 year old

Verdict?

"Aaaawesome"

That's a big thumbs up from a 6 year old, don't you think?

And, then there's this little cutie -
he is a veggie connoisseur:

Don't be taking my corn!