One step forward and two steps back!

I was buzzing along with Hocus Pocus,

piecing the individual pumpkin blocks together until I got to Row 3.

Oops, pattern designer asked for too many medium gray pumpkins,

and now I need another large gray pumpkin.

So I cut the component parts, started sewing them together, 

and oops, put the corner squares on the wrong corners!

Time to take a break and revisit on another day!

I have made progress on a Christmas present for my son and his wife,

Bringing Home the Tree

by Buttermilk Basin.
Block 1 is stitched and block 3 is almost done.

With the closing of The Olde World Quilt Shoppe,

I got all my samples back.

I brought several of them up to the cabin and
I love how they adorn the walls of the cabin!

An all time favorite Lori Smith quilt that I added a little something to the borders.

This Norma Whaley project is perfect for the hallway.

A great patriotic project by Lisa Bongean.

This Heart to Hand project fits perfectly over the back doors.

My miniature sampler that won me a blue ribbon from the AZ Quilters Guild
now hangs in my bedroom.

Added to my wall of small quilts too!

Finished the last 3 circles of my Toned-Down Sampler.

A flamingo of my own design.
Had to put his feet in a flower bed since I did not plan too well.

The jellyfish at the bottom is my own design also.

Will need to quilt and bind it when I get back to AZ.

Speaking of going home...

School had been pushed back to September for my grandchildren,

so my daughter and the girls will stay here with us through August.

My son and his family are looking to join us as well.
A safe, cool place to wait and see what our lives will be in the future.

How Time Flies!

Can you believe that January is almost over?

Where does the time go!

I have not been blogging, but I have been busy.

My barn quilt is at the quilter's and hopefully will be coming home soon.

With that project done,

it was time to work on my next big project...

Farm Girl Finery, designed by Kim Diehl,

 from her book, Simple Appeal.

The applique is wool.

We are offering this quilt as a BOM at the shoppe.

I love a medallion style quilt, especially one designed by Kim!

This one will adorn my guest room bed when completed.

Then I am going to play with painting the furniture in the room using chalk paint to get a rustic finish using the aqua, red and gold hues that are in the quilt. 

Wish me luck! 

I have completed a few small projects as well.

Something for Easter...

'Spring Has Sprung'

designed by Stacy of Buttermilk Basin, 

featured in the Spring issue of Primitive Quilting.

My version is a little different from her's...I framed mine and scalloped the inner background instead of the outer border.  My scallops got a little wonky though, so don't look too closely.

Finished a few punch needle projects.
These are from Threads That Bind.

And another small quilt to add to my growing collection.

Quilt Squares #4, by Lori Smith.
Reminds me how much I love small scale, scrappy quilt piecing.
These finish at 12 1/2" square.

I am still working several days a week at the shoppe and love every minute of it.  My quilting community is so important to my sanity.
Hope your new quilting year is off to a good start, too.
I'll be back next month with my finished Where the Cows Come Home!

This and That

So much for will power!

Looks like those WIPs will go back in the infamous closet for awhile.

I have been busy with new projects, which will come to no surprise to those who know how easily I am tempted...the samples for the

Petite Patchwork Club at TOWQS.

Here is the October mini:

And here is the November mini:

Both quilts are from the patterns, QUILT SQUARES, by Lori Smith.

If you want info on the club,

go  to www.theoldeworldquiltshoppe.com.
It was so fun to do some small scale piecing again! 

With a little bit of help for a wonderful stitcher,

the November banner for the Basin Banners Thru the Year Club is also done and hanging in the shoppe.

Next up are the new BOM programs we have planned.  I'll be back with them as I make progress. I am especially excited about the Farm Girl Finery quilt, designed by Kim Diehl and appearing in her new book, Simple Appeal.

I am keeping up with my little letters though!

I have motivation. I need a baby quilt.

My grandson was born the day after my birthday.

What a wonderful present!

Spring on my mind

First, another Kim Diehl flimsy from her book,

Homestyle Quilts.

I decided to machine applique this project, so it went pretty fast.  I am debating on quilting it myself, but I sure would love to see some fancy quilting in those borders.  I will finish it up with a scrappy binding.

Then, a small quilt designed by Lori Smith.

It is wool on flannel.  My plan is to quilt it with big stitch quilting and then frame it. 

Now time for a little humility.

People do not believe me when I tell them I sew in chaos.

The other morning I had to laugh at the level of chaos that existed in my sewing room.

My main sewing area.

Quilts in various stages draped over the chair, beckoning me to work on them.

4 different projects on the design wall.

The infamous craft closet! Believe it or not, this is when it is looking fairly organized.  I know where everything is in there.  If I clean it up, I cannot find a thing!

Well, I have sufficiently embarrassed myself, so I am off to watch the 49er's football game and do some handwork...lots of it to be done.

Hope you are enjoying a pieceful day!

Thank You, Darlene!

Last month, I won a contest over at Quilting Daze, 

Darlene was cutting several projects at the same time 

and challenged us to guess which pile of fabrics went with which pattern.  

It was a fun puzzle to solve.

My prize was 4 charm packs of 

Thank you, Darlene, for your generosity and for such a fun game!

I owe Darlene yet another thank you for motivating me to get my machine humming.

She has been sewing up a storm in honor of September being 

National Sewing Month.

I am an early riser.  

During the wee hours of the morning, I get the most accomplished.

It doesn't hurt that I am fueled by my morning cup

(okay, CUPS) of coffee.

As a result,

my Pinwheels for Caroline,

designed by Lori Smith,

is pieced!

What I like best about this quilt is that I gave myself some slack.

I tried my hardest, but could not figure out how to make my ocean waves blocks come out just perfect.  Some points float

 (well, it is an ocean block, right?) 

and some (okay, a lot) 

of those diagonal seam intersections are just a little less than aligned.

But you know what,

I love it with all its imperfections.

And it busted some (although not enough!)

of my stash.

While I was cutting the border,

I also took the time to turn these

into these.

Feels good to have at least 2 buckets neatly organized and a good start on the third.
Next up...
quilting Primitive Pumpkins.

It must be working!

My 15 minute challenge, that is!

Pinwheels for Caroline, by Lori Smith, is coming along nicely.

I am intrigued by the ocean waves blocks in the second border.

I need to add the last dark border and then another UFO can be deleted from my list. 

 I did succumb to temptation though.

Primitive Pumpkins is on my design wall.  

It is a good thing my mojo returned!

The girls at TOWQS are back from market and will have lots of new temptation waiting the next time I visit.  One of them is this new pattern from Primitive Gatherings.

They are saving a kit for me.

It might take priority over my fall quilt since 4th of July is just around the corner.  

Looks like it will be fast and easy to do.

My goal is to finish my Pinwheel quilt by the end of the month 

and then move on to finishing my Xmas BOM during June. 

My part is finished...

and now it will go to a framing shop.

I used silk thread to do the quilting and just echoed the shapes.  

I like the way it came out.

At first, I tried a Sulky Bobbin Lt., but I could not control the tension.

I found that a simple Aurifil 50 wt. cotton thread worked best in the bobbin. 

I love the way a muslin backing looks when quilted.

Now to get back to those pink and black HST units.

Happy Spring!

Not much sewing going on here!

I'm still on a hiatus from my sewing room, but just had to share this quilt.

 I made this quilt a couple of years ago when this precious paper doll fabric came into the shoppe.

Here is a close up of the fabric itself.

I loved the vintage feel of the quilt and put it away in my grandma hope chest.

Now, my granddaughter will play on it!

The pattern I used was from Material Obsessions.

I have also finished all the buttonhole stitching on my wool applique project and have it basted for quilting.  I am still in the pondering phase of what to do though.  Silk thread and simple outline stitching may be the first step.  I plan to actually frame this one, as the designer suggests.

I would like to finish it up and get back to my goal of finishing up some UFOs and WIPs.

Just having too much fun holding our new bundle of joy.

A Change of Pace

...is just what the doctor ordered. 

I could not face more pink and black triangles, so I turned to a little FMQ and finished, yes finished, my Easter Table Runner by Kim Diehl.

I simply copied what had been done on the original and I could not be more pleased with it.  Only took 2 1/2 years to complete, BUT it is my first UFO truly finished for 2012!

Since I am expecting (well, that is, my DD is expecting) to be doing a lot waiting in a hospital in the near future, I also prepped some handwork.

All the wool shapes are cut and over half the blocks are blanket stitched.

The rest are packed in my bag ready to head out when the call comes.

Hopefully, I will get back to those pink and black triangles later this week and finish up this months PG stocking.  2 out of 3 goals accomplished is not bad!

January's Goals

Over the holidays, I buttonhole stitched the first 6 blocks of my

 Lori Smith Fit to Frame Number Six 

small quilt.  

Today I cut the wool shapes for the next two blocks.

This is a WIP I have promised myself to complete 

before I start on another new project...

Country Whig Rose by Kim Diehl. 

I continue to make progress on my DD's wedding quilt 

with a few new flowers added to the garden.  

I do have the wool prepped and half way stitched down for this month's stocking.

I have yet to start on the 110 HST's needed to border my 1880 Barbara Buchner Snyder Sampler,

 but that will be my machine project for the month.

So, the only other goal I have for the month is to finish at least one UFO.

This adorable Easter Table Runner is calling to me.

Can I do it?

Check back at the end of the month to see.

What are your goals this month?

2011 Houston International Quilt Festival

  I am back from the festival, but don't have a lot of photos to share. 

From the grand prize winners, I only selected one quilt to share with you.

Loading Dock

by Mary Buvia

Greenwood, Indiana

The festival this year seemed to be all about art quilts, heavily embellished and masterfully machine quilted.  Although I admire these artisans, my interests lie in the traditional quilts, which there were very few of.

Challenge 2

by Georgina Buschauer

Houston, Texas

This quilt was one of the few traditional quilts that really attracted my eye.  Its design source is Elly Sienkiewicz and won a ribbon for Merit Quilting, Hand.

And her hand quilting was exquisite!

Star Garden

Ardie Skjod

Found in the small exhibit of American Traditional Quilts.

I loved how she fussy cut her fabrics.

I did enjoy the exhibit "Texas Quilts Today...", but could not take photos.

And, I missed the doll quilt and bed exhibit. 

This small exhibit of houses designed by a variety of fabric artists was visually rich...

and very whimsical!

But after a whirlwind walk through the quilts, I headed to the vendors.

It didn't seem as crowded as I had remembered, but I still would start down one aisle only to collide with a mass of determined shoppers and quickly retreat.  The number of choices I was faced with was totally overwhelming for me.  As a result, I came home with very little, which actually makes me happy.

I did brave the Primitive Gatherings booth, but escaped unscathed when I saw the long line at the register.  I picked up and put down several patterns in the Country Threads booth...when will I ever make all the quilts I already have patterns for?

Lori Smith's booth was also very tempting, but all I purchased was some wools from Mary Flanagan Woolens, where she gave me permission to photograph her wool version of one of Lori's patterns.

I also picked up some fabrics and hexie papers to get started on my daughter's wedding quilt.

There was a large number of antique quilt vendors with high quality wares.  I came very close to coming home with one, but my budget just would not let me make the leap.  In Mary Koval's booth of beautiful antique quilts, I had the pleasure of meeting Linda Collins from Quilts in the Barn.  We chatted briefly, but I forgot to get a picture of us together. 

Going to Houston for me this year was more about reconnecting with old friends and meeting a few new ones.  My host and hostess were the best!  I lunched with my old tennis partner, laughed the afternoon away with my friend Lori, caught up with other quilting friends, played Chinese Checkers with Rosie's precious grandson, dined on delectable home cooked meals, and even took in the King Tut exhibit. 

Now that I am home, it will take dynamite to get me to leave for at least 6 months!  I look forward to the upcoming holidays and some simple family times... 

at home!