Weekend at Sally's Part II

Friday and Saturday we never left Sally's property (all 12 acres). I did venture out mid-day to walk down to her mail box and walk all around her property on Friday. We were too busy quilting.

We finished up the little lady. I think she is perfect. I found backing for her in Sally's stash.

We cut and pieced the Jars Aplenty. We were both tickled with the results! The napkin is from Sally's stash. Also in Sally's stash there is fabric for all of the major holidays. We decided next time we would do a Jars Aplenty in holiday fabric - each jar a different holiday fabric. We would call it "Holidays in a Jar!"

Sally, who is a newbie quilter, started her tea cup place mat on Saturday. There were a couple of errors on the pattern and not enough fabric was included in the kits. However, Sally's friend, Jean, brought Sally a ton of quilting supplies, including 3 (yes, 3) bins of scraps, some quite large. I guess Jean quilted a few items and decided it wasn't for her. Lucky for Sally, though! We used my machine to piece all of the projects we made. Isn't the pocket for the tea bag cute?

Sally did a great job on this project. I love, love, the colors. By the time I left early Sunday morning, she had a lot of it hand quilted. I would love to have one hanging in my kitchen. (That, dear Sally, is a direct hint!)

Saturday I was a little under the weather due to a medication error. So, I napped, read, made pasta and a Waldorf salad - just hung out. Sally made wonderful fish. Yum. We ate well over the weekend!

It was fun to teach Sally the little I know of quilting. At one point she said, "Isn't this wonderful? We are so comfortable around each other that conversation isn't necessary. We work well together." Ahhh, Sally - that's why I love you! Friends like Sal are far and few between!

Sally has been bitten by the quilting bug! Her cup of tea (pun intended) is hand stitching and she does a beautiful job. This is her very first project, a pillow all hand done. No pattern, either. I'm impressed.

I left early Sunday morning. Stopped in Indiana long enough to go to the bathroom and hit the Skyway and straight through Chicago no problem. Stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Kenosha for an early lunch as by then I was very hungry.

What a great weekend!

Weekend at Sally's Part I

I drove to my dear friend, Sally's home in Watervliet, MI Wednesday afternoon for the long holiday weekend. I hit a lot of traffic from Dempsey through Jackson in Chicago. Caught the Skyway and breezed through the rest of the trip. Got to Sally's in time to celebrate her birthday with Amy and Jerry. We had a yummy dinner in Coloma and returned to Sally's where shortly afterwards Amy and Jerry went their separate ways back to Illinois. I'm glad I made it in time for dinner as it is always fun to see Amy and Jerry.



Thursday we hit the road. Stopped at an antique store in Watervliet and several stores in Benton Harbor. One was a great dollar store and the other a health food store. I wanted Sally to candle my ears that night. However, before these stores we found 2 quilt stores.


Carol's Cozy Cottage is outside of Benton Harbor, really in the country. It is even down a dirt road. It is very cute on the outside. However, it is small and she doesn't have a large selection of fabric at all. Maybe 30-50 bolts? She seems to cater to her church group or other church groups. But, it was nice and Carol is very friendly. I bought something to hand stitch while at Sally's and Sally bought a cute tea place mat kit. More on this in my next post.







Next we found Loving Stitches in Stevensville (?), MI. And, we found Holly - the awesome owner. Not only is it a quilt store, but Holly has a perfectly charming English cottage garden that people are free to explore and enjoy. Sally and I were amazed at the wandering paths and all of the different flowers.

Holly in front of her shop





When Sally and I walked into Holly's store there was a very young girl there, maybe 14 or 15, who Holly said was her daughter, Heather. I was surprised as Holly has over a dozen kits she made up for sale and all have been sewn and most were machine quilted by Heather. Also, on several of these quilts there was some with beautiful applique work, also done by either Holly or Heather. Sally and I oohed and ahhed over these samples. Holly has a very nice variety of fabrics, too.
Sally and me in Holly's garden



We got to talking with Holly (who is a lovely person) and in the course of conversation she showed us pictures of Heather quilting at age 5. In the photo album was a picture of a young woman on her wedding day. Turns out the young woman is Heather! Holly, with a twinkle in her eye, asked us how old we thought she was . I said 35-37 and Sally quickly agreed. I looked a little closer at her and thought to myself, "Well, maybe 42 at the most." Ha! Holly is 62! Yes, SIXTY-TWO. Sal and I were flabbergasted. Truthfully, this woman doesn't look older than 42 max. She has beautiful long blonde hair - all natural. And, Heather? Not a young teenager, but 25 years old and married!



Of course Sal and I asked Holly her secret to looking to young and beautiful. Holly said she never smoked, never drinks anything but milk, water, and fruit juices, eats healthy, loves to be outside, loves to golf and she keeps herself busy. She also has a great outlook on life, which is very evident.



Sally and I asked her about guilds and classes for Sally and Holly told us about a quilting guild and a group that meets at a nearby library.





When we got home Sally made us a wonderful dinner (she is just a great cook). We worked on my little lady project and later cut out all of the pieces for Sally's tea place mat.



It was a great day.

Plaque in Holly's garden

Happy 4th of July!

I will be driving to Michigan tomorrow for a nice, long weekend with my gal pal, Sally. I'm hauling my sewing machine and 2 projects along.

On my little silhouette lady I have to finish blanket stitching about 4 more inches (bottom of her skirt and stool legs) and then I am ready to add the little curtain and border (see previous post). I will finish her at Sally's house.

I'm taking the above kit along. Jen from The Patched Works helped me pick out the material when I was in the store over a month ago. I think we did a great job. The little jars will contain blackberries, lemons, blueberries, strawberries and pears. Makes me hungry just looking at the material! I thought if the weather isn't so great Sally and I could work on it together. Sally started quilting last fall when she was still recuperating and I thought it might be fun to work on it together. Sally made a lovely hand stitched pillow.

AND, I GOT ALL OF MY HSTs COMPLETED for my Friendship Star quilt! Yipee! I'm starting to make the 72 blocks. Of course, I get over excited and had to sew one row together.

My doggie sitter, Mary Sue, will arrive tomorrow to watch over my "girls," Gracie and Lucy Lou. I am so fortunate to have her both as a friend and doggie sitter. Lucy Lou went to the vet for an ear infection yesterday. She is already much improved.

Sally doesn't have internet access at her house in the country so this is my last post until next week. Happy 4th of July everyone and God (or the deity of your choice) Bless America!

What's Up?

Not much, unfortunately.


The two mystery lap quilts each have their double borders added and are on their way to Meandering Mary to be quilted. She will now have 4 of my quilts in her stacks of quilts.

I have 192 of the 288 half square triangles completed for the Friendship Star quilt. I'm getting a little tired of the HSTs, so I might start making a few blocks to keep me motivated!




While I'm not really attracted to folk art projects, I saw this little lady at Ye Olde Schoolhouse and just had to have her. I fused on the silhouette and now am blanket stitching her into place. (no, the finished project does not include a needle coming out of her head! LOL. You need to click on the image and really look to see my needle.) I'm including the package picture of what she will look like when done. I love the little curtain; however, I'm thinking of making it in a different fabric. To see more you can go to http://www.folkartchildren.com/ She has some great primative artwork and other quilting patterns.



I am also still hand stitching binding on quilts. Luckily, I have some good books on CD to listen to as there is NOTHING on TV anymore.

I've been having problems with dizziness and nausea, especially when laying down. I'm on acid reflux medication, but it is getting worse. My doctor, whom I saw today, feels I might have an inner ear viral infection going on. Let's hope that is all it is!

Mystery Revealed!!!!!!

Ye Olde Schoolhouse Quilt Shop offered a mystery quilt for the Thursday Ladies Friendship Group and I was lucky enough to participate in it.




The ladies are so nice and friendly and it was fun to make the quit. At first I thought I would turn the lap top quilt into a queen size so I doubled the amount of fabric I purchased. I then decided to make 2 lap top quilts to give as gifts.


Every month we got clues. We had to double the clues as it was moving a bit too slow. This month we were able to "solve" the puzzle. I still need to sew the rows together on this one and sew the second one completely together, but it is done very quickly. And I need to add a double border to what you see in the picture so it will look different when completed. While each quilt will look exactly the same from the front, the backing will be different on each one.


We used the book, Mystery Quilts by Rita Fishel and receive our copies on Thursday. It is full of fun stories, recipes and mystery quilts! If you want to make fast, easy lap quilts or twins, I highly recommend this book.

Camera Shy

I swear that every time I take a picture of Lucy Lou she will look right into the camera until a split second before I snap the picture. She will then demurely look away.

Ahhh, all it takes is a treat! She is such a sweet, shy girl!

Head in the Stars

Well, I've completed the sampler quilt and the baby quilt. At the last minute I decided to put a border on the baby quilt. I had just enough material. I really didn't like how it was turning out, but once I added the border it looks great. I'm so happy with it now! Both quilts will be sent to Meandering Mary later this week for quilting.



Now I'm back to the Friendship Star quilt. It will be a large queen size quilt. I have had it all cut for months, it just kept getting pushed onto the back burner. I have 2 blocks done out of 72! Tonight I decided to get all of the "star" squares done and then it will be easy to put the blocks together. I cut 288 squares - 144 of each color (it's a 2 color/fabric quilt). It takes time to draw the sewing / cutting lines and then squaring each off after sewing, cutting and pressing is a pain in the butt. Oh, well . . .

I think it will be great when done - maybe when I'm 90!

Last Class

Ye Olde Schoolhouse offers 3 beginning quilting class, spread out over the course of 3-4 months. The very beginning class is a table runner, then a Buckeye Beauty wall hanging and finally a sampler quilt.


I think this is great, because not everything is dumped on the student at one time. Each class offers new techniques and challenges. Plus, Diane is the BEST teacher. And, owner Jeanie will stop in during the class with cookies fresh from the oven!


This week I finished my last class - the sampler class. I took it with my gal pal, Terri, who hadn't taken one quilting class in her life! Boy, after the first class she was frustrated and she probably wanted to kill me. She hung in there and as the 6 weeks moved along, she got the hang of it and enjoyed the class as much as I did (I hope)


Here are some pictures of our quilts, still not quite finished. As of this writing I have to add one more border and get the backing ready, so it should be ready to go to the quilter tomorrow night. Terri is maybe a day behind me!


As a thank you for all of her help and teaching I have Diane a Jim Shore figurine. It is of a quilting angel.





Terri's quilt

My quilt

Princess Gracie

Remember the fairy tale, "The Princess and the Pea?"

Need I say more?

Window Wells

My house is 120 years old. I have always gotten water in a certain area of my basement. Usually it is not too bad unless we have days of heavy down pour. When I bought the place almost 11 years ago the inspector to me to have window wells dug out by 2 (or 4) of the basement windows.

Hopefully, I will retire next year and will be selling my house next spring and I decided to have this done.

My youngest nephew, Patrick, generously offered to do the job with the help of his 17 year old son, Aaron. Saturday they started. They finished on Sunday.
(nothing like rotted wood!)

Four window wells, 3 yards of dirt, 20 bags of rock, 25 rolls of sod, one trip to Menards, one trip to True Value Hardware, one trip to the place to get the sod, one gas tank filled, one dinner, one lunch, a breakfast and many hours of very hard labor, it is done.

Oh, and while they worked they butts off, I got to spend time with Patrick's daughter, Shannon, age 2 1/2.

I think I came out with the better end of the deal.

(See how beautiful it looks!)

When Patrick sets his mind on doing something, he gets it done and he does it right and it looks great.

Since this side of my house faces my neighbor, Lesa, I told her what was going to happen so she could dig up her plants temporarily. So, Lesa not only dug up her plants, but some of mine that will be replaced with a small patio later this month (also needed to prevent water in the basement). Lesa worked her butt off. She loves to garden even more than I do and she really worked hard this weekend.

I got to play with Shannon.

I think this cost me around $400 everything included (gas, food, etc.). It is so well worth it. Patrick and Aaron did a great job.

Oh - a couple of weeks ago I came home and went to get the mail. When I opened the mailbox the whole post fell over. Patrick and Aaron also installed a new mailbox and post for me. It is as solid as a rock!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Patrick and Aaron. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

A Little Overwhelmed

Yeah - I'm a little overwhelmed in the quilting world these days. Maybe life, in general.

I have 2 queen sized quilts that need the binding put on. Hopefully today I will get the binding machine sewed on both of them. That will make me feel better. I can take my time with the hand sewing, which I love to do at night. I figure it will take most of the summer to get these babies completed with the binding. That I can handle.

My sampler quilt is almost done. Tuesday is the last class and we put the sashing on. Then I can add the boarder, measure out the backing and get it to the quilters. I just have to finish one piece of hand applique, which I should get done tonight and/or tomorrow night. Of the three appliques blocks, only one got hand finished. The other two I did on the machine. I was going to hand turn one small piece, but felt too much pressure to get it done. My machine applique definitely needs a lot of work, but I enjoyed it and I am enjoying hand stitching using the blanket stitch.

The baby quilt keeps getting pushed to the side. Hopefully, tomorrow I can get the blocks completed. I only have 8 more to go, so it won't take long to piece them. Sewing the blocks together won't be bad, either, but where's the time? I want to take both the sampler quilt and the baby quilt to the quilters at the same time. It will be a relief to get them out of the house!

It's nice weather this weekend. I have gardening to do, too!

I need to retire so I can get things done! Only 14 months and 24 days, but who's counting?

I Think He Likes It ! !

I think Paul is laughing because he knows Lucky ain't getting anywhere near this quilt!

Poor Lucky.

Lucky Paul. He loved the quilt and it made me feel good!

Sad Day

I am not a political person. Those who know me well know that I hate politics and I do not intend to use this blog as a "soap box" to voice my views.

However, today I find it necessary to speak out.

I find it extremely sad that the California Supreme Court upheld the ban on gay marriage. I find it even sadder than the people of California voted against gay marriage. Wishy washy.

To the state of California I have this to say:

"Shame on you."

Quilt Fit for a Cat

When I was in Atlanta last March I was talking about quilts when my nephew Paul said, "Hey, you should make Lucky a quilt." If you read about Lucky in a previous post you will remember that Lucky is Paul's cat.

Well, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was make a quilt for a cat. I am extremely allergic to cats and therefore, not overly fond of them. A cat could literally kill me by its dander shutting down my respiratory system. But, the very next day after my return home I was in The Patched Works quilt store and saw this great cat material on sale. And, there was matching material on sale. And, there was great red material for the sashing. It would work into a great lap quilt. How could I resist? It would be masculine, not cute. I thought Paul would like it.

When it was pieced I went back thinking I would use a cheetah colored fabric for the background. Instead, I saw this great piano keys fabric. Paul has playing the piano since he was a kid and besides working a full time job, he is currently in 2 rock bands in the Atlanta area. So, how could I resist? Plus, The Patched Works had a great quilting design with musical notes.

A purrrrfect quilt.

I had one square extra (how did that happen?) so I made a pillow for Paul and used the cheetah fabric for the backing.

This Memorial weekend I am in Atlanta. It was Paul's 39th birthday on the 19th so the quilt will be the given to him when I see him. I'll post a picture when I get back.

I hope he likes it!

Applique

OK, a seamstress I am not! But I can sew a relatively straight line, which is why I love quilting. I can be creative without having to sing, draw or play an instrument.



A big part of quilt is (or can be) applique work. This is a design layered on top of the fabric of the quilt. It can be machine sewed or hand stitched, with different methods of both.



Last night as part of my sample quilt class, our very patient and talented instructor, Diane, taught Terri and me three different versions.



First, using all scrap material, was a blanket stitch using the sewing machine. Luckily, my machine has that stitch on it. It worked out good and practice will make perfect. I liked it. Terri's machine only offers her a zigzag stitch and she had trouble getting it the size she liked.



Next Di taught us how to hand sew the blanket stitch. Turns out we both knew this stitch, but Di gave us very helpful hints and techniques. I enjoyed this very much.



Last - oh, God - is the hand turned (also called needle turned) applique technique. Now - I had taken part 1 of a 2 part hand turned applique technique class so I knew what I was in for. Let me first say that when the day came for part 2 of the applique class I awoke with a terrible headache and the thought of sitting there for 4 hours doing tedious sewing did not appeal to me in the least so I skipped out of the class. You use a needle so small and thin that Thumblina would think it tiny. The hand stitches are so carefully set in that the best hand turn applique work the stitches cannot be seen. A tooth pick is used to turn under the fabric before the stitches are made. Boy - did I mention it is tedious? Peg, the instructor of the 2 part class, is a master appliquer. One of her quilts in progress is hanging at Ye Olde Schoolhouse it is a work of art. She is an excellent instructor. However, I learned quickly that this was NOT for me.



So, when it came time for poor Di to show us hand turned applique I was bitching. And, guess what? I kind of liked it! Maybe I felt more relaxed. Maybe I learned two other techniques that I could do and I enjoyed so I felt the pressure was off me to learn this - I don't know.



The sampler quilt we are making has three different appliques in it. One is a small heart set in a square of a block, one is a block of a trailing tulip design and the other is 12 small leaves that go around a square within a block. I have decided to use all three techniques. After all, it is a sampler quilt and I should show a sampling of all three techniques. The little heart will be hand turned (least amount of work). The trailing tulip block will be hand sewed using the basket stitch and the 12 leaves will be machine sewed basket stitch.



I learned more than applique techniques last night. I learned I need to be more open to new ideas and techniques, even if I think I don't like them. I will never be as good as Peg or Di when it comes to hand turn applique, but I do really enjoy hand stitching and I will not be afraid to try it when the opportunity arises. Or, just do the basket stitch!

Bluebirds on a quilt

Click on pic for a much better view.

I said I would not purchase any more fabric. However, I couldn't resist this.

I saw this bluebird fabric on a sample lap quilt kit at the Quilt Show last month. It is from Fern Hill Quilt and Antiques. I fell in love with it and while at the show, asked the designer if I could get the material and pattern, but for a queen size quilt.

The ladies at Fern Hill are very helpful and adjusted the pattern for me and sent me the material. I'm thrilled. The material is called Bluebird Dishes by Lily Mae for Fine Line fabrics. It is based on old bluebird dishes.

My grandma had several Homer Laughlin bluebird plates and I have them, along with others I have found over the years. So, this fabric called to me. I picture the quilt on a bed with the plates hanging over the bed and maybe a few other items of my grandma's in the room.

So, now a few projects might fall to the wayside while I make this quilt. But, it will have to wait until after the Friendship Star quilt is completed, as well as the Broken Dishes wall hanging and the lap quilt for my nephew.

So, many quilts and fabrics, so little time.

NO MORE FABRIC. I PROMISE. I promise. I promise. I promise! I promise!!!!

Plant ID Needed

I planted this pretty little plant a few years ago and forgot what it is? Does anyone know? It sits low on the ground and is almost a complete circle. It blooms now and turns darker green later in the year.

Here's a pic of the flowering Louisiana crab apple tree Phil bought me 4 years ago. It is loaded with blossoms and I should have taken the picture yesterday when the sun was shining. It is really lovely and smells sooooo good!

More projects

Here's what I'm up to these days in "quilting land."

My Elizabeth's Sampler class in now full gear. Tuesday will be week 4. Here's a pic of what we have done so far.

And, I am still plugging away at the baby quilt for Gianna, Phil's granddaughter. Maybe she'll get it by her first birthday. hehehe

It is a Peter Rabbit themed quilt.

A Kid and a Firetruck

Saturday night we made steaks on the grill and had my nephew Patrick, his son Aaron and daughter Shannon over. Pam, Patrick's wife, was at the Brewer's game. There was a small accident on the corner and Engine 11 responded. So, of course, we had to check it out. Aaron is 17 so the firetruck didn't impress him, but little Shannon thought it was great. Since I knew a couple of the guys, they let us put Shannon on the truck.

Personally, I think she's adorable. Dirty face and all.