Class of Color

Last night I took a class on color at The Patched Works. Color 101. It was presented by Amy of Blue Underground. She and her partners design quilt patterns. She was an excellent teacher and fun, too.

I needed this class. Sometimes I find a fabric and am then at a loss. Or, I think I find what I like and by the time I purchase all of the fabric, with the help of the quilt ladies, end up with something different and much, much better. They are much better at seeing which color/fabric goes or adds to other colors/fabrics. Of course, that's their jobs, but I can be very intimidated by this process.

Amy gave a lot of suggestions on how to look at color that I was impressed with. Now, I do see color in nature. I love looking at trees and seeing the hundred different shades of green or looking at a lake and seeing all the different shades of blue. Out in nature I can see all different shades, patterns and textures that work together. Color is a wonderful thing I think most of us take for granted. I believe I am good at "seeing" color. It is just picking it out in fabric that can drive me bonkers.

One suggestion Amy made that I am going to try is to sit down with a picture (of a drawing, advertisement, piece of art) and a color wheel and place a dot on the color wheel for each color I see. Amy had several examples and they were really impressive. I can see where this exercise would be very helpful in learning about shades and hues.

Amy also brought along tons of quilts to use as examples for her collection. That was interesting and fun. Those quilts were gorgeous. There were a quite a few I would have liked to tuck in my purse and taken home! LOL And, there were some I didn't care for. But, each example showed different techniques of color usage. Amy stress that it is OK to mix fabrics, too, which I am slowing learning on my own.

It was a fun evening. There were a lot of nice ladies in the class - many of them "newbie" quilters like me.

Learning more about color is something I would like to explore more now that I've taken Amy's class. That says a lot about the teacher! Thanks, Amy! And, thanks to The Patched Works for offering the class!

Fall

I really like fall. I think I enjoy this season even more than spring, but not as much as summer.

Here's some of the things I love about fall:

Apple cider, crisp apples, candy corn (Yikes! all food so far!), watching the squirrels gather food, cleaning up the garden, the sound of the leaves in the trees, watching the leaves change color, the changing colors of the birds such as the gold finches, hearing the geese flying overhead and watching their formation, smelling burring leaves, harvest, good sleeping weather, wanting to bake pies, perfect fall days with a slight crisp to the air and blue, blue skies, sleeping under more blankets, knowing that while the plants are straggly they are just getting ready for a long sleep, kids are in school, Halloween and everything related to it - all this and so much more.

What I don't like about fall? I live in Wisconsin. Winter is close behind!

Unknown Quilt (aka Quilt from Hell Project)

Blocks 1 and 2 - Homespun Block (top) and Georgetown Circle (the easy one bottom). Fat quarter was the brown fabric.


Jeannie, of Ye Olde Schoolhouse, gave us blocks 3 and 4 of the quilt we are making this year. To recap a previous post, she gives us one fat quarter a month and two block patterns. The only requirement is to make the blocks and use the fat quarter fabric in each block.


She also said that each month one block would be "easy" and one "more difficult." If you remember from a previous post, the directions are almost nonexistent.



Close up of the Homespun block, which, despite some real difficulty for me, I just love.


This month the "easy" block I did put together in a few hours. The "difficult" block took me at least 12 hours. I'm not kidding. Seriously, there are no instructions - just pictures to go by. Jeannie did give us a couple of key measurements such as the flying geese should be 2" x 3 1/2" but that is the extent of it.

Blocks 3 and 4 - Arrow Crown) (top) and Old Favorite (the easy one on the bottom) Fat quarter was the center square in each block





Arrow Crown block must have been designed by a very wicked quilter!

I am finding this very difficult, frustrating and hair pulling! However, I am learning about color placement and how to dissect a quilt block. So, while I may be bald by the time this quilt is finished I will have learned a lot!

I am also using more color and fabric in the difficult blocks and trying to make the easy blocks very simple (3 fabrics only thus far). Maybe I am making more work for myself, but I like the look.



Four blocks down, 20 more to go - if I survive.

Colorado Trip

Cousin Peg, Aunt Virginia, Cousin Ellen, Me, Sister Suzanne

We had a great time visiting my Aunt Virgina over the Labor Day holiday. She seemed to really like the quilt I made her and we had fun posing for the picture.

I always forgot how wonderful it is in Colorado. I love watching the mountains. We tried for a picnic at Echo Lake, but got rained on. However, we did enjoy the beauty of another area.

We made the short trip to Golden and toured the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. The museum had moved a month before and are still raising funds to expand their exhibit area, but we really enjoyed the dozens of quilts they had on display. Fabulous quilts. We also went to 2 quilt stores while we were there and, of course, I bought fabric and a kit (thanks to my very "evil" sister and aunt! hehehe)

But the main thing was enjoying the company of my wonderful Aunt Virginia. Seeing Ellen again after many, many years was great. And, finally meeting Mary Kay and spending time with her and Peg was delightful

Check out Ellen's website. She is a first class mandolin and guitar player. Peg has a second career now as a writer of personal history.

And, the mountains. Ahhh, the mountains . . .

Go West, Young (?) Girls

I'm heading today to visit my Aunt Virginia in Little, CO. My sister, Suzanne, who lives in Atlanta will be meeting me at the Denver airport.


Aunt Virginia is my Mom's youngest sister and the last sibling of her family. She is 88 and a very remarkable woman. She loves her adopted state and loves going up to the mountains, participating on an annual camping and fly fishing trip every spring with 2 of her children. Up until a few years ago she still golfed (a passion of hers). She has traveled all over the world. Suzanne and I joke that we strive to be like our Aunt Virginia! (We are very serious though!) I adore hanging out with Aunt Virginia. She is smart, fun and a little sassy!


I'm looking forward to visiting with my cousins and their partners and hopefully, their children.


Now I don't mean sound like this will be the highlight of the trip, because it won't, but our plan is to go to Golden, CO and visit the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. I squeal with delight every time I think of it. I have never been there before, but checked out the website. It looks fabulous.


I am sure we will get up to the mountains, also. For those of you who have ever spent time in the Colorado mountains, you will know what I mean when I say it is one of my very favorite places to be.
I have a surprise for Aunt Virginia, too. Pictures will be posted when I get back.

Hmmm, between my dear aunt, the mountains and the quilt museum, maybe I'll just stay there! Oops, forgot about my doggie girls. Guess I will return.

Tea Time Part 2

The 2 times I have received my block of the month material and pattern for this quilt, I have been disappointed in the colors of the fabric. I think, "Oh, they are so drab and and dull looking." And, each time after I finish piecing the block and get it all together I start to like it. While most of the fabric is something I would not choose, once together the quilt is turning into a very soft and pretty piece. I can't believe how vibrant the colors look in this picture! Click on it for a better look.

I enjoy BOMs. It takes a few hours to get the work done for the month and then I pack it away and forget about it for another month. However, I am starting a BOM called "Green Piece" in October. Again, I ordered it online through The Quilt Shoppe . This quilt will consist of 2 blocks to sew and 2 blocks of applique every month. While my Tea Time is a 6 month project, Green Piece will be sent out over the couse of 10 months.

Now, that will be challenging!

Office/Sewing Room

Please click on picture to really see how pretty this piece is.

I live in a house that is 121 years old. Over the years owners have remodeled and updated so that not much of the original character remains; however, the basic plan of the house is somewhat the same. It has relatively small rooms and hardly any closet space. It does have a cool built in china cabinet, wide woodwork, wood floors and cool stucco walls in 3 of the first floor rooms. I have a cool back hall pantry area and a great screened in porch. So, while it probably looks totally different from when it was built, it still has a funky character to it.

Off the dining room is a little 8' x 11' room with a cubby hole closet. Because of the little closet, it can be considered a 3rd bedroom. I have always used it as my "office." I have a beautiful antique piece that was suppose to be in my upstairs bedroom, but we could not maneuver it up the stairs on moving day 11 years ago. It is full of winter hats, gloves, mittens, purses, swimming suits, doggie coats and other miscellaneous junk.

Since I hope to retire next year and sell my house, I recently had my handyman come over and make a lot of repairs that needed to get done before I sell. I figure the repairs are now completed and it will be one less thing to worry about in spring when my house goes on the market.

He did some repair work on the ceiling in my office and changed the ceiling light fixture so that instead of being a pull chain it now can be turned on and off from a switch on the wall. What a concept!!!!

I also purchased a laptop so I would have more room on my desk. It is a huge desk and was my Dads. I decided to turn this room into a sewing room/office/storage place. Now-that is asking quite a lot of this little room, but it is working.

I removed all of my books from the bookcase and either gave them away packed them up. I kept only the bare essentials in my book land. I purchased decorative boxes to hold quilt patterns, blocks, kits and excess fabrics. I moved my sewing machine to the desk top and out of the kitchen. When I work on larger quilts, all I have to do is unplug the laptop and move it. I have just enough room to keep my ironing board up all of the time. No more ironing board in my kitchen! I still need my dining room table to lay out quilt blocks and for cutting, but that is only a couple of steps away. Now my kitchen will always be neat and tidy!

I tried to empty out or clean out the antique piece, but it is still full of stuff. I will make another attempt at emptying out 2 drawers and maybe 2 shelves inside.

My dining room is still full of fabric, cutting boards, rulers, a plastic storage drawer thingy full of fabric and other quilting related stuff, but I'm trying to keep it tidy. It really is an organized mess. No picture of that room!

I have some wall space available for quilted wall hangings in my new space. Once I get a rod, my little lady will be ready to hang on a wall and not tacked to the bookcase! I will soon start a large wall hanging for above the desk. (The room needs color.) The stained glass piece in the window, believe it or not, I just purchased on sale from Penney's. I love it as my Mom loved humming birds and there are books and a coffee mug incorporated into it - both things I love. So, I have a little of both my parents in the room.

Hopefully, when I retire I will have a bigger room for quilting and will not have to use other areas. Right now I am thrilled with this room!

Reading via Kindle

I love books.


One of my very first memories is being read to. I think it was my father reading to me, I really don't remember. But I do remember the book - The Poky Puppy, a Golden Book and the little puppy was fuzzy. I was probably hooked on reading from the first time I was ever read to.


From Golden books to Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie, Caddie Woodlawn and all and everything in between. I loved to read. When I was little the Milwaukee Public Library system had a summer Billy Bookworm Club. Oh - I loved that and strived to read as much as I could each summer.


I truly believe that one of the best thing about America is that we have a free library system. We can walk into any library in any state, city or village, sit down and read to our hearts content. I rarely purchase a book unless I will use it for reference or it is one of my all time favorites like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.


And, the books. Thick, thin, large font or small. There is just something about holding a book, paging through it - even the smell of a new book at a bookstore makes me feel absolute delight. What adventures are within these pages? What laughter and/or tears? What will I learn? How will I feel when reading it? Will it stay with me long after I am finished?


My boyfriend also shares my love of reading. He reads every night before bed, lying on this tummy. It's kind of cute. He prefers non-fiction, historical books; however, we have shared books and it is fun to discuss them. Even if we are not reading the same books and don't plan to, we will talk with each other about what we are reading.


So, for my birthday he bought me a Kindle. A Kindle is an electronic book. It is about the size and weight of a paperback and you can download books from Amazon.com or other places. Most books cost to download, but it is cheaper than purchasing the actual book and there are lots of books you may download for free. You can page forward and backwards, download newspapers, blogs - all sorts of things. It has a back light so you can read in the dark and you can change the font types to your specifications. It's pretty cool.


I have to be honest and when he told me what he had bought me I was very disappointed. I have a rule: No presents that need to be plugged in unless requested and then think twice. He seems to have forgotten that as I got a GPS for Christmas. But, I digress. By the time I unwrapped it, I had checked out the website. I admit I was starting to get curious and excited. His logic was that I would be able to take it with me when traveling and I could download books from anywhere. He really was being thoughtful when he bought it for me.


I have completed my first book on Kindle. Luckily, it was a delightful little book that I really enjoyed - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, otherwise I may not have liked using the Kindle. And, I did enjoyed using it. It takes a litle while to get use to, but it worked out just fine. It will be great for traveling as it is easy to pack and carry. I like it and will use it a lot. It was a great gift.


However, for me, it cannot ever replace a real book. A Kindle will never, ever replace the joy of walking into a library or bookstore where I can walk up and down the rows of shelf after shelf of books, picking one up here and there, thumbing through pages and exploring what lays under the cover.



I hope years from now electronics don't replace all books and libraries. What a sad state our world will be in then.


P.S. - interesting observation. Notice I always say "use" a Kindle and "read" a book? Hmmm. . .

Underground Railroad Part 2

I got the first three blocks of the Underground Railroad completed.

It's fun as I don't feel any pressure to work on it so I can put it away for weeks at a time if I want. (But I won't!)

The first block to the left is Jacob's Ladder and the one next to it is Monkey's Wrench. In Eleanor Burn's book she calls Jacob's Ladder the Underground Railroad block. The Monkey's Wrench sure looks like a double Church Dash to me!


I was very nervous to attempt the Wagon Wheel. However, the instructions were very easy to follow and while it is not a perfect circle, I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

Only 12 more blocks to go!

Flowers

I love being surprised with flowers. I could have flowers in my house every day of the year. Because I have SAD I do buy myself budget bunches all winter during those long months and they help me make it through the long Wisconsin winter.

August 26th is a very special day for me. My boyfriend sent me these flowers with a very sweet and thoughtful card. The flowers are all yellow so I think it must be the "Sunshine Bouquet." Here in Wisconsin on the 26th it was cool, rainy and down right dreary. The flowers really brightened things up. I appreciated his thoughtfulness.

I kept them at work since I am there more than at home during the week. They filled my office with a wonderful scent. I brought them home on Friday. Oh, a big, bright balloon came with the flowers. How fun!

Thanks honey. For the flowers and remembering a very important day. You made it special!

Ancient Greeks Wrote Quilt Patterns?

I am happy to be part of the Friendship Ladies quilting group that meets once a month at Ye Olde Schoolhouse quilt store. As you may remember, we last worked on a Mystery Quilt and it was a lot of fun.

This go around the group, along with Jeannie, the store owner, decided to do 2 blocks a month. Each month Jeannie will give us 2 patterns and we will purchase one fat quarter that Jeannie picked out. We have to use the fabric in the fat quarter in each of the 2 blocks. The other fabrics in the blocks are our own choice. Each month it will be a new fat quarter fabric. This month we used beautiful fabric by Barbara Brackman for Moda (sorry I cut off the name of the fabric).

Sounds like fun, right? Well, I'm still a newbie quilter and these wonderful ladies have been quilting for many years. They can glance at a pattern and figure it out. Jeannie, God Bless her heart, handed me two patterns that I swear were designed by ancient Greek quilters. There are no instructions - just how much material to cut and a rather bad picture. Yikes! No measurements. No step-by-step instructions. No glossy colored pictures.

After seeing my blank and panicky look, Jeannie and Laurel (a wonderful lady who works for Jeannie) devised a diagram for the first block. Maybe they took Greek in high school, I don't know. On the second pattern they gave me some measurements.

Anyway, here are pictures of the patterns and here is one of my results. The brown fabric is the fabric that must be used in both blocks. I will admit I had fun going through my scraps. This block could have up to 5 fabrics, but I wanted it simple.

I know, I know, my center points are cut off. My grandmother use to say (and I have heard Jeannie say it too) "if you can't see it from a galloping horse it is just fine." (Well, that horse is going to have to be on the other side of the barn.) Do you that that might be ancient Greek philosophy? Hey - Maybe the patterns are hieroglyphics taken off an ancient Greek cave.

It's all Greek to me!

P.S. If any one know where these patterns came from, please advise! I promise not to tell Jeannie you squealed.

Happy Birthday to Me

August 23rd was my 54th birthday.

Phil came up and we had a nice time together. He gave me a Kindle for my birthday present. I wasn't sure I would like it, but I do. More on that in another post.

That evening I invited a few of my gal pals over and we had a s'mores party. Very low key, but fun. My great niece, Shannon, stole the show. She wore the "princess" outfit I bought her. I think it fits her very well! And, how many

people get to have a real live princess attend their celebrations?

Pam and my sister, Linda to the left and Sharon and Amy to the right. Amy and Janet below. Didn't get everyone, including me!

Gracie and Lucy Lou had on their party attire, too, but Lucy Lou was camera shy.

Shannon has a s'mores face!

Poor Doggies

My Lucy Lou had been pawing at the side of her mouth so I took her in to the vet. Well, she had an infected, impacted tooth - poor dog.

One vet bill wasn't enough as I decided Gracie should have her teeth checked and cleaned, too. So, yesterday both girls went to the vet early in the morning for a tooth extraction (Lucy Lou) and cleaning (both).

Luckily, after Lucy Lou's bad tooth as removed both girls where deemed to have healthy teeth and just needed a good cleaning. No other teeth removed.

Since they were put under for the cleaning, both were still groggy when I picked them up last night. Down right silly, too, until Gracie started shaking and had the dry heaves. I got her curled up on the couch with a quilt over her and towels under her and she fell back into a sound sleep. She hardly raised her head the whole night. I had to carry her to the back door to go potty and carry her upstairs when it was time for me to go to bed. Have I ever mentioned my dogs are spoiled?

Lucy Lou needed to be by my side the whole evening. Unfortunately, her back legs kept giving out from under her due to the anesthetic. The first time I heard a "thump" and looked to see Lucy Lou sitting there with a dumb look on her face. The second time I heard a "thump" I saw Lucy Lou sitting with a bewildered look. The third time I actually saw her butt go down. I gave her lots of hugs and cuddles. She was really confused. When it was my bed time I walked up the steps behind her and sure enough, I had to help her back end up the stairs.

Lucy Lou has to be on a soft diet for a few days so about 8pm I added a mixture of hot water and beef broth to their dry food. After an hour it was mush and Lucy Lou gobbled it down. Gracie turned up her nose.

This morning they seemed almost back to normal although Gracie would only eat the "mush" if I hand fed it to her. It delayed me by 5 minutes, but again - they are very spoiled dogs!

The bill for all of this? $301.17. The beauty of their sweet doggie smiles? Priceless.

Going through Withdrawals

My house is a mess.

I have "Do It Right, Dave" over - handyman extraordinaire. The name of his business is Do it Right Home Improvements, but we prefer the first name. By "we" I mean many of my single women home owner friends who pass Dave back and forth when we need work done. And, I am having a ton of work done from fixing my front porch, replacing the ceiling in my office, basement work, bathroom work . . . it goes on and on. Dave does excellent work, is reasonable, efficient and will not rip you off. And, several times he told me how to save money and still get excellent results on a project. Thank goodness for Do It Right, Dave.

In the meantime, I have no access to my computer, sewing machine and cannot even figure out how to get to my projects as stuff is piled up everywhere (office completely emptied). I am quickly writing this post from work.

Luckily, I have several quilts to finish hand binding on, so I can still sew. But, I got 2 of the Underground Railroad blocks completed and I am hooked. It will just have to wait until next week.

Patience is not a virtue I have!

Underground Railroad Quilt

I think I'm nuts.

I have now decided that I would like to make Eleanor Burns' Underground Railroad quilt. Like I need one more quilting project. Like I need a hole in my head.

I went out to Ye Ole Schoolhouse and tried to purchase as much of the material in reproduction c. 1840-60 fabric as possible, so that the quilt looks true to its name. There are 4 background materials and 3 each of blues, reds, greens and browns.

Following the directions in the book (which are very easy to understand) I cut and I cut and I cut and I cut each individual piece, placed them in zip lock baggie, added a label to the outside of the baggie and then placed each baggie in the appropriate huge zip lock bag according to the quilt square. So each little baggie tells me which block it goes to:

North Star Block

Red #1

6" square

Center piece

Then it got popped into the larger zip lock bag marked "North Star Block"

This way I can pull out a block and every thing I need is pre-cut and labeled. I grab the book for instructions and off I go to the sewing machine.

Yeah - I got a million other projects going on, plus I handyman coming in to do a ton of work around my place.

Oh, well . . .

Day at the Fair

I love going to the Wisconsin State Fair. I enjoy going to the county fairs, too. I so enjoy seeing how hard the FFA and 4-H kids work. I love the displays and ribbons for the home goods, sewing and art work of both the kids and adults. I love the animals. And, boy - I love the food!

Yesterday, Terri and I both took a vacation day and by 10am were at the fair. It was a perfect summer day - nice and warm, but with a breeze and no clouds in the sky. Great weather for the fair. We did just about everything we could do. Saw the llamas, sheep, chickens, cows, pigs, goats, bunnies. Missed the horses, now that I think of it, but did see some beautiful Clydesdale's.

One highlight of the Wisconsin State Fair is the cream puffs. It is a must to eat at least one if you go to the fair. We got to the booth early and didn't have to wait in line at all. Yum. All that wonderful Wisconsin cream. Good thing they removed all of the calories for us (LOL - I wish!).

We went up and down nearly every aisle of the Expo Center, saw the 4-H displays and all of the awards for jams, jellies, pies, cakes, etc.

Ohhh - the beautiful quilts. They were inspiring and intimidating! It was difficult to pick our favorites.

We viewed the pig races. We listened to music. We found inventive places to sit and relax!

And, of course, we ate. The big thing this year is the chocolate covered bacon on a stick. Of course, we tried it. One or two bites was enough! Terri had a deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a stick. That was good. Basically, we ate a lot of deep fried or "junky" food, but it was worth every bite!

By 5pm we were pooped and headed home. Once in my recliner I was exhausted. However, the dogs kept staring at me so after a quick shower and a little more relaxing, I took them for a walk. By the time I fell into bed, it felt like I had walked over 500 miles. But, worth every step.

I'm Feeling a Little Witchy

I love Halloween! I do believe it is my favorite holiday.

When I found this panel kit in a catalog I just had to order it. However, upon receiving it I decided I loved the backing material too much to use it where it would never be seen. So I added it as a border and am very pleased that I did. I have enough left for binding and I thought that it would look great. However, Terri suggested an orange fabric for the binding. If I can find it, I think that is an even better idea.

Now I just have to purchase the binding and backing material, have it quilted and hang it on a wall in October.

My Springtime Quilt

Maybe because I made this quilt at the end of winter/beginning of spring I have always thought of it as my "Springtime" quilt. The colors are soft and cheerful.

Last week I finally finished hand sewing the binding and label on it and now it graces my bed. The dragonfly quilt will be brought out for winter use.

I had Meandering Mary professionally quilt it for me and she did an all over design. Again, she did a beautiful job.

All of my first bed sized quilts were variations of 4 or 9-patch. Now I've move on to more challenging quilts, but I still like simple patterns.

I have to admit - I'm am really enjoying sleeping under my own quilts.

Ferns

When I was at Sally's a few weeks ago I forgot to bring some hand work to do. While visiting a little quilt shop I found a stack of these ferns in all different sizes and colors. The owner of the store explained to us how they were hand made and now I forget. The fabric I know is hand dyed, treated and the fern placed on top and treated again. I think.

Anyway, I purchased silver metallic threat and started hand stitching. After I got home (I didn't get very far) I decided to machine stitch the ferns and I ripped out my hand stitches. The stems I stitched 3 times and the branches once. I think you can probably see the affect better by clicking on the images for a closer look. I used a deep charcoal grey for the first border and a deep wine colored fabric for the outer border.

I am very pleased with the way it turned out. Now, it is off to the quilter.

Glads for Mom

My Dad was a very romantic fellow. My Mom was a unsentimental woman. However, I think she did appreciate Dad's romance even though as young kids we girls would have never known it.

Every year at this time Dad would bring Mom home oodles of gladiolas. She loved them. She got that little twinkle in her eyes. Ahhh, I think it paid off for Dad!

After they retired, much to our amazement, Mom got a little more lovey dovey. She would actually kiss (a little peck) Dad in front of us. They held hands a lot, both when walking or if they were sitting next to each other and their genuine affection for each other was much more evident. It was fun watching them.

In one way I got the best of both of them. I'm a romantic and I'm very sentimental.

So, to pay tribute for the the deep love and respect my parents had for each other, every year at this time I purchase at least one bunch of glads.

I know my eyes twinkle just looking at these beautiful flowers!