5th Annual Crafty Friends Retreat is over

I had a wonderful time at the retreat! My time and schedule was my own except for meal times which are scheduled. I ate too much!

My first completion was one block from my BOM Civil War Tribute. It was BOM 3 and took much longer than I expected. I had to figure out the finished size of the HST in order to get the block to overall size.

The second completion was a set of patriotic pillowcases for my GS. I will get them to him in time for voting day in November.

My third completion was a standard bed size reversible fleece blanket. It will be a Christmas present for MIL. It is black on one side and has white flowers with a black background on the other size. It went very quickly.

I have signed up for next year's retreat. I still have to find out exactly what dates.

Have a nice day.

I am starting to feel my finger tips

After all the research I am learning not to lean on my left elbow. So much is done with the mouse at Ancestry dot com.

I have found ancestors for myself and DH that lived in the 5Th century.

WOW

Have a great day.

21 hours until the Retreat

I have added an additional two projects to take with me. One is a double sided fleece blanket for my MIL. It is in black and white. The second is a project from my LQS that will be a table cover.

Yes I am counting the hours, minutes and even seconds.

I know I will arrive too early tomorrow morning. Check in is at 10:00 A.M. I really want to leave the house at 8:30. I would get there around 9:00. Maybe they will let me bring in my machine and projects or maybe not. I have a great book to read and will sit on the porch that surrounds the building where we have our retreat. The weather is supposed to be in the low 80's all weekend long and sunny every day.

I am so stoked that I have completed several projects at work this week. I am on a streak.

Have a great weekend.

5th Annual Crafty Ladies Retreat

On October 7 I leave for retreat. I cannot wait!

I have three projects chosen. The first is a BOM project that is a year old. The second is some more pillow cases for my grandson. The third is my current Breakfast Club project Cherry Cobbler.

More later.

NQA 42 Annual Quilt Show

I received confirmation of my class at the quilt show. It will be Saturday morning June 18. I am taking a class in Sashiko and am really looking forward to it. The afternoon will be spent rushing around the show and vendors. I am taking my running shoes.

Have a great day.

Friday night in ruins

Friday evening I was all set to sew and then the worst happened. Well maybe not the worst but certainly not a good thing for a FNSI. I was on call for work and got paged to come in.

Result: no sewing at all and no pictures at all.

Sorry. I blew it.

Have a great day.

FNSI

Tonight is the official FNSI. I have been working on my "Winning Hands" blocks all week long. I have completed about 15 of the 33 blocks needed for the king size top. I will try to take pictures as I progress tonight. (I know,I know I have promised before)...give me a break. Once I start sewing I don't even stop for bathroom duty until I absolutely have to.

Have a great weekend.

Rhapsody from Strip Club

The last two evenings have been filled with laying out the strips for the Rhapsody design. My quilters design table is just not large enough to spread out everything. I will have to get out my side table tonight to continue with the pattern. Since I am using a scrapy look the pattern has be to layed out piece by piece before any sewing can be done. I think it will turn out nice.
REMEMBER: Self, take pictures to share.
Have a great day.

Danish Scones

The quilt top is complete. The binding and backing have been chosen. All is in a separate package for the day when I get my quilting frame up.

This morning I had an epiphany on the way to work. My studio design was to include the quilting frame in the same room as the sewing machines. Now I am thinking that once I get everything out of the old sewing room and into the Studio I can set up the frame in the now empty sewing room and name it the quilting room. I can run a cable from the Dish transmitter in the Studio into the Quilting Room and set up a TV to watch my quilting and sewing programs. I will put the old DVD player in there and can watch all the movies that DH does not like.

What a mind bender!

Have a great day.

Fed Up and doing something about it

I have finally decided that I cannot stay in the living room while my husband soaks up "Ghost Hunter's", "24 Hours"(a cop show) and similar programs that I do not enjoy. This week I issued my desire when he is watching these shows. I will go into my sewing studio and sew. WOW.l

The last two evenings I have been working on my project for "Breakfast Club". We are currently doing "Danish Scones" and I want to finish my quilt top before the 3rd Saturday in May. May will be the start of a new project "Blueberry Cobbler". I will need to go through my stash and pick out a light green shade, a background fabric and two tones of blue...unless I decide to may mine "Cherry Cobbler" and choose two tones of cherry red.

Have a great day.

Recap of FNSI

I did participate in the Friday Night Sew In. I made 4 pillow cases for the Million Pillowcase Challenge. I forgot to take pictures and turned the cases into my LQS Saturday morning. Sorry there are no photos to share with you. Have a great day.

FNSI - Friday, April 15

Friday is that time again. The Friday Night Sew In. I intend to take my bunny slippers down to my Sewing Studio and get the sewing machine in gear. Have a great day.

International Quilt Festival -- Cincinnati 2011

The IQF Spring show is coming to Cincinnati in April. I have volunteered to work hanging the quilts prior to the show and to be a "white glove lady" called a guardian. Maybe I will see you at the festival. The more the merrier. Have a great day.

I haven't been quilting

The latest and last book in the "Earth Children" series comes out on Tuesday, March 29. I have been reading until my eyes cross to get through the previous 5 books. I will be able to download number 6 tomorrow morning on my way to work. I cannot believe that this is the final book in the series. The Clan of the Cave Bear September, 1980 The Valley of Horses September, 1982 The Mammoth Hungers Fall, 1985 The Plans of Passage November, 1990 The Shelters of Stone April, 2002 The Land of Painted Caves March, 2011 Knowing this author she may just have another book to add to the series. I will have to wait. In the meantime I have picked up my new Baby Lock Serger and need to find just the right place to put it into my Craft Studio. I have several UFO's that are crying out to me that they need to be finished. Have a great day.

March Friday Night Sew In

I am signed up again this month. Tonight I will be restoring my sewing room after the trip to Pigeon Forge, TN and setting up for Friday.

There are several possibilities to work on. I could layer the penguin quilt. I could work on one of the quilts I started a A Mountain Quilt Fest. I could work on some things for my grandson.

So many ideas and so little time. LOL

Have a great day.

A Mountain Quiltfest -- Pigeon Forge, TN

Well, I finally made it to Quiltfest. What a great time.

Monday I signed in at the Pigeon Forge Convention Center (PFCC).
Tuesday I had a class with Sally Collins -- Flower Basket.
Wednesday I had a class with Melinda Davis -- Ohio Star
Thursday I checked out the quilt show at the Music Row Convention Center (MRCC).
Friday I had a class with Sally Collins -- My Stars.
Today I am recovering.
Sunday we head home.

The classes were fantastic.

I learned how to use the Square in a Square ruler and got the second edition of the SnS book as well as two books free about the inventor of the ruler. I am working on a scrappy Ohio Star quilt top.

In Sally Collins classes I found out my weaknesses in quilting. I need to be more accurate in my seam allowances and not to accept a single thread width error. I also found out how to avoid these errors by measuring and validating every seam before continuing to the next seam.

I can find SnS uses in the miniature quilts that Sally teaches and shows in her collections.l

There are many pictures for me to post, but I cannot load the pictures onto this computer so will have to wait until I get home to post them.

There was an excellent piece of advice that I got from Sally Collins. She chooses fabrics for color combinations and then picks gradient colors from the fabric to determine what she will use in the next quilt top she is planning. She also uses pictures from nature; the example she had was a picture of yellow roses. This may be a way to start my quilts in the future instead of having someone else pick out my fabrics for me.

My sewing machine and quilt supplies are already in the car for the trip home. Today is DH's day totally. He hasn't had much attention from me this week and I need to change that!

Have a great day.

An awesome husband

Wednesday evening I totally broke my traveling sewing machine. The bobbin would not work at all. DH asked how much a new machine would cost. I told him between $100 and $8,000. His eyes bugged out.

Thursday I called my LQS to ask about Baby Lock sewing machines and they recommended three that would be good starters. We discussed features and price.

Later that afternoon DH went into the LQS and talked to them. He bought the one I had decided I would buy after I had escrowed the money. He also warned them I might come in to buy the machine and to lie through their teeth to keep my from purchasing it.

When I got home DH sent me down to my studio for a totally different reason and I discovered my new sewing machine. He had purchased a Baby Lock Molly for me. Last night I got real familiar with Molly and I am ready for my road trip.

Road trip you say. Sunday we are leaving for Gatlinburg for the Mountain Quiltfest and I have two classes with Sally Collins. Molly is going to be the star of the show for me.

Have a great day. Mine started out with sunshine and happiness even though it is raining outside and we have a flood warning for the Ohio River.

FNSI

Although I never posted any pictures of my progress on Friday I will note that I made a canvas tote for carrying wood in from the wood heap to my fireplace. I have used it twice and it was a good use of the fabric.

I also sewed on the side of the backing for the penguin quilt. All I have to do is open some batting and let it rest and then layer the quilt. My friend has agreed that for now the quilt will be tied. Later I will quilt it on the machine.

FNSI was fantastic and I really enjoyed myself.

Have a great day.

Friday Night Sew In

I have a list of movies to watch while I sew. I cannot wait.

I will try to take pictures as I progress.

I will sew tonight!

Have a great day.

Firm Foundations with Jane Hall

I just had to sign up at Quilt University for this class. Unfortunately my usual procrastination means that lesson 4 is posted and I am just starting lesson 1. Last night I spend time on the first foundation in the class. I decided to make two identical ones at the same time. Twice I cut off the wrong piece of material and had to unsew and put fabric back on the seam.

Foundation Piecing is still a mystery to me but I find I am enjoying the learning experience. I am going to have to spend more time in my studio and less time in the living room.

Yes, my studio. It is no longer a family room. I have put up one of three book cases purchased just for the studio. I also have a desk to assemble that I will put my desktop computer on. I have a quilt designer table and a sewing machine table that has a drop area for my machine. I purchased a iron pad that is rectangular and have put it over my old sewing table. There is very little left in the family room that needs to be kept, filed, recycled or burned. I have so much shredded paper that I can start several fires in the fire place and keep warm.

My quilting frame will be going up shortly. I will be using one of my older machines for in place of a true short/mid/long arm machine. I need to start an escrow account for the mid arm machine of my dreams.

Have a great day.

FNSI

I failed miserably at the FNSI. I had a new book that I couldn't put down. I got no sewing done what so ever. I am totally ashamed.
My work on my studio makeover is getting closer to completion. I have one area in the long L of the family room to finish and then I can start moving things around. The area in the short L is still a work in progress. My that I mean I have made no progress in it at all.
I have signed up for the "A Mountain Quiltfest" in Pigeon Forge, TN. I will be taking 3 classes. Two of them are from Sally Collins. I expect that my quality of work will improve. The third class is the Ohio Star class. I am looking forward to that too.
I have offered to help with the International Quilt Festival 2011 in Cincinnati. I have chosen my volunteer dates and times. I left some time to just cruise the show as well. I will be taking 4 vacation days to enjoy the show.
Got to go.
Have a great day.

January FNSI

I just signed up for the FNSI. I plan to finish the top of the Penguin quilt and the tie it. If I finish all this on Friday I will be starting a Valentines vest.

Have a great day.