Recently, I accepted a request from my guild to be the Boutique chair for our 2010 Lee's Summit Missouri quilt show in November of this year. Since I am a fairly new member, I didn't really know who the person was who called me, but I DID remember that it was an easy name. So, it was no surprise when I got an email the next day telling me about a meeting. You should remember, too, that I am new to the Missouri area. The following is the EXACT messaging that was exchanged:
Message number 1:

From Linda: There will be a meeting for those of you that are on the Quilt Show Committee at 10:15am in the kitchen at A Scarlet Thread, Thursday, January 14, 2010.
Message number 2:
From Quiltgranny:Where is that, please?
Message number 3:
From Linda: 3159 Jodeco Road, McDonough, GA - the same location that our Guild meets. The kitchen is the first door (double doors) on the left when you go in the front door or if you go in from the back, pass the desk, etc. the fabric room on the right, then it will be the next set of doors on the right.

Linda
Message number 4:
From Quiltgranny: Ummm, I don't mean to be an airhead, but do you mean for ME to have
this email? I live in Belton MO....I AM on the quilt show committee for the Lees Summit MO quilt guild, and we ARE supposed to be having a meeting soon about the show....but GA? I don't think so. Thanks for the invite though - if I'm ever in the area, you can count on me!

Thanks, Sharon

I got another nice email back from her explaining how she'd gotten some emails mixed up, but I am still laughing about this a month later! I have no idea when their show is, but if you are in that area, check it out and report back on how it is/was!

Our guild had one of their two annual "retreats" last week. This is where they have an instructor come for a day, and you can participate in that class or just come and sit n' sew. I have no desire at the moment to make a one block wonder quilt, but here are some beauties that were being done that day.

Klonda with her little jewels

Diane with elegant orientals

Beth with and the lucious forest

For my part, I continued working on my birthday quilt, and now I have all the components completed and ready for joining. It's doubtful this will be done before I leave for Cambria, and it just might get to go with me! We'll see.

It has been so darned cold here. Even though the sun is shining, the ice still clings to the trees. You can't quite see the sparkle in this picture, but just imagine driving the back roads out to the main highway and expecting to see Dr. Zhivago carrying Lara across the fields in a horse drawn sleigh. I fully expected to hear the tinkling of the icicles as they sparkled on each and every blade of grass and tree limb. But instead, I had to entertain myself with NPR. Maybe it will be Spring soon, eh? Stay warm, wherever you are!

Sesame Street

Today's post is a bit like the Sesame Street quiz that goes like this:

Which of these things is not like the other?

This picture is closer to the right way, even though it is still wrong. The points are supposed to alternate one top, one bottom. Because the size of the quilt is different than the math calls for, I was willing to have all four corner points going the same direction. I mean, the border fit, and the corner turned, right?

But here is the opposite corner, and one of the points is now going the wrong way. If I flip it over, it doesn't work with the rest of the border. I haven't even done the last edge because I know I will have a mirror opposite there.

Clyde slept on it, and just couldn't figure out how to make it work, either. I know I did the math several times, and I THOUGHT it would work, but it just won't. So what to do, what to do?
I think it's time to fold it up, put it on the shelf for the next go round later in the spring. When you aren't having fun anymore, it's time to move on. I have a couple of ideas working, but I want to make sure that when I cut the fabric it is going to work this time. So, now, it can "simmer" in the stewdio while I work on other things!

I must admit that on a day like today, it's a good one to just curl up with a book, and/or watch the Olympics. What you see on the ground is ice, and the icicles on the fence post are even longer now at 10 PM at night. When the wind blows, everything sort of crackles - the trees are bent way over, and the ground crunches as you walk across it. Will Spring ever come?

Changing Comments

Well, there are some bad people out there in the Blogosphere for sure! This blog has been hit numerous times with spammed comments that are all in Chinese characters, and the commenter has no known profile, but the comments are left with a name (not anonymous). I've reported it to the Google Blog people, and I've removed all but 15 of them (so they can review them). In the meantime, so we all don't get burned, please do this:

*Never click on comments that appear to be in foreign characters.

*Please bear with the new comment moderation before your comment shows on my blog. I do promise that I will review all comments and release them as soon as I can. This shouldn't be too painful.

In the meantime, your Quiltgranny wishes you many stitches and piecefulness!

Another Birthday Quilt!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Here's the "goils" at 2 PM on Birthday Stitch day
from left to right: Ibby, Carol, Vicky, Shirlee, Quiltgranny

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this quilt!

We got almost half of it done, and we also have those rows sewn together so I could easily move the gazillion pieces easily. I plan to enlarge it, but I haven't cut those pieces yet. This is entirely from my stash, and much of it is from my scrap bins. It's a pattern by Robert Callaham called Lover's Knots and it was in a Quilter's Newsletter magazine a long time ago. I don't have the date or the issue number. It's quite easy to do, just a lot of squares (over 1,000) and a lot of corner HSTs (over 400). It's a great "leader, ender" project ala Bonnie from Quiltville.

So tomorrow, after Hubby and go out to do some shopping, I plan on working in my stewdio to get it all ship shape again. Then it's back to these units, and working on Cambria surprises, and getting at least one project ready for Cambria. Well, maybe that will take more than just tomorrow, eh?

Another great thing about our Stitch Saturdays, is that we get to have show and tell - up close and personal. Here's another one of Shirlee's beauties! These are her batik butterflies that are all hand appliqued. It's more gorgeous than the pictures show, I can tell you that!

I hope you had a marvelous special day. Now, on let's get back to the quilting!

Almost there!

Just lots of little things to share today!

Saturday will be my official Amazing Quilt Babes Birthday Day, and I've been working all week long getting ready. My "real" birthday isn't until April, but really, THIS is the birthday that counts for me. My friends spending the day with me, sewing on my project, laughing and sharing - what is a better birthday gift than that? This is the fabric line-up. I can't share the pattern yet, since I want it to be a surprise for them when they arrive on Saturday. I'm sorry that the picture is a bit shaky, but that's what happens when Quiltgranny stands on a chair!

I pulled the colors from the large piece of fabric that is shown across the top of the picture. This end up being the border. I never really know if that's how it end up, even though that is the originating plan! Pictures of our progress will posted on Sunday.

I had a great time at the workshop this past Monday with Linda Everhart . I now understand how her process works and I can hardly wait to get back to it. It has to be set aside for this week, though. This is Linda and me with one of her feathered star patterns (she made it, not me!)

I've been working on Round 2 of RR Bloggers quiltlets. I think we are on round 8 or 9, I can't really remember. I can't show you the entire quiltlet, either, since it will be a surprise for the originator, but I did want to show you all the help I get when I embroider. This is Clyde in his most important stitching spot! I am making hundreds and hundreds of French knots!

And the last thing I have to share tonight is also another secret. The people at my guild and the Bee know what this is. YOU, however, on the other hand will have to wait until after March 21. That's when this will be revealed to my friends in Cambria! Until then, you'll just have to guess!

I'm Ready!

I'm finished with the binding on Cherries Jubilee!Yippeee! My goal was to be able to take it the guild meeting on Monday. So now, if the weather holds, I'll be at the show and tell, too!

I'm even READY for the guild workshop! It's being presented by Linda Everhart, Quilting Among Friends, using a technique called Fusique. I NEVER use fusibles unless I must, so this is going to be a first for me. I've chosen the sunflower pattern. When you finish, you actually have two quilts, so this is a good thing!

The first fabric bunch is for the Sunflower. You can see the pattern as well as my freezer paper template:
The second and third selections are for the reverse (shown in the lower left side of the pattern picture). I can't decide which to use, so I'll take both sets and see how my mood strikes me when it's time!

Let's hope we don't get more snow like we did on Friday! If it's like this, I WON'T go out anywhere. It was beautiful though!

This is what is on the deck right now as it began to be night time. Snow, snow, go away! It's pretty, but I don't want to play!

Rickity Rackity!

WHOOPEEE! I have the ric rac binding done and ready to sew down by hand! Thanks to my friend, Debbie, from the Gwen Marston retreat last fall, I was able to figure out how to do overlapping binding. You can't do ANY kind of mitering here - ask me how I know and how many times I tried? LOL!

Here is the ric rac going on between the quilt front and the binding (on top). Because there is such a dip in the jumbo rick rack, some of it will hang off the edge. You can see them off the edge if you look beyond the needle.

It helps to match the backing with the binding in this instance so it will look like it is one piece of fabric (or at least maybe not so noticeable). The overlapping corner is somewhat bulky but it will do. I am thinking of beating it into submission with a hammer!


This is the front edge and corner. I have pins holding the single edge binding from the back so it isn't laying flat as it will when it is stitched. I don't plan on doing a top stitch on the front...it IS flat like it should be.

Here's a closeup of the blocks and the quilting. I just LOVE this quilt, even though it's take what seems forever to complete it!

February!!!!

I've been meaning to get some posts done about the quilts I've been working on, and the weather here in the Midwest. Instead, I've been spending time cleaning up spammed comments from China! I can't figure out how they've done it, because as you know, you need to do the word verification thing, but there they were! Now that I've done the housecleaning, I can get on with business.

First, my stash report (then quilt pictures):

Fabric in: 1 yards
Fabric out: 29 yards

Fabric in YTD: 1 yards
Fabric out YTD: 29 yards

Net: 28 yards more out than in

It's been a cold and dreary winter this year. I was so happy to see the sun yesterday, and the snow was melting, too! I turned the corner around the house, and here's a reminder that winter is still here, though. I guess it's just above freezing, so when the sun warms the ground, the snow melts. But here's the kicker - where there is still shade (even from the fence rails), the snow still stays. This looks like a long path to winter to me!


I went to a "bee" with my quilting guild last week, and it is held at a clubhouse on Raintree Lake in Lee's Summit, Missouri. It was so gray and overcast all day, but the laughter inside the clubhouse was pretty sunny. The geese were quite a "hoot" landing and sliding all over the lake.

Part of my stash reduction was fabric sold to a fellow quilter. The other part of the reduction is due to the completion of my basket quilt! I've decided to not count the stash as used until the quilt is either a "flimsie" or a completed quilt. I'm finishing up the binding today, and I'll post a picture of that when it's done, too. I am using a neat trick to use rick rack as the binding, and it's a new thought process for me, so it's a long one. The baskets all have rick rack on the handles, so I thought this would be a cool quilt to use this technique on. This is the basket block that Gwen Marston and I designed together on a piece of notebook paper three years ago at her retreat in Michigan. I love this quilt!
Here's Mayo doing her quality control work. The blocks are McTavished, with small feathers at the base of the baskets and larger feathers in the borders.


I hope you have a wonderful day/week/month of quilting!