Busy, busy, busy-and a QUILT!! YAHOO!

It's been quite a couple of weeks again. We're still working at the yard cleanup, readying for the cold weather that seems to want to jump in and stay - much earlier than usual! We are just about done now with the garden, and now we have to wait for the next warm, dry spell to finish mulching it down. The patio furniture is just about all stored, and the tractor and the Gator are winterized and covered. By by, Indian Summer, hello entry to winter! Now, I expect rain, and drizzles until it starts to freeze and stay cold. A good time to stay inside and sew, doncha think?

This past Monday, I presented a trunk show of a few of my quilts for my local guild, Lee's Summit Quilt Guild. Now, they asked me to do a presentation of twenty minutes, and anyone who knows me, knows that I can't tell you my name in just twenty minutes. LOL!!! So, FIVE suitcases and 45 minutes later, my presentation was done. I had a lot of stress choosing which quilts had to stay home, but believe me, there were as many that stayed in the closet as the number that went. I've received some really nice emails from folks who told me how much they enjoyed it, and I've even been asked to present another trunk show at another guild in Harrisonville, MO in June. How nice is that?

Mayo has grown like a weed, and now weighs in at 15 pounds! She's still an absolute delight, and with a few minor mishaps, she's just been a joy to have. I hate it when I have to have her clipped! I love her with her shaggy look, but she gets so darned hot, and then there's the issue that she can't see anything unless it's on the ground. Here's Hubby holding Mayo in our kitchen hearth room. This will be her last all over clip until next spring, but we'll still keep her face clear for the winter.


This doesn't look like the same pooch, does it? Especially with the rhinestones and feathers in her ears! She was used as a "demo" dog for the Petsmart grooming Academy. I told them they could clip her anyway they wanted, but I DID NOT want her to look like a poodle. Oh well....I guess her tail gives it away that she is part Bichon, I hope?

We also had grandson Stephen spend the day and night with us Tuesday while his Mommy was on a girlfriend trip to New York. He likes to sleep in our room, so we have an airbed just for him. After he left, I was trying to put everything away, and I had lots of help getting the air out, didn't I?

And of course, Mayo had to try out the French Roses quilt on the bed. I have to tell you that I am in LOVE with the new 50% cotton, 50% bamboo batting from JoAnn's. It drapes nicely, quilts beautifully and is a dream to sleep under. Remember all the the trouble I had with the extra rows on, then off, then on, then off again? Turns out I really could have left 2 of the 3 of them on for the width - but I am not going to worry about it now! It's on the bed and it's DONE DONE DONE!!

Now, I am busy making circles for my applique strips on the outside edges of the quilt I started at Gwen's retreat. They are going fast, and I hopefully will have it all done by this time next week. Stay tuned!

Now, for a little quilt show

After my Un-Birthday last week-end I ran out south about 45 minutes to take in a Fall quilt show. Without further ado, so can you! Welcome to a few of the Miami County Drag and Brag quilt show, 2009.

This was an interesting challenge piece. Notice the paint chips on the lower right? The guild member had to choose three paint chips corresponding to the three initials of their name. Then their project had to be made of those colors, and they could add only two others. They were all pretty wonderful!

I love the way the log cabins make the border rounds, don't you?

I would never have thought of putting all these together like this, but I truly love the looks of it!

Happy, happy, happy!

More beautiful applique

Batik Butterflies are always a favorite of everyone

I really liked the positive-negative effects of these colors!

Another one for my "scrap soup" to do list!

Applique to die for!

Wheel of Mystery

I think this one has to go in my "scrap soup" list, too!

Next Monday is my local guild meeting, and I am presenting a trunk show and giving a 6 minute circles class. So guess what's next on my agenda, today?

Finally - My Birthday!!

As some of you know, my stitch group, the Amazing Quilt Babes, celebrate our birthdays throughout the year by making blocks/quilts for each other. We draw our "birthday" date from a hat, then wait impatiently through the year for that Saturday to arrive. Then, the birthday girl makes up the kit for the others to sew on the special day together. Isn't that a great birthday gift? My real birthday is in April, but this year, my Babes birthday was in September.

I started these baskets last year at Gwen's retreat by drawing up the pattern from scratch (thank you Gwen!), and I had made ten of them before I packed them away. Over the last few weeks, I made up the 420 half square triangles that make up the belly of the basket and cut the other 210 triangles for the tops. I packaged each set to make the basket, and prepared the handles (with the ric rac) on the top half of the block. We powered through the day, and voila! All the basket blocks are now done, and I'm working on setting them together. They will have a simple floating border of the background fabric so the baskets can show off. Oh, by the way - each basket has cherry fabric and other fruit fabric in them, along with a piece of fabric that has bugs on it, too! It's going to be called Cheery Cherry Baskets - and I LOVE it!

Some questions answered

Several of you have had some questions about Gwen's retreat/s. She moved them from Beaver Island to White Birch Lodge in Elk Rapids, MI (about 18 miles south of Charlevoix) about 7 years ago. The ferry takes too long, and the flights had gotten too expensive for the participants, so the move was made. It's a wonderful family owned for over 50 years lodge that is so accommodating to our needs!

Gwen does have a new book that will be coming out in the Spring, so watch for it. It is Liberated Quiltmaking II - what a surprise, eh? Next year's workshops will have that theme, too, so it should be exciting to see what she does. You can sign up for the workshops at her website as soon as they are posted. I'm already signed up and paid for next year!

This year's theme was Mixing it Up: Quilts that combine applique and piecing. As usual, she brought a lot of quilts to show us. I get more inspiration and plans for quilts just from seeing what she brings. This year's piece was inspired by what I saw, as well as last year's quilt I made for my son.

So, I think that answers the questions for you. Hope to see YOUR pictures of YOUR retreat with Gwen next year! There's even still room at the last minute for the Oct 7 retreat this year. Maybe THIS YEAR, eh?

Another great retreat!

I got back home from Gwen Marston's "Beaver Island Quilt Retreat" (now held in Elk Rapids, MI) Sunday night. It was, as usual, just fabulous. Let me tell you now, that Gwen has put the R-E-T-R-E-A-T back into quilt retreat. I usually go in a few days early so I can knock around the area, then the retreat starts Tuesday night, and goes until Sunday. During that time, we quilt, we laugh, we shop, we swim, we eat, we talk a lot....any time and as much as we want. Each year there is a theme, and you can do something with that theme...or not. This year's theme was pieced and applique quilts.

On Sunday, I waited for my friend Wendy to arrive from California. Then we went grocery shopping, swimsuit shopping and unpacked. Monday we went to Charlevoix, and Petoskey. Of course, we had to hit the cute little Hearts to Holly quilt shop in Charlevoix. On Tuesday, we went back to Charlevoix, but this time, we followed the coast north and drove through the Tunnel of Trees (after going to the quilt shop again), and then found Kim Claire at her Flower Lady and Woolery farm. She had the most delightful sheep, llamas and angora rabbits. Of course, I had to come home with some of THAT fiber, doncha know?

The lower part of this unit is our "apartment" for the week. The window on the left is my bedroom, the one on the right near the door is the living room/dining area. Behind those two rooms are 2 more bedrooms and a bath and a half. We had most of our lunches and some of our snacks on this picnic table in the sun!

This the view out our window facing Elk Lake.

Elk Lake is spring fed and absolutely crystal clear! Wendy swam most every day, while I dipped my toes in the water or I was a "lifeguard" for when there was a potential for sharks. LOL!

Lifeguard duty was rough!

Here I am on Monday, dipping my toes into Lake Huron. The bridge behind me is to Mackinaw Island.

Here's Wendy at the Cherry Hut in Beulah where we just HAD to go to have the best ever cherry pie. Did you know that this area is the Cherry Capital of the World?

Wendy with her beautiful "new" featherweight from her sister Sue.

Applique and tea on the veranda, anyone?

Wendy with her Mail Order Stars and beginning serpentine vine, Gwen and me with my Oriental Anvils and serpentine vine and bubbles on our last night.

Look at all those bubbles! I had taken the blocks and then I figured out what I wanted to do with them after seeing some of Gwen's settings with pieced blocks and applique borders.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, here are some of the things that were accomplished this past week. There's something for everyone!

Time flies!

Where has the time gone, AGAIN! It seems that I turn around and an entire week or an entire month (as in the case) has gone by! Have I been busy and forgotten about the blog? Yes, and no, not really!

I've cleaned out the green bean bed and finished up all that that entails: another 18 pints canned and stored, and mulched down the bed. Hubby took his annual trip to Colorado in the San Juan mountains, so I had an entire week of "alone" time! I sewed a lot, and played with the puppy a lot. I also did a lot of the yard work that he usually does, but mostly just had some quiet time.

I know I promised pictures from Karen Stone's quilt show at our guild, but I am at another computer entirely, so they aren't available. Instead, I'll share today's pictures of Hubby, Mayo and me in the fall garden. The wildflowers are in the creek bed behind our house, and the sunflowers and zinnias are in our vegetable garden.

Tomorrow, I am leaving for Gwen Marston's annual quilt retreat in Michigan. I'll be meeting my good friend Wendy from California, and I am so looking forward to having some time away from home!

Toodles for now!

Another day....

The French Roses are off the floor residing in my chair. They are waiting for me to get over my anger at inept math calculations to get that last big row of blocks off. Unfortunately, I will NOT be using them for a table runner, nor can I leave the quilt at the size it is at the moment. I think this row will just be inserted in the back and be happy that it's there.

I've been busy working on a client quilt - another cross stitch embroidery quilt top. It's will be nice for the lady to have it, and I will be happy to have it off my design wall:)

I also went to guild today and had the most marvelous time with friends and Karen Stone. Her quilts are just fabulous and she is so much fun! I will get the pictures of that off the camera tomorrow and share some of the fun with you then. In the meantime, I'd like to share about another one of my friends. Her name is Jane Kennedy and she makes wonderful quilts, too. Her book was just published, so check it out, as well as her quilt gallery. Her instructions are great, and if you've ever wanted to do something like this, her book would be a great guide for you!

And of course, you need to see the latest pictures of Mayo, our baby girl. She loves to help in the garden, and this picture is of her in my green bean bed. She loves to leap into the raised bed and scurry around under the plants. Besides all the black dirt embedded in her fur are the furry green beans stuck and woven into it as well!

We bought a small doggy pool for her to "swim" in after garden time, and it's been so darned hot here, she is loving her playtime in the late afternoon. After that, she gets dried and brushed, and then she is so tired! This is her favorite resting position. If she gets much longer, I'll have to grow taller!

Did I pass math?

Well, it's been a few years since I graduated high school AND college. It's also hard to believe I used to teach statistics!

This is a picture of my French Roses quilt on the floor where I threw it after several painful days of math!
So why is it on the floor, you ask? Well, let me start at the beginning, so you'll understand.

In March, I figured out the size I wanted for this quilt, cut and kitted up all the blocks I would need to make a king size quilt. My king size quilts go on the bed sideways, so should always be in the 86" X 102" range. I worked on the blocks and had most of them completed upon my return from the retreat. THEN, I took them all with me to Rochester, MN and sewed them together. When I laid it out on the floor to show Hubby, it was SQUARE! How did that happen? I never make square quilts for the bed! So I automatically assumed I was short a row. Instead of it being 9 X 9 blocks, it needed to be 9 X 10 blocks, so I brought it home and made more blocks. Isn't that what YOU would do?

So now, I get my borders together out of the kits which I had already pre-cut as well, and they just wouldn't fit. What's wrong here? I did the math again, and low and behold the darned quilt was already 81" X 90" BEFORE borders. How could that be? So, I sat and did the math again. Turns out I didn't need the extra row after all. I had simply added the last row on the wrong side, and the blocks should have been set 8 X 10. Silly me.

So this is where it is at the moment, waiting to be unsewn, and started again with the borders. I know, I know, I know. Not so bad, but still! (She says stomping her foot!)

And Clyde is complaining that I must not have done the math correctly for the big board, either. He simply cannot stay on it, and sometimes rolls off in his sleep. Maybe I need to get some baby bumpers? LOL!