Moving on

Lots of good today! First of all, I got this great postcard on the mail from Michelle Wyman, part of our MQR exchange. The sentiment is so perfect: and don't you love the texture of the red fabric?!!!

So far the 2 I have received from this exchange have been very cool! This is such a fun venture! I am so glad I decided to 'play'.

Then, I finished embroidering the 10 shirts for my husband's sailboat racing crew...that he had to have by this Sunday's race (right in the middle of my Christmas and show season rush...LOL) Aren't I a good wife??? OK, don't strain yourself laughing! Anyway, it's another finish on my list...yeah!!! And, finally....just a peak at the infamous raffle quilt. I'm getting close!!!

So, I'm in a better mood today, (and I thank you all for your support) and feeling quite productive. And soon a completed picture of this quilt. But tomorrow, a new picture of my beautiful baby rags! They are getting so big!

I've been sent to the principal's office

I received an e-mail today from someone who has obviously read at least parts of my blog, but never commented. But felt compelled to send me an e-mail calling me to task for an earlier post.

The post of issue, was the quilters' horoscope from Nov. 9th. I clearly stated at the beginning of that post that it had been sent to me, AND I provided at the end of that post the link for the sender. But my e-mailer apparently felt that was not sufficient. And the overall tone, was that I was trying to pass someone else's work off as my own. That s the one thing that I NEVER do.

This person did provide the original author's name and site, which I will pass along to all of you.

The original author was Pauline Rogers an Australian quilt shop owner and tutor. According to my e-mailer, she also raises money for breast cancer. Sounds like a wonderful person.

So to Pauline Rogers, thank you for the quilters' horoscope. Sorry for the belated credit.

The other question this raises : ..... is stating something that you are sharing is not your own work, but sharing it anyway with the best information you have OK??

Or do we simply refuse to share anything we have come upon that is not our own work, even if we note that it is not ours, for fear that if we cannot correctly identify the original creator we have caused some horrible harm?

I will remove the post in question tomorrow.

The raffle quilt

First of all, I'm sorry if you thought you were going to see it. It's not done. Though I am making good progress. It is 103" square (almost). It is a combination of piecing and applique. So first I had to SID all of it. That took a while, but is so worth it. It makes a huge difference in the final look.

Next, I stitched all the motifs....in the borders, blocks and the center medallion.

I am now in the final stages of stitching the detail work in the appliques...probably another day, and maybe a little more.

Then I'll be ready to stitch the background fillers and finally the embellishments.

So, hopefully in a couple more days it'll be done.

Stayed tuned...I think it'll be worth it!

Another new postcard!

My first postcard of our new MQR exchange! The theme is black, white and 1 color. This one is from Vicki . It is already hanging on the door of my sewing room! And I have a design planned and my color. SO as soon as I finish the raffle quilt I'll get right on it!! Yes, I know the Dec 15th deadline...I'll make that EASY!!

Brown bag challenge

OK, as promised, the pictures of my challenge quilt. I'm now whipping the binding down.
It is all raw edge applique. The challenge fabrics were all but the background and the second leaf (the green one). The light isn't great, but the background is a mottled brown. Hey, Mary...you should like that! This top leaf is yellow.

This one is green...my fabric, not one of the challenge fabrics.

This one is rust.

And this one is red. I added the little "flying geese to use the 2 fabrics I didn't like. I also used them on the sleeve and as a frame around my label.
I used polyquilter "harvest" thread and quilted around the applique and simple swirls in the background. I used matching thread to stitch the detail in the leaves. Then I used Jones Tones bead glue to fix tiny glass seed beads down the center of each leaf. This stuff is great! It holds well, is easy to use and is washable after 7-10 days curing time! After 24 hours, I could not dislodge any of the beads even with rigorous scraping with my fingernails! I can see lots of uses for this stuff! Oh, and I used Quilters' Dream "Dream Puff" batting. I love that batting! Do you see how the leaves really pop? Like they were trapuntoed. But they were not. Just tamping down the background gives that effect with this batting.

And this is the back. Is it my best work??? NO. Is it nice? Yes. Main thing, it is DONE! And done is good!

Now I'm back to working on the guild's raffle quilt!

Have a great and safe Thanksgiving!

Making progress

Well no picture tonight, but I did complete my brown bag challenge quilt today (except for binding & sleeve). Maybe tomorrow I'll get some photos taken.

Other than going to the market to do my Thanksgiving shopping, that was my day.


Pretty lame blog day.......

Another good day

First of all today I received my gift of fabric from Randi. 5 one yard cuts...they are all beautiful! I won the drawing on her blog; amazing 'cause I never win anything! These fabrics are gorgeous, and perfect as I am doing fall stuff! Thanks, Randi!!

Today I went to the veteran's home with a couple guild members to distribute quilts to the new residents. WE go twice a year, and it is an amazing experience!

The home is like no other I've ever seen! Clean. caring and full of activity from the community.

Actually a good place!

And that pretty much filled my day.

Tomorrow it's back to quilting.

Living in a whirlwind

I feel like I've been picked up by a tornado! Everything is going so fast. Especially time. Today is my youngest granddaughter Fiona's First birthday! In the photo below she is helping Mom clean out the pumpkin 'guts' so Dad could carve it on Halloween. Looks like she thinks it's kinda of gross!

This week I also taught a machine applique class at the LQS. And Monday I am delivering quilts to the Veteran's Home for my guild. Plus finished up 3 clients quilts in addition to the one below. I'm tired!

I am furiously finishing up Christmas work. And today I did. This is my friend Connie's fractured diamonds quilt. It is pieced on a fabric foundation, and she pressed all the seams open, but the intersections were still very thick. I had a hell of a time! I raised the hopping foot, but when I got it high enough to get over those seams, the stitches weren't good, so I put it back. 2 broken needles and timing the machine finally made me change the quilting plan! This is the result. Not my preference, but it worked. The quilt looks nice, and it's DONE! And done is GOOD!

I am almost finished the prep work on my guilds' raffle quilt and it will be ready to load tomorrow. BUT, I first have to do my brown bag challenge quilt!! What? It's due already??? It can't have been a year already!!!

And, I have to get it AND the raffle quilt quilted before I leave for Virginia on Dec. 5th. And shirts embroidered for Don's sailboat racing crew by the Dec 2nd race, and postcards made for my next 2 swaps, and the list goes on......

And Mid-Altantic and MQS are coming up fast...got to work on those entries too!

Oh well, who needs sleep anyway!

A christmas finish

Finished this Christmas sampler today for a client who is teaching this at a LQS. The light was fading when I finished, so some of the photos are on the dark side, but you can still see the quilting detail.

Blogger was selective in letting me upload photos tonight, so you can't see the outer red border, it had Holly leaves quilted too, like the sashing, only larger.

It was fun, and now its done! And I am on schedule, ... and that's a big thing! The next one is loaded, and tomorrow, I'm off and running again!

Another day with no pictures

I'm glad you all are enjoying the quilters' horoscope. It amazes me how close these things are. Though I guess you can read anything into them. Fun though.

I'm slaving away, no photos yet, maybe tomorrow. Got to finish this quilt, and move on to the next one tomorrow. No rest for the weary...lol!

Did get a neat phone call this weekend though from my son...Fiona, my youngest granddaughter is now walking on her own! I'll be going to see them and the rest of the family in early December. I can hardly wait!

Slim pickin's today on my blog....sorry!

Slowly making progress

2 finishes today...a large allover feather meander and this beauty. The colors are richer in person...a deep royal purple and a beautiful gold. This was pieced by one of my best piecers/clients. She took a class from Sharon Schamber (her link isn't working right now) last year. This quilt was impeccably pieced and her colors were beautiful. What a joy this was to quilt! The photo isn't the best, I had forgotten to take a picture until she came to pick it up, so I was rushing. She was pleased with the outcome, thankfully.


And today, I also got another postcard from Mary! I think the bug has bitten her big time! But I'm happy, because I love getting stuff she's made! Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of quilts she's made for me.

And then to top off my day, I got a huge order from Superior threads! Loads of beautiful threads!

All in all a good day! Hope yours was too.

Slogging along

Finished 2 more quilts...allover designs today. And then started one for a regional show. The snowbirds are back, and the show season here in Southwest Florida is gearing up. I have several stacked up waiting to be done for the show season here. Not to mention our guilds raffle quilt that hopefully will be accepted to AQS. So I'm starting to feel the squeeze!

On another note, our heat wave is no more! We finally have fall...such as it is in South Florida (fall ,winter, spring). But it is wonderful to me! We turned off the air conditioning and opened all the windows and doors. And hopefully we'll stay open like this till next May ! This is what people come to Florida for! 78 degrees during the day and 55 at night...pretty much perfect! And the days are absolutely cloudless, so perfect for sunprinting. Which I intend to do ...........just as soon as I get caught up. LOL

A good day

I got allot accomplished today. Finished 2 quilts! The first one is a nautical panel..a repeat of one I did a couple months ago. It is for the same client...she liked it so much she did another and wanted it quilted exactly the same! Since I posted the other one in September, I won't bore you with another picture of the same thing!

The second quilt, is a king size scrap quilt that I quilted "heartstrings' by Jodi Beamish on. No pictures taken yet.

Last night I received to raffle quilt top for my guild's 2009 show. I shared my drawings for the applique a while back. It is really neat to see the finished top! Now to quilt it!

And then finally today i received my UP mag AND my catalog for MQS, and Mid-Atlantic quilt fest! SO after I finish up on the 'puter' tonight I'll be reading !

And, I also received my latest book purchase.."Fabric Art Workshop" by Susan Stein. All I've had time to do is flip quickly thru, but what I've seen looks INCREDIBLE!! Can't wait to read it in detail!

And now, after an exhausting day, I think I'll retire to bed and read all my goodies!

Pay it forward

I have seen this on a couple blogs in the past, and either ignored it or was too late to participate. But tonight on Suzanne's blog I committed. Now who wants to be next?

Pay it forward rules:
I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Have a great weekend!

Whew!

Boy, the last couple days I have been working on the quilt from h***! Finally finished and off the frame today. I have to say, I have done a lot of quilts, many have had their "issues" but this by far was the worst. I won't post a picture, but I can say that I have never had anything to even come close to this. Thankfully, it's done, and my husband says he doesn't see what all the bitchin' was about. So I'll take that as a job done semi well done. I can tell you however, I will probably be too "busy" to do anymore quilts for this one.

On a happy note though, I got the next one loaded and it is one of my best piecers'. Oh happy days!!

And I got my latest Joggles order of wool roving...All brights! Yeah!!!!!!!! And a new supply of hand dyed wool.

A little work and a little play

OK, first the work. I finished this quilt this afternoon. That makes 4 done this week! This is the prettiest, so this is the picture I'll share. I love these blues and greens...too bad it isn't mine! It is Jodi Beamish's Waterworld pattern and I used Signature "Island Waters" variegated thread. The next quilt is loaded and ready to start when I get home from guild tomorrow.
And now some fun! I made 2 more needle felted coffee cuffs this afternoon. And this time I pinked the edges and just did a straight stitch around. I just can't believe how fast this needle felting goes!

So I started another one. This time I'm making the flower 3-D. Easy and fast too! And I dug out a box of wool yarns that I have had forever. I originally got them to hook a rug.....That doesn't seem to be happening, so I'll use some of them for needle felting!

And then I ordered some more wools today... lots of brights! This is really fun, and it's something to do by hand which is nice, since everything else I do is at the machine. Nice change!

And I also discovered I can felt this wool to flannel and batiks too! What a great way to add texture to some quilts!