Hearts

I took a break from working on my Carolina Crossroads to make a few heart blocks for the leukemia quilt project. It was a lot of fun to play with something different if even only for an afternoon. I tried a new technique on the paper-piecing (I think I read it in the magazine that Bonnie's article was in but I'm not sure...but I am sure it was in print and not something I came up with!) Anyway, instead of including the outer 1/4 inch seam on the paper you just use a ruler to cut the seam allowance. This is one of those time the photo makes so much more sense....
It just makes less paper to tear away...and that double piece of paper was always a pain. Anyways, it took a couple of trys but at the end of the day I really like this technique.

I am also trying to clear out my quilting room a bit. The thought of packing all this fabric and shipping it yet again is a bit daunting. I gave away some fabric today to one of women in the village and it felt good!
I also went through some of my boxes of vintage fabrics and found these blocks that had been missing since the last move! The one on the right is a favorite of mine...it is about 8 inches square and shid a tiny monkey wrench in the middle and is surrounded by tiny pieces of fabric circa 1870's. Looks just like one of crumb blocks we make now!!!

Back from Malta

I've been away from the computer for a few days because we went to Malta to get some sun and relax a bit. It was a nice time. We got a three day bus pass and covered most of the island. I really liked the old buses there...made me think of Disney cartoons.
I was amazed at the number of churches and shrines on the island. After the second day my DH opted out of the tours...he did go to the blue grotto with me which is really stunning spot. We went out on a tiny boat and went in and out of the "caves."

All and all it was a nice trip but it is even nicer to be home. Now back to the Carolina Crossroads.....

Cleaning up photos

While I was housebound this past month I took some time to go through my ever-growing photo files on both my computer and my laptop. What a mess!

I have photos from three cameras ago in various files on the laptop. Some are of such poor quality compared to my new camera I am just putting them on a disk and deleting the original. Then there are the photos I only took to put on the blog...a new fabric, a block, and almost block...you know the ones. Those are gone too. Then I copies the remaining photos on to disks so if something were to happpen to the computer I would have a backup. I know - I am supposed to do this on a routine basis. Oh, well.

Some of my favorites were of the quilts that came in to the quilt shows for appraisals. At our first show a man brought in about 20 quilts that had belonged to his grandmother. He told great stories about how he remembered sitting under the quilting frame and helping poke the needle back up if it slipped out of her fingers while quilting. The blue quilt at the top was one of his.

The bulls-eye photo below is only one block of 12 that made up one of the heaviest "quilts" I have ever carried! The blocks are about 20 inches by 20 inches. It is an incredible piece! I loved the colors. I am slowly working on the Carolina Crossroads blocks. This may take me awhile. This week I also worked on a charity quilt at Fairford...we almost finished an entire quilt top in one day. Amazing what can happen when several folks get together to work on one project!

On to Step Six!

I've been pretty much house bound the past couple of weeks. My eyes haven't been very good but I have done a lot of cutting fabric and a bit of piecing. Now I am very happy with how my Carolina Crossroads is coming along but it does show how wonky my eyes got...I thought I had only used blue fabric! It wasn't until I took some photos of the 9-patches that I realized I had slipped into the green stacks...Oh well! Colorblind Crossroads may be a better name for it.

My eyes are getting better and I even ventured out to the grocery store today...I mean tried to venture out. The road at the end of the village was flooded so I turned around and went home. Not that I will starve. Besides being slightly chubby (slightly - hah!) I also keep a very well stocked "larder." I could eat for weeks out of my cabinets. It is the cat food that I am worried about...looks like they will get a can of tuna tonight!

Back to the Crossroad project. Had anyone else working on this found themselves with lots of extra 1-1/2 inch squares and other bits? It has nothing to do with the directions...just an overenthusiastic rotary blade. I don't want to toss them but...they are pretty small. Ideas?

Stir crazy

I only have enough energy for a quick post. The cold I complained about in my last post got worse and I ended up flat on my back for the past 4 days! I'm afraid I may be there for at least two more. The worst part is how it effects my eyes. The fever sparks my optic neuritis which is both very painful and aggravating. I can't read nor can I watch TV. When it gets bad I start to have problems with color-blindness...disaster for a quilter!

Before I crashed I started Bonnie's mystery quilt. I finished step one with the 100 rail fences with the red/pink centers and started step two with the white and red corners. I hope to get back to these soon.

Sorry for the whiney post...will be better and posting much more interesting stuff soon.

Buttons treasure!

It has been cold and rainy for the past two days. Not that I have seen much of it since I have been housebound with a cold! It seemed the perfect day to sort buttons.

In the past year I have bought several "sewing lots" at auction and still hadn't gone through all the boxes. The box in the photo above was one of my favorites. Lots of large sets of buttons or buttons close enough to be made into sets. At the bottom of the box was this little silver "purse."

When I opened it up there were these tiny tourist photos of Rome!

Anyway, with this cold that is about as much excitement as I can stand...more later.