Storm on the way...

Can't believe that last week this time I was in the Bahamas.

Nassua Bahama

It was sunny and warm.  Today the islands are being hit with Hurricane Mathew.  Prayers are with them.

Small church on Half Moon Caye

Me on the tender back to or ship...

I live about 2 hours inland so we don't expect more than some rain and a bit of wind.  We are at the end of evacuation route.  I heard that all hotels in our area are booked!  I did volunteer a few hours at an evacuation shelter for pets...will even take some horses!

I figured it is appropriate to share a photo of my Ocean Waves quilt...

Hope all in Mathews path stay safe!  I'm going to go hide in my sewing room for awhile!  Maybe even finish up this Roll Roll Cotton boll!  Appropriate for the wind that is starting to kick up...

Guild meeting

A few times a year my guild has a meeting where both the morning and the evening groups get together.  It is fun to see everyone in one place and or course it leads to some great show and tell!

Hexagon quilt made using the circle and fold method...

a 60th birthday quilt!

a quilt made from baby onesies....

a finished quilt from a Pat Sloan workshop we had last year!

a thank-you gift to our president showing Mt. Ranier, WA....

and food...

lots of food...

we also recognized our outgoing officers...

Polish pottery and fabric...what a great combo!

We also had another fund-raising weekend for our 2016 donation quilt, Raindrops for Rainbows.  This project raises funds for a camp for children with cancer.

This quilt has done really well!

and one of our local sewing and vac shops provided us with some needed water for the hot weekend!  Thanks Branum's!

A bag of fabric....

How many of you have gotten the call - "I have some fabric left to me/been in my closet/no sure where it came from and thought you might be able to use it or know a place to donate it."

It is so hard...I mean once the fabric makes it over the threshold it isn't like I can say...oh, no this smells like smoke take it back!  or, this fabric must have been stored in an attic and is so crispy you could use it for kindling!  or worse, this fabric was stored in a garden shed and is either trying to grow mushrooms or a cure for some unknown illness...

I don't want to sound ungrateful for their thinking of me...it is just rarely do I find a wonderful piece of fabric that I have been looking for or even get excited about.  Most of the time the entire bag gets tossed in to the washing machine (sometimes many loads of laundry end up being done...)

And then there is the ironing...the sorting...and then the moving most of it on to another quilter.  I have to admit a fair amount has ended up as cleaning rags or filler for dog-beds.  This is time and energy I could be using for quilting or for care and maintenance of my own stash (which is as much work as caring for a garden!)

But I know...when the next call comes I'll say yes...the eternal optimist that surely one bag someday will have something I will dance around the room waving above my head!  Someday....

Anyone else happy for Autumn?!

I'm back...it was a long hot and difficult summer for me.  Not sure I've ever been so happy for Labor Day to come around!

Not going too far into the details (feel too much like I'm whining) but lets just say I went to the doctor for one thing and ended up having so much more for them to work on.  In some ways it was very lucky...but it made for a long hot summer.

So my DH celebrated September with some chocolate, fabric and pumpkin spice coffee.  He knows me well!  I go in this week for a follow-up and hope for a clean bill of health (ok...at least nothing unexpected!)

So even though I wasn't as active in the sewing room as I'd like I did a few quilt-y things since I last posted.

This Singer came to live with me!  It was a fun project to take her apart and get her working again.  This is the model I learned to sew on!  Amazing how quickly muscle memory came to play...I threaded it without even thinking...

Her name is Bonnie...she sews really, really fast so I named her after Bonnie Hunter who used to come to the guild retreat and finish a quilt top before I had finished my morning coffee!

My wool group got together last week to start stitching again.

They are so creative

and productive.  Figured it should get me back into gear again!

Design wall update....

I have a lot of projects going on at once...I know!  What else is new!

For years I've wanted a French Prov. style quilt for my kitchen wall and I am now close to having it!  I bought the charm packs at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium in May, put it on the design wall in June and stitched them together in July....if all goes according to plan I'll put the border on in August and quilt it in September!

border fabric for my "French" quilt....

I've also started my neutral quilt using a pattern in Pat Wys book.  My interpretation of neutral is a bit broader than hers!

Anything that looks like denim is a neutral....and I included some yellow just to keep it interesting..

I am also working on a quilt for the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild to give to those in their community effected by the shooting.  Several members of my local guild made blocks and am almost finished sewing them into a top!

And finally, I continue to work on blocks for "The Splendid Sampler" led by Pat Sloan.  I am way behind but I'm ok with that.  In the end I guess I'll make about half the blocks...it is still fun!  I'm using only scraps for this project...not making much of a dent in the scrap bags but at least I'm trying!

Donation quilt top finished!

It has been a crazy month already here in Georgia....heat has been over 95 degree every day...had to have a procedure to take care of some aneurysms before I could have my gallbladder surgery...and we had to finish the guild donation quilt.

The first two are really not interesting (except for the fact they are cutting into my photography time...need to learn to like studio work more!)  The donation quilt however has really turned out nice!

My guild makes a quilt each year to raise money for Camp Rainbow, a medically supervised camp for children with cancer.  The inspiration for this year's design came from Indigo Quilts, by Kay and Lori Lee Triplett.  In their book they have a an antique "Irish Chain with flock of geese border."  (love this border but it isn't for the faint of heart!)

Since we have found that applique quilt tend to raise more money we added the applique.  I drew the 6 applique designs myself based on traditional motifs.  The fabrics include yellows to orange, dark indigo to powder blue, and a few browns and tans.  There are at least 100 different fabrics in this quilt!  Most of the fabric came from members's stash...we purchased the background and a couple of fatquarters of indigo.

So now it will go off to be quilted by another guild member...

(Just a note...this is in no way soliciting ticket sales for this quilt.  We offer tickets at an Art event, a Home Show, and at our Quilt Show.  They are also available from guild members sometime after November this year.)

More hand stitching...

Earlier this month I took a "conquer the curve" workshop with Pepper Cory.

my sleepy "fabric guard"...

So far I've finished one block.  I do however have the rest of the blocks all cut out.

finished block..string of pearls

These blocks are not for the faint of heart!  The five blocks are listing in order of difficulty so I hope by the time I stitch this strawberry block together I will not be quite so intimidated!

I did "cheat" a bit and put together the 4-inch star blocks by machine.  The blank spots have drunkards path blocks....those I'll sew by hand!

I chose fabrics to go with the southern folk paintings in my kitchen.  My eyes are doing well right now so I can "see" the red...

when I started piecing this zig-zag top my eyes couldn't see red so not a lot of red in it...either I'm going to pull the red and orange pieces or add more so they don't look so orphaned!

It is way too hot here to do much in the garden.  The daylillies are in full bloom.  The red one above was given to me by my friend Paula last year and is doing well in my front garden!

On the design wall

I'm jumping from project to project these days...

This is what is on the wall today...above is a quick table runner to use up some of those 5 inch charm packs that seem to multiplying in the studio.  (I'm blaming it entirely on Missouri Star and those daily deals....duh!)

Then there is this other pre-cut that uses 10 inch blocks...

and finally is this project.  This one has a long story...

Started out when I though "what a neat process" when I saw a women demo a technique to make these "easily."  So bought the pattern and the past few days have used ever nasty work I learned in the army.

cause this is what one of the first 5 blocks ended up like!  Easy my #@%!  So I went back to using my easy angle and in a few minutes had 4 perfect (ok almost perfect but perfectly useable!) blocks.

Not all techniques are right for all people (I know many quilters who have never gotten the hang of paperpiecing or needleturn applique!)  I like to think I will try just about any new method...but that doesn't mean I have to stick with it!

Quilt Show Haul...

I mentioned in my last post that I did my share of shopping at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium show last weekend...now that I am unpacking I am seeing just how much I brought home!  zikes!

my finished curve block from Pepper Cory's Conquer the curve workshop

I did go with a list and found several of the items I "needed" for projects.

This group of fabrics and embellishments from Fiber on a Whim out of Atlanta fits that category.  I love the different fabrics - burlap, linen and cotton.  I've had a drawing on my idea board for a couple years now...time to start!

Years ago I made two simple table runners using French fabrics I bought on a trip overseas.  I donated one to a silent auction and the other I gave to a friends.  Always regretted not getting enough fabric to make another!

But now I have the fabric and will make one soon!

Also got some neutral fatquarters (when did fatquarters hit $3?  I must have been napping!)

Also got some fq sets of Pepper Cory's shot cottons.  These fabrics are the chameleons of the fabric world - they play well with Kaffe Fasset fabrics, reproductions and even 1930's.  Some of these are going in to my neutral quilt.  The others are going into my applique stash!

My birthday splurge was a new set of Kai scissors.  I was only going to get one but they had this show deal...you know how that goes.  These grip the fabric while you cut...love them.  Even today when my hands are a bit shaky I can cut well.  And so much safer than rotary tools on a day like this!!  (the little fabric tied on the handle is the warning label for my DH...if there is fabric on the handle he knows it cannot be used for anything but fabric!)

I like having an envelope of mixed needles in my carry-around stitching bag.  These are a new brand to me.  After using them on two projects I have mixed feelings.  Not as easy to thread as some of the large eye clover needles and thicker that most of my needles.  That said I think they might work well appliqueing batiks where I tend to bend my regular Milliners or straw needles quickly.

I bought a few patterns...things that I don't see locally.

This one really caught my eye...has two of my favorite things -strings and curves!

Next year they have quite a line-up for instructors.  You do not have to be from North Carolina to participate.  You do however need to sign up early to make sure you get the workshops you want.  Usually starts around January...