It is a top!

Well I spent my National Quilt day in the quilt room and finished my civil war top!

I added a plaid and blue border.  Of course the plaid was cut on the bias so the quilt was handled very gently and I had to get the blue outer border on quickly!

I'm happy with how it came out...doesn't look as dark now.

  Next on the design wall...ocean waves...this could take awhile as it is king-size!

The yard sale was a bit of a washout.  We were all set up by 0730...sales were ok until 0930 when it got cold and started to sprinkle...by 10:00 everything was back in the garage and my husband and I huddled in front of the fireplace!

Watson did not like having all these visitors in his yard...he was exhausted from guard-duty!

Quilt Day!

I know I am a few hours early but thought as I am on the computer...

Happy National/International Quilt Day!

Usually my guild gets together and has a sew in but next week we have Karen Stone coming for a trunk show and two workshops!  So we will "celebrate" later...

We also just met on Thursday...one of our guild members shared how she used photos for inspirations for her small applique and embroidery pieces...she does nice work!

I really liked her idea of keeping "doodle-clothes" to test out new stitches and to save them for reference later.

All the photos in this post are from the show and tell...always good!  (Thinking I may make one of these bags tomorrow!)

National Quilt day...a week early

Due to some scheduling problems...including a St. Patrick's day party...my guild decided to celebrate National Quilt day a week early.

We decided to spend the day working on donation projects. All and all I think we got about a dozen quilt tops together. One is for the local veteran who is getting an accessible house next month

the others will be finished up and given to the Ronald McDonald house which provides family's a place to stay while their children are being cared for a local children's hospital.

It goes without saying we also had lunch that included and amazing amount of desserts...it is a sort of southern law that if more than three women get together there has to be at least three desserts....

Maybe it's the moon...

Had a very productive National Quilting day...I'm thinking it was the big bright moon that made it so because I haven't been this organized in a long time! OK, maybe not organized...but I got a lot done!First, I went digging through the quilt-tops to find one that I could finish-up and send to Quilters Newsletter who is rounding up quilts for the Japanese effected by Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear event. The one above was made with lots of Moda fabrics that I used in many quilts. Not sure why I didn't finish this but now seems like a perfect time. I realize quilting this will do as much for me as whoever receives it...watching the news makes me feel so helpless and hitting the donate button on the Red cross site only alleviates that feeling for a few hours. But making a quilt - that keeps me busy for hours which are hours I'm not glued to the cable news harbingers of doom.

Also, last year I committed to making a quilt for Quilts 4 Leukemia. I finished the top yesterday! (The blocks are a bit larger than the ones I've sent Clare and added with sashing and a wider border it is large enough. Also, this is as close to a two color quilt as I can get....)My DH says it is his favorite quilt yet...I got a long speech (diatribe perhaps?) on using bright colors and making more graphic quilts. He wants to ban brown from my quilts...ya, good luck with that one!
And wait...there's more! I like trying techniques that take difficult looking blocks and make them easy. This arrowhead (?) block was in a magazine this past year and I tried is using some of my Halloween fabrics. It is fun and does make doing these side triangles idiot-proof. Since our quilt-show is in mid-October I am putting 12 of these blocks together for our silent auction table....the blocks are finished (14..lost count) and should be a quilt top by the end of today.

Macbeth is playing the quilt inspector and checking those 1/4 inch seams and triangle points....
Dobby rearranges the blocks...
The entire household was "helping" me quilt.....

Quilt Day!

My guild celebrated National Quilt Day by holding a sewing bee/demonstrations at the local Arts and Heritage Center. Most of us worked on quilts for Quilts of Valor and a few on their blocks for our next quilt for Camp Rainbow. We used the Twist pattern from Bonnie Hunters website to make the first quilt and then the "leftover" pieces to make the center blocks for the second quilt...sort of like a two for one!
The center is a great place to work with wonderful lighting and lots of space. Being surrounded by local artwork helps too!We got two quilts tops in Autumn colors almost finished and the patriotic themes blocks ready to go together. Not bad for a few hours work. Amazing how much faster it goes when many hands work together!I also tried out a new tool today. You know me - always in search of the perfect rotary cutter.
(And for "perfect" read one that I don't slice myself with when my eyes and/or hands are feeling all MS-y) I was told this fingertip controlled Mini rotary cutter was good for folks with weak hands...since it sort of clips to your finger so you don't have to focus on holding the cutter just on moving your finger. It took a few minutes to get used to it but in no time I was cutting out a pile of leaves to applique on my border. Now the downside - if you have any problems with your hands there is almost no chance you will get the plastic blade cover off without serious damage (for that read one lost fingernail and a nasty slice on the knuckles - big ouch!) What were they thinking? And it doesn't get any better the more you put the cover on and off either. I made a small felt cover for mine and ditched the plastic....