AAQI quilt!

My second quilt from the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative arrived last week.  I twas made by Paula Dennee of Colorado.  I've followed her blog for a few years and when she posted this scottie quilt I knew I was interested!    If you haven't checked out the AAQI website lately go on over...lots of great little quilts and all the money goes to help fund Alzheimer research.

I've been meaning to send them a small quilt but every time the quilt ends up too large!  Of course I could just cut one down...need to work on that!

I have a large collection of antique and vintage quilts but I also collect some smaller contemporary pieces as well.  This display is in my hallway and includes pieces by Tonya Rucucci, Margaret Hunt, and Rachel Thomas.  I rotate the small quilts in this hallway every few months.  They are so much easier to handle and store than the full size antique ones!

Organization in the sewing  studio continues....hope to have enough out to clean the carpet tomorrow then we can move the furniture around.  I looked at lighting options again and think I have it worked out.  Who knew there was so much to choose from!  I also bought some new stools...one for the kitchen and another for my cutting table. The ones with the wheels are just too unstable for me (don't ask how I know....) and the adjustable metal one that I had my heart set on ended up being very uncomfortable.  This red one is just right.  (and no I didn't buy it just because it is red and matches my new scottie wallhanging!  They do look really nice together though!)

Personally I 'm really proud I've stayed at it so long...tough work and so many possible distractions with long lost UFO's and the finding of books or patterns I really love but had forgotten about...any one of these could spin me off over the cutting table and away from cleaning.  Grrrr...must resist!  Amazing the stuff you find though...I mean how many easy angles does one quilter need?  I wonder if I could date them by the different graphics on each...maybe I have the history of easy angle right here!  Sad when I realize it was easier for me to go buy a new one rather than dig through my stuff and find one...I also admit to having 6 6-1/2 inch square templates.  Maybe I need to include a pegboard in my reorganization plans....

UFO vs. Scrap vs. trash

The sewing studio reorganization continues but first some fun stuff....

I've posted before that I am working on Sprigs and Stars, a pieced and appliqued quilt designed by Kim McLean.  Yesterday I got together with my two friends who are also working on one - on these long projects it helps to have other quilters keep you on track.  The block on the left in the photo above is my block.  The one on the right it Paula's.   Amazing how different they are no?!  She is using red wool for the background on all her applique and doing lots of decorative stitches including some beads.  Me...I'm using a bit of everything in my stash on a wide variety of off white and shirting backgrounds.

I have cleared a path in the sewing studio and have done all the measurements to make sure the new layout works.  I even posted a list on the door with the order things have to happen in...nice to see I haven't lost any of the old project management skills.

I continue to find UFO's...amazing.  I am however getting better about letting go of fabric I have had for over 6 years and still have no plan to use.  What I'm finding interesting is I have less problems letting go of yardage (like the two yards of the Japanese women that I had to have back in the mid-90's but then never used....) but the sandwich bags of scraps, the shoeboxes of scraps, the shopping bags of scraps...well, those I'm having a harder time letting go of!  I'm having my own little episode of hoarders here....

My colors but not my style of fabric anymore....

Some of the bags have notes on them...not enough organization to warrant calling them a UFO but that post-it note raises the baggy from trash to scraps.  Like the one with lots of purple, pinks, reds, and green scraps that has a note "Black berries."  How can it be trash when they were obviously gathered together with a purpose...right?  Don't remember doing it...don't remember what the purpose or design was but I'm pretty sure it included berries and was done while I lived in England.  That is good enough for me...next time I see a pattern for blackberries I am soooo ready!  Of course what are the chances at that moment I will be able to put my hands on the baggy...not so good.  But I am working on it!

Big bag and basket of scraps....

I do have some scraps going out to new homes.  Tonya asked for some cowgirl fabrics.  (I did a cowgirl quilt 4-5 years ago.)  As luck would have it I found those baggie!  She also asked for some Crown Royal bags.  (Don't get the wrong impression!  I once asked for one at the local VFW because I had seen another quilter use it as a bag for her featherweight foot.  Ever since then they save them for me...just imagine how many they had behind the bar waiting for me when I got back after 3 years in England!)  Well, you know the TV commercial "if it fits it ships."  Picture me standing in the middle of the post office stuffing the box with scraps!  (Be very careful when opening T!  I just have this picture of you cutting the tape and it popping open like confetti....)

BTW...here is a photo of the full moon last weekend over my house.  It was amazing!  Wish I had taken a few minutes to read my camera manual beforehand!  The animals (owls and frogs which are usually really noisy) were very quiet that night...just a little eerie.  The next lunar even is around the 20th of this month.  It will be a lunar eclipse.  Definitively will read the manual this time!

Attack of the fabric piles...

Do you ever watch the DIY or HGTV and fantasize that they showed up at your front door and redo a room for you?  For me it would have to be my sewing room....

Once again it is time to reorganize the sewing space...for real this time.  I am following through on clearing out lots of old fabric, UFO's, books, patterns and other misc "stuff" that I haven't used since we moved back from England.  (I used that as my cut-off point when clearing my clothes closet the other day and it worked well....)

One of my favorite little orphan blocks that came to light again during the upheaval...

So what was the proverbial "straw" that spiked my resolve?  (because I know I've written another blog about this.) Another wipe-out...let's just say vertical storage is great but when you try and get to it by standing on a chair that has one leg perched on a loosely folded pile of fat quarters bad things happen....

some silks from Paducah for a future crazy quilt project

On the positive side I did find a baggie of little bowtie blocks that had been missing for months...the bag literally hit me on the top of my head.  It is ok to laugh...I did!  I took that as a warning from my Grandmother...she died in her sewing room at the age of 96.  I need to clean up before something bad happens.

One of the challenges is lighting.  It is really bad back there.  Which makes it great for storing quilts and fabric.  Not so much for sewing.  My dining room...now there is a great sewing light and a big table.  Guess where I do most of my stitching?

a glimpse of the Chaos!

This morning I made some sketches of the room with a new layout.  I even marked where the new lights should go (never thought I would be installing track lighting again but that seems to be the best option here...along with some clip lamps near the cutting table and the sewing machine table.

Happy Birthday Brownie and Goldie - cat photo alert

I find it hard to believe it was twelve years ago that a coworker walked into my office carrying a box with two tiny kittens in it.  Brownie and Goldie, didn't get "real" names since my husband insisted we would only keep one of them.  (Look how that decision worked out!)

They are great quilt cats.  They keep me company in the sewing room and pose nicely for photos.  My only complaint is how Brownie keeps clearing the shelf of fat-quarters so she can have a the spot for herself....

They are pretty good about staying out of the antique quilt room...they make up for it by sleeping on the quilts in my living-room!  They have traveled with me up and down the East Coast and even over the England for a few years.

Where Brownie was the self appointed village greeter...a tiring job....

Paducah vendors....

There are four reasons I travel to shows: to see the quilts, meet friends, take classes, and vendors.  That last on is important!  We quilters do love to shop.  I try and support the LQS but they do not carry a lot of the fabrics that I love.  Perhaps I'm out of step?  Could be but I know "my" fabrics are still out there so I am not alone...I just have to travel far to find quilters of like-minds.

There were a lot of the "regulars" at the show.  Laura Wasilowski pf Artfabrik was there with her patterns and beautifully dyed perle cottons.  My friend Paula bought a dozen...  Auntie Ju was there with her woolens.  And Lisa B. of Primitive Gatherings was at her booth in the Finkle Building (shown above with her husband...who also works hard in the booth.)  I'm always amazed at how many new designs she adds to her booth...and how organized! If you go to Paducah be sure to check out the buildings downtown...some great vendors like Lisa are there.

Also found a new favorite....Button Tree Farm from Waterfod Ireland.  They really need to get an natural light lamp at their booth.  When I was buying the wool I really liked the textures however when I got outside in natural light I fell in love with the colors!  I am in the process of converting my batik cabinet to a wool cabinet...guess I am hooked!

Mac update:  he is doing so much better this morning!  The stomach swelling is down.  He was able to go up and down the stairs by himself and even played with the cats for awhile.  He also seems much more comfortable sleeping which I'm sure makes him happy.  Today the carpet cleaners come which will make me happy...nuff said!

Paducah...the mini-series!

Hope you aren't tired of seeing quilts from Paducah yet?  (Obviously Dobby my cat thinks I've spent too much time with my fabric today....)  At the show I took a lot of photos of quilts that didn't win ribbons but that I loved.  (You can see the winners in the magazine and on the AQS website.)  I have a difficult time selecting a favorite.  The one below has stuck with me though....I like the variety of techniques and just a touch of whimsy/wonkiness in the flying geese gives it so much motion.

(And of course the photos don't always do the quilts justice...my apologies to the makers!  For instance this quilt lays flat but due to the alternating light and dark side of the logcabin blocks in the border the photo looks a bit wavey)

A effective set for embroidered blocks.  Nice gradation of colors.  Perfects circles appliqued in the border!

In addition to the show there are several exhibits.  Within the show is the Pilgrim and Roy Challenge that I mentioned in my last post.  This quilt by Diane Gudinsky (spelling?)  was part of this year's exhibit.

There was also an exhibit from a guild showing western themed quilts.  They were really nice.  Loved this one with the vintage cowgirl photos.

And this one from the same exhibit....

If you are in Paducah you must check out the National Quilt Museum.  In addition to their standing collection there was an exhibit on baskets that showed both antique quilts and newly made ones inspired by the antiques. I was inspired!

At the rotary club there was and exhibit of antique quilts from the Christ collection.  A beautiful collection of Pennsylvania quilts.  The Christ's will also be at the show this summer in Hershey...I am hoping to go to the show with Tonya...keeping fingers crossed!  I bought a couple of the Christ's (pronounced with a soft i) past catalogs for the "library/collection."  At the back of the rotary hall there was also some of the Hoffman Challenge Wallhangings.

These are all quilts in addition to the quilts in the show...and this doesn't even include all the quilts in the vendor booths.  To say there is a lot to take in is an understatement!

A quick Macbeth update...he had his sonogram this morning.  Of course when we walked into the animal hospital he was prancing like he was entering a show ring.  He tired out quickly though...even took a nap and snored loudly for the tech.  He seems to be doing better today.  We'll get results tomorrow from our regular vet.

Paducah roadtrip....

Needless to say I am still unpacking from the trip to the AQS Paducah Show last week.  Bits and pieces are stuffed everywhere in my car...luckily I found my camera to compter cord yesterday stuffed inside some comfortable backup driving shoes that were themselves stuffed under the front seat.

Doesn't the background fabric in this quilt just make it glow!  Is lime green now a neutral...could be!

My friend Paula made the trip with me.  She had a quilt in the show!  This is Paula with her quilt.  It was nice to hear other quilters congratulating her (those with quilts on display have little ribbons on their nametags.)

Taking photos at the show is no easy task.  Between being bumped by quilters and funky lighting many of my photos had to be deleted (try as I might I could not edit out all the elbows, other camera, and tops of heads....)  I did include the quilt tag in all of the photos.

Sandra Starley, and AQS certified appraiser out in Utah had two quilts on disply.

One was in the miniatures exhibit.  It is is the star quilt with the Pennsylvania Dutch colors on the left.

and the other was part of the Pilgrim and Roy challenge.  The challenge quilts are on display for a year then are auctioned off the next year to raise money for the National Quilt Museum in Paducah.  I had put some cash aside this year in hopes of bidding on one but by the time the auction came I was exhausted...I was glad to hear the next day that the quilt went for a lot more than I planned to spend so getting that rest didn't make me lose out on a quilt.  There were several I liked in this year's challenge so maybe next year!

I've gone to the show for the past three years but this is the first time I've had my photo taken with the "super quiltman"...an older woman walked by and said, "how drunk did you have to get to put that suit on?"  very funny...he is there every year as part of the tourist office.  The whole town gets into promoting the show and I think it is fun!  They even do a contest for window decorations....

I will post more photos this week of antique quilts and some on favorite vendors.  Things are a bit crazy at the moment though.  Mac, my Scottie dog, had some seizures while I was gone.  I had to leave him at the vet this morning.  He is going to need some TLC this week....as is my husband who was panicking about what he would do if anything happend to my Mac on is watch.  And here I was thinking my husband just missed me...every time I called he asked if I could come home early!

Three crazies...

Everything is a bit catawampus at the moment...Blogger has changed...my sewing machine is eating thread...my camera losing photos...urhgggggg.

So I only had one more border to put on my Charleston basket flimsey when wouldn't you know it my machine stared protesting.  Maybe it thinks I've worked it too hard the past couple of weeks. So after my fiddling with it and only making it worse I decided my featherweight is on strike.  Tomorrow I'll bring it to the repair guy...if I get it there early I may even get it back on Saturday.  Until then I need to keep it hidden from Dobby...

I did get some friendship blocks finished just before the slowdown...I'm trying to finish a lot of last minute things before leaving for Paducah.

This week I got together with a couple of my quilting friends.  Julie had some great show and tell...
This blue and white applique top...

And this "mock applique"...isn't if fun to see one quilter do two such different projects!

Dobby Home!

Just a quick update from my last post...Dobby finally came home. He was a bit dirty and very hungry but otherwise ok...perhaps a sore paw. Now that he has eaten, checked the house, and been washed he is asleep on his quilt.

There has got to be an easier way to give him flea meds...we go through "high drama" every month!

Anyway, I did get two borders onto the Charleston basketweave quilt so the day wasn't a total loss...just have a really long list of errands to do tomorrow!

The CB quilt reminds me a lot of this photo that I took during a garden tour in England...the leaves sort of weave and the colors are very close to what I used in my quilt. Funny how I've had this photo in my quilt-inspiration folder for years!

Almost finished basket...

I had a dozen errands to do today but instead I am waiting at home by the phone hoping someone calls about Dobby...last night he did a runner.

He hates having flea med applied. Last night when I put it on him he went right through the screen and out the window....we haven't seen him since. It isn't like him to miss a meal. We are worried. I put "lost cat" posters up around the neighborhood, called animal control, and am going to drop a poster off at the vet....

On the quilting front...I have finished the Charleston basket center...(sorry for the dog photo but he is staying close today.)

right now it measures 51-1/4 by 69-1/2...I'm amazed at how flat it lays and how even it measures. There was a lot of bias, setting in of seams, and quilt to wrangling!

I feel the need for a border...I almost always want to add a border so no surprise there! Right now I am thinking of doing a scrappy picture frame with miters....since I am staying in today I may work on this...

Stars and berries...signs of spring

Spring is here with all the good food that comes with it! I love stopping at local farm stands. This strawberry farm is only a few miles away so the strawberries I eat tonight were picked this morning.

And I found an asparagus farm in South Carolina! While living in England I became asparagus spoiled...there was a farm walking distance from my house. Cannot eat "old" grus ever again...

Back to the quilting front. Each year my guild makes a donation quilt to raise money for Camp Rainbow, a medical summer camp for children with cancer. This year the committee decided to do a batik star quilt...I love the colors but am so nervous about how the heck this is all going to come together!

There are an equal number of stars being held by other committee members. We meet to look at the whole thing on Sunday...it could involve lots of coffee and or wine....