Fall Cleaning

The last week has been so busy with getting the house ready for the holidays...and of course I overdid it. The good news I left the "heavy lifting" such as power-washing the house, cleaning the windows inside and out, and cleaning the carpets to the professionals.

Brownie's idea of helping with clean-up...

Gathering all the wandering quilting materials however wasn't something I could leave to anyone else...I think it is safe to say there was not a room without some quilting/fabric item in it. This was definitely a roundup!

So my Dining room is now a dining-room again...there is no risk in the kitchen of getting cookie batter on the cutting mat...the treadmill no longer is a fabric auditioning rack and if for some reason a guest peeks under the sofa they will not find a pile of quilting books and magazines (and a bag with my missing hexagons!) To be honest it is a bit blah now but there is however now lots of space to put out my Holiday decorations!

Part of the clean-up also involved refolding some quilts in the guestroom closet and rotating some of the quilts on display. I do this at least twice a year. This is a "rescue" quilt I found many years ago...the quilting is amazing but the applique fabric is in poor shape. I love the design though. I've heard it called both a pinecone and grapes. (I love pine but I think the leaves make grapes more appropriate.) Each time I take this out of the box and refold I get the urge to make a reproduction of it...my fingers are itching again!

But I still have to "de-quilt" the library...it had great light in there for handwork but for the next month I will remain relegated to the sewing room (not grand enough to be called a studio!)

Wordless Wednesday

Ok, so I am not the wordless type...I was cruising through my photo files looking for inspiration for an abstract quilt. This photo may be it. It was taken at the Snowhill Lavender farm in England about 3 years ago.

I think I was biased towards photos with purples and greens since those are the fabrics I am refolding right now!

Near and far quilts and a recipe...

Yesterday I spent a lot of time loading and editing photos from Quilt Festival in Houston. I also spent a lot of time unloading my suitcase and carry-on bags...the joy of travel!

One blogger emailed and asked me to name my favorite quilt from the festival. Ouch...I really liked so many quilts but for very different reasons. Not sure I can choose just one.
This giant Wedding Ring by Keiko Goke is amazing if for no other reason than it was one that Tonya and I both loved! (we agreed on a quilt! stop the presses!) This quilt is equally impressive at a distance and up close. Something I find disappointing with many quilts. You see a quilt across the hall, you catch your breath, you battle your way through the crowd only to find that when you are arms length away you aren't so excited anymore.

On the other hand there is this quilt from Japan (insert "my-bad" here...I tried taking photos of the nameplates instead of keeping notes only to find the quilt photo and the nameplates photos didn't load in order on my camera...)
This quilt has so much happening and has really impressive workmanship. I admit to not being a bit sunbonnet sue fan (ok, sometimes she makes my skin crawl) but this quilt took yet another pattern I had sworn off of and made me like it. That is saying something.
I have to include this quilt as well....inside the face of the young boy are a multitude of other faces....for reference this a a large quilt! Now I have a new goal for my own quilting - to make it equally as interesting up close and at a distance.

So why now a recipe? I had promised to post this before I left for Houston but I got overwhelmed by packing, planning and all that "stuff." I received a reminder email last night by a blogger overwhelmed with zucchini!Zucchini Quiche

1 9-inch piecrust
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon of each)
2 cups of zucchini chopped to about 1/2 inch cubes
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1 cup of shredded cheese (I use whatever is leftover in the fridge...usually a mixture of cheddar, Monterrey Jack, Italian or Mexican mix)
2 Tablespoons of flour
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced mushroom
2 large eggs
1 cup of half and half (I usually split this 1/2 half and half and 1/2 milk)
1 teaspoon of mixed herbs (Italian or Fine Herbs)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Trim Zucchini and cube. Place in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Allow to drain/dry for 15-20 minutes. Add olive oil to a hot pan and cook zucchini until just tender. Remove zucchini with a slotted spoot from pan. Add the onion and mushroom to the pan and cook until the onion is tender. Again using a slotted spoon remove the onion and mushroom and add to the zucchini. (you do not want this mixture to be watery.) Sprinkle with the mixed herbs and flour then toss.

Spread half o cheese over bottom of the piecrust. Spoon the zucchini mixture onto the cheese. Top with remaining cheese.

In a medium bowl beat eggs until frothy. Beat half-and-half into the eggs and then pour into the pie shell. Bake until the center appears set when the pie plat is gently bumped. About 35 minutes. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before cutting.

Quiches are sort of like soups to me...I use whatever I have available! So feel free to add some chopped peppers, a small bit of tomato, or some different cheeses to this.

Houston Show

Is it really past noon and I am still in my PJ's? Yes, the show wore me out that much!Tonya and I...

Where do I start? The quilts were gorgeous...the vendors outstanding...and meeting up with old (and new) friends priceless!

Quilts from Mulberry Lane Booth...great selection of quilts.

This was my first time to the IQA Show in Houston so I guess I'll make this first post about what I learned as a newbie to Houston....

1. Go to the preview on Wednesday night. There are less folks there and you get first shot at the vendors. (If you are interested in the Antique quilt vendors this is important...I delayed on a vintage scottie dog pincushion and it was gone by Thursday morning...)

2. Make a plan on what you want to see. The whole experience is a bit over-stimulating. The first night it was like walking MacBeth - oh, look at that bush (quilt) oh, no (change direction) look at that....(fill in the blank...) I have photos of quilts I don't even remember seeing at the show!

On Thursday Tonya and I went in with a "plan" to see a specific display in the show and stuck to it...we did the same after lunch and hunted down the Alzheimer booth...the rest of the time was a bit of a free for all but it did ensure we saw what was on the show "bucket" list. The show is so large we saw most but I am sure not all...

3. Do not wear sandels or flimsy shoes. Heck I'm considering wearing steel toed shoes next year! By Friday I was being stepped on repeatedly and even run over by the scooters (drivers should be required pass a test before zooming into the crowds...just sayin'!) On that note the elbow I got to the head could warrant a future helmet. I'm not complaining...just giving fair warning. (It all brought back memories of big sales at the old Filenes basement.....)

4. If possible stay walking distance to the show...mid-afternoon mini-siestas kept me going for the three days!
5. Quilts just look better in real life. On Wednesday photos of the winning quilts were posted on the IQA website...good photos but nothing close to the experience of seeing them in person. For example this quilt that won has amazing machine quilting that just doesn't show up in the web photo. (Also the open backed cording that holds the borders on isn't clear in the photos either...the white-glove volunteer was good enough to hold the edge up for all of us...for long periods of time I may add!)

More later...blog is being particularly slow on uploading photos today...

Pumpkin Festival

My guild's donation quilt made its debut today at the North Augusta Pumpkin Patch Festival. Lots of generous folks donated and got tickets to this beautiful quilt.
It was fun to see the costumes go by...these Mummies were one of my favorites...
Today I had one of those oopps moments...I saw a woman walking by our tent that I thought I knew from years ago. When she saw me she said "hey, how are you," and came over and gave me a hug. We talked about the quilt, she bought a few tickets, then she introduced her grandchildren and then it hit me. This isn't the woman I used to work with...I don't know this woman! I think about that time she realized it too (the "I didn't know you quilted" comment was a turning point.) However being in the South I just smiled and said what beautiful grandchildren she had and she said what a beautiful quilt we had....

Focus - not just the name of a car...

First, I have started posting on my other blog again - threadtalequiltappraisals.blogspot.com I'm trying to keep track of some of the "adventures" this year while I work towards sitting for my AQS certification in April.I am heading out to Houston next week and need to have the dining room and kitchen cleared of all quilting stuff before I leave. So why instead am I putting binding on my tree quilt and teaching my neighbor how to make zucchini quiche (do not try this at home...I am a professional multi-tasker!)
Because as usual my list of things to do has more lines than hours in the day...oh dear, I'm sounding like my Mother....

So I've lined up some boxes and am "sorting" UFO's...yikes! Along those lines, I signed up for Finn's UFO Challenge. I committed to finishing 5 UFO's (binding on the tree quilt, binding my 1930's Traveler Quilt, border and send off the vintage fun quilt, border and baste my Baltimore left-overs, and finally...oh, no...I forgot what I said my 5th would be? I am spoiled for choices on that one!

Along those lines...the photo above is of a couple of blocks I made before going on vacation. Do you recognize them? I know the "inspiration must have come from somewhere on the internet but as I was housebound (bad MS week) for a couple of weeks so I was everywhere on the net....Since many of you go the same places I do I was hoping you could point me in the right direction. (I like to give credit where credit is due....days spent cruising the Quilt Index and E-bay and lead to quilt-design over-stimulation!)
On another note...hexagons seems to be running rampart in blogdom! Here is a little quilt I made almost 20 years ago (you can tell I was a beginner than so please do not look closely!) It isn't my best quilt but it does make me smile....

Now back to focusing on that list....(which btw gets a check mark on the "post to blog" line...whoo hooo!)

No I am not running for office....

My friend Paula and I started working on these embroidered Witch's hats in January...she finished her's in time for a local quilt show...mine still needs a few stitches and a hatband but I may have it in time for the Pumpkin Patch festival Saturday!
The pattern is by Crabapple designs. It is designed to be a pillow/centerpiece/decoration but we decided we wanted to be able to wear it. It has been a long time since I tried to make a hat and it will be a long time before I make one again! Getting it all together was a bit "fiddly" but I am happy with how it looks!

The first thing my DH said when I put it on - "so are you going to run for the Senate now?" Funny guy, no?!

Back from Vacation

I was on vacation down in the Bahamas for a few days...now I need to recover from the vacation!
Our next guild donation quilt came back from Maggie Hunt who quilted it for us. I ran it down to the quilter who volunteered to put the binding and sleeve on it... our first day of selling tickets is next Saturday. Lots of time....yikes!
Lots of projects are strewn across the studio so back to work and more photos tomorrow!

Mindless piecing...

Doing some mindless piecing right now...not enough energy to make my way to the ironing board or the cutting table very often to I have been "cleaning" my sewing area by just sewing scraps together...perhaps for another crumb quilt or not...
I did make some 6 pointed crumb stars...the foundations are pages from my mutual fund reports. (At least they were good for something!) The paper is thin but the ink doesn't rub off as easily as telephone book print.

The blocks above are some vintage ones that have "aged" in my closet for a bit and are "asking" to be made into something...After reading the two Material Obsession books I want to be a bit more adventurous with my color choices for sashing...I don't think I will go as far are Kaffe or batiks but I may play with some brights...or some funky black prints....

Last week I did take out my autumn decorations and got most of them up...I left out my fall quilt to put up in the living room but it looks like my DH had other plans...so his red white and blue quilt will just have to co-exist with my orange and purple witches!

Back on the techno highway...

Technical problems the past few days have made posting difficult...a visit to the local computer nerds (hey, they have six foot model of the Starship Enterprise proudly hanging from the ceiling!) has the CPU working again. If furniture is an antique after 100 years and cars become antiques after 25 years how old does a computer have to be? Just wondering....
Before the computer went down I did do some damage on Amazon...both the Material Obsession books really fun and a few projects tempt me (like that is hard to do...) What really hit me is the mix of fabrics that they use. I have been trying to stretch myself a bit (this week I mixed batik with repro...the roof didn't come down nor did I get hit by lightning - who knew!)

We had a good guild meeting on Monday...more show and tell than in any meeting in recent history and since that is my favorite part of meetings...whoo hooo!

Here are a few....
The colors in the log cabin below have an almost vintage feel from a distance but up close are a real mix of fabrics (did I spy some Millennium prints!) Very fun!

This was a tiny version of Bonnie Hunter's scrappy Bargello (1 inch strips!)
More later....

scrappy bits...

Rain, rain, rain...got to love it! We have had a really dry end of summer so the past few days have filled the water barrels and cleared the air. All good.
It also gave me time to work on my crab tree quilt (Leaders and Enders, by Bonnie Hunter.)
Once the stack of 9-patches was made the trees went together pretty quickly...as quickly as 1-1/2 inch squares can that is! I used a variety of yellow to orange cornerstones, 25 different greens for the trees, 24 browns for the trunks, three different beige fabrics for the setting triangles, maroon for the sashing, double pink for the inner-border, and pink and maroon plaid for the outer-border. I think I am safe in calling this a scrap quilt....Needless to say we are finding 9-patches under every chair and in every corner or the house...Brownie even seems to think she can pull them out of the quilt-top - yikes! I better get those last two borders on soon so I can quilt it and keep those blocks safe....

A quick thank-you to the American Quilters Society for naming my blog the quilting blog of the week! My first reaction was "wow, they really like me!" Then I remembered it was a random drawing and it became "wow, I'm really lucky!" What-ever...it is all good!

Speaking of drawings...I am closing in on a couple of milestones (number of posts and number of followers and number of clean square feet in my sewing room) so watch for a drawing soon....

New things...

Usually I stay pretty traditional but when my friend Margaret (SCQuiltaddict) offered to show me how use inks on fabric I remembered my goal to try new things this year....

Margaret has been working with a local artist, Jefferey Callahan, and with his permission we used some of his sketches. He does great southern scenes. Cool...even I can color inside the lines!

It think the goal was for them to find out what they need to teach the totally artistically challenged and I sure fit the bill. For instance...shading...there is no shading in quilt piecing! At least not in my quilts! So I learned a lot and I think Maggie learned that maybe there are some folks out there that could a lesson or two (or a book!) before tackling this!
I was surprised how much fun I had with the project...time flew. Still need to piece some borders but that is something I can do with no stress! (ok, maybe just a little...but in a good way!) then some thread-painting (duh, there is real I-am-trying-new-stuff-stress there!) Good thing is it is a small enough project that I can work on without having try and stand or walk too much right now.
And a quick report on my guild's donation quilt...we drew last weekend at Arts in the Heart (booth photo above) so Cora Lee's Orchard is going to her new home. We raised over $3,000 for Camp Rainbow, a Camp for Children with Cancer. Our next quilt, Vintage Southern, is being quilted this week. So we need to start another one...takes almost a year to get them done!

Short vacation

My DH and I had big plans for this week. We booked a cabin in North Carolina, made reservations for a horseback trek, and mapped out several antique stores. Well....

We had made a stop at a Diner in South Carolina along the way and their star specialty of onion sausage tasted really good but....need I say more? I only ever got to see the cabin....and only vaguely remember that!

OK, maybe not that bad but we did come back early. My big excitement was a brief stop at a roadside stand to buy bags of apples and a pumpkin (and almost perfect pumpkin!) The apple orchards around Hendersonville are really nice. We did stop quickly there and I got to gimp around one antique store in town that had some really nice quilts...can you believe I was too worn out to even buy one? You know I was hurting!
Anyway, I am doing better today and plan to put in my hours at our guild booth at the local arts show. We are selling tickets for our donation quilt and trying to find or create new quilters.

Do you belong to a guild? Do you find that sometimes you love it and other times you wonder why you bother? I am sort of in the latter phase right now...sometime it just reminds me of the scene from Galaxy Quest when they land on a moon and see the wounded alien miner....(yes, I am a geek and only geeks will get the reference!)

Ironing board blues....

Been playing in fabric a lot since Bonnie's lecture last week. Not getting a whole lot accomplished other than cutting up lots of scraps and "organizing" them. I now have a lot of 1-1/2 inch strips and squares so started a tree quilt from Bonnie's Leaders and Enders book. Several of the folks in my guild are going to make this quilt so I may have a chance to trade scraps and make it even scrappier!
A delayed thanks to Kate at Empty Field for the fabric she sent me! She had a contest to name her new featherweight...and it just looked like an Elvis to me. She agreed and now I have some fabric to introduce to the stash!

Today I am ironing backings...loads of backings. No need to go to the gym as my arms and back are getting workout! I love using a solid piece backing but it is so heavy to get from the washer to the dryer and across the ironing board....I need to finish the one for our donation quilt and maybe one other before my DH complains about having the ironing basket so full and realizes it is all fabric (with maybe one shirt of his at the bottom!)
The second backing is for a birthday quilt several of us made for my friend Paula. OK it isn't really a quilt yet...we did get the top done in time! The pumplins and the leave are just so autumn. The pattern was from a magazine out this past summer...

Blogger is being difficult with posting photos today so guess I better just get back to the ironing....

Bonnie's Trunkshow

My guild was lucky to have Bonnie Hunter (one of our members from long ago!) present her trunk show at our Fall combined meeting. We may have set a record for attendance at this one! We have about 100 members and about 65 were on hand for the meeting...not bad!
Bonnie gave an inspiring talk on how she goes about planning her quilts and using her scraps.And as always it was fun to see her quilts in person...and she brings a lot of quilts!
We also asked members to bring quilts that were from Bonnie's books, website or just inspired by her scrap system.Show and tell was a lot of fun...
enough so that folks didn't complain about lunch being late! And that my friends is saying something!