I will show you a picture even though I have posted it before – have to play the UFO GAME!

Since I have already posted a picture,  today I am showing a CLOSE UP of the binding…….!  Sara Parrish did the quilting and you can see that she sewed a little star in each hexagon in the white path……fantastic quilting!

If you go to www.patchworktimes.com you can see what UFO’s other quilters around the country finished for June 2011.

The binding.....

Since I had already finished my #8 UFO when it was announced I worked on a NEW QUILT….

Judy Laquidara’s DANDELION GARDEN.  Mine is a quilt of valor so I am using red, white and blue…..so here is my progress on my UFO SUBSTITUTE!  I named it PATRIOTIC DANDELION PARADE!

QOV Dandelion Parade

I will post several blog entrees from Quilt Camp 2011…..but first here are some of the SHOW AND TELLS.  It is so much fun to line up our creations on the stairway railings.

I didn’t get GOOD PICTURES of everything – but I got quite a few!

Prepare to ooh and ahh!

Oh yes, and a MIRACLE HAPPENED on this retreat……I got the binding put on THREE QUILTS!  My binding chair is EMPTY!!!!!

Dawn

Show and Tell at our SWEET RETREAT at  Quilter’s Corner today was alive and well.  Dawn started with her spectacular Mariner’s Compass creation – it is absolutely gorgeous.  She hand quilted it!!!

Catherine's Halloween Quilt

I love Catherine’s Halloween Quilt – and you will notice that we cannot see her face….that is because SHE IS HIDING….at least she THINKS she is hiding!  :)

Catherine HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT!!!!

Catherine Quilted her SPiderweb

I can hardly wait to see the embroidered spiders that Ellen made for Catherine when she puts them on this quilt!  If she doesn’t STOP hiding she will NEVER get any work done….LOL!

Catherine is still hiding

Dawn's Quilt

Dawn’s quilt is really pretty too…..love the colors!  I bet she will hand quilt this one too!

Susan's BEACH HOUSE

And don’t you just LOVE this wall hanging that Susan made….it is SO CUTE……and Catherine made the kite tail…….SOOO IMPRESSIVE!

Catherine did come out of hiding long enough to create a beautiful scarf (in fact she made two)…..I think she called it the NEVER ENDING SCARF – just lovely!

Catherine's Never Ending Scarf

BINDING - FIRST SIDE

I got ONE SIDE of my Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilt binding finished.    I think this is the most tedious task that I have ever attempted.  I had to do this in small segments of time – 11 points at each setting.  Everyone knows how much I LOVE BINDING and this involved a lot of points in the binding!!!!!

Jared Takes a Wife

I also finished my Jared Takes a Wife top……I love the plaids.  This is a Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com pattern – but without the sashing.

We had a really nice day – lots of giggles, oodles of creative juices flowing – and Mike made us a wonderful dinner – noodle soup, salad, and chocolate chip cookies.  YEAH!

We have another day of retreat tomorrow – and it will be lots of fun for sure!

AGAIN – WHOLE FOODS  was just wonderful!  I took a picture of the sign that listed the 30 top super healthy foods and I got 17 of these foods in my salad/lunch box that I got to go!   I sure do feel healthy tonight too!  How many of these food did you eat today?

SUPER FOODS

I noticed that my fork was a bit deformed and it gave me a chuckle…..I thought about selling it on EBAY – you know people are always buying potato chips in the shape of something – but I decided to just USE THE FORK to eat my tofu (which I highly recommend – it was the best tofu that I have ever eaten!)

Deformed Fork

John claimed he had a deformed fork too *see John holding up his spoon?

John's Deformed Fork

*see Catherine suggesting that John should be nice…..

BE NICE!

That was only the beginning of our fun.

We had every table and chair occupied at Quilter’s Corner and everyone had GREAT SHOW AND TELLS TODAY…… just look.

The antique quilts were wonderful and I think they all belonged to Dawn.

I wonder if one day – maybe 100 years from now – some quilters will find some of OUR QUILTS and swoon over them!!!!

I got my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt out and Catherine showed me how to bind it………OH AM I EVER GOING TO HAVE FUN THE NEXT FEW DAYS AT THE QC RETREAT!

Here is my FUTURE ANTIQUE QUILT….. I just love the way Sara Parrish quilted it for me!  MAYBE – just MAYBE I will have a lot of the binding finished by Sunday!

My Grandmother's Flower Garden

And I don’t think this will ever be an antique; however today I finished my New Year’s Eve Mystery 2010 designed by Ann Smith – it was our fabricaholics group mystery.  I really like it and was pleased with the Moda HOLLY JOLLY fabrics that I used in it…..they had been just waiting in my stash for something special!!!

I finished my NYE MYSTERY

I thought this Scotty Fabric in Catherine’s Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt was so cute….isn’t it unique?

Catherine worked on her Disappearing Nine Patch

Catherine ALWAYS has CREATIVE UNIQUE things to share.  Today she began burning the spiders off the embroidered backing for her SPIDERWEB QUILT.  I had never seen anything like this – it was like magic…..the backing just melted away and left those spider legs in tact!

Catherine is BURNING her spiders

I think  Cathy’s Thirties Something Quilt is beautiful.  After seeing hers (and previously having admired Marla’s) I think this just MIGHT be the next quilt of mine that I finish!

Love Cathy's Thirties Something Quilt

OK – so all day I rehearsed the names of some new friends….. Cindy and Kelly…… they are sisters and I think I had a good way to keep it all figured out .  Kelly I associated with GREEN for Kelly Green and she was wearing a pink shirt…..so I thought about a colorful shirt which made me think of GREEN which made me think of Kelly – this made perfect sense to me!  And, by the way it worked.

……..but alas now I am confused…..is this quilt the FIRST ONE EVER MADE by Cindy or is it Kelly’s first quilt?  One thing that I am sure of is that I LIKE IT!!!

FIRST QUILT

And now for the quilt that made me gasp – can you see the hand quilting on this?  The stitches are perfect!!!  Pat taught me to HAND QUILT – maybe some day my quilting will look like this…..I just have to keep practicing!

Here is another one of Pat’s Quilt……. I think it is so pretty!

Dawn is going to hand quilt this one……oh my – this is just SO INSPIRING!  I just love this one – the rich butternut fabrics just give me the chills…

Dawn's Quilt

….and her WHEN PIGS FLY mini tote just makes me smile!  I SURE SMILED A LOT TODAY…….:)

Quilts Ready to bind

I got the back ready for my Superbowl Stashbuster quilt  - the picture is the top of the  RIBBON WEAVE QUILT  (one of Augusta Cole’s Cutting Bee patterns) made from fabric from the last two Cutting Bees……now I need to make a label……

The Ribbon Weave

And the BIGGEST accomplishment is that I finished my Grandmother’s Flower Garden top.  I was planning to hand quilt it but now that I have the top made I really don’t love it and therefore I think I am going to have it machine quilted.  I can’t see spending 3 years quilting something that I really am not crazy about.  I think part of the problem is that I don’t know how to end it – maybe I would be happy with inner and outer borders but I am not sure I want to cut off the hexagon points.  I know I don’t want to hand sew them down onto a border…..so I am going to hide this in the closet and do a SCARLETT OHARA THING…I will think about it TOMORROW.  For now, it is a closet quilt!  ANY IDEAS ANYONE?  Right now I plan to cut off the points – square it up and have it machine quilted – but I am going to THINK FOR AWHILE before making any moves that I will regret later.

Grandmother's Flower Garden

AND I made my DH, Max, a pillowcase for Valentine’s Day.  He really likes it. 

The Valentine Pillowcase

I am having lots of fun making Curved Log Cabin blocks – stay tuned…… 11 made, need 120……I think that I will WAIT and THINK about that math tomorrow. 

Curved Log Cabin Blocks

Near the end of the pictures you will see some monogrammed clogs (worn by Karen) and the fun part is that Karen’s daughter sells them.  I think I am going to have to order a pair – they are so cute!  You can contact Bridget DuMont by e-mail (bridget.dumont@gmail.com) and see more of her designs at www.DuMontDesigns.net

We sure had some inspiring quilt creations!  I just wanted to make everything that I saw anyone else make!  You can see some of Augusta Cole’s patterns at www.augustacolequilting.com and Karen DuMont’s patterns can be found at www.Kariepatch.com

I want to take this opportunity to remind and ENCOURAGE all quilters to take TWO sewing machines to every quilting event.  I did – and both my Singer Featherweight and my Hello Kitty Sewing Machines STOPPED WORKING – can you BELIEVE IT?  I guess this means I am OUT of the KIT KAT CLUB!  sigh….:)  HM…I still have my Hello Kitty Lunch Box!  I wonder if this means that I can be an honorary member?

Thankfully, my new bff, Judy, loaned me her Singer Featherweight so that I could keep up my sewing production.  I managed to get my MILKY WAY top (designed by Augusta Cole) together - it is from our January Cutting Bee.  I SO LOVE THIS QUILT.

I had a bit of car “adventure” on the way home from the beach…….so if I were a superstitious person I might suspect that I was possessed on this trip.  Two sewing machines down the tubes, a roommate who had a major car mishap, and my own car that is not on my LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS anymore…..ie, it made my LIST OF NOT SO FAVORITE THINGS – and there are very few things on this list.  :) 

THANK YOU Judy, for loaning me your sewing machine.

THANK YOU Jackie for the two eggs because I left mine at home and needed them for brunch!

THANK YOU Augusta, for taking my Singer Featherweight home for your husband to look at and for your MILKY WAY PATTERN!

THANK YOU Barbara, for being my roommate and “cooking partner.”

THANK YOU Christy, for letting us enjoy your fantastic beach home and for the sewing/gardening carriers.

THANK YOU Baron (the Great Dane who now has my heart) for the photo ops.  He is such a precious puppy!

THANK YOU Karen and Augusta for the informative demos!

THANK YOU EVERYONE for the fun, good food, inspiration, and giggles!

And THANKS to Tommy (AAA – the best tow truck driver ever) and his buddies in Kitty Hawk (SETO’S SERVICE CENTER) who fixed my BMW – without  these folks, I might STILL be stranded by the side of the road. 

Enjoy the pictures and the fun through my pictures!  Remember to click twice to see enlarged versions of the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

I took my Grandmother’s Flower Garden project to Sit N Stitch at Quilter’s Corner on Friday – and I think I sewed on THREE WHOLE HEXAGONS.    Why did I do so little?  Well, I was having TOO MUCH FUN taking pictures, shopping and getting myself and others involved in multiple NEW PROJECTS.  Yes, it is all due to Sheddy’s New Year’s Resolution to open the flood gates and start a project a day – if one so desires….and I think some of us are desiring to do just that. 

Be sure to notice Marla’s Fairy Quilt.  She used a free pattern on the Michael Miller website.  I love it so much – I just got goosebumps when I saw it.  I also LOVE her BLOCK ONE of the Bunny Hull BOM….the little snowman is just SO CUTE.  I am going to have to make mine soon!

We had a couple of quilts (Sherry’s Quilt designs from the Quilter’s Corner retreat last week) to ooh and aah over – and speaking of oohing and aahing – Trudy made some doll clothes blocks that are just BEYOND CUTE!

I also got excited because the ski shop in Sycamore Square  was making artificial snow – and since I LOVE SNOW, I just naturally had to take a picture.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of our fun!

I finished the August center block for the LAKESIDE version of the Thimbleberries 2008 Quilt.  If you are making one you will notice that mine does not look like the one in the instructions?  WHY?  I am famous for my tendency to do my own thing and I just decided that I liked my way on this one…..so here it is…..

Grandmother’s Flower Garden

MODA PIECE AND PLENTY

Since I have been doing MORE traveling than sewing this summer, I decided to include a picture of what Susan (of Quilters’ Corner) made as a demo for this month’s Moda, Block of the Month Piece and Plenty Club.  This is what MY BLOCK will look like WHEN I make it.

PURSE TO DIE FOR

And this will be what my purse will look like when I make it.  Here we have a picture of Trudy’s purse (and cute little shoe bows to match.)  I have the same material…….so one of these days, I, too, may have a cute bag like this.  Don’t you just LOVE this bow?!  The pattern and fabric is from the Quilter’s Corner.

Quilter’s Corners BLOCK OF THE MONTH

I love the AUGUST QUILTERS CORNERS Block of the Month from the Quilter’s Corner.  I make two blocks each month – so I will either have two quilts at the end of the year – or a LARGE quilt at the end of the year.  Stay tuned for the end result!!!!

Today I spent the entire day with the VIRGINIA SCRAPPERS having a wonderful time sewing!  I met some new friends and missed some old friends (SHEDDY AND CARMEN.)

Look at this “antique” Birthing Quilt that Peggy brought.  Isn’t it wonderful!  It is so intricate and it looks like the original quilter made it PILLOWCASE STYLE.  (I had a lovely picture of Peggy too – but somehow my program has decided to cut her head off……….oh how I wish that I had a techie brain – I would fix it!) 

At least I only cut off the top of Nancy’s head – she made this very cute purse and matching billfold….the billfold has lots of very cool compartments……I loved it!  Nancy also made this wonderful wall hanging – all today!

Patsy was working on putting the finishing touches (ala binding) on her Circles and Melons quilt.  I LOVE THE FABRICS that she used.  I have never done any circular piecing and HOPEFULLY  I can get into her class July 12!

I actually took a picture of the entire REDWORK QUILT OF ANTIQUE SEWING MACHINES but it came out blurry – too bad!  But I did get a corner of it (THANKFULLY) with Linda’s smiling face…..aren’t quilters just some of the happiest folks around!  Linda embroidered these sewing machine blocks BY HAND!  Such an inspiration!

And last but not least – here is the HELLO KITTY QUEEN – look at that cute little green Hello Kitty sewing machine!  She added the Hello Kitty Stickers too!

It was a good day for Susan (at the Quilter’s Corners) today – two more people at our table signed up for the EGG MONEY QUILT CLASS starting July 20….it is going to be lots of fun! (There is nothing like word of mouth advertising!) 

Today I finished the binding on my ALL THE RAGE QUILT for my grandangel Harry.  Since binding is my least favorite part of quilting, it is more fun to do it with friends.

I also spent some time working on my Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilt.  The hexagons look a bit off color – that is because the papers are still there – showing through.  I have been using old business cards and magazine subscriptions cards to cut the hexagons….it is now kind of fun to do the English paper piecing task – more fun than just sewing around plain old card stock.  It was a good day!

TRIP TO MISSOURI

If you are family – then you might like to see some highlights of my recent trip to MISSOURI.  I got a new camera and lived up to my name of CRAZY PICTURE LADY……enjoy.

My cousin died and I went back to the Midwest to be with my family.  While it was a sad occasion, it was also a time to make beautiful new memories and renew my connection with my familial roots.

MY BROTHER, FRED, AND FAMILY – AND AN UP AND COMING PRIEST

I stayed with my brother, Fred, and sister-in-law, Elaine, and my two nephews Eric and Joey.  Here they are outside The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in KC where mass was said for nephew, Adam Johnson.  It is a beautiful cathedral – with a gold dome – located in downtown K.C.  This is a picture of it from a distance – love that dome!  Inside the cathedral it is truly breathtakingly beautiful…….I have never seen such wonderful stain glass windows. I wanted to take a picture, but wasn’t sure if that was an acceptable behavior!

This is Adam, with his sister, Lisa, and mom, Diane.  Adam left for Italy where he will be studying in the Vatacan to become a priest (over the next five to six years.) 

You are seeing this correctly, the FUTURE PRIEST is taking his sister’s PINK SUITCASE with him on a trip to CA to visit the missions there!

FATHER’S DAY

I had the unexpected pleasure of spending Father’s Day with my parents!  We celebrated a late Mother’s Day too!

SONY FAMILY PICNIC

And I went to Lake Jacomo for a SONY FAMILY PICNIC….I hadn’t been to this lake since I was a senior in high school celebrating prom night!  Elaine and I are enjoying the festivities and good food  (Missouri style corn on the cob and fried chicken.)

I will never forget this day because my brother, Fred, accidentally went into the ladies room and when we ran into each other in there he thought that HIS SISTER HAD GONE INTO THE MEN’S ROOM! 

Well, as FRED EXPLAINED, at a certain angle and with sun in your eyes, a WOMEN’S sign looks a lot like a MEN’S sign!  After this, my brother wore a hat and sun glasses to hide his identity!  Why?  Because ANOTHER WOMAN ran into Fred in there too and SHE THOUGHT that SHE was in the men’s room and my brother PROMISED not to tell (in sign language.)  We laughed a lot about this.

GREEN CITY, MISSOURI

We drove to Green City, MO…..and enjoyed the lucious rolling green pastures along the way to my cousin, Janie’s house.  The third picture below of the yard with the DINNER BELL in the foreground is my cousin Janie’s backyard….and the next one is of my cousin Betty’s backyard!  These country YARDS go on forever and ever!  Quite impressive for a city slicker like me!

And this is my grandma’s old house – it used to be SO BIG!!! 

And this is the old family GREEN CITY METHODIST CHURCH right outside the TOWN SQUARE!  I imagine that not too many people have heard of Green City, MO, but it is a charming town that holds many wonderful childhood memories for me – population 668.

This is my cousin Janie standing in front of pictures of her grandangels.  We are five months apart in age and she and I used to ride horseback around Green City when we were little.  I thought that was so neat!  (Our fathers are brothers.)

She is a lot of fun to be with and I discovered that we have a lot in common – for one thing, we both LOVE ankle bracelets!

‘

Betty is Archie’s wife – and he died only two months after being diagnosed with cancer.  She is holding a cast of their clapsed hands that they had made at the county fair last summer – what a treasure that is. 

MY WILD HORSEBACK RIDE WITH ARCHIE

I have included a picture of Archie in his younger years – I remember VIVIDLY his taking me on a horseback ride through the pastures to round up the cattle (they lived on a farm and the cows had to be milked.)  I – a city girl - was on the horse (bare back) behind Archie – clutching tightly and screaming as we galloped through the fields. 

 Archie had so much fun making me scream that he added a bit of excitement to the adventure and rather than go through the gates to proceed from one pasture to the next, he simply directed the horse to JUMP THE FENCES.  I will never forget this as long as I live – the wind blowing my long blonde hair, the screams never ending, and Archie’s laughter – what fun he was having!

MY AUNTS

I have two aunts in long term care facilities and while they didn’t know me anymore -  I knew them, and it was nice for me to get to see them again. 

Aunt Lillian….with Fred and me……

and Aunt Madeline…..our family elementary teacher who must have taught most of the cousins and everyone in Green City for their first three grades!  Even though she does not recognize us, she is very pleasant and social.  Here we are with cousin Ronnie – we celebrated his birthday while I was in town.

VANILLA HOME MADE ICE CREAM

Yes, I really took a picture of my dish of HOME MADE VANILLA ICE CREAM.  It is near the top of my list of FAVORITE THINGS.  We always ate homemade ice cream when the family got together – in the olden days – and I often DREAM about having it again.  It was such fun, as a child, to watch my uncles crank that handle while we waited with anxious anticipation for that ice cream to be ready!  It was YUMMY DELICIOUS – then and now!

What a sweet sight, cousin Randy with the ice cream freezer!

KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI QUILT SHOW

This was a real unexpected treat.  I got to see some of my grandmother’s and my aunt’s quilts.  I never knew that my aunt made quilts – so this was a lot of fun.

THE HOUSE QUILT

Now this is really exciting.  Here are my cousins Shirley and Ricky holding the HOUSE QUILT that my grandmother made Ricky when he graduated from high school!  Shirley and Rick hosted the birthday party for Ronnie!

And my Aunt Gladys made several quilts – some of which my grandmother partially pieced.  This is Aunt Gladys and the quilts that she made.

“EMBRACING OUR HERITAGE” 26th Annual NORTHLND NEEDLERS QUILT SHOW at the GASHLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Elaine (sister-in-law) and I went to a  quilt show hosted by the Northland Quilters Guild and the Nitetime Needlers Quilt Guilds in Kansas City, MO.

Here are a few of my favorite quilts in the show!

Grandmother’s Flower Garden and Scrappy Bear Claws.

Cats and Dogs….

I am not remembering the names of these quilts – but I liked them!  The second one is a LOG CABIN set in an interesting configuration.  This very large quilt was edged with prairie points – very impressive!

I am participating in a BOW TIE online block exchange – so this BOW TIE QUILT made with 1930′s fabrics was intriguing.  I had never seen this setting before.

And this one I want to make – it is my FUTURE QUILT INSPIRATION!  I love stars, polka dots and plaid!  Goodness, I hope it isn’t in bad taste to post pictures of other people’s quilts without giving them credit – I am new at this and didn’t even think to write down the quilt creators names!

MORE OF MY GRANDMOTHER’S QUILTS

Before I left Kansas City, Fred and Elaine showed me quilts made by our two grandmothers.

Grandma Reiter of Pueblo, COLORADO made what looks to me like a variation on a TRIP AROUND THE WORLD….sort of. 

Fred’s Graduation Quilt from Grandma Alma Mary Bankus Albertson.

…..and the beautiful vintage blue and white quilt was made by Elaine’s Grandmother

Some Final Highlights of my Trip to the MIDWEST

I always enjoy seeing my sister-in-love, Chris……my brother, Fred, and I had lunch with Chris in the Crown Center area of KC.   Chris and I are looking forward to going to the largest outdoor theatre in the world (I think) next month to see MUSIC MAN.  I LOVE THE STARLIGHT THEATRE – definitely on my list of FAVORITE THINGS - and an annual traditional outing on my summer trips to Kansas City, Missouri.

51

We had a wonderful Italian dinner at BRAVO’s in ZONA ROSA in celebration of Fred’s 51st birthday.  It was wonderful and I highly recommend the eggplant parmigiano!

Nephew Eric’s girlfirend, McKenna, works at BRAVO…..THANKS MCKENNA……you are the best!

Nephew, Joey, enjoyed the ice cream…..we all did! 

In fact, I think we are an ICE CREAM FAMILY….look at Fred and Elaine…..at the DAIRY QUEEN (I don’t think we have any of these in Virginia!)

MY GRANDANGELS

My 13 year old grandangel, Harry, and my 10 year old grandangel, William, flew in from CA. It was WONDERFUL to see them!  Here they are with their great grandparents – my parents.  We caught my mother in rollers – I hope she doesn’t mind my sharing this picture…..if she does, OOOPS…too late!

Brother Jim and Family

Finally I had fun seeing my very dignified CEO brother, Jim (the one with the bag over his head) playing with his grandangel Tara Lynn.  It is a good thing we have grandangels as an excuse for our “FUN” behavior!

Tara Lynn (one year old) is cute without the bag on her head too – here she is with her mom and my neice, Amanda! 

And finally Tara Lynn’s brother, Preston (age 3), and his dad, Tyler!

I love my family – they are so much fun to be with….and I have to close with one of my favorite pictures from my trip…….Fred holding a baby mouse in a pet store.  A little girl (not a family member) invited him to hold her pet mouse….too funny!

And FINALLY – my two brothers, Jim and Fred, always have to clown around for a picture – it is a tradition.  PEACE BE WITH YOU!