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Showing posts with label Guild. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guild. Show all posts

Friday, June 15, 2012

A Scrappy Charity quilt made by my guild.

Isn't this a scrap beauty??!  I love all the colors.  My local guild that I recently joined this year makes a lot of charity quilts as group projects each month and donates them to local veterans.  The charity coordinator does an excellent job breaking down the projects into little "homework baggies" and hands them out at the monthly meetings. 

One bag may say make 25 HST's or 20 9-patch blocks... and there may be 10 women making blocks for the same quilt.
The following month you bring back your completed homework and eventually all blocks are made and someone will volunteer to take them home and put into a top.  She'll bring it back and someone will take it home to quilt it....
 
Then the quilt will return once more for someone to volunteer to bind it - that's where I came into play on this one - I volunteered to bind it.  The light pink backing had been left large enough to double fold over to the front and stitch down.
It's a great charity project and our guild has many quilt in progress at different stages all the time.  Majority of the quilts are donated to local Veterans.

However you may remember that at the beginning of May there were very bad tornadoes that touched down in several locations across Southern Indiana and across Ohio and Kentucky.  Our charity quilts have take on a new goal and that is to make 100 quilts to donate to the people of Henryville by their 1 year anniversary.
I love machine finishing the binding - so hopefully I'll get to volunteer to put on more bindings to quilts as they are completed!  It's so great to do such a small thing to be part of something BIG.  Charity quilts are a great way to get involved and I'm so thankful that my guild is very active on giving back to the local community.

Love from Indiana!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I finished my Guild Block Challange!

My guild meeting is tomorrow night and I made my block for our April Project today. The blue paisley fabric was the challenge fabric that we were given to use and add anything from our stash to it to create a 12.5" block of our choice. - instead of using a white or WOW background I used the same Kona Ash color that I've been using for my Banister's SOW-along blocks (aka Farmer's Wife) and I think the grey background turned out nice.

Does the block look familiar to you? Why yes, it is the same as the charity blocks "Louisiana" that I posted photos of earlier this week.  Here I had been racking my brain trying to come up with a block to make for the project - and there it was on my design wall staring me in the face. *Ding*Ding*Ding*  talk about a light bulb moment. lol




I got an email today that before the guild meeting they will be giving a workshop on making bow tie blocks. Nothing to bring, just show up early at 5:30pm if you want to learn about it.  Not sure if I'll be there that early.... but maybe? Wink  Tomorrow night is also the last night of swimming for the kids - I'm gonna miss their "BIG JUMP" off the diving boards but David will be there to see it.


 Next up,  moving on to getting caught up on the SOW-along... they've given instructions for 24 of them... and I've made only 13 so far - that top right basket has to be remade b/c it turned out too small..... and the top left strings block was just a leader/ender bonus block as well as the log cabin block below it.  

Randy's Blog has a nice SOWalong button that I added to my sidebar - clicking it should take you to her blog.  She gives us 3 blocks on the First and Third Wednesday each month so it's not so overwhelming.  Also she shares the cutting instructions for how she makes her blocks.  

Bonnie Hunter has also been participating using shirt parts that I mailed her for her birthday this year - and she's shared paper piecing templates for two of the blocks in recent blog posts. *just make sure when you go to print them you set the Page Scaling to NONE.*

Janet over at Rogue Quilter has added a tab at the top of her blog page that points you to all the blocks that have been given by Randy so far.  CLICK HERE to take you to that page if you think you might want to participate ----or if you are like me and need to catch up. ;)

 .... and in case you're wondering - no I've not started machine quilting PT's Dino quilt/rug yet.... call me a procrastinator, yep, that's me!! LOL  This week and weekend is just not the time to get started on it.... the kids have gymnastics and swimming 3 nights and on Friday night Nora has a dress rehearsal and photos for her First Holy Communion that will be Saturday afternoon.... which also means a house full of family on the way....  So maybe next week will be a better time to start machine quilting that quilt ;)  Remind me though in case I forget. lol

Love from Indiana!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Paul Thomas' Dinosaur quilt / Guild Project

I've been away from the computer for the past 40 days, but there are a few things I've been busy with at my sewing machine.  This is one of them, a Dinosaur quilt for my 4 year old Paul Thomas.  He choose the dino fabric first and then helped me pick colors to match it.
This year, instead of doing a mystery quilt, my guild decided the group project would follow along a past Fons & Porter article that showed what they did while out to sea on a cruise ship. It's where everyone choose 5 half yard cuts and used 4" cut strips and then cut using the EZ Angle Ruler and Companion Rulers.  

There are many design possibilities, just takes some planning.  The handout worksheet did have 3-4 examples.... and honestly that is what I used to draft up my design plan in EQ. 

Paul Thomas even helped me after I got it drafted in EQ, and helped arrange the color placements.   He's so funny calling it "his RUG"  hahaha.  Nora helped snip apart chain piecing and handed me pins and took them out... she wanted to learn to use the iron to press but with Paul Thomas playing in the same room I wasn't comfortable letting her use the iron yet.... maybe another time when there's not as much "help" in the room.

About 2 days later this is what it looked like on the design wall.

Now I just need to decide if I want to add borders and if so buy it and add. Then I can machine quilt this one (I think) just simple stitch in the ditch type of quilting. Only thing is, PT wants to use it NOW.
The dino fabric beside the top is what I bought for the backing but now I sorta think it might look good on the front too.  I think I have enough blue to make a small 2” cut border before a 6” dino fabric border….  Without border it’s only 40” square and I’m afraid he’d outgrow it too soon with feet sticking out the bottom… but of course if he might still be using it when he’s that long, then perhaps dinos need to only appear on the back and not the front?? Decisions. :) 
It’s bright which is so unlike anything I’ve done before. It still makes me smile thinking of how Paul Thomas keeps calling it his rug. lol  Guess I need to finish it up soon - the next guild meeting is April 26th and I'd love to share it during "Sew-n-Tell" ;)

I'm linking up with JudyL's Design Wall Monday linkup today.  It's been about 6 weeks since I've got to sit at the computer and visit everyone who shares a posts' blog and see what they are working on.  I know I don't have time today to play catchup from what I've missed out on, but I will get around to it in the evening hours after kids are in bed.

If you found me from Judy's link up, please leave a comment and say Hello. It's always fun to welcome new visitors to my blog! :)
Love from Indiana!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

My Batik Round Robin is HERE!

Almost two years ago I was asked to help with a block making project and was mailed a fat 1/8th of two fabrics to use for any block of my choice.  I blogged about it HERE.   I had enough fabric that I was able to make an extra block to keep and it sat around for nearly a year with no purpose in mind... until...

Quiltaholic decided that she'd organize a Round Robin swap while we all counted down the months to the next Circle of Friends quilting retreat hosted by the HGTV quilters in Charlotte, NC this year.

I last blogged May 4th, telling you a little bit about my participation in the Round Robin project, but since my last post, my husband has traveled to Oklahoma City, OK and also Indianapolis, IN leaving me to fend for myself with the kids, which translates to = I'm too dog gone tired to make a blog post or even quilt after the kids are in bed at night.  aka too LAZY to do anything other than read facebook pages of friends...*sigh*

The beginning of May was also the end of the twin's preschool year, and we had our singing program a week ago today - and also in addition to that business, last Wednesday we left town to go to Kentucky for a funeral of David's Uncle... so I have not had the time to post to my blog, sorry!  It was a quick trip and although I did pack my laptop, I never once even got it out of the back of the van since we left Texas Wednesday, arrived to KY on Thursday and left Sunday headed back home and arrived sometime after 1am Monday this week.


However - I have lots of photos and will share two with you tonight...of my Round Robin that arrived in the mail the day before Mother's Day!  Tonight, I uploaded them to facebook real quick and shared while waiting on David to get home from work so I could leave to attend QUILT GUILD tonight! Eeeek! I got to go!! :)

I took my RR with me for my Sew-N-Tell item this month. I couldn't wait to have it quilted first... I'll show it again after Margaret does her magic to it. ;)  But take a look, isn't it beautiful!!!


I made the center block, called "Mississippi Star" that I found HERE designed by Judy Martin.  I mailed it first to Virginia Beach, VA where "Ambher" added the teal and white borders.
 
Then it was mailed to Liverpool, NY where "lakequilter" added the "Trip Around the world" looking block border. Love that golden yyellow and how it ties in with my center block.

My quilt was then mailed to Pawcayuck, CT where "Auntie Reba" gave my Round Robin VIP treatment! She did such beautiful applique work to it and the fabrics she used for the background for the flowers on her boarder were made from batik fabrics that she purchased in the capitol of Bali, Denpasar when she was visiting the Indonesian island!!! I can NOT believe she was so generous to share them with me! WOW!

Finally my Round Robin Quilt traveled to Charlotte, NC to "craftyladyage821" finished it up with a rainbow of colors in her piano key style border! I la,la,love the bright orange floater border and final boarder to frame it.
It's perfect, and my only regret is that I didn't get to be there IN PERSON this year for the BIG reveal in NC.  I was so pleased with the outcome of my Round Robin quilt. My group did an awesome job and I love the bright bold colors of the batik fabrics they each used.
Any suggestions for a name for this beauty??? It's my first ever anything made with batik fabrics and I plan to hang it up in the sewing room.... and possibly enter it in next year's guild's quilt show???  

Love from Texas!

Friday, March 18, 2011

3rd Thursday

Last month was the first guild meeting that I've missed since joining last summer. Nora started softball last month and that has really eaten up a lot of our time. Not only do they have practice each week - their regular games are played DURING the week... yep, some school nights our game doesn't even begin until 7:30..... but that's not the worst of it.

Every weekend between now and early May, they participate in TOURNAMENTS! Which are all OUT of town! and are on BOTH Saturday AND Sunday :/ urgh.
Anyway enough about that.

Each month I have the 3rd week off from teaching preschool so that I can attend the local MOPS group. (Mother's of Preschoolers) Tuesday this week I went to the grocery ALONE! Whooo hooo :) and today's highlight of my off day was going to MOPS. This year we've had fun with secret sisters. ;) While the gift budget is only $5/month, it's not required to do something every month... you can hold off and do something a little more $ in other months.

Well my sister has been holding off a couple of months and guess what she gave me today!! My gift bag had 3 bubble blowing tube/wands - one for each of my kidos and also 3 chocolate candy bars that the ball teams have been selling (which may or may not be a clue to who she is) and.... a tiny little pink gift bag inside with these goodies...

Can you guess?

I you guessed a gift card, you'd be correct!!! $15 to Hobby Lobby and my thrifty secret sister also included a 40% off one item coupon! ♥ Love ♥ it!

Thank you Secret Sister!!!

Also today was the twin's picture day for T-ball.... CLICK HERE to see photos on the family blog. David met us there after work and it was a mad dash to get them changed into their new uniforms... but following photo taking we left separately - this time David in the van with the kids to take home and me driving his truck to the QUILT GUILD Meeting! :)

Have you heard of BOLD OVER BATIKS?

They're sold in 2.5 yard pieces and are unlike no other batik I've ever seen before. So pretty! After the presentation I quickly left so I could make it to Joanns before they closed... since I don't know when I'll be back in town next.

Yesterday Nora brought home 2 more birthday party invitations. Both classmates. Both for girls. Both parties on the SAME day :/ I have no idea how we're gonna work them into the softball schedule??? But on Mary Catherine's it mentioned that both she and her sister had recently adopted kittens from the Humane Society and instead of gifts they'd like a small bag of puppy food or kitty food to donate in honor of their new friends Tippy & Tiny. :)

So I went in search of some cute cat fabric and I think I succeeded in finding the most girly girl fabric don't you think? There were several bolts with black background and while cute they just didn't have that fun factor I was looking for. This does I think :)

I bought enough to make two pillowcases. One for Mary Catherine and also her younger sister Madeleine, who's also born the same week and sharing in the party with friends her age.

I wanted to buy fun fabrics for the other Birthday party girl Sara... but didn't see any colorful critters - I've been told she has a bearded dragon at home! yikes! I have until the 26th so maybe I'll get to make a trip to the LQS soon in search of something perfect for Sara....

I'm thinking for these two kitty pillowcases I'll get them cut, layered and pinned and let NORA do the sewing.... :) This will be her first time at the sewing machine and I think she will be proud to make her gifts for her friends. I just don't know when we'll have time to work it in... *sigh* I just got a phone call from David that instead of playing Sat and Sun this weekend... we're playing TONIGHT and Sat. Tonight as in be there (out of town) by 7:15 and game doesn't begin until 7:45. We won't be home until after 9:30. :( Booo!

Just this morning she was asking me - "Mom you know what is better than T.G.I.F.??? ---What's that Nora? Today is my FREE day and I don't have to go anywhere day and can finally play my new Leapster Explorer after I get home from school."

Someone please tell me why Texan's start out at 3 years old training their kids for sports??? Why does it have to be over the top crazy competitive? Why can't they just stick to one practice a week and one game on the weekends? Why didn't anyone tell us this before we paid to sign up??? :(

Have I mentioned that hubby bought and ordered a treadmill in February... as a matter of fact it was delivered on our 14th anniversary (2/21) and is STILL sitting in the box in the same spot the UPS man put it.... and so would have my Olivia boxes be still sitting if Heather from their home office hadn't called asking for a photo to share with their facebook fans...to prove that they really are giving things away. David got to it that weekend but has had NO time for putting together the treadmill yet :(

on an upbeat - guess what my favorite part of Guild night was tonight??? At the cutting table in Joann's I met Lisa, a girl around my age that had also been to the guild meeting as a first time guest :) I noticed her cut fabrics and how feminine, soft and pretty they were and made a compliment and we striked up a little conversation. :)

At the checkout we continued talking a bit and come to find out she's like me - the mom of twins! Her twin boys are 16 months and she has a 2.5 year old. I really hope she remembers me and will email me... and even more I hope that she can join the guild and come every month and start to cherish 3rd Thursdays :) like I do!

Love from Texas!

Friday, October 22, 2010

I know it's been a long time....


I know. I know. (hanging my head in shame here). This has probably been the longest Blog Posting Drought I've had in foevah - but since about the end of September thru this month - - - it's..... just NOT been "NORMAL" for us here at home..... and sadly the twins are **STILL** wearing pullups despite my every effort to train them. Can I just go hide in a cave until they are using the potty like every other 3 year old in the world? :/

Trust me, I've not forgotten about my blog, nor have I ran out of things to post about - with a home of 3 kids, there's always LOTS happening to post about... LOL I've even emailed my blog account sevedral photos for future postings in the past month... just have not had the time to do anything with them. I know. I know. What about wordless Wednesday posts Bonnie??

I even missed out on the "Fall into Fall" blog hop giveaway things... I didn't even know it was happening until after it was over!

I'll try to share over the next week or so and make post dated entries - if you have me saved in your Google Reader then you'll see the new posts as they are published - otherwise when you visit just scroll back to older dates...

but I will share with you real quick some exciting news.... last night was 3rd Thursday ;) which means GUILD night!! :)

It was the night of our "Guild Garage Sale" and I had purchased a table for 1/2 price of the $5 b/c I was only setting up for the night meeting and not able to make it for the day meeting...

Anyone care to guess how I fared after my guild garage sale last night?? :) I counted up my earnings this morning after I returned from taking Nora to school...

Every time I've got a lot of loose change & dollars to count up, Kenny Roger's "The Gambler" Song comes to mind!
You gotta know when to hold em... know when to fold em....
know when to walk away... know when to run..
..

You never count your money, while you're sitting at the table...
There'll be time enough for countin..... when the dealin's done!


What's that? Now the song is stuck in your head too??? You're welcome! :D
So did you take a guess???

‎*giggle*giggle* DRUM ROLL PLEASE.......last night I made $303.70 at the guild garage sale!!!

I will say that when the coordinator Mona called the night before to ask me about setting up she asked if I had a lot of stuff.. and I said well... not really.. but I could be wrong.. LOL

I quickly told her a summary of my stuff and also told her about all of my 2 yard cuts of Civil War fabrics.... and she asked how much I was gonna be selling them for....

Yesterday morning, Mona had "slept on it" haha and called at 8:30am to ask if she could have first dibs on my CW's... and asked if it would be alright if she bought ALL OF EM! wow sigh unseen! So I made $260 before I even unpacked anything out of my van b/c she met me in the parking lot :) *giggle*giggle*

Mona made off like a bandit with these in her hands, and I made out pretty good too! ;) I'm happy to report that I doubled my investment from buying them a couple years back at Granny's Attic going-out-of-business sale.

While Mona was taking them to her car I started toting my stuff inside and thankfully I had been saved an empty table near the door for faster set up! My friend Kathy was sucha angel and helped me spread out my stuff while I stuck price stickers onto everything.

I didn't even get to get a photo of my table and stuff for sale b/c everyone paid my table a visit before the meeting even began! Talk about feeling like shark bait! LOL I had new stuff that they just couldn't wait to see! LOL I didn't mind b/c most everyone walked away with a purchase in their hands! :) Cha-CHING!

From the stuff on my table I made $43.70....... not too bad I suppose... but I sure brought back home a lot still. :/ a lot of work for just $43 - I ***WISH*** I had somewhere to donate what didn't sell??

Oh and after I was driving home, I got sooo mad at myself - for over pricing some things that probably could have sold had I not.... I spent days cutting and cutting up shirts thinking that since THE Bonnie Hunter was just at our guild in August and sold out of all of her "Scraps & Shirttails books that she brought with her when she was here.....

I had hoped that with her recent visit, that people would be interested in getting some shirts... right? well I cut and rolled up sleeves into "jelly rolls" looking bundles... more like "Sloppy Joe's" b/c they were not as neat and tidy as those jelly rolls you find at the LQS... but no less I tried to make them nice.... and had those priced at $5 for a roll of 30... good size and variety of colors.. I had 6-8 of those and also bundles folded up of the front panels without pockets... and other bundle sets with pockets... again lots of variety of colors... 40 count each bundle of the panels...

and b/c I ran out of time for folding and rolling... I had 2 USPS tote boxes full of loose sleeves for $0.10 each pick your own...

and... did. not. sell. a. single. shirt. part. or bundle. :(

bummer.

But even still I now have $303.70 in my pocket that I didn't have before!!! Yippie! I have to fork over 10% to my Quilt Guild b/c this was a fund raiser for them... but the rest of my Proceeds will go towards my trip next year to NC for the HGTV retreat! :)

no idea yet on how much change is in the cookie jar but I keep adding and adding as I find change and loose bills.... I'm getting there... and hopefully with ONLY cash to pay for my plane ticket, hotel and retreat fee and of course SHOPPING MONEY for Mary Jo's Cloth Store!!!!!! ;)


So does your guild ever host a garage sale among members? Have you had much luck? I'd love to hear about how you set up or the things you take...

Thanks for those of you who have checked in with me by email... I've missed blogging too and I promise to come back again soon and share what all has been going on in my life...

I'll have more time after I get my current scrappy 4 patch blocks swapped!!! You remember I hosted this in the summer... well I'm also hosting another one and they are all here in my house!!! ALL ....are you ready for this....

ALL * SIX * THOUSAND * PLUS Blocks!!!! yep, over 40 swappers all sent in over 6,000 blocks to me for swapping so I better get back to it... It's been a week and I'm working in tid-bits... catching 20 min here and an hour there....

wish me luck!!

Love from Texas!




Sunday, August 22, 2010

Saturday Workshop with Bonnie Hunter

Ta-Da! After four trips in and out from David's truck I finally brought everything in and got set up in plenty of time for the class. So glad that I arrived early!!

After seeing Mona & Diane's portable design boards that they made... and shared at Guild Show-N-Tell.... while packing I found some fusible flannel at home and came up with the idea to simply fold it around my BIG 20" ruler and pin for just the day... and so glad I did ;) My notions tackle box and Bonnie Binder held it standing up for the day. That block on there I put together last night just to "see" what it would look like ;)

I really should have walked around the room taking photos of everyone else's set up.... A LOT can be learned at a workshop that isn't even class related! Those ladies are some serious workshop going quilters! Several brought their own padded office chairs from home :)

Here's a photo of my stuff on the wall close by. That black rolling tote is a scrapbooking travel bag that I got in 2005 on sale at Joanns for I believe either $20 or $39.95 (regularly priced $80) either way it was a GREAT Deal! it does what I need... roll in and out of workshops that I attend. ;) oh and yes, I brought with me, both a BIN of shirts and a rubbermaid of already disected shirt parts.... everyone passing asked, is this your FIRST Guild workshop... I guess this sorta gave it away hua? :P

after I found out that no one would be joining me at my table I got to stretch out a little. :) Love my rotating cutting mat! Especially for using these rulers... takes a while to get use to them and I always seemed to have them positioned "left handed" so to speak... but no biggie... just rotate the mat around and continue. :) If I were to ever get to go to another workshop I'd place this on the same side of the table as me... so that I don't have to get up and walk around to it each time... although getting up often probably helped me not get stiff in the chair.... but next time I'll work smarter and and save my walking breaks for looking at what everyone else is doing ;)

I was probably the only one there taking photos during the class. Well there was one lady with a video camera... but I didn't see anyone else - which probably explains why there was no gathering for a group photo of everyone with Bonnie and our blocks that we made...as she so often shares of the guilds on her own blog. :( Not Bonnie's fault at all - but I was a little let down by the guild ladies on that.

Ever heard of the phrase "Dine & Dash"? well that is sorta what it felt like. The class time was until 3pm and sure you want to make sure you are packed up a little before 3 so that we can clear out in a decent amount of time and not left lingering around... but I'm not kidding you - I looked up and there were 7 ladies already wheeling OUT the door at only 2:15. So there goes the idea of a group photo I immediately thought. :/ Oh well... guess that explains a lot on why their web page doesn't have many up to date photos of monthly workshops or of show-n-tell either.*sigh*

Perhaps that my be in my future one year... as in when all of my kids are in school.... anyway back to photos I took of Bonnie ;) while she was teaching. She knew I was taking them - did you notice above how she tuned my way to show me how using the Companion Ruler and EZ Rulers together made the perfect Flying Geese block? ;)

Above, the block on the left is the one also used in Bonnie's Scraps & Shirttails pattern "Hand Me Downs" which was what I was working on. Remember me mentioning the workshop was for My Blue Heaven which uses the same block and one other I think called Puss in the Corner? :)

What a day - 6 hours of sewing time without my kids and WITH THE Bonnie!

I will admit, I was totally out of my comfort zone, and it felt like an out of body experience like I was standing next to myself questioning E-V-E-R-Y little thing - the things I'd say, how I'd cut my fabrics... urgh. I just couldn't feel comfortable - awkward is the only word I know to describe it..... and b/c of that I was disappointed with myself.

Perhaps it was b/c I was running on fumes! The night before I stayed up late packing (worried I'd forget something) but wanted to have it all in David's pickup -set and ready to go... b/c I had to drive 30... min to get there... and too I felt it would be best to leave before the kids saw me. I'm SO glad I did leave before they woke up = no thinking of them crying for me the rest of the day.

So I finally got in bed after 1am... but was still tossing and turning at 2:30... alarm went off at 6:30... so I only got a nap.

But I'd do it all over again - only next time I'd make sure I had a basket full of 2.5" strips that I had cut BEFORE the workshop! Man oh man, I would have accomplished so much more during my time had I already had noodles to pick and choose from...........momma always said "Hind-sight is 20/20"

Just before turning off my iron and packing up, I had my sewing neighbor take my photo with my 7 blocks in progress chain piecing :)

======================================================

Sunday after Church we went home as usual, ate lunch and then the twins went down for nap time and I unpacked from the workshop and put everything away and then got to sit down for sewing time and finished up my 7 blocks from yesterday.

Ta-Da! "Hand Me Downs" blocks sewn together as "2-sies" (1 block with 1 setting square) - I'll wait till I have more made before joining them that way I can move some around if I need to for color placement but this way as 2-sies it will help the joining to go together a little faster later and also help me visualize how it big it's growing...

ought oh - looks like I have some FROG stitching to do "RIP IT, RIP IT" the block with the lime green in the center's points are upside down at the bottom... good thing that side isn't the one attached to the setting block, so it will be easier to fix.

I'm just loving these blocks and playing with the colors in each one... It's all about the Dark/Light values! And pretty much anything goes color wise. After I came in from taking this photo I sewed another 9 sets of 4 flying geese units. After I get a variety of those done then I'll make some QST units for the centers and play match maker with them and the geese. ;)

This is gonna be a fun quilt to make and my first using my shirts. ;) I already know that I'm gonna need to buy some more plastic see thru drawers like I already have set up for my "Scrap Users System" and dedicate them to only shirtings! I want to have them all cut up and organized so that piecing will go much faster if I just need to pull 2.5" lights and darks...

Well thanks for stopping by and reading... and reading... haha I'm sorry I got a little long winded on my guild post below ;) but there was a lot to report about :)

Hope all of you had a great weekend - it was a very fun one for me!

Love from Texas!

Friday, August 20, 2010

My Bonnie Saved A Seat for Me!

Hey everyone - it's taken me a few days to write this up and get it ready to publish... if anyone remembers 3rd Thursday = Quilt Guild Night for me, and this month was the WHOLE REASON I joined!!! b/c the guest speaker/teacher for August was Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.

And just like in months past, all day and even the day before I prayed and prayed that nothing would happen at the plant for David to deal with to keep me from going... after all hubby is the babysitter b/c grandparents are 16 hours away. He arrived home in time and just as I scooped up my keys and CHARGED camera WITH the memory card... I decided last minute I'd help him out and stick the Pizza into the preheated oven.... while STILL holding keys and camera... we have one of those pampered chef stones with the metal rack handles...

what was I thinking? or not thinking? Yep, umhum, as you can already see coming... I practically THREW my camera into the oven! Yep my 2nd heart stopping moment this month... (the other involves ME tripping over a cord and knocking over a lighted fountain resting under neath of a 5 foot tall cake held up my 4 sets of stair steps... but that is another story for another time)

Thankfully I was able to fish it out using some tongs that were nearby in my basket of kitchen utensils - it was wedged in under the heating element sitting there in the oven floor... AAK! The only damage was that my scotch tape holding the camera together was all melted and also a 1.5" diagonal burn mark on the screen where you see the photos... but I quickly turned it on and WHEW it still works!!

I guess I was too shook up to remember to take any "before leaving photos" and share here with all of you... but the GOOD NEWS is - that I DO have a few photos from the guild night to share ;)

as soon as I arrived and opened the door and saw the sign in sheet - it dawned on me that I FORGOT my name badge..... but forget being eligable for the door prizes - b/c THE Bonnie found me within moments and came up from behind me and greeted me with a huge hug! Looks like I didn't need a name badge after all :P

and for the fist time ever, I had VIP seating.. we chatted very briefly before the meeting but told me that she has saved ME a seat up on the front row RIGHT beside HER! :P how cool was that!? Good thing too b/c it was the largest night meeting crowd we've had since I joined in April... so I didn't have to look over anyone's heads to see the quilts... they were RIGHT THERE in front of me! :) Woo hooo!


Of course after the welcome and President's recap of the morning meeting - the first thing up is Show-N-Tell and last night there were more SNT's than any other month I've been to! :) I roughly counted just over 30-35 women at the meeting... and they reported there were 25 guests at the morning meeting pluss the 100+ members that regularly attend. ;)

One lady I sat beside had traveled 2 hours to come as a visitor and see OUR Bonnie ;) Wish I could remember her name...

This guild member brought 2 quilts to share. The first one was for her grandson with a Noah's Ark theme. Those large red star points were made from fabric that had a tone on tone print of patchwork stars -very cool! ;)

This one's made from using circles that she cut out and sewed together and then machine appliqued down the cruved flaps. It had a neat square patchwork back side b/c it was quilt as you go but I didn't missed getting a snapshot of the back sorry :/ Don't cha just love red & white quilts! ;)

And the next Show-N-Tell was by Miss Ann. She has been a guild member for 15 years and never before last night had ever brought anything for show-n-tell!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that? I'm so glad that she did b/c her quilt had such a great and funny story behind it.... even involving calling her local POLICE STATION to ask what the number was for being drunk! LOL :P So her quilt name is .08 cabin something... I'm sorry I don't remember exactly - but I do know she didn't want to call it drunkin log cabins... LOL But she did back it with a very pretty fabric with wine glasses :) no photo of that one either. :/

I met Ann at my LQS earlier this year, April I think it was.... I'm not sure how "new" she is to working there - as I've not been in there but less than a handful of times the past year or two - ever since the twins started walking there is no way I can manage them in a fabric store - so not only are they great birth control but they're also helpin manage the budget at our home! LOL

Anyway, Ann was "new to me" and she and I hit it off talking and that day I got to share with her my Crayola Challenge Quilt and also my Quilt for Kids Quilts that I happened to have with me before I took them into the Mailbox place next to the LQS to mail them off. (David was in the car with the kids that morning, I'm sure) But I'm so glad Ann and I got to visit and meet one another that day - I got to share with her www.quiltville.com and she wrote it down and went home and fell in love with Bonnie Hunter :)

Here's Denise Green above - she was the trunk show guest the fist month I attended in April, so it was Great to see her again. The moment I saw her there I just knew she was gonna be in for a treat to see Bonnie Hunter's quilts b/c Denise also is a scrap lover!

Even Mona had a Show-N-Tell... her "Bricks & Stepping Stones" made with shirtings. This one is in my future too! FREE Pattern for above quilt here --> Quiltville's Bricks & Stepping Stones

and if this BA wasn't beautiful enough - the hand quilting on it was Gorgeous with a capital G!

sorry I don't have names for all the show-n-tell ... but I was so pleased to see so many members at the night meeting and several who brought something to share tonight!

Our Guild President, Diane's Show-N-Tel. This was from the June workshop when Kim Diehl was here. Also Diane had her monthly banner to show us - the Ball canning jar looked so cool!

Sorry I don't have a better photo, she was far away from me... oh and her bag- HER BAG! The MOTHER of all workshop bags... she kept pulling and pulling her stuff out of it... all that she made to coordinate. So functional and pretty!

I guess I didn't get a shot of the front side but let me tell ya - it held e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g... tube mailer for fuseable stuff, cutting mat, rulers - OH the rulers even a long pocket on the bottom for her 24x6... she also had a bag for her iron with separate place for the cord to go over so it wouldn't get hot... and she made a matching lunch bag... and this very cool flip over and stand up Block Design Board... again sorry I didn't get better photos...

Mona in the black had made one too...

So pretty and it got a lot of Oooughs and Aaaah's ;)

and then...

Then, it was OUR Bonnie's turn! :) Ever since discovering her blog back in 2005, I've always imagined what it would be like to be a fly on the wall during one of her class/workshops or turnk shows... and TONIGHT I had a FRONT Row Seat! (one that she saved for me!)

and here she is in front of her famous "Fabric Food Chain" quilt.... no telling how many sky miles this one has racked up b/c it gets to go to every show ;) Also Bonnie had her tote bag which I'm sure she uses in all her talks... pulling out scraps of fabric and talking about them... but take a look at something she brought along extra that she just happened to stumble upon before coming to Texas.... something from her magazine stash...

Ta-Da! An article write up with photo of OUR GUILD from some 30 years ago!!

Not sure if you can click to make it larger and read it - but take a look!!! Just before packing for her trip to Texas she was going thru some old magazines... and flipped thru one and this caught her eye! Talk about PERFECT timing!

This was written about OUR Guild years ago and so what a neat moment when she pulled it out of her bag and read parts of it to us! ;) The last paragraph was especially neat about Round Robins. Bonnie said that earlier in the morning meeting she asked the group if any of the ladies who were in the photo were there today? and that several ladies in the front row all raised their hands :P How cool is that!?

The first one she started out with was Perkiomen Daydreams, I think b/c it may have been the heaviest with all the seams 10,000 pieces wow. My photo of it turned out terrible ( I hadn't played with the settings for the light in there (same light fixtures as a school gym, which doesn't always play nice with my camera) So when I can I'll share a link...

Next up was...Aaaah - the Double Delight in person! I've seen many photos from the yahoo group when they worked on this one when it was a Mystery - and ooough la, la it was so much prettier in person! This photo does not do it justice!! I know that one day I will have to make this one!! Goodness knows I already have over 800 mini 9 patches... just need to choose what color and then plan the rest. one day, one day..

Above is the quilt for the Saturday Workshop = My Blue Heaven - pattern available FREE on her website. What is so awesome about this pattern is that it taught how to use BOTH the EZ Angle and... the Companion Rulers! :).. Yeaaa! Learning these will change the way we piece simple HST QST and flying geese units all using strips from our Scrap BINS!!

The "My Blue Heaven" quilt above was made using entirely 2.5" strips of lights and various shades of blues. Yep you read that right 2.5" was the only size needed! ;)

Next one was Pineapple Blossom where she uses the sew and flip method and all of those HST's in the border are the bonus units from resewing again before cutting off the sew&flips! Again, it's another FREE pattern on her website and also another one on my bucket list!

and I have to add ... that as I sat there and watched each quilt unfold it was like I was getting to meet someone special for the first time... like an internet friend that you've known on line for a while... but never met in person before... I know they are not people but quilts, but I sooo remember Bonnie writing about them as she made them years ago on her blog - way before she knew they'd one day be in a book.. I knew most all of them by name before she announced them :)

Example of the memories flashing back to me before my very eyes...Cathedral Windows. I remember when she wrote about it here how it reminded her of the windows of the church where the choir she sang with rehearsed in Columbia, SC. Did you realize this pattern all came about b/c a reader wrote to her and asked, "what else can you do with 4-patches if she kept making them." Fast forward to today and you can easily find a dozen Bonnie Hunter patterns that call for the scrappy 4-patch units ... or more if you count the ones in her books!

The Cathedral Stars Pattern is FREE on her website and Bonnie teaches how to use both the EZ Ruler and the Tri Recs Rulers. It's also a popular workshop class that some guilds choose.

And above is one that made a lot of members' hearts go *pitter patter* - These TINY log cabin blocks finish at THREE INCHES!!!!!!!! After the show I laid my keys down on it folded up and took a photo so you could see just HOW small they really are!

aaah... she even passed around a few of the class samples for us to each look at, pet and drool over :P This is not the "Maverick Star" but very close to the one like her Maverick Quilters Web Ring logo. Love it! I'm not in the Friday workshop but these are things they will be learning and playing with. Crums, free form letters, maverick stars...

Wow those tiny sawtooth stars in the border on the right are SUPER SPECTACULAR! la,la,loved those! Can not believe it was back in Dec 2005 that I first saw and read about this one.


Here are a few more quilts from her first book Scraps and Shirttails. Did you know that one of her very "first" patterns she shared for FREE on her web page was the one called Star Struck. And the one that the link takes you too shows one made up using shirts but b/c she didn't wnat to have to remove it from her patterns on her website, she revised it a little (with the sashing) and changed the name and then was allowed to include it in her book. ;)

I currently have a Star Struck in the making ...in her origional colors the green and white with red accents. After seeing this border on the one in the trunk show I know I will want to do the same with mine. Loved it!

Virginia Bound on the LEFT and Carolina Crossroads on the RIGHT (again sorry for my poor lighting and camera settings) Click on the words left and right above to take you to her photos of them to see proper colorings. ;) Did you know that Carolina Crossroads was Bonnie's first online Mystery Quilt that she hosted on her yahoo group? At that time in her life she was moving b/c of her hubby's job change from SC up to NC..... and instead of packing she decided, "... hey, let's start a mystery! :P haha I think the name "Carolina Crossroads" is perfect don't you?

Above is "Cactus Patch" where she used up string blocks set with solid HSTs... and check out the half row on the right... :) inspired by antique quilts..... and take a look at the back side ;) They're even fun to look at. What a great way to use up more stash!

"Bow-Dacious!" and "Four Patch Revisited" have something in common... can you tell? all the 4 patches used in both quilts are color cordinated. as in 4 blues, or 4 reds... Bonnie told of having so many of these left over from Bow-Dacious that she had enough to make the 2nd quilt and use them up... and take a look at the top of the quilt on the RIGHT an extra row to change the would be square quilt into a rectangular one ;)

"Crabapples" I knew was gonna be stunning as I remembered when she first started this as her own leader/ender project a few years back and just recently saw Subee's own quilt on her blog with Bonnie holding it up... and just love these trees set on point. If I ever get around to this one, I'll do like Sue did and try to best replicate Bonnie's colors. Those poison green setting triangles and red framing borders are so rich! love them!

"Nine in the Middle" had a wonderful ole time appeal to it... at least it did for me. The cners of each 9 patch had a red fabric... something I've heard my mom talk about "Momma Newt" doing in her quilt making. ;) Don't you just love that pieced border... and take a look at those random blocks used in the backing! Love it!

And although I've purchased both Bonnie's Books - I didn't exactly remember this one "Hopscotch, Butterscotch" perhaps b/c for the past 4 months my books have been on loan to a friend... but as I sat looking at it I thought BINGO... this would be a great way to use some of the 200+ 4-patch blocks that I recently received in my latest swap... making those dark/light rail combos for each block would be easy peasy... All the hard work of making 4 patches is already DONE baby! ;)

Bonnie ended with "Classic Strippy" and then announced that she would be over at the table selling the FEW books that she had of Adventures with Leaders & Enders and signing them and that she only had ONE copy left of Scraps & Shirttails left from the morning group...

So I quickly ventured over to her table and got a quick pic taken with an outstretched arm and upside down camera :) and she signed my books! Thankfully I had already wrote to her a couple nights before and told her to save me a copy of each - this makes my 3rd time buying myself a copy of Scraps & Shirttails... I seem to keep gifting them away! and would be my 2nd copy of Adventures with Leaders & Enders... This time both of these are for my 2 eyes only! I'm not sharing or showing them to nobody! :P

And after most everyone had gone home she was taking down her Fabric Food Chain Quilt to hang up the ones for the next day's workshop and suggested us hanging my Christmas Lights and getting a photo of the two of us in front of it. I felt so flattered. THANKS BONNIE! :)

Oh and remember how I use to show a photo of me at the Chick-fil-A drive thru after guild nights? Well take a look at my NEW monthly indulgence after guild meetings before driving back home... no more chicken for me... LOL


Love from Texas!