April progress

So 30 days in April, and they are almost gone.   What have I completed?

Actually several things:

1) My totally done project was the baby quilt I made for my sister to give away.
Very blue and modern, with some details in the quilting.



2) Finished the Bulls Eye lap quilt.  I am not really happy with the quilting.

3) 9 blocks so far for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge





4) Stash bee blocks: 2  blocks of 9 patch to the 3rd power




5) Blockheads a total of 8 blocks : 5 done done this month including an incredibly complicated pieced 6 in block with 48 pieces,



6  Visited 3 quilt shows: First one in Sun Prairie, WI., 2nd one in Rosemont, IL., and then my local quilt guild in Mukwonago.  Plus the visit to a quilt shop in Wayne, MI.  called Bits and Pieces.

7)  2 Birthdays   Here is the grandson's picture from yesterday.  He was such a good host and friend to the attendees and had so much fun with all the kids.  He had not taken a nap, but fell asleep on the way home at 6:40 never to wake again.

Mini Cake stand !

I have 2 donation quilts I need to get quilted.  It looms over me, but I feel unmotivated. I need to piece a back for one of them, and I need a medium gray to quilt the 2nd.  But I can't seem to get myself to doing it.

 Instead, I have decided to try and complete a UFO for April.  Here is the lay out of my Mini Cake stand quilt. This is little.... each block is a mere 2 and a half inches.  The instructions were online during a summer from Temecula Quilt Company in California. 

So I pieced them all in my stash of fat quarters of Kansas Troubles fabric.  The bottom left rows are together. I am missing 2 squares of the background and will look for them tonight. 

The layout is also one they have suggested, although 2 others were also shown.

And I also completed 2 more Rainbow Scrap challenge blocks. This month I am doing multicolor. 

Baby blue!

My sister asked me to make a quilt for her old neighbor. The only request was blue and more of a modern style without lots of pieces.  I couldn't find a soft baby blue, so I went with grays and blues and coordinated them with the fabric of jeans pockets which is the border.

I started with an online picture and then randomized it adding colors or pieces as I thought fit. My quilting was an overall rounded free motion.

                    

But I did add a "C" for the baby's last name and the year 2017 for the birth year.

Slow stitching for Sunday will be the binding.

Oh, and don't forget to see my quilt show pictures on the previous post.

Crazy quilters' quilt show

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Here are one of the quilts from the quilt show in Mukwonago today Saturday. ( If you live near Milwaukee , Wisconsin, come tomorrow.  It is at the local middle school on 83, the main street in town.

I love this show. It always inspires me  after the long winter. Today was no exception. Plus their sloppy jo is always good.  The theme was 30s fabrics as it is the 30th anniversary show.

 Enjoy the pictures. I will recall what details I can

This first one was a small one done by Shirley, a friend of mine. It's quilting had been done on an embroidery machine. Very pretty.  

The next two are also in the category.  The first one was done by another friend, Helen. The squares are one inch. The dots in the borders are yoyos.

I saw this one at guild from a distance. I really liked the grays in between the bright flowers. She has used Press n Seal for her designs on quilting.  She lamented taking all the pieces off afterward.

The following 3 were made by the same quilter.  Oh, my goodness! The last one was the overall winner and also the winner of hand workmanship.  Outstanding, 

The back of this one had the same color backgrounds on the back which went around the circle like a  color study. And the details of the quilting were so beautiful and were done in a variety of colors as well as a variegated thread in some areas. 

This one had such amazing applique and quilting; the back was a solid white like the front. Cross hatching size was about a quarter inch.  

There are not enough superlatives to express how beautiful this quilt is.  What a great Baltimore album quilt!  It is stunning!

I keep meaning to do this one as I have the paper pieces.  Lucy Boston, I believe.  It is also hand quilted.

This one was done by a fellow quilt member, Nancy. The pattern was from a Piecemakers calendar in 2003.  She redesigned the center to replicate her grandfather's barn.  There are so many tiny details of embroidered flowers, silk ribbon embroidery, applique clouds, and the selection of barn fabrics, stones, grasses and more really made it. Plus all her homespuns were on grainline. It only took her 5 years to make and she hangs it in her sewing room.

 I really neat modern quilt, with many quilting designs emblazoned in the white sections.

The reds in this one were so varied and really made the quilt stand out from a distance. 

I loved this tiny little one...smaller than a piece of paper. 

I think I have this pattern in my stash.  But I really really like it.  This version is striking with its batiks.

I didn't search much in the vendors, but did find some treasures in the 2nd hand area:  a large bag of red, white and blue strips, a 30s Lori Smith miniatures pattern, and an old Quilt Sampler magazine. I have at least 12 years of these. 

Alpacas in Canada

During my trip to visit Mom, I found a moose dressed as a Royal Mounted Police at a wayside. 

Here is a photo of Mom and me after church on Easter.  We haven't been together for Easter in many many years. It was special! The minister was so warm and welcoming. 

She really knew her congregation.

I have gotten some sewing done.  First the latest Blockheads with machine applique.

I now have 7 blocks completed... some 40ish ones to go.

I also made a 2nd block for Stash bee. Grays. So subtle and understated elegance. It should be a striking quilt when done by Irene.

But the best part were the alpacas. They came for "treats", and were quiet as can be. They only hum now and then. So fuzzy! It was raining, so we didn't stay long.  These are the girls.  Twenty six are currently pregnant and due in May.  They get sheared once a year and are bread for color and texture.

Here are all the halters for showing. 

Easter weekend

Easter!  Warm weather: in the 60s, Green grass.  Forsythia, and Daffodils.

Spring!!!!

And yes, it is my spring break from school.  So we went to Bobcaygeon, Ontario, Canada to visit my mom and stepfather. ( long story of how my mother who is from Ohio and the Buckeye state is where I grew up)

During the long drive, I spent several hours doing embroidery. I am so excited I made great progress on my Crabapple Hill design. 

 After a long drive, we had a great time with them eating good food, doing puzzles and seeing the lakes.  And there was so much water tumbling down the dams, creating rolls and rolls of water. 

We went to Easter service; it has been several decades that I have spent Easter with Mom. What joy!

I did bring my sewing machine and set it up downstairs to work on a few projects;

1)  Blockheads, sunflower design,  Center needs to be appliqued, as I left that fabric at home.

2) I put together 3 of these Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. Here is the total for April. 

Color of the month: multicolored.

3) Here is the baby quilt I need to finish for my sister to give to an old neighbor of hers.  so I need to get cracking on this to mail by tomorrow. 

Easter break

Yeah! Break is here!  I don't know who wanted it more the students or the teachers. With the weather being cool and rainy, and Easter landing on the calendar so late in spring, we all were cranky.

So I left to visit my Mom in Canada along with my trusty driver, my spouse. And on the way he let me stop at a quilt store in Wayne, Michigan. Bits 'n Pieces is well worth your time.


 Julie Hale, the owner, is very talented.  The store is bright and cheerful.



The ladies were so welcoming and positive. But the blocks of the month they have are extraordinary.

I was gazing at them on her website prior to visiting,    If you want to see them, they are here: BOMs  So many wonderful designs!  I have already made On Point.  The latest one I was able to see using fabrics from Betsy Chutchian. The smaller version, anyway.




 The larger full size is making the rounds.   I purchased the large pattern and even have Julie displaying it for me.  The fabric is by Moda for Betsy Chutchian.  I really love the yellows.



Pattern:






I can't wait till she releases one she is in the progress of designing in the fall.  It is so beautiful and combines applique and piecework.

Great fabrics, really by color and style.  Go visit; or shop their online store.

One small project at a time

After the wonderful day at the quilt convention in Chicago ( see previous post for quilts), I worked on several small things today.

1) Blockheads # 5: these have 3/4" triangles

2) pocket squares and a flower for a wedding from a light blue cotton

3) stash bee block of subtle grays:  I had to reverse some black/white prints to get a variety of shades of gray.

4) 2 blocks for the RSC challenge. This month has fabrics of multiple colors.

International Quilt Show in Chicago

Glorious! Today, April 8, was a day surrounded by fellow quilters, who observed many beautiful quilts from painted and digitized ones to a bright colored series of shapes and colors, and many fabulous applique, pieced and antique exhibits. The workmanship and creative talent is truly inspirational. There were hexagons, from an online BOM group, an antique Christmas exhibit, and so much more.

 Here we are at the beginning Julia, Helen, Delores and me!

I traveled from Wisconsin to Chicago via bus with my quilt guild. I am so lucky they choose the Saturday so I am able to attend. With coffee and needlework in hand I boarded the bus at 8:00 A.M. 

We arrived just prior to opening at 10, with wallet in hand and treasures to behold. 

Truly, I am in awe of the wide array of categories. This year over 700 quilts were displayed. Fortunately,  a group of friends and I split it up for some at the beginning then at the end following the treasure hunt in the isles and isles of booths. For after a while, you can only take in so much detail comparing the inspiring works. 

And of course, the vendors in row upon row of booths from all across the states. As we walked and walked all day, my legs are a bit sore even a day later. 

This is the front winner: so incredibly quilted, and carefully appliqued, beaded, and embroidered by Mary Alsop if Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Perfectly named: Mystical Garden inspired by My Enchanted Garden by Gretchen Gibbons. Even the quilting in the stripes on the borders were rows of pearls or some tiny design done to perfection.

I will just give you a few of my favorites: with no particular sequence or emphasis, just a smattering of what I remembered to photograph. 

Fenceful of flowers by Peggy Garwood from Fairfield Glade, Tennessee,

Beautiful combination of lilacs, blues, golds, and greens taken from a batik. The design is done with rail fence blocks and applique from Robert Callaham's design. 

I am a sucker for the Piece O'Cake design of Aunt Millie's Garden and this one is so beautifully appliqued and quilted by hand. Additional blocks were added from Jane Zillmer and Deborah Kemball. The circles in the lattice are puffed with an extra quilting and wad of fiber.

  Title:  Not Now, Maybe Never  made by Joan Dorsay of Ottawa Ontario, Canada

 Loved this quilt which used 2 ombre fabrics one in the burgundy reds and the other in the teal/aqua hues. It is amply named  A Touch of Lime by Susan Garrity The quilting in the body was done in lime, while the outside borders used that burgandy. Up close it was a sight to behold with the piecework and quilting.

Splash by Susan Ennis and Ginny Eckley, a 3rd place winner.This is a silkscreen printed in black. My photo is a bit blurry, but the quilt design was the silk screen and sewn/quilted on top of it with echoing .  So different, yet, so striking. This is one of a 3 part series, another which was also a winner but of entirely different design and color scheme except for the silkscreen pattern in the background.

Miniature fans beware! This is so incredibly detailed.  This is Wind Blown Roses,by Annis Clapp of Arlington Texas, and is based on a miniature version of a Sue Garman quilt done with leftovers of the original.   No, I did not touch it; I only held my hand in front of it to give you a perspective of the size and superb workmanship: perfection. I can't even fathom how to applique that small. Oh, and I have small hands; my ring is a size 4.