Snow Is Fine but the rest...

Sorry for the big nothing over the last few days.  We had 3 to 6" of snow in the Poconos.  And, Tuesday at about 6 am we lost our electricity.  And, we still don't have it back.  I'm using Panera's in a local city. (About 45 minutes away -- I was desperate!) But, wasn't it pretty?  But, no shopping for me on Tuesday.  The four wheel drive went to work with Pat.  

Wednesday I was primed to go to my sewing group.  But, we didn't have phone or electricity.  The roads were nice and dry for the most part so I decided to load up the car and drive on down -- just in case they had electricity.  Wow, there were trees down and on electrical lines all the way down.  Here's one.  It's hard to see the line but it is there, under that tree and this one wasn't even marked for cutting.  I had a couple of big plops of snow land on the window which was quite surprising. They didn't have electricity either. No sewing.  

Ok, plan b went into action.  I decided I would go get the fabrics I needed for several projects.  Did I have fun!  I got two backings, a go with and two others that were on sale and were very usable.  But, I can't wash them, I can't sew, I can't ____. Fill in the blank.  It seems everything depends on heat and electricity.  

We thought we would be getting electricity back last night but, no, not yet. Now, it is getting really cold in the house.  We are thankful we have a gas fireplace that pours out heat.  Unfortunately we also have cathedral ceilings in the great room and the hot air is heating the upstairs.  Did I mention our bedroom is on the main floor?? Here's the outside temperature and the house temp.  Believe me 54 isn't warm enough! 

Hope springs eternal regarding electricity. I can't wait to shower and wash my hair.  No way am I getting wet until the electricity is restored!  And, having just had another hair cut I guess I need to plan to wear my hair a bit longer in the winter.  My neck gets cold!  

The good news is I have finished a couple of books and I'm making good progress on one of the socks.  We've run through a lot of candles.  And, I'm laying in a supply of various size batteries for future problems. I usually use rechargables and they have held up pretty well but it would be nice to have some extras hanging around.  

For those of you who are sewing... enjoy it.  I am looking forward to it next week.

Happy Quilting from the Poconos.  Bonnie

A Top Ready for Quilting

I put the borders on this quilt yesterday.  It was a mystery quilt on Fabricholics Annonymous on YahooGroups.   I am pretty diligent about mystery quilt tops but the borders and quilting always takes me a while!  The cool part of this one is I have the quilting design already planned out.  So maybe Wednesday I will pin baste it and quilt it next week. 

Tomorrow I'm going on a shopping expedition -- I need backing fabrics for several pieces.  I've gotten several tops ready to quilt but just don't have any backings that will go with them.  And, I'm buying one or two pieces for an upcoming mystery quilt.  I've had good luck pulling mystery quilts from my stash. (Yep, the blue and green is completely from my stash.)  But I have two different fabric collections but I need one or two fabrics for each set. I'll see if I can fill one of the sets out for the mystery quilt. 

But the joke is on me tomorrow.  The weather people are calling for 1 to 3" of SNOW.  Wait, it isn't even November.  I'm going out anyway cause I have 4 wheel drive and it isn't cold enough to pile up. (hopefully!)  

Here's a little Halloween quilt.  I bought it at Faithful Circle Quilter's annual silent auction. I'm just sorry the maker didn't sign it!  This would be easy to make yourself. Each block is one square inch.  

Happy Quilting All. Bonnie

At Home Quilt Retreat Day 2

Here's Sharon's la crosse quilt for her son, Rob.  The black print is la crosse sticks.  She has done a super job on the quilt from color choices to getting those nasty corners done correctly. We had to think about them a bit after she got the first one on as it was off by about 3/8ths of an inch, if I remember correctly.  

I got the borders on a mystery quilt I did this summer.  I forgot to take a picture of it today when there was enough light in the room so watch for it soon.  And, I can get the borders on that wall hanging when I sew again next.  

Sharon stayed until nearly 2 and we sewed most of the time.  We work well together and have for years.  We used to make donation quilts together for our church but haven't been able to for the last couple of years.  She was so tickled to get the borders on her quilt and I was tickled to get mine on too, even if she had to talk me into it! The other thing we do is quilt consultations for each other.  I don't enjoy the quilting part of making a quilt so I try to do the least amount of quilting.  Sharon always thinks I should do more involved quilting.  And, she usually is right.  So, we consulted on the former mystery quilt, and two or three other quilts.  Two are ready for quilting, one still needs some sashing and another border.  I've got my work cut out for me. 

I will have to find backing fabric for most of these quilts.  I will be visiting a couple of local quilt stores this week to get the backings and a piece or two for my next quilt. 

We will be planning another quilt retreat here in the Poconos next spring if all goes well.  And, I'll be down in Maryland in February to take classes with Sharon Schambers.  One thing we both noticed is we were exhausted after the all day session.  And, after sewing half the day today I was totally worn out and my arms and shoulder hurt.  It didn't help that I read email in the afternoon.  So, probably won't quilt tomorrow.  

Hope everyone has had a happy quilting day.  Bonnie

At Home Quilt Retreat

Sharon and I are exhausted! We sewed nearly the whole day. From 9:30 to 6:30 with about an hour out for lunch.  It was a great day to sew -- it rained all day long -- steady and heavy. Pat did some touch up painting and patching.  No one had to cook -- we all went out to dinner.  

Now we're watching USC vs. Arizona.  Go Trojans -- Pat and I both graduated from Southern Cal! We'll see how long we can stay awake.  

Watch this site tomorrow for a picture of Sharon's la crosse quilt.  And I hope to have the borders on a mystery quilt I did during the summer. If I succeed I'll post a picture of it too.  And, I've done more on my darn pillow shams.  (I'm bored by them but I'll get back on them soon.) The main blocks of the matching wall hanging are done and sewn together.  I can put the borders on that too.  So I may end up sewing most of the day tomorrow too.  Monday I need to find a backing fabric and some go with fabrics for a pattern I am testing. 

Happy quilting!    A worn out Bonnie and Sharon too. 

How's Your Thread?

When I started quilting I moved my polyester threads farther and farther away from the cotton threads I used on a daily basis.  Recently I've been pulling some of the polyester out to use for basting and a couple of projects that it didn't bother me to be using poly instead of 100% cotton. (I know poly thread shouldn't bother me but it does!) 

I don't use any thread on a wooden spool. (Why put any work and effort into a project and then have the thread give up.) I am acquainted with a gal who tests each section of thread she pulls off her wooden spools.  Thread isn't that expensive, why not invest in thread that will hold up for another 20 (50?) years rather than thread that might last another 2 years?  

It was fun to check the prices on these spools.   From left to right: Talon, 25¢ for 125 yards; Molnlycke 120 yards but no price listed; Belding Corticelli, 30¢ for 125 yards; Coats and Clarks, 29¢ for 325 yards; Belding Corticelli for 19¢ for 125 yards; another Belding Corticelli, 25¢ for 125 yards; and last Talon, 19¢ for 125 yards.  Two of the Belding Corticelli thread  said fast to boiling and they were mercerized cotton. The other was poly.  Boy, you can't buy thread at that price today!  I also have some half size thread spools that I use with a display of bears and other small things.  These spools are so pretty I should display them somewhere too but they will probably go back into my box. 

I did notice that the poly thread I used shredded before I was finished sewing the seam I was hand stitching.  Don't know if it was the thread, the needle or too long a strand of thread.  

I am waiting my friend Sharon as I type.  We're having our own quilting retreat this weekend. Dinner is in the crock pot, the machines are oiled, bobbins are wound.  I'm ready to go. (Heck, the house is even cleaned! Well, most of it is!) Hope every one has a great quilty weekend. I plan to!  

Happy quilting! Bonnie

A Halloween Treat

Yesterday was a quilting day -- but today is a cleaning day. (No, no, I don't want to clean!) Ok... so it is mostly done and I'm tired but feel virtuous!  I've done bathrooms, I've done bathroom floors, I vacuumed. I'm doing laundry. I've vacuumed the hardwood floor.  My halo is going to slip down and choke me as my mom would have said! All this hard work is in honor of Sharon who is coming up for our own private quilt retreat.  We've been quilting buddies for years.  So, I will be sewing most of the weekend! YEAH!  

Today I want to share a great Halloween Quilt.  In 1999 I was in an online group, probably on Prodigy at that point.  Anyway  a group of us did a row robin.  I chose a row of jack o latterns as the starting point.  It took the half the year to get to everybody but it came back with some wonderful rows.  The little sign with the witch says Wanted: Lizard Tails and Frog Toes.  I thought the Sunbonnet Sue trick or treating was really funny.  It took me until January 2003 to finish it off.  But now it comes out every Halloween to grace one of the walls in the house.  

Here is a close up of Sue: 

Unfortunately this hangs in a stairwell so I couldn't get quite straight on.  I have one little tiny pumpkin quilt to show next time.  

I'm hoping to sit down and do some hand work while I watch "Emma."  I've recently joined Netfliks and I am having a great time watching movies that I never saw. We hardly ever go to movies so this is a real treat.  

Happy Quilting All.  

The best made plans...

My plan today was to quilt the pillow shams.  But, first the electrician was coming at 8 am.  (I don't really do 8 am all that much any more!) But up and dressed -- I was ready.  He was late. Oh well.  I had cleaned 1 and a half bathrooms and started a load of laundry before he arrived. He got started, I got breakfast.  And then I thought I'd get a head start on dinner so I could just slide it in the oven and out would come lasagna.  Well, no, no sauce.  I have a great sauce recipe so I made sauce.  And, then it was too hot to put into the lasagna.  Make a long story short it was probably 1 before I made it to the studio.  I finished the borders on the sham that still needed it.  I found some plain fabric to back one sham.  Sewed a few other seams and then it was time to come downstairs and put the lasagna together.  Now I am worn out!  Maybe I'll try again after dinner. I'm going to read for a while after this is done. 

The wind is blowing like crazy outside -- leaves are falling everywhere.  The weather forecaster mentioned the "S" word -- as in snow flurries.  WAIT it's only mid-October.  No "s" word yet. What a difference when you don't teach! We loved the "S" word in January up through February.  The good news is it is too warm to do the snow thing and it really isn't even raining here.  OOOO -- the power just flashed.  Now, that isn't a good thing at all!  (Love my laptop!) I'm off to lay on the couch and read for a bit.  I need to gather my strength to quilt at least one sham front this evening!  Happy quilting (or reading) all!  Bonnie

Mini Anvil

I have been hand quilting another miniature quilt.  The block is anvil and came about because of a challenge on Small Quilt Talk  on Yahoo Groups.  These triangles were all from a quilt Jen and I made for my niece when she got married (Hum, 6 or 8 years ago.) They have been aging nicely and when I read this challenge I sorted through the bag/tin/boxes of triangles I have hanging around and found them ready to be sewn together.  I had bits and pieces of the fabrics left so combined them.  I still have two blocks to quilt and then I'll decide if I want to put something in the sashing or not. I must say they really came out red in this photo. They are more burgundy in person. Squares are 4" -- a very nice size to work with compared to some I refuse to mention!

More color inspiration. Here's another cool pheasant.  He was harder to take a picture of as he kept strutting back and forth on 

his bar.  None the less, he had a magnificent tail feather also.  When I read about a hat with feathers in novels I will now think of these pheasant's tails. 

Time to get up to the studio to play with fabrics! 

Happy quilting all!  Bonnie

More Gorgeous Views and Color Inspirations

Friday Pat and I took off for Stroudsburg for our Friday road trip.  He has every other Friday off so we often take road trips to get to know the area better.  And we visit quilt stores too. We visited Pocono Sew and Vac.  It is an amazing store -- lots of sewing machines, a couple of frames & long arms (or were they mid arms?), vacuum cleaners, fabrics and .... I'm sure there was more but I was busy getting a quarter inch foot for my Janome Platinum.  And, I bought 1 and a half yards of a fabric.  (Jen -- Dad found Bona K so we got that too ... we'll let you know.) 

This picture shows us (in the wind...) with a background of the Delaware Water Gap.  That's New Jersey out in the distance.   

And, here is a color inspiration.  This is some type of pheasant. I was too busy trying to get a

decent picture to pay attention to what type of pheasant it was. What a bird.  Wow, what a wonderful tail feather!! Hum, do we see a quilt fromt he colors of this bird? Maybe. Over the next week or so I will add some more color inspirations. 

Happy quilting all! Bonnie

Thursday was day one of a two day sleep-over quilt retreat.  I opted for only one day as I don't do well sleeping on the floor.  (In other words I would have been really crabby the next day and wouldn't have gotten much done -- or it would have been sew a seam, rip a seam!)  I had a lovely time and worked diligently on the 2" log cabins. Woowee! I got one more done. (OK, quit laughing at me!) I have 3a other blocks in progress.  The squares have either green or orange in them and I decided I could do both green ones and orange ones at the same time.  Wrong.  When I sewed a green round on an orange one I decided it was time to quit working on the little guys. 

In the next hour or less I finished the string quilt blocks, the "tease" blocks I started last weekend and got about an inch done on the socks I am trying to make.  Here's the supplies I bought to give sock making a try.  Friends who have either received or made homemade socks swear by them. I'll be happy if I get this pair finished. I've knit about 3 inches or so.  The yarn is suppose to make its own stripe but it sure isn't making the type of stripe shown on the picture.  However, it is a nice looking pattern.  When I get farther along I'll drop in a picture of it. (shoot, once you are done you have to make another one! This may be a longer than planned project.) 

Happy quilting! Bonnie

What Was I Thinking??

I took a UFO to the Wednesday quilt group along with a block of the year I wanted to do, a few parts of another block and my leaders/enders string quilt blocks.  So, the UFO is a paper pieced miniature.  OH MY GOODNESS!  The darn thing is 2" with 36 pieces.  Now you understand the headline: What Was I Thinking???  I got the block of the year done, I got the few parts of another block done, I did a couple of rows on the string blocks.  But, YUCK that darn little paper piecing thing nearly did me in.  I had one in process and thought I was at round #22.  After I had sewn up to 24 I realized I was really at 19!  Out came miniscule stitches.  I think by the end of the day I was on number 27 on one block and  #4 on the next block I started.  I didn't even finish one block from lunch time on!  

This quilt was a kit I bought from George Siciliano in his class Size Really Does Matter. Here's the info on the class with a picture of what mine will look like in a thousand years, or there about. George's miniature quilt.  And here is George and Virginia's home page. 

George has won various awards at many of the major shows.  His work is meticulous and from looking at his web site he is still doing wonderful things with his log cabins. 

I'm not sure I would recommend these classes unless you really are into  details. (hey, accountants out there -- this is for you!) But George and Virginia are a lot of fun and they do a great job teaching.  The hand outs are wonderful also.  The only reason I can even try to do this is because of the guides included in the handouts. 

Tomorrow I have another sewing day and into the evening.  We've been invited to spend the night but I am just not a sleep-on-the-floor gal if I have a choice.  (Plus, they might throw me out in the middle of the night because of a little log sawing I might do!  Nah, they are too nice to do that but... ) I'll report tomorrow on whether I actually make it through one of the blocks. (Come on it's only 2" how hard can it be??) I have purposely stopped at round 34 because I haven't decided what color I want to do that diagonal line.  In the past I've been able to work for 3 or 4 rounds and then it drives me crazy. Let's see if I can work on it a whole day.  I will be bringing a quilt that I am hand quilting on too.  Happy quilting all.  Bonnie  

Catching Up from the Ripping

I have almost replaced all 4 incorrect strips.  I sandwiched that sewing in between 2 other things I am working on.  I'm almost done with the blocks for my wall hanging and the 2 pillow shams. 

Tomorrow and Thursday are out of house sewing days.  I can't decide what to take to work on.  I will be using a new machine that is super light and easy to carry but I'm not great at the 1/4" on it yet.  So, I really don't want to take something that I need to be super accurate.  So, maybe I'll bring some paper piecing as that is accurate on its own.  I have a UFO that is a log cabin and the blocks are 2 - 3" each. (Take me out and shoot me now.)  They are very tedious because the colors all have a specific place to be and it is easy to get off.  I usually can stand to do one block or two and then it gets put away.  This may be the perfect project for the next few days.  I'll also take a quilt I am hand quilting if I can't stand any more paper piecing.  

I'm worn out today so this is short.  Maybe more photos tomorrow. 

Happy quilting, Bonnie

Ripit, ripit! Another Time

Today I was ready to put together a couple more strips for the strata that will become a trip around the world.  I have 4 strata complete (24  2" strips.)  As I was rooting around in the bin with fabrics I couldn't find anymore of one of the strips.  Instead I found 8 strips of green/reddish fabric.  Oops.  I put 2 of the same strips in the first 4 strata.  So, I'm frog stitching!  I've got the strip out of two of the strata.  I've got the correct one sewn back in one of the strata.  Tonight I will unstitch the other 2 strata.  The duplicate strips are number 4 and 8 from the bottom.  They don't look that obvious but I don't have enough fabric to finish the other strata I will need so I have to rip! 

I also made the parts for 4 more of the blocks that I started this weekend.  Tomorrow, more work on both projects.  

Happy quilting all!  Bonnie

Can It Get Better Here?

I was going to say that I didn't do all that much today.  Honestly, I only spent 12 minutes piecing today before Pat and I went to a meeting of the community association and then into a local town for a harvest festival.  (I know it was 12 minutes because I am notoriously time-impaired so wanted to make sure I didn't take 30 minutes... so I set a little timer and actually went downstairs before it went off! Amazing!) 

As we were walking into the building where the meeting was held I had my nose pointing down at the ground, had slowed up and was basically blocking people trying to get it.  I was busy looking at the pattern of the blocks on the floor.  My first thought was, that could be a quilt.  Which was followed pretty quickly by that would be a really easy stashbuster quilt.  Unfortunately I wasn't astute enough to whip the camera out of the purse and snap the picture.  So, in a day or 20, I'll go over and snap the picture.  Who knows maybe I'll

be able to make it as a quilt some day.  

No new pictures of scenery today.  But I thought I would share this one of my fabric storage area. This is a set of shelves from Ikea.  I moved them from our house in Maryland.  Since this was taken I added another section. Notice the nice, neat piles of fabric?  I decided I would move my fabric from rubbermaid boxes to open shelves.  Wow, talk about being easy to pull fabric now!  My son gave me work hours for a recent Mother's Day gift so I had a whole stack of fabric one half yard or bigger ready for him to fold over Labor Day.  He did a great job. (I think this was taken before then so I actually have more fabric on the shelves now.)  The bright pink squares are actually post it notes telling me where I wanted each color.  I guess I should take those off now as I don't really need them any more! 

I've started storing projects in bins or baskets -- that's what is on the bottom shelf. The 2nd from the bottom in the center are three containers of fat quarters.  The top shelf holds more projects.  (Hum, have I finished ANY of those projects yet??) When I actually look at the amount of fabric shown here I think it looks like a pretty pitiful collection.  Then I remember I have another 10 or 15 bins with smaller hunks of fabric.  Yes, I still need to use what is here rather than buy more! 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie

Glorious Fall Colors

We had a glorious fall day today. Here's the view from my front porch.  Temps were in the mid 60's and lots of sunshine. Although I spent most of my time at the sewing machine, I did spend an hour or two outside participating in a community clean up.  After doing that my thought is no coffee should ever be sold in styrofoam containers.  That's the most of what I picked up.

  

After I picked the seeds off my socks and washed up I was happy to go back to quilting.  These trees are mostly on our property.  The sky was actually much more blue than this shows.  

Here's what I was working on today.  I figure it will become a wall hanging to go on my bedroom wall.  I may even be able to use the same fabric that I will be making pillow shams as the border of this wall hanging.  You'll have to come back to see if that works!  (sorry to be a tease!) 

Happy quilting all!  Bonnie

Quiet Day -- no actual sewing --

I had to stay home today because people were coming to deliver and hang the shutters in our bedroom.  Our house is new, finished in May, and we are still having a few things done to it.  We ordered plantation shutters for our bedroom in July and they finally arrived and were installed today.  They look great but I'm not really happy about the "frame" they put inside of the window sill.  Yuck -- if we or someone else ever wants to remove them all four sides of the window are full of screw holes.  Of course, now that the shutters are up I won't be taking them down any time soon! 

I spent most of my day trying to decide what fabric to cut up for a mystery quilt.  Marge runs Mysteries for Relays,a Yahoo group, as a way to raise funds. You must make a donation to the American Cancer Society to participate.    Instructions for the most recent mystery go up tomorrow so I wanted to have the fabric cut today.  Marge is terrific and responded to all of my silly questions about color and style.  I finally decided and picked an overall print to lead my choices.  I grabbed a dark teal blue, a couple of different reds and a tan to do the pattern.  I can use the print as a border and I have a green I can use as another border.  Surprisingly it almost all matches the fabric I picked up last week to make some pillow shams for my bedroom.  I might have to change the green but everything else works.  The good thing about Marge's mysteries is you can make several different sizes.  Tomorrow I plan to make the 4 block top but made sure I have enough fabric to do a 5 x 5 if I really fall in love with it.  

Need to think about dinner now.  Happy Quilting all!  Bonnie

No Sewing Today, Yet

The fall colors are beautiful.  I drove into the "big" city.  I hit JoAnn's and Sam's.  The leaves are beautiful now.  Trees were wearing reds, yellows, greens, oranges.  It is definitely peak leaf peeper season.  I didn't have my camera with me or I would have  a picture here.  Instead, here is a picture of gourds that were being sold at a local farmer's stand. 

Another Finish!

There is another Snoopy dance going on around here.  I finished a string quilt that I plan to give to Project Linus.  And, I've learned several things about doing string quilts.  I did this on paper foundations.  First I used copy paper from my computer.  Yikes, that stuff is strong.  Then I found some lined school paper that wasn't as strong.  That was much easier to tear off.  I also used very thin strings.  Hey, I have an overflowing laundry basket with fabric strings I wanted to use.  But, it takes more time to sew 1" wide strings then 2, 2.5 or 3" strings.  And, all the edges end up being on the bias.  But, it is a good way to use up some extra fabric.  This was a free quilt. Everything came from the stash (including the batting). If you are interested check out directions at Heartstrings. And, if you are looking for someplace to donate blocks this is the place. 

I've decided to pull out a UFO for a handwork project.  I got almost one motif done at my Wednesday quilt group.  And, I could see the stitches which is another problem I have.  Current plans are to continue working on it on Wednesdays until I'm done with it.  That could be a while.  I have 4 more half triangle areas to do, 4 corners that are quarter triangles, some blocks that still need to be done and all of the borders. Heck, I don't even know what I want to do in the borders at this point! But, if I work on it steadily, I'll get it done and maybe it will be another finish for 2008.  Happy quilting all! Bonnie

A Finished UFO

Today I finished a UFO!  (see the snoopy dance going on in the dining room!) This quilt started as blocks given to me in 2001 and 2003 for being the Vice President of Faithful Circle Quilters.  Two or three years ago I started making snowballs and then sewing them together.  Earlier this year I finally sewed the backing together and turned it over to Maria O'Haver at Pangor Quilt Design Studio for long arm quilting.  She got it back to me at the end of July and it has taken me another time span to get to the binding. (I ran out of the nice dark blue so I ended up buying two different fabrics trying to find one I liked.)  This week I got the binding done!  YEAH!  Today I got the label on.  So, this quilt is done and on the bed!  

I also figured out how to make my blog photos much smaller. I was uploading photos at full size and wow, they were taking up a lot of room.   So, hopefully these will be better and you will be able to click on them and see a little bigger version rather than huge!  I've already started on another UFO.  It is farther along then I thought it was so, give me another year or so!  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie

Airing of the Quilts II

Here are a couple of additional photos from the Airing of the Quilts in Tunkhannock.  This was an amazing Victoria house in wonderful condition.  From the little I know of Victorian architecture, etc., it is even painted correctly.  What an awesome place. 

There were quilts on the metal fence around this house.  Look at the windows over the porch.  They were unique. 

Other interesting parts of this day was this moose we ran across right off of the main street.  Hum, what to do with your propane tank when you can't afford the propane? 

And what, exactly do you say to this sign?  I was so involved looking at it and snapping a picture I didn't even think of looking at the store behind it.  Was it a furniture store?  I don't think it was an undertakers!  I'll have to check it out next time I get to Tunkhannock. 

Airing of the Quilts

Saturday was the Airing of the Quilts in Tunkhannock, PA.  It was a beautiful day for the hour + drive to the little town of Tunkhannock. Pat and I arrived fairly early so that we could go to Endless Mountain Quiltworks.  The place was hopping.  It is a lovely store.  The staff did a great job of getting people through the cutting line and check out process quickly. Very impressive. 

We decided to park the car a bit further down the road, closer to the downtown section.  Then we walked to downtown enjoying the various quilts displayed. Quilts of all types and sizes were hung out for display some on fences, some on porches.

We were very taken with this log cabin quilt.  It really made me appreciate how this simple quilt can look so complex.  

Quilts were even displayed on bushes.  It took me seeing this pattern at least 3 or 4 times before I remembered it was designed by the people at Endless Quiltworks.  It is called Pennsylvania Turnpike.  I even own a copy of the pattern and I still didn't figure it out!  The pattern is designed to use with border fabric.  I have several strips of borders from one piece of fabric.  Part was used on a quilt I am almost finished with.  But that leaves several other strips available for me to do in this pattern.

I am hoping I can announce a finished quilt tomorrow. And it is definitely an old ufo.  I am on the last of the binding! Time to get it finished. 

Happy Quilting!  Bonnie 

Christy

After 13 and a half years our beloved springer spaniel was put down on Friday. Even though it was the right decision as she probably had liver cancer, it was a hard day for us. Now we know she is no longer in pain. We hope she is playing in flowers in a better place.

Trash Talk

I get this great feeling when I fill my trash can with bits and pieces trimmed from sewing.  Today, I finished about 12 heartstring blocks.  Not only am I using up my strings I've used up bits and dribs of 3 different spools of threads and several odd bobbins.  What a feeling.  (Or is that simple joys for simple minds??)  That whole pile went back into the trash can after the photo!  It pretty well filled one of the trash cans in the room.  I am pretty anal about trash and clippings.  Some people toss them over their shoulders, on the floor or up in the air.  Not me, I like my trash contained.  Perhaps it is the carpet.  Anyway, I have a trash can by each sewing machine (only room for two to be up at a time) and on the cutting table I have taped a brown paper bag.  Even with all the receptacles, strings and bits land on the floor.  Oh well, at least it wasn't all of the above and the little bits that still made it to the floor. 

While I was sewing these strings down I realized I had one of my first pieces of cotton calico from 28 years ago and one of my most recent pieces.  Check out the brown, rust, and yellow 

calico, third string from the right.  I used that to make bumper pads for the crib before my first child. No knowing the sex in advance so I chose neutral browns and yellows.  The green next to it is a much prettier color then it shows here.  It came into the stash last week.  (No, I didn't buy it, it was donated!) 

Happy Quilting! Bonnie

In the Wilds

Or not as the case may be.  I was on the way home from my Wednesday quilting group and stopped to take some pictures of the local wildlife.  Both of these pictures were taken out of my car window.  I've cropped out some grass in the deer picture and both used my camera's zoom.  But, hey, this is a digital point and shoot camera.  The wild turkeys were right by the road side! Hum, I wonder if I could just put my hand out and grab one for a very fresh turkey dinner?  No, I guess I'd have to learn how to pluck a turkey.  Too close to nature.  Please, I'll be happy with a bird in a plastic wrapper.  

I was able to trim all the string blocks I've sewn.  And, I got the ripping done on my wall hanging.  Maybe tomorrow I can rebaste and quilt it again.  I need to get to work on some bindings too.  Always something to do!  Happy quilting! Bonnie