Thursday, May 31, 2012

Bright Stars Top is Done

The borders are on and the binding is made (see it at the top left corner). Now I just have to quilt this puppy and a very old UFO is DONE, DONE, and DONE.


Can you tell that the quarter square trianlges in the sashing are 3-D? Here's a couple of close ups.



Aren't they fun?




PieceFULL Border

I decided to add an additional border of the black fabric to the bright star quilt and although I knew it would be close and that I would have to piece in a couple of the left-over sashing rectangles, I didn't realize until I was getting ready to cut the top and bottom borders just how many seams there were.



Yep, there are six seams and I have to add one more of the rectangles to make this fit! Hey I still have one or two left over so life is good.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Pie

Jack and I made a rhubarb pie today. Yes, we did it together. We don't make all kinds of pie together, just rhubarb. I make the pie crust and Jack makes the filling; but I'm beginnng to think we should make a change to that arrangement.

I don't make pies nearly as often as I used to because neither one of us should be eaing it very much. Maybe I've gotten out of the habit and that's the problem. I don't know, but I don't think I can make a good looking pie anymore.


The entire time I was making this pie crust, it never felt quite right. It felt too wet; and even though I added extra flour and it felt better, it was sticky and kind of fell apart when transferring it to the pie pan. Jack says it tastes good; but darn it I want it to look good too.

I think that I've lost my pie crust making mojo.  :-(


Monday, May 28, 2012

Design Wall Monday

The Bright Star quilt is still up on the wall. The rows are all sewn, I just have to sewn them together.



No sewing for me the last couple of days, as I spent the weekend hosting a sew-in for some of my students. I had a blast! Check out this post to see pictures of all the projects!

See what other quilters have on their design walls today.
Go to Judy L's Patchwork Times.

Weekend Sew-In

I hosted a sew-in Saturday and Sunday for some of my quilting students. These lovely ladies were encouraged to work on any project from a class they've taken from me and haven't finished or on any project with which they needed help or just wanted to finish.

We had a lot of fun and even though I now realize I didn't get pictures of everyone, here are a few that I did get. I will to get pictures of EVERYONE next time, even if I have to sneak them.  :-)

I was pleased with the work that everyone got done and I sure hope they were also!

There was a whole lot of consultations that took place this weekend, although I'm not sure it was all about quilting. :-)

Here's the Dvorak Ladies
Stacey is helping Libby, while Pat is working in a cute flower applique quilt.

Here's Libby's Patchwork Hearts in progress. If you click on the picture, you should be able to see that the hearts are all pieced with squares and half square triangles that finish 1 1/2".

Here's Libby's completed top. This is her second quilt and I think she did an awesome job! She's taking this to the Lorain Co. Fair as her 4-H project and I can't wait to here the results. By the time she left, the quilt was sandwiched and ready to quilt. YEAH!! (Not too shabby for a 10 year old!)
Stacey was working on the Four Patch Galore, but I didn't get a picture. :-(
I also didn't get a picture of Pat's flower applique blocks. :-(

Here's Maura's Lady Bug quilt on the design wall. She's decided this was the layout to use.

The first border is on! Maura is a new quilter and I think she's done an awesome job.
Kathy, I see you hiding in the background! Lookout for the next time. You might not be so sly and be able to hide from the camera.  :-)

Maura had to leave before she could add all the borders, but this is what it will look like when she's done. Cute! Cute! Cute!

Mabel is trimming the Unit A blocks for her Bali Wedding Star.

Pam is also making the Bali Wedding Star and she's busy trimming.

Here are a few of the units that Pam and Mabel finished. I think the bright light in the background between them is their halo. This is their first Judy Niemeyer project and they aren't making the small one! Click here to see a pcitire of the quilt they are making.

Fran and Darla are busy working away! They were both pretty quiet when they were sewing. 
Sure wish I had that ability to concentrate so well.

 
Isn't this star beautiful? I think Fran was able to complete 26 or 28 of the 32 she needs for her granddaughter's quilt. AWESOME!!

Look what Darla made! She's a VERY new quilter and took on this challenging project. This is made with lots of homespuns and triangles. She has a couple of borders to add, including a pieced one but I know she'll be fine. This quilt was a great reminder of how interesting it is to rip out seams from homspuns and not have them ravel. Thanks for the lesson Darla! I can't wait to see this done.
You did an AWESOME job!

Here's the inside of Eileen's Maple Leaf Log Cabin quilt. She's making the small version of my pattern. I love the colors of her leaves.
I'm not sure how Eileen escaped from being in this picture. She probably talked to Donna, Kare and PJ who also don't show up in any pictures.
Donna was working on the large version of the Maple Leaf Log Cabin, PJ was working on a really cute purse and Kare was cutting fabric all weekend. She made a pretty big dent in her scrap basket/box!
Look out Ladies, the camera will be searching for you the next time.  :-)

I had a blast and look forward to posting finished projects soon!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Humbling

If you want a very humbling experience, pull out a project that you started a long time ago and compare it to what you are working on now.

I know that I have always disliked math, but I never knew how 1/4" challenged I was. I'm hoping/praying that the reason there are so many variations of 1/4" on this project is because I was working on this when I was having eye trouble. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


I'll post an updated picture soon, I hope.



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Smith Mountain Morning

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a Bonnie Hunter Smith Mountain Morning workshop at Quilt Beginnings in Columbus. As my birthday gift, my best friend Kare signed us up and paid for the workshop!  I wish you could all have a friend like her.  :-)

Anyway, we had a good time and here's what I finished during the class. I also have LOT of the pieces and parts put together so when I get a chance to sit down and work on this again, it shouldn't take a really long time to complete the top.


Check out Bonnies' blog for more pictures of the various colorways in which people were working.

I'd have pictures of my own to share if I had taken my camera! I had been in Dayton/Middletown Friday and Saturday and had my camera then, but when I was packing for this trip (we spent the Sunday night in Columbus), I decided to change bags and I didn't transer my camera to the new bag. 

Besides the camera, I didn't take hair conditioner or a hair dryer. I used the rest of the conditioner Sunday when I showered and while packing, picked up another shampoo instead of conditioner. I guess that just goes to show you that I should be sure to have my glasses on when I'm packing. Now the hair dryer is a different story. I didn't take one to with me for the Dayton trip because I just use my sister's. (Thanks Terri!) Anyway, I guess I was in a hurry, but I forgot it. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal except the hotel didn't have a hair dryer for me to use. Instead I dried my hair using the air conditioner. FYI - that's a slow process.  :-)  Thanks Kare for not taking any pictures of that!

After the class, Jerry joined us at the shop and we picked out some fabric for him to use when he's visiting in June. We're having a sewing weekend and I can't wait. I will have my camera for that!