Stitches in Time 2012

Well, we had our quilt show, and it was by all accounts a success.  But we are all glad we have two years before we do it again.  Here are a few of the pieces I especially loved.  You can see more by following the link on the Guild's blog post about the show.

The back of Marcia Muskopf's Xcentric quilt

The front of Marcia Muskopf's "Xcentric quilt

 These pictures are of a quilt made from the class we had with Anita Grossman Soloman last October.  When we hung it we weren't sure which was the front since both sides were so  beautiful!

Ann Michaud made this one. I forget the name.

My friend Lori Anderson won Best Landscape quilt for this one!

Machine quilting, small quilt

Two of the pieces I shared in my last post won awards at the show, which was nice. ( I reposted the pictures rather than make you go back to look)
 I always say I don't care about the awards.  But I admit it- I'm always happy to receive one!

Machine Quilting, small quilt

Kathi's Serena Jacket won best quilted fashion

 I was equally happy for my friend Kathi, who won five and my friend Elaine who won three.

Kathi's "Smog" won a judge's choice award

Best of all- Elaine won for a piece she had really struggled with.  How's that for a perfect reward for all her hard work and perseverance?!?

Elaine's quilt formerly known as the monster

A late season Calendula brightening the front porch steps

The day after the show was spent doing a lot of the things I had ignored all week, but yesterday was one of those rare autumn days you have to go outside since you don't want to waste it!

 I took George out with me while I picked up the chairs from the porch and covered my delicate plants.  She has only been out once before and didn't venture very far.  I think she's going to decide she really likes it outside, though.







My green tip this week is perfect for this time of year.  Make sure you aren't paying to heat the outdoors by sealing up those tiny cracks!  Take a close look at places where two different building materials meet, such as corners, around chimneys, where pipes or wires exit and along the foundation.

I am grateful for:

Improved kittens ( don't ask)

The camaraderie at the quilt show!

 Rare sunny October days.

The smell of fresh baked goodies.

I don't have to go back to the dentist now until February!

Counting down to the "Big Show"!

The Museum Quilt Guild, of which I am a member, holds a quilt show every other year. The Next one is ONLY FIVE WEEKS AWAY!  (Oh, sorry, I panicked there for a second)
I registered three pieces for the show which were not finished at the time. I never do that.  I work well with deadlines, but not under pressure.
The piece on the machine is the last of the three.  It's actually the first of three One Block Wonder quilts I pieced.    I struggled with this one, because I  just couldn't find a layout I liked for the blocks I made from this fabric.  The final solution was a layout from the second book, I think. Make two separate panels of the kaleidoscope blocks! 

Then I had to decide how to quilt it.  I turned to Leah for help, as I often do.  The pattern she calls "sunflower seemed to look like the flowers in the original print.  So that's what I have so far.  I hope to do some feathery things in the purple parts.  Stay tuned.







This piece is the last of three "Mosaics" made from a techniques Kathi shared with us at art group.  I have been playing with random piecing and more free form sort of settings and this is the result.  The quilting is meant to look like the sun shining on the lower parts of clouds.  It also looks like fire. Maybe that was done subconsciously as there were wildfires in the news that week.





Once I get finished with the deadlines, I'm going to do something just for fun!  I've been reading Robbie Joy Eklow's book.  She tells how to design an art quilt from free motion quilting designs. But I'm thinking this "zentangle" tile might make a really interesting quilt!

Thinking "Green" this week allows me to tell you I have made the digital switch.  When I renewed one of my magazine subscriptions, I chose the digital only version.  Saves me some money and reduces the burden on our resources on two ways:  No paper used to print the magazine, and no energy required to deliver the paper copy to me.  If I want  pattern or picture to use in the sewing room, I can print ONLY that page!

I am grateful for:
Some cool nights where I can sleep under lots of covers!
A new recipe soon to be a favorite.
Time spent with a friend.
A call from one son and a visit from the other!
I think that young cardinal found his way out of the garage!

A busy if unproductive week

The new Queen of the castle.

This is George. SHE is one of the kittens I was fostering, who decided to stay.  George and her littermates, all girls as it turns out, were VERY shy when I got them.  It hardly seemed a good way to get them to trust me to root around under their tails first thing. But they all got names based on their personality. Tim was timid, Boo played peek-a-boo with me, and George was curious- the first to come over and inspect me.  I don't usually adopt kittens, but she wormed her way into my heart.  So here she will stay.  I'd like to get a better picture of her if she ever sits still long enough.


Three of the other kittens went to the shelter last week and I am happy to report two of them had found homes within 5 days of arriving!  The last of this batch will go in this weekend, then I may be starting over with a new batch- tiny ones!
I took my sewing machine in for its 10,000 mile check up the other day.  I probably take better care if it than I do my car!
This morning I actually went out to the garden and cleaned up a section or two.  I had left it since it got so hot and dry. Nothing was growing and even if there were weeds, the ground was like bedrock!  Now that we've been getting rain, it's pretty "lush" out there. (Nice words for weedy, huh?)

These flowers are part of the decorations for the Museum Quilt Guild show coming in October.  One of our members designed them.  The stem is a yardstick!  Isn't that clever? I can't wait to see the 50 of them she estimates we will have around the bases of the quilt racks!




On the subject of cats and kittens, did you know clay litter is not actually earth friendly?  It's the process used to acquire the clay that is the problem.  There are alternatives at your local pet store!  Give them a try.

I am grateful for:
Being part of an incredibly caring group of ladies
A best friend who gave me a day of her precious time
A new kitty in my life!
Cooler weather, especially the nights
winning the boss lottery

A mushroom story, and class with Mary Diamond

 When I was a little girl, my Grampa told me that if I would sit very quietly in the evening before the dew fell, I could watch the fairies play under the toadstools in the back yard of their house.  I spent many an hour waiting for them to appear- and stayed out if his hair in the process.  (wasn't I a gullible child?)

      So when I created my perennial bed, I had a thought in the back of my mind to find a big toadstool of some kind and  some fairies to play under it.    I have finally done it.  The mushroom/ toadstool (I wonder if there's a difference?) is made from an old version of our satellite dish and a length of chimney tile.  The top is the  non-woven "utility" fabric they sell at Joann.  I stitched a few layers together in the hope it will survive more than one summer out there. 

 The Museum Quilt Guild welcomed Mary Diamond to our meeting on Saturday! What beautiful work she does!!!  I had seen a couple of her pieces previously in  Lancaster, but I got to hold them and inspect them up close this time!






After the meeting, some of us stayed for a thread painting class.  These are the samples of what she teaches.  You actually make your own composition using floral print fabric- so no 2 are alike!

Some of Mary's fluorescent thread collection.  I have GOT to get some of these!

My piece as of the end of class.  It's only pinned to the stretcher, since I'm thinking it might need some greens and maybe some beads in those open areas.














A small thing you can do to make a difference to the planet is to recycle those tubes from your toilet paper!  Add it up some time to see how many you are throwing away.  Just toss them in with the cardboard and cereal boxes.  ( NOT in the abitibi paper bins!)

I am grateful for:
The weeds in the garden, which allow me to be in my happy place, watch birds using the water dishes I have set out for them, and enjoying the summer mornings before the sun gets so hot!
A really good book I don't want to put down.
A big job behind me!
Getting away for a day to play with friends.
28 more days until I see Guy!

Something new and something sort of old

This is our new boarder. I discovered him "squatting" in the old enamel tub we collect rainwater in for gardening. Except for the driest parts of the summer, there is always water in it. Apparently this froggy thinks he found himself a private pond where all the skeeters are for him and him alone! Little does he know the "pond will soon have to be drained. Maybe he's a she and she'll come back in the spring to make a home for some little froggies??? Wouldn't that be fun!!! I believe this is called a Northern Green Frog, by the way.


Last weekend, a busload of Guild members headed up (or down?) to the Chautauqua Institute's Quilting Around Chautauqua event. I hadn't been before and was under the impression it was more or less a quilt show. Not so- it's kind of a regional quilt show and vendor mart. I don't know how many vendors there were. I was there to see the quilts, to be honest, and was glad when I finally found the rooms where they were hanging. They weren't labeled well and there were no programs, so I cannot credit makers or patterns. I have posted a few of my favorites at snapfish.
Kathi was taking a picture of the quilt on the railing here and in true Best friends fashion, MaryLee and I got in the picture doing our best Kilroy impressions!










This is the something sort of old. I pieced this quilt in 2007 or 2008 using mostly bits and pieces I pulled out of the "orphan blocks" box. It felt like I was digging through the old quilts graveyard, so I called this project "Frankenstein's Monster" It's hand quilted. This is in the upstairs hallway- which I call my quilt gallery. In just a few days it will be hanging in the quilt show!!!!




I am grateful for:
Sewing time!
Spending a great day with friends.
Fewer hot flashes!
Fall colors.
A new project to play with.(coming soon)

Time for a rant

You've been warned.











I went to a meeting yesterday, where there were somewhere between 50- 75 people. Refreshments were served. The usual stuff, coffee, tea and of course bottled water. I always bring a mug to this type of meeting, since I drink tea, but will NOT use a disposable cup. ( I don't have a dishwasher, but am still willing to do an extra dish when I get home) I was the only one there who thought to bring my own! How hard is it to carry a coffee cup in a quilted bag??? There were cases and cases of bottled water consumed, as was evident by the number in the TRASH at the end of the meeting. Again, I ask- how hard is it to carry ONE empty water bottle home to place in your recycle bin??? My other question is to the organizers of the luncheon. New York now has a 5 cent deposit on water bottles. Did these people not want to collect that deposit? All they had to do was place a box near the trash can for the bottles!!!!
It's a simple concept. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!! The "throw it away" mindset in this country has GOT to be replaced with the most basic principles of thinking of the future of this world!!!! Carrying a coffee cup, or one water bottle home is a very easy first step. Please think about it next time you're out.









There are definitely signs of Autumn's imminent arrival here in western NY. My favorite early harbinger is the bright red of the Sugar Maples. The one at the top of this post is on a curve on my way to work- right where you can't miss it!
I have had very little sewing time this week, but it was just enough to finish up a couple of projects.

I made another patchwork Tote- using Scrap Therapy squares and coordinating fabrics- as a gift for a friend. ( I hope she gets it before she reads this. :-)
I'm still working on the pattern so I don't have to bind the points. I'm thinking this may be my last attempt. I just don't like the points at all- no matter what I do.










I also finished this little wall quilt. It was adapted from a pattern by MH designs. A former girlfriend of my son's saw mine made from the pattern and wanted one for her daughter. No way was I going to be able to do it in the time allotted, so I adapted it for machine applique. Then, just as I was getting close to finishing, they broke up. I suppose I could still have given it to her, but... well, you know. So it sat in the pile of UFO's until last weekend, when it took me all of three hours to finish! I am donating it to the Guild's quilt show silent auction.


Linda mentioned how confusing the sock sounds from last week. I'll take pictures as I make the second one and hopefully that will explain the process better. Stay tuned. Maybe that will be my Sunday project during football. (Oh, wait! I have a quilt to finish for the show!!!)

I am grateful for:
The rain held off until today, not yesterday when I drove over 300 miles.
Guy got a job!! (which was also Luke's good news last week)
I got to see the "Eureka" finale after all!
Fall colors.
Soup weather.

Getting back to "normal"

First, I have to clarify- there is no such thing as normal in life. I am like one of those donkeys from the old days- walking a circle day in and day out at the mill, then they set me in the pasture and I still walk in a circle. I'm comfortable doing it, so why change? In other words, I'm happy in a rut. This year, I haven't had a chance to create one. Doesn't look like I'm going to, either. (sigh)





The quilt pictured here was made using this picture Kathi took at my birthday party last month. MaryLee took the picture and turned it into this quilt as a birthday gift! She made one for herself, too- but I had to choose which one to keep!!They are titled BFF


So- I made it back to Guild last week, where we had a fabulous trunk show by Ina Randall, of Amherst (I think?). She has been quilting for a shorter time than I have, but she has truly found her niche! here are a couple of my favorites from her collection.
I did a "convergence" quilt, but didn't recognize this as the same pattern! The other one was made from a pillow from India!














I actually got to sew this week. I'm working on samples for the "Triple Dip" class coming up in a couple of weeks at mt Pleasant. I'm having fun playing with color placement so the students can see their quilt doesn't have to look like mine!



















I've also been knitting some leaves, since I finished the second pair of socks from my vacation. They will go on a little linen jacket I have that needs something. I'm getting better at them, but it still took me two evenings to get the aspen leaf done! They need to be blocked so the maple leaves will uncurl, although that makes the look a bit more real, doesn't it?






Ok, time for a test. WHAT IS THIS????? Seriously- what do you see? I made this pincushion for a swap- using a picture I saw and adapted for my felted wool sweaters. It didn't come out as planned, so I'll be re-purposing this wool. But I thought I'd show it and see what you think it is?
(hint- It's something you see a lot of in a sewing room)





I am grateful for:
Some MUCH cooler weather!
Football (even if it's only the Bills)
My hip has ached less the last week or so
People who "get it."
Me time.

Being inspired!

Last Saturday after our Guild meeting, members of the museum quilt guild were able to enjoy a class with Janet Root, teaching "Liberated Quiltmaking", using Gwen Marston's methods. I was hesitant at first. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, thanks to my grandmother. So making blocks where you cut without a ruler and don't measure and it's ok if pieces don't match exactly was a bit outside of my comfort zone. When I read the book, I though it just looks like careless piecing to me.
But once I got started I had a blast!

This is what I accomplished in class.









And this is the collective work of the class at one point.














I couldn't wait to get back to it at home. But I wondered what I was going to do with my blocks. It was up to each student to find a layout she liked. I didn't see any reason I would want this as a wall hanging for myself, so I started pondering possible uses for them. AHA! I have been wanting a cover for the open shelves I keep in my "studio"/ guest room- both to cover the mess when company comes and to protect the fabric the rest of the time! So, I am making four panels (the wall side will get plain fabric) I dug through the orphan blocks I had to find some fillers and this is what I have so far.

This will be the top- like a runner.












This will be the front panel.




















Each end panel will have a tree. (but not an antenna)

















The shadows in these are the quilt pinned to the wall behind the layer of batting I was using as my design wall. (Sadly that is another UFO) The purple and teal in the last one is my door curtain, not part of the panel

Meanwhile, I've been walking a bit this week, in an effort to get rid of a little extra "cargo" I seem to be carrying these days. I always bring my camera with me, since one never knows what one may find! This is some kind of wild onions that grow everywhere. Aren't those curlicues wonderful???
The flower at the top is called "Trillium". I used to see red ones in my Gram's woods, but now all I see are the white ones. Nearby, in the same woods, was a nice patch of Dogtooth violets.



















I am grateful for:
Time to spend in the garden, where I can finally say it looks like I'm gaining on the mess!
Friends who understand me, put up with me, support me - and time to play with them!
Time spent reading this last week. I finally finished "Under the Dome"!
(sounds like I had a lot of time on my hands, doesn't it?)