Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Six down!

I finished another item from my UFO list, as the time nears for the Museum Quilt Guild's show- a great incentive to get things done!

This is called "Patternista Tiles". I started it in the class with Paula Nadelstern last year, using her fabric from the line called called patternista.  
















As you know, I have been making her "Opulent Ornaments", and I may have mentioned I love sparkly things, right?  So I decided to add some opulence to this quilt, in the form of nearly 1,000 swarovski crystals..
 Unfortunately, the crystals just don't photograph well
 You can see the crystals, if you look close.  They just aren't sparkly.


 You also can't see the fabulous quilting I did around the designs created in the blocks.  But that's ok.  It's not like it needed fancy quilting.  :-)














I'm very pleased with this piece, and had such fun making it.  The best pieces are fun to make, don't you think?

Voting this year- at least in the major election- is going to be a tough choice.  Nobody seems happy with our choices.  I know I'm not.  So it comes down to one thing- who might work to make changes to help stop climate change.  If you haven't decided, consider using this as your one issue.  In the end nothing else really matters!

I am grateful for:
Oma time!
Sleeping in all snug and warm in my quilty cocoon.
It's cool enough to bake.
Good timing
Hubby getting to enjoy some time with his oldest friends

Friday, September 23, 2016

A few weeks slow again

Well, September is coming to and end and I haven't managed even one post for so far!  So much for my goal of at least three a month this year. 

I still don't have time for a proper post, so I'm sharing a few of the pictures from the retreat my online quilting group had a couple of weeks ago.









Here we all are with our dollies.  I brought the supplies, thinking of what a great time we all had with these at the guild retreat last February.  I must remember to thank Julie for teaching us how to make them.








We met in Denver, PS- not far from all the great quilt shops in Lancaster county! So, of course we did some shopping.

 First stop in Intercourse is the soft pretzel place!


Then I found yummy things of a less edible variety.


















This was in the yarn shop in Intercourse. Looks like felted sweaters.


If you're ever down that way, be sure to visit the Shady Maple Smorgasbord

The buffet goes on forever.



 These two projects were all I managed to accomplish.  The angled piece is going to the "Furball"
















We all brought a quilt to donate to a local Ronald McDonald House.  I thought mine was on the ugly side, but hopefully someone will love it. 
(the man is one of the husbands, Peter- from Australia!)










I practiced some quilting design to make the quilt more interesting- maybe less homely? 

Not sure you can see it very well on the front or the back.  That thread in the brown border looked darker on the spool.


















I'm getting back to the coloring calendar- better late than never (she has a new one for next year, but I passed.  I think I'll use this one with simple printed calendar pages for the dates)
I always fear my background coloring will ruin them, so I do it very lightly and then it doesn't show.



Think before you buy!!!  Does  the environmental impact of that new outfit you "needed" ever occur to you???  It should!

I am grateful for:
Cool nights sleeping with open windows under a pile of quilts!
Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.
Good times with great friends!
Star Trek on BBCA
Autumn is here!