Black Friday purchases...

I thought I'd show you my Black Friday purchases....
First, six layer cakes from Green Fairy Quilts....they were on sale for $22.95 each!!

I'm planning on making charity quilts from the Pure, City Weekend, and Dream On.  I'm going to make something for my Mom from Maison De Garance.  And I'm giving Joyce the Whimsy and Breakfast at Tiffany's (for the charity quilts...or whatever she wants).  Anyhow, it was an online deal so I didn't have to go out at all...

Also, 20 yards of backing fabric for 3 quilts.  All on sale 30%-35% off.  ;-D  That is all I got....

I hope your Black Friday was full of bargains and fun stuff!!

Happy Thanksgiving from sunny Las Vegas!!

Well, I'm thankful for lots of things...where to start?

1.  My family is all healthy and happy ;-)  Rebecca says "fat and plumpy"....LOL!
2.  My dog is spoiled and makes us all feel so loved....thanks Buddy!
3.  We both have teaching jobs that were relatively unaffected by the recession--we still have our house and savings!  Our careers are fulfilling and we make a difference every day!!!
4.  We have enough leisure time to pursue hobbies:  quilting, scrapbooking, blogging, excercising....
5.  Everyone is content and satisfied.

We are very lucky and sincerely hope that you and your family/friends enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving!

ps.  On a more shallow note, I'm thankful that the quilt shops are having big sales tomorrow and Saturday!!  I'm just buying backing fabric, I swear!!!

To Do List....

Well now, I need to prioritize my list of "things of to do"--quilting-wise, that is.  The Valentine top is pieced and will be sent to the quilter next week.  So what to do next? 

Not in any order...

1.  Piece the quilt top for the dining room--for after the holidays.  It is a Buggy Barn pattern and I purchased the kit a year or so ago, cut the pieces last summer, and then left it in a container, untouched, for months.

EDIT:  I can't get a good pic today, but maybe later this week!


2.  Bind the tree skirt.  That is important....Maybe I should work on that today.

3.  Make the anime quilt for my classroom--inspired by this one on Flickr.  Fabrics have come in from all over--maybe I have enough?

4.  Day of the Dead wall hanging...how cute would that be?  Love that theme.  Have already purchased some fabric...is anyone surprised?  And I made a bag out of it last year....

5.  Vintage plaid shirt quilt for my Dad's cabin.  I have lots of leftover strips from Ryan's quilt and a nice quilt for my Dad's guest room is in order.  He is currently using a peach/brown quilt that I made in the early 1990's....I think it is my duty to retire that quilt and make a new one!!  I'm thinking "log cabin" pattern, since it is going to be in an actual log cabin.  But is that too obvious?  Maybe a string quilt??  Love those....hmmm...I've got enough strips that I could probably do both....LOL!

6.  Vintage plaid Halloween quilt.  I have all the fabrics, just no motivation.  Hmmm....

7.  Finish Alli's Halloween quilt.  Prior to the nasty split with my ex, Allison was working on a Yellow Brick Road Halloween quilt.  It is almost done.  I should just finish it, but it is like pouring salt into an open wound right now.  Maybe I'll put that off until next summer.

9.  Kaffe quilt.  I bought a lot of Kaffe fabric last summer and I'm anxious to cut into it.  I have many quilts in my head....which one to do???


10.  The 3-D shadow quilt.  This seems kind of cool...I bought the background and shadow fabrics, and I have tons of fabric for the squares, so what is my problem???  Get busy, Vic!

11.  I just ordered a Pure layer cake from Green Fairy Quilts.  Free shipping this weekend.  I need to make a quilt to match my couch.  Not that Valentine isn't appropriate all year 'round, but why not have something that matches???

12.  Finish Rebecca's name quilt.  Maybe this weekend?  I just need to quilt it--how long can that take?  I have the binding ready to go...

OK, this list doesn't even dent what I have going on around here, but it is a start.  Wish me luck!!  Also, look at what I saw when I went into Ryan's bathroom last night after he brushed his teeth...

Did you know that Listerine can get a "foamy head" like a glass of beer?  Upon further investigation I found Ryan giggling about it in his room--he wondered if it would explode like a can of soda!!  OMG, can you imagine the blue mess if it did actually explode??  What a cutie pie ....LOL...

Valentine blocks are finished...

So I've been working on the log cabin blocks for the Valentine Quilt.  Here they are....on my "design floor" waiting to be pinned...

Anyhow, just thought I'd give a teaser.  I should have the quilt top pieced this week.  I'm doing a "show and tell" at school because the inmates are curious about how a pile of fabric becomes a quilt.  They've now seen pieces (logs) and the blocks....next, I'll bring in the top, and batting and the back to show how it gets assembled into a "blanket" (gasp!!).  LOL....more to come!

Quilted Tree Skirt...

So I stayed up late and got the skirt quilted.  It did involve a lot of marking, but the sewing was surprisingly easy and relaxing.  I picked a center point in the circle and then connected to a mark along the edge of the quilt.  Since the top was 36" square, I marked every 2" along the edge.  I backstitched at each beginning and end....this is wash out marker...I just didn't have time to learn to stipple, though that has now moved up on my list of things to do.  I really wanted to just send it to a longarmer, but I persevered.  This sort of quilting is a big pain on the longarm...but perfect for a regular sewing machine.  ;-D  A decent choice...

 After I finished I soaked it in the washer, cold water, let it spin and then took it to the dryer.  I was admiring my work when I noticed some BLEEDING from a red.  Well, all the pieces from one particular red shirt.  Bleeding to the front, back and anywhere it touched during the spin cycle.  PANIC!!  I Spray 'N Washed the affected areas, rewashed it, mostly by hand, and got out the bleeding.  Then into the dryer with a few big fluffy towels so dry.  I did end up with a little bleeding on the back side, but you don't need to see that!  The front looks good.  The scary part is that I know I used that particular shirt fabric in my big Christmas quilt that is at the quilter right now.  Darn it....that will trouble for years to come.  Maybe I'll get some Retayne (or whatever that product is that prevents bleeding).  I have color catcher sheets....but the problem is when the top is spinning and sending out dye to everypart that it touches....not really "free floating" dye in the water.  It just needs to be bound and it will be done!  I was leaning toward a red binding (will I ever learn??)....

While we were watching Robin Hood, and then a few episodes of Modern Family, we set out the pieces for the fruit/veggie quilt.  It will only be 51" by 51" when it is finished.  But then we had to stay up late pinning it so the dog wouldn't destroy it!  My design wall is the carpet in my living room!!! It is definitely very festive...

Well, that is all I have to share.  I need to check out the other quilts from the quilt along.  Have a nice Sunday!

Quilting Along....Update #2

Well, I have 3/8 of the tree skirt quilted.  Check it out.  I'm going to mark the rest and then quilt when Ryan goes in the shower.  It is movie night and he doesn't like it when I sew and distrub the movie.  Darn picky kids!!  LOL....Who is this fat girl quilting on the tree skirt?  Why, that is me?  I must diet.... ;-)

On to more marking!!!

Two finishes....and an adult beverage!

So we have two finishes for today....first, the purple/aqua quilt came back from Merrie Berrie Quilting.  She did an allover pattern (she doesn't panto...don't be jealous of her skills!! LOL)....I had it bound in three days!!  It has been washed and dried and mailed out to NY!!! 

Then, Rebecca finished clipping the Syracuse quilt and it got washed and all raggy...

I had to whip up the adult beverage to get me through the quilting on this tree skirt.  I'm doing radiating lines from the center...all must be marked, then sewn.  ;-D

Yep, wild cherry Kool-Aid.  How cool is it when you are old enough to make Kool-Aid in the winter??

Anyhow, I'm back to quilting.  Another post later to see my progress!!!

Christmas Quilt Along--tree skirt!

So I drug out the tree skirt that I made in September and I basted it.  My plan is to quilt it on my Juki.  Here is my proof....

But I usually send my stuff to a longarmer and I'm baffled by this idea.  Maybe just straight lines?  Or cross-hatching?  Or I could practice some stippling and try that?  Hmmm....so here it sits!!! I must run a couple of errands but I'll come back to it later today--I've been sick this weekend so I have a lot to catch up on!!!

Oh yeah, dogs like Butterscotch suckers...at least Buddy does!!  I always get the "beggin' paw" (one paw raised so he is standing on 3 legs) when he wants something.  The first pic is when he wanted pizza...then the sucker!

He has us so well trained.  And NO, I didn't put the sucker back in my mouth.  YES, we did brush his teeth after that snack.  NO, we don't frequently feed him candy....But it was sort of cute! 

No, it's not gay pride...but it is fruity!!!

Oh my....I need to come out of the closet about something.  I've bought fabric recently while on my moratorium.  Yes, I suck.  Yes, it was a lie of omission.  But here it is in all it's glory.....fruit/veggie fabric!!!

This fruit stand fabric was just calling my name the other day at the Christmas Goose.  I bought about half of it there, then ordered more online from Fabric Paradise.  This will make the cutest little wall hanging for my classroom in the spring.  I have 16 different prints....Any idea for a quilt pattern?  It has to fit in a 48" by 48" space.  And I don't want the pieces to be so small that you can't tell what fruit/veggie it is...I was thinking about some sort of rainbow rail fence??  Hmmm....I'll work something out in EQ and let you know....But if anyone has a killer idea, please let me know.  I could even do an "around the world" type of quilt....I have 1/2 yard of each fabric....Maybe that is the winning ticket?

And I must also come out of the closet about the anime fabric I purchased.  I don't have a picture, but I did buy about 8 yards of fabric to make an anime quilt.  And because I'm working on my Valentine quilt, and I didn't buy any fabric for that, I feel slightly OK about my purchases.

I determined that the deal with my daughter, as depressing as it is, probably sparked the fabric buying binge.  I was doing just fine until that point, then I sort of went a little crazy.  But I'm back on track now...back on the wagon, as they say!  ;-D  Happy quilting.....

Christmas quilt top FINISHED!

Last weekend, on Halloween, I was busy piecing together this top that I've been working on in the Christmas Quilt-Along.  It is all made from vintage shirts....

Here is Ryan enjoying some time with Buddy...

I've been cutting strips for my Valentine quilt.  Hopefully I'll get some more done today and I can begin sewing soon.  I also must confess that I bought some fabric online.  I'll share more of that later. ;-D  So much for the moratorium!!!

Today is the baby shower for a colleague so I've been busy making games, buying prizes, cooking and preparing appetizers, etc.  Thankfully I already had the gifts made!  I hope you all get some sewing time in today....Happy Quilting!!

Be nice to your longarmer... :-D

Let me tell you what inspired this post.  I used to be a longarmer--I've owned several longarm machines and quilted for others as well as myself.  Honestly, I hated quilting for others.  It is very difficult to see a quilting design in some quilts...they just don't sing to you.  Or the piecer has one idea for quilting and you have another.  Or you can't execute what they want done....or you can do it, but it will take so long that you will never make any money at it.  Etc, etc, etc.  Longarming is a very difficult business...unruly quilt tops, clients, tension/machine issues, low pay, etc.  And do you know how much stress there is when you are trying to figure out what is going to make the customer happy....what if they don't like it?  Ack...stress, stress, and more stress!!

Here is a fact:  one minute of longarm quilting can take up to 15 minutes to remove (if you mess up and have to frog, or rip out, the stitches).  Nobody pays you to remove errant stitches....Honestly, I think I made less than $5 per hour quilting.  I'm not joking.  And I needed to pay off a $17,000 machine, and all the supplies that go with it, etc.  My point is that quilting is not just a "fun hobby" turned profit.  Quilters work hard to make quilts that are beautiful, affordable, and durable. 

Today, I was speaking with a longarmer friend of mine in another state (she quilted the two tops above).  I've been sending her quilts for years...probably 10 years or so.  Her work is wonderful...she is very accomplished and she can look at a quilt and know just what to do with it.  I trust her and have never been disappointed in her work.  Her tension is always "spot on" and her designs are executed with ease.  I love her work!  She has a distinctive style that works for me....Today she called me because she received a quilt that I sent her in the mail.  But she was distressed because a client wrote her a nasty e-mail complaining about the quilting that she had done on a quilt.

The piecer requested "all feathers" and the longarmer told her that because of some elements in the quilt top, "all feathers" wouldn't be possible so she suggested another option.  The piecer agreed...but then came unglued when she received the top back in the mail (she mailed it to the longarmer in another state).  The longarmer feels hurt, and shocked, because she thought they both had agreed to the quilting plan.  She is worried she might not get paid...and she is upset that the piecer is not happy with the quilting.  Picking out all the quilting on the top and quilting it again is not possible.  Apparantly, the e-mail was alarmingly mean.

My thoughts:  it is just a quilt top.  Yes, it might take a long time to make the top...and yes, you might have a vision and it might not be perfectly what you want.  But it is what it is.  I've had a top quilted with the wrong panto.  I've had a top quilted with a brand of thread that is so thin that it actually broke in several places while the quilter was quilting...the only thing holding the "sort of" quilting lines together is the Super Glue that I applied to glue the quilting to the top and prevent a massive unraveling.  I've personally picked a color thread that ended up being way too dark and made the quilting look like crap.  I've thought that "variegated" thread was so cool and found out the hard way that it made the quilting look choppy.  So I've experienced my fair share of crappy quilting...but we still love those quilts and they adorn my sofa and Buddy doesn't give a care about the quilting (or the piecing for that matter).  Try out different quilters until you find one with a style your appreciate.  Or use one for pantos, a different one for custom...a different one if you need one super fast, etc.  Tell your longarmer what you want...and if she can't do it, get your top back and go somewhere else.  She'd want you to be happy...she wouldn't be insulted, and she might even be relieved that she doesn't feel pressured to do something that she can't/won't be able to execute.  It is only a quilt top....

So don't sweat the small stuff!!  And it is all small stuff....

Just my two cents....