Retreat block...Swoon--sort of....

Several quilters at the retreat last week were working on the Swoon blocks... I had some vintage sheets with me so I made a scrappy version of the Swoon block...with altered corner blocks.

It turns out that if I make 19 more I might be able to make a King sized quilt for my bedroom...LOL!  It took me all day just to make this one!!  Anyhow, I'll have more to post from my sewing weekend soon... ;-)

Vintage Sheet Winner and Quilt Retreat!!

I used the random number generator and #3 is the winner...

The winner is Brittany!!  I'll be contacting you for mailing info!!  Congrats...

The Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild is doing it's first retreat this weekend in Southeren Utah.  Not to brag or anything, but check out the digs.... TheSuiteRetreat....A-frickin-mazing!  Thanks to Andrea for finding such a lovely place to stay.... Be sure you click on it....really!

I need to get my stuff together, find some clothes and projects and booze... Yeah!!  ;-)

More sheets...

I worked on ripping some of my full size sheets into fat quarter-like rectangles.  Ripping is very interesting, once you get past the first rip.  Because the first rip straightens out the grain-line (is that the right word) of the fabric, you will get a wonky rip most of the time.  So I save the bigger wonky parts for something later...

I followed Jeni's advice on sheet ripping...and on sheet shopping.  It is no secret that if I could grow young again I'd want to be her....  ;-)  She is having a sale this weekend, on a side note...

I thought I'd do a litte giveaway for 16 assorted, wonderfully colorful vintage sheet fat quarters....

These are all from my full-size sheet stash...mostly purchased on Ebay or local thrift shops.  The sheets were soaked/washed in a slurry of Oxyclean, Tide and Downy... Honestly, they are ready to use!!  If you are interested, please leave a comment...  I'll pick on Tuesday evening and mail it out on Wednesday.  You could be quilting using vintage sheets by the weekend!  Good luck...

Some great ideas for vintage sheets are available on the Vintage Sheet Blog...or search the groups on flicker for Vintage Sheet quilts/swaps, etc.....lovely eye candy there!!

Using it...

I already feel like a quilting rockstar with my new design wall....I sort of have a drunken, haphazard mess of HST on the wall yet I feel like a genius??  LOL...

I wonder if they will stick on there all night long...or will I find a pile of HST on the floor tomorrow???  Hmmm....

Happy Quilting....

Awesome design wall...

Well, won't you look at that???  My very own design wall....We used the tutorial from Oh, Fransson...We cut the 4'x8' sheets of foam into 4'x6' sheets...and seamed together with duct tape.

My Dad...measuring....

Instead of just pushing the foam onto the nails, we dug out the back of the foam a bit and inserted these things that you put on the bottoms of chair legs...just so the design wall wouldn't slowly rip through the foam and slide down the wall--it is a wee bit heavy...

Seamed the front with duct tape....in retrospect, should have gone with clear tape...turns out that batting isn't as thick as you might think!!  LOL...

So here I am painting the center line so it doesn't show through the batting....I'm really not that fat...the camera adds about 30 pounds you know....

Ta da....final dimensions are 6' tall and 8' across....It is covered in Warm 'n White batting...stapled and taped on the back side....

Pretty frickin' awesome, huh??  Happy B-day to me....You know, I'm turning 39 again!!

Me and my dog Buddy....Trying out the Rosie the Riveter look...Rebecca says it's more like Aunt Jemima...what a hater!!!

Anyhow, that is all for now!!  There is no excuse for me not making something really awesome in the near future... maybe we can look forward to Design Wall posts...

Happy Quilting!

Vintage sheets...

...are an addiction!!  I just love the pics on Flickr (search for vintage sheet groups).  Every day the doorstep has a few packages--fat quarters from Etsy, sheets from Ebay...I need to stop, but I can't!!  Check it out...

I know there is a little bit of creep factor if you think about the fact that someone might have (most likely) slept on these sheets at some point in time.  But after a hot wash, some Oxyclean, Downy and Bounce....well, they are reborn!!  The colors can be soft or vivid (some sheets are sold new in the package)...  It is very interesting...maybe I'll do a FQ vintage sheet giveaway soon....

My last day of the design floor is today...tomorrow my Dad is going to help me set up my new design wall!!  I've always wanted one but never had the space.... Our new house has lots of rooms and I now have plenty of space in my sewing room.... Bite me Freddie Mac!!  This is the PITA quilt that I'm making for my Mom....LOL...Beware of free online patterns...you get what you pay for!!

I still love fabric from the quilt shop, but for an old-timer, trying something different is refreshing!!  Just wait and see what I make from my sheets....if I stop online shopping!!

Design table...

Damn, I need a design wall!!  Dad...help!  I bought the foam boards today at Home Depot and they wouldn't fit in the car...so I had to go back in and return them.  That sucked...LOL...

Here are some of my HST vintage sheet blocks on the table.  It was late at night and the lighting is bad, but you'll ge the picture...

Anyhow, how much fun is this?  So much fun that I've been online shopping for vintage sheets--I spent wayyyyy too much money this weekend on old linens!  I-must-stop-going-on-Ebay!  I read that people can find nice vintage sheets at their local thrift shops...I haven't had that experience.  I can find lots of shirts--but no cute vintage sheets.  None.  None.  So I'm forced to pay way TOO much online, but it is worth it, right??

Ryan had the flu all weekend so I stayed in and got some cutting, sewing and painting done (in between cleaning up vomit).  I almost thought that I was looking forward to returning to work tomorrow...but then I remembered what is like and the feeling passed!!

Happy sewing!