Granddaughters are a Joy

Quirky Quilters,

We had a wonderful surprise yesterday when our two granddaughters stopped by with our daughter.  Meagan is a toddler while Rebekka is attending college.  I showed off my latest projects while waiting for Grandpa to come back with barbecue for a family dinner.  The girls and our son are my best fans.

Meagan was the first in the family to get a quilt, just the day after her birth.  The quilt started out as a Strip Club Project from Quilters Emporium.  The pattern was Picture Frames from Cozy Quilt Designs, designed by Daniela Stout.  I dutifully made all the blocks and put them on my design wall.  I hated it.  I kept rearranging them and staring at it from across the room.  I just couldn't fix it.  Three months later my friend came by and said "that is the ugliest quilt I've ever seen."  It was just too busy with the fabrics that came with it.  So I separated the two types of blocks, added sashing and borders and ended up with two beautiful baby quilts. 

Meagan's quilt

Back of Meagan's quilt

Meagan with big sister Rebekka

2nd quilt for Sydney, a friend's new baby

Sydney with her quilt

Stay tuned tomorrow for the story of Rebekka's quilt.

just J

Frustration was Unanimous

Went to my final Swirly Girl Michael Miller Clubhouse meeting yesterday.  There were about 8 of us there and none of us had our quilt completed thus far.  We all stopped at the same point:  when Michael Miller kept sending white polka dot on off white fabric rather than the white on white we had begun our quilts with.  I chose the red, white and blue Casino version of the quilt.  I love the pattern and especially the bonus projects.  But it has been frustrating for two years, with not getting the fabric on time or Michael Miller sending the wrong fabric (usually the white).  I bought the white barb wire fabric from this year's Quilt Across Texas and I plan on substituting that for the white on white polka dot fabric.  I hope to get it done in the next month or two, because I want to put it on my guest bed.

We had a good time anyway.  Bonnie auctioned off various items that we bought with our Clubhouse dollars.  I managed to get a "Relax" pillow and 2 sets of 5 inch squares.  We also each got a Swirly Girls Design pattern, Brickworks.  It's a fabulous pattern.  I haven't made it yet, but I plan to soon.  I have made their Perfect Ten quilt and it was a breeze to put together.  I used black and white layer cakes, with pops of bright solids for sashing and borders.

Perfect Ten ~ pattern by Swirly Girls Design

 

 

 

 I still need to add the borders which will be piano keys using up the remnants of the brights.

UFO Pajama Party

Saturday I attended the UFO Pajama party at Quilter's Emporium.  I stayed up until 2 the night before cutting my strips so I could work on the placemats I'm making for Christmas and birthday gifts.  I was lucky to quilt with two of my quilting friends who I hadn't seen since the last UFO party months ago.  I finished one set of 6 placemats and started two strips on six other Christmas placemats.  My two friends were working on a 6 month mystery quilt from Quilter's Emporium.  I sewed until midnight then drove to a nearby hotel for the night.  I always sleep good in that hotel.  Hubby and I hit the road for home around 8:00.

Sunday, I unloaded the shopping from the car, had a restroom break,  took my vitamins, then I was ready to speed off to my friend Ginni's house for our joint quilt project.  It's so much more fun sewing with a friend.  I'm a former Yankee autumn leaf expert and she is the Queen of Quilting Bling so we had some discussions about fabrics for the leaves.  We both think it will turn out beautiful anyway. This is my first time to use Thangles for 1/2 square triangles.  I think next time I will cut the strips just a little wider than the instructions call for to allow for possible sliding of the paper.

International Intrigue Mystery Quilt

I can't wait to have three days of school off for Thanksgiving.  I should be able to get a lot of quilting (or organize my sewing room) done.  Ginni and I will get together one day too while my husband is driving the band to the playoff game.  My class and I will be making posters for two of the players tomorrow.  Last week we wrote them cards of encouragement.

I did finish a mystery quilt this summer.  I did it in red, black and white batiks.  I can't wait to get it quilted, although I haven't decided what to do with it yet.

Boot Scootin' Boogie

I dropped two western baby quilts off for the long-armer two weeks ago.  Boot Scootin' Boogie was a pattern from a 2005 issure of Fons & Porter Love of Quilting.  Quilters Emporium got permission from the original designer to teach it as a class.  I had fun raiding my stash for all the different fabrics.  I added an extra border to the original pattern to make the boot blocks stand out more,  This is one of my favorite boots on the left.  I also had to have an Aggie boot as both mom and dad are Texas A&M graduates.

I had so many piano key strips left from the outer border of the first quilt that I decided to make a second quilt for a boy about to be born.  It was a pain to remove all the pink cowgirl fabrics and Aggie squares, but well worth it in the end.  This quilt is going to a baby from a family who are avid University of Texas Longhorn fans.

Super Saturday

It's been an eventful day!  I started out the morning with Saturday School.  I run the computer lab with a wonderful program called Waterford.  It has both Math and Reading and the students love it.  It teaches the kids and gives them a chance to practice.  The science and Math components have fabulous pictures and information.  We had a pretty full crowd today.

When I got done at noon I ran to the Cedar Chest to see if they had the fabric I needed to complete my quilt back.  Unfortunately, I hadn't bought it there so I ended up going to Plan B and C and D.  Always before I've used just one fabric for my backing.  But I've seen so many fabulous backs at Quilter's Emporium's Strip Club show and tell, that I was inspired to try something different this time.  I used my leftover blocks.  I didn't have enough fabric to do it the way I originally intended so I spent an awful lot of time "thinking". 

After my fruitless trip to the quilt shop, I picked up my hubby and we made a trip to the recycling center with all my shredding and cardboard and plastic bottles collected from school and home.  Then I treated him to some good Texas barbeque at Mikeska's for lunch.  We saw an elderly woman there with her family who had sprung her for the day from the local nursing home.  I hope when I get old(er) and start forgetting things that my friends and family don't talk about me as if I'm not even there, or ask me a question and not give me a chance to answer.  Don't ask me if I know who you are.  I'll feel sad enough already that I don't remember who you are.  Talk to me, not at me or around me.

backing for baby quilt #2

I finished the one backing for my baby quilt after that and got another one up on my design wall ready to sew.  Here's the backing I finished today.  I hope to get the two baby quilts I have done to the long-armer tomorrow.

I'm taking an Irish Mist quilt class from Max at QE tomorrow and next Sunday.  It's from the book Six Halves Make a Whole Lot More from The Quilt Branch.

I'm also excited because I finally have my first follower, my friend/sister Renae from Nebraska.  We became friends back at church camp in our teens.  Our friendship has survived her moving from PA to NB my senior year of high school, my moving to Texas after college, and many years of separation.  We were in each others weddings, then didn't see each other again for 22 years until the summer before last.  She is still the beautiful, bubbly girl with the kindest heart, and deepest faith that I met almost 37 years ago.