Little Quilty Bag for Design Wall Monday

When Erin goes to Kuwait we'll be able to "talk" on the computer! She got a little camera for her computer, but it didn't have any protection in the big computer bag... so I made her a little "Humbug Bag" for it! I did some straight-line quilting to make it more protective, and added a carrying handle out of the binding.


Her camera is so cute! John Lassiter (of Pixar) and company are Mac folks, and I just realized why Erin's camera looks so famliar! That is "Wall-e" poking his head out of the bag!


Since I finished Marjory's quilt (binding is all finished, too), I guess this IS what is on my design wall for Monday... or would be if I had a design wall. I'm starting a UFO tomorrow; an almost-finished table runner. I'm going to start learning machine quilting on it.

Northern Beauty

Here is what I've been working on for the last couple of months. Marjory is a friend who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.... she just redecorated/renovated her bedroom and I had planned to make her a quilt as a birthday and thank-you-for-keeping-me gift.



In Edinburgh, a "Listed" dwelling requires a good deal of red tape if you want to do anything at all to it... you have to go to the Heritage Commission (or somebody important) if you want to make any changes at all. That said, Marjory is re-doing the interior and changing out some of the colors inside the flat. I finally decided on the design for her quilt: feminine and semi-Georgian, in the greens and pinky-red florals she has chosen.



There are a lot of pieces in "Blackford's Beauty" block (the name of the pattern I did the variation upon) and making this quilt took me quite a long time. I changed the center square after I had made the 12 blocks because the blue/lavender print I had chosen, even though it is one of Marjory's favorite colors, didn't have enough snap. I'm happy with the quilt now, though... tomorow the quilt is off to the longarm quilter's - then back to me for the binding, and finally on to Marjory in Scotland! I do hope she will be pleased.

Sewing, but not Quilting...

Last night I made this cute pillowcase for Marlene (actually, her dog Sam will probably end up with it... not really her colors!) I loved the print, all the sweet doggieness of it



Yesterday I spent cutting the sashing for Marjory M's quilt... when it finally got cool enough to go upstairs. We are having a heatwave... and I don't do heat! That's why I moved to Oregon... much cooler than California- NOT. Temps have been in the low 90s all week, and next week they are to go higher - triple digits, as I hear it. Not good for me at all... I can hear the coast calling me!

Sisters Saturday

Kerstin came up to visit last week, and on Saturday we headed off to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Since we had heard of the Sisters show for years, we were really excited to finallly be able to go... but had NO idea of what to expect.
WOW! What an amazing day! Quilts were hanging everywhere... over 1200 of them, according to the flyer that we picked up at "The Stitchin' Post". Quilts in every conceivable style, and all absolutely beautiful! The crowd was immense, and everybody seemed to be having fun looking at the quilts, greeting old friends, and making new friends as well. We decided we'd do the whole festival next year instead of just coming for the show... classes, picnic and all.
There were so many wonderful activities scheduled... I don't know how people could choose what to do!

Several streets were closed off to cars, making for a wonderful walking and quilt-looking experience. Quilts were displayed outside and inside some of the shops as well. There were thousands of visitors to the town as you can see here, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves in spite of the very hot day! Fun to walk down the middle of the street and see so many quilts - Heaven! Don't let anybody know that it isn't always rainy in Oregon... they'll all want to move to this beautiful spot!

A Guild from Washington brought two "Quilty Cars"... the members had made quilted covers for their mini-van and PT Cruiser... Way fun! The windows have screens over them, and there is velcro closing the doors so the cars can actually be driven with their coats on (NOT on the freeway, of course... but in parades). I'm trying to talk Kerstin into making a cover for her van... so she can drive it in Petaluma's Butter and Eggs Day parade!

My current favorite quilt pattern is "Snail Trail" and there was a whole section of just Snail Trails! Scrappy, Batik, Two-Color Traditional, and Modern Colorway... very cool! Not all the quilts were hung by theme, some were arranged according to fabric type, some by pattern, some by color. It was a beautiful show!

On the way home we stopped at one of the "Open Farms" for the Oregon Lavender Festival"... nice surprise as we wern't expecting to have any more excitement after the Outdoor Quilt Show! I got two more lavender plants, one a pale pink "Melissa" variety, for my garden... and Kerstin got some lovely hand lotion - Lavender scented, of course!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Swap

I got my swap package from Marcel (Aunt Pitty Pat) in Kansas, but she hasn't received hers yet, so I can't show you what I sent her! The challenge was to select a small gift for each of the letters in the word "Friends". She sent me a terrific selection of goodies... the tiny pink radio really does work, too! Swaps are lots of fun, I got to meet some really interesting people and make friends with crafters and quilters around the world. Now the challenge will be to remain in contact with these wonderful ladies.

I'm BAAAACK...

I'm back from California... and ready to GET QUILTING! No sewing machine at my Dad's house, so I did a lot of knitting (and a LOT of ripping out... I've knitted enough to have finished the blue cable pullover, but I'm not quite finished with the back... does that make sense? I think I ripped 6" at least four times - but I like what I've got now, and it actually follows the pattern!)

While I was away, Nova finally got her Swap package, so I can show you the "Funky Chicken" potholders I made for Leah and Nova in the Kitchen Swap.

This one is Nova's ... She wanted some bright colors... so the lime green was my color choice for her! You can't see the "Useful Bowl" very well - it is dark brown - at the top center of the picture, but I sent her one of my handmade pots, too. I just love the chicken pattern that I got from Kerstin!

And this one is Leah's. Her kitchen is black and white and blue. I sent her a sturdy tea mug as well, hoping it would survive family use. We were both surprised that the packet of tea survived Customs. The popsicle molds will probably have to wait to be used until Australia' Summer rolls around in October/November.

Marjory's Quilt

I have been working on several projects at once... two of them I can't show yet, as they are for Terri's "Kitchen Swap" and since I just sent the boxes out on Friday (and my Partners live in Australia), I don't want to show you what I made until they get their packages! You'll just have to wait... dum, da, dum-dum; dum da, dum-dum... dup, ta da da, dum, dum, dum! (Yeah, VERY few would recognize that as the "Jepoardy" music... but it was.)


I've also been working on the Friday Block Party pieces, the Norcal BOM, finishing the QA BOM from several years ago,on working on the pillows for the kids... and on Marjory's Quilt. Marjory lives in Scotland, and I'm making her a quilt to go in her "new" bedroom. She lives in a wonderful flat quite near Arthur's Seat in Edinburg. I can show you a picture of the block that makes up the quilt. There are 12 blocks in the quilt and the soft pink is repeated in the sashing between the blocks. I'm thinking of green cornerstones for the sashing... making it a bit like a "journey" quilt as well. I really like the pale greens in this quilt and I think the lavender center block really ties it all together.

The block is called "Bradford's Beauty", it is a straightforward, traditional block, and I used Bonnie Hunter's excellent scrappy tutorial to help with the construction. Bonnie gave her quilt three borders with 4Patch cornerstones, and I think I'll do the same. Of course, I'll send Bonnie a picture of my variation when I'm finished.

I really like the Fuschia patterned fabric that Sheila picked out. I added the lavender print to the centers beacuse that is Marjory's favorite color. I was actually a bit surprised that Marjory had chosen a dark pinky-red and pale green for her window seats instead of her favorite blues and purples, but it made it easy for me to find lots of good greens from my stash to use in her quilt! I'll show more pictures later... I have to go mow some more of my yard! Spring really does make the grass grow, doesn't it?