Melinda Quilts etc
I think this is the final layout – I may move a few blocks around but it is almost ready for me to start sewing the blocks together.
I couldn’t get far enough away from it on the design wall so I took it to the shop and laid it out on the table. It is safely wrapped up in a flannel backed tablecloth and ready to start sewing.
Melinda
I finished all the blocks for the Christmas quilt and have them up on the design wall. I now need to move some of them around to break up the clusters of colors and then start sewing them together. The fabric from the line has not arrived at the shop yet so even if I had time, I wouldn’t be able to quilt it. I need backing and binding.
For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog here.
I brought home fabric for another Christmas in July project yesterday so need to get this one finished.
Melinda
Number 16 of 20 is done so there are only 4 more to make. One is sewn into strips of 6 so just needs to be put together. I am going to have to think about my next leader/ender project soon. I love it when I have everything cut and ready to go.
I made more blocks for the Christmas quilt and will show the progress on that for design wall Monday.
Melinda
I have made a few more blocks for the Christmas quilt. Since there are a total of 80 blocks, I still have a long way to go.
Melinda
Today was the monthly meeting of the East Cobb Quilters’ Guild. As usual, I have an update on the status of the upcoming quilt show. It was also the last meeting before the deadline for quilt entries.
Danielle was not able to attend the meeting today because of a conflict with her daughter’s last day of school for the year so I have a box of entries in the back of my little car. The actual deadline is June 15 so there will be a lot more in the mail in the next couple of weeks but we have a good start. Our show is open to all Georgia quilters and members of the guild no matter where they live.
Melinda
I received a wonderful basket in the mail today.
It was made by Thea of Grannygoodstuff. Not only did she send a great fabric basket, but she included several other gifts she made. I will post the photos of my package after it is received.
Thank you Thea!
Melinda
A new session of Beginning Machine Piecing started this morning. The early summer session is usually smaller than the rest of the year and that is correct again. I usually teach both a morning and evening group but I have three wonderful women in the morning group and no evenig group this time.
Here are the fabrics that the students are using for this class.
We worked on perfecting the 1/4” seam, learning to cut correctly and also how to iron/press your blocks. They each made at least one rail fence block and will come back next week with eight done – lots of homework!
Melinda
I made a few of the blocks for my Christmas in July project. I have used 6 of the 40 jelly roll strips so far. I got all the rest of cutting done so I hope to just do a few each morning and get it done in a week or so.
While working on them, I completed yet another leader/ender block.
This one is number 15 of 20.
Melinda
I don’t really have anything on my design wall today but here is my design cutting table.
I am going to make the cover quilt with Sweetwater’s new Christmas line for Christmas in July. I hope to get some of the blocks on the way so hopefully you will be able to see them next week.
For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog.
Melinda
I really need to straighten up my sewing room. I have the master bedroom for my sewing room and it is quite large but quite messy. There is fabric stacked everywhere. I have started with the fat quarters – how did I ever get so many?
At least it is a start!
Melinda
My apron from the Spring Fling Flirty Apron Swap arrived today. Well actually it arrived in Marietta sometime in the last 10 days but I opened it today. I was gone from the 10th to the 19th for my adventures out West.
Here is a not so good photo.
It is a beautiful retro apron made by Bree. Thank you so much! The other little gifts are wonderful also.
Melinda
After getting home last night around 9, I had a lot of trouble sleeping. At least I got some fabric folded in my sewing room in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep.
This morning was our monthly quilt show meeting. We had a good meeting and I went out to lunch with my good friends. We were able to get caught up on all the happenings from the time I was out West.
For a photo today, I thought I would show the raffle quilt that we are giving away at our Quilt Show in September. Tickets are only a dollar each and you can contact me if you want to purchase some.
This quilt is made by the members of the guild and quilted by the talented Bella Bamert. It is based on Dear Hannah by Brenda Papadakis. Brenda kindly gave us permission to use her patterns as the basis of our raffle quilt.
Melinda
I am going home this morning. Will arrive back in Atlanta this evening. I have had a great time but am looking forward to seeing Bill and the little doggies.
I took a few photos at Robin’s house yesterday. Here is my favorite of the quilts hanging.
Robin bought this quilt at a guild auction a few years. I have this pattern and it is getting higher on my list of things I want to make. I love the garden ladies.
Need to get packed and off to the airport in a couple of hours.
Melinda
Yesterday was definitely a lazy day – we returned the rental car, picked up chili dogs for lunch and took a nap in the afternoon. After waking up we caught up on some TV watching it was time for yet another meal. This time we emptied out the freezer and had taquitos, potato skins and something else I can’t remember. Not gourmet but kept us going for the evening.
This morning we got up and went to Happy Nails.
See how happy my toenails are? I also got a manicure but my hands are not worth showing.
At the Moda dinner, the dessert was Russian Crème so we googled a recipe and plan to have that for dinner tonight.
I will be going home on Delta in the morning. I have had a great time but I am ready to be home. I have a Quilt Show meeting on Friday morning so have some prep work to do.
Melinda
We left Salt Lake City at 9 am after doing some repacking of the car to fit everything in. We finally got it all stuffed in the car and headed off. We had discovered that there is a Roberto’s in Cedar City which is about four hours from Salt Lake City. We made a side trip to Joann’s (don’t ask) and found Roberto’s Taco Shop. Roberto’s is the best taco shop ever. We first discovered it when I lived in San Diego in the 80’s. When we go to Las Vegas we always eat at Roberto’s numerous times so you can imagine how excited we were to find one on the way home.
We usually order the same thing every time. Occasionally we have ordered a different meal but have always been sorry. Number 11 it is for us.
Yum!
We got back on the road and headed toward Las Vegas where we planned on spending the night (right down the street from Roberto’s, by the way). By the time we got to Las Vegas it was only 3 pm. We didn’t have anything productive to do in Las Vegas – we probably would have gone to the quilt shop and Walmart and spent even more money so we kept on going.
We got gas at the Stateline and headed towards Bishop. We drove right past the Mad Greek without stopping for a shake – amazing but true. We did stop in Barstow at Tommy’s and had chili tamales with a side of fries. I am definitely going to Weight Watchers when I get back to Marietta.
We pulled in front of Robin’s house at 7pm. We did leave everything but the suitcases in the car for the night and had a glass of wine before watching Dancing With the Stars. We will unload the car and return it to the rental company this morning.
One last photo – my shoes yesterday.
Melinda
We had a great last day of Market – at least until it closed. Here we are in the booth.
Here is the booth all taken down and ready for us to take outside.
We moved everything out of the convention center out to the street and I waited there while Robin went and got the car.
After packing the car – very quickly so we have to repack this morning to get our suitcases and purchases in, we went to PF Chang’s for dinner. We rewarded ourselves with this delicious drink – in fact, we had two of them. After walking back to the hotel, we collapsed and watched the finale of Survivor.
This morning we are getting ready to get back on the road to Seal Beach. We will plan on spending the night in Las Vegas.
Melinda
After another busy day at Quilt Market we went to the Bloggers Quilt Market Meetup. It was held a couple of blocks away at the Blue Lemon. They had some delicious snacks. We saw a lot of bloggers and recognized quite a few, and talked to some interesting people. Pat Sloan was there.
Here is what was in the Swag bag – very nice.
Here are a couple of photos. It was so crowded inside that I couldn’t get photos but part of the party was outside. The wind came up so one of these photos is of people trying to get away from the water being blown at them.
I have been interested in what people are wearing on their feet for the show. I just got a few photos yesterday and will be on the lookout for tomorrow.
Lastly, here is a wonderful project – Robin bought each of us a button bracelet kit. Look at all the wonderful buttons.
Today is the last day of the show. It closes at 4 pm and we will pack up right after. We plan to spend another night here in Salt Lake City and start back to Seal Beach in the morning. We have our food stops already planned – pitiful, but true.
Melinda
I am still at Quilt Market and will post more about it tomorrow, but for now I want to post my entry in the Blogger’s Quilt Festival.
I made this quilt with my Piecemaker’s Bee. We exchange swap blocks each year.
In 2010 we exchanged string blocks. We were able to designate a color we
wanted and a color to avoid. Of course as usual in exchanges, what you get is
what you get or as they say around here “You get what you get and don’t pitch a fit.”
Here are the blocks I received.
This is what I made from them.
Here is a close-up of the quilting.
My friend Barb did the embroidery for me on her embroidery machine. I cut up the exchange blocks with my 60 degree ruler and sewed it together. I like it!
To see the rest of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, go to Amy’s blog here.
Melinda
Yesterday was the opening of Quilt Market and we were ready. Here is the booth in all it’s glory.
Doesn’t it look great? I especially love the logo quilt. Victoria from Bumble Beans came by and even though I posted a photo yesterday, here is one with the real camera instead of me holding my IPhone while taking the photo.
Maetha had a ticket to the Moda dinner and had scheduled something else so she gave us the ticket to represent Tiny Stitches. We had a good dinner and were amazed at how many people attend this affair.
Getting ready for day two – more later.
Melinda
We got to the Convention Center early yesterday morning, after having our free breakfast. It took us a few hours to get the booth set up. I took a couple of photos but with the big door open there was too much light. I will be able to get a good photo later today.
After getting set up, we went to Wal-Mart (of course) and picked up a few things. The nice young man at Wal-Mart directed us to our next stop.
We picked up a couple of things here and then move on to the next stop – Red Iguana. It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
Here is the front door.
We ordered Mole which is what they are known for. The waitress told us it would be a “little spicy” but she lied. It was the hottest food I have ever eaten but it was delicious. Here is the table before our food was delivered.
After coming back to the hotel and taking a nap, we went to Sample Spree! More about that later.
Melinda
We arrived here in Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon. Since we didn’t have far to drive, we took our time. On the way from Cedar City, we saw a Cracker Barrel. Guess where we ate lunch.
After lunch we stopped at our first quilt shop. They had a sign out front welcoming us.
We had a great time looking around and Robin found a few buttons for Letty’s bags.
We also stopped at Quilts Etc which apparently is the largest quilt shop in Utah. They had wonderful samples and lots of things to look at. We picked up a few patterns and ran into a friend from Las Vegas.
We then went on to the Convention Center and unloaded the car. We will go back later today to get the booth set up. Here it is before setting up.
Here is the sign in the booth.
I will show what the booth looks like tomorrow morning.
We went out to dinner at Benihana. Our hotel is right across from the Convention Center so it is a short walk.
Sample Spree is tonight and I can hardly wait.
Melinda
