Melinda Quilts ETC

Swap Package for Kris

2012-02-15T09:05:00.001-05:00

You might remember that I received a wonderful swap package from Kris. Here is is.

Here is what I sent to her.

The accessory bag I made is a click-it bag. I also made her a nametag/cell phone bag like I made for the quilt show. I included a few other goodies that I hope she finds useful.

Melinda

Selvage Fabric

2012-02-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

Yes, I know I said I was going to try to slow down my fabric purchases but this one I absolutely couldn’t resist. SELVAGE fabric!

I got it from Spoonflower and it comes in two size prints. I love it!!!! Not sure what I want to do with it as I know I will have trouble cutting into it. I got a yard of each size.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–February 13, 2012

2012-02-13T08:55:00.001-05:00

I finally finished the table runner – now it just needs to be quilted.

I am so glad I finally used some of this fabric. I have words for the backing.

After taking this off the wall, I put this up.

The fabric is also by Sweetwater – it is a Snapshot quilt out of the book Happy Hour. The line is Reunion. I finished the rest of the blocks this morning and hope to get the top put together later today. It is too big for the design wall, so I will lay it out on the bed.

For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check out the rest of them.

Melinda

Stash Report–Week 7, 2012

2012-02-12T08:06:00.001-05:00

As you can see below, I didn’t do well this week. First was the purchase of the wonderful polka dots. I can’t say I am sorry for buying them but I need to start using more fabric. The second purchase was 5.5 yards for the back of a quilt. I haven’t turned it into a back yet so can’t count it used. Hopefully this week I can get it ready to quilt.

Used this Week: 13 yards
Used year to Date: 13 yards
Added this Week: 11.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 23.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: –10 yards

For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.

Melinda

More Bee Blocks

2012-02-10T21:29:00.001-05:00

I made the January and February bee blocks today. One is going to Canada so it won’t go out until Monday but I can drop the other off at the Post Office tomorrow.

Here is the January block.

Here is the February block.

Hope they like them – I do.

Melinda

Polka Dots

2012-02-10T11:24:00.001-05:00

I know I have been trying to slow down on my fabric purchases but I just couldn’t resist this.

I only got fat quarters but it still added up to six yards! I love them!

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing–Class Five

2012-02-09T08:41:00.001-05:00

We made the last of the blocks for the beginning quilts yesterday. Next week we will lay out the quilts and start putting them together. The last week we will put on the borders and talk about quilting.

Here are the morning blocks.

And the evening ones.

It is going to be so exciting to see what the quilts are going to look like.

Melinda

Catching Up

2012-02-08T08:57:00.001-05:00

I finished up some past due Bee blocks. First is this one for Bailey. She did not want it trimmed to size so here it is, uneven edges and all.

Next is one for Staci. I really like this block.

Lastly, here is Marta’s block. She used Christmas fabrics.

Hope they like them.

Melinda

Super Bolt Sale

2012-02-07T06:23:00.000-05:00

Here is the store before opening on Super Bolt Sunday! Lots and lots of happy shoppers. Next is what most of them were waiting for – fabric by the bolt and a very good price.

This is only part of what was for sale. The main store also had 25% off everything in the store so you can only imagine the crowds. Thankfully everyone was glad to be there and very patient. It was fun for both the staff and the customers. Only a year to go until the next Super Bolt sale!

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–February 6, 2012

2012-02-06T09:05:00.001-05:00

My design wall looks just about the same as last week.

Actually I have started sewing the blocks together but not enough has been completed to change the look so this is the same photo as last week. Hope to get it off the design wall this week.

For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them out.

Melinda

Stash Report - Week 6, 2012

2012-02-05T19:06:00.001-05:00

I used fabric this week for the guild community service projects. I cut muslin squares to use as bases for string blocks as well as giving my strips for the project. I figure that I cut 11 yards of muslin and there were at least 2 yards of strips, so I am counting 13 years. ~~No new purchases this week~~ although there are some dots on the way in the mail. I forgot that I purchased 2 yards plus 2 fat quarters last Monday so I have revised my totals.

Used this Week: 13 yards
Used year to Date: 13 yards
Added this Week: 2.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 12 yards
Net Used for 2012: 1 yd

For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.

Melinda

New Embroidery BOM

2012-02-04T06:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a the first block of a new BOM from Tiny Stitches.

There will be a happy snowman every month. By the way, I did not stitch this yet – it is the sample made by my friend Cindy! Her embroidery is the best I have ever seen.

Melinda

Shop Hop Quilt

2012-02-03T10:20:00.001-05:00

Here is the fabric I have for a quilt for Shop Hop. The top fabric is a preprinted piece. The bottom will be the borders and binding. The center fabric is so wonderful that we decided not to cut it. There will be one big center piece with borders around it. Here is my EQ7 drawing.

Simple but with such wonderful fabrics, I think it will work out well.

Since this is a shop quilt and the fabric is not mine, I am not adding it to my stash report. Of course that means I won’t be able to count it when completed either.

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing–Class Four

2012-02-02T10:34:00.001-05:00

Another fun day at the quilt shop. It was time for the beginning class to tackle half square triangles. They are such an important part of so many quilts but sometimes a little challenging to get just right. They all did a good job. First here are the morning blocks.

Here are the evening ones.

Next week we make flying geese.

Melinda

Community Service at Allatoona Quilters’ Guild

2012-02-01T06:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a community service day and we worked on string quilts. I brought a bolt of muslin that I had bought a few years ago when I was under a delusion that I was going to make a cathedral window quilt. I came to my senses but still had the fabric so I decided to use it for the foundations for string blocks. I cut kits for several kits and managed to use more than 10 yards that I can report next week. Of course the bolt was a 50 yard bolt so I still have plenty of muslin left. I need to cut a set of foundations for my own use so I can work on a top from my scraps. I forgot that I also took my 1 1/2 inch strip bin and donated all of them. Here are a few of the blocks that were completed today.

Melinda

Gift from My Sister

2012-01-31T06:13:00.000-05:00

Look what came in yesterday’s mail. Sure beats bills!

Wonderful socks in my favorite neutral – lime green. They are made with bamboo yarn and I am planning on wearing them today. They feel great.

The right side is a beautiful batik. Here is is open.

When it is closed it can be used as a small ironing surface. When open, there is a sandpaper board which is so helpful for writing on fabric. The other side has a cutting board. What a great useful gift. I assume Robin bought these at Road To California a couple of weeks ago.

Thank you Sis!

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–January 30, 2012

2012-01-30T09:59:00.001-05:00

This is a table runner from last week’s guild special projects meeting. It is a disappearing nine patch using a charm pack. I have had this charm pack for a couple of years, along with a lot of yardage, a couple of fat quarter stacks, a layer cake and a couple more charm packs. The line is Authentic by Sweetwater and I fell in love with it when it first came out. While I bought lots of it, I didn’t have a particular project in mind and have had a hard time cutting into it. Foolish isn’t it that when we find something we love, we are reluctant to actually use it. I doubt I am the only person who does this, am I?

I need to move a few squares around and then get it sewn together. I can’t wait to complete it.

For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.

Melinda

Stash Report–Week 5, 2012

2012-01-29T09:44:00.001-05:00

Time for another stash report. I have been working on projects but they are not at the point where I can count yardage. I found two more fat quarters that I couldn’t resist last week – Kaffe that I didn’t have so I added 1/2 yard.

Here is the report for week 5.

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 0 yards
Added this Week: .5 yards
Added Year to Date: 9.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: –10

For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times here.

Melinda

Accessory Bag Swap Received

2012-01-28T06:37:00.000-05:00

Look at the wonderful accessory bag and matching items from Kris of Dandelion Quilts. She made the wonderful bag – it even has pockets inside! She also included a cute mug rug and a notepad cover. Tucked inside was the post-it notes (who ever can have enough of them), the tissues and a wonderful smelling hand gel. What a great package.

Mine is in progress and will be on the way to Kris in plenty of time to meet the deadline.

Melinda

Janet Fogg at East Cobb Quilters’ Guild Today

2012-01-27T16:39:00.001-05:00

The program at guild was wonderful today. Our guest speaker was Janet Fogg and her quilts were unbelievably wonderful. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and my iPhone decided it didn’t want to take photos. Since I use it frequently I was ready to go buy a 4S (mine is a 4) but after turning it off and on, it started taking photos again so I guess I will wait until the iPhone 5 to come out before upgrading.

Anyway, back to guild. Since I didn’t get photos here are a couple from Janet’s website.

This quilt was hanging on a stand and is very large. In fact, most of her quilts are large. It is totally pieced. Her quilting is just about the best I have ever seen. What looks like printed black fabric is just quilting!

I loved this one also. It is an older grandmothers flower garden that she rescued and added the border to. She added the borders and then pieced the grandmother separately and appliqued it on. This is a good photo but the quilt is much better.

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing–Class Three

2012-01-26T11:13:00.001-05:00

Another wonderful, productive class or I guess I should say two wonderful, productive classes yesterday. Let’s start with the morning class.

The first thing we do each class is to display the homework from the previous class. Last week we focused on nine patches and nine patch variations.

As they make blocks during class, they take down their homework and put up the new blocks. We worked on a square dance block and then moved on to log cabins.

By the way, the blocks on the bottom rows are from a student that was unable to attend last week. We should have her caught up by next week.

After an exciting break go grocery shopping (senior day at the grocery story), I went back to the shop for the evening class. Here is their homework.

And then the blocks they finished last night.

Great blocks from everyone. A couple are still struggling with consistent 1/4” seams but getting better. Next week we tackle half square triangles and make friendship star blocks. I can’t wait.

Melinda

New Block of the Month

2012-01-25T21:38:00.001-05:00

I have joined Sue Spargo’s 2012 BOM. My friend Jan did one a couple of years ago that I was fortunate enough to quilt and after taking a class last year from Sue, I decided to sign up. The first block came earlier this week.

So far, I love the fabric. I also signed up to get the thread each month. This is going to be fun!

Melinda

Disappearing Nine Patch

2012-01-24T20:19:00.001-05:00

At the Allatoona guild today, we worked on a disappearing nine patch table runner. Lisa had made a couple of samples and really didn’t like one. I liked it a lot and she gave it to me. Here it is hanging on my front door. Just so you don’t worry about the table runner – I have a glass storm door that protects it from the elements.

Thank you Lisa for the class and for the table runner – I love it.

I have a large stash of Authentic fabric from Sweetwater. I loved that line when it first came out and managed to collect quite a lot of it. I have charm packs, jelly rolls, layer cakes and some yardage and have never cut into any of it, at least until today. I guess I am an Authentic hoarder. I managed to cut up and entire charm pack to make my disappearing nine patch table runner and will use a little more for borders. I got most of the nine patches done but haven’t cut them yet. Here are a few of them.

I am glad I finally started using some of it.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T11:41:00.001-05:00

I have a design chair today. These are the polka dots I bought this weekend. I plan to use them (and others) for my guild BOM. I am thinking about using Kona White for the background.

For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.

Melinda

Stash Report – Week 4, 2012

2012-01-22T11:34:00.001-05:00

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 0 yards
Added this Week: 9 yards
Added Year to Date: 9.5 yards
Net Used for 2012: -9.5

Well, when I fall, I fall big. There is a buy one fat quarter, get one free sale at Tiny Stitches this weekend and I bought 36 fat quarters!

At guild we are doing a block of the month or more accurately blocks of the month and I decided to do mine with polka dots so I now have a big selection of polka dots to work from. I need to search my stash to see if I have enough of a background fabric – I certainly hope so.

I can’t believe I bought that many fat quarters. Shame on me

For more stash reports, go to Patchwork Times.

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing–Class Two

2012-01-20T21:31:00.001-05:00

We had great classes on Wednesday. The classes started with the students putting up their rail fence homework up on our new design wall.

Morning class

Evening class

Here are the blocks they made on Wednesday.

Morning class

Evening class

Aren’t they doing a good job?

Melinda

More About Retreat

2012-01-18T21:53:00.001-05:00

Here are a few completed blocks from the quilts at retreat. Love to look at the different fabrics and how they change the look of the block.

Here is a group photo of most of the participants – it is hard to get a large group together.

And a couple of photos of work in progress.

We had a great time!

Melinda

Amicacola Quilt Retreat

2012-01-17T20:24:00.001-05:00

We got up to Amicacola Thursday night. I drove by myself since Danielle was not feeling up to going. Of course it rained the whole way up there. Here is the room when we got there.

On Friday morning it looked a lot different, with 48 women busy at work. The theme of the retreat was the 50’s. We did another mystery quilt by Debbie Caffrey. She writes wonderful mysteries and I highly recommend her quilts.

One of the side projects was to make an apron and decorate it however they wanted to. On Saturday night we had a fashion show of aprons but first I have to show you what Maetha and I looked like. We were Laverne and Shirley for the weekend.

Pat brought her Mother’s sweater clips and loaned them to me.

Aren’t they perfect! She also loaned me the sweater. I made the skirts and two of the people attending also had poodle skirts but I didn’t get a photo of them. One was yellow and the other pink.

Here is the apron parade.

And here is the winner.

She received a gift certificate for the shop and an apron from Moda.

I will show more tomorrow.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–January 16, 2012

2012-01-16T11:19:00.001-05:00

All I have to show today is one block from my retreat mystery quilt. I have all the pieces to make the rest of the blocks but ran out of steam at the retreat.

For more design walls to inspire you, go to Patchwork Times here.

Melinda

Stash Report–January 15, 2012

2012-01-15T19:06:00.001-05:00

Somehow I didn’t have enough of my background fabric for my mystery quilt so I bought 1/2 yard more. I have decided I am going to count fabric used when I get a top completed since it might take a long time for me to actually quilt my own projects.

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 0 yards
Added this Week: .5 yards
Added Year to Date: .5 yards
Net Used for 2012: –.5 yards

I was unable to connect to the internet at the retreat so more to follow on that later.

For more stash reports go to Patchwork Times.

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing–Evening Class

2012-01-12T09:57:00.001-05:00

Another five wonderful students in the evening class.

Here are the blocks that got made last night.

Off to retreat – more later.

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing

2012-01-11T22:12:00.001-05:00

It is time for another session of Beginning Machine Piecing which started today. There are 6 wonderful students in the morning class and they picked out wonderful fabrics to make their quilts from. Here they are.

As usual, the first blocks they make are the rail fence blocks. Here they are.

I am coming down with a cold and have retreat to get ready for tomorrow so I will post the photos from the evening class tomorrow.

Melinda

Gift Quilt

2012-01-09T14:17:00.001-05:00

My friend Danielle is in the hospital with a serious issue. What do quilters do when a friend is in need? Give them a quilt. This is a quilt I made last year and completed in November. I put a label on it and took it to the hospital last night. Danielle seemed to be pleased to receive it and I felt good about having it available to comfort her.

I hope it brings her comfort and warmth as she heals.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–January 9, 2012

2012-01-09T08:54:00.001-05:00

My design wall looks exactly the same as last week. I still hope to get this quilt completed but this week is not looking good.

For more interesting design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check out the others.

Melinda

Stash Report–January 8, 2012

2012-01-08T21:20:00.001-05:00

I decided to join in Judy’s stash report this year. I really want to use more fabric than I purchase and this is a good way to keep that in mind. Of course, the fact that it is only one week into the year makes me look good so far.

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 0 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 0 yards
Net Used for 2012: 0 yards

You can see other reports at Patchwork Times.

Melinda

Turning Twenty

2012-01-07T06:49:00.000-05:00

Here is my Turning Twenty at the quilt shop – hanging on the wall! It is hard to get a photo of it because it is hanging at the ceiling and the aisle is not very wide. Even so, it looks pretty good hanging there.

Melinda

Finished Projects for 2010 and 2011

2012-01-06T06:21:00.000-05:00

Finished Projects 2010

Black and White Nine Patch Surprise
Black and White Quilt
Candle Mat for Swap
Changeable Cover Bag
Cheap Trick Schnibble
Click-It Bags for Allatoona Guild
Dazzling Dog Quilt
Doll Quilt for Allatoona Swap
Embroidery Quilt for Swap
Five, Ten, Twenty 12 Days of Christmas Quilt
Five, Ten, Twenty Pastel Quilt
Flannel Wacky Devine Nine Quilt
Fruitcake Wacky Devine Nine Quilt
Gone With The Wind Quilt
Halloween Wacky Devine Nine
Home for the Holidays Christmas Quilt
Letty's Bag
Letty's Bag for Tote Swap
Letty's Little Bag
Magnolia Lane Quilt
Needle Case for Swap
Oilcloth Letty's Bag for Michele
Origins Quilt
Pillowcases (6)
Selvage Kindle Cover (2)
Selvage Pin Cushions for Blog Readers
SSCS Gift and Ornament
Winter Tote Bag for Swap

2011 Finished Projects

"Lime Green is a Neutral Color " Wallhanging
Aprons for Quilt Show
Bright Flannel Wacky Devine Nine
Click-It Bags
Composition Book Cover
Easy Peasy Grommet Bag for Christmas Gift
Hometown Neighborhood Quilt
Jovial Christmas Quilt
Kaffe Magical Slice and Dice
Lime Green Hiding in Black and White
Name Tags for Quilt Show Committee
Potholders for Swap
Red and Aqua DNP
Table Runner for Swap
Turning Twenty
Watermelon Quilt
Zipper Pouch

I just wanted to clean up my sidebar and still keep track of what I have finished over the past couple of years.

Melinda

Rayon Batik

2012-01-05T12:45:00.001-05:00

Several years ago, there was a vendor of Rayon Batik dresses at the Orange County Flea Market in California and both my sister and I loved the dresses and had several of them. Well, we wore them out – to the point that they had to be thrown away and couldn’t even be given to charity. They fell apart after wearing them to death. Ever since then, we have been looking for this type of dress but have been unsuccessful.

At quilt market in Houston, Robin found Rayon Batik. For Christmas, she gave me enough to make 3 dresses.

Aren’t they beautiful? Now all I have to do is find a pattern and try to remember how to sew clothes.

Melinda

Knitting Today

2012-01-04T16:58:00.001-05:00

I went to open knitting at Only Ewe and Cotton Too with Lynda this morning. Had a great time. Here is the project I am currently working on.

It is just straight knitting but a lot of it. A few more hours and I will be ready to start on the ruffle. Lynda and I each bought the pattern at Whole Nine Yarns last year and I have been working on it while watching TV at least some evenings. I want to continue working on this until finished and then start a pair of socks before deciding on my next knitting project.

After knitting we went to lunch with several very nice ladies – had the biggest slice of pizza ever! It had artichoke, black olives and mushrooms and it was very good, especially with Diet Coke!

Melinda

Bottle Tree–Version 2

2012-01-03T07:55:00.001-05:00

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted a bottle tree. Bill put one together for me and you can see it here.

Since it was made of wood, it eventually fell apart and some of the bottles were broken in the process. The rest were packed into a box and they have been sitting in the garage. I finally decided that I wanted to purchase a bottle tree made of metal so it would last. I ordered it on Christmas Eve and it arrived last week. We finally got it unpacked and put in the ground.

It is the Big Daddy Bottle Tree and is from BottleTree.com. They are located in Mississippi and ship the same day if you order in the morning. The bottles have been collected over time and several friends donated them to me. This summer I hope to plant a climbing vine at the base and see what happens.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–January 2, 2012

2012-01-02T09:10:00.001-05:00

My design wall looks like it did several weeks ago. I got out the Jelly Roll Race quilt and hope to get the borders on it this week. Then it can go into the “to be quilted mountain”.

I did finish one this this last week. Here is my Turning Twenty for Tiny Stitches. Tiny Stitches is turning twenty in 2012 so each month we will feature a Turning Twenty quilt. Mine is the first one. It will be hung this week so I will get a better photo of it. I like how it turned out.

For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog here.

Melinda

Stocking Swap

2011-12-28T11:11:00.001-05:00

I did a stocking swap before Christmas. Of course I forgot to take a photo of what I sent, but here is what I received.

Inside was all of this.

It was stuffed! Another great swap – thank you Janet!

Melinda

SSCS

2011-12-27T09:06:00.001-05:00

I opened my wonderful gift from Kris in Australia. First she sent me this wonderful ornament that I had posted earlier.

There were two more gifts in the box.

Here is the first one I opened.

It is a homemade journal and I love it.

Here is the second package.

It is a drawstring bag and the center has beading on it. Lovely! I have participated in this swap for several years and look forward to it every year. Thanks to Chookyblue for all her work on this swap.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–December 26, 2011

2011-12-26T09:17:00.001-05:00

I need to get my Turning Twenty done. I put a few of the blocks together this morning and hope to piece the top this afternoon.

For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog.

Melinda

Last Minute Christmas Tree

2011-12-24T18:54:00.001-05:00

I had a styrofoam tree and a bunch of yo-yo’s. Also some buttons and white pins. This is what I came up with.

It needs something on the top but otherwise I like it.

Melinda

Christmas with Friends

2011-12-23T13:56:00.001-05:00

We went to Red Sky Tapas and Bar on Tuesday night for a little Christmas get-together. We had hoped to go to tea at the Ritz in Buckhead but couldn’t get reservations until next week. We were too anxious to exchange our Christmas gifts to wait until then. Stay tuned though – we are going to the Ritz on the 29th!

Danielle, Jan, Lynda, Stella and me! We get together every Monday morning and can’t imagine life without each other. We can count on each other and can’t explain how much our time together means to each of us.

We had some delicious tapas and there might have been a little wine involved. I made vanilla and hand cream for each of them. Of course, I forgot to take a photo but they seems to enjoy receiving the bottle and jar. I even printed labels and used some of my precious Moda twill tape for a bow on each of the hand cream jars.

Here is what Lynda gave me.

It is a little mixing vessel. Perfect for making scrambled eggs and such. Each of the others received a different bowl, etc.

Here is from Stella.

I love the little zipper bags and adore the fabric (I think I talked her into buying this a few weeks ago). I have already put my embroidery project in the larger bag.

Here is Danielle’s gift.

Bread and butter pickles – she makes the best pickles! Yum!

And here is my gift from Jan.

The ornament is on the tree. Inside the box was a great selection of cookies and candy – not much left to show but enjoyed!

Have I mentioned that I love these women!

Melinda

Almost Christmas

2011-12-21T18:32:00.001-05:00

I delivered the last of the Christmas quilts today – actually that isn’t quite correct since I have one more finished quilt in my car, waiting for it’s owner to come to town from South Carolina. Next year I swear I am going to finish all the customer quilts in November and not work on them in December!!!!!

I am changing my scheduling of customer quilts and hopefully can stay on top of it better next year.

Here is a Christmas quilt of mine from several years ago.

It is a small wall quilt and I actually pieced it about 20 years ago in Australia. I remember taking a class where this was one of the projects. I appliqued the tree on the background and it sat for several years – it was really ugly and the fabric is not a very good quality. A couple of years ago, I made the yo-yo’s and sewed them on with buttons. It was somewhat improved. I then quilted and bound it. It is currently ~~hiding~~ hanging in the downstairs bathroom.

I didn’t get a lot of decorations out this year but did put up some quilts and a small tree. It was all I could handle with all the customer quilts to work on.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–December 19, 2011

2011-12-19T10:42:00.001-05:00

It is more of a design stool today. Here are some of the fabrics I am going to use to make a Turning Twenty. Tiny Stitches is turning twenty this next year and we are going to celebrate by having featuring a different Turning Twenty quilt each month. I signed up for January so I need to get some blocks put together soon.

It will be fun to see what happens during the year.

For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog.

Melinda

Blog Party Winner

2011-12-18T20:29:00.001-05:00

I drew the winner of the flannel layer cake and it is

Happy Cottage Quilter!

Here is her comment:

This fabric is beautiful!! I would love to make a quilt for my daughter. She loves these colors. Thanks!!

I have sent her an email and hopefully will hear from her soon!

Melinda

Empty Bowl

2011-12-13T09:19:00.001-05:00

For several years I have noticed a sign up at The Art Place in late November, early December advertising the Empty Bowl Brunch. Every year I would say to myself that I wanted to go but time would get away from me and I didn’t make it until this year. In November, the sign went up and I called Lynda to see if she would like to go. Of course she said yes so I stopped by and bought tickets. The tickets are only $10. Debbie decided to join us and she was able to pay at the door.

We got there at the starting time of 11:00 on Sunday and there was already quite a line. The way it works is that you go into a room filled with handmade bowls and select one. Here is the one I finally decided on.

You then go over to the corner of the room and nice people wash your bowl for you. At the end of the hall, there is a room full of crockpots of soup and chili. You hand them your bowl and they fill it up. They also had bottles of water and soda. Taking your bowl, you find a place to sit and eat. They had tables set up everywhere and on the tables were big plates of bread from Panera. I had chili and it was very good.

After eating (forgot to mention that there were brownies, cookies, etc. set out by a girl scout troop also available), there was another dishwashing station and we left with clean bowls and full tummies. It is definitely on my calendar for next year.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–December 12, 2011

2011-12-12T09:15:00.001-05:00

My design wall hasn’t changed a lot but there are a couple more stars on it.

Not sure how many more are coming but I plan on making a few to add to these.

For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog here.

Melinda

Gifts from Guild Presidents

2011-12-11T10:18:00.001-05:00

I have held a position in two guilds this year. One was Past President (a very easy job) and Quilt Show Chair (a more challenging job). Tradition says that the current guild president gives a small gift to each board officer and committee chair.

Andrea’s husband is a wonderful woodworker and he made ruler racks for us. Wonderful ruler racks.

Robin made little art pins for everyone. They were all different and all wonderful. Here is mine.

Two fun holiday parties in one week! Of course there was also the Piecemakers’ brunch and the Tiny Stitches party. That makes four parties in one week.

Melinda

Tiny Stitches Staff Party

2011-12-10T07:50:00.000-05:00

Monday night was our staff party for the employees of Tiny Stitches. Each year we choose names and the only rule is that the gift has to be made by us. I had Terry’s name and made her this bag.

I also made a Christmas ornament with buttons but forgot to take a photo.

Mary had my name and this is what she made for me.

I really loved what she made for me.

There are wonderfully talented women who work at the shop and the variety of gifts that were made was great.

Melinda

Blog Hop Party

2011-12-09T14:58:00.001-05:00

I am participating in the Blog Hop Party at Quilting Gallery. I have decided to give away a layer cake of wonderful flannel fabrics.

The name of the line is Urban Blooms and is it wonderfully soft. As you can see it is by Robert Kaufman fabrics. I actually have two of these layer cakes and plan to make a charity quilt from the one I am keeping. Just leave a comment telling me what you will do with this layer cake if you win and I will choose a winner via the random number generator on December 17th. Be sure I can reach you if you are a noreply blogger. Anyone is eligible to enter my giveaway. It doesn’t matter where you live.

Melinda

Homemade Gift Exchange

2011-12-08T11:46:00.001-05:00

I participated in the homemade gift exchange again but forgot to share photos. My partner was Renee and she does not have a blog.

I sent her a Christmas quilt.

I know is is out of focus but didn’t realize it before I packaged it up and mailed it.

Renee made me a prayer shawl.

It is beautiful, soft, warm and wonderful. I really love it! I have been using it while watching TV at night.

Melinda

SSCS

2011-12-07T13:28:00.001-05:00

I received my SSCS package yesterday and opened up the ornament. It is a very clever felt tree.

Here are the other two packages waiting for Christmas.

I sent my package to Australia last week. Hopefully it will be received soon.

Melinda

Allatoona Quilters’ Guild

2011-12-07T12:29:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was the monthly meeting of the Allatoona Quilters’ Guild. I didn’t get many photos because it was my turn to act as hostess and that took a lot of time. I made a pumpkin roll and it was completely gone – no leftovers to take home.

One of the wonderful things about this guild is when the Acworth police come to our meeting to accept quilts that we make all year. I did get one not so clear photo of the police officers with the quilts.

We ended up giving them 79 quilts – mostly for children. Hopefully that will keep them in quilts all year.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–December 5, 2011

2011-12-05T14:55:00.001-05:00

More stars arrived during the week. This is going to be an interesting quilt.

Stars are the only thing on my design wall today – check out Judy L’s blog for more design walls.

Melinda

Two More Customer Quilts

2011-11-30T14:00:00.001-05:00

I delivered two more last night. First here is Margaret’s little quilt.

She asked for squigglies so she got them.

The other one was Jeanne’s Mystery quilt from earlier this year.

I modified my usual swirls to be more oval in keeping with the look of the quilt – I like how it turned out.

Melinda

Customer Quilts

2011-11-29T16:07:00.001-05:00

I went back to see the Monks and noticed a sign I didn’t see yesterday. They ask that no photos be put on the internet so I removed the previous post about them. If you are anywhere near Marietta, GA, stop by and see the Monks and their sand Mandala. It is worth the trip.

I delivered four quilts last weekend. One is for a special project and I will not be able to share it for a couple of weeks but it is worth waiting on. Pia had three quilts for me to quilt for her and I got them all done on last Thursday.

There are two that are very similar.

Here is the second one.

Here is the last one – although it is also made with Asian fabric, it is a different pattern.

All of them are simple overall patterns but they are just what she wanted.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–November 28, 2011

2011-11-28T09:42:00.001-05:00

Here is what is on my design wall – blocks from the Scrap Bee. I have several more coming and am really excited about what this will be when all the blocks are received.

For more design walls, check out Judy L’s blog. Off to the quilting studio to work on customer quilts.

Melinda

Magical Slice and Dice

2011-11-27T10:51:00.001-05:00

Carolyn told me that I hadn’t posted the photos from the Magical Slice and Dice class. I really thought I had, but she is right, as usual. Here are the photos.

First is Marti’s before setting on point.

Here it is after slicing twice and sewing back together.

Here is Carolyn’s before.

Here is Karen’s.

Lastly, here is Linda’s.

They all need the outer borders put on and they will be ready to be quilted. Marti stopped by the shop yesterday and her top is done. She is working on the backing that will include some of the extra blocks.

Fun class and wonderful quilts.

Melinda

First Quilts

2011-11-26T20:40:00.001-05:00

Bonnie Hunter is talking about first quilts over on her blog. I made my first quilt when I lived in Australia in the early 90’s. I didn’t know a lot of people since I was there working mostly with men. I decided that I wanted to learn to quilt. I went to the local patchwork shop and signed up for a series of beginner classes. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that the teacher was the worst teacher in the history of quilting. There was only one way of doing things – her way or else. She wouldn’t allow you to choose your own fabrics since of course, she knew best. At least that was her story.

We made 12 inch blocks by hand. Here are a few of them.

There is only one thing you can say about these blocks – they are ugly! I didn’t like them at the time and I don’t like them now. I think we were supposed to make 12 blocks but I only lasted through 7 of them. I still have some of them. I don’t know why I don’t just throw them away. I will never make more of them or use them for anything. I have a plastic box with the rest of the fabric still in it. I need to go upstairs and get rid all of it.

After this miserable experience, I was still interested in learning to quilt so I went to another patchwork shop and found wonderful quilters and teachers. Here is the first quilt that I actually finished.

The photo is of the quilt folded up at my son’s house in Sweden. It is wearing out but has been used and used and loved. It was a quilt as you go log cabin and I made it in red and blue – can you tell I was somewhat homesick at the time I made it?

After this great experience, I can’t even imagine how many quilts I have made and how much difference it has made in my life. I teach quilting, I work in a quilt shop, I have a longarm quilting business and most of my friends are quilters. I belong to three guilds and spend part of every day playing with fabric – what a great life.

To see more stories of first quilts, go to Bonnie’s blog here.

Melinda

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T21:18:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful dinner. I am sorry we are so far from our families but we had a nice time cooking the turkey and all the trimmings. Of course, I forgot to take any photos. We had a pumpkin streusel pie from Publix and I made a red velvet cake. Bill has discovered Angry Birds on my iPad and is having a great time.

The above is a quilt top from a round robin several years ago. It is in the to be quilted mountain down in my quilting studio. Waiting, waiting and waiting to be quilted.

It would be a great quilt to put on the dining room table at this time of the year, if it ever gets quilted. I have been busy working on customer quilts the past few days. Will continue that over the next couple of weeks and hopefully will be able to take time off over the holidays.

Melinda

Customer Quilt

2011-11-23T10:20:00.001-05:00

This was a very old quilt made by someone in the family. It has some age spots (but who doesn’t) but it is still beautiful.

It is also a very large quilt and had a unusual dark green backing. I would have preferred a muslin backing but it still turned out nice. Dot, the customer, is planning on using the quilt on her bed.

Melinda

More Star Blocks

2011-11-22T11:28:00.001-05:00

I got more blocks in the mail. I am really getting excited about this wonderful collection.

There are lots of different sizes so it will be fun to figure out how to put them together.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–11/21/11

2011-11-21T16:22:00.001-05:00

Here is my design wall today. These are my blocks from the Scrap Bee. I will get blocks from 11 people and these are the first 3. I asked for stars of any kind on either a black on white or white on black background – any size. These will be a fun challenge to put together.

For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog.

Melinda

Make and Take

2011-11-20T19:59:00.001-05:00

Today was a Make and Take class at Tiny Stitches. We had seven wonderful women who came to the shop at 9 am to spend the day making small projects that are perfect for gifts. We started the morning with bagels and cream cheese – also coffee. Our first project was a baked potato bag. You know, the kind you put potatoes in for the microwave. I know there are a lot of patterns out there, but this is one I made up. We have pre-quilted potato fabric in the shop. It even has Warm Tater batting in it. A couple of hems, a couple of seams and the bags were made.

Next we made a rice bag, the type you heat in the microwave and put around your neck. This was made from a commercial pattern and involved flying geese.

The next project was a pet screen zipper bag. Mary made some bling for the zipper pull for everyone.

After the zipper bag, we had lunch. I brought potato soup in the crock pot and Mary brought quiche and salad. Yummy lunch!

Mary then taught a scissor case, made from a quilt block. This project took a little more time since the block had to be quilted and bound before turning it into the scissor holder.

After this we had dessert/snack. I made brownies and we had them with ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream – definitely not the low cal special.

The last project was hexagon pot holders. They are a variation of the table topper, using Insul-Brite and only two fabric strips.

Here is a photo of all the projects.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Melinda

Magical Slice and Dice

2011-11-19T22:25:00.001-05:00

After teaching the class earlier this week, I decided to make another Magical Slice and Dice. I bought a few yards of Southern California Shop Hop fabric a few years ago. It is perfect to make a kaleidoscope block from. I got the fabric lined up, the blocks cut and put them together at the Modern Quilt Guild Sew In on Thursday night. Here are a few of them.

I especially the the second one in the bottom row – avocados and surfers, plus the California poppy. I found a gray to use as sashing and an orange/red for the setting triangles. It will be fun to see how it turns out.

Tomorrow I am teaching a Make and Take class with Mary. I have brownies in the oven right now to take for dessert. The class is an all day session where they will make 5 projects. Lunch is included so I picked up soup, ice cream, fudge sauce and whipped cream tonight. Mary is bring quiche, crackers and salad. We won’t go hungry.

Melinda

Piecemakers on Monday

2011-11-18T10:32:00.001-05:00

I belong to a wonderful bee called Piecemakers. We meet at the church once a month and have a great time together. At the beginning of each year we ask the members to sign up to lead a program and November was my month.

I decided to show them the hexagon table topper. I learned this in Las Vegas this summer and taught it again at the Tiny Stitches retreat. It has been very popular.

Here is the results of the morning.

Lots of different fabric choices but each of them turned out wonderful. I made the two in the lower left corner. They still need to have the backing attached and turned.

Next I want to make the sizes of the strips smaller and see if I can make an ornament sized one. I think it would be cute. Stay tuned!

Melinda

Bee Blocks Received

2011-11-17T12:54:00.001-05:00

I have received four blocks so far from the Scrap Bee. I asked for stars made from made fabric on either black on white or white on black. These are perfect!

These are from Sara and Barbara. Aren’t they wonderful?

Melinda

Finished Quilt Tops from Beginner Class

2011-11-16T22:31:00.001-05:00

Didn’t they turn out great!

Melinda

Back

2011-11-16T11:21:00.001-05:00

I haven’t posted in a week and think I finally have my act together so can get back on track. First here are a few photos from the last Beginning Machine Piecing class last Wednesday. We meet again this evening for the final class.

This evening we will put the borders on the quilts – I can hardly wait.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–November 7, 2011

2011-11-07T09:35:00.001-05:00

My design wall still looks the same as the last couple of weeks. Not sure when I have time to finish this one and move on. Doubt if it will happen this week.

This is my jelly roll quilt made from Terrain. I really like it and it only needs a couple of borders to finish the top.

For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog here.

Melinda

Customer Quilts

2011-11-06T19:55:00.001-05:00

I finished and delivered two customer quilts over the weekend. First was a Saturday Sampler quilt from about a year ago. It was made by Jean. She made extra blocks and it turned into a very large quilt. She wanted feathers in the border but just meandering in the center. Quick and easy but looks good.

The next one is a mystery quilt by Mary.

Melinda

Red and Aqua

2011-11-04T11:18:00.001-04:00

We had a UFO challenge at guild to finish a UFO this year. I had participated in a red and aqua disappearing nine patch swap last year. At the guild retreat earlier in the year, I put the top together. When we had to choose a UFO to complete I decided on this one. Here it is at the retreat.

Now we have to move forward through time to this last Sunday. I decided that since the UFO challenge was due on Tuesday, I better get moving. I purchased an extra wide batik backing – bright red. On Monday afternoon, I quilted it, bound it Monday night and was ready for Tuesday morning. I had planned on making pumpkin roll to share but ended up making a Chess pie Tuesday morning. It must have gone over well because there was none to bring home.

Here is the finished quilt.

As you can see, I didn’t put the blocks together in the usual way. I put four blocks together with the large pieces in the center and then surrounded them with white sashing. I had one fat quarter of an aqua print and that was enough for cornerstones. When I finished the top, I had thought I would add a border but the more I looked at it, the more I realized that it did not need a border. I am happy with it. It is about 70 inches square.

Melinda

Magical Slice and Dice Class

2011-11-02T11:05:00.001-04:00

We had four people making a Magical Slice and Dice quilt last night. The fabric selections are so different that it will really be fun to see how the quilts turn out.

First is Marti’s

Next is Linda’s. I have 11 yards of this fabric to use as a backing and border on a UFO.

Next is Karen’s

and Carolyn’s

We stacked the fabric and cut the squares and then started to sew the blocks together. Here are the first blocks up on the design wall.

Isn’t it fun to see how the blocks are turning out? They are going to make the rest of the blocks, sew the top together and come back in two weeks. We will then cut the quilts and turn it on point. Fun!

Melinda

Allatoona Quilters’ Guild

2011-11-01T16:24:00.001-04:00

Today was the November guild meeting. The business meeting is held on the first Tuesday of the month and for November this is the 1st.

We had elections for officers for next year and after the meeting we had a wonderful potluck. I took chess pie. I guess they liked it because I didn’t have any to bring home. I guess I need to make another one for Bill – maybe tomorrow.

We have a birthday fat quarter club at guild. If you choose, you sign up to bring a fat quarter to each birthday person every month. I have been doing it all you and this month is when I got mine. The fat quarters were in a wonderful orange bag. I asked for yellow or orange and got a lovely assortment.

I have recently decided that I like orange and yellow and really don’t have much in my stash. I guess I should correct that to say I didn’t have much. I do now.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–October 31, 2011

2011-10-31T09:02:00.001-04:00

My design wall still has my jelly roll quilt hanging on it waiting for it’s borders.

I hope to get it finished before next week.

For more design walls, go to Judy L’s blog here.

Melinda

Pizza, Patchwork and Puzzlement

2011-10-30T11:38:00.001-04:00

Last night I taught/led a mystery quilt group at Tiny Stitches. They pay for the class and that includes the fabric for the center of the quilt top, the mystery, me, and dinner. For a dessert surprise I made brownies – more later on that.

I did the first cut of the fabrics for them. They got two strips of 5 colors of Halloween fabric plus 10 strips of background. I packaged them into a cute little Halloween bag and included a miniature pumpkin on the top of each bag. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the kits. At the last minute a fourth student signed up (actually she thought she had signed up earlier but apparently forgot) so at the last minute I cut one more kit.

While they worked on making lots of half square triangles for the mystery, I called Pizza Hut and ordered Pizza and chicken wings. Talking to Pizza Hut was kind of like “who’s on first”. The Pizza Hut I was talking to is right across the street. I gave them our address and they said there was no such street (the same street they are on). I told them to look out of their front window and they could see the shopping center we are in but that didn’t help. Finally they decided that they knew where Subway was and since we are in the same shopping center, they could probably find us. About 45 minutes later the phone rang and the delivery guy was outside the other door. Yea! The food arrived.

After eating pizza and wings, they got back to work on their quilt tops.

Around 9 pm I fixed the brownies. First we had a brownie on the plate, then a scoop of vanilla ice cream and lastly a couple of spoons of hot dark chocolate topping. Yum! Back to work on the quilt tops again.

While they were working on their quilts, I put together kits for my next shop sample. Tiny Stitches is turning twenty in 2012 and we are going to feature a Turning Twenty quilt each month. I signed up for January so need to get going. Here are the fabrics I am going to use.

Isn’t it going to be bright and beautiful.

At the end of the evening, the group had each made at least one strip for their quilt. Here they are hanging together on the design wall.

You might notice that the one strip has a different background fabric. The late student had to have a different background – very similar but different – because I used all of the first one in the original kits. Around midnight, they picked out backing and borders for their quilts – Halloween fabric was 30% off so they all bought enough to finish their quilts. I ended up getting home about 12:45 am!

Off to the shop again today – only open for 4 hours so it shouldn’t be a difficult day.

Melinda

Maria Elkins

2011-10-29T10:24:00.001-04:00

Maria was the speaker at guild yesterday and I really enjoyed her presentation. She had both slides and real quilts to share. She is teaching a class again today and will be heading back to Ohio when it is over. Once she gets home, she will be on a plane to Houston where she has been notified that her quilt is one of the top eight winners. I can’t wait to hear what happens.

Here are a few of the quilts she showed yesterday.

She had more quilts with her but Pam was there and willing to show me how to do Magic Loop for my next socks so I stopped taking pictures and played with yarn instead. I think I might have actually learned something.

Here are more of the quilts from the Thursday workshop.

You might recognize the last one as Bobby Cox, the retired manager of the Atlanta Braves. This portrait was made by the granddaughter of my friend Jan. It is the first attempt at anything quilty. Didn’t she do a wonderful job – actually, everyone did a wonderful job.

I am teaching a Patchwork, Pizza, and Puzzlement class from 5 to midnight tonight so have the day off. Unusual for a Saturday!

Bill is driving home from Missouri where he visited his Mother and the rest of his family. I am anxious for him to get home. He should be here in a couple of hours.

Melinda

Bloggers’ Quilt Festival

2011-10-28T15:44:00.001-04:00

Here is my latest favorite quilt. It is also the one I am using as a header on my blog currently.

I took it to guild today to get a charm for finishing a large quilt. I came home and put it on my bed and will sleep under it for the first time tonight.

This quilt was made over the past 3 years. It was a block of the month at the Allatoona Quilters’ Guild and I finally completed it this summer before our quilt show. I used many, many black and lime green fabrics and really love this quilt! If I decide to keep it on the bed, I guess I might have to repaint.

The feathered star was a challenge, especially since I wanted it to be scrappy. I finally paper pieced it. I wanted to custom quilt this but realized that it was so busy that my efforts would be wasted so I did an overall swirl and it turned out just fine. Of course I used lime green thread!

This is my current entry in the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival. Be sure to check out all the other wonderful quilts.

Melinda

Max

2011-10-28T15:09:00.001-04:00

Class with Maria Elkins was WONDERFUL!

I worked with a photo of Max, my little Yorkie.

We used four values of a single color. I chose green. Here is the base fabric with the first layer added.

Here it is with the next layer.

Here is the final – with all the layers added.

Of course it needs to be quilted. I am really pleased with it. By the way, the first photo has the most realistic color.

I highly recommend taking a class from Maria if you have any opportunity.

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing–Session 4

2011-10-27T06:22:00.000-04:00

Lots of progress in class last night. The log cabins were homework and we worked on half square triangles. We made friendship stars and everybody got one or two done.

Next week is flying geese.

I am off to a class with Maria Elkins today. I am going to attempt a portrait of Max, my Yorkie. Wish me luck.

Melinda

Jelly Roll Quilt

2011-10-26T13:54:00.001-04:00

It seems like everyone has made a jelly roll quilt but me. I was feeling left out so I got out a jelly roll and put this together. I have a bright pink for an inner border and one of the floral prints for an outside border. I sewed the strips together as leaders and enders but sewing the whole thing together took a long time for the first seam. I didn’t think the strips would ever end. I think I will get Cuddle for the backing.

Actually, I quite like it.

Melinda

Winter Wonderland Center Complete and Bordered

2011-10-25T19:28:00.001-04:00

Well, at least the first border is on. Next is the fly stitch on all the seams and then on to the pieced blocks.

Still quite a bit of stitching left but it should go pretty quick.

Melinda

Design Wall Monday–October 24, 2011

2011-10-24T13:01:00.001-04:00

I finished my last embroidery block for Winter Wonderland last night – at least I thought I had finished it. I went upstairs to the sewing room and started pressing all the blocks, trimming them to the correct size and sewing them together. The last block I worked on was the last one I was ready to trim. Here it is – before trimming.

When I started to trim it, I thought something was wrong. Apparently I forgot to trace three more little snowflakes. So this morning, I stitched the last snowflakes and you can see it completed in the center of the next photo.

Some of the blocks are sewn together and I should be able to complete the sewing tonight. I then will add the first border and it will be ready to do a fly stitch on all of the seams.

At a sew-in last week, I started cutting the star blocks. I have been making little kits of the star blocks so hopefully if I have a little time, I can get one block done at a time. There are 23 star blocks and then some filler blocks. I am actually believing I will have a quilt some day soon.

I think I am going to take an embroidery break after the fly stitch and knit some socks.

For more design walls, check out Judy L’s blog here.

Stitching Sunday–October 23, 2011

2011-10-23T12:04:00.001-04:00

Here is the last embroidery block for the Winter Wonderland quilt. I just have a few snowflakes to finish and I will be ready to put the center of the quilt together. I have to cut down all the embroidery blocks, sew them together, put on the first border and then do a fly stitch on all the seams. I had hoped to get the embroidery done yesterday but the quilt shop was so busy that I really didn’t do anything in the evening. I had great plans but ended up doing absolutely nothing but read my Kindle book.

This morning I also took a photo of the October gifts that Marta sent. They are going upstairs next to sit until Christmas in my very full Santa Sack. What a fun swap this is turning out to be. I was late with my last two months of gifts but Marta has received them. I have a couple of ideas for the November gifts.

This week I have a lot of customer quilting to work on plus finishing a table runner for a swap. Should be a busy week.

Melinda

Finger Pin Cushion

2011-10-21T13:35:00.001-04:00

I stopped at a little antique mall in Roswell today and picked up this finger pin cushion. While my sister Robin was here earlier this month, she got one of these and I decided I wanted one also.

Melinda

P.S. Don’t look at the old hand with the ring on – I think someone switched the pictures when I wasn’t looking because that couldn’t be my hand.

Beginning Machine Piecing–Class Three

2011-10-20T16:02:00.001-04:00

There were only four students at class this week. Unfortunately two students had to miss class. Hopefully they will be able to come next week.

Here is the homework from last week.

Last night we worked on Square Dance blocks and then moved on to Log Cabin blocks.

For homework, they will each make two more log cabin blocks. As you can see from the above photo, some of them don’t have a distinction between dark and light while some do. Value matters!

Melinda

Winter Wonderland Block Finished

2011-10-19T12:55:00.001-04:00

I finished the next to last block of Winter Wonderland and started on the last block.

Not sure why the background looks slightly pink – it is white.

I haven’t felt well for the past couple of days so no posts since Sunday but hopefully I am better now.

Off to quilt.

Melinda

Stitching Sunday–October 16, 2011

2011-10-16T12:25:00.001-04:00

Another evening or two and I will have this block completed.

Melinda

Customer Quilt

2011-10-15T07:27:00.001-04:00

Here is a customer quilt I finished a couple of weeks ago but never got around to posting. It is made from an Elm Creek pattern and is going to the maker’s granddaugher.

It was custom quilted and I put the binding on – beautiful quilt.

Melinda

Stitching Status

2011-10-14T09:48:00.001-04:00

When Robin was here last week we went to lunch with friends in old Roswell. We stopped in several shops and Robin bought me this. I think it is supposed to be a makeup bag but it is perfect for hand sewing.

At guild we saw a thread catcher and figured out how to make it.

It is perfect for the little sewing case since it folds up and is very cute!

Here is the status of my next to last embroidery for Winter Wonderland.

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing–Class Two

2011-10-13T11:46:00.001-04:00

The above blocks are the homework from last week – rail fence blocks. Next is a few more that were completed after I took the first photo.

We started on nine patch blocks yesterday and after making a few, we moved on to log cabin variations.

Aren’t they doing great!

Melinda

New Fabric

2011-10-12T16:31:00.001-04:00

I opened the mail this morning and here is what I found. I purchased this from Over the Rainbow and love it. I got two different cuts of Gastlies and one of the coordinating.

I think I will make an Easy Peasy Grommet Bag out of it. Robin had a bag and it was so cute!

Melinda

Table Toppers from Callaway

2011-10-10T20:43:00.001-04:00

Here are many of the table toppers that were finished at Callaway. Everyone had the opportunity to make three special projects and to take home three completed projects. It is fun to have something completely finished from the retreat.

Each kit had four 2 1/2 inch strips of Christmas fabric, a piece of batting and a fat quarter (for the backing). Simple project where you simply sew the four strips into a strip set and cut six equalateral triangles from them, sew them back together, sandwich with the batting and backing and sew around the edge. Turn them right side out and stitch around the edge. Quilt as desired. Even the ones with the same fabric turn out different depending on how the strips are arranged.

We also made magic wallets, and a little card cases – lots of fun with little projects.

Melinda

Second Retreat Day at Callaway

2011-10-09T07:55:00.001-04:00

The Great Pumpkin visited the retreat and gave away some Halloween treats!

Lots of quilts were worked on, special projects were made and fun was had by all – more photos later.

Melinda

Quilting Retreat at Callaway Gardens

2011-10-07T21:56:00.001-04:00

Here we are at beautiful Callaway Gardens. It is a beautiful place and a wonderful place to hold a retreat. Here is our sewing area. My machine is on the right and Robin is using the one on the left. Maetha is in the middle. Two samples of the retreat quilt are on the chairs – Robin made the one on the left and I made the one on the right.

Here are the goodie bags – the theme of the retreat is Run Away to Callaway so we have hobo sticks with bandanas on the end to put our goodies in.

We had the choice of three different bandanas – birds, wildflowers or butterflies. Robin and I both chose butterflies.

In the afternoon we had a Chocolate buffet – yum!

We also have a few special projects to work on – I cut kits for Christmas table toppers and here are the ones Robin and I made.

As usual, they are exactly alike, only different.

More fun in store tomorrow.

Melinda

Beginning Machine Piecing–Class One

2011-10-06T08:58:00.001-04:00

Last night was the first of a new series of Beginning Machine Piecing and there are six students in the evening class. The first night is very full but we managed to master the 1/4 inch seam and make the first rail fence blocks. Here they are all together.

Can you tell which blocks belong together?

My sister Robin and I are off to the Tiny Stitches retreat this afternoon. It starts tomorrow morning and we are going today to get everything set up. Another road trip!

Melinda