Finally...I'm back!

After a tough summer I'm finally back!

It was a bad MS summer but I am recovering and getting back to quilting and blogging and all the other things I've missed doing!

Dobby is doing well and guarding the quilts!

So it shouldn't be any surprise that I am scrambling to finish some quilts for my quilt show this November!

Watson demanding face time with a vintage quilt top!

I committed to three entries but may try to finish two more...will know tomorrow afternoon if I can manage it!

I'm also still working on organizing my sewing room...still don't have it "right!"  One more big move and that will be it for awhile...need to spend more time sewing fabric than folding and moving fabric!

Scituate lighthouse, Sep 2015

Happy Mother's Day...

My Mom 2005 in New Hampshire

Going to spend the day working in the quilting room and maybe planting a few more tomato plants (replacing some eaten by some small animal last week...think I need taller planters!)

I've been trying to work on this quilt for my husband...yes that is golfing toile!  I'm trying to use fabrics with colors that show up around the courses here in April...yes, the Masters.  So there is lots of pink, yellows, green, browns, and a bit or gold/yellow.  I really like the blocks...hate the golf fabric!  This will be a small quilt!

I picked up this crocheted basket doily the other day at the antique mall...really like it but am at odds what to do with it!  Pillow?  Wall hanging?  Gift it and make it someone else's project?  hummm

In need of borders...

My guild has a UFO finish game going on where you are supposed to finish a quilt (or at least move it along the process) each month.  Yikes.  I did find a couple of projects that only need a border or just need binding.  I think I'm going to kit them up today so I can move on them quickly when the spirit moves me!

Can you believe..more fabric!

After two days of rest from the quilt show trip I am "almost" human again.  Amazing how a little trip like that can wear you out!

Plus I had lots of new "stuff" to get into the house.  I did a lot of damage at this quilt store - The Cherry Pit - in Tennessee.  Really a nice shop with fabrics they just don't carry in shops near me.  More on those goodies in a future post...

One exciting piece of news - cotton solids are being produced locally again!

 I drive by fields of cotton and shut down mills on a regular basis and am always saddened that we are forced to buy fabric from overseas when the raw materials are so close.  Well we now can buy cotton grown in the south then processed, woven and dyed in South Carolina!  I just ordered a few yards to check them out...have my fingers crossed that I will love them!  Now if I can just convince a local quilt shop to carry them...

Another basket weave...

Brownie claiming the latest quilt...

I started a quilt not on my list for two reasons...first, a friend had asked me to make a quilt for her daughter and second, an artist had asked how to construct this diagonal weave.

Dobby overseeing the new quilt construction....

This is a simpler ( though still at least intermediate level) way of sewing the "basket-weave" and I worry that it may still be too difficult for someone with no sewing experience...Instead of piecing the woven pieces this time I just used striped.  Wow, cut down about 60% of the piecing and still get a similar effect!  Also, used larger squares for the center...twice as large!  Needless to say this is coming together so much faster than the first one!

I got another "new to me" quilt this week.  I'll have photos of the entire quilt later this weekend.  I love the Dogwood and Blondie (US cartoon characters)  fabrics in it!  Need to do some research but I'm thinking 50's...

Also have done some fabric cutting for Bonnie Hunter's 2014 challenge.  I changed up the pattern a bit...I'm using 3 1/2 by 8 inch cut rectangles instead of 3-1/2 by 6.   I made some test blocks and I like the longer block...For this I am cutting a bit from all my repro stash...gives me a chance to actually see some of my fabrics in a quilt instead of on a shelf!  Even with the extra 2 inches this is going to take a lot of blocks....

And sewing, cutting, typing, well, just about everything is slow right now.  Left arm is not cooperating and goes between numbness/uselessness and wicked pain (think of how it feels when you leg goes to sleep and you take your first step...)  Anyway, I can still push fabric around but not doing anything too fine....but this too will pass!

A bit of everything...

Distracted stitching would be the best description of today's activities.

I'm trying to finish up this Quilt of Valor top (requested by a Navy Vet who wanted sea colors...)  One more row to sew on and the top will be done!  (this is from Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trip Around the World Pattern...a great way of using up scraps!)

And this bag from a recent magazine...I was looking for a project to use this fabric with the sheep knitting!

I'm using this little pincushion made for me by my friend Rachel!  (it is made from a bottle cap!)  Just realized it matches my bag!

And while doing this I have to repeatedly change the water in the bathtub where the quilt above is soaking.  It was pretty bad...(photo is much better than real life!)  I've changed the water about a dozen times...let's just leave it at that.  Fortunately it is supposed to be a good "quilt drying day" tomorrow too...

and on the Dobby front...he is doing a bit better.  At least he can open his eye.  We gave him three doses of him eye drops yesterday and one this morning.  Even with two of us handling him using a blanket my arms and hands look like I fell from the sky into a blackberry hedge...I'm wearing gloves while washing the quilt!

Halloween "Wicked" Blog Hop

Welcome Wicked hoppers!

Like so many of you I love Halloween.  It is one of the few holidays that I love to use bright fabrics around the house.  Guess I like the dress up part of Halloween more than the spooky part!

This year I finished this arrowhead quilt using Halloween novelty fabrics.  My cat Goldie has claimed it but hopefully I can get it back so it can spend Halloween night by the front door. (It will be hanging so no little feet can trip on it!)

Novelty fabrics also are the focal point of this quick and easy (my favorite kind of project) table runner.

It is a disappearing 9-patch.  Goes together in an afternoon!  (in there is still time to make one for Halloween!)  The novelty fabrics just go on the four outside corners, black in the center block and brights on the others.  The toughest part is picking out the fabrics...if playing in fabric can ever be called tough!  A quick project..

That is if you don't have a cat helping to make it!

Brownie loves all quilting but Halloween is best!

And my final quilt-y Halloween decoration is my Witch's hat from Crabapple designs...they used it as a pillow but I really wanted it as a hat.  Gave me a chance to use lots of embroidery stitches that I hadn't tried since Girl Scouts plus use some of my bead stash...

  (And yes I wear it when I give out candy at Halloween!

And from me to you...my favorite Halloween Pumpkin recipe...

 Pumpkin Squares
crust:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup quick oats
1 cup flour

Grease a 9x13 pan.  Beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar together.  Stir together the oats and flour then add to the butter mixture and combine.  Press mixture into the pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Topping:
2 (8 ounce) bars cream cheese, softened
1 cup of sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup light Karo syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup (optional)
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
1  tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or add a second tsp of cinnamon)
1 Tablespoon of grated lemon peel

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a medium size bowl.  When well mixed, beat in eggs and remaining ingredients.  Pour mixture onto cools crust.  Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes.  Serve at room temp or chilled.  Great when topped with spiced whipped cream...

Other blogs on today's hop...enjoy!

October 25^th

Marjorie’s Busy Corner

The Raspberry Rabbits

Freemotion by the River

Kwilty Pleasures

Feathered Nest Studio

Sew Peace to Peace

Marla's Crafts

Jane's Quilting

Quilt n Queen

Colorpoint Quilter

Dancing 9's top finished!

Finished the Bonnie Hunter "Dancing 9's" top today.  (Only started it last week!)  This is a fun quilt.  Once the 9-patches are made the rest goes together so quickly!

I used up a lot of scraps and 2-inch squares left over from recent projects like the donation quilt, Carnival Corn and Bermuda Seaglass.  I added two more row of the 9-patch so mine measures a bit longer than the pattern  (65x55.)  Also, I used a variety of gray fabrics for the "sashing" to make it even scrappier.  (the top hasn't had its final pressing yet and having a cat hiding underneath makes it look much wonkier than it is in real life!)

Think it is finally time to clear the cutting table and get any left overs back on the shelves for awhile.

I also tried some blocks using a 5 inch square instead of the 9-patches.  Would make for a quick quilt and works with larger prints really well.   Decided not to use them in the quilt but am going to sew them up for a table-runner/dresser scarf to go with the quilt.

Heat has finally settled in to Georgia...looks like I'll get a lot of sewing done the next couple of weeks!  Too hot to go outside!

Make way for the new table....

I am still hard at work cleaning, sorting, and rearranging my sewing space.  My friend Paula came over this morning and together we made the final decision on layout (I think I had looked at the options so long my brain had turned to mush!)  Anyway...we have a plan!  And I have to move on it as the table arrives tomorrow night!

So far I have about half the furniture moved...it is tough since first I have to empty it, then move it, then refill it with all the "stuff."  I do have two bags of fabric or tops or projects filled.  One is going to my guild and the other is mainly vintage stuff that will go to the American Quilt Study Group for the silent auction at seminar this fall down in Charleston.

The three photos above are from one of the tops for the AQSG...I've had it for years and it is a good fabric study piece, and unusual pattern, and in good shape but it never seems to make the cut when I pack for programs so it needs to find a new home.

I'm good about being stricter this time...so far I've packed up one from the turn of the century, one from the 30's and another from the 50's....

This one is on the edge...I've put it in the bag twice and twice I've taken back and put it on the shelf...humm. I like the variety of fabrics in it but it is dark and I've started to enjoy brighter quilts more...

I just rotated the quilt in the living room and put up this turn of the century log cabin...even this feels brighter than the top...

Ah well, enough procrastinating!  Back to moving...folding...packing...

Monday quilting update...

I cannot believe how many quilters have finished (quilting, binding and everything) the Easy Street Mystery designed and hosted by Bonnie Hunter.  Needless to say I am not among the over-achievers!

My top is plugging along nicely, thank-you-very-much.  I have the four corners and most of the setting triangle pieced along with two of each type of 15 in center block.  Not breaking any speed records but steady as I go....

I basted one of my small quilts - rows of crayons.  I am going to quilt this one on my domestic machine.  I find thread basting easier on my hands these days.  To baste this 36 by 45 quilt took me most of the Redskins Games yesterday.

Started packing for my guild's annual retreat.  Every year I pack way too much.  This year I'm promising myself only a few projects...perhaps one for my machine and another hand-quilting for the cabin....

Happy Birthday Dobby!

My youngest cat, Dobby, turns two this month.  Not entirely sure when in October is his actual birthday as he was a "rescue" kitten that came to me via my local vet.

Now that Dobby has turned two he has calmed down a bit...not more getting stuck in trees, or on the roof, or behind the refrigerator....

He weighs in at over 15 pounds but there isn't an ounce of fat on him...

He isn't the type of cat to "cuddle" but he takes his role as "head of the pride" seriously and even as a young cat when I was sick in bed one day he brought his toys to me and even made a small pile of dry cat foot next to my pillow.....

He isn't quite the "ham" that my other cats are so there are fewer photos to chose from...

If Dobby were a quilt it would be circa 1900 done in plaids and stripes....

Maybe like this Sugar loaf....